Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants desperately need to get some kind of momentum, and they really need to get it pretty quickly. They are losing ground in the National League West in trying to catch up to a team that surpasses them in talent, not to mention payroll.

Lo and behold, here come the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that sits in last place in the NL East, and who will pay a visit to AT&T Park for a three-game series that will either give the Giants a real chance to get back into the division race or sink them further into the abyss.

As it stands right now, the Giants are 5½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who kick of a three-game home series of their own on Friday against Milwaukee, a team that certainly has something to play for, since they are on top of their division, the NL Central.

In other words, if there is a chance for the Giants to make up some real ground in the NL West race, this is it.

They will have the right guy to start things off, for sure. The Giants will send lefty Madison Bumgarner (13-9) to the mound to face Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels (6-6).

However, the Giants may be catching Hamels at the wrong time, as the lefty has not surrendered a single run in any of his last five starts, while going at least seven innings in each of them. Overall, he has a 2.37 earned-run average.

In addition, Bumgarner has not been his normal self at home. In the last two months, he sports a 1-3 record with a 6.99 ERA at AT&T Park. The Giants will need to have him put those struggles to an end very quickly, or they could get those “here we go again” feelings, which is something to avoid at a time like this, particularly in a division race that is quickly getting away from them.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, August 14, 2014

It’s too soon to tell if this is a potential playoff matchup, but if the red-hot Kansas City Royals should meet the Oakland Athletics again, it could be a most entertaining series.

On Thursday, the Royals won the 18th of their last 22 games, defeating the visiting A’s 7-3 in Kansas City and surging into first place by ½ game over Detroit in the American League Central.

The Athletics, meanwhile, still hold a 2-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and a 7.5-game edge over Seattle in the AL West.

Kansas City is 12 games over .500 for the first time since July 2003. The Royals took the season series from Oakland 5 games to 2.

Jarrod Dyson drove in the game-tying run to cap a five-run Royals seventh, while Nori Aoki and Billy Butler each drove in a pair of runs to put Kansas City ahead to stay.

Alberto Callaspo drove in two of Oakland’s runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.

Aaron Crow (6-1) picked up the win in relief, while A’s starter Jeff Samardzija (3-2) took the loss. Greg Holland racked up save No. 36 for Kansas City.

A’s ACORNS: Oakland SS Jed Lowrie was placed on the disabled list after the game because of a broken right index finger. To replace Lowrie, the Athletics recalled INF Andy Parrino from Triple-A Sacramento. … RHP Jason Hammel will start for Oakland Friday in the opening game of a three-game set at Atlanta. Oakland last played in Atlanta in 2008. … Kansas City plays its next nine games on the road against three last-place clubs – Minnesota, Colorado and Texas.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing the San Francisco Giants tie up the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, Santiago Casilla gave up the lead in the next inning.

Gordon Beckham singled to left field to score Moises Sierra from third base, as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Giants 3-2 before a crowd of 42,317, the 306th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Sierra singled after Jordan Danks walked with one out, and Alejandro De Aza hit into a Fielders’ Choice that retired Danks at the plate; however White Sox manager Robin Ventura challenged the call, saying Buster Posey blocked the plate.

After a one minute and 12 second review, the play was upheld and Danks was out at he plate for the second out; however Beckham then supplied the heroics, when he singled to left field.

Chris Sale went eight innings, not allowing a run on four hits, while walking two and striking out 12; however he did not fare in the decision.

Adam Dunn supplied the only offense that Sale would get, as he took a Ryan Vogelsong pitch and put it into the left-center field bleachers for his 18th home run of the season in the top of the first inning.

De Aza led off the game with a single, but was retired at second base on a Fielders’ Choice off the bat of rookie sensation Jose Abreu.

Hunter Pence tripled with one out in the bottom of the first inning, but was retired at home plate on a great throw by Alexei Ramirez that just barely got Pence at the plate.

Following the Pence triple, Joe Panik was the next Giants batter to hit a ball out of the infield and that came in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Panik single stopped a streak of 10 in a row retired by Sale.

It was a tough no decision for Vogelsong, who once again failed to get any run support from his teammates, as he went seven innings, allowing just runs, allowing just three hits, walking two and striking out five

After a rough first inning, that saw Vogelsong give up those two runs on two hits; however over the final six innings he was on the mound, the right-hander only gave one hit in the top of the second inning to former Giants infielder Conor Gillaspie, who tripled to leadoff the second.

Angel Pagan led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single to right field off of Sale, but Pence struck out for the second time in three at-bats, then Buster Posey flew out to Dunn in right field and finally Pablo Sandoval ended the inning on fly out to Jordan Danks in centerfield.

White Sox closer Jake Petricka was unable to close it out, as Pablo Sandoval, Michael Morse and pinch hitter Travis Ishikawa each singled to load the bases for Joe Panik grounded into a double play on an amazing play by Gordon Beckham, who dove for the ball, flipped the ball out of his glove to Ramirez to retire Ishikawa and then Ramirez threw to Abreu to get Panik.

Following the double play of the bat of Panik, Crawford tied up the game with a single to right field to score Sandoval from third base.\

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers will host the Denver Broncos for the first ever football game at Levis Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The 49ers preseason home opener will oficially open up the new billion dollar facility to football activities.

The 49ers come into the game with a preseason record of 0-1 as they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night. The Broncos, however, will come into the contest with a 1-0 peseason record as they defeated the Superbowl Champion Seattle Seahawks on Friday.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers will look to get into the win column as the starters will see a little bit more playing time in game two of the preseason. Same goes for the AFC Champion Broncos as Peyton Manning and his starters will see a couple more series this time around.

Although this is only a preseason game where the majority of the context will be played by the back ups, this game will be an anticipation of a possible Superbowl 49 matchup.

Kickoff for the new billion dollar facility will be at 1:00 pm. Levis will be expecting a huge turn out, dispite it only being an exhibition contest.

By Jeremy Kahn

Alex Gordon will probably thank the Kansas City Royals Marketing Department for a such special weekend.

After Husker Night on Saturday, where Gordon, who went to the University of Nebraska, hit a home run, he was honored with a bobble head that went to the first 10,000 fans and Gordon did not disappoint in the finale, as he hit a two-run home run in a four-run first inning and the Royals defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-4 at Kauffman Stadium.

With the victory, the Royals completed a three-game of the Giants, and have now won seven games in a row and are now within one-half game of the first place Detroit Tigers in the American League Central.

Danny Duffy went six and two-thirds innings for the Royals, allowing four runs and three hits, as he won back-to-back for the first time this season.

Duffy was cruising into the seventh inning, as he walked his only two batters of the game and then they both scored when Andrew Susac hit a two-run double.

Tim Lincecum was shelled in just three and one-thirds innings, as he allowed six runs and seven hits and remains winless since July 11.

The Giants were able to get the tying run on base in the top of the ninth inning, but Royals closer Greg Holland got Pablo Sandoval to fly out to centerfield for the final out.

It was the 34th save in 36 chances for the All-Star Holland, which leads the American League.

On the afternoon, the a Royals stole seven bases, one short of the team record that was set on August 1, 1998 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Both Nori Aoki and Jarrod Dyson stole three bases for the Royals, the first time that two Royals players stole three bases in the same time in the teams’ 46-year history.

By Jeremy Kahn

James Shields was on point from the first pitch of the game to the last pitch, and he never seemed to lose a step.

Shields scattered just four hits, as the Kansas City Royals won their sixth in a row after a 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals, who last made the playoffs in 1985, when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a thrilling seven-game series shortened the Detroit Tigers lead in the American League Central down to just one and a half games and are in second place in the American League wild-card standings.

Alex Gordon hit a home run for the Royals in the bottom of the fifth inning, as they have won nine out of 10.

Shields, who won for the 11th time on the season gave up three singles in the first three innings and did not allow another hit until Joe Panik doubled in the top of the eighth inning.

Panik also walked against Shields in the top of the fifth inning, went to second on a wild pitch; however he was stranded.

Shields picked up his first shutout since September 9, 2012 and the ninth of his major league career.

Tim Hudson went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, as he lost for the ninth time against eight wins.

In the finale of the series, Tim Lincecum looks to end the road trip on a high note, as he will face the Royals for just the second time his major league career.

Lincecum went five innings, allowing five runs in a no-decision, as the Giants fell to the Royals 11-10 during the 2008 season.

By Jeremy Kahn

After just one preseason game, the Oakland Raiders have to regroup on both sides of the ball prior to their next exhibition tilt.

In his first exhibition game as a member of the Raiders, Matt Schaub finished 3-for-7 with just 21 yards passing.

Schaub played the first three series for the Raiders, all three drives ended via three and outs and the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Raiders 10-6 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Derek Carr, who the Raiders took in the second round out of Fresno State replaced Schaub in the second quarter and went 10-for-16 for 74 yards and an interception.

Last year’s starting quarterback Matt McGloin got the Raiders on the board with under two minutes remaining in the game, as he scored on a 10-yard run.

Other than the McGloin touchdown run, Darren McFadden showed progress, as he looked promising on a 23-yard run, the best highlight by the Raiders first string offense on the evening.

Matt Asiata ended the Vikings first drive of the preseason with a one-yard touchdown that gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

Rookie Teddy Bridgewater took the field for the first time as a professional, and Bridgewater led the Vikings down the field and ended with a 30-yard field goal by Blair Walsh.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, June 7, 2014

Jon Lester continues to pay immediate dividends for Oakland since he was acquired from Boston at the non-waiver trade deadline. The All-Star lefthander threw his fourth career shutout Thursday, blanking Minnesota 3-0 at the Coliseum.

In the process, the Athletics became the first team this season to reach the 70-win mark, while the Twins lost game No. 82, assuring that Minnesota cannot finish at least .500 on the season.

Lester (12-7) fanned eight, issued two walks and only allowed two Twins baserunners to advance past first base while tossing his 11th career shutout. The only potential trouble Lester encountered was working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.

The former Red Sox ace had a perfect game going until former A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki singled to lead off the Twins’ sixth. Lester is 6-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his last six starts.

Oakland took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Stephen Vogt snapped an 0-for-23 skid with his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot off losing pitcher Yohan Pino (1-4). The A’s tacked on another run in the fourth when Brandon Moss and Derek Norris cracked back-to-back doubles.

From there, Lester did the rest.

In Friday’s game, Kyle Gibson (10-8) is on the mound for Minnesota, facing Oakland lefthander Scott Kasmir (12-4).

By Jeremy Harness

The good news that came out of Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers is that center fielder Angel Pagan made his return to the lineup and looked good doing it.

The leadoff man collected two hits, including a bloop single into shallow right to start the game, as well as making a very nice sliding catch on the warning track in right center.

Not too shabby for a guy who has missed a total of 44 games this season because of a back injury.

Now with the bad news; the Giants dropped the rubber match of a three-game series by virtue of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Brewers at Miller Park, while the division-leading Dodgers added one more game to their advantage over the second-place Giants.

As he did last week in New York, starter Jake Peavy pitched brilliantly but got no run support from his teammates (the one run the Giants mustered was scored by Peavy himself).

In the end, Peavy remained winless as a Giant and saw his overall season mark go to 1-12. That’s the type of thing that can happen when you have the worst run support in the majors, which Peavy has. He surrendered three runs on nine hits, walking three and striking out another three.

The Brewers got on the board first in the bottom of the first, when admitted PED user Ryan Braun doubled into the gap in right-center to score Jonathan Lucroy.

After the Giants tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth, Milwaukee scored two runs in the sixth, as Khris Davis and Mark Reynolds each drove in runs to effectively put the game away.

The Giants could not get anything going against Brewers starter Wily Peralta (14-6), which didn’t bode well for Peavy at all.

The Giants will head to Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals, who are now in the hunt for the American League Central crown, something that has been completely out of the picture for decades until now.

Madison Bumgarner will attempt to get the Giants back on the right track when he takes the ball Friday against Kansas City lefty Jason Vargas.