Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

It may not show in the box score, but this victory by the San Francisco Giants is mostly likely their biggest win of the 2014 season.

Buster Posey hit two doubles, and a hit big home run, as the Giants came back from a 7-1 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies 12-7 at Coors Field.

Posey hit his 19th home run of the season, a solo blast that began the Giants comeback in the top of be sixth inning that saw the Giants score three runs to get within 7-4 of their National League Western Division rivals.

Andrew Susac continues his hot hitting, as he hit a two-run home run to get the Giants within three runs.

It was in the seventh inning that the Giants completed their comeback and stormed ahead of the Rockies.

After Matt Duffy grounded out in a pinch hitting role, the Giants scored six runs on five extra base hits in the frame.

Posey hit a two-run double, Hunter Pence drove in a run with a single, Gregor Blanco drove in another run with a double that eventually gave the Giants the lead for good, then Susac hit an run-scoring double and then Brandon Crawford came up with a RBI triple.

Unfortunately for Duffy the inning ended on an in auspicious note, as he struck out to end the inning.

It was a tough night for Yusmeiro Petit, as he allowed six runs in four innings of work, walked one and struck out five.

Following the departure of Petit, Bruce Bochy summoned Mike Kickham, who lasted one-third of an inning, allowing one run on two hits.

Bochy then turned the ball over the veterans of the bullpen, as the quintet of George Kontos, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Jean Machi and Javier Lopez combined to allow just one hit and one walk over the final five and two-thirds innings of work, with Kontos picking up his fourth win of the season without a loss.

Michael Morse was out of the lineup again after he suffered a strained oblique in batting practice on Monday.

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers are set to open up the 2014 regular season against the Dallas Cowboys on September 7th. Already without All-Pro linebacker Aldon Smith for the first nine regular season games, San Francisco might have to be without another key piece on their defense. Defensive tackle Ray McDonald’s status with the team remains uncertain following his arrest on Sunday on suspicion of felony domestic violence at his home in San Jose.

According to police-dispatch audio, obtained by ABC 7 News, the unnamed victim, that is involved in the incident, claimed McDonald was “hitting her” and “was trying to pull her out of the house. She’s 10 weeks pregnant and refusing medical.”

If the case prevents McDonald from playing on Sunday in Dallas, it is likely that Tony Jerod-Eddie will start in his place. Jerod-Eddie started all four preseason games in place of McDonald as he was recovering from a hamstring strain.

The 49ers appear to be the deepest at every position then they have been a while, so the absence of McDonald for a few games should not hurt the team to much. But, whenever you lose your starting DT, it does effect the defense in some way. San Francisco is looking to start the season off with a victory before coming back to Levi’s Stadium to play their first ever regular season home opener against the Chicago Bears September 14th.

San Francisco will be going up against a pretty good Dallas offense in week one. Tony Romo and company will look to start off the season 1-0 as they try to take the NFC east and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2010. The Cowboys will be a tough task as Dez Bryant and the Dallas offense will look to go after the 49ers new secondary.

San Francisco will have some help back on the offensive line as offensive guard Alex Boone ended his holdout after agreeing to a two year extension. The new deal basically just makes his incentive money a guarantee over the next two seasons. Boone is a very versatile lineman that can play multiple positions on the offensive line. This is great news for the 49ers as they just recently cut Adam Snyder to make room on the 53-man roster.

By George Devine, Sr.

After a surprising 31-24 win over Northwestern at Evanston, Illinois, the Golden Bears head home to Memorial Stadium, where they will take on Sacramento State at Noon on Saturday, September 6.

The Cal win in the heart of Big 10 country was their first victory over a FBS opponent since they beat Washington State, in 2012. It came as the result of a heads-up defense– led by LB Jalen Jefferson — that made the golden arm of sophomore quarterback Jared Goff (281 yards) count for something. Freshman QB Luke Rubenzer alternated with Goff in an offense that had the Wildcats admitting their surprise. And despite his throwing an intercepted pass, Rubenzer will surely figure in the game against Sac State; he showed his versatility by rushing for 48 yards.

Other freshmen who showed their stuff against Northwestern, and who will likely make good contributions again, are RBs Tre Watson and Vic Enwere.

The Hornets were dominant in their opener on the road at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, with a 49-13 win. QB Garrett Safron was 17-28 for 251 passing yards which made for 5 TDs. Safron’s previous season seems to have continued into this senior year and the Bears’ defense will have to break up his aerial attack; this is where Jefferson comes in.

After this weekend, Cal’s remaining games will be:

9/20 @ Arizona, kickoff TBA

9/27 Colorado, TBA

10/4 @ Washington State, TBA

10/11 Washington, TBA

10/18 UCLA, TBA

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

11/1 @ Oregon State

11/22 Stanford, TBA

11/29 BYU, TBA

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After a tumultuous couple of months that saw the San Francisco Giants fall from first place; and a season-high six and a half games out on August 12, the Giants have put themselves back into the National League playoff race.

Madison Bumgarner pitched six innings, allowing one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out seven and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 15-5 before 41,935 the 317th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

This was the 16th win of the season for Bumgarner, tying him with Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most wins in the major leagues this season

With the victory, the Giants completed their first three-game sweep of the Brewers at AT&TPark since August 24-26, 2007.

This was the fifth sweep of the season for the Giants, and it was the sixth consecutive victory for the Giants and ends the home stand with a 6-1 record.

The 15 runs scored by the Giants are their most of the 2014 season, breaking their previous season high of 13 that they scored in the opener of this three-game series on Friday night.

Ryan Braun put the Brewers on the board in the top of the first inning, as he hit into a double play that scored Carlos Gomez from third base.

Gomez led off the game with a double off of Bumgarner, went to third on a Jonathan Lucroy single and then Braun hit into a double play.

Andrew Susac tied up the game in the bottom of the second inning, as he doubled in Pablo Sandoval, who tripled to leadoff the inning.

Hunter Pence would give the Giants the lead for good, as he doubled to score Angel Pagan, who singled with one out, then stole second and advanced to third base on a Martin Maldonado throwing error.

Joe Panik followed up Pagan’s single with and then Pence doubled in Pagan with the eventual winning run.

Pablo Sandoval then followed up Pence’s single with a single of his own to score Panik with the second run of the inning.

Pagan scored the Giants final run of the inning, as Michael Morse hit a sacrifice fly to score Pence.

Sandoval gave the Giants their next two runs of the game as he hit his 15th home run, a two-run shot that bounced into McCovey Cove off the portwalk in right field.

Pagan then drove in the Giants seventh run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he singled in Brandon Crawford, who reached on a Fielders’ Choice after Susac singled to leadoff the inning.

Martin Maldonado hit a solo home run off of George Kontos in the top of the seventh inning that landed half way up the left field bleachers.

Pence tripled to leadoff the bottom of the seventh inning off of Alfredo Figaro, then Sandoval walked and then Pence scored his third run of the afternoon, when Figaro unleashed a wild pitch with Travis Ishikawa at the plate.

Following the wild pitch, Ishikawa singled to right field that sent Sandoval to third base and Figaro to the clubhouse, as Brewers manager Ron Roenicke saw enough and brought on Will Smith.

Susac added his second double of the afternoon to drive his second and third runs of the afternoon off of Will Smith.

Joaquin Arias got in on the act, as he hit a pinch hit double that scored Susac and sent Crawford, who walked to third base.

Panik tripled in Crawford and Arias, and then Panik himself scored, when Pence singled him in.

All in all, the Giants tacked on seven runs off of four Brewers relievers.

Brewers’ starter Kyle Lohse pitched five and two-thirds innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out three, as he saw his record fall to 12-8

Tim Lincecum, who was moved to the bullpen in place of Yusmeiro Petit, came on out of the bullpen to pitch the last two innings.

Lincecum went two innings, allowing three runs on three hits.

Ryan Braun hit his 18th home run of the season in the top of the eighth inning off of Lincecum.

Ishikawa scored the Giants final run of the afternoon in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he walked to lead off the inning, went to third on a Blanco double and then scored when Crawford grounded out to second base.

The Blanco double was the Giants 10th extra base hit of the afternoon, marking the first time in AT&TPark history that the Giants picked up 10 extra base hits in the same game.

It was the most extra base hits for the Giants as a team since hitting 10 extra base hits against the Philadelphia Phillies at CitizensBankPark on August 13, 2004.

NOTES: Following the game, the Giants made the following roster moves in preparation for September 1 callups.

Mike Kickham and Juan Perez were recalled from Fresno, right-hander Hunter Strickland was recalled from Richmond, Chris Dominguez and Guillermo Quiroz had their contracts purchased from Fresno. Ehire Adrianza and Hector Sanchez have been transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

In the six-game home stand, the Giants starters pitched 50.2 innings, allowing eight runs (six earned runs), good enough for a 1.07 earned run average seven walks and 57 strikeouts.

The three triples are the most by a Giants since moving into AT&T Park in 2000, and the most in a home game since May 8, 1977 against the New York Mets,

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing what Madison Bumgarner nearly accomplished on Tuesday, Jake Peavy wanted to have a great game in his next outing.

Well, that next outing for Peavy came on Saturday night versus the Milwaukee Brewers, as the right-hander went seven and two-thirds innings, allowing zero runs on just one hit, walking three and striking out eight and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Brewers 3-1 before a crowd of 41,397, the 316th consecutive regular season sellout at AT&T Park.

This was by far Peavy’s best outing since joining the Giants after being acquired from the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox on July 26 in exchange for minor leaguers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree.

Mark Reynolds broke up Peavy’s attempt at baseball immortality in the top of the eighth inning, as he singled to right field with one out to break up Peavy’s bid at his first ever no-hitter.

Following the Reynolds single, Bruce Bochy replaced Peavy, who left to a standing ovation; however Peavy’s replacement, Jeremy Affeldt gave up a pinch-hit single to Rickie Weeks.

That would be all for Affeldt, as Bochy brought in Sergio Romo to face Carlos Gomez, who represented the tying run.

Romo was able to get out of the jam, as he struck out Gomez swinging to end the threat and the inning.

Lost in all the hoopla over Peavy’s near no-hitter, was the fact that Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers pitched a great game, despite the fact that he took the loss.

Fiers went seven innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out nine in the hard fought loss.

Things got interested in the top of the ninth inning, as Santiago Casilla gave up a leadoff double to Jonathan Lucroy, and then a single to Ryan Braun that scored Lucroy.

Aramis Ramirez grounded into a force play that retired Braun at second, and then Scooter Gennett flew out for the second out, and then Khris Davis was hit by a Casilla pitch to put runners at first and second; however Reynolds grounded out to Sandoval, who stepped on third base to end the game.

Peavy became the second Giants pitcher this week to give up just one hit in a game, as Madison Bumgarner lost a perfect game when Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies led off the top of the eighth inning with a single on Tuesday night.

After losing his first three starts after being acquired, Peavy has won three out of his last four.

Peavy reached a milestone in the top of the second inning, as he struck out Ramirez for the first out of the inning.

That strikeout was the 2,000th of Peavy’s career, and became the second Giants pitcher this week to join the club.

Peavy’s locker mate, Tim Hudson joined the in Wednesday’s no decision against the Colorado Rockies.

Peavy joins C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Bartolo Colon and Hudson as active pitchers with 2,000 or more career strikeouts.

This was the fifth straight win for the Giants, their longest winning streak since winning since five in a row from June 4 against the Cincinnati Reds and it coming to an end against the Washington Nationals on June 9.

It was at that point in the season, that the Giants were 42-21 and nine and a half games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

Brandon Crawford made the play of the game in the top of the fourth inning, as he backhanded a ball hit by Ramirez, regrouped and threw Ramirez out by a few steps.

Just three innings later, Crawford made an even better play, as he snared a Gennett ball while diving, flipped the ball with his glove to Joe Panik to get Ramirez and then Panik threw to Travis Ishikawa for the final out of the inning.

Ramirez reached in the top of the seventh inning, as he was hit on the forearm by a Peavy pitch with one out.

Michael Morse drove in all the runs that Peavy would need, as he doubled off of Fiers in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval.

Sandoval and Pence each hit singles prior to Morse’s double and then Morse himself scored, as Crawford singled after Gregor Blanco flew out to centerfield for the first out of the inning.

Peavy was helped out by another great defensive play in the top of the eighth inning, as Sandoval made a backhanded throw to get Davis at first base by a step.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, August 28, 2014

A sacrifice fly by Howie Kendrick snapped a tie in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday, giving the Los Angeles Angels a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics in the first game of a key weekend series at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

With the win, the Angels moved back into first place in the American League West by one game over Oakland.

Kendrick’s sac fly to right field drove in Albert Pujols, who led off the Angels 10th with a walk. Pujols advanced to third on Josh Hamilton’s single to right.

A’s reliever Ryan Cook (1-2) surrendered the game-winning run without retiring a batter. Fernando Salas (5-0) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the win.

Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead in the first inning against A’s starter Sonny Gray, but the Athletics fought back with a pair of runs in the fifth. Brandon Moss scored on an error, and Coco Crisp drove in Geovany Soto with a base hit.

In the top of the sixth, Josh Donaldson homered to left, tying the game at 3-3.

In Friday night’s game, Jon Lester (13-8) is on the mound for Oakland, facing Jered Weaver (14-7) for the Angels. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

A’s ACORNS: Prior to the game, the Athletics recalled RHP Evan Scribner from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned LHP Drew Pomeranz to Single-A Beloit. As the River Cats’ closer, Scribner was 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 16 saves. The Pomeranz demotion is more of a paperwork move that would allow him to return to the A’s when the rosters expand on Sept. 1. Pomeranz is between starts.

By: Phillip Torres

HOUSTON-The San Francisco 49ers finished off their preseason schedule strong with a 40-13 victory over the Houston Texans on Thursday night. The 49ers won the game with ease with great contribution from all the back ups.

Only three starters started on both sides of the ball for San Francisco. They game was played by the second and third stringers and the rookies that were looking to prove that they belong in the NFL.

Quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Josh Johnson both contributed with touchdown passes on the night.

Rookie linebacker Chris Borland and free agent aquisition Chris Cook both recorded interceptions.

The great performance by all of the reserves makes the roster decisions for Harbaugh and the management harder as they will need to trim the roater to a 53-man roster by weekends end.

The 49ers will open up their season in Dallas against the Cowboys next Sunday and 1:05 pm.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-It maybe just preseason, but the Oakland Raiders ended it on a high note against the Seattle Seahawks.

Derek Carr threw three touchdowns on three of the Raiders first four possessions, while second-year player Latavius Murray added a five-yard touchdown and the Raiders defeated the Seahawks 41-31 at the Coliseum.

Carr went 11-for-13 for 143 yards and those three touchdowns before being replaced by Matt McGloin in the second quarter.

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders played good, after allowing a Seahawks touchdown on the opening drive of the game.

Russell Wilson drove the Seahawks down the field, and it culminated with a touchdown pass to Luke Wilson from 25 yards out just one minute 44 seconds into the game.

The Raiders defense continue to show progress, as they played mostly second stringers against the Seahawks first team offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders scratched Taiwan Jones, Tarell Brown, Chimdi Chekwa, Nick Roach, Sio Moore, Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith and Kaelin Burnett.

Both Charles Woodson and Carlos Rogers were part of the scratches; however both were announced as starters.

Matt McGloin threw an interception in the second quarter that DeShawn Shead returned 54 yards for a touchdown to narrow the Raiders down to 28-14 half way thru the second quarter.

On the offensive side of the ball, Matt Schaub, Darren McFadden, Maurice Jones-Drew, Marcel Reese, Rod Streater, David Ausberry and James Jones were scratched.

McGloin found Brice Butler wide open in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass with just two minutes remaining in the first half.

Denarius Moore caught two of Carr’s touchdown passes in the first quarter, as the Raiders jumped out to a 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Former CAL Bear Giorgio Tavecchio kicked a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter to put the Raiders up by 17.

Steven Hauschka kicked a 27-yard field goal on the drive following the Tavecchio field goal.

After a Marquette King punt, B.J. Daniels drove the Seahawks down the field and culminated with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Walters.

Tavecchio closed out the scoring, as he hit his second 47-yard field goal of the game with just under two minutes remaining in the game.

In his return to the Coliseum, former Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor went 11-for-17 for 134 yards and a touchdown.

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Monday night saw Buster Posey ejected after an egregious strikeout call, which set off all kinds of bad vibes from the Giants, particularly manager Bruce Bochy, following a loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Fast forward two days, and rather than sulking about it, he has let his bat do the talking in a huge way. After slugging a pair of home runs to spark Tuesday night’s win, Posey sent the sellout crowd at AT&T Park home happy again with a walk-off two-run homer that just made it over the left-field wall to give the Giants a dramatic 4-2 win over the Rockies Wednesday night.

Before that, however, closer Santiago Casilla made things quite interesting after inheriting a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning. Starter Tim Hudson fired eight solid innings at the Rockies and was in great shape to go the distance after throwing only 87 pitches, but Casilla rendered all of that meaningless.

He hit Drew Stubbs with the first pitch he threw and then gave up a double to Justin Morneau that scored Stubbs and tie the game at 2-2, which compelled Sergio Romo to get up to the bullpen and start warming up. He intentionally walked Corey Dickerson with one out, but quickly got himself out of the inning by getting Michael McHenry to ground into an inning-ending double play to set the stage for Posey’s heroics.

Hudson (10-9) was forced to endure a tough no-decision after surrendering only one run – a solo home run to Dickerson in the fifth inning – on four hits, walking only one and striking out eight.

“He was locked in tonight,” Bochy said of Hudson, who lowered his ERA to 2.90. “He’s a pleasure to manage.”

The Dodgers also won Wednesday night, but the Giants did get one form of a one-up on their eternal rivals. Their win gave manager Bruce Bochy his 1,600th-career managerial victory, passing up longtime Dodgers skipper Tommy Lasorda for sole possession of 19th place all-time.

“I’m very fortunate,” Bochy said. “I’m lucky to be doing what I’m doing. Sure, it goes on your record, (but) it’s all about the support that I’ve had over the years. I appreciate being able to do what I love to do for this long.”

After having a pair of opportunities go by the wayside early on, the Giants finally hit paydirt in the fourth inning. After they were able to put runners on first and third with one out, Gregor Blanco laid down a perfect bunt down the first-base line, which Morneau could not handle at first base and allowed Matt Duffy to score and give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The Rockies, however, took advantage of a rare mistake by Hudson to tie the game in the top of the fifth. He left a fastball up in the zone, and Dickerson made him pay for it by sending it directly into McCovey Cove.

In the process, Dickerson became the only player in Rockies history not named Carlos Gonzalez to hit a ball into McCovey Cove on the fly for a home run, otherwise known as a “splash hit.”

The Giants broke through again in the seventh, after Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence each coaxed walks out of reliever Brooks Brown to lead off the inning. With one out, Posey ripped a single into left field to bring in Pagan.

Posey didn’t do all of his damage at the plate, however. In the top of the eighth, he followed up his go-ahead single by cutting down D.J LeMahieu, who had singled and was attempting to steal second with one out, with an outstanding throw that he placed right on the bag.