Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Brandon Crawford grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a fan of the San Francisco Giants, but what he did in the finale of this series was probably extra special.

Crawford hit his first home run of the season off of Rex Brothers, as the Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 5-4 in 10 innings before a sellout crowd of 41,490, the 252nd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the first ever walk-off home run for the shortstop, and to make it even more special, the home run landed in McCovey Cove, the 64th Splash Hit since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000

Tim Hudson pitched 7.1 strong innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out five; however he did not fare in the decision.

Wilin Rosario got the Rockies on the board in the top of the second inning, he launched a Hudson pitch into the left field seats for his first home run of the 2014 season.

Angel Pagan hit a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting the Giants into the lead and then Pablo Sandoval hit his second home run of the season.

Crawford drove in the Giants first run of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly to center field that score Hunter Pence from third base.

After falling behind the Giants by three runs entering the top of the seventh inning, Rockies newcomer Justin Morneau hit his first home run of the season.

The Rockies got back into the game in the top of the eighth inning, as Nolan Arenado doubled down the left field line, and then D.J. LeMahieu doubled in Arenado, after a groundout by pinch-hitter Brandon Barnes that advanced LeMahieu to third base and then Drew Stubbs singled out of the reach of Sandoval to tie up the game.

With Stubbs on first base, Carlos Gonzalez drove a ball into the hole; however Brandon Hicks was able to snag the ball, regrouped and threw out Gonzalez at first base to end the inning.

Troy Tulowitzki walked to lead off the top of the ninth inning, Morneau then flew out for the first out of the inning and then Rosario hit into a inning-ending double play.

Gregor Blanco nearly pulled off the same exciting play in the bottom of the ninth that Angel Pagan did last May 25, as Blanco almost hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run; however he was thrown out at the plate on a great relay from Cuddyer to LeMahieu to Rosario, who tagged Blanco out at the plate.

Sergio Romo pitched the 10th inning to pickup his first win of the season, allowing a single to LeMahieu, but the second baseman was caught stealing when Buster Posey threw him out after Josh Rutledge struck out.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, April 12, 2014

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Playing out the string is one of the more difficult tasks in professional sports. It’s the end of a long season, and, usually, there’s nothing to play for.

Fortunately for both the San Jose Sharks and the Phoenix – soon to be Arizona – Coyotes, that string, for this season, is a short one.

In a game both coaches called “a no-hitter,” San Jose struck early and held on for a 3-2 win before an announced crowd of 15,438 at Jobing.com Arena.

The Coyotes were mathematically eliminated from a playoff berth on Friday, when Dallas defeated St. Louis 3-0, ending the Stars’ six-season postseason drought. With the Blues’ win on Friday and Phoenix’s Saturday loss, Sunday’s game between the Stars and Coyotes does little more than fulfill the league’s schedule obligation.

“We’ll be taking a good look at our young guys, and playing for pride,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of his team’s season finale. “That’s about it.”

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, “I’m glad this one’s over. This was a tough one to watch, with turnovers and the casualness. It was a no-hitter from both teams, which benefited us, obviously, because we get to keep going.

“Now, we get to start working at putting our focus on playoff hockey.”

The Sharks were trying to keep everyone healthy for their Stanley Cup opening round series against the Los Angeles Kings. San Jose finished its regular season with 111 points (51-22-9).

“It’s going to be a great series,” Sharks center Joe Thornton said. “It’s going to be a good, tight, physical series, a good defensive series. We’re looking forward to it.”

In San Jose’s regular-season finale, Joe Pavelski scored twice in the first period – goals Nos. 40 and 41 on the season – to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
Pavelski’s first goal, a power play tally 3:43 of the period, came on a wrist shot that beat Coyotes rookie goaltender Mark Visenten while Paul Bissionette was serving a minor for slashing.

“It was nice that the goal came right away in the game,” Pavelski said. “Getting that (40th) goal was cool, but winning this game and going into the playoffs with back-to-back wins is nice. We’ll prepare now for a big challenge that’s ahead for us.”

McLellan said there was “some thought” to giving Pavelski a rest, but noted, “we didn’t have a lot of options.”

“When you look at our forward situation, there was no need to rest him, he was playing well,” McLellan said. “He looked energized.

“We thought about resting Joe, but with Thomas Hertl coming back and the moves we had to make, we didn’t have any extra people. So, (Pavelski) played, he was rewarded for it, and we’re happy for him.”

On the second goal, Pavelski, shooting from the left circle, found a crevice between the pipe and Visentin’s right arm.

“It was nice to get Joe that 40th goal. That’s a big accomplishment,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to get that and build some confidence going into the playoffs.

Phoenix cut the Sharks lead to 2-1 at 10:22 of the second period. Mike Ribiero was parked in the slot, took a feed from Radim Vrbata and flipped it past San Jose keeper Antti Niemi on the glove side. It was Ribiero’s 16 goal of the season.

San Jose made it 3-1 in the opening minute of the third period, when Logan Couture cruised through the slot and used his backhand to redirect a pass from Dan Boyle, beating Visentin, who found himself out of position to handle the shot past his glove side. Boyle also assisted Pavelski’s first goal.

But the Coyotes came back 31 seconds later, when Shane Doan fired a one-timer from the right circle past Niemi on the stick side. Doan’s 22nd goal of the season cut the Phoenix deficit to 3-2.

Niemi shut the door after that, denying the Coyotes the elusive equalizer and finishing with 30 saves – 25 of them in the second and third periods. Visentin, making his NHL debut after being called up from AHL Portland, stopped 29 of 32 San Jose shots.

“We needed Niemi to play a game like that,” McLellan said. “It wasn’t like we cruised though it and I thought he made some great saves.”

The final minute encapsulated the Coyotes’ season. With Visentin pulled in favor of a sixth attacker, Keith Yandle was called for hooking penalty with 14 seconds left in an empty net situation.

SHARK BITES: Joe Pavelski’s 41 goals in a single season is fourth-best in Sharks history, trailing only Jonathan Cheechoo (56 in 2005-06), Patrick Marleau (44 in 2009-10) and Owen Nolan (44 in 1999-2000). Pavelski was tied with Dany Heatley (39 in 2009-10) going into Saturday’s finale. … The Sharks are 62-46-7-9 against the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise.

(TAGS: San Jose Sharks,Phoenix Coyotes,NHL,Sports Radio Service,Daniel Dullum)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After seeing what Madison Bumgarner did in the opener of the three-game series, Matt Cain attempted to duplicate the feat; however it was not meant to be.

Troy Tulowitzki drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the fourth inning, as the Colorado Rockies defeated the San Francisco Giants 1-0 before a sellout crowd of 41,917, the 251st consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Depsite the loss, Matt Cain went a strong seven innings, allowing just that one run, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out eight.

Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford picked up the only three hits for the Giants, as the Rockies were able to shut down the Giants offense.

The first real rally for the Giants came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Sandoval doubled, Buster Posey then walked; however Michael Morse grounded into a double play and then Hector Sanchez struck out to end the inning.

Crawford doubled with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Brandon Hicks came off the bench to pinch hit for Jean Machi and walked against Rex Brothers.

After a fly out by Angel Pagan, Pence walked to load the bases and then Sandoval came to the plate with a chance to give the Giants the lead; however he struck out on a ball in the dirt to end the inning and the threat.

Brett Anderson started the game for the Rockies, but was forced to leave the game after just three innings due to a contusion on his left index finger.

Anderson gave up just one hit, walking one and striking out two.

Tommy Kahnle, Matt Belisle, Adam Ottavino, Rex Brothers and LaTroy Hawkins combined to allow two hits, walking two and striking out five in relief of the injured Anderson.

Hawkins picked up his second save of the season, as he was able to retire the Giants in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Madison Bumgarner not only pitched a good enough for his second win of the 2014 season, but he helped out his own cause at the plate.

Bumgarner drove in the first run of the game with a long sacrifice fly to left field that Carlos Gonzalez caught at the left-center field wall, but it was the at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning that shocked the crowd at AT&TPark.

The 24-year old hit a Jorge De La Rosa offering deep into the left field bleachers in the bottom of the fourth inning for his third career home run, and first career grand slam and the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies by the final score of 6-5 before a sellout crowd of 41,707, the 250th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It was the first grand slam by a Giants pitcher since Shawn Estes connected for one on May 24, 2000.

“It felt pretty good,” said Bumgarner about the swing that he connected on the grand slam versus De La Rosa to give the Giants.

The last time was Bumgarner hit a grand slam was while he was in the minor leagues.

Bumgarner’s grand slam came after Pablo Sandoval singled to lead off the inning, Michael Morse then walked, after fly out to centerfield by Hector Sanchez, then Brandon Belt struck out for the second out of inning, Brandon Hicks then was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Brandon Crawford walked to score Sandoval and then Bumgarner launched the first pitch he saw from De La Rosa into the left field bleachers to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.

Crawford led off the inning with a triple into the big part of the ballpark that is known as Triples Alley, a whopping 421 feet from home plate.

Bumgarner pitched six innings, allowing four runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out seven and won for the second time this season without a loss.

His counterpart, De La Rosa pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs, scattering just four hits, walking two and striking out six, as he fell to 0-2 on the young season.

While Josh Rutledge was being picked off at first base by Bumgarner, who threw to Belt and in turn threw to Crawford, who tagged out Rutledge, Brandon Barnes was scoring from third base.

Barnes led off the game with a single off of Bumgarner, advanced to third on a single by Rutledge and then scored while Rutledge was picked off.

Carlos Gonzalez then gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning, as he planted a Bumgarner offering into San Francisco Bay, also known as McCovey Cove that scored Rutledge just in front of him.

Rutledge singled for the second time in as many at-bats, and then Gonzalez sent one into the water for his fourth home run of the season.

Sergio Romo came in top of the ninth inning, and proceeded to strike out the side for his third save of the season.

By Morris Phillips

Somewhere near the intersection of the circling seagulls and the empty seats, it got away from the Giants on Thursday.  Too little offense after the fifth inning, not enough good pitching early and shoddy defense throughout and the Giants fell short, losing to Arizona 6-5 in 10 innings. 

“We just let the game get away,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “Especially when you come back the way we did.”

The Giants fell into a first-place tie with the Dodgers with the loss, as the NL West rivals have been scintillating on the road, and not so good at home thus far.  The Giants dropped two of their first three at AT&T Park as the questions regarding their starting rotation continued, while their offense has been surprisingly productive. 

Ryan Vogelsong gave up a pair of runs in both the second and third innings before settling in and pitching into the sixth inning.  Miguel Montero’s two-run double off Vogelsong in the third put Arizona up 4-1, but the Giants clawed right back.   After single runs in the third and fourth, Michael Morse delivered a two-run double into the right-field power-alley to give the Giants their first lead, 5-4.

But that would cap the Giants’ scoring as four Diamondbacks’ relievers shut the door over the final five innings.  The Giants didn’t help themselves in the field either as they committed three errors, including Pablo Sandoval’s airmail job on a throw in the eighth inning that sailed over first baseman Brandon Belt and allowed Gerardo Parra to score the tying run.

“He got into rush mode there,” Bochy said of Sandoval’s errant throw.

The D’Backs pushed across the game winner in the 10^th off Yusmeiro Petit when Tony Campana singled home Chad Pennington with two outs. 

The Giants return to the park on Friday to take on the Rockies with Madison Bumgarner facing Jorge De La Rosa at 7:15pm.

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.