That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s set new home run record at 25 straight games and Edwin Jackson to the rescue

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @WEEI

By Amaury Pi-González

The powerful A’s now own a major-league record on Sunday in Chicago. Mark Canha hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to establish a new home run record. A streak of 25 consecutive road games with a home run. Previous modern record was set in 1996 by the Baltimore Orioles. Considering how often home runs are hit these days, it will be interesting to see how long this record last. Last season was the season of the home run, a record of 6,104.

A’s are calling up journeyman pitcher Edwin Jackson. This will be his 13th team tying a major league record. The moment Jackson wears the Green and Gold, he will tie Octavio Dotel, as one of the only two pitchers in history to have pitched for 13 different teams. You need at least three mainstays in a rotation to stay afloat, especially in this very tough AL West. This is not the NL West, this is a division with the Astros, Mariners and Angels, three teams that could be playing ball in October.

Bob Melvin is one of the best managers in the game today. The two-time Manager of the Year (2007 Arizona, 2012 Oakland) has done a terrific job with a very inconsistent rotation and like an expert chemist is trying to find the formula on a team, where the bullpen is in much better shape than the starting rotation. We know that the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are not coming to Oakland. During the first half of the season we have seen Daniel Gossit, Paul Blackburn, Josh Lucas also taking the ball to start games. Daniel Mengden left a game this weekend in Chicago with a foot injury, so the A’s are calling up journeyman Edwin Jackson.

As of the start of the current road-trip in San Diego, there were three starters in the “rotation:” Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden and Frankie Montás. We can take Mengden out for a while with that foot injury and see how Edwin Jackson will do with the Athletics uniform. From the start of this season, the A’s could have used a veteran pitcher, this team has an abundance of young pitchers with little experience. It seems like 10 years ago that Kendall Graveman opened this season for the A’s against the Angels on March 29th at the Oakland Coliseum.

The A’s have been playing good ball during this road trip against teams. They should be able to beat the Padres, White Sox and Tigers. These are teams that are at the bottom of their divisions. Yet in baseball, to be a contender you must beat these teams. Their road trip continues into Detroit for a four-game series prior to returning home next Friday from a weekend series against the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians and then a two-game set vs. the San Diego Padres during Independence week.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Aces schooled by defending champion Lynx 88-73

Published on by psushawnLeave a comment

20180624 - A'ja Wilson 03

Photo credit: Shawn McCullough, Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

The Minnesota Lynx showed why they are the defending WNBA champions.

The Aces never led in the game as the Lynx beat Las Vegas 88-73 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday.

The Lynx experience showed on the court against a young Aces team as Minnesota shot 55.1% from the field.

“They have what we need to acquire, that’s mental toughness,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer. “We have to go out and beat them. They are not going to beat themselves and we didn’t come out tonight to beat them. We came out to play a basketball game and it showed.”

“It all boils down to mental toughness, so it is definitely something that we need to learn as we grow,” said guard Kelsey Plum. “They beat us today because they were just tougher than us.”

Kayla McBride led the Aces with 17 points, while Plum added 15.  A’ja Wilson scored 10 points with seven rebounds.

“You have to act like you have been in situations before and know how to pull out of it from a mental standpoint,” said Wilson. “The game is a lot of mental toughness and that is what we need.”

The Aces trailed by only six points at halftime, but the Lynx went on a 14-4 run to start the third quarter.

With the loss, the Aces fell to 5-10 on the season.

The Aces will next play two more games at home against Dallas and Los Angeles.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • A’ja Wilson scored in double figures (10) for the 15th straight game.
  • The Aces were held to 41.4% shooting from the field.
  • Moriah Jefferson (knee) did not play due to injury.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 12 Nia Coffey
C – 19 JiSu Park
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum

Pence’s walk-off double lifts Giants past Padres 3-2 in extras

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — With their first day off since June 7 looming, the San Francisco Giants are happy to get a day off.

Hunter Pence hit a two-run double just out of the reach of Eric Hosmer at first base, as the Giants came back to defeat the San Diego Padres 3-2 before a crowd of 39,240 at AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon.

“Just wanted to put a good swing on the ball,” said Pence. “Fortunately, I found the hole.”

Thru the first seven games of the 10-game home stand, the Giants are now 5-2 with a three-game series looming against the Colorado Rockies beginning on Tuesday night.

With the victory, this was the fourth straight home series win for the Giants.

Things were not looking good for the Giants, as they went to the bottom of the 11th inning against one of the best closers in baseball, in Brad Hand.

After Hand struck out Brandon Belt for the first out of the inning, Hand began to unravel, as he gave up a double to Andrew McCutchen, then after an intentional walk to Buster Posey that setup the possible double play, Hand hit Brandon Crawford on the elbow to load the bases.

“Cutch got the guys going with that double,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

On an 0-2 pitch from Hand, Pence hit a cue ball shot down the first base line just out of the reach of Hosmer at first that McCutchen with the tying run and Posey with the winning run.

“Ecstatic for him, been a tough road for him (Hunter),” said Bochy.

The walk-off double by Pence was his 11th career walk-off hit, and the first since May 23, 2016, also a double against the Padres.

This was the fifth walk-off of the season for the Giants, and first since June 6, when Crawford hit a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks that helped the Giants to a 5-4 win in 10 innings.

The Padres took the lead in the top of the 11th inning, as Manuel Margot singled to lead-off the inning, then Hosmer grounded out to Brandon Belt at first base, and Margot advanced to second. Margot then went to third on a Moronta wild pitch, and then scored what looked like the winning run on the Spangenberg single to right field, until Pence’s heroics in the bottom of the inning

Margot scored both runs for the Padres, as he hit a 3-2 offering from Dereck Rodriguez into the left field seats to give the Padres an early 1-0 lead. It was the fifth career lead-off home run for Margot.

The Margot leadoff home run was the first by a Padres player this season.

Lauer was cruising, as he did not allow a hit until McCutchen singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Posey then followed up with a single of his own, but the rally ended, when Brandon Crawford grounded into a double play that ended the rally and the inning.

Through nearly 8,000 games into their team’s history, the Padres have not never thrown a no-hitter.

Gorkys Hernandez hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie up the game. Posey doubled with two outs, and Crawford was robbed of a hit, as Freddy Galvis made a leaping catch that kept the game all tied at one.

Brandon Belt hit a double in the bottom of the eighth inning off of Kirby Yates, but the inning ended on a fantastic catch by Hunter Renfroe, who leaped into the stands to end the inning off of a ball hit by McCutchen.

Lauer went six innings, allowing just one runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four; however, he did not fare in the decision.

On the other side of things, Dereck Rodriguez went seven innings, allowing one runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six and like Lauer, he did not fare in the decision.

“Gave up a lead-off home run and seven super innings,” said Bochy.

This was the longest outing of Rodriguez’s career, and he tied his career high with six strikeouts. Rodriguez also struck out six against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 3, and on Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins.

“Felt good, commanded my pitches,” said Rodriguez. “Today my curveball was my best pitch,” he added.

NOTES: After the day off on Monday, the Giants will begin a three-game series against the Rockies beginning on Tuesday night. Derek Holland will take the mound in the opener, while the Rockies will counter with Chad Bettis.

Johnny Cueto went 3.1 innings on Saturday night, as he allowed one hit and struck out four, while pitching in 99-degree heat at Raley Field in Sacramento. Cueto threw 48 pitches, 33 for strikes.

“I want to do just one more,” said Cueto.

The 17 days between days off ties for the teams longest stretch of the season, and they ended the stretch 9-8 against Washington, Miami, Los Angeles (NL), Miami (again) and San Diego.

They also went 17 days from May 4th, when they opened their series against the Atlanta Braves at Sun Trust Park in Atlanta and it ended on May 20, when they hosted the Rockies. During that stretch, the Giants went 8-9 against the Braves, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Colorado.

Robert Stock made his Major League debut for the Padres in the bottom of the ninth, and pitched one inning, allowing one hit and striking out two.

UP NEXT: The Giants will welcome the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Osuna suspended by MLB for 75 games; Feds investigate former Red Sox Ramirez for drug ring; A’s Jackson now with record 13th team

Published on by Sports Radio Service1 Comment

mlb.com file photo: Toronto Blue Jays Roberto Osuna suspended for 75 days for domestic assault seen checking signs from his battery mate in file photo

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Roberto Osuna of the Toronto Blue Jays was suspended 75 games after assault investigation by MLB. Ex-Red Sox 1B Hanley Ramirez is reportedly being investigated by state and feds for involvement in “substantial drug ring.”

2 Edwin Jackson expected to be called up by A’s, could tie MLB record by playing for 13th team.

3 Top pitching prospect Luke Heimlich is reportedly drawing interest from at least one MLB team, despite his troubled past.

4 Ichi-who? Suzuki was in disguise in Mariners’ dugout.

Daniel Dullum does the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s win a seesaw battle over the White Sox 7-6 on Saturday in Chicago

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Martini vs Chi
Nick Martini recorded his first major-league hit on Saturday Photo: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics won their second game of the four-game series with the Chicago White Sox 7-6 at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday. However, the win did not come easy.

As the game entered the bottom of the ninth inning, the A’s held a 7-6 lead. Blake Treinen continued on the mound in an attempt to close it out for Oakland. Yoan Moncada led off for the White Sox and wound up safe at first when Treinen could not handle the throw from first baseman Matt Olson. Treinen was charged with an error. Avisail Garcia took a little pressure off Treinen by striking out.

Jose Abreu reached first safely when Marcus Semien made a fielding error and a fielder’s choice turned into back-to-back errors with the tying run at second base and the potential winning at first.

DH Matt Davidson then became Treinen’s best friend when he grounded into a six to four to three (Semien to Barreto to Olson) double play to end the game and give the A’s their second win in the series.

It may have been a costly win

A vs Chi
Photo: @WhiteSox

A’s starting pitcher Daniel Mengden had to leave the game after the second inning with a right foot sprain. The team does not know what is next for Mengden. It could be that he will be rested and possibly miss his next scheduled start. The other possibility is a trip to the DL if the injury is more serious in nature and requires extended time off.

Mengden has struggled in his last five starts. He is 1-2 with an 8.98 ERA over those five games. His opponents have batted .295 against him in those games. Mengden pitched 2.0-innings on Saturday giving up five runs (all earned) in the first inning including one home run.

Oakland could call Chris Bassitt back from Triple-A Nashville to take Mengden’s spot on the roster if that becomes necessary.

A’s with the bat
Nick Martini, who was called up to give the A’s some fresh legs after the Friday doubleheader, recorded his first major-league hit in the eighth inning when he singled to right-center field to drive home Stephen Piscotty from second base to give Oakland a 7-6 lead. Even though they no longer officially track it as a statistic, Martini’s RBI-single proved to be the game-winning hit.

Matt Olson, who homered in the second game on Friday night, hit his 17th home run of the year in the sixth inning off of White Sox pitcher Chris Volstad. This was the third time Olson has homered in back-to-back games this season. He also extended his hitting streak to five games.

Stephen Piscotty his sixth home run of the year in the second inning off Chicago starter Dylan Covey. He went 2-for-3 in the game to make it his 14th multihit game of the season.

A’s on the mound
The bullpen came through for the Athletics again on Saturday. Oakland had to use six relievers in the game. The relievers pitched 7.0-innings allowing just one run off three hits. They struck out 10 and walked just one hitter.

Lou Trivino had a very interesting relief appearance. He entered the game in the sixth inning with one out and the bases loaded. He induced Moncada to ground into a force play, but Anderson was able to score from third to tie the game. Trivino was charged with a blown save (1).

Trivino came back out for the seventh inning and struck out the side in order to keep the A’s in the game. Trivino was the pitcher of record when Martini hit his RBI-single and was awarded the victory to up his record to 5-1 for the year.

Treinen worked 1.2-innings for a five-out save. It was his 17th save of the season.

The A’s love the road
The A’s have now won six of their last seven games and are 4-1 on this 10-day road trip. Oakland is 20-17 on the road this season.

The A’s have homered in a franchise-record 24 consecutive road games.

The A’s are 13-7 in one-run games in 2018.

Up next
The A’s and White Sox will wrap up this four-game series on Sunday at 11:10 pm PDT. Oakland will send RHP Paul Blackburn (1-1, 8.03) to the mound. The White Sox will start LHP Carlos Rondon (0-2, 4.41).

Earthquakes withstand 28 shots to draw with Real Salt Lake 1-1

Published on by smallforceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Pearl Allison Lo

Both the San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake scored a goal apiece in the second half at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday evening in their return from World Cup break.

The last time Real Salt Lake drew was back on March 3rd. It was the Quakes’ second straight draw. Meanwhile, San Jose’s winless streak continued to stand at seven games.

Real Salt Lake’s club-tying six straight home wins fell, but it came down to the 94th minute. Marcelo Silva hit the crossbar after a corner kick.

The Quakes’ last attempt came by goal-scorer Danny Hoesen in the 92nd minute, who had an open area near two defenders.

Real Salt Lake finished with 64.1% possession.

The home team was heavily dominant in the first half with 72 to 28 percent possession and a 12-4 shot advantage. Seven of the shots were off target. Jefferson Savarino led all in the first with four shots. However, San Jose managed to stay strong and keep the game scoreless with 10 clearances.

Real Salt Lake’s Damir Kreilach received a yellow card in the 12th minute for fouling the most fouled player in MLS, Magnus Eriksson.

Justen Glad and Florian Jungwirth collided in the 17th minute and Glad left for a brief moment. After Glad went down again in the 31st minute, he was subbed out.   

Real Salt Lake’s Sebastián Saucedo had two straight attempts in the 52nd minute. After his shot was saved at the post, his next shot went high.

Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell made another loose save in the 54th minute versus Albert Rusnák. That same minute, Real Salt Lake finally broke through with a successful set piece. Corey Baird’s kick went straight to the head of Kreilach.

Rusnák narrowly missed in the 60th minute, hitting the crossbar as the ball fell down onto the goal line.

Vako’s shot was saved in the 64th minute, but Hoesen captured the rebound before goalie Nick Rimando was able to get properly settled to make it 1-1 in the 65th minute. It was Hoesen’s third straight goal in two games and sixth straight point in four games. If not counting the game where San Jose was blanked, Hoesen has now scored in six of his last seven games.

Vako hit the post in the 85th minute. He finished with a game-high seven shots.

Up Next: The Quakes next go home for a spell to host the Los Angeles Galaxy at Stanford Stadium for the highly anticipated California Clasico next Saturday at 7 pm PDT.

Crawford goes 3-for-3 in Giants’ 5-3 win over Padres

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — After being mired in an 0-for-18 slump, Brandon Crawford broke off that slump in a big way.

Crawford hit a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 5-3 before a crowd of 40,348 at AT&T Park on Saturday afternoon.

Alen Hanson got the rally started in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he dove headfirst into first base to beat out an infield single. Hanson then stole second with Andrew McCutchen at plate, and went to third base on a Brandon Belt single.

Both scored easily on Crawford’s double, his second extra base hit in as many at-bats, as he tripled in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie up the game and score McCutchen, who walked to lead off the inning.

Crawford ended up going three-for-three on the afternoon, as he picked up a double to lead-off the bottom of the eighth inning against Robbie Erlin.

“It was a matter of time, and today he found it,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

Austin Slater, who was recalled from Sacramento prior to the game was robbed of an extra base hit, as Renfroe made a terrific catch in the right field corner; however, Crawford was able to score easily from third base and Slater got an RBI on the sacrifice fly.

“Slater did a good job today,” said Bochy.

The Padres took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Hunter Renfroe hit his fourth home run that was just out of the reach of Hanson in left field.

Andrew Suarez pitched a strong 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on eight hits, walking one and striking out four.

Despite not getting the win, Suarez joined some very elusive company in the history of major league baseball. He became the first Giants pitcher ever to begin his career with 12 starts or fewer since 1913 and to allow two walks or fewer. The only other pitcher to have more two walks or fewer in consecutive starts is Trevor Williams, who started his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates with 15, Williams did this from 2016-2017, this is according to STATS, LLC.

Suarez was helped out by his defense on the field, as the Giants turned double plays to end the second, third and fourth innings. The second double play to end the top of the third inning was started by Suarez, who made a leaping stab at the Wil Myers ball, he then threw to Crawford and then onto Brandon Belt to end the inning.

“Didn’t have my slider today,” said Suarez.

Reyes Moronta pitched an inning, allowing a walk and striking out one, as he won for the third time this season.

Padres starter Jordan Lyles never even made a pitch, as he was scratched from his start mere moments prior to the game. It was confirmed that Lyles was unable to pitch due to tightness in his right forearm.

“We did not know about Lyles,” said Bochy.

Matt Strahm replaced Lyles on the mound, and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits, walking two and striking out five.

Former USF Dons pitcher Adam Cimber took the loss for the Padres, as he gave up two runs on three hits, as his record dropped to 3-4 on the season.

The Giants turned their fourth double play in the top of the eighth inning, as Renfroe grounded to Crawford, who threw to Hanson, who in turn threw to Belt to end the inning and stop the potential Padres rally.

The four double plays turned by the Giants are their most in a game since they turned four against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 15, 2016.

NOTES: Dereck Rodriguez looks for his third win of his career, as he takes the mound in the series finale on Sunday afternoon for the Giants. Left-hander Eric Lauer will take the mound for the Padres, as he looks to even his record at 4-4 on the season.

Slater was recalled from Sacramento, and Mac Williamson was optioned to the Rivercats to make room for Slater.

Johnny Cueto, who is out with a right elbow and missed the last 50 games will go for the Rivercats tonight against El Paso at Raley Field. Cueto is expected to throw around 45 pitches.

Jeff Samardzija is going to make his next rehab start on Tuesday night, as the Rivercats play the Albuquerque Isotopes at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque.

UP NEXT: The Giants conclude their series versus the Padres on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT.

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Barreto comes through for A’s in a big way; Giants’ Stratton pitched well, but Padres get 9th inning rally

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @957thegame

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington:

The Oakland A’s Franklin Barreto wasted no time in his return to the A’s line up with six RBIs and two home runs. Barreto is playing second while Jed Lowrie is playing third in place of the injured Matt Chapman during the first game of the doubleheader in Chicago Friday. Trade talk has the A’s looking to shop either Jonathan Lucroy and Jed Lowrie to get some young prospects.

The Giants starting pitchera Chris Stratton sailed into the ninth with the Giants trailing by one run 3-2. The Padres scored three runs in the top of the ninth to get some insurance runs for a 6-2 lead. Stratton said the loss was his fault and Stratton almost had a complete game.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show podcast on Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

2018 NHL Draft: San Jose Sharks Version (Part 2)

Published on by Sports Radio Service1 Comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By: Ana Kieu

Saturday marked the second (and final) day of the 2018 NHL Draft at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson commented on this year’s Sharks draft, saying that his team got a mixture of different things and that they felt pretty good about it.

Here’s a brief recap of rounds two through seven:

Round two
Note: The Sharks’ second-round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 22, 2016 that sent Roman Polak and Nick Spaling to San Jose in exchange for Raffi Torres, a second-round pick in 2017 and this pick.

Round three
The Sharks selected Swedish center Linus Karlsson, who previously played for SuperElit’s Karlskrona HK J20, with the 87th overall pick.

Note: The Sharks’ third-round pick went to the Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 27, 2016 that sent James Reimer and Jeremy Morin to San Jose in exchange for Alex Stalock, Ben Smith and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Toronto will receive a third-round pick in 2018 if the Sharks qualify for the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals – was converted on May 25, 2016.

Round four
The Sharks selected American center Jasper Weatherby, who previously played for the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild, with the 102nd overall pick.

Note: The Vegas Golden Knights’ fourth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018 that sent Mike Hoffman and a seventh round pick in 2018 to Florida in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2018, a second round pick in 2019 and this pick. Florida previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent Reilly Smith to Vegas in exchange for this pick.

Round five
Note: The Panthers’ fifth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018, that sent Mike Hoffman and a seventh round pick in 2018 to Florida in exchange for Vegas’ fourth round pick in 2018, a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick.

Round six
The Sharks selected Canadian goaltender, Zachary Emond, with the 176th overall pick, and American left winger, John Leonard, with the 182nd overall pick.

Note: The Predators’ sixth-round pick went to the Sharks as the result of a trade on February 25, 2018, that sent Brandon Bollig and Troy Grosenick to Nashville in exchange for this pick.

Round seven
Note: The Sharks’ seventh-round pick went to the the Panthers as the result of a trade on June 19, 2018, that sent Vegas’ fourth round pick in 2018, a fifth round pick in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019 to San Jose in exchange for Mike Hoffman and this pick.