Category: Uncategorized

By Morris Phillips

With 19 games remaining, the Giants are looking good in the wild card race, but if they want to overtake the Dodgers in the NL West, the process needs to start this week.

Following three games with the last place Diamondbacks, the Dodgers visit AT&T Park for three games that will likely decide the divisional race in favor of Los Angeles if the Giants can’t capture two or three games in the series.

After the Dodgers dispatched the Padres Monday behind the pitching of Clayton Kershaw, the lead stands at 3 ½ games.

And if overcoming a 3 ½ game lead with 19 games remaining to play doesn’t appear daunting enough, think about this:

Monday’s game in which Kershaw needed just 89 pitches to run through eight innings of work—allowing just three hits—means he will be perfectly aligned for what could be the biggest start of his season on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco.  Kershaw’s reputation as a big-game pitcher and Giants’ slayer is already cemented, but on Sunday he’ll be looking for his MLB-leading 19^th win and a capper to an almost certain Cy Young season and possible MVP season as well.

Along with Kershaw, the Dodgers will have a pair of 14-game winners start Friday and Saturday in Hyun-Jin Ryu and Zack Greinke.   The Giants will counter with 17-game winner Madison Bumgarner in the opener, but then Tim Hudson, whose season has gone south since the All-Star break and fill-in starter Yusmeiro Petit in a matchup with Kershaw.

If the Giants can walk through this gauntlet then they should be poised for the rest of their schedule which appears tougher than the Dodgers’ remaining schedule if only because Los Angeles is more fortunate to have four game with the rebuilding and experimenting Cubs in Chicago.

Of course, where the Giants are now from their positioning a few weeks ago is dramatic.  The team has begun to hit, starter Jake Peavy has really settled in and Buster Posey is providing star power that’s needed this time of year.

But the Giants’ resurgence and what will be required of them this week are two different animals, this challenge is as big any faced by a big league club anywhere all season. 

So to the Giants, we wish them the best of luck.

On Tuesday,  Petit faces Arizona’s Wade Miley at 7:15pm.

 

 

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Dallas Cowboys by a final score of 28-17 in the season opener on Sunday afternoon in Dallas. They will look to stay undefeated in the early going of the season as they will host the Chicago Bears in week two of the season.

The game against the Bears will be at Levi’s Stadium, the first regular season game in the history of the new billion dollar stadium. The 49ers will host Chicago on Sunday Night Football as the inaugural home opener will be nationally televised.

San Francisco will have to wait and see if they will be fully loaded in the secondary as three of their defensive backs went down with injuries. Chris Culliver, Tramaine Brock, and first-round pick Jimmie Ward all suffered injuries where they did not return to action in Dallas.

With the 28-17 victory in Dallas, the 49ers are extremely confident with how the offense played. 201 yards and two touchdown passes from quarterback Colin Kaepernick to Vernon Davis lead the way on offense. Rookie running back Carlos Hyde added his first career touchdown to the offensive explosion.

The defense played phenomenal without their two All-Pro linebackers Aldon Smith and NaVarro Bowman. The defense forced four turnovers, including a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Culliver to start the scoring on the afternoon.

The 49ers will be facing the 0-1 Bears, who lost a heartbreaker to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. The defense will have a tough task with a small secondary trying to cover the two top Chicago receivers. San Francisco will most likely need to find outside help if any of the defensive backs cannot play on Sunday.

San

By George Devine, Sr.

Coming out of Cal’s 55-14 rout of Sacramento State last Saturday (September 6), local sports pundit Steve Kroner said to me, “You can’t win ’em all….until you win the first two!” That sums it up well, since the Golden Bears now have a confidence that hasn’t been present in a long time. They now have wins over Northwestern and the Hornets, and a week off as they look towards their next game — and first Pac-12 opponent — at Arizona on September 20.

Given his golden arm, it is no surprise that Jared Goff would complete 17 of 22 passes, resulting in 4 TDs. What is perhaps more significant is that his backup, Luke Rubenzer, completed a touchdown pass after experiencing the disappointment of being intercepted in the previous Saturday’s win at Northwestern. It was also a good day for RB Daniel Lasco, who went 94 yards on 9 carries.

One key to the game, which will be essential for the rest of the season, is an offensive line which is superior to last year’s, giving Goff and Rubenzer enough time to select and find their receivers, and allowing the running backs to break through the defensive lines on their way to racking up yards.

The remaining games in the season are:

9/20 @ Arizona

9/27 Colorado

10/4 @ Washington State

10/11 Washington

10/18 UCLA

10/24 Oregon (at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, 7 p.m. PT)

11/1 @ Oregon State

11/13 @ USC, 6 pm PT

11/22 Stanford

11/29 BYU

Except for the Oregon and USC games, all kickoff times are TBA.

By Jeremy Kahn

Derek Carr may have thrown two touchdown passes in his NFL debut, but he probably wishes of a different outcome.

Chris Ivory scored on a 71-yard run midway thru the fourth quarter that proved to be the winning score, as the New York Jets hung on late to defeat the Oakland Raiders 19-14 at MetLife Stadium.

It was a tough day for the Raiders offense, as they could only muster 158 yards of total offense against Rex Ryan’s stingy defense.

Ivory carried the ball 10 times with 102 yards rushing, including that 71-yard touchdown run that ultimately clinched the game.

Carr found Rod Streater with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter, as the Raiders overcame a 45-yard field goal by Nick Folk.

The Jets took the lead for good in the second quarter, as Geno Smith found Chris Johnson for a five-yard touchdown pass.

Folk then added a 42-yard field goal late in the third quarter, and then Ivory put the game out of reach with his run.

Carr got the Raiders within five, as he found James Jones on a 30-yard touchdown pass, as Jones made a fantastic catch in the end zone.

Following the touchdown, Sebastian Janikowski lined up for an onside kick; however Greg Salas recovered the ball for the Jets and then clinched the win.

The 158 yards by the Raiders were the fewest since they put up 124 yards against the New York Giants during the 2009 season.

Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden combined to carry the ball 13 times for just 26 yards rushing, an average of 2.0 yards per carry.

Carr ended the afternoon by going 20-for-32 with 151 yards passing and two touchdowns.

This was the Raiders 14th straight loss in the Eastern Time Zone, and are now 0-3 under Dennis Allen since took over the head coaching duties in 2012.

By Jeremy Kahn

Madison Bumgarner got run support in the very first inning from his battery mate, and the San Francisco Giants never looked back.

Andrew Susac hit a two-run double in the first inning, as the Giants scored four runs in the opening inning and hung on to defeat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 at Comerica Park.

Buster Posey continues his late push for National League Most Valuable Player award, as he picked up three hits on the afternoon, including a solo home run for the Giants who have won nine out of their last 11.

Bumgarner pitched six strong innings for his fourth consecutive victory and his career-high 17th victory of the season

The left-hander failed to walk or a strikeout a batter for the first time in his major league career.

Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs for the Tigers, giving him 20 for the season, while Victor Martinez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, that gave him a career-high 30 home runs on the season.

David Price came back after a rough first inning to pitch eight and two-thirds innings, as he struck out 11.

Posey hit his 20th home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning to give the Giants a two-run lead.

Cabrera got a little redemption when hit his home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he hit his home run off of Sergio Romo, who struck out the 2012 American League Triple Crown winner to clinch the Giants second World Series championship in the last last three years.

This was the second multi-home run game for Cabrera of the season, with both of them occurring this week.

Madison Bumgarner got run support in the very first inning from his battery mate, and the San Francisco Giants never looked back.

Andrew Susac hit a two-run double in the first inning, as the Giants scored four runs in the opening inning and hung on to defeat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 at Comerica Park.

Buster Posey continues his late push for National League Most Valuable Player award, as he picked up three hits on the afternoon, including a solo home run for the Giants who have won nine out of their last 11.

Bumgarner pitched six strong innings for his fourth consecutive victory and his career-high 17th victory of the season

The left-gander failed to walk or a strikeout for the first time in his major league career.

Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs for the Tigers, giving him 20 for the season, while Victor Martinez hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning, that gave him a career-high 30 home runs on the season.

David Price came back after a rough first inning to pitch eight and two-thirds innings, as he struck out 11.

Posey hit his 20th home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning to give the Giants a two-run lead.

Cabrera got a little redemption when hit his home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he hit his home run off of Sergio Romo, who struck out the 2012 American League Triple Crown winner to clinch the Giants second World Series championship in the last last three years.

This was the second multi-home run game for Cabrera of the season, with both of them occurring this week.

By Jeremy Kahn

Returning to the place where they won the 2012 World Series, the San Francisco Giants came away with the same outcome as when Sergio Romo struck out Miguel Cabrera to clinch the series.

Jake Peavy was forced to sit through a two-hour rain delay, as he went six innings, allowing just one earned run bad the Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers 8-2 at Comerica Park.

Peavy struck out six and walked three in his six innings of work, as he evened his record with the Giants at 4-4 since being acquired from the reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox on July 26.

It was a two hour and 42 minute rain delay that stopped the first meeting between these two teams since the 2012 World Series.

The Giants got to Tigers starter Rick Porcello early and often, as they scored a run in the first, three in the second and two in the third.

It was a rough night for Porcello all around, as he allowed five earned runs in three innings and took a Brandon Crawford come backer off his right foot.

Porcello ended up going those three innings, allowing six runs (five of them earned), walking one and striking out one.

Pablo Sandoval, who hit three home runs in game one of the 2012 World Series was up to his old tricks again, as he hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning, his 16th home run of the season.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants will by no means have it easy this weekend as they try once again to get over the hump in the National League West.

As they sit a full two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers going into Friday night, the Giants have the Detroit Tigers, who are in a battle for their own division title – the American League Central – waiting for them as they prepare to kick off a three-game series at Comerica Park in Detroit.

The Giants will have perhaps their best pitcher going right now to start things off on Friday night. Jake Peavy may have a less-than-superb 4-13 record, but three of those wins have come with him in a Giants uniform in the past two months.

Peavy will take the mound opposite Detroit right-hander Rick Porcello (15-9), who sports a 3.10 earned run average. On the plus side for the Giants, Porcello didn’t exactly have a stellar outing the last time he pitched.

Porcello was ripped by the Chicago White Sox for six runs on 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings this past Sunday. However, he didn’t get a lot of help from his defense, which committed four errors behind him in the process.

On Saturday, Madison Bumgarner takes the ball against Tigers lefty David Price, for whom the Tigers traded just before the trade deadline in order to bolster their already-stacked rotation with the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.

To close things out, Tim Hudson (9-9), who has had an up-and-down first season with the Giants, will oppose Detroit’s Kyle Lobstein.

If that’s not enough to put the Giants in an uphill battle, the Dodgers have a three-game series against Arizona (58-81), the last-place team in the NL West that will pay a visit to Dodger Stadium and pretty much has nothing to play for at this point of the season.