Author: Sports Radio Service

Guardians Bieber masterful shutting out A’s 8-0 on 4 hitter in opener

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Thursday, March 29, 2024

Cleveland (1-0). 010 500 002. 8. 11 1

Athletics (0-1). 000 000 000. 0. 4. 1

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 13,522

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Before this evening’s opening game of the 2024 American League season, the Oakland United Coalition and the Oakland 68s held a joint press conference in the Coliseum parking lot to demand that the county sell its half interest in the property to the city of Oakland, rather than to the group that calls itself the Coliseum Way Partners, a Fisher family front.

In announcing the event, the protesters stated, ” If the Board of Supervisors moves forward with the County’s sale of the Coliseum to the Oakland A’s ownership, the billionaire Fisher family will further disenfranchise a community that has suffered from neglect, disinvestment, and poverty for decades.

The team’s management has made it clear that they are unwilling to negotiate in good faith with the community, the City of Oakland, and the Port of Oakland and instead have been a barrier to development and the flow of services and resources to a community that desperately needs them.

By selling the County’s stake in the Coliseum to the City of Oakland, local residents and fans will have a greater say in ensuring the site is used to create a safe, healthy, vibrant, and economically viable community.”

The weather in the parking lot was, like the deal the A’s are offering their host city, raw. The events inside the Coliseum proper, also suited the occasion. The current tenants of that decaying edifice were facing a club from Cleveland, home of the fictional team in Major League, the 1989 film in which a benighted ownership tries to tear down the club in order to move the franchise.

Game recap: In the movie, the scheme backfires and the then Indians put together a pennant winning season. But there was no happy ending for the Athletics tonight; Cleveland steam rolled them, 8-0.

On the mound for the Athletics was Alex Wood, an 11 year veteran southpaw who finished 2023 with a 5-5, 4.33 record for the Giants. He went 0-0, 4.40 in his four spring training starts. Those less than mediocre numbers looked good compared with the ones he put up tonight. He allowed six runs, all earned, on seven hits, a walk, and a hit batter in 3-1/3 innings. He threw 64 pitches, 44 for strikes. He took the loss and now is 0-1, 16.20.

Oakland fan favorite Stephen Vogt, making his managerial debut for the Guardians, chose Shane Bieber for his starter. The 28 year old righty presented more impressive credentials than Wood, having gone 5-6, 3.80 in ’23 but 60-32 lifetime. He was quite effective tonight, shutting out the A’s on four hits and a walk while striking out 11 of them in only six frames. He left after throwing 83 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Eli Morgan replaced him after the 13,522 people in attendance asked God to bless America and set the A’s down 1-2-3 in the seventh, as did Tim Herrin in the eighth and Nick Sandlin in the ninth. Bieber’s performance gave him a record of 1-0, 0.00.

Cleveland drew first blood, on back to back one out doubles to left and left center, respectively, by David Fry and Tyler Freeman. The Guardians padded their lead in the next frame, sending Wood to the showers on another one out double, this time by Josh Naylor; Fry’s single to left; a hit batter, Freeman; and RBI singles by Andrés Giménez, and Austin Hedges, the last one of the infield variety.

After Brayan Roccio smacked another two bagger, Kyle Muller took over and stopped the hemorrhage. He stayed on the bump through the top of the fifth, going 2-2/3 innings and allowing only one hit and notching up two Ks. 24 of his 32 offerings counted as strikes. TJ McFarland relieved him at the start of the seventh and set the side down in order before yielding to Michael Kelly for the eighth.

He wiggled out of a bases loaded situation to hold the Guardians’ lead at 6-0 but surrendered Cleveland’s final two tallys, which Ramírez drove in with a triple off the right field wall and Fry with a sac fly that scored Ramírez. McFarland would have given up more if it weren’t for Seth Brown’s diving grab of a Freeman liner. The Guardians challenged the out call, but it was confirmed.

There were a few bright spots in the Athletics’ dreary performance. Gelof pulled off two beautiful plays, a backhand snatch and throw Naylor’s grounder in the second and a brilliant off-balance throw to nab the speedy Ramón Laureano at first in the fifth, and Noda made a spectacular diving catch of Steven Kwan’s game-opening pop up.

The Guardians and Athletics will go at it again tomorrow evening at the Coliseum. That’s Friday, March 29 at 6:40. This time, a right hander, Ross Stripling, will start for the A’s, and a lefty, Logan Allen, will take the mound for Cleveland.

Struggling Sharks fall 3-1 to Wild; Defeat extends San Jose’s loss streak to nine games

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San Jose Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (29) puts the stop on a shot by Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson (14) in the first period at the XCel Energy Center in St Paul on Thu Mar 28, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, March 28, 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A long season for the San Jose Sharks didn’t get any shorter on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, as a Minnesota Wild team, playing with desperation, defeated the rebuilding Sharks 3-1 to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

The Wild (35-28-9, 79 points) are in a scramble for an NHL Western Conference playoff berth, trailing Vegas by nine points and idle St. Louis by three in the Wild Card race with 10 games to play. San Jose (16-48-8, 40 points) is mired in eighth place in the Pacific Division, one point behind Anaheim.

“We’re dying for a win here, and I feel for our guys,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “But you have to play 60, you can’t play 40. We’re in that mode of playing the first two periods really well and struggle in the third. We kind of reversed that a little bit tonight.

“It says a lot. We continue to battle, and in those last two periods, it would have been easy to pack it in after the first period. We did anything but that.”

The Sharks have lost their last nine games, and were looking to bounce back from a 6-3 loss to Dallas on Tuesday.

“It was a good effort. It’s frustrating when the guys are playing hard, playing the right way,” Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood said. “Obviously the first period didn’t go our way, but I thought we responded well and deserved better than no points tonight.”

The Wild wasted little time scoring the go-ahead tally at 18 seconds of the third period. Matt Boldy made it 2-1 Minnesota when he circled behind the net, took a feed from Kirill Kaprizov and swatted the puck behind Blackwood, who found himself out of position.

Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman tacked on an empty-net goal at 19:06, his 19th.

“I give our team a lot of credit for getting back on track with a good second period and an even better third period,” Quinn said. “I liked an awful lot of what I saw in those two periods.”

Minnesota had two power plays in the first period while outshooting the Sharis 15-1, and had one goal – Joel Eriksson Ek’s 30th of the season, Eriksson Ek took a centering pass from Kirill Kaprizov and flipped a wrist shot to the top shelf over Blackwood’s right shoulder.

“I thought we did some good things physically in the first period,” Quinn said. “But I thought we were really out of it mentally. The penalties didn’t help us because (the Wild’s) power play can move the puck around pretty good. We were fortunate to get out of that period down 1-0.”

The Sharks came up with the equalizer at 16:01 of the second period, tying the game at 1-1. Mikael Granlund took a feed in the slot and stuffed the puck into the lower corner of the goal past Filip Gustavsson’s glove for his 11th goal of the season. Jan Rutta and Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the assists.

“I think our response was better in the second and third period,” Sharks forward Justin Bailey said. “Between periods, we were reminded to clean up some little things and make sure we were getting to the puck. (Minnesota) is a fast team, a quick team, and make them earn all the defense they got. I think we did that tonight.”

Quinn felt his fourth line of Filip Zadina, Ryan Carpenter and Kevin Labanc had a strong third period that helped keep the Sharks in the game.

“The first two periods were okay, but the third period was their best,” Quinn said. “I thought they gave us a real good period. We had some chances, but we just couldn’t get one by in that third period.”

Gustavsson stopped 27-of-28 San Jose shots on goal, while Blackwood made 29 saves on 31 Wild shots.

“I felt a lot sharper tonight,’ Blackwood said. “I was seeing the puck better and I had better positioning. It felt good to get back into a better rhythm and feel like myself again.”

SHARK BITES: San Jose scratches were D Jacob McDonald, RW Givani Smith and LW Alexander Barabanov. … The Sharks travel to St. Louis on Saturday before returning home for an April 1 contest with the Seattle Kraken.

Giants sputter late in San Diego in 6-4 loss to open season

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San Diego Padres Jurickson Profar (10) hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning at Petco Park in San Diego against the San Francisco Giants on Thu Mar 28, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Petco Park

San Diego, California

San Francisco Giants 4 (0-1)

San Diego Padres 6 (2-1)

Win: Yuki Matsui (1-0)

Loss: Luke Jackson (0-1)

Save: Robert Suarez (2)

Time: 2:34

Attendance: 44,953

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants sputtered late on Opening Day, as after what was mostly a seesaw battle, the Padres scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Giants ended up losing 6-4 to open the 2024 Regular Season.

Today was the start of a new season and a new era for the Giants. A whole number of people were making their Giants debut today, including most notably, Manager Bob Melvin. Melvin was returning to San Diego, where he managed the Padres to the National League Championship Series in 2022, but left for the Giants after an 82-80 season last year.

For the Padres, they were playing their third game of the season, as they opened the season by splitting two games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea.

Speaking of South Korea, their native son, Jung-hoo Lee, who was signed by the Giants over the off-season, led off the game to make his major league debut. Lee saw three pitches from Yu Darvish and struck out, as Darvish threw a 1-2-3 inning.

Darvish was opposed by Logan Webb, who was making his third-straight opening day start for the Giants. Webb also threw a 1-2-3 inning in the first, and both pitchers threw 1-2-3 innings again in the second.

Michael Conforto lined a double down the right-field line to start the top of the third. Patrick Bailey flew out to center-field, but Nick Ahmed took a high fastball from Darvish, and smoked it down the left-field line for a double to score Conforto, as the Giants struck first.

Webb threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, and set down the first nine men he faced. LaMonte Wade Jr. and Matt Chapman singled to start the fourth, but the Giants were unable to do anything with it. Xander Bogaerts hit a bloop single to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth, but that was followed up by a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Fernendo Tatis Jr. Nick Cronenworth then grounded out to short, and Webb was cruising through four innings.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Lee lined his first big league hit to center, but he was immediately picked off by Darvish to end the inning.

“I did get my hit, but right after I got picked off by Darvish, so I never really got that time to feel that I actually got a hit,” said Lee through his interpreter, Justin Han. “The most memorable moment has to be the packed crowds. The level of baseball is way higher here in the major leagues. The level of fans is [at] a higher volume, also.”

Things got tough for Webb in the bottom of the fifth. Manny Machado walked to start the inning, and Ha-seong Kim singled Machado to third. Jurickson Profar then hit a weak ground ball in the vicinity of second base, but it found its way into right-center for a base-hit, as Machado scored to tie the game. Luis Campusano followed that up with a base-hit to load the bases.

The Padres had the bases loaded with nobody out and a run already in with Tylor Wade at the plate. Tylor Wade hit a little ground ball along the first-base line that was picked up by first-baseman LaMonte Wade, who applied a tag on Tylor Wade, but missed it according to First Base Umpire Adam Hamari. Kim scored to give the Padres their first lead of the game, but the umpires conferred, and determined that Wade had run outside the baseline, and thus Wade was called out.

The Giants had just caught a massive break, as the Padres sent in Jose Azocar to pinch-run for Profar at third. The Giants then played the infield in for Jackson Merrill, who hit a sharp ground ball to the right-side; second-baseman Thairo Estrada ranged to his right to grab it and fire a throw home to get Azocar at the plate for the second out. Bogaerts then popped up to shortstop Nick Ahmed on the first pitch to end the inning.

Jorge Soler walked to lead off the top of the sixth, and that knocked Darvish out of the game. Padres Manager Mike Shildt brought in the lefty, Tom Cosgrove. Melvin countered by pinch-hitting Wilmer Flores for LaMonte Wade, but Flores struck out swinging, and Cosgrove set down all three men he faced to end the inning.

Webb ran into trouble again in the bottom of the sixth. Tatis led off the inning with a base-hit to center, and very alertly went from first to third on a weak ground out between the pitcher’s mound and first off the bat of Jake Cronenworth. Webb got Machado to pop out to second, and then chose to put Kim on. Azocar then struck out swinging in his first plate appearance to end the inning.

That would do it for Webb, who threw 97 pitches over six innings. Webb set down the first nine men he faced, and faced the minimum through his first four innings. He gave up two runs in the fifth, but braved in there to go six.

“It was nice today to get out there and get the adrenaline going,” said Webb. “Even after I came out there were a lot of broken-bat base hits, not a lot of balls hit hard. That’s baseball, though. Sometimes baseball is cruel like that.”

The Padres brought in Johny Brito for the seventh. Estrada and Conforto singled to start the top of the seventh. Bailey then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over to second and third. That brought up Ahmed, who had the lone Giants’ RBI to this point, and Ahmed lined a single to left to score Estrada to tie the game.

Yuki Matsui, the left-hander whom the Padres had signed from Japan, was brought in to face Lee, who hit a sacrifice fly to center to knock in Conforto and put the Giants back ahead for his first major league RBI. However, Ahmed, who had advanced to second on a wild pitch by Matsui, got caught in a rundown between second and third after the throw from center-fielder Jackson Merrill was cut off, and was tagged out to end the inning.

Melvin brought in Luke Jackson for the bottom of the seventh, and Jackson gave up singles to Campusano and Wade to start the inning, which put runners on the corners with nobody out. With Merrill up, Wade took off for second, but Ahmed dropped the throw from Bailey, and the ball ricocheted into shallow left-center field, which allowed Campusano to score to tie the game and Wade to get to third. Jackson then walked Merrill, and left the game after he tweaked his back on the pitch.

Ryan Walker came in for Jackson, and the Padres kept going. Bogaerts singled to score Wade and give the Padres the lead. Tatis grounded out to third, but Cronenworth doubled to the wall in right to score two and extend the Padres’ lead to 6-3.

“Webby pitched his ass off. I wish we could’ve gotten him the [win],” said Jackson. “I felt great the whole outing and then, I think it was a fastball to Merrill, something happened. I tried to throw another pitch because it didn’t feel as bad as last year and had no idea where it was going. Other than that I felt fantastic. Nothing lingering from last year. Just one of those outings where I wish we could’ve gotten Webby the [win].”

Walker escaped the inning without any further damage, but the damage had been done, and the life was sucked out of the Giants, who went down 1-2-3 against Matsui in the top of the eighth.

Melvin then brought in the lefty Erik Miller for his major league debut. Miller pitched a 1-2-3 inning, and capped it off with a strike out of Eguy Roasario on a high fastball.

Robert Suarez came in for the ninth, and set down the first two men he faced. Conforto hit a home run to right-center to make it 6-4, but Bailey grounded out to second to end the game.

The Giants fall to 0-1, and while it is March 28, it always hurts to lose on Opening Day, because 1-0 looks a lot better than 0-1. This is the second-straight opening day loss for the Giants, and their fifth over the last six years.

The good news is that there are 161 of these things left, and Kyle Harrison will take the hill tomorrow night against Joe Musgrove. First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

News and Notes:

Despite a strong spring in which he hit .302, Luis Matos did not make the Opening Day roster. Less surprisingly, Marco Luciano, who had a rough spring, but turned things around during the final week of camp, did not make the roster either.

The Giants decided to carry three catchers, as Patrick Bailey, Tom Murphy and Joey Bart all made the Opening Day roster.

According to Alex Pavlovic, the Giants Beat Writer for NBC Sports Bay Area, Blake Snell was at Petco Park today for Opening Day, but will return to Scottsdale tomorrow to get work in, and could be ready to join the rotation as soon as the end of next week, when the Giants open the home part of their schedule against the Padres.

Jackson will undergo an MRI on his back. As of now, no roster move has been made.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Padres come back from behind to defeat Giants 6-4 in opener

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San Francisco Giants Nick Ahmed (16) swings for a seventh inning RBI single against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego on Thu Mar 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

#1 The San Diego Padres Jake Cronenworth hit a two run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park 6-4 on opening day on Thursday.

#2 Michael the loss spoils Giants manager Bob Melvin’s return to San Diego and the Padres had to come back from behind to overtake Melvin and the Giants.

#3 The Giants Jung Hoo Lee hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh in Lee’s first big league hit. Melvin is expecting big things out of Lee this season.

#4 Giants starter Logan Webb pitched six innings, gave up two earned runs and five hits and struck out five batters. Webb wanted to give a little more but battled in this one today.

#5 Giants try it again for game two of the series at Petco Park. San Francisco starting pitcher Kyle Harrison a left hander going up against the Padres right hander Joe Musgrove. Michael talk about this match up and can the Giants even the series on Friday night?

Join Michael Duca for the San Francisco Giants podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Boycott will last only two hours but Oakland fans plan to make the best of it

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Aerial view from Copter Sky 7 of the Oakland Coliseum where fans plan converge at the Coliseum parking lot before opening night on Thu Mar 28, 2024 for a boycott protest two hours before the game (ABC Sky 7 file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Oakland A’s fans, the Oakland 68s and the Last Dive Bar are hoping to pull off a successful boycott at the Oakland Coliseum tonight as fans will enter the parking lot a little before 5pm try and set up their tailgates and prepare to boycott going into the Coliseum for opening night.

#2 The less than four hours for entering the park decision was made last week when the A’s decided to shorten the parking lot hours from four hours to two hours opening the parking lot just before 5pm. The A’s reasoning was attendance will be small and there is no need to open the lot four hours earlier.

#3 The Last Dive Bar and the Oakland 68s said that the A’s are playing mind games by opening the lot just two hours before game time which at 7:07pm PDT.

#4 Fans in the parking lot are hoped to be heard from inside the park when they plan to all chant for A’s owner John Fisher to “Sell the Team” if successful this would definitely be a national story.

#5 The A’s open up against former A’s catcher and now Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. The Guardians will start right hander Steve Bieber he’ll be opposed by the A’s left hander Alex Wood at the Coliseum first pitch 7:07pm PDT.

Join Jerry F for the A’s podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro and Jerry Feitelberg: Blues Sundqvist out for season with torn ACL; Leafs observing Marner with ankle injury could be back in a week; plus more news

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St Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL as announced by the Blues on Wed Mar 27, 2024 (UPI photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Oskar Sundqvist will be out for the rest of the season for the St Louis Blues after he had torn his ACL. Sundqvist left Monday’s against the Vegas Golden Knights at 9:50 in the second period after he got hit by the Knights defenseman Braydon McNabb. Sundvist once again out for the rest of the season.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner will be out at least a week with a high ankle sprain. Marner was at a optional practice Thursday morning giving head coach Sheldon Keefe an opportunity to see how he’s coming along. Marner was injured on Mar 7th against the Boston Bruins and has missed eight games since.

#3 Quite a celebration for TJ Oshie who celebrated his 1000th NHL game. Oshie’s family came out to congratulate him before the Washington Capitals game against the Winnipeg Jets. Which the Capitals ended up winning 3-0. Before the game during warm ups everybody wore a number 77 sweater in honor of Oshie’s 1000th game.

#4 The Arizona Coyotes were eliminated when the Knights gained a point after defeating the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Coyotes fell into a second half funk and just couldn’t recover and their elimination from post season was for the fourth straight season. The Coyotes are excited about their new players coming from the draft and young talent for next season.

#5 The San Jose Sharks are looking to snap their long eight game losing streak later tonight at the Target Center in Minnesota. The Sharks who lost their last two games against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime 5-4 and on Monday night to the Dallas Stars 6-3 all on home ice in San Jose. Tonight they face the Minnesota Wild.

Join Len for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NCAA Women’s Tournament/Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong: Clark offered $5 million to play in the Big 3; NCAA president bans prop betting; plus more news

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The Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to join the Big 3 league owned by Ice Cube. The Hawkeyes are currently in the Sweet 16 facing Colorado Buffaloes this Sat Mar 30, 2024 in the NCAA Tournament. (AP News photo)

Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong:

#1 Ice Cube made a big offer to Iowa’s Caitlin Clark to play in the Big 3 league for $5 million. Ice Cube wanted to keep the offer private until the NCAA Tournament was over but since the news leaked out Cube confirmed the news,  “But I won’t deny what’s now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn’t we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3.”

#2 NCAA president Charlie Baker says he’s banning prop bets that something anything can go wrong since the bet is not about the final score of the game but based on how many three pointers are converted or missed or how many free throws are converted or missed. Baker says it’s big problem and temptation that could throw games or athletes could get harassed about scoring too many or too little points, “Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity and competition and leading to student athletes and professional athletes getting harassed. The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets,” Baker read in a statement.

#3 The Utah Utes women’s basketball team switched hotels from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to Spokane after players, marching band members, cheerleaders were walking from a restaurant near their hotel in Coeur d’Alene. About 100 people or witnesses said two trucks with a confederate flags revving it’s engines with the drivers saying the N word to the Utes traveling party while driving by them. The traveling party felt threatened and called it a hate crime and made a police report. Authorities are looking for the suspects and plan to prosecute them for civil rights violations and hate crimes.

#4 Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are a drawing card for a national television audience. The Hawkeyes with Clark have drawn 3.23 million viewers as the games are telecasted on ABC. The Hawkeyes played Holy Cross last Saturday and it was the highest viewed women’s game in NCAA history.

#5 The Iowa State Cyclones were eliminated by the Stanford Cardinal last Sunday in the second round of the Women’s Tournament 87-81. The Cardinal are rolling moving to the third round they face NC State on Friday night. In the game against Iowa State the Cyclones kept Cameron Brink under wraps with just eight points it was Kiki Iriafen who led with a huge 41 points for Stanford.

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Ward’s late goal propels Reign with 3-2 win over Barracuda

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San Jose Barracuda defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (#85) dives to the ice to swipe the puck away from Ontario Reign forward Colton Young during the Reign’s 3-2 victory at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday MAR 27, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Taylor Ward scored the game winning goal for the Ontario Reign in the third period as they defeated the San Jose Barracuda 3-2 on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost two out of its last three as it finished 2-2 on its homestand. Ontario has won four games in a row. The Reign are tied with the Tucson Roadrunners for second place in the Pacific Division with 77 points.

San Jose (20-31-9-2-51 points) drew first blood on the opening shift of the game. Danil Gushchin threaded a pass between two Reign defenders over to Brandon Coe and the ‘Cuda winger beat former San Jose Sharks goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot top shelf to the far side for his 11th goal of the season 15 seconds into the first period.

The Barracuda doubled its lead late in the opening frame. Cole Cassels used a backhand pass from the behind the net to center the puck out to Nathan Todd who made one move inside before sliding the puck past the five-hole of Dell for his 17th goal of the season at the 13:04 mark.

Ontario (35-21-3-4-77 points) cut the lead in half early in the second period with an even strength goal. Tyler Madden sent a pass up to the Barracuda blue line over to Charles Hudon. The Reign forward made a touch pass over to Akil Thomas who skated in an beat ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot top shelf for his 22nd goal of the season at the 6:44 mark.

San Jose had a two-man advantage for 1:16 just past the halfway mark of the middle frame when Madden and Brandt Clarke went to the sinbin for hooking but Ontario was successful in killing off both penalties.

The Reign evened the score with a power play goal late in the second period. TJ Tynan intercepted a clearing attempt by Jack Thompson along the left boards. Tynan centered a pass over to a trailing Hudon who blasted a one-timer past Chrona for his 20th goal of the season at the 18:53 mark.

“They (Ontario) are a good second period team. We haven’t been as of late. We’ve looked at it, we’ve talked about it, and we out and did it again. And it cost us the game,” ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy said.

Ontario gained its only lead of the game late in the third period thanks to a turnover by the Barracuda in the neutral zone. Martin Chromiak led the counterattack as he sent a cross ice pass over to Ward who rifled in a one-timer from just outside the faceoff circle past Chrona for his eighth goal of the season at the 16:22 mark.

“They’re an opportunistic team. They got some guys that can score. So, we can’t spot them grade-A chances and unfortunately, we did, and it ended up in our net,” McCarthy said.

Dell (6-3-1-1) finished the game stopping 32 of the 34 shots he faced as he kept San Jose off the scoreboard in the final two periods to earn his sixth win of the season. Chrona (5-15-4) made 24 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was also 1-for-2.

‘Cuda right winger Akim Aliu has a chance to play on this upcoming road trip as his conditioning is ramping up for his return to the ice according to McCarthy. “Obviously it’s been a while since he’s played. We’re kind of slow playing it as far as getting his conditioning back up. We’re looking at the (upcoming) road trip, probably not the beginning part of it, but we’ll see where were at (with Aliu).”

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Ward 2) Coe 3) Hudon.

UP NEXT: San Jose starts a five-game road trip on Friday 3/29 as the take on the Calgary Wranglers at 12:00pm at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024 Opening Day – Last Hurrah for the A’s in Oakland?

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Oakland Coliseum memories:

Amaury Pi-González interviewing Hank Aaron in 1976, at the Oakland Coliseum when Aaron was playing with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League. He had already broken Babe Ruth’s Homerun record wearing the Atlanta Braves uniform in 1974. (photo from the author Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Opening Night is tomorrow, Thursday, March 28, 2024, 7 PM at the Oakland-Alameda-County Coliseum. This could be the last Opening of a Season for the Athletics at Oakland, or maybe not.

Oakland city officials and the Oakland A’s have been meeting to discuss extending their lease at the Oakland Coliseum after this 2024 season for about three years before the team relocates to Sin City. But why worry? This is just like the weather; we cannot control it.

For A’s fans and some of us in the media, memories of the Oakland Coliseum go back for decades. I think many great moments no one could take away from my memory are engraved in what an old friend of mine used to call the Oakland Mausoleum.

This was the first team I broadcast in Spanish, and for one reason or another, I always find my way back to the A’s and the Coliseum, although I have also broadcast for the Giants, Angels, and Mariners throughout the years.

Although for years, since I could not do enough baseball games at Oakland, I broadcast two teams (home games) during the same years it was once the A’s and the Mariners, the Giants and the Mariners, and the A’s and the LA Angels radio and then Fox TV down in Anaheim.

However, the Bay Area has been my home, where I raised my family since I first arrived here in 1969 after serving in the US Army. This is my home, and the Oakland Coliseum is my park, for better or for worse.

Postseason playoffs included World Series, three of them 1989-90-91. I enjoyed broadcasting for the Green and Gold. Also, the 1987 MLB All-Star Game took place here at the Oakland-Alameda-County Coliseum, which I covered. Since 1977, when the owner of the A’s, Charlie O Finley, told me, “You can broadcast the games in Mexican”.

I think Mr. Finley thought that Mexican was a language, not a nationality; I remember telling him and Carl Finley that it is called Spanish (a politically correct language that did not exist back then).

The Coliseum has been my second home for many years. I have met and interviewed many great major league league players, from rookies who became Hall of Famers, like Rickey Henderson, to other players from visiting teams. There are many more memories, too many to list here.

For years, the Oakland Raiders shared the Coliseum with the A’s and the Warriors. The Warriors played next door at the Oakland Arena from 1971 to 2019. I was an employee of the Warriors as their only history Play-by-play announcer in Spanish, doing all games home and road in the 1990s.

Before inter-league became a reality in 1997, many of the greatest players in the American League played against the A’s at the Coliseum, including the great Henry(Hank) Aaron, among many others.

In 1997, I remember calling the first-ever regular-season inter-league game, which took place on June 12, 1977, at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, as the Rangers faced the San Francisco Giants.

I wish the A’s continued playing for a few more years here at the Oakland Coliseum until they depart for Las Vegas, but if this is their last year here, so be it. And like the great Bob Hope’s signature song says, “Thanks for the Memories.”

Quote: “Nobody ever said, “Work Ball”. They say, “Play Ball!” To me, that means having fun!” – Willie Stargell

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the action on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings blown out by Mavs 132-96

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Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by the Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis right and forward Keegan Murray (left) in the first half at American Airlines Arena on Tue Mar 26, 2024

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Tuesday night. The Kings welcomed the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. The Kings were on the second night of a back-to-back as they defeated the 76ers on Monday. Dallas was also on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Utah Jazz on Monday night. The Kings and Mavs tipped off at 7 PM PST. The Kings were blown out at home by the final of 132-96.

In the first quarter, the Kings and Mavs got off to an uneventful start. The Kings and Mavs both started the game looking a bit tired. It made sense, as both teams were coming off a back-to-back. The Kings scored 28 points in the first quarter. The Mavs scored 31 points in the first quarter to take a quick three-point lead in the game. Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, and Keon Ellis had seven points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Mavs were able to extend the lead over the Kings. Granted, the lead would only grow by two points. The Mavs outscored the Kings 27-25 in the second quarter. The Kings really struggled to contain Luka Doncic in the first half, as he scored 26 first-half points. The Kings got a 14-point first half from De’Aaron Fox as he tried to counter Luka Doncic. The Mavs would lead 58-53 over the Kings going into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Mavs ballooned the lead over the Kings. The Mavs outscored the Kings 38-23 in the third quarter. Doncic had a relatively quiet quarter, but it was Kyrie Irving who did the bulk of the damage. Kyrie had 12 points in the third quarter. The Kings would go into the final quarter of action trailing 96-76.

In the fourth quarter, it was all but finished for the Kings. The lead continued to get out of hand as the game came to a conclusion. The Kings would lose the game 132-96. The Kings were outscored in the fourth quarter 36-20. The Kings leading scorer in defeat was De’Aaron Fox, who had 18 points. The Mavs got their best performance from Luka Doncic, who scored 28 points. The Mavs outscored the Kings 74-43 in the second half of the game.

Up Next: More Mavericks. The Kings stay home to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at 7 PM PST inside Golden One Center.