Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Popovich in mourning over wife’s death will miss tonight’s game against Golden State; How tragedy will effect Spurs; plus more sports headlines

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On the Sports Headlines podcast with Tony:’

#1 San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s wife Erin 67 had passed away on Wednesday. Popovich will not be coaching tonight’s game in San Antonio. Assistant coach Ettore Messina is scheduled to coach tonight’s game three for San Antonio. Popovich and the Spurs were headed to San Antonio to prepare to face the Golden State Warriors down in the first round of the playoffs 2-0. Popovich had been married to Erin for over four decades. Spurs and Warriors front office, coaches, players and fans all feel his pain. The Warriors Kevin Durant said, “The whole NBA family is supporting him, got his back through it all,” Durant said. “Feel so bad for Pop.”

#2 During Game 2 on Monday night Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson for Golden State have been the Warriors’ one-two punch with Durant scoring 32 and Thompson 31 to lead the Warriors to their second win in the series.

#3 Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was a real show stopper with 46 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavs defeated the Indiana Pacers 100-97. The Cavs, who lost Game 1 of the series, felt the pressure of getting the win after the Pacers pretty much controlled the first game and LeBron got fired up and carried most of the load.

#4 If the Oakland A’s can’t get a new stadium built in at either Howard Terminal or the Coliseum, would the A’s consider selling to Portland? A Portland group is interested in buying the A’s.

Tony Renteria does the Sports Headlines each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s open series Friday against Red Sox (15-2) toughest team in the AL

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Boston.com Boston News file photo: April 12th photo shows Rick Porcello throwing a no hitter going into the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have one of the most successful pitching staff in MLB and have lost only two games this season

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 Down 9-4 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum the Oakland A’s came back from the five run deficit to defeat the Chicago White Sox in 14 innings 12-11. The A’s Jed Lowrie got a late inning homer that helped keep the A’s in the ball game and they later tied up the ball game.

#2 The A’s through the first of the two games defeated the Sox by scores of 8-1 and 10-1 but in the third game the A’s had to work to get the sweep past the White Sox batting the Sox in 14 innings for the third longest game in A’s history and went 5:48 long.

#3 The White Sox have now lost eight of their last nine games they were a club that came in that cured the A’s ills

#4 The A’s have got good pitching in recent outings from starter Sean Manaea they will really be defending on to get some good starts.

#5 The A’s now host the Boston Red Sox the hottest team in baseball coming in at 15-2 Jerry takes a look at how the A’s match up for the series starting Friday night.

Jerry will have a preview of the Red Sox and A’s series and podcasts every Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Red Sox, Hottest Team in Baseball, Head to Oakland to Take on the A’s

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball and they’re coming to Oakland this weekend to take on the Oakland A’s.

The Red Sox won last night at Anaheim, they have won six games in a row and have the best record in baseball of 15-2. That is the best start of a season for the Red Sox in their 118-year history.  They are first team in baseball to begin a season 15-3 since the 2003 San Francisco Giants. Red Sox rookie manager is 42-year-old Alex Cora, who was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The Red Sox will play one more game against the Angels at Anaheim tonight before coming to Oakland for a big weekend series and only visit of the Red Sox to Oakland.

The A’s just ended a sweep of the woeful Chicago White Sox. They scored a total of 30 runs on those three games. Yesterday a 14 inning 12-11 slugfest victory took 5 hours and 48 minutes.  Today, on a day off, they have an 9-10 record and are in fourth place 4.5 games behind the leading LA Angels.

The American League West is a tough division, with Astros, the 2017 World Champions, much improved LA Angels, the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers. The A’s are trying to finish at least .500 this month.

Last year on the 1st of June, the A’s were already 14.5 games out of the first place Astros, who went on to beat everybody the rest of the way to capture their first ever title.

The Boston Red Sox, just like the New York Yankees, traditionally bring lots of fans to the Coliseum every time they visit.  It should be a fun place to be with perfect weather this weekend at the O.co. Coliseum.

Play Ball!

Oakland Athletics
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Saturday April 21
Red Sox vs Athletics will be televised nationwide on MLB Network.

Preview of the weekend series between the A’s and Red Sox

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, winners of four straight and owners of a season record of 9-10, will have their work cut out for them this weekend when they host the rampaging Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball 15-2. They have won six straight and 15 of the last 16. They are playing the Los Angeles Angels Thursday night and will arrive in Oakland after the game. The Red Sox beat Angels’ pitcher Shohei Ohtani Tuesday night in Anaheim. Ohtani beat the A’s twice in the two games and was dominant.

The A’s are playing better. The hitting is starting to come around as they are second in the league with home runs hit. Jed Lowrie, who came up with the Red Sox, leads the club with six homers and the league with 21 RBIs. Khris Davis and Matt Chapman have also hit five home runs to pace the A’s attack. Matt Joyce, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, Chad Pinder, and Mark Canha have also provided punch to the A’s offense. The A’s, however, are ranked just 22nd in the Power Rankings. Number one honor goes to the Red Sox. The Red Sox have scored 108 runs this year, and the pitching has allowed just 48 for a plus-60 ranking. The A’s have produced 104 runs, but the pitching has given up 99 for a plus-five margin.

The A’s will be facing three left-handed hurlers this weekend. On Friday, Boston will send Drew Pomeranz to the mound. Pomeranz will be making his season debut on Friday. Pomeranz, a former Oakland Athletic, won 17 games last year for Boston. He will be opposed by Kendall Graveman. Graveman will be making his fifth start of the year, and things have not gone well for him so far. Graveman’s ERA is 9.87 and has given up six home runs so far. He did not make it past the fourth inning in his last start nor has he made it past the fifth inning in any game this season. The A’s need him to regain the promise he showed two years ago, but he has a tough task facing him as he tries to shut down the Boston offense. The game on Saturday will feature two lefthanders at the top of their game. The A’s Sean Manaea ( 2-2, ERA 1.63) has been superb for Oakland. He could be 4-0 if he had some run support in the two games he lost. He has pitched past the seventh inning in all four games that he started. He will be opposed by the ace of the Boston staff, Chris Sale. Sale( 1-0, ERA 1.23) has been outstanding and will be a contender for the Cy Young award again. On Sunday, Daniel Mengden will go for Oakland. Mengden is 2-2 with an ERA of 4.50, but he pitched 8 plus innings last Monday against the White Sox and gave up just one run and six hits. The Red Sox will counter will send former Cy Young winner David Price to the hill. Price is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.25.

The Red Sox have a formidable lineup. They won the AL East last year with a record of 93-69. They were last in home runs in the Al but this year they added a tremendous power hitter, J.D.Martinez, and so far the early results are good as the Red Sox have been sensational. They are led by Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Junior, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Mitch Moreland, Hanley Ramirez, Eduardo Nunez, Brock Holt. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts are on the DL and will not play this weekend.

Hopefully, the stands will be full of fans to see the teams play. The A’s have talent on the field. They can hit. The pitching, however, is suspect. If the A’s hope to move up in the AL West standings, the will need more consistency from their starter. Manaea has done his job. Mengden pitched will his last time out, and Trevor Cahill looked sharp as he defeated the White Sox. Andrew Triggs had two good starts, but he was pounded by the White Sox Wednesday and did not last past the second inning. The A’s will have to be at their best this weekend as the Red Sox are blistering hot right now. Let’s see if the A’s can rise to the occasion.

All Grown Up from 2014: Sharks far more business-like, focused in Game 4–up 3-0–this time

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By Morris Phillips

SAN JOSE–On the April 2014 night that the Sharks were supposed to send their old nemesis from La La land packing, a substantial project that was accomplished in 2011, but didn’t get finished in 2013–when the Kings escaped in Game 7 of the conference-semis–they were all over the place, hardly focused enough for the task at hand.

Most obviously, Antti Niemi’s goaltending wasn’t where it needed to be. Even as the Sharks raced to three wins in the first three games of the series, Coach Todd McLellan’s chirping about the goaltending could be heard loud and clear. But he wasn’t all that happy with his team’s penalty killing and physicality either.

Team leaders Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau butted heads with their coach frequently in then his sixth year of seven coaching the team, and they weren’t helping their individual causes by tearing up the Kings. While Thornton and Marleau weren’t no shows, both were on the ice too frequently for too many of the opponent’s goals in that series.

Dan Boyle was well on his way to a contentious, undignified end to his San Jose career. Younger stars Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture were in the midst of breakout years. Who’s team was it that season? With the new wave ascending, and the old guard aging, it was often hard to tell.

In Game 4 at Staples Center, the Sharks committed four of their whopping 10 penalties in the first period. But they survived, tied 1-1. But in the second, a couple more trips to the penalty box ignited the Kings who scored three goals, and then a fourth just 34 seconds into the final period. Down 5-2, McLellan pulled Niemi, and both teams tried to send messages with a couple of well-intentioned fights. The Sharks were still in control, up 3-1, but the Kings were well on their way to getting back into the series.

We all know what transpired next.  The Sharks shriveled, got shut out in Game 5, then scored just one goal each in Games 6 and 7. Jonathan Quick took over the series, and the Kings became just the fourth team in league history to brush aside a 3-0 deficit.

“When I look at it, I look at it as they fixed their problems, we didn’t,” McLellan admitted. “Our problems got progressively worse as we went along,”

Only six Sharks remain from Game 4 of that series four years ago. A seventh, Thornton, is injured, didn’t face the Ducks, and isn’t expected back for the start of the series to come with the Vegas Golden Knights. Couture, Pavelski, Thomas Hertl, Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Brent Burns all have that 2014 series in their memory banks, and that seemed to fuel them on Wednesday. Pavelski took the lead, and put the mindset into words.

“The biggest lesson you can learn in the playoffs: the commitment level and what you have to sacrifice. Whether you win or lose, it has to be there on a nightly basis to give yourself the best chance,” Pavelski said.

“We asked them to come into this series and play with composure,” Coach Peter DeBoer said. “We knew what we were going to get, they were going to try to push us out of the series physically. We stood in there and did it without taking penalties and with discipline.”

In winning 2-1 to wrap up the series, and earn at least a week of recuperation and time to prepare for the Knights, the Sharks showed how they’re in a much better place.

Martin Jones, ironically the backup goaltender for the Kings four years ago, is standing on his ear.  Not only did he rack up the saves versus Anaheim, he came up with the biggest when the momentum could have shifted. On Wednesday, he came up big at the end of the second period, and then again, early in the third.  Jones had 30 saves in all.

The Ducks managed just four goals in the series, further illustrating Jones’ dominance.

Hertl came up with the game-winning goal–on an assist from Vlasic–less than 90 seconds after the Ducks broke through to tie it.  The goal helped illustrate how the Sharks are getting contributions from four lines, which DeBoer highlighted after the game.

Evander Kane is playing his part as the high-profile, late season acquisition. Pavelski and Couture are the leaders on and off the ice, and DeBoer isn’t a wearing voice.

In fact, he’s an occasionally funny voice.

“I know we’re going to be heavy, heavy underdogs (against the Pacific Division champion Knights). So hopefully, you guys will write that , and we’ll go from there,” he said.

 

Matt Olson’s walk-off single ends third longest game in A’s history with 12-11 win over White Sox

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Photo credit: @Athletics

Chicago White Sox: 11 | 17 | 0
Oakland Athletics: 12 | 16 | 0
14 innings

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — When Andrew Triggs took the mound for the Oakland Athletics this afternoon, the team hoped to sweep the Chicago White Sox in their three-game series that had opened on Monday evening. 23 runs, 33 hits, 556 pitches, and five hours and 48 minutes later, Marcus Semien crossed home plate with the winning run, giving the A’s their fourth consecutive triumph, their ninth victory, and their first series sweep of the season. It also brought the team within two games of the Seattle Mariners for third place in the strong American League West.

The game began uneventfully enough and soon settled into a long and boring slug fest, with Oakland on the short end of the stick until the bottom of the eighth.

The White Sox used their speed to take an early lead after Yoán Moncada led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Nicky Delmonico’s single to center. Oakland tied the game in their half of the first when Matt Joyce doubled off Chicago’s starting pitcher, Carson Fulmer, went to third on Marcus Semien’s single, and then Jed Lowrie popped out on a 3-0 offering, scoring on Khris Davis’ grounder to first.

The brief equilibrium between the teams ended in the White Sox’ next turn at bat. With the bases loaded and no outs, Adam Engel, batting all of .188, singled, bringing Leury García in with the tie-breaking run and leaving the bases full. Moncada then deposited a 1-0 delivery by Triggs over the Stanley Tools sign in right field.  Just like that, the A’s trailed 6-1. Three batters later, Danny Coulombe was pitching for the Green and Gold.

The A’s scrambled back into cont ention in the bottom of the frame on Mark Canhas lead-off homer to left and a sacrifice fly by Semien to center that plated Stephen Piscotty. The next man up, Bruce Maxell, walked and eventually reached third, from where he scored even though it looked to first base umpire as if Héctor Sánchez, who had entered the game to pitch for Chicago after the walk to Maxwell, had induced Lowrie to ground into an inning-ending double play. Miller’s call was reversed on an appeal that took 45 seconds to be decided, a brevity that stood out in the context of what was, and continued for a few more innings to be, a v e r y s l o w m o v i n g game.

In the top of the fourth, full count walks to Moncada and Sánchez ended Coulombe’s stint on the mound. Santiago Casilla came in as the third Oakland hurler, and he allowed José Abreu a double on a hard line driven double to left center that both runners and put the White Sox up, 8-4. Davidson singled to left, and it was 9-4.

Oakland came charging back right away. After Sánchez issued a four pitch passport to Joyce, Aaron Bummer relieved his teammate. Lowrie and Davis singled, Davis’s hit driving in Lowrie. Olson doubled, scoring Davis. Right hander Chris Volstad came into pitch to Matt Chapman, who singled Olson home, and it was a one-run game, 9-8. That was the only hit Volstad would allow before being relieved by Danny Farquhar at the end of the seventh.

The game was getting interesting. Chicago tacked on another run in the sixth on singles off Emilio Pagán by Abreu, Delmonico, and Leury García. But it still looked like anyone’s ball game.

And then, bingo! Farquhar took over from Volstad, who, after three and a third strong innings, had done all he could to preserve the Chicago lead. Stephen Piscotty greeted Farquhar with a double to left center and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Maxwell brought him home with a sac fly to right. That was it for the Farquhar.

In came southpaw Luis Avilán. He got Chad Pinder, pinch hitting for Joyce, to fly out to center but walked Semien. Lowrey then planted Avilán’s 3-2 change up behind the Rooted in Oakland sign, 375 feet away in left field. For the first time in the game, the A’s were leading, 10-9.

Melvin called on his closer, Brad Treinin, to give him the three outs Oakland needed to seal an exciting 10-9 victory. Treinin gave him two. Then the two-one punch of a Welington Castillo double and a Tim Anderson single knotted the game up again at ten.
Oakland failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, and the game went into extra innings. Treinin allowed the White Sox two singles but no runs in the 10th and shut them down 1-2-3 in the 11th.

Lou Trivino, who had made his big league debut the night before with a wobbly, but score-free inning of relief, entered the game to start the twelfth. He got out of that pressure chamber with a double and a single but without allowing a run. He didn’t allow anyone to reach base in the 13th or 14th.

Joakin Soria allowed two A’s singles in the 10th, but, like Treinin, escaped without allowing anyone to score. Bruce Rondón got through the 11th in spite of a passed ball by Narváez that allowed Piscotty, who had walked, to reach scoring position with two outs. Rondón also kept Chicago alive through the 12th by striking out Pinder and Semien and getting Lowrie to ground out to second. He also got into trouble but escaped unharmed in the 13th.

It was in the bottom of the 14th that the A’s finally completed their comeback victory. Big game James Shields, now Long Game James Shields made his first relief appearance since 2010 and got both Lucroy and Pinder to fly out to center field. Then he gave up a single to Semien, who proceeded to steal second. This was a pivotal play, since it allowed Shields to pitch around the two subsequent batters without fear of putting a meaningful run on base. And so Shields walked Lowrie and Davis, each on five pitches. This brought Olson to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Shields got him to swing and miss on an 83 mph change up. His next pitch was a knuckle curve that Olson blasted over Delmonico’s head and against the left field wall. Semien gleefully bounced home, and the longest game of this short season ended with the A’s on top, 12-11.

The well deserved win went to Trivino, who now boasts an immaculate record of 1-0, 0.00. The loss was charged to Shields (1-1, 4.50).

The A’s will have a chance to recuperate tomorrow and part of Friday before they face the Boston Red Sox at the Coliseum at 7:05 pm PT.

Ex-Athletic lefty Drew Pomeranz is expected to come off the Red Sox’ disabled list and make his first appearance of the season, starting for Boston. Kendall Graveman will pitch for the A’s, who hope he can improve his record of 0-3, 9.97.

Giants hold on for 4-3 win over Diamondbacks

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

Say one thing about the Giants: They certainly have resilience about them.

They survived a blown save in the bottom of the ninth, rallying in the very next inning to down the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-3, at Chase Field Wednesday to even this three-game series at a game apiece.

With the win, the Giants snapped a four-game losing streak and collected their first win of the season inside of Chase Field.

“That was a hard-fought game,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Our bats were a lot better tonight. I thought we were a lot more selective and didn’t chase (bad pitches). The guys did a great job of battling up there.

Brandon Belt, who has been moved up and down the lineup this season as Bochy has searched for answers, hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning to put the Giants ahead, before they held on and withstood an Arizona rally in the bottom of the inning to get the much-needed win.

Another bright spot has been Evan Longoria, who had a miserable start to the season at the plate. He has since worked his batting average to a respectable .241 and tagged starter Robbie Ray for a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give the Giants a 2-0 lead while also going 3-for-4 on Wednesday.

Starter Chris Stratton had one of his finest outings of the year, going seven innings and giving up only a run on five hits, collective eight strikeouts and did not walk a single batter.

“He did a terrific job,” Bochy said. “He was throwing very well. With Stratton, the way he’s throwing the ball, not just this year but (also) the end of last year, he’s one of our (starters).

Andrew McCutchen also had a multi-hit game for the Giants, going 2-for-5 while stealing a base and also scoring a run.

The Giants and Dbacks conclude the three-game set Thursday night at 6:40 pm PT.

Sharks Sweep Ducks With 2-1 Win, Golden Knights Await in Round Two

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Photo credit: @sliccardo

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks swept the Anaheim Ducks, winning 2-1 Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Team Teal draws the Pacific Division champions, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who capped a shocking regular season run with a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings to open their first postseason foray.

Tomas Hertl responded to an Anaheim third period goal with the game-winner just 1:16 later. Marcus Sorensen also scored his third goal of the playoffs for San Jose. Premature Conn Smythe candidate Martin Jones made 30 saves for his 19th career playoff win, allowing four goals over the four-game masterpiece.

Jones needed to be stingy, thanks to four Anaheim power plays but the North Vancouver native was locked in. The lone blemish on the netminder’s ledger came 7:53 into the final period as a result of lax defense.

Brent Burns failed to stop a zone entry from the Ducks that saw the Puck skitter down the boards into the corner to Jones’ left. Ryan Kesler dug the Puck free, catching Burns sagged too far off to prevent a centering pass from behind the net. Kesler connected with Andrew Cogliano just a few feet out in the slot for a jam shot past Jones.

Hertl responded, stymieing a momentum shift before it could take hold. His shot through traffic beat netminder John Gibson to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead with just under 11 minutes left.

The final moments of play proved tense, with the Sharks producing a number of near-misses with Gibson pulled for the extra attacker. Ultimately though, San Jose bled the clock out to wrap up a date with Vegas.

Coach Peter DeBoer’s Sharks weren’t expected to handily dispatch the Ducks after stumbling out of home ice in the first round with a 1-4-1 record over the final six games of the first round. The strengths that made the Sharks look a near-lock to host in the first round in Mid-March were on display throughout the first series of the playoffs, chiefly good goaltending and scoring depth.

Look no further than the Sharks first scorer Wednesday day. Marcus Sorensen appeared in just 32 games with the Sharks, scoring seven points. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s a point-per-game player. The winger scored his third goal of the series 5:43 into the game, given San Jose its eighth point from the fourth line alone this series. Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture also are all on a point-per-game or better run.

The Sharks will need all the team speed and scoring depth they can muster against a stingy Golden Knights team. Vegas allowed just three goals in its dismissal of the Kings, with Marc-Andre Fleury collecting a pair of shutouts to add to his already polished postseason resume. Both teams will be well rested as both teams need to wait for the other six series to wrap up before beginning play.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs/San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks ready to put the finishing touches on Anaheim; Teams face off tonight at SAP for Game 4

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks are on the brink of advancing to the second round. All they need is Game 4 to advance and sweep the Ducks.

#2 Was it that easy for the Sharks to win the first three games in Game 3? It wasn’t even a contest with a 8-1 win.

#3 You can pick anyone of the Sharks who could be the number one star. It seems like a total team effort for them to go up 3-0.

#4 The Ducks stars, in particular Richard Rakell, whose the Ducks’ leading scorer has pretty much been mesmerized by the Sharks’ optical illusion of defense.

#5 So here it is Game 4 tonight at SAP and this could be the Sharks chance to advance to the next round. Mary Lisa tells us how they will do.

Mary Lisa is a beat writer for the San Jose Sharks and does the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Big series starts Thursday night with Roadrunners; Series opens on home ice

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda are in the playoffs, but it took the last two games of the season to get there they had to win on Friday and then on Saturday home and away to get in.

#2 How vital was Alexander True in scoring twice for San Jose to help them get to the post season?

#3 Do you see Alexander getting a shot at the NHL in his future?

#4 The Barracuda ended the season on a very strong note with six straight wins.

#5 The Barracuda face off with the Tucson Roadrunners starting on Thursday night for Game 1 of the first round in San Jose can the Barracuda get this first round?

Marko does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com