Author: Sports Radio Service

Cook leads Raiders to 16-10 preseason victory over Lions

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Photo credit: @RAIDERNATlON

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND, Calif. — It may be just the preseason, but it was the first game back on the sidelines for Jon Gruden, who coached for the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Connor Cook threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter, helping the Raiders to a 16-10 over the Detroit Lions at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Friday night.

“It was awesome,” Gruden said. “I saw some recognizable faces that had gotten a little bit older. I saw some old friends who mean a lot to me. Like I said all along, this is a great responsibility. The nostalgia has worn off. We have to do something with the opportunity. But it was sure great to see the Raiders fans.”

The last time Gruden was on the Raiders’ sidelines was in January of 2002, when the Raiders defeated the New York Jets, but then lost to the New England Patriots the following week in “The Tuck Rule” game.

After being dismissed by the Buccaneers after the 2008 season, Gruden was an analyst for ESPN’S Monday Night Football until this past season.

When the Raiders did not return to the playoffs after making it in 2016, Raiders’ owner Mark Davis dismissed Jack Del Rio and gave Gruden a 10-year, reported $100 million contract to come back to the Raiders.

Marshawn Lynch gave the fans an early treat, as he raced down the sidelines for what looked like a 60-yard touchdown run, but it was called by after a holding penalty on rookie tackle Kolton Miller, out of UCLA.

“I was really ticked off after watching that get called back,” Gruden said. “Chucky came out for a brief moment tonight.”

The Raiders were forced to settle with a punt on the only series with Derek Carr on the field, but Cook led the Raiders to the 16-10 victory over the Lions.

Cook ended up going 11-for-19 for 141 yards and a seven-yard touchdown pass to newcomer Ryan Switzer. The Raiders also got two field goals from rookie Eddy Piniero.

In his first preseason game as Lions head coach, Matt Patricia decided to rest Matthew Stafford and inserted Matt Cassel into the starting lineup and Cassel went 10-for-18 with 81 yards passing.

Cassel led the Lions on three drives, and Ameer Abdullah scored the only touchdown for the Lions, as he scored on a one-yard run.

Jake Ruddock, who is competing with Cassel for the backup spot at quarterback for the Lions went 12-for-19 with 84 yards passing.

It looked like the Raiders were going to score on their first series of the third quarter, as they got down to the Lions six-yard line, but E.J. Manuel fumbled the ball and the Lions recovered the ball.

The Lions eventually kicked a field goal after an 18 play 88-yard drive that took 8:10 off the clock to get the Lions within three.

Piniero gave the Raiders a six-point lead, as he nailed a 45-yard field goal that came off the infield dirt with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

“I remember when we drafted (Sebastian) Janikowski, it was like being on a foreign planet for him when he got here and started kicking off the dirt,” Gruden said of Oakland’s first-round pick in 2000. “We did manage to get him a couple of looks.”

Cassel replaced Rudock for the Lions final series of the game, and the Lions got all the way down to the Raiders 35-yard line, but James Cowser sacked Cassel, who fumbled the ball and Frostee Rucker recovered the fumble to clinch the game for the Raiders.

NOTES: After returning for the final three days of training camp in Napa, the Raiders will head to Los Angeles to face the Rams on August 17.

UP NEXT: The Raiders head to the Southland to take on the Rams on Saturday, August 18 at 1 pm PDT.

Pirates storm back, but Giants hold on for 13-10 win on Orange Friday

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Ana Kieu

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a nutshell, the San Francisco Giants got on the board with a three-run first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates stormed back in an attempt to tie the ballgame, but the Orange and Black held on for the 13-10 win at AT&T Park on an Orange Friday type of night.

The Giants didn’t waste any time in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew McCutchen homered to right field for his 13th home run of the season and a 1-0 lead. Austin Slater’s RBI single made it a 2-0 game. Alec Hanson drove in Brandon Crawford for a 3-0 lead.

The Pirates finally got on the board in the top of the second inning as Jordy Mercer hit a line drive single to score David Freese. The score, 3-1, was still in favor of the Giants.

The Giants certainly came on down in the bottom of the third inning. McCutchen’s bases-loaded walk scored Slater, who got his team ahead 4-1. Buster Posey and Evan Longoria added line drive singles. The score was 7-1 Giants after three innings.

Mercer scored the Pirates’ second run of the game, a line drive double that scored Steven Duggar, but the Giants still led 7-2 in the top of the fourth inning.

Not only that, San Francisco continued to pour in the runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Steven Duggar went down the line for a two-run double and Posey got an RBI single. The Giants were up 10-2 after four innings. A lot of fans thought the Pirates were done for the night, but that wasn’t the case tonight.

Freese singled on a sharp line drive to bring the Pirates within seven–a 10-3 lead–in the top of the fifth inning. But, the Giants weren’t too nervous, as Alec Hanson brought home Crawford to up San Francisco’s score to 11-3 over Pittsburgh in the bottom of the fifth inning.

It was all good vibes for the Giants until the Pirates’ Francisco Cervelli hit a grand slam to left center field to pull his team within five in the bottom of the seventh inning. The score was 12-7 Giants after seven innings.

The Pirates got even closer in the top of the eighth inning when Colin Moran tripled on a sharp line drive to score Jordan Luplow. Also, Cervelli’s line drive single, and in the top of the ninth inning, Adeiny Hechavarria’s fly ball homer–his fourth of the season–capped off the scoring for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s last run of the night came from Slater, who hit a line drive single to score McCutchen in the bottom of the eighth inning. That was arguably an insurance run, but the Giants had the game regardless.

The Giants held on for the 13-10 win over the Pirates in game one of the series.

Notes

Up Next
The Giants and Pirates will meet again Saturday night at 6:05 pm PDT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s vs Mariners–Bullpen Mano a Mano

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Photo credit: espn.com

By: Amaury Pi-González

Two Western Division teams fighting for one of the two Wild Card spots in the American League. One of them, the Seattle Mariners was supposed to be a contender, while the other one, the Oakland Athletics, is the biggest surprise in baseball this season.

Nobody can win a World Series without bullpen talent, all you have to do is go back during the past  few years and see the bullpens of the teams that won the title. The game today lends to starters–with some exceptions–to go between 5 to 6 inning, and then it is bullpen time.

Both clubs have made additions to their bullpens. Earlier this season, M’s manager Jerry DiPoto, brought veteran Alex Colomé from the Tampa Bay Rays (with 12 saves) to join their tremendous closer Edwin Nuñez (43 saves). This year, the A’s began with Blake Treinen, who saved 17 games for the team last season, but this year, he became one of the best closers in the game with 29 saves as well as his first ever selection to the MLB All-Star Game.

When the A’s got really hot and passed the M’s for the No. 2 position in the wild card race, the A’s management went to work. First, they acquired the New York Mets’ Jeurys Familia, a man that saved 51 games in 2016, then Minnesota Twins’ Fernando Rodney, who is 40 years old and a 16-year veteran who has played for five different teams and made 325 saves in his career. He packed his imaginary arrow and came to the Bay Area.

The A’s have 10 games remaining with the M’s, seven in Oakland, beginning next Monday for the first three and then three in Seattle during the last week of the season. This could be a battle of bullpens. The M’s Félix Hernández has been their No. 1 starter and he still is on paper.

However, King Félix, a leader on that pitching staff for 14 years, doesn’t bring the same dominant stuff to the mound anymore. He has a 8-10 record with a 5.73 ERA in 23 starts. Many years ago in Seattle, I saw Félix make his last start at Triple-A with Tacoma. Tremendous stuff, but that doesn’t last forever. Their No. 1 today was lefty James Paxton is 10-5 with a 3.63 ERA in 23 games (two completed games). He is their real top of the rotation man.

Edwin Jackson has done a terrific job for the A’s and now Mike Fiers, after a very good outing against the Dodgers, is part of the rotation. The A’s No. 1 is without a doubt, Sean Manaea, the young lefty is 10-8 with a 3.50 ERA in 24 starts and one complete game, a no-hitter against the Red Sox in Oakland back in April. It is worthy to mention that M’s Marco Gonzáles is having his best season. He is 12-7 and 3.79 ERA in 23 starts with one complete game.

As far as for both of these contending team starters, the M’s might have a slight edge, but when it comes to the bullpen, the A’s bullpen is much deeper than the M’s. That is just a fact. Will the A’s bullpen continue to perform as good? It is hard to find a better bullpen in baseball, maybe the Yankees, but definitely not many as solid as the A’s relievers. The A’s also picked up Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley, who began his career with the M’s, who gave up a completely meaningless ninth inning home run to Austin Jackson, which turned the Nats’ 23-run win into a 21-run win. He was mad about giving up that homer, threw his glove really hard on the ground, and that was his last game with the Nats. So the A’s told him, “Pick your glove up”and come our way!

Starting next Monday, when the A’s return from their trip to Anaheim against the Angels, I expect a bullpen battle between the A’s and M’s. This is when the rubber meets the road. Also, in this home stretch, the A’s will be facing other division teams like Houston, Texas and Los Angeles Angels, and of course a battle royale when the New York Yankees invade the Oakland Coliseum in the first week of September.

Fastens your seat belts, it going to be quite a ride!

Listen to the A’s games in Spanish on KIQI 1010AM/990AM, covering the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Sacramento, Stockton, and the Valley.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Stiff competition for jobs as it showed during a very physical scrimmage between Lions and Raiders

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Photo credit: @Raiders

On the Raiders podcast with Joe:

The competition for a job on either team–the Detroit Lions or the Oakland Raiders–is stiff even if it means if they have to fight for it literally such as it was on Tuesday during scrimmage when both teams were practicing. There were a couple of small scuffles on the sidelines, but it got ugly later when it blew up into a full scale brawl with both benches emptying as frustrations were mounting in the scrimmage.

The Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matt Stafford was able to hit his receivers in practice. He showed his accuracy with his receivers. With both teams practicing together long and hard and watching their frustrations, this could very well carry over into Friday night’s game at the Coliseum as they will be fighting for jobs all night long.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr might end up hating head coach Jon Gruden as he will be in everyone’s grill and pushing hard. Knowing Gruden, will he get the best out of Carr and the Raiders this preseason?

This is the first of the last two seasons for the Raiders in Oakland. J Hawkes talks about the kind of reception the Silver and Black will receive as this is their first game since announcing they will be moving to Vegas.

Join Joe each week for the Raiders preview at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s on the road for brief three-game series in Anaheim; Oakland coming off 7-1 homestand

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Photo credit: @KPOD1240AM

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

The Oakland A’s went 7-1 on their last homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was like the A’s were a knife going through butter as they made it look so easy. The A’s are playing with a lot of confidence and after acquisitions of pitchers Mike Fiers from Detroit, Sean Kelly from Washington, Jeurys Familia from the New York Mets, and picking up Fernando Rodney from Minnesota on Thursday night, the A’s have a real pitching nucleus.

Fiers, who pitched on Wednesday night for five innings plus, didn’t get the win, but was instrumental with 5.1 innings, four hits, one earned run, and eight strikeouts. A’s third baseman Jed Lowrie started working on his leg by doing sprints, treadmill, and lower body workouts.

Tonight, the A’s open a three-game series in Angels Stadium as they’ll start Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.64 ERA) going up against the Angels Felix Pena (1-3, 4.97 ERA).

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

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants injuries, errors, lack of offense mounting drop third straight home game

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USA Today file photo: Pittsburgh Pirates starter Trevor Williams hands his father a signed ball as Williams starts against the Giants tonight at AT&T Park in game two of the four game series this weekend

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

The San Francisco Giants who got dumped by the Houston Astros got a taste of what the Pittsburgh Pirates were all about on Thursday night in a five run 10-5 loss. The loss drops SF to seven games below in the Wild Card and the NL West. The Giants starter Andrew Saurez got rocked in the second inning surrendering two consecutive homers.

For Saurez’ pitching line, three runs, two homers, five innnings, seven hits, three earned runs, for his eighth loss. The defense Saurez didn’t help much committing three errors by Joe Panik, Evan Longoria, and Hunter Pence. The Giants will try it all over again tonight at AT&T Park Trevor Williams gets the call 9-8 and for the Giants Derek Holland 5-8.

Michael does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Bonds gets highest team honor with No. 25 being retired

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Photo credit: @YawkeyWayReport

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds will someday become a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but in the meantime, he will receive an honor reserved for Hall of Famers with the New York/San Francisco Giants.

This Saturday Night, prior to the Giants game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that Bonds was drafted by with the 7thpick in the 1985 Amateur Draft, the Giants will retire Bonds’ number 25.

Bonds will be the first member to have his number retired that is not a member of the Hall of Fame.

The power-hitting left fielder, who hit a Major League record 762 home runs in his career from 1986-2007 will join 10 others with their numbers retired, and another four honored by the team, as they did not have uniform numbers.

Bonds’ godfather Willie Mays was the first player to have his number retired by the team, as his number 24 was retired in 1972 after he was traded to the New York Mets.

After he retired as a member of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975, Juan Marichal received the highest honor from the Giants, as is number 27 was retired that same year, 1975.

Playing in his last season in the majors, Willie McCovey was honored with his number 44 being retired on September 20, 1980.

Just one day later, the Giants honored two of their heroes from their days in New York, as they retired 4 in honor of Mel Ott and number 11 for Carl Hubbell on September 21.

New York Giants first baseman/manager Bill Terry was honored with his number 3 being retired on April 5, 1983.

Two of the greatest New York Giants were honored on August 17, 1986, as both Manager John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were honored by the team with the letters NY, as neither wore a number while a member of the Giants.

Despite the fact that he never played for the Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers player Jackie Robinson number 42 was retired by all major-league teams on April 15, 1997. Robinson retired in 1956 after just 10 years in the major leagues, as he was traded to the Giants from the Dodgers for Dick Littlefield, but he went to work for Chock Full O’nuts as a Vice President instead of joining the Giants.

Orlando Cepeda received the greatest honor from the organization, as his number 30 was placed on the wall at Candlestick Park in its final season on July 11, 1999.

Gaylord Perry became the first player to get his number retired at AT&T Park, as his number 36 revealed on the Club Level on July 23, 2005.

That same season, the broadcasting duo of Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons were honored with microphones on the Club Level.

Monte Irvin was the last player to get his number 20 honored, as his number was unveiled on June 26, 2010.

The next retired number after Bonds’ is up in the air, but it could be Will Clark’s number 22 and current players Madison Bumgarner and his number 40 and Buster Posey with his number 28.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Sources–A’s not happy with flagship station The Game; Fiers and his pitching debut for A’s; plus more

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

The Oakland A’s front office according to sources say they’re not too happy with their flagship station, The Game 95.7, because the station is dedicating too much time to the San Francisco Giants and less airtime for the A’s. The A’s are the hottest team in baseball. According to the source, are asking what do they have to do to get more airtime on their own flagship station? Do they have to play like the 1927 New York Yankees?

The A’s starter Mike Fiers, making his A’s pitching debut on Wednesday night pitched himself a game with some good off speed pitches, painted the corners, worked a pitch that dropped to the bottom of the strike zone, and kept the Los Angeles Dodgers off balance all night, which is no easy task for five-plus innings.

The A’s, who had a six game win streak going into Tuesday night’s game, but lost 4-2; but still monumental with the winningest record in baseball. The Dodgers are no pushovers as they’re hanging in there with Arizona a half-game back and the footsteps of the Colorado Rockies just two games behind. There’s some competition to be had in the NL West.

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s beat and does the podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Will Khalil Mack sign already or will the Raiders shop him?

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

The question still rings–would the Oakland Raiders trade defensive end Khalil Mack? There has been talk and there are NFL teams shopping Mack. The Raiders say Mack is not available, but when a player is holding out, teams come calling. The New York Jets have expressed interest.

The reason for the talk? Mack is looking for more dough the Denver Broncos are paying linebacker Von Miller $114.1 million for six years. Von gets $70 million in guaranteed money. Miller gets $19 million a year and Mack is getting $13.8 million. Mack is looking to match the $19 million total and is holding out.

The Raiders if they do let Mack go, they’re going to ask for the kitchen sink for a player of that value. Will they get what they ask for? Only time will tell.

The Raiders host the Detroit Lions on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum for the first preseason game. It maybe just preseason, but the Raiders are glad training camp is over and are excited about getting this season going.

Join Tony R. each Thursday for the Raiders podcast, Joe Hawkes Beamon for the Raiders preview and podcast each Friday, Jeremy Kahn has complete game coverage after every Raiders home and away game at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants and Pirates to face off in crucial weekend series starting Thursday night

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Photo credit: gamblingsites.org

By Daniel Dullum

The San Francisco Giants had Wednesday off following their brief interleague series with the Houston Astros, which saw them drop both games and fall below the .500 mark as they struggle to stay in the NL West race.

Up next is the Giants’ four-game series at AT&T Park, hosting the Pirates. Back in May, San Francisco (57-58) dropped two of three to Pittsburgh. The Giants haven’t fared much better at home against the Bucs, dropping 12 of their last 17 games to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates (59-56) come in needed these games as much as the Giants and do so after a 4-3 win Wednesday at Colorado. A hot streak around the All-Star break put Pittsburgh on the fringe of the NL playoff chase, along with Atlanta, Arizona, Colorado, St. Louis, and Washington.

Thursday’s pitching matchup has the Giants’ left-hander Andrew Suarez (4-7) facing Pittsburgh right-hander Ivan Nova (6-6). On Friday, lefty Derek Holland (5-8) goes for San Francisco against the Pirates’ righty Trevor Williams (9-8).

While righty Joe Musgrove is slated to start for Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Giants haven’t announced a probable starter. Dereck Rodriguez is expected to start for the Black and Orange on Sunday.

Saturday’s starter won’t be Jeff Samardzija, who could begin a rehab assignment next week. He’s been on the DL since July 15 with right shoulder inflammation. Johnny Cueto, of course, is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on August 2. This is worth noting, as both were counted on at the start of the season to avoid this dilemma.

One glaring area the Giants must improve upon, and manager Bruce Bochy has addressed it more than once–clutch hitting. The Giants are hitting .204 with runners in scoring position and two outs this season, lowest in the NL and third-lowest in the Majors, trailing Texas (.189) and Baltimore (.191).

Another area is simply playing better at home. The Giants have won seven of their last eight games at AT&T Park.

Good news is that Evan Longoria continues to swing a hot bat, hitting .359 over a nine-game stretch with six extra-base hits. Andrew McCutchen’s bat has heated up as well of late, hitting .387 with a double, two homers and three RBIs in the eight games going into Tuesday.

Despite taking a precautionary day off (suspected concussion symptoms–passed all testing), Buster Posey is hitting .452 over an eight-game stretch, and .343 over 17 games.

While both teams have a slim shot at the postseason, whoever loses this series is likely out of the 2018 playoff picture for good.