Category: MLB

Casali drives in both runs in Giants win 2-0

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San Francisco Giants hitter Curt Casali swings for a two RBI single as Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d’Arnau looks on in the fourth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco Sat Sep 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Alex Wood made his return to the starting rotation, but his return was a short one.

Wood, who was reinstated from the injured list prior to the game went only three innings, allowing zero runs on zero hits, walking no one, striking out four and hit by a batter and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 2-0 before a crowd of 32,058 at Oracle Park.

With the victory, the Giants maintained their two-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 earlier on Saturday at Great American Ballpark.

On the other side of things, this was the fourth loss in a row for the Braves and their lead in the National League East now stands at one game over the Philadelphia Phillies, who have won four in a row.

The Giants finally got to Charlie Morton in the bottom of the fourth inning, Curt Casali hit a two-run single to right field that scored both LaMonte Wade, Jr., and Brandon Crawford with what proved to be the only runs of the game.

Wade, Jr., walked to lead off the inning, then Crawford singled to right field to send Wade, Jr., down to second base. The duo then advanced an additional 90 feet, when Mike Yastrzemski dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt that he nearly beat out and then Casali hit the two-run single.

Once again, the Giants bullpen was dazzling in relief of Wood, as the combination of Zach Littell, Jay Jackson, Jarlin Garcia, Jose Alvarez, Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone combined to go the final five innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, walking three and striking out five.

Morton went the first five for the Braves, as he allowed two runs on four hits, three walks and struck out three.

It looked like the Braves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Jorge Soler it looked like he hit his 24th home run of the season; however, Steven Duggar robbed him of the home run, when he brought the ball back into play and it was called a double off of Littell, who then gave up a single to Freddie Freeman.

Littell was able to get out of the inning unscathed, as he struck out Austin Riley on a foul tip that was reviewed and confirmed after 67 seconds to be the third strike, then Littell struck out both Adam Duvall and Travis dArnaud to get out of the jam.

With the Giants scoring the two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, it gave the win to Littell and he raised his record to 4-0 on the season and Leone, who came on to close the game picked up his second save of the season.

NOTES: Wood was reinstated, as he started the game for the Giants, to make room for Wood, Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento and Chadwick Tromp was designated for assignment.

The Giants home run streak came to a halt at 12 consecutive games (26 home runs overall) and this was the longest streak by the team since they hit home runs in 13 straight games from June 25-July 12 of 2019 and hit 25 home runs during the streak.

When Donovan Solano hit his pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night, it was the 16th pinch-hit home run of the season for the team and are one shy of the Major-League record set by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017, when they hit 17.

The Giants record of 97-52 thru 149 games is the best by the team since they moved to California in 1958, passing both the 1962 and 1993 team that was 93-56 thru 149 games.

This was the 1,250th win by the Giants over the Braves all-time and have lost 1,097 times and tied 26 times.

UP NEXT: Anthony DeSclafani goes to the mound for the Giants, as they look for the sweep and DeSclafani goes for his 13th win of the season, while the Braves will send Max Fried to the hill, as he looks for his 12th win of the season.

A’s Win Game One of Angels Series 5-4

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Los Angeles Angel designated hitter Shohei Ohtani takes a few warm up swings on the on deck circle in preparation in facing Oakland A’s reliever Jake Diekman in the top of the seventh inning at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum in Oakland on Fri Sep 17, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After winning their series with the Kansas City Royals the Oakland A’s traveled to southern California to take on the Los Angeles Angels in a three game series.

Cole Irvin was on the mound for Oakland and Jhonathan Diaz started for the Angels. Irvin has a 3.97 ERA and Diaz comes in with a 10.80 ERA.

The A’s took the early lead 2-0 in the second inning and Los Angeles answered with four runs in the same inning leading 4-2. Suzuki had a solo home run in the second inning to start off the scoring for the Angels.

The A’s would score a run in the third inning to pull to within one 4-3. The A’s had the bases loaded in the fifth inning and came up empty. This was a great opportunity squandered by Oakland and is something that they have struggled with this season. Leaving runners stranded has been a sore spot for the team.

In the sixth inning the A’s would take the lead 5-4 and win it in this closely contested ballgame.

After going six innings Cole Irvin was relieved by Jake Diekman in the seventh inning. Oakland needed the bullpen to step up and protect the slim lead. It was a three up, three down for Diekman.

With two innings left in the game the A’s needed an insurance run or two to take this first game of the series.

The Angels threatened in the eighth inning but a brilliant throw from Starling Marte to Matt Chapman tagged Kean Kong out at third for the third out of the inning.

Sergio Romo would take the mound to try and close out this game for Oakland. The A’s would hang on for their 80th win of the season. It was a very nice outing for the Oakland bullpen. There were no long balls for the A’s in this one but some great defensive play which salvaged this game for the A’s Game Two is scheduled for 6:07.

Gausman wins it in extras with a sacrifice fly edge Braves 6-5 in 11

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By Jeremy Kahn

San Francisco Giant pitcher Kevin Gausman in front of Brandon Belt (9) and Brandon Crawford (35) celebrate Gausman’s pinch hit sacrifice RBI that scored Crawford in the 11th inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco to edge the Atlanta Braves on Fri Sep 17, 2021 (AP News photo)

SAN FRANCISCO-If you had Kevin Gausman to get the game-winning run batted in for the San Francisco Giants, you should be a gambler.

Gausman came off the bench to pinch hit for Camilo Doval and hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Giants came back to defeat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 before a crowd of 26,644 at Oracle Park.

Coupled with the Cincinnati Reds win by the final of 3-1 at Great American Ballpark over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants lead over the Dodgers is up to two games in the National League West with 14 games to play.

The Giants, who ran out of position players after Curt Casali came off the bench to pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth inning, were forced to send a pitcher to the plate to bat and the call went to Gausman, who walked in his only previous pinch-hit at bat.

Last walk-off RBI by a Giants pitcher prior to tonight was September 25, 2018 versus the San Diego Padres when Madison Bumgarner singled home Gorkys Hernandez in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Brandon Crawford was the runner on second in the bottom of the 11th inning, and after eventual losing pitcher Justin Webb threw his pickoff attempt into centerfield, Crawford got up and moved to third base. Webb then intentionally walked Evan Longoria, but then Webb was able to get Steven Duggar to fly out to Adam Duvall for the first out of the inning; however, Crawford was unable to score.

Webb then walked Donovan Solano intentionally for the second intentional walk of the inning and the fourth between the 10th and 11th innings alone that brought up Gausman, who ran the count to 3-2 and then on sixth pitch of the at-bat, launched the ball into right field and Crawford beat the throw from Joc Pederson to give the Giants one of the most dramatic wins of the season.

In each of the last 10 losses by the Braves, they have been by one or two runs. During the streak, they have seven one-run losses and three two-run losses and this was the 29th one-run loss by them this season, only the New York Mets with 32 have more.

Solano, who was walked intentionally in the bottom of the 11th inning sent the game into extra innings, as hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning with two strikes and two outs off of former Giants closer Will Smith.

This was the 16th pinch-hit home run of the season for the Giants, the most in the National League.

Solano, who was out for 21 games and in quarantine for a period of 14 days after tested positive for Covid-19.

Dominic Leone pitched a perfect eighth inning after replacing Logan Webb, who pitched a fantastic first seven innings for the Giants.

Tyler Rogers came on to close it out for the Giants, but got into immediate trouble in the top of the ninth inning, as he allowed back-to-back hits to Riley and Duvall and nearly gave up a third straight hit; however, Tommy La Stella made a great catch off a ball hit by Eddie Rosario for the first out of the inning. Then dArnaud launched what looked like a game-winning three-run home run into the left field bleachers just out of the reach of Kris Bryant that gave the Braves a short-lived 5-4 lead.

Brandon Belt, Crawford and Lamont Wade, Jr., joined Solano as they each hit home runs for the Giants.

Go figure, on the night that the Giants would hit three home runs, bringing their total to 227, passing the 2000 team for the second-most in team history and trailing the 2001 team for the most in team history, when they hit 235, the man who hit 122 of those home runs, would be at the game and his name is Barry Bonds.

Logan Webb pitched fantastic, as he went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking not a single batter and striking out nine, but did not fare in the decision.

Webb fell into a jam in the top of the first inning, as after he struck out the first two batters of the game, he then gave up three straight hits to Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley and Duvall, who drove in both runs in the inning, when he doubled off of Webb. Both Freeman and Riley singled prior to the Duvall double.

That lead would not last long, as Ian Anderson walked Darin Ruf to lead off the bottom of the first inning and then on a 2-0 pitch, Belt hit his team-leading 26th home run of the season.

Crawford gave the Giants the lead for the time being in the bottom of the second inning, as he led off the inning with his 21st home run of the season on a 3-1 pitch.

Wade, Jr., hit the third home run of the night for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a solo home run into McCovey Cove. It was the second Splash Hit of the season for Wade, and the 91st since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000.

Crawford not only came up big at the plate, he also came up with a dazzling play in the field off of the bat of Riley in the top of the sixth inning. In what looked like was going to go into left field, Crawford dove into the hole, snared the ball with his glove, got up to throw across the infield to get Riley by a few steps at first base.

Anderson pitched the first 5.2 innings for the Braves, as he allowed four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out and like Webb did not fare in the decision.

Leone came on to replace Webb and promptly got out of the inning, as he retired the Braves in order, including Freeman, the 2020 NL MVP on a ground ball to end the inning. Freeman went 2-for-4 on the night.

Bryant doubled in the bottom of the sixth inning, it was the 16th straight game that Bryant would reach, his longest streak since July 4-26, 2019, when he also reached in 16 games, while with the Chicago Cubs.

NOTES: Solano returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the IL, while Jay Jackson was recalled from Sacramento, Jake McGee was placed on the 10-day IL (retro to September 14) with a right oblique strain and Thairo Estrada was optioned to Sacramento.

The Giants tied for the third most hits in a game, that were all extra base hits (since 1901): 5/5/1901 Reds: 10 8/18/1998 Braves (vs SF): 9 Tonight Giants: 8 6/3/2017 Yankees: 8 7/10/2010 Tigers: 8 9/18/2002 Cardinals: 8, this according to Sarah Langs.

The only other time that the Giants received a game-winning pinch hit RBI from a pitcher was Don Robinson on July 31, 1990 at Candlestick Park against Juan Agosto of the Houston Astros, when Robinson singled to score Brett Butler from third base.

This was the 16th four-home run or more game of the season, passing the Toronto Blue Jays for the most in the Major Leagues.

Also, the Solano home run was the 74th by the team this season, ranking third in the majors, behind the Tampa Bay Rays and the Blue Jays.

UP NEXT: Alex Wood takes the mound on Saturday night for the Giants, as he looks for his 11th win of the season, while Charlie Morton will take the mound for the Braves, as he looks for his 14th win of the season for the visitors from Atlanta.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Tony Kemp A’s Clemente Award winner; Royals tried to play spoiler during series in KC

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Oakland A’s second baseman Tony Kemp was recognized as the Roberto Clemente Award winner for 2021 for not only his hard work on the field but his community service off the field (file photo White Cleat Beat)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Roberto Clemente day has been designated annually every September 30th as all MLB players will wear #21 to honor the former Pittsburgh Pirate. Teams will be naming a player each season who best represents the attributes of Clemente on and off the field. The A’s have named Tony Kemp as that player whose kept up with fans on instagram discussing everything from race, and local issues in the greater Oakland community and what it’s like to compete with the A’s this season.

#2 Kemp said in writing and speaking with fans about issues is a work in progress he gets to hear some of the fans personnel issues whether it pertains to race issues, crime in neighborhoods, chaperone services for the elderly in Oakland Chinatown and concerns about working people who are just trying to make ends meet everyday. Kemp is certainly well respected amongst his teammates and truly appreciate him taking a key role in reaching out.

#3 The Kansas City Royals who are well out of the post season contention battled the A’s during the three game series this week and the Royals who are playing spoiler were not mailing it in. Even though the A’s took two of the three games from the Royals the A’s won by two runs in each of their wins and the Royals won the second game by 10-7. It just shows you teams are getting up for the A’s who are trying to survive with their post season hopes in their own right.

#4 A’s starter Chris Bassitt is making progress since his cheek surgery after getting hit in the face back on Aug 17th at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago. Bassitt has been doing bullpen sessions in Kansas City and will face live hitter in Anaheim this weekend in a simulated game. A’s manager Bob Melvin says “looked like himself.”

#5 A’s open up a three game series in Anaheim tonight the A’s will be going with Cole Irvin (9-13 ERA 4.04) and the Angels have not announced a starter yet. First pitch is slated for 6:38 PM (PDT) at the Big A. The Angels are 14 games out and have won four of their last ten games.

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

Tight Squeeze: Giants’ NL West lead just one game after 7-4 loss to the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Well, this divisional race won’t be blurting out magic numbers anytime soon… if at all.

The Giants fell to the Padres 7-4 on Thursday afternoon, a second consecutive loss after nine straight wins that has the upstarts clinging to a one game lead over the establishment with 15 games remaining for both.

San Francisco’s season for the ages could also include a regular season finish for the ages. With the two best teams in baseball battling in one division–along with being long time bitter rivals–it doesn’t get any better than this. The Padres–with six games remaining with San Francisco, and three with Los Angeles–will have a say along with trying to further their own playoff hopes.

“The Padres are fighting to get in, too, and we’re fighting to win a division. They’re certainly not going to roll over and just hand it to us. They have some guys who are having some really good years. I know they’ve had some injuries over there, but they’re a good team, and we’ll see them a bunch over these next two weeks,” Kris Bryant said.

On Thursday, the Padres were very good. Losers of 21 of 30 coming in, they roughed up Kevin Gausman with eight hits and four runs through five innings. Gausman was looking for his 15th win, but he left early, trailing 4-0. After putting up a paltry two runs in two lopsided losses to start the series, the Padres bounced back with 30 hits on Wednesday and Thursday, many of them of heavy contact variety.

“I think we can chalk it up to kind of running into the best version of them,” manager Gabe Kapler said.

The Giants streak of scoring at least six runs ended at 10 games, and again, like Wednesday night, the offense came in pieces not chunks. After Pierce Johnson and Nabil Crismatt shut the Giants offense down through five innings, they scored single runs in innings six through nine. Not only was the output lacking, the hosts failed to put the pressure on the previous faltering guests by climbing within a couple of runs. The Padres’ three-run seventh keyed by pinch hitter Wil Myers and Manny Machado ended all the suspense.

Evan Longoria homered in the eighth inning and contributed two hits. And all eight position players in the starting lineup had at least one hit for the Giants, but with runners on base the whole lineup couldn’t produce. The Giants finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

On Friday, the Giants open a series with the Braves, leaders of the NL East. Red hot Logan Webb will face Ian Anderson in the opener at 6:45pm. The Dodgers were off on Thursday, and they travel to Cincinnati for a meeting with the Reds to start their final, 9-game road trip of the season.

A’s Take Game Three In Kansas City 7-2

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The Oakland A’s Mark Canha slide in safely in the third inning after scoring on a Chad Pinder single against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City (AP News photo)

A’s Take Game Three In Kansas City 7-2

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Kansas City Royals in game three of their series.

Paul Blackburn was on the mound for Oakland and the Royals started Daniel Lynch. It was a bumpy start for Blackburn but he settled down nicely. After giving up a two run home run by Perez in the first inning, he sailed through the mid-sixth inning.

He was relieved by Deolis Guerra who pitched through the seventh inning. Chafin got through the eighth inning and Sergio Romo took it home for Oakland with a three up three down in the the ninth inning.

After leading 2-0 in the first inning there would be nothing more for the Royals. The A’s tied up the game in the third inning. They went on in that same inning to tack on two more runs to lead 4-2.

There was not a lot of offense until the ninth inning. The A’s added some insurance in the ninth inning when Royals pitcher Brentz threw three wild pitches. Elvis Andrus scored on one of those pitches and Tony Kemp scored when Harrison doubled. The A’s added two more runs for the final score of 7-2.

This was a great win for the team and more importantly huge for the bullpen who has struggled for awhile now.

In the series the offense was certainly firing on all cylinders with 26 runs and 35 hits.

Oakland will now head back to California playing a three game series against the Angels. The latest news out of Los Angeles is that Shohei Otani will not pitch against the A’s tomorrow. There is a very good chance that he will not pitch again this season with right arm soreness. He will probably still serve as a designated hitter.

First pitch in Los Angeles is scheduled for 6:38. Cole Irvin will be on the mound for Oakland. If Ohtani does not pitch which seems unlikely the Angels starter is still TBD at the time of this story.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Gausman gets start against Padres to conclude four game series today

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San Francisco Giants starter Kevin Gausman who goes today against the San Diego Padres has won five in row and goes for his sixth at Oracle Park in San Francisco (file photo from the Advocate)

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 Lots of excitement this past week the Giants who ended a nine game win streak winning nine of their last ten games clinching on Monday night against the San Diego Padres and most important with our very own Morris Phillips in attendance.

#2 During the nine game win streak they really got some suburb pitching we’ll start with Kevin Gausman 14-5 ERA 2.65 Gausman has won in his last five starts.

#3 Gausman who signed with the Giants last season for $18.5 million has really paid off with the work he’s done. He’s good but did the Giants expect him to be this good.

#4 Catcher Buster Posey whose been around for all three World Series Championships in 2010. 12, and 14 wanted to share Monday’s clinch for post season and let his teammates be the face of the celebration and Posey loved every second of it.

#5 The San Diego Padres have not announced a starting pitcher as of deadline last night but you’ll never guess whose starting today’s game for the Giants, Kevin Gausman gets the call. Knowing and seeing the Padres line up for the last few nights how do you see Gausman matching up against their line up this afternoon?

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

Bullpen Bopped: Giants upended by the Padres in 9-6 loss, NL West lead drops to 1 1/2 games

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When you’re as good as the Giants have been in 2021, circumstances often don’t matter. This guy back in, that guy out with COVID, formidable opponent, less than ideal scheduling and travel, for the best in baseball Giants it hasn’t mattered.

On Wednesday night, with their bullpen showing strain, and the visiting Padres as desperate as desperate comes, the Giants’ circumstances did matter.

The Padres saddled all seven Giants’ relievers that pitched with at least two hits, in a 16-hit attack that overwhelmed the home team from the first inning on. San Diego broke a 5-game losing streak, and kept their dissipating playoff hopes alive with a 9-6 win.

It’s not ideal,” manager Gabe Kapler said of attempting to beat the Padres twice in three games by utilizing a row of relievers. “We have to make the best of it, and I think thus far we’ve been able to do that. Tonight was definitely not that. We just got beat.”

Minus Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto, the Giants have soldiered on with just three starters… for the first half of September. That’s a long stretch for a major league baseball to be out of its routine, and even more challenging at this stage of a long season.

The answer: the Giants won 11 of 14 despite all the upheaval.

“I think it’s pretty tough to ask them to go out there like this multiple times a week, but they’ve done it,” Brandon Belt said of the bullpen’s heroism. “They haven’t said a word, and they’ve gotten the job done, for the most part. Tonight we just couldn’t pick them up.”

Dominic Leone got the start for the second time in this series as the opener, and finally the bullpen ace with the ridiculously low ERA faltered. Two of three batters Leone faced drew walks, and big swinging Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to shortstop. Three batters into the game, Leone was done, after pitching five scoreless inning in three previous starts this month.

That start triggered the Padres, who have been in an incredible slide in which they’ve gone from wild card probables to barely breathing by losing 21 of 29. Adam Walker’s RBI double gave the Padres a 2-0 first inning lead, and they stretched it to 5-0 in the second when Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer came up with big hits off Jarlin Garcia.

Still the Giants battled, extending their streak of scoring at least six runs in a game to 10, the longest such streak in their San Francisco history. The biggest issues blunting the Giants’ comeback: Brandon Crawford’s second inning error triggered San Diego’s three-run rally, and Jose Quintana–the former Angel picked up off waivers two weeks ago–got taken advantage of. The 51st of his 52 pitches thrown in the fifth and sixth innings was hammered by Jurickson Profar, a home run that increased the Padres’ dwindling lead to 7-3.

Oh, and one other issue: the Giants’ offense wasn’t particularly efficient. They hit four home runs–from Belt, Thairo Estrada, Kris Bryant and Steven Duggar–but none came with runners on base. The club’s scoring in five of the nine innings included just one crooked number, a two-run seventh in which Belt and Duggar went deep, while pinch hitter and late lineup scratch Mike Yastrzemski, Buster Posey and Tommy La Stella recorded routine outs.

For the Giants a long night, a unique night, but one in which their nine-game win streak (their longest since a 10-game run in 2004) ended, and the Dodgers won, decreasing their division lead to 1 1/2 games. The Giants had 40 at-bats, none of which involved a pitcher. They employed four pinch hitters, they had nine hits–six of those for extra bases–and drew five walks, and one hit batter (Crawford) but couldn’t overcome the Padres’ hit parade.

But they came close.

The Giants conclude their series with San Diego on Thursday afternoon as Kevin Gausman gets the start in search of his 15th win. Pierce Johnson, the San Diego reliever will oppose Gausman, as the Padres might show vulnerability with a bullpen game of their own just hours after the long Wednesday night game.

Tatis, Pads end Giants 9 game win streak with 9-6 win

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San Diego Padre Fernando Tatis Jr beats out a throw that has San Francisco Giant first baseman Brandon Belt stretching on Wed Sep 15, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–All good things come to an end which was the case for the San Francisco Giants (95-51) as their 51st loss of the season ended their nine game win streak at Oracle Park in San Francisco to the San Diego Padres 9-6.

The Padres managed to stay ahead of the Giants all game long and they can thank Pads hitters Fernando Tatis Jr who had four hits and Jurickson Profar who hit a home run to help the Padres end a five game losing skid. The Padres Adam Frazier also had four hits and third baseman Manny Machado doubled twice, scored a run and an RBI.

The Padre victory breathed some life into their NL Wild card hopes as they now trail the St Louis Cardinals by just one game for the second wild card position. The Giants who are battling to maintain first place in the NL West had their lead cut to 1.5 games as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night 5-3.

Had the Giants won on Wednesday night they would have tied the 2004 Giants for the best winning streak at ten games. The Giants did get their share of home run help in the bottom of the third inning from pinch hitter Thairo Estrada, in the bottom of the sixth from Kris Bryant and later in the bottom of the seventh from Steven Duggar and red hot hitter Brandon Belt all hit solo shots but it wasn’t enough to catch the Padres on this Wednesday night.

The Padres scored on Giants pitching starting with Giants starter Dominic Leone just couldn’t get out of the top of the first lasting only one out before being lifted and a pitching line of two hits, two earned runs, and one strike out, Giant reliever Zack Littell the third Giant reliever came in in the top of the second with one out and gave up two hits and a run and was lifted after getting one hitter out, the Giants sixth reliever Jose Quintana didn’t fare so well giving up three hits and two earned runs in the seventh and the final Giants pitcher Jose Alvarez came in the top of the eighth and in the ninth inning gave up three hits and two earned runs.

Thursday’s starters for the Padres to be announced and the Giants Kevin Gausman (14-5) Gausman has won five of his last starts. The Giants can take this series three games to one if they can pull off a win today at Oracle Park a 12:45 pm first pitch PDT

A’s Hang On To Win A Cliffhanger 12-10

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Oakland A’s hitter Mark Canha connects for an RBI single in the third inning at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City against the Kansas City Royals on Wed Sep 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Hang On To Win In A Cliffhanger 12-10

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Oakland A’s took on the Kansas City Royals in game two of their series. Sean Manea was on the mound for Oakland and for Kansas City Carlos Hernandez got the nod. The ERA for Hernandez is currently 3.29 while Manea has a 3.79 ERA.

Last night’s game was a tough one for the A’s as they squandered another healthy lead. After five innings they led 7-4 but were unable to score again for the remainder of the game. The Royals scored four times in the sixth inning taking the lead and winning the game by a score of 10-7.

The team is desperate for a win as chances for a Wild Card are dwindling with each loss. Although the Rangers got on the board first taking an early 1-0 lead in this game, the A’s had a productive second, third and fourth inning which included a home run from Matt Olson, his 35th of the season. They scored five times taking a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.

It felt a bit like deja vu in this fourth inning. The Royals would score four times with Perez, Benintendi, and Mondesi all scoring. They had drastically cut the A’s lead to 5-4. Oakland badly needed some offense in the second half of this game. We all saw what happened in yesterday’s game. We knew going in that the Royals could be problematic

The A’s offense answered in the fifth inning scoring three runs, now leading 8-4. Kemp and Harrison both had singles. The Royals Perez had a solo home run in the fifth but that was it for Kansas City.

The seventh inning was huge for Oakland. By the end of the top of the inning the A’s were leading 12-5. They unleashed an offensive run and now the team had 17 hits in the game. The offense was on fire and the bullpen needed to protect the lead.

Sean Manea pitched five innings before Lou Trivino came in to relieve in the sixth inning. Trivino pitched the sixth and seventh innings giving up a single run.

Jake Diekman would take over on the mound in the eighth inning as the A’s closed in on their first win in this series. Just when it looked all so promising , Diekman loaded the bases and a familiar scenario came into play. Kansas City doubled and the Royals had scored three times in the inning. Oakland now clung onto a 12-9 lead as Andrew Chafin came in to try and close out the inning. Prior to the ninth inning Oakland had had 24 base runners in this game.

After Chafin got the team out of the eighth inning, Oakland was three outs away from a win. It would be up to Chafin to close this one out. Another nightmare for the green and gold as Chafin loaded the bases with no outs. He loaded the bases for a second time in the inning with two out.

Miraculously the A’s hung on to get the final out and the win 12-10. This was a wild game that went down to the wire.

The A’s will try to take the series tomorrow in game three. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10.