A’s behind a strong performance by Sean Manaea, down Texas Rangers for the seventh time in a row 4-1

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sean Manaea (55) throws to the Texas Rangers in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Arlington, Texas- The Oakland A’s started the final four games of the season with a win over the Texas Rangers Thursday night as the beat the Rangers for the seventh time in a row by a score of 4-1.

The A’s Sean Manaea made his last start of the year and wanted to finish the season with a strong effort. Manaea had an up and down year. He spent time on the DL. He pitched well and at times didn’t pitch well. His record entering Thursday’s game was 11-10. He went six and 2/3rds innings and allowed just three hits. The only run allowed was unearned. Sean finished with a record of 12-10, and manager Bob Melvin had this to say about his young lefty:”He was efficient early in the game, early-count contact, pitched out of a couple jams,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “That’s finishing on a strong note for a guy that was really grinding toward the end. Had a couple bouts this season with adversity and pitched through it, and he will be better for it come next year.”

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning. The Rangers’ Miguel Gonzalez, who lost 1-0 to the A’s last week in Oakland was pitching well until the A’s third baseman Matt Chapman homered leading off the inning. It was Chapman’s fourteen of the season. The Rangers, however, tied the contest in the bottom of the fifth. Shortstop Marcus Semien made an error that allowed Willie Calhoun to reach second. It snapped the  A’seight-game errorless streak. Drew Robinson singled to drive in Calhoun with the run.

The A’s plated two in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. With two out Jed Lowrie singled and that was followed by a Khris Davis double to put men on at second and third. Ryon Healy singled to drive in Lowrie and Davis. The A’s added a run in the ninth. Khris Davis singled, Healy reached on an infield single and Chapman drove in his second run of the game with a single. Oakland wins 4-1.

Game Notes- The A’s are now 16-5 in their last twenty-one games and are 35-35 in their last 70 games.

The A’s relievers did well against the Rangers Thursday night. Liam Hendriks got the final out of the seventh, Chris Hatcher pitched a scoreless eighth and Blake Treinen did the same in the ninth to preserve the win for Manaea and pick up his 15th save of the year.

A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell took a knee during the performance of the National Anthem. There were some boos as expected. Maxwell will continue to kneel until the end of the season.

Righty Raul Alcantara will start for Oakland Friday night and will be opposed by left Martin Perez.

The A’s announced that Bob Melvin has signed an extension to his contract that will take him through the 2019 season.

Oakland A’s Podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Maxwell taking a knee in Arlington; A’s with one of the best MLB home records and one of the worst road records

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Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin (6) and trainer Nick Paparesta, center, check on catcher Bruce Maxwell after Maxwell was hit on the mask by a fouled ball off the bat of Texas Rangers’ Ryan Rua in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. Maxwell continued playing in the game. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

On the Oakland A’s with Jerry:

1 The highlights of 2017 despite finishing in last place

2 A’s catch Bruce Maxwell takes a knee again this time in Texas on Thursday night. Will the rest of the team take a knee during the anthem in this series?

3 Maxwell talks about his surroundings in the greater Dallas Forth Worth area while taking this position as baseball’s only player to take a knee during the national anthem

4 Mark Canha who is supporting Maxwell during his silent protests before all A’s games hit a walk off home run on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners everyone’s been contributing for the A’s

5 The A’s who had one of the best records in the American League for home records finishing 2017 at 46-35 it was the road record where they have one of baseball’s worst records currently standing at 28-50

Jerry tells you all about it on the A’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sports Headlines with Tony Renteria: Trump tells Fox News that owners need to do something about players taking a knee

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sports illustrated cover/twitter screen shots: Cover from Sports Illustrated and tweets sent out by Curry

On the Sports Headlines with Tony:

1 The cover of Sports Illustrated has the Oakland A’s Bruce Maxwell, the Baltimore Ravens owner, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the Cavs LeBron, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the Warriors Stephen Curry locking arms but there was one person missing from the photo. It was Curry who was asked at practice what he thought of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick missing from the front cover and he replied “terrible.” Sports Illustrated said the reason why Kaepernick is out of the cover photo collage was because he is no longer in the sports arena.

2 The question now is with all the teams and sports getting in on taking a knee during the national anthem will this open the door for Kaepernick to be welcomed back into the NFL?

3 Trump told Fox News that the NFL has to do something about the players taking a knee and that the NFL is afraid of the players. Doing something would create a huge problem if management orders the players to stop taking a knee. That’s not going to happen the players have lots of leverage and with freedom of speech any order like that won’t even get started.

4 Trump claimed in the interview that he talked to a couple of football owners saying something has to be done to stop these players from taking a knee. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that he’s behind his team and he’s not the only owner to state so.

5 Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is remembered not only for a magazine for it’s playmates, celebrated articles of politics, music, pop culture, interviews, insightful reviews of entertainment but also it covered a lot on the NFL and wanted to reach out to it’s mostly male audience in it’s prime time era of the 1960s, 70s, an 90s.

Tony Renteria does the Headline Sports Podcasts each-thu-sep-28-2017eek at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

SF 49ERS PREVIEW: Offense picking up steam, but will depleted defense follow?

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AP File Photo: Arizona Cardinals’ Mike Iupati (76) gets ready to put a block on Josh Mauro, left, during an NFL football training camp Saturday, July 29, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

By Jeremy Harness

 SANTA CLARA–There is certainly progress being made. Now it has to show up in the win-loss column.

 The 49ers showed tons of heart and determination last Thursday night in a 41-39 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and although the loss dropped them to 0-3, there were quite a few positives to draw from.

 First of all, the offense finally showed some life, particularly embattled quarterback Brian Hoyer, who admittedly had a subpar performance at Seattle the week before and desperately needed a bounce-back effort.

 He got that, and had it not been for a highly-questionable pass interference call that stalled a late drive, the 49ers may have very well come away with a sensational comeback win.

 The 49ers will need every bit of that offensive resurgence against an Arizona Cardinals team that is seething from a home loss to the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national Monday night audience.

 The game will be played Sunday afternoon at University of Phoenix Stadium, and the Cardinals will see this as an opportunity to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd, while the 49ers simply need to get a win any way they can at this point.

 The 49ers will need to have a better showing on defense if they are to get their first win of the year, and they will continue to be shorthanded. Linebacker Reuben Foster is progressing, but he is still out of action at this point. He did not practice on Wednesday, and he is not expected to play Sunday.

 The same goes for safety Eric Reid, who suffered a knee injury in the first half at Seattle and has not returned to the lineup since. As was the case with Foster, he did not practice on Wednesday and is expected to miss at least a few more weeks.

 They will see a number of former teammates on Sunday. Guard Mike Iupati, for instance, is expected to be in the lineup, but a triceps injury caused him to have only a limited participation in practice Wednesday.

 Meanwhile, former 49ers guard Alex Boone suffered a pectoral injury and did not practice at all on Wednesday. Furthermore, a report that was released on Wednesday indicated that he is expected to miss up to four weeks because of it.

Earthquakes fall to Fire 4-1

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Photo credit: Major League Soccer (@MLS)

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — Chris Wondolowski broke the scoreless deadlock late in the match, but the Chicago Fire finished with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium.

The Fire opened the scoring early in the first half as Djordje Mihailovic kicked the ball in for his first career MLS goal at the 14th minute.

Luis Solignac used the power of his head to put the ball into the net and the Fire took a 2-0 lead at the 39th minute.

The Fire built up two goals and carried a 2-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Fire continued to burn in the second half. Nemanja Nikolic scored at the 48th minute to give his team a 3-0 lead.

The Quakes put themselves in the same dark hole like they did in Washington D.C. last Saturday. Nikolic notched his 20th goal of the season at the 65th minute.

The Quakes were on the verge of being handed a second consecutive shutout loss until Wondolowski hit his 12th goal of the season at the 87th minute. Despite the incredible goal, the Fire continued to hold onto a 4-1 lead until the very end of the match.

Notes
Only one Western Conference side has fewer home losses than the Earthquakes’ one (SKC – 0). The Quakes are also in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten run at home.

Wednesday night marked the first showdown between the Quakes and Fire at Avaya Stadium since the venue’s first-ever regular season match in 2015.

The Quakes have gone 3-0-1 in their last four games following a loss.

The Quakes close out the season with three of their last four games at Avaya Stadium. They’re 8-0-2 in their last 10 home matches, including MLS and U.S. Open Cup contests.

Up Next
The Earthquakes host the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. PST.

Oakland Raiders are off to Denver to open up divisional play against the Broncos this Sunday

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Photo credit: Raiders Report (@raiders_fanly)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

OAKLAND — The Raiders travel to Denver to take on fellow AFC West rival, the Broncos, Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High to open divisional play for the Silver and Black.

Both teams are looking to get back into the win column after both losing on the road in Week 3.

Oakland (2-1) was humbled by the Redskins 27-10 in Washington on prime-time in a game that the Redskins held quarterback Derek Carr and the high-power Raiders offense to just 128 yards in 48 plays ran. The offense didn’t hit the 100-yard mark in total offense until the fourth quarter.

Carr had a game to forget, completing just 19-of-31 passes for 118 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions with a 52.9 passer rating. Tight end Jared Cook led all Oakland receivers with 43 yards on four receptions. Cook scored his first touchdown in a Raider uniform on a 21-yard pass from Carr.

Carr was also sacked four times, another rarity for the Silver and Black who only surrendered 16 sacks in 2016.  Oakland’s stout offensive line has already gotten Carr sacked six times this season through three games.

Oakland’s defense was paced by linebacker Cory James, who recorded a team-high 12 tackles and one forced fumble. Defensive end Khalil Mack recorded his second sack of the season while finishing with nine tackles on the night for Oakland, who allowed 472 yards offensively to Washington on Sunday night.

Washington starting quarterback Kirk Cousins torched the Raiders, passing for 365 yards and three touchdowns to zero interceptions. Cousins completed 25-of-30 passes and finished with a blistering 150.7 passer rating against Oakland, who couldn’t keep running back Chris Thompson at bay the entire night.

Thompson hauled in six receptions for 150 yards (74 yards coming on an easy pitch-and-catch

But the lack of production from Oakland’s top receivers was the real eye-popping issue from the game.

Washington’s secondary led by the trash-talking Josh Norman, the Redskins’ top cornerback, were in the faces of Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Washington held the duo in check, limiting Cooper and Crabtree to just two receptions for 13 yards on eight targets.

Crabtree and Cooper will have their work cut out for them again Sunday when they have Denver’s stellar pair of cornerbacks in Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr., lined up against them, especially when  Crabtree and Talib line up.

Who can forget when Talib ripped off Crabtree’s gold chain following a play in last year’s season finale, a 24-6 victory for the Broncos at home?

The Crabtree/Talib matchup could be the best one-on-one matchup within the game, and could prove to be the difference maker in a win for either team.

Denver (2-1) is coming off a 26-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Western New York last week. The Broncos defense recorded four sacks and held Buffalo to 272 yards of total offense. Linebacker Brandon Marshall recorded a team-high 10 tackles and one sack.

Outside linebacker Von Miller also posted a sack, but his 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on third-and-six after not helping up Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor, which was an absolute joke, proved to be critical in aiding the Bills to victory.

The Broncos’ defense is one of the best in the league, ranking first in rushing yards per game allowed (59.7), fourth in total yards per game allowed (263), 10th in passing yards per game allowed (203.3) and 16th in points per game allowed (21.3) through three games.

Oakland has the ninth-best offense in the league, averaging 27 points per game.

Offensively, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas led Denver with six receptions for 98 yards, but quarterback Trevor Siemian didn’t pass the ball well, completing 24-for-40 passes for 259 yards and like Carr in Washington, threw two interceptions against the Bills.

Siemian finished with a 58.2 passer rating on the day.

With Kansas City sitting on top of the AFC West at 3-0 and both teams needing to keep pace, Sunday’s game is most certainly a must win.

After the embarrassing showing in Washington where many critics started to question the Raiders’ effort on national television, what team will show up in Denver?

The one that resembled a powerhouse team after vanquishing Tennessee and the New York Jets almost with ease?

Or the team that was hung upside down by their ankles in Washington, watching all of their lunch money spill out?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Francisco Giants Podcast with Michael Duca: Will the Giants lose 100 games this season? Club is three games short of the 1985 team

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San Francisco Giants Starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) throws a pitch during an MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 23, 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

By Michael Duca

The San Francisco Giants who need just three more loses to have a 100 loss season they lost their latest game on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field in Phoenix 4-3 marking their 97th loss for 2017. The Giants return back to San Francisco to end the season at AT&T Park against the San Diego Padres Friday night. the Padres would have to sweep the Giants at home to get them to arrive at exactly 100 loses.

We’ll see, the Giants should be able to win at least one of those three home games. Their shutting down starter Madison Bumgarner to get some rest and starter Jeff Samardijza is shutting it down too. This Giant team will have no ten game winners this year. With Bumgarner he had a great outing in Los Angeles last Saturday night and got the win. While no one is admitting anything the dirt bike injury is always something that’s been brought up as to why Bum will sit this Friday game out. Madison says he feels alright and manager Bruce Bochy said he will skip Bumgarner to start Chris Stratton 3-4. Bumgarner has gone 4-9 but had a respectable ERA of 3.32.

Michael Duca did the Giants podcasts this season for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco 49ers Podcast with David Zizmor: “Just Loose Baby” It’s not a phrase the 49ers want to use but if they do they get a high draft pick

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer (2) throws a fourth quarter pass for a gain of 7 yards and a first down while getting blocks from San Francisco 49ers center Daniel Kilgore (67) and San Francisco 49ers offensive guard Laken Tomlinson (75) on Los Angeles Rams rookie defensive tackle Tanzel Smart (92) during the 2017 NFL week 3 regular season football game against the against the Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017 in Santa Clara, Calif. The Rams won the game 41-39. (Paul Spinelli via AP)

By David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The San Francisco 49ers would never say this out loud they’re all out there trying to win but as far as the franchise is concern it’s really in the best interest of the team to lose as much as possible to secure a high draft pick. This team is not a playoff team and their not close to being a playoff team. What they really need is additional help. You get better talent each year you have a bad season and if you stink again for the next season you get more better draft picks.

The 49ers who have lost three straight for an 0-3 record if they can keep that going and have a losing record they would be in a really good position to get a good draft pick. If they can get a good draft pick and draft a really good quarterback and this is something that the organization has been looking for. It would be fair to say that the 49ers didn’t have a stellar crop of quarterbacks going into 2017.

There’s much more on the 49ers podcast with David take a listen:

 

 

Diamondbacks walk off Wednesday’s win over Giants 4-3; Cain calls it a career

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ John Ryan Murphy, right, celebrates with teammates, including Jeremy Hazelbaker (41) and Kris Negron (45) as David Peralta, middle, is doused with a liquid after his bases loaded walk scored the winning run against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 4-3. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Arizona added to the San Francisco Giants season-long misery Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field, when David Peralta drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth, giving the NL playoff-bound Diamondbacks a 4-3 victory.

J.D. Martinez kick-started the D-Backs rally by leading off the home ninth with a solo home run, his 49th of the season and 29th as a Diamondback since he was acquired from Detroit on July 18.

Martinez also tied MLB’s September home run record with 16, tying the mark Ralph Kiner set with Pittsburgh in 1949. He also picked up run batted in No. 36 for the month, breaking the D-Backs’ previous mark of 35 set by Luis Gonzalez in June 2001.

In the bottom of the ninth, Martinez’s home run was followed by singles by Jake Lamb and A.J. Pollock. Kristopher Negron, pinch-running for Lamb, was thrown out by Joe Panik when Daniel Descalso reached on a fielder’s choice.

After an intentional walk, Pollock scored when John Ryan Murphy also reached on a fielder’s choice. With the bases still loaded, Giants closer Sam Dyson (3-3) walked Peralta, who got the rare RBI walk to drive in Descalso.

Diamondbacks reliever J.J. Hoover (3-1) got the win.

Earlier, Denard Span tripled, doubled and scored twice for San Francisco. Jeff Samadzija had a strong start, with four strikeouts and a walk while allowing one run.

Pablo Sandoval’s first-inning double drove in Span – who led the game off with a triple – with the game’s first run. Panik scored on a Brandon Crawford groundout to give the Giants a 2-0 lead off D-Backs starter Braden Shipley, who lasted 3 1/3 innings.

CAIN HANGS ‘EM UP
Giants veteran right-hander Matt Cain announced that his Saturday start at AT&T Park will be the last of his 13-year career – all with San Francisco.

Cain, 3-11 this season, informed his teammates of his decision in a closed meeting before Wednesday’s game. He debuted with the Giants in 2005, pitched in two of the team’s three winning World Series appearances, and has a career mark of 104-118 with a 3.69 ERA.

The Giants announced they will honor Cain at Sunday’s regular season finale against San Diego on what is also the right-hander’s 33rd birthday. Cain, a three-time All-Star who threw the Giants’ first perfect game ever in 2012, is completing his contract, which had a team option for one more season.

A’s Mark Canhas walk off home run sends the fans home happy in the final home game of the year in Oakland

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Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha, right, is embraced after hitting a walk off home run off Seattle Mariners’ Shae Simmons in the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND– Wednesday’s game was the final home game for the A’s this season. The A’s, winners of fourteen of the last nineteen games played, did not want to be swept at home by the Mariners. Both teams played hard, and neither team wanted to lose. The A’s took an early lead, lost it, regained it, lost it again but was able to prevail when Mark Canha homered in the bottom of the ninth to give the A’s a well -deserved 6-5 victory.

Kendall Graveman started for Oakland and left after six innings in position to pick up a win. That didn’t happen as the M’s tied the game in the eighth. The Mariners’ starter Erasmo Ramirez went five innings and allowed five runs and eight hits. Two of the runs were unearned. Liam Hendriks and Blake Treinen pitched well, but Chris Hatcher was not able to keep Seattle off the board. The game summary follows below.

The A’s put one on the board in the bottom of the first. A’s right fielder Matt Joyce lofted a high fly to left that Mariners’ third baseman Kyle Seager lost ion the sun. Left Fielder Ben Gamel made a valiant attempt to catch the ball, but it eluded his grasp and dropped safely for a double. Joyce went to third on a single by Jed Lowrie and scored when Khris Davis hit a sacrifice fly to center field. A’s ahead 1-0 after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the third inning. Franklin Barreto, starting at second base on Wednesday, led off the frame with a double to center field. Jacob Hannemann, playing center field for Seattle, bobbled the ball and Barreto motored to third on the miscue. Marcus Semien drove in Barreto with the A’s second run when he hit a sacrifice fly.

The M’s put two on the board in the fourth. With one out, Robinson Cano singled to get things started. Big Nelson Cruz, who loves to torment the A’s, crushed Graveman’s pitch and sent it on a line into the seats in left field near the Barbeque Terrace to knot the score. The tie didn’t last long as the A’s scored three runs in their half of the fourth. Two of the runs were unearned, but they still count. Ryon Healy started the rally with a double. He went to third when Erasmo Ramirez dropped the throw as he was covering first for an error. With Healy on third and Chapman on first, Bruce Maxwell singled to center to drive in Healy and Chapman went to third on the throw home. Mark Canha hit a sac fly to drive in Chapman. Matt Joyce hit his third double of the game to drive in Maxwell with the fifth run of the contest. The A’s lead 5-2 after four complete.

The Mariners, however, refuse to go away. The M’s made it a 5-3 game on the strength of three singles. With one out, M’s catcher Mark Marjama singled to start the rally. It was Marjama’s first big league hit, and the ball was sent back to the M’s dugout. Hannemann hit a force play for the first out. Ben Gamel and Mitch Haniger followed with singles to get the third run home for Seattle.

Liam Hendriks set the M’s down in order in the seventh, but Bob Melvin brought in his eighth-inning setup man, Chris Hatcher, to pitch. Hatcher gave up a single to Mitch Haniger and then the M’s All-Star second baseman, Robinson, Cano, homered to tie the game. It was Cano’s twenty-third of the year. Hatcher retired the next three hitters.

Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless ninth, and that set up the scene for a fantastic finish for the A’s. Bruce Maxwell started the ninth by striking out. The next hitter, Mark Canha, hit his fifth homer of the year to win it in a walk-off for Oakland.  There was no doubt about it when the ball left Canha’s bat. The crowd knew it as did Canha and he was pummeled by his teammates when he crossed the plate. Needless to say, Canha took a pie to the face and got the Gatorade bath, and he absolutely loved it.The A’s win 6-5 and snap the eight-game losing streak to the Mariners.

Game Notes- Kendall Graveman did not get a decision, but he pitched a “quality start.” Graveman went six innings and allowed 7 hits and three runs. Chris Hatcher gave up a two-run dinger to Robinson Cano in the eighth that tied the game. Canha’s blast off M’s reliever Shae Simmons in the bottom of the ninth sent the A’s fans home happy as there will be no more baseball in Oakland until next year.