Oakland Raiders Podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Carr unifies team during national anthem; Penn back in camp; Crabtree bring power and experience to offense

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Los Angeles Rams linebacker Robert Quinn, center, raises his fist during the national anthem before an NFL preseason football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Rams in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the Raiders podcast with J Hawkes:

1 How relieving is it for he Raiders to have Donald Penn back as the hold out is over

2 Michael Crabtree now 30 is back for another Raiders season and will be bringing his career 89 catches, 1003 yards and eight catches

3 Raiders quarterback Derek Carr put his arm around Khalil Mack during the national anthem last Saturday’s exhibition game the Chiefs in solidarity with what is going on politically.

4 The Raiders are on the road in Dallas for this Saturday’s third pre season game Joe talks about what are some of the things that head coach Jack Del Rio will be looking for

Joe Hawkes Beamon does the Raiders podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Davis appreciated playing in Oakland and looks forward to helping the Sox in post season

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Boston Red Sox’s Rajai Davis smiles during batting practice before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

1 The Boston Red Sox picked up Rajai Davis. Davis goes to the Sox for Domincan outfielder Rafael Rincones an 18 year old

2 Davis 36, is hiting .233, five homers, and 49 runs scored so far this season. He says he appreciated playing for Oakland for the second time

3 Davis was told during extra innings of Wednesday’s night game in Baltimore that he had been traded to the Orioles but had to keep it quiet until the end of the game. He could not be used during the game since he was Baltimore’s property

4 The A’s open a three game series at the Oakland Coliseum with the Rangers AJ Griffin pitching (6-4) and the A’s are starting Kendall Graveman (3-4)

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: ESPN pulls announcer from football game in Virginia, because his name is Robert Lee

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By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ESPN removed an announcer from its broadcast of the University of Virginia first football game next month because he has the same name as a Confederate General Robert Lee who is memorialized in statues that are being taken down across the country. All because of what happened recently in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Robert Lee is a part time employee of ESPN who calls a dozen or so of football and basketball games a year.

The network made the announcement Tuesday. The game Mr Lee was going to call was on September 2, in Charlottesville,Virginia.

Removing a statue is one thing, but removing an employee because of his or her name is as un-American as anything I have ever heard.

An old friend of mine told me recently. “Amaury, we are living in interesting times”. He is 100X100 correct.

I am not an attorney, but how can you fire or prevent somebody for doing the job you hire his/her became he/her has the same name as somebody that is controversial? I would pay to hear an attorney defending ESPN for their action.

Locura translation Craziness.

Oakland A’s Preview of the A’s – Rangers series this weekend in Oakland

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Kendall Graveman (49) will start tonight against the visiting Texas Rangers is shown here throwing in the first inning during a Major League Baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX on August 19. Chris Brown/CSM (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are off today, August 24th. They returned home from a six-day road trip to Houston and Baltimore. Houston continued its mastery of the A’s as they took two out three. The A’s won the last game of the series after A’s manager Bob Melvin talked to the young players and convinced they that they can compete with the better teams. The A’s took the message to heart against Baltimore. They went 1-2 against the O’s, but they played hard and could have won the series. The young guys hit home runs and battled the O’s as they came back from a five-run deficit on Wednesday to tie the game in the ninth only to lose in overtime. The A’s fans know that the A’s are not going anywhere this year but are sensing good times may not be too far away.

With that said, The A’s will be facing their division rivals, the Texas Rangers, this weekend in Oakland. The Rangers are 63-63 for the season. Their record does not include the game they are playing with the LA Angels in Anaheim on Thursday. The Rangers find themselves with a chance to make the playoffs as the second Wild Card team. They are just two games behind the Minnesota Twins in the race for that spot.

The A’s goal, this weekend is to upset the Rangers’ applecart. They would love to sweep the series, or, at least take two-out of three from Texas. The Rangers don’t want that to happen. They will be sending A.J.Griffin, Cole Hamels, and Tyson Ross out to stop the A’s. Griffin beat the A’s the last time he faced them. Hamels is always one tough cookie to beat and he his record of 9-1 shows how tough he is. Tyson Ross began his career with the A’s. Ross has been on the DL but when he is on his game can be hard to beat.

The Rangers have players that can hit and hit with power. Their offense is led by third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre also spent time on the DL in 2017, but he is back and producing. He is hitting .311 with 16 homers and 59 RBIs. Shortstop Elvis Andrus leads the team in hitting and right-fielder Nomar Mazara leads the Rangers with 83 RBIs.

Other players with a lot of pop in their bats include second baseman, Rougned Odor. Odor is hitting.222 but has hit 27 homers and driven in 61. Mike Napoli, who is not hitting for average and strikes out a lot, has 26 homers on his resume and he has brought 59 runners home for Texas. The team leader in home runs, Joey Gallo, is on the 7-day concussion protocol and will not play this weekend. Gallo, like Napoli and Rob Deer, is not hitting for average. Gallo is hitting .202 but has 35 bombs to his credit so far.

The A’s pitchers will have their hands full trying to contain the Rangers’ big bats. Kendall Graveman, Seas Manaea, and Jharel Cotton will pitch for Oakland. Graveman is starting to show the form that he had in the second half of last year. Graveman won 10 games for the A’s last season, but he has struggled this year as he has had two stints on the DL. If he has command and can locate his pitches, he is tough to beat. Manaea was moved back as the A’s felt that he was beginning to wear down as he lost velocity on his pitches and had a couple of bad outings. He will go this weekend and the extra days of rest should help him. Jharel Cotton is looking to regain the magic that he showed at the end of the season last year. Cotton had a good outing the last time he pitched, and he will need to improve so that he can stay in the rotation and in the plans for the future.

The Rangers’ pitching will focus on shutting down the young A’s hitters. The A’s have guy in the lineup with a lot of power. Ryon Healy, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Matt Joyce, Chad Pinder, and Khris Davis all can hit the ball out of the yard. The A’s veteran, Jed Lowrie, has hit twelve homers and has hit 37 doubles, as he rebounds from a foot injury that limited his play last year.

It looks like it will be a fun series to watch. The players will have the nickname uniforms, and it will be Dennis Eckersley bobblehead day on Saturday. Lots of good reasons to come out to the ballpark.

 

Oakland Raiders preview: Raiders head to Dallas for preseason clash with Cowboys

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) talks with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) after an NFL preseason football game in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

OAKLAND — The Raiders travel to Dallas for their final preseason game this week when they take on the Cowboys on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 5:00 p.m. PT at AT&T Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2013, when both teams met each other in the preseason and on Thanksgiving Day in the regular season.

Both teams will meet each other again this season when Dallas comes to Oakland-Alameda Coliseum on Dec. 17 on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which will be one of the NFL’s most watched games in 2017.

Last week, the Raiders lost at home to the Los Angeles Rams 24-21 in Oakland’s first home game this preseason.

Quarterback Derek Carr completed 7-of-9 passes for 100 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while posting a quarterback rating of 113.0 in his first action in the 2017 preseason. The game also marked the first time that Carr played at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in an NFL game since breaking his leg on Christmas Eve against the Indianapolis Colts.

Carr looked good and showed no lingering affects from the season-ending injury that derailed the 2016 season for the Silver and Black, a season that saw Oakland finish 12-4 and reach the postseason for the first time since 2002.

Carr found wide receiver Michael Crabtree for a dazzling 13-yard touchdown pass where Crabtree shook the defender out of his cleats, and backup tight end Lee Smith hauled in a 19-yard touchdown down the middle of the field from Carr for the quarterback’s first touchdowns in the 2017 season.

Raiders running back and Oakland native Marshawn Lynch finished with 10 yards on two carries. Lynch made his home debut in front of Raider Nation and got the crowd on its feet with a “Beast Mode” like run for five yards on his first carry.

Defensively, Khalil Mack appeared to be in regular season form after recording four tackles (three solo) and a sack in his first action in the preseason, but Oakland’s defense overall still have some holes to fill, most notably at middle linebacker and in the secondary.

But the big story heading into Saturday night’s game in Dallas for Oakland is the return of the their left tackle Donald Penn to the team. Penn was seen on the practice field in Alameda on Wednesday after ending his 26-day holdout in search of a new contract.

According to NBC Sports Bay Area Raiders Insider Scott Bair, the two-time Pro Bowler ended his holdout and re-joined the club on “faith” and “believing the Raiders will work out a higher pay rate” once he returned.

To make room on the active roster for Penn, Oakland waived defensive end Jimmy Bean.

Penn allowed just one sack and 28 total quarterback pressures in 2016, ranking No. 6 among all NFL tackles according to Pro Football Focus. The 11-year veteran is in the final year of a two-year, $11.9 million contract and wanted money that would put him in the top-10 among highest paid left tackles in the game.

Penn is scheduled to make $5.8 million this season, which is pittance compared to other elite left tackles.

Typically in the third week of the preseason, teams will play their starters well into the second half hoping to build more chemistry as the regular season approaches and with Penn missing most of training camp, you’d expect to see him in the lineup Saturday with Carr and the rest of the first-team offense to play catch-up.

Dallas defeated Indianapolis 24-19 last week at AT&T Stadium.

Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott completed 7-of-8 passes for 106 yards, with a 32-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Dez Bryant down the left side line on the game’s opening drive. Bryant finished with two catches for 55 yards in one-half of action.

Star running back Ezekiel Elliott, who hasn’t played in the entire preseason for the Cowboys, is expected to get reps against Oakland according to Dallas head coach Jason Garrett via ESPN Dallas Cowboys reporter Todd Archer.

Elliot, the NFL’s rushing leader with 1,631 yards to go along with 15 touchdowns and a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie, was recently suspended by the NFL for six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy following and has repealed the decision. The hearing is set for Tuesday, Aug. 29.

“I think the biggest thing is just having the mindset of preparing him for Week 1 of the season, and that’s the approach that we’ve taken,” Garrett said via Archer. “He’s got a number of more reps in training camp than he did last year. If you remember, he had the hamstring injury last year and ended up playing in the second-to-last preseason game and got eight, 10, 12 snaps in that ballgame, so that’s the approach that we’ve taken with him, and anything beyond that we’ll take as it comes.”

Both teams will have short turnarounds after Saturday night’s contest, with the Raiders set to play the Seattle Seahawks in Oakland on Thursday, Aug. 31, and the Cowboys traveling to Houston to take on the Texans the same day.

All teams must trim down their rosters from 90- to 53-man by Sept. 2, as mandated by the NFL.

 

 

 

 

San Francisco 49ERS PREVIEW: Safety Ward activated

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49ers.com photo: San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmy Ward

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA– The 49ers will need all the help they can get this season, and they received a little more this week.

 The team activated safety Jimmie Ward from the physically-unable-to-perform list on Wednesday, providing a huge boost to a defense that is, like the rest if the team, looking for a bounce-back season to ignite the turnaround that the team’s brass is looking for.

 Ward had missed the entire summer with a lingering hamstring injury.

 Ward will be playing a new position in 2017, as he will be playing a deep safety in new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s cover-3 scheme.

 The scheme was made famous by the Seattle Seahawks, as it was the look that helped them win the Super Bowl three years ago, and Ward is expected to play the same role as Earl Thomas. In the team’s eyes, what makes him a fit for this position is his range and quickness, which he utilized as the team’s primary slot corner, as he transitions to safety.

 Another asset that Ward has is his tackling ability. In his three years in the league – all with the 49ers – he ranked second among the team’s cornerbacks in tackling efficiency.

 Ward is expected to be in action as the 49ers prepare to head to Minnesota to face the Vikings in their new stadium in downtown Minneapolis, U.S Bank Stadium. The two teams will do battle Sunday night, and the 49ers will be looking for their first win of the preseason.

 

 

 

Giant’s incremental progress continues with a series-clinching win against the Brewers

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Moore throws against the Milwaukee Brewers during a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Twenty-five guys headed to work at AT&T Park Wednesday morning in very unique circumstances. Those 25 Giants–had they the courage to look at a newspaper–would have surely noticed that they trailed the NL West-leading Dodgers by 40 games, a first for the rivalry that’s been waged on both coasts for over 125 years, and a first for the Giants in relation to any opponent in the divisional era (since 1969).

And the appropriate response to such a humbling juxtaposition, and the response put forth by the last-place Giants on the diamond on Wednesday afternoon?

Just win. Just win one game.

“For us to come in here and kind of ruin someone’s day in three days, it’s something for us moving forward that we can build on as a club,” winning pitcher Matt Moore said, invoking some extended meaning of the familiar idiom, “misery loves company.”

The 4-2 Giants’ win certainly brought misery to the Brewers, who have steadily been losing ground to the Cubs in the NL Central in recent weeks, even after winning six of seven right before visiting San Francisco and dropping two of three to the Giants.

With runs at a premium in the heavy air and overcast conditions, the Giants found a way to scratch out some runs–with four being the optimal number. The Brewers did not, held in check by Moore, who allowed an RBI double to Travis Shaw in the first inning, but nothing else through six plus innings of work.

Moore was nearly skipped in the rotation two weeks ago, the typical managerial response for a guy who’s carried the highest ERA in the league through a majority of his starts. But Moore lobbied, Bruce Bochy relented, and the pitcher has responded with three starts (two wins) far superior to the previous 14 (1-8, 6.22 ERA).

“I was expecting big results out of myself,” Moore said. “I put the work in for that. It didn’t quite turn out (but) I think I’m better off for it. I learned a lot.”

With Moore dueling Milwaukee starter Matt Garza, the Giants needed Jarrett Parker’s half swing, excuse-me double that scored Gorkys Hernandez and Denard Span in the seventh. That made it 3-1, and the San Francisco bullpen responded from there.

Hunter Strickland and Mark Melancon pitched scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, and Sam Dyson picked up his 12th save despite allowing Stephen Vogt’s pinch-hit home run in the ninth.

In seven games on the home stand, the Giants scored 35 runs, an average of five per game. That’s significant improvement for a club that’s scored fewer than four runs in 68 games (only 11 wins). When the Giants score at least four, they’re nearly Dodger-like, winning 41 of 60.

Also, the club’s shown marked improvement driving in runs in clutch situations, and 2016’s breakout, offensive force, Brandon Crawford has begin to hit at a .300 plus clip.

“It just so happens we had a lot of guys who had injuries or had off years,” Bochy said. “But I don’t want to talk about next year. I want to talk about how we finish up.”

The Giants open a three-game set against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Friday. Ty Blach gets the assignment in the opener in a matchup with 14-game winner Zach Greinke.

 

 

Quakes can’t stop the scoring; Real Salt Lake rallies with three goals in the second half win 4-0

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Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports: The San Jose Earthquakes get shutout by Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night 4-0 behind the help of Albert Rusnak who scored a goal and had two assists

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Real Salt Lake scored three goals in the second half, as their keeper Nick Rimando had a 4-0 shutout over San Jose in his 100th game with the team Wednesday.

The Quakes went a man down in the 61st minute, before Real Salt Lake’s second half scoring started. However, Joao Plata technically scored in the 50th minute, before his goal was overturned.

Real Salt Lake could have gotten a lot more goals though, as three players’ attempts all hit the far post in the second half.

Albert Rusnak had a goal and two assists amidst a game-high five shots, as Real Salt Lake outshot the Quakes 23-9. Five of San Jose’s shots came from second-half substitutes Jackson Yueill (1) and Danny Hoesen (4).

The match result ended a San Jose five-game unbeaten streak versus Real Salt Lake, as the Quakes continued on a six-game road winless streak. The contest also was contrary to a streak, where in the previous nine of 10 games, the scoring margin was limited to at most a goal.

After taking the ball from the other side, Man of the Match Luis Silva and Rusnak connected for the second straight game in the 29th minute, as Real Salt Lake took the lead. Silva’s third goal in as many games, went in between Victor Bernardez and goalie Andrew Tarbell.

Tarbell had a scary short clearing kick straight to Silva near the end of the first half.

In the second half, as a result of video review, Plata’s goal got taken away after the previous challenge between Tarbell and Silva. Tarbell had both hands on the ball.  

Both teams got more damaging yellows a minute apart. Kyle Beckerman’s will result in a next game suspension. This preceded Anibal Godoy’s second yellow of the game, leaving San Jose  a man down.

Jefferson Savarino gave Real Salt Lake back their Insurance goal on a well timed curve in the 68th minute.

The Quakes went down another goal in the 80th minute. Rusnak, who had hit the post earlier, and Plata combined for the 3-0 lead.

Finally, Yura Movsisyan capped the scoring, as he converted his second try on net in the 93rd minute.

Game notes: San Jose will try to get back on track versus the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday at 4pm as Quake Supporters #InvadeLA.

Orioles win in 12 as Machado hits walk off homer to beat the A’s 8-7

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Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado smiles after teammate Adam Jones hit him in the face with a pie after a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Baltimore, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Baltimore- Tha A’s and Orioles concluded their three-game series Wednesday. The two teams played a very entertaining game as the Orioles jumped out to a big lead early while the A’s clawed their way back to tie the game in the ninth inning.The game went into overtime and ended when Manny Machado hit a walk off home run to win the game for the O’s by a score of 8-7.

The A’s righty, Daniel Gossett, making his first start since being recalled from Nashville, went five plus innings. Gossett held the powerful O’s scoreless for the first three innings of the game. The O’s scored four times in the top of the fourth. Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones singled. Gossett served up a gopher ball to Trey Mancini, and the O’s led 3-0. Gossett walked Mark Trumbo and gave up singles to Wellington Castillo and Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty’s single produced the fourth run of the game for the O’s

The A’s put one on the board in the sixth. Boog Powell singled and scored on a double by Marcus Semien to left-center. The O’s came back in the bottom of the frame after a walk to Mancini, Castillo homered. O’s lead 6-1 after six.

The A’s, much to the pleasure of A’s manager Bob Melvin, mounted a comeback. The young A’s scored two in the seventh to make it 6-3. They score two in the eighth on the strength of Matt Joyce’s blast with a man on to cut the deficit to just one 6-5. The O’s Chris Davis homered for an insurance run. The O’s owned a two-run advantage 7-5 after eight innings of play, and they had their closer Zach Britton coming in to pitch the ninth. Britton has a streak of 60 games without a blown save.

The A’s upset Britton’s applecart in the ninth as they scored two more runs to tie the game. Jed Lowrie started the rally with a single. Powell followed with a double sending Lowrie to third. Marcus Semien singled driving in Lowrie  Powell moved to third. Powell scored the tying run on a Matt Joyce sacrifice fly. The Orioles failed to score in their half of the inning, and the game went to overtime.

The Orioles had Miguel Castro pitching for them and the A’s used, Simon Castro. There was no scoring in the tenth or eleventh innings. The A’s failed to score in the twelfth as well. Everything changed in the bottom of the twelfth. Simon Castro grooved a 1-1 slider to Manny Machado. The Orioles All-Star third baseman hammered it and won the game for Baltimore. The Orioles win 8-7.

Game Notes Daniel Gossett went five plus innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out six. He was not involved in the decision as the A’s battled back and took him off the hook. The hitting stars for Oakland were Boog Powell and Marcus Semien. Each had three hits in the game. Matt Joyce drove in three runs with a homer and sacrifice fly.

The Orioles’ Dylan Bundy also did not figure in the decision. Bundy went six plus innings, and he allowed seven hits and three runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Tim Beckham had three hits, and Machado had two, including the game-winning blast.  The A’s snapped Zach Britton’s streak of 60 games without a blown save. The winning pitcher was Miguel Castro while the A’s Simon Castro took the loss.

The A’s are off on Thursday as they return home to Oakland to face the Texas Rangers this weekend for three games.  A.J. Griffin, a former Athletic,  Cole Hamels, and another former A’s pitcher, Tyson Ross will go for Texas, and the A’s will send Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, and Jharel Cotton to the mound to handle the pitching chores.

The teams will be wearing the uniform with the players’ nicknames. Should be fun to watch.

San Francisco 49ers Podcast with David Zizmor: Boldin’s retirement announcement makes sense; Hoyer looking for improved game in Minnesota on Saturday

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AP File Photo: Former San Francisco 49er and now former Buffalo Bills’ Anquan Boldin warms up before a preseason NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. Boldin announced his retirement this past week. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

On the 49ers podcast with David:

Former San Francisco 49er Anquan Boldin who announced his retirement from the game of football this past week did so for life related reasons. After the Charlottesville Riots he decided that there was more to life than football and decided to get involved politically and help his nearby community as well as other communities

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer who struggled against Denver on Saturday will take another stab at it again this time in Minnesota for pre season game number two. Last Saturday Hoyer besides having trouble moving the ball and throwing it tried to make a pass but lost the ball and said later he had no idea where the football went. He’s hoping to having a better outing this coming Saturday.

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com