Twins win 7-6, A’s high leverage act gets the best of them in Minneapolis

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By Morris Phillips

That splashy new closer/setup man the A’s are shopping for in the trade deadline buyer’s market, they could have found a big spot for him Sunday at Target Field.

The A’s showed up fashionably late offensively–imagine the Oakland starting lineup taking in a trendsetter’s Sunday brunch at 4Bells in nearby Minneapolis Loring Park before venturing to the park, perhaps–scoring for the first time in the fifth inning, then never letting up. Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, the A’s scored in four consecutive innings, to take their first lead in the eighth, 6-5.

Then they carried the lead into the bottom of the ninth, and Bob Melvin summoned his All-Star closer Liam Hendriks to get the last three outs.

But not so fast. The A’s were tempting fate by frustrating the Twins’ home crowd, assuming a lead in the seventh inning or later for the third straight day. Not to mention the Twins’ hitters, who are threatening to become the first team to hit 300 home runs in a season, obliterating the Major League record, and the team as a whole, feeling pressure in the NL Central standings for the first time all season, and desperate to avoid a third straight, deflating loss at home.

“We have been playing good games but have been losing a couple of them,” said Max Kepler. “Teams have been coming back on us.”

And the pressure on Hendriks–who’s been lights out in a streak of 20 plus innings without allowing a run–couldn’t be discounted. The 30-year old Australian has thrown 460 innings at the big league level over nine seasons, but only has nine saves, eight of them since June 22, when he vibrantly morphed into an elite reliever. In fact, Twins’ fans remember Hendriks as a 23-year old free agent pickup who gave up 17 home runs in 16 starts and went 1-8 with a 5.59 ERA in 2012, his second of three seasons in Minneapolis.

A’s fans? They best know Hendriks as a forefather in the opener movement with eight starts in that role in 2018.

But Melvin embraced Hendriks last month, watched him run at world record speed in his new role, and gave little hesitation to tabbing him to close the door for a third, consecutive day for the first time in his career.

Melvin gave little consideration before–or after Hendriks allowed a game-tying triple to Ehire Adrianza, and a game-winning single to Kepler.

“They hit some good pitches,” said Melvin. “His stuff was no different today than any other day. At some point in time, he was probably going to blow one. It’s kind of the nature of the game.”

“These guys worked their tails off today, and I couldn’t bring it home. It’s disappointing in that regard,” Hendriks admitted.

The A’s blew a chance to remain within 5 1/2 games of the division-leading Astros with a three-game set in Houston starting on Monday. And their lead in the wild card race shrunk to one game over the Rays, and three games over the Red Sox.

So it’s just one game lost, but could it become more?

The organization’s thought process one the closer’s role is more complicated now given setup man Lou Trivino and former closer Blake Treinen are once again healthy and available. Not to mention whoever is acquired in the coming days as many assume the A’s will attempt to bolster their bullpen much like they did last season.

Remember last year’s post season push, and GM David Forst’s belief? One closer’s great, but why not have two or three? Well if that’s the case, the A’s have 10 days to make some decisions that could define their season. If the A’s add on, none of the candidates–Hendriks included–gets handed the task of a third save in three days again this season.

On Monday in Houston, Homer Bailey makes his second start as an Athletic, and Gerrit Cole goes for the Astros. This will be the first of 11 remaining meetings between the two contenders, but so far it’s been all Houston. The Astros have captured seven of the first eight meetings in 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aces beat Lynx without Wilson, 79-74

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20190629 - Liz Cambage 05

Photo credit: Shawn McCullough/Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

LAS VEGAS–The loss of forward A’ja Wilson to an ankle injury would cripple any other WNBA team, but not the Aces.

Liz Cambage and Kayla McBride combined for 42 points to beat the Minnesota Lynx 79-74 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Cambage finished with her second straight double-double, scoring 22 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

Wilson sprained her ankle on Friday against the Storm in Seattle, but cheered on the team from the bench while on crutches.

With the win, the Aces improved to 12-6 on the season to move into a first place tie with the Connecticut Sun.

The Aces will next host the Seattle Storm on Tuesday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • Liz Cambage scored in double figures for the 48th straight time, which is the longest active streak in the WNBA (22 points).
  • The Aces only got 13 points off the bench.
  • Guard Sydney Colson left the game in the second half after spraining her left ankle.
  • NBA legend Bill Russell was in attendance.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 21 Kayla McBride
C – 8 Liz Cambage
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 10 Kelsey Plum

Giants Yastrzemski wins it 3-2 with a walk off in 12 innings

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski hits a solo home run against the New York Mets during the 12th inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, July 21, 2019.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Mike Yastrzemski ended the weekend series with one swing of the bat for the San Francisco Giants.

Yastrzemski hit a changeup off of Robert Gsellman on a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the 12th that landed in the left field bleachers giving the Giants a dramatic 3-2 victory over the New York Mets before a crowd of 35,406 at Oracle Park.

It was the first career walk-off home run for Yastrzemski and his 9th home run of the season for the rookie.

The Yastrzemski walk-off gave the Giants three wins in four games over the Mets, and they have won eight out of their last nine, 11 out of 13 and 15 out of 18.

This was also the fifth consecutive series win for the Giants since splitting the four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks from June 27-30.

Despite not faring in the decision, Connor Menes went five innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out six in his major-league debut.

Menes got into trouble in the first inning, when J.D. Davis doubled with one out in the inning; however, Kevin Pillars defense came up huge again.

Pillar made a great running catch off a Pete Alonso hit ball, and was able to regroup to throw out Davis at third base to end the inning.

It was the team-leading sixth outfield assist for Pillar, and the MLB leading 25th outfield assists for the Giants as a team this season.

Steven Matz went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six and like Menes, he did not fare in the decision.

Zach Green like Menes, made a great first impression for his new teammates, as he picked up two hits in his first two at-bats in the major leagues.

It was Greens double in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Buster Posey tied up game, and that was the score until Yastrzemski’s home run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Michael Conforto got the Mets on the board in the top of the second inning, as he hit his 18th home run of the season that landed in McCovey Cove and it was the 125th Splash Hit since the Park opened in 2000 and the 47th by an opponent.

Two batters later, Michael Conforto gave the Mets a 2-0 lead, as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

After the Rosario home run in the top of the second inning, the next Mets hit did not come until there was one out in the top of the 11th inning, when Davis singled off of Mark Melancon.

Trevor Gott pitched the 12th inning to pick-up the victory, as he raises his record to 6-0 on the season.

In all, the bullpen of Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, Sam Dyson, Will Smith, Melancon and Gott went a combined seven innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, walking two and striking out eight.

NOTES: To make room for Menes and Green on the roster, Ty Blach was optioned to Sacramento and Derek Holland and Ryder Jones were both Designated for release or assignment.

Pillar was ejected by home plate umpire Mark Rippenger in the bottom of the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes. This was Pillars first ejection as a Giant, and the second of his career.

UP NEXT: Shaun Anderson will take to the Oracle Park mound on Monday night, as the Chicago Cubs invade the Bay Area for their only trip this season. Alec Mills will take the mound for the Cbs]

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s have their eye on Giants Will Smith trying to stay away from high cost starters; A’s getting key hits in Twins series; plus more

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yahoosports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Will Smith is on the block and the Oakland A’s are interested in obtaining his services, the Milwaukee Brewers are rumored to be a frontrunner for Smith.

On the A’s podcast with Joey F:

#1 The A’s are looking to shop for an extra starter or two, the A’s will not be choosing for example the Mets Noah Syndergard or the Giants Madison Bumgarner due to the fact of their cost demands. Knowing A’s president of operations Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin they will be looking for someone who affordable and someone who is proven. Giants reliever Will Smith is also being shopped by the A’s he could land in Oakland by or before the deadline.

#2 The A’s keep chipping away at a six game win streak and getting it snapped on Thursday night in Minnesota the A’s picked up where they left off getting a big win over the Twins 5-3. The Twins one of the best teams in the American League and very difficult to beat at Target Field took a two run loss to the A’s

#3 Marcus Semien was got a key home run his 15th of the season off Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi in Friday’s game Semien is hitting .273 and is in the lead off spot how’s his recent play at the plate.

#4 The A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt on Friday threw for five innings and gave up three runs on five hits and struck out two for his seventh win of the season.

#5 For Sunday’s starters for the A’s Daniel Mengden (5-1 ERA 4.21) for the Twins Michael Pineda (6-5 ERA 4.38) for the matinee at Target Field.

Joey Friedman does the A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s can sweep Twins today in Minneapolis; Will Giants take a dive if they part with Bum and Smith?

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photo from sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha, left, and Marcus Semien celebrate Canha’s two-run home run off Minnesota Twins pitcher Zack Littell in the seventh inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 20, 2019, in Minneapolis. The Athletics won 5-4.

And here they are, from the home office in Gardner, ND Daniel Dullum’s MLB The Show podcast for Sunday:

MLB

1 A’s-Twins in key AL series

2 Should Giants be sellers at the deadline?

3 Mariners’ Mike Leake nearly throws perfecto; Angels DFA former All-Star pitcher Matt Harvey

4 RIP Pumpsie Green, Don Mossi, Jim Bouton

Catch Daniel each Sunday for the MLB podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Two out ninth inning Hit By Pitch leads to A’s 5-4 victory over the Twins

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
7-21a
Photo/Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

In the top of the ninth inning, the Oakland Athletics trailed the Minnesota Twins 4-3 with two outs when Mark Canha came to the plate to face Taylor Rogers. Rogers threw Canha a slider that hit the batter on the back foot to give the A’s a runner to keep the inning alive.

Ramon Laureano hit a double to left field that moved Canha into scoring position at third base. That set the table for Khris Davis who hit a line drive to the right side of the infield that deflected off the glove of first baseman Ehire Adrianza that allowed Canha and Laureano to score. The A’s took the lead 5-4.

The Twins did not go quietly into the night

The A’s brought in Liam Hendriks to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. It was clear right from the first batter that Hendriks was not as sharp as he usually is on the mound. He had pitched on Friday night and that may have taken a toll on his effectiveness.

Hendriks ended up loading the bases with just one out. Mitch Garver came to bat and hit the first pitch from Hendriks on the ground to the shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien underhanded the ball to Profar who had plenty of time to make the throw to Olson at first to complete the double play. Just that quickly, the A’s had won the game 5-4.

A’s Spotlight

7-21b
Liam Hendriks celebrates the save Photo: @Athletics
  • Blake Treinen (3-3, 4.46) was credited with the win. Treinen pitched 0.2-innings giving up one hit and walking two hitters.
  • Liam Hendriks picked up his eighth save of the season while working his way out that ninth-inning jam.
  • Starting pitcher Brett Anderson did not figure into the final decision and had to leave the game due to a blister on the left middle finger. His status is listed as day-to-day.
  • Matt Olson extended his hitting streak to 15 games which is now the longest active streak in baseball. Olson is now hitting .295 (18-for-61) with four home runs over the 15 games.
  • Ramon Laureano recorded his 29th multi-hit game and fifth consecutive contest on Saturday night. The young outfielder has hit 20 home runs this season.
  • Mark Canha hit his 16th home run of the season on Saturday night. He is now just one home run short of tying his career-high of 17 which he set last season.

Twins Notes

  •   Taylor Rogers (2-2, 1.97) was the losing pitcher. Rogers was also charged with a blown save – ouch!
  • Minnesota starting pitcher Jose Berrios worked 5.2 innings and gave up no runs, but he did not figure into the final decision.
  • This was the first loss this season for the Twins when they were leading after eight innings. They are now 53-1 when leading after eight innings.
  • The Twins have hit 181 home runs this season tying them with the Dodgers, Brewers, and Braves for the most home runs hit in the Major Leagues.
  • Miguel Sano hit his 14th home run of the season in the game, but it was just his second round-tripper at Target Field this year.
  • Nelson Cruz hit his 379th career home run on Saturday night which allowed him to pass A’s coach Matt Williams on the All-Time list.

Up Next

The A’s and Twins wrap up this four-game series on Sunday at 11:10 PM PDT. Oakland will send RHP Daniel Mengden (5-1, 4.21) to face the Twins RHP Michael Pineda (6-5, 4.38).

Earthquakes Take Down Whitecaps 2-1; Have Won five of last six

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By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA–The San Jose Earthquakes continued their recent sharpness with a 3-1 road win over the Vancouver Whitecaps before an increasingly restless BC Place crowd of 17,558.

Chris Wondolowski, who has a strong history against Vancouver, delivered point-blank to put the Quakes up for good 2-1 in the 34′ after chaos on the Whitecaps goal line.

Vancouver opened the scoring early with a Doneil Henry goal in the 8′ off a free kick by Yordy Reyna.

Vako equalized at the 16′ mark with an opportunistic goal after a little traffic accident in front of the Whitecaps goal. Setting up the score was crisp passing by the Quakes, as Vancouver defenders stood around like a foosball rod without a hand on it.

Nine minutes later, Cristian Espinoza and Vako hooked up for a nice attack, resulting in a great chance, but shot right at Caps ‘keeper Maxime Crepeau.

Magnus Eriksson rounded out the scoring with an insurance marker sixteen minutes before full-time.

The Quakes won for the fifth time in six games and now return home to face Colorado and Columbus the next two Saturdays.

The Caps fell to winless in their last nine (and outscored 17-2 in the past 5), as the supporters’ group section chanted for the firing of club president Bob Lenarduzzi in the final minutes.

Benfica defeats Chivas 3-0 at the International Champions Cup

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by Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA, Calif– Benfica looked and played the role of a champion. They dominated from start to finish in a convincing 3-0 victory against Chivas De Guadalajara in their first leg of their three-city USA Tour 2019 in the International Champions Cup series on Saturday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

In a game that featured a crowd of 15,724 where the majority was pro-Chivas, the Portuguese champions of the Premeira Liga were celebrating their record 37th league championship and with 82 major trophy wins, they are the most decorated soccer club in Portugal.

They recently acquired Raul De Tomas to bolster an already impressive offensive attack that also includes Caio, Florentino Luis, and Haris Seferovic.

For Chivas de Guadalajara (the Goats as they’re nicknamed) they came into the match with a retooled roster of Mexican veteran players hoping to find the fountain of youth for the famed Liga MX team that finished second to last place in 2018.

“We have a new team and it’s not going to be easy to find results immediately”, said Chivas head coach Tomas Boy. “We have to keep moving forward with the team that we have right now.”

Benfica got off to the start they wanted at the beginning of the match. Caio received the ball along the left sideline and made a back pass to himself and was able to escape the marking defenseman from Chivas. He raced down inside the box before centering a great pass over to Tomas who one-timed the ball into the back of an open net for a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute.

Chivas earned a free kicked in the 18th minute from just outside the box but the shot by Hedgardo Marin was easily saved by Benfica goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos.

Chivas had their best chance to even the score in the 42nd minute when Jose Van Rankin centered a ball over to Miguel Ponce, who was left all alone in the middle of the box, and his header was stoned away by a diving Vlachodimos as well as a subsequent rebound chance that he came out to kick away from any further danger.

In the 59th minute, Alan Cervantes tried to split between two Benfica defenders inside the box. He was taken down, but referee Joe Dickerson didn’t award a penalty to Chivas. Just two minutes later, Alex Vega was on the receiving end of a turnover from 25 yards out and his shot rifled off the top off the crossbar.

Benfica put the game away with two goals in a four-minute span from two separate defensive collapses by Chivas that led to breakaway goals. First, in the 69th minute, Jota fed a ball over to Rafa, who came in as a substitution to start the second half, he got in all alone on Chivas goalie Raul Gudino and chipped in a shot into the lower right corner. Then in the 73rd minute, Adel Tarrabt sent in a ball to Seferovic, who was able to get behind two Chivas defenders and shot the ball past a challenging Gudino into the back of the net.

“We played a good game”, said Benfica head coach Bruno Lage. “It’s important to win but what’s really important is to see the dynamics of the team. Now we have to be more intense so we can play the style that has become known as Benfica (style).”

GAME NOTES: Benfica’s Jardel and Rafa came into the match as substiutions for Caio and Ruben Dias to start the second half. Seferovic was named the Man of the Match after the game.

UP NEXT: Benfica travels out to Newark, New Jersey to take on ACF Fiorentina of the Serie A league on Thursday 7/25 at 5:00pm at Red Bull Arena.

Winning streak comes to an end in 11-4 Mets victory

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO– All good things must come to an end, and on this day, it was the San Francisco Giants seven-game winning streak.

Dominic Smith, whose error on Friday night gave the Giants a dramatic 1-0 10 inning and less than 14 hours later, he was a hero for the New York Mets.

Smith hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning, helping the Mets to an 11-4 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 33,860 at Oracle Park.

That was the first of four RBIs on the afternoon for Smith, who added an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning that easily scored Todd Frazier, who tripled with one out in the inning.

The four RBIs by Smith tied a career-high, and it was the second this week that Smith picked up four RBIs in a game. He also did on Wednesday versus the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

Jeff McNeill broke the game open in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a two-run home run off of Jeff Samardzija.

Amed Rosario led off the inning with a single and then after Walker Lockett struck out for the first out of the inning, then McNeill hit his ninth home run of the season.

It was a good day for Lockett, who went five innings, allowing one on five hits, walking no one and striking out three and won his first major league game.

Samardzija went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking no one and striking out seven, as he fell to 7-8 on the season.

Frazier added a solo home run of his own in the top of the sixth inning, as hit his 13th home run of the season.

Pete Alonso, who did not get the start for the Mets came off the bench and launched a pinch-hit three-run home run to lengthen the Mets lead up to 8-1.

It was the first career pinch-hit home run for Alonso, who broke Darryl Strawberrys rookie record for most RBIs by a Mets player. Strawberry drove in 74 runs for the Mets in his Rookie of the Year season in 1983.

Smith put the finishing touches on a three-hit day, as he hit a two-run single in the top of the ninth inning and then J.D. Davis got in on the hit parade, as he drove in a run with a single of his own.

Lost in the game was the fact that Pablo Sandoval picked his first four-hit since August 28, 2015, when he did it for the Boston Red Sox versus the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. This was the 11th four-hit game of Sandoval’s career.

Alex Dickerson hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth, his fifth home run of the season and then two batters later, Mike Yastrzemski hit his eighth home run of the season, a solo home run. Both home runs came off of Stephen Nogoshek.

NOTES: Evan Longoria, who is currently on the 10-day injured list with Plantar Fasciitis in his left foot took ground balls prior to the game with third base coach Ron Wotus, Longoria will remain in the walking boot before being re-evaluated.

UP NEXT: Conner Menez will make his major-league debut for the Giants on Sunday afternoon, while the Mets will send Steven Matz to the mound in the series finale.

MLB podcast with Matt Harrington: After a rough week, Seattle routs Angels and nearly get a perfect game; plus more

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photo from bleacherreport.com: Seattle Mariners pitcher Mike Leake nearly throws a perfect game against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle in a 10-0 laugher.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Coming off a two-game series sweep to the Oakland A’s on Tuesday and Wednesday the Seattle Mariners on Friday night almost got a perfect game against the Los Angeles Angels when Mariners starter Mike Leake went into the ninth inning needing three outs to accomplish the feat but surrendered a base hit to the Angels  Luis Rengifo at T-Mobile Park in the ninth inning in Seattle. The fans stood up and honored Leake with a nice ovation. The M’s went on to beat the Halos 10-0.

#2 The San Francisco Giants once again got another walkoff win against the visiting New York Mets. The Giants on Thursday night went 16 innings to beat the Mets 3-2, and then on Friday, got a 1-0 win in the bottom of the tenth at Oracle Park in San Francisco when Dominic Smith, a Mets centerfielder, dropped a fly ball hit by Pablo Sandoval that allowed Alex Dickerson to score from first base for the game-winning run and the Giants wound up with their seventh consecutive win and are now a .500 team for the first time all season.

#3 The New York Yankees’ Edwin Encarnacion hit a grand slam helped beat the Colorado Rockies 8-2 in over 100 degree heat and Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer for New York. The Yankees now improve the lead over second place Tampa Bay by nine games.

#4 New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Friday enough was enough in the first game of the doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays when three Yankees hitters Gary Sanchez, DJ Le Mahieu and Brett Gardner were called out for strikes by plate umpire Brennan Miller. Boone got into the face of Miller and said a few choice words and was run by Miller. Boone was immediately suspended by MLB for what they said making contact with the umpire. Boone said he regretted using the choice words and said that Miller had a hard job to do and and that he showed more class than him. Boone sat out the night cap of the doubleheader.

#5 He threw a masterpiece, but like all pitchers who showcase all good things with a current team, all good things must come to an end and it is most likely that Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman will be dealt somewhere before the trade deadline July 31st. Stroman going six innings, seven hits, and five strikeouts in the Blue Jays 12-1 Friday blowout of the Detroit Tigers.

Matt does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com