Category: Uncategorized

{Giants} [MLB}

By Jeremy Kahn

After being behind the rival Los Angeles Dodgers for much of the first half of the 2012 season, like they did during their 2010 run to the World Series, the San Francisco Giants made two key acquisitions that helped out their line up.

General Manager Brian Sabean acquired Marco Scutaro from the Colorado Rockies, and Hunter Pence from the Philadelphia Phillies, and both men would definitely make an impact on the Giants in their drive to catch the rival Dodgers.

Unfortunately, before both men could get their feet wet wearing the Orange and Black, the Giants suffered their second significant loss of the season; however this loss was not due to an injury by one of its players.

Melky Cabrera, who named the All-Star Game MVP in the National League’s 8-0 victory over the American League at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, and was leading the NL in batting average was suspended in August for 50 game for use of HGH.

Despite the loss of Cabrera, the Giants overcame the loss of their outfielder and after a six-game trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, where they went 5-1, the Giants moved past the Dodgers and into first place, where they would remain for the remainder of the season.

Unlike the 2010 season, where the Giants nearly blew the division and won it on the final day of the season, this time there was little doubt that the Giants would blow their lead on both the Dodgers and the rest of the National League West.

Finally on September 22, 2012, closer Sergio Romo got San Diego Padres pinch hitter Mark Kotsay to lineout to Angel Pagan in centerfield and the party began at the corner of Third and King, as for the second time in three years, the Giants were Champions of the National League West.

Heading into the Division Series, a familiar foe was in the other dugout for the Giants, as the Cincinnati Reds were the Giants opponents in the first round, marking the return to San Francisco for former Giants manager Dusty Baker, the man who led to trhe 2002 National League Championship.

Things were not looking good for the Giants, as they fell behind their former NL West rivals two games to zero and heading to Cincinnati for the next possibly three games of the season, as the Reds owned home field advantage.

After winning two straaght to tie up the series, the Giants and Reds played for all the marbles to see who would face the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series and it was up to their Most Valuable Player to get the job done.

Buster Posey hit a huge grand slam that propelled the Giants to an 8-5 victory, and onto the NLCS, where the Cardinals and another former Giant would be waiting for them.

Mike Matheny, who played catcher for the Giants was in ihs first year as manager of the Giants and there was no slowing down the Cardinals after they defeated the Washington Nationals in a thrilling five-game series.

Just like in the NLDS, where the Giants fell behind the Reds with the season on the line and they came up big in the long run, there was no bigger game than Game Five and Barry Zito on the mound.

Zito pitched the game of his Giants career, and the series returned to San Francisco, where the Giants simply demolished the Cardinals in both Game Six and Seven to complete the great comeback and it was on to the World Series for the second time in the last three seasons.

Awaiting the Giants in the 2012 World Series was the Detroit Tigers, the team with the first Triple Crown winner in the Majors since 1967 in Miguel Cabrera and the two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.

Pablo Sandoval could really care less about the status of Verlander, as he hit two home runs off of Verlander in his first two at-bats and then put his name into the record books with a third home run, this time off of Al Albuquerque, to become the fourth person ever to hit three home runs in a World Series game, joining Babe Ruth (twice), Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols.

Zito defeated Verlander 10-4, and then it was Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong, with the help from the bullpen, the Giants shutout the Tigers to take a three games to zero lead in the best of seven series.

Going into Game Four of the series, the Giants wanted to put an end to the series, before having to face Verlander in Detroit, where he was dominant on the season.

Scutaro came up with the biggest hit of the season, as he singled to centerfield that scored Ryan Theriot from second base, giving the Giants a huge 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 10th inning.

Bruce Bochy gave the ball to his new closer, Romo and he gave the Giants their second World Series in three years, as he struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th inning, incluuding Cabrera to end the game and the series.

By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (41-17-7) defeated the Montreal Canadians (35-24-7) 4-0 on Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. Antti Niemi recorded his second shutout of the Canadians of the season with a spectacular performance, recording 27 saves on the evening. 

Tommy Wingels got the scoring started early at 2:26 with a slapshot. The assist was earned by Logan Couture. The goal was the loan goal in the opening period and it set the tone for what was coming from the Sharks for the rest of the night. 

The Sharks scored early in the second period as well to keep the pressure on Montreal. At 1:54 in the second period Wingels scored his second goal of the game and fourteenth on the season. Wingels tipped the the puck into the net to make it a 2-0 advantage early. Raffi Torres and Matt Irwin earned the two assists on the play. 

Less than six minutes later Matt Nieto made the score 3-0 with his eighth goal of the season. Nieto’s slapshot was assisted by Couture and Patrick Marleau earned the assists on the play. 

The last goal of the game was scored by Couture at 0:43 in the third and final period. Couture’s backhand shot found the net to extend the Shark’s lead to 4-0. Nieto earned the loan assist on the play. The final score of the game stood at 4-0

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Tuesday as they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM. 

By Morris Phillips

Maybe the Cal Bears aren’t worthy of an NCAA bid this season.

It certainly appeared as such in Cal’s 63-59 loss to Utah at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night.

A tentative defensive effort and 39 percent shooting were the Bears’ biggest flaws in their eighth loss in their last 12 games, but their body language and desire could be questioned as well as the team blew a first half advantage and allowed the Utes to overtake them in the final 10 minutes.

The Bears fell to 18-12, 9-8 with one regular season game remaining at home on Saturday against Colorado.  Utah won its’ 20^th game of a season under Coach Larry Krystowiak for the first time and caught the Bears in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Pac-12 along with Stanford.

“Brandon Taylor hit a bigtime three to give us some leeway and I think we showed some toughness tonight,” Utah’s Delon Wright said of the win.

Taylor’s three with 10:51 remaining gave Utah a 39-36 lead they would not relinquish and then he struck again from distance with 51 seconds remaining with Cal still within striking distance.  Taylor finished with 13 points, Jordan Loveridge added 12 and Wright had 11 for the Utes.

Cal got 19 points and 14 rebounds from Richard Solomon but Justin Cobbs had another tough night offensively finishing with six points and seven rebounds.

In a season where the NCAA bubble is uncharacteristically soft and unpopulated the Bears aren’t finished in regards to the tournament.  But it would be hard to imagine the Bears would make the cut without a win over Colorado and a win in their Pac-12 quarterfinal likely against fellow bubble team Stanford or a rematch with Utah. 

If the Bears survive it will make for an NCAA team unlike any other that Mike Montgomery has ever produced with the late season slide and so many question marks.  But the Bears still have a path but their play and shooting will have to improve dramatically in the final games.  Illustrating vividly Cal’s struggles in a close, winnable game the Utes shot just 29 percent in the second half and survived. 

Cal managed just 13 assists juxtaposed against 13 turnovers on the evening.

{GIANTS} {MLB}

By Jeremy Kahn

It is hard to believe that it was only two seasons ago that the San Francisco Giants were on top of the baseball world for the second time in three seasons.

Things looked bleak for the Giants in the early going, especially after being sept in the first three games of the season against the reigning NL West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

After leaving the desert, the Giants headed to Coors Field for a series against the Colorado Rockies with Barry Zito on the mound.

Zito pulled something off that no Giants pitcher ever did in Colorado, as he pitched a complete game shutout against the Rockies.

In the finale of the series, things got even worse for the Giants, as they suffered a significant injury to closer Brian Wilson.

The closer, for the second time in his career suffered a torn ligament in his pitching elbow and would undergo Tommy John surgery and would be lost for the season.

Instead of throwing the season, the Giants strived with their closer by committee, as Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo were fantastic.

Buster Posey came back from his grusome leg injury, and would go on to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

Matt Cain did something in June, that no Giants pitcher in the teams’ 130-year history ever accomplished before.

Cain threw a perfect game, as the Giants shutout the Houston Astros by the final score of 10-0 and Cain struck out 13 Astros on the night.

Melky Cabrera made a fantastic catch, but it was Gregor Blanco’s amazing diving catch in the right-center field gap that will go down in Giants lore as one of the great catches of all-time.

Sacramento CA  The Sacramento Kings (20-39) looked to get some redemption after suffering a loss to the Minnesota Timber Wolves on Saturday by hosting a struggling New Orleans Pelicans team.  The Kings were able to hold off the Pelicans by the score of 96-89. 

The Kings were lead by Demarcus Cousins 23 points on 5 for 13 shooting and a remarkable 13-16 from the free throw line.  Cousins who has been under heat for his quick temper kept him self in check and lead his team to a much need victory.

The Pelicans were led by former King and rookie of the year Tyreke Evans who had 27 points in his old home.  Evans may have had some bad feelings since leaving Sacramento when he was once considered to the future of the franchise, before the arrival of Cousins.

The Kings will look to capitalize on the spark of energy as they head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks, while the Pelicans head to Dallas to get back on track.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, March 2, 2014

No. 3-ranked Arizona sealed up the Pac-12 Conference men’s basketball regular season championship Sunday by defeating Stanford 79-66 at McKale Center in Tucson.

With the win, the Wildcats (27-2 overall, 14-2 Pac-12) finished off an undefeated home schedule. Arizona scored the first four points of the game and never trailed.

An inside basket by Dwight Powell cut Arizona’s early lead to 14-11, but that was as close as the Cardinal would get. Elliott Pitts drained a 3-pointer to ignite a 9-2 run that put the Wildcats up 23-17. From that point, Arizona never looked back.

Freshman Aaron Gordon scored 19 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds to lead Arizona, with help from T.J. McConnell (14 points), Gabe York (12 points), Nick Johnson (11 points) and Kaleb Tarczewski (10 points).

Josh Huestis led Stanford (18-10 overall, 9-7 Pac-12) with a career-high 22 points while snaring 12 boards. Anthony Brown and Chasson Randle followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Cardinal, who trailed by as many as 25 points in the second half.

A 19-5 Stanford run, completed with a dunk by Huestis with 2:45 remaining, helped the final score look closer than the game actually was.

For Stanford, the loss leaves the Cardinal in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Pac-12 with Colorado and California going into the final weekend of the regular season. Stanford finishes at home this Wednesday against Colorado and this Saturday against Utah.

(catgegory Stanford Cardinal)

(TAGS: Stanford,Cardinal,men’s basketball,Arizona,Pac-12)

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, March 2, 2014

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Given the nasty nature of Tim Hudson’s 2013 season-ending injury, the San Francisco Giants’ righthander was not only optimistic about his recovery following his first Cactus League start.

Hudson, then pitching for the Atlanta Braves, was covering first base when Eric Young Jr. of the New York Mets accidentally stepped on his leg above the ankle. He wound up with a fractured fubula 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. The former Oakland Athletics ace looked like his old self facing the Arizona Diamondbacks at Scottsdale Stadium Sunday, with a pair of scoreless innings, one strikeout, no hits, and no decision in the Giants’ 5-3 exhibition win.

“It was maybe a little more challenging that I would have liked it to have been, but I put some zeros on the board and got through those first two innings,” Hudson said. “It was good to get back out there.”

From everything involving location, pushing off the rubber and covering first, Hudson said the challenge today involved “a little bit of everything.”

“I was pretty anxious to get out there,” Hudson said. “My command was hit-or-miss, and I was a little off with the off-speed pitches, which you expect this early in the spring.

“I managed to find first base, one time out of two,” he continued, smiling. “(Covering first base) is just one of the things I’ve started doing in the last week or so. It figures that I’d have two pretty challenging plays right out of the gate.”

On the first play for Hudson at first, former A’s teammate Eric Chavez reached first on an error charged to first baseman Brandon Belt. On the second one, he helped complete a 3-6-1 double play.

“I put the first one on just the fact that I’m old and slow. That was ‘first game speed,’” Hudson said, laughing. “He’s probably used to having some of these young, fast pitchers getting over to first.

Then, describing himself at this stage of his career, the 38-year-old righthander added, “I’m like an old vintage car that you can’t take to a drag race!” Hudson said that, so far, pushing off on his delivery isn’t a problem.

“It’s good. Everything’s good, it’s just a matter of getting my body strong and getting ready for 100-plus pitches a game,” Hudson said. “I probably threw around 30 pitches (actually 27), but it was a challenging 30 pitches from a workload standpoint.

And, he added, there are no psychological aftereffects from the injury.

“I’m good with it, and it’s something I really don’t think about,” he said. “It is what it is. Everything’s healed right and feels right, so now it’s just the strengthening part of it.

So far, Hudson said throwing to catcher Buster Posey has “been good,” saying, “We’re still having to get to know each other. Once I get into a little better shape, he’ll have a better idea of the kind of stuff I throw and how I like to work. It won’t be long. It’ll get there.

“Buster’s great back there,” he added. “He has a great setup for pitchers.”

On facing Chavez, Hudson said, “You know what, he can still swing it. He’s always been able to swing it. His biggest question has been his health over the years. He’s found a nice spot over there (Arizona), not quite playing every day, but he’s staying healthy and doing well.”

Hudson struck out Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Gerardo Parra with a couple of sinkers and, he said, “a hanging split-finger that somehow dropped in there for a strike. It wasn’t a pitch I wanted a called strike three on – I was hoping to get him to swing and miss – the pitch was just bad enough.

“It’s all a work in progress.”

Bats were alive
San Francisco used a 12-hit attack to defeat the D-Backs. Angel Pagan, Buster Posey, Joaquin Arias and Juan Perez each had two hits for the Girants. Righthander Kameron Loe (1-0) was saddled with a blown save, but got the win, while ex-Athletic Brad Ziegler (0-1) took the loss. Jean Machi earned his first save of the spring.

(TAGS: San Francisco Giants,Tim Hudson,Spring Training,Cactus League)

(category Cal Bears)

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 1, 2014

TEMPE, Ariz. – California’s road swing through the Grand Canyon State ended the way it started, with a lopsided defeat.

An early second-half collapse by the Bears led to Arizona State thumping Cal 78-60 Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena, making a tight Pac-12 Conference men’s basketball race even tighter.

The Sun Devils (21-8 overall, 10-6 Pac-12) moved into third place in the conference standings, trailing second-place UCLA by one-half game and league-leading Arizona by 3½ going into the final weekend of the regular season.

ASU won the earlier meeting between the two schools 89-78 in overtime on Jan. 29 at Berkeley. The Bears were looking to bounce back after an 87-59 loss at No. 3-ranked Arizona on Wednesday.

Cal (18-11, 9-7) is tied for fifth place in the Pac-12 with Colorado, both trailing Stanford by one-half game. The Cardinal visit Arizona Sunday.

“(ASU) is a good team and they’re playing well right now,” Bears guard Justin Cobbs said. “It’s not discouraging. It hurts to lose, and nobody likes to lose, but we’re not done. We’re still in the hunt for a top four spot (in the Pac-12), so we just got to get it done at home.”

Despite the loss, Bears Coach Mike Montgomery said that finishing in the Pac-12’s top four is still a possibility.

“Sure, we can,” Montgomery said. “These guys (ASU) have to go to the Oregon’s, Stanford plays the same schedule that we have, and Colorado and Utah have to come to us and Stanford. It’s in our hands, just like the others. It’s a matter of who gets the job done.”

Arizona State and Cal battled back and forth throughout the first half, with the score tied five times and four lead changes. The Bears led by as many as six (12-6 with 13:25 left in the half) and held it’s last lead at 22-20 on a David Kravish jump shot at 3:38.

ASU tied the game at 24-24 on a jumper by Eric Jacobsen, which sparked a 5-0 run to end the half with a 29-24 lead that the Sun Devils would never relinquish.

What did Cal in was a 15-6 Sun Devils run in the first five minutes of the second half. After the Bears cut the ASU lead to 29-26 on a pair of free throws by Justin Cobbs, Jermaine Marshall answered by draining one of his six 3-pointers.

The run included six points by center Jordan Bachynski, four points by Jonathan Gilling and a layup by Jahii Carson. A free throw by McKissic with 5:58 to play gave Arizona State its biggest lead at 68-48.

“They made shots,” Cobbs said of the second-half collapse. “We didn’t play defense and they made shots.”

In particular, it was Marshall who had the hot hand. Marshall finished with a game-high 22 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the floor – 6 of 8 from 3-point range – and, along with McKissic, Gilling and Bo Barnes, finished with four assists each.

“We lost vision on open shooters,” Montgomery said. “We played really good defense in the first half and did exactly what we were trying to do. Right toward the end of the first half, we had three breakdowns and they hit three 3’s. We would have been up, even as poorly as we were shooting the ball. That gave them some momentum.

“That carried over into the second half and we lost vision of open shooters time and time again,” Montgomery continued. “To (ASU’s) credit, they knocked down shots – there was a time they were shooting 83 percent from the floor. (ASU) got 33 points on 19 possessions, which is incredible production.”

Gilling added 15 points off the ASU bench, hitting 6-of-9 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers. McKissic finished with 10 points; he and Barnes each grabbed six rebounds.

Bachynski, the nation’s leading shot blocker (4.25 bpg), added four more rejections to his season total of 123. He also pulled down seven boards as the Devils outrebounded Cal 34-29.

“Arizona State really hurt us with that small lineup,” Montgomery said. “Marshall and Gilling did a great job of shooting the ball when they were open. To Arizona State’s credit, they moved the ball very well. When they’re open, they find the open man.

“It’s discouraging, because we’re not playing very well right now.”

“We’re letting our play at one end of the court affect the other end of the court,” Bears forward Richard Solomon said. “We’ve just got to play through it and play harder.”

Cobbs led Cal with 15 points (6-of-9 shooting), but was held to six points in the second half. Jordan Mathews added 14 points and Kravish scored 12. Solomon and Kravish each pulled down eight rebounds.

When postgame talk switched from the Pac-12 postseason tournament to reaching The Big Dance, Montgomery and Cobbs each refused to speculate that far ahead.

“We’re just trying to win a game right now,” Montgomery said.

Cobbs added, “That’s the last thing we’re worrying about right now. We just have to focus on the next one.”

That would be on Wednesday night, when the Bears host Utah at Haas Pavilion. Game time is 8 p.m.

(TAGS: Cal,Bears,Arizona State,Pac-12,men’s basketball,Daniel Dullum)