Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Chase Anderson was eight outs away from baseball immortality, but Buster Posey got in the way of that.

Anderson threw 6.1 innings of no-hit ball on his way to going seven innings, allowing just that one hit, walking one and striking out two and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants 1-0 before 41,952, the 358th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Posey hit a comebacker off of Anderson’s calf, and Posey beat it out down the line for the Giants first hit of the game.

The win by the Diamondbacks broke their four-fame losing streak, and gave Anderson his second win of the season.

Madison Bumgarner went eight innings, allowing nine hits (all singles), walking three and striking out seven. This was the first time since last August that Bumgarner pitched at least eight innings in back-to-back starts.

Ender Inciarte drove in the only run of the game in the top of the second inning, as he singled in Wellington Castillo, who singled to lead off the inning.

Joe Panik saw his 15-game hitting streak come to an end, as he went 0-for-4. Panik’s streak of reaching base in 23 straight games also ended. Both streaks were major league highs thus far during the 2015 season.

This was the sixth straight loss by the Giants at AT&T Park, their longest such streak since losing seven in a row from May 14-31, 2008.

Prior to the game it was announced that Hunter Pence was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and the team selected to purchase the contract of right-handed pitcher Michael Broadway from Sacramento.

NHL COMMENTARY

By DANIEL DULLUM

Sports Radio Service

Thursday, June 11, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – In a not-so-surprising move, the Glendale City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to break a 15-year, $225 million lease agreement signed by Glendale and IceArizona – the owners of the Arizona Coyotes – after the troubled team was purchased from the NHL two years ago.

Glendale’s leadership team (that’s a loose term) has never been happy with the terms of the deal and on Wednesday, the city employed the same deft touch that convinced the National Football League to move most of its Super Bowl activities to downtown Phoenix.

While the City of Glendale said it would proceed to book events at Gila River Arena, the Coyotes ownership group responded with a $200 million lawsuit against Glendale, along with a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from ending the original deal.

Aiding the Coyotes in this action is an army of high-end attorneys on retainer with the NHL, which has no intention of moving the club out of the desert and away from a top ten television market in the US.

In a statement, the NHL called Glendale’s actions “outrageous and irresponsible,” adding that the league “stands by and will fully support, the Arizona Coyotes in their efforts to vindicate their contractual rights.”

This is a legal battle that could drag on indefinitely. But remember, Glendale is dealing with a league that, 20 years ago, shut itself down for an entire season to get what it wanted. In this particular game of chicken, the NHL won’t be the one that flinches.

Rumors that used to bounce around are making a comeback, having the Coyotes land anywhere from Seattle to Portland, Ore., to Quebec City to Las Vegas. But the NHL has too much time and resources invested in establishing a franchise in a market that has had a healthy core of hockey fans since the old Phoenix Roadrunners from the Western Hockey League showed up in 1967. But the NHL and the Coyotes are still trying to recover from the damage inflicted – on and off the ice – by four years of being underfinanced wards of the league.

Sports talk radio in the Valley have again revved up old complaints about the team being “way out there in Glendale,” about 25 miles from downtown Phoenix, wishing they would move back to U.S. Airways Center, where they played after moving from Winnipeg. That would be nice, except the old obstructed seat issues that forced the Coyotes out in the first place still exist.

There’s talk that the NBA Suns are looking for a new playpen, claiming their 23-year-old arena is now antiquated. The City of Phoenix hasn’t said anything publically about that. It should also be noted that while a new arena to host both the Suns and Coyotes would solve the Coyotes’ problems, the hockey team needs the Suns more than the other way around.

The Suns were the first major league franchise here, and that status carries significant weight. It’s the Suns’ town. If a shared arena downtown came to pass, there’s no question the Suns would get the primary scheduling dates. Coyotes management has to know that. And the Suns know they could get a newer arena without any involvement from the Coyotes.

If the restraining order is upheld, the Coyotes will play at Gila River Arena. If not, a decision must come quickly, and in all likelihood, they would have to accept secondary dates at U.S. Airways, as the old Veterans Memorial Coliseum is exactly that – old. Fifty years old. It’s beyond doubtful that Phoenix or Maricopa County has any interest in pouring money into the market’s first “big” arena.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that one Phoenix city council member suggested that a return to downtown for the Coyotes could be seriously considered.

If that happens, the Glendale City Council will learn quickly what it’s like to have a white elephant on its hands.

Daniel Dullum covers the NHL for Sports Radio Service.

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants could not complete the three-game sweep at City Field on Thursday, but at least they earned a valuable series win, particularly one on the road against a team with a winning record.

The sweep was taken away in the bottom of the ninth, when Michael Cuddyer’s single off reliever Sergio Romo brought in Curtis Granderson to hand the Giants a 5-4 loss to the New York Mets.

Tim Lincecum didn’t pitch terribly, but he ended up using too many pitches in a short period of time, which made his numbers look worse than they actually were. He gave up a pair of earned runs (three total) on only four hits, walking three and striking out five while keeping the Giants in the game.

However, he was only able to go 4 2/3 innings, due in large part to the fact that he used 102 pitches in the process.

He rolled through the first three innings without surrendering a run but ran into a little trouble in the fourth, as Travis d’Arnaud singled in a run to cut the Giants’ lead to a single run. In the next inning, Lincecum saw his lead evaporate and found his team trailing by one after a sac fly followed by a double by Cuddyer gave the Mets a 3-2 lead.

After that hit, Lincecum was pulled for Yusmeiro Petit, who got the Giants out of that inning without any further damage.

Brandon Crawford blasted the Giants back into the lead with a two-run homer in the sixth inning with two outs. However, Granderson responded in the next frame with an RBI single to tie things up off reliever Hunter Strickland to set up Cuddyer’s walk-off to send the Giants home on a sour note.

Regardless, the Giants will now head home – after a successful road trip – for a three-game series against Arizona that starts Friday before the Seattle Mainers come into town for a two-gamer at AT&T Park. The Giants and Mariners will then head north to Seattle for a two-game set at Safeco Field.

By Jeremy Harness

Joe Panik apparently really likes playing in New York.

Just one day after hitting a home run in helping the Giants take the series opener against the Metsat Citi Field, Panik, a native of the New York area, got the Giants on the right foot again with a two-run homer off Mets fireballer Matt Harvey in another win for the visiting team Wednesday night.

With the fact that rookie Chris Heston fired a no-hitter at the Mets Tuesday night, Wednesday starter Tim Hudson obviously had a tough act to follow.

Hudson lost his own no-hot bid right away, as he gave up a single to outfielder Curtis Granderson to lead off the game. He struggled to get out of the first inning, and Wilmer Flores eventually tied the game with a two-run single.

The Mets scored a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to give themselves a two-run lead, but the Giants teed off on Harvey in the sixth.

Panik led off the inning with a single before Angel Pagan worked the count full against Harvey before drawing a big walk. The next batter, Buster Posey, responded with a double that scored both players. Brandon Belt then launched a two-run homer that gave the Giants the lead, and right fielder Justin Maxwell would add a solo homer to cap a monster five-run inning that catapulted the Giants into the lead for good.

That was enough to give Hudson, who pitched five innings and actually left the game trailing 4-2, his fourth win of the season. From that point, the Giants used five different relievers to hold off the Mets and take the second game of this three-game series.

Meanwhile, the Giants are inching themselves closer to the National League West lead. However, the division-leading Dodgers held off the Arizona Diamondbacks to remain a game in front of the second-place Giants.

By Jeremy Kahn

Jeff Francoeur drove in more runs in two games for the Philadelphia Phillies than he did in 23 games for the San Francisco Giants during the 2013 season.

Francoeur hit a two-run pinch hit double off of Javier Lopez in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the Phillies defeated the Giants 6-4 at Citizens Bank Park.

Over the last two games, Francoeur drove in six runs, including a grand slam off of Madison Bumgarner on Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Vogelsong gave up a leadoff single to Freddy Galvis, then after a double play, Ben Revere walked and then Francoeur lashed a double down rage left field line off of Lopez.

Vogelsong took the loss, as he fell to 4-4 on the season, as he went 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.

Joe Panik picked up three hits for the Giants, extending his career-high hitting streak up to 12 games.

After falling behind 2-1 going into the third inning, Angel Pagan tied up the game with a double that scored Panik and Brandon Belt gave the Giants the lead after grounding into a fielders choice that scored Pagan.

Just one-half inning later, Odubel Herrera tied up the game, as he hit a Vogelsong offering 433 feet to center field.

Buster Posey got the Giants within two runs in the top of the ninth inning, as he singled in Nori Aoki, who reached on an error by Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon.

After Belt singled Posey to third base with two outs, Papelbon struck out Brandon Crawford to end the game.

By Jeremy Kahn

Madison Bumgarner threw two bad pitches on the afternoon.

Bumgarner went eight innings, allowing five runs on six hits, walking not a single batter and striking out 11 and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5 at Citizens Bank Park. It was Bumgarner’s seventh win of the season.

It was second straight win for the reigning World Champions after a five-game losing streak against the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Bumgarner gave up a grand slam to former teammate Jeff Francoeur and a solo home run to Andres Blanco.

Nori Aoki continues to hit well on the road, as he picked up three hits and drove in two runs and raised his batting average on the road .407, the best in the major leagues.

Once again, Santiago Casilla got the Phillies out in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to pickup his 17th save in 19 chances. It was the 10th loss in the last 12 games for the struggling Phillies.

After a 29 minute rain delay to begin the game, the Giants got to Phillies starter Severino Gonzalez early and often.

Angel Pagan drove in the first run of the game with a single, and then Brandon Belt hit a sacrifice fly to give the Giants 2-0 lead before the home-standing Phillies took the plate in the bottom of the first inning.

The Giants broke the game wide open in the top of the third inning, as they score four runs and chased Gonzalez from the game.

Bumgarner picked up two hits and a run batted in.

By Jeremy Kahn

Maybe seeing the President of the United States was something to possibly change the San Francisco Giants misfortunes of late.

Buster Posey hit a home run over the center field wall in the top of the seventh inning, as the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 at Citizens Bank Park.

Posey broke a 4-4 tie with his ninth home run of the season with two outs in the frame off of Phillies reliever Luis Garcia. It was second hit of the night for Posey, who ended up going 2-for-4 and broke out of a 4-for-28 slump.

The Posey home run made a winner out of Tim Lincecum, who skipped the trip to meet President Barack Obama on Thursday afternoon, so that he could prepare for the Phillies in Philadelphia.

In six innings of work, Lincecum gave up four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out four and improved his record to 6-3 on the season,

Matt Duffy and Justin Maxwell also hit home runs for the Giants, who put an end to their five-game losing streak.

Both Ryan Howard and Maikel Franco each hit home runs for the Phillies, who have dropped nine out of their 11.

The Phillies eighth inning ended in a bizarre way to say the least. With two on and one out, former Giants outfielder Jeff Francoeur hit a flyball to shallow right field that was caught and with Ben Revere running on the pitch and reaching second base, but he failed to touch second base on the way back to first base. The Giants then appealed the play and Revere was called out to end the inning.

Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect ninth inning to pickup his 16th save of the season.

By Jeremy Harness

Looking on the bright side for the Giants this week, at least they made their way to the White House to be honored by President Obama.

Other than that, there wasn’t a lot to smile about if you’re a Giants fan. After briefly grabbing the National League West lead from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants fell back down to earth with a thud this week as the Pittsburgh Pirates paid a visit to AT&T Park.

All the Pirates did was sweep the Giants in a three-game series and send the home team to a five-game losing streak to undo a five-game winning streak that saw the Giants catapult into the division lead.

Thankfully for the Giants, they get a change of scenery, with their road trip starting against a struggling opponent.

The Philadelphia Phillies, who have fallen on hard times since losing to the Giants in the 2010 National League Championship Series in six games, await the Giants’ arrival for a three-game series that starts Friday at Citizens Bank Park.

Tim Lincecum, who has had a nice season thus far with a 5-3 record and a 3.00 earned-run average, will take the hill in the series opener against former Giant Jerome Williams (3-5, 5.49 ERA), who has certainly had his ups and downs this year.

The Giants will then bring Madison Bumgarner, who has followed up a dominant season during which he willed the Giants to another World Series title with a 6-2 record an ERA of 3.12, front and center on Saturday opposite Philadelphia’s Severino Gonzalez.

Ryan Vogelsong (4-3, 4.26 ERA) will try to get things back on track in the series finale on Sunday against Philly’s Sean O’Sullivan (1-4, 5.03 ERA).

If the Giants are going to brings things back together, the best opportunity would be this weekend.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After a six-game winning streak put the San Francisco Giants, the wheels have fallen off over the four days.

Chris Heston could not get out of the fourth inning, as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Giants 7-4 before a sellout crowd of 41,913, the 356th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

After the Giants took a 2-0 at the end of the first inning, things seemed to be going well for the Giants; however the third inning came and everything imploded.

The Pirates scored four runs, as Andrew McCutchen got the Pirates on the board with a single that scored Josh Harrison, who led off the inning with a single. Gregory Polanco scored the tying run on a Heston wild pitch.

Pedro Alvarez then gave the visitors from the “Steel City,” a two-run lead, when he doubled on McCutchen and Starling Marte.

After the Pirates took the lead in the top of the third inning, the Giants came back to tie it up, when Brandon Crawford hit his eighth home run; however it came with a little controversy.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle challenged the call of a home run, as it looked like a fan reached over the fence and interfered with the ball.

Hurdle’s challenge was denied, as after a four minute thirty five review, the play stood and the game was tied.

Nick Walker then gave the Pirates the lead for good in the top of the fourth inning, as he singled to score McCutchen.

Jordy Mercer gave the Pirates a two-run in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit his first home run of the season.

McCutchen then drove in the final Pirates run of the night in the top of the sixth inning that scored Polanco.

Heston lasted 3.2 innings, allowing five rubs on seven hits, walking three and striking out six, as his record fell to 5-4 on the season.

A.J. Burnett pitched five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five and improved his record to 6-1 on the season.

Joe Panik grounded into a force play with the bases loaded to end of the bottom of the eighth inning.

Hunter Pence tried to give the Giants hope in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he led off the inning with a single off of Marc Melancon. Unfortunately, Posey and Brandon Belt each grounded out to second base, and Crawford popped out to Harrison for the final out.