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A’s come out on top with 3-1 win over Rangers in nail-biter

Published on April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s met the Texas Rangers for the first time this season Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Both teams entered the game with a record of 1-3. The A’s sent Andrew Triggs to the mound to handle the pitching chores. Triggs, now in his second year, pitched very well as he went five innings and allowed just one run and four hits. He did not get a decision, but the A’s rallied in the eighth to score two runs and win 3-1.

The Rangers sent Bartolo Colon out to pitch, and Colon also pitched extremely well. The 44-year-old master went six innings and was touched for just one run while giving up seven hits, He escaped jams in the fifth and sixth innings and he, too, did not get a decision.

The A’s started the scoring in the bottom of the third when third baseman Matt Chapman led off the inning with a home run over the right-center field wall. Bartolo Colon settled down and retired the next three hitters. The A’s lead 1-0 after three complete.

The Rangers threatened in the top of the fourth. With one out, Rangers’ catcher, Robinson Chirinos reached third when A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty failed to catch the ball as he bounced off the wall. Triggs got Rougned Odor to pop out to Jed Lowrie for the second out. Ryan Rua, who had singled in the second inning, hit a line drive to center. A’s center fielder Boog Powell made a sensational diving catch to rob Rua of a hit and end the Ranger threat.

The Rangers tied the game in the top of the fifth. Triggs walked Drew Robinson to start the inning. Robinson stole second when Shin-Soo Chin struck out swinging. Rangers’ first baseman, Joey Gallo, followed with a single to drive in Robinson. The A’s, in their half of the fifth, had three solid singles but could not score. The key play in the inning came when A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy tried to score from second on a Marcus Semien single to center. The throw home was on the mark, and while there was a collision between Lucroy and Chirinos, Chirinos was able to hold onto the ball for the out.

The A’s broke through in the seventh to plate two runs and take a 3-1 lead. The A’s had chances in the fifth and sixth, but could not get the key hit they needed to get the go-ahead run. Their fortunes changed in the seventh. With one out, Lucroy doubled to left-center. The new Ranger pitcher, Kevin Jepsen, retired Boog Powell for the second out and Lucroy advanced to third on the play. The next hitter, Marcus Semien walked. Ranger manager Jeff Banister brought in lefty Jake Diekman to pitch to Jed Lowrie. Banister wanted Lowrie hitting from the right side, but the strategy did not work as Lowrie doubled to drive in both Lucroy and Semien.

The A’s bullpen did its job as Ryan Buchter, Chris Hatcher, and Blake Treinen gave up just two hits and no runs in four innings of work. The A’s win 3-1.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s improve to 2-3 while Texas falls to 1-4. The hitting stars for Oakland were Matt Chapman who hit his second homer of the season and Jed Lowrie who had a clutch two-out double in the eighth to drive in the winning runs.

The A’s meet the Rangers again Tuesday night for game two of the four-game series. Kendal Graveman will be on the hill for Oakland, and the Rangers’ will counter with the ace, lefty Cole Hamels.

Time of game was three hours and 10 minutes. A sparse crowd of 7,416 was on hand to watch the heroes win and were able to go home with smiles on their faces.

Up Next: The A’s and Rangers meet again Tuesday night at 7:05 pm PT.

Dodged a bullet?: Giants either crafty or overmatched in season-opening weekend

Published on April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 by moepeaLeave a comment

Photo credit: @TwitVI

By Morris Phillips

If the Giants’ bats come around, they’ll laugh heartily about it.

If they don’t, the entire club will be visibly upset for the next six months.

It’s that serious–and that inconsequential–the Giants scored just two runs in four games to start the season in Dodger Stadium. Ultimately, what matters is what’s yet to come. But if the offense tanks, we’ll all remember the Giants started a subpar season with the most inept opening weekend in terms of offense in the last 30 seasons…

Of any team since the 1988 Orioles lost 12-0 on Opening Day–and 12-1 four days later on the way to 107 defeats–and after the two major upgrades in Longoria and McCutchen, all the faith invested in the holdovers, and the similarity to the last two campaigns, a collapse would be a mouthful to swallow.

Of course, this is a sobering juxtaposition. Could the Giants provide more of the same for a third straight year?

With the increasing ominous signs, it bears watching.

If not, the Giants may have shown that given their tenacity and level of engagement, they may have what it takes to compete. After all, the Giants assumed the most arduous opening of any team in the National League–on the road, against the penant winners with four different start times–and scraped together two, memorable, hard fought wins.

Without a couple of major pieces, that’s an accomplishment. The precedent set by Joe Panik with his pair of solo shots says it best.

But if the Dodgers can claim the distinction of being the first team in baseball history to allow two or fewer runs in a season-opening four game series than that’s not good. Only one of the two runs were earned? That’s the Giants sending the competition off on their merry way brimming with confidence.

“They’ll get clicking,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s a matter of time. … They’re too good. We know that. Hopefully [during] this day off, they’ll get a chance to relax.”

Here’s a snapshot of the numbers from the weekend:

Evan Longoria started the National League portion of his career hitless. The former Tampa Bay Ray went 0 for 15, despite saying he saw some good pitches to hit.

Johnny Cueto was lights out on Friday night, allowing one hit over seven innings, no walks, with four strikeouts. So far no mention of reoccurring issues with blisters. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts astutely pointed that Cueto is especially tough with no baserunners pitching out of the stretch.

Joe Panik’s feat of solo homers in consecutive 1-0 wins is a once in the history of the sport achievement. Forget the distinction of Opening Day, no player has ever solo homered in consecutive games with that game result, period.

Opening the season with a pair of 1-0 wins? That’s been done before. 76 years ago by the Reds in wins over the Cardinals with a huge assist to Johnny VanderMeer. The Reds’ pitching staff one-upped the Giants by winning in extra innings both days, 21 innings total.

The Giants are hitting .192 as a team, ranking them 27th, just in case you mistakenly thought they generated a decent share of traffic on the basepaths, but couldn’t summon any big hits.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Goose eggs for Dodgers; Goose eggs for Giants; Home opener vs. Seattle starts Tuesday

Published on April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Back-to-back to back-to-back shutouts to start the 2018 season between the Giants and Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium saw the Giants in game three of the series on Saturday get shutout 5-0 and then again on Sunday 9-0. San Francisco didn’t end up scoring one run in the last two games.

#2 Obvious Giants pitchers missing in either the starting rotation or their star closer are Madison Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija, and Mark Melancon, which will have felt impact on the rotation very soon

#3 The bullpen struggled Sunday. Giants starter Chris Stratton left with the Giants trailing 2-0, relievers Josh Osich gave up two runs and Miguel Gomez gave up four runs.

#4 Jeff Samardzija will start his rehab assignment with a 20-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday and Friday then Samardzija will start pitching in Triple-A Sacramento, and after that, is scheduled to rejoin the big club on April 15th in San Diego.

#5 The Giants have Monday off before the home opener on Tuesday afternoon at AT&T Park. The Giants open the series with a brief two-game meeting with the Seattle Mariners.

Morris Phillips is the San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Will Vegas turn out to be the Sharks’ toughest gamble going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Published on April 2, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights have a lot of speed and you can’t take a night off with them, according to San Jose Sharks forward Chris Tierney.

#2 The Sharks got goals on Saturday night in Vegas from Joe Pavelski and Marc Edouard Vlasic, but it wasn’t enough for the Sharks, who were confronting and who could be the best team in the NHL’s Western Conference. The Knights were not caving in whatsoever in the 3-2 win.

#3 The Knights got offensive help from Shea Theodore, Oscar Lindberg, and William Karlsson who each scored and who has been a big help for the Knights all season.

#4 Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots to keep Vegas in the game.

#5 The Sharks, after losing three straight including the recent loss Saturday night in Vegas, open a three-game homestand starting Tuesday night.

Len Shapiro does the SJ Sharks podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings squeak past the Lakers 84-83 Sunday night at Staples

Published on April 2, 2018April 2, 2018 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Buddy vs Lakers — Kings leading scorer Buddy Hield to the hoop Photo: @SacramentoKings

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The odds were against the Kings on Sunday night in Los Angeles. Sacramento had played at home on Saturday and lost to the World Champion Golden State Warriors. The chances of winning the second game of a back-to-back set on the road drop significantly in “the Association”.

Evidently, the Kings did not read any of the oddsmaker’s sites before the game because they played like they were favorites to win the game on Sunday and win they did.

With the game tied at 80 all with 39.6-seconds remaining in the game, Buddy Hield stole the ball from Caldwell-Pope. Hield finished off the fastbreak opportunity with a dunk that gave the Kings an 82-80 lead.

On the next possession, Bogdanovic made another steal when the Lakers Alex made a bad pass. The Kings set up the offense and De’Aaron Fox drove the lane putting up a seven-foot floating jump shot that gave Sacramento a four-point lead. The Lakers called an immediate timeout stopping the clock with 9.7-seconds remaining to play.

Out of the timeout, Caldwell-Pope missed a 23-foot 3-point attempt that was rebounded by Josh Hart. The ball was passed to Brooke Lopez who hit a 26-foot jumper to cut the Kings lead to just one point. Lopez immediately committed a foul to stop the clock with two-tenths of a second to go in the game but the Lakers would never regain possession.

The Kings won the game 84-83.

Top Performances

Kings (25-53)

In what seems to an every game occurrence, Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 19 points. Hield shot 8-for-15 overall and hit 3-of-5 from downtown. He also collected four steals in the game.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 15 points by sinking 6-of-7 shots from the field. He was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point land.
De’Aaron Fox worked his way through a tough shooting night to score 14 points. He went 6-for-18 shooting (0-for-3 3-PT) but wound up hitting the winning bucket. Fox also led the Kings with six assists.
Willie Cauley-Stein recorded 11 points in less than 20-minutes on the floor. He hit 5-of-8 shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Cauley-Stein also dished out four assists.

Lakers (33-43)

Randle vs Kings — Julius Randle scored 19 points vs Kings Photo: @Lakers

Julius Randle led the way for Lakers against the Kings by scoring 19 points. He shot 5-for-8 from the floor and hit 9-of-14 chances from the free throw line.
It took 13 shots for Caldwell-Pope to score 16 points which is not the kind of ratio a coach is looking for from a starter. He went 0-6 from behind the 3-point arc.
Kyle Kuzma – (WARNING: EDITORIAL OPINION) the best rookie on the Lakers roster – posted 13 points hitting 5-of-16 shots from the floor and converting 3-of-9 chances from downtown. Kuzma played 39-minutes in the game.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings second stop this final road trip of the season will be in Phoenix on Tuesday night. This will a battle of Draft Lottery Teams. The Suns lost to the Warriors on Easter Sunday 117-107 and have now lost 15 games in a row.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers will travel to Salt Lake City to face the playoff-bound Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

If the 2018 NBA Draft would be held today

Who would the Kings draft is they had to select today? According to Tankathon. com, Sacramento would have the number six selection and they would use it to take Freshman center Mohamed Bamba out of Texas. Bamba is a 7-footer who weighs 216 pounds. He will be 20 years old at the time of the draft.

Bamba played in 30 games averaging 12.9 points per game and 10.5 rebounds a game. He averaged blocking 3.6 shots per game. Bamba his known for being an excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor as well as an excellent shot blocker. He is also a strong defender against the 3-point shot.

Dodgers get back-to-back shutouts with 9-0 win over Giants

Published on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

After back-to-back shutouts to open the season, the San Francisco Giants were on the verge of receiving of back-to-back shutouts by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rich Hill pitched five strong innings, and reigning Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger broke out of a season-opening 0-for-11 slump to hit his first home run of the season and the Dodgers defeated the Giants 9-0 to salvage a split of their season-opening four-game series at Dodger Stadium Sunday night.

Following their first two wins of the season, the Giants failed to score over the final 18 innings of the series, while the Dodgers scored 14 runs in the last two games.

Chris Stratton gave up three runs in 5.1 innings, as the Giants became the first team since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles to score no more than two runs in the first four games of the season.

Stratton held the Dodgers hitless until the bottom of the fourth inning, as Corey Seager picked up his first hit of the season, and then Yaisel Puig followed suit with his first hit of the season.

The Giants defense got confused after Hunter Pence caught a fly ball hit by Bellinger for the second out of the inning, with Seager advancing to third base and Puig broke for second. Brandon Crawford then threw to Brandon Belt, and without a throw, Seager scored from third base to break the scoreless tie.

The Dodgers broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Chris Taylor got a hit and then Puig ended Stratton’s night with a double to score Taylor.

Josh Osich came on to replace Stratton, and Bellinger greeted him with an opposite field home run.

Kike Hernandez put the final touches on the evening as he hit a two-run double off of Roberto Gomez in the bottom of the eighth inning.

NOTES: After a day-off on Monday, the Giants open their 60th home season in San Francisco against the Seattle Mariners, as Ty Blach takes the mound against the Seattle Mariners.

Jeff Samardzija will throw bullpen sessions on both Tuesday and Friday, and then will begin a rehabilitation assignment.

There is no timetable for the return of closer Mark Melancon, who is out with an elbow injury.

Warriors get it going in second quarter and roll over Suns 117-107

Published on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors started Sunday night slowly against the lowly Phoenix Suns.

The Suns, behind Marquisee Chriss and Dragen Bender, were able to build a 14-point lead about halfway through the second quarter.

The Warriors, led by Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Quinn Cook, went on a 14-5 run at the end of the quarter to finish the first half trailing 59-58.

In the third quarter, the Warriors’ defense shut down the Suns’ offense by holding them to just 18 points, and the offense came to life pouring in 36 points to finish the third quarter leading by 94-77. The Warriors were leading by 18 when Phoenix rallied and went on a 12-3 run to trail by nine.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sent Kevin Durant back into the game, and the Warriors were able to build the lead back to 14 before Phoenix scored the last two buckets of the game. The Warriors win 117-110.

Game Notes and stats. The Warriors improved to 56-21 and Phoenix drops to 19-59. The Warriors have won fourteen straight against the Suns.

Game Notes and Stats: Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 29 points, eight assists, 11 rebounds, and two blocked shots.

The Warriors have three of the big four players back in action, and there is no question that Durant is the man.

“Kevin is going to be Kevin no matter what,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s got as much ability as anybody, pretty much anybody ever in the history of the game. Put him out there with Steph, great. Put him out there without Steph, great. He’s still going to get any shot he wants and dominate a game.”

Klay Thompson, in his second game back since injuring his thumb, showed that he is a very important cog in the Warrior offense as he tallied 23 points.

Draymond Green had another double-double. Green scored 13 to go along with 12 assists, six rebounds, and one blocked shot.

Quinn Cook finished the night with 19 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Cook has scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games, and he has shown that he can play with the big boys and will be a huge asset for the Warriors not only until the return of Steph Curry, but being able to come off the bench and give the Warriors some instant offense on the second unit.

Up Next: The Warriors meet the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. Game time will be at 5 pm PST.

Ohtani throws gas in MLB pitching debut; A’s fall to the Angels again

Published on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by moepeaLeave a comment

usa_today_10757735.0 — Photo courtesy of Kelley L. Cox/USA Today

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–For a minute, it appeared as if the A’s had a handle on Shohei Ohtani in his major league pitching debut.

For a minute.

In the opening weekend series finale, Ohtani became the first big leaguer to have a starting offensive assignment and pitch as a starter within 10 games of his debut since Babe Ruth. But Ohtani made sure that history was just a jumping off point as he threw high 90’s gas throughout and struck out three the first four batters he faced swinging.

Then Ohtani struggled to execute breaking pitches–an issue for the Japanese import in spring training–and Matt Chapman seized the opening with a three-run homer that gave the A’s a brief 3-2 lead in the second inning.

Did we mention high 90’s gas? After allowing Chapman’s home run, Ohtani leaned heavily on his fastball-splitter combo, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.

Add 13 hits to Ohtani’s mini-gem and the Angels 7-4 win felt more lopsided and assured than it was.

“You can see how he can get hitters out, not just the velocity but all his pitches,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He used everything. Outside of one stretch of three hitters in the second inning, that’s about as well as you can pitch.”

NCAA Championship podcast with Michelle Richardson: Anyway you cut it, Loyola Chicago were March’s darlings of the sports world; NCAA Championship tips off

Published on April 1, 2018April 1, 2018 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @LoyolaChicago

On the NCAA Championship podcast with Michelle:

#1 How shocked was Michelle when Loyola Chicago was eliminated on Saturday 69-57 and what do you say to those who said that Loyola Chicago were playing over their heads?

#2 Loyola Chicago were the NCAA media darlings, and to get this far, the farthest they’ve come since 1963.

#3 It’s Michigan (33-7) and Villanova (35-4) for the NCAA Championship. Who do you like in this one?

Michelle’s Final Thoughts

Michelle Richardson covered the NCAA for http://www.sportsradioservice.com