Aced That Test: Vegas holds on at Minnesota, their first win over the Lynx since 2014

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of Aaron Lavinsky/Minneapolis Star Tribune

By Morris Phillips

MINNEAPOLIS — The growth process of the Las Vegas Aces reached a significant milestone on Friday night.

Winning at the Target Center–in front of the WNBA’s best home crowd–and maintaining a lead throughout the fourth quarter when as many things went wrong as went right, said as much as beating the four-time champions for the first time since the 2014 playoffs.

Coach Bill Laimbeer wasn’t in the mood to organize a parade in celebration of the 85-77 win–part of a first-ever, four-game win streak for the Aces. But the veteran coach liked what he saw.

“We’re getting better. No question about that. We’re playing hard every game. We have some horses that we can go to. Now we have to get more pieces, and our bench players to be a little bit more consistent, and I think we’re making good progress,” Laimbeer said.

Kayla McBride led the Aces with 24 points, but McBride was just one of five Aces to score in double figures. While the Aces’ stars–McBride, Kelsey Plum and rookie, No. 1 overall pick A’ja Wilson–led the way, they had plenty of help. Front court reserve Carolyn Swords played 28 minutes off the bench, leading the committee that put the clamps on 6’6″ Sylvia Fowles. And Tamera Young converted consecutive baskets that gave the Aces their biggest lead, 72-64 with 8:58 remaining.

“To beat a great team like Minnesota you have to have everybody kind of involved,” McBride said. “It’s not just going to be one or two players that can beat them because they are so good and experienced. I thought it was a great win for us, especially on the road.”

After starting the season 1-7, the Stars have won nine of 14. The Aces are in the playoff hunt at 10-12 with their eyes focused on the Lynx (12-9), the team currently occupying the sixth and final playoff spot. In between the Lynx and Aces, seventh-place Dallas and eight-place Atlanta will have to be reckoned with as well. But on Friday, the Aces dealt with the Lynx, a team that had beaten them in 19 of the previous 20 meetings dating back to their days in San Antonio.

“I’ve been a part of those,” McBride said of the 19 losses. “Coach did mention that. The only win that we had I think was in the playoffs my rookie year we won like one of them in a three-game series.”

The Lynx fell to 6-4 at home, uncharacteristic for a team that won 103 of 119 at the Target Center between 2011 and 2017, the period of their four WNBA titles. Are they older and losing effectiveness? Sure, seven of the 12 players on their roster are over 30, including rookie Endy Miyem from France. But the Lynx fight the aging process vigorously, and they did so again on Friday. 36-year old Lindsay Whalen looked like fine wine in posting a team-best 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. And 34-year old Simone Augustus followed suit with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

But in key stretches, the Lynx offense appeared stagnant. Minnesota also failed to get Fowles untracked (2-of-9 shooting, 7 points), and got beat on the glass (Aces’ 42-36 rebounding advantage). But most significantly, leading scorer Maya Moore struggled, missing 10 of her 15 shot attempts.

“Vegas was good. For sure, they were really good on offense. They converted right at us (off) makes and misses. Their complete identity, they got to play to it.  On both sides of it. Their complete identity, and that’s disappointing,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve admitted.

The Aces host the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm PDT at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Giants strike with 5-run 7th inning to take Bay Bridge opener with 7-1 rout of A’s

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner looked like his old self with the exception of one bad pitch, but it was the relief pitching of Reyes Moronta and Sam Dyson that was huge.

Moronta relieved Bumgarner with the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the seventh inning, and he was able to get out of the jam and the San Francisco Giants took game one of the Bay Bridge Series with a 7-1 victory over the Oakland A’s before a sellout crowd of 41,751 at AT&T Park on Friday night.

“Bum threw a great game,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

The two other remaining members of the Giants’ run when they won three World Championships in five years also came up huge when the team needed it the most, as Buster Posey came through the hit of the night and Pablo Sandoval came up with the defensive play of the night.

Posey gave the Giants the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he singled off of Edwin Jackson to score Steven Duggar, who led off the inning with a walk off of Jackson.

“Moronta, Pablo and Craw won the game for us,” said Bumgarner.

Duggar broke up Jackson’s no-hit bid, as he doubled to lead-off the bottom of the fourth inning and scored when Jackson balked with Brandon Crawford at the plate.

The rookie ended up going 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored on the evening.

Posey also picked up two hits for the Giants, who reached the 50 win on July 13, last season, the Giants did not win their 50th game until August 18.

Bumgarner gave up a lead-off base hit to Marcus Semien in the top of the first inning, and then proceeded to retire the 14 A’s in a row until Chad Pinder tied up the game with his 10th home run of the season with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.

Pinder’s home run off of Bumgarner was the team’s major league leading 83rd home run on the road this season.

The play of the game came in the top of the seventh inning, as with one out and the bases loaded, Jonathan Lucroy hit a liner heading down the left field line; however, Sandoval made a great grab for the second out of the inning.

Bumgarner got into trouble in the top of the seventh inning, as he gave up a single to Stephen Piscotty, and then issued walks to Matt Olson and Matt Chapman and that was the end of the line for Bumgarner on the evening, as Bochy called on Moronta to get the Giants out of the bases loaded, nobody out jam.

Moronta got Pinder to strikeout for the first out of the inning, then Lucroy lined out to Sandoval, who just missed getting Piscotty at third base and Moronta ended the inning, as he got pinch-hitter Nick Martini to ground out to Crawford to end the inning and the threat.

In all, Bumgarner went six innings, allowing just one run on just three hits, walking three and striking out five. Bumgarner evened up his record at 3-3 on the season after his six-inning performance.

The win gave Bumgarner back-to-back wins at home for the first time since August 18, 2016 versus the New York Mets and 10 days later on August 28 against the Atlanta Braves.

On the other side of things, Jackson also went six innings, allowing two runs, scattering four hits, walking three, striking out one and that balk that gave the Giants their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the loss, Jackson lost for the first time as a member of the A’s and is now 1-1 on the season.

Ryan Dull came on to replace Jackson, but after singles to Alen Hanson and Gorkys Hernandez, Chase d’Arnaud walked to load the bases and that was the end of the night for Dull.

Jeremy Bleich then replaced Dull, as he made his Major League debut and Duggar greeted him by smashing a two-run double to the right field wall that scored both Hanson and Hernandez. Bleich then hit Brandon Belt, and his MLB debut was a short one, as he was replaced by former Giants reliever Santiago Casilla.

Andrew McCutchen drove in the fourth run of the inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Duggar easily from third base.

Casilla then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Belt to go to second base, and Belt then went to third on a Crawford groundout for the second out of the inning. Unfortunately, Casilla was unable to get out of the inning, as Posey picked up his second hit in as many at-bats, as he lined a double down the left field line to score Belt.

Sam Dyson worked the eighth and ninth innings, as he struck out two and the Giants won for the fifth time in their last seven games. They are now 5-3 on this 10-game home stand that will end on Sunday.

NOTES: Jeff Samardzija looks for his second win of the season on Saturday night, as he takes the mounds against his former team. Brett Anderson will head to the mound for the A’s, as he also looks for his second win of the season.

A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie left the game with a left leg contusion after he collided with Piscotty in the bottom of the third inning. Pinder replaced Lowrie at second base, and Khris Davis came into the game in left field. Davis ended up going 0-for-2, and his 14-game hitting streak came to a halt.

UP NEXT: The Giants and A’s will return to the field on Saturday night at 7:05 pm PDT.

A’s Unlucky in Bay Bridge Opener, Fall to Giants 7-1

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @957thegame

By Matthew Harrington

Friday the 13th is an unlucky day by superstition, something the Oakland Athletics can now vouch for after falling to the San Francisco Giants 7-1 at AT&T Park Friday night. After seeing the team MVP exit the game, the bad went to worse. The A’s must have had a black cat or two cross trans-Bay charter on the way to the park after mirroring situations saw the A’s score zero runs and the Giants five.

The A’s loaded the bases with no outs off starter Madison Bumgarner trailing 2-1, but failed to push across a single run after reliever Reyes Moronta punched out Chad Pinder, coaxed an infield lineout from Jonathan Lucroy and pinished off pinch hitter Nick Martini with a bouncer to the sure-handed Brandon Crawford to stymie the threat.

With starter Edwin Jackson lifted for reliever Ryan Dull in the bottom of the innings, the Giants also worked the bases loaded. Reliever Jeremy Bleich enterted the game, making his major league debut after 10 years in the minors. Steven Duggar welcomed him to the bigs with a double down the line in right that scored a pair, then pegged Brandon Belt to reload the bases with Oakland now trailing 4-1.

Former Giant closer Sanitago Casilla replaced Bleich and his infinite ERA, getting Andrew McCutchen out on a sacrifice fly. His wild pitch allowed Duggar to score for 6-1 lead. Buster Posey doubled in a run to add on to the lead.

Oakland starter Edwin Jackson finished his fourth start in as many outings with the A’s by allowing two runs or fewer. He departed the game after six innings with Oakland down 2-1 after he stumbled off the mound in the fourth inning for a run-scoring balk then gave up a Posey RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. He was bolstered briefly by a Chad Pinder solo homer in the top of the fifth of Giants starter Madison Bumgarner, the only run the A’s would score on the night.

Jackson scattered just four hits, while walking three and striking out the one Giant. He was out-dueled ever so slightly by Bumgarner, who allowed three hits, one run and struck out five with his trio of walks. The difference was the pen where Moronta provided the shutdown inning and Sam Dyson pitched two scoreless for San Francisco while Dull, Bleich and Casilla combined for five runs.

Jed Lowrie came out of the game for Oakland, getting pinch hit for by Khris Davis in the sixth inning. He was in a collision with right fielder Stephen Piscotty in the bottom of the third inning. Per the A’s, he exited the game with a leg contusion. It remains to be seen if he’ll appear in Saturday or Sunday’s Bay Bridge series contests.

The A’s will now need to win four of the remaining five contests between the two teams sandwiched around the All-Star break if they want to win the inaugural Bay Bridge series trophy made out of a reclaimed beam from the original Bay Bridge span. Brett Anderson will face Jeff Samardzija, a current trade target of the A’s, in Saturday’s contest. There’s still no word yet on any parade plans for the trophy’s eventual winner.

Commentary: Both A’s and Giants looking for “The Bridge” trophy

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nbcsports.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, July 13, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO – The Swingin’ A’s of Oakland enter this weekend’s interleague series as one of the hottest teams in baseball. The host San Francisco Giants, not so much, making for an interesting dynamic as both teams look for something besides bragging rights in the Bay Area series.

That “something” is “The Bridge,” a trophy created from steel salvaged from the original East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

In his pregame comments Friday, Giants manager Bruce Bochy seemed less concerned about The Bridge, as he was about an Oakland team that has won 19 of its last 24 games.

“It’s not so much about the trophy, but the fact you have two teams that are trying to get to the postseason,” Bochy said. “There’s nobody playing better than Oakland right now. They’re playing great, throwing the ball well. They’ve made some great comebacks, scoring runs, winning games late, their bullpen, in general, has really done a great job.”

“You get on a run like they are, that means you’re playing really good baseball. Since they’ve been on their run, I’m sure they feel really good about where they’re at, trying to get to the postseason, and that’s what we’re trying to do – two teams trying to accomplish the same thing.

A couple more things about The Bridge: A list of frequently asked questions was issued. We learned that the idea was the brainchild of NBC Sports reporter Brodie Brazil when he heard White Sox announcers Ken Harrelson and Steve Stone discussing Chicago’s Crosstown Cup. And, if the six-game regular-season series finishes tied, the winner of the last game is awarded the trophy.

The San Francisco skipper said it didn’t make a difference to him if the Giants and Athletics met before or after the All-Star break.

“It doesn’t matter to me when we play them,” Bochy said. “If anything, it keeps both teams at home around the break, so I suppose that’s a good thing.”

The A’s still manage to surprise many observers by hanging around the American League Wild Card race, while the Giants continue their quest to try keeping its key players healthy while trying to a) salvage their season and b) decide on being buyers or sellers at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

Oakland is faced with the same trade deadline decision. In recent years, the A’s have predictably been sellers. This year, speculation increases by the day that the Athletics may take the plunge and be buyers. Don’t bet on it, but the thought is intriguing.

The starting pitchers for Friday’s game couldn’t be more contrasting. Madison Bumgarner, despite the injuries that have plagued him the last couple of seasons, is still the ace of the Giants’ staff. Oakland counters with well-traveled Edwin Jackson, recently rescued from baseball’s scrap heap to not only play for his record-tying 13th team–he’s 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA.

A pitching duel ensued over the first three innings before San Francisco manufactured a run in the fourth, aided by a balk committed by Jackson. The A’s answered with a two-out solo home run by Chad Pinder to tie the game at 1-1.

As Bumgarner continued to mow down the A’s, San Francisco surged ahead 2-1 in the sixth on Buster Posey’s run-scoring single. But the Athletics weren’t quite finished.

Oakland loaded the bases and chased Bumgarner in the seventh. But Giants reliever Reyes Moranta retired Chad Pinder, Jonathan Lucroy and pinch-hitter Nick Martini in order to snuff out the rally. A defensive gem by Pablo Sandoval at third helped prevent further damage, when he snared Jonathan Lucroy’s sharp line drive.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases against the Oakland bullpen and capitalized with a two-RBI double by Steven Duggar to break the game open. When the dust settled, San Francisco batted around and took a 7-1 lead, which wound up as the final.

Fun stuff. And there’s five more of these. The winner gets a trophy.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s are coming off a near sweep of Astros, can they win series against Giants?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

mercurynews.com file photo: Oakland A’s Jed Lowrie takes congratulations in the A’s dugout which he has more than several times this season as he makes his first All Star appearance of his career

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The A’s scored six unanswered runs on Thursday to come back from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-4 and get a near sweep in Houston, taking three out of four games. The A’s got key hitting in the contest with Matt Chapman, who hit a game-tying double and Mark Canha with a two-run single for extra runs.

The A’s Khris Davis has a 14-game hitting streak going into the series with the San Francisco Giants. Davis got another hit on Thursday against Astros pitcher Chris Devenski to keep it going.

The A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie will be replacing Gleyber Torres the Yankees rookie it’s Lowrie’s first All-Star appearance in his career. Lowrie has 103 hits, 62 RBIs, 16 home runs, while hitting .290.

The A’s, the hottest team in baseball, have won 19 of their last 24 games and are coming of that three out four game series win in Houston. Joey takes a look how these two teams match up for the Bay Bridge series.

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

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Posey, Belt, and Crawford had All Star first half, but only Crawford will go

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

Michael goes over some of the Giants’ All-Star selections Buster Posey, who won’t be going due to his hip ailment. Posey hit .287, 81 hits, 5 home runs, and 28 RBIs. Posey will be resting the hip after Sunday’s game against the Oakland A’s as the All-Star break gives him four days to rest. Posey will be getting a cortisone shot for the hip after Sunday’s game.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford boasts .295 BA, 94 hits, 10 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a great first half asset and a key hitter in game-winning situations will be the lone Giant representing the Giants at the All-Star game.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt didn’t get that last minute push at the All-Star ballot box and didn’t make the All-Star team. Belt, who had a great first half, only to be interrupted by appendectomy surgery. Did his surgery slow down his chances at making the All-Star team?

The Giants host the hottest team in the big leagues, the Oakland A’s, tonight. Michael takes a look at how tough a customer the A’s will be in this series.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Giants and A’s prep for Battle of the Bay

Published on by jeremy2878Leave a comment

Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants and the A’s will see a lot of each other in this next week.

Both teams are enjoying seasons that have exceeded preseason expectations and both sport winning records heading into this weekend. This will be on a crash course right for each other for the next six regular-season games, with the annual All-Star Game sprinkled in between.

The Giants head into the Battle of the Bay with a bit of momentum on their side, which was especially needed after the thumping they took in Colorado a week ago, being swept in three games by the Rockies.

They have since turned it around, splitting a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals and then taking two of the three-game series with the Chicago Cubs, who disposed of them in the 2016 playoffs before going on to win the World Series.

The A’s, meanwhile, are riding a huge wave. They currently have a 53-41 mark after taking three out of a four-game series from the defending World Series champ Houston Astros and have won 19 of their past 24 games overall.

Madison Bumgarner (2-3) will take the hill for Friday’s opener against Oakland righty Edwin Jackson (1-0). Bumgarner has won two of his last three decisions and came out with a victory despite giving up four runs to the Cardinals in only 5 1/3 innings on Sunday.

Jackson won his only decision this year on June 30, when he surrendered only a pair of runs over 6 2/3 innings to the Cleveland Indians. He faced the Indians again on Saturday and surrendered three runs on five runs but ended up with a no-decision.

Jeff Samardzija (1-5) will try to turn his season around on Saturday when he takes the ball opposite Oakland’s Brett Anderson. Andrew Suarez (3-5) will look to continue his positive momentum on Sunday against A’s righty Sean Manaea (8-6), who has a no-hitter to his name this season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Who’d thunk the A’s take three out of four from Astros at Minute Maid Field?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

The Oakland A’s, the hottest team in baseball, scored six unanswered runs against the World Champion Houston Astros in their own park–Minute Maid Field–after the Astros held a 4-0 lead. Down 4-0 in the top of the fifth, the A’s scored three runs and were down a run in the top of the eighth, but scored three more for the 6-4 win.

Everyone hit. The A’s Matt Chapman hit a game-tying double and Mark Canha hit a two-run single for an insurance run. The A’s Khris Davis hit a single off the Astros pitcher Chris Devenski for his 14 consecutive hit.

With all the success the A’s are having, some A’s fans have questioned why NBC Sports Bay Area are doing wall-to-wall San Francisco Giants coverage and a lot less A’s coverage. The A’s are the hottest team in the MLB, winning 19 of their last 24 games. NBC Sports Bay Area even replays entire Giants games from the previous day. A’s fans who are looking for some coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area ask, “where’s the love?”

The A’s open a three-game series in San Francisco this Friday night. The A’s will start right-hander Edwin Jackson (1-0, 2.45 ERA) and in his 16th year pitching in the big leagues. For the Giants, it’ll be Madison Bumgarner (2-3, 3.09 ERA).

Jerry does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s rally in the 8th to beat the Astros again, 6-4

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s did it again as they rallied to score three runs in the top of the eighth to beat the World Champion Houston Astros 6-4 at Minute Maid Park on Thursday. With the win, Oakland took three out of four in Houston.

The A’s are continuing to show everyone that they are for real. They are playing with a lot of confidence as they have now scored 69 runs in the eighth inning. They lead all of baseball in that department. The A’s have won eight games when trailing after seven innings. That, too, leads the Major Leagues. They are 35-0 when leading after seven innings and 44-0 when leading after eight. No one else in baseball is undefeated.

“When you do it so many times, you have confidence doing it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And it was different guys today, too. At this point, it’s a true team effort, and that’s powerful when you have 25 guys contributing.”

Trevor Cahill started for the As. Cahill was activated off the 10-day DL. He struggled. Cahill went just 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs and three hits.

Below is the game summary:

In the third inning, the Astros roughed up Cahill for two runs. With one out, Cahill issued walks to Tony Kemp and George Springer. Both advanced a base when Cahill uncorked a wild pitch. Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman slammed a double to left to drive in Kemp and Springer.

The Astros made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Cahill retired the first two hitters: Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez. Former A’s player, Max Stassi, singled. Melvin had seen enough, and he brought in Chris Hatcher to pitch to Kemp. However, that strategy failed as Kemp homered.

The A’s took it in stride as they mounted their comeback in the top of the fifth. Chad Pinder and Mark Canha singled to start the rally. Astros’ starter Charlie Morton to load the bases with no out. Nick Martini doubled to drive in Pinder and Canha. Lucroy went to third. Morton retired Semien for the first out. The next hitter, Stephen Piscotty, reached on an infield single. Lucroy scored on the play. The Astros made a pitching change. Morton was out, and Collin McHugh was in. McHugh retired the next two A’s hitters. The A’s trailed 4-3.

There was no more scoring in the game until the top of the eighth. Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch brought in Chris Devenski to pitch. The A’s Khris Davis and Matt Olson singled to get things going. The other Matt, third baseman Matt Chapman, doubled to left field to drive in Davis. Olson stopped at third. Devensiki retired Chad Pinder for the first out. Mark Canha followed with a single to deep left field to drive in Olson and Chapman. The A’s were now ahead 6-4, and they needed the bullpen to finish off the Astros.

Bob Melvin selected lefty Ryan Buchter to pitch the eighth. Buchter did his job as retired the Astros in order. Melvin went to the bullpen again, and this time he brought in Lou Trivino to close out the game. Trivino, a rookie sensation, came through once again as he, too, set the Astros down to secure the 6-4 win for the A’s.

Game Notes: The A’s are now 53-41 for the season and are a season-high 12 games over .500. Melvin used five pitchers, and Yusmeiro Petit was the winning pitcher. Trivino earned his fourth save. Chris Devenski took the loss for the Astros.

Up Next: The A’s conclude the three-city, 10-game road trip with three games against the San Francisco Giants. Edwin Jackson will pitch for Oakland, and he will be opposed by San Francisco lefty Madison Bumgarner. The first game of the Battle of the Bay Series will be on Friday at 7:15 pm PDT.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Raiders corner Rashaan Melvin gives many reasons why he’s glad to be a Raider

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from nbcbayarea.com file: Former Indianapolis Colts corner Rashaan Melvin is excited to join the Oakland Raiders for the 2018 season

On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

Oakland Raiders corner Rashaan Melvin joins the Raiders and stated in a Sirius XM NFL interview that he gave some key reasons why he joined the Raiders. One of them was he  loved what he heard about Raider fans and wanted to give a shoutout to the hundreds of thousands of fans in Oakland.

Melvin said the Raiders have players who can get things done on every level and he had faith that head coach Jon Gruden can get the Raiders to the promise land the post season. He liked Gruden’s coaching style firey, smart, and knows how to win.

Melvin said coming to Oakland gives him a chance to be one of the best corners in the NFL and he has confidence in the Raiders and Gruden that he will be one of the very best corners in the NFL this season.

Melvin said the Raiders have a players who are veterans with an average of 12 years experience in the league. Melvin said the running backs and the offensive line also carry the experience to get them to the postseason.

Tony Renteria does the Oakland Raiders podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com