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Jamaica’s two first half goals enough to escape with 2-1 win over Guadeloupe

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Jamaica forward Leon Bailey battles for the ball alone the endline with Guadeloupe defenseman Steve Solvet during Jamaica’s 2-1 win in Group C play of the Gold Cup at PayPal Park on Friday JUN 20, 2025. (Soy502)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Jamaica scored two late goals in the second half to defeat Guadeloupe 2-1 in group play of the Gold Cup on Friday evening at PayPal Park.

Jamaica earned its first win of the tournament and is currently tied for the top spot with Panama with three points in Group C. Guadeloupe has two matches in a row and anchors the bottom of the group.

Jamaica striker Leon Bailey’s right footed attempt was knocked away over the net by Guadeloupe goalkeeper Brice Cognard in the second minute as Jamaica earned an early chance in the match.

Thierry Ambrose gave Guadeloupe its first quality scoring chance in the 15th minute but his shot attempt from just outside the box sailed high and wide left.

Bailey had his second scoring chance after receiving a long ball from 30 yards out from his goalkeeper Andre Blake. Bailey dribbled over to the left wing before firing a shot off of the post.

In the 24th minute, Demari Gray tried to catch Cognard napping. Gray kicked the ball from 65 yards out with Cognard retreating back to his goal only to see the ball ricochet off of the crossbar.

Guadeloupe broke the ice in the 32nd minute off a set piece. After corner kick, Noah Cadiou sent a back pass out to Ambrose who one-timed the ball into the far corner of the net for his first goal of the tournament.

Jamaica scored the equalizer in the 42nd minute. Warner Brown centered the ball into the middle of the box where an unmarked Bailey buried a one-timer past Cognard for his first goal of the tournament.

Jonathan Russell gave Jamaica its first lead in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time in the first half. Gray centered the ball into the box where Russell jumped high in the air and headed the ball into the far corner of the net for his first goal of the tournament.

The second half saw chippiness from both sides as referee Kwinisi Williams issued four yellow cards, two each by both countries that were a result of unsportsmanlike fouls.

Guadeloupe had three chances to score the equalizer during 10 minutes of stoppage time. In the first minute, Blake stoned a close-range chance from Ange-Freddy Plumain. A minute later, Florian David sent in a cross over to Nathanaël Saintini but his header attempt was blocked. Blake made one final save in the ninth minute when he made a save on David’s right-footed shot attempt.

Blake, who plays for MLS’s Philadelphia Union, finished with four saves on five shots to earn his first win of the tournament. Cognard made two saves on four shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Jamaica finished with four corner kicks. Guadeloupe has six.

UP NEXT: Jamaica finishes up group with Panama on Tuesday June 24th while Guadeloupe concludes their group play against Guatemala also on the 24th.

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman: That first win for Verlander continues to elude him

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San Francisco Giants starter Justin Verlander pitches to the Cleveland Guardians line up in the top of the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Jun 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Stephen, the Cleveland Guardians Daniel Schneeman’s three run home run kept the San Francisco Giants Justin Verlander from winning his first game of the season as he dropped his record to 0-4 on Wednesday night.

#2 Verlander allowed four runs and was charged with three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work after being activated from the Injured List on Wednesday morning. Verlander surrendered seven hits and struck out six. It was Verlander’s first start since May 18.

#3 The Guardians Kyle Manzardo hit two doubles and Jose Ramirez got a base hit for an RBI as the Guardians are assured a series win for the first time since 2005.

#4 Stephen, the Giants Heliot Ramos stayed consistent with a home run his 12th of the season. Ramos is hitting .284.

#5 Starting pitchers for Thursday afternoon’s game for the Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (5-3 ERA 3.89) for the Giants RHP Logan Webb (6-5 ERA 2.58) first pitch is 12:45pm PDT.

Join Stephen Ruderman for the Giants podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Gold Cup: El Salvador battle to a 0-0 draw with Curacao

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El Salvador’s fullback Julio Sibrian tries to keep Curacao’s fullback Jurien Gaari from playing the ball during the team’s 0-0 draw at PayPal Park on Tuesday JUN 17, 2025. (El Salvador)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Curacao tried to play spoiler in front of a crowd of 13,042 that was pro-El Salvador. Both teams played to a 0-0 draw to open group play of the Gold Cup on Tuesday evening at PayPal Park.

Each team earned a point with the draw as they fight for the top of Group B along with Canada and Honduras.

The first half featured a Curacao team focused on protecting their backline. Whenever El Salvador created scoring chances inside the final third of the pitch, the tiny island nation was quick to expel the ball out of their zone.

In the 13th minute, El Salvador goalkeeper Mario González made two quick saves on back-to-back shots by Curacao. Leandro Bacuna had the most dangerous chance from close range.

Brayan Landaverde received a long ball inside the box in the 36th minute for a small breakaway chance but the ball was knocked away by Curacao defender Roshon van Eijma into the outstretched hands of their goalie Eloy Room.

Curacao striker Gervane Kastaneer tried to break the deadlock in the 56th minute when he got free for a right footed shot from the right side of the box, but González challenged Kastaneer and deflected the ball out of danger.

Livano Comenencia of Curacao had the best two scoring chances for either side in the second half at the 75th and 82nd minute but both of his right footed shots sailed right of the net. El Salvador didn’t generate any dangerous chances in the final 15 minutes.

Room finished with two saves to earn his first clean sheet while González made three saves to earn his first of the tournament.

GAME NOTES: Curacao finished with four corner kicks. El Salvador had three.

UP NEXT: Both countries are back in action on Saturday June 21st at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas. Curacao takes on Canada at 4:00pm while El Salvador squares off against Honduras at 7:00pm.

SF Giants game wrap: Giants take the early sweep on Atlanta going 3-0, & 5 game winning streak

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp (65) pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif. Roupp’s doggedness and Yastrzemski’s breakthrough hits, give the Giants sweep the Braves. (Photo credits to Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Atlanta Braves: 3

San Francisco Giants: 4

Win: SF Giants Pitcher Landen Roupp (4-4)

Loss: Atlanta Braves Pitcher Spencer Strider (0-5)

Saver: Camilo Doval (9)

Attendance: 41,026 (Oracle Park Sellout)

By: Michael Villanueva

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants complete a three-game sweep and increase their winning streak to five games, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves 4–3 at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon. The Giants defeated Atlanta by just one run for the third consecutive game thanks to a clutch breakout effort from Mike Yastrzemski and a composed display from starter Landen Roupp.

When the club most needed him, Yastrzemski, who has been in a long slump and had not scored an RBI since early May, came through. Starting with a sacrifice fly in the second inning that scored the Giants’ first run, the veteran outfielder scored all three of his RBIs in the first half of the game. Then, in the fourth inning, with the Giants behind 3-1, Yastrzemski blasted a double into the gap to tie the score and energize the Oracle Park crowd. In addition to eliminating Atlanta’s lead, the hit marked an important moment in Yastrzemski’s season as he looks ahead to make plays and moments like this. Yastrzemski was one of the Giants’ most effective hitters at the beginning of the season, but once May arrived, he found it challenging to maintain his strong start.

Roupp improved to 4–4 on the season after going through six innings on the mound to earn the victory. Although giving up three runs in the first inning, all of which were driven in by Braves hitter Matt Olson, Roupp remained cool and kept Atlanta scoreless after the fourth inning. The bullpen took it from there after a solid performance that kept the game within the Giants’ offensive control. Following the trio of Walker, Rodriguez, and Dova.

With the win, the Giants made a statement: this team is on the rise. They also swept a Braves squad that came into the series in dire need of a spark. In each series game, the Giants found different ways to win, and a single run settled each game. The team showed the kind of grit that successful ballclubs are known for, whether it was Matt Chapman’s walk-off home run on Saturday or their clutch bullpen performance on Friday.

The Giants will have a well-earned day off on Monday before starting a home series against the Colorado Rockies. They are currently sitting firmly above .500 and gaining momentum. Kyle Harrison, a left-hander pitcher, (1-1, 4.34) is expected to start on Tuesday. One game at a time, the Giants are finally giving answers to a club that began the season with worries about depth and consistency. Giants are now on a five-game winning streak, looking to make it six on Tuesday in Colorado.

Jackalopes Zaborowski allows one hit in 5-0 shutout of Ballers Wednesday

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Oakland Ballers catcher Tyler Lazano (left) and pitcher Luke Short (right) exchange pleasantries at Raimondi Field as they took on the Grand Junction Jackalopes on Wed May 28, 2025 (Oakland Ballers photo)

Grand Junction Jackalopes (2-6) 200 0200 100 5 8 0]

Oakland Ballers (4-4) 000 000 000 0 3 3

Time: 2:21

Attendance: 1,358

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–What a difference a week makes! After his first start of 2025, the Jackalope’s 22 year old righthander Zach Zaborowski’s numbers were 0-1, 4.76 with a WHIP of 1.41. After he got through frustrating the Ballers in Wednesday night’s contest at Ernie Raimondi Park in a 5-0 shutout, those figures stood at 1-1, 2.13 and 0.87.

Ah, well, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, and the 23 year old from Westfield, IN gave his hosts seven innings of one hit woe before yielding the mound to Aydan Alger, allowed them two hits in the remaining two frames but preserved the shutout, the first the Oakanders have suffered so far this season.

The Jackalopes jumped to an early lead and never looked back. Luke Short, Oakland’s southpaw starter, walked Jeb Roos, the first batter he faced. Center fielder Alex Pimentel followed him in the batting order and cleared the basepaths as both trotted around the diamond on Pimentel’s fence clearing blast to right.

Short held the Jackalopes in check for a while but weakened in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and two away, manager Aaron Miles decided that Short had hung around long enough; the bases were loaded with two down.

The skipper called on portsider Brody Eglite to put out the fire. It didn’t work out as he had planned. Evan Scavoto singled to right and continued on to second on Lou Helmig’s error. Kendall Foster, one of the two men on board advanced to third, and the other two, crossed the plate, doubling Grand Junction’s lead to 4-0. One of those runs was unearned, coming on an error by B’s backstop, Tyler Lozano. Both of the runs were charged to Short.

It was all over but the shouting. One of the casualties of defeat, which dropped the Baller’s back down to the .500 mark, Tremayne Cobb’s seven game hitting streak. For all the disappointment the Baller backers suffered, it was the best pitched game played in Raimondi Park in recent memory.

The six game series will continue Thursday, and Friday at 6:35, followed by a 4:35 start on Saturday and the final encounter on Sunday at 1:05.

Dorsey’s late goal pulls Dynamo even in 3-3 draw with Earthquakes

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The San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI posed for a group shot just before kickoff in their match against the Houston Dynamo at PayPal Park on Saturday MAY 24, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — In a match that saw fireworks in the second half in terms of goals scored, the San Jose Earthquakes drew 3-3 with the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at PayPal Park.

San Jose is unbeaten in its past seven overall matches (4-0-3), including five in MLS play. Houston is winless in their past three matches but earned a point after two straight defeats.

San Jose (5-6-5) had two quality chances early in the first half by Josef Martinez. First in the seventh minute, Martinez’s attempt from 10 yards out was stopped by Dynamo goalkeeper Jonanthan Bond. Then in the 20th minute, Martinez’s point-blank chance from inside the box was knocked away with a two-handed save by Bond.

Houston (4-6-6) drew first blood in the 31st minute. Ondřej Lingr’s counterattack found Griffin Dorsey down the right wing. Dorsey crossed the ball in the box where Ezequiel Ponce headed the ball into the far corner of the net past Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. for his team’s leading fourth goal of the season.

The Dynamo doubled its lead seconds after a corner kick in the 50th minute. Lingr centered the ball from the right wing over to the back post. An unmarked Felipe Andrade tapped home the ball into an open net for his second goal of the season.

The game seemed to have been judged one-sided to the benefit of the Dynamo from referee Sergii Demianchuk who missed some obvious fouls committed by the Dynamo throughout the match.

“I give our players a lot of credit for coming back down from two goals and basically have the game won at the end,” said Quakes head coach Bruce Arena. “We didn’t manage the game very well at the end….I think we could have done better on all the goals. We could have scored more goals. We should have come in at halftime ahead. We had some very good chances. We just have to be a little bit cleaner.”

San Jose cut the deficit in half in the 66th minute. Beau Leroux got the ball down low to DeJuan Jones near the right goal line. Jones centered the ball to Preston Judd who one-timed the ball past Bond with a right-footed shot for his first goal of the season.

Judd recorded his brace in the 72nd minute. Fullback Ian Harkes centered the ball squarely into the box where Judd got behind two Dynamo defenders and headed the ball over Bond into the upper left corner of the net for the equalizer and second goal of the season.

“Josef (Martínez) helped me out there because they paid a lot of attention to him, so I was able to get on their back shoulders, and they didn’t know where I was at, so I took advantage of that and finished those chances when I got them,” Judd said.

The Earthquakes gained its first lead of the match four minutes later. Once again it was Harkes setting up the goal. After a Cristian Espinoza corner kick, Harkes gathered the ball along the left side line. The Quakes fullback deked out a Houston defender before centering the ball into the middle of the box. An unmarked Daniel Munie made a diving header into the far corner of the net for his first career MLS goal in the 76th minute.

Houston scored the equalizer in the first minute of stoppage time on a fluke goal. Jack McGlynn had the ball just outside the box. McGlynn found Franco Escobar along the right wing. Escobar made a quick back pass to Dorsey whose right-footed shot deflected off of Dave Romey and into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

Bond finished the match with five saves on eight shots on target and was mainly responsible for Houston earning a point in the contest. Edwards Jr. did not record a save on the three shots on target.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with 11 corner kicks. Houston had seven.

The Earthquakes are currently 10-19-5 all-time vs. Houston Dynamo FC with an 8-6-4 home record.

Heading into tonight, the Quakes’ attack led all MLS with 29 goals. To celebrate, the club gave away 2,900 hot dogs to fans before the match. With another three goals tonight, the Quakes stayed atop the league leaderboard with 32 goals and 34.13 expected goals. 

Judd scored his fifth and sixth goals of his career. Combined with his goal and assist in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, he’s up to four goal contributions in all competitions (2g/2a).

DeJuan Jones, recently called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team for June training camp ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup, amassed his fourth assist of the season and 26th of his MLS career.

The Quakes stayed unbeaten (3-0-3) in all games started by recent acquisition DeJuan Jones, who joined the team via trade with the Columbus Crew last month.

Ian Harkes had his first two assists of the MLS season tonight, running his career total to eight. He also had a goal vs. Inter Miami in his last league outing, giving him three goal contributions in his last two matches.

Edwards Jr.’s shutout streak in all competitions ended at 197 minutes after conceding Ezequiel Ponce’s 31st-minute goal.

Luca Ulrich, acquired via short-term loan earlier today from the Quakes’ MLS NEXT Pro team, The Town FC, was an unused substitute backing up Earl Edwards Jr. at goalkeeper.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels down south to take on their SoCal rival Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday May 28th at 7:00pm at Dignity Health Sports Park

Ogden gets a jump on Ballers in 13-9 win Thursday

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The Oakland Ballers lost a tough contest against the Ogden Raptors on Thu May 22, 2025 at Raimondi Park in Oakland (Oakland Ballers photo)

Ogden Raptors (2-1) 250 240 000 13 11 2

Oakland Ballers (1-2) 103 004 001 9 14 3

Time: 3:14

Attendance: 3,118

Thursday, May 22, 2025

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–On this chilly Thursday evening in May, more suitable to football than to baseball, the Ogden Raptors thrashed the Oakland Ballers by the football score of 13-9. It would have been a close game had they been playing that other sport. But they weren’t, and it wasn’t.

Ironically, the drubbing came as a moral victory for the Oaklanders. They had endured two innings of self-inflicted misery that would have caused a lesser outfit to abandon all hope, but the flawed hometown heroes kept a slim but real hope alive until the penultimate put out.

Carter Mize’s two run shot over the right field fence off starting pitcher Mac Lardner put the Raptors up 2-0 in the first. The Ballers responded by scraping up a run in the bottom of the frame on Tramayne Cobb’s leadoff double, two walks and a throwing error by shortstop Elliot Good on Cam Buffard’s grounder We now had the makings of a tight ball game.

They ended in the top of the second, in which the Raptors made 11 plate appearances, but they didn’t bat around the order; they walked around it. The visitors scored five runs on two hits, both singles, and five bases on balls.

Ogden tagged on two more tallies in the fourth and another four in the fifth, in which the B’s found new ways to self-destruct. Good led off with a single to right. In the next two plays, the Ballers made errors on sacrifice bunts. Edwin de la Cruz reached first on a throwing error by pitcher Brady Eglite, who had mercifully relieved Lardner after he had faced six batters in the second without retiring any of them. Kenny Oyama then reached first on a throwing error and took second on the ensuing action, in which de la Cruz advanced to third and Good scored. De la Cruz then crossed the plate on a passed ball, Oyama taking third. The Raptors picked up two more runs by more conventional methods (a single and a sac fly) before they were done.

From the depths of this despair, with fans deserting Ernie Raimondi Park in droves, the Ballers battled back. Cobb smacked a one out double to right off of Braydon Bonner, who had relieved Matthew Colucci, who in turn had relieved starter Eli Ellliott in the bottom the fifth.

Lou Helmig drove Cobb home with a single, also to right and then reached third on when Davis Drewek got yet another single. He, too, advanced 180 feet on a single to right, this one off the bat of Christian Almanza, driving in Helmig. Bufford’s double to left plated Drewek.

Michael O’Hara followed up with as ground out to first, which brought in Oakland’s fourth and final run of the frame. The B’s still trailed, 13-8, but the worm had turned. They still had a shot at a comeback. They managed to score an unearned run in the ninth, but that was all they could muster.

But the team’s self respect had been restored. They even outhit their guests, 14-11, but with so many gifts of walks and errors, the Raptors really didn’t need many hits. They used five pitchers to subdue the B’s, the win going to Colucci. Manager Aaron Miles and pitching coach Jim Dedrick also sent a quintet to the mound. A trio—Carson Lambert, Conner Sullivan, and Cameron Edmonson—kept Ogeden off the board over the final four frames, two of which were handled by Lambert. The loss went to Lardner, now 0-1 with a gaudy ERA of 63.00.

Colucci was the winning pitcher. There was no save.

The season’s still young; 93 games still remain in it. There’s room for plenty for surprises. Let’s wait until Friday, evening at 6:35pm to see what new ones await us in the fourth game of this six game series.

Skahan’s extra time heroics propel Earthquakes to 1-0 win over Timbers, advance to quarterfinals

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The San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI posed for a pic before their showdown with the Portland Timbers in the Round of 16 match of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at PayPal Park on Tuesday MAY 20, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Jack Skahan scored in the 116th minute as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Portland Timbers 1-0 in the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening at PayPal Park.

San Jose advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup where they will find out their opponent on Thursday morning when officials from the U.S Open Cup will perform a draw for the remaining eight teams. Portland bowed out of the tournament after one win.

Preston Judd connected with Mark-Anthony Kaye along the left wing. Kaye made one touched before firing the ball on net that pinballed off of a Timbers defender and then off of Skahan into the back of the net past Timbers goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for his first goal of the tournament.

San Jose started the match with two free kicks from just outside the box in the first six minutes of the contest. They weren’t able to capitalize on either chance as Portland’s defense cleared out both attempts.

The Earthquakes nearly got on the scoreboard in the 20th minute. Cristian Espinoza corralled a long ball and made a back pass into the middle of the box. Ousseni Bouda deked out one defender before depositing the ball high into the stands with his shot attempt.

Portland’s best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes came in the 30th minute off of an Earthquakes turnover. Arie Lassiter’s left footed shot from 15-yards out was gobbled up with a diving save by Quakes goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr.

San Jose head coach Bruce Arena made one change to the lineup at halftime when he substituted in Judd for Hernan Lopez, who made his first start since coming off of his shoulder injury. Lopez also received a yellow card in the 40th minute for a bad foul.

The Timbers had a chance to breakthrough in the 50th minute when Andrew Guerra got behind the Quakes defense on a long ball. However, Edwards Jr. aggressively came out and made a sliding tackle to keep the ball out of harm’s way.

Crepeau was busy in the first 10 minutes of the second half when San Jose had shot attempts on target, including making a fingertip save on a shot by Beau Leroux in the 56th minute that went out for a corner kick.

In the 86th minute Kamal Miller dragged down Espinoza just outside the box. Miller was animated on the call that came late after the play and was issued a yellow card for arguing with the officials. Espinoza’s ensuing free kick was knocked away by Crepeau.

San Jose had a golden opportunity in the 111th minute to break the seal when Benji Kikanovic fed a long ball out to Jack Skahan along the left wing. Skahan dribbled in all alone on Crepeau, but his chip shot attempt was saved by Crepeau.

Edwards Jr stopped all five shots on target to earn his first clean slate of the tournament. Crepeau made eight saves on nine shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 12 corner kicks. Portland had two.

San Jose is now 3-2 against Portland in U.S Open Cup play.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action when they host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday May 24th at 7:30pm at PayPal Park.

Earthquakes battle to 3-3 draw with Messi and Inter Miami

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Inter Miami’s midfielder Lionel Messi (left) battles for the ball with San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Beau Leroux during the teams 3-3 draw at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday MAY 14, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Messi Mania lived up to the hype in Silicon Valley.

Inter Miami came back from a one-goal deficit at halftime in an exciting 3-3 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday evening in front of a pro-Messi sold-out crowd at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose is unbeaten in their last three MLS matches. Inter Miami has earned points in two of its last three matches.

World renowned soccer superstar, many have called him the G.O.A.T., Lionel Messi made his triumphant debut in the South Bay with his Inter Miami squad to 18,000 frenzied fans who consistently chanted his name all night long throughout the match. Messi helped create two of the three goals against San Jose.

Messi only needed 35 seconds to make his impact on the match. After a corner kick, Messi made a pass back up to Jordi Alba and the Inter Miami defender crossed the ball into the middle of the box where an unmarked Maximiliano Falcón headed the ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his first goal of the season.

San Jose (5-6-2) answered two minutes later thanks to a blunder by Miami’s goalkeeper Oscar Ustari. Cristian Espinoza intercepted a clearing attempt by Ustari inside the box. Espinoza found Chico Arango all alone in the middle and the Colombian striker buried the ball into an open net for his team leading ninth goal of the season.

The first half explosion of offense continued for the Earthquakes in the 37th minute when they earned its first lead of the match. Vitor Costa found Ian Harkes just outside the box. Harkes attempted move into the box deflected over to Beau Leroux who drilled a shot off of the hand of Ustari into the bottom right corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

Inter Miami (6-2-4) evened the game in the 44th minute when Messi sent in a long ball out Alba. The Spanish fullback crossed the ball into the middle of the box where Allende finished off the tic-tac-toe play with a one-timer into an open net for his first goal in over two months.

“I think the biggest mistake we could have made tonight was to be too respectful of Messi. Some teams maybe get players around him a little tighter and try to dive the ball. We just want to play our game and try to be the better team tonight. At the same time, obviously have the greatest respect for a player of his skill and talent and all of that. So hopefully the people in the stands enjoyed the game,” Arena said.

The Earthquakes received a scare in the 31st minute when Arango had to leave the pitch after suffering a left leg injury. Arango was able to walk off under his own power but was replaced by Amahl Pellegrino.

San Jose responded and regained the lead four minutes into stoppage time to conclude a wild first half scoring bonanza. Pellegrino found Leroux along the right wing with a cross-pitch pass. Leroux quickly one-touched the ball over to Ian Harkes who beat Ustari with a left footed shot from 18 yards out for his first goal of the season.

Harkes’ goal was the 17th Inter Miami’s suspect defense has conceded in its last six matches.

A controversial foul by Pellegrino, who also received a yellow card on the play from referee Joe Dickerson, just outside the box with seconds left in the opening 45 minutes gave Messi a chance to even the score on the last play of half. However, his free kick sailed just wide to the right of the net.

Inter Miami scored the equalizer in the 52nd minute on Allende’s brace. Messi set up Baltasar Rodríguez along the right wing. Rodríguez crossed the ball into the middle where an unmarked Allende one-timed the ball into an open net for his fourth goal of the season.

The Quakes thought they had regained the lead in the 62nd minute when Ousseni Bouda found Espinoza along the right wing and Espinoza fired a shot into the back of the net past Ustari. However, Bouda was ruled offsides by the linesman on a late call.

Both teams had chances to score the winning goal during the five minutes of stoppage time in the second half. In the second minute, Alba found Messi all alone along the left side of the box. Messi’s shot attempt from point-blank range was kicked away by Daniel at the last moment to keep the score deadlocked. Then in the waning moments of the match, Hernan Lopez, who played his first MLS game since May 1 and came in as a substitute for Pellegrino in the 79th minute, fired a shot from 20 yards out that deflected off of Falcon and just wide right of the net.

Daniel finished the match with two saves on five shots on target while Ustari made three saves on six shots.

“We came out to the field with that in mind, the mindset to deliver three points. There were a lot of moments where we had control of the game, but obviously they have a really good player. So that’s why the game was really open for both teams. But it’s really important to get points. Either it’s three points or at least one point tonight. As I said before, we tried everything. So, we went for the three points, but at least we got one point. We need to keep growing as a team,” Espinoza said.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with seven corner kicks. Inter Miami had two.

San Jose is 0-1-1 all time versus Inter Miami.

Arango moved into second in the MLS Golden Boot race to Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo, who has 10. It was the Colombian forward’s 62nd career MLS goal. He also played in his 200th MLS game tonight.

Espinoza recorded his eighth assist of the season on Arango’s goal to keep the MLS assist lead. It was his 79th career assist, a club record. He also continues to lead the league in key passes (49).

The Quakes continue to lead all MLS with 29 team goals after adding three more tonight. They are also tops in expected goals (29.78).

UP NEXT: San Jose travels to New England to take on the Revolution on Saturday May 17th at 4:30pm at Gillete Stadium.

San Francisco Giants game wrap: Giants’ comeback falls just short, as Diamondbacks hold on for 8-7 win to take series

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Arizona Diamondbacks third base coach Shaun Larkin (88) congratulates Ketel Marte (right) after hitting a two run home run in top of the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Arizona Diamondbacks 8 (23-21)

San Francisco Giants 7 (25-19)

Win: Ryan Thompson (1-0)

Loss: Jordan Hicks (1-6)

Save: Shelby Miller (3)

Time: 3:14

Attendance: 30,078

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants came back from down 8-2 to put the tying run 90 feet away at third base in the bottom of the ninth inning, but at the end, the Diamondbacks held on to win this thriller by a final of 8-7 Wednesday.

After a wild win Tuesday night, the Giants looked to take the series over their division rivals Wednesday. However, Giants’ starter Jordan Hicks has had his struggles in the early going this season, and they would continue Wednesday.

Katel Marte shot a home run just fair down the right field line with one out in the top of the first inning to give the Diamondbacks an early 1-0 lead. Arizona then scored two more runs in the top of the second on RBI base-hits by Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas.

The Diamondbacks led 3-0, and they looked to blow it open early, as they still had the bases loaded with nobody out. Hicks caught a break when Corbin Carroll lined a bullet to first-baseman David Villar, who turned an unassisted double play. Marte, who had homered an inning prior, struck out to end the inning, and Hicks got out of it down by just three.

The Giants had their response against Diamondbacks’ starter Eduardo Rodrigurez in the bottom of the second. Just like last night, the suddenly-hot Christian Koss came up with the bases loaded and one out. He didn’t hit a grand slam like last night, but he fisted a base-hit to right, which knocked in Willy Adames to put the Giants on the board. Heliot Ramos then knocked in catcher Sam Huff with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 3-2.

However, the struggles continued for Hicks in the top of the third. Lourdes Gurriel led off the inning with a double, and after Josh Naylor got Gurriel over to third on a bloop single, Hicks was done after just two-plus innings.

Bob Melvin brought up the reliable Hayden Birdsong. Birdsong has been off to a great start this season, and he came into today’s game with a 1.33 ERA. Unfortunately, this would not be Birdsong’s day, as Eugenio Suarez greeted him with a three-run home run to left to open Arizona’s lead back up to 6-2.

After the Giants went down one, two, three against Rodriguez in the bottom of the third, Birdsong was tagged for another home run with one out in the top of the fourth. This one was the second home run of the day for Katel Marte, who hit a two-run shot over the high wall in right-center. The Diamondbacks now had an 8-2 lead.

However, despite their recent offensive struggles, the Giants have never given up, and they have been known to come back and win games. The Giants put runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom of the fourth for Heliot Ramos. Ramos lined a double down the left field line, and both runners scored to make it 8-4, and the Giants had sent their message.

Birdsong got through the fifth, and Spencer Bivens pitched scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.

Though they went down scoreless in the fifth and sixth, the Giants continued to chip away at Arizona’s lead in the bottom of the seventh against Ryne Nelson. Wilmer Flores singled with one out, and Jung Hoo Lee hit a two-run home run to right-center to make it 8-6.

Erik Miller threw a one, two, three top of the eighth, and Nelson retired the first two men he faced in the bottom of the eighth. Then there was some drama. Koss drew a walk, and Heliot Ramos reached on an infield hit to third. However, Koss rounded second and collided with Diamondbacks’ shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. Koss fell to the ground and appeared to be hurt, and he was promptly tagged out.

However, after Melvin came out to argue, the umpires called Type 2 obstruction on Perdomo. Type 2 obstruction is called when a runner is impeded by a fielder without the ball while a play is not being made on him. With type 2 obstruction, the play continues, and then the umpires determine where the runner would have gone had the obstruction not occurred.

Usually, if a player stops after Type 2 obstruction is called and stays put or assumes he’s entitled to the next base—as is the case with Type 1 obstruction, which is called when a runner is being impeded by a fielder without the ball while a play is being made on him—and he gets tagged out in the process, the out stands.

Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo was furious. His argument very well may have been that Koss was sitting on the ground after the obstruction, and thus should have been out. However, since Koss was hurt and unable to get up and go back to second, he was awarded second base to nullify the obstruction. What also complicated things was that the obstruction was not called until after the play ended.

First Base Umpire and Crew Chief Mark Ripperger explained the crew’s decision to Lovullo, who would be thrown out of the game. On the other hand, Melvin and Giants Third Base Coach Matt Williams did not like that Koss was unable to move up to third.

However, as I mentioned earlier, Koss would have been awarded third on Type 1 obstruction if a play was being made on him while he was impeded. Since this was Type 2 obstruction, because play was not being made on Koss, he had to stay at second.

After all the chaos ended, Wilmer Flores popped out to end the inning.

Giants’ closer Ryan Walker pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the ninth, and the Giants rallied against Shelby Miller in the bottom of the ninth.

Matt Chapman hit a base-hit to left with one out, and then Willy Adames hit a ground-rule double to left-center. After being down 8-2 back in the fourth inning, the Giants had the tying run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Patrick Bailey, who came in for Huff to catch in the top of the inning, drew a walk to load the bases for Mike Yastrzemski. Yastrzemski struck out swinging, and Melvin sent in LaMonte Wade to pinch-hit for Villar. Wade walked, and Chapman scored to make it 8-7.

Now, the tying run was standing just 90 feet away at third, and the winning run was in scoring position at second. Up came Koss with a chance to be the hero. He took the first two pitches for strikes, and then he took two more pitches to work the count to 2-2. At the end, Koss flew out to center-fielder Alek Thomas in shallow right-center, and the Giants came up just short.

The Diamondbacks ended up taking the series, and it was a tough loss for the Giants. However, the fact that the Giants came back from down 8-2 to put the tying run at third in the ninth shows just how good, resilient and determined the 2025 Giants are. It was a tough loss, but the Giants should hold their heads high as they leave the ballpark and be ready to go against the A’s on Friday.

Eduardo Rodriguez only pitched four innings, so it was Ryan Thomas, who pitched the bottom of the fifth for the Diamondbacks, who got the win. Jordan Hicks took the loss, and Shelby Miller picked up his third save.

The Giants fall to 25-19, and they will get a day off on Thursday. On Friday, the Oakland/Sacramento A’s will come to Oracle Park for a three-game set. Giants’ ace Logan Well (4-3, 2.60 ERA) will take the ball in the series opener Friday night. The A’s have yet to announce their starter.

First pitch will be at 7:15 p.m.