Author: Sports Radio Service

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: A’s Chapman the hero in taking two out three from the Giants again

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On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

The Oakland A’s Matt Chapman helped getting the gamer in extra innings Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the A’s a one-run win, 6-5, over the San Francisco Giants. Chapman hit a ball that went off Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford’s foot and allowed the game-winning run to score.

With the loss to the A’s, the Giants are now five games back behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. How much of a setback is it for the Giants to lose two series to the A’s in two weeks in the month of July?

A’s starter Sean Manaea had a quality start–not allowing a base runner until the Giants’ Nick Hundley singled with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Giants starter Johnny Cueto threw for seven innings, four runs, six hits, walked two and struck out three.

A’s Khris Davis continues to rake hitting a two-run home run that was the first of three homers of Cueto.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Bay Bridge Series: A’s and Giants–Two Teams Going in Different Directions

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s took four out the six games from the San Francisco Giants these past two weekends and the A’s won the first ever Bay Bridge Series trophy. The A’s won two out of three at AT&T Park and did the same at the Oakland Coliseum. The two Bay Area teams crossed path like two ships in the open sea with one full steam ahead and the other one just trying to stay afloat.

The A’s acquired Mets closer Jeurys Familia, and on his first day with the A’s on Sunday, the Dominican native saw action as he pitched two effective innings in relief and won the game. Now, Familia is 5-4 and comes from the Mets–a team going nowhere with perhaps a seize of taking the cellar-dweller status away from the Marlins–with 17 saves in 21 opportunities. The A’s are contenders and still looking to land a starter.

On Saturday, a new attendance record was set at the Oakland Coliseum since 1968–a record-setting 56,318 in attendance as Mount Davis was opened to the public for the first time in 13 years. On Friday, 45,606 followed by Sunday’s 44,379. A grand total of 146,303 attended for part two of the Bay Bridge Series.

It is good to see this great rivalry. Also, the Bay Area Champion Trophy was a great idea. At the Coliseum this weekend, a lot of families were in attendance–many of whom had different loyalties. So it was not rare to see,some A’s fans and some Giants fans in the same family. As I walked around for an hour before game time, I noticed nothing but joy among the fans during this great series, the first in Oakland since the All-Star Break, with good weather.

Right now, the Giants have a much different look. Right now, the A’s are young, aggressive and exciting as they’re hitting home runs in bunches, while the Giants are pretty much a veteran ball club trying to hold on and return to the form of their most recent odd-year dynasty.

The Giants have a superb fan base and likely do not want to mention the word “rebuild” and they are hoping against hope that their team have enough to make a comeback. They’re playing in a division, where it looks like the Dodgers (now with Manny Machado) are the favorites to win for a six straight time and maybe earn themselves another trip to another World Series. Duggar, Slater, Moronta and Suárez are some of the young blood on the Giants’ roster trying to make an impression compared to the veterans. Only time will tell, but if the Giants continue to hover around the .500 mark, the powers-to-be might have to star selling players before July 31. In a way, they are very lucky to be playing in the NL West, where nobody has gotten really hot, taken first place and opened a big lead.

But I notice that these two teams are going in different directions. The A’s are playing four games starting tomorrow at Arlington, Texas, against the last-place Texas Rangers, three at Denver against the contending Colorado Rockies, and then return home on July 30 for a eight-game homestand over 10 days–three versus the Toronto Blue Jays, three versus the Detroit Tigers, and finally, a two-game set versus the Dodgers.

The Giants head to Seattle for a couple of games at Safeco Field against the Mariners next Tuesday and Wednesday, travel back to San Francisco to host the contending Milwaukee Brewers for four games and then fly to San Diego to close out July against the Padres for a brief two-game series.

Will the Giants ‘back up the truck’ if by then? If they have not made a run? Only the shadow knows. Stay tuned.

Obviously, the Giants want to continue with this cast and hope that Joe Panik and Evan Longoria get back to play and roll the dice! It’s interesting enough that the Giants’ No. 1 pitcher Madison Bumgarner and No. 2 pitcher Johnny Cueto have not fared that well after coming out of the DL. This Sunday, Cueto gave up four home runs–two to Khris Davis and two to Matt Olson. When Cueto was pitching this week, he doesn’t give the long-ball with that frequency, but the A’s continue to hit home runs with the best of teams in baseball this season.

The Giants have a lot of big contracts locked to players like Cueto, Samardzija and Melancon, while they will have to make a decision with Bumgarner…to extend his contract or even trade him in the current market where everybody is looking for pitchers. We will also find out if other guys like veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen will say ‘adios’ to San Francisco.

Amaury Pi-González is on his 41st season of broadcasting the MLB. He’s currently broadcasting for the A’s (his first team in 1977) and has also broadcasted the Giants, Angels and Mariners. In 2010, the Cuban-born broadcaster was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame (BARHOD) alongside Jon Miller and Gary Radnich. As far as baseball in Spanish, Pi-Gonzalez is only the second broadcaster in the country as the longtime Spanish voice of the Dodgers, trailing Jaime Jarrin, who has been broadcasting for over 50 years.

Earthquakes battle Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in friendly

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By Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA — Manchester United’s second stop of their exhibition tour made its way to Santa Clara. Unfortunately for their fans in attendance, they were without some of their superstars, still coming back from the World Cup, and it showed in a lackluster 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on a warm Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

Manchester United was without the services of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young. However, they still had Alexis Sanchez, Anders Pereria and Anthony Marital in their starting lineup against the Quakes.

Manchester United looked like they were going to take control of the game early on when Eric Bailey’s header in the fourth minute hit the cross-bar. They also had chances from Martial in the 23rd minute, and just a minute later, Luke Shaw’s one-timer sailed just over the top of the net.

“I was more focused on us”, said Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho when asked what he thought about playing against San Jose. “I think it’s nice for them to play a team like Manchester United. I thank them for that, it was (a) competitive (game).”

The first yellow card of the match went to the Quakes’ Florian Jungwirth, who performed a WWE style clothesline on Sanchez in the 17th minute. Sanchez used to speed to start a counter attack when Jungwirth made sure it didn’t go any further than midfield.

Quakes head coach Mikeal Stahre started the majority of his bench in the first half with Danny Hoesen, Jungwith and Guram Kashia, the Georgian center back, who made his Quakes debut since being acquired by the team last month with the targeted allocation money, as the only regular starters in the lineup to start the game.

Like most friendlies, the second half featured a different lineup substituted in for both teams and that seemed to open the game.

Ander Herrera was in all alone after a nice give-and-go, but his shot was stopped by Quakes goalie Matt Bersano, who came on in the second half replacing JT Marcinkowski, who started the game and made his debut appearance for San Jose.

The best chances for the Quakes came in the 70th and 71st minute of the match. Tommy Thompson sent in a shot that Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant had to jump high in the air to knock it over the net. A minute later after a corner kick, Vako’s shot attempt sailed over the cross-bar.

“For us it was really important to stay really sharp in this and not get smashed,” said Stahre. “Also to create some chances and we did that. I’m a quite a happy coach right now.”

The last chance for the Quakes came off a Yeferson Qunitana header off a corner kick at the 80th minute that deflected off the cross-bar.

GAME NOTES: Two 16-year olds made their debuts for San Jose late in the match. Gilbert Fuentes came into the match at the 86th minute and Jacob Akanyirige came in the 89 minute, respectively.

This was the second meeting between the two clubs. Manchester United defeated the Quakes 3-1 in the International Champions Cup back on July 21, 2015, at Avaya Stadium.

Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia suffered an injury in the first half and was replaced by Matteo Darmain.

The announced attendance was 32,549. There was an estimated 20 to 25 thousand in the actual stands with the majority of them cheering on the Red Devils.

San Jose defender Kevin Partida underwent ACL reconstruction surgery and a partial meniscectomy on his right knee on Thursday after suffering an injury in the July 7 match against the Portland Timbers. He is out for the rest of the season and is expected to be sidelined for nine months.

UP NEXT: The Quakes return to MLS action when they host the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, July 25, at Avaya Stadium at 7:30 pm PDT.

Chapman’s walk-off single wins it for the A’s 6-5 over the Giants in extras

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Matt Chapman ended the weekend with one swing of the bat, and gave the Bay Bridge Series to the Oakland A’s.

Chapman hit a single off of Brandon Crawford’s foot and bounced into the outfield, to give the A’s a thrilling 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings before a sellout crowd of 44,374 at the Coliseum on Sunday.

Marcus Semien led off the bottom of the 10th with a walk off of eventual losing pitcher Ty Blach, Semien stole second with Stephen Piscotty at the plate. Piscotty then flew out for the first out and then Blach intentionally walked Khris Davis to get to Matt Olson, who flew out for the second out and then Chapman ended it with his single.

With the loss, the Giants are now just one game over .500 at 51-50, and are now five games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

This game went back and forth in the later innings, as Andrew McCutchen hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning that gave the Giants a 5-4 lead. However, that lead was short-lived, as Davis hit his second home run of the afternoon in the bottom half of the inning to tie up the game.

Sean Manaea was outstanding for the A’s, as he did not allow a base runner until Nick Hundley singled with one out in the top of the fifth inning and then two batters later, Austin Slater broke up the shutout for Manaea, as he doubled off the right-center field wall.

Manaea went 6.2 innings, allowing just two run, while scattering four hits, not walking a batter and striking out five, but he did not fare in the decision.

Johnny Cueto went seven innings, allowing four runs, on six hits, walking two and striking out three, but did not fare in the decision.

Cueto struggled to get to seven innings pitched, as he gave up three home runs, before giving way to Melancon in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Davis hit a home run, a two-run blast and that was the first of three home runs allowed by Cueto on the afternoon, as he gave up two home runs to Matt Olson in the bottom of the fourth and sixth innings, respectively.

Nick Martini got the A’s first inning going, as he legged out an infield single and then three batters later, Davis hit the first pitch he saw from Cueto into the left field seats to give the A’s an early 2-0 lead.

Olson extended the lead up to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he took a Cueto offering and put it into the right field seats for his 20th home run of the season.

After the Slater double that scored Hundley in the top of the fifth inning, Olson launched his second home run of the game and 21st of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning.

It was the second two-homer game of the season for Olson, and the fourth of his career.

The Giants put together a rally in the top of the seventh inning, as Hundley picked up his second hit of the afternoon, and then two batters later, Slater followed up his second hit of the afternoon.

After Brandon Crawford made the second out of the inning, Manaea was replaced by Emilio, who immediately gave up a single to Slater and that was all for Pagan, as Leo Trivino came on to face pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval, who then cut the A’s lead down to 4-3, as he doubled off the right-center field wall.

The Giants were not done, as pinch-hitter Alen Hanson then singled to score pinch runner Steven Duggar to tie up the game.

NOTES: This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams, as they split a two-game series at AT&T Park on April 3 and 4.

UP NEXT: After an off day on Monday, the Giants continue to play the American League West on the road, as they travel to Seattle and open a brief two-game series against the Mariners on Tuesday night at 7:10 pm PDT. Andrew Suarez will take the ball in the opener, while the Mariners will send James Paxton to the mound.

Lucroy’s walk-off single lifts A’s past Giants 4-3 in extras

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Jonathan Lucroy ended the game with one swing of the bat when the Oakland A’s needed it the most.

Lucroy hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning, helping the A’s to a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a sellout crowd of 56,310 at the Coliseum on Saturday night.

“Hard fought game,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

It was the second walk-off of the season for Lucroy, with his first coming on June 17 against the Los Angeles Angels and it was the seventh game-ending RBI of Lucroy’s career.

Things looked bleak for the Giants in the top of the ninth inning, as A’s closer Blake Treinen came to close it out; however, a funny thing happened on the way to the game ending.

Treinen was able to retire Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, but then Alen Hanson reached on a wild pitch after he struck out with the game on the line.

Hunter Pence then tied up the game with a double down the right field line that easily scored the speedy Hanson from first base.

A’s manager Bob Melvin came out to argue that the Pence ball was interfered with in the bullpen area; however, after a 1:18 review, the play stood and the game was tied.

“It is a ground-rule, and Hanson scored easily,” said Bochy.

The A’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Tony Watson gave up back-to-back singles to Matt Olson and Matt Chapman and then Reyes Moronta came on to replace Watson.

Moronta then got Chad Pinder to sacrifice Olson and Chapman to second and third, and then after an intentional walk to pinch hitter Nick Martini, Moronta then got Marcus Semien to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Andrew McCutchen drew walk against Treinen in the top of the 10th inning with one out, but Treinen struck out both Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey to end the inning.

Madison Bumgarner gave up four walks and a base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the A’s a 3-1 lead on the Giants.

Olson led off the fifth with a single, then Chapman, Chad Pinder, Josh Phegley and Marcus Siemen all walked against Bumgarner and that was the end of the night for the left-hander.

“First four innings, I was cruising and then in the fifth, I could not find the corner,” said Bumgarner.

Phegley’s walk tied up the game, then Semien’s walk gave the A’s lead for the first time and after Bumgarner was lifted for Sam Dyson, Mark Canha grounded into a double play that scored Pinder with the final run of the inning.

“Dyson kept it close for us,” said Bochy, as the reliever went two innings, and allowed a walk and a strikeout before being replaced by Ray Black in the top of the seventh inning.

The combined five walks in the fifth inning are the most in an inning for the Giants since they walked five in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on July 3, 2007 at Great American Ballpark. Barry Zito allowed the five walks in that fourth inning, a game that the Giants would lose 7-3 to the Reds.

Bumgarner went just four innings, allowing three runs on two hits, walking six and striking out and he did not fare in the decision. The streak of 89 consecutive starts that Bumgarner went at least five innings came to an end, the 89 consecutive starts were a major league high.

The six walks by Bumgarner were a career-high, as he gave up five walks four times in his career, with the last time coming against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 4, 2016 at Miller Park.

Brandon Belt returned from the paternity list after the birth of his son August (Augie), and hit his 14th home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The Belt home run was the first hit that the Giants got off of Trevor Cahill on the evening, and was just the second runner that Cahill allowed to reach prior to the sixth inning, which was the end of the line for Cahill.

In all, Cahill went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on two hits, but he did not fare in the decision.

Cahill got into a jam in the top of the sixth inning, as he gave up a leadoff single to Hunter Pence, then Cahill regrouped to strikeout both Gorkys Hernandez and Steven Duggar consecutively. Unfortunately, Cahill then walked to load the bases and Cahill’s night was done and Ryan Buchter came on to replace Cahill.

Buchter then was able to get Crawford to strikeout to end the inning and the threat for the Giants.

Crawford made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he ran from his position at shortstop to make a running catch off of foul ball from Olson. Pablo Sandoval was in the shift, and nowhere near third base and Crawford reached out to make the running catch in the Coliseum’s very deep foul territory.

In the bottom of the 11thinning, Crawford made another great defensive play, as he slid to catch an Olson fly ball that would have easily fallen in for an easy double for Olson with one out.

As fate would have it, Will Smith then gave up back-to-back singles to Chapman and Pinder and then Lucroy ended it with a single.

Pence got the Giants within one in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled up the middle to score Posey easily from third base.

The Pence single came off of Leo Trivino, after he replaced Buchter with one out in the inning after Hanson hit a single that sent Posey to third base.

All in all, Pence went 3-for-5 at the plate, including that double in the top of the ninth inning that tied up the game.

“Nice game by Hunter,” said Bochy.

Trivino was able to get out of the jam, as he struck out Hernandez and then was able to get Duggar to ground out to Jed Lowrie at second base to end the inning.

Treinen came on in the top of the ninth inning, and was unable to pick-up his 25thsave in 28 opportunities. In all, Treinen threw 44 pitches, the most by the reliever since April 18 against the Chicago White Sox and it was the sixth time in his career that he threw 40 or more pitches in a game in his career that spans 254 games.

NOTES: Ryder Jones was optioned back to Sacramento after Belt was activated from the Paternity List to the game.

Belt’s newborn’s full name is August “Augie” Kyle Belt, and he joins older brother Grayson, who will be four years old in August.

The baby is named after Belt’s former head coach at the University of Texas, the late Augie Garrido, whom Belt played for in 2008 and 2009.

Garrido, who passed away in March of 2018 was the winningest coach in NCAA Baseball history until current Florida State Head Coach Mike Martin passed him. The veteran coach led both Cal State Fullerton and Texas to the College World Series 15 times, winning five of them for the Titans and Longhorns.

The 56,310 in attendance broke the record of 55,989 that packed the Coliseum on June 26, 2004, when the A’s’ defeated the Giants 8-7 in 10 innings, when Marco Scutaro singled in Bobby Kielty. Octavio Dotel picked the win for the A’s, while Jim Brower took the loss for the Giants. This was also the largest crowd in the Major Leagues during the 2018 season.

UP NEXT: The Giants and A’s will meet again Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT.

Johnny Cueto looks for his fourth win on Sunday afternoon, as he takes the mound for the Giants in the last regular season meeting against the A’s this year. Sean Manaea will go for the A’s, as he looks for his 10th win of the season.

San Jose State alumna Sybille Gauvain to play in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State alumna Sybille Gauvain, the No. 1 singles player on the Spartans’ women’s tennis team the last four seasons, will be representing her alma mater in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic’s singles qualifying round tournament at the Spartan Tennis Complex on SJSU’s South Campus.

Gauvain is 1 of 16 players playing Saturday, July 28, and possibly, Sunday, July 29, for 1 of 4 berths in the singles’ main draw.

“It’s amazing,” Gauvain recently expressed upon learning of the opportunity to compete in a tournament that features 11 of the top-50 ranked players in the world headlined by No. 28 — Serena Williams, No. 14 — Venus Williams, and defending tournament champion No. 12 — Madison Keys. The qualifying tournament has Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked players from 11 countries.

The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic runs July 30 through August 5 and is the first stop in a 5-tournament tour leading up to the U.S. Open in New York in September.

Gauvain, a business administration major from France, was a model student-athlete. She graduated cum laude, was a key member in San Jose State’s Mountain West conference championship season in 2017, and finished her college career tied for third on the Spartans’ list for combined singles and doubles tennis victories with 132 in 3.5 seasons.

An Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranked singles player and 7-time All-Mountain West singles and doubles honoree during her career, Gauvain turned pro after graduation and will be playing in her third tournament as a pro.

“This is a great opportunity for Sybille (Gauvain) to be playing in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic singles qualification tournament. She was a stand-out player on our women’s tennis team and worked hard on the court to get to where she is,” said San Jose State women’s tennis head coach Chad Skorupka.

“Playing in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is a high point in her early (professional) playing career and also highlights the great new facilities we have on the South Campus. For Sybille (Gauvain) to be playing in front of the San Jose State family will be amazing.”

Gauvain’s opponent and time of match on Saturday, July 28 will be announced on Friday, July 27. The eight winners on July 28 must win again the next day for a spot in the singles main draw that begins, Monday, July 30.

“I’m getting ready for this. I’m practicing harder. I’m thinking about it when I’m practicing,” said Gauvain. “It’s going to be like a ‘Grand Slam’ tournament with all the players who are going to be here.”

Notes: There will free parking in San Jose State’s Park & Ride Lot located at the corner of 7th and Humboldt Streets with less than a 0.25 mile walk to the Spartan Tennis Complex and free admission to watch the July 28 and July 29 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic qualifying round singles matches.

The main tournament with a 32-player singles field and 16 doubles teams begins Monday, July 30, and concludes Sunday, August 5. The superb field includes Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and defending tournament champion Madison Keys.

Tickets for the singles and doubles matches of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic tournament beginning July 30 are available now at http://www.mubadalasvc.com/.

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Giants’ Rodriguez dominates A’s; Manfred ready for the universal DH; Red Sox red-hot blank Tigers; plus more

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On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez went 6.1 innings Friday night against the Oakland A’s and held the A’s to just one run in the Giants’ 5-1 win at AT&T Park.

#2 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has talked about the universal designated hitter, while there are a good number of players in the National League who do not like the DH Manfred said momentum is gaining that the DH will be enacted sooner than later.

#3 The Boston Red Sox got a 1-0 shutout over the Detroit Tigers on Friday. The Red Sox Steve Pearce hit an RBI double and David Price pitched a four hitter past the Bengals.

#4 The Seattle Mariners gained a full game on the Oakland A’s with a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc and two relievers helped stop the Sox for five hits in the win.

#5 Cleveland keeps rolling now–8.5 on top of the Minnesota Twins. The Twins who were defeated by Cleveland on Friday night 6-5 need these games to knock down some of  Cleveland’s lead.

Matt Harrington does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Rodriguez helps Giants even Bay Bridge Series en route to 5-1 rout of A’s

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By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — In his first ever appearance against the Oakland A’s, Dereck Rodriguez showed one of the hottest teams in baseball that he is for real.

Ryder Jones hit a solo home run off of Edwin Jackson leading off the top of the fifth inning, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Oakland A’s before a sellout crowd of 45,606 at the Coliseum on Friday night.

Jones, called up from Sacramento to take the place of Brandon Belt, who was placed on the paternity list, as his wife Haylee gave birth to their second child, a boy named August Kyle. It is the second boy, as Haylee gave birth to a baby boy during the 2014 World Series Championship season.

Andrew McCutchen came up huge for the Giants both offensively and defensively, as he broke up Jackson’s no-hit bid by doubling in the top of the fourth inning with one out. McCutchen then scored the tying run, as Buster Posey singled into shallow center field, two batters later.

McCutchen made two great catches in the outfield, as he robbed Matt Chapman of potential extra bases to end the fourth inning and did it again in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he robbed Jonathan Lucroy of an extra base hit.

Pablo Sandoval extended the Giants lead up to 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning as he took a Jackson offering and put it into the right field seats to extend the Giants lead.

Rodriguez pitched a great game for the Giants, as he went 6.1 innings, allowing one run, on three hits, walking no one and striking out five.

“It started with Rodríguez, what another nice job he did,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “A nice job pitching, got us into the seventh there and really had all of his pitches going again.”

After hitting his second batter of the night, Rodriguez was able to Matt Chapman to fly out to McCutchen in right field and that was the end of the night for Rodriguez.

Reyes Moronta came on to replace Rodriguez, and he got Mark Canha to pop out to Sandoval and then Dustin Fowler grounded out to Alen Hanson to end the inning and the threat.

“We know, it’s a group of guys that have been around for a while and we’ve got to get these guys some run support,” Posey said.

The bullpen trio of Moronta, Mark Melancon and Tony Watson allowed no runs, one hit, one walk and no strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.

The A’s got to Rodriguez in the bottom of the second inning, as Khris Davis doubled to lead off the inning, after Olson flew out for the first out of the inning to send Davis to third base, then Chapman was hit by a pitch. Canha then hit a sacrifice fly to Gorkys Hernandez in left field to score Davis with the A’s first run of the evening.

“After I signed with the Giants in the offseason, I felt like it was a fresh start and I wanted to make a good impression,” Rodríguez said.

Jackson also went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six.

McCutchen drove in the fourth run of the evening for the Giants, as he hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning off of former Giants reliever Yusmeiro Petit.

The Giants got the eighth inning rally started in the top of the inning, as Gorkys Hernandez led off the inning with a single, then Steven Duggar singled for the first time tonight, following a Alen Hanson sacrifice bunt back to Petit, McCutchen’s sacrifice fly to Fowler, easily scored Hernandez.

Brandon Crawford got in on the act, as he singled to right field to score Duggar from third base to put the game away.

Sandoval just missed his second home run in the top of the ninth inning, as he hit a double high off the wall in the left-center field.

NOTES: The two home runs by the Giants tonight bring their total for the month up to eight. It was the third home run of the month for Sandoval, two for Chase d’Arnaud, and for Hernandez, Hanson and Jones.

This was the A’s first sellout of the season, as they drew a season-high in the opener of the three-game series.

Evan Longoria began his rehab assignment with the Sacramento Rivercats, as they traveled to El Paso to face the Chihuahuas. Longoria went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI before being replaced by Myles Schroder at third base.

McCutchen ended the game with eight putouts, the most in a nine-inning game by a Giants right fielder since Randy Winn ended with eight on April 7, 2006 against the Atlanta Braves.

It was the sixth time in McCutchen’s career that he ended a game with eight-or-more putouts in the same game. McCutchen’s career high is nine, that he did twice with the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 19, 2014 versus the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park and on May 11, 2015 on the road versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

With his run-scoring single in the top of the third inning that scored McCutchen, Posey extended his hitting streak at the Coliseum up to seven games.

Jeff Samardzija, currently on the disabled list underwent an MRI on Monday and also received a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection on Monday as well.

“We’re just trying to avoid those flare ups that we’ve had all year,” Samardzija said. “I guess there’s good news and bad news and the bad news is that we’re back here where we’re at. But the good news is after doing this once or twice, we’ve got a really good plan moving forward.”

Samardzija is on the disabled list for the third time this season with inflammation in his pitching shoulder.

“This team has put me in the situation to have the ability to come back and wait until I’m 100 percent with how great the young kids have been pitching,” Samardzija said.

UP NEXT: The Giants and A’s will continue the Bay Bridge Series Saturday night at 6:05 pm PT.

Madison Bumgarner will make his ninth start of the season, on Saturday evening, as he looks for his fourth win of the season. Trevor Cahill will take the mound for the A’s, as he looks for his second win of the season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s Jackson tries to avenge from last week’s loss to Giants tonight

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On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The Oakland A’s open up a three-game series starting tonight at the Oakland Coliseum with A’s starter Edwin Jackson 1-1, who is on the upside of his career, when you compare it with San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez, who is 4-1 and the son of former catcher and Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez.

Jackson, who’s on his 13th MLB team, has done a very nice job in the starting role for the A’s, and in his last start, he faced the Giants at AT&T Park last weekend in game one of the Bay Bridge Series before the All-Star Break.

Jackson pitched for six innings and gave up two runs and ended up losing that game to the Giants. Jackson looks to improve his performance against the Giants. Jackson doesn’t have the best numbers against the Giants, but it’ll be interesting to see what Jackson can do against the Giants to open the Bay Bridge Series at the Coliseum tonight.

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

3 reasons why the Warriors’ signing of DeMarcus Cousins won’t work out

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Photo credit: @DimeUPROXX

By: Ana Kieu

When DeMarcus Cousins joined the Golden State Warriors, this forced many NBA fans to let out a heavy sigh, as the unstoppable force got even more unstoppable. Cousins reportedly signed a 1-year deal worth $5.3 million, which isn’t one of the biggest contracts, but still far less than what he likely could’ve earned with another team.

Cousins technically didn’t do anything he wasn’t allowed to do, according to the NBA salary cap structure. But this debatable fact hasn’t stopped fans from judging Cousins in a similar way like they likely did with Kevin Durant, who did something almost identical  a few years ago.

But here’s the question: Why did the Warriors sign Cousins? Obviously, the signing of Durant was helpful, but is Cousins the real deal?

Here are 3 reasons why the Warriors’ signing of Cousins won’t work out.

1. Is Team Chemistry An Issue?
The Warriors are apparently treating Cousins like he’s the next big thing when that title should be given to Durant.

Sure, Steph Curry may have called Cousins the third Splash Brother, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll be a positive force on the Warriors’ roster.

According to Twitter, Durant may not be Cousins’ biggest fan. Additionally, Draymond Green had a few words with Cousins before the deal was signed, and admitted that they’d need to put their differences aside in order to succeed.

So is the deal really worth the potential team chemistry issues that might arise? Either the Warriors signed Cousins because they know he’s not going to be around for a long time or he’ll be with the team long after Green, Durant and Klay Thompson sign contracts with other teams?

2. He’s Probably Not Going To Stay
On the topic of a short-term stay or an extended lodge, this isn’t likely going to be a long-term relationship between Cousins and Golden State. Regardless of where the Big Four end up, will Cousins really be around for the long run?

There has been speculation that the rest of the NBA didn’t come calling for Cousins and that’s why he signed with the Warriors. If that’s true, this will be nothing more than a showcase year to prove that Cousins isn’t injured. However, if he turns out to be successful, he might get a max contract next summer, but many players who need to prove that they’re worth the big bucks turn out to have no loyalty towards a team.

3. Warriors Have No Moves Remaining
The signing of Cousins was arguably the Warriors’ biggest move this summer. Some fans may suggest the Warriors won’t need to do anything else, but that might not be true, and even if they do, they can’t right now.

If you think that the signing of Cousins automatically means saying goodbye to Nick Young and Jamal Crawford, think again. The Warriors are losing to key players off their bench.

That being said, Cousins’ deal uses up the Warriors’ luxury tax mid-level exception. That means there will be less help from the bench, especially if Cousins recuperates from his injury and spends more time on the court than the Big Four. An injury to any one of these guys could be devastating as there will be fewer options in the backups department.