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Reign send Barracuda to first loss of the season in 2-1 win

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Barracuda forward Scott Reedy battles with Reign forward Taylor Ward at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday OCT 26, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — All good things come to an end, especially winning streaks.

The San Jose Barracuda suffered its first loss of the season as the Ontario Reign defeated the ‘Cuda 2-1 on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose had their first lost after starting out a franchise best 4-0 to begin the 2022-23 season. Ontario has won five of its first six game to start its season.

Ontario (5-1-0-0) drew first blood just 54 seconds into the game. Alan Quine found Rasmus Kupari along the right wing and Kupari beat ‘Cuda goalie Strauss Mann with a wrist shot top shelf to the short side for his third goal of the season.

It was Mann’s first career AHL start. The 24-year-old former US Men’s National Team goalie settled down after giving up the first goal of the game and had a steady game to keep the ‘Cuda’s hope alive, giving them a chance to win the game.

“I was excited to play my first regular season game here,” said Mann when asked to evaluate his performance. “I’ve obviously been in San Jose for a while, been around the guys. It was good to get that game action, get that first out of the way. I think we played well enough to win, it’s just sometimes things don’t go your way.”

San Jose (4-1-0-0) spent most of the opening 20 killing penalties as they weren’t able to offer much of an offensive attack as Ontario outshot San Jose 12-9.

“I touched on that with the guys between the first and the second (period). It disrupts the flow (of the game) and I think if we want to have everybody going, we gotta stay out of the box,” Barracuda head coach John McCarthy said.

The Reign doubled its lead halfway through the second period. A failed clearing attempt by the Barracuda led to Quine finding Taylor Ward in the slot and Ward buried a wrist shot past Mann for his second goal of the season at the 9:51 mark.

San Jose cut the deficit in half with a power play goal late in the middle frame. Andrew Agozzino sent a rink wide pass over to Thomas Bordeleau and the rookie sniper ripped a one-time past Reign goalie Pheonix Copley for his team leading fourth goal of the season at the 16:12 mark.

It’s been good to see him (Bordeleau) get on the score sheet, that’s kind of his game. He’s coming along nicely; he’s been doing some good things (out on the ice). It’s been encouraging,” McCarthy said.

Despite pulling Mann with 90 seconds remaining in the third period for an extra attacker, Copley and the Reign held down the fort to escape with its second road win of the season.

Copley finished stopped 28 of the 29 saves to earn the victory. Mann made 26 saves on 28 in suffering his first professional loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-6.

San Jose’s penalty kill is a perfect 24-for-24 to start the season.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Copley 2) Ward 3) Bordeleau

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five-game homestand when they host the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday 10/28 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Chiefs spoil McCaffery’s debut in dominant 44-23 win over 49ers

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Juju Smith-Schuster and Travis Kelce celebrate reaching the end zone during the Kansas City Cheifs 44-23 win over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday OCT 23, 2022. (Kansas City Cheifs)

by Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In a battle of good offense versus good defense, offense won.

The Kansas City Chiefs offense scored 28 points in the second half en route to a convincing 44-23 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

San Francisco has two in a row and dropped to 3-4 on the season. Kansas City bounced back after a tough loss to the Buffalo Bills last week and entered their bye week at 5-2.

“You know 5-2 looks a lot better than 4-3,” said Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. “I think it comes where we’ll look forward to getting a little bit healthier. I think this leads them into a nice positive week where they can have some recovery time.”

The game marked the debut for running back Christian McCaffery in a 49ers uniform. McCaffery was acquired late Thursday evening for four future draft picks. He started out well with two rushes for 19 yards. McCaffery finished with 38 yards on eight carries and added two receptions for 24 yards.

The day belonged to the Chiefs as they dominated both sides of the ball. On defense they took advantage of two returning offensive tackles for San Francisco who were playing less than 100% health wise. They consistently pressured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and won the battle in the trenches in the second half.

On the offensive side of the ball, they made San Francisco’s high-ranking defense look subpar as they scored 28 of their 42 points in the second half as the 49ers had no answer trying to keep the high-ocatane offense out of the endzone.

It was the worst performance for San Francisco’s defense on the season, despite having defensive end Nick Bosa back in the lineup after recovering from a hamstring injury. They gave up over 500 yards of total offense and were undiscipline with motion penalties. They also failed to get off the field on two separate long third down conversions that led to touchdowns for Kansas City on both drives. A third and 11 was converted for a 57-yard reception by Marquez Valdez-Scantling with a deep throw down the field by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Then a third and 20 was converted on a screen play to Jerick McKinnon for 34 yards.

“Whenever you play the best teams in the league, you want to show what you’re all about. I believe the 49ers are one of the best teams in the league, obviously one of the best defenses. So, for us coming off a loss against the bills, you don’t want to have two losses (in a row) heading into the bye week. So we knew this was an extremely important game. That bye week is a lot better when you’re coming off a win,” said Mahomes.

San Francisco actually started the game well in the first quarter. An interception by safety Talanoa Hufanga set up the 49ers first touchdown. Garoppolo connected with Ray-Ray McCloud for a nine-yard touchdown reception to give San Francisco a 10-0 lead with 6:29 left.

Kansas City started to find its groove as they answered back on their next drive. Mecole Hardman took a quick shovel pass from Mahomes and raced in for an eight-yard touchdown, the first of his three-touchdown day.

Hardman gave the Chiefs their first lead with 7:09 left in the second quarter when he rushed for a 25-yard touchdown for a 14-13 lead Kansas City went into halftime with.

San Francisco had a chance to regain the lead after Skyy Moore fumbled a punt return that the Sam Womack recovered at the Chiefs 12-yard line. However, the 49ers failed to capitalize as three plays later Garoppolo was intercepted in the end zone by Joshua Williams.

“You know that’s a good team,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan summarizing the game. “You know they’re going to make some big plays, but I thought the most frustrating thing was the spots we hurt ourselves. In that first half, some of the false starts that we had on offense, lining up in the neutral zone on defense. For us to have that false start on the field goal, I was obviously so excited because they muffed the punt the next time, but for us to have a turnover there was a real big mistake. Ended up being alright when they missed that field goal. We talked about some of that stuff at halftime. We come out, give up a huge kick return and then have a really stupid penalty to add 15 yards at the end of it. Those are the things that disappoint me the most.”

While San Francisco was getting field goals on their drives, Kansas City responded with touchdown drives. The opening kickoff in the second half had Isiah Pacheco return the ball for 48 yards. To make matters worse, Jauan Jennings hit Pacheco out of bounds tacking on another 15 yards with an unsportsman like penalty.

The Chiefs only needed three plays to score and extend their lead when running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for a 16-yard touchdown. After a San Francisco field goal, Kansas City marched back down the field on a nine play 75-yard drive finished off with a four-yard touchdown reception from Mahomes to Justin Watson.

San Francisco cut the deficit to 28-23 when Garoppolo connected with tight end George Kittle for a 15-yard touchdown reception where Kittle jumped up high to reel in the ball.

That was as close as the 49ers would get as the Chiefs sealed the deal by scoring the final 16 points on two touchdowns and a safety when Frank Clark sacked Garoppolo in the end zone.

Penalties, turnovers and missed opportunities were the combination of what became an embarrassing loss for San Francisco on their home turf in front of the Niners Faithful.

Mahomes finished a great afternoon going 25 of 34 for 423 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Hardman had 60 total yards to go alone with his touch rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. Juju Smith-Schuster led all wide outs in receiving with seven catches for 124 yards and one touchdown.

Garoppolo finished went 25 of 37 for 303 yards (the most he has thrown for this season) with two touchdown and one interception in what was a frustrating afternoon for the veteran quarterback. Jeff Wilson Jr led the 49ers in rushing with 54 yards on seven carries. Kittle was the leading receiver for San Francisco with six catches for 98 yards and one touchdown.

“I thought, especially early on in the first half, just getting those field goals instead of touchdowns, I thought that was a big difference. Just momentum and things like that, we knew going into this game that we had to score touchdowns and match with these guys, and we didn’t. And I think that with the combination of the turnovers and penalties, that’s the result you’re going to get,” Garoppolo said.

GAME NOTES: San Francisco finished 8-for-14 on third down conversions. Kansas City went 6-for-9.

The 49ers are now 1-20 when they enter the fourth trailing by three or more points.

Bosa recorded his seventh sack of the season in just the seventh game of the season. Bosa and Hall of Famer Bryant Young are the the last members of the 49ers to register seven or more sacks through the team’s first seven games.

McCloud’s touchdown reception was the first of his career.

It was the 11th time in Garoppolo’s career he has thrown for 300 plus yards in a game, his first since against the Los Angeles Rams on 1/9/22 (316 yards).

UP NEXT: San Francisco travels to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in an NFC West showdown on Sunday 10/30 at 1:25pm at SoFi Stadium.

Ott’s 3 TD’s, decisive third quarter lead Cal past Arizona, 49-31 in the Pac-12 opener

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The 624 yards of offense amassed by Arizona and Cal before halftime on Saturday turned out to be an appetizer.

Jadyn Ott, with his 274 yards rushing and three touchdowns, was the fully satisfying buffet spread across the breadth of the afternoon in the Bears’ 49-31 homecoming win in their Pac-12 opener.

Ott, the freshman who didn’t impact Cal’s narrow loss to Notre Dame, announced himself with a 73-yard score on Cal’s second offensive play. In the third quarter, he was powerful and elusive on an 18-yard run and score. Then in the fourth quarter with Cal looking to finish off the Wildcats, Ott again turned on the speed in a 72-yard touchdown jaunt.

Ott’s 274-yards rushing stands as the most by an FBS player this season, and the third most in Cal history, trailing Jahvid Best (311 yards, 2009) and Jerry Drew (283, 1954).

“We’ve been talking about it for a long time. You’ve seen it in flashes. We saw it a bunch today. He’s a dynamic guy and has the ability to take it to the house from a lot of spots,” coach Justin Wilcox said.

“Every time I touch the ball, I feel like I’m going to score,” Ott said. “That’s my mentality.”

Despite Ott’s breakaway run early, Cal was on its collective heels at the half, trailing 24-21 and unable to stop UA’s Jayden de Laura, who would finish with 401 yards passing.

Wilcox’s trademark halftime adjustments normally consist of cleaning up defensive assignments. But in a game that belonged to playmakers on both sides, Cal leaned heavily on its running game and a rotating cast of offensive linemen as much as benefitting from a turnover in a third quarter that turned the game around.

After forcing a punt on Arizona’s initial drive of the third quarter, Cal regained the lead with an eight-play 87-yard drive capped off by Keleki Latu’s 3-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-one. Quarterback Jack Plummer leaned on his tight ends on the drive with Latu’s two catches and two big gainers from Elijah Mojarro.

An Arizona three-and-out was followed by Cal’s five-play drive that put them up 35-24. Ott finished the drive with a run that saw him slowed by three Wildcat defenders before breaking free to score from 18 yards out.

With the third quarter drawing to a close, linebacker Orin Patu broke free and dislodged the football from a scrambling de Laura, and Miles Jernigan pounced on it to set up Cal at their 32-yard line.

Six plays later, Plummer connected with Jeremiah Hunter for a 37-yard pass and score and Cal had an insurmountable 42-24 lead with 14:53 remaining.

“We couldn’t stop the run and when you can’t stop the run, you run into the issues of you have to try to press,” coach Jedd Fisch said. “I think we started to press there at the end and started turning the ball over in the fourth quarter. That’s what cost us.”

Led by Ott, Cal totaled 354 yards on the ground, the biggest chunk of their 599 yards in total offense. That along with a 3-0 advantage in turnovers allowed the Bears to turn the tide, an overcome Arizona’s 536 yards in offense.

“In the first half, we didn’t tackle well, we didn’t rush, we didn’t cover anybody. It was bad,” Wilcox said.

Numerous players saw their first significant time on the field as Cal Bears, and they made the most of it. Sioape Vitikani, a 335-pound freshman came up with seal block that sprung Ott for his first touchdown run. T.J. Sessions, a Montana State transfer helped break Ott free on his third quarter score.

For Arizona, freshman Tetairoa McMillan came up with an outstanding catch in the end zone despite Cal’s Isaiah Young being in position to make a play. Sophomore Dorian Singer came up with a one-handed catch along the sideline in what was otherwise a rough, fourth quarter for Arizona.

The Bears travel to Pullman, WA next Saturday to face Washington State. The Cougars took a 27-15 lead into the fourth quarter over Oregon on Saturday only to see the No.15 Ducks rally to win 44-41, and saddle the Cougars with their first loss after a 3-0 start.

Multiple Baltimore Homers Beat Oakland 8-1

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First inning action as the Baltimore Orioles Gunnar Henderson takes a lead off first base on Oakland A’s pitcher Adam Oller in the bottom of the first inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sat Sep 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

Multiple Baltimore Homers Beat Oakland 8-1

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (49-85) took on the Baltimore Orioles (71-61) in the second game of their three game series on Saturday night. The A’s lost game one keeping it close until the eighth inning. The Orioles scored three runs in the eighth beating Oakland 5-2.

Oakland got an early run in the first inning leading 1-0; a lead that was short-lived. Sean Murphy sacrificed and Tony Kemp scored.

The Orioles answered in the first inning with a Ryan Mountcastle home run with Cedric Mullins on base. Baltimore took a 2-1 lead . This was just the beginning of a slug fest on the part of the Orioles. In the third inning Mountcastle homered for a second time with Anthony Santander on base extending their lead 4-1.

In the fourth inning Cedric Mullins homered, this one a solo shot. Anthony Santander homered in the same inning, another solo giving the Orioles a 6-1 lead.

In the fourth inning the A’s had the bases loaded with one out but came away empty. Chad Pinder grounded into a double play and Oakland had squandered a great opportunity to put some more runs on the board,

Baltimore would tack another run on in the sixth inning to lead 7-1. Adley Ruthschman singled driving in speedster Jorge Mateo. Oakland really had their work cut out for them and they were running out of time.

In the eighth inning the Orioles would hit their fifth homer of the game. Ruthschman knocked a solo out of the park and it had been all Baltimore since the first inning of this game.

Tomorrow’s game three will be a 10:35 first pitch. Oakland will try to avoid the sweep sending Adrian Martinez (3-3, 5.28) to the mound. Spencer Watkins (4-5, 4.26) will start for Baltimore.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: A’s Kaprielian gets the call against M’s tonight at Coliseum; A’s Bolt out with left knee soreness for tonight

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Oakland A’s starter James Kaprielian throws against the Seattle Mariners line up at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Fri Jul 1, 2022. Kaprielian gets the start for the A’s tonight at the Coliseum against the Mariners (AP file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, the Oakland A’s (43-77) are back from that long road trip where they split four games with the Texas Rangers, the A’s are a struggling bunch they have lost 14 of their last 18 games and were just over matched on Friday night by the Seattle Mariners to open a three game series 10-2.

#2 The A’s have the second lowest winning percentage (.358) and they have their season lowest number below .500 some 34 games.

#3 Amaury did the loss of Elvis Andrus, Jed Lowrie, and Stephen Piscotty cause an effect on the team in losing the last two games in Texas and the opener of this series against the M’s on Friday?

#4 Amaury, the mood in the Seattle clubhouse is upbeat, the M’s are in first place for the AL Wild Card with a 66-54 record some two games in front of second place Toronto.

#5 Taking a look at tonight’s starters for the Mariners right hander Logan Gilbert (10-5, 3.51) and going for the A’s right hander James Kaprielian (3-7, 4.33) first pitch 4:15 pm PDT.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of A’s baseball on Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco the Spanish flagship station and Amaury does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Experience of watching Class A ball in Stockton

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Stockton Ports picked up a win over the Modesto Nuts in Class A minor league ball on Thu Aug 4, 2022 in Stockton (@stocktonports photo)

Thursday, August 4, 2022

By Eric Naiman and Lewis Rubman

Modesto Nuts (51-48). 10. 8. 2

Stockton Ports (33-66). 7. 11. 3

STOCKTON–Watching a ball game in the San Joaquin Valley is different from doing it on the shores of San Francisco Bay. For one thing, the temperature at game time was 93 degrees.

Here, in the low class A California League, Grantland Rice’s oft quoted lines “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,/He writes – not that you won or lost – / But how you played the game,” takes on new meaning. It’s of no great moment that the 33-66 Stockton Ports, on their way to the worst season in franchise history, dropped an 11 inning 10-7 decision to the 51-48 Modest Nuts. What matters to the organizations to which the teams belong-the A’s and Mariners, respectively-is how well individual players performed. To the fans, it’s the pleasure of the players’ performances.

No one on the Ports’ roster figures in the list of Oakland’s top 50 prospects. Gone are the days when you could spend a balmy summer’s night watching the Matts, Chapman and Olson, strut their stuff on the banks of the delta. The Nuts, on the other hand, boast of four top prospects. They are, in descending order Harry Ford, tonight’s DH, left fielder Gabriel González, and two. switch hitters, third baseman Milkar Pérez and center fielder Jonatán Clase. Modesto’s starting lineup also included the delightfully named right fielder Walking Cabrera. The home plate umpire’s moniker also was a source of innocent merriment, Daniel Bytheway.

The top of the third was neither innocent nor merry. Modesto scored one run, no hits, one error, a passed ball, a balk, and two wild pitches. (The top of the second was pretty ugly, too, but you get the picture).

It wasn’t a well played game, but it was an exciting one. The victorious Nuts used four pitchers. They were, in order of appearance Jake Miednik, Chris Jefferson, José Geraldo, and the winner, Raúl Alcántara.

Ed Baram took the loss for The Ports sent five men to the mound, Yehizón Sánchez, who started, followed by Luke Anderson, Hunter Brreault, Ed Baram, who took the loss, and Clark, who closed out the top of the eleventh.

The outstanding player of the game for Stockton was probably Junior Perez, whose two doubles produced two RBIs. He also stole third base twice, dying there in the third and in the eighth, and temporarily prevented Modesto from taking the lead in the eleventh with a perfect strike from center field to the plate. Unfortunately, he probably could have won the game for Stockton in the bottom of the eight but failed to tag up after a fly ball to shallow left. (He had taken much more of a risk on the previous play, when he just managed to elude the tag on his second steal.)

The middle relief pitching for Stockton was also a strong point. Luke Anderson pitched two and two third innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit, albeit a home run. Hunter Breault loaded the bases in the ninth by walking two and allowing one hit, but he got out of trouble by striking out the other three batters he faced.

The Ports were one pitch away from escaping the tenth inning without having allowed a run, but at the plate and on the mound they were lacking in the clutch, leaving runners on third in both the eighth and ninth. They are 8– 25 in the second half of the season. They must play better than .500 ball for the rest of the year if they are to avoid having the worst record in the franchise’s history.

Gauff has a match to forget, Rogers powers her way to the semis, Badosa, Kudermetova also advance to the final four at MSVC

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American Shelby Rogers prepares to return service against Amanda Anisimova in her quarterfinals match at the San Jose State Tennis Center on Friday AUG 5, 2022. (MSVC)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Shelby Rogers has caught fire at the right time.

Rogers upended fellow American Amanda Anisimova in straight sets 6-4 6-4 in her quarterfinals match on Friday evening at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at the San Jose State Tennis Center.

Rogers stamped her passport to the semifinals with an impressive serve that carried her past Anisimova with five aces and an 88.9% first service points won.

“She (Anisimova) probably has one of the best returns in the world on tour. It’s definitely a lot of pressure on your serve to serve well, to have a high return percentage. I did a good job of mixing my spots tonight and spins and speeds and just not letting her get a rhythm,” Rogers said.

Second seed Paula Badosa was able to take down the tournament favorite Coco Gauff in straight sets 7-6 6-2 to advance to the final four.

Gauff was up 5-4 in the first set with serving for the set, but she wasn’t not able to close out the set against the Spainard who fought her way back to even the match at 5-5 before winning the tiebreaker.

“I feel like I should’ve shown my frustration more,” said Gauff. “You can’t block your feelings. Yes having the body language and all that is great, also I think letting out is even better. I think maybe there should have been a moment where I should have shouted something instead of just letting it build. I think I just should’ve let it out.”

Badosa took advantage of Gauff’s frustration in the second set as Gauff committed many unforced errors that was her downfall in the match. Badosa cruised the rest of the way to clinch her spot in the semifinals despite being cautious to not lose her focus.

“You can see when a player is struggling a little bit. In the second set I saw it. I tried to go there to her shot where she wasn’t comfortable and to stay calm. Sometimes you get a little bit nervous because you see the finish line is near. So, I tried to stay as calm as I could,” Badosa said.

Veronika Kudermetova was the first Russian to make the semifinals with her straight sets victory over number three seed Ons Jabeur 7-6 6-2.

Both players went back and forth in the first set that saw Kudermetova win the tiebreaker 7-5. The first set proved to be too much for Jabeur who ran out of gas in the second set. Kudermetova overpowered Jabeur with her serve as she finished the match with six aces and 30 winners.

Kudermetova, who is playing in her first Mubadala Classic, said she like that she was able to stick to her gameplan and not let Jabeur back in the match.

“It had gave me lot of confidence in the second set. I tried to believe more in my plan, I tired to be more aggressive, and it worked out well for me,” said Kudermotova.

Jabeur, who had a big Tunisian fan base cheering her during the tournament, said she appreciated her time during her week in San Jose.

“Overall, I am pretty happy with this experience. Honestly, not waiting for the result to show right now but in the future I will look back and say this tournament helped me a lot,” said Jabeur.

Daria Kasatkina advanced to her second consecutive Mubadala semifinal when she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in three-sets 4-6 7-5 6-0.

Sabalenka started the match strong winning the first set and looked to be firing on all cylinders. The turning point in the match was in the second set with Kasatkina breaking serve to even the match at 5-5. The 25-yeard old Russian player went on to win the next two games sending the match to a decisive third set.

Down 3-0 in the third, Sabalenka needed a medical time out as she was dealing with a lower body injury. She toughed it out the final three games but it was obviously she was not able to play her game and Kasatkina rolled her way to the semis.

“It was a roller coaster of a match,” Kasatkina said after the match. “We went back and forth throughout the match. I really pushed through at the end of the second set.”

In doubles action, Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos defeated the American duo of Ashlyn Krueger and Elizabeth Mandlik in three sets 2-6 6-1 10-5 to reach the semifinals. The Chinese duo of Yifan Xu and Zhaoxuan Yang automatically advanced to the semifinals when the team of Latisha Chan and Beatriz Haddad Maia had to retire from the match due to injury.

UP NEXT: The semifinals matchup on Saturday 8/6 at the San Jose State Tennis Complex.

3:00pm Shelby Rogers vs Veronika Kudermetova

6:00pm Daria Kasatkina vs Paula Badosa

“Who wouldn’t be frustrated? We’re all frustrated. We don’t want to play like this.”

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–A season after winning 107 regular season games, the Giants are stuck trying to win one. It’s been a process, and it’s still ongoing.

Losing eight straight to the Dodgers? Eleven straight to NL West opponents? Frustrating, even more so after Thursday afternoon’s 5-3 loss to the Dodgers that saw manager Gabe Kapler ejected along with reliever Jarlin Garcia.

“Obviously, I took exception to sort of being scolded in front of our dugout about how to approach and address our players,” Kapler said after the game.

The Giants struck early when newly-acquired J.D. Davis homered to put the Giants up 2-1. But in the top of the fourth, Mookie Betts’ three-run homer gave the Dodgers a lead that stung. Starter Jakob Junis walked number nine hitter James Outman, and Betts, the first batter faced by John Brebbia, struck with two runners aboard. Betts’ innocuous hand to side of the head gesture to his teammates caught the attention of Garcia, who wasn’t even in the game at that point.

When Garcia entered in the sixth, he was effective, preserving the two-run deficit with a pair of strikeouts. But when leaving the field Garcia mimicked Betts and followed with a few words for the slugger, who was in the on-deck circle. That drew the attention of first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, who followed Garcia and Kapler back to the Giants’ dugout. Cuzzi demanded that Kapler get his guy off the field, which he had, and that led to Kapler losing his cool with the umpire, and getting tossed.

“I had already gotten Jarlín off the field. Things were completely under control,” Kapler said. “I wasn’t happy with it and probably didn’t handle it perfectly.”

In the seventh, the Dodgers’ lead grew to 5-2 when Trae Turner homered off Yunior Marte. The Giants managed just five hits in the game, and did little to threaten after the Turner home run, falling four games below .500 for the first time this season.

Chris Martin picked up the win for the Dodgers, pitching a scoreless sixth inning. Starter Clayton Kershaw departed after four innings complaining of back discomfort. Kershaw threw 66 pitches, allowing the Davis home run, but the news of his discomfort was the only bad news for the visitors.

“Given it’s his back which has been problematic at times — we just won’t know more until we get some tests,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The Giants have Friday off before traveling to Oakland for two over the weekend with the A’s. Beware: the A’s also are playing well, and less likely to be trumped by the Giants, who are hopeful of Evan Longoria’s return and Brandon Crawford.

Dodgers Sweep Giants In Four Game Series 7-4

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Los Angeles Dodgers Max Muncy swings for a bottom of the third inning double off San Francisco Giant pitcher Alex Cobb, the catcher is Joey Bart and plate umpire is Malachi Moore at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on Sun Jul 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

Dodgers Sweep Giants In Four Game Series 7-4

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (48-47) were trying to avoid a sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers (64-30) in game four of their series down at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have dominated this series and lead San Francisco by 15.5 games in the NL West. Right now the Dodgers have a strangle hold on the NL West and show no signs of letting up any time soon.

The Giants had to contend with Clayton Kershaw who very nearly threw a perfect game against the Angels a little over a week ago. Alex Cobb was on the mound for the Giants. The Dodgers with a 7-4 victory took a four game series from San Francisco and have won six of their last nine head-to-head games this season.

Sunday game wrap: Mookie Betts got the game going for the Dodgers. He singled and scored off a Freddie Freeman single to take the early 1-0 lead. The Giants would load the bases in the second inning but come away empty.

The third inning was a good one for the Giants scoring a couple of runs and taking a 2-1 lead. Thairo Estrada singled and Darin Ruf and Yermin Mercedes both scored.

The Giants lead was short-lived. The Dodgers Jake Lamb would score off a Gavin Lux single to tie up the game. Max Muncy doubled driving Lux in and a Trayce Thompson single drove in Muncy and the Dodgers had taken a 4-2 lead after three innings.

San Francisco would tie up the game 4-4 in the fifth inning. Darin Ruf hit a home run and Wilmer Flores scored. It was a brand new ball game.

The seventh inning was all Dodgers. They would take a 7-4 lead. Lamb doubled, Lux singled and Thompson doubled for that lead. Los Angeles would hang on, the final 7-4.

San Francisco had 7 hits in this game but could not overcome the Los Angeles offense. The Dodgers had 12 hits in this game.

Monday night the Giants will travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks. They will try to get back on track after a disappointing series in Los Angeles. Jakob Junis will be on the mound for San Francisco. He has a 4-1 record with a 3.06 ERA. Arizona will send Tyler Gilbert with a 0-3 win loss record and ERA 5.34. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Grier wasting no time cleaning house in San Jose

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Former San Jose Shark Brent Burns traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange of two players on Wed Jul 13, 2022 was some of a few new moves that general manager Mike Grier has made since taking over (AP News file photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 New San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier has definitely made his presence known with changing at head of scouting out with Doug Wilson Jr and in with Doug Weight and Wednesday with Brent Burns to Carolina for forwards Steven Lorentz and goaltender prospect Eetu Makinemi and a conditional 2023 third round pick.

#2 The Hurricanes will pick up 66% of Burns contract while the Sharks have 34% of the remaining contract.

#3 Grier said that he wants to go a little bit younger. Grier said Burns had a great career and wishes him good luck.

#4 Grier said at one time he was in Burn’s position and said Burns has a better chance to win a cup with Carolina.

#5 Burns waived his no trade clause saying it was sad leaving San Jose leaving teammates, the city, fans, and said it’s just exciting to go to Carolina.

Len is an analyst on NHL podcasts for http://www.sportsradioservice.com