Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Rams spoiled Raiders’ home opener; Raiders made some roster moves

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On the Raiders podcast with Tony:

1. A strong defensive first half wasn’t enough for the Raiders, who lost to the LA Rams 33-13 during ESPN’s Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 1.

2. Jared Cook’s 180 receiving yards in Raiders vs. Rams were the most by a tight end in franchise history.

3. The Raiders signed wide receiver Johnny Holton to their practice squad. In a corresponding move, they terminated the contract of defensive back Terrell Sinkfield.

4. Raiders coach Jon Gruden provided an update on the injury of long snapper Andrew DePaola. This isn’t the way the Raiders wanted to start the season, but tight end Lee Smith stepped in as the emergency long snapper.

5. The Raiders signed free agent wide receiver Martavis Bryant and long snapper Trent Sieg. In corresponding moves, they placed long snapper Andrew DePaola on the Reserve/Injured List and have waived wide receiver Keon Hatcher.

Tony does the Raiders podcasts each Thursday for SportsRadioService.com

Oakland Athletics podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s shouldn’t take road trip with a grain of salt; A’s provide medical update on Sean Manaea; plus more

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On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

1. The A’s beat the Orioles 3-2 in game one of the three-game series, but the O’s might play spoiler in the series finale, a.k.a. game three.

2. A’s pitcher Mike Fiers remains undefeated with the Green and Gold 5-0.

3. If you’re an A’s and Sharks fan, you should prepare for the Sharks’ 2018-19 season with an A’s and Sharks mashup scarf you can get at the September 18th game. You can purchase a special ticket at athletics.com/sharks.

4. A’s fans, don’t miss out on the A’s last Play Ball event presented by Sutter Health on September 15th at Allendale Park in Oakland. More information could be found at athletics.com/playball

5. The A’s tweeted a medical update on Sean Manaea. He’ll have arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder on Sept. 19 at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in LA.

Jerry does the A’s podcasts each Thursday for SportsRadio Service.com

How did we get here?: 11 consecutive losses bring the Giants to a new, unprecedented low

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Well, the Giants have never lost like this, and they probably haven’t struggled offensively to this extent either. Not since they’ve been in San Francisco.

Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves was not only tough to watch, it was unprecedentedly tough. The Giants dropped their 11th consecutive game, which hadn’t happened since 1951 when the club roamed New York’s Polo Grounds.

So much for 60 years of San Francisco Giants baseball.

“Everybody puts in the work, grinding daily, trying to do everything we can to win ballgames,” Brandon Belt said. “We just haven’t been doing good enough. So we’ve got to change something.”

Belt was involved in the game’s critical moment from the Giants’ perspective: In trying to retire pinch hitter Tyler Flowers in the ninth, Evan Longoria’s low throw ever-so-slightly pulled Belt off the first base bag, prompting first base umpire Jeremie Rehak to declare Flowers safe. Charlie Culberson scored on the play which was upheld after a brief video review.

“Blazing speed beat that one out,” said Braves’ Freddie Freeman in a moment of fun with not-so-speedy teammate Flowers.

The Giants hit into double plays to conclude the first and fourth innings, enough good fortune for starter Anibal Sanchez, who pitched six innings and picked up the win despite issuing five walks. The Giants failed to take advantage of Sanchez’s gifts, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

That one dreadful stat explained how the Giants came up with one run on the afternoon despite six singles, a Longoria double and a Sanchez wild pitch to couple with seven walks issued.

But if a club scores a measily 26 runs during an 11-game slide, that statistical oddity becomes easier to explain.

The Giants previously lost 10 consecutive games in 1985 and again in 1996. This season, only the Tigers also suffered an 11-game slide.

49ers look to bounce back in home opener vs. Lions

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By Jeremy Harness

The 49ers will get their season on track on Sunday, as they will host the Detroit Lions in their first home game of the year.

However, as was the case most of last season, the team is dealing with a multitude of injuries at key positions, following an opening-week 24-16 defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, a game that saw Jimmy Garoppolo throw three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

The 49ers got a little thinner at the linebacker position this week, as they placed Brock Coyle on the injured reserve/eligible to return list. According to head coach Kyle Shanahan, he had not only a concussion in the team’s opening week loss to Minnesota, but he also suffered a T-4 compression fracture in his back.

Coyle will be out at least six weeks, and at that point, he is expected to be able to resume football activities. Beyond that, his timetable for return is uncertain.

Meanwhile, fellow linebacker Malcolm Smith did not practice Wednesday due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the preseason. Among the others who did not practice were receiver Marquise Goodwin (quadriceps), guard Joshua Garnett (toe) and safety Adrian Colbert (hamstring).

All of them are listed as questionable to play Sunday against the Lions, whose injury report is not nearly as long as that of the 49ers. Guard T.J Lang (back) and tackle Andrew Donnal (knee) were both held out of practice on Wednesday.

Just like the 49ers, the Lions are still licking their wounds after a tough loss in Week 1. However, the Lions were more decisively beaten at home Monday night against the New York Jets. Just like Garoppolo, Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford had his bouts with interceptions. The veteran threw four to the other team, including one that was returned for a touchdown in a 48-17 rout.

Raiders travel to Denver looking to bounce back after home loss

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — After a very poor showing at home against the Los Angeles Rams, the Raiders travel to Denver to take on the Broncos in an AFC West matchup Sunday at 1:25 p.m. PT. The two teams will meet each other later this year on ESPN’s Monday Night Football on Christmas Eve in Oakland.

Last season, the two teams split their two-game series winning on their home turf.

The Raiders (0-1) fell flat on their faces to the Rams 33-13 in front of a sold out Raider Nation crowd of 53,857 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on ESPN’s Monday Night Football to closeout Week 1. Oakland held a 13-10 lead at halftime in head coach Jon Gruden’s return to the sidelines after a nine-year hiatus, before the wheels fell off for the Silver and Black in the second half as the Rams scored 23 unanswered points to claim the victory.

In the battle of franchise quarterbacks, Rams signal-caller Jared Goff clearly outplayed Derek Carr in front of a nationally televised audience. Both quarterbacks played a handful of snaps in the preseason and there was bound to be some rust in the first game.

For Goff, he completed 18 of 33 passes for 233 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions picking up right where he left off engineering the NFL’s top scoring offense from a season ago. The Rams averaged 29.9 points per game last year.

Oakland’s defense couldn’t generate a consistent pass rush against Goff, only sacking him once in the game by Bruce Irvin.

Neither could they stop last year’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year Todd Gurley. The Rams running back looked in midseason form, carrying the ball 20 times for 108 yards. Gurley also hauled in three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.

After a hot start to the game where he completed 20 of 24 passes for 199 yards, Carr played pedestrian finishing 29 of 40 for 303 yards and three interceptions. Carr did have good chemistry with tight end Jared Cook, who caught a game-high nine balls or a league-high 180 yards.

Seven of Cook’s catches went for first downs, which tied for the most in Week 1.

Cook’s 45-yard catch-and-run down the middle of the field in the first quarter on the Raiders’ opening drive did set up Oakland’s first touchdown of the season, a 10-yard powerful run by running back Marshawn Lynch that gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead, but those were the only real highlights for the Raiders offensively as Oakland settled for two Mike Nugent field goals.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper, who Gruden said would be a “focal point” to the offense this season, was missing in action as he caught just one pass for nine yards.

Cooper looked out of place on opening night, matched up with cornerback and Oakland native Marcus Peters for most of the night. If you go back and look at the game film, Cooper appeared open down the field on occasions but for some strange reason, Carr couldn’t get him the ball.

Peters would take Carr’s third interception 50 yards for a touchdown that punctuated a night to forget for Carr.

Oakland could find it difficult to get back on track against Denver (1-0), who prevailed over the visiting Seattle Seahawks 27-24 last Sunday at Broncos Stadium at Mile High.

Broncos starting quarterback Case Keenum completed 25 of 39 passes for 329 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions in his first game with the team.

Keenum enjoyed a career-year last season in Minnesota, throwing for 3,547 yards with 22 touchdowns to just seven interceptions while leading the Vikings to a 13-3 regular season record, an NFC North title, and appearance in the NFC Championship Game before signing a two-year, $36 million (with $25 million guaranteed) with Denver in the offseason.

Wide receiver Emmauel Sanders led the Broncos with 10 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown (fellow wide out Demaryius Thomas chipped in with six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown), while Denver’s ground game anchored by rookie running backs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay (15 carries for 71 each), found holes to run through in Seattle’s defense. Lindsay also caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Keenum.

Denver’s defense had a huge day against Seattle forcing three turnovers and sacking Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson six times, three by linebacker Von Miller, who finished with six tackles (one assisted).

Miller also forced two fumbles, one of which where he ripped the ball away from running back Chris Carson for a Broncos takeaway.

Linebacker Todd Davis led Denver with eight tackles.

Following Sunday’s game, both teams head east as the Broncos travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens, while Oakland invades Miami for a matchup with the Dolphins.

A’s pummel the Orioles 10-0 to win their sixth in a row

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by Jerry Feitelberg

There was good news and bad news for the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday night at Camden Yards. The good news was that the woeful Orioles held the A’s scoreless in eight of the nine innings played. The bad news is that Oriole pitchers were pounded in the third inning as the A’s put ten runs on the board when they pummeled Orioles’ starter Andrew Cashner and reliever Cody Carroll for ten runs on ten hits and two walks. The A’s used five pitchers in the game and kept the O’s of the board and limited to just one hit as the A’s won their sixth in a row by a score of 10-0.

The A’s kept pace with the Houston Astros in the race for first place in the AL West. The A’s remain three games behind the Astros. They did pick up a game on the New York Yankees as the Yankees lost 3-1 to the Minnesota Twins. The A’s are just one game behind the Yanks for the first Wild Card spot. If the A’s overtake the Yankees, the one-game playoff between the teams will be played in Oakland. Seattle lost and fell 9.5 games behind Oakland in the race for the second Wild Card.

How did the A’s do it Wednesday night? Orioles’ starter Andrew Cashner allowed just one hit in the first two innings that he pitched. The third inning was a different story. Cashner failed to retire a single hitter in the third. Cashner did not record an out in the third as the A’s put eight on the board before O’s skipper Buck Showalter replaced him with Cody Carroll. The A’s ended the inning scoring ten runs on ten hits and two walks. They sent fifteen men to the plate in their biggest inning of the year. The key hits were provided by Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. Chappie had a double and a single in the inning to drive in three runs. Matt Olson also drove in three when he blasted his 26th bomb of the year over the left field wall. Jed Lowrie singled to drive in his 90th RBI, and Khris Davis drove in his 110th of the year to tie him with his total of last year.

The A’s used Liam Hendriks as the “opener.” Hendriks pitched one inning. He was followed by Daniel Mengden who threw five scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher. He is now 7-6 for 2018. The O’s Andrew Cashner went two-plus innings, and his record fell to 4-15

The A’s improved  89-57 for the year and Baltimore is 41-104.

The A’s go for the sweep on Thursday. Hopefully, the game will be played as Hurricane Florence is near landfall.

The A’s will send lefty Brett Anderson to the hill. Anderson will be coming off the 10-dl. He hasn’t pitched since August 27th. He is 3-4 with a record of 4.02. His opponent will be Dylan Bundy. Bundy is 7-14 and his an ERA of 5.58. Bundy is healthy but has been ineffective the last two months. Bundy has surrendered a club-record 37 home runs this season.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Pitchers Are Bigger, Stronger and on the DL More Than Ever

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By: Amaury Pi-González

If the A’s advance to the postseason, they will not be able to depend with their No. 1  starter, Sean Manaea. He will have arthroscopic surgery to repair a left shoulder impingement on September 19. A’s manager Bob Melvin said that Manaea will be sidelined through 2019.

Just a few years ago when I asked Melvin in Spring Training about Manaea, he told me wonders about the then-rookie pitcher. Jharel Cotton missed this 2018 season with Tommy John surgery as well as the A’s top pitching prospect A.J Puk. Pitchers are having all kinds of surgeries–primarily Tommy John–to the point where it’s very common. No team is immune to injuries. Young pitchers mostly throw 95 mph and they are bigger and stronger than ever. Conditioning is the best it has ever been. Nutrition is much more advanced than ever. Plus we now know more about the human body, so people are living longer than ever. Yet, few teams can escape these injuries to their pitching staffs.

One of my favorite pitchers was the Phillies’ Robin Roberts, who would throw 300 or more innings each season, just like Nolan Ryan or Jaime Moyer. Moreover, Vida Blue pitched for 17 years, and in eight of those years, he hurled between 224 to 312 innings per season. Not to mention, Moyer pitched for 25 seasons, and in 10 of those seasons, he easily went over 200 innings.

Juan Marichal completed 244 career games, going the distance. Most recently, Pedro Martínez pitched for 2,827 inning in 18 seasons. Jim Palmer pitched a total of 3,948 innings over 19 years with the Orioles, and never gave up a grand slam. Bartolo Colón has pitched for 3,459 2/3 innings and counting in his 21-plus seasons, and he has easily pitched over 200 innings per season. None of these guys were near 6’4″ and 235 lbs.

Many established pitchers as well as rookies in the MLB would travel to Cuba, Puerto Rico, México, Venezuela and vice versa to pitch in the Winter Leagues. They reported to Spring Training the following year and continued their long careers–most of them free of surgeries. There was always tendinitis, tired arms and ailments like that, but the names of the surgeons were not as famously known back then. Pitchers used to run a lot and did not lift weights. Teams did not have a state of the art gym at each park like they have today with all types of supplements and vitamins along with qualified physiotherapists. Tommy John surgery has a high success rate, but around 20 percent of pitchers never make it back.

It is a never ending debate. Should they limit pitchers to 100 pitches per game? Are they training the wrong way? And there are many other questions without definite answers.

This is one of my favorite quotes. It is from Liván Hernández, who pitched for 17 years and in many seasons threw over 200 innings, “A mi no me preocupa la cantidad de lanzamiento que yo hago, lo que quiero es ganar el juego para mi equipo, si ellos quieren contar mis lanzamientos, está bien, en Cuba solo Dios sabe cuantos lanzamientos yo hacía por salida.”

Translation: “I am not worried how many pitches I throw, what I want is to win the game for my team, if they want to count the pitches I make, that is fine, in Cuba only God knew how many pitches I made every time I started a game.”

Notes: Tommy John pitched for 26 years from 1963 to 1989, winning 288 games while losing 231. He pitched for the Indians, White Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, California Angels, A’s and Yankees. Despite not being in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., his name is mentioned much more often than all the combined pitchers that are in the HOF.

San Jose sports podcast with Ana Kieu: What’s new with the Quakes?; What on earth is going on at SJSU?; plus mailbag time

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On the SJ sports podcast with Ana:

1. What are your three takeaways from Quakes vs. Vancouver WhiteCaps at Avaya Stadium last Saturday?

2. Going into Saturday’s game vs. Sporting Kansas City, what are three things the Quakes need to do in order to pick up a win or at least settle for a draw?

3. Vako and Guram Kashia helped the Georgian Football Federation to their first-ever win in UEFA Nations League History last Thursday.

4. The Quakes caught up with Cal Golden Bears defender and Quakes Academy alum CJ Grey last Thursday night.

5. The Quakes will have beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh-Jennings at their training facility on September 28th for her Platform 1440 event at Avaya Stadium.

6. MLS commissioner Don Garber reminded fans and media members alike that finding cures for childhood cancers remains as important as ever. Garber also said that MLS Works will donate $5 to the Children’s Oncology Group each time #ScarvesUp is used on Twitter and Instagram throughout September.

7. What are three things that fans should know about San Jose State football and athletics in general?

8. It’s time to look over some items in Ana’s mailbag!

1) Juan from Fresno, Calif. wrote, “It all starts with the president and AD. If they only care about the bottom line, they won’t hire coaches that understand the terrain. That is how it was with Tim Deruyter, who didn’t care about recruiting in and around the Central Valley. He was exposed once the last of Pat Hill’s recruiting classes left. SJSU need to go look for former alums who know the lay of the land.”

2) Ryan from Wilmington, Del. wrote, “Great article (on the shenanigans at SJSU) even though Boise State is my second favorite team.”

3) Joe from Akron, Ohio predicted that WSU would beat SJSU 54-21.

Catch Ana on the SJ sports podcast each week at SportsRadioService.com!

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants drop 10th straight; Braves can complete a possible sweep in matinee today

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On the Giants podcast with Marko:

The San Francisco Giants dropped their second straight game to the Atlanta Braves by the same identical score 4-1. Again, the offense fails to answer the bell. This loss was San Francisco’s 10th straight loss and the Braves pitcher Mike Foltnewicz pitched a shutout going into the ninth inning gave up his only run on a Brandon Crawford single to right to score Evan Longoria.

Fortnewicz pitched a complete game: one run, six hits, one walk, seven strikeouts. For the Giants, starter Andrew Saurez with six innings, three runs, six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The Giants will start Dereck Holland, and for the Braves, Anibal Sanchez. Can the Giants snap the 10-game skid today?

Giants podcasts with Marko Ukalovic are heard each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports with London Marq: Raiders might quit Oakland due to city’s lawsuit; 49ers just ran up against very good team in loss; Chair umpires call for boycott of Serena matches

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On the Headline Sports with London:

#1 The City of Oakland plan to sue the Oakland Raiders for financial impact loss to the city. The Raiders have said if the city continues with the suit, the team will pull up stakes and find a temporary site to play until their new stadium is ready.

#2 There was a lot of expectation on the Raiders on Monday night and a lot of hype on the return of head coach Jon Gruden and the trade of star Khalil Mack going into the regular season, but Oakland took a convincing 33-13 loss to the LA Rams on Monday night.

#3 How badly was the loss to the Minnesota Vikings for the San Francisco 49ers 24-16? Did Jimmy Garoppolo show promise despite the loss?

#4 Tennis chair umpires are calling for a boycott for future matches with Serena Williams. Tennis officials are upset due to the lack of support for chair umpire Carlos Ramos that umpires said Williams labeled Ramos a sexist, a thief, and owing Williams an apology for violation calls. But tennis chair umpires point to her unsportsmanship-like conduct in her U.S. Open match.

#5 Wild card races have the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees most likely heading to a one-game playoff at the end of the regular season. The A’s have won five straight, but looking ahead-how do you see this one-game match up possibly in New York between the A’s and Yankees?

London Marq does the Sports Headlines each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com