Author: Sports Radio Service

A’s Flip the Script Beating Seattle 8-1

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The Oakland A’s Lawrence Butler (4) scores in front of the Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (left) at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Sat May 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

In game two of the A’s three game series with the Seattle Mariners (21-19), Oakland (19-22) turned the tables on Seattle. Losing 8-1 in game one, it was the A’s whose offense was lit winning game two 8-1.

Oakland had a great offensive and defensive effort. A’s pitcher Joey Estes had a great game going five innings allowing two hits, one run and no walks with 5 strikeouts. Relief pitching was terrific putting the icing on the cake in the final four frames.

Game recap: The Mariners were first up on the scoreboard in the second inning. Cal Raleigh knocked the ball out of the park, a solo shot, to take the early 1-0 lead. Oakland got some offense going in the third inning. Lawrence Butler walked and Brett Harris singled with Abraham Toro at the plate with no outs. Toro singled driving Butler home and this game was tied 1-1. With two outs Brent Rooker singled and Harris scored giving Oakland a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the third inning. The A’s had strung some hits together in the early innings with some nice offensive production.

A pitching duel ensued through the next four frames and going into the eighth inning the Oakland offense lit up. Max Schuemann doubled driving three runners, Kyle McCann, Esteury Ruiz and Brent Rooker home, taking a 5-1 lead. The A’s would tack on another run in the ninth inning. Brett Harris crossed home plate on a wild pitch from Seattle’s Eduard Bazardo for a 6-1 tally. Oakland had more in store for the Mariners when JJ Bleday homered with Abraham Toro on base extending their lead to 8-1 this time in favor of Oakland. In game one the Mariners finished with an 8-1 win and tonight Oakland flipped the script; it was the A’s who were crushing the Mariners, the final score 8-1.

Oakland had a solid night on the mound. Starting pitcher for the A’s Joey Estes finished the game going five innings allowing only two hits, one run and 5 strikeouts. Relief pitching was also top notch. Only one hit was allowed in the final four innings closing out this game in style. The A’s had definitely gotten their revenge after last nights loss and now had the opportunity to win this series in tomorrow’s rubber match.

The A’s had nine hits in this game hanging onto the 2-1 lead going into the eighth inning. Oakland broke this game wide open in the eighth frame scoring 3 runs and in the ninth inning three more runs for the 8-1 final score. They scored their first five runs without a home run. Going into the ninth inning however, JJ Bleday hit the long ball and finished off this game with a 2-run homer.

Post game notes: Friday night the A’s got shellacked by the Mariners narrowly avoiding a shut out scoring in the ninth inning. Lawrence Butler singled Kyle McCann home for the single Oakland run in the ninth inning for a final score of 8-1.

The Mariners went crazy in the fifth inning scoring five runs at the expense of A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn. Seattle would go on to burn Blackburn for two more runs before he was relieved in the game. Oakland got some payback in game two of the series turning the tables on the Mariners.

The A’s got better offensive production in the early innings. They did start hitting in the latter innings of game one but were stagnant in the early frames. Joey Estes took the mound for the A’s pitching over five innings giving up two hits and one earned run. The M’s Bryce Miller started for Seattle pitched over six innings gave up five hits, two earned runs, two walks and struck out nine hits.

Oakland will finish off this series Sunday in game three looking to win the series. Alex Wood will take the mound for the A’s while Luis Castillo will get the nod for Seattle. First pitch for this rubber match is scheduled for 1:10 PM.

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Espinoza scores gamer and Yarbrough makes five saves in Quakes 3-2 win over Rapids

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The San Jose Earthquakes celebrate victory over the Colorado Rapids at Dicks Sporting News Park in Commerce City Col on Sat May 11, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes X photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes looked to continue their recent strong run of form against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado for some rainy night soccer. San Jose defeated LAFC in their most recent league game at Levi’s Park and drew the game before that against Nashville. The Quakes remain undefeated through three games with a 3-2 win over the Rapids on Saturday night.

Add in an additional victory against the Oakland Roots in the US Open Cup, and the Earthquakes have been playing much better recently than they did to start the season. Meanwhile, Colorado finds themselves fifth in the Western Conference entering the night.

If San Jose wanted to walk away with a point, or three, they were going to have to overcome a major obstacle. Hernan Lopez, great nephew of Diego Maradona, was making his first start in the MLS.

San Jose Starting XI:Yarbrough, Costa, Wilson, Rodrigues, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

Colorado Starting XI: Steffen, Rosenberry, Bombito, Maxso, Vines, Bassett, Larraz, Fernandez, Mihailovic, Cabral, Navarro

Colorado got out to a very early lead, or so they thought in the seventh minute, but the play was called offside. In the 10th minute, Yarbrough was forced to make a goalline save as the Rapids once again nearly made it 1-0 but failed to convert following a cross.

Colorado could’ve easily had a 2-0 lead just ten minutes in, but the Quakes had been able to keep it 0-0 for the time being. The first yellow card of the night was handed out to Djordje Mihailovic who elbowed Vitor Costa while attempting a challenge for the ball.

In the 26th minute, once again Colorado seemingly took the lead when Omir Fernandez got the ball past William Yarbrough with a great finish. However, the goal would be overturned because Kevin Cabral was offside and interfered with Carlos Akapo, preventing him from making a defensive play on the ball.

As a result, Colorado had their second goal of the half overturned and the game remained in a deadlock. That wouldn’t remain the case for long though, as in the 33rd minute Rafael Navarro would score off of a deflection following a corner kick to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead. Fernandez did get his goal later in the half as well, in the 42nd minute a shot outside of the box slid past Yarbrough and made it 2-0 for the home team.

A few minutes later, Amahl Pellegrino scored after a scramble in front of the net. Steffen made a save for the Rapids, Jeremy Ebobisse’s shot off of the rebound was deflected by a defender in front directly to Pellegrino who put it away to make it 2-1.

It’s worth noting, the play was started by a fantastic pass by Lopez who was playing very well in his first MLS start. Colorado had a third goal called off due to offsides during the 49th minute when a header found the back of the netting.

Lopez tied it up with his first career MLS goal off of a corner when the ball was deflected and he volleyed it past Zach Steffen to make it 2-2 before halftime. It was a wild first half, with quite a bit of offense and certainly, there will be some controversy about the amount of overturned calls but after the first 45 minutes, it was a brand new game.

In the 56th minute, Yarbrough had a collision with his teammate, Carlos Gruezo that brought some concern from the official and medical staff but he remained in the game. Cristian Espinoza would break the tie in the 66th minute after a nice passing play which left him with only the keeper to beat and it was three unanswered goals for the Earthquakes, who now led 3-2 with less than a half-hour remaining.

At one point, it seemed as if Colorado was going to easily walk away with the win but in less than 30 minutes of game time, San Jose went from down 2-0 to up 3-2, shocking the home crowd. Shortly after the goal, the Quakes got two quick yellow cards. As a result, they needed to be very careful and ensure that they didn’t have a defender get booked for a second time.

Despite quite a few opportunities for Colorado to tie it up, they would be unable to and the Earthquakes would walk away with a win moving them out of last place in the Western Conference, passing both the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers who will play one another tomorrow afternoon.

Orlando shuts out Bay FC 1-0; Bay FC drops fifth straight match

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Bay Fc fought and battled but came up short for their fifth straight loss at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando City on Sat May 11, 2024 (Bay FC X photo)

By William Espy

Bay FC continued their inaugural season with a road trip to Florida to take on the undefeated Orlando Pride and their star players, Barbra Banda and Marta. However, Marta was out of the starting eleven so if she was going to make an appearance it would be as a substitute.

Meanwhile, the visiting team got two key attackers back in this match as both Rachael Kundananji and Asisat Oshoala were available after missing the previous game due to injury. Maya Doms, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday was unavailable due to injury.

If Bay FC was going to end their losing streak, they’d have to overcome one of the most difficult opponents in the NWSL. Despite not being at the very top of the goal-scoring and not conceding the fewest goals in the league, the Pride were top five in both categories which is a big part of the reason they find themselves joint-top of the table alongside the Kansas City Current. The Pride got by 1-0 shutting out Bay at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando City. It was Bay FC’s fifth straight loss.

Bay FC Starting XI:

Rowland, King, Menges, Sharples, Malonson, Pickett, Boade, Castellanos, Kundananji, Oshoala, Camberos

Orlando Starting XI: Moorhouse, Sams, Rafaelle, Strom, Abello, McCutcheon, Gautrat, Yates, Adriana, Doyle, Banda

The first five minutes were mainly spent in Bay FC’s defensive third and the Pride were getting quite a few scoring opportunities. Alyssa Malonson got booked in the sixth minute for a challenge from behind which would be followed up by Orlando’s first booking on Emily Sams.

Malonson’s yellow card would be very dangerous for Bay, as a defender on a card that early against a team with a very effective attack could easily lead to a second yellow. The first 15 minutes were all Orlando, they were leading in possession, had all the shots, and were thoroughly outplaying Bay FC but the score still didn’t reflect that as it remained a 0-0 tie.

This was a very strange situation for Bay who pride themselves on a possession style of play and to that point, they’d been unable to establish that in this game. When Bay did have the ball though, it was no surprise that

Tess Boade was one of the players most commonly on the ball. She was playing a physical game and had quite a few early collisions leading to free kicks for her team. Bay got their first shot on target of the night in the 23rd minute when Kundananji forced Anna Moorhouse to make the save.

Orlando was bringing heavy offense pressure when Deyna Castellanos fouled Banda inside of the box, giving the Pride a penalty kick in the 29th minute. Adriana took the penalty and scored her first of the season beating Katelyn Rowland low to the left side of the goal.

Over the next few minutes Banda made two similarly dangerous run into the box but Emily Menges broke up the first and Kayla Sharples perfectly defended the second while avoiding fouling her. Scarlett Camberos had a very rough challenge on Kylie Strom but somehow avoided a card despite Strom flipping over her in a dangerous manner.

At the half, Orlando led 1-0 while also controlling possession with 60% and 12 shots on target, 17 shots total. Rowland had played very well for Bay despite the lack of a clean sheet and the defense was doing their best to prevent any high-quality scoring chances despite being stuck in their own box for a big portion of the half.

In the second half, Marta came on for Orlando as did Dydasco for Bay. Oshoala drew a yellow card in the 53rd minute when Rafaelle essentially wrapped around her. Bay started the second half much better, however it was still clear that Orlando was the better team up to that point.

Bay was making progress though, and they were desperately trying to find an equalizer. Bay’s first corner of the night didn’t come until the 61st minute, which was also out of character for them. Castellanos is usually taking corners all night long, but that wasn’t the case this time out.

All Bay needed to do was find a way to score and none of that would matter though, the fact that they had been drastically outplayed on paper would become irrelevant if they could find a way to get a result.

In the 66th minute, Kundananji got a yellow card following appeals from Orlando’s coaching staff following a hard collision with Strom, who did receive some medical attention after the play. Boade and Castellanos would be substituted off after the delay with Joelle Anderson and Dorian Bailey taking their place in an attempt to help maintain possession in midfield.

By the 75th minute, things had evened out a bit with Bay having 43% of the possession at that point. They needed to play with more desperation, however, it also seemed like the Pride were letting off of the gas pedal a bit. Camberos didn’t fully escape a yellow card in the match, picking one up in the 80th minute.

Sharples and Menges certainly had their work cut out for them over the course of the game and it became clear that fatigue was starting to set in, but they were still playing very well. With a final push ahead of them, Princess came on for Camberos in the 88th minute.

Moments later Ally Lemos came on for Banda who had played a great game for Orlando, as you’d expect from her at this point. Savy King would end up coming out late in stoppage time with Maddie Moreau coming into the game for her.

Despite Bay FC’s attempts, they were unable to tie it up and lost 1-0. Although they were statistically outplayed, this game could’ve easily been a 0-0 draw thanks to the defense if it weren’t for the penalty. They’ll look to end their growing losing streak next week at home against San Diego.

Chapman’s 1st inning grand slam launches Giants win over Reds 5-1 at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants Matt Chapman (left) is greeted at the plate by LeMonte Wade Jr (31) after hitting a bottom of the first inning grand slam home run against the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat May 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Cincinnati Reds 1 (17-22)

San Francisco Giants 5 (18-23)

Win: Taylor Rogers (1-1)

Loss: Nick Lodolo (2-3)

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 37,321

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants bounced back in a big way today, as a grand slam by Matt Chapman and a solid start from Mason Black carried the Giants to a 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in a late-afternoon affair at Oracle Park.

The Reds beat the Giants last night 4-2 to snap their eight-game losing streak, and as has been the case a lot of the time so far this season, the Giants were in need of a bounceback win. The Giants needed a stopper, and that responsibility would fall on Mason Black, who was sent to the mound to make his second-career big league start.

Black pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. For the Reds, they turned to their left-hander, Nick Lodolo, who got Thairo Estrada to fly out to right field to start the bottom of the first.

LaMonte Wade and Patrick Bailey, the latter who was activated off the 7-Day Concussion Injured List prior to the game, each lined base-hits with one out to put runners at first and second with one out for Wilmer Flores. Flores struck out swinging, and that brought up Heliot Ramos, who has been swinging the bat well since his call up from Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday.

Ramos walked to load the bases, and Matt Chapman stepped up and hit a grand slam to left-center to give the Giants an early 4-0 lead. It was a much-needed swing of the bat for both Chapman and the Giants, as Chapman has struggled at the plate in the early going this season, and the Giants have really been lacking the big hit.

“For me, a good swing like that is something I can build off [of],” said Chapman. “I think I’ve been a little bit off balance, or a little bit in between, so to be able to get a swing off like that feels good, and then you just work on trying to repeat that.”

“The grand slam in the first inning [was] a big deal,” said Manager Bob Melvin. “Especially against a really good pitcher.”

Black would have had another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, but Jake Fraley reached on a one-out bloop single that shortstop Casey Schmitt lost in the sun, as is often a risk in these 4:15 p.m. starts. Other than that, Black got through the inning unscathed, and Lodolo pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the second.

“Sun and wind at 4…..there wasn’t a ball that went up in the air today where both sides [didn’t hold their] breath a bit,” said Melvin.

“It was a little rough,” added Chapman. “Those 4:00 games, it doesn’t matter where you play, they’re always a little bit tough. Whether it’s the shadows, or the sun kinda setting right in the outfield, those balls are definitely tough for everybody.”

Will Benson hit a base-hit to right to start the top of the third and decided to challenge the arm of right-fielder Heliot Ramos, but Ramos threw a strike to second to nail Benson. The Reds challenged the call by Second Base Umpire Nate Tomlinson, but the call was upheld, and the Reds lost their challenge. Black retired the next two men he faced for a quiet top of the third, and Lodolo pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third.

Elly De La Cruz hit a home run to left-center—almost to the exact same spot where Chapman hit his grand slam—to start the top of the fourth, and put the Reds on the board. Spencer Strider was hit by a pitch with one out, and then Jake Fraley lined a base-hit to right to move Strider to third, but Ramos threw another strike from right to nail Fraley at second. Tyler Stephenson then grounded out to short to end the inning.

“I was just trying to get the job done,” said Ramos. “I’m just trying to help the team. I’m trying to do my best. I’ve been trying since 2022, when I made my debut, and I feel like I’m in a good spot. I just want to keep playing hard and make the best of this opportunity.”

“[I] definitely have to take [Ramos] out for a nice dinner after that,” said Black. “It was huge having him out there.

“[Black] better give me a steak,” added Ramos.”

The shadows then made their way across home plate, which made the hitting conditions incredibly difficult. However, that did not deter the Giants in the bottom of the fourth. Ramos grounded out to third to start the inning, though he nearly beat out the throw from third-baseman Jeimer Candelario.

Chapman was called out at first on another close play on a throw by Candelario, but the Giants challenged the call by First Base Umpire David Rackley, and the call was overturned. Michael Conforto then lined a base-hit the other way to left, but he had to leave the game with a strained right hamstring.

The Giants had an opportunity to add on, and after Chapman’s grand slam in the first, it would have been easy to believe that the Giants would keep the RBI hits going. Sadly, that would not be the case, as Casey Schmitt popped out to first, and Tyler Fitzgerald grounded out to third to end the inning.

Black walked Candelario to start the top of the fifth, he walked Jonathan India with one out, Black was done. Black only went four and a third innings, which means he would not get the win, but the Giants got exactly what they needed from him.

“He got some big outs when he needed to,” said Melvin. “Too bad he couldn’t get the win…..but he pitched well.”

“[It was] a lot better [than my last start], just because of the win,” added Black. “That’s all that matters.”

Black was also helped out by a sliding catch by Ramos, who had moved over to left, for the first out of the top of the fifth.

“Obviously the big diving play, too, in the outfield saved me,” said Black. “So it’s awesome having guys like that who can make plays.”

What made Ramos’ catch rather unique was the presence of a pelican in left-center field during the top of the fifth inning. The pelican even got a big round of applause by the fans at Oracle Park when it was shown on the scoreboard.

“I turn[ed] around, and I saw standing out there, and I was like, ‘Casey’s playing deep,’” Black joked. “I didn’t know what the protocol was, ‘are we gonna get that thing off the field, or just let it hang out?’ It was funny.”

Left-hander Taylor Rogers came in for Black and struck out TJ Friedl for the second out, but he hit De La Cruz to load the bases. Rogers then struck out Stuart Fairchild swinging to end the inning, as he got out of the inning with the Giants still up 4-1.

Lodolo pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, and then Ryan Walker came in for the top of the sixth. Walker gave up a leadoff base-hit to Spencer Steer back to the mound, but he got Fraley to line out to Ramos, who was now in left, and he struck out Tyler Stephenson swinging.

Candelario then came up with two outs, an hit a single to right-center to Mike Yastrzemski, who was now playing right, and Yastrzemski made the third throw from a Giants’ right-fielder to nail a Reds’ base-runner trying to stretch a single into a double.

“[Defense was] really the key to the game,” said Melvin. “The [grand slam] was huge, but being able to make defensive plays all day long…..[against] a team [like the Reds] that gets on the bases—and that’s what they do: create havoc on the bases—to be able to get all those outs, especially at second base where there’s a runner in scoring position, the outfield defense was superb today.”

“Those can be momentum sparks, just as much as [the offense],” Melvin added.

Wilmer Flores reached on a throwing error by De La Cruz at short to start the bottom of the sixth, but Lodolo then struck out the side to end his afternoon on a positive note. Meanwhile, Erik Miller came in for the Giants in the seventh and worked through a walk and a hit batsman to escape the inning without any damage.

Brent Suter was the new pitcher for Cincinnati, and after striking out Casey Schmitt swinging for the first out of the bottom of the seventh, Suter gave up a single to Tyler Fitzgerald. Thairo Estrada singled Fitzgerald over to third, and Wade was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Patrick Bailey came up with the bases loaded and one out and hit a fly ball to deep right-center that center-fielder TJ Friedl caught at the warning track for a sacrifice fly to score Fitzgerland and extend the Giants’ lead to 5-1. Wade, who was at first, very boldly took second on the play. It was a close play, and had Wade been called out at second before Fitzgerald touched the plate, the run would not have counted.

The submariner, Tyler Rogers, came in for the top of the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning, and Buck Farmer pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Cincinnati. Sean Hjelle closed things out with a scoreless ninth, and the Giants won it 5-1.

“[This win] means a lot,” said Chapman. “We’re grinding a little bit and not playing our best baseball, so to be able to jump out early like that is huge, and I think that we can build off a game like today. We obviously have a lot of work to do, still, but it feels good for sure.”

Taylor Rogers, who came in for Mason Black in the fifth, ended up getting the win, and Nick Lodolo took the loss despite settling down after Matt Chapman’s grand slam in the bottom of the first.

The Giants improve to 18-23 with this much-needed win, and now they can take the series with a win tomorrow with Kyle Harrison on the mound. First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m.

News and Notes:

Patrick Bailey was activated off the Concussion IL, but Austin Slater was placed on it after jamming his head against the wall in an attempt to make a catch in center field in the first inning last night. Catcher Jackson Reez was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento, and outfielder Brett Wisely was called up.”

Michael Conforto’s strained right hamstring will be evaluated when he gets to the ballpark tomorrow morning, but it does appear that he could be the latest Giant headed to the IL.

Today was Girl’s Day at Oracle Park, and prior to the game, Giants Senior Director of Broadcast Communications and Media Operations Maria Jacinto was honored with the 2024 Alexis T. Busch Award.

The Alexis T. Busch Award is named in honor of the late Alexis T. Busch, who became the first batgirl in Baseball History in 2000, and spent the 2000 and 2001 Seasons in that role for the Giants. Busch tragically lost her life in a sailing accident in 2012.

The award was presented by Former Giants Manager and now Special Adviser to Baseball Operations Dusty Baker, who was the Giants’ manager during Busch’s time as batgirl.

Several past recipients of the award, as well as many of the women employees of the Giants’ Organization were on the field for the ceremony.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Giants to start Mason Black against Reds tonight at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants outfielders Michael Conforto (left) and Tyler Fitzgerald (right) try to track down the baseball on Cincinnati Reds Stuart Fairchild’s inside the park home run hit in the top of the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri May 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Cincinnati Reds pinch hitter Stuart Fairchild hit an inside the park home run Fairchild slide to the right of San Francisco catcher Jackson Reetz tag to give the Giants an insurance run.

#2 Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott pitched over five innings six hits two earned runs and two strike outs talk about some of the pitches Abbott was throwing to keep the Giants off balance?

#3 The inside the park home run was the first one hit at Oracle Park since the Tampa Bay Rays Luke Raley did it Aug 16, 2024. Raley was the sixth opposing player to do it and the 16th overall in San Francisco.

#4 Stephen talk about Casey Schmidt whose now taking he place of shortstop the injured Nick Ahmed?

#5 Patrick Bailey returned from concussion protocols. Bailey was on the 7 day IL. The Giants also recalled infielder/outfielder Brett Wisely from Triple A Sacramento.

#6 Stephen, talk about Saturday’s starters for game 2 of this series for Cincinnati LHP Nick Lodolo (3-1, ERA 2.79) and for San Francisco RHP Mason Black (0-1, ERA 10.38) first pitch 4:15pm PDT.

Stephen Ruderman is a baseball beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Mary Lisa: Brink of elimination Rangers can put Hurricanes away tonight in Carolina

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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dimitri Orlov (7) wrestles with New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey (26) on the ice surface both players were hit with penalties at PNC Arena in Raleigh NC during game 3 in the first period of the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on Fri May 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 After winning games 2 and 3 in overtime and taking a series 3-0 lead the New York Rangers are certainly proving their where with all against the Carolina Hurricanes.

#2 The Rangers won their first two games at Madison Square Garden and took the hard task of winning game three in Carolina where the Hurricanes have been tough this season.

#3 We’ve talked about the job that Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in game 3 saved 45 of 47 shots. The Rangers are seeded number 1 in the post season at 7-0 and are living up to it. The Rangers in the regular season were 4-0 against the Hurricane.

#4 Mary, what can you say about the Rangers Artemi Panarin whose had an incredible series against the Hurricanes. Panarin scored the game winner at 1:43 in the overtime to help the Rangers put the Hurricane on the brink of elimination.

#5 Each game has been close the Rangers have won each of them by one goal. The Hurricanes have their backs to the wall game 4 is once again the life of death for Carolina’s season. Face off tonight 4:00pm PDT.

Join Mary Lisa for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs right though the NHL Stanley Cup Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Red Legs get Leg up with Fairchild’s inside the park homer in 4-2 win; Cincinnati snaps eight game loss streak at Oracle

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Cincinnati Reds Stuart Fairchild’s slide gets ahead of the San Francisco Giants catcher Jackson Reetz’s tag for an inside the park home run in the top of the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri May 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

Cincinnati (17-21). 101 100 001. 4. 9. 0

San Francisco (17-23). 110 000 000. 2 7. 1

Time: 2:30

Attendance: 32,867

Friday, May 10, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The slumping San Francisco Giants fell to the slumping Cincinnati Reds, 4-2, tonight in an exciting contest that featured the 13th inside the park home run on the banks of McCovey Cove.

The Giants that took the field against the Rhinelanders was not the San Francisco Giants we’ve been used to seeing this still young season. Slick fielding shortstop Nick Ahmed was put on the 10 day injured list and replaced by Casey Schmitt, who was recalled from the River Cats and started at short.

This followed Jackson Reetz’s promotion to cover for the injuries to catchers Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy. Blake Sabol also had been recalled from Sacramento since the Giants left on their disastrous 3-7 road trip.

And Jung Hoo Lee is day to day as. he recovers from the foul ball that he slammed into his own foot the day before yesterday. More roster moves may yet be coming; Michael Conforto pinch hit for Austin Slater in the bottom of the second after the starting center fielder showed signs of a possible concussion.

Logan Webb was coming off two rough starts including last Saturday’s game when he was under the weather. He had a rocky start tonight but settled down to hold the visitors to three runs, one of which was unearned over seven frames on eight hits and two walks.

He threw an even 100 pitches, 36 of which were balls. He with his fourth loss against three wins, although his ERA dropped to 3.38. Erik Miller pitched the eighth and was the victim of the first inside the Oracle Park home run since Bryce Harper pulled off the feat last August 16. Tyler Rogers was the third and final San Francisco hurler of the night. Hey set the Reds down in order in the ninth.

Andrew Abbott, Cincy’s promising 24 year old lefty, who was their second round draft pick in 2021 came to work at 1-4, 3.82 performed credibly over the five innings he pitched. He gave up two runs, both earned, on six hits, one for the distance, and a walk, throwing 88 pitches, 54 for strikes, and earning the win, which left him 2-4, 3.36 for the year.

Emilio Pagán relieved him and pitched a perfect sixth before being relieved, in turn, by Justin Wilson in the seventh. Wilson pitched to one batter before being relieved by Lucas Sims. We haven’t as yet received an explanation for this substitution, which, under MLB’s speed ’em up rules, wouldn’t have been allowed except in case of an injury. Alexis Díaz earned his seventh save by shutting the hosts down in the ninth.

Cincinnati got a leg up with a Rickey run in the first. Elly de la Cuz hit a one out single to left. Webb almost picked him off. In fact, first base umpire Larry Vanoveer called him out, but the video review crew in New York thought otherwise, and the ruling was reversed. De la Cruz swiped his 24th base of the year, against four failures, on the very next pitch. He scored on Spencer Steer’s two out two bagger.

San Francisco wiped out that advantage soon enough. With one out in the bottom of the first, Thairo Estrada hit his sixth home run of the year. It travelled 377 feet into the left field bleachers and came on an 82 mph sweeper. An inning later, San Francisco took the lead by defeating The curse of the Leadoff Double. Ramos supplied the double and Tyler Fitzgerald, the RBI Texas League single.

But the Giants couldn’t contain the daring do of De La Cruz. He dumped a single into center field in the top of the third and instantly took off for second when Michael Conforto fumbled the ball. The speedster promptly pilfered third and scored on Steer’s Texas League single.

The Reds pulled into the lead in the fourth on a single by Will Benson and TJ Firedl’s two bagger to left center. De la Cruz didn’t do any damage on the base paths because he struck out to end the inning.

It was speed, but from a different source, that stretched the Red legs’ lead to 4–2 in the eighth. Erik Miller, pitching in relief of Webb, had just picked Steer off first for the second out of the frame. Manager David Bell sent Stuart Fairchild to the plate to bat for Jake Fraley.

Fairchild larruped a high line drive to deep left center, 388 feet from the plate. It hit the wall, and Fairchild hit the road and didn’t stop running until he slid across the plate with an inside the park home run upping Cincinnati’s lead to 4-2.

Post game notes: San Francisco Giants VP of Communications Maria Jacinto received the Alexis T Busch Award which is presented to a woman Giants employee who best exemplifies the spirit and courage of Alexis and her love for the game of baseball. Maria is one of the most deserving honorees of this award as we at Sports Radio Service can attest to her hard work, dedication, knowledge, and most important her humanities of deserving this award. Congratulations Maria.

The Giants will try to work their way back to contention at 4:15 Saturday, afternoon. Mason Black, another new face will take his 0-1, 10,38 record to the mound, opposed by Cincy’s Nick Lodoto (3-1, 2.79) a 4:15pm PDT.

A’s Get Stomped by the Mariners 8-1; Blackburn gets lit up for seven hits and seven runs

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Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn throws to the Seattle Mariners line up at T Mobile Field in Seattle. Blackburn got lit up by the M’s four seven hits and seven runs over four innings of work on Fri May 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (18-22) had a rocky start to their series up in Seattle against the Mariners (21-18) Friday night. There was not much hitting through the first six innings for the A’s and Paul Blackburn only lasted four innings on the mound giving up 7 hits and 7 runs.

Coupled with lack of offense from Oakland as well as some very productive offense from Seattle, they built a 7-0 lead going into the seventh inning.

The Mariners would tack on one more run in the seventh inning for a 8-1 finish at T Mobile Field in Seattle. Oakland’s Lawrence Butler singled in the ninth driving Kyle McCann home. The A’s loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning but left the runners stranded.

Game recap: There was not much going on through the first three innings for either team. It was a one, two, three fourth inning for Seattle’s Bryan Woo. Paul Blackburn did not follow suit in fact he allowed five Seattle runs in the bottom of the fourth.

He had back-to-back walks and later on in the inning allowed a couple of doubles and a Dylan Moore home run for a 5-0 lead through four innings. The Mariners had turned this game inside-out. Oakland had a lot of work to do going into the fifth inning.

Seattle’s Bryan Woo, in his first start of the season, exited the game in the fifth inning. He had been struggling with elbow inflammation in the pre-season and he began to show signs of some discomfort putting a damper on his return to the mound.

After one of the trainers came out and evaluated Woo’s elbow it was determined that he was done for the evening. Trent Thornton would relieve Woo in the fifth inning after Woo’s 62nd pitch of the evening.

Paul Blackburn continued to struggle giving up a couple of singles and a walk loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A change was made on the mound for Oakland and Tyler Ferguson took over trying to get out of a very sticky situation.

He was looking to stop the bleeding. A ground out, a strike out and Thornton was one out away from getting out of the inning. With the two outs, the Mariners Dylan Moore singled driving in two more runs and Seattle was cruising 7-0.

This game went into the sixth inning and the A’s had only two hits so far in this game. The Mariners were completely outhitting Oakland through five innings with 8 hits; a home run, a couple of doubles and a single.

The game went into the seventh inning with Seattle holding onto a comfortable lead 7-0. Oakland’s Easton Lucas who relieved Ferguson had a terrific sixth inning closing out the inning with three straight punch outs.

The Mariners scored another run in the bottom of the seventh inning winning this game 8-1. The A’s got a couple of singles in the top of the ninth inning from Kyle McCann and Tyler Soderstrom with Lawrence Butler driving McCann home and the A’s had avoided the shut out.

They did load the bases in the top of the ninth inning leaving three runners stranded. This was not the way that Oakland wanted to start this road trip. They finished this game with seven hits, loading the bases in the ninth but it was too little too late.

Post game notes: The A’s are coming off a disappointing four game series with the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum this past week. They only managed a single win, the first game of a double-header in the final third and fourth game of the series on Wednesday . The A’s in Seattle Friday night took a tough loss from the Mariners in an eight difference. Oakland is still holding down third place in the American League West although dropping seven below five hundred after Friday’s shelling but remain four games out of first place.

Friday night Blackburn for the A’s got racked up pitching four plus innings surrendering seven hits and seven runs and Bryan Woo for the Mariners went 4.1 innings held the A’s to just one hit, no runs, and struck out one and walked three. Blackburn’s ERA was raised to 4.11 and dropped to 3-2 on his win/loss record. He had been having success this season and but Friday night against an aggressive and seeing eye M’s line up Blackburn was just simply overmatched.

Saturday night the A’s will take on the Mariners in game two of their series. This will be an evening game with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 PM. Joey Estes will be on the mound for the A’s with a 0-0, 6.04 ERA and Bryce Miller will get the nod for the Mariners with a 3-2, 2.61 ERA. Oakland will be looking for some more productive offensive work on Saturday night.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: How worried is Zaidi with some of the team’s struggles?

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San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has recently said the start of the season has been “hugely disappointing” (photo by the San Francisco Giants)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 Michael, after San Francisco Giants Michael Conforto’s 368 foot home run in the top of the fourth inning it was the Giants hope that they might be able to get things as the Giants struck first and Conforto’s run would be all they would get for the rest of the afternoon.

#2 The Rockies in the bottom of the fourth lit up Giants pitcher Keaton Win who pitch three plus inning and gave up eight hits and seven runs. Can you point to what was off with Winn’s pitches against the Rockies.

#3 The Rockies Brenton Doyle did some damage in that fourth with a 430 foot three run home run making the score at the time 6-1.

#4 Michael no doubt the roughest part of the road trip was when the Giants were swept in four games in Philadelphia?

#5 Michael, just wanted to ask you about a recent interview that Giants team president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said “Even in spring training, we saw a lot of positives that we expected to carry into the season and it hasn’t happened. We haven’t hit our stride.” How concerned should Zaidi be with some of the struggles this team has had. They went 3-7 on this last road trip.

#6 The Giants return home to host the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park on Friday night at 7:15pm PDT. The Reds will be starting LHP Andrew Abbott (1-4 ERA 3.32) and he’ll be opposed by the Giants RHP Logan Webb (3-3 ERA 3.50). Webb got touched up pretty good in his last outing against the Phillies on May 5th giving up seven hits and four runs in four innings of work. Can he bounce back Friday against the Reds.

Michael Duca does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: A’s Mason Miller could be traded

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Oakland A’s pitcher Mason Miller is seen here throwing to the Seattle Mariners line up in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 2, 2023 back when he was a starter. Since converting to the closer role in 2024 Miller has seen lots of success in save situations. So much so other big league clubs have express interest in his services including the New York Yankees. (AP file photo)

A’s Mason Miller could be traded

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

A team in transition like the Oakland A’s (Oakland until September 26) is always building for the future, especially with so many moving parts right now for the Athletics, cities, new stadiums, and lawsuits, referendums. A possible trade this season that involves A’s closer Mason Miller is very likely. It all depends on the situation and where the A’s are in the standings. Or maybe not, considering the unpredictability of the A’s ownership.

The A’s will be asking for a big package of promising players, but I think this will have to wait until at least the middle of the season. Let’s say the A’s continue to improve, and they are fighting for the western division title on July 31. What do you do?

Various teams have reportedly expressed interest in the 25-year-old “lanzallamas.” Two teams expected to be contenders, the Orioles and the Cubs, are probably the types of teams that are one stud short in the ninth inning, a closer away from pulling the trigger.

The A’s might still have Miller and not be contenders, and if that is the case, the probability of a trade increases. This applies to the A’s and the other teams that want to trade for Miller. How are they doing when they also pull the trigger? Is there urgency? The A’s hold all the cards with Miller since he is still under A’s control until 2029, so they can wait. If you are a negotiator, you want to start with an advantage, and the Oakland A’s have it today with Miller.

The lifespan of a young closer throwing high-octane doesn’t last forever. Free of injuries, there have been very few Mariano Riveras out there, the type of pitcher who has owned the ninth inning for years.

Finally, I would not be surprised if the Oakland A’s traded Miller during this 2024 season, and you also should not be. But let’s face it: For a young and very good team like the Baltimore Orioles, that is their focus. A team like the O’s might need that one piece, a “lights out” closer, to win the World Series this year. But the Orioles should not be over-excited. The Baltimore Orioles have not won a World Series since 1983 (41 years), and they are today one of the elite teams in the game.

Is it Miller time?