Category: MLB

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s open six game homestand against Reds tonight

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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani was a little shocked when the Oakland A’s reached him for five runs in the top of the fourth inning at the Big A in Anaheim on Thu Apr 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, tough loss for Oakland on Thursday 8-7 by one run to Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels there was the thought that Ohtani would dominate the A’s line up but they got guys on and were able to score on him.

#2 The A’s picked up five runs on the fourth inning to cut it close, it would seem the A’s knew that had to get Ohtani, they had struggled in this series and wanted to at least try and end the series with a hard effort to get after Ohtani.

#3 The A’s have some future hitters in the their line up Brent Rooker went deep with a three run home run and catcher Shea Langeliers hit a two run homer in the fourth during that A’s five run rally.

#4 Shohei had one of his most off balanced games in recent memories and struggled against the last place A’s line up going six innings, giving up three hits on five runs, walked two batters, however Ohtani did strike out eight batters.

#5 The A’s open a three game series tonight against the Cincinnati Reds the A’s come off a tough road trip but hope to take advantage of home field. The Reds have been struggling losing six of their last ten games and are 10-15 coming into the Coliseum tonight.

Join Daniel for the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants off day report: Giants prepare for mile high 2 game series with Padres in Mexico City

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San Francisco Giants left hand pitcher Sean Manaea will start to open a two game series in Mexico City against the San Diego Padres on Sat Apr 29, 2023 (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Francisco Giants are in Mexico City to play two games against the San Diego Padres this weekend. The Giants traveled to Mexico City Thursday night. The team spent the day getting acclimated to the altitude. The elevation of Mexico City is 7,349 feet, 2000 feet higher than Denver’s.

The game will be played at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. It should be interesting to see if the thin affects the flight of the baseballs. Let’s hope a humidor is there to keep the baseball from entering the stratosphere.

The Giants, who had a five-game streak snapped on Thursday, want to return to winning. The Giants are in fourth place in the NL West with a record of 11-14. Their opponent, the San Diego Padres, is in third place in the NL West, with a record of 13-14.

Many baseball pundits have picked the Padres to win the NL West. The Padres have yet to play up to the level that they wanted. Former A’s manager Bob Melvin, in his second year as the Padres’ skipper, wants his team to start playing better. The Padres have spent much money acquiring players over the past several years.

Third baseman Manny Machado was recently signed to a long-term contract. Former Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts also signed a long-term deal. The Padres traded for Juan Soto. Soto was an All-Star with the Washington Nationals but has not played as well with the Padres.

The Padres know his potential and hope he can return to where he was. Outfielder Fernando Tatis, Jr. is back on the field after serving an 80-game suspension for using a performance-enhancing drug. Tatis was the shortstop, but with Bogaerts in the lineup, the Padres have moved him to the outfield.

Other players to watch this weekend are centerfielder Trent Grisham, first baseman Jake Cronenworth, second baseman Ha-Seong Kim, and designated hitters Matt Carpenter and Nelson Cruz.

The Padres use lefty Josh Hader as their closer. Nick Martinez is the setup guy. The Padres have five relievers on the IL. Two pitchers, Jose Castillo and Drew Pomeranz, will return this weekend. Other relievers are Luis Garcia, Steve Wilson, Tim Hill, Brent Honeywell, and Raymond Kerr.

The Giants have announced Sean Manaea will be their starting pitcher on Saturday. Manaea was with the Padres last year, and he would love nothing better than to beat his former team. Manaea is 0-1 and has 6.61 ERA. The Padres will counter with Joe Musgrove. Musgrove is 1-0, and his era is 5.40. The Sunday game will feature the Giants’ Alex Cobb (1-1, 1.91 ERA) going against Yu Darvish (1-2, 3.00 ERA).

The Giants welcomed back Mitch Hanger and Austin Slater from the IL. Slater may see some action as Mike Yastrzemski may not be available. DH Joc Pederson is back after a short stay on the IL. The Giants will have La Monte Wade, Thairo Estrada, Brandon Crawford, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Haniger, and Joey Bart in the starting lineup this weekend. David Villar and Wilmer Flores can fill in if needed.

The Giants would love to sweep the Padres this weekend. The Giants finished a successful homestand and want to continue their winning ways. After the two-game set with the Padres, the Giants travel to Houston to play the World-Champion Astros.

Oakland A’s Commentary podcast with Len Shapiro: Will Giants claim East Bay as their territory when A’s leave?

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San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer looks out from the stands at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Baer has been in the 24 hour news cycle for being responsible for tweeting how it’s a shame the A’s are leaving. The former Oakland A’s play by play announcer himself, Baer as Giants CEO played a role in blocking the A’s from moving to the South Bay in 2011 according to former A’s owner Lew Wolf and former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery. (file photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

On the Oakland A’s Commentary podcast with Len Shaprio:

#1 As if the San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer hasn’t got enough blame in the last 48 hours for being a big part in the Oakland A’s leaving Oakland leaving a huge void in the East Bay will the Giants also claim Oakland and the East Bay their territory when the A’s leave Oakland so no team could either move or expand there?

#2 Baer received a lot of criticism in the media and on social media regarding the Giants tweeting this week saying that the “A’s are such a big part of Bay Area baseball history, the East Bay and the greater community.” Former A’s owner Lew Wolf called the tweet by the Giants “disingenuous” and that the Giants stopped the A’s from moving to San Jose by claiming their territorial rights in 2011 when the A’s wanted to build a new downtown stadium in San Jose.

#3 Len you and the late Joe Buerry were managing partners at the Oakland A’s radio affiliate 990 the KATD in Pittsburg and were with the station during the time when the Giants wanted to block the A’s from claiming territorial rights in the South Bay the city of San Jose took MLB to court to fight for territorial rights but the Supreme Court ruled that the Giants had those rights.

#4 Critics say that Baer should have done his due diligence like previous A’s owner Walter Haas did and agreed to give the Giants territorial right to keep the Giants in San Francisco or allow them to move to San Jose. The Giants never returned the territorial rights back to the A’s and even more Baer has fought to keep those right and enforced it to keep the A’s out of moving to San Jose.

#5 The big question is will Baer and the Giants claim the East Bay as their territory after the A’s move out of Oakland and to make sure that no MLB team can expand or do a relocation move to Oakland or the East Bay in the future to claim Northern California the Giants and only the Giants?

Len Shapiro was a former radio station assistant manager for Oakland A’s affiliate 990 KATD Pittsburg

Halos beat A’s 8-7 take series 3-1; Oakland touches up Ohtani for 5 run 4th but it wasn’t enough

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Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat as he hits a single during the first inning against the Oakland A’s at the Big A in Anaheim on Thu Apr 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (5-21) and the Los Angeles Angels (14-12) met for the fourth time this week on Thursday afternoon in Anaheim. The A’s hoped to win to gain a split of the four-game series. It would be daunting as the Angels had Shosei Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani entered the game with a 3-0 record and an ERA of 0.64. The A’s had lefty J P Sears handling the pitching chores. Sears had yet to win a game this year, and his ERA was 4.98.

The oddsmakers favored Ohtani and the Angels. They were right the Angels won the game 8-7. Ohtani had a meltdown in the fourth inning when the A’s plated five runs to tie the game at five. Ohtani stayed in the game, and his teammates supported him enough to make him the winning pitcher.

The Angels put five on the board in the bottom of the third. Sears walked Angels’ catcher Chad Wallach to start the inning. Taylor Ward singled, sending Wallach to third. Ohtani doubled to drive in Wallach with the Angels’ first run. Ward stopped at third.

Right fielder Hunter Renfroe’s sacrifice fly drove in Ward with the second run of the inning. Sears now had to face the hottest hitter in the Angels’ lineup, Brandon Drury. In the previous three games, Drury had homered three times and driven in nine. The battle was on. It did go well for Sears as Drury blasted another home run to put the Angels ahead 5-0. It was Drury’s fourth homer of the series, and he has batted in 12.

The A’s answered in the top of the fourth. Shohei Ohtani faced nine men in the first three innings and retired them all. Things changed in the fourth. A’s leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz reached first when hit by a pitch. Ruiz stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.

Ohtani walked Conner Capel. The A’s had two men on and no out. The next hitter was Brent Rooker. Rooker, filling in for the injured Set Brown in left field, has been a very productive hitter. Rooker homered for the seventh time in 2023 to make it a 5-3 game. Ohtani hit Jace Peterson with a pitch. The next batter was Shea Langeliers. Langeliers homered over the wall in center field to tie the game. Ohtani settled down, and the A’s could not do more damage.

In the bottom of the fifth, J P Sears was still on the hill for Oakland. Sears retired Ohtani for the first out. The Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon singled. A’s manager Mark Kotsay removed Sears from the game and brought in righty Chad Smith to pitch.

The next batter, Hunter Renfroe, singled, sending Rendon to third. Smith walked Drury and Luis Rengifo. Rengifo’s walk forced in Rendon with the Angels’ sixth run. Gio Urshela’s fielder’s choice drove in Drury with the second run of the inning and the seventh of the game. The Angels led 7-5 after five complete.

The Angels added a run in the sixth. Domingo Acevedo was on the hill for the A’s. Acevedo retired the first two hitters he faced, Taylor Ward and Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani tripled and scored on Rendon’s double to put the Angels up by three runs, 8-5.

The A’s, in the eighth, plated two runs off Angels’ reliever Jose Quijada. With one out, Langeliers singled. Mark Kotsay sent Jesus Aguilar to the plate to pinch-hit for Ryan Noda. Aguilar loves to hit lefties, and he did his job when he singled up the middle. Langeliers stopped at second. Alesmys Diaz then hit a ground ball that hit the mound and changed direction.

Angels’ second baseman Luis Rengifo misplayed the ball, and Langeliers was able to score. Kotsay sent Carlos Perez in to pinch-hit for Tony Kemp. Perez, like Aguilar, singled to drive the big man in to bring the A’s within a run of tying the game. Angels’ skipper Phil Nevin brought in left Aaron Loup to quench the fire. Loup got the Angels out of the jam. The A’s failed to score in the ninth.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s drop to 5-21. The Angels improved to 14-12.The winning pitcher was Ohtani. He is now 4-0. Sears took the loss. He is 0-2.The Line Score for Oakland was seven runs, seven hits, and no errors. The A’s homered twice in the game. The Angels’ line was eight runs, ten hits, and one error. The Angels outscored the A’s 34-24 in the series.

The A’s will play the Cincinnati Reds for three games starting Friday night in Oakland. The A’s have yet to announce their starter for Friday’s game. Luis Cessa (0-3 ERA 10.80) will pitch for the Reds. The game will start at 6:38 pm.

The time of Thursday’s game was 3:03. 21,740 fans watched the Angels beat the A’s 8-7.

Cards Mikolas deals 4 hit shutout in 6-0 win over Giants at Oracle; SF win streak stopped at five

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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner, right, tags out San Francisco Giants’ David Villar at home during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Apr 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

St. Louis. 000 000 231. – 6. 12. 0

San Francisco. 000 000 000. – 0 6. 0

Time: 2:44

Attendance: 23,397

Thursday, April 27, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–I’ve seen a few different versions of this remark, sometimes attributed to Bill McCullough of the defunct Brooklyn Eagle, but I’ve never been able to confirm it. Still, the assertion , “Overconfidence may cost the Dodgers sixth place” kept coming to my mind as I settled into my seat to watch this afternoon’s concluding episode of the four game series between the reawakening San Francisco Giants (11-13 at game time) and the visiting St. Louis Cardinals (9-16). My skepticism was justified; the Cards shut the Giants out, 6-0.

Logan Webb, whose recently signed five year, $90,000,000 1-1contract stands in stark contrast to his game time record of 1-1-4.40, had only one outing to his credit in the still young season, but that was his most recent one. It came five ago, here at Oracle Park on the 22nd,a 7-4 win over the Mets. In it he held them Mets to a pair of runs, both earned, over seven innings, in which he allowed five hits and threw 98 pitches.

Webb’s opposite number for St. Louis, Miles Mikolas, was an All Star last season but had been a disappointment – to say the least – so far in 2023. When he took the mound, he was leading the National League in hits allowed, was tied for first in runs allowed, had the second highest ERA among qualifying (if that’s the word) pitchers, and was tied for fourth place in home runs surrendered. That explains his game time mark of 0-1, 7.46.

Webb pitched himself out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the third, and Mikolas extricated himself from the same situation in the bottom of the fifth. Indeed, both starters had reason to endorse Lefty Gomez’s formula for success, clean living and a fast outfield.

That wasn’t enough to keep St. Louis off the board in the top of the seventh Wuth one one, Alec Burleson jumped on a two and two four seamer and drove it over the right field wall, 385 feet deep. The pitch came in at 92.9 mph and left Burleson’s bat at 102.3 mph. It was his third round tripper of the year. Webb never recovered from the blast. Paul DeJong and Tyler singled to right and both moved up a base on AndrewKnzner’s fly to left.

Loogan and the Giants might have avoided further damage when umpire and crew chief Paul Emmel called Tommy Edman out at first after he’d hit a grounder to Estrada at second to end the inning. But the Cards appealed the decision, and the review crew in New York correctly overturned it. John Brebbia left the bullpen and climbed the mound to get the final out.

Webb had done a credible job. He threw 102 pitches, 70 for strikes, over 6-2/3 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, on seven hits, one of them Burleson’s fatidic blast, and a walk. He struck out seven Redbirds. John Brebbia, who closed out the seventh and, in conjunction with Tristan Beck, let the game get out of hand in the eighth.

With Norman Gorman on first and one out, Dylan Carlson hit an RBI double to left that sent Brebbia to the showers. His replacement, Tristan Beck, promptly surrendered a four bagger to left by Paul DeJong, his second of the year. It now was St. Louis on top, 5-0.

Meanwhile, Mikolas, after fanning Villar to open the home seventh, was replace by Génesis Cabrera. The Cards’ starter had thrown 6-1/3 frames of shutout ball and allowed four hits, surrendered two free passes, and hit a batter. He threw 95 pitches, 65 for strikes.

When it rains, it pours, or at least drizzles, even on a sunny day on the shores of McCovey Cove. With Beck still on the mound,, Edman led off the visitors’ ninth with a double to right, went to third on Nootbaars’s infield hit, and scored on Goldschmidt’s 5-4 RBI force out.

Drew Ver Hagen set San Francisco down in order in the bottom of the ninth to preserve preserve the Redbird win.

Mikolas, now 1-1, 5.97; Webb, now 1-5, 4.1o, the loss.

The Giants’ next game will be Saturday, the 29th, in Mexico City , where they’ll play a two game series with the San Diego Padres, starting at 3:05 PDT. The pitchers for the first game will be Sean Manaea (0-1,6.61) for the Giants and Joe Musgrove (1-0, 5.40) for the Friars.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Can A’s have a break out game against Angels or will it be Sho Time all over again?

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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani gets the start against the Oakland A’s who have now lost eight of their last ten and trail in this four game series 2-1. Game 4 today Thu Apr 27, 2023 at the Big A in Anaheim. (AP News file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Another rough night on the mound for the Oakland A’s (5-20) and their group of pitchers as the Los Angeles Angels (13-12) rock the A’s at the Big A in Anaheim 11-3.

#2 Also when one of the pitchers on the staff who was expected to do some big things was demoted back to triple A Las Vegas A’s pitcher James Kaprielian struggled pitching with an 0-2 ERA 12.94.

#3 The A’s who promoted Luis Medina wasted no time getting him a start he faced the Angels on Wednesday night pitching five innings, giving up eight hits, and seven earned runs. Watching him pitch was it a matter of there was more to work on or he was just getting teed up by LA?

#4 A’s pitcher Shintaro Fujinami was had been lit up in his last few starts was demoted to the relief role and came into relieve starter Medina and did relatively better in the role going two plus innings, with two hits, one walk and three strike outs.

#5 Takin a look at the starting pitchers for Thursday’s matinee at the Big A, for the A’s JP Sears (0-1, ERA 4.98) for the Angels Shohei Ohtani (3-0, ERA 0.64) Sho Time is having a successful time in his starts how do you see the A’s coming out on this one today?

Join Jerry for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Win 7-3 secure 5th Win In A Row Against Cardinals at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants’ Blake Sabol strikes out against the St. Louis Cardinals during the third inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Apr 26, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

SAN FRANCISCO–As the sunset in San Francisco on Wednesday night, it was the Giants against the Cardinals in Oracle Park and Tuesday night’s heroics from Blake Sabol were fresh in fans’ minds as they walked in the ballpark. As the Giants picked up their fifth straight win over the Cards 7-3 on Wednesday night.

The starters were Anthony DeSclafani and Steven Matz and this game started with a bang and Giants fans thought maybe the clock had struck midnight on their luck as Paul Goldschmidt made a big statement with his first two at bats as he had two big solo home runs which put the Cards up 2-0 to early in the night, but the very next inning for San Francisco was where we would see a spark of light as Austin Slater’s RBI single made it 2-1 Cards.

That spark of light was all the Giants needed to get back to how they looked the first two games this series. A home run that same inning from Lamonte Wade Jr. would be the mighty equalizer and the G-Men wouldn’t look back the whole game.

A wild pitch in the fifth would bring in Haniger for the go ahead run, two run home run by Wilmer Flores electrified Oracle Park in the seventh, and finally the Giants would put the nail in the coffin as Conforto and Wade Jr. would secure huge RBIs that sealed the deal in front of 21,748 Oracle fans.

There were some scary moments as a run from the Cardinals in the ninth had the fans holding their breath, but once Camillo Doval saw the mound, SF could exhale as they walked away with a big win. Making it five in a row for SF.

The Giants look to close out the series against St, Louis tomorrow and then it’s off to Mexico City for a two game series against the Padres. Starting pitchers for Thursday afternoon St Louis Miles Mikolas (0-1 ERA 7.46) and for San Francisco Logan Webb (1-4, ERA 4.40) first pitch at Oracle Park in San Francisco 12:45pm PDT.

Angels rout A’s 11-3; Eighth loss for Oakland in last ten games

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An Oakland A’s fan watches from the Big A in Anaheim stands with a bag over his head during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Wed Apr 26, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s gave the ball to rookie Luis Medina Wednesday night to face the Los Angeles Angels. Medina, who can throw the ball 100 mph, started well, setting the Angels down in order in the first inning. Things went south in the second inning. The Angels sent ten men to the plate and scored five times.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay did not want to use his bullpen early in the game. Medina pitched five innings and gave up eight runs and eight hits in his Major League debut. The A’s offense scored three runs off Angels’ starter Patrick Sandoval. Sandoval improved to 2-1 for the year.

Both of his wins have been over the A’s. Sandoval is 4-0 lifetime against Oakland. The Angels rolled to an 11-3 victory over the hapless Oakland A’s.

The A’s manufactured a run in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz reached on an infield single. Angels’ starter Patrick Sandoval retired Jordan Diaz for the first out. With Brent Rooker at the plate, Ruiz stole second and went to third on catcher Matt Thaiss’ throwing error. Rooker grounded, and Ruiz scored.

The A’s led 1-0 In the bottom of the second, the Angels sent ten men to the plate and put five runs on the board. Medina gave up five hits, three of which were doubles and a walk. Brandon Drury, Matt Thaiss, and Zach Neto had the doub

The A’s made it a 5-2 game in the third. A’s shortstop Kevin Smith blasted his second homer of the season over the center field wall. Sandoval hit Esteury Ruiz with a pitch with one. Ruiz stole second and third, but the A’s could not get him home. Ruiz has three steals in three innings.

The Angels increased the lead to 6-2 in their half of the third. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe blasted his seventh dinger of the year to give the Halos a four-run advantage after three innings of play.

The A’s continued to chip away at the Angels’ lead. With one out, Kevin Smith singled. Conner Capel singled, sending Smith to third. Esteury Ruiz singled to drive in Smith with the A’s third run. Ruiz stole second. It was his fourth steal of the game.

Sandoval retired the next two hitters to end the rally. The Angels lead 6-3 midway through the fifth. The Angels answered by plating two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Luis Medina, starting his fifth inning of work, walked Hunter Renfroe. Brandon Drury, who has hammered A’s pitching in the series, homered to give the Angels an 8-3 lead.

The Angels added an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth. Shintaro Fujinami was now pitching for the A’s. Fujinami retired Taylor Ward for the first out. Mike Trout worked Fujinami for a walk. The next hitter, Fujinami’s countryman Shohei Ohtani, lined a single to left. A’s left fielder Brent Rooker had the ball hit his glove and got by him for an error. Trout scored. The Angels have a commanding 9-3 lead at the end of six complete.

The Angels’ offense continued to pound the A’s pitching. In the bottom of the eighth, A’s reliever walked the first hitter, Taylor Ward. Smith retired Mike Trout for the first out. Smith now had to face Shohei Ohtani. The A’s pitchers had controlled Ohtani so far in the series. Not this time, as Ohtani blasted his sixth tater of the season to put the Angels ahead 11-3.

The A’s went down 1-2-3 in the ninth. The Angels win 11-3.

Game Notes- With the loss, Oakland is 5-20. It is the worst record in baseball. The Angels improved to 13-12.

The line score for Oakland was three runs, six hits, and three errors. The Angels’ line score was 11 runs, 12 hits, and one error.

The A’s Esteury Ruiz had four stolen bases. Ruiz is the first player under 24 years old to have four stolen bases in a game since Rickey Henderson did it in 1983.

Brandon Drury was the hitting star for the Angels. Drury doubled and homered and had three RBIs. In the first three games of the series, Drury has hit three home runs and knocked in nine.

The A’s will send J P Sears (0-1 ERA 4.98) to the hill to face Shohei Ohtani (3-0 ERA 0.64) on Thursday.

The time of the game was two hours and 30 minutes. 24, 924 fans watched the Angels rout the A’s 11-3.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Troy Ewers and Vince Cestone: Sabol adds to offensive punch during Giants win streak; SF starting DeSclafani tonight

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San Francisco Giants right hander Anthony DeSclafani shown here delivering in 2022 will get the start for Wed Apr 26, 2023 at Oracle Park against the St Louis Cardinals in game 3 of the four game series. (AP file photo)

On the Giants podcast with Troy Ewers and Vince Cestone:

#1 There was some worry that the Giants might falter, have a rough season, but they split with the New York Mets winning the last two games of that four game series and and winning the first two of this three game series against the St Louis Cardinals it seems the hitting has caught some fire.

#2 Wanted to ask you about catcher Blake Sabol who some had doubts about considering this is his rookie season Sabol had been making great contact of late and hit the game winning two run walk off home run on Tuesday night to defeat the St Louis Cardinals 5-4.

#3 Also Sabol can secure the back up position to Joey Bart if he keeps swinging the bat the way he has, Giants manager Gabe Kapler knows that Sacramento Rivercats catcher Gary Sanchez is chomping at the bit to get back up here too.

#4 Alex Cobb got some run support on Monday night and threw his second complete career shutout in a 4-0 six hit win against the St Louis Cardinals striking out four and walking one batter. Talk about Cobb’s command and keeping runners either in check or off the bases.

#5 Game three of this four game series tonight at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The Cards will be going with Steven Matz (0-3 ERA 6.55) he’ll be opposed by the Giants Anthony DeSclafani (1-1 ERA 2.63). The Cardinals are off to their worst 24 game start in 50 years with a 9-14 record. That goes back to the 1973 St Louis Cardinals.

Troy Ewers and Vince Cestone filled in for Michael Duca. Join Michael for the Giants podcasts heard Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Sabol belts 2 run walk off HR to edge Cards 5-4 at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants’ Blake Sabol celebrates after hitting a game-winning, two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Apr 25, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Tony the Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO- San Francisco Giants (10-13) catcher Blake Sabol belted a two run walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to help defat the St Louis Cardinals 5-4 to give the Giants a 2-0 lead in the three game series at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Sabol said after the game that was one of the best moments of his life. Sabol said as soon as he hit the ball by the sound he knew and he bat flipped the bat. Sabol said he just remember screaming and rounding the bases and was jumping up and down with his teammates at home plate.

The Giants in the bottom of the ninth inning had a runner at second and the Cardinals had pitcher Ryan Helsley (0-2) in relief who gave up the home run ball to Sabol who hit it over the center field fence. Sabol said he didn’t come up there to hit a home run but to see what Helsley was offering and if he could see some of the ball out of Helsley’s hand.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said that was a fight for your life situation for Sabol and he was down two strikes and for Sabol to connect on a pitch like that for a two run home run “it was pretty remarkable. Really cool moment, one of the cooler moments I’ve been part of since I’ve been here.” said Kapler.

The Giants were down 4-2 going into the ninth inning, Joc Pederson reached first on a fielding error by the Cards second baseman Tommy Edman. Then Mike Yastrzemski swung for an RBI double cutting the Cardinals lead to one run 4-3. So with Yastrzemski at second Sabol took Helsley to deep center for the two run walk off homer and one run win.

The Cardinals fell to 9-15 marking the Cards worst 24 game start in 50 years which had St Louis manager Oliver Marmol saying that this group has not given up yet, “This group’s not going to cave,” Marmol said. “I don’t care what people think. This will serve us extremely well when we get into September. I’ll tell you that.”

Kapler used an opener and the Giants ended up using eight pitchers, the Giants ended up surrendering three runs in the top of the eighth inning. The Giants sixth pitcher Scott Alexander gave up the three Cardinal runs, pitching 0.1 innings, three hits and three earned runs but the Giants persevered with Sabol’s two run homer to win it.

Starting pitchers for Wednesday night’s 6:45 pm tilt at Oracle Park for the Cardinals Miles Mikolas (0-1 ERA 7.46) for the Giants Logan Webb (1-4 ERA 4.40) for game 3 of the four game series.