Giants’ playoff push starts off with a nudge in 7-2 loss to the Rockies

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants couldn’t afford to take a night off. But they took one anyway.

The final week of the regular season placed the Giants right where they need to be: at home in Oracle Park where they’ve won 13 of 16. But with starter Johnny Cueto clearly off his game, the Giants fell quietly to the Rockies, 7-2.

The silver lining, if one exists? The Cardinals, Marlins, Phillies and Brewers–the majority of the quintet of clubs the Giants are competing against for the last two National League playoff spots–all lost as well giving all parties a 24-hour reprieve in what figures to be a furious finish that may not be completely decided by Sunday.

Tonight’s lone winner? The Reds, who beat the Brewers, 6-3, winning for the eight time in nine games. The Reds are over .500 for the first time since winning their first game of the season, and currently occupy the seventh seed.

Had the Giants won Monday, they could have moved into the sixth slot. Instead, their back below .500 and a half-game behind a pair of teams that currently hold tiebreakers against them.

Cueto hadn’t pitched since September 13 due to a sore hip, and he didn’t appear healed after allowing a pair of runs in the first, a home run to Kevin Pillar in the third, and balking in a run in the fourth. Cueto’s outing marked the third time in five starts that the veteran has allowed at least six runs. On Monday, he allowed seven runs on eight hits and couldn’t finish the sixth inning.

 

Raiders shock Saints in Las Vegas debut, 34-24

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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) passes in the first half during the Raiders’ first home game against the New Orleans Saints at Allegiant Stadium Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (Photo: Steve Marcus)

By Shawn McCullough

The first NFL game ever played in Las Vegas was a good one for the Raiders.

Las Vegas rolled to a 34-24 win over the New Orleans Saints at the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“Thrilled for being a part of our first win here in our stadium against a great team,” said head coach Jon Gruden.

Quarterback Derek Carr led the offense going 28 for 38 for 282 yards and three touchdowns.

“I am really proud of our guys to sticking with our rules and trusting the game plan,” said Carr.  “We got a lot of good football players.  We got a lot of good football character guys.”

“This guy is a great quarterback,” said Gruden about Carr.  “We have surrounded him with better players.”

Down 10-0 in the 1st quarter, Carr hit fullback Alec Ingold on a three yard pass for the first touchdown in Las Vegas Raiders history at Allegiant Stadium.

“I was real thankful that that preparation, the hard work, my coaches and my teammates trusted me to get that number called,” said Ingold on his touchdown catch.

After later falling down 17-7 in the 2nd quarter, the Raiders rolled off 24 straight points including a one yard touchdown pass from Carr to tight end Darren Waller.

“Our offensive balance right now is amazing,” said Waller.  “We could see it coming from training camp.”

Waller caught 12 balls for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Up just one score at 31-24 with 3:28 left in the game, Gruden called on kicker Daniel Carlson to seal the win with a 54 yard field goal.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 2-0 on the season and will next travel to Foxboro on Sunday to face the 1-1 New England Patriots.

Game Notes:

  • The Raiders were outgained in total yards, 424-375.
  • New Orleans committed 10 penalties for 129 yards, while the Raiders had just 3 penalties for 13 yards.
  • Running back Josh Jacobs rushed 27 times for 88 yards.
  • Raiders owner Mark Davis was not in attendance and held a watch party at the team’s Henderson headquarters.

 

Preview of the three-game series between the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Dodgers

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The Oakland A’s Mark Canha (20) gets congratulated after scoring by on deck hitter Stephen Piscotty (25) against the San Francisco Giants in the fourth inning of Sat Sep 19, 2020’s game at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s face the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night at Dodgers Stadium (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, who will win the American League Western Division crown with either one more victory or one more Houston Astro defeat, travel to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers for three games. The Series starts Tuesday night and could be a preview of possible future meeting in the 2020 World Series.

The Dodgers have won the NL West for the last eight seasons. They made it to the World Series in 2017 and 2018. They lost both.

The Dodgers last won a World Series in 1988 when they upset the heavily favored Oakland A’s. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball this season with a record of 38-16. The A’s have the third-best record in the American League.

They are 33-20 with seven games to play. The A’s last won the World Series in 1989. They played the Cincinnati Reds in the 1990 series and were swept in four games.

The Dodgers made a blockbuster trade with the Red Sox last spring. They acquired the 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts to be their right-fielder. Betts would have been a free agent after the 2020 season, and the Red Sox could not sign him to a contract extension.


The Dodgers are loaded with talent. Cody Bellinger, the reigning 2019 NL MVP, is not hitting for average, but he is a very dangerous hitter. He will be seen in either center-field or at first base. Their shortstop, Corey Seager, was the unanimous choice for NL Rookie of the Year in 2016.

He is hitting .316 with 13 homers and 37 RBIs. His OPS is .952. Other outstanding players are third baseman Justin Turner, Max Muncy at first and third, Kike Hernandez, AJ Pollock, Joc Pederson, and catchers Will Smith and Austin Barnes.

The Dodgers have a great starting rotation. Lefty Clayton Kershaw leads them. Kershaw has won three NL Cy Young awards. Righty Walker Buehler, who almost won the award last year, is expected to pitch Thursday night against the A’s.

Buehler has been on the 10-day IL with a finger blister. Dustin May will pitch Tuesday night for the Dodgers, and Frankie Montas will go for Oakland. Wednesday night will feature Dodger lefty, Julio Arias.

The A’s will counter with Sean Manaea. Manaea has allowed more than one run in just one of his last five starts. Mike Fiers, who no-hit the Dodgers in 2105 as a member of the Houston Astros, is 6-2 this year. Fiers, as a Milwaukee Brewer in 2012, allowed one run in seven innings of work in his only career game in Dodger Stadium.

The Dodger bullpen with feature Kenley Jansen as the closer. He is 3-1 and has notched 11 saves so far this season. Former A’s closer Blake Treinen bounced back from an off-year in 2019. He is 3-2 with an ERA of 3.57. He has one save recorded for LA. Other relievers that may see action in the series are Brusdar Graterol, Dylan Floro, Jake McGee, Adam Kolarek, Pedro Baez, Joe Kelly, and Alex Wood.

The A’s would like to get the win that will give the AL West crown as soon as possible. By doing so, A’s manager Bob Melvin would have the ability to provide some benchwarmers extra playing time before the start of the playoffs. A’s designated hitter, Khris Davis, needs more at-bats to get back into form. Davis has been scuffling with his game since being injured in Pittsburgh last season.

The games between the Dodgers and A’s are always a treat for the fans. The teams usually meet every three years in interleague play. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule was altered this season.

After the three with LA, the A’s welcome the Seattle Mariners to Oakland for four games to finish the season, which ends on September 27th. The ‘s probably will face the Houston Astros in the best two out of three Wild Card format.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2020 Baseball – Surprised?

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Arizona Diamondback catcher Daulton Varsho puts the tag on Los Angeles Dodgers runner AJ Pollock who slides past in the 10th inning. The question has been does adding an automatic runner at second base in extra innings create more action to the game or a quick conclusion to the game. (file photo from yahoo.com)

2020 Baseball – Surprised?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

How many are surprised that the 60-game “regular” season has one week left? I would bet, many, many of you. But this is reality; just a handful of teams had inconveniences on cancellations because they were hit with Covid. Over 40 games were cancelled because of a positive test. MLB did not use the now famous bubble, which was successfully implemented by the NBA who is now close to their final series for the title.

At the end the biggest decision and most successful for MLB was to “contain” the teams to their own geographical areas, East, Central and West. Obviously that restricted flying longer routes across country and therefore risking more contamination.

We have experienced the 7-inning doubleheaders, the “free” runner at second base when a game goes extra innings, the empty ballparks, the thousands of cut-outs at parks, some (San Diego) they even have some mannequins masquerading as fans. Subdued celebrations when somebody hits a home run or a walk-off hit, and soon to come no champagne or beer to celebrate inside the dressing rooms.

So what are we going to end with? With 16 teams advancing, we might have a World Series winner that was a 500 to 1 shot to win. History will show that the 2020 Pandemic baseball named a Cy Young Award winner with 10 wins and an MVP with 24 home runs and 65 RBI and statistics that would make historians question the whole validity of this season.

History will judge this season. And there will be commentaries and many questions ‘until kingdom come’ – Questions like, did they have to play? Did they just play for the money? Some future Hall of Fame careers will definitely be affected by the numbers, i.e., If Mike Trout would have played a regular 162 game season in 2020; he would have ended with at least 20 more home runs. And that logic can be applied to all players of that ilk that are currently playing and could conceivably had 20 year careers.

My grandfather Armando used to say “time heals everything”.

We will see.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s play by play on the A’s Spanish radio network and flaghship station 1010 KIQI San Francisco LeGrande de casa Oakland Athleticos and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants get the hitting they were missing against Oakland

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(file photo from San Francisco Chronicle) The San Francisco Giants Alex Dickerson swings for a single in San Diego against the Padres on Sep 13, 2020 contest at Petco Park in San Diego (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris the Giants avoided being swept by Oakland on Sunday after they were shutout Friday and Saturday it had to be just relieving to pick up a game in series where the hitting was struggling?

#2 Alex Dickerson had that Covid scare in San Diego during the Padres series as he had his mind on the pregnancy of his wife who is expecting a boy anytime now. Dickerson is on a three day paternity leave and may be out for a longer period.

#3 The Giants were short on outfielders, Mike Yastrzemski is out with a mild calf strain and Austin Slater has an elbow strain on Saturday. On Sunday Slater was back in the line up but went 0-3.

#4 With Yastrzemski out the Giants have used outfielders Darin Ruf, Mauricio Dubon, and Luis Alexerder Basabe who faced Oakland A’s pitcher Jesus Lazardo on Saturday in the Giants second straight shutout loss the Giants just couldn’t get any run production. Sunday was different as Dubon, Ruf and Basabe all scored at least on run in a laugher.

#5 The Giants optioned pitcher Andrew Suarez on Saturday and recalled pitcher Wandy Perralta and infielder Daniel Robertson but will they be enough to help move the Giants out of tenth place in the NL playoff seeding and into eighth? Both did sit for Sunday’s game.

Join Morris Phillips Mondays for the San Francisco Giants podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

MLB podcast with Larry Crino: Yankees Happ helps in win this week; Giants smoke A’s in series finale; plus more

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New York Yankees pitcher AJ Happ has led the way in the Yankees success this season as the team closes in on a playoff birth. The Boston Red Sox ended the Yankees ten game win streak on Sunday (photo from nj.com)

On the MLB podcast with Larry:

#1 The New York Yankees are close to clinching a playoff spot while they trail the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. The Yankees have been getting some good pitching from AJ Happ and some bombs from Clint Fraizer.

#2 The Giants bats have fallen silent at a critical time in the first two games of the series in Oakland the Giants have been shutout by scores of 6-0.

#3 The Minnesota Twins have been getting timely hitting just in time for the home stretch of the season. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the Twins will celebrate every victory as they are in second behind first place Chicago in the AL Central.

#4 Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said upon his retirement he was doing this because of health reasons. Gardenhire had suffered a stomach virus and missed two games in Minnesota and later told Tigers general manager Al Avila that he was not feeling well and the time had come to hang it up.

#5 The Los Angeles Dodgers will run away with the National League West once again they have a healthy five game lead on San Diego in the NL West and were on a six game win streak until it was snapped on Sunday in a loss to the Colorado Rockies 6-3. The Dodgers are counting the days for post season.

Larry Crino does the MLB podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s demolished by the Giants, 14-2, division clinching has to wait

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By Morris Phillips

It was if the A’s were running late to their division-clinching party. Running late all afternoon.

In a 14-2 loss to the revenge-minded Giants, the A’s just couldn’t get started. And with the Giants piling on early and often, it wasn’t like the A’s got a bunch of chances to chalk up one more home win to capture their first division crown since 2013.

The A’s first hit didn’t materialize until the fourth inning, on an infield job by Matt Olson. Their first runner in scoring position came in the fifth, and Khris Davis couldn’t score. Their first runs were knocked in by Jake Lamb in the sixth, but they already trailed 8-0.

“Everybody came to the field thinking, get another ‘W,’ get another win, lock it up,” said A’s starter Mike Minor, who was roughed up and lifted in the sixth. “Didn’t happen. But you know guys are still positive. They’re going to get to LA and do work there.”

Minor allowed a pair of two-run homers, then gave way to J.B. Wendelken in the sixth. The third batter Wendelken faced–Brandon Crawford–greeted him with a grand slam. Down 8-0, all Oakland social engagements were postponed.

The three relievers that followed didn’t far much better as Jordan Weems, Lou Trivino and T.J. McFarland coughed up six more Giants runs. McFarland somehow managed to surrender six hits and three runs in a 24-pitch span.

Manager Bob Melvin had to get creative to explain his bullpen’s bad day.

“They’re used to coming in games where it’s close and every pitch matters,” Melvin said. 

The A’s turn their attention to a trip to Dodgers Stadium, where they could end up if they advance to the ALDS in a couple of weeks. For now, it’s an opportunity to see baseball’s best team in their environment while chasing that next, critical win.

The A’s then return to the Coliseum to finish the regular season against the Mariners.

Three home runs help Giants salvage series finale 14-2

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San Francisco Giants hitter Chadwick Tromp goes for the long ball with a two run home run in the third inning with Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy behind the plate on Sun Sep 20, 2020 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

Entering the final game of the series against the Oakland A’s, the San Francisco Giants were looking for some runs and did they find some.

Chadwick Tromp and Darin Ruf each hit two-run home runs to give the Giants a 4-0 lead, and then Brandon Crawford launched a grand slam into the right-center field bleachers, as the Giants salvaged the final game of the Bay Bridge Series with a 14-2 victory over the A’s at the Coliseum.

With the victory, the Giants stopped the chance for the A’s to celebrate their first American League Western Division Championship. The A’s were primed to win the division at home, but they could not finish off the season sweep of their Bay Area rivals and also the Houston Astros defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the A’s continue to lead the Astros in the AL West by six games with seven games to play.

Coming into the game, the Giants were outscored 12-0 by the A’s, as they won the first two games of the series by the same 6-0 score and by scoring 14 runs in the victory, the run total for the weekend ended up tied at 14 apiece.

The Giants, who are without both Mike Yastrzemski, as he nurses a strained right calf and Alex Dickerson, who is on paternity leave, the team looked to others to help out.

Tromp took a Mike Minor pitch over the left field wall to give the Giants a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, and then Ruf followed it up by launching a two-run home run of his own in the top of the fourth inning to extend the Giants lead up to 4-0.

Crawford broke the game open in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit his fourth career grand slam off of J.B. Wendelken to lengthen the Giants lead up to 8-0.

Tromp picked up a career-high three hits, as he replaced Joey Bart, who has been struggling of late. Luis Basabe picked up his first career RBI, as he singled in the top of the ninth inning and the four runs batted in by Ruf were his most in a game since he drove in a career-high six runs for the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Mets on September 1, 2015.

With the victory, the Giants are tied with the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies for the eighth and final spot in the National League. Currently, the Reds hold the tiebreaker due to their intradivision record.

Tyler Anderson, who was ejected after just 49 pitches on Thursday started for the Giants, and went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs (both unearned), scattering four hits, walking three and striking out four before giving way to Shaun Anderson.

The trio of relievers like Anderson, Caleb Baragar and Wandy Peralta pitched the final 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and one striking out one.

Minor went five innings, allowing six runs on four hits walking three and striking out eight and also allowed two home runs.

The A’s bullpen in four innings of work, allowed eight runs on 11 hits, walking five and striking out six in the 12-run loss.

NOTES: The 14 runs by the Giants were the second most scored by the team in a game this season, behind the 23 runs they scored on September 1 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

UP NEXT: Johnny Cueto opens up the four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, while the Rockies will send German Marquez to the hill.

49ers hold off Jets with 31-13 victory, but are decimated by injuries

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By Joe Hawkes
Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Running back Raheem Mostert got the 49ers off to a promising start on the day, running for a 80-yard touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Jimmy Garoppolo tossed a pair of TDs — before the two of them sat out the second half with injuries — as San Francisco picked up their first win of the season holding off the New York Jets, 31-13, at MetLife Stadium as the team was gutted by a rash of injuries on Sunday afternoon.

Facing injury issues entering the game with tight end George Kittle (knee) not making the trip, defensive end Dee Ford (neck) ruled out and cornerback Richard Sherman (calf) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel (foot) both on short-term injured reserve, San Francisco (1-1) lost Garopplo to an ankle injury and Mostert to an injured knee in the first half. Both players left the field shortly before halftime.

Mostert suffered a mild sprain to his medial collateral ligament (MCL), and Garoppolo suffered a high ankle sprain that will likely keep him out of action for a few weeks. According to NBC Sports 49ers Insider Matt Maiocco, Garoppolo isn’t expected to be available for Week 3’s game against the New York Giants at the same venue.

Garoppolo sustained the injury in the first quarter after a sack by defensive tackle Quinnen Williams after his leg got caught in the turf. On the sideline, you could see that Garoppolo was in obvious pain.

Mostert had eight carries for 92 yards and a touchdown before he was injured. His 80-yard TD run on the game’s first play hit a max speed of 23.09 MPH, which is the fastest max speed for a ball carrier on a play from scrimmage over the last five seasons according to Next Gen Stats.

The more serious injuries came along the defensive line, where defensive end Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas were carted off the field after apparent knee injuries that the team “fears” are torn anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL).

With a little more than five minutes left in the first quarter, Bosa was engaged with Jets tight end Trevon Vesco on a running play and his left leg buckled as he attempted to get off the block and tackle running back Frank Gore.

Bosa tried to sit up as a busy 49ers medical personnel came out to check on him. A cart came on to the field and carried Bosa to the locker room. The team would rule out last season’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year early in the second quarter.

A few plays later, the 49ers suffered another huge blow to its defense when defensive tackle Solomon Thomas injured his knee. He too was carted off the field and rushed to the locker room. San Francisco ruled him out for the second half.

Even with the team’s injury situation reaching at a critical state, the team didn’t panic against the woeful Jets (0-2).

After the Jets trimmed San Francisco’s lead to 7-3 behind a Sam Ficken 41-yard field goal, a noticeably limping Garoppolo drove the 49ers to another TD, hitting the aforementioned Reed on an 18-yard hookup that put San Francisco up 14-3. Reed’s first score with the 49ers capped off a 14-play, 67-yard drive in 8:44, where Reed leaped over a diving Marcus Maye to get into the end zone.

San Francisco’s defense thwarted a promising Jets’ possession, stopping the Jets on fourth-and-1 from the 49ers’ 20-yard line with linebacker Fred Warner and company stuffed running back Josh Adams for no gain.

Garoppolo would take San Francisco down the field again, capping off a 13-play, 80-yard drive in 3:30 with a 4-yard toss to Reed to put the 49ers up comfortable, 21-3, with 11 seconds in the second quarter. The drive continued after Jets defensive end Henry Anderson was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty where it appeared that the Jets stopped San Francisco on third-and-8.

Garoppolo completed 14-of-16 passes for 131 yards and the two TDs in the first half before backup Nick Mullens took over in the second half.

Mullens, who doesn’t take any first-team reps in practice during the week, looked shell-shocked on his first drive. But running back Jerick McKinnon had a 55-yard run on third-and-31 at the San Francisco 11-yard line. The run would setup a 46-yard field goal by kicker Robbie Gould that gave the 49ers a 24-3 lead in the third quarter.

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time a team converted a third down on that long of a run was Minnesota in 1999 when running back Leroy Hoard rushed for 53 yards on third-and-37 against the Denver Broncos.

Mullens finished 8-for-11 for 71 yards and an interception where the pass bounced off the hands of running back Tevin Coleman that the Jets took back to the San Francisco 22-yard line, but the Jets settled for a 25-yard field goal by Ficken to make the score 24-6.

McKinnon scored his second TD of the season on a 16-yard rush in the fourth quarter that gave San Francisco a 31-6 lead. McKinnon finished with 77 yards on three carries and a TD.

After a horrendous showing on third- and fourth-down last week against the Arizona Cardinals where they only converted 2-of-13 attempts in a 24-20 loss in Week 1, the 49ers went 7-of-13 on third down against the Jets in Week 2. It was a better showing by the 49ers offense that racked up 359 yards of total offense and led in time of possession (32:13 to 27:47) this week against a poor Jets defense.

Even with all of the injuries suffered to its defense in the game, San Francisco limited the Jets to 277 yards of total offense and held them to 5-of-14 on third down.

The Jets added a late TD, when quarterback San Darnold connected with wide receiver Braxton Berrios on a 30-yard completion with 1:23 remaining in the game making the score, 31-13. Darnold finished 21-of-32 for 179 yards and no turnovers.

Instead of flying back to the west coast, the 49ers will be staying at a resort in West Virginia as they prepare to take on the New York Giants.

The Giants (0-2) lost to the Chicago Bears 17-13 at Soldier Field on Sunday, but that’s not the big story. Star running back Saquon Barkley was carted off the field early in the second quarter with an apparent knee injury. Barkley’s status for next week’s game is unclear.

Second-year quarterback Daniel Jones completed 25-of-40 passes for 241 yards and an interception for the Giants. Jones was sacked four times by a stingy Bears defense on the day.

Headline Sports podcast with Daniel Dullum: Stars draw first blood win NHL Finals opener; Pac 12 football still mulling it over; plus more

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) gets a save on a Dallas Stars’ shot the Stars Jamie Benn (14) looks on Sat Sep 19, 2020 at Rogers Centre in Edmonton (AP News photo)

On Headlines podcast with Daniel:

1 Stars dominate in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals

2 Pressure building on Pac-12 to reverse its decision to delay football and other fall sports; SEC football starts next week

 3 WNBA semifinals underway

4 Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire retires, citing health issues

5 NBA: Celtics’ Gordon Hayward reportedly won’t leave bubble for the birth of his child

 5 Sports world honors Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday

Daniel Dullum does Headlines Sports each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com