Category: Uncategorized

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

After a slow start, Oakland starter Dan Straily hit his stride, scattering three hits over seven innings as the Athletics completed a three-game sweep at Target Field in Minneapolis, defeating the Minnesota Twins 6-1.

Straily (1-1) got offensive support from home runs by Sam Fuld and Josh Donaldson.

Oakland’s rotation is off to a hot start, opening the season with nine straight quality starts allowing three runs or less. In that stretch, the A’s starters have compiled a 1.93 earned run average in 56 innings.

Straily, who allowed a solo home run by Brian Dozier in the first inning, allowed only two Twins baserunners in his final five innings. He bested Mike Pelfrey (0-2), who gave up all six Oakland runs in five innings.

With a five-run lead, Oakland was able to avoid a save situation on the same day the A’s took the closer’s role away from Jim Johnson, who was acquired from Baltimore in the off-season.

Johnson is 0-2 in five games with an ERA of 18.90. Manager Bob Melvin said the A’s will go with a closer-by-committee system while Johnson tries to regain his old form.

The Athletics travel to Seattle for a weekend series against the Mariners. Tommy Milone will make his first start of the season Friday with a tall order, facing M’s ace Felix Hernandez.

(TAGS: Oakland Athletics,A’s,Sports Radio Service)

By Tony Renteria

Sacramento CA:

The Sacramento Kings(27-50) hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder(56-21) tonight, the Thunder who have wrapped up their division title took an early lead in the second quarter kept up the momentum and cruised to a 107-92 road win.

The only highlight for the Kings was snapping Kevin Durant’s scoring streak of 25 or more points in a game at 41 games.  This highlight was dimmed by the fact the Durant played less than 32 minutes as the Thunder used the bench most of the fourth quarter while expanding on their lead.

Travis Outlaw and DeMarcus Cousins both scored 24 points each as no other Member of the team scored more than eleven points.  The Kings were without Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas who both average over 20 points per game.

The Kings missed those much need points as they played one of the hottest teams in the league, they just simply lacked the firepower to keep up with the Thunder.

The Thunder head south tomorrow to play the Clippers, while the Kings head north to play Portland.

 

 

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Tim Hudson made his first appearance as a member of the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park one that the veteran right-hander will not soon forget.

Hudson pitched eight innings, allowing three runs (two earned), not a walking and striking out four and the Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3 before a sellout crowd of 42,166 on Opening Day at AT&T Park.

Brandon Belt continued his torrid pace of home runs, as he hit his fifth home run of the season, a two-run blast off of Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill in the bottom of the first inning.

Belt is the first Giants player to hit five home runs in the first eight games since Jose Cruz, Jr., back during the 2003 season, the year that the Giants went wire-to-wire to win the National League West.

It was a tough day for Cahill, as he lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and saw his record fall to 0-3 on the season.

Another Giants player made his AT&T Park debut, and did not disappoint the sellout crowd, as Michael Morse went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in for the now 6-2 Giants.

Morse hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning that blew the close game wide open, and then added a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth inning and then was pinch ran for by Gregor Blanco.

Brandon Crawford hit a sharp single to right field that scored Hunter Pence, and Blanco avoided the Miguel Montero tag to give the Giants their sixth and seventh runs of the afternoon.

This was the fourth season opener for the Diamondbacks, who opened the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Sydney, at Chase Field against the Giants, this past Friday against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field and today versus the Giants.

Unfortunately, it was not a good thing for the Diamondbacks, as they went 0-4 in those home openers and saw their record drop to 2-8 on the season.

Brandon Hicks made his first start as a member of the Giants at second base, but committed a throwing error in the top of the second inning that allowed Martin Prado score from third base.

NOTES: This was the sixth straight win on Opening Day at AT&T Park, and improve to 12-3 in the 15 years since the park on opened on April 11, 2000.

Game time temperature was 73 degrees, the warmest for a Giants home opener since the team moved to the West Coast back in 1958.

Tim Lincecum will make his 2014 AT&T Park debut on Wednesday night, while the Diamondbacks will send Bronson Arroyo to the hill.

PAC-12 Comissioneer Larry Scott and Miles Scott, better known as the SFBatkid threw out the ceremonial first pitches.

By Jeremy Kahn

Matt Kemp did something against Matt Cain in the series finale between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants he last did during the 2012 season.

Kemp hit his first home run at Dodger Stadium since September 30, 2012, when he hit one off of Jorge De La Rosa of the Colorado Rockies, a span of 140 at-bats.

Behind Kemp , who added another home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and Hanley Ramirez, who also hit two home runs, as the Dodgers were able to salvage the series finale, defeating the Giants 6-2.

Kemp planted a Matt Cain pitch into left field pavilion in the bottom of the second, as Cain gave up his first home run of the season after giving up a career-high 23 last season.

In his next at-bat, Kemp hit a two-run home run following a double by Adrian Gonzalez, giving the slugger his first multi-home run game since September 29, 2012, also against the Rockies.

It was the sixth multi-home run game of Kemp’s career.

Ramirez got into the act in the bottom of the fourth, a home run that was measured at 425 feet that landed in the left field pavilion, just like Kemp’s second inning blast.

The shortstop completed his 15th multi-home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he connected off of Giants reliever David Huff.

Cain, who lost for the first time this season, pitched six innings, allowing five runs and six hits, striking out three and not allowing a walk.

The Giants got on the board in the top of the sixth inning, as Brandon Belt hit his fourth home run of the young season and then Hunter Pence hit a solo home run of his own.

{Giants} {MLB}

By Jeremy Kahn

Yes, the San Francisco Giants hit three home runs in the same game for the first time on the young season, but once again it was their pitching that came up huge in the long run.

Madison Bumgarner pitched into the seventh inning, allowing two runs on eight hits and the Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 at Dodger Stadium.

In his last five starts at Dodger Stadium, Bumgarner is 4-1 with a 1.53 earned run average.

It was the fifth win in six games for the Giants over their division rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, where they won three out of four at Chase Field and now the first two games of this series over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Pablo Sandoval hit a three-run home run off of Paul Maholm in the top of the fifth inning that not only gave the Giants a 5-1 lead, but ended Maholm’s first start as a member of the Dodgers.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly replaced Maholm with Jose Dominguez, and the first batter Dominguez faced was Buster Posey and hit planted a Dominguez offering into the left field seats to give the Giants a 6-1 lead.

Michael Morse gave the Giants 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning, as he took a Maholm pitch and put it into the left field pavilion.

It was the first home run of the season for Morse, who is in his first season for the Giants and is playing for his fourth team in the last three years.

{GIANTS} [MLB}

By Jeremy Kahn

It was a first inning that the San Francisco Giants last saw on June 2, 2008 when they scored the same six runs in the opening frame against the New York Mets.

Newcomer Michael Morse came up with a huge hit, as he hit a two-run single in that first inning and the Giants would go on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-4 at Dodger Stadium.

Another newcomer to the Giants, David Huff pitched 1.2 innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out three, as the Giants improve to 4-1 on the young season.

Things began to unravel for Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu after he retired the first two batters of the game, and then gave up six hits, including four in a row and the Giants batted around.

By the second inning, Ryu was out of the game, as the Giants tacked on two more runs, and the Giants led 8-0 at the end of 1.5 innings.

It was the shortest outing of the lefthanders’ career, as he gave up eight runs (six of them earned) walking three and striking out two.

Ryu retired Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence, but then Pablo Sandoval walked, Buster Posey singled and then Morse drove them both in with a single. Morse then advanced to second on the play after centerfielder Matt Kemp bobbled the ball for an error. Brandon Belt then made the score 3-0, as he singled in Morse.

It was the first game of the season for Kemp, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game and then inserted into the lineup after Yasiel Puig was scratched by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly due to arriving at Dodger Stadium late.

Ryan Vogelsong helped out his own cause, as he singled in Belt and Brandon Hicks after an intentional walk to second baseman Joaquin Arias.

Pagan then got in on the act, as he singled in the final run of the inning.

Hicks drove in a run with a RBI double and then Arias drove in a run with a single of his own to give the Giants a 8-0 over their archrivals from Southern California.

Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier got the Dodgers on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, as they hit back-to-back home runs to get the Dodgers within six runs.

Vogelsong lasted four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four; however he did not fare in the decision.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, April 3, 2014

PHOENIX – San Francisco survived a bumble bee scare before Thursday afternoon’s getaway contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks, then erupted for a five-run rally in the eighth inning for an 8-5 win.

The Giants took three out of four games in the season-opening set at Chase Field.

With the roof open, there was plenty of firepower displayed by both clubs. Paul Goldschmidt and Martin Prado each homered for Arizona, while Brandon Belt, Brandon Hicks and Angel Pagan each clubbed round-trippers for San Francisco.

Jean Machi (2-0) was the winning pitcher in relief for the Giants. Santiago Casilla struck out two in 1 2/3 innings, and Sergio Romo came on with two out in the ninth, retired pinch-hitter Eric Chavez in the non-save situation to end the game.

Will Harris surrendered all five Giants runs in the eighth and took the loss.

The Giants were trailing 5-3 after seven innings. In the San Francisco eighth, Hunter Pence was issued a one-out walk and scored on a double by Hector Sanchez, who leaves for pinch-runner Juan Perez. After Brandon Crawford flied out to center, pinch-hitter Buster Posey was intentionally walked. Pinch-hitter Michael Morse singles in Perez, setting up Pagan’s three-run blast to right-center.

Goldschmidt’s solo home run in the first inning off Giants starter Tim Lincecum extended his hitting streak to 25 games, second-longest in D-Backs history.

Lincecum gave up four earned runs and eight hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked two.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, April 2, 2014

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Tim Hudson looked like his old self on Wednesday night, the one that anchored a pitching staff on the East Bay years ago.

The 38-year-old San Francisco righthander handcuffed Arizona batters for nearly eight innings as the Giants blanked the Diamondbacks 2-0.

“It was just one of those nights where everything fell into place,” Hudson said. “I was able to make some good pitches, kept my pitch count down and threw a lot of strikes. If you can do that, you can go deep into games.”

Hudson (1-0), who signed a two-year contract with San Francisco after leaving the Atlanta Braves via free agency, scattered three hits, struck out seven and issued no walks in 7 2/3 scoreless innings.

“Before the game? No! I didn’t expect to go that far,” said the former Oakland A’s ace. “I don’t think I’d pitched past the sixth inning yet this spring. But you know what? It was a fun night. I controlled the bottom of the strike zone, made some pitches, guys made some great plays behind me, Buster (Posey) called a great game.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy couldn’t have been happier to see Hudson work into the eighth in his first start of the season.

“That, and to have that good of command of the strike zone, that was impressive,” Bochy said. “He pitched very efficiently, had all four pitches going and did a great job of pitching.”

Hudson said he felt “pretty good” in the pregame bullpen session. “Obviously, you never know what will happen, but I felt good early and I was able to get into a groove.”

If there was any nervousness after not pitching in a regular season game since last July 24, Hudson didn’t let it show.

“You get anxious, I don’t know if you’d call it butterflies,” Hudson said. “You get anxious to get back out there. I was just happy to get out there and compete again. It’s been a little bit of a long road to get here, but it felt nice to be back out there and get a chance to win.”

On pitching at Chase Field, Hudson said, “For a lot of sinkerballers, this is a park where you can have some success. It’s a great hitters park, so it’s very important to keep the ball down and try to own the bottom of the strike zone here. If not, some crooked numbers can show up on the board.”

Last season, while pitching for the Braves, Hudson was covering first base when Eric Young Jr. of the New York Mets accidentally stepped on his leg above the ankle trying to beat out a throw. Hudson wound up with a fractured fibula and torn deltoid ligament – both surgically repaired last July – forcing him the miss the remainder of the season.

During his rehabilitation process, Hudson became a free agent and signed a two-year contract with the Giants. And if there were any lingering after effects from the broken ankle, it didn’t show. Hudson retired the first nine hitters he faced until Gerrardo Parra singled to open the D-Backs fourth inning. He left with two out in the eighth after throwing 103 pitches.

“After my surgery, I realized that coming back was a strong possibility,” Hudson said. “I started feeling better, feeling like I could do it, and here I am.

“It’s exciting. You never know how things work out and what opportunities are going to represent themselves.”

San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Ehire Adrianza walked, was sacrificed to second by Hudson and scored on a single by Angel Pagan. The Giants made it 2-0 in the sixth on a RBI double by Michael Morse, scoring Hunter Pence, who reached on a fielder’s choice.

After Javier Lopez snuffed out a potential Snakes rally in the eighth, Sergio Romo threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning – including a strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt – to earn his second save in three games.

Pagan and Posey each had two hits for the Giants.

Trevor Cahill (0-2) went six innings and gave up both San Francisco runs on four hits. Parra had two of the three hits off Hudson.

Goldschmidt led off the seventh inning with a double, extending his hitting streak to 24 games. The streak began on Sept. 13, 2013.

In Thursday’s getaway game, the Giants go with Tim Lincecum against Arizona’s Brandon Arroyo in a battle of righthanders. First pitch is scheduled for 12:40 Arizona/Pacific Time.

(TAGS: San Francisco Giants,Tim Hudson,Sports Radio Service,Arizona Diamondbacks)