Headline Sports podcast Marko Ukalovic: Yanks Williams struggling in relief role; Braves Verdugo off to a hitting start in first two games; plus more MLB news

Atlanta Braves Alex Verdugo (8) is greeted at by Braves manager Brian Snitker (43) after scoring a third inning run against the Minnesota Twins at Truist Field in Cobb County GA on Sat Apr 19, 2025 (AP News photo)

Headline Sports podcast Marko:

#1 After joining the New York Yankees pitcher Devin Williams doesn’t look like the All Star thrower he was when he pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers last season. The Tampa Bay Rays Brandon Lowe’s two run single off Williams was part of a four run rally. The Rays Jon Aranda hit a two run homer in the tenth against Yoendrys Gomez for extra measure to defeat the Yankees 10-8 that snapped the New York five game win streak.

#2 The Atlanta Braves Alex Verdugo said he’s not taking credit for the Braves going 2-0 since being recalled this week. Verdugo got four hits and scored two runs on Saturday night against the Minnesota Twins for a 4-3 win. Verdugo in those two games has been the key to the Braves line up so far.

#3 Forget baseball the face of baseball two way star Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka have announced the birth of their child on Saturday. “I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy beautiful daughter,” Ohtani wrote in an Instagram post. “To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents.”

#4 Toronto Blue Jays right hand pitcher Jose Berrios was suspected Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was tipping his pitches to the Mariners bench. When Raleigh was walking back to the dugout Berrios let Raleigh know what he thought of it. The Jays lost to the Mariners 8-4 in 12 innings on Saturday. Berrios said “people are trying to fight with us in the field, I don’t respect that. I don’t like that.”

#5 Marko, how do you explain the Sacramento A’s having baseball’s second best road record at 8-4 and a home record of 2-7. The A’s picked up their fourth win in five games on this current road trip against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Are they having a tough time at Sutter Health Park or are the visitors just pumped and ready to win in Sacramento?

Marko Ukalovic filled for Charlie O who does Headline Sports podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast Mary Lisa Sun Apr 20, 2025: Jets jump to a early 1-0 lead on Blues; Aves leave no doubt in 5-1 win over Stars

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) is thrilled after scoring a power play goal against the Dallas Stars during game one of the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sat Apr 19, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast Mary Lisa:

#1 On Saturday night in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Canada Life Center in Winnipeg was a house of blues for the St Louis Blues who were on the wrong end of the 5-3 score against the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets Kyle Conner score at 1:36 left in the game to give the Jets the lead and never looking back.

#2 In front of 15,225 fans in Winnipeg Connor added two assists and Jets team captain Adam Lowry scored an empty netter with 53 seconds left for the two goal 5-3 win.

#3 The Jets are the Presidents Cup winner and led the Western Conference for most the season. The Jets are a favorite to get to the Finals. What impresses you most from what you saw of them on Saturday night?

#4 The Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon was pretty busy all night long against the Dallas Stars in the Aves 5-1 win in game 1 of this edition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. MacKinnon took a stick to the face. He scored two of Colorado’s goals and scored an empty netter that was his 50th career playoff goal.

#5 Mary Lisa you might remember MacKenzie Blackwood who you used to see in San Jose back in the day. Blackwood stopped 23 shots and allowed just one goal for the Aves to win the first game of the playoffs series.

Join Mary Lisa throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for coverage of the playoff podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Hang on To Level Series Beating Angels 3-2

San Francisco Giants starter Landon Roupp was brining the heat against the Los Angeles Angels at the Big A in Anaheim on Sat Apr 19, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (14-7) took game two of their three game series with the Los Angeles Angels (10-10) 3-2. They had taken a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

It all changed thanks to Angel slugger Mike Trout who knocked two home runs out of the park and very nearly hit a third in the ninth inning. San Francisco stubbornly hung onto the one-run lead through the three final innings and came away with the win.

Game recap: Friday, the Angels took a 2-0 lead early in the game; Saturday it was the Giants who got the early lead in the first inning 2-0. Matt Chapman who had been quiet in game one hit a two run home run with Willy Adames on base, a great start.

The Giants built on that lead in the third inning when Willy Adames singled Mike Yastrzemski home but Adames was thrown out at second base trying to advance. Going into the fourth inning San Francisco had a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Mike Trout came to the plate, always a threat. He made good on that reputation hitting a 435 ft home run to left and the Angels were on the scoreboard. Trout struck again in the sixth inning, another solo home run and Los Angeles was within one run of the Giants 2-3.

Angels starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks finished five innings allowing four hits and three earned runs, two walks and only one strikeout. He was relieved by Reid Detmers who pitched 2.2 innings allowing one hit with two strikeouts. Ryan Johnson finished off the top of the eighth inning for the Angels and would try to do more of the same in the ninth inning.

San Francisco pitcher Landen Roupp had struck out nine batters through seven innings. He had allowed the two runs with five hits and only one walk. His command was impressive. He was relieved in the bottom of the eighth inning by Tyler Rogers who would try to protect the San Francisco lead. Rogers did a great job with a three up three out inning going into the ninth.

Leading by a single run, San Francisco badly needed an insurance run or two. They only had a single hit in the top of the eighth inning off the bat of Jung Hoo Lee as the Giants were still clinging to the 3-2 lead.

The ninth inning was more of the same for San Francisco three up and three down. Heliot Ramos lined out, LaMonte Wade Jr. flied out and Wilmer Flores grounded out. The Giants were living on the edge trying to hang onto the one run lead.

Giant’s closer Ryan Johnson would face the heart of the Angel lineup in the bottom of the ninth inning; the first batter at the plate Mike Trout who without doubt had the power to deliver a hat trick.

He very nearly had a third home run that was fielded by Jung Hoo Lee for the first out. In fact Johnson thought that ball was out of the park and you could see the relief on his face when it stayed in.

Logan O’Hoppe grounded out and the Giants were one out away from leveling the series. The Giants hung on when Nola Schanuel lined out for the third out and that was the ball game. San Francisco was really tempting fate in the ninth inning but a lot of credit to the Giants who held tight and shut the door on Los Angeles.

Game notes: Friday the Giants dropped game one in their series with the Angels at Anaheim Stadium 2-0. What was even more disappointing was that the Giants lost despite an amazing performance on the mound by Logan Webb.

Webb allowed the two runs in the second inning but was flawless for five innings striking out 12 batters which included striking out Mike Trout three times. San Francisco struggled big-time at the plate and got those bats working in Saturday’s game two.

The Giants only had four hits in game one and got a lot more in Saturday’s game. Landen Roupp took the mound Saturday for San Francisco. The Angels started Kyle Hendricks. Roupp went seven innings giving up five hits and two runs. Hendricks pitched five innings four hits and three earned runs.

The rubber game will be played Sunday afternoon on a beautiful 77 degree Easter with first pitch scheduled for 1:07 PM. The Giants Justin Verlander (0-1 ERA 6.75) will give it another go on the mound Sunday now in his 20th season and looking for his first win. The Angels lefty Yusei Kikchi (0-3 ERA 4.13) will start for the Angels. The Giants have struggled against lefties this season and will try to turn that around.

Rooker and Langeliers Stir The Brew in Milwaukee; Athletics even series with 3-1 win

Sacramento A’s starter Luis Severino (40) delivers against the Milwaukee Brewers line up in the bottom of the first inning at American Family Park in Milwaukee on Sat Apr 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

Rooker and Langeliers Stir The Brew in Milwaukee

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics may have changed addresses but their fighting spirit packed its bags right along with them. Behind clutch home runs from Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers, the green and gold snuck by the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 Saturday night at American Family Field.

From the first pitch, it was clear that runs would be at a minimum. Both starting pitchers, Luis Severino for the A’s and Chad Patrick for the Brewers, settled in quickly.

Severino, a two-time All Star known for his fiery fastball during his Yankees days, looked sharp. His only blemish came in the third inning when Garrett Mitchell doubled and later scored on a routine groundout by Caleb Durbin to give Milwaukee an early 1-0 lead.

The A’s answered back in the fifth. JJ Bleday and rookie Jacob Wilson sparked the rally with back-to-back singles. Miguel Andujar, a former Rookie of the Year runner-up, laced a double to left field, scoring Bleday and tying the game at 1-1. Andujar, who has been quietly productive since joining the Athletics, continues to show flashes of the player who once roamed the Bronx outfield.

The game turned in the sixth inning with a single swing off of Brent Rooker’s bat. His thunderous sixth home run of the season deep to center, gave the A’s a 2-1 lead. It was a vintage Rooker swing, all muscle and impeccable timing, that left Milwaukee’s outfielders as spectators.

Severino kept mowing down Brewers hitters into the late innings. By the ninth, manager Mark Kotsay turned the ball over to Mason Miller’s triple-digit heater to seal the win. But before Miller could slam the door, Shea Langeliers gave him a little extra cushion with his fifth homer of the year, another blast to center field off reliever Joel Payamps, making it 3-1.

Miller, who touched 102 miles per hour on the radar gun, made quick work of Milwaukee’s final three batters. Brice Turang flied out harmlessly to right. Jackson Chourio, the Brewers’ highly touted rookie, struck out swinging. Christian Yelich, the former MVP, fought but ultimately went down on a foul tip to end the game.

It was a textbook road win for the Athletics: timely hitting, solid defense, strong starting pitching, and a closer who simply overpowers hitters.

For all the talk about the A’s rebuild, nights like this are a reminder that the green and gold have plenty of pieces worth watching. As the team continues to forge its new identity away from Oakland, performances like these give their fans reason to believe that better days are not just in the distant future but already unfolding.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times

Sallói’s brace powers Sporting KC to 5-3 win over Earthquakes

Sporting Kansas City striker Dániel Sallói dribbles the ball as San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Niko Tsakiris looks on during Sporting KC’s 5-3 win at Pay Pal Park on Saturday APR 19, 2025. (Sporting Kansas City)

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Dániel Sallói scored twice as Sporting Kansas City cruised to a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has two matches in a row and four out of its last seven. Sporting KC has won two of its past three matches.

Sporting KC (2-6-1) scored three unanswered goals in a six-minute span early in the first half. In the 18th minute, Dejan Joveljic found Logan Ndenbe along the left side of the box and the left wing back rifled a shot to the far corner past Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. for his first goal of the season.

Two minutes later Sallói scored the first of his two goals of the match. Sporting KC goalkeeper John Pulskamp sent a long ball off of a free kick inside the box. Sallói got behind San Jose center back Rodrigues and deposited the ball top-shelf for his third goal of the season.

Then in the 24th minute, Shapi Suleymanov received a long ball from Nemanja Radoja along the right wing. Suleymanov crossed the ball into the box where Manu Garcia chipped the ball over a sliding Edwards Jr. for his first goal of the season.

“You concede three goals in the first 30 minutes; you don’t deserve to win. I give our team a lot of credit. We got it to 3-2 at halftime. I felt we were in position to win the game, but we continued to make some errors that were costly in the second half. Overall, it’s a poor performance on our part. There’s no two ways about it. … We were poor today. Give our opponent credit. They played hard. They converted the opportunities that were there. They deserve a lot of credit,” Quakes head coach Bruce Arena said.

San Jose (3-5-1) answered back in the 30th minute. Niko Tsakiris led a counterattack from midfield. Rodrigues dribbled in from the right slot and threaded a pass over to Josef Martinez who one-timed a right footed shot past Pulskamp for his fifth goal of the season.

The Earthquakes cut the deficit to one goal just before halftime in the 42nd minute. Cristian Espinoza’s free kick deflected off of Suleymanov to an unmarked Cristian Arango who headed the ball past Pulskamp for his fifth goal of the season.

Sallói completed his brace in the 73rd minute with an insurance goal for Sporting KC. Erik Thommy centered the ball into the middle of the box where Sallói snuck in from the left wing all alone and beat Edwards Jr. with a right footed one-timer for his fourth goal of the season.

“I think we need to look at ourselves in terms of responsibility, the team and the mentality going into it. Because, like you said, seeing the way we were playing, the way we came back in the in the first half, it was just a classic way-too-late situation of where the game gets going and the players start to pick themselves up, but it’s already too late,” Quakes midfielder Ian Harkes said.

Thommy put the game away for the visitors in the 85th minute. Sallói sent a pass over to the right side of the box where Thommy made a move around Ousseni Bouda before firing a shot to the far corner for his second goal of the season.

Arango completed the scoring with his brace in the fourth minute of stoppage time with a penalty kick. Martinez drew a penalty inside the box after being fouled by Pulskamp two minutes earlier. Arango made a hesitation move to get Pulskamp leaning left before chipping the ball into the middle of the net for his team leading sixth goal of the season.

Pulskamp finished the match with three saves on six shots on goal to earn his second win of the season. Edwards Jr., who made his first start of the season in place of the injured Daniel, didn’t record a save on the five shots on goal in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Sporting Kansas City had none.

The Earthquakes move to 27-33-10 all-time vs. Sporting KC, with an 18-9-8 record at home. Tonight’s result evens the season series. In their last meeting back on March 1 in Kansas City, Kansas, the Quakes won 2-1 for their first road win over SKC since Aug. 19, 2015.

San Jose regained their spot atop the MLS team goals leaderboard after scoring three more to run their total to 19, two more than Vancouver.

Fullback Max Floriani made his MLS and Quakes debut in the 88th minute, coming on for Rodrigues. Floriani was selected second overall by the San Jose Earthquakes in last December’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft out of Saint Louis University.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out east to take on the Columbus Crew on Saturday April 26th at 4:30pm at Lower.com Field.

Sacramento A’s Relocation podcast Daniel Dullum: Sale of Coliseum on hold until 2026; AASEG looking to purchase A’s half of property

Usher Leland Anderson greets fans at the Oakland Coliseum before the Colorado Rockies and Oakland A’s match up on May 22, 2024. The Oakland Coliseum Complex property sale is expected to be completed by February 2026 as purchased by the African American Sports Entertainment Group (AP file photo)

On the Sacramento A’s Relocation podcast Daniel Dullum:

#1 Daniel last Monday Oakland City officials held a vote to delay the closing date of sale for the African American Sports Entertainment Group share of the Oakland Coliseum complex. The delay will be until early 2026.

#2 The sale would go to a group of developers and investors AASEG who are negotiating with Alameda County officials and are in negotiations right now.

#3 If the deal is settled it would sell half of the City of Oakland’s ownership of the 112 acre property that would include the Oakland Coliseum and Arena, administrative offices, the parking lots to the AASEG. The sale was set to be close on May 30th.

#4 Will this deal get done? The deal between AASEG and Alameda County must be approved separately as the A’s own the other half of the Coliseum property. The County had met directly with AASEG in January.

#5 In 2025 AASEG made a deal to buy the A’s half of the Coliseum for $125 million. The approval of the sale needed to be approved by the Alameda county supervisors. The A’s had bought the county’s share back in 2019 for $85 million. Last fall the Oakland City Council approved the sale of the property to AASEG. Last Monday now the City Council voted to delay the sale. Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Ken Houston extended the closing date of the sale so it would align the timeline with the city and county.

Daniel Dullum does the Sacramento A’s relocation podcasts each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Despite Solid Pitching By Logan Webb-Giants Drop Game One to Angels 2-0; Halos Anderson pitches six innings of shutout ball

San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb delivers to the Los Angeles Angels line up in the bottom of the first inning at Angels Stadium in Anaheim on Fri Apr 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (13-7) fell to the Los Angeles Angels (10-9) 2-0 in game one of their three-game series. Logan Webb had a spectacular game with no walks, 12 strikeouts stumbling a bit in the second inning.

Webb struck Mike Trout out three times. It was a tremendous outing for Webb but the Giants still got stuck with a loss. There was very little going on offensively for San Francisco coming away with only four hits.

Game recap: After a quiet first inning, the Angels had a very productive second inning. Three doubles and a Matt Chapman error had gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. Zach Neto doubled Nolan Schanuel home for the early 1-0 lead. Neto would go on to score when 3rd baseman Matt Chapman encountered a fielding error. Jo Adell and Schanuel also had doubles in the inning.

A pitchers duel got underway with six scoreless innings. Webb had a great start despite the two runs. He really pulled it together finishing six innings allowing four hits, one earned run, no walks and 12 strikeouts. He was relieved in the seventh inning by Randy Rodriguez. Webb had dismissed Mike Trout not once or twice but three times in the game.

The Angels Ty Anderson also had a good game going six innings allowing three hits, no runs, two walks and six strikeouts. He was relieved in the seventh inning by Brock Burke who allowed 1 hit and no runs.

Going into the eighth inning the Giants had to get something going. They were running out of time . The Giants had two walks in the inning but Matt Chapman and Willy Adames both struck out, Heliot Ramos lined out and that was the inning.

The offense for San Francisco had been extremely quiet. The Angels had five hits in the game, the Giants four. San Francisco had been on second base a couple of times in the game but their offense was for the most part pretty stagnant.

It all came down to the ninth inning for San Francisco. It was their final chance to get some offense going while Los Angeles would be looking to hang onto their 2-0 lead and finish off San Francisco.

The Angels Kenley Jansen would try to close this game out and take the first game of this three-game series. It was a three up and three out for San Francisco and Jansen got the job done for the Los Angeles win.

The Giants had wasted an incredible pitching effort by Logan Webb having trouble hitting off Angel pitcher Ty Anderson. It was just one of those night’s where not much was working.

Game notes: After splitting a series with the Phillies to start this past week, the San Francisco Giants headed out west taking on the Angels in a three game series Friday night. It was a 60 plus degree day with the promise of mid-Seventies over the weekend a far-cry from the horrendous conditions in Philadelphia.

Logan Webb was on the mound for San Francisco while the Angels started Ty Anderson. The Giants have been playing some very good baseball taking early leads as well as some come from behind wins. The Giants have slipped into third place with the Padres and Dodgers holding down the first two spots in the National League West. The loss Saturday didn’t help their position against the Dodgers and Padres in the standings.

Saturday the Giants will be looking to even the series with first pitch scheduled for 6:38 PM. San Francisco will send Landen Roupp (1-1, ERA 4.80) to start this game and the Angels will feature Kyle Hendricks (0-1 ERA 4.20) on the mound.

Late Rally Falls Short as A’s Bow to Brewers 5-3

Sacramento A’s pitcher JT Ginn delivers to the Milwaukee Brewers in the bottom of the first inning at American Family Park in Milwaukee on Fri Apr 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

Late Rally Falls Short as A’s Bow to Brewers 5-3

By Mauricio Segura

The Sacramento Athletics’ recent hot streak cooled on Friday evening, as they dropped the opening game of their weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 5-3 at American Family Field. Despite a late-inning push, the green and gold couldn’t overcome an early Brewers lead fueled by timely hits and solid pitching.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta kept the A’s lineup quiet early, striking out six through five innings and scattering seven hits. His effort limited the Athletics’ damage to just one run during his tenure on the mound. Peralta improved to 2-1 with a tidy 2.31 ERA.

Meanwhile, the Athletics’ J.T. Ginn, fresh off a winning performance against the Mets last weekend, found tougher sledding against Milwaukee’s lineup. Ginn surrendered three runs on five hits and two walks through 4 2/3 innings. Christian Yelich proved to be Ginn’s toughest challenge, driving in two runs including a key RBI single in the third inning that contributed to the early Brewers advantage.

Milwaukee jumped ahead in the third when rookie Caleb Durbin recorded his first Major League hit, later scoring on Jackson Chourio’s double. Yelich’s subsequent RBI single made it 2-0. In the fifth, Yelich added his second RBI single of the game, stretching Milwaukee’s lead to 3-0 and chasing Ginn from the game.

The A’s offense, which had powered through Chicago earlier this week with nine extra-base hits in a single game, struggled to replicate that magic against Milwaukee pitching. Oakland’s batters could only muster scattered singles through most of the contest. Tyler Soderstrom, who entered leading the Majors in home runs with nine, managed two singles but couldn’t deliver the powerful swing he’s become known for this season.

Gio Urshela finally put the A’s on the board in the sixth, driving in JJ Bleday on a fielder’s choice. But Milwaukee quickly answered back with two more runs in the seventh, capitalizing on fielding errors and timely hits to push their advantage to 5-1.

Down but not out, the A’s fought back in the ninth. Brent Rooker, who had an impressive series against the White Sox going 6-for-13, doubled to score Max Muncy, and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly to narrow the deficit to 5-3. With the tying run at the plate, Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill struck out Shea Langeliers, extinguishing Oakland’s comeback hopes and securing the Brewers’ victory.

Despite the setback, there were positive notes for Oakland. Lawrence Butler extended his hitting streak to four games and continues to impress with his recent performances. Miguel Andujar had a strong night at the plate, collecting three singles.

With this loss, Oakland’s record slips slightly to 9-11, while Milwaukee moves to 11-9. The A’s will look to bounce back Saturday with Luis Severino (0-3 ERA 4.01), seeking his first win of the season, facing Chad Patrick (1-0 ERA 1.76) at 4:10 PT.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

Sacramento A’s podcast Jeremiah Salmonson: Swinging A’s stay hot on road trip sweep Sox in Chi-Town

Sacramento A’s Brent Rooker (25) congratulates Tyler Soderstrom (21) who hit his Major League leading ninth home run in the top of the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field in Chicago on Thu Apr 17, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s podcast Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 A combination of four pitchers for the Sacramento A’s did in the Chicago White Sox in by shutting them out 8-0 at Rate Field on the South Side of Chicago Thursday. JP Sears started it off by pitching six innings, three hits, no runs and two strike outs.

#2 A’s manager Mark Kotsay used three pitchers to help combine for the shutout over the Sox, after Sears left he was relieved by Noah Murdock who went 1.2 innings, with one hit and two strikeouts, middle reliever TJ McFarland pitched one third of an inning no runs, no walks and no strikeouts, and Jason Alexander mopped up going one inning with two strikeouts.

#3 The White Sox didn’t even put up a threat with only four hits. The A’s had runners circling the bases all afternoon with one run in the fifth, two in the sixth, one in the seventh, and three in the ninth.

#4 In the series the A’s won game one by a lopsided score on Tuesday 12-3, on Wednesday a little close but a win for Sacramento 3-1, and Thursday afternoon no mercy in the 8-0 shutout for the A’s.

#5 The A’s go into Milwaukee with confidence after a sweep in Chicago. The Milwaukee Brewers are second place in the NL Central and are 7-3 at American Family Park. The Brewers have won six of their ten games. The A’s have the second best road record at 7-3 in baseball behind the San Francisco Giants who are 9-3 away.

Join Jeremiah for the A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda crack Calgary Wranglers 8-3

San Jose Barracuda vs Calgary Flames on Friday April 18th at Scotiabank Saddledome (via sjbarracuda/instagram)

By Madison Montez

The San Jose Barracuda got big jump on the Calgary Wranglers and took for the first game of this two set 8-3 on Friday.

The Barracuda opened up the scoring early on the first shot of the game at 2:23 of the first period. Luca Cagnoni broke a franchise record for most goals by a defensemen, scoring his 15th of the season. Calgary tied the game at 1-1, courtesy of Martin Frk. A puck off of Pavol Regenda gave San Jose their lead back, Regenda with his eighth of the season.

37 seconds into the second, San Jose got out to a three to one lead. Filip Bystedt scored his 12th of the year on a wide open net. The Barracuda struck again a minute later when Patrick Giles scored his ninth of the season.

With a 4-1 lead, San Jose chased out Devin Cooley, Walterri Ignatjew came in with 18 minutes left of the second. Braden Hache extended the lead to 5-1 scoring from the left point, his third of the season. San Jose blew the game open when Scott Sabourin hit the ten goal mark to improve the score to 6-1.

On a takeaway by the Wranglers, Calgary cut into San Jose’s lead, Carter Wilkie scoring his second goal of the season.

Going into the third period, San Jose didn’t take their foot off of the gas pedal. Scoring their second powerplay goal, Luca Cagnoni scored his second of the day. Calgary kept fighting with William Strömgren scoring his 14th goal to cut the lead to 7-3. To seal the win, Anthony Vincent scored his tenth goal to make the score 8-3.

San Jose was on a scoring frenzy all game, but Calgary dominated the shots on goals. After the first period, San Jose outshot Calgary 9 -4. After the second period, Calgary outshot San Jose 16-9. To end the game, San Jose outshot Calgary 12-7 in the third.

Both teams stayed out of the box for most of the game. San Jose committed only two penalties and Calgary wasn’t able to capitalize. Calgary committed four penalties and San Jose was able to capitalize on half of them.

For San Jose, Gabriel Carriere got the start with Aaron Dell backing up. Carriere, recording the win, made 26 saves on 29 shots. For Calgary, the Bay Area native Devin Cooley got the start. Cooley, recording the loss, made eight saves on 12 shots. Ignatjew who entered the game during the second period, made 14 saves on 17 shots.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  • 1. Luca Cagnoni
  • 2. Danil Guschin
  • 3. Scott Sabourin

The Barracuda will close out the regular season tomorrow against this Calgary team. Playoffs are still being decided but San Jose will host the second round at home at Tech Cu Arena.