Category: Uncategorized

By: Joe Lami

After two straight nightmare performances for the 49ers (1-2), things won’t get easier this week for the red and gold, as the Green Bay Packers (3-0) come to Levi’s Stadium this Sunday.

The 49ers are coming off of one of their worst performances of recent memory, as they were blown out by the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 in week three. Things went down hill fast as Colin Kaepernick was intercepted twice in the first two drives with both interceptions brought back for touchdowns.  The 49ers were trailing 14-0 within the first six minutes of the contest, and it was the first time since 1925 a game started with the quarterback throwing two pick sixes in the first two drives.

Kaepernick was intercepted four times in the contest, a career-worst and finished his day 9 of 19 for 67 yards. He also got the only touchdown on a 12-yard scamper to the left. The running game didn’t come to the rescue either, as Carlos Hyde was shut down, running for 51 yards on 15 carries.

Things didn’t get too much better for the 49ers defense either, as the secondary got lit up again. Carson Palmer threw for 311 yards going 20 of 32 for two touchdowns and throwing an easy interception to Anton Bethea. The Cardinals were also able to get the running game going, as Chris Johnson finished the day with 110 yards on 22 carries for two touchdowns.

With the horrendous performance Kaepernick had on Sunday, Niners coach Jim Tomsula reiterated his confidence in his quarterback.  He may seem to be the only person in the Bay Area with confidence in the man that finished with a quarterback rating of 16.7%.

The 49ers only hope this week comes from catching the Packers on a short week, as Green Bay defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-28 on Monday night.  Aaron Rodgers went off for Green Bay as he finished with an outstanding night of 333 yards and five touchdowns.  Rodgers now leads the NFL with passing scores with ten in just three contests.

Kansas City was able to shut down Eddie Lacy, as he only carried the ball ten times for 46 yards. Causing one would have to think that the Packers are going to go in with the same game plan and let the ball fly with Rodgers. His main target on the year has been Randall Cobb, who leads the Packers with 20 receptions for 245 yards and four touchdowns.

Unfortunately, it’s going to be another ugly week for San Francisco, as they are going to be embarrassed at home by Green Bay this coming Sunday. They have shown no improvement in the secondary, and an all-pro quarterback like Rodgers is geared up to have an absolute field day.

Prediction: Packers 42 49ers: 10

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – If the Giants are dejected about missing the playoffs, they sure didn’t show it Wednesday night.

A night after being eliminated from playoff contention and having to watch the hated Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their clinching of the National League West on their home field, the Giants pulled things back together and showed they are still in it until the very end with a where-was-this-last-night? 5-0 win over the Dodgers at AT&T Park.

It’s pretty safe to say that the acquisition of starter Mike Leake has been far from what the Giants had in mind as they were trying to chase a playoff spot upon trading for him two months ago.

The right-hander was 2-5 in his nine starts with the Giants this season, which is still hard to believe given the fact that he arrived in San Francisco riding a four-game winning streak and gave up only two runs during that stretch.

Nonetheless, he closed out his season in style Wednesday night and reminded Giants fans of what he showed in Cincinnati, even though it was a little too late to make a difference. He threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout at the Dodgers by keeping the ball on the ground. He closed the game out in the most fitting way, as he got Corey Seager to bounce into a double play to ensure that he will have at least a winning record (11-10).

“I would say that this was his best game,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “A (two)-hit shutout, it’s hard to beat that. He really pounded the strike zone, he mixed it up, and he did a really good job of working the game plan.

“We think a lot of him. That’s why we acquired him.”

Matt Duffy made sure that Leake got some runs to work with early on, as he turned on a first-inning fastball from Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger and sent it over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer to put the Giants ahead.

Two innings later, after Angel Pagan led off with a walk and then stole second, Kelby Tomlinson brought him in with a double down the right-field line. Pagan, however, was unaware that Tomlinson had hit the ball at first, as he had already taken off for third on a steal attempt and stayed there for a few seconds before realizing that the ball was rolling into the right-field corner.

The Giants added a run in the seventh – Nick Noonan’s first major-league home run – as well as the eighth, courtesy of an RBI single by Jarrett Parker, which especially proved crucial in helping Bochy make a pitching decision.

“That was a big hit, to allow you to stay with your starter a little bit longer to allow him to get a shutout,” Bochy said.

The Giants have one more game against the Dodgers before closing out the season with a three-game series at home against Colorado.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On the night where the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their third consecutive National League Western Division Championship, Clayton Kershaw was not the only star of the game.

Kike Hernandez got the celebration going, as he scored the only that the Dodgers would need on their way to 8-0 over the San Francisco Giants before a crowd of 41,862, the 403rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

With the win, the Giants are officially eliminated from the playoffs and they watched their longtime rivals celebrate on their field.

Hernandez scored the Dodgers first run of the game in the first inning, as he led off the game with a single, advanced to third on a Kelby Tomlinson fielding error on a ball hit by Howie Kendrick and after Adrian Gonzalez loaded the bases with a walk, Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly that scored Hernandez from third base.

In his second at-bat of the evening, Hernandez planted a Madison Bumgarner offering into the left field bleachers for his seventh home run of the season.

Kershaw was his dominant self in the clincher, as he went nine innings, allowing zero runs on just one hit while walking one and striking out on his way to picking up his 16th win of the season. The left-hander retired the last 19 batters he faced.

He struck out the side on three different occasions, and struck out two in another inning.

It was a tough loss for Bumgarner, who allowed four runs (three of them earned) on five hits, while walking one and striking out six, as he saw his record fall to 18-9 on the season.

This was the Dodgers first win in the Bay Area after 10 tries, as they are now 1-7 at AT&T Park and were swept by the Oakland A’s at the Coliseum on August 18 and 19.

Kevin Frandsen picked up the lone Giants hit of the night off of Kershaw , as he singled with one out in the bottom of the third inning. Angel Pagan was the only other Giants player to reach base against Kershaw, as he walked in the bottom of the third after Bumgarner popped out to second base for the second out of the inning. That would be the lone Giants rally of the night.

The Giants defense did not help Bumgarner at all, as Tomlinson’s big error in the top of the first led the Dodgers scoring their first run of the game and then Brandon Crawford committed a throwing error in the top of the fifth inning off the bat of Hernandez and then after a basehit by Kendrick, Bumgarner was able to get of the jam.

It was a totally different story in the top of the sixth inning, as after Bumgarner got Turner and Corey Seager out for the first two outs of the inning, Justin Ruggiano and A.J. Ellis hit back-to-back home runs on successive pitches to put an end to Bumgarner’s night.

By:Phillip Torres

San Francisco- Coming into Monday night, the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants faced a six game deficit in the National League West Standings with just seven games left in the regular season. A single loss to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in this four game series would result in San Francisco being eliminated from playoff contention.

Although the Giants have lost four straight to the division leading Dodgers, San Francisco has won all six meetings at China Basin this season. Los Angeles was out scored 22-6 in those meetings and were shutout in their last 36 innings at AT&T Park until the third inning on Monday night. The score was a lot closer in game one of this four game series.

Jake Peavy was on the mound for the Giants and was magnificent as he tossed seven innings of one run ball while allowing just three hits in the night. His counterpart, Zack Greinke, who is in the midst of a potential Cy Young Award winning season, was also stellar. Greinke allowed just two runs in seven innings pitched in an effort to try and help the Dodgers clinch the NL West title third consecutive season.

The Giants had other plans playing in front of their home crowd and 400th consecutive home sell out, which is the longest active streak in Major League Baseball. Rookie catcher Trevor Brown knocked in the Giants first two runs of the game in the second inning with a two out double giving Peavy an early lead to work with, but after a blown save in the ninth, the Dodgers forced extra innings.

The game went 12 innings before the Giants finally walked off victorious after a sacraficenfly by Alejandro De Aza.

The Giants 3-2 victory keeps their slim playoff hopes alive as they are now down five games with six to play. The hard fought victory on Monday night will be short lived for San Francisco as they will immediately turn their attention to tomorrow nights game against the reigning National League MVP and Cy Yound award winner Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw (15-7) has a 2.25 ERA this season with 281 strikeouts and is also in the Cy Young talk for this season.

The Giants will match with NLCS and World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner is looking for his career best 19th win of the season.

Game two of this series will be at 7:15 on Tuesday. The game can be viewed on CSN Bay Area.

By: Joe Lami

San Jose, Calif.—The San Jose Earthquakes picked up three crucial points on Sunday evening, as they beat Real Salt Lake 1-0 in a must win match.  With the playoffs looming, San Jose is on the outside looking in, but the three points put them on the brink of the playoffs with a huge game next Saturday against Vancouver with only three games remaining.

The Quakes owned RSL all 90-minutes in shots but were just unlucky with finishing.  San Jose had many chances, as they outshot Salt Lake 20-6. 

“We had a lot of chances; that’s the good thing. Give Nick Rimando some credit. The one thing was we didn’t stop pushing forward. We didn’t get frustrated and put our heads down,” Quakes’ head coach, Dominic Kinnear said.

RSL keeper, Rimando, stoned the Earthquakes until the 87th minute when Matias Perez Garcia was finally able to find the back of the net.  He received a ball from Quincy Amarikwa and kicked it with his left foot right into a defender. The ball bounced off the defender to the right side of the net for the winner.

Garcia celebrated the game-winner by taking his shirt off and earned a yellow card on the play. It would mean the end of Garcia’s day, as it was his second yellow card of the match. Garcia was booked in the 77th minute on a play involving RSL star, Kyle Beckerman. Unfortunately for Garcia and the Quakes, the red card means that he will be unable to play in next’s Saturday’s match.

“It’s secondary for what was going on. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He probably at the moment didn’t realize he had a card. In the end, I’m glad we won the game, and that’s the most important thing.” Kenner added.

Garcia mentioned, “in the moment, the joy, I wasn’t thinking about the other yellow card.” Quakes captain, Chris Wondolowski, added, “sometimes the passion gets the best of you. It was a huge goal, late, the game winner. I wish we could have him Saturday, but I’m glad the ball went in the net right now”.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, September 27, 2015

GLENDALE, Arizona – Thanks to stellar efforts on both sides of the football, the Arizona Cardinals are off to a 3-0 start for the second consecutive season after routing the San Francisco 49ers 47-7 Sunday in an NFC West contest at University of Phoenix Stadium.

“Bad day,” 49ers Coach Jim Tomsula said. “That starts and ends with me. Today’s performance starts off with a hats off to the Cardinals for what they were able to accomplish today, and the rest starts and ends with me.”

Cardinals running back Chris Johnson rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald snared nine passes for 134 yards and two scores. Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer enjoyed excellent protection all afternoon and completed 20 of 32 passes for 311 yards, the TD passes to Fitzgerald, and one interception.

“I don’t think we’ve played our best football yet,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re winning; we’re putting a lot of points up and it looks good on paper if you haven’t been watching the games. But we’re not clicking on all cylinders yet and it’s scary to think about that – that we can get much better.”

Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians was quoted earlier in the week saying he still tells his team that “they aren’t s—t,” but said after the lopsided win, “They smell a little bit better.”

San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a forgettable day, completing 9 of 19 passes for 67 yards. He was also intercepted twice – both converted to Cardinals touchdowns – and was sacked twice as the 49ers fell to 1-2.

Kaepernick said turning in this type of performance “never crossed my mind,” adding, “It’s very hard to deal with. Very hard to see myself go out and play like that and hurt this team the way I did. I nullified all the efforts of every other player on that field today and that’s something I have to fix.

“I have to be better for this team moving forward.”

Arizona outgained the 49ers in total offense 446 yards to 156. Carlos Hyde was the top rusher for San Francisco, gaining 51 yards on 15 attempts, and Bradley Pinion punted six times for a 49.5 yard average.

“I felt like we were ready to play,” Tomsula said. “The preparation went well, and we did a nice job of practice. We practiced hard and worked hard. We’ve got to look at what we’re doing. That’s me.”

Defensively, NaVorro Bowman and Tramaine Brock led San Francisco with nine and seven solo tackles, followed by Kenneth Acker with six to go with his interception.

Rashad Johnson and Kevin Minter each had six solo tackles for Arizona, with Tyrann Mathieu adding five. Matieu picked off Kaepernick twice, with Justin Bethel and Jerraud Powers collecting the other two picks.

“Our defensive backs read the quarterback extremely well and broke on him,” Arians said. “They were standing there waiting on the ball.”

The Cardinals jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of pick-6’s off Kaepernick. The first one came at 11:05 when Bethel intercepted a Kaepernick pass, intended for tight end Vernon Davis, and returned it 21 yards to open the scoring.

Two minutes later, Mathieu stepped in front of former Cardinal receiver Anquan Boldin and raced 33 yards for the second Arizona score.

“We started up front, forcing (Kaepernick to throw some wild balls,” Mathieu said. “Us on the back end anticipated some balls and jumped in front of them.”

Powers added, “Nobody was expecting pick-6’s obviously, but J.B. (Justin Bethel) said he envisioned it before it ever happened, him picking off that exact same play. It gave our fans something crazy to cheer about, and we turn around next series and Ty gets one, and now the stadium is absolutely nuts.

“That’s the most perfect possible way to start a game on defense and the crowd stayed in there for four quarters and it made it tough on them.”

Mathieu said the Cardinal defense talks “a lot” about scoring, saying, “I think the theme and the model every week when we prepare is to put our offense in a position to score points. If we can’t do that, then we have to score points.”

Meanwhile, Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson held Torrey Smith, the 49ers top receiver, to zero catches.

“That’s Patrick,” Arians said “I think after the first two interceptions, they weren’t going to try him.”

On the first play of the second quarter, Johnson ran six yards up the middle, and after 15 minutes and four seconds of play, Arizona built a 21-0 lead. During that stretch, Fitzgerald already had 90 receiving yards on five catches.

Arizona extended its lead to 28-0 on a 1-yard plunge by Johnson at 7:49 of the second quarter.

San Francisco caught a break when Jarryd Hayne returned a short Drew Butler punt 37 yards to the Arizona 19. Two plays later, at 2:03 of the second quarter, Kaepernick ran 12 yards around left end on a quarterback keeper for the 49ers’ first score.

In the final minute of the first half, the teams swapped interceptions. First, Acker picked off a Palmer pass at the 49er 19 yard line. But three plays later, Mathieu intercepted a Kaepernick pass, returning it 17 yards to the San Francisco 25. A replay review determined that Mathieu had not stepped out of bounds, upholding the original ruling.

With one second left in the half, Chandler Catanzaro booted a 23-yard field goal, giving the Cardinals a 31-7 halftime advantage.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 38-7 when they cashed in on their third interception of Kaepernick. Jerraud Powers’ pick at the Arizona 42 set up a 4-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Fitzgerald at 12:29 of the third quarter.

“I thought Jerraud’s interception to start the second half was huge to set the momentum for the first five minutes of the third quarter,” Arians said. “Then, to answer that with a touchdown, we kind of shut the door right there, I thought.”

“We have to keep playing,” Kaepernick said. “We’re not going to quit playing football because something bad happened again. Once again, that was a bad play on my part and I have to be able to make those plays for this team.”

Adding insult to injury, Arizona increased its lead to 40-7 nearly eight minutes later when the 49ers surrendered a safety. With the ball at their own 1,Hyde was tackled by Minter in the end zone.

The Cardinals tacked on their final touchdown at 5:15 of the fourth quarter when Fitzgerald scored on an 8-yard pass from Palmer to complete the scoring.

After giving up a combined 90 points in the last two games, Tomsula conceded the Niners need to “play better defense,” concluding, “We’ve also got to play better offense, play better special teams, play better everything. We’ve got to keep getting better.”

Next week, the 49ers return home to host Green Bay. Kickoff at Levi’s Stadium is set for 1:25 p.m.

49ers NOTES: This was the first time the Cardinals scored 40 or more points in back-to-back games since 1969 (the final pre-merger season) in the team’s St. Louis days – losing 51-42 to New Orleans and defeating New York 42-17. … Injuries – 49ers TE Vernon Davis (knee) Cardinals LB Alex Okafor (finger). Status for both is undetermined. … This is the 48th meeting between the two teams in a rivalry dating back to 1951, when the Cardinals were in Chicago. The 49ers lead the series 29-19.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-In the final road game of the season, the San Francisco Giants once again staved off being eliminated from the playoff race.

Trevor Brown hit a sacrifice fly, the first of two in a row to score Brandon Crawford in the top of the second inning and then Angel Pagan followed suit with a sacrifice fly of his own to score Jarrett Parker, who also singled and then Kelby Tomlinson singled in Mac Williamson, who singled as well and the Giants held off a furious Oakland A’s rally to win 5-4 before 36,067, the seventh sellout of the season at the Coliseum.

With the victory, the Giants won the season series between the Bay Area rivals 5-1, with the A’s picking up their only win on Friday night.

Williamson and Brown each added RBIs in the top of the third inning, as Williamson drove in Buster Posey with a sacrifice fly and then Brown drove in Crawford with a single off of reliever Arnold Leon.

Chris Heston went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking two and three strikeouts to pickup his 12th win of the season.

Sean Nolin lasted only 2.1 innings for the A’s, allowing five runs (three of them earned), walking one and striking out one.

Billy Burns finally got the A’s on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he doubled in Billy Butler and Marcus Semien.

Max Muncy drove in Josh Reddick with a triple in the bottom of the sixth inning after Reddick led off the inning with a single. Muncy then scored on a Stephen Vogt single.

The A’s threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Burns was able to reach second base on an infield hit and then took second a single on a throwing error by Tomlinson at second base. Cory Gearrin and Javier Lopez were able to stop the bleeding and the inning.

Despite giving up a walk in the bottom of the ninth inning, Santiago Casilla was able to get Burns to strike out to end the game for his 37th save of the season.

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

It’s been a while since the California Golden Bears left Seattle with a win over the Washington Huskies. In fact, the last time Cal left the Pacific Northwest a winner was over a decade ago. Entering Saturday’s contest in Washington, Cal (4-0)  last beat the Huskies on their turf September 10, 2015 in a 56-17 rout. Saturday would prove a much closer contest, but the Bears would hold off a late Washington rally to walk away with a 30-24 win, the first victory against Washington (2-2) in any contest since 2008.

Heisman hopeful Jared Goff again excelled under center for Cal, collecting 342 yard on 24 completions on 40 attempts, The top quarterback in the country connected with receivers Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs for a touchdown each, tying the Cal record of 64 in a career, while throwing one interception. The Bears defense forced five turnovers on three fumbles and a pair of interceptions to keep Washington’s offense in check.

Cal struck first after Matt Anderson’s 32-yard field goal went through the uprights with 7:04 left in the first, but Washington slipped by on a Dwayne Washington 14 yard run with 1:30 to go in the quarter. Cal held the Huskies scoreless in the second and scored three times to build a then-comfortable lead. First Vic Enwere ran one in from the 12 yard line, then Matt Anderson hit a 41-yarder, while Goff connected with Treggs in the end zone to complete the trio of unanswered scores and send the Bears to the locker room up 20-7 at the half.

Goff would connect with Lawler for a TD early in the third to put the Bears in cruise control up 27-7 with 10 minutes left in the third. Washington would take advantage of a Bears team on its heals, scorer on a 10-play 65-yard drive then cutting the lead to just one score on a 70-yard fumble recovery taken to the house by Sidney Jones late in the third.

Anderson split the uprights again with 5 minutes left in regulation to give Cal a two-possesion lead. They’d need every point of it, with the Huskies Cameron Van Winkle crossing the plane with 3:57 left in the game to make the score 30-24. The Bears defense would keep Washington off the board to keep the undefeated season alive.

Cal returns home for it’s contest next Saturday, a showdown against the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars are 2-1 and will open Pac-12 play coming off an off-week.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-This day was supposed to be all about the two veteran pitchers Tim Hudson and Barry Zito, but it was a rookie who put on a show.

Jarrett Parker hit three home runs, including a grand slam, helping the San Francisco Giants to a come-from-behind 14-10 victory over the Oakland A’s at the Coliseum.

In the much hyped matchup between Hudson and Zito fizzled out, as Hudson lasted 1.1 innings and Zito was done after two innings.

Hudson allowed three runs on just one hit, while walking three in his short outing and Zito allowed four runs on six hits and walked a batter in his short outing. Both pitchers left to standing ovations from the Coliseum crowd.

Parker became the first Giants player to hit three home runs and drive in seven runs in a game since Willie Mays slugged four home runs and drove in eight runs on April 30, 1961 against the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

His grand slam off of Ryan Dull came in the top of the eighth inning after hit a solo home run off of Zito in the top of the first inning and hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning off of Drew Pomeranz.

Parker is the first Giants player to hit three home runs in a game since Pablo Sandoval did it on September 4, 2013 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. He is the first Giants rookie to ever hit three home runs in the same game.

Josh Osich pitched two innings for his second win of the season, while Santiago Casilla shut it down for his 36th save of the season.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, September 25, 2015

Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey enjoyed a career night running the football Friday, gaining over 200 yards while the No. 21-ranked Cardinal defeated Oregon State 42-24 in a Pac-12 North game at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.

McCaffrey rushed for 206 yards on 30 attempts, but Barry Sanders and Ramound Wright each scored two rushing touchdowns. Sanders also gained 97 yards on seven carries for Stanford (3-1 overall, 2-0 Pac-12 North).

Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan, a pregame question mark due to an ankle sprain, had an efficient 9 of 14 passing for 163 yards and scoring passes to Austin Hooper and Michael Rector. Hogan was intercepted once.

Stanford opened the scoring at 10:30 in the first quarter when Wright plunged in from a yard out. The Beavers answered 7 ½ minutes later on a 1-yard run by Seth Collins. Hogan’s 42-yard scoring pass to Hooper gave the Cardinal a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

Oregon State (2-2 overall, 0-1 Pac-12 North) tied the game at 14-14 in the first minute of the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Ryan Nall. But the Cardinal surged ahead to stay when Wright’s 2-yard TD run put Stanford up 21-14 with 3:08 left in the quarter.

Garrett Owens booted a 24-yard field goal at :31, pulling the Beavers to within 21-17 at halftime, but that was as close as Oregon State would get. In the third quarter, Hogan’s 49-yard TD pass t Rector and Sanders’ 11-yard scoring run gave the Cardinal a 35-17 lead with 3:03 left in the period.

A 40-yard touchdown pass from Collins to Jordan Villamin pulled the Beavers to within 35-24 in the first minute of the fourth quarter. But 39 seconds later, Sanders broke free for a 65-yard TD run to put the game away.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Cardinal return home to host Arizona. Game time has yet to be announced.