Category: Uncategorized

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, September 20, 2014

For three quarters of their Pac-12 football game at Tucson, California was in the driver’s seat with a seemingly comfortable 18-point lead on at Arizona.

Then, the Wildcats roared back with a 36-point fourth quarter, and Anu Solomon’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hill on the game’s final play completed the comeback, as Arizona slipped past the Golden Bears 49-45.

Solomon threw for 520 yards, with four of his five TD passes coming in the fourth quarter. In the process, the Wildcats QB set single-game school records by completing 47 of 73 passes.

Cayleb Jones caught 13 passes for 186 yards for the Wildcats (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12), who racked up 627 total yards to Cal’s 573.

The Bears (2-1, 0-1) led 34-16 going into the fourth quarter, largely behind the efforts of quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns.

Arizona found the end zone time after time in a wild fourth quarter. First, Solomon connected with Hill on a 9-yard TD pass, then found Jones on a 16-yard scoring pass. In between, Cal’s Khalfani Muhammad scored on runs of 50 and 6 yards. Cal was up 45-30 with five minutes to play.

The Wildcats kept coming back, first with a 6-yard touchdown run by Terris Jones-Grigsby. Arizona then recovered an onside kick to set up Solomon’s 15-yard scoring strike to Jones, but the 2-point conversion failed.

The Bears were unable to put the game away when James Langford hooked a 47-yard field goal attempt wide to the left. Arizona took over at its own 29-yard line with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Solomon moved the Wildcats upfield quickly and found Hill with a 20-yard completion that stopped the clock. Solomon then spiked the ball to set up a final shot into the end zone, which succeeded with Hill snaring a pass in between two Cal defenders.

By Jeremy Kahn

With a chance to gain a game on the first place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, the San Francisco Giants failed to take advantage.

Andrew Cashner pitched into the ninth inning, and came within three outs of his second consecutive shutout; however Hunter Pence spoiled the shutout with a home run.

Following the Pence home run, Joe Panik ended Cashner’s night with a single; however Cashner got help from his bullpen and the San Diego Padres defeated the Giants 3-2 at Petco Park.

Despite the loss, the Giants remain three and a half games behind the rival Dodgers in the fight for the National League Western Division championship.

The Giants were also able to keep their slim one-game lead on the Pittsburgh Pirates for the top spot in the National League Wild Card race.

Cashner went eight innings, allowing allowing two runs, walking just and striking out seven on the evening.

Yusmeiro Petit gave three runs on four hits, striking out seven and walking three in five and one-thirds innings of work.

After the Panik single sent Cashner to the showers, Padres closer Kevin Quackenbush was able to get Buster Posey to fly out, then Pablo Sandoval singled Panik to second base, after a Brandon Belt strikeout, Gregor Blanco singled in Panik to narrow the lead down to just one at 3-2; however Quackenbush was able to get Brandon Crawford to line out to left field to end the game.

By Jeremy Kahn

Tim Hudson will accomplish something this season that the 16-year veteran never did prior to this one.

Hudson gave up four runs in the bottom of the first inning, as the San Diego Padres defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-0 at Petco Park.

With the loss to the Padres, Hudson’s record fell to 9-12 on the season, all but guaranteeing his first losing record since becoming a big leaguer in 1999.

The loss by the Giants dropped them three and a half games behind the rival Los Angeles Dodgers for the lead in the National League West.

Even though the Giants lost ground on the Dodgers in the race for the National League Western Division championship, the Giants lowered their magic number to clinching the wild card position down to just four, as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.

Odrisamer Despaigne struck out six and walked one in seven innings of work, as he won for the fourth time on the season.

Despaigne walked Angel Pagan to lead off the game, but then retired nine in a row until a Joe Panik double to leadoff the top of the fourth inning.

Alexei Amarista drove in what proved to be the only runs that Despaigne would need in the bottom of the first inning, as he doubled to right-center field off of Hudson to Yangervis Solarte and Jedd Gyorko.

Cameron Maybin then made it 4-0, as he singled to centerfield to score Yasmani Grandal and Amarista.

Seth Smith closed out the scoring in the bottom of the third inning, as he doubled to right field to score Gyorko.

Panik picked up two of the three Giants hits, while Gregor Blanco also added a hit for the Giants.

Hudson went 4.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits, while walking two and striking out three.

BY PAUL GACKLE

OAKLAND — The boo birds showed up early on Thursday as the Oakland A’s epic slide continued at the O.co Coliseum.

The Coliseum crowd voiced its displeasure with the home team after the Texas Rangers scored four two-out runs in the first inning en route to a 7-2 victory.

“You get down in the first inning, it gets tough to find your fight,” A’s Manager Bob Melvin said.

The loss dropped the A’s into second place in the American League wild card race, a half-game behind the Kansas City Royals and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners. As a result, the A’s find themselves without at least a share of first place in the AL West or AL wild card standings for the first time since April 5 when they were 2-3.

Starting pitcher Sonny Gray (13-9) ran into trouble right out of the gates. With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the first, he surrendered four straight singles, putting the A’s in a 4-0 hole, fueling a chorus of boos from the home crowd.

Gray gave up four earned runs off eight hits over five innings of work.

“Other than the first, he threw the ball really well,” Melvin said.

Sam Fuld gave the A’s life in the third when he tripled to right, scoring Derek Norris and Coco Crisp, cutting the lead in half.

“It sparked the dugout,” Melvin said. “We felt like we were back in the game.”

But the Rangers closed the door by adding a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, handing the A’s their sixth loss in eight games.

With the loss, the A’s are now 11-25 since August 10, the worst record in Major League Baseball over that span.

“We’ll find ourselves in no position soon,” Melvin said, referring to the playoff race. “We need to worry about tomorrow’s game right now.”

NOTE: The A’s inked a four-year affiliation deal with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League on Thursday. The club is moving its Triple-A affiliate to Nashville because its former parter, the Sacramento River Cats, recently signed a contract with the San Francisco Giants.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, September 17, 2014

PHOENIX, Arizona – For a kid called up from Double-A for the pennant pursuit, San Francisco’s Matt Duffy is handling the pressure like a seasoned veteran.

“It feels good. It gives you confidence,” Duffy said of pinch-hitting in key situations. “When (Giants Manager Bruce Bochy) shows confidence in you, then you develop confidence in yourself. I think that’s helped relaxing myself.”

Duffy’s two-RBI pinch single in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 2-2 deadlock, giving the Giants a 4-2 win Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field.

“Matt’s shown some great poise up there,” Bochy said. “He’s got good discipline at the plate, and he has that composure that you like to see as a pinch-hitter. … I like him up there in that situation.”

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt added, “That was a big spot in the game, and we had to win this game. So for (Duffy) to come up and do that, especially as a rookie, that’s pretty awesome.”

With the win, the Giants took two out of three games from the Diamondbacks while gaining two games on first-place Los Angeles in the National League West race. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were pummeled 16-2 in Denver by the Colorado Rockies.

The Dodgers now lead San Francisco by two games in the NL West, and the Giants hold the edge over Pittsburgh in the NL Wild Card race by percentage points.

Bochy admitted that it’s hard not to scoreboard watch, but said, “We have take care of our own business first.”

Pablo Sandoval greeted Snakes reliever Addison Reed (1-6) to lead off the Giants’ ninth. After Andrew Susac struck out, Brandon Crawford singled and pinch-hitter Brandon Belt walked to load the bases. Duffy, batting for reliever Sergio Romo, delivered a base hit to the gap in left-center field, scoring Sandoval and Crawford.

“I saw mostly sliders,” Duffy, who was called up from Double-A Richmond on Aug. 8, said. “In a situation like that, I just try to be aggressive because you might get just one pitch to hit. At 3-and-2, I knew (Reed) had to come in with a strike and he’d shown he could throw both sliders and fastballs for strikes.”

Madison Bumgarner, seeking his 19th win, wound up with a quality start despite not figuring in the decision. Bumgarner gave up two earned runs on seven hits, struck out six and walked two while throwing 101 pitches in six innings.

Jean Machi, Romo (6-4) and Santiago Casilla combined to throw three shutout innings in relief, giving up two hits. Romo picked up the win, and Casilla notched his 17th save.

San Francisco scored first when a two-out RBI double by Crawford followed a walk to Andrew Susac in the second inning. Crawford was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in.

The Diamondbacks answered with a run in the bottom of the second. After Cody Ross was issued a one-out walk, Tuffy Gosewisch singled and two batters later, starting pitcher Andrew Chafin delivered with an RBI single in his first major league at-bat.

San Francisco took a short-lived 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Crawford led off with a base hit, moved to second on a wild pitch and – after a walk to Juan Perez and a sacrifice bunt by Madison Bumgarner – scored on a sacrifice drag bunt to first by Gregor Blanco.

Arizona responded in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2. A.J. Pollock tripled, then scored on Susac’s throw to first after dropping a third strike to Mark Trumbo. While Trumbo was thrown out at first, Buster Posey’s throw to the plate was too late to retire Pollock.

In the Giants’ sixth, Hunter Pence tried to beat out a relay throw to first on an attempted double play and was ruled out after a 2:16 replay review.

Gosewisch was 3-for-4 for Arizona, while Ender Inciarte and Pollock each had two hits.

Chaflin went six innings in his second major league start, giving up two earned runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked four.

“(Arizona) pitched well against us here,” Bochy said. “These last two games could have gone either way.”

After taking Thursday off, the Giants head to San Diego for a three-game series against the Padres. Tim Hudson (9-11) will start for San Francisco, facing Tyson Ross (13-14). The Giants will start Yusmeiro Petit (5-4) on Saturday and Ryan Vogelsong (8-11) on Sunday.

“Obviously we need to win as many games as possible,” Belt said. “We know we have to take care of ourselves. We have to play good baseball or they’re going to sneak up on us.”

GIANTS JOTTINGS: With monsoon rains pouring on the Valley, the roof was closed at Chase Field, to the delight of the 19,272 in attendance. … Belt’s at-bat was his first since coming off the disabled list two days ago. … Giants OF Angel Pagan was scheduled to undergo an MRI for his ailing back on Wednesday. … San Francisco’s magic number to clinch a postseason berth is eight. … The Giants are 42-33 on the road, second best in the NL behind Los Angeles.

Daniel Dullum covers MLB and the NHL for Sports Radio Service.

By DANIEL DULLUM – pinch-hitting for Amaury Pi Gonzalez

PHOENIX – There has been talk about expanding in the NHL, and some of the cities mentioned are Quebec City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Toronto. Now it’s a matter of putting it together.

Back in Quebec City, where they have a new arena almost ready to go, they will be ready for a team when the day comes. As for Seattle, they’ve got places they can play like Key Arena, but the NHL has always been hesitant to put a team so close to Vancouver. Can you imagine the possible rivalry between Seattle and Vancouver? They would play each other at least six times during the season and that would be great for the league.

Toronto was mentioned, Oklahoma City is interesting in that its a non- traditional market, and Madison, Wisconsin, is the home of the University of Wisconsin is a collegiate hockey hot bed, but whether that would translate into NHL success is a big question, because Badger sports would still rule there. Milwaukee, a larger market with a proper facility, would be more favorable to the NHL.

A second team in Toronto might sound outrageous to some folks, but season tickets or for that matter walk up tickets for the Maple Leafs are almost impossible to get if your not in on the ground floor, and it’s been that way for decades. A second team, whether it’s a suburb of Toronto for instance, or maybe nearby Hamilton – where the Arizona Coyotes almost landed – would be a viable option.

Hamilton is far enough outside of Toronto and in the Ontario province and far enough away from Buffalo that the ticket demand wouldn’t hurt either the Leafs or the Sabres. As far as Las Vegas is concerned, it would be viewed more like what the NBA did, playing an all-star game there. But as long as the sports betting boards are active in Las Vegas, no major league sport wants a team to be there.

Because the odds makers are in Vegas and there is legalized gambling, most major leagues really frown on having a team in Vegas permanently and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

The Quebec Nordiques, who were forced to move from Quebec to Denver in the 1990s, didn’t have a fan attendance problem. The fans were packing Colisee de Quebec, but capacity at the old arena was barely over 15,000. More importantly, the Colisee, built in 1949, lacked the modern revenue-generating amenities (luxury boxes, etc.) all arenas now are required to have.

Also, the economy wasn’t very good in Canada at that time. But that’s changed, as the Canadian dollar is now as strong than the U.S. dollar. That used to be an issue for players, but not now.

Quebec was not in a position at that time to build a new arena and so they had to let the Nordiques go, which was a shame. These are changing times now, and Quebec has a new arena for NHL hockey to bring in an expansion team.
But before the NHL has another expansion, look for the league to maybe relocate some of the teams having tough times. That said, the Board of Governors loves fresh expansion fee cash.

Daniel Dullum is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez. Daniel covers A’s baseball each Thursday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A home run by hot-hitting Buster Posey backed a strong start by Jake Peavy, as San Francisco picked up a game in the National League West race by edging Arizona 2-1 Tuesday at Chase Field in Phoenix.

The Giants’ victory, combined with Colorado’s 10-4 win over Los Angeles, left San Francisco three games behind the Dodgers with 11 games remaining. In the process, the Giants snapped a three-game losing streak.

Peavy (6-4) gave up one run on five hits, struck out four and issued one walk in 7 2/3 innings. Acquired from Boston in July before the non-waiver trade deadline, Peavy is 3-0 in his last five starts.

Diamondbacks starter Josh Collmenter (10-8) allowed two runs on seven hits in his eight innings of work.

Posey put the Giants on the board with a solo homer in the fourth inning, his 21st of the season. In his career, Posey is 11 for 20 (.611) with three home runs against Collmenter.

Arizona tied the game at 1-1 when Chris Owings tripled and scored on a single by A.J. Pollock.

The Giants went ahead to stay in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Crawford that scored Hunter Pence, who singled and moved to third on a base hit by Travis Ishikawa.

The Diamondbacks tried to rally with two out in the bottom of the eighth with runners on first and second, but reliever Sergio Romo got Pollock to fly out, ending the inning. Santiago Casilla picked up his 16th save by hurling a perfect ninth inning.

Elsewhere for San Francisco, Pablo Sandoval had two hits, and Crawford had a bunt single and double.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: San Francisco OF Angel Pagan has a bulging disc in his back and listed as day to day. Manager Bruce Bochy told the media Pagan might need surgery after the season. … Wednesday’s probables are Madison Bumgarner (18-9) for San Francisco, facing the D-Backs’ Andrew Chafin in a matinee battle of lefthanders. Game time is 12:40 p.m.

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The SAN Francisco 49ers (1-1) will face the Arizona Cardinals (2-0) on Sunday afternoon in Arizona.

San Francisco is coming off of a heart breaking loss in Week two as they were defeated by the Chicago Bears on Sunday night at the Levi’s Stadium inaugural season opener.

The 49ers will look to have a healthy secondary as they will go up against another potent offense in Arizona. Arizona has a solid defense that really kept them in their two games this season.

Tramaine Brock will hipefully be able to go as he sat out against Chicago on Sunday night. Parish Cox filled in for the injured Brick against the Bears, starting alongside Chris Culliver.

San Francisco played extremely well in tbe first half against the Bears as they lead 17-0 at one point. The 49ers could nit find any offensive rhythm in the second half, that is something that they will look to change on Sunday in Arizona.

A victory for the Niners will put them in a tie with the Cardinals for first place in the NFC West. Its early in the year but every game will count in the tough division. The Seattle Seahawks, Cardinals and 49ers will all be fighting for the division title in 2014.

by Daniel Dullum – pinch-hitting for Amaury Pi Gonzalez

PHOENIX – There has been talk about expanding in the NHL, and some of the cities mentioned are Quebec City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Toronto. Now it’s a matter of putting it together.

Back in Quebec City, where they have a new arena almost ready to go, they will be ready for a team when the day comes. As for Seattle, they’ve got places they can play like Key Arena, but the NHL has always been hesitant to put a team so close to Vancouver. Can you imagine the possible rivalry between Seattle and Vancouver? They would play each other at least six times during the season and that would be great for the league.

Toronto was mentioned, Oklahoma City is interesting in that its a non- traditional market, and Madison, Wisconsin, is the home of the University of Wisconsin is a collegiate hockey hot bed, but whether that would translate into NHL success is a big question, because Badger sports would still rule there. Milwaukee, a larger market with a proper facility, would be more favorable to the NHL.

A second team in Toronto might sound outrageous to some folks, but season tickets or for that matter walk up tickets for the Maple Leafs are almost impossible to get if your not in on the ground floor, and it’s been that way for decades. A second team, whether it’s a suburb of Toronto for instance, or maybe nearby Hamilton – where the Arizona Coyotes almost landed – would be a viable option.

Hamilton is far enough outside of Toronto and in the Ontario province and far enough away from Buffalo that the ticket demand wouldn’t hurt either the Leafs or the Sabres. As far as Las Vegas is concerned, it would be viewed more like what the NBA did, playing an all-star game there. But as long as the sports betting boards are active in Las Vegas, no major league sport wants a team to be there.

Because the odds makers are in Vegas and there is legalized gambling, most major leagues really frown on having a team in Vegas permanently and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

The Quebec Nordiques, who were forced to move from Quebec to Denver in the 1990s, didn’t have a fan attendance problem. The fans were packing Les Colissee’, but capacity at the old arena was barely over 10,000. Also, the economy wasn’t very good in Canada at that time. But that’s changed, as the Canadian dollar is now as strong than the U.S. dollar. That used to be an issue for players, but not now.

Quebec was not in a position at that time to build a new arena and so they had to let the Nordiques go, which was a shame. These are changing times now, and Quebec has a new arena for NHL hockey to bring in an expansion team.
But before the NHL has another expansion, look for the league to maybe relocate some of the teams having tough times. That said, the Board of Governors loves fresh expansion fee cash.

Daniel Dullum is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez. Daniel covers A’s baseball each Thursday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, September 15, 2014

Arizona’s Mark Trumbo cranked a grand slam Monday, leading the Diamondbacks to a 6-2 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants at Chase Field in Phoenix.

It was the third consecutive loss for the Giants, who are trying to catch up to the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won 11-3 at Colorado, increasing their lead in the NL West over San Francisco to four games. The Giants are 2 ½ games ahead of idle Pittsburgh in the NL Wild Card standings.

Trumbo finished the game with five runs batted in, while Snakes starter Wade Miley (8-11) allowed one run over seven innings.

Trumbo hit his second career slam off San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong (8-11) in the fourth inning. He also had an RBI single in the seventh.

Vogelsong surrendered four runs on six hits and four walks while striking out five over 5 2/3 innings.

Offensively for the Giants, Joaquin Arias collected three hits and Buster Posey added an RBI single.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt was activated from the disabled list prior to the game after clearing concussion protocols. Belt had been sidelined since Aug. 8. … The probables for Tuesday’s game are RHP Jake Peavy for the Giants facing RHP Josh Collmenter for Arizona.