Author: Sports Radio Service

Earthquakes get blown out by Sporting Kansas City 5-1

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: London Marq

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was a Western Conference matchup at Avaya Stadium on Saturday night as the red-hot Sporting Kansas City took on the bottom-feeder San Jose Earthquakes. It was less of a showdown and more of a beat down as the Quakes, whose record indicates their season, failed to show up on their home field.

With an opportunity to take control and grab the No. 1 spot on in the conference, Sporting Kansas City was motivated to put in a full 90 minutes. The rout was on early. Sporting KC showing why they are the standard in the West notched their first of five goals in the in the 18th minute. The goal came off the back heel of Gutierrez after well placed cross into the box from Gerso. Five minutes later, Sporting KC’s Gerso notched the second goal of the match off of an assist from Gutierrez.

Sporting KC showed the kind of chemistry that has been lacking at Avaya Stadium for the entirety of this season. Kansas City would notch one more goal before the first half and two more in the second half.

Long after the flame of hope had been extinguished for San Jose, Hoesen would score the only goal for the Quakes in the 80th minute. Much too little, far too late. This match was pretty much the Quakes being used as a stepping tool for Sporting KC to take the No. 1 spot away from Dallas FC. Once again, it was back to the drawing board.

Sporting KC blew out the Quakes 5-1.

The Quakes wrap up their homestand with a Wednesday night match versus Atlanta United at 8:00 pm PDT.

Giants knock the Rockies out of first place with second straight shutout 3-0

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — If you ever thought that the San Francisco Giants would help out the Los Angeles Dodgers, you would be not dreaming.

Austin Slater hit a ground ball for on out in the bottom of the second to score Brandon Crawford from third base, as the Giants defeated the Rockies 3-0 before 38,204 at AT&T Park on Saturday.

This was the second win in a row for the Giants, after they dropped a season-high 11 straight to begin the month of September, and this is the first time that they won back-to-back games since winning four in a row from August 25-28.

Coupled with the Dodgers’ 17-4 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, the longtime rival of the Giants is now in first place in the National League West and the Rockies fall into the second Wild Card Spot.

Madison Bumgarner went six innings, allowing no runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two and won for the sixth time this season.

Dating back to his start against the Houston Astros, Bumgarner has thrown 20 consecutive scoreless innings.

“Finish strong and competitive,” said Bumgarner.

Bumgarner was forced to leave the start tonight, despite throwing just 64 pitches, as he suffered tension in his right side.

“Little tightness in his side,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

Hunter Pence added a second run in that bottom of the second inning, as he singled to center field to score Nick Hundley.

As would have it, Bumgarner scored the final run of the game for the Giants, as he scored on a wild pitch thrown by German Marquez with Hundley at the plate in the bottom of the third inning.

Marquez also went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out four, as he saw his record fall to 12-10 on the season.

Both teams were warned by Raymond DeJesus in the bottom of the third inning, after Marquez hit Evan Longoria, which came after Bumgarner hit D.J. LeMahieu in the top of the third inning. Marquez hit Slater on top of the helmet in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The top five hitters in their lineup all got hits, but they could not muster a run against the Giants for the second consecutive game. Those five hitters went a combined 5-for-17 against Bumgarner, Tony Watson, Mark Melancon and Will Smith.

The bullpen trio of Watson, Melancon and Smith went three innings, allowing two hits, not walking a batter and struck out five. Smith notched his 12th save of the season.

By being shut out on back-to-back evenings, the last time that the Rockies scored a run was in the bottom of the seventh inning of their 10-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field, a span of 19 innings. In that inning against the Diamondbacks, the Rockies scored five runs to put the game away.

NOTES: This was the 15th shutout of the season for the Giants, and it was the fourth time this season that have they have thrown back-to-back shutouts. They also did it on March and 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, June 1 and 2 versus the Philadelphia Phillies and on August 27 and 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rockies have lost 11 out of their last 14 at AT&T Park.

This is the first time all season that the Rockies have been shutout in back-to-back games.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies wrap up their series with a finale Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT.

Giants rookie Dereck Rodriguez closes out the homestand on Sunday, as he takes the mound in search of his seventh win of the season, while Antonio Senzatela looks for his fifth win of the season for the Rockies.

SJSU shows improvement, despite 35-22 loss to Oregon

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Photo credit: @lawrencefansjsu

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans had a tough customer in the No. 20 Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Autzen Stadium is one of the best stadiums in the country. Both Ducks and Spartans fans flocked to Eugene, Ore. to watch their favorite teams go head-to-head with each other. Though, the latter lacked in quantity in the Pacific Northwest. Still, this FBS and Pac-12 matchup was a sight to see.

Turnovers have been an issue for the Spartans, who suffered from another mishap Saturday. Josh Love’s pass was intercepted by Jevon Holland early in the first quarter. Then, the Ducks took a 7-0 lead at the 11:18 mark after four plays over 23 yards in a 1:36 span. Cyrus Habibi-Likio scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown. Zach Emerson’s PAT kick was good.

The Spartans have struggled with moving the ball and the deficiencies showed when the Ducks took a 14-0 lead with 7:10 left in the first quarter. Jacob Breeman scored a 66-yard passing touchdown off a pass from Justin Herbert. Emerson’s PAT kick was good.

The Ducks led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Spartans finally got on the board at the 10:56 mark of the second quarter. Bryce Crawford kicked in a 31-yard field goal to reduce the SJSU deficit to 14-3.

The Spartans worked some more magic into the scoreboard. Crawford kicked in a 28-yard field goal to cut the SJSU deficit to 14-6 with 2:58 left in the second quarter.

The Ducks, however, extended its lead to 21-6 just 30 seconds later. Johnny Johnson III scored a 39-yard passing touchdown off a pass from Herbert. Emerson’s PAT kick was good.

The Spartans shocked most of the 54,000 fans in attendance as Tre Webb tipped the ball to Dakari Monroe with only seven seconds left in the second quarter. This was Monroe’s second interception of the season.

The Spartans trailed the Ducks 21-6 at halftime. But SJSU’s offense has started to wake up and that was a good thing.

Josh Oliver made a flawless catch off a pass from Josh Love for a 7-yard passing touchdown with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Ducks challenged the Spartans’ play, but the call on the field stood. The Spartans then went for the two-point conversion, but it was overturned as Bailey Gaither was unable to slide his foot. The score stood at 28-12 in favor of the Ducks.

The Spartans trailed the Ducks 28-12 at the end of the third quarter.

The Ducks expanded its lead to 35-12 at the 14:49 mark of the fourth quarter. Johnson III scored his second touchdown of the game–a 22-yard passing touchdown off a pass from Herbert–and Emerson’s PAT kick was good.

Crawford kicked his third field goal of the game–a 25-yard field goal–just 1:07 later to bring the Spartans within 20. The Ducks held on to a 35-15 lead.

Spartan fans breathed a sigh of relief as the Spartans scored its first touchdown of the game to pull within 13. Malik Roberson scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown for his first of the season. Crawford’s PAT kick was good. The Ducks held on to a 35-22 lead with 4:03 left in the fourth quarter.

There weren’t any brownie points in college football, but the Spartans put on a much-better show at Autzen Stadium, despite the 35-22 loss to No. 20 Oregon.

Notes
Spartans’ starters
Offense: Montel Aaron, Justin Holmes, JaQuan Blackwell, Malik Roberson, Jackson Snyder, Trevor Robbins, Jake Colman, Deano Motes, Troy Kowalski, Bailey Gaither and Josh Oliver.

Defense: Jesse Osuna, John Toussaint, Tre Webb, Sailosi Latu, Boogie Roberts, Bryson Bridges, Dakari Monroe, Jonathan Lenard Jr., Tysyn Parker and Ethan Aguayo.

Up Next 
The Spartans have a much-needed bye week and then return to CEFCU Stadium to host the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, September 29 at 4:00 pm PDT.

Stratton throws first career shutout; Giants shutout Rockies 2-0 to snap losing skid

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Photo credit: @SportingGreenSF

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Despite the fact that they are most likely out of the playoff race, the San Francisco Giants can still play spoiler against the Colorado Rockies.

Chris Stratton threw a complete game, allowing zero runs on just two hits, walking two and striking out seven. The Giants put a stop to their longest losing streak since 1951 with a 2-0 victory over the Rockies before a crowd of 37,800 at AT&T Park Friday night.

This was the first career shutout for Stratton, the first shutout of the season for the Giants, and just the 18th complete game shutout this season.

The 11-game losing streak that the Giants put a halt to was the longest in the National League this season, and ties the Detroit Tigers for the longest in the Major Leagues this season.

With the victory, the Giants defeated the Rockies for the first time since June 28, a span of seven games.

This is the ninth straight that the Giants’ offense have scored three runs or less in a game, the last time that they scored more than three in a game was on September 3, when they scored eight in a 9-8 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.

Stratton got all the offensive help he needed in the bottom of the second inning, Austin Slater singled in Nick Hundley and Joe Panik, who both singled in front of Slater. The two got into scoring position when Rockies starter Tyler Anderson unleashed the first of his two wild pitches in the inning.

With the victory, Stratton won for the 10th time this season, and also got some big time from his defense, as Gregor Blanco made a leaping catch of a Nolan Arenado hit in the top of the sixth inning that robbed Arenado of extra bases. Brandon Crawford also snared a Trevor Story ball that would have gone for a single.

Stratton also helped himself at the plate, as he lashed a single off of Anderson in that two-run second inning that saw the Giants score the only runs of the game. The right-hander is first Giants pitcher since 2016, when Johnny Cueto won 18, Madison Bumgarner won 15 and Jeff Samardzija won 12, as the Giants made to the National League Division Series, where they lost to the eventual World Champion Chicago Cubs in four games.

Brandon Belt left the game after the bottom of the seventh inning due to right knee soreness.

NOTES: When the Giants lost those 12 straight in 1951, they did it from April 19-29 and a month after the losing streak ended, a 20-year old outfielder was called up to the team on May 25, his name was Willie Howard Mays, Jr.

The Giants lost 13 in a row from August 9-20, 1944, their longest losing streak since 1908.

During the month of September, the Giants have scored a total of 28 runs, an average of 2.33 a game.

Samardzija threw the last Giants shutout on August 28, 2017 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner takes the mound on Saturday night at 6:05 pm PDT, as he looks for his sixth win of the season, while German Marquez will head to the hill for the Rockies in search for his 13th win of the season.

Khris Davis proves to be the difference in A’s 2-1 win over Rays in 10 innings

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Ana Kieu

Last night, the red-hot Oakland A’s were stunned as the lowly Baltimore Orioles snapped their six-game win streak with a 5-3 win.

So what’s new? Well, the A’s traveled to Tropicana Field to take on the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game series starting Friday night.

The A’s broke open a scoreless deadlock in the top of the fourth inning. Matt Olson singled on a ground ball to Willy Adames. Matt Chapman scored on Olson’s play. As a result, Khris Davis went to second. The A’s were on the board 1-0.

The Rays, however, gave the A’s a hard time in the bottom of the fourth inning. Joey Wendle, a former Oakland Athletic, singled on a line drive to Mark Canha. Tommy Pham scored on Wendle’s play. The Rays tied the ballgame 1-1.

Shawn Kelley helped the A’s get out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth inning. The game remained in a 1-1 tie.

The 1-1 score continued to stay put and the game had to be decided in extra innings.

Khris Davis proved to be the difference as he homered on a fly ball to right center to give the A’s a 2-1 lead over the Rays in the top of the 10th inning.

A’s Blake Treinen (7-2) was the winning pitcher. Rays’ Jaime Schultz (2-1) took the loss.

Notes

Up Next
The A’s and Rays continue their series with game two Saturday at 3:10 pm PDT.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Martavis Bryant is back once again after being waived for 11 days; Bryant very quick and difficult to cover says Derek Carr

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Photo credit: @NBCSRaiders

On the Oakland Raiders podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 Raiders receiver Martavis Bryant is back after being waived by the team 11 days ago. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Reggie McKenzie brought Bryant back on Tuesday.

#2 This move was made because Bryant had out-performed the other receivers and the Raiders had waived receiver Keon Hatcher, which was also a surprise move.

#3 Bryant’s return was based on some of the things that took place on offense receiving on Monday night and after weighing what they saw Bryant cut mustard and Gruden and McKenzie was glad that he was not signed by anybody else.

#4 On September 1st, Bryant was under consideration by the NFL to be suspended a third time by the league for substance abuse and he would have been banned for one year or the rest of this season. The league did not decide to discipline Bryant and allowed him to play and the Raiders got him back.

#5 Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said that other teams try to contain Bryant on defense, but have trouble covering him because he’s so quick off the line. Carr and Gruden are anxious to see what he can do in Denver this Sunday.

Joe Hawkes Beamon does the Raiders previews each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

SJSU football can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu

Instead of tweeting hashtags like #Blueline and #ProveIt, San Jose State has to salvage something against No. 20 Oregon, who will enter Saturday’s game with a 0-2 record following two blowouts: 62-14 over Portland State on Sept. 8 and 58-24 over Bowling Green on Sept. 1.

The hapless Spartans, who will enter Saturday’s game down 0-2, know that the nationally-ranked Ducks will be a tough opponent. I mean, the Spartans are ranked 124th in team defense and 127th in passing defense. And that’s out of 130 FBS schools across the country. The Ducks can choose to strike on land or air. Also, the Spartans are ranked 123rd in rushing offense. That’s obviously not good news, as SJSU has to operate against an Oregon defense that can hold opponents to 2.2 yards per rush. And it doesn’t really matter which quarterback the Spartans put on the field, as Josh Love, Montel Aaron and Michael Carrillo all got lit up in their starts.

The Spartans have been celebrating quite a few players and coaches birthdays lately. Of course, that’s a good thing that they care about the milestones of their football program, but you can’t solely focus on the culture, you also have to pick up wins in the regular season along with bids for bowl games.

Yes, SJSU is nationally tied for fifth with four interceptions in their first two games of the season. That’s part of the Spartans’ effort to statistically win the turnover battle. But the Spartan offense has to wake up and capitalize on the opportunities given by the Spartan defense.

The Spartans have been tweeting out photos of their dedicated practices at the University of Oregon. Autzen Stadium is full of energy, so the Spartans can’t get lost in the moment and forget about their main purpose, which is to beat Oregon. Obviously, it’s easier than done, so it’s important to get better–not only during practices, but also on the field.

Josh Oliver nationally leads all tight ends with 13 receptions and 68.5 yards per game through the first two games of the season. Hopefully, Oliver will work his magic against Oregon.

After all, SJSU should be fired up to take on Oregon for the first time since 1998 when the No. 22 Ducks downed the Spartans 58-3 on Sept. 19.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Skid at 11; Giants hope to snap out of it Friday against Rockies

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 11 is not the Giants’ favorite number. They set the all-time San Francisco record for the most consecutive loses. If you had to point to one thing, what was the main cause of this losing streak?

#2 The loss on Wednesday was a heartbreaker when Alan Hanson got thrown out at second for running out of the baseline on a bunted ball that got thrown into the Braves’ bullpen and could have scored Joe Panik from third, but it was not as the Giants lost 2-1 to the Braves.

#3 Giants pitcher Derek Holland said that this team is not letting anyone come into AT&T Park to walk all over the Giants, but battle a first-place team like the Braves.

#4 Holland has been throwing some decent ball, going six starts and allowing six runs for a 1.59 ERA.

#5 Now it’s the first-place Rockies, who come to AT&T Park to open a three-game series. Although it is unlikely if SF can sweep, they would be 10.5 games behind Colorado, but still a lot of games with just two weeks left.

Miguel does the Gigantes podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Lami: 49ers hope to get first win in home opener on Sunday versus Lions

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Photo credit: @SteinyAndGuru

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

#1 With the first loss and first road trip of the year out of the way, the 49ers are looking to turn the page and try to get in the win column versus the Detroit Lions this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

#2 Linebacker Brock Coyle will be out this Sunday after suffering a concussion last Sunday in Minnesota, but also a T-4 compression fracture in his back. He certainly will be miss out of the 49ers’ lineup.

#3 Coyle is expected to be out six weeks and linebacker Malcolm Smith is also out and has not practiced Smith is suffering from a hamstring injury he received in the preseason.

#4  In addition to Smith, receiver Marquise Goodwin (quadriceps), guard Joshua Garnett (toe) and safety Adrian Colbert (hamstring) all have been listed as questionable by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

#5 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw for three interceptions last Sunday. Was this a matter of a lack of protection from the offensive line or was he just not focused and threw into coverage?

49ers podcasts can be heard with Joe Lami each Friday and with David Zizmor each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s looking to use “bullpenning” to give pitchers some rest; Will use “bullpenning” for Saturday to rest Cahill

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Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

#1 The A’s are getting done in all sorts of ways. They scored 10 runs in the third inning of Wednesday’s game and used some of their call ups the rest of the way to beat the Orioles.

#2 The A’s have been going to “bullpenning” and openers. Joey takes a look on how that has been working.

#3 The Orioles just couldn’t do anything with the A’s lineup in that third inning as the O’s starter Andrew Cashner was lit up for eight runs and eight hits in just two short innings.

#4 A’s starter Trevor Cahill is receiving treatment for his upper back and most likely will miss his turn to start on Saturday in Tampa Bay. Cahill’s situation is day-to-day and A’s manager Bob Melvin is considering “bullpenning” again starting Liam Hendricks, who started on Wednesday.

#5 The A’s have lost 10 pitchers since May for 13 different injuries, which did not include Cahill’s injuries.

#6 The A’s started Brett Anderson on Thursday night a game that was going to be a day game because of Hurricane Florence moving onto the East Coast, but the forecast for Thursday night subsided for rough weather and the A’s and Orioles concluded the series as scheduled.

Joey Friedman does the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com