Photo credit: @athletics_fanly
On the Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O:
1) Let’s talk Tommy John — the surgery and the pitcher!
2) Since we’re talking pitching, let’s talk Frankie Montas and what he’s doing for the A’s.
3) Speaking of Tommy John surgery, let’s talk about the A’s Chris Bassitt.
4) What’s coming up for the A’s?
Charlie O does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: Las Vegas Aces
By Shawn McCullough
The Las Vegas Aces outscored the Indiana Fever 17-8 in overtime for their second win of the season in a 101-92 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN.
A’ja Wilson led the Aces with a career-high 35 points and also a career-high 13 rebounds.
Las Vegas led by eight points with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation, but the Fever rallied back to tie the game with 26.6 seconds left.
The Aces started the overtime period on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
The offense came alive against the Fever as the Aces shot 51.9% from the field, while holding Indiana to just 44.4%.
With the win, the Aces improved to 2-7 on the season.
The Aces will play their next two games on the road in New York against the Liberty and in Dallas against the Wings.
The Aces next home game will be on Sunday, June 17th against the Phoenix Mercury at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com
Game Notes:
Game Starters:
F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 1 Tamera Young
C – 19 JiSu Park
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum
Photo credit: @SFGiants
By Jeremy Kahn
If you were looking for the San Francisco Giants’ offense, well it disappeared after the first inning against the Miami Marlins.
Trevor Richards went six innings, allowing one run on just two hits, walking two and striking out three and the Marlins defeated the Giants 3-1 at Marlins Park on Tuesday.
It was a memorable night for Richards, who picked up his first major league win in his seventh major league start.
Brandon Crawford drove in the only run of the game in the top of the first inning, as he grounded out to score Joe Panik, who led off the game with a walk against Richards.
Things were looking good for the Giants, as they got both Panik and Buster Posey on via walks versus Stratton, but then Andrew McCutchen struck out and then Crawford grounded out for the second out; however, it scored Panik with what proved to be the only run of the game for the Giants.
It was a tough loss for Chris Stratton, who went seven innings, as he gave up three runs and scattered four hits.
The only bad inning for the Giants was the third inning, as the Marlins scored all of their runs in that frame.
Starlin Castro tied up the game with a single that scored Derek Dietrich, and then JT Riddle hit what proved to be the game-winning runs, as he doubled to right field to score Dietrich and Brian Anderson.
The inning could have gotten worse, but the defensive play of the game was made by Stratton, as he snared a Miguel Rojas line drive that Stratton caught and Stratton then threw to Evan Longoria to get Castro at third base for the final out of the inning.
Following that third inning, that saw the Marlins scored all of their runs, Stratton settled down and retired the final 13 batters he faced.
The Marlins tried to break open the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Cory Gearrin came on to replace Stratton; however, Gearrin gave up two hits and that was the end of the night for Gearrin. Will Smith came on to replace Gearrin, and he responded by striking out the side to end the inning
Kyle Barraclough came on in the top of the ninth inning for the second straight night, and for the second game in a row, Barraclough closed out the game and notched his fourth save in six opportunities this season.
NOTES: Andrew Suarez will make his second start on the road trip, and this will be a homecoming for the left-hander, as he went to Christopher Columbus High School in Miami before heading to the University of Miami, where he pitched for the Hurricanes. Suarez, who will have many members of his family and friends in the stands will be opposed by Caleb Smith, who is 5-6 on the season.
Brandon Belt, who underwent an emergency appendectomy on June 2 will join the team in Los Angeles, when the Giants head there to face the Dodgers beginning on Friday night.
Jeff Samardzija is expected to join the Sacramento Rivercats on Friday, and will make a rehab start against the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers Triple-A team) at Dell Diamond.
UP NEXT: The Giants and Marlins continue their series with Game 3 on Wednesday at 4:10 pm PDT.
Photo credit: nydailynews.com
On the That’s Amaury’s Podcast:
#1 The Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo launched the Cubs into a five-run 11th inning that put the Cubs in first place.
#2 The Arizona Diamondbacks, who struggled to hold onto first place, scored nine unanswered runs after a hit by pitch.
#3 The Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz hit two home runs and Wade LeBlanc went five solid innings in the M’s win over the Los Angles Angels 5-3 Monday night.
#4 The Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts is back from the DL and pitcher Steven Wright, who continued his scoreless pitching streak at 22 2/3, as the Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-0.
#5 Finally, in basketball, the Golden State Warriors are hosting the World Championship parade in downtown Oakland.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum, the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald
By Morris Phillips
Having missed more than a third of the season due to a fluke, broken bone injury, and just eight innings into his return, Madison Bumgarner was in no mood for home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak.
Sure, being resigned to not getting a win in either of his first, two starts had the ultra-intense Bumgarner feeling some type of way. That and Rehak’s confusing strike zone, a game-tying single allowed to Lewis Brinson, and the four-pitch walk issued to Justin Bour prior to Brinson’s hit that had the whole Giants’ bench chirping at Rehak.
Telling Bruce Bochy he was okay during a mound visit after the Bour walk, only to allow the Brinson single, which forced the manager’s hand, ending Bumgarner’s evening was the equivalent of the Giants star’s boiling point.
“That’s why I went out there, to make sure he was fine. He assured me he felt good, then he gave up another hit. I had no choice. It was mounting on him,” Bochy recounted.
So the pitcher had to depart, and a final message had to be sent to Rehak. Bumgarner slyly nodded, Rehak immediately responded, resulting in the first ejection of Bum’s career.
“I could tell he wanted to toss me, and I said, ‘Go ahead.’ I might’ve given him a little encouragement.”
So matter of fact, and subtle, was the moment, Bochy and catcher Nick Hundley standing on the mound awaiting the arrival of reliever Reyes Moronta didn’t know the ejection took place behind them. Bumgarner passed on a reaction, and never broke stride towards the dugout.
“It wasn’t worth going over (and confronting Rehak),” said Bumgarner.
And so went Bum. The Giants, on their way back to .500 for the 15th time this season, would soon follow. Sam Dyson coughed up a tie-breaking, two-run shot to J.T. Realmuto in the seventh, propelling the Marlins to a 7-5 win.
The loss ended the Giants’ run of eight wins in 10 games. The visitors fell to 22-5 when scoring five runs or more. Meanwhile, the lowly Marlins won at Marlins Park for only the 13th time (13-22).
“Any night you get to a tough pitcher like Bumgarner, that’s a good night, especially when we win,” Brinson said.
While Bumgarner’s ejection drew headlines, two other occurences loomed bigger. First, the Marlins overcame the Giants’ 1-0, 4-2 and 5-4 leads, tying or taking the lead each time. They hadn’t overcome three deficits and won since 2010.
That and Realmuto’s homer was a bomb, causing centerfielder Gorkys Hernandez, playing shallow, to run more than 50 feet to the wall in straight away center field only to see the ball fly 15 feet over his head at the warning track. Still, Realmuto wasn’t sure.
“I was running the bases like it wasn’t going to get out because I’ve been fooled in that part of the park many times,” he said.
After creeping over the .500 mark twice previously only to fall below it immediately after, losing the 66th game of the season with their ace on the mound was something the Giants dearly wanted to avoid. Now, winning the next three days in the home park of the NL’s worst team is the new goal.
The Giants’ three rookie starters will get a crack at the Marlins beginning with Chris Stratton facing winless Trevor Richards (0-3, 5.02) on Tuesday. Can’t take anything for granted though: the Giants were 1-5 versus Miami in 2017, and they’ve dropped eight of their last 11 contests at Marlins Park.
Photo credit: youtube.com
By Jerry Feitelberg
OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s (34-32; fourth place in the AL West) start a three-game series with the World Champion Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
The Astros are currently in a dogfight with the Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West. They are currently 42-25 and have one more loss than the M’s.
The Astros come to Oakland having won seven of the last 10 games. They will be sending three tough pitchers at the A’s. On Tuesday night, Lance McCullers Jr. will pitch for Houston. McCullers’ season record is 7-3, and his ERA is 3.94. McCullers has beaten the A’s twice this season and will be hoping to record his third win over them on Tuesday. In his two prior starts against the A’s he has allowed just two earned runs, four walks, and has struck out 10.
The A’s will counter with Houston native Daniel Mengden. Mengden had a terrific May but was pounded by the Texas Rangers in his last start. Mengden was tagged for four big home runs and six runs in just four innings of work.
On Wednesday, Astros’ Gerrit Cole will face the Green and Gold. Cole is having a terrific season with a record of 7-1 and a sparkling ERA of just 2.16.
The A’s Paul Blackburn will make his second start since coming off the DL. Blackburn is 1-0, and his ERA is 1.50. He went six innings and allowed just one run and three hits in recording the win over the Kansas City Royals. He threw 67 pitches and looked sharp.
Thursday’s game will feature Justin Verlander going for the Astros against the A’s Frankie Montas. Verlander, a former Cy Young Award winner and MVP with the Detroit Tigers, has a record of 8-2 and a 1.45 ERA.
The Astros are 14-5 in games that Verlander has started since he came to Houston from the Tigers last year. Montas has made three starts and won them all. He is 3-0 and has a 1.25 ERA. In three starts (and wins), Montas has allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings of work.
The A’s pitchers will have their hands full trying to contain the Astros’ powerful lineup. Second baseman Jose Altuve is leading the league in hitting again. Shortstop Carlos Correa is a tough out. Alex Bregman at third, and Yuli Guriel round out the infield. George Springer, Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick, or Marwyn Gonzalez will handle the outfield chores. Evan Gattis, who also doubles as a DH, Brian McCann, and former Athletic, Max Stassi are all guys that can hit and cause damage. The Astros’ bullpen is deep with Collin McHugh, Brad Peacock, Hector Rondon, Will Harris, and Tony Sipp seeing action. Chris Devenski and Ken Giles are the closers.
The A’s are just 1-5 against Houston this year. The A’s also have power up and down the lineup. Matt Chapman and Matt Olson are threats to go deep, and pitchers have to be careful not to make a mistake with their pitch selection. If they fail to locate the ball, Olson and Chapman will send the pitch into the seats. Jed Lowrie, who was hot early in the season, has cooled off a bit but is still a dangerous hitter. DH Khris Davis leads the A’s in homers and RBIs and is a very dangerous hitter. Davis can hit the ball out of any park. Chad Pinder, Mark Canha, Dustin Fowler, and Stephen Piscotty all have power.
Johnathan Lucroy and Josh Phegley are the catchers. Lucroy is a better contact hitter while Phegley has power but hasn’t played very much this season.
The Astros have had the advantage over the A’s the last couple of years. If the A’s are going to make progress, they will need to take the series from the Astros. That will be a tough task, but the A’s know they can play with the big boys. Just ask the Boston Red Sox.
sfexaminer.com file photo: Brandon Crawford who went 4-4 on Sunday and just missed the cycle leads the Giants with a .326 average has been a force at the plate
On the Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:
San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is swinging the bat that would make former Major Leaguer Rogers Hornsby proud. Hornsby was a Hall of Fame second baseman and shortstop that hit .350 career from 1915 to 1937. Crawford on Sunday hit .326 for this season.
Not an easy achievement Crawford was able to get his perfect 4-4 on Sunday off Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in the N.L. Crawford got a first inning single, Crawford also hit for a two-run home run, a double in the sixth, in the fourth at bat Crawford missed the cycle with a double with hit up the left field line.
Giants pitcher Derek Holland went five innings, three hits, walked two, struck out four, Holland is now 4-6. The Giants start a four-game series in Miami Monday night. The Marlins have struggled all season, but Morris gives his take on how he sees this series.
Morris does Giants podcasts twice a week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: sfexaminer.com
By Morris Phillips
OAKLAND–The A’s had everything covered on Sunday. Sean Manaea took care of the pitching mound. Blake Treinen provided Manaea’s much-needed assistance. Marcus Semien made the defense sing, and the Oakland gloves golden. Bill from Pittsburg held down Section 216–and a whole bunch of other sections for that matter–with his foul ball dramatics. And Matt Chapman provided the late inning pop, with the game-winning home run in the eighth.
With that type of synergy, it’s hard to believe the Royals had a chance, or that the game was still up for grabs in the eighth inning.
The A’s 3-2 win gave them best type of series victory: three out of four over Kansas City, when they nearly settled for a 2-2 split. And if A’s baseball is about youth being served, then Chapman served ’em with his blast off reliever Jason Adam. But we digress, enough of Chapman, this story starts with Semien, and ends with Treinen.
“Chapman made a great swing, but that swing doesn’t get us the win if Marcus doesn’t make that play,” Treinen recounted.
“That’s about as good a play I’ve seen him make since he’s been here,” manager Bob Melvin said of Semien’s bang-bang diving snag of a hard hit ground ball of the bat of Salvador Perez that he then turned into an out at the plate with a snap throw across the diamond that nipped Whit Merrifield as he attempted to give the Royals the lead.
“To dive like that, get up and have to throw it off balance on the money like that, no legs underneath him…”
Photo credit: Las Vegas Aces
By Shawn McCullough
The Las Vegas Aces rallied in the second half but lost to the Phoenix Mercury 72-66 at the Talking Stick Resort Arena on Sunday.
Down 50-37 at halftime, the Aces went on a 31-14 run in the second half to cut the deficit to four points, but couldn’t get any close.
A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 17 points and added seven rebounds, while Kayla McBride scored 16 points, going 2-for-5 from the 3-point line.
Center JiSu Park pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.
Mercury guard Diana Taurasi scored a game-high 25 points, including three from 3-point range.
With the loss, the Aces dropped to 1-7 on the season.
The Aces will play their next three games on the road in Indiana, New York and Dallas.
The Aces next home game will be on Sunday, June 17th against the Phoenix Mercury at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com
Game Notes:
Game Starters:
F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 1 Tamera Young
C – 19 JiSu Park
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum
Photo credit: @NBCSGiants
By Jeremy Kahn
What a day it was for Brandon Crawford in the series finale for the San Francisco Giants against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.
Crawford picked up three hits in his three at-bats versus Scherzer, including a two-run home run off of Scherzer in the top of the fourth and the Giants defeated the Nationals 2-0 at Nationals Park on Sunday.
On the afternoon, the hot hitting Crawford ended up going four-for-four, as the Giants took the series two games to one, and more important, took the season series four games to two.
Crawford singled in the top of the first inning, then smashed a two-run home run into the second deck that proved to be the only runs of the game for both teams. Crawford then doubled in the top of the sixth inning, and with a chance for the cycle, Crawford doubled down the left field line to complete his four-hit day.
It was the eighth home run of the season for Crawford, and his 29th and 30 runs batted in on the season.
Crawford, who struggled thru the month of April, as he batted .189 thru the first month of the season, is now hitting .338.
Since May 1, Crawford is hitting .439, as he is 58-for-132 during that stretch. His .338 batting average is just three points behind Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves, who is batting .341.
Derek Holland went the minimum five innings to pick up the victory for the Giants, who are now 2-1 on their three-city, 10 game road trip thru Washington, Miami and Los Angeles.
Holland gave up three hits, walking two and striking out four, as he improved to 4-6 on the season.
Bruce Bochy turned the game over to his bullpen, and they performed in an outstanding manner, as former Nationals closer Mark Melancon pitched the sixth inning, walking one, then Sam Dyson walked and struck out a batter in the seventh inning, then Tony Watson pitched a perfect eighth.
Hunter Strickland came on in the bottom of the ninth, who got Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon and Matt Adams, who came on to pinch hit for Mark Reynolds to pick up his 13thsave of the season.
Strickland, who in their last meeting hit Harper that led to a bench clearing brawl got Harper to ground out to Crawford for the first out. Rendon then followed it up with a ground ball with a ground ball to Crawford and then Strickland got Adams to strikeout swinging to end the game.
Scherzer went seven innings, allowing two runs, while scattering four hits, walking three and striking out nine, as he saw his record on the season fall to 10-2 and his earned run average increase from 1.95 to 2.00. This was the first loss for Scherzer since April 4, breaking his nine-game winning streak.
NOTES: Madison Bumgarner will make his second start of the season on Monday evening, as the Giants continue their road trip against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park, who will send Wei-Yen Chen, who is 1-3 with a 5.86 ERA on the season.
In his season debut on Tuesday night, Bumgarner went six innings, allowing two runs, walking no one and struck out three after missing the first two months of the season with a broken left pinkie.
This was the first series win for the Giants against the Nationals in Washington since July 9-11, 2010, the year that the Giants won the first of their three World Championships in a five-year period.
Crawford is the first Giants batter to ever get three hits in the same game off of Scherzer.
UP NEXT: The Giants will head to Miami to take on the Marlins for a four-game set. Game 1 is set for Monday at 4:10 pm PDT.
