Category: San Francisco Giants

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB Post season 2014, Some great players who did not perform well

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ST.LOUIS MO–We are now heading into the American League and National League Championship Series. In the American League, it will be Kansas City at Baltimore, if it goes all 7 games, 4 will be at Baltimore and 3 in Kansas City. In the National League San Francisco at St Louis. if it goes all 7 games, 4 will be at St Luis and 3 in San Francisco..Two of these four teams will battle in the 2014 World Series. The World Series will open either at Baltimore or Kansas City, because the American League won the All Star Game this year, so they have the home field advantage

This is the fourth consecutive year that St Louis is in the NLCS and the first time since 2012 that they will meet San Francisco. This is the first time Baltimore has gone to the ALCS since 1997, as well as Kansas City. There is a possibility of a rematch of the 1985 World Series, when Kansas City beat St Louis in the famous I-70 World Series, which Kansas City won in seven games, their only World Series title. The Baltimore Orioles have won three World Series, the last time in 1983.

Of these four teams the most successful is St Louis Cardinals with 11 World Series titles, last one in 2011.Only the New York Yankees with 27 World Series titles have won more. The San Francisco Giants have won two World Series, 2010 and 2012 and their fans hope they can continue winning this year, and one every two years, for the next 48 years and compete with the Yankees in that department.

Some great players did not produce in the postseason. The obvious and most recent name of those great players that just do not perform well in the postseason, is Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, with a record in the regular season of 21-3 and an earned run average of 1.77 who will win the Cy Young and probably the Most Valuable Player in the National League.

The lefty (considered the best pitcher in all of baseball) is now 1-5 in the postseason, lost 2 of the 4 games against the St Louis Cardinals in this NL Divisional Series.He is the first pitcher to finish as the earned run leader in the National League in four consecutive years. Kershaw from 2010 until 2014 (including this postseason) is 3-7 with a 4.33 against the Cardinals and 70-22 with a 1.99 against everybody else.

Then we have a young guy in the American League who is going to win the Most Valuable Player, Mike Trout, of the Los Angeles Angels who hit .287 with 36 Home runs and a league-leading 111 runs batted in. During his first playoff against Kansas City this past week, Trout had one hit in 12 at bats, a Home Run, his average for the series was .083. How about Mister Home Run King? Barry Lamar Bonds with 22 seasons with Pittsburgh and San Francisco hit 762 Home Runs? In 9 Postseasons Bonds had 37 hits in 151 at bats with 9 Home Runs for an average of .245.

And then The Greatest Hitter Ever, Ted Williams,of the Boston Red Sox, last man to hit over .400. when in 1941 finished with a .406 batting average. “The Kid”, “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ballgame”, with a legendary 19 year career hitting .344 with 521 Home Runs and 1,843 runs batted in. That same Ted Williams, in the 1946 World Series against the St Louis Cardinals in 7 games had a total of 5 hits in 25 at bats, zero Home Runs and 1 run batted in, for a total batting average of .200.

Above are just a samples of present and past players, who are great players, but come postseason they are not. The jury’s still out on Kershaw and Trout, they are still young and could easily reverse their fortunes in the future.

So do not be surprised if one of these guys are the heroes from now on: David Lough (Orioles),Christian Colón(Kansas City), Pete Kozma(St Louis), Gregor Blanco(San Francisco) they are not household names across the country, only known really in the cities they play, but one of them could easily be “The Man”
This is what makes baseball the greatest game on earth.

Of these four teams left Baltimore and St Louis won their divisions. Kansas City was the First Wild Card in the American League and San Francisco the Second Wild Card in the National League. Best record during regular season of these four teams: Baltimore Orioles 96-66. Worst record during regular season of these four teams: San Francisco Giants 88-74.

ALCS: Friday October 10 Kansas City at Baltimore 5PM West Coast Time. (TBS)
NLCS: Saturday October 11 San Francisco at St Louis 5PM West Coast Time (FOX)

I like to see the Orioles win it all. It was my very first team as a teenager in Miami that I saw play, during Spring Training and I was one of their ball and bat boys then.This was back in the 1960’s,since then I always had a soft place in my heart for the Birds.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Royals were dominating since All-Star break; Angels fans could have been arguing in ball park before parking lot KO

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–After broadcasting the A’s and Angels all season and they both got quickly eliminated from post season I’m just enjoying the beginning of my off season here and getting ready to go on vacation. The Kansas Royals who swept the Los Angeles Angels are a tremendous team and their the Cinderella story and this team could go all the way.

The Roayls stole 150 bases, they only hit 95 home runs and here’s the beautiful thing about baseball it’s like former A’s pitcher Jauquin Andujar says “you never know” the Royals hit more home runs in this post season then any other team like the Giants, Dodgers and Cardinals. Here’s the thing they hit 95 home runs, not even 100 everybody else hit at least 100.

Here’s a team that has hit less than 100 home runs, for 2014 the Royals Mike Moustakas had 15 homers, Alex Gordon had 19, Salvador Perez 17, who are in double digits and all of sudden the Royals are scoring runs watch out the Royals can score with home runs and they steal more bases than anybody else. They stole third base a whole bunch of times.

The Royals have good pitching, their defense is unpeccable, so here’s Kansas City a small market team a small town in the middle of America with players that most people wouldn’t recognize outside of the media. If someone outside of KC was reading about Billy Butler they would have no idea who he is. This is a team right now that’s peaking.

The Royals are a very dangerous team, they’re going to play the Orioles in a couple of days and guess what the Royals will be in the World Series for the first time since 1985. So congratulations to the Royals they eliminated the A’s, they swept the Angels a team that won 98 games this season, right now their the team to watch.

Angels fans could have been arguing inside ball park before KO: An unidentified Angels fan who was knocked out cold by another Angels fan in the Angels parking lot after Friday night’s game could have been arguing with each other inside the ball park previous to the knock out. Two witnesses said that the fan who got knocked out was attacked from behind and there were three suspects who got away according to two witnesses identified as 15 year old Morgan and her mother Sandra.

Morgan and Sandra both have said that they did not get a good look at the suspect. The victim identified as a 43 year veteran Marine was rushed to UC Irvine Medical in Orange. I used to stay right across the street fron the hospital three or four blocks from the ball park. This is not a situation like Giants fan Bryan Stow who was beaten in the Dodgers parking lot.

The difference here Stow was a Giants fan and the other two suspects Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez were Dodgers fans. These were Angels fans having an argument and Anaheim Police are still investigating. The victim is in serious condition and their still looking for the suspect. This is one of those things where it’s bad PR for the Angels who normally have very good fans.

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

Giants postseason commentary: Bochy could make this series a chess match for Williams

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Michael Duca

WASHINGTON DC–In baseball a trend is a trend ask anybody in baseball they go with the trend and the San Francisco Giants certainly have a trend going with World Series wins in the even years 2010 and 2012 and now their working on another even year win here in 2014. The Giants going into Saturday’s action had won nine straight post season games all with Giants manager Bruce Bochy at the helm.

The Washington Nationals were heavily favored on Friday night and were heavily favored on Saturday and I’m sure they’ll be heavily favored to go home soon too. Bochy has the experience and more so than first year Washington manager Matt Williams and the question begs how long would Bochy would have left Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw in in the Dodgers Friday night loss to the St.Louis Cardinals? Not very long and certainly not six and two thirds worth surrendering eight runs and eight hits. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was exposed on Friday being the inexperienced guy that he is, the unfortunate thing is he’s been the manager for four years so he ought to have learned by now.

The most important thing that Bochy brings to the Giants everyone has a supreme sense of calm and a leadership style that makes this guy willing to trust. By trusting not creating any descension on the team even though you have say a Pablo Sandoval whose playing gold glove quality baseball at third base but you still replace him late in the game.

There’s issues with that because Panda already is capable of playing for you when you need him. You have no issues with an All-Star MVP caliber catcher not catching some 50 games out of a season (Buster Posey), he’s been playing first base or DH when it’s possible during interleague when it’s possible.

The really striking similarity between 2010 and 2012 in 2010 the Giants had lost their centerfielder and changed their leftfielder when they went into the playoffs and they did okay. In 2012 the Giants had lost their centerfielder when they went into the playoffs and they did pretty well. This year they’ve lost their centerfielder and changed their leftfielder and their in the Division Series. Who knows how they’ll do but they certainly started out better than most clubs probably would.

The Giants have won one game on the road to start this series and they’re playing in the house of money now and sure you come home and would like to sweep the Nats and end this thing quickly but if you actually come out with a split going back to San Francisco on Monday night you still have home field advantage. Saturday night’s game two is not a pressure must win game, the Giants have won two and lost five against the Nats this year and both games that they won the winning pitcher was Tim Hudson.

Game three with Madison Baumgarner scheduled to throw at AT&T for the Giants will be the tipping point. Ga 72 percent of teams who win game one go onto in the World Series. Of the 28 percent who lost game one a third of those went onto win the series and they weren’t the San Francisco Giants. So you got to think that history is on their side but the most important game of the series is game one and then game three to try and go up at least a game.

Michael Duca is doing the Giants commentary throughout the post sesaon for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants Pitcher, Jake Peavy

Nine straight for the Giants

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Jeremy Kahn

Jake Peavy saved his best performance in a postseason game for the opener of the 2014 National Division Series.

Peavy took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, as he went 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and the San Francisco Giants hung on late to defeat the Washington Nationals 3-2 at Nationals Park.

It was the first ever win in the postseason for Peavy, who was 0-3 with a 9.27 earned run average prior to his win in game one against a tough Nationals team on their home turf.

With the victory, the Giants won their ninth consecutive postseason game, setting a new National League record for most consecutive wins.

The last time the Giants lost in the postseason came against the St. Louis Cardinals, as they trailed the then reigning World Champions 3-1 and won the series in seven. The Giants then swept the Detroit Tigers for their second World Championship in three years.

Rookie Joe Panik continues show everyone that his nerves about his first postseason are not there, as he drove in the Giants first run in the top of the third inning, when he singled in Travis Ishikawa.

Brandon Belt increased the Giants lead up to 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning, as he singled in Hunter Pence.

Buster Posey drove in that all important third run in the top of the seventh inning with an infield single to score Panik.

That Posey infield single was huge, as the Nationals finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Bryce Harper hit a solo home run into the third deck of the right field seats they was measured at 445 feet.

Just two batters later, Asdrubal Cabrera got the Nationals within one run with a solo home run of his own.

Both of the Nationals home runs came off of rookie Hunter Strickland, who struck out Ian Desmond to end the bottom of the sixth inning after Javier Lopez walked a batter, then Bruce Bochy turned to the rookie.

Jeremy Affeldt got the last out of the inning, before turning it over to Sergio Romo, who struck out Desmond and got Harper to groundout to end the eighth inning.

Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch the save for the Giants.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s are looking to come all the way back; Royals back in post season from best campaign

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Daniel Dullum

The Oakland A’s put a little touch of drama to cap off their regular season, they just barely stuck in there and that team will tell you you just want a chance. If it’s for a one game playoff so be it. Even though the A’s were in the driver’s seat the biggest issue for Oakland right now is a lack of offense. Pitching is not a problem as you go into the playoffs.

One of the reasons that hitting could be a problem is that the A’s have struggled with it after the All-Star break and they need to get their swing going now when they face the mighty Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium on Tuesday night. From this point on your not going to see the number four or number five starter for anybody it’s pretty much a three man rotation for every team with the exception of the occasional one starter.

It comes down to nine innings and the A’s will start Jon Lester (16-11 ERA 2.46) against the Roayls James Shields (14-8 3.21) on Tuesday night. The Royals are playing really good baseball right now and that could be a problem for Oakland as well plus the Royals are playing at home and in the playoffs that matters a little bit because you got your fans behind you.

It’s a whole different vibe working in your own ball park and it’s been so long since the Royals have been in the post season 1985 that’s the last time the Royals were there. There were players that weren’t even born when that 85 team went to post season. It’s exciting for the Royals in Missouri and the A’s have their work cut out for them.

Pitching isn’t a problem but their running right into a red hot team and the Royals to a man also believe they think they can get the job done, they have timely hitting, and their hot at the right time of the year we’ll see how it goes for the green and gold.

San Francisco Giants wild card playoff Wednesday night: The Giants are in Pittsburgh for a one wild card match with the Pittsburgh Pirates and that could be problematic. Again Giants manager Bruce Bochy has done a terrific job pasting a line up together the last several months. They have players that have hardly been around all season long like Angel Pagan, Matt Cain and Brandon Belt.

Second base had been a problem and that started with the Giants Marco Scutaro being out for the season, rookie Joe Panik has been sensational and a real pleasant surprise taking the second base role .305, 31 runs scored, a homer and 18 RBIs. It’s been one thing after another for the Giants regarding the injuries. The outfield is in flux.

The Giants have veterans in that line up that can come up with a timely hit, like Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Hunter Pence. Brandon Crawford has been swinging the hottest bat on the team in the last month. For Moss you can’t pick a better time to pick it up. It’s not impossible for the Giants their gong to run into a steadily improving Pirates team that’s not going to be satisfied with just getting into the playoffs. You can be assured the team who wants this game and wants to advance from the N.L. Wild Card is going to be in for a fight.

Daniel Dullum covers Oakland A’s baseball and is fills in for Amaury’s News and Commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Thump Padres 9-3 In Season Finale, Offense Tunes Up For Wild Card Showdown

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – With a playoff berth in hand, the San Francisco Giants wrapped game 162 up with an offensive display sure to comfort fans heading into a do-or-die contest. The Giants wrapped 13 hits in a 9-3 victory over the San Diego Padres Sunday Afternoon at AT&T Park.

Buster Posey and pinch-hitter Adam Duvall each homered for San Francisco (87-74), while seven different Giants knocked in a run. The Padres (77-85) received RBIs from Cory Spangenberg, Seth Smith and Yasmani Grandal.

“Ultimately, I think the guys who have been through this know this,” said Posey “It’s going to come down to pitching well and playing good defense. I think we have the offense that can get hot and carry that hotness, sustain that hotness for a few weeks.”

Before the Giants even took the field for the regular season finale against the San Diego Padres, they knew their playoff fate. With a Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 loss in Cincinnati earlier in the day, the Giants will head to the Steel City for Wednesday’s one-game Wild Card playoff. The Pirates opened the day one game back of the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Central crown.

“That’s a good club,” said Giants Manager Bruce Bochy of Wednesday’s foe. “They really have been firing this month, almost winning their division. It’s going to be a tough game.”

For San Francisco, Rookie pitcher Chris Heston made his first Major League start after two relief appearances this season. In his 2014 Triple-A Fresno campaign Heston went 12-9 with a 3.38 earned run average, the second lowest mark in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He was twice named a MiLB Organizational All-Star for the Giants and this year lead all PCL starters in innings pitched (173) and starts (28).

The 2009 San Francisco 12th round draft pick opened the game precariously, allowing four-straight hits to the Padres before finally recording his first out on a Seth Smith sacrifice fly. The 26-year-old retired the next two batters, including inducing an inning-ending grounder up the middle that he deflected to a diving shortstop Brandon Crawford. Crawford flipped the ball out of his glove to second basemen Joe Panik to end the inning with the Giants only trailing 2-0.

“He threw the ball very well,” said Posey of his batterymate. “I think there were some nerves to start with but he settled in for innings two, three and four.”

“There were some nerves to be out there for start one,” admitted Heston. “But once I threw strike one, it settled down. A lot happened pretty quickly. Crawford made a crazy good play to get me out of it. It was pretty fun.”

The deficit would be short-lived following a Buster Posey’s 22nd home run of the year off Padres starter Robbie Erlin. Posey tied the game after taking a belt-high fastball to left-center, scoring Gregor Blanco for the backstop’s 88th and 89th RBIs of the season. Posey underwent an MRI Friday to check on damage to his balky bat.

“(Buster) told me in the morning he wanted to play,” said Bochy. “I was a little concerned that he was healthy, but he showed me with his swing. We were planning to give him a couple at-bats, but Buster felt fine in them all. It seemed encouraging that he’s over his issue.”

The Giants cracked open the game in the bottom of the second inning, scoring four runs to chase the eventual losing pitcher Erlin (4-5, 4.99 ERA) from the game. San Francisco loaded the bases with no outs for Heston. He struck out looking for the first out, but leadoff man Blanco lofted a sacrifice fly to center and Panik singled down the line at first for a 4-2 lead. Padres manager Bud Black went to his bullpen, calling on Tim Stauffer to replace Erlin after his 1 1/3 innings of work and four runs allowed. Stauffer struck out Posey to end the second.

The Friars fired back with a run of their own off Heston in the top of the third after a Yasmani Grandal RBI single. It’d be the last run the Padres would score off Heston in his four innings of work. He’d be lifted for pinch-hitter Adam Duvall in the bottom of the fourth. Duvall took a 91 mile per hour Stauffer offering deep for his third home run of the season.

Heston failed to qualify for his first career win despite exiting the game with a 5-3 lead, missing the five-inning cutoff. He walked a pair of struck out a pair in his outing, but the honors instead went to Tim Lincecum (12-9, 4.74). “The Freak” pitched a pair of scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, surrendering a lone hit, to vulture the win.

“I thought Heston did a good job,” said Bochy. “He’s pitched a lot. It’s not an easy job taking him out in the fourth with the lead but with him not getting a lot of work we didn’t want to overtax him. Timmy came in and got another win so he’s excited about that. It was a well-played game.”

San Francisco put the game out of reach with a three-run eighth inning following an run-scoring hits by birthday boy Gary Brown, Joaquin Arias and pinch-hitter Matt Duffy. Arias’ hit, a double off reliever Nick Vincent, plated two runs. Erik Cordier and Brett Bochy pitched a scoreless inning apiece to close out the win for the Black and Orange on Fan Appreciation Day.

“It’s very special for him to be out there,” said the elder Bochy on utilizing his son for the final three outs. “It’s a moment I won’t forget. I told the kids ‘hey, you’ve got the end here’ because we weren’t going to use (Santiago) Casilla, (Hunter) Strickland or (Sergio) Romo.”

“It was a very proud moment for me,” he added. “This is one line-up card I’ll save.”

What the fans would truly appreciate is a third Giants World Series title in six years. With that in mind Bochy has already announced his scheduled starter for Wednesday’s playoff contest. 2014 all-star Madison Bumgarner takes his 18-10 record and 2.98 ERA to the bump against the Bucs in an attempt to advance the Giants to the Division Series and a date with the NL wins leaders, the Washington Nationals.

“Madison was our Opening Day starter,” said Bochy. “He made the All-star team. This is the way you hope it will pan out.”

Pittsburgh won the season series 4-2. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle has hinted that Edison Volquez (3.04 ERA) will get the nod after his 13-win season.

“It’s going to be one of the better atmospheres that we get to play in,” said Posey “We all look forward to the challenge”

“We’re playing in their park where they’ve really done a good job,” added Bochy. “We’re facing a tough pitcher. I expect to see a great ballgame. We’ll do all we can to get back here.”

Giants and A’s commentary: Weight of season rests on Mad Bum’s shoulders; A’s can’t lose anymore ground

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Michael Duca

San Francisco Giants update: The Giants are headed for the Wild Card playoffs and they’ll start there little adventure in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The Giants have had trouble against the Pirates this season and that’s when the Pirates couldn’t win at home at PNC in Pittsburgh. Now their the best home team in the National League with a home record of 51-30 tied with the St.Louis Cardinals.

The Bucs are on a huge roll right now they’ve won 13 of their last 17 going into the playoffs. The Giants are going to Pittsburgh with half the line up that they had with no Angel Pagan for sure, no Micheal Morse, no Buster Posey maybe, Hector Sanchez, Matt Cain, and Brandon Belt are already gone for the season, Tim Lincecum has been used to set up and relieve there’s not too many weapons to go to war with for the Giants.

The Giants couldn’t ask for too much more than asking pitcher Madison Baumgarner to do what he has done all season and it’s nothing better than having your Willie McCovey Award winner and Cy Young contender start Wednesday’s wild card game. Nothing better than having Mad Bum going in a one game means everything situation. Unfortunately Baumgarner will be your best hitter in the line up on Wednesday.

There is only so much a pitcher can do for you in a scoreless tie, unfortunately baseball doesn’t go to a penalty kick. Mad Bum does remind you a little bit of former Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson who used to pitch and hit the lights out of the ball. Baumgarner with three home runs has the Giants franchise record for a pitcher in San Francisco that is.

Lincecum got his 100th win off the Padres on Friday night and is in his eighth season with the team. Baumgarner can achieve that and he is a very, very special young man. 26 years old who dropped the B word on the Dodgers Yesil Puig and had the approval of his peers which means more.

Oakland A’s update: For the A’s to get the home advantage that would mean the Kansas City Royals would have to lose twice and the A’s would have to win twice. Recent history doesn’t suggest that’s likely to happen. The A’s also have a minuscule shot at not making the playoffs at all, if they lose twice and Seattle the Angels twice which imminently possible because the Angels are going to rest as many people as they can for the playoffs.

Then everything can go far south as possible and the A’s could find themselves waking up on the wrong side of the border.The A’s Josh Reddick said “go Angels” after their game with the Texas Rangers. The Angels are playing in Seattle but the A’s need to worry about themselves and not worry about getting help from anybody else. If the A’s don’t get in by winning a couple of games their not going to get in.

Right now with the A’s pitching they’ve got to handle games they won 6-2 on Friday night and have to keep things rolling. Earlier they couldn’t score any runs to speak of to support their pitching. A’s pitcher Jeff Samardzija had a number of one run loses this year, I’m sure nothing would please him more in taking the mound in the bottom of the first inning with a three or four run lead.

Sonny Gray starts for Oakland on Sunday and it could be a crucial game for Gray and the A’s and the A’s have to be a little concerned with what they’ve seen in the second half. Pitches are up and I don’t know what it could be but it seems like Gray has struggled as he approaches 180 innings. Maybe Gray will have to go for some strengthing conditioning in the off sesaon to get what he had back again.

Michael Duca does A’s and Giants commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants back in the playoffs for the third time in five years

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Among the bullet points on the Giants’ list for ensuring playoff readiness: not blowing six-run leads or allowing opposing hitters to populate the bleachers and the right field arcade with baseballs.

Oh well for that portion of the list.

The Giants did score higher marks for winning a ballgame, getting some key hitters on track, and their subdued celebration for qualifying for the post-season one night after being blown out by the Dodgers.

It may not be ideal, but the Giants are headed to the post-season for the third time in five years.  As you probably can never forget, the first two trips worked out pretty well.

The Giants blew a 6-0 lead, but recovered to beat the Padres 9-8 on Thursday night in a wild, lengthy opener of the final series of the regular season.  With the Brewers loss to the Reds earlier in the day, the Giants knew they were in.  But winners don’t celebrate losses, and the Giants not only competed like winners they talked the part as well, courtesy of Hunter Pence.

“We got mutha….kin championship blood,” Pence boasted in a champagne-doused clubhouse afterwards.

“All of us are hungry for another one,” Pence said after he calmed down from his latest, high-octane motivational speech.  The Giants’ outfielder bit on manager Bruce Bochy’s words earlier that served as the reminder to his team that the team may not be entering the playoffs in grand style, but they remain plenty capable of a long, post-season run.

Yasmani Grandal homered twice for the Padres as they rallied to take a brief lead, 8-6 in the seventh inning, after the Giants scored at least once in each of the first five innings to lead 6-0.  The normally light-hitting Padres scored all eight of their runs courtesy of home runs with Giants’ starter Yusmeiro Petit touched by Grandal and Will Venable in the sixth.  In the seventh, Grandal greeted reliever Jean Machi with the grand slam that gave the Padres a lead, and catcher Rene Rivera followed with a solo shot that gave San Diego an ominous, two-run lead.

But the Giants struck right back in the seventh, scoring three times on four hits, with Pence’s ability to beat out a double play, relay throw standing as a key moment.  With Pence aboard, a run in and a second baserunner on third with one out, Brandon Belt singled in a run, and Matt Duffy laid down a near perfect bunt that allowed Pence to race home from third, giving the Giants the lead.

Tim Lincecum threw two pitches and retired Alexi Amarista to end the sixth and picked up his 11th win.  At 11-9, Lincecum will almost certainly finish with a winning record for the first time since 2010.  Belt’s homer was the 68th “splash hit” by a Giant, coming in the second inning.  And Pablo Sandoval had a 3-for-3 night, driving in four runs in the process.

On Friday night, the Giants turn to Ryan Vogelsong for the start at 7:15pm with Ian Kennedy due to pitch for the Padres.  The Giants will be looking for the 12th win in their 14 last four home dates.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Former A’s pitcher Dave Stewart to be named General Manager of the Diamondbacks

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Dave Stewart who became a star pitcher for the Oakland A’s of Tony LaRussa during their championship years is about to get a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League as their General Manager. Last night I ran into Dave Henderson, at the Oakland A’s game as he was in town with his good friend Stewart.

I asked Henderson what was he doing in town? (since he doesn’t comes often to the A’s games) he told me “it is close to playoff time and I wanted to see a game”, but I knew there was more than that,after I found out why Stewart was in Oakland.

Affectionately known as Stew, he is one of a kind. He always had a great baseball mind. He was also in the front office for the Toronto Blue Jays not very long ago. He is turning over his job as players agent to former A’s outfielder Dave Henderson. Among Stewart’s biggest clients is Matt Kemp the All-Star outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yes, it is true that Tony LaRussa, now with the Diamondbacks is the guy that is bringing Stewart to Arizona for that GM position, but it is also true -I believe- Dave Stewart is very qualified to run a Major League Baseball team; and he deserves the opportunity. Some say that most people do not get what they deserve in life, and that might be true, but in Dave Stewart’s case it is about time he is afforded that opportunity, to run an organization that is ending a disastrous 2014 season.

A minority manager, that I will not mention here, once told me” “all that minority managers and General Managers wants is to get an interview, to have the opportunity”. It looks like Dave Stewart moment has arrived and we wish Stew all the very best in his new endeavor.

He is 57 years old, born and raised in Oakland, California, from 1987 to 1990, four years in a row he won 20 or more games and was the star of the Oakland Athletics on the mound for those Championships and World Series years.

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

###

Giants keep pace with the Pirates and gain on the Dodgers with extra-inning win

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Like smelling salts with extra-caustic, blue pellets sprinkled in, the Dodgers provided all the stimulant needed for the Giants to wake from their unfortunate pennant-push slumber over the weekend.

Unlike their uneven effort against the Padres, the Giants competed, showed emotion, ran the base paths like crazed demons, and battled into the night against the hated Dodgers on Monday. The result was the desired one, but only after 4 hours, 10 minutes and 13 innings did the Giants get past the Dodgers, 5-2.

The win allowed the Giants to freeze Los Angeles’ magic number at three to win the NL West and kept them even with the Pirates in the wild card race.  One more win at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday or Wednesday also would prevent the Giants from having to witness a possibly distasteful LA celebration in their midst.

Most importantly, Monday’s win ended a 2-6 Giants’ slump, including a three-game losing streak at the hands of the Padres that virtually shrunk the Giants’ post-season opportunities in half.  In those previous eight games, the Giants averaged fewer than two runs of offense, while the pitching staff offered little resistance by allowing more than five runs a ballgame.

On Monday, things looked a lot different as the Giants produced single runs in the first and third innings only to see the Dodgers tie things in the fifth.  But starting with the sixth, San Francisco’s bullpen was stellar, limiting the Dodgers to no hits over the final 7 1/3 innings.

Prior to the bullpen’s contribution, Giants’ starter Jake Peavy was as advertised in a truly, big game against the Dodgers, throwing seven innings, allowing four hits and two runs.  The former Padre carried a 14-3 lifetime mark against Los Angeles into Monday’s game and couldn’t enhance it.  But he kept the Giants from trailing while doing only microscopic damage to his 2.28 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers.

Gregor Blanco led the Giants’ 12-hit attack by going 2 for 7 with a first-inning homer and a bit of good fortune as he slipped rounding second base in the 13th drawing the attention of the defense which allowed an alert Andrew Susac to score from third as well as Brandon Crawford.  Earlier in the inning, Susac broke the tie with his RBI single that scored Brandon Belt.

Rookie Joe Panik was 3 for 5 with a sacrifice, and Crawford and Belt contributed a pair of hits each.

Dodgers’ starter Dan Haren was good in what’s been an especially uneven year for him.  On Monday, he limited the Giants to just one hit over the first seven innings.

On Tuesday, the Giants turn to 18-game winner Madison Bumgarner in a matchup with 15-8 Zach Grienke at 7:05pm.