Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

Trying to get their first win of the season over the Colorado Rockies, the San Francisco Giants discovered one huge problem, the double play.

On two different occasions, the Giants grounded into huge double plays and the Rockies took advantage of the Giants misfortunes, as they won for the fourth straight time, by the final score of 6-4 at Coors Field.

Casey McGehee grounded into a double play in the top of the fourth inning, as Nolan Arenado dove to his right, got to his feet, stepped on third base for one and threw to first get McGehee by a step.

Joe Panik was the tying run with one out in the top of the ninth inning, and Gregor Blanco on first base.

Panik hit a ground ball to D.J. LeMaieu at second, who tossed to Daniel DeCalso at second for one and onto Justin Morneau at first to end the game.

Rafael Ynoa hit the eventual game-winning double in the bottom of the sixth inning that scored LeMahieu.

Corey Dickerson later hit an RBI single for the Rockies final run of the evening.

Justin Maxwell continues to be a spark in the lineup in place of the injured and emotional team leader Hunter Pence.

Maxwell hit a 447-foot two-run home run in the top of the second inning to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately, Giants starter Chris Heston was unable to hold the lead for long, as the Rockies quickly tied it up in the bottom of the second.

Nick Hundley doubled to right field to score Morneau, and then LeMahieu tied up the game with a single to center to score Hundley.

Angel Pagan then gave the Giants the lead once again, as he singled to centerfield to score Blanco in the top of the third inning.

That lead would last a half-inning, as Charlie Blackmon would hit a 424-foot home tun yo straightaway centerfield to tie up the game.

Once again, the Giants would retake the lead in the top of the fifth inning, as Brandon Belt hit an opposite field double to score Panik.

Heston would then give away the lead and eventually the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Rockies would win for the fourth time in as many chances against the defending World Champion Giants.

In all, Heston went five and one-thirds, allowing six runs on 11 hits, while walking one and striking out four.

Bruce Bochy was ejected from the game for arguing a called strike three against Brandon Crawford as the eighth inning came to a close.

By Jeremy Harness

On the day before she turns 18, Lydia Ko, the world’s No. 1 female golfer, returned to a familiar position in the first round: on top.

Ko, who won this tournament last year, shot an opening-round 67 to grab the early lead at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club on Thursday.

“I hit the ball pretty good where I wasn’t in too much trouble,” she said. “(But) this is a very tough golf course. You need to position yourself well, and even if you’re in the fairway, sometimes it’s really hard to hold it on the green.”

She certainly hit her share of fairways (11 of her 14 tee shots found the short grass), while also hitting 13 greens to maximize her opportunities to score.

Right behind her, however, is 54-year-old Northern California native Juli Inkster, who fired a five-under 67 to go into the second day of the tournament one shot off the lead and tied for second place.

Inkster had a very nice-sized gallery for the opening round, and it is only expected to grow as long as she keeps playing the way she is.

“It’s always nice to be able to sleep min your own bed and drive a little north of (the) 280 (freeway),” said Inkster, who added that she has several fellow players staying at her house for the weekend.

However, while one NorCal native is enjoying one of her finest outings in some time, another had one that she would rather forget very quickly. Pleasanton native Paula Creamer shot a 10-over 82 on Thursday, having a miserable time on the greens – she had 34 putts in the opening round, including a pair of damaging three-putts – and only hit 11 of 18 greens.

By: Ben Leonard
Follow @ben___leonard

It seemed as if being away from the not-so friendly confines of Oracle Arena had hamstrung the Warriors, who were down 20 points at the end of the third quarter. Bench player Ryan Anderson had been dominating stellar defender Draymond Green, who had allowed 23 points to the role player at the 6:01 mark in the fourth, with Golden State down 101-84. But it didn’t matter, with the Warriors riding the third largest fourth quarter comeback in NBA playoff history to beat the Pelicans 122-118 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Who else but Stephen Curry orchestrated the Warriors’ rally for the ages, scoring 40 points. The Warriors had lost their last 356 games trailing by at least 20 going into the fourth, but it didn’t matter to Curry, who scored 15 points in overtime and the final quarter. He hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of the Pelicans and their star Anthony Davis, who missed a free throw attempt with 8.6 seconds left that would have clinched the win. To add insult to injury, Curry made the shot over the extended arms of Davis.

Overall, it was somewhat of a rough shooting night from the field for Curry, making just 10-29 shots from the floor, but he excelled at the line and in the clutch, making 13-14 attempts from the charity stripe, including the final two to seal the win.Curry wasn’t alone in the turnaround, helped by five Warriors scoring in double digits, including star guard Klay Thompson’s 28. Shaun Livingston chipped in with 12 of his own off of the bench.

Despite all of their efforts to come back, the Warriors almost blew the game. Up 121-118 with 10 seconds left, Thompson fouled Davis off of the ball, giving him a free throw attempt, which he made, and the Pelicans the ball back. Luckily for Golden State, Davis got the ball on the next possession, tried a desperation driving layup, but Andrew Bogut’s strong defense in his face was too much to overcome. Davis bricked the shot, well too strong, and Thompson grabbed the board, who was immediately fouled, giving Curry his two free throw attempts. Davis lead the team with 29 points and 15 rebounds on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to beat the surging Warriors. It might be early, but the Warriors look like the team of destiny.

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants, who had looked nothing like the defending World Series champs for the first couple of weeks of the season, have suddenly reverted back to championship form against their hated rivals.

A night after Tim Lincecum shut down the Dodgers in the series opener Tuesday, Joe Panik’s sac fly brought in pinch runner Gregor Blanco to give the Giants a dramatic 3-2 win before a crowd of 42,259 at AT&T Park, after the much-anticipated Madison Bumgarner-Clayton Kershaw throwdown was declared a draw.

Bumgarner had the advantage for much of the game, but he relinquished that after he gave up a two-run homer to Alex Guerrero to tie the game in the seventh inning. He was then taken out of the game, and, since Guerrero had pinch-hit for him, so was Kershaw.

The Giants’ bullpen, which had not been as sharp as it was in key moments last year, was brilliant on Wednesday, as George Kontos, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla combined to keep the Dodgers off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

The Giants loaded the bases with one out, and even after the Dodgers crowded the infield by inserting an extra player – right fielder Yasiel Puig, in this case – at third. It didn’t matter, as Panik flied to deep right, and Blanco scored easily to give the second baseman his first career walk-off RBI.

“It was a nice piece of hitting,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He didn’t play around. He hit the first pitch he saw, and it was a pitch he could handle. He’s gotten a lot better at-bats. He’s got great poise.”

As for the starters, Bumgarner surrendered a pair of runs on six hits while striking out six and walking two, while Kershaw also gave up two runs on only three hits while issuing only one walk against nine strikeouts.

“Both of them threw the ball very well,” Bochy said. “I look forward to a matchup like this. I thought it would be a tight ballgame, and we did some little things (to win), and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

For the first two innings, Bumgarner v. Kershaw was shaping up to be the pitching duel that it always seems to be expected, when the completely unexpected happened in the third inning.

Joaquin Arias, who entered Wednesday’s game batting .143, led off the inning with a single, which Brandon Crawford followed by drawing a walk after an epic battle with Kershaw, perhaps the most dominant regular-season starting pitcher in baseball.

Bumgarner himself moved things forward for the Giants’ offense. He seemed to back out completely in his attempt to lay down a bunt – as if he were just trying to just make the slightest contact and then get the heck out of the way – but he was successful in landing the ball down the third-base line and move the runners up.

Arias then scored on Nori Aoki’s grounder, and then Matt Duffy’s single brought in Crawford to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, as a sign that things were going the Giants’ way, Aoki, who led off the inning with a single, was picked off of first by more than five feet. However, he was somehow able to evade the tag of first baseman Justin Turner and make it back to the bag safely.

But that was rendered moot when Aoki was caught stealing second two pitches later, and the Giants could not do any more damage against Kershaw.

That proved to be costly in the seventh, as after a leadoff single, Guerrero crushed a stray Bumgarner fastball and sent it midway into the left-field seats to tie the game up.

Guerrero, who entered Wednesday with a .400 average, is now 3-for-4 in his career at AT&T Park.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Whenever the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers face each it get it is always a big deal.

Tim Lincecum went six innings, allowing one runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out five and the Giants would go on to defeat the Dodgers 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 41,386, the 335th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

It could be the middle of April, or the end of the season and these ancient rivals can always one up each other.

The Giants maybe in fifth place, but you could not tell them that on this night against the first place Dodgers.

Brandon Crawford continued his hot hitting, as he singled in Justin Maxwell in the bottom of the second inning.

Maxwell tripled into the right-centerfield gap just out of the reach of former Palo Alto High School star Joc Pederson.

Buster Posey gave the Giants what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the third inning, as he singled off of eventual losing pitcher Brett Anderson.

Posey drove in Joe Panik, who singled with one out after Nori Aoki grounded out to leadoff the inning.

Aoki drove in the Giants third run on the evening in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he beat out an infield single.

On the play, not only did Maxwell score, but Crawford scored as well, when Anderson’s throw got by Adrian Gonzalez at first base and an error was called on Gonzalez.

The Dodgers would get on the board in the top of the fifth inning, as Juan Uribe hit a double up the left-center gap and would then score on a double by pinch hitter Alex Guerrero.

Crawford made the play of the night in the top of the sixth inning, as he made a diving stop on a Howie Kendrick hit ball and with his glove, flipped to Panik for one and then onto a Posey to complete the dazzling double play.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged the call, but after just a 49-second review, the play stood and the inning was over.

Anderson, who also pitched for the Oakland A’s went four innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and striking out one.

With the Dodgers threatening in the top of the eighth inning, with two on and one out, Yaisel Puig came to the plate.

On the only pitch that Sergio Romo threw the slugger, Puig hit a foul ball that Maxwell dove at feet first in the wall in foul territory and made an outstanding catch for the second out.

Javier Lopez came on to replace Romo, and he was able to get Adrian Gonzalez on a ground ball to Panik and Lopez covered first base for the final out of the inning.
Maxwell not only did it with the glove, but he hit his first home run as a member of the Giants in the bottom of the eighth inning against Pedro Baez.

It was a two-run home run for Maxwell, as Andrew Susac walked to leadoff the inning.

Things got dicey in the ninth inning, as Jean Machi gave up two singles and then a walk to Pederson that loaded the bases and brought the tying run into the on-deck circle. That would be it for Machi, as Bruce Bochy went to his closer Santiago Casilla.

With Justin Turner at the plate, Casilla unleashed a wild pitch that Kendrick to score from third base.

Luckily for Casilla and the Giants, Turner ended the game, as he grounded out to Panik for the final out.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Paul Goldschmidt is a terror against the San Francisco Giants, and his two-run home run in the first inning showed why.

Goldschmidt hit a two-run hone run off of Tim Hudson in the top of the first inning, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 5-1 before a cried of 41,528, the 334th consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

Since his major league debut on August 1, 2011, Goldschmidt leads all players with 12 home runs, 32 extra base hits, 45 runs batted in and 46 walks in that span.

Rookie Yasmani Tomas picked up his first major league hit in the top of the ninth inning against Jeremy Affeldt.

Tim Hudson saw his record fall to 0-2 on the season, as he went five innings, allowing five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six.

Brandon Crawford went 2-for-2 with a walk for the Giants, who have lost nine out of their last 10 games, including six of seven on this homestand.

Nori Aoki went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a triple, and also scored the lone Giants run on the afternoon, when he scored on a Joe Panik single in the bottom of the first inning.

Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, this is the fifth time during that time that the Giants have started the season with 4-10record.

The Giants also started 4-10 in 1980, 1983, 1985 and 2000.

NOTES: After their first off day of the 2015 season, the Giants return to AT&T Park on Tuesday night when Tim Lincecum takes the mound against Brett Anderson and the Los Angeles Dosgersm

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On a night where the San Francisco Giants celebrated their 2014 World Championship by issuing the rings, Chris Heston got them into the win column at home.

Heston pitched 7.2 innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while walking just one and striking out six and the Giants stopped their eight-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks before a crowd of 41,756, the 333rd consecutive sellout at AT&T Park.

The 7.2 innings pitched by Heston are the most pitched by a Giants rookie since Madison Bumgarner tossed eight innings against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on July 6, 2010.

Going back to 1914, Heston is the first Giants pitcher to start a season with three straight starts of six plus innings and one or fewer runs in each outing, thus according to STATS, LLC.

Brandon Crawford hit his third home of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Crawford leads the team with three home runs, and is tied with Jed Lowrie of the Houston Astros with the most home runs by a shortstop.

With the victory, the Giants snapped their eight-game losing streak, their longest such streak since losing eight in a row from June 13-22, 2007.

Angel Pagan saw his 16-game hitting streak against the Diamondbacks come to an end, as he went 0-for-4 on the evening.

Brandon Belt broke out of a 0-for-20 slump, as he singled in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Evan Marshall.

Rubby De La Rosa pitched 6.2 innings for the Diamondbacks, allowing four runs on nine hits, while walking two and striking out seven.

NOTES: Jake Peavy was placed on the disabled list with a back strain, and the Giants have recalled Andrew Susac from Sacramento.

While with the Rivercats, Susac was hitting .350 (7-for-20) with three doubles and an RBI in six games.

Tim Hudson takes the mound for the Giants on Sunday, while Jeremy Hellickson takes the ball for the Diamondbacks.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, April 17, 2015

The San Jose SaberCats remain undefeated after four games of the Arena Football League schedule Friday after upending the winless Jacksonville Sharks 68-48 at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Jacksonville.
Sharks fullback Derrick Ross carried 11 times for 35 yards, but also scored four touchdowns, including his 150th career Arena League TD. Joe Hills snagged 14 passes for 155 yards and four scores for the Sharks.

San Jose quarterback Erik Meyer threw for a season-high eight touchdowns while completing 19-of-30 for 246 yards. Anthony “Tiger” Jones caught seven of those passes for 100 yards, and Reggie Gray grabbed nine passes for 80 yards and three scores.

Wide receiver Adron Tennell returned to the SaberCats starting lineup and contributed five catches for 65 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side, linebacker David Hyland had an interception and led the SaberCats with 14 tackles.

Touchdowns by Gray and Odie Armstrong gave San Jose (4-0) a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, but the Sharks (0-4) bounced back with a 1-yard TD run by Ross that pulled Jacksonville to within 21-14. A TD pass from Meyer to Gray gave the SaberCats a 28-24 halftime lead.

In the second half, Hills hauled in a touchdown pass for the Sharks, but Gray took the ensuing kickoff 58 yards for a TD – San Jose’s first kickoff return score of the season. The SaberCats built a 48-38 fourth quarter lead, which Jacksonville cut to 48-45 on an 18-yard touchdown reception by Jerod Harvery.

With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Meyer found Stephens in the back of the end zone for a San Jose touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, SaberCats defensive end Donte Paige-Moss recovered the ball off the upright, giving San Jose the ball at the Sharks 8-yard-line. A Gray TD reception with 3:46 remaining gave San Jose a 62-45 lead.

A late interception by DB Erik Crocker sealed the victory for the SaberCats.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-It maybe a new day, but it is the exact same result for the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants.

Since winning the series opener on April 9 against the San Diego Padres, the Giants have dropped eight in a row, with their latest coming in a 9-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park.

The eight-game losing streak is longest by the team since dropping eight in a row from June 13-22, 2007.

Also with the loss, the Giants have matched their worst start to a season thru 12 games since moving to San Francisco back in 1958.

The Giants also started 3-9 in 1983, 1985 and 2000, in that 2000 season, the Giants would regroup and end up winning the National League West by 11 games before losing to the eventual National League Champion New York Mets in four games in the National League Division Series.

Jake Peavy was cruising through the first two innings, despite allowing a single and a walk in the second inning.

In was in the third inning that the wheels fell off the wagon for Peavy, as he allowed three runs on four hits in the frame.

Usual Giants killer Paul Goldschmidt was up to his old tricks, as he lashed a single to centerfield that scored Ender Inciarte with the Diamondbacks first run of the game.

The Goldschmidt single was the third single in a row after starting pitcher Josh Collmenter grounded out to leadoff the inning.

After the Collmenter ground out, Inciarte singled, then A.J. Pollock singled prior to Goldschmidt’s single up the middle.

Jake Lamb then hit a two-run triple that scored both Pollock and Goldschmidt for the Diamondbacks second and third runs of the inning.

Collmenter then helped out his cause in the top of the fourth inning, as he singled to right field to score Chris Owings.

Following Pollock’s second of four hits on the evening, Peavy was pulled by Giants manager Bruce Bochy in favor of George Kontos.

In just three and two-thirds innings of work, Peavy gave up four runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out two.

Kontos allowed a run in the top of the fifth inning, as Tuffy Gosewisch singled to score David Peralta, who led off the inning with a single of his own.

The runs for the Diamondbacks did not stop there, as Ryan Vogelsong gave up in the top of the sixth inning, when Peralta picked up his second hit of the game to score Pollock.

On the other side of things, Collmenter was cruising, as he threw a complete game shutout, as he allowed just three hits, while walking one and striking out one and won for the first time in 2015.

Collmenter picked up his second hit of the night in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled to right field and advanced to second base on a fielding error by Gregor Blanco that allowed Owings to score from first base.

The night was not done for Collmenter at the plate, as he picked up his career-high third hit of the night in the top of the ninth inning.

By Morris Phillips

At some point, the Giants will have to offer their loyal, ticket-buying fan base something more than the afterglow of three World Series titles in the last five seasons.

That process would naturally start with winning games along the shores of McCovey Cove, but it hasn’t happened yet.  The Giants lost for the fourth consecutive day at home on Thursday, 7-6 to the Diamondbacks in 12 innings.

Aaron Hill’s two-out, two-run double off Sergio Romo decided it, but at least there was a whole lot of Giants’ fight before and after Hill’s game-winner.

The Giants trailed 4-1 in the seventh only to tie it with Brandon Crawford’s two-run homer in the seventh and a single run in the ninth.  When Arizona regained the lead, the Giants rallied to tie it in the tenth.  But in both rallies, the Giants loaded the bases but failed to push across the winning run.

The loss was the Giants seventh straight overall but this time their offense wasn’t dormant.  They banged out 11 hits and grinded in some critical at-bats.  But they stranded a bunch of baserunners, including six by Brandon Belt, who suffered through a frustrating 0 for 6 night.

“The thing you have to like is we kept coming,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We didn’t quit.”

Madison Bumgarner pitched the first seven innings but allowed damaging home runs to Mark Trumbo and Paul Goldschmidt and departed on the hook for the loss.  The Giants’ rally saved Mad Bum but his ERA sits at an unsightly 5.29 after three starts.

“I felt good enough to get outs, but they call it mid-season form for a reason,” Bumgarner said. “It’s tough getting to that.”

The Giants have dropped seven in a row for the first time since 2010.  Their 3-8 start to the season is tied for their worst since moving to San Francisco.