Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Harness

In the World Series-winning years, the Giants’ bullpen got big outs in crucial games. On Wednesday, they did the exact opposite, as the shoddy relief was the key ingredient in a 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Jake Peavy tossed six shutout innings and left the game holding a 2-0 lead, as he stifled his former team in giving up only four hits while walking only one batter and striking out four.

However, things got messy almost right away when the ball was taken out of Peavy’s hand. Cory Gearrin took the ball in the bottom of the seventh and immediately gave up a single and a walk without getting anyone out. Josh Osich took over and struck out the next two batters, but then he surrendered a double to Yangervis Solarte to score both runners and tie the game.

The Giants went back on top in the eighth with Jarrett Parker’s solo homer, but Sergio Romo, who has been very good out of the bullpen with a 2.92 ERA entering Wednesday, surrendered a two-run double to Travis Jankowski to give the Padres a one-run lead.

The Giants appeared to be firmly in the driver’s seat in the top of the ninth, as Buster Posey reached on right fielder Matt Kemp’s fielding error, and Brandon Crawford went the other way down the left-field line to put runners on second and third with nobody out against perennial All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.

All the Giants had to do at this point is make contact a couple of times, and the lead was theirs once again. However, they couldn’t even do that, and for at least a half an inning, they got away with it.

Mac Williamson, who had his first major-league at-bat at the time, and Kelby Tomlinson each struck out. Trevor Brown appeared headed down a similar path, but Kimbrel bailed the Giants out by uncorking a wild pitch that nearly missed Brown’s head and ricocheted off the backstop. Posey reacted very quickly and was able to beat Kimbrel’s tag to the plate to tie things up.

It was not to be, however. George Kontos surrendered a one-out double to Kemp and then intentionally walked Melvin Upton, Jr. Two batters later, Jedd Gyorko singled off Santiago Casilla to score the winning run and drop the Giants further down in the National League West standings.

This blow could prove to be the fatal one, as the Los Angeles Dodgers won Wednesday, dropping their magic number to clinch the division to five. Things do not look any better in the wild-card scenario, as they now face a 9 ½-game deficit there.

By Jeremy Kahn

Trevor Brown was inserted into the San Francisco Giants starting lineup after Buster Posey was a late scratch, and the rookie made most of the opportunity to start.

Brown picked up his first two major league hits and threw out a runner, as the Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2 at Petco Park.

It was a run scoring double by Brown in the top of the fifth inning that gave the Giants the lead for good, and Angel Pagan added a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

Brown’s double scored Ehire Adrianza with the initial run of the evening for the defending World Champions, who are holding on to their playoff lives by the skin of their teeth. Coupled with the Los Angeles Dodgers loss at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Giants are now six games behind the Dodgers with 12 games remaining in the season.

Brandon Crawford drove in the Giants second run of the evening in the top of the seventh inning, as he drove in Alejandro De Aza.

Cory Spangenberg got the Padres on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit a solo home run off of reliever George Kontos.

Pagan finished the scoring for the Giants in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit his third home run of the season just out of the reach of right fielder Matt Kemp.

Brett Wallace got the Padres within two in the bottom of the seventh inning, as he hit his fifth home run of the season.

Chris Heston pitched the first 4.1 innings for the Giants, allowing just two hits, while walking five and striking out seven.

Kontos got the win after pitching 1.2 innings in relief, while Hunter Strickland, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla finished the game. It was the 35th save of the season for Casilla.

Tyson Ross pitched six innings for the Padres, allowing two runs on four hits, while walking two and striking out 11 in the loss.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-On a hot day at the Coliseum, Derek Carr sent everyone wearing Silver and Black home with a smile on their face.

Carr found Seth Roberts in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds remaining, as the Raiders came back to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 37-33 before 53,500 at the Coliseum.

The touchdown pass completed a huge day for Carr, as he went 30-for-46 for a career-high 351 yards, three touchdowns.

Carr is the first Raiders quarterback in team history to top the 300-yard mark more than once in his first three years with the team.

Amari Cooper caught seven passes for 109 yards, while Michael Crabtree pulled down nine catches for 111 yards and they are the first Raiders pair to top the 100-yard mark in the same game since Denarius Moore and Darius Heyward-Bey against the San Diego Chargers on January 1, 2012.

Cooper caught the first touchdown of the afternoon, as he got by his coverage and scampered 68 yards to the Ravens just 2:11 into the game. It was the first touchdown of Cooper’s two game career.

Latavius Murray scored his first touchdown of the season from one yard out, as he scored his third career touchdown.

Things did not start well for the Ravens, TJ Carrie forced a fumble and Curtis Lofton recovered the fumble.

After taking a 30-20 lead in the fourth quarter, the Raiders fell behind after Justin Tucker hit a 31-yard field goal to give the Ravens a 33-30 lead.

Things did not good following the field goal, as Carr threw what looked like a game-clinching interception by Will Hill III, but he was called for defensive holding and the drive continued and on the next play, Carr found Roberts.

Joe Flacco got one more shot at victory, but Neiko Thrope intercepted the Flacco pass and the Raiders escaped with a four-point victory.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, September 20, 2015

Houston came up with a much needed victory in its quest to remain in the playoff race as the Astros defeated Oakland 5-1 Sunday at Minute Maid Park.

Combined with Texas’s loss to Seattle, the Astros pulled back to within 1 ½ games of first place in the AL West, and hold a 2 1/2-game lead over Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels for the second AL Wild Card berth.

The Astros used the long ball to get the job done. Colby Rasmus homered in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1, and George Springer belted a two-run home run in the fifth to put Houston ahead to stay at 3-1.

Rasmus hit his second home run of the day in the eighth off reliever Barry Zito to tack on the last two Astros runs.

Oakland led 1-0 in the top of the second Danny Valencia led off with a single and scored on Marcus Semien’s RBI double.

Collin McHugh (17-7) scattered four hits, struck out eight and walked two in eight innings for the win. Aaron Brooks (2-4) went seven innings for Oakland, giving up the first two Houston home runs among seven hits.

After taking Monday off, the Athletics host a three-game series against Texas.

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Like many Hollywood Sequels, Gray-Kazmir II failed to live up to its billing. Almost two weeks ago, Oakland Athletics ace Sonny Gray bested former teammate and mentor Scott Kazmir in a 4-0 victory. Saturday night in Houston, neither hurler factored into the decision, a 10-6 win for the desperate Astros (78-71).

Houston took advantage of Cy Young hopeful Gray early for a trio of runs in the bottom of the first, but the Green and Gold used the next three innings to rough up their former teammate. Jake Smolinski blasted a homer with no one on in the bottom of the second, while A’s shortstop Marcus Semien ripped a solo shot of his on in the 4th. Mark Canha chased Kazmir, a mid-season acquisition by Houston from Oakland, with a two-strike, two-out run-scoring single to tie the game.

The Athletics (64-85) handed Gray a significant lead in the top of the 5th, plating three runs off Kazmir’s replacement Vincent Velasquez. Smolinski, Carson Blair and Craig Gentry all plated runs for Oakland in the inning. Gray did his part in the bottom half of the inning, coughing up singles to Jose Altuve and George Springer before bouncing back with a force out and a double play to escape unscathed.

Gray struggled to open the bottom of the 6th, allowing a leadoff double to Colby Rasmus and a one-out RBI single to Luis Valbuena, He left the game with a 6-4 lead after 5 1/3 innings of 8-hit, 2 strikeout ball. Reliever Drew Pomeranz retired pinch-hitter Chris Carter, usually an Athletics menace, but couldn’t retire Matt Duffy who doubled to put Houston within a run at 6-5.

An inning later Evan Gattis provided the crushing blow, launching a first-pitch offering from Fernando Rodriguez (4-2, 4.08 ERA) just over the wall in right. Gattis’ 26th homer of the season came with two men on base, handing Houston a 8-6 lead. Max Stassi would hit his first long ball of the season in the bottom of the 8th inning for a 9-6 lead. Springer’s sacrifice fly with two outs in the inning would account for the final run, also off Otero, in the 8th.

Chad Qualls (3-4, 3.91) picked up the win for Houston after pitching a scoreless 6th. Will Harris, Tony Sipp and Luke Gregerson also had scoreless appearances for the Astros, a club that now finds itself 2.5 games back of Texas for the American League West lead and 1.5 games ahead of the Angels for the final Wild Card.

Houston sends 16 game-winner Collin McHugh and his 4.05 ERA to the mound in Sunday morning’s finale. Bob Melvin’s athletics counter with Aaron Brooks, the centerpiece of the Ben Zobrist trade. The 25-year-old righty is 2-3 on the year.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, September 19, 2015

A big night from quarterback Kevin Hogan and running back Remound Wright sparked Stanford to a 41-31 Pac-12 football win over No. 6 Southern California Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Hogan completed 18 of 23 passes for 279 yards and touchdown passes to Austin Hooper and Devon Cajuste. It was the first win for Hogan over the Trojans in his Cardinal career.

Wright rushed for 41 yards, but scored three times on 1-yard runs. Christian McCaffrey led the Cardinal ballcarriers with 115 yards on 26 attempts.

Stanford (1-1 overall, 1-0 Pac-12 North), won its second straight game after dropping its season opener at Northwestern. USC (2-1, 0-1 Pac-12 South) allowed the Cardinal to rack up 474 total yards while losing to Stanford for the fourth time in their last five games at the Coliseum.

Hooper caught four passes for 79 yards, McCaffrey and Dalton Schultz each caught three passes, and Cajuste and Trenton Irwin had two receptions each for Stanford.

Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler tossed two touchdown passes to Steven Mitchell Jr. and JuJu Smith-Schuster snared another. Kessler completed 25 of 32 passes for 272 yards.

USC jumped to a 14-7 first-quarter lead, but the Cardinal rebounded and took a 24-21 lead into the locker room with a pair of touchdowns in the last 3:53 of the first half.

Stanford travels to Corvallis, Oregon, next week to face Oregon State in a Pac-12 North Division Friday night contest.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-It looks like the odd year theory for the San Francisco Giants not making the playoffs is not too far away from coming true.

David Peralta singled in A.J. Pollock in the top of the first inning, as the Arizona Diamondbacks made it two in a row with a 6-0 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 41,206,the 400th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

This was the second consecutive shutout for the Diamondbacks, and this was the first time that the Giants have been shutout in back-to-back games since July 28 and 29, 2012 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This as the 14th time this season that the Giants have been shutout this season, and the fifth time versus the Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks added two more runs in the top of the second inning, as Chris Owings singled in Phil Gosselin and then Ender Inciarte singled in Owings three batters later.

Patrick Corbin pitched a great game for the Diamondbacks, as he went seven innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, walking none and striking out five.

On the other side of things, Mike Leake lasted just three innings, allowing three runs on eight runs and walked one.

Corbin helped out his own cause in the top of the fifth inning, as he singled in Gosselin; however he was thrown out trying his single into a double.

Inciarte added another run batted in, as he singled in Pollock in the top of the sixth inning, as the leadoff hitter Pollock singled, stole second and went to third on a Trevor Brown throwing error.

Yusmeiro Petit was not his usual solid self, as he went two innings, allowing one runs on five hits.

Matt Cain made his second career appearance out of the bullpen and gave up one run in one inning of work. This was Cain’s first relief appearance since May 16, 2006 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Rubby De La Rosa pitched the game of his life, and as usual it was San Francisco Giants nemesis Paul Goldschmidt who did them in.

Goldschmidt doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on a Alejandro De Aza fielding error that scored A.J. Pollock with the only run that the Arizona Diamondbacks would need in the top of the sixth inning on their way to a 2-0 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 41,346, the 399th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Wellington Castillo drove in the second Diamondbacks run of the frame, as he hit a ground ball to Brandon Crawford at short and Goldschmidt eluded Buster Posey’s tag for the second run of the game.

De La Rosa pitched an exceptional game for the Diamondbacks, as he went 5.2 innings, allowing just one hit, while walking four and striking out five on his way to his 13th win of the season.

Madison Bumgarner failed in his first attempt to get his career-high 19th win of the season, as he went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out seven and saw his record fall to 18-8 on the season.

Matt Duffy got the first hit of the game for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth inning, and that would be the last hit until the bottom of the ninth inning when Posey picked up the Giants second hit of the night with one out , as he hit a single into left-center field off of Diamondbacks closer Brad Ziegler.

The only other baserunners to reach were all via walks, as Angel Pagan walked twice, De Aza walked once, Posey was intentionally walked during the Giants one and only attempt at a rally in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Both Pagan and De Aza walked with one out, after a ground out off the bat of Duffy, Posey was intentionally walked to load the bases, Brandon Belt grounded out to Brandon Drury at second base to end the inning.

Jarrett Parker, who hit his first home run of his major league career on Tuesday night was robbed of a second, as Pollock made a terrific catch to save the shutout for the Diamondbacks.

By Jeremy Harness

After a month of floundering and losing ground gradually, the Giants are now starting to hit their stride, which has been a common theme for a team that has won three World Series titles in five years, a team that starts getting the bounces going their way at the right time.

However, the Los Angeles Dodgers are not cooperating with the Giants’ plans, as they have continued to win themselves and currently hold a 7 ½-game advantage over the Giants in the National League West.

Neither are the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Chicago Cubs, as the Giants are 6 ½ games out of the second and final wild-card spot, which was the route the Giants had taken to win their previous two titles.

These are substantial deficits, especially given the fact that there are only two weeks left in the season.

Of course, the Giants have not been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, so all they can do at this point is keep playing. The Giants hope to keep their winning ways going in a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks that starts Friday night at AT&T Park.

Madison Bumgarner (18-7, 2.91 ERA) will take the mound in this series opener and faces Arizona’s Rubby De La Rosa (12-8, 4.75 ERA). The numbers seem to bode very well in the Giants’ favor, as they have won 12 of their past 16 home games, including five of the six games on this current homestand.

The reason why this is important is after a brief road trip to San Diego and a series across the bay in Oakland, the Giants have a four-game home series against the Dodgers, a scenario that they have had great success this season, as well as a three-gamer at AT&T Park against Colorado to end the season.