NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff podcast with Matt Harrington: Capitals take early lead on Ovechkin’s goal; Lightning have been down 0-1 before

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Photo credit: @Capitals

On the Eastern Conference Finals playoff podcast with Matt:

#1 The Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin’s early game power play goal help the Capitals to a 4-2 win past the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night in Tampa Bay.

#2 It was 80 degrees outside of Tampa Bay’s Amalie Arena at the start of Friday night’s Game 1 contest. Both teams needed a lot of hydration before and during the game.

#3 The Caps’ Ovechkin, who got a power play goal and an assist on Friday was one of the key reasons why the Caps are this far in the Eastern Conference finals.

#4 The Bolts are not to be underestimated they lost the opener in Game 1 Round 2, but bounced back by winning four straight over the Boston Bruins to advance to Round 3.

#5 Talk about the Caps goaltender Braden Holtby’s job in net with one goal allowed in 19 saves.

Matt Harrington does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Pirates hit four home runs; spoil McCutchen’s homecoming with 11-2 rout

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

On a night where the Pittsburgh Pirates welcomed home of their favorite sons, they put an absolute bludgeoning on his new team.

Josh Bell, Starling Marte and Jose Osuna each launched two-run home runs, and Max Moroff hit a three-run home run, as the Pirates defeated the San Francisco Giants 11-2 at PNC Park that spoiled the homecoming of current Giants right fielder Andrew McCutchen, who was drafted with the 11thpick in the 2005 Amateur Draft by the Pirates.

While with the Pirates, McCutchen was a multi-time All Star and the 2013 MVP. McCutchen also helped lead the Pirates back to the postseason in 2014, where they faced the Giants in the National League Wild Card Game.

That 2014 appearance in the postseason was the Pirates first postseason appearance since 1992, when their leftfielder won his second NL MVP in three years; however, after that season, that leftfielder returned to his hometown of San Francisco. That leftfielder’s name is Barry Bonds.

McCutchen went 1-for-5 on the evening, and ended the sixth inning, as he threw Colin Moran out at the plate that brought cheers from the home fans.

Steven Brault improved to 3-1 on the season, as he picked the win in relief of Pirates starter Jameson Taillon, who was forced to leave the game after just three innings due to a laceration on his pitching hand.

Once again, the Giants starting pitcher was unable to make it out of the fifth inning for the fifth straight game.

Andrew Suarez went just four innings, as he gave up five runs and seven hits, as his record dropped to 1-2 on the season and the Giants have lost five in a row after sweeping the Atlanta Braves to open the road trip.

The Giants tied up the game in the top of the fourth inning, as Austin Jackson hit a two-run double off of Brault. Unfortunately, Suarez was unable to hold the lead and the Pirates took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth.

Once again, the Giants struggled in scoring position, as they went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Also, the Giants struck out 14 times, as they have struck out a whopping 69 times during their five-game slide thru the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

NOTES; Jeff Samardzija looks to put the end to the losing streak on Saturday night, as he takes the mound against the Chad Kuhl.

It is not good news for Mac Williamson, as he remains in the concussion protocol and it could be another week before he is cleared, this according to Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Williamson last played on April 24, when he crashed into the wall near the Giants bullpen at AT&T Park against the Washington Nationals.

Bochy also said that Hunter Pence’s sprained thumb was doing better, as he is on a rehab assignment with the Sacramento Rivercats.

UP NEXT: Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Saturday at 4:05 pm PT.

San Jose State signs two all-state guards and a emerging frontcourt player

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

Two all-state guards and an emerging frontcourt player from winning high school basketball programs signed a National Letter-of-Intent to enroll at San Jose State University and continue their men’s basketball careers this fall. Jean Prioleau, the Spartans head coach, made the announcement on Friday.

6-foot-9 forward Christian Anigwe from Desert Vista High in Phoenix, Arizona, 6-foot-4 guard Kaison Hammonds from ThunderRidge High in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and 6-foot-6 guard Seneca Knight from Northside High in Lafayette, Louisiana, are joining the Spartans.

“These three guys are versatile perimeter players. The two guards (Hammonds and Knight) can pass, dribble and shoot the ball. Seneca is a big guard. Kaison is a player that can make shots. He is another big guard at 6-foot-4,” says Prioleau, who is entering his second season at San Jose State. “Christian is very athletic. We needed another athletic big guy in the front line who is active.”

The three Spartan newcomers are coming from programs that won at least 44 games the last two seasons and have high-level athletic family bloodlines.

Knight was a first-team Class 4A all-state and first-team All-District 4-4A honoree as a senior for Northside High. Ranked by Gulf Coast Basketball as the No. 16 overall prospect and the No.1 scoring forward in state, Knight averaged 25.0 points a game his senior season. His dad, Seneca Knight, played college football at Grambling and professionally for the Arena League’s Grand Rapids (Michigan) team.

Hammonds was a two-time first-team selection by the Colorado High School Athletic Association. In his junior and senior seasons, ThunderRidge had a 49-5 win-loss record in the 5A/4A Continental League. He averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists as a junior and 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a senior. His dad, Tom Hammonds, starred at Georgia Tech and played 11 NBA seasons (1990-2001) for four teams.

Anigwe averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a game and shot 64.5 percent from the field last season at Desert Vista High. D1Nation.com ranked him as the No. 15 high school prospect in the state. His sister, Kristine Anigwe, a three-time honorable mention All-America basketball player and the 2016 USBWA National Freshman of the Year, will be a senior at the University of California in the 2018-19 season.

Knight, Hammonds and Anigwe now give Prioleau eight new players for the 2018-19 San Jose State team. Earlier, guard Zach Chappell of Capital Christian High in Sacramento; guard Brae Ivey, from Riverside City College; 6-foot-9 forward Craig LeCesne, a San Bernardino Valley College transfer who played as a freshman at Pepperdine University; 6-foot-10 Michael Steadman from City College of San Francisco; and 6-foot-11 Samuel Japhet-Mathias, a transfer from Wake Forest University, signed with the Spartans.

With one of the largest signing classes in recent San Jose State men’s basketball history, Prioleau expressed his appreciation for the teamwork by many campus departments and units throughout the recruiting process.

“As a new coaching staff, we leaned heavily on and learned quickly how much San Jose State department heads and staff members want to see us recruit the best possible players to be a part of our university and succeed in all aspects of college life and beyond. It all starts with Dr. (Mary A.) Papazian, our President, and Athletics Director Marie Tuite and their vision for our program,” concluded Prioleau.

A’s Swing Away on Former Teammate Gray, Beat Yankees 10-5

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

In a night of reunions in the Big Apple, a quartet of Green and Gold homers proved the difference-maker in a 10-5 A’s win over the red-hot New York Yankees. Kendall Graveman returned to the A’s major league rotation after a demotion to Triple-A in late April, firing six innings while coughing up one earned run. Meanwhile, former A’s ace Sonny Gray made his first appearance against the A’s since being traded July 31st of last season for a trio prospects. Gray (2-3, 6.39 ERA) got tagged with the loss after giving up five runs over five innings while Graveman(1-5, 7.60) picked up his first win since September 22nd of last season.

Khris Davis tagged Gray for a solo shot, his 10th long ball of the season in the top of the second and Matt Chapman launched a two-run shot just two batters later for a 3-0 Oakland lead. Jed Lowrie singled in a run off Gray in the top of the third.

Graveman struggled mightily to open the season in his first six starts but looked more locked in Friday until he gave up a solo homerun to top Yankees prospect Gleyber Torres in the bottom of the third inning for a 4-1 A’s lead. Shortstop Marcus Semien added to the lead with a fielder’s choice RBI in the top of the fifth, which wound up being a pivotal run.

An inning later, Semien would open the inning by booting a ball to Miguel Andujar. Graveman rallied back, striking out Austin Romine and inducing a groundout from Torres that moved Andujar to second. Graveman then issued a free pass to Brett Gardner. Aaron Judge lifted the first pitch he saw from Graveman to right field for his 10th homer, cutting the A’s Edge to 5-4.

Jed Lowrie hit the A’s third homer of the game  off reliever David Hale, putting Oakland up 6-4. Ryan Dull entered the game in the seventh for the Yankees, giving up back-to-back singles to Andujar and Romine before Torres moved both runners over on a sacrifice bunt. Dull got the hook for Lou Trivino who issued four straight balls to Gardner to load the bases. He’d issue a full-count walk to plate a run, but got Didi Gregorious to fly out too shallow to score Romine from third and finished off the inning with an infield fly from the dangerous Giancarlo Stanton.

Matt Joyce took Hale deep for the final A’s homer in the top of the eighth inning for his third jack of the season. Oakland added three runs in the top of the ninth on a bases-loaded double by Semien off David Robertson. Blake Treinen worked around a one-out Gardner single, getting Judge to bounce into a double play to end the game for his sixth save of the year.

Saturday’s game in the Bronx will feature Andrew Triggs scaring off against the Yankees Domingo German. Triggs is coming off his best performance of the year, pitching seven innings against the Baltimore Orioles May 6th, giving up just the one run on a Pedro Alvarez dinger in a 2-1 A’s win. German, likewise is coming off a breakthrough performance after punching out nine Indians in a 7-4 Yankees win.

NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff podcast with Joe Lami: Winnipeg Jets win on youth to face Vegas expansion team who knows no bounds

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photo google.com photo: Western Conference Final offers contrasting goaltending styles in Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and Winnipeg Jet goalie Conner Hellebuyck

On the Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff podcast:

#1 Our broadcast colleague Matt Harrington said at the start the Winnipeg Jets were going to win the series against the Nashville Predators what do you think of Matt’s prediction?

#2 The Jets are a young team and in game 7 they got scoring help from Tyler Myers and Paul Statsny in the Jets four goal win over Nashville 5-1 on Thursday night.

#3 Jets head coach Paul Maurice said that they won four games in Nashville in regulation his only concern was winning with young players against a physical experienced Predator team.

#4 Preds goalie Pekka Rinne gave up two goals on seven shots and lasted only 10:47 in the fastest pull of any goalie in a game 7 playoff.

#5 Finally this is a big series coming up for the Jets who will play a well rested Vegas team. How big will this series be for Canada and two of the best teams in the Western Conference

Joe Lami does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Glad to get out of Philly, Giants try to turn things around in Pittsburgh

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Photo credit: @mega_webnetwork

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

The San Francisco Giants who are on a four-game losing streak after dropping four straight to the Philadelphia Phillies after sweeping the Atlanta Braves in three games in Atlanta. What is wrong with the Giants? They’re thus far 3-4 on this road trip with three more games to go as they open tonight in Pittsburgh and they’re a .500 ball club.

Four loses on the road is not outside of what you would expect if they had gone 2-1 or 1-3, you might feel a little bit better about that, you might think the Giants flip flopped after winning a sweep then getting swept in four.

What is a surprise in this series in Philadelphia, the Giants, who were hitting well at home and who had been tearing it up in Atlanta, got into one of the top offensive ball parks in the National League, Philadelphia, and they didn’t hit. They didn’t hit at all. They got a couple home runs on Thursday. They jumped off to a 3-0 lead, but the Phillies’ pitching bore down and the Giants couldn’t add any more runs and the Phillies came back and won the game.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Phillies complete sweep of Giants with 6-3 win

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

For the Giants, it’s on to the next one.

They could not possibly get out of Philadelphia fast enough to satisfy them, especially after a 6-3 loss at Citizens Bank Park that completed a four-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.

In case you were wondering, the game was not aired on local television. In fact, the game was broadcast on Facebook Live. This certainly did not help the Giants.

They, however, got off to a promising start to Thursday’s game, as Gregor Blanco hit a solo home run to lead off the game off Phillies starter Vince Velazquez. In the next inning, Alen Hansen hot a two-run shot off Velazquez to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

However, all that momentum went right out the window in the fourth inning, when Carlos Santana launched a three-run homer off lefty starter Ty Blach to give Philadelphia a one-run lead.

Odubel Herrera gave the Phillies a pair of insurance runs in the fifth and seventh innings with run-scoring singles. Herrera went 3-for-4 on Thursday and boosted his average to .353.

Meanwhile, Velazquez helped his own cause at the plate, as he went 2-for-2 and got his batting average up to .462, while Cesar Hernandez also had a pair of hits for the Phillies.

The Giants will now head to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a three-game series that starts Friday night at PNC Park. Like the Phillies, the Pirates have a winning record, so the Giants will have their work cut out for them.

Sportstalk remote podcast from Hana Zen Japanese Cuisine at Pier 39 in San Francisco on Thursday, May 10, 2018

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yelp.com photo: Hana Zen at Pier 39 San Francisco by night fall and home of some of San Francisco’s best Japanese Cuisine

Cast: Michael Duca (host), Morris Phillips, Amaury Pi Gonzalez, Jeremy Kahn, and Lee Leonard (producer). Our thanks to Alvin and Angie Louie, the owners of Hana Zen Japanese Grill and Sushi Bar on Pier 39 at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, for hosting Sportstalk Radio. Tonight, we were treated to Hana Zen’s famous California Sushi Rolls, Ahi Tuna, Chicken Teriyaki, Calamari, and their wonderful miso soup.

Also, you can enjoy their sushi rolls, sashimi, and other Japanese favorites. Hana Zen also offers filet mignon, New York steak, and try their famous Lava Rock cooking right at your own table. In addition, you can enjoy some green tea ice cream at the end of your meal.

On the podcast, Sportstalk covered the Golden State Warriors and their second round playoff opponent, the New Orleans Pelicans. The San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s both who lost in huge laughers on Monday night 11-0 for the Giants in Philadelphia and the A’s crushed in Oakland 16-1 by the World Champion Houston Astros. The cast explores what to expect from either team for May 2018.

 

A’s enter the lion’s den starting Friday for three games at Yankee Stadium

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photo by nydailynews.com: Former Oakland A’s pitcher Sonny Gray will face his old teammates during the three game series between the A’s and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium starting Friday night

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s begin a 10-game road stand against the top three teams in the AL East. They meet the New York Yankees starting Friday night at Yankee Stadium. The A’s will be facing the hottest team in baseball at the moment. The Yankees have won 17 of the last 18 games and have moved into first place in the AL East. The Yankees On their last road trip, the Yankees swept all four games against the Houston Astros in Houston. The Astros are a very good, young team as well as defending World Championships and they were trampled by New York. The Astros, after two games with Arizona, came to Oakland and swept the A’s.

The A’s have record of 18-19 and are in fourth place in the AL West. The A’s have not announced who will start Friday night. A’s starter Trevor Cahill was placed on the 10-day DL with tightness in his arm. The A’s may recall Kendall Graveman or Chris Bassitt from Nashville to make a start. Andrew Triggs will pitch on Saturday, and Brett Anderson goes for Oakland on Sunday. Triggs has pitched reasonably well but has not faced a fearsome a lineup like the Yankees. Lefty Brett Anderson throws on Sunday, and the hopes are that he will have a better outing. The Astros blasted him in the game on Monday night that they won 16-2.

The Yankees pitching stacks up this way. Former A’s starter, Sonny Gray pitches Friday night. Gray is 2-2 and his an ERA of 6.00. Gray would like nothing better than to beat his old teammates. Rookie Domingo German (0-1, 2.21) goes on Saturday, and Luis Severino, who is rapidly becoming the ace of the Yankee staff, throws on Sunday. Severino is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.21.

The Yankees are living up to the nickname of being the Bronx Bombers. They have players up and down the lineup that can knock the ball out of the park. The A’s pitchers will have to deal with Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton. Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez, Neil Walker, Miguel Andujar, and Gleyber Torres. These guys are almost an entire All-Star team. If these guys continue to terrorize opponents’ pitching, A’s manager Bob Melvin butter have some Tylenol ready for his headache.

Even if the A’s can find a way to get the offense going and send the starters to the showers, the Yankee bullpen is loaded. Featured relievers are Chad Green, Chasen Shreve, David Robertson, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman, the closer.

The A’s took two out of three from Boston when they were the hottest team in baseball. It can be done. Hopefully, they will find a way to upset the Yankees’ apple cart.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: How much help will Harden get facing Warriors in round 3?; Can Giants win this series in Pittsburgh tonight?; plus more

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photo from express.co.uk: The Houston Rockets Chris Paul (3) and James Harden (13) confer on the floor during the playoffs as the Rockets prepare to meet Golden State for game one round 3 of the NBA Playoffs

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 James Harden of the Houston Rockets–Will he be like an Island facing the Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson? Will he have a supporting cast in this upcoming series starting on Monday?

#2 Last year’s playoffs, Harden went 2-11 in the loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Will he get some help from his teammates this time around?

#3 The Giants are going into Pittsburgh after getting swept in Philadelphia. After getting swept, the Giants certainly want to get a series win from the Bucs.

#4 On Tuesday night, the Seattle Mariners pitcher James Paxton threw a no-hitter in Toronto, marking the first time a Canadian born pitcher threw a no-hitter in his home and native land. It’s the second time a Canadian pitcher threw a no-hitter since 1946.

#5 The Manchester United are in San Jose for a match with the San Jose Earthquakes on July 22. Tony takes a look at how important it is for the MLS to have Manchester here to help promote the league.

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