Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-
Wade Miley made the San Francisco Giants miss all day, and as a result of that, he came away with his fifth win of the season.

Miley went seven innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, walking three and striking out four, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 2-0 before crowd of 41,267, the 298th consecutive sellout at AT&TPark.

This was the 10th time this season that the Giants have been shutout, and the second time this week, as they were shutout on Monday against the Oakland A’s.

By shutting out the Giants on this day, this was the first time that the Diamondbacks shut the Giants since August 27, 2010,

Aaron Hill supplied the only offense that Miley would need, as he planted a Ryan Vogelsong pitch into the left-center field seats for his seventh home run of the season in the top of third inning.

Hill added a double in the top of the seventh inning, went to third on a Martin Prado groundout and then scored on a Gerardo Parra single.

Ryan Vogelsong was the hard luck loser, as he went six and one-third innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking no one and striking out four, as he saw his record on the season fall to 5-7.

Vogelsong became the first Giants pitcher since Lynn McGlothen from April 16, 1977 to May 1, 1977 to receive no runs of support during a single season in four successive starts this according to STATS, LLC.

Jonathan Sanchez went four straight starts between September 12, 2007 to April 9, 2008 without receiving any run support, according to STATS, LLC.

Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres was the last pitcher to go four straight starts without receiving runs in four straight starts from June 6-June 21, 2014, according to STATS, LLC.

Marco Scutaro made his long-awaited season debut, and despite the fact that he did not get a hit, Scutaro showed the AT&TPark crowd why he was worthy of coming back with his defense.

Scutaro made a dazzling play to end the top of the second inning, as he flipped the ball out of his glove to get Parra out at first base.

The Scutaro play was the second great play in a row by the Giants, as Hunter Pence made a great diving catch in right field Prado of a possible extra base hit.

Pablo Sandoval made a great play to end the top of the fifth inning, as he dove into the hole to snare a Paul Goldschmidt grounder, get up and throw to Brandon Belt to retire the side.

After Michael Morse flew out to leadoff the top of the seventh inning, Belt walked, then Joaquin Arias singled to bring up Gregor Blanco to face Miley.

Blanco hit a chopper to first base that Goldschmidt fielded, threw to Miley and first base umpire Gabe Morales called Blanco safe; however Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson challenged the ruling and after a one minute 53 second review, the play was overturned and Blanco was called out.

Hector Sanchez then came up to pinch-hit for Jeremy Affeldt, and he was robbed of hit, when Goldschmidt snared the Sanchez ball that would have tied up the game.

Morse extended his hitting streak to nine games after singling off of Miley in the bottom of the fourth inning, matching his season high, as he also hit in nine straight from April 2-April 11.

By Kahlil Najar

SAN JOSE – San Jose Quarterback Nathan Stanley completed 24 of 41 passes for 291 yards and 5 touchdowns to give the SaberCats their 12th win of the year 52-43 over the 8-8 Tampa Bay Storm in their final home game of the year.

Stanley was able to find six receivers through out the night including star Wide Receiver Dominique Curry who hauled in three touchdowns on 49 yards receiving. However Curry didn’t stop there as he had a pair of rushing touchdowns to give him five total touchdowns on the night. Reggie Gray and Rod Harper were the other receivers to get a touchdown through the air.

Both teams battled it out in the first half of the game as they traded  scores back and forth and went into the locker room tied at 28 a piece. Curry had one on the ground and one in the air while Gray and Harper provided the other scores for San Jose.

Curry continued his dominance in the third quarter as he scored two times in a row until the Storms Randy Hippeard found T.T. Olliver got a nice 22 yard score to bring the San Jose lead to only one touchdown. Pertuit was able to make it a 10 point lead with a little over nine minutes left in the game.

It looked like the Cats were going to put it away when Curry scored again to make it a 17 point lead but with 23 seconds left in the game, Hippeard was able to find Hillis for a touchdown and a successful two point conversion. Luckily that was all the Storm was able to bring in the last quarter and ended the game with a 52-43 win for the SaberCats.

The SaberCats now head out on the road for the final two games of the regular season with the first game next Sunday in Philadelphia, game time 1pm PST.

 

 

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Tim Lincecum is beginning to like the pitcher that he was during his back-to-back Cy Young Award seasons of 2008 and 2009, but before you get your hopes up for a World Series parade down Market Street, remember there is three months left in the season.

Lincecum went seven innings, allowing zero runs, allowing three hits, on two walks, and striking out six and the San Francisco Giants took game one of their three-game series with a 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks before a crowd of 41,647, the 297th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the ninth win of the season for Lincecum, and his fourth consecutive win, his longest winning streak since winning four in a row from April 5-23, 2010.

Since a no-decision on June 13, 2014 against the Colorado Rockies, Lincecum is middle of a streak that sees him not allowing a run at AT&T Park since Justin Morneau hit a two-run single in the top of the third inning.

After losing to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 20, Lincecum returned to AT&TPark and he pitched the second no-hitter of his career, a 6-0 whitewashing of the San Diego Padres.

Just six days after the no-hitter, Lincecum went eight scoreless innings in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals, as he scattered four hits, walking two and striking out four.

Lincecum’s scoreless inning streak of 27 at AT&TPark is the longest since Ryan Jensen threw 27 scoreless innings back during the 2002 National League Championship season.

Pablo Sandoval got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as he planted a Mike Bolsinger pitch onto the arcade for his 11th home run, a two-run shot that scored Brandon Belt, who singled just prior to Sandoval’s home run.

Brandon Crawford singled to right field off of Bolsinger in the bottom of the second inning to Tyler Colvin, who led off the inning with a single.

Then Lincecum got in on the act, as he hit a sacrifice bunt back to Bolsinger that scored Joe Panik from third base.

It was the first run batted in of the season for Lincecum, and the 19th run batted in of his major league since joining the Giants on May 6, 2007.

Sandoval drove in the fifth and final run of the night in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he double down the left field line to score Hunter Pence from second base.

Bolsinger lasted five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five, as he fell to 1-6 on the season.

Usual Lincecum nemesis, Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-2 with a walk and a caught stealing on the night.

Entering the game, Goldschmidt in his career was hitting at a .577 clip (15-for-26) with seven home runs and 17 runs batted in since joining the majors in 2011.

NOTES: Prior to the game, it was announced that Marco Scutaro was activated from the 60-day disabled list and to make room for the 2012 National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, Brandon Hicks was designated for assignment.

Mark Trumbo, who was activated by the Diamondbacks prior to the game, went 1-for-4 in his first game since suffering a stress fracture in his left foot.

To make room for Trumbo, former Giants outfielder Roger Kieschnick was assigned to the Diamondbacks Triple-A team, the Reno Aces.

Diamondbacks Catcher Miguel Montero was named as a replacement to the National League All-Star team, replacing Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, who suffered a torn thumb ligament.

By Morris Phillips

It wasn’t as lopsided as the notable Bay Bridge encounter 25 seasons ago, but the concluded A’s-Giants series was decidedly for the Athletics.

The Giants fell flat again in a 6-1 loss at AT&T Park, a performance that looked all too familiar. San Francisco’s offense has disappeared, scoring just 40 runs over their last 18 games, which covers most of a month of bad baseball that’s seen them drop 15 of 19 at home.

Josh Donaldson homered off Tim Hudson in Oakland’s four-run sixth inning that put them up 6-0. In a meeting of free agent starters acquired in the off-season, Scott Kazmir was the winner, his 11th that puts him line for a possible start in Tuesday’s All-Star game while Hudson dropped his fourth straight decision.

“There were a couple bad pitches that they took advantage of, and they hit a couple decent pitches, I thought,” Hudson said. “I don’t really know what to say. Kind of unraveled on us a little bit.”

Kazmir kept the Giants’ bats stymied with nine strikeouts that had the Giants looking tentative at the plate. Manager Bruce Bocy provided some inight into why his team’s offense struggled, while acknowledging Kazmir and Oakland, who continue to lead all of baseball with a 58-34 record.

“It just looks like we’re caught in between as an offensive group. Late on fastballs, out in front of off-speed pitches,” Bochy assessed.

“It was a tough series, but we’ve played a good club with a great staff. The guy we faced today, he’s on the All-Star team, so a lot of clubs haven’t done well against him. Still, we need to find a way to plate some runs.”

The Giants fell a game back of the Dodgers when they won Thursday night in Dodgers Stadium, 2-1 over the Padres. The rivals are even in the loss column, even as the Giants have slumped horribly and next meet July 25 with Marco Scutaro and possibly Angel Pagan both back in the everyday lineup.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, July 10, 2014

Oakland starter Scott Kazmir struck out nine in his seven innings of work Thursday, and, with some hitting punch from Josh Donaldson and Stephen Vogt, the Athletics downed San Francisco 6-1 in interleague action at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the A’s took three out of four games in the Bay Bridge series , have won seven of their last eight overall, and lead the AL West with a 58-34 record.

Kazmir, an American League All-Star selection, allowed only three hits and a walk while his record improved to 11-3. He has allowed one run or fewer in 11 of his 19 starts this season.

Kazmir didn’t allow a walk until he issued a pass to Hudson in the third inning and didn’t allow a hit until Michael Morse led off the fifth with a base hit.

San Francisco starter Tim Hudson (7-6) lost his fourth straight decision for the struggling Giants, who have lost 15 of their last 19 home games. Hudson allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings while suffering his second career loss against the A’s, where he spent the first six years of his career.

Oakland opened the top of the sixth with four straight extra-base hits, including a two-run homer by Donaldson, his 20th of the season. A two-run single by Vogt off Javier Lopez gave the Athletics a 6-0 lead.

Vogt also had an RBI single in the fifth, driving in John Jaso, who tripled.

San Francisco scored its only run in the eighth on an RBI single by Pablo Sandoval.

The game ended on a replay challenge when Oakland manager Bob Melvin questioned a call that Vogt pulled his foot off first base on an infield hit by Gregor Blanco. The call was reversed when the replay showed that Vogt kept his foot on the bag.

A’s ACORNS: Oakland OF Yoenis Cespedes, an AL All-Star, went 0-for-5, striking out four times and hitting into a double play. … The A’s open a three-game series in Seattle against the Mariners Friday. Jeff Samardzija (1-0) will make his second start for the A’s in the series opener, facing Felix Hernandez (10-2).

BY PAUL GACKLE

SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Kazmir made his case for being the American League’s starting pitcher at the 2014 All-Star game in Minneapolis next week, throwing seven shutout innings on Thursday as the Oakland A’s picked up a series win over their cross-bay rivals at AT&T Park.

With a 6-1 win over the Giants, Kazmir is now tied for the second in the AL in wins (11), he’s third among starters in earned run average (2.38) and third in WHIP (0.98).

“He’s been as consistent as anyone in the league,” A’s Manager Bob Melvin said.

Kazmir (11-3), who’s only two years removed from being out of the majors completely, put together his best performance of the season, surrendering only three hits while tying a season high with nine strikeouts. With another stellar outing, Kazmir’s now allowed one run or fewer in 11 of his 19 starts this season.

“They seem like they’re all the same to me,” Melvin said, referring to Kazmir’s starts this season. “He gives up, it seems like zero, one or two runs, and gets you deep in the game.”

After keeping the Giants hitless through four innings, Kazmir ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth with the A’s ahead 2-0. First, Michael Morse singled and then Gregor Blanco smacked a two-out double to the right field wall.

But with runners on second and third, Giants manager Bruce Bochy allowed pitcher Tim Hudson to bat — rather than sending out a pinch hitter — and Kazmir escaped the jam by inducing a long fly wall to the base of the warning track in center field.

The A’s made Bochy pay for the decision in the sixth, chasing Hudson (7-6) out of the game with four consecutive extra-base hits, three doubles and an opposite field home run over the brick wall in right by Josh Donaldson.

“To kind of be under [the baseball] and behind it a little bit and not extend it and still hit it out up top there means you’re awfully strong,” Melvin said, referring to Donaldson’s blast over Levi’s Landing at AT&T Park.

Stephen Vogt put an exclamation point on the rally later in the inning, stretching the lead to 6-0 with a two-out single to center, scoring Jed Lowrie and Alberto Callaspo.

Vogt, who’s riding a career-high 10-game hitting streak, went 2-for-5 with three RBI. He also picked up an RBI single in the fifth.

“His at bats have been phenomenal,” Melvin said, referring to Vogt, who played first base on Thursday. “His versatility has been — we’ve really needed it here with some of the injuries we’ve had, so he’s been a star for us.”

Donaldson snapped out of a 3-for-23 slump in the contest, picking up two hits in three at bats while driving in a pair of runs. Prior to the game, the All-Star third baseman learned that he will be participating in this year’s Home Run Derby at Target Field on Monday.

“For me, it just kind of adds icing to the cake,” Donaldson said. “Hopefully, I’ll go out there and put on a show.”

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – When the Giants were bludgeoned by Washington exactly a month ago, not very many people treated it as a very big deal at the time.

That kicked off a major slump that lasted the entire month of June, however, and their 9 ½-game lead in the National League West disintegrated into a one-game deficit going into Wednesday night’s game.

The Giants desperately need any wins they can get at this point to get things back on track, and they got one Wednesday night against the best team in the major leagues in the form of the Oakland Athletics, 5-2, at AT&T Park before a crowd of 41,427 that seemed to be split down the middle.

This is just one win, but as crazy as this season has been already for them, this could prove to be the catapult that the Giants have been seeking for a month. It was a particularly-rewarding win because not only did it come at the expense of their cross-bay rivals, but that the A’s had held them to a single run in the first two games of this four-game series.

Starter Matt Cain got the Giants on the right path and kept them there while also getting the run support that has obviously been lacking for the better part of a week.

Cain went six solid innings and gave up only a pair of runs on five hits and held the lead throughout his outing. The win was his first since May 15, although he had pitched solidly in his previous two starts, giving up only two runs in 13 1/3 innings and being stuck with an 0-1 mark nonetheless.

The Giants took their first lead of the series in the second inning, as Joe Panik lined a single into left field following a one out-walk by Gregor Blanco. Blanco was getting ready to pull into third to put runners on the corners, but when A’s left fielder Yoenis Cespedes misplayed the ball and let it skip past him, Blanco turned the corner and made it home, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The third inning was a clear indication that the bounces were going the Giants’ way this time. Center fielder Coco Crisp, who is considered one of the biggest All-Star snubs for the A’s this year, nearly came up with a spectacular diving catch of a shallow fly ball by Pablo Sandoval but had the ball pop out of his glove as he hit the ground.

The next batter, Buster Posey, skipped a single just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Jed Lowrie and allowed Brandon Belt to score.

In the fourth inning, Hunter Pence, who was named to his third career All-Star team on Sunday, launched one into the new vegetable garden beyond the center-field wall to boost the Giants’ lead to 3-1

After Oakland had cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth, the Giants again widened their advantage in the bottom half. Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford led off the inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Eric O’Flaherty.

With one out, Pence shot one up the middle just off the glove of second baseman Alberto Callaspo, which allowed Panik to motor home.

Two batters later, a wild pitch allowed Sandoval to come home and put the Giants ahead, 5-2.

From that point, the Giants bullpen, which was solid during the team’s hot start to the season, returned to form. Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and new closer Santiago Casilla combined to not surrender a single baserunner to go along with three strikeouts.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-It seems that the Oakland A’s are having their way with the San Francisco Giants after the first two games of the annual Bay Bridge Series.

The A’s got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the third inning, as they scored four runs on five hits and they took game two by the final score of 6-1 before a sellout crowd of 36,067.

Nick Punto drove in Jed Lowrie with the only run that the A’s would need, as he drove in Lowrie with a double and then Coco Crisp followed Punto with a double of his own.

After Craig Gentry popped out for the second out of the inning, Yoenis Cespedes singled in Crisp for the third run of the inning.

Derek Norris drove in the final run of the inning, as he singled to drive in his fellow All-Star Cespedes.

Sonny Gray pitched great another game, as he went seven innings, allowing just one run on six hits, walking just one and striking out a career-high eight on his way to his ninth win of the season against three losses.

“Their guy has good stuff and the ability to get a strikeout and make those kind of pitches,” said Bruce Bochy.

Once again, it was a tough night for a Giants starting pitcher, as Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits, walking three and striking out three; however he saw his record fall to 9-7 on the season.

“We just couldn’t stop it, started with a bloop and then they put some balls in play and good spots, then put up a crooked number, I thought he pitched well,” said Bochy.

The Giants blew ample opportunities to score off of Gray, as on two different opportunities they were unable to score runs after getting two runners on base with less than two outs.

Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse hit back-to-singles in the top of the second inning with nobody, but Gray was able to get Tyler Colvin to fly out to Gentry in right field, then he struck out Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford to end the threat.

After Gray got Panik to ground out to open the fifth inning, Crawford singled and then Gregor Blanco followed Crawford with his first hit in three at-bats.

Gray was able to get out of the jam, as he struck out Hunter Pence and then got Belt to groundout to Nate Freiman at first base to end the inning.

Colvin finally got the Giants on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he took a Gray offering and put it into the right field seats for his second home run of the season.

For the second night in a row, Bruce Bochy challenged; however like in the first game, Bochy lost his challenge, as Sandoval was called out on a close play at first base on a great throw by Lowrie from his shortstop position in the top of the fourth inning.

Replays showed that it looked like that Sandoval was safe on the play, but after a 1:28 review, the call stood.

When Gentry doubled in the bottom of the fifth inning, it was his first extra base hit since Game one of a doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners on May 7, a span of 40 games.

It was the longest streak by an A’s player without an extra base hit since Matt Alexander went 55 games without an extra base hit May 20, 1975 until August 27, 1977.

Luke Gregerson got into a jam in the top of the eighth inning, as he gave up a single to Pence, after a Belt fielders’ choice forced Pence at second base, Buster Posey walked to bring the tying run to the plate in the presence of Sandoval.

Unfortunately for the Giants, Gregerson was able to get Sandoval to strike out and then got Morse to end the inning.

The A’s added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Norris scored on a Freiman double and then Freiman scored the sixth and final run of the game, as he scored on a Alberto Callaspo single.

Jean Machi came on in the bottom of the eighth inning to replace Bumgarner, and after balking Freiman to third base and ending the inning on a double play, Machi was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez.

It was the first ejection of the season for Machi.

[tag San Francisco Giants, MLB,baseball]

by Jerry Feitelberg

A Tale of Two Teams

To quote Charles Dickens, it would be safe to say that it is “the best of times and the worst of times”

It is the best of times for the Oakland Athletics as they beat the San Francisco Giants by a score of 6-1.

For the A’s it was their sixth win in a row and their fifty-seventh of the year which is the most in A’s history before the All-Star game. For the Giants it definitely the worst of times as they lost for the eleventh time in the last thirteen games and are 7-20 after going 42-21 in the first 63 games. Their offense has gone south and they just missed being shut out for the fifth time in nine games.

The scoring summary follows below.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third against Madison Bumgarner.

Jed Lowrie led off with a bloop single. Alberto Callaspo then hit a blooper to right and Giants’ right fielder Hunter Pence made a fantastic play to rob Callaspo of a hit. Pence then egged the A’s fans on in the right field bleachers and A’s second baseman Nick Punto then lined a double down the left field line to drive in Lowrie. The A’s fans were ecstatic and the crowd made a ton of noise partly in retribution for Pence’s gesture and partly in joy for getting a run on the board. Coco Crisp followed with a single to drive in Punto with the second run of the inning and took second on the throw home. Coco then stole third to put a man on third with just one out. It was Crisp’s sixteenth steal of the year. A’s All-Star, Yoenis Cespedes singled to center and that allowed crisp to score with the third run of the inning.

Josh Donaldson walked and that was followed by a Derek Norris single to drive in Cespedes. The throw from Tyler Colvin got past Buster Posey and the runners advanced to put men on at second and third with two out. Nate Freiman struck out to end the inning but the A’s batted around and have a 4-0 lead after the end of three innings.

The A’s knocked Bumgarner out the game in the bottom of the eighth. Bumgarner walked Derek Norris to start the inning. Big Nate Freiman doubled down the right field line to score Norris with the fifth run of the game for the A’s. Umpire Angel Hernandez called a balk on Giant’s pitcher Jean Machi and that allowed Freiman to advance to third. Freiman scored on Alberto Callaspo’s single and the A’s have a 6-1 lead after eight. A’s bring in Ryan Cook to finish the game and after giving up a single to Tyler Colvin, Cook gets the next three hitters and the A’s win 6-1.

Game notes: The A’s recorded the 11th undefeated home stand of six or more games in Oakland history.

Sonny Gray improved his record to 9-3 and went seven innings for the third time in his last four starts.

A’s starters have now tossed six or more innings allowing one run or fewer in six straight games which is the longest streak since 1914. That’s 100 years,folks.

Line score for the A’s was six runs, eleven hits and no errors while the Giants posted one run, eight hits and one error. The third game of the series is Wednesday night in San Francisco. Jason Hammel will make his debut for the A’s and the Giants will counter with Matt Cain. Game time is at 7:15pm.