Splash Hits Into Giants’ McCovey Cove

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Photo credit: @PaulBraverman

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–When AT&T Park opened for business back on April 11, 2000, there is the San Francisco Bay Area, and the portion just beyond the right field wall was coined as “McCovey Cove,” by former San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy.

When you hit a home run on the fly into the cove they were called, “Splash Hits” and the count is noted on the 24-foot wall in right field.

In the 19 seasons that baseball has been played at AT&T Park, there have been 78 “Splash Hits” that have landed in San Francisco Bay on the fly.

It maybe just 309 feet down the right field line, but to hit a ball into the Cove, it is a little further, as you have the arcade seating, the passageway and the port walk, where the fans can watch the game through the knothole.

Nearly three weeks after the first regular season game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Barry Bonds reached McCovey Cove for the first ever “Splash Hit,” hit by a San Francisco Giants player.

Bonds reached the Cove, as he launched a home run off of Rich Rodriguez, a left-handed reliever for the New York Mets.

Nine days later against the St. Louis Cardinals, Bonds reached the water twice in the same game against Cardinals starter Andy Benes and reliever Heathcliff Slocumbe.

Eleven months and one week after reaching the water against the Cardinals, Bonds joined a very exclusive club when he hit the seventh “Splash Hit,” off of Dodgers reliever Terry Adams. The two-run home run off of Adams was the 500th career home run for Bonds, and became just the 17thplayer to hit 500 home runs in a career.

Bonds hit the first nine “Splash Hits,” until Felipe Crespo reached the water on May 28, 2001 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and reliever Bret Prinz.

Crespo hit his second “Splash Hit,” om July 8, 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers and pitcher Curtis Leskanic.

Bonds and Crespo were the only Giants player to have “Splash Hits” until J.T. Snow hit one off of Kyle Lohse of the Minnesota Twins on June 5, 2003.

Jose Cruz, Jr., hit the Cove for his first “Splash Hit” on July 8, 2003, as he took Dan Haren of the Cardinals into the Bay.

Michael Tucker made it a quintet on May 30, 2004, as he took left-hander Joe Kennedy of the Colorado Rockies for a swim into McCovey Cove.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski joined the club, as he reached the water off of Denny Stark of the Rockies.

When Bonds retired at the end of the 2007 season, there were 45 “Splash Hits,” and 35 of them were hit by Bonds.

Since Bonds retired after the 2007 season, there have only been 33 “Splash Hits” by Giants players from 2008 to the present.

Both Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt are currently tied for second with eight “Splash Hits,” while Denard Span hit five in his two years with the Giants.

While the Giants have 78 “Splash Hits,” opposing players have hit 45 in the time span that the park has been opened.

Todd Hundley of the Dodgers hit the first “Splash Hit” by an opponent on June 30, 2000 off of former Giants closer Robb Nen.

Former major leaguer Ryan Klesko is the only player to have “Splash Hits” as a Giants player and as an opponent

Kevin Correia is the only pitcher serve up “Splash Hits” as a Giants pitcher and an opposing pitcher.

Carlos Delgado, Carlos Gonzalez and Adam LaRoche have the most “Splash Hits” hit by an opposing player with three.

There have been three post season “Splash Hits,” as Bonds turned the feat against the Cardinals on October 12, 2002, then Rick Ankiel of the Atlanta Braves reached the water on October 8, 2010 and then Bryce Harper hit the last post season “Splash Hit” on October 7, 2014.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Green-Harden battle could just be the beginning of a physical series; Cano says he didn’t know he was taking steroids; Does Gruden know what he’s doing?

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Photo credit: @clevezirm

On the Headlines Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Tony will be looking back a bit on that first game with the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors when the Rockets’ James Harden and the Warriors’ Draymond Green got into a scrap in the first few minutes.

#2 The Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Can came clean admitting he took a substance Furosemide, a diuretic he told reporters that he was given the substance by a doctor in the Dominican Republic, but didn’t realize it was a banned substance. Cano was suspended by MLB for 80 games and is one of the highest-paid players in the MLB.

#3 Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has been getting some criticism about the way he’s handled personnel so far. He’s let go of Michael Crabtree, punter Marquete King and now Kahlil Mack’s contract, whose contract is coming up could be leaving. The Raiders are looking for some cap room.

#4 In spite of the A’s having the usual arm problems their starters have been coming through with Sean Manaea helping Oakland get a one run 6-5 win and Tuesday night with pitcher Daniel Mengden improving his record to 3-4, going six innings, eight hits, two runs, and three strikeouts and two wins in the series against Boston.

#5 The Giants, after losing five straight all on the road, have now won three straight and are preparing for the Colorado Rockies starting on Thursday night. The Rockies, who are in second place in the NL West, will be a test for San Francisco at AT&T Park after success against a last-place Reds team.

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s got some success in Boston series; A’s Manaea and Mengden lead the way in pitching in Bean Town

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The A’s have won two games in this series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Sox have to be sick of the A’s about now after getting no hit when they were out in Oakland and then the A’s come in and take the first two games of the series.

#2 The A’s got some great pitching out of starter Sean Manaea on Monday night and then on Tuesday night from starter Daniel Mengden.

#3 The A’s open a four-game series in Toronto starting tonight at Roger’s Centre. The A’s will be going with Jake Sanchez (3-2), who’ll open the series tonight.

#4 In the Sox series, Mark Canha, who was playing center on Tuesday, chased down a foul ball near the side wall in foul territory and made the catch. A fan took a swipe at the ball and hit the brim of Canha’s hat. Canha said the fan should have been thrown out of the game, but wasn’t.

#5 A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty came back to play on Tuesday after taking a week off for bereavement following the death of his mother. Piscotty, with a heavy hat, hit a home run over that historical fence the Green Monster for his third home run of the year.

Jerry Feitelberg is a beat reporter for the Oakland A’s catch his exclusive coverage at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Rockets soar past Warriors 127-105, evens West Finals 1-1

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

The talk of a potential Warriors’ sweep can be put to rest.

After dropping Game 1 Monday night, the Rockets rebounded with a 127-105 victory over the Warriors in Game 2 at the Toyota Center Wednesday night.

James Harden finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds to help Houston regain home-court in the best-of-7 Western Conference Finals series.

“Guys were more active,” said Harden, who shot 9-of-24 from the floor and just 3-of-15 from 3, postgame to TNT. “We played harder and it showed tonight.”

Eric Gordon, who scored just 15 points in Game 1, exploded with 27 points in Game 2, matching Harden’s output. Gordon shot 8-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-9 on 3s.

The play of P.J. Tucker was big for Houston, scoring a playoff career-high 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Tucker was red-hot from 3, knocking down 5-of-6 from behind the arc, bouncing back from a poor Game 1 performance of one point on 0-of-3 from the field.

Trevor Ariza finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and six assists, and Clint Capela finished with five points and 10 rebounds.

Chris Paul scored 16 points and had six assists, after recording just three in Game 1. Paul shot just 6-of-14 from the floor, appeared to be bothered by a lower leg injury in the second half as he ran with a noticeable limp. Paul did sit out most of the fourth quarter when the game was in hand for Houston.

The Rockets dominated Golden State in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 38-29.

“We can beat anybody, anywhere at any time playing the way we play,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Sloppy play, lackluster defense and the lack of another scoring option other than Kevin Durant were the main culprits in the loss for Golden State.

As a team, Houston was scorching from three-point land, knocking down 16-of-42 (38.1-percent). Golden State’s perimeter defense against the Rockets was nonexistent in Game 2 from the beginning, allowing the Rockets to drill 10-of-23 3s in the first half. Houston shot 51.4-percent for the game (45-of-88) and out-rebounded Golden State 47-36.

Houston led as much as 19 in the first half and was up 64-50 at halftime. The Warriors did climb back into the game, closing the gap 74-64 behind five points by Durant before Houston increased their lead to 89-72 behind an off-balanced layup by Gordon crashing to the floor, drawing a foul and making a free throw.

Durant finished with a game-high 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the floor, but was a one-man band Wednesday night at the Toyota Center for Golden State.

“We’re not the juggernauts of the NBA,” Durant said. “We’re a good team, but that’s a great team on the other end.”

Stephen Curry had another quiet game, scoring 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field, but couldn’t get anything going from three-point range, connecting on 1-of-8 on his 3s. By hitting just one 3, Curry extended his NBA playoff record to 81 games.

In the first two games of the series, Curry is shooting just 2-of-13 on 3s.

Klay Thompson, who had his way with Houston in Game 1 scoring 28 points, was held in check finishing with just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting (2-of-4 on 3s).

Draymond Green finished with just six points, six rebounds and six assists.

“I think a lot of these games when you get in the playoffs with teams that are very talented and really great team, it often comes down to which one has the edge in terms of the aggression and the desperation,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the game. “They were desperate tonight, and they played like it. And we didn’t. And the results showed. We got what we deserved. They kicked our butts.”

The Warriors committed 15 turnovers, off of which Houston scored 15 points. Houston 13 points off 11 first-half turnover by Golden State, which in essence, had the Warriors climbing uphill for the entirety of the game.

Golden State shot 45.9-percent for the game (39-of-85) and were ice-cold on 3s, shooting 9-of-30 (30-percent).

But if you’re the Warriors, you’ve accomplished your mission of splitting the first two games in Houston. With the scene shifting to Oakland for Games 3 and 4, Golden State should feel good about where the series stands right now.

Game 3 is Sunday at Oracle Arena with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m. Pacific.

Following Game 3, the two teams will play Game 4 on Tuesday, before returning to Houston for Game 5 on Thursday.

Earthquakes settle for 4-point road trip after 2-2 draw against the WhiteCaps

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Earthquakes traveled to Western Canada to take on the Vancouver WhiteCaps–the team that eliminated them from the 2017 MLS Cup playoffs in the Knockout Round–in hopes of getting a win at BC Place on Wednesday night.

The Quakes appeared to be focused and ready for the WhiteCaps, according to a tweet on the team’s Twitter page.

However, the WhiteCaps got on the board first as Cristian Techara slipped one behind the Quakes’ back line at the 19th minute. Techara’s opening goal was the probable reason why Andrew Tarbell stepped up his game and drove down low to make a right-handed save to fend off a low-driven kick that looked like it was going to sneak into the net.

Danny Hoesen snatched the game-tying goal just one second before the end of the first half. The Quakes and WhiteCaps were tied 1-1 at the halftime break.

The second half kicked off and Nick Lima kicked in a sweet goal to put the Quakes ahead 2-1 at the 54th minute. But the Quakes’ lead was short-lived as the WhiteCaps tied the game 2-2 on Yordy Reyna’s equalizer at the 64th minute.

Seven minutes after the officials handed a yellow card to Anibal Godoy, the Quakes made their first substitution of the match as Francois Affolter went in for Shea Salinas and their captain Chris Wondolowski stepped on the field while Vako stepped out of the field.

The Quakes’ Florian Jungwirth got a yellow card for a slight jersey tug on a WhiteCaps player. Then, the Quakes made their third and final substitution of the match when Fatai Alashe took Jackson Yueill’s place on the field.

The match remained in a 2-2 deadlock, but there was still four minutes of stoppage time. Yet, the Quakes were unable to snap out of the deadlock, but took the 2-2 draw against the WhiteCaps nonetheless.

Notes
Quakes’ starting lineup
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WhiteCaps’ starting lineup
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Up Next
The Quakes will return home to host D.C. United Saturday night at 7:30 pm PST.

A’s out-homer the Red Sox in an attempt to sweep, but drop series finale 6-4

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Photo credit: @RedSox

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s lost the finale of the three-game series to the Boston Red Sox 6-4 Wednesday night at Fenway Park. The A’s hit three home runs while Boston sent two into the stands. However, Boston’s two produced five runs while the A’s three were good for just four.

A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill, making his first start since coming off the 10-day DL, went five innings and allowed five hits and three runs. Cahill was charged with the loss and is now 1-2 for the season.

Red Sox ace Chris Sale also pitched five innings, and he allowed just two hits and two runs. Sale’s record improved to 4-1.

The Red Sox scored three times in the bottom of the first inning. Mookie Betts led off the inning with a single to left field. Betts advanced to second when Chad Pinder misplayed the ball. Betts went to third when Andrew Benintendi singled to right field. Boston’s designated hitter Hanley Ramirez grounded out, and Betts scored the first run of the game. The next hitter, J.D. Martinez blasted his 12th homer of the season 422 feet over the wall in centerfield. The Red Sox lead 3-0.

Sale did not allow a run in the first four innings of work. Sale, who is a strikeout pitcher, had a high pitch count as he started the fifth inning. He walked the leadoff hitter, Chad Pinder. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien homered into the Monster seats in left field to make it a one-run game 3-2.

A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in reliever Ryan Dull to start the sixth inning. Dull was greeted by a single off the bat of Hanley Ramirez. He walked J.D.Martinez to put men on at first and second with no out. Xander Bogaerts made Dull walk the plank as he blasted his fifth dinger of the year to put the Red Sox ahead 6-2.

The A’s Matt Joyce hit a solo homer off Heath Hembree in the seventh, and Matt Olson hit a high fly ball that barely cleared the top of the wall in left field for his sixth of the year in the top of the ninth off Boston’s closer Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel recovered to close out the game for Boston. The Red Sox win 6-4.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the A’s drop to 21-22. If the A’s were in the AL Central, they would be in a dogfight for first place with the Cleveland Indians. However, the A’s are in the AL Central and are in fourth place, looking up at the Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, and Seattle Mariners.

The A’s won the series two games to one and won the season’s series from Boston four games to two. The Red Sox were very happy to say goodbye to the A’s as they had their hands full with them this season.

The A’s are on their way to Toronto to start a four-game series with the Blue Jays beginning Thursday evening. Andrew Triggs (3-1, ERA 5.31) will go for Oakland. Triggs was pounded for six runs and six hits and did not make it out of the fifth inning last Saturday against the Yankees.

The Blue Jays will send Aaron Sanchez to the hill and Sanchez is 2-3 with an ERA of 4.08. Sanchez has been inconsistent and the A’s hope that Sanchez will not be able to shut down their offense.

Up Next: Game time will be at 4 pm PST.

Remember that Mike Leake-Adam Duvall trade from 2015? Oh, yeah.

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Cincinnati Reds’ best West Coast roadtrip in seven years came steeped in subtlety, a lot like the Reds’ season to date.

It surely didn’t get its crescendo on Wednesday at AT&T Park. The Reds did just enough good, delivering the game’s biggest hit–former Giant Adam Duvall’s three-run homer in the first inning–then basically starving out the home team from there in 6-3 victory that, yes, capped their road trip, and helped them avoid yet another three-game sweep. But it wasn’t the cathartic release the Cincinnati players enjoyed by sweeping the Dodgers four straight over the weekend.

After a dreadful 8-26 start to the season that dropped the Reds 13 games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers on May 7, they’ve won six of nine.

Matt Harvey, currently the Dark Knight of Southern Ohio, didn’t resurrect his career on Wednesday, but he certainly looked like he’s working on it. The sensation of a few seasons back struck out five of the final six batters he faced, but was lifted after a generally, rough four innings in which gave up seven hits and three runs.  Even Harvey admitted afterwards, following Brandon Belt’s home run that trimmed the Reds’ lead to 4-3, he needed to figure something out to get as far as he did.

“I was telling (his batterymate, Tucker Barnhart) after the game that after the home run to Belt, I threw a pitch to Sandoval or whoever followed him, I kind of felt it click. I realized was flying open and wasn’t really getting out front and executing pitches the way I wanted to,” he said.

Harvey followed that realization by striking out Pablo Sandoval, Double A-Richmond callup Miguel Gomez, Kelby Tomlinson, Andrew Suarez and Gregor Blanco in a six-batter sequence.  It wasn’t his finest moment, but it did find the Giants’ weakness. San Francisco’s lineup without Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford was exposed as an easier touch. The Giants squandered too many run scoring opportunities, and struck out 10 times, the 15th time they fanned that frequently in 44 games thus far.

The Giants went the final six innings scoreless, while the Reds added on. Three, pretty good Cincinnati relievers–Jared Hughes, workhorse Wandy Peralta and closer Raisel Iglesias shut the door on the Giants despite allowing a collective, five hits and some hair-raising–and controversial (see Ben Leonard’s story)–moments.

The Giants fell back to .500 (22-22) with the loss, somehow getting the least out of eight base hits, three doubles, Belt’s homer and a pair of walks.  Pinch-hitter Austin Jackson struck out with a runner at third, and one out, in the sixth. Sandoval hit into an inning-ending double play in the seventh. And Belt, who hit his team-leading ninth homer in the third, struck out with a runner aboard to end the game.

The game’s hero, Duvall was considered the 25th best prospect in the Giants’ system when they dealt him in July 2015 to get Mike Leake from the Reds to bolster their rotation for that season’s stretch drive. Since then, the former University of Louisville first baseman has hit 77 homers and 78 doubles for the Reds while the Giants passed on resigning Leake for the 2016 season. Duvall homered twice in the concluded series, and also came up with a terrific catch, robbing Sandoval of extra bases in the first inning.

“They made a couple of plays there that saved them,” manager Bruce Bochy conceded.

Belt accuses umpire of trying to end game quickly after Giants’ 6-3 loss to Reds

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Photo credit: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt (9) is congratulated after hitting a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the third inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Ben Leonard

SAN FRANCISCO—When home plate umpire Doug Eddings rung him up to end the game, Brandon Belt didn’t bother holding back.

Immediately after Raisel Iglesias pounded a fastball away to close a 6-3 Reds’ win, the 6-foot-5 Texan turned his head and started screaming at Eddings while everyone else walked off the field. More than 20 minutes later in the clubhouse, Belt was still fuming, even in the midst of a hot streak, accusing Eddings of trying to bring the game to a quick end.

“Multiple times, I’ve heard that guy say or insinuate that he wants to get through the game fast,” Belt said. “Then he makes calls like that that I can’t imagine he thought was a strike. You’ve got to wonder.”

Belt wouldn’t go into details of what Eddings said or when, but said Eddings was one of a couple bad apples of umpires in a league with many quality officials.

“You have a feeling that one or two of them just want to get the game over with, whether through it’s what they say or what they do,” Belt said. “I’m not sure if they’re connected or not, but if you don’t want it to be, then don’t say it.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman, crew chief Joe West declined to comment, saying, “I don’t comment on postgame comments and things said in anger.”

Belt’s rage ultimately made no difference in the outcome, as his Giants (22-22) fell just short of a sweep of lowly Cincinnati (15-29). The first baseman finished the day 2-for-5 with a solo home run as part of a 9-for-18 tear in his last four games, but a four-run Reds’ first inning was ultimately too much for San Francisco to overcome.

Rookie Andrew Suarez looked like he wasn’t going to make it out of the first after allowing the first four hitters of the game to score, including three on former Giant Adam Duvall’s homer. Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy thought the slight left-hander was trying too hard to power his way through hitters in the early going—and Suarez agreed.

“My adrenaline was pumping too much in the first,” Suarez said. “After those first four runs, I just tried to settle in and go as deep as I could.’

Considering it took him 29 pitches to get his first out, Suarez did go deep, rebounding to give the Giants six innings and allowing just one more run—an unearned run after a passed ball from Nick Hundley in the fifth. The 25-year-old gave up just three hits after the first inning.

The Giants scratched and clawed their way back into the game, but couldn’t get the big hit to take the lead. San Francisco quickly responded with two runs in the first on an RBI double from Andrew McCutchen and a Pablo Sandoval sacrifice fly against ex-Mets’ ace Matt Harvey.

The ‘Dark Knight’s’ mystique has been all but defiled, but that didn’t stop him from bearing down when it counted. He found himself in a mess with two runners in scoring position and no outs in the second, but worked his way through the inning unscathed. Despite giving up the solo shot to Belt, Harvey limited the damage and kept Cincinnati ahead for good.

Harvey finished just four innings and gave up three runs, but struck out the side to end his day and stem the tide for the Reds to pull away and avoid a sweep. Three Reds relievers combined for five innings of scoreless, five-hit ball to cap off Harvey’s start and send Cincinnati home on a high note.

A former All-Star, Harvey found his way to Cincinnati after struggling mightily since 2016 and weathering numerous off-the-field incidents—the most recent of which reportedly partying the night before a start. Bochy was impressed with his velocity—Harvey touched 95 mph at times on the radar gun—and thought his stuff was still there, but thought his command was not quite as sharp as he had seen before.

“But he’s healthy. You look at that more than anything,” Bochy said. “He just needs to get out there and pitch.”

The Giants will welcome the Colorado Rockies (23-20) to AT&T Park for the first time this season for a four-game set beginning Thursday. Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 6.94) is slated to square off against the Rockies’ Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.12) to open the series.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference podcast with Mary Lisa: Knights’ Marchessault has two goals in Game 2 to even series with Jets; Game 3 tonight in Vegas

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Photo credit: @JdeQuebec

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault has been a huge plus for the offense. He proved that in round two against the San Jose Sharks and now in this series against the Winnipeg Jets he scored twice to help the Knights get the 3-1 win.

#2 The Jets’ Kyle Conner scored a goal in the third period to make it 3-1, but Marchessault scored 1:28 later to get the Knights back up with a two-goal lead.

#3 The Knights’ Marc Andre Fluery stopped 30 shots on Monday night and the Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had 25 saves in the contest.

#4 Fleury said that the Jets came out with a lot of speed and the Knights forced the turnovers to get puck possession time.

#5 It’s Game 3 tonight in Vegas’ T-Mobile Center series tied at 1-1. How do you see things shaping up for tonight?

Mary Lisa Walsh does the NHL Stanley Cup podcasts on Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Lightning light the lamp in 4-2 win over Caps to even it up

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Photo credit: @PR_NHL

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference podcast with Marko:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning got help from Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in game three of Tuesday night’s playoff game in Washington. Both of the goals were power play goals.

#2 The Lightning have scored a power play goal in eight straight games and they were one-timers from the faceoff circle for both goals.

#3 The Lightning’s Victor Hedman said the Bolts need to keep it going after they were down 2-1. Now, it could be a new series after they meet again on Thursday for Game 3.

#4 Stamkos’ goal was shot over goaltender Branden Holtby left shoulder and the Lightning got off to a fast start.

#5 So it’s Game 3 Thursday night with the series tied at 1-1. How do you see this next one coming up?

Join Marko for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com