Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants played three tough games inside Dodger Stadium and performed as well as could be expected with the lineup that is noticeably decimated at this point, but they nonetheless came up empty-handed.

Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ star left-hander, slammed the door emphatically on the Giants Wednesday night in a complete game 2-1 win over the Giants, completing a three-game sweep.

Kershaw was flat-out dominant in striking out 15 hitters and walking only one while giving up only six hits.

However, as great as Kershaw was, the Giants actually had a chance to at least tie the game in the ninth inning. Down to their final strike with no one on, Matt Duffy lined a single to left, and Buster Posey, facing the exact same situation, followed that up with a single of his own.

Marlon Byrd, who has filled in brilliantly for an injured Hunter Pence, could not bring that much-needed run in as he struck out on a pitch in the dirt to send the Giants on their way to Denver and trailing the Dodgers by 6 ½ games in the National League West.

The frustration seemed to boil over in the eighth inning, as manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for the second game in a row, this time for arguing a ruling that Brandon Belt had went around on pitch in the dirt.

All was not lost, however. Even though he was clearly overshadowed by Kershaw, starter Mike Leake was brilliant himself in going seven strong innings and only giving up a pair of runs on five hits. However, the big blow was a mistake pitch that Leake threw to Chase Utley in the sixth, and the second baseman sent it over the wall in right-center to give the Dodgers the one-run lead.

On the injury front, while second baseman Joe Panik started a rehab stint in Triple-A Sacramento Wednesday and is expected back in the lineup next week, there is no timetable on the return of Pence at press time.

By Jeremy Kahn

In a pitching matchup reminiscent of the rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s, there was a great pitching in the pivotal second game of this three-game series.

Zack Greinke allowed just one run on five hits in 7.1 innings of work, as the Dodgers defeated the Giants 2-1 at Dodger Stadium. Greinke struck out five and walked one, as he improved to 7-0 versus the Giants in seven career starts since joining the team in 2012.

Greinke out dueled Madison Bumgarner, who allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out eight. Greinke raised his record to 15-3 on the season, while Bumgarner falls to 16-7. Kenley Jansen picked up his 28th save in 30 opportunities.

This was the seventh win in their last eight game for the Dodgers, while the Giants have lost four in a row and are now 5.5 games behind the Dodgers in the race for the National League Western Division Championship. The 5.5 game deficit is the largest since July 10.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Monday’s starter Jake Peavy were both ejected from the game in the seventh inning by home plate umpire Mike Winters. It was a tough inning for the Giants, as they failed to get on the board despite the fact that runners were second and third.

The Giants finally got to Greinke in the top of the eighth inning, as Matt Duffy hit a run-scoring single that scored pinch hitter Gregor Blanco from second base. That would be the end of the line for Greinke, as Luis Avilan came on to face Brandon Belt and he ended the inning on a dazzling double play turned Jose Peraza, who flipped to Jimmy Rollins at second and then onto Adrian Gonzalez at first to end the inning.

Gonzalez gave the Dodgers a 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, as he singled with two outs in the inning. Former Palo Alto High School star Joc Pederson hit a home run into the right-centerfield bleachers leading off the bottom of the seventh inning.

NOTES: Mike Leake takes the mound in the finale for the Giants, as he makes his fourth start since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds on July 30. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly will send Clayton Kershaw to the hill, as he looks for his 12th win of the season.

Angel Pagan and Tim Hudson were activated from the disabled list for the Giants, while they recalled Hector Sanchez, Nick Noonan and Cody Hall from Triple-A Sacramento.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Giants designated outfielder Justin Maxwell for assignment.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, August 30, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – With a little bit of persistence, the Oakland Athletics took two out of three games of their interleague series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Oakland loaded the bases in the ninth and tenth innings Sunday in an attempt to manufacture a go-ahead run. The first time, the A’s came up empty. In the tenth, the Athletics made up for it with three runs to hold off Arizona 7-4 at Chase Field.

“When you give up the lead in the ninth, it’s tough for all of us,” A’s first baseman Stephen Vogt said. “To come back out against a pitcher having a great year (Brad Ziegler) with five straight hits, that’s huge. That just shows the fight in our team.

“We showed signs of this all year, and it was nice to see it in a game that could have easily swayed the other way, like so many of our games have this season. It was good to see us keep fighting.”

Oakland surged ahead 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Coco Crisp singled and scored on Mark Canha’s double to left field. The Diamondbacks tied the game again at 4-4 when Ender Inciarte singled off A’s closer Drew Pomeranz, went to third on a Paul Goldschmidt single, and scored on David Peralta’s sacrifice fly to left.

The Athletics had an opportunity to take the lead in the 10th inning, loading the bases with consecutive one-out singles by Josh Phegley, Marcus Semien and Eric Sogard. But pinch-hitter Jake Smolinski grounded to third, where Jake Lamb threw out Phegley at home. Billy Burns grounded to second to end the rally.

In the top of the 11th, the A’s loaded the bases again, but this time, they cashed in. With two out, Danny Valencia, Stephen Vogt singled, and Josh Phegley was hit by a Brad Ziegler pitch. Marcus Semien delivered a two-run single to right, driving in Valencia and Vogt.

After A.J. Schugel replaced Ziegler (0-2), Sogard greeted him with a single to right, scoring Phegley.

“You can’t try to do too much against a pitcher like Ziegler,” Melvin said. “You do the best you can to shoot them the opposite way, the way Marcus did. That’s the best approach.”

Pat Venditte (1-2) worked two scoreless innings to earn his first Major League win.

“He got his beer shower, so he’s better for that,” Melvin said. “I didn’t really want to use him today. Next thing you know, I’m using him two innings and he’s getting his first win.
“You could see the confidence grow in the first few pitches. That’s the best we’ve seen him. He needed to be perfect, and he was.”

Vogt, who went 3-for-6 with a home run, added, “That was awesome. The one cool thing about this year was Pat Venditte and Aaron Brooks getting their first wins with us, and watching guys like Billy Burns take off. It’s been a lot of exciting stuff going on, and to see a guy like Pat Venditte, who has worked so hard for a really long time to get his first win, it’s good to see him reach that benchmark. That’s pretty special.”

Venditte was the sixth pitcher used by Oakland. Edward Mujica, Fernando Rodriguez, Sean Doolittle, Drew Pomeranz and Venditte combined to allow one run on four hits with six strikeouts and one walk in a combined six innings.

“If you’ve never seen us play this year, you’d think the bullpen has been one of our strengths,” Melvin said. “Hopefully, this builds our confidence in our bullpen going forward.”

“We used most of our guys,” Melvin said. “I wasn’t going to use Lawrie at all, Sam Fuld’s back has been bothering him. You’re short a couple of guys and now you’re going through your bullpen. That’s when you just have to persevere and fight a little harder.

“This is probably the hardest we’ve fought all year.”

The Diamondbacks scored two unearned runs in the second inning. Yasmany Tomãs singled with one out, and after Nick Ahmed fouled out to first, pitcher Allen Webster reached on a throwing error by A’s pitcher Jessie Chavez, which allowed Tomas to reach third.

“I have to make that play,” Chavez said. “The ball had so much side-spin on that comebacker, it spun right out of my glove. But I have to stay with it and do what I do, play catch with it and go to first. That cost me at least another inning of pitching. That’s kept me from going deeper into ballgames.”

Inciarte followed with a base hit to drive in Tomãs, and Chris Owings’ single drove in Webster.

Oakland then came up with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third to tie the game at 2-2. With two out, Billy Burns walked and scored on a throwing error by Jake Lamb. Mark Canha, who went to second on Lamb’s error, scored when Josh Reddick tripled to right.

In the bottom of the third, David Peralta put the D-Backs back in front at 3-2 with a solo home run to right-center.

Again, in kind, Vogt tied the game at 3-3 when he slammed his 18th home run of the season in the top of the fourth, a line shot to right.

“I thought that up and down the order, we put together quality at-bats,” Vogt said.

Chavez struck out six, walked one, and gave up three runs – one earned – on eight hits in his five innings. He also collected his first Major League hit in the fifth, but was thrown out on a base-running blunder between second and third.

“I just wanted to get the job done. We had a runner on and I just wanted to get a bunt down or put the ball in play and make the pitcher throw more pitches,” Chavez said. “To get a hit was kind of cool, but getting caught between second and third with no outs can’t be happening. That put us in a bad spot right there.

“We always talk about baserunning and how hard can it be. But you know what? It’s harder than you think! I didn’t know how close Burnsie (Billy Burns) was to me; he’s a lot faster than I am. I stuttered and should have picked up Wash (third base coach Ron Washington) instead of looking behind. That threw me off a little.”

“Jesse stumbled around the bag and easily had third if he wanted to crawl there,” Melvin said. “Sometimes your mind starts racing when you don’t do that a whole lot.”

Webster, the first of seven Diamondbacks pitchers, had a line almost identical to Chavez. He also worked five innings, giving up six hits, three runs – one earned – struck out two and issued one walk. Ziegler gave up three earned runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings.

The Athletics return home for a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels. Oakland’s probable for the series are left-hander Felix Doubront (1-1, 3.70) on Monday, and right-handers Chris Bassitt (1-6, 2.82) on Tuesday and Sonny Gray (12-6, 2.13) on Wednesday.

A’s ACORNS: Arizona was busy on the postseason roster trading deadline, sending RHP Addison Reed to the New York Mets for RHP’s Matt Koch and Miller Diaz. All had to clear waivers, and Reed had to arrive before Sept. 1 for postseason eligibility. Reed never panned out as a closer for the D-Backs, with 35 saves and a 4.23 ERA in two seasons. … The D-Backs also called up three minor league pitchers and optioned LHP Andrew Chapin, Saturday’s losing pitcher, to Triple-A Reno. … Paul Goldschmidt’s walk in the seventh inning was his 100th of the season. … Announced attendance for Sunday’s game was 29,576, a good number for an August game involving non-contenders.

TAGS: Oakland Athletics,Arizona Diamondbacks,Sports Radio Service,Stephen Vogt,Pat Venditte,Daniel Dullum

COMMENTARY
By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service

REPORTER’S NOTE: I had every intent to have this completed a while back, but immediate duties upon returning to the Arizona desert intervened. Thank you for understanding.

SACRAMENTO – It was a great way to wrap up my vacation trip around the western United States – congregating on Aug. 10 with my SRS colleagues at Chop’s Steakhouse across the street from the state capitol for another rousing edition of the SportsTalk podcast.

Food and service was outstanding (highly recommended), the show went well, but it just wasn’t the same without an old friend and valued colleague.

George Devine Sr. passed away in July at age 74. He was always great to visit with, a fountain of knowledge in many areas, and his contributions to SportsTalk were always worth tuning in to hear. One of the highlights of my annual visits to the Bay Area used to be a chance to reconnect with George Sr. It was always a treat to see that smile and a, of course, a fresh pun in that easy-going voice of his to go with it.

“It’s hard to put in words what George Sr. meant,” Michael Duca, SRS colleague and official scorer for MLB, said. “George Sr. was, like his dear friend Sam Goldman, from another era, a time when people helped each other without reservation, without a second thought about what it might mean for themselves.

“George would do anything to make you feel comfortable in the press box, and do anything to make you feel like you belonged. If you wanted to talk history, George could talk history. If you wanted to talk real estate, George could teach you real estate – he wrote almost a dozen books on the subject. He passed away on the day his final book was released.”

George was one of the first media types I met when I began covering Bay Area sports in 2001. He was nothing less than supportive over the years. For example, after reading my feature on legendary Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, he told me he kept a copy of my story in his copy of Harwell’s memoir. When George gave a compliment like that, it was only because he meant it. He didn’t toss around undeserved kudos.

George was also an all-around historian not restricted to sports. He once shared with me an essay he wrote about Bay Area radio in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a treat to read and I know he enjoyed composing every word. That always seemed to come through in his writing.

Before the appetizers arrived, my colleagues offered their own memories of George Sr.

Charlie O. Mallonee: “Whenever I would go into a press box and George was there, he was the first guy I sought out to say ‘hi’ to. I knew George was excited about being there, he was happy to see other people, and you felt like, ‘OK, I’m home. George is here.

“Now, I miss him not being there. I was at a game a couple of weeks ago and it hit me – George isn’t here. That’s sad for me. I loved his work because it was always enthusiastic. He was a positive guy and positive reporter. In sports, that’s not always the easiest thing to be.”

Jerry Feitelberg: “It’s hard to talk about George not being here because he was such a great presence in the press box. I loved seeing him there because George was from my era. He went to Marquette when they were the Marquette Warriors. He was always fun to talk to, very knowledgeable on sports and we’d talk about the old Boston Celtics. It was always good just to talk to him. Then, when I saw him do broadcasting, he was fabulous. He really knew how to broadcast well.

“Not having him around for the podcasts is just a huge hole and I don’t think we can fill it.”

Lee Leonard, executive producer of Sportstalk: “I first met George when I got in the business back in 1983 and he’d been doing this since the late 1960s. He took me under his wing as one of the veteran good guys. He talked to me about interviews, going to batting practice, going in the clubhouse and meeting guys.

“George was always a very comfortable guy to work with and I always enjoyed his jokes! He covered the A’s for us, and hosted many Sportstalk shows. He was a fountain of information and he’ll be sorely missed, along with Gary Araki, Ken Gimblin, Joe Cronin.”

Among other things, George Sr. enjoyed a good pun, and many bad ones. But with his delivery (among other things, he did commercial voiceovers as well as national radio hotline reports), even the bad puns sounded like poetry.

Duca: “At the memorial service, there was a stack of blank cards and a request for people to write their memories of George for a family memory book. I pointed out that the perfect Sunday morning was getting to AT&T Park at 10 a.m. and sitting at the ‘old farts’ table’ in the press room with Kenny Gimblin and George Devine, listening to Kenny remember when Al Davis was human, and listen to George ‘puntificate’ on almost any subject.”

“George had a command of the English language that was beyond all reason. The last thing I remember hearing George saying, we were walking in the outfield at AT&T Park, and he walked by a stand where they were serving bacon-wrapped hot dogs, and he leaned over and asked the server, ‘Are they kosher?’

That will suffice as the final word. Sportstalk goes on, of course, but it won’t be the same.

TAGS: Sports Radio Service,George Devine Sr.SportsTalk,Daniel Dullum

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, August 29, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – Stephen Vogt wasn’t formally designated as the goat of Oakland’s Friday night loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he felt like it, with two passed balls and what he considered an overall lackluster performance – offensively and behind the plate.

Wanting to atone, Vogt rebounded in a big way in the Athletics’ 3-2 win over Arizona Saturday at Chase Field.

“I had a rough night and obviously, I was not in a good place last night,” Vogt said. “So I was excited to see I was back in the lineup, and I was ready to go. I had a lot of steam to get off, and it felt pretty good to get off to a good start.”

Vogt was not only back in the lineup, he went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in on a Valley of the Sun-style splash hit home run and the eventual game-winning single.

“For me, it felt like it’s been a while since I got a big hit for us,” Vogt said. “So for me, this was huge.

Oakland Manager Bob Melvin said his catcher “was on a mission.”

“I don’t think he got much sleep last night,” Melvin said. “No one guy is at fault for a particular loss, and (Vogt) takes it pretty hard. His at-bats were very tenacious the whole night.”

“For me, I think it was one of the worst games I’ve had on both sides of the plate in quite a while,” Vogt said.

“Yeah, you want to go out and prove yourself. For me, I had to remember how good I am, and you have to remember how you got here, why you’re here, and it’s easy to lose sight of that going against the best players in the world. You start to doubt yourself sometimes. For me, it was awesome to come through and say to myself, ‘you can play this game and play it well.

“There’s nothing like coming through for your teammates late in the game.”

Facing D-Backs reliever Andrew Chafin (5-1) in the top of the eighth, Mark Canha singled with one out, and Josh Reddick grounded to second, but Arizona second baseman Aaron Hill juggled the ball long enough to allow Canha to advance to second with no chance to turn a double play.

Danny Valencia was intentionally walked, bringing Vogt to the plate.

“I just wanted to have a competitive at-bat,” Vogt said. “When you’re the guy they walk somebody intentionally ahead of, you want to come through, even more so. Fortunately, I wasn’t trying to do anything more than put a base hit out there somewhere.

Vogt hit a Texas Leaguer to shallow left that landed in between left fielder David Peralta and shortstop Nick Ahmed, allowing Canha to score the go-ahead run.

“I wasn’t trying to drive the ball, I wasn’t trying to filet the ball, I just wanted to get the barrel on the ball somehow. I’d never seen (Chafin) before, he’s a tough lefty with a really good slider, and his fastball is pretty explosive. So fortunately, I was able to get just enough of it to get it in there.”

Fernando Rodriguez (4-1), the second A’s pitcher, threw two scoreless innings to get the win. Drew Pomeranz struck out the side in the ninth to earn his third save.

“That was explosive,” Vogt said of Pomeranz. “I haven’t seen his fastball like that in a long time. He looked like he was on a mission tonight with the way he was throwing the ball.”

Melvin added, “It seems like Drew is getting a little more acclimated to the bullpen. That’s as hard as we’ve seen him throw all year. He has the ability to do that; it’s harder to do as a starter.”

After Valencia led off the Oakland third with a double, Vogt sent a line shot into the swimming pool behind the right-center field power alley for his 17th home run of the season, giving the A’s a 2-0 lead.

Arizona tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth. Ahmed hit a leadoff double to left-center, moved to third on Ender Inciarte’s single and scored on A.J. Pollock’s base hit to center. Inciarte scored the tying run when Paul Goldschmidt grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.

In his first start since returning from Triple-A Nashville, Aaron Brooks worked six innings, giving up two earned runs on eight hits with four strike outs and a walk. Brooks worked out of trouble in the first and third innings, and again with double-play pitches to Goldschmidt in the fifth and Hill in the sixth.

“After (Arizona) got the two runs, there could have been more,” Melvin said. “That’s what you’re looking for, someone to be resilient when you have some adversity. (Brooks) had runners on first and second in the first and third innings and handled those situations really well.

“The only reason he was lifted was for a pinch-hitter.”

Inciarte was 3-for-3 and Pollock was 2-for-4 at the top of Arizona’s order. Goldschmidt was 0-for-3 and struck out twice.

“It was huge, what he did,” Vogt said. “He threw the ball well from the get-go. And the top of (Arizona’s) order is not easy to get through. To give up two runs and get one of the best hitters in the world to ground into a double play, I think that was the play of the game.”

Diamondbacks starter Jhoulys Chacin also had a strong start, finishing his seven innings with six strikeouts and two walks while giving up five hits and two earned runs.

“I felt pretty well. I threw two mistakes – one got out (Vogt’s home run) – overall I think I did my job to keep us in the game,” Chacin said. “My slider was good today and my sinker was moving really well. Overall, I felt pretty good.”

The three-game interleague series concludes Sunday. Right-hander Jesse Chavez (7-13, 4.00) goes for Oakland, while the Diamondbacks have not announced their starter. Game time is 1:10 Pacific/Arizona Time.

A’s ACORNS: This was Oakland’s first win at Chase Field since June 17, 2008. … Vogt’s home run was the 52nd hit into the Chase Field swimming pool; the 23rd by a non-Diamondback player. … The Athletics are 2-5 in their last seven games against Arizona, and trail in their all-time series 14-15. … Announced attendance for Saturday was 35,990.

TAGS: Sports Radio Service,Oakland Athletics,Stephen Vogt,Arizona Diamondbacks,Daniel Dullum

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-It took just one inning for the St. Louis Cardinals to even up this three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

Brandon Moss tripled to right-center field, then scored the only run that the Cardinals would need when Matt Carpenter hit a single on their way to a 6-0 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 41,796, the 391st consecutive sellout at AT&T Park. Jhonny Peralta then grounded out for the second out of the inning. After a Jason Heyward walk to load the bases, George Kontos uncorked a wild pitch with Yadier Molina at the plate to score that scored Carpenter with the second run of the inning.

This was the 12th time this season that the Giants have been shutout, and the eighth time at home.

Molina then drove in the final runs of the afternoon, as he singled to score both Heyward and Piscotty for the Cardinals on the afternoon.

Ryan Vogelsong went just 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking three and strikeouts.

Lance Lynn went seven innings, allowing zero runs on six hits, walking just two and striking out two before having to leave the game with a mild right ankle sprain while fielding a Juan Perez ball hit back to the mound. This was Lynn’s first ever win versus the Giants, and today marked his eighth career start versus the Giants including the postseason.

This was just the Giants fourth loss at home in their last 20 games.

Former Amador Valley High (Dublin) and Stanford standout Stephen Piscotty went 4-for-4 on the afternoon, including a triple that scored a run in the top of the ninth inning.

It was the first career four-hit game for Piscotty, who is hitting .500 (12-for-24) with 10 runs batted in his last six games.

Jason Heyward closed out the scoring following the Piscotty triple, as he hit a sharp line drive off of Mike Broadway to score Piscotty from third base.

NOTES: Peralta became the third player this season to into three double plays in a single game , as he joins his teammate Molina from July 19 vs. the New York Mets and Yasmani Grandal of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who turned the trick on Thursday versus the Cincinnati Reds.

Chris Heston takes the mound on Sunday for the Giants, while Jaime Garcia will take the mound for the Cardinals.

Following the finale versus the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, the Giants will head out on the road for a three-city, 10-day road trip to Los Angeles, Colorado and Arizona before returning home on September 11 to face the San Diego Padres.

Jake Peavy will pitch the opener for the Giants on Monday at Dodger Stadium versus Brett Anderson. Madison Bumgarner will look for his 17th win on Tuesday night, while the Dodgers will counter with Zack Greinke. In the finale on Wednesday, the Giants will send to Mike Leake to the mound, and the Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw to the hill.

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Friday, August 28, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – Not every player advances to first on a missed third strike and hits a home run in the same game. But then, Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt isn’t like every other player.

When Goldschmidt advanced on a passed ball after striking out in the sixth inning, he helped spark a game-tying rally. In the seventh inning, the All-Star first baseman cranked an estimated 486-foot two-run homer that capped a four-run go-ahead rally that gave the Diamondbacks a 6-4 interleague win Friday over the visiting Oakland Athletics.

“It was a slider on a 3-2 count,” Goldschmidt said. “I was just trying to put a ball in play. I got a slider, it’s a little slower pitch and he got it over the middle of the plate.”

On reaching base on a dropped third strike, Goldschmidt said, “It’s just baseball. That’s the rule since I was 12 years old. Most of the time, your momentum is already going toward first.”

Chris Owings led off the Arizona seventh with a double down the left-field line off A’s starter Sonny Gray (12-6). Aaron Hill, pinch-hitting for pitcher Randall Delgado, laced a double to the gap in right-center, scoring Owings.

After Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice bunt and reliever Pat Venditte stuck out Ender Inciarte, A.J. Pollock’s RBI single scored Hill. Goldschmidt followed with his 26th home run of the season.

With that titanic blast, Goldschmidt moved into fifth place on the Diamondbacks all-time home run list with 108 career round-trippers, passing Justin Upton (108). He needs two more to tie Mark Reynolds for fourth.

In the Oakland ninth, Brett Lawrie’s two-run home run chased reliever David Hernandez. Former A’s closer Brad Ziegler came on and coerced Marcus Semien to hit into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, snagging his 24th save of the season.

Lawrie is 14-for-31 (.452) in his last eight games.

“His month has been phenomenal,” A’s Manager Bob Melvin said of Lawrie. “You don’t see too many balls hit that far in this park. That home run gave us a fighting chance.”

Oakland broke through with a pair of runs off D-Backs’ starter Chase Anderson in the top of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Marcus Semien hit a one-out double, moved to third on Sonny Gray’s groundout to second and scored on a single to left by Billy Burns. Mark Canha followed with a double down the left field line that bounced around enough in front of the bullpen to allow the speedy Burns to score from first.

The Diamondbacks tied the game with two unearned runs in the sixth. After Inciarte led off with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball, Paul Goldschmidt struck out, but the third strike got away from A’s catcher Stephen Vogt, allowing the D-Backs slugger to advance to first and move Inciarte to third.

“That pitch, I believe, was a slider to Goldschmidt,” Melvin said.

“I started swinging, I saw (Vogt) dropped it and saw the ball bounce away,” Goldschmidt said. “It took off and fortunately, it kept rolling and let me get to first. It helped that the pitch was off the plate and outside, so I’m already going that way toward first. It was easier to see rather than a fastball down and in.”

David Peralta followed with a line drive double to right-center, scoring Inciarte and moving Goldschmidt to third. A’s right fielder Josh Reddick caught Wellington Castillo’s shallow pop foul, but his throw home was wide of the plate, allowing Goldschmidt to score from third.

“Josh’s throw looked like it was off line. The angle was a little different because he caught it in the stands before he threw it in,” Melvin said. “It looked like it was going to be to the other side of the plate. If he feels he can throw him out, and we’ve seen what Reddick can do, he did have a chance.”

Each team collected eight hits. Semien (with two doubles) and Danny Valencia each had two hits for Oakland, while Jake Lamb went 2-for-4 for the D-Backs.

Delgado (5-3) struck out one in a scoreless sixth inning to pick up the win in relief. Anderson gave up two earned runs on five hits in six innings.

Gray surrendered four runs – two earned – along with five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He also struck out five and walked two while throwing 98 pitches.

“Sonny threw more changes than he usually does,” Melvin said. “At times, Sonny goes out there with different stuff. This night was one of them. He probably didn’t have his best fastball, velocity-wise. But he threw a lot of cutters, a lot of changeups, and did what he needed to do to get outs.”

Both clubs are essentially out of playoff contention. The Athletics (55-74) have been mired in the American League cellar for much of the season, while Arizona hovers near .500 (63-65).

A’s ACORNS: After Friday’s game, the Athletics recalled RHP Aaron Brooks from Triple-A Nashville, and optioned INF Max Muncy to the Sounds. Manager Bob Melvin said Brooks will likely start Saturday’s game. … Earlier, the A’s announced that 1B Ike Davis underwent successful arthroscopic left hip surgery Friday to repair a torn labium. … The A’s are 8-7 in interleague play this season, 4-6 in their last 10 interleague games going into this weekend. … Oakland pitchers are hitting a collective .143 (2-for-14) in interleague action at National League parks this season. … This was the first game in which A’s Manager Bob Melvin faced Arizona skipper Chip Hale as opposing managers. Hale served as a coach under Melvin both with Arizona and Oakland.

TAGS: Oakland Athletics,Arizona Diamondbacks,Sports Radio Service,Paul Goldschmidt,Daniel Dullum

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Kelby Tomlinson sure knows how to come through in the clutch when needed for the San Francisco Giants.

Tomlinson hit a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, helping the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before a crowd of 41,577, the 390th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

This was the Giants fifth walk-off victory of the season, and their first since Matt Duffy singled in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Miami Marlins on May 10

In his 21 games since being recalled, Tomlinson is hitting a robust .363 going 20-for-54 at the plate. He became the 15th Giants player, and sixth since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958 to hit a grand slam for his initial home run in the major leagues.

With the victory, the Giants remain 2.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the National League Western Division title. The Dodgers in a way helped the Giants, as they are hosting the Chicago Cubs this weekend at Dodger Stadium. With the loss, the Giants move within 4.5 of the Cubs for that second Wild Card spot in the National League.

It was the second consecutive day that Tomlinson came up with a big hit for the Giants.

In the bottom of the eighth inning in Thursday’s victory over the Cubs, Tomlinson hit his first career home run, a grand slam that gave the Giants their final four runs in a 9-1 victory.

If it is a Friday night, then Marlon Byrd must be hitting a big home run for the Giants.

Byrd gave the Giants an early 4-0 lead, as he hit a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning with his grand slam off of Cardinals ace Michael Wacha.

This was the second consecutive Friday that Byrd hit a home run on the sixth day of the week, as he hit a three-run home run in his Giants debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on August 21. This was Byrd’s third home run since joining the team, and his 22nd overall on the season.

Prior to the at-bat where Byrd hit his grand slam off of Wacha, Byrd was 0-for-18 including the postseason against the Cardinals right-hander.

After allowing just one hit in six innings in his first start following a stint on the disabled list on Saturday against the Pirates at PNC Park, Mike Leake showed the AT&T Park fans why the Giants acquired him for minor leaguer Stephen Johnson. Leake went six and one-third innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking one and striking out four.

Leake went through the Cardinals lineup unscathed the first time through, but the second time was a totally different story.

Matt Carpenter got the Cardinals first hit of the night, then Tommy Pham walked and after a Jhonny Peralta force out, Yadier Molina singled in Carpenter with the Cardinals first run of the evening. Kolten Wong then hit a ground ball to Kelby Tomlinson for a sure double play; however Ehire Adrainza was unable to turn the twin killing, as he bobbled the ball.

Stephen Piscotty, who went to Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton and then to Stanford got the Cardinals within one run with one swing of the bat. Piscotty’s line drive was just out of the reach of Nori Aoki in leftfield and rolled to the wall to score Carpenter and Wong.

The Cardinals manufactured a run in the top of the sixth inning, as Pham singled and then advanced an additional 90 feet on back-to-back flyouts to Byrd in right field and then scored on Leake’s second wild pitch of the game.

After a tough third inning that saw Wacha allow four runs on three hits, the right-hander regrouped and allowed only two hits over his final three innings of work.

Wacha went six innings, allowing those four runs (none of them were earned), on six hits, walking two and striking out two.

NOTES: Prior to the game, the Giants placed Matt Cain on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to August 26) with elbow nerve irritation. Chris Heston, who was sent to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday will take Cain’s spot in the rotation on Sunday against Cardinals lefthander Jaime Garcia.

Ryan Vogelsong will take to the hill on Saturday afternoon for the Giants, while Lance Lynn will take the ball for the Cardinals.

With Minor League Baseball coming to a conclusion, the playoffs are going on and the Dominican Summer League Giants won their semifinal game vs. the Dominican Summer League Yankees 3-2 to advance to the championship game that will be played on Saturday afternoon.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-It looks like the day off did not help break the San Francisco Giants from recent rut against the National League Central.

Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run home run in the top of the third inning for the only runs that the Chicago Cubs would need on their way to a hard fought 8-5 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 41,595, the 387th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

This is the third straight loss for the Giants, and they have lost five out of their last six games overall.

Jake Arrieta continued his masterful season, as he went six innings, giving up one run, while allowing scattering four hits, walking just one and striking out eight on his way to improving his record to 16-6 on the season.

On the other hand, it was a short night for Matt Cain, who lasted just five innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking two, striking out three and giving two home runs on his way to seeing his record fall to 2-4 on the season.

Miguel Montero hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning that lengthened the Cubs lead, and they were far from done.

Castro then added a double, and then scored when Tommy La Stella hit a single for the Cubs third run of the inning.

With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Castro picked up his third hit of the night, as he hit his sixth home run of the season off of Yusmeiro Petit.

Arrieta that got in the act following Castro’s home run, as he doubled down the left field line, after La Stella grounded out for the second out of the inning, Dexter Fowler reached on a fielding error by Brandon Crawford that scored Arrieta from third base.

The Giants finally got to Arrieta in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Kelby Tomlinson singled, advanced to second on a Nori Aoki groundout, moved an additional 90 feet on a Matt Duffy fielders choice when Arrieta’s throw went into centerfield. Tomlinson then scored on a zany play that saw the ball go off Anthony Rizzo’s glove at first base, and bounce to La Stella at second, who threw back to Rizzo to get Brandon Belt. Buster Posey then extended the inning, as he singled to left; however Arrieta got Crawford to strikeout swinging to end the inning.

Things got very interesting in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Giants got four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Andrew Susac got the big hit of the inning, as he hit a bases clearing double that scored Juan Perez, Marlon Byrd and Gregor Blanco. Brandon Belt scored the first run of the inning on a single after he reached on a fielders choice that retired Duffy at second base. Duffy led off the inning with his second hit of the game.

NOTES: Since leaving the Bay Area on August 16, Hunter Pence was placed on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, Chris Heston was optioned to Sacramento. Byrd was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds. Mike Leake was activated from the disabled list, as was Aoki and today Jeremy Affeldt was placed on the disabled list after suffering a knee injury on the team’s off day at his home in Spokane, WA. Michael Broadway was recalled from Sacramento to take Affeldt’s place on the roster.

Jake Peavy takes the mound on Wednesday, while the Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound.