Category: Uncategorized

By Morris Phillips

In 2012, the Rams interrupted what has been a pretty, lopsided rivalry with the 49ers by forcing overtime twice, and almost beating a team that was on its way to winning the NFC title and appearing in the Super Bowl.

In the 700th edition of Monday Football, the Rams came out blazing, leading 14-0 before the first quarter was done.  Despite the presence of a rookie quarterback in Austin Davis, and 1-3 record, St. Louis was moving the ball on the 49ers’ defense and looking to add on to a 14-3 lead when a curious call seemed to short circuit the Rams and jump start the 49ers.

After moving past midfield, and looking for a first down, Davis threw to tight end Jared Cook who ran for a first down.  But the play was negated when Cook was whistled for offensive interference when none seemed apparent from the video replay.  The Rams were forced to punt, and the 49ers fortunes change immediately.

Eight plays later, and with less than 30 seconds remaining before halftime, Brandon Lloyd slipped behind cornerback Janoris Jenkins for an 80-yard catch and run that prevented the 49ers from being down double-digits at halftime.  The pass was beautifully thrown by Colin Kaepernick and led to a big second half for the quarterback that carried the 49ers to the win.

Kaepernick would go on to throw for 343 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-17 win that become the team’s NFL-best 46th win on Monday night.  The 49ers’ quarterback has won all four of the Monday night ballgames he’s started and this time he was all over the highlight reel with his running and passing that ultimately was too much for the Rams.

Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin also caught touchdown passes for the 49ers, and with the team needing to stop a last ditch drive from the Rams, trailing 24-17, rookie Dontae Johnson stepped in front of a Davis pass and returned it 20 yards for the clincher.

Johnson’s return capped the 49ers’ uneven, but unquestionably effective defensive performance against the rookie Davis.  The Rams were held to 309 total yards, but a major chunk of that came in the first quarter when the Rams jumped out in front.

So what hampered the 49ers’ defense early and was quickly eliminated once the 49ers made their move before halftime?

“They hadn’t done some of the things they did early,” linebacker Dan Skuta said.  “We adjusted and we kept playing; that’s something we do really well.”

Offensively, the 49ers figured to take advantage of a Rams’ defense that ranks 26th against the run with Frank Gore around  But Gore’s role was minimal, despite 13 carries, as Kaepernick took advantage of the Rams with his arm and deep, receiving corps.

The win improves the 49ers’ record to 4-2 which leaves them tied with the Seahawks and one game behind the division-leading Cardinals.  The 49ers get the AFC West-leading Broncos in Denver on Sunday night in what could be termed a Super Bowl preview.

The injury report was the only true negative in the victory with Patrick Willis leaving the game early with an injured toe.  The 49ers commited just five penalties for 23 yards and lost one fumble in a nearly-mistake free contest.

By George Devine, Sr.

The annual intramural football game between the Los Angeles and Berkeley campuses of the University of California will take place this year at the latter location, after both divisions of UC fell to their opponents over the weekend. The Bears went down, 31-7, to the Huskies of Washington, after a series of sacks and turnovers. The Bruins lost to Oregon, 42-30, in somewhat less ignominious fashion. Both branches of the State’s enormous university had home field advantage. Both teams are now 4-2 overall. Cal is 2-2, in the middle of the North conference; UCLA is 1-2, ahead of only Colorado.

In diagnosing the syndrome of Saturday, close observers suggest that Cal QB Jared Goff has become easier to read as time has gone on, and that — perhaps with some overconfidence — the offensive line has not protected him as well as they have in previous games. In addition, the Bear defense was less than aggressive in its stalking of the Dawgs. The absences of Brennan Scarlett and Michael Lowe were not helpful, and their return is awaited.Cal will have to beef up the secondary to stop Jordan Payton, who caught two touchdowns late in the game against the Ducks. These factors will need to change against UCLA, as well as an increased emphasis on the running game to balance the offense.

Saturday’s game is at 12:30 p.m. Other dates in the season are:

Friday, October 24 vs. Oregon at 7 p.m. (at Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara)

Saturday, November 1 at Oregon State, TBA

Thursday, November 13 at USC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, November 22, BIG GAME vs. Stanford, TBA

Saturday, November 29, BYU, TBA

By Jeremy Kahn

With one swing off the bat of Kolten Wong, the National League Championship Series is all tied up.

Wong hit a solo home run leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4 at Busch Stadium.

The Giants tied up the game in the top of the ninth inning, as Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal unleashed a wild pitch on ball four to Joe Panik that allowed Matt Duffy to score all the way from second base.

Duffy, who was running on the pitch came all the way to score the tying run without a throw from backup catcher Tony Cruz.

After Panik walked, Buster Posey walked to load the bases and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny brought on Seth Maness to replace Rosenthal to face Pablo Sandoval.

On the fifth pitch from Maness to Sandoval, the third baseman grounded out back to the pitcher to end the threat.

Wong hit the second pitch he saw from Sergio Romo into the right-field seats to send the Busch Stadium crowd into a frenzy.

This was the second big home of the postseason for Wong, who hit the decisive home run in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game Three of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yadier Molina was forced to leave the game after he suffered a strained oblique muscle in the bottom of the sixth, as he hit into a double play.

Matt Carpenter gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit a solo home run off of Giants starter Jake Peavy.

It was the fourth home run of the postseason for Carpenter.

Randal Grichuk drive in the Giants second run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Matt Adams.

Joaquin Arias got the Giants on the board in the top of the fifth inning, as he grounded out to score Brandon Belt.

Hunter Pence tied up the game in the top of the sixth inning, as he singled in Sandoval.

The Giants took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, as Gregor Blanco singled to right field to score Brandon Crawford.

Things were going great, but then Jean Machi gave up a game-tying pinch hit home run to Omar Taveras.

Bruce Bochy then brought on Hunter Strickland, and he gave up a solo home run to Adams to give the Cardinals the lead.

It was the third home run of the postseason that Strickland allowed, setting a rookie record for most home runs allowed in a single postseason.

Peavy went just four innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out two before giving way to Jeremy Affeldt.

The three home runs in the game by the Cardinals raise their total to 11, after hitting just 105 during the regular season, the fewest in the National League.

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA – After sinking his par putt at the 18th on Sunday, Sang-Moon Bae’s manager tried to spray him with champagne, only to have his client dodge the shooting suds.

Bae didn’t exactly run away from the competition and wasn’t the birdie machine that he was the day before, but he did just enough on Sunday to win the Frys.com Open. He held on for pars for the last four holes and, with a final round of 73, finished 15 under par and two strokes ahead of a hard-charging Steven Bowditch, who had played the back nine four under and simply ran out of holes.

With the victory, Bae takes the initial lead in the FedEx Cup standings with 500 points while extending his exempt status on the PGA Tour through the 2015-16 season. In addition to this being the 28-year-old’s first win since the Byron Nelson, but it was also his first top-10 finish since then as well.

He played the front nine one under, but he started feeling the heat on the back nine, as he made only one birdie against three bogeys down the stretch. He admitted that the nerves, which were non-existent throughout the first three rounds, started to kick in as the end got closer.

“I think I was a little nervous, had (lost) a little focus, too,” Bae said. “I didn’t want to look at the scoreboard, but I did. I looked a lot. That’s why I made a lot of bogeys.”

It was his second win on the PGA Tour, the first coming in the 2013 Byron Nelson Championship, which he also won by two strokes.

“I think my swing was really, really good this week, so that’s why I played good this week,” Bae said. “My confidence level is much higher than last season.”

Meanwhile, his playing partner, Zac Blair, could not generate the kind of momentum it needed to make a serious run at Bae and had a round of 74. He was continually faced with long, low-percentage birdie putts and had to work very hard for the pars that he was able to salvage, which makes it impossible to win in those circumstances.

The 24-year-old started with two bogeys on the first three holes but battled throughout, but he was visibly frustrated towards the middle of the round, particularly at the par-five ninth hole that saw his third shot – a chip from 10 yards off the green – had no bite and rolled 10 feet past the hole.

Blair ended up missing the putt and settled for a par, and from that point, he could not make putts when he really needed to. He did have an encouraging finish, however, as he was able to get up and down from the greenside bunker for a birdie to finish 10-under and a tie for 12th

Bowditch, on the other hand, started the day eight strokes off the lead and appeared to play considerably looser, particularly on the back nine.

After a birdie followed by a bogey to close the front side, he went on a tear on the back, starting with a birdie at the 12th and then at the 14th. He then put even more pressure on at the par-five 16th, as he reached the green in two before rolling in a 34-footer for an eagle.

He then birdied the 18th for a 67 to finish the tournament at 13-under, but since he was seven groups ahead of Bae, all he could do was wait anxiously for Bae to make a big mistake.

That never came, and Bae, although he didn’t clearly play his best, limped to the finish line.

“The first (tour victory) was hard, but the second one was more difficult,” Bae said. “But now that I’ve got the second one, I think the third and fourth will come easy since I have the confidence.”

By Jeremy Kahn

Madison Bumgarner is all of 25 years old, and now he owns a major league baseball postseason record.

Bumgarner pitched into the eighth inning, not allowing a run and the San Francisco Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 in Game One of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium.

The left-hander extended his scoreless streak to 26.2 innings on the road, breaking a 90-year old record.

Bumgarner scattered four hits over 7.2 innings, and besting the record of former Giants pitcher Art Neff, who pitched 23 scoreless innings on the road from 1921-1924.

Travis Ishikawa drove in the first Giants run in the top of the second, driving in Pablo Sandoval.

Gregor Blanco drove in the second run, as he reached on a Matt Carpenter fielding error that scored Hunter Pence.

Brandon Belt drove in the third and final run of the night, as he drove in Buster Posey.

Sergio Romo got the last out, and closer Santiago Casilla finished the shutout for Bumgarner.

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA – Silverado Resort and Spa is not known as an easy course by any stretch of the imagination. Just ask anyone who plays there on a regular basis.

On Saturday, Sang-Moon Bae made Silverado’s North Course look like a beginner’s track and not one designed for a PGA Tour event that is supposed to test the best players in the world.

With the exception of a pair of three-putt bogeys, the South Korea native who now lives in the Dallas-area had a rare-air round with a seven-under 65 to take a commanding four-stroke lead going into the final round of the Frys.com Open.

Bae’s putter got hot almost immediately from the start, as he went on a birdie barrage from holes two through six. He started the run at the 240-yard par-three second by sticking a hybrid four feet from the hole and draining the birdie putt.

“I felt like I played perfect (Saturday), besides two bogeys,” Bae said. “Five birdies in a row was really fun. I read every break on the green (well). It was a really easy game.”

His signature shot, however, came at the drivable, 292-yard par-4 17th hole, as he hit a left-to-right fade off the tee that did not appear to be on a good line, particularly with a deep bunker guarding the front of the green.

However, his drive landed about 10 feet past the front edge of the green – directly over the front bunker – and rolled to about six feet away from the hole. Bae then drained that putt for an eagle to pad his lead, moments after rookie Zac Blair had birdied the same hole one group ahead of him.

“I knew the pin position is really hard on that hole, only three (yards) from the right (edge of the green),” Bae said when asked if he considered laying up to a wedge distance to approach the green more conservatively. “If I hit a wedge shot, it’s a really hard hole.

“I really hit a solid drive, a pretty solid high shot that was a little lucky, too.”

He didn’t hit as good a drive at the 18th, as he ended up in the fairway bunker on the right side. However, he quickly regrouped on the par-five and, after blasting his second shot into the fairway and knocking his approach into the middle of the green, he put a perfect roll on a 15-footer that found the hole to close the round with a birdie.

It hasn’t been all about the putter for Bae – even though it has had a big hand in his current position – as the Frys.com Open has seen a remarkable turnaround with his short game, as has been the case with 36-hole leader Martin Laird.

Bae was only able to salvage par from off the green 57 percent of the time last season, ranking him 112th on the PGA Tour. Conversely, he has gotten it up and down 11 of 12 times this week.

Meanwhile, Blair had closed to one stroke of Bae after his birdie at the 17th, which saw him hit a long iron off the tee and hit a wedge to 10 feet to set things up.

The 24-year-old, who really looks more like a teenager than a recent college grad, finished his round with a three-under 69 and recovered very nicely from two straight bogeys on the 12th and 13th and, with his second position, will be paired with Bae Sunday afternoon.

“It’s been a great start so far,” said Blair, who shot a six-under 66 on Friday to get himself into the mix. “I’d like to go out and play well tomorrow and finish it off.”

Laird didn’t quite get on a the tear that he did on Friday and appeared to be sliding out of contention a bit, as his wedges and putter gave him trouble while three-putting the fifth and eighth greens.

However, he was able to steady himself and scored two-under on the back nine to finish with a one-under 71 for the day and is currently tied for third with Brooks Koepka and Scott Langley, Bae’s Saturday playing partner.

“I putted great yesterday and today, the speed – I thought the greens were maybe a little slower today and just struggled with the speed a little bit,” Laird said. “(But) I just said to my caddie coming down the last (hole that) I really didn’t play very well and still shot one-under, so I’m still in the tournament.”

By Jeremy Harness

Martin Laird did not have a very good putting season in 2013-14, but his flat stick has gotten him off to a great start to this campaign.

Laird has been a model of consistency in these first two days, and his matching rounds of 67 have placed him on top of the leaderboard, as he currently holds a one-shot lead over both first-round leader Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea as well as Zac Blair.

After suffering a bogey at the sixth that saw him hit his drive into the fairway bunker and then hit his second shot into a greenside sand trap, Laird rallied by running off four straight birdies on holes eight through 11, a streak which saw him roll in a 19-foot putt at the 10th and capping it off with a 23-footer at the 11th.

After the round, Laird credited the fact that the course itself sets up very well for his game.

“When I played (a practice round) on Tuesday, I liked the golf course right away,” Laird said. “I think it does suit my game because the greens are getting kind of firm, and with the course not being the longest golf course to play, there are some tight pins on the front of the greens that some guys can’t get to if you don’t hit it high.

“And you know, I hit it high.”

He used that to his advantage to grab the one-stroke lead at the 18th, as his high wedge shot to a front pin spun back four feet from the hole before he draining the birdie putt.

“I probably worked more on my short game in the last month than I have in a long time, and I’ve definitely seen it this week,” he said. “My wedge game was pretty bad last year, and it’s nice when you do the hard work and then you hit (a) wedge shot on the last hole to tap-in range almost. It makes it worthwhile.”

Meanwhile, Blair is already well on his way to a great career. The 24-year-old Utah native, who just graduated from BYU this past May with a degree in recreation management, turned around and earned his PGA Tour card for the 2014-15 season by placing in the top-25 on the Web.com Tour.

To kick off his rookie year, he followed up an opening-round 69 with a lights-out 66 on Friday to close to one stroke back of the lead.

After an especially-subpar first round of play, defending champ Jimmy Walker bounced back in a big way on Friday. He got himself far away from the cut line with a 66 of his own to put himself in a tie for 36th and a total score of three-under.

Among those who missed the cut Friday and will not play through the weekend were 2008 U.S Open winner Heath Slocum, 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir as well as Vijay Singh, who once overtook Tiger Woods to become the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.

By Morris Phillips

Baseball players are made great by what they do in the playoffs and World Series.  But if your a pitcher trying to achieve greatness, it can come with a price.  Trying to rare back and summon the heat in October after a long season filled with aches and pains can put the type of stress on a throwing arm that can shorten a player’s career.

Ask Rob Nen, who threw the final pitch of his big league career in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series for the Giants.  The flame throwing reliever had been fantastic up to that point in the Giants’ oh-so-close run to the 2002 title. Nen was on to protect the Giants 5-4 lead after starter Russ Ortiz and relievers Scott Eyre, Felix Rodridguez and Tim Worrell were unable to slow the momentum built by the Angels who trailed 5-0 after the top half of the seventh inning.  But three runs in the seventh, and another in the eighth had the Angels on the verge of miraculous comeback.

Nen entered the game that night having already converted all seven of his save opportunities, including two earlier in the World Series, in the 2002 post-season.  The eighth save opportunity for Nen set a major league-record, his seven saves tied a record he now shares with four other relievers, most recently accomplished by Boston’s Koji Uehara in 2013.

But Nen wasn’t healthy that night.  His shoulder soreness would have shelved him had it been a regular season game.  But with the world title on the line, Dusty Baker tabbed his closer to protect a one-run lead.  But Nen was perfect, he allowed a two-run double to Troy Glaus that gave the Angels the lead.  They would go on to win Game 6 and then win again in Game 7 to snatch the title from the Giants.

For Nen, the Game 6 loss began a series of three surgeries needed to repair his torn rotator cuff with a tear in his shoulder that was quite significant.  Over the next two seasons, and while Nen was fulfilling the final two years on a $32.5 million contract signed with the Giants, the reliever rehabbed without ever gaining his full health.  When the 2004 season ended, the Giants and other clubs decided not to take a chance on Nen, effectively ending his big-league career.

Others have been dealt post-season related arm issues that curtailed or ended their big-league careers.  Mark Mulder made three post-season starts in 2005 amid rumors that he was hurt.  Then after an injury-shortened 2006, Mulder was never the same.  He attempted to resuscitate his career in 2007 and 2008 without success.

St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter made six October starts in 2011 while receiving treatment on his elbow.  Carpenter went 4-0 that post-season and the Cardinals raced to the World Series title over Texas.  But Carpenter never was the same, pitching just 17 regular-season innings in 2012, which was his last as a big-leaguer.

Closer Brian Wilson for the Giants was integral piece in the Giants’ run to the 2010 title.  But he was relegated to a cheerleader role in the 2012 run, and he didn’t resume his career until midway through the 2013 season when the Dodgers took a chance on him.

Now, with Adam Wainwright announced as the Cardinals starter in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday in St. Louis, the questions again persist.  Wainwright’s right elbow has been giving him issues, and it appeared to be a factor in his start last week against the Dodgers  The big right hander allowed 11 hits to the Dodgers, but survived when the Cardinals were able to touch Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw for eight runs in a 9-8 win.  Wainwright insisted that despite the elbow issues and his poor outing that he would have been ready for a potential Game 5 against Los Angeles.

Now after two days of speculation, Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny has confirmed that Wainwright’s his guy for Game 1.  Matheny said that Wainwright’s leash will be short if he struggles like he did against the Dodgers.  But the manager maintained that his guy is healthy and ready to go.

“Waino was struggling to find a good feel in that Game 1 (against the Dodgers),” Matheny said.  “That’s why it looked very atypical of Adam Wainwright, but that’s happened at different times throughout the season.  He’s been able to figure it out and make it work–not just make it work but be an elite pitcher.  He’s fine.  We’ll just watch him close.”

Madison Bumgarner of the Giants will oppose Wainwright in Saturday’s contest which begins at 5:07pm PST.