Belt goes swimming, Crawford goes 4-for-4 in Giants’ 5-3 win over Reds

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO–After allowing three runs in the first four innings, you knew that it would be long night for Ty Blach.

Luckily, Blach’s teammates helped him out, as they came back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 before a crowd of 37,809 at AT&T Park Tuesday night.

Brandon Belt got the rally started with one swing of the bat, as he took a Tyler Mahle offering and it landed in McCovey Cove for Belt’s eighth home run of the season.

Following the Belt Splash Hit, the Giants got three straight singles from Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford and Austin Jackson. After a strikeout by Kelby Tomlinson, pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval lashed a Mahle pitching inside third and down the line to tie up the game.

“I was surprised at the situation,” said Sandoval.

Gregor Blanco then singled to reload the bases, Andrew McCutchen narrowly beat Scooter Gennett’s throw from second for a Fiedlers’ Choice to score Jackson with the go-ahead run.

“Cutch looking good hustling down the line,” said Bruce Bochy.

Blach went four innings, allowing three runs (one of them earned) on five hits, walking one and striking out one.

Eugenio Suarez got the Reds on the board, as he hit a two-run home run off of Blach in the top of the third inning. The Suarez home run came just after Tomlinson committed a fielding error at second base that allowed Jesse Winkler to reach base.

The Reds added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Billy Hamilton drove in Tony Cruz, who singled with one out, then went to second on a Mahle sacrifice bunt.

It was another nice night for Crawford at the plate, as he continues to hit the ball well, as he went 4-for-4 on the evening and is 9-for-12 over his last three games.

Mahle, who pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out two, saw his record fall to 3-5 on the season.

The perfect pitched fifth inning by Pierce Johnson gave the right-hander his second win of the season, as he struck out one.

All in all, the five bullpen pitchers that included Johnson, Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Hunter Strickland went five innings, allowing no runs on four hits, not walking a batter and struck out eight to preserve the Giants third win in a row and clinching the series.

“Had guys that were fresh,” said Bochy.

NOTES: Andrew Suarez looks for his second major league win, as he takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon, as the Giants look for their first three-game sweep over the Reds since May 3-5, 2002. Matt Harvey will make his second start for the Reds since being acquired from the New York Mets for catcher Devin Mesoraco on May 8.

Austin Slater was optioned to Sacramento after Monday’s 10-7 victory over the Reds, while Miguel Gomez was recalled from Double-A Richmond.

The Belt Splash Hit in the bottom of the fourth inning was the 78thhit into McCovey Cove since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000. It was the eighth Splash Hit for Belt, tying him with Sandoval, who hit his eighth earlier this season on April 4 off of Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

Belt and Sandoval are tied for second place behind Barry Bonds, who hit 35 in his eight years playing at AT&T Park.

UP NEXT: Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 12:45 pm PST.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! SacKings will pick second in NBA Draft

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Photo: @NBADraftLottery

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The NBA Draft Lottery order was selected in Chicago on Tuesday night, and the big winners of the night were the Sacramento Kings. The Kings entered the evening slotted to pick seventh on draft night in June. The Kings finished the season tied with the Chicago Bulls but lost a coin toss so the Bulls owned the sixth selection pre-lottery draw.

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@NBADraftLottery

The Kings had just an 18.3-percent chance of winding up in the Top-3 in the Draft Lottery. Those odds may have been helped a little because the team was represented by first-year point guard De’Aaron Fox who has been a positive force for Sacramento ever since his arrival in June of 2017 from the University of Kentucky.

The Kings moved into the Top-3 in the 2017 Draft Lottery back fell back to the number five pick because Philadelphia had the right to swap selections if the Sacramento pick was higher than the Sixers. With the number five selection, the Kings took De’Aaron Fox.

This good fortune becomes even more important because the Kings will not have a first-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The 2019 first-round selection was dealt away early in the tenure of Vlade Divac’s administration of basketball operations. This makes the 2018 draft selection even more important than it would normally be because it has to count for two seasons.

Who will be the number two draft pick?

Luka
Photo: @LukaDoncic

Virtually every mock draft site has Luka Doncic going as the number two selection in the 2018 NBA Draft. He is an international player currently playing with Real Madrid of Spain originally from Slovenia. Doncic is a 6-foot-7 small forward/shooting guard who is capable of playing positionless basketball that has become so popular in the NBA today.

Doncic is just 19-years old and definitely plays older than his years. He is an outstanding assists player who also is a strong rebounder on offense and defense. Doncic is an above average scorer and shooter at the free throw line. He needs work on his three-point shooting percentage and his number of turnovers needs to be lower.

The Kings front office has two prominent members – Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic – who are Eastern Europeans and should be able to make Doncic feel comfortable in Sacramento. One of the Kings up and coming stars is former Euro star – Bogdan Bogdanovic –  who certainly understands the style of basketball Doncic has been playing and could help make the transition to the NBA.

It looks like a match made in heaven right? Well, wait just one minute. The Phoenix Suns believe that Doncic can play point guard in the NBA. That’s right. They think this 6-foot-7 budding superstar can play point guard in “the association” alongside their star shooting guard Devin Booker. If the Suns believe Doncic can play that role, he could become the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

If Doncic goes number one, who goes number two?

NBADraftAyton
Photo:NBADraftLottery

That would leave DeAndre Ayton from Arizona available for the number two pick. Ayton is a 7-foot-1, 250-pound center who has an NBA body. He scores in multiple ways and has even been developing a three-point shot. Ayton runs the floor well and is not afraid of contact. He has great hands and good footwork.

His weakness is his defense. Ayton tends to get caught flat-footed too many times. He needs to do a better job defending against the pick and roll – a staple of the NBA. He needs to be more consistent about contesting shots.

Ayton is going to be a star in the NBA.

The Suns are going to be under immense pressure to draft the Arizona product and keep him in Phoenix. However, the Suns may opt to pass and go with Doncic who may pay off with more long-term results for them.

Either way, the Kings cannot go wrong. They are going to be able to draft a player who is going to become a star in the NBA.

A’s are back to .500 after 5-3 win over Red Sox

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Boston Red Sox must be asking themselves this question: “Who are these guys?” Well, these guys are the Oakland A’s and by defeating Boston 5-3 Tuesday night, they have won four of the five games played between these two teams so far this season.

A’s Daniel Mengden won his first game ever against Boston, and Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez absorbed his first loss.

The A’s scored two in the first and one in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. In the first inning, Marcus Semien and Chad Pinder singled to start the game. Rodriguez retired the next two hitters but could not get past A’s third baseman Matt Chapman. Chapman drove in Semien and Pinder with a double to deep right center field. In the second inning, right fielder Stephen Piscotty–in his first game since coming off the bereavement list–homered to left. The A’s lead 3-0 after two innings of play.

The Red Sox picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth. The run was unearned as Matt Chapman made a fielding error that allowed J.D.Martinez to get to second. Xander Bogaerts singled to send Martinez to third. Bogaerts was retired at second when Moreland reached on a fielder’s choice. Martinez scored on the play. In the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Benintendi hot a solo home run to make it a 3-2 game.

The A’s added two insurance runs in the top of the eighth. Khris Davis and Matt Chapman singled to start the rally. With two out, Mark Canha doubled to drive in Davis and Chapman to ice the win for Oakland.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the A’s evened their season record at 21-21 and are 3-2 on the road trip so far. The Red Sox dropped to 28-14.

Daniel Mengden went six innings and allowed eight hits and two runs, one of which was unearned. Mengden earned his third win of the campaign.

Lou Trivino pitched the seventh and eighth and held the Red Sox off the board. Blake Treinen picked up his eighth save, even though he gave up a run.

The A’s announced that Trevor Cahill will start the final game of the three-game series on Wednesday. To make room for Cahill, the A’s sent Kendall Graveman back to Triple-A Nashville.

Like I’ve mentioned earlier, Stephen Piscotty returned to action after being on the bereavement list due to the death of his mother.

Cahill will pitch for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Boston’s ace, Chris Sale.

Up Next: Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:00 pm PST.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary with Jeremiah Salmonson: Warriors really made Game 1 win look easy; Harden carried Rockets on shoulders, but couldn’t win

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On That’s Amaury’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson:

The Golden State Warriors started this third round of the playoffs with a road victory over the Houston Rockets 119-106 in Game 1 on Monday night. It looked like five guys (from Golden State) versus the Houston Rockets’ James Harden, who handled much of the scoring by himself.

Those five guys were referring to is the Warriors’ Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, who all combined for 99 points. Durant had his second-highest point total with 37 for this post season. The Rockets’ James Harden finished also with his second-highest postseason total with 41 points.

Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni called the Rockets performance a game of “mental lapses.” Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston. The Rockets have the home floor after watching them in Game 1. Do the Rockets need to pick up the pace with a faster tempo?

Jeremiah Salmonson is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez, who is taking this week off at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors’ Durant and Rockets’ Harden both have highest in scoring in postseason

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On the Warriors podcast with David Zizmor:

Talk about how the Warriors Kevin Durant dominated on offense Monday night in Game 1 in Houston with 37 points coming in with his second-highest total for the postseason. His opponent, the Rockets’ James Harden, finished with his second-highest total of 41 points. It looked like Harden against five Warriors players.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcasts each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: McCutchen and Giants swing for six doubles against Reds on Monday night

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photo @SFGiants: San Francisco Giants hitter Andrew McCutchen swings for one of his two doubles on Monday night at AT&T Park against the visiting Cincinnati Reds

On the Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

The Cincinnati Reds came into AT&T Park on Monday night after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games and with a six game winning streak but ran into the Giants who had a six game losing streak until they snapped it on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0.

With the win it picked up the Giants spirits and hitting as well on Monday they got help from Andrew McCutchen, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey Brandon Belt, and Evan Longoria all who hit for doubles. Belt hit an eighth inning home run his seventh of the season with nobody out to help provide for the Giants offense.

The Giants got the 10-7 win and got their run production early three in the first, one in the second, two in the third, and later three in the sixth which helped because the Reds put seven runs on the board which in most circumstances is good enough to win a ball game normally.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips do the Giants podcast weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rollercoaster ride: Giants start fast, then hang on in 10-7 homecoming win over the Reds

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants returned home from a rough road trip on Monday, and appeared to have their handpicked, get-well opponent in place: the NL bottom-dwelling Cincinnati Reds.

Except the Reds–after falling 19 games under .500 in the season’s first 35 games and firing manager Bryan Price–suddenly turned hot over the weekend, sweeping a four-game set at Dodgers Stadium.

So what to expect Monday night? A ragged ballgame were neither team looked like the ’98 Yankees, especially the Giants who burst out to a 9-4, sixth inning lead only to hold on for a 10-7 win that got dicey in the ninth.

“They’ve been playing very well, they’ve been scoring runs,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had a lot of timely hitting going on. It was good to start a homestand like this.”

After interrupting a six-game slide on Sunday with a 5-0, getaway win in Pittsburgh, the Giants were looking to maintain their self-esteem on Monday. They did that with 14 hits, seven of them doubles, and 12 of those 14 coming from the first six guys in the lineup. After Brandon Belt homered in the eighth, the Giants were three outs away from a tidy, 10-4 win.

But the ninth got hairy as reliever Jose Valdez, in just his second appearance as a Giant, allowed a three-run homer to Adam Duvall. Valdez did recover however, striking out Scooter Gennett to end the ballgame.

Chris Stratton picked up the win, going five innings, allowing nine hits and four runs. That was just enough for Stratton to pick up his fourth win and comfortably keep his rising ERA under 5.00. Stratton allowed home runs to Tucker Barnhart and Scott Schebler.

The Giants evened their record at 21-21 with the win, surprisingly enough to keep the club within 3 1/2 games of division-leading Arizona, who lost their sixth straight on Monday. If Monday’s snapshot of the league standings is any indicator, 2018 is no 2017. This time last year, the Giants’ awful start had them dead and buried as the Dodgers, D-Backs and Rockies surged on their way to playoff appearances. This season, a .500 record has them within reach of the entire National League, where 10 of the 15 clubs have winning records, but none are better than the Braves at a modest 25-16. The Giants swept the Braves in Atlanta last week.

Andrew McCutchen picked up the 1,500th hit of his 10-year, big league career in the Giants’ three-run, first inning. McCutchen finished with a pair of doubles and scored twice.

A guy with more than 1,600 career hits, Joey Votto of the Reds, had an interesting, if not brief evening. Votto was at the plate in the first inning when a 3.5 earthquake registered in the East Bay, and probably caused more of a stir within the stadium on people’s cell phones than in their senses. Votto would ground out in that at-bat. His second at-bat ended his evening, a base hit with enough personality that it took a right turn on outfielder Gregor Blanco for an additional base error. But Votto eased up turning around first and was removed with lower-back tightness, which he said cropped up in warmups.

“I was feeling pretty good and then that earthquake hit and all of a sudden everything got thrown off right around 7:18 p.m. in the middle of my first at-bat,” the not-normally humorous Votto said afterwards.

The Giants have Ty Blach starting Tuesday, in a Ty-Ty affair. Tyler Mahle starts for the Reds, a 23-year old who holds the distinction of being the active-leader in strikeouts among all players aged 23 or younger with 58 in the 64 plus innings of his career, accumulated this season and last. That’s no trivial matter for the Giants; they’ve struck out 92 times in their last eight games, including six on Monday. In fact, the Giants have suffered 10 strikeouts or more in 14 of their 42 games this far.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: After snapping six-game skid, Giants looking to get back on track in series with Reds in SF

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On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

The Giants, after dropping six straight games, finally got a win and took some of the pressure from a six-game skid in Pittsburgh with a 5-0 shutout being the pitching of Derek Holland, who went six-plus, four hits, no runs and seven strike outs. Holland’s five walks was the most he has given up thus far this season.

The Giants provided great defense behind Holland and didn’t commit an error. The team is leading the National League in errors with 31. The Giants also look forward to getting pitcher Madison Bumgarner healthy again.

Bumgarner threw off the mound tonight at AT&T Park before the Giants meeting with the Cincinnati Reds. Bumgarner will continue to rehab until his scheduled start on May 25th some 11 days from now. Meanwhile, the Reds, who are in last place, have recently found their way to the win column putting together a six-game win streak coming into AT&T tonight. The Reds have simply improved with good hitting and good defense.

Morris Phillips does the SF Giants podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sean Manaea hurls the A’s to a 6-5 win over the Red Sox

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s Sean Manaea continued his mastery over the Boston Red Sox as he beat them for the second time this season. Manaea didn’t pitch a no-hitter, but he pitched well enough to earn his fifth win against four losses. Manaea bested Boston’s Rick Porcello, who suffered his first loss of the year. The A’s hitters came through with three solo home runs and catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s double with two outs in the fourth drove in two big runs.

Oakland put a run on the board in the top of the third. With one out, Matt Joyce hit fourth big fly of the campaign off Porcello to give the A’s an early 1-0 lead. The Red Sox tallied twice in their half of the third. With two out, Mookie Betts singled. Betts stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Andrew Benintendi reached on a throwing error by Matt Chapman that allowed Betts to score and Benintendi was able to go to second when the ball got by Matt Olson. Hanley Ramirez’s singled to drive in Benintendi with Boston’s second run. The Red Sox lead 2-1.

The A’s regained the lead in the fourth. With one out, the Matts, Olson, and Chapman, singled. Lucroy followed with a double to drive them in, and Lucroy scored on Dustin Fowler’s first career triple. Oakland has a 4-2 lead after four.

The Red Sox crept closer in the bottom of the fifth. Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon singled, and Betts doubled to put men on at second and third with no out. Benintendi flew out, but Leon could not tag and score. Ramirez hit into a fielder’s choice that drove in Leon. Betts was thrown out a third and Manaea retired J.D.Martinez for the third out.

Matt Olson homered to right-center-field to make it a 5-3 game in the top of the sixth. The Red Sox got the run back in the seventh when Rafael Devers led off the inning with his seventh. In the eighth, Khris Davis homered for Oakland, and J.D.Martinez blasted his 11th to make it a 6-5. The A’s closer Blake Treinen earned his seventh save as he was able to get the final three outs of the game.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, The A’s improve to 20-21 and Boston drops to 28-13 and are now in second place in the AL East just a half game behind the idle New York Yankees. The A’s are now 2-2 on the 10-game road trip and have beaten Boston three out of four.

Sean Manaea went six-plus innings and allowed eight hits, four runs, one of which was unearned, four strikeouts, one walk, and one home run, and improved to 5-4.

Yusmeiro Petit pitched two innings and Treinen pitched one. Rick Porcello took the loss and is now 5-1. Porcello went six innings and allowed nine hits, and five runs, and two homers.

Trevor Cahill, who has been on the 10-day DL, is eligible to return to action on Wednesday. Outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who lost his mother to ALS last week, is expected to return from bereavement leave Tuesday night.

Up Next: Daniel Mengden (2-4, 4.06 ERA) will pitch for Oakland Tuesday. Mengden is 0-1 with an ERA of 8.00 in two career starts against Boston. He will be opposed by lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0, 4.58 ERA). Game time will be at 4:10 pm PT.

“Hamptons 5” lineup helped Warriors to 119-106 rout of Rockets in Game 1

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Photo credit: David J. Phillip/Associated Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

The Golden State Warriors started on the road for the first time these 2018 NBA playoffs and won by way of a 119-106 victory over the Rockets Monday at the Toyota Center in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals for a 1-0 series lead.

Golden State’s “Hamptons 5″ lineup consisted of Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who all combined for 99 points and a +48 rating versus the starting five for the Rockets (85 points and a -30 rating).

Durant posted his second-highest total this postseason with 37 points. On the flip side, Houston’s James Harden’s 41 points tied his second-highest too as he shot his best from the field (58.3%) these 2018 playoffs.  

Harden’s role could not be understated, as he helped or made 23 straight points from 3:10 left in the second to 8:10 left in the third.  

In Durant’s words: “We tried to take the first punch and kept on fighting…stay solid and keep up with each other…play a calm, steady game.”

Rockets’ coach Mike D’Antoni cited “mental lapses” and the need to be “mentally sharper.”

However, the separation between the teams did not occur until the third quarter.

At the end of the first half, both were dead even and just one point away after the first quarter.

Harden scored the first nine points for Houston (9-2 run) with a variety of shots, including two three-pointers and a technical free throw, courtesy of Green.

The Rockets got a scare when Harden left the court with 3:17 left in the first after Kevon Looney inadvertently stepped on his right foot.

The Warriors got their first lead (35-33) with 9:03 left in the second and then the teams wrestled back and forth until Golden State emerged the winner.

Houston used a 7-0 run to tie the game again with 1:51 left.

Golden State did not get their first free throws until 1:28 left in the half.

Almost ending the first half the way he started, Harden made his team’s last three shots for a total of 13 points in the second. Trevor Ariza, Green and Iguodala ended the half with three fouls.

Foul trouble would continue.

In the third, Ariza had to sit out with 9:35 left when he got his fifth foul.

After Iguodala made the second free throw, both teams traded baskets (seven of them interrupted) until 5:50 left when the Warriors went on a 10-2 run spurred by Thompson’s three. Stephen Curry either assisted with or hit eight of the points.

The Rockets put together an 8-0 run with two threes and two free throws near the end of the third, pulling to within four with a three (11:44 left in the fourth).

However, Golden State countered with a 7-2 run two minutes later to keep their lead.

Game Notes: Houston’s Chris Paul had a game-high 11 rebounds, Green a game-high nine assists and +19 and Thompson a game-high six threes.

Up Next: Game 2 will take place Wednesday at 6 pm PT.