Buzarnescu, Sakkari win semifinals, will meet in all-Euro Final on Day 6 of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Greek Maria Sakkari is making a believer out of the San Jose crowds. After being two games away from elimination, the comeback kid from Greece once again rallied from a three game deficit to win the second set 7-5 and eventually the match over the American Danielle Collins 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the featured semifinal match on Saturday evening at the Spartan Tennis Complex.

Collins cruised through the first set 6-3 and was up 4-1 in the second set looking to make quick work of Sakkari. However, the momentum seemed to turned when Collins was about to serve, a fan had yelled down from the stands, disrupting Collins, who was visibly upset by the distraction.

It would seem to spark Sakkari–as Collins’ frustration would continue to grow–as she roared back to win the next six out of seven games to even it up the match and force the deciding third set.

“I felt that she was obviously getting nervous when I was coming back,” said Sakkari. “I mean every one get nervous. When I was down 4-1, that’s not when the match changed (in my favor).”

Despite the loss, Collins said it was a good week for her in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

“I think I had a great week,” said Collins. “I was excited to get a couple of wins under my belt. Also, a great match today. I think it’s a lot of good momentum heading into the rest of the hard court season.”

When asked if she would be able to sleep the night before her chance at her first singles in 2018, and first in three years since she turned pro, Sakkari wasn’t sure at the moment.

“I will let you know tomorrow,” said Sakkari.

In the first semifinal match earlier Saturday, Romanian Miheala Buzarnescu defeated number four seeded Elise Mertens in the semifinal of the MSVC in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. After losing the first set to Mertens, Buzarnescu was able to take control of the second set and never looked back.

Mertens was suffering from an arm injury during the third set that ultimately led to her downfall as she was only able to win one game. Buzarnescu took advantage of Mertens’ injury and cruised through the third set on her way to the final showdown against Sakkari.

“Both of us I think we had really bad conditions, it was hot and dry and everything,” said Buzarnescu. “I just tried to stay positive and be more aggressive with her, keep my calm and play every ball inside the court.”

In doubles action, Latisha Chan and Kveta Peschke defeated Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninmiya 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the finals. They will faceoff against the Ukrainian twin sister duo of Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok, who defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu and Heather Watson in an epic semifinal match 6-4, 3-6, 10-8.

Game Notes: For the first time since 2010, the tournament final will not feature a seed lower than the top four. Fifth seed Maria Sharapova was defeated by eighth seed Victoria Azarenka when it was known as the Bank of the West Classic.

Sunday’s Finals Schedule
Doubles Final: Latisha Chan and Kveta Peschke vs. Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok at 12 pm PDT.

Singles Final: Maria Sakkari vs. Miheala Buzarnescu at 2 pm PDT.

Ahmed homers twice as D-backs pound Giants 9-3

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By: Daniel Dullum

PHOENIX, Ariz. – In the midst of a career year, Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed went yard twice versus the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, sparking the D-backs to a 9-3 win over the Giants at Chase Field.

“I don’t know the percentages, but I think a team is more likely to win when it scores first,” Ahmed said. “We just try to jump out, attack early, and we’ve done a good job of that lately.”

Ahmed was 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, and four runs batted in. Steven Souza added a double, triple and three RBIs, and Ketel Marte hit his 10th home run of the season as part of Arizona’s 12-hit attack.

On his newfound power stroke, Ahmed said, “I always knew I had it in there. It’s just taken a little bit longer than some other guys to pull it out. It’s a matter of putting myself in a good position to see the ball really well and use my athleticism to attack the pitches I want to swing at.”

The D-backs’ second straight win over the Giants moved kept them in first place in the National League West race, ½ game ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fourth-place San Francisco fell to .500 and trail Arizona by six games.

Clay Buchholz (5-1) struck out eight and walked two while giving up two earned runs on seven hits over six innings.

“After the first inning, I felt really good with the mix,” Buchholz said. “I ran into a long inning in the second and gave up the solo homers, but I was able to keep them off the bases after that.”

The D-backs jumped on Giants’ starter Andrew Suarez (4-7) early and often, sending eight hitters to the plate while building a 5-0 first-inning lead. The big hit came with two outs when Souza tripled down the right-field line, driving in David Peralta (who singled) and Paul Goldschmidt (who walked).

Ahmed followed with a single to drive in Souza, and Marte completed the damage with a two-run home run to left-center.

“(Suarez’s) stuff is really good. I think it’s his command more than anything,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He was a little off, and you look at his ball-strike ratio early, he just wasn’t sharp.

“We gave up a lot of runs with two outs and it became an uphill climb for the guys,” Bochy continued. “We just needed that one hit to keep it moving. We had a lot of good at-bats with deep counts, but we just can’t get that one more hit to keep it going.”

The Giants used the long ball to cut into the D-backs’ lead. Andrew McCutchen homered to left to lead off the third, and Steven Duggar’s first career home run pulled San Francisco to within 5-2 with one out in the fourth.

The Giants’ fourth-inning threat continued with two out when McCutchen singled and went to third on Hernandez’s double. But Evan Longoria struck out.

The D-backs added three more runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Souza and Ahmed’s 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot that extended Arizona’s lead to 8-2. Ahmed closed out Arizona’s scoring with a solo homer off Giants reliever Derek Law – his 16th – to lead off the eighth.

McCutchen, 5-for-5 with a double and home run, tacked on the Giants’ final run with an RBI single in the ninth.

The Giants did get some good news regarding Buster Posey. The veteran catcher took Saturday off and, according to Bochy, would play Sunday at first base. Posey left Friday’s game in the third inning after experiencing concussion symptoms.

“Buster is fine,” Bochy said. “He’s penciled in for first base on Sunday.”

Probable pitchers for the series finale on Sunday involve a pair of lefthanders – Derek Holland (5-8, 3.90) for San Francisco and Robbie Ray (3-2, 5.05) for the Diamondbacks.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: Prior to Saturday’s game, the Giants called up RHP Pierce Johnson and RHP Derek Law from Triple-A Sacramento while optioning INF Kelby Tomlinson and RHP Chris Stratton (Friday night’s starter) to the River Cats. … Arizona won a video replay challenge in the third inning when San Francisco’s Gorkys Hernandez was initially ruled safe on a wide throw from 3B Ketel Marte. The call was overturned and ruled that 1B Paul Goldschmidt applied a sweep tag before Hernandez reached the bag. Time of the review was 52 seconds. … Prior to the game, the Diamondbacks announced their 20th anniversary team: Manager – Bob Brenley, 1B – Paul Goldschmidt, 2B – Jay Bell, SS – Tony Womack, 3B – Matt Williams, OF – Luis Gonzalez, Steve Finley and A.J. Pollock, C – Miguel Montero, SP – Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Curt Schilling, Patrick Corbin and Zack Grienke, RP – Jose Valverde and Brad Ziegler. … Attendance was 38,033.

UP NEXT: The Giants and D-backs will conclude their series Sunday afternoon at 1:10 pm PDT.

Vako’s brace helps the Earthquakes top FC Dallas 3-1

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Pearl Allison Lo

The cellar-dweller San Jose Earthquakes and first-place FC Dallas temporarily switched places in the Western Conference at the Toyota Stadium Saturday night.

Vako scored twice for the first time in his MLS career. FC Dallas, third in the league, suffered their first home loss this season. It was also their first home loss at Toyota Stadium in 18 games.

The Quakes scored in the 19th, 47th and 88th minutes and finally snapped a 12-game winless streak. It was a triumphant win for the cellar-dwellers.

Dallas and San Jose goalies Jesse Gonzalez and Andrew Tarbell were each forced to make five saves. Maximiliano Urruti and Vako had career-highs in shots, eight and nine, respectively.

Shea Salinas put a good ball ahead from midfield to set up Vako. Vako avoided Gonzalez, who slid outside the corner of his box, juked another defender along the goal line and kicked the ball past two more defenders to take the 1-0 lead.

FC Dallas tied it 1-1 a short while later in the 23rd minute. Reggie Cannon secured the ball and connected with Michael Barrios in the box. As Barrios shot, Roland Lamah put the ball into the net from Tarbell’s other side.  

Jahmir Hyka took an arced ball into the box from Anibal Godoy and scored with a kick in front of the defender.    

FC Dallas was not without their chances though. The following were just a few of them.

Tarbell showed skill in the 53rd minute, stopping two close saves in one second against Tesho Akindele and Barrios, the latter coming when Tarbell was down.

In the 63th minute, Tarbell was able to stop Barrios again. This led to a corner, which Urruti used to hit the crossbar.

The final goal came when Wondolowski was parallel to the goal line and passed to Vako, who converted. Wondo made his way past three defenders en route to the net.

Up Next: The Quakes will take on the Colorado Rapids next Saturday at 6 pm PDT at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: How bad is Posey’s concussion?; Have the Mariners derailed?; Astros edge Dodgers Friday in World Series reunion

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On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 Talk about taking one for the team on Friday night! San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey took one for the team as the Arizona Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt hit a foul tip right into Posey’s mask. It rung Posey’s head so much that he had to be helped to the dugout by the trainer. Posey might be in his closing days as a catcher.

#2 The Seattle Mariners have completely derailed! They lost their fourth straight game and dropped the first two games of this four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2. The M’s are now 1 1/2 games back of the A’s for the AL Wild Card race.

#3 The Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a 2017 World Series reunion with the Astros taking the first game of the series 2-1 on Friday night. The Astros’ starter Justin Verlander struck out 14 hitters to keep the Dodgers under control.

#4 The Chicago Cubs continued their winning ways with a one-run win over the San Diego Padres 5-4. The Cubs are holding onto first place in the NL Central with a one-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs’ Javier Baez hit his 23rd home run of the season, tying Baez’ all time best for homers.

#5 The Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano got a walkoff base hit that won it for the A’s in 13 innings as the A’s shutout the Detroit Tigers 1-0. The A’s continued to pour it on being the hottest team in baseball. The A’s are only five games back in the AL West of the Atlanta Braves.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Posey exits game early; D-Backs hold off Giants 6-3

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By: Daniel Dullum

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Friday night, it was Arizona’s turn to forge a long, productive inning – highlighted by a milestone home run by Paul Goldschmidt–as the Diamondbacks evened their weekend series with San Francisco by downing the Giants 6-3 at Chase Field.

Of a bigger concern to the Giants, though, is the condition of catcher Buster Posey, who left the game in the third inning following a base hit for what the team called “concussion conditions.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “Buster got a little lightheaded when he got to first base. …It was a foul tip in the first inning when Goldschmidt was up. He just felt it and that’s why he came out.”

“He’s showing better and we’ll monitor Buster overnight, tomorrow. He’ll be off (Saturday) and if all goes well, he could be back in there Sunday. Right now, it’s just important that we keep an eye on him.”

Bochy said he didn’t think the Giants would call up another catcher. “We’re going to err on the side of caution with Buster. We’re not taking any risks.”

With the victory, the D-Backs pulled back into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West, two games ahead of Colorado and five in front of San Francisco.

D-Backs starter Patrick Corbin (8-4) struck out eight without a walk in six innings while giving up three runs on seven hits.

“To be able to get through six, I’m happy with that,” Corbin said. “I felt good. The pitch count got a little high early, but the offense did a great job putting up some runs.”

The D-Backs roughed up Giants starter Chris Stratton (8-7) by sending 11 hitters to the plate in the first inning. Stratton lasted until the fourth, when Arizona loaded the bases with no one out.

Stratton gave up six earned runs in three-plus innings on 10 hits. He struck out four and walked four.

“(Stratton) was just off with his fastball command,” Bochy said. “His stuff is fine. What he needs is some confidence and you don’t quite see that with him right now.”

San Francisco manufactured a run to take an early 1-0 lead. Back-to-back one-out singles by Posey and Evan Longoria set up Austin Slater’s RBI single to center that brought Posey in from second.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Goldschmidt belted career home run No. 200, tying the game at 1-1. Goldschmidt sent a towering opposite-field drive toward the right-field foul line.

Goldschmidt said home run No. 200 “meant no more than No. 199.”

“I could care less,” Goldschmidt said. “I just go up there and try to help us win. I’ll care more about the number when my career is over.”

From there, the D-Backs batted around, scoring five runs while sending 11 hitters to the plate. Eduardo Escobar’s base hit drove in David Peralta, who followed Goldschmidt’s homer with a single. An RBI walk issued to Alex Avila (batting .171) and Corbin’s two-RBI single completed the rally.

“It’s a really good thing if you get to hit in the first inning,” Corbin said. “I was behind 0-2 and I was just trying to put the bat on the ball and hope for a good thing to happen.”

In the third inning, the Giants cut the D-Backs’ lead to 6-3. Brandon Crawford’s groundout scored Nick Hundley from second, and Slater’s RBI single to center scored Longoria, who singled. Hundley was pinch-running for Posey.

Stratton was chased after the Diamondbacks loaded the bases to start the bottom of the fourth. But reliever Ty Blach retired Escobar on a pop foul and Daniel Descalso grounded into a double play.

After Corbin departed, Yoshihisa Hirano, Archie Bradley and Brad Boxberger shut down the San Francisco offense, retiring eight of 11 hitters.

Boxberger gave up two-out singles to Hunter Pence and Steven Duggar in the ninth, but retired pinch-hitter Gorkys Hernandez on ground out to earn his 26th save.

“We came out of it all right,” Bochy said. “Our bullpen guys did a decent job of keeping us in the game. We had the tying run at the plate in the ninth.”

Peralta was 3-for-4, and A.J. Pollock and Jon Jay both collected two of Arizona’s 12 hits. Posey, Slater and Evan Longoria each had a pair of hits for the Giants.

“It was a good win,” Goldschmidt said. “We were able to get that lead, hold on, and we’ll try to go out there and do it again tomorrow.”

GIANTS JOTTINGS: The Diamondbacks are hosting an alumni game to celebrate the team’s 20th anniversary on Saturday prior to the regular game, which starts at 5:10 p.m. PDT … Probables for Saturday are LHP Andrew Suárez (4-6, 4.11 ERA) for San Francisco and RHP Clay Buchholz (4-1, 2.65 ERA) for the D-Backs. … Attendance on Friday was 27,581.

UP NEXT: The Giants and D-Backs face each other again Saturday at 5:10 pm PDT.

Rookie Plays Hero in the Field, at Plate to Walk A’s Off 1-0 Over Tigers in Extras

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By Matthew Harrington

Ramon Laureano’s first Major League hit would have been a lifelong memory regardless, but on Friday night, he authored the perfect storybook ending to a 13-inning marathon night at the Coliseum. Laureano waited 13 innings for his big moment, lacing a walk-off single in extra innings to hand the Oakland A’s a 1-0 win over the Detroit Tigers.

A’s Brett Anderson and Tigers’ Blaine Hardy dueled all night in a classic pitchers’ duel that featured dueling no-hitters through five innings, but both departed with a no-decisions after neither pitcher’s offense decided to offer up any favors. For Anderson, the start was timely. There were rumors at the deadline of a possible acquisition of starter Mike Fiers, signaling an end to Anderson’s second stint in Green and Gold. His two hits yielded Friday night gave the A’s confidence moving forward on the deal they didn’t make.

Giving the A’s confidence in a move they did make was Laureano. The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic was hitting .297 in the Pacific Coast League, mashing 14 homers for the A’s affiliate before replacing Dustin Fowler on the big league roster. He was acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Houston Astros for Minor League pitcher Brandon Bailey, who’s currently playing High-A ball.

Laureano came up to the plate looking entirely overmatched in his previous four at-bats, striking out twice and stranding a runner. The bottom of the 13th with two outs against Buck Farmer would be his moment. After Nick Martini walked to open the inning, Farmer got two outs, but catcher Jonathan Lucroy kept the inning alive with his single. Laureano fell behind in the count to a quick 0-2 count before taking a ball, then lacing an 81.9 mile-per-hour slider of the out of town scoreboard in right field, giving the A’s (65-46) the win and a 1 1/2 game lead over Seattle for the second Wild Card spot–19 games over .500.

Laureano showed off his arm in the top of the inning after Jose Iglesias swiped second base on an errant throw. Laureano gunned down the greedy runner at third base, erasing the winning run from scoring position and ending the inning to make Emilio Pagan (3-0, 3.52 ERA) the winning pitcher.

Pagan was just one in a string of strong reliever performances on the night. Jeurys Familia took over for Anderson in the eighth and allowed just one hit. Blake Treinen took the ninth and 10th hoping to end it early for the A’s, firing scoreless innings with two hits and four strikeouts, but no victory. Yusmeiro Petit was the surgeon out of the pen, firing two innings of his own to get through the 11th and 12th with no hits or walks and three punchouts, giving way to Pagan on the winning inning.

The Tigers thought they had a shot to beat the A’s for the first time in 10 games against Oakland after Hardy went seven while allowing one hit, then called upon Louis Coleman, Alex Wilson, and Victor Alcantara to hold off the A’s. All were successful, and Farmer (3-4, 4.88 ERA) even pitched a scoreless 12th inning before winding up the loser in the 13th.

Edwin Jackson, fresh off career win number 100, will take the mound Saturday for Oakland. He’ll be opposed by Detroit’s Jordan Zimmermann. Game time is set for 6:05 pm PDT.

Venus Williams ousted by Sakkari to conclude Day 5 of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — And then there were no more Williams sisters. Venus Williams became the latest casualty at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at the Spartan Tennis Complex on Friday night as Maria Sakkari defeated her 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the featured quarterfinal match on Friday to conclude Day 5 of the MSVC.

In early quarterfinal action, Mahela Buzarnescu defeated Ajla Tomljovanic 6-1 7-5 in the opening match of the Quarterfinals of the MSVC. Buzarnescu kept Tomljanovic off balanced through the set match to reach the semifinals. Tomljanovic was a victim of her own unforced errors in the match.

“I thought she (Buzarnescu) played a pretty flawless first set, not much I could’ve done there,” said Tomljovanic. “I think maybe she gave me a few openings there. I got in position to serve for the set but didn’t really take my chances and it kind of goes away quickly (when you don’t take advantage) with players like that.”

Johanna Konta, who  gave Serena Williams her worst loss of her career earlier this week, had her luck run out as she was defeated by Elise Mertens 7-6, 6-3. Mertens is the highest remaining seeded player (fourth) remaining in the MSVC.

Victoria Azarenka looked to be on her way to a semifinal berth, but was forced to retire in the second set due to injury to the American tennis player Danielle Collins. Azarenka had won a spirited first set 7-6, but the injury hampered her at the beginning of the second set. Collins took advantage and was up 3-0 before Azarenka could not longer proceed with the match.

For the doubles, Konta and Shuai Zhang were defeated by the duo of Mihaela Buzarnescu and Heather Watson 7-5, 6-2. Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya defeated Georgina Garcia Perez and Priscilla Hon 6-4, 6-2.

Sakkari lacks in height, but makes up for it with her speed and power, which for the most of the match seemed to tire out Williams. Sakkari, an Athens, Greece native, rallied twice after being down 0-3 in the first set and 3-5 in the second.

“I was ready for the match compared to the last time I played her (Williams),: said Sakkari. “I knew my serve was not there. I never stopped fighting (or) believing that I could win the match.”

Upcoming Schedule for Saturday, August 4
Singles — Semifinals
Elise Mertens (4) vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu at 1 pm PDT.

Danielle Collins vs Maria Sakkari  at 7 pm PDT.

Doubles — Semifinals
Latisha Chan and Kveta Peschke vs. Miyu Kato and Makota Ninmiya at 2:30 pm PDT.

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu and Heather Watson at 5 pm PDT.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s now tied with M’s in the Wild Card; look to put some pressure on the first-place Astros

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On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The Oakland A’s open a three-game set at the Oakland Coliseum starting Friday night with the Detroit Tigers. These are not your 2012 Tigers who went to the World Series that season. The aging Bengals have Miguel Cabrera out with a torn triceps and Victor Martinez is near the end of his career.

The Tigers’ best hitter is Nick Castellanos, who was on the American League All-Star team, and the most potent hitter on the club. The Tigers’ dealing of former pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander certainly impacted the Tigers’ rotation and it really hasn’t recovered since then. The Tigers are 47-62 and 13 games out of first place in the AL Central.

The A’s are the hottest team in the Majors, winning 30 of their last 37 games and coming off a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s improved to second place in the wild card race, catching the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. The A’s made up for an 11-game deficit, coming all the way back to catch the M’s.

Tonight, the Tigers will start Blake Hardy (4-3, 3.61 ERA), and for the A’s, Brett Anderson (2-3, 5.51 ERA).

Catch Joey each Friday for the Oakland A’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Aces-Mystics game canceled in Washington, D.C.

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Photo credit: Shawn McCullough, Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

It was a very long 24+ hours for the Las Vegas Aces.

The team was scheduled to depart McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas for Washington, D.C. at 1:13 pm Pacific on Thursday, but the flight was delayed multiple times for a total of close to eight hours and later canceled.

The team connected in Dallas early in the morning and later arrived in Washington, D.C. at 3 pm Eastern, four hours before the scheduled tip-off at Capital One Arena.

The WNBA delayed the start of the game to 8 pm Eastern and later decided to cancel the game.

Since fans had already arrived at the arena for the game, the Mystics organized a free autograph session with the Mystics players, refunded all tickets purchased and offered complimentary tickets to a future Mystics game.

The Aces will next play in Connecticut on Sunday against the Sun.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: MadBum works D-Backs’ lineup to correct loaded situation

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On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Miguel:

Madison Bumgarner had himself a night pitching against the Arizona Diamondbacks for the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night. Bumgarner loaded the bases twice once in the first inning and in the second inning. Bumgarner worked his way out of it each time and he said during the postgame presser that he had to work twice as hard to work his way out of each of those jams.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said that Bumgarner did a great job keeping the Diamondbacks at bay with just one run in the ball game and Bumgarner showed his focus, zeroed in, and kept the Diamondbacks from doing any further damage.

The Giants now have lost two key players. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval to a hamstring injury. Sandoval will be lost for the entire 2018 season.

“It’s just that he played there, but the job he did. The guy did everything. This is a tough one to overcome.” said Bochy.

The Giants’ Johnny Cueto, who is undergoing Tommy John surgery this week, is also a loss for the 2018 season.

The Giants, who won their fifth straight game, will go for number six tonight at Chase Field in the second of this four game series . The Giants are just five games out of first place and will start Chris Stratton (8-6). For the Diamondbacks, Patrick Corbin (7-4).

Join Michael each Friday for the Giants podcasts and Morris Phillips Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com