Category: San Francisco Giants

Giants and A’s podcast with Michael Duca: Tues night’s game was the best 6-2 pitchers duel;

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–There was no earthly way at the end the first inning of the first game with the Angels and A’s on Tuesday that you were going to be watching a pitchers duel. It was 5-2 A’s the Anegls were kind of limping along in the first inning on two consecutive pitches they gave up five runs and after that they seem to retire everybody they faced.

Meanwhile A’s pitcher Sonny Gray coughed up two in the top of the first but retired 16 straight after that it was pretty amazing. The next time the Angels got a base runner was in the second inning and then later in the seventh. So somebody asked if it were possible to watch a 6-2 pitchers duel and the answer is yes. Jared Weaver the Angels starter threw 91-92 MPH and got more control over his pitches and was able to command part of the strike zone.

On the A’s offense there’s four guys in the middle of that batting order that are hitting over .330, Josh Reddick (.360), Stephen Vogt (.355), Ike Davis (.328), and Billy Butler (.313). You should be able to score that way and you should be able to win some games. The relief staff needs to hold the lead and the defense has to have gloves with no holes in them. The A’s have made errors in 21 games. The A’s simply cannot afford to do that in this series with the Angels.

San Francisco Giants update: Giants catcher Buster Posey hit a two run homer for the gamer in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday night. An awful lot of credit has to go to Giants starter Madison Baumgarner he entered the game with an ERA up around 4.00 plus. Mad Bum basically said that enough was enough and that the Giants weren’t going to allow any more runs.

The Giants want to make hay and make some moves since the Dodgers are an extraordinary team, This reminds me a lot of a few years ago when the Dodgers got off to a poor start but later picked up Henley Ramirez with Yesiel Puig in the line up together and went out and played .700 ball for the last two thirds of the season.

This year this Dodgers team is missing pitcher Brandon McCarthy for the rest of the year, Hyun Jin Ryu is out for quite awhile, their closer Kenly Jansen is out for quite awhile, Puig is out right now. The Dodgers have five or six players on the DL and when they get healthy their going to be tough to make up ground on.

Michael Duca does Giants and A’s commentary each week listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsrasdioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jeremy Kahn: Lincecum’s struggles on Monday and the Dodgers top heavy hitters

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeremy Kahn

The Giants starter Tim Lincecum on Monday night struggled a little bit in the opening game of the series in Los Angeles he ended up pitching four innings surrendering eight hits and four runs. He faced the Dodgers at AT&T last week during the Giants homestand and he faced them again on Monday night.

The Dodgers wanted revenge from last week’s visit to San Francisco where they were swept by the Giants in three games. Yes Lincecum was off on Monday night but on Tuesday night Madison Baumgarner pitched better. The Dodgers have some top heavy guys in the line up right now with Andre Eithier .310, Andrian Gonzalez .382, and Howie Kendrick .314. The Dodgers are missing one big cog and that’s Yesiel Puig whose on the disabled list right now.

The Dodgers have many things they’ll always have is hitting, they’ll always have the pitching and they’ll always have the big power hitters right up the middle. They’ve had them for 50-60 years and they’ve always had a good middle of the line up hitters they have one right now. The Dodgers have all around talent top to bottom in their line up.

They have a good pitching staff and a good bullpen, they were decimated with injuries with the loss of Brandon McCarthy and he’s out for the season. That’s devastating for the Dodgers, they’re going to be okay and it’s like our co-talk show host Troy Clardy said last night on the talk show “It’s April people don’t panic.”

Dodger starters Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw have had success this year getting things done, Greinke is your money pitcher and Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in MLB if not the best. He shows that every night and does his job.

Jeremy Kahn is a San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Josh Hamilton to Texas not a surprise

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–I covered Josh Hamilton since he first put the Los Angeles Angels uniform on, and signed a $125 million contract for 5 years. There was no secret Arturo Moreno the Angels owners was more than disappointed by Hamilton’s behavior, that of re-lapsing into the use of recreational drugs. Hamilton is now back with the team he enjoyed his most success, the team which he won an MVP, the team which he played in two World Series. The city of Arlington and the fans he likes.

The Josh Hamilton situation goes further than baseball and hitting or not hitting. In 2014 Hamilton hit all his ten home runs with the Angels and 28 of his total of 44 runs batted in, on the road, not at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. He never was the “real” Josh Hamilton with the Los Angeles Angels.

Hamilton never really enjoyed any affinity with the Angels fans. Angels pitcher C.J Wilson was one of his best friends with the Angels, and said, that “this would not have happened if Josh would have performed with the Angels”. That could be true, but the truth is that Hamilton is an addict, he is now going through a divorce, his home in Newport Beach is on the market for sale for $13 million.

Sometimes baseball is the best therapy for somebody with Josh Hamilton’s off the field problems, but some other times that is not enough and the end could not very very pretty. Hamilton turned himself in, last time he used drugs, that means he is crying for help. A reasonable person would think a man of Hamilton’s economic resources could easily walk into a drug rehabilitation center and try to cure himself.
There is one person that could help Josh Hamilton, and that is Josh Hamilton.

The Oakland Athletics host the Angels starting tonight for a three game series at Oakland. Last week the two western division rivals split the four game series. Now playing left field for the Angels, (the position that Hamilton played)is Matt Joyce, who was acquired by the Angels in the off season from the Tampa Bay Rays.

When the Angels face a left handed pitcher, Mike Scioscia then uses Collin Cowgill. A healthy of ‘mind and soul’ Josh Hamilton is no comparison to those two players. So the Angels will not turn the page and try to concentrate on the field with the team they are going to have the rest of the season.

It was really a fantasy when the Angels signed Hamilton. And that fantasy was a line-up of Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, three MVP’S batting in the middle of that lineup, but that never materialized and Angels fans could only dream, about those three hot at the plate at the same time.
Good luck Josh Hamilton, I hope your life in the future consist more of peace with yourself,and finding a cure for your addiction, than just hitting home runs and driving runs.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Angels Spanish TV voice and the A’s Radio Spanish voice and does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Dodgers get down right offensive in win over Lincecum and the Giants

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Turner connects

By Morris Phillips

The Dodgers weren’t satisfied with just scoring two runs a game.  They let Tim Lincecum know as much pretty quickly on Monday night.

The National League’s top ranked offense took a vacation last week at AT&T Park, scoring just two runs in each game, a series that went to the Giants in a sweep.  But on a still, warm night at Dodgers Stadium, and against the rejuvenated Lincecum, the Dodgers’ offense jumped back into character.

Los Angeles knocked the two-time Cy Young award winner around, compiling eight hits in four runs in just four innings against Lincecum, then raced away with an 8-3 victory over the Giants.

The combination of Lincecum’s off night and the Dodgers’ aggressiveness at the plate showed from the start as the pitcher escaped jams in the first and second innings, only to allow four runs and five hits in the third.

Last Tuesday in San Francisco, Lincecum picked up the win against the Dodgers, allowing five hits and a run in six innings of work.  According to him, the Dodgers changed their approach this time.

“They took a little different approach on me and I just didn’t counter it as well as I should have,” Lincecum said.

“They did a great job of taking what I was giving them.”

Gone were the three double play balls that eased Lincecum through last week’s encounter with the Dodgers.  And they were replaced by aggressive, swinging early in the account as well as the advantageous conditions for hitters at Chavez Ravine.

The Giants were well aware of those conditions after batting practice, and their lineup, including Andrew Susac and Justin Maxwell, was supposed to trigger a big night of offense against Brett Anderson.  But the Giants didn’t breakthrough until the fifth against the former Athletic, scoring three times.  But that was it, as the Los Angeles bullpen shut down the Giants the rest of the way.

Anderson was lifted by manager Don Mattingly with two on and two outs in the fifth, but Carlos Frias came on to get the Dodgers out of the inning.  After Frias, the Giants saw Adam Libatore, Kimi Garcia and Chris Hatcher, who all threw heat and allowed just one hit combined.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ bullpen—in particular, Yusmeiro Petit—melted down.  Petit allowed three runs on two hits in the eighth, when the Giants still had hope of slicing into a 5-3 deficit.

The Dodgers won at home for the eight consecutive time, and increased their NL-leading home run total to 28 after Joc Pederson homered in the sixth and pinch-hitter Justin Turner connected with a three-run blast in the eighth.

The Giants, on the other hand, have lost three of four since their momentum-swing against the Dodgers last week.

On Tuesday, the rematch of pitching titans take place at 7:05pm with Madison Bumgarner facing Clayton Kershaw.  Bumgarner and the Giants squeezed past the Dodgers last week, winning 3-2.

Giant Turnaround: Sweep of the Dodgers has Giants moving in the right direction

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Giant sweep

By Morris Phillips

Could a season’s turning point actually take place in late April?

The Giants would like to think so, and they certainly battled the hated Dodgers this week as if it were a modern-day Custer’s last stand.

“They rose to the occasion,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the Giants struck last in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers Thursday afternoon.  “I said we had to play our best ball against these guys.  They came in hot.  And we did.  We pitched well, our bats were better and they kept fighting.”

How unexpected was this sweep of the Dodgers, the first for the Giants over their rival at home since 2013?

Despite the Giants being the current kings of October with rings to match, the Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite to win the NL West in 2015, and they came to Pac Bell Park this week sporting a seven-game win streak.  On the other hand, the Giants simply weren’t giving their home crowd any bang for their buck.  They opened the home schedule with six losses in seven games, and fans on the view level reportedly couldn’t tell if Giants’ batters were swinging bats or toothpicks.

On top of that, the Giants were missing too many faces.  Injuries to Hunter Pence, Matt Cain and Travis Ishikawa had the Giants minus a few difference-makers, not a good look for a team already six games out of first place and scuffling.

But once put face-to-face with the Dodgers, the reinforcements stood up.  Justin Maxwell came up with the game-winning hit on Thursday, Ryan Vogelsong got the start and pitched effectively through six innings and the Giants overcame an early 2-0 deficit with a game-extending run in the ninth, then the game-winner in the tenth.

The Dodgers entered the series scoring better than five runs a game, but were held to two runs in each game as Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Vogelsong and the entirety of the bullpen had encouraging outings.

Angel Pagan got things going in the tenth with a base hit, then after Buster Posey was retired, Pagan stole second.  Manager Don Mattingly then elected to walk Brandon Belt ahead of Maxwell’s game-winner.

“I was ready to hit,” Maxwell said.  “I can’t wait to get on the plane and celebrate with the team.”

Maxwell came close to giving the Giants a lead in the eighth when he sent a liner up the middle with the bases loaded and two outs.  But second baseman Howie Kendrick’s diving catch ended the threat and preserved the Dodgers’ 2-1 lead.

In the ninth, the Giants did get even when Brandon Crawford tripled, scoring pinch-runner Matt Duffy from first.

Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless tenth and picked up the win for the second straight day.

The Giants open a three-game series in Denver against the Rockies on Friday with rookies Chris Heston of the Giants and Colorado’s Eddie Butler reprising their matchup from the Giants’ home opener.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: With Bonds last obstacle cleared he could be elected to the Hall of Fame soon

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–The only question remaining on my mind is: Who will be elected first into Cooperstown, Pete Rose or Barry Bonds? Yes, of course two totally different cases, and those two guys have the numbers for an easy induction into the Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds is the all-time home run leader (762) while Pete Rose is the all-time hits leader(4,256).

In San Francisco the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit ,reversed the conviction of home run king Barry Bonds, from 2003 to an answer he gave to the Grand Jury investigating the BALCO scandal.

This was the last obstacle that was on the way for Bonds to make it to Cooperstown. The San Francisco Giants can now calmly plan to build him a statue at the park; I would think the same size as those of Mays and Marichal. But maybe even bigger, the home run record used to be the most heralded record in the game. The club can now move ahead and have all kinds of Bonds promotions at AT&T Park, with all types of merchandise for fans to buy.

As popular as Barry Bonds remains with San Francisco Giants fans, during a 22 year career(which began in Pittsburgh in 1993) and a total of 762 home runs, the current record, he is not that well liked around other cities in the country. His eventual induction into Cooperstown, will always be surrounded by doubt and speculation. Movies will be made in Hollywood about Bonds, more books, I am sure will be written about Barry Lamar Bonds.

This next August will mark the 25th year anniversary since Pete Rose was banned from baseball (gambling). He has paid his debt to society and he should be elected before Barry Bonds. Time will tell. New Commissioner Fred Manfred might be the guy to start the “forgiveness tour”in Major League Baseball, and although he just recently took over, he is presiding as the new man in charge, with lots of optimism and vision. However, Gambling is Baseball Mortal Sin, so it remains to be seen if Mr. Hustle can get in while he is alive. Most of the baseball writers that I have spoken with at press boxes and events, have told me they are ready to vote Rose into Cooperstown.

Now, if the new Commissioner can work his magic and let the A’s ask for exile in San Jose and move there, regardless of the so called “territorial rights” issue, then he will have scored a lot in a short time in office. Territorial rights sounds very archaic to me, the Bay Area has 6 million people and the Bay Area is one territory.

Nobody said anything about San Jose 25 years ago, at the beginning of the technology boom, but now San Jose is not only the most populous city in the Bay Area, but one that is driving the economy. This issue is all about money. What else is new?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barry Bonds obstruction of justice conviction is dropped; he might push forward for a job with Giants

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Tony the Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Giant outfielder Barry Bonds had his obstruction of justice charge dropped today in U.S. Federal Court. Bonds was convicted for the obstruction charge when he was asked by federal prosecutors if he used performance enhancing drugs.

Bonds replied telling prosecutors that he was the child of a celebrity (former Giant outfielder Bobby Bonds was his father) he never answered the question if he used PEDs or not and the jury said Bonds in the 2013 trial that he was being evasive in not answering the prosecutor’s question and he was found guilty of obstruction of justice.

Bonds was on track to get his obstruction charge dropped using a bevy of lawyers and spending maybe millions fighting to get his obstruction charge overturned. According to one of the jurors who convicted Bonds, Jessica Wolfram said today that after spending weeks on the jury and listening to mountains of evidence from lawyers from both sides hash it out to have the one and only charge of obstruction get dropped Wolfram said the effort to even have the trial was “just a waste of money, all a waste, all for nothing.”

How the judge arrived at dropping the conviction charge was not clear but it only can be assumed that Bonds attorneys worked vigorously on getting the last remaining charge dropped after the trial cost upwards to $6 million. Legal experts said that after a jury rules on a verdict it is often difficult to get it reversed and it must have been Bonds legal team who worked on getting the charge dropped for the last two years.

Bonds had to spend a great sum of money on legal fees in order to get the obstruction charge dropped. The federal government had been after Bonds since the subject of his steroid use was investigated. Bonds was never convicted for perjury when asked about his steroid use. Bonds only would say he used a cream and a clear product that was laced with steroids and that he had no idea it contained steroids.

In a statement Bonds said on Wednesday after the obstruction charge was dropped, “Today’s news was something that I longed hope for.I am humbled and thankful for the outcome as well as the opportunity our judicial system affords to all individuals to seek justice.”

Bonds no doubt will try and find work in baseball and has showed interest in working with the Giants. He had been a hitting instructor in spring training in 2014. He had been persona non grata amongst other baseball teams who would not hire him for any team positions. With his lone felony charge dropped he feels now that he has been vindicated and that he will seek work in MLB.

“This has been a long and strenuous period of my life, I very much look forward to moving beyond it. I will do so without any ill will towards anyone. I am excited about what the future holds for me as I embark on the next chapter.” said Bonds. Bonds also might campaign for his bid as baseball’s all time home run king with 762 career home runs to try and get elected into the Hall of Fame.

Tony the Tiger is a talk show host for Sportstalk radio at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s podcast with Michael Duca: Are the Royals just an over sensitive club?;Giants get some confidence back in L.A. win

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–The Kansas City Royals pitchers Yordano Ventura who was fined for hitting A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie on the elbow on Saturday and Kelvin Herrera threw a 100 MPH fastball behind Lawrie on Sunday and was suspended five games and Herrera is appealing the suspension. That suspension is expected to be served for less than five games and probably will be dropped from four to three.

The real reason their appealing it is because Greg Holland is on the 15 day DL and if you take two players out of that bullpen you really change the dynamic of the Royals pitching staff. It’s a funny thing about all this you have to almost wonder if the umpires are too quick in issuing the warnings the first time around.

Herrera he throws hard and there is really no excuse for throwing up around the head and you can’t defend that any way shape or form. Ballplayers think a certain way and I don’t think their clever enough or fast enough to come in after an inning after they’ve thrown at somebody and tell somebody “think about what your doing” like Herrera did on Sunday. Herrera will more than likely serve the five game suspension at a later date but the appeals process is on for now.

San Francisco Giants update: After losing nine of their last ten games the Giants were glad to get Monday off before the Dodgers series. It was very important. The one guy that didn’t have Monday off was Giants manager Bruce Bochy he ended up handing out over 40 World Series rings to members of the Giants front office.

On Tuesday the key play was shortstop Brandon Crawford at the plate who dragged bunt to move a runner up and it finally gave the Giants what they had in almost two weeks executing the bunt to advance the runner. That was key in a game where they only got four runs off Dodgers starter Brett Anderson and at one point they had two runs off him with nine hits.

So once again the Giants were in one of those situations with a lot of people on base with not a lot of people scoring at the same time you don’t want to have anybody overlook what’s going on. Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt was in relief on Tuesday and he wasn’t in their trying to blow people away he went an inning in relief and walked only a batter. The Giants got the Dodgers to hit into four double plays in the game and that was part of their success in the 6-4 victory.

Michael Duca is a talk show host and talks Giants and A’s each week listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Scuffling Giants brace for visit from the Dodgers, then trip to Colorado

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

The Giants’ tepid start to the season doesn’t mean their season is over before the calendar turns to May.

However, their season is on the ropes, and the Dodgers and Rockies will look to push the reigning World Champs out of the ring entirely this week.

The only thing wrong with the 4-10 Giants is everything. The offense has been most ineffective, ranking 13th in the National League with 2.6 runs scored per game.   Injuries to Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt have hurt the team’s ability to generate runs as have the inability to come up with big hits with runners aboard.

The pitching has struggled as expected with Matt Cain on the shelf, World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner off his game and Jake Peavy struggling. The Giants rank 11th in the National League with a team ERA of 3.94. With Peavy placed on the disabled list, the Giants will take their day off on Monday as an opportunity to temporarily reduce the rotation to four starters this week.

Compounding their pitching issues are a NL West-heavy schedule that has the Giants facing offenses that currently rank 1-2-3 in the league in the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres. Simply, the strategy of pitching and winning tight, low-scoring ballgames loses effectiveness if the Giants are grouped with teams that can score better than five runs a game.

The Dodgers arrive Tuesday for a three-game series leading the league with 17 home runs hit thus far. Rookie Joc Pederson has settled in as the team’s centerfielder and Adrian Gonzalez continues to be one of the best hitters anywhere, currently batting .469. Of course, the Dodgers would love to damage the Giants’ prospects after being forced to watch their deep playoff runs on television the last couple of years.

An equally challenging series in Denver against the Rockies over the weekend awaits after the battle with the Dodgers.

Tim Lincecum gets the start Tuesday night opposite former Athletic Brett Anderson at 7:15pm.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Battle Royal, A’s and Royals will meet again; A’s in Anaheim for four

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–After their three game trip in Kansas City which saw benches empty in each of the three games the A’s are hoping to have four nice civilized games in Anaheim in a series that starts Monday night. In a hard slide that started off the series in Kansas City, A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie slide hard enough to injure the Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar that took him out for most of the series.

Lawire is in his first year with the A’s and he wants to prove something to his new teammates in Oakland and Lawrie has always been a hard nosed player. He was that way when he was in Toronto he dove into the seats at third base for foul balls that’s the style of baseball he plays. That slide was not intentional. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

However you never slide with your spikes up because you could hurt the second baseman or in this case the shortstop Escobar who was trying to turn the double play and he got hurt pretty bad. That’s why the Royals are taking this like it was done intentionally. I would like to give Lawrie the benefit of the doubt that this was not intentional.

Lawrie was just playing hard and this was baseball it’s what happens. That’s what happens like when Scott Cousins from the Miami Marlins slide into Giants catcher Buster Posey and broke Posey’s leg a few years back. This is what’s going to happen and people say that baseball is not a contact sport. Baloney you play 162 regular season games. These injuries happen and you want to give Lawrie the benefit of the doubt however the Royals didn’t see it that way.

The one thing led to the next, to the next, to the next, and then you have relievers aim at hitters heads it’s very ugly I hope it doesn’t continue. Some people like Royals manager Ned Yost say it was intentional, who knows? Only the players on the field know if it was intentional or not. The media can speculate up in the press box or the broadcast booth.

When this happens to each team you know it’s retaliation when somebody hits a hitter and the pitcher hits the other guy it crates this catch 22 and you go around and you keep hitting guys this is the wrong thing to do. The Royals have a very good bullpen the best in baseball and that’s the reason why they went to the World Series. The Royals will be making a trip to Oakland on June 26th get ready there could be more retaliation by both teams.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week and listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com