Author: Sports Radio Service

Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O: WNBA’s Clark and Reese pack the house; Oilers can make Stanley Cup Finals history; plus more news

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The Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese (left), Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark (center), and the Los Angeles Sparks Cameron Brink (right) during the WNBA draft on Mon Apr 15, 2024. Reese and Clark have been big draws for the WNBA and Brink is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. (AP file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, this has been the year of the rookie in the WNBA and the league has never seen such coverage of their players starting with the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese who both have everyone even those who don’t follow the league that closely talking.

#2 The NHL Stanley Cup Finals could see it’s first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs come back down 0-3 and win it with four straight win if the Edmonton Oilers can pull it off on Monday night in Florida in game 7 against the Florida Panthers. The task would not only be historic but it’s a tall order if the Oilers can pull it off on Panthers ice.

#3 Charlie, the FBI raid on Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is just an added sad chapter to what is happening to Oakland as a city. Thao’s last interaction with the relocating Oakland A’s who leave after this season for Sacramento was when she and the Oakland Coliseum Joint Authority wanted $92 million for the A’s to play their remaining three years before they move to Las Vegas and Thao and the Coliseum ran the A’s away with the high rent ticket. When it rains it pours for the A’s and City of Oakland situation.

#4 Their known as the lovable losers the Chicago Cubs who had some success are back on hard times dead last in the National League East eight games back, four games below .500, the Cubs have lost six of their last ten games and open a four game series in San Francisco on Monday night. How has the Cubs demise surprised you?

#5 Three time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer will make his 2024 debut for the Texas Rangers today against the Kansas City Royals. Scherzer hasn’t pitched in a game since game 3 of last year’s World Series. In the off season he had to have lower back surgery, in rehab he had thumb soreness which doctors determined it was nerve issues that extended into his right triceps.

Join Charlie O for Headline Sports podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Tess Boade gets critical goal as Bay FC defeats Angel City 1-0 at Pay Pal

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Angel City FC goalkeeper DiDi Haracic (13) makes a save against Bay FC during the second half at PayPal Park in San Jose Sat June 22, 2024. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

By William Espy

SAN JOSE–Bay FC hosted Angel City FC on Saturday night. Bay’s first-ever victory came against their California rivals in their first game earlier this season, so Angel City looked to avenge that loss at PayPal Park. Following their last outing against the Utah Royals FC, Bay head coach Albertin Montoya made quite a few changes to his starting eleven for this match as he looks to spark his team. Bay FC’s Tess Boade scored the game’s only goal in the 33rd minute for a 1-0 tally.

Bay FC Starting XI: Rowland, King, Menges, Beattie, Malonson, Bailey, Pickett, Kundananji, Oshoala, Castellanos, Boade

Angel City starting XI: Haracic, Vignola, Gorden, Reid, Spencer, Rodriguez, Nabet, Thompson, Emslie, Le Bihan, Leroux

The first half went Bay FC’s way in almost every category except for possession. Tess Boade gave them a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute off of an assist from Emily Menges. But they also led in shots, shots on target and were earning quite a few set piece opportunities, earning six corner kicks in the first half.

They also were creating quite a few opportunities with crosses, although they weren’t all resulting in scoring chances, getting balls in the box will often be beneficial. At the halfway point, they already had 16 crosses while their opposition only had six. Bay has struggled to play with a lead most of the season though, so now the second half was going to make or break their game.

In stoppage time of the first half Jen Beattie picked up a yellow card, which was Bay’s second of the night. As a result, Bay FC had two defenders on a yellow heading into a key point in the match, as Savy King had picked one up earlier. They needed to be cautious to avoid picking up a red card and spending the rest of the match down a player.

Angel City started the substitutions for the night in the 62nd minute with Hammond, Fuller and Thompson entering the match for Nabet, Vignola, and Le Bihan. Four minutes later, Bay made three of their own bringing on Rachel Hill, Joelle Anderson and Caprice Dydasco for King, Boade, and Deyna Castellanos.

Just a few minutes later, Kayla Sharples would enter the match for Beattie, as Montoya tried to do whatever he could to prevent a late game headache with a red card. In terms of scoring, nothing would change in the second half as Bay FC held on to walk away with their second win against Angel City of the season.

Bay FC has been very clear about their mission to not lose to the same team twice this season, winning against the same team twice is definitely something they’d like to see more often though. This victory also put Bay FC within striking distance of the playoffs as well. They’ve tied Angel City and Louisville in points and only trail North Carolina by a single point. Sixth in the table is undoubtedly within reach for Bay, they just need to string some results together quickly.

They’ll return to action next weekend against Louisville in a very important match, as the winner will move up the standings while the loser can fall down considerably as well. The NWSL is a very tight league, and one result can make a massive difference at this point in the season.

Earthquakes annihilated by LAFC 6-2

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Photo courtesy of LAFC Twitter.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Earthquakes looked to pick up their first regular season win since May 11th against their California rivals LAFC.

The starting formation was the same on both sides of the pitch as both teams lined up in a 4-3-3. In goal for San Jose was Jacob Daniel Jackson while for LAFC it was Hugo Lloris.

LAFC’s domination started early in this one as just five minutes into the match Kei Kamara hit the post from the right side of the box.

After ten minutes passed LAFC would strike as Mateusz Bogusz scored a magnificent diving header from the center of the box assisted by Sergi Palencia.

Tacking onto the lead only a little later was Denis Bouanga who easily found himself wide open for a left footed finish from the center of the box.

With the score now 2-0 LAFC only pressed harder and scored yet again this time on a great header from Kamara assisted by Bogusz.

Despite the score the Earthquakes did respond with a flurry of chances but were unable to cash in on four attempts with two of them being on goal.

Right before the half Ryan Hollingshead was fortunate enough to score a lucky one as his shot deflected off an Earthquakes defender and past a helpless Jackson.

The scoring in the first half wasn’t finished as San Jose snuck one in at the third minute mark of stoppage time. The goal came from Antônio Josenildo Rodrigues de Oliveira with the goal being assisted by Cristian Espinoza.

The goal didn’t seem to kill LAFC’s momentum as they would score just three minutes into the second half as once again Bogusz found the score sheet making it 5-1.

San Jose managed to sneak another one past Lloris as the 57 mark as Benjamin Kikanovic headed one in off an assist from Hernán López.

In garbage time LAFC got another one to pad the stat sheet as Tomás Ángel scored assisted from Nathan Ordaz.

With an embarrassing loss tonight the Earthquakes now drop to an abysmal 3-14-2 putting them dead last in the western conference. On the flip side LAFC secures another win moving up to 11-4-4 making them first in the west due to their PPG of 1.95.

San Jose’s next regular season game will be the California Clasico at Stanford Stadium against the LA Galaxy on June 29th at 7:30 p.m.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A baseball anomaly I do not recall seeing

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Oakland A’s Daz Cameron (28) forearm bashes with Shea Langeliers (23) after Langeliers hit a two run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the bottom of the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Jun 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

A baseball anomaly I do not recall ever seeing

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND– A’s Reliever Sean Newcomb recorded his first win of the year on Friday night with zero batters faced. So, how did he do it?

With the A’s trailing, 5-4, against the Minnesota Twins with two outs in the eighth inning and a man on first, Newcomb entered the game from the bullpen.

After getting to a 1-1 count, the left-hander decided to throw over to first, but the runner got in a rundown.

Eventually, Austin Martin was tagged out, which ended the inning. Statistically speaking, a batter is “faced” if the at-bat itself results in an out, whether it’s the batter or a runner via a fielder’s choice.

However, since Newcomb’s pickoff resulted in the out, no batter was “faced.

Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Shea Langeliers hit a two-run homer off Jhoan Duran to give Oakland a 6-5 lead.

So, with the lead, Oakland brought in their flame-throwing closer Mason Miller, and he recorded the save – thus giving Newcomb the win, despite throwing two pitches.

I do not recall ever seeing this unless my memory is just started to deteriorate.

I think this should be in the TV show Jeopardy.

Listen to Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

No Mercy A’s lose in 7 run 2nd inning 10-2 in Twin killing

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Saturday, June 22nd, 2024

By Troy Ewers

The Oakland A’s host the Minnesota Twins on Saturday matinee game. The starting pitchers are Bailey Ober for Minnesota and JP Sears for Oakland. Sears got lit up for nine hits and eight runs as the Twins took out the A’s 10-2.  

The game for the Twins opened up in the top of the first with Ryan Jeffers getting hit by pitch and scoring Manuel Margot, 1-0 Twins. The A’s followed up with JJ Bleday solo homer to even up the score 1-1, but the 2nd inning was where the Twins blew it up. 

Margot hit a three run homer and it was 4-1 Twins. JP Sears seemed visibly rattled after that home run and then gave up a Jose Miranda double to score Lewis and Correa. 6-1 Twins. Byron Buxton would then score Miranda off a double and it initiated a pitching change for the A’s. 7-1 Twins. 

Osvaldo Bido replaced JP Sears, but it didn’t matter in the inning. Kyle Farmer hit an infield single and scored Jeffers for an 8-1 lead in second.Tyler Soderstrom hit a home run to try to get some ground back for Oakland, 8-2.

In the third Miranda doubled and scored Lewis for a 9-2 lead for Minnesota. 

The next score would be in the seventh when Correa doubled to left and scored Margot to make it 10-2 at this point. From here it was a close job for Minnesota. Margot with a three hit game. 

Sunday the A’s face the Twins in the closing game of the series. With Hogan Harris (1-0, 2.37) on the hill for Oakland and Pablo Lopez (6-6, 5.63) on the hill for Minnesota.

Cardinals and heat too much for Hicks, Giants drop fourth-straight in 9-4 loss in St. Louis

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San Francisco Giants starter Jordan Hicks delivers against the St Louis Cardinals in the bottom of the first inning at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Sat Jun 22, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Busch Stadium

St. Louis, Missouri

San Francisco Giants 4 (36-41)

St. Louis Cardinals Cubs 9 (38-37)

Win: Mike Mikolas (6-6)

Loss: Jordan Hicks (4-4)

Time: 2:28

Attendance: 41,815

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but the heat got to Jordan Hicks and the Giants, as the Cardinals clubbed four home runs en route to a 9-4 win on a hot and muggy Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium to hand the Giants their fourth-straight loss..

The Giants had a big comeback win Monday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but they have since lost three in a row, including a hard-fought 6-5 loss to the Cardinals Thursday night at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Saturday, the teams came over to St. Louis to continue this three-game series on a hot and muggy afternoon at Busch Stadium.

Despite the losing streak, the Giants’ offense has come to life over the last three games, and with the heat in St. Louis, they looked to keep that going against Cardinals’ starter Miles Mikolas. Brett Wisely led off the ballgame, and singled the other way to left field to get things started.

Heliot Ramos bounced out on a chopper to short, which moved Wisely to second base, and Patrick Bailey struck out looking on a sinker right on the inside corner. That left things up to Jorge Soler, who is finally swinging the bat with runners in scoring position after brutally struggling in these situations until a week and a half ago.

Soler worked a six-pitch at-bat, and shot a base-hit out to left-center to knock in Wisely and put the Giants on the board. Matt Chapman followed that up with a base-hit to right-center to move Soler over to third.

The batter was now Michael Conforto, and after Chapman stole second, Conforto flipped a base-hit out to right-center to knock in a pair and make it 3-0.

The Giants were in a good position. Their offense manufactured three runs in the top of the first inning, and they had the reliable Jordan Hicks going for them on the mound. Hicks, a crafty Farhan Zaidi signing over the off-season, came into Saturday’s game 3-2 with a 2.82 ERA in his first year as a starter.

However, there would be the question of how Hicks would deal with the head and humidity of St. Louis. Hicks got off to a good start, and he got Masyn Winn to fly out to center to start the bottom of the first, but Alec Burleson reached on an infield hit, and longtime Giants killer Paul Goldschmidt golfed out a sinker at the knees and hit a two-run home run that carried out to straightaway center to make it 3-2.

Nolan Gorman then walked, stole second and got to third on a wild pitch, but Hicks was able to settle down and get out of the inning with the Giants still ahead.

Both teams went down scoreless in the second inning, and after a two-out walk to Chapman in the top of the third, Conforto, who had already knocked in a pair with a base-hit in the first, hit a double that hit off the bottom of the wall in right-center to score Chapman and make it 4-2. For Conforto, he had knocked in three runs in the first three innings of this one.

Wynn grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third, but Burelson walked and stole second, and Hicks would be in trouble again.

Hicks was also sweating buckets in his jersey in what was our first real look at how the cheap jerseys that Nike and Major League Baseball introduced this season would hold off in the heat. Players were sweating buckets in these jerseys with temperatures in the 60s, and with the temperature at Busch Stadium at 93 degrees, it had an obvious impact on Hicks.

Goldschmidt flew out to left, but Hicks’ control was going on him, and he hit Gorman with a pitch with two outs. Nolan Arenado walked to load the bases, but Hicks got Brennan Donovan to fly out to center to end the inning with the Giants’ lead still at 4-2.

Mikolas pitched the first 1-2-3 inning for either team in the top of the fourth, and Hicks, who came back out to the mound with a new jersey in the bottom of the fourth, set down the first two men he faced. However, just as it seemed that Hicks was finally going to have an easy inning, things went south.

Dylan Carlson, who was in the game for the injured center-fielder, Michael Siani, singled with two outs, and Winn doubled Siani over to third. That brought up Burelson, who hit a three-run home run out to the Cardinals’ bullpen in right-center to give St. Louis their first lead of the afternoon.

Hicks was done after four, and he really did the best he could considering the climate and the cheap jerseys he had to wear out there. The Cardinals led 5-4 going to the fifth, and Mikolas, who appeared on the ropes earlier, settled down in the middle innings, and threw a 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the top of the fifth.

Sean Hjelle came in for San Francisco in the bottom of the fifth and pitched through some trouble, and Mikolas finished his afternoon with a 1-2-3 top of the sixth, as he set down the final 10 Giants he faced.

Winn singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and then Burelson made it 7-4 with his second home run of the game, another ball that was golfed out and carried to straightaway center.

For the Giants, this was not the end of the world. With their offense somewhat awake again and showing their propensity to come back like they did when they won 10 of 12 in mid-to-late May, there was no reason why they couldn’t pull off a comeback Saturday.

However, left-hander Jojo Romero and right-hander Ryan Fernandez combined to throw a scoreless top of the seventh. Brennan Donovan then got in on the home run action with a solo shot to right off Luke Jackson in the bottom of the seventh, which was the fourth of the day for St. Louis.

The Cardinals now led it 8-4, and they were still looking to add on further in the bottom of the seventh. Catcher Pedro Pages—pronounced (pah-HEZZ)—and Dylan Carlson both singled to put runners at first and second with two outs for the top of the order.

Winn then lined a base-hit to right, and Pages chugged around third to score and make it 9-4, but the one piece of good news was that Winn was tagged out in a rundown trying to stretch it into a double.

Soler and Chapman both singled off Fernandez with one out in the top of the eighth to spark some comeback hopes for the Giants, but that was quickly snuffed out when Fernandez retired the next two he faced.

Spencer Bivens came in for his third-career big league outing in the bottom of the eighth. After struggling against the Cubs at Wrigley on Wednesday, he returned to the form he had in his debut, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning.

Kyle Leahy came in for St. Louis and pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to end it, as the Cardinals won it 9-4.

Miles Mikolas got the win; Jordan Hicks got the tough loss; and for the first time in his major league career, Spencer Bivens did not get a decision.

The Giants have now lost four in a row and fall to 36-41. Saturday, they will try to avoid tying a season-high six-games under .500, as they will try to snap their losing streak and salvage a game in this series.

Sunday’s thriller: Logan Webb (6-5, 2.99 ERA) will be on the mound, and he will be opposed by veteran Sonny Gray (8-4, 2.95 ERA). First pitch will be at 1:15 p.m. in St. Louis, and 11:15 a.m. back home in San Francisco.

Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Mary Lisa: Oilers close the gap, stave off elimination, forcing a game 7 Monday against Panthers

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Florida Panther goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) has an eye on the puck as the Panthers Brandon Montour (62) puts a check on the Oilers Mattias Janmark (13) in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Place in Edmonton (Canadian Press via AP photo)

On the Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 There is very little doubt that the Edmonton Oilers not only didn’t want to be eliminated in four straight games but they wanted to get back into these finals with a vengeance and managed to do it coming back from 0-3 to tying the series 3-3.

#2 The Oilers down 3-2 in game six needed the win to stay alive and avoid elimination and tie the series up they pulled it off by scoring three unanswered goals to jump ahead of the Florida Panthers 3-0 at 18:20 of the third period.

#3 The Oilers getting scoring help with their first three goals from Warren Foegele (3), Adam Henrique (4), and Zach Hyman (16).

#4 The Panthers would have been shutout if it had not been for Aleksander Barkov’s third period goal at 1:28 but it wasn’t enough as the Oilers picked a four goal win over the Panthers 5-1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

#5 The Oilers force a game 7 as the Finals moves back to Florida. The Panthers will have to use every inch of the Amerant Bank Arena as their home ice advantage. The Oilers could be the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to come back down 0-3 and to win four straight games. Can they do it? We’ll find out Monday night Jun 24 in game 7 at Sunrise FL.

Mary Lisa is an NHL analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s comeback with Langelier’s 2 run homer in 8th to defeat Twins 6-5 at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s Shea Langeliers (23) rounds the bases after belting a two run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri June 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

Minnesota (41-35). 100 001 300. 5 10. 0

Athletics (29-48). 100 030 02x. 6 6. 0

Time: 2:20

Attendance: 9,158

Friday, June 21, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–After failing by a hare’s breath to sweep the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, the nomadic Athletics got back on track for the long journey that just might get them close to the .500 mark before the season’s end, coming from behind to defeat the Minnesota Twins in a roller coaster of a 6-5 win.

The victory was not, however, without its cost. Abraham Toro, who has been a mainstay for this struggling team, had to leave the game after suffering a hamstring injury running out a grounder to third in the seventh inning.

Before the game, the A’s DFA’d Vinny Nitoli and recalled Osvaldo Bido from Las Vegas.

Joey Estes, another recalled Aviator, who had rejoined the parent club on May 11, made his eighth start of the year, bringing a record of 2-2,5.97 with him. His only previous 2024 appearance against the Twins came five days ago, when he exited after 2-2/3 inning in which he yielded six earned runs but escaped with a no decision.

In this mid-summer night’s contest he held his opponents to two runs, both earned, on five hits, one of them a home run, and a walk in six full innings. He managed only one strikeout, but it’s his 18 outs that count. He threw only 76 pitches, 58 for strikes, to earn his third win and lower his earned run average to 5.53.

Estes’s opponent for the Twins had unimpressive numbers, for both the season and his career. Chris Paddack came to work at 5-3, 5.25 for the year and 22-21, lifetime. Those figures are pretty drab, but Paddack’s a pretty colorful guy.

The native of Austin, TX, tickled the fancy of San Diego fans when, as a Padre, he began wearing a cowboy hat and boots on his start days, earning himself the nickname of “The Sheriff” and a following of similarly attired fans calling themselves Paddack’s Posse.

The number 236, his number in the 2015 draft, is tattooed on his rib cage The 6’5″, 232 pound righty ‘s eccentricities extended to the record book. As he was making his way from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound in Anaheim last September 24, play was halted because of rain.

Play was resumed after a 50 minute delay. Paddack never threw a pitch, but was credited with an appearance. This Friday, he threw 82 pitches in 4-2/3 innings and was charged with three runs, all earned, but two of them posthumous, on five hits and three walks. He wound up with a no decision, and his ERA inched up to 5.29. Kody Fundurburk, Jorge Acalá, and Jhoan Durán, who took the loss, also pitched for the Twins.

The Twinkies got off to an early lead on a game opening double by Will Castro, who defied The Curse by scoring on a pair of ground outs by Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach, respectively.

The A’s erased that transient advantage in the bottom of the first on singles by Abraham Toro, JJ Bleday, and Tyler Soderstrom. They drove the sheriff out of the town in the bottom of the fifth with a two out rally that began with Miguel Andújar’s single to right single and Rooker’s ditto to left center that brought, Fundurburk to the mound. Tyler Sonderstrom greeted him with a bases clearing triple that put the homeless hosts ahead , 4-1.

That didn’t last long. Royce Lewis’s 10th homer of the season, a solo shot to right with one down in the sixth, narrowed the gap to 4-2. Estes hung around to finish the inning; Austin Adams replaced him to start the seventh.

He retired one batter before Christian Velásquez singled to right and Austin Martin drew a walk, setting the stage for Castro’s 363 foot wallop over the right field fence that put the Twins ahead, 5-4. A walk to Correa, and Lucas Erceg came on to put out the fire.

He did that and started off the eighth in fine fettle, retiring the first two Twins he faced. Successive singles to Velásquez and Martin put runners on the corners and Sean Newcomb on the mound. He picked Velásquez off first to keep the A’s within a run of Minnesota.

Still and all, things were looking pretty grim when they faced Jhoan Durán in the eighth in But Minnesota’s right handed reliever hit lead off hitter Sodersrom with a pitch, and Shea Langeliers smacked a 397 foot home run over the left field fence to put the green and gold back on top, 6-5. Durán surrendered a two out double to Max Schuemann, but the A’s lead was still just one run after eight.

It was Miller time. Castro ground out to second. Correa broke his bat grounding out to short. Larnach went down swinging. Miller had thrown seven pitches and earned his 14th save.

Saturday, JP Sear (4-6, 4.25) will face Minnesota’s Bailey Obere (6-4, 4.81) at 1:07 in the second of this three game series.

Aces Beat First Place Connecticut 85-74

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Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) shoots against Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (25) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

By Barbara Mason

The Las Vegas Aces (8-6) have some great momentum to build upon after beating the Connecticut (13-2) 85-74 in a terrific win. They’re rebounding was 42 to the Suns 29. While their three’s were not falling, their work in the paint and defensively was spotless. A’ja Wilson had the high with a double double, 26 points and 16 rebounds. Kelsey Plum had 18 points as the Ace’s stubbornly hung onto the lead through all four quarters of the game.

Game recap: A close game was expected but the slow start for both teams was not expected. After the first 3 1/2 minutes of play Brionna Jones had scored all six of the Sun’s points giving her team the early lead 6-2.

The Aces took a time out when this game teetered a bit and Head coach Becky Hammon did not want this game to get out hand. Kelsey Plum hit a three to get within one point but the Sun pushed their lead back out 10-7.

The Aces shots were just not falling so far in the quarter. At 1:49 left in the first 12 minutes the Aces had tied the game at 14 as they had warmed up and their shots began to fall. The crowd erupted when with under a minute, Las Vegas took a four-point lead, their first of the game, 20-16. They had won the first quarter 20-16.

The Ace’s Alysha Clark had the hot hand going into the second quarter going 2 for 2 from downtown. She had scored eight points in the game and had given her team a 25-18 lead in the early minutes of the quarter.

Clark was not the only one with a hot hand, Kelsey Plum hit her third three of the game mid-way through the quarter giving Las Vegas a 33-23 lead. The Aces had to keep their foot on the pedal; a ten-point lead against a team with the talent of the Sun was not enough to relax in any shape or form.

They had to continue playing hard although they had their largest lead of the game 37-25 at the four minute mark. Continuing to extend their lead was now their game plan. It was now the Sun’s shots that were not falling as Las Vegas had taken a 45-25 lead with two minutes left on the clock.

The Aces went on a 17-5 run in the final minute as Connecticut struggled in the paint as well as from long. At the half, the Aces led 45-28 having won the second quarter by a bunch 25-12. The Las Vegas Aces’ defense had stymied the Sun’s offense rendering them ineffective. They were all over them in the first half.

The Connecticut Sun did not take kindly to the Aces running roughshod all over them in the first half and erased the Las Vegas 17 point lead pulling to within seven points in the later minutes of the quarter 47-54.

The Aces pushed back taking a 63-50 lead after three quarters. Jackie Young had been strangely quiet with only six points in the game. Her team would need all hands on deck to finish off the Sun.

With seven minutes left in the game, the Aces had taken a 70-54 lead and there was not much that was not working for Las Vegas. The Aces were fighting to protect their 72-54 lead continuing to excel both offensively and defensively with a lot of time on the clock before this one was over.

This team was really looking like they were turning things around and with the Sun running out of time trailing 81-63 the Aces were on the brink of hanging onto the fifth spot in the overall standings.

With two seconds left in the game, the starters for Las Vegas were sitting out the final minutes as their bench brought this game home 85-74. The Aces were back and looking like the championship team we are used to seeing.

The Aces will have some time off going forward giving Chelsea Gray even more time to work back into the system. They will then be looking to extend their winning streak to three.

Game notes: Friday night a sell-out crowd filled the Michelob ULTRA Arena saw the Aces win against the highly touted Suns. With only a single loss this season they presented the Suns with a mighty challenge and ended up handing them their second loss. With the return of Chelsea Gray the Aces has been energized by her court presence and she did look good in their last game against the Storm despite playing limited minutes and finishing with 4 rebounds and 7 assists so a great effort for Gray. Gray on Friday night had four points and two rebounds.

Next up for Las Vegas will not be for a lengthy five day break taking on the 5-9 Chicago Sky Thursday night with tipoff scheduled for 4:00 PM.

Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Source-Oakland Mayor will have to resign over FBI raid and investigation

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI on Thu Jun 20, 2024. Agents were seen walking out with ice chest size cases. It’s speculated that they were searching for documents related to propriety of campaign contributions. Thao or her office had no comment regarding the raid. (San Francisco Chronicle photo)

Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel:

#1Daniel Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by FBI agents Thursday morning. Reporters on the scene asked agents present what was the reason for the raid they didn’t reply. Miles away in Oakland a dozen agents raided the homes of president and CEO David Duong of Cal Waste Solutions and his son Andy Duong. The City of Oakland in the past had investigated Cal Water Solutions over ownership of campaign contributions that went to Thao and other elected officials.

#2 Teresa Hoang who spoke to the press and is a staff member at Cal Waste Solutions said that they are confident that they’ll be cleared from any wrong doing at the conclusion of the investigation. Mayor Thao’s last and latest involvement with the Oakland A’s was attempt at an interim deal to keep the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum that fell apart after the A’s declined to pay $97million for three years rent between 2025-27. The Coliseum Joint Authority and the City dropped the price to $60 million and the A’s declined again and made a deal with Sacramento and Sacramento Rivercats owner Vivek Ranadive.

#3 Daniel, talk about the economic damage moving the Oakland A’s will do to not only the City of Oakland and the East Bay but it also impacts the market share of the Bay Area being the sixth largest market?

#4 Even at this point right now there is still an uncertainty that this move to Las Vegas will even go through in the first place. Will A’s owner John Fisher be able to find those minority investors that the Los Angeles investment firm he hired be able to come through so far just like in Las Vegas no one has stepped up.

#5 The A’s will be playing rent free at Sutter Health Field but for how long? The A’s situation needs to be resolved by closing in of April 2025 which is the target date for putting shovels in the ground in Las Vegas if they want to meet the April 2028 opening of the new park deadline.

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

#4