By any Justifiable means necessary: Justify just one race short of the Triple Crown

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Jeffrey F Bill Baltimore Sun photo: Jockey Mike E Smith rides Justify (7) who holds a close  lead followed by Good Magic just behind on the inside

By Matt Harrington and Joe Lami

It started out with a victory at decisive victory at the Kentucky Derby for what was to put the Preakness winner on the brink for a Triple Crown.  The gallop on Saturday at the Preakness in Maryland had Justify take the spoils for his second consecutive win in muddy foggy conditions on the Pilimco Track.

It was not for the faint of heart as Justify graced the track with a close half of length win in 1:55.93. Bravazo was runner up to Justify while Tenfold finished up in third. This was a competitive race and with the top three horses putting it to the proverbial pedal to the medal there was no surrendering but Justify was just that length better.

Champagne on Ice: Trainer Bob Baffert said it was the hardest race that Justify has ever run and was really put to the test, “It was a hard race today on him, probably the hardest race he’s had, but he’s getting fit,” Baffer said.

The muddy conditions might have the reason why the competition was so close at the Preakness. At Kentucky the odds were 2-5 for Justify, Good Magic who had 7-2 odds Good Magic was not anywhere close to Justify and for good measure no other competing horses at the Kentucky Derby had double digit odds like Justify or Good Magic.

At the Preakness there were only four horses who kept up on the muddy track and for Justify’s competitors the odds were much larger for any chance for a win. The odds for Bravazo were 15-1 and Tenfold had 25-1 odds.

PLACE HORSE
1 Justify
2 Bravazo
3 Tenfold
4 Good Magic
5 Lone Sailor
6 Sporting Chance
7 Diamond King
8 Quip

The Belmont Stakes sets the stage for the possibility for Justify to become the 13th thoroughbred to win a Triple Crown. The last winner was American Pharaoh in 2015 Baffert also was the trainer of American Pharaoh. 37 years previous to American Pharaoh’s victory in 2015 the last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed.

Next up the Belmont Stakes: The Belmont is slated for June 9, 2018 a date that could catapult Justify as the second horse in three years to win a triple crown. Baffert has trained some of the best horses and there’s that air of confidence from Baffert that Justify could just get that one more needed race.

Matt Harrington and Joe Lami are talk show hosts for Sports Talk podcasts and http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Crawford continues to swing bat well; Giants defeat Rockies 9-4

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Photo credit: @MLB_News247

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–Brandon Crawford continues to swing the bat well, and with that the San Francisco Giants broke out of their recent funk.

Crawford went 3-for-5 on the afternoon, as the Giants came back to defeat the Colorado Rockies 9-4 before a crowd of 39,195 at AT&T Park Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Giants put a stop to their modest three-game losing streak and defeated the Rockies best pitcher in the process.

After scoring just seven runs during the three-game losing streak, the Giants scored in every inning between the second and sixth innings.

Crawford got the ball rolling for the Giants in the bottom of the second inning, as they trailed the Rockies 2-0 at the end of an inning and a half.

After leading off the inning with a single, Crawford was forced out at second base on a Miguel Gomez ground out, Gorkys Hernandez continues his hot hitting, as he doubled to left field that sent Gomez to third base. Chris Stratton then helped out his own cause, as he drove in his first major league run with a ground out to Trevor Story at shortstop.

The Giants took the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning, as they loaded the bases, as Andrew McCutchen singled, Buster Posey singled, then Brandon Belt walked to load the bases. After Evan Longoria flew out for the first out of the inning, Crawford lashed a double down the left field line that scored both McCutchen and Posey.

Gomez then got in on the act, as he singled in Belt for the third run of the inning and the Giants took a 4-2 lead.

After the Rockies cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth inning, as Daniel Castro grounded into a double play that scored Desmond, the Giants came back with a run of their run in the bottom of the inning.

Gregor Blanco tripled just past the second baseman, and after both McCutchen and Posey were unable to bring in Blanco, Belt greeted reliever Chris Rusin with a single to right-center field to extend the Giants lead up to 5-3.

The Rockies would not go away, as they clawed back in it to get within one run, as Blackmon led off the inning with a single of his own. Gerardo Parra then singled Blackmon to third base.

The defensive play of the game came up next, as Story hit a single to right that scored Blackmon and McCutchen came up throwing and tried to get Parra at third base. Bruce Bochy challenged the call, as it looked like Longoria tagged Parra and after a 1:57 review, the call was reversed.

McCutchen blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he hit a two –run double that scored Austin Jackson, who picked up a pinch-hit single off of Rusin and Gomez, who led off the inning with a single of his own.

Crawford capped off his big day in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit a two-run home run off of Brooks Pounders.

Over his last 18 games, Crawford is 31-for-69 (.448) with 16 runs batted in and thru the first six games of the home stand, he is 12-for-22, a .545 clip.

Every member of the Giants starting lineup with the exception of Stratton picked up a hit, as McCutchen joined Crawford with three hits. Posey, Belt and Gomez each picked up two hits, as the Giants got 17 hits on the afternoon.

Stratton went the minimum five innings, as he allowed four runs (three earned), allowing eight hits, walking two and striking out one, as he won for the fifth time this season.

Gray, who was unable to get out of the fourth inning, allowed five runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out four and saw his record fall to 4-6 on the season.

NOTES: Ty Blach looks to end the series and the home stand on a high note, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon, while the Rockies will send Tyler Anderson to the mound.

Mac Williamson went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in his first rehab game on Friday for the Sacramento Rivercats against the Salt Lake Bees. Williamson last played on April 24, a span of 24 games after crashing into the wall near the Giants bullpen in left field and suffered a concussion.

Hunter Pence went 2-for-4 in the same game, as is now hitting .314 with two doubles and five runs batted in in his 13 games with the Rivercats. Over his last seven games, Pence is hitting .393, as he is 11-for-28 during that stretch.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies’ series finale is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PST.

NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Matt Harrington: A Vegas win Sunday would make the Knights a first-time, first-year expansion team to go to the NHL Finals

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@GoldenKnights photo: The Vegas Golden Knights Reilly Smith who scored the game winning goal in the third period on Friday night at T Mobile Center in game 4 as the Knights take a 3-1 lead going back to Winnipeg

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Matt:

The Vegas Golden Knights, who entered their first year expansion season, were even long odds in the their hometown at 500-1 to go all the way when they were chasing the puck in September during preseason. Now those same oddsmakers have the Knights favored to go all the way to win the NHL Stanley Cup, which would be a first in any sport for a first year expansion team.

The Knights down 1-0 to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at the T-Mobile Center got their game plan together with goals from Reilly Smith who scored on a breakaway in the latter stages of the third period. The goal put the Knights a goal in front of the Jets and later for the win 3-2.

The Knights also got offensive help with goals from William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek. The Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots by the Jets in gGame 4 and moved into ninth place for wins by a goaltender in the NHL post season.

Matt Harrington is doing analysis for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Desmond does a number on Giants in Rockies’ 6-1 win

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Photo credit: @MLB_News247

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–Ian Desmond may be getting booed at Coors Field after his slow start with the Colorado Rockies, but he loves playing at AT&T Park.

After going 0-for-4 in the first game of the four-game series against the San Francisco Giants, the new Rockies first baseman could begin to change the opinion of Rockies fans with one swing of the bat.

Desmond cranked a three-run home run off of Derek Holland in the top of the fourth inning, as the Rockies defeated the Giants 6-1 before a crowd of 40,970 at AT&T Park Friday night.

Prior to going 2-for-4 on the evening, Desmond was 30-for-89 (.337) with a home run and 13 runs batted in.

Kyle Freeland went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out five on his way to his fourth win of the season.

As for Holland, he went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three and his record fell to 2-5 on the season.

Holland was cruising along until the top of the third inning, when Nolan Arenado walked to lead-off the inning, then Trevor Story singled and after a Noel Cuevas strikeout, Desmond took a Holland offering and planted it into the left-center field bleachers.

Gorkys Hernandez got the Giants off to a quick start, as he hit a home run to lead-off the bottom of the first inning. It was the third home run of the season for Hernandez and his second of the week, as he hit a solo home run to the top of the fifth inning on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Desmond added another run batted in, as he doubled off of Holland to score Arenado, who doubled to lead-off the top of the sixth inning.

Charlie Blackmon put the finishing touches on the scoring for the Rockies, as he hit a Jose Valdez offering and planted it on the right-field arcade for a two-run home run. It was the 12thhome run of the season for Blackmon.

Arenado also lived up to why he is the winner of the last five Golden Gloves, as he made a diving stab at a Kelby Tomlinson groundball and threw Tomlinson out from his knees behind third base.

NOTES: Chris Stratton will look to stop the Giants three-game losing streak, as he takes the mound on Saturday afternoon, as he looks for his fifth win of the season. The Rockies will send right-hander Jon Gray to the mound, as his looks to win his fifth.

Mac Williamson began his rehab assignment today for the Sacramento Rivercats, and he went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Austin Slater followed up the Williamson home run one of his own, as the duo went back-to-back, as Slater also went 1-for-4 in the 7-3 Rivercats win over the Salt Lake Bees.

Hunter Pence continues his rehab assignment for the Rivercats, and he went 2-for-4 on the evening in Salt Lake City.

The hitting star of the night for the Rivercats was Chase d’Arnaud, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and three runs batted in.

This was the 500th career appearance for Rockies reliever Bryan Shaw, who came on to replace Freeland in the bottom of the seventh inning.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Rockies will face off for Game 3 Saturday afternoon at 1:05 pm PST.

A’s ‘Pen Near Perfect Despite Early Call, Oakland Beats Jays 3-1

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland A’s were forced to turn to their bullpen earlier than anticipated Friday night North of the Border, but the result wound up a surprise for the Green and Gold. Despite having starter Brett Anderson exit the game after just one inning with an apparent leg injury, the Oakland bullpen fired eight innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays to put the A’s one game over .500. Dustin Fowler had a big night at the plate, hitting his first career homerun and adding a game-winning RBI double. Josh Phegley also knocked in a run off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to give the A’s (23-22) wins in back-to-back games in Toronto.

Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, but exited the game after taking his warm-up tosses to open the second inning. Relieve Josh Lucas came on, firing 3 2/3 innings. He would exit the game with a no-decision though.

Despite Fowler’s first career big fly, a solo homer in the top of the 3rd of starter Marco Estrada, Lucas exited the game with Oakland tied 1-1. Lucas gave up a one-out double to catcher Luke Maile and a two-out single by Gio Urshela tied the game. Manager Bob Melvin then tabbed Danny Coulombe to finish out the inning, which he did by striking out the resurgent Curtis Granderson. Coulombe (1-1, 4.96 ERA) fired a perfect sixth inning as well, putting him in line  for the win after the A’s rally in the 7th inning.

With Estrada getting two quick outs in the inning, the Jays appeared safe. Chad Pinder doubled, then Fowler and Phegley each hit two-baggers to give Oakland a 3-1 lead and knock Estrada (2-4, 5.15 ERA) out of the game. In total, three of the A’s seven hits off Estrada came in the inning.

Chris Hatcher pitched a scoreless seventh, but Yusmeiro Petit couldn’t quite get the third out when it was his turn in the eighth. Blake Treinen came in with runners on second and first, striking out Kevin Pillar to end the inning. He then went 1-2-3 in the ninth, closing the game out with back-to-back punch outs of Maile and Dwight Smith Jr. for his ninth save of the year.

Oakland can push itself further above .500 and take the weekend series Saturday with a win from ace Sean Manaea. He’ll be opposed by righty Sam Gaviglio who will be making his first start of the season. Gaviglio has appeared in two games in relief, firing 4 1/3 innings.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Quakes settle for 2-2 draw vs. WhiteCaps and prepare for Retro Night this Saturday

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu:

1. Before the Quakes’ kickoff in Vancouver against the WhiteCaps, they gave a special shoutout to Amgen TOC’s Stage 4 winner and overall leader Tejay Van Gardern. Van Gardern was presented with a Quakes jersey as an award.

2. The Quakes settled for a 2-2 draw against the WhiteCaps at full-time. San Jose accepted their four-point road trip and will gear up for Retro Night at Avaya Stadium against D.C. United Saturday night.

3. Nick Lima commented on the Quakes’ four points out of what could’ve been a six-point road trip.

4. Former voice of the Quakes, Hal Ramey, will be on the call for Saturday’s match on KNBR 1050. Hal reflected on the 80s Quakes in an interview with his son Ted.

Catch Ana Kieu on the San Jose Earthquakes podcast each week at SportsRadioService.com.

 

Rockies outlast Giants 5-3 in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Carlos Gonzalez has a pretty nice track record against the Giants, and that continued Thursday night.

After the Rockies used walks to load the bases in the 12th inning, Carlos Gonzalez brought in two runs with a bloop single off reliever Cory Guerrin just beyond the outstretched arm of second basemen Kelby Tomlinson to break a 3-3 tie and ultimately give Colorado a 5-3 win at AT&T Park.

The Giants put together a rally in the bottom of the 12th, putting two runners on, but the rally fell short with a popout.

The Giants got a nice outing from starter Jeff Samardzija, who went 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He issues three walks and struck out three, but he did not factor in the decision.

The Rockies got to Samardzija (1-2, 6.94 ERA) in the second, getting three runs off the big right-hander to race out to an early lead. The final blow of the inning came when Samardzija’s pitching counterpart, Chad Bettis, singled in a run.

In the third, however, Samardzija exacted a little revenge by lining a single off Bettis, which moved Austin Jackson to third. A sac fly by the ensuing batter, Gorkys Hernandez, brought in Jackson to narrow Colorado’s lead to 3-1.

Bettis (4-1, 3.12 ERA) went six full innings and surrendered three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out five.
The Giants then used a two-out rally in the sixth to tie it up. Buster Posey drew a walk before Brandon Belt lined one just over the brick wall in right-center.

The hit was initially ruled a double, as the ball ricocheted hard back into the field of play, but the umpiring crew got together and upon review, the ball was found to have cleared the wall and instead hit the railing just beyond it, resulting in a game-tying two-run home run.

Meanwhile, Samardzija settled down very nicely after that turbulent second inning, shutting Colorado’s bats down from that point until he left the game in the seventh. Thursday night marked his longest outing of this brief season. After starting the season on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle, Samardzija went 5 2/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Will Smith and Sam Dyson took over for Samardzija and did not allow a single baserunner over the ensuing inning and a third.

The Giants were down to their last out in the ninth when Brandon Crawford’s chopper was just out of the reach of Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino, which Crawford used to leg out an infield single. He then stole second, but Austin Jackson grounded out weakly to third, sending the game to extras.

The Giants and Rockies face each other again Friday night at 7:15 pm PST.

NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: Lightning strikes twice as Tampa Bay ties series with Caps at two apiece

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(Photo: Amber Searls, USA TODAY Sports) Ouch! Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin (8) feels the pain after the Tampa Bay Lightning put the stop to his attempts to score in the second period

On the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference playoff podcast with Joe Lami:

Up 2-0 after the first two games in Tampa Bay, the Washington Capitals had a lot of confidence going back to Washington that this one was in the bag. A swagger and maybe some overconfidence during the morning skates before Games 3 and 4 and no idea what would be ahead after the conclusion of the two games on the Capitals’ ice.

In the first period of Game 4, the Lightning scored twice in the first period wasting no time as the Bolts’ Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos put the Lightning in the drivers seat. The Capitals would score only a goal in that first period and another in the second for all their offense on Thursday night.

In the third period, the Lightning’s Alex Killorn scored his fifth goal of the postseason and Anthony Cirelli found the back end of the net with his second goal of the postseason to put this one to bed for the 4-2 win.

Joe tells you about Tampa Bay’s success in coming back in this series with speed, shutting down Alex Ovechkin, and taking Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby out of his game. Joe also takes a look at going back to Tampa Bay and what Washington needs to do to get back into this series in Game 5.

Join Joe Lami for the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Stanley Cup playoff podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

It’s bombs away as the A’s pound the Blue Jays 10-5

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s continued to send baseball flying out of the park as they hit three home runs to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 in the first of four games at the Rogers Centre. The A’s have not had great success in Toronto as they had lost 12 of the last 13 games played in Canada. They rectified the situation with a resounding win Thursday night.

Andrew Triggs started for Oakland. Triggs’ record was 3-1, but he was hammered by the Yankees in New York last Saturday. Triggs left the game in the third inning when he complained about tightness in his right forearm. Aaron Sanchez toed the rubber for Toronto, and he did not make it out of the fifth inning and was charged with his fourth loss.

The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Jays’ center fielder Kevin Pillar led off with his 18th double of the season to get the ball rolling for Toronto. Pillar advanced to third on a long flyout to center field. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales grounded out to drive in Pillar. The Jays lead 1-0.

The A’s scored three times in the top of the third. With one out, Matt Joyce singled. Jed Lowrie, one of the hottest hitters in baseball, doubled to drive in Joyce. Khris Davis then hit his 13th dinger of the year. Davis now has 38 RBIs to his credit and is tied with Manny Machado for the most RBIs in the league. The A’s are ahead 3-1

Aaron Sanchez walked Jed Lowrie to start the fifth inning. Toronto’s skipper, John Gibbons, replaced Sanchez with Seung-hwan Oh. Davis singles, sending Lowrie to third. The next hitter, Matt Olson, took Oh deep for his seventh big fly and the A’s upped the lead to 6-1. The A’s weren’t done scoring as third baseman Matt Chapman double. Dustin Fowler singled to knock in Chapman with the As’ fourth run of the inning, and they owned a 7-1 lead halfway through the fifth inning. The Blue Jays showed some life in their half of the fifth as they put three runs on the board to cut the lead to 7-4.

The A’s responded by scoring two more runs in the sixth. Former A’s reliever John Axford was brought in to pitch. He hit Khris Davis with a pitch, and Matt Chapman homered to make it a 9-4 game.

Toronto scored a run in the eighth, and the A’s added another run in the ninth to win 10-5.

Game Notes and Stats: The A’s have played seven games so far on the 10-game road trip and have homered in every game. The A’s season record improved to 22-22 while the Blue Jays’ record dropped to 22-22.

Khris Davis was 4-for-4, scored three times, and was on base five times. The line score for Oakland was 10 runs, 14 hits, and one error.

The line score for Toronto was five runs, seven hits, and no errors. Yusmeiro Petit was the winner, and Aaron Sanchez took the loss.

Bob Melvin used Triggs, Santiago Casillo, Yusmeiro Petit, Ryan Dull, and Lou Trivino.

The A’s announced that catcher Bruce Maxwell has been placed on the restricted list and he was not able to travel with the club to Canada. The A’s brought up Josh Phegley from Nashville to take his place.

Up Next: Game two of the series will be in Toronto at 4:10 pm PST. Brett Anderson will go for Oakland. Anderson is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.16. Anderson last pitched against the Yankees last week and was tagged for four runs in just five innings of work. Anderson will need to show improvement if he is to remain with the club. He will be opposed by the Jays’ Marco Estrada. Estrada is 2-3 and has aN ERA of 5.32. Estrada continues to have problems keeping the baseball from flying out of the park. He has allowed 10 big flys this season and gave up a career-high 31 last year.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants are a .500 club and doing better than most

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@SFGiants photo: Inside the San Francisco Giants dugout are the bat rack and the helmets of Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Andrew McCutchen on Thursday night.

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

I like what the San Francisco Giants are doing better than what the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing. The Dodgers snapped their six-game losing steak Thursday night and caught up with the Miami Marlins. The Dodgers are now 17-26 and the Marlins drop to 16-27 in their loss to LA.

There are six teams on pace to lose 100 games and the Dodgers and Marlins are two of them, the Padres are another one. The White Sox are currently on a pace to lose 121. The White Sox have won only 11 games thus far this season. The White Sox won a game against the Texas Rangers on Thursday 4-2, snapping a two-game lose streak.

So with all things being equal coming into Thursday’s game at 22-22 isn’t all bad. Everybody has been saying they’re playing .500 ball and if they get healthy, they can do some damage and they certainly can. Pitcher Madison Bumgarner came out of his bullpen rehab healthy and was rearing to go and throw another one and then head out on his rehab assignment.

There’s much more on the Giants podcast with Michael Duca listen in each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com