Kings Falter Early, Late Surge Fizzles in 121-105 Loss to Thunder

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Zach LaVine shoots during the Kings vs Thunder Tuesday night inside Golden 1 Center. (Photo: Sacramento Kings on X)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — On Tuesday, the Kings were reeling after losing their third in a row to the Boston Celtics the night before. On the second night of a back-to-back, the Kings welcomed in the NBA’s best team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder came into Sacramento just a win shy of 60 wins on the season.

Pregame, Doug Christie addressed what Zach LaVine had described as “bad vibes” after the loss to the Celtics. “He was incorrect,” Doug said of the bad vibes. “I think when you ask a question like that, after going through a bit of a losing streak, it’s more about not being happy that you lost,” Doug continued. Regardless of where the locker room was, Doug wasn’t going to let any rumors continue about the so-called “bad vibes.”

In what has been a historic season for the Thunder so far, they came into Sacramento to face the Kings at 7 PM PST. The Thunder took care of the Kings with ease, 121-105.

In the first quarter, the Kings were getting it handed to them by the Thunder. The Thunder outscored the Kings 31-21 in the first to get off to a hot start. The Kings’ energy and effort were not matching what OKC was giving them early.

In the second quarter, it was more of the same for the Kings. The lack of physicality and effort cost the Kings as the Thunder outscored them 33-21 in the second quarter. The Thunder took a 64-42 lead into halftime, with hopes of winning their 60th game of the season. In the first half, the Kings shot 36% from three and 37% from the field as the Thunder pulled away. On the other hand, the Thunder shot 57% from three, 59% from the field, and 100% from the line on six attempts in the first half. Domantas Sabonis was the Kings’ leading scorer at halftime with 10 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced the Thunder with 18 first-half points.

In the third, the Kings flipped the script on the Thunder. The Kings’ offense caught fire in the third as they ran the Thunder out of the gym, outscoring them 39-25 in the quarter. The Kings, led by Keegan Murray, Keon Ellis, and Jake LaRavia, showed some signs of life. The Kings went into the final frame down 89-81.

Unfortunately, the Kings couldn’t keep up the energy in the fourth. The Thunder took back over the game in the fourth and outscored the Kings 32-24 to seal the victory, 121-105. It was another disappointing loss for the Kings. However, it was not surprising on the second night of a back-to-back. The Kings were led in scoring by Keegan Murray, who had 28 points in the game. The leading scorer for the Thunder was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led all scorers with 32 points.

After the game, a game in which the Kings failed to have the needed effort early to keep the game close—a common occurrence for the team this year—I asked Doug Christie if he has seen any improvements in the team’s process in approaching games.

“The ability to manifest is one… we talked last game about shooting 24 threes, unacceptable… so we had a conversation, some film, and they go out and shoot 48 threes, they get 32 assists. You demonstrate that is who you are and that’s what you can do… But again, the consistency at what you do is gonna say how high you go. For that group [Kings], sky’s the limit.”

Doug isn’t normally a moral victory guy. However, on Tuesday night, it seemed he was trying to highlight the fight he saw in his team in the third quarter.

With the loss, the Kings fell to 35-37 and are a game under .500 at home with a record of 18-19.

Key Performers:
Keegan Murray made 9-13 threes to score 28 points in the game.
Zach LaVine scored 19 points on 7-16 from the floor.

Playoff Picture: With the loss, the Kings are 35-37 on the season, which is good enough for a tie for 9th/10th with Phoenix in the Western Conference. The Kings are .5 games up on the Dallas Mavericks for the 11th seed.

Up Next: The Kings will stay home for an off day on Wednesday prior to Thursday when they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to Golden 1 Center. Tip-off is set for 7 PM PST.

Giants conclude pre season with 4-3 win over Tigers at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants catcher Sam Huff (left) congratulates relief pitcher Ryan Walker (right) after the Giants conclude a pre season two game sweep over the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Mar 25, 2025 (San Francisco Giants X photo)

Detroit (12-15). 010 001 010. 3. 8. 0

San Francisco (21-6). 002 000 020. 4. 6 0

Attendance: 20,049

Time: 2:07

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants used five pitchers to squeeze out a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers this lovely Sunday evening to close out an encouraging spring training with a record of 21-6). Right handed starter Jordan Hicks lasted five adequate innings, in which he allowed a couple of runs, both earned, on three hits, one of them a 409 foot solo shot to Justin-Henry Malloy that gave the visitors a short-lived lead.

Hicks also struck out one batter and walked another. The win went to Randy Rodríguez, who hurled a scoreless top of the seventh, in which he issued a walk and achieved a strikeout. Ryan Walker earned the save, shutting Detroit out in the ninth in spite of a two out triple by Ryan Kreidler.

Joel Peguero and Camilo Doval hurled a frame apiece. The former allowed a hit and nothing else. The latter gave up one run on three hits, although he did strike out one Tiger.

The Giants scored on Tyler Fitzgerald’s 375′ round tripper that plated Yastraemski in the bottom of the third. The home team picked up two more runs in the home seventh after Fitzgerald walked, stole second, and scored on Grant McGray’s single to center. Christian Koss then brought McGray home with the Giants’ final tally.

Jackson Jobe started for the Tigers. He allowed two runs, both earned on three hits, including Fitzgerald’s dinger, and two walks. The loss went to Casey Mize, who followed Jobe for three episodes and yielded two runs, earned, on three hits and one base on balls. Kenta Maeda contributed two K’s in pitching a perfect ninth.

The Giants leave tomorrow for Cincinnati, where they will open the season on Thursday.

They will return for the home opener, against Seattle on Friday, April 4, at 1:45.

Stanford Cardinal podcast Michael Roberson: Cardinal reach the end of their rope with Taylor; Coach is fired after investigations and accusations

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Stanford Cardinal head coach Troy Taylor (white hat) was fired Tue Mar 25, 2025 after numerous accusations of bullying and belittling female staff members ( AP News photo)

Stanford Cardinal podcast Michael Roberson:

#1 Stanford Cardinal general manager Andrew Luck said in a statement on Tuesday that there had been significant attention to football coach Troy Taylor and investigations regarding the coaches behavior with female athletic staffers and said that the Stanford program needs a reset.

#2 Stanford arrived at this decision based on multiple investigations and complaints from various Stanford employees and those who identify as women.

#3 The Stanford statement went onto say Taylor reportedly bullied and belittled female athletic staffers and sought to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made “inappropriate” comments to another about her appearance, according to documents from a pair of investigations obtained by ESPN.

Michael Roberson is a Stanford Cardinal beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB podcast Michael Duca Tue Mar 25, 2025: How playing MLB games will work in minor league parks; Moniak’s release by Angels comes as a surprise; plus more news

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Los Angeles Angels Mickey Moniak heads home after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning of a spring training game Wed Mar 5, 2025 in Tempe AZ. Moniak was released by the Angels on Mon Mar 24, 2025. (AP News photo)

MLB podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 Michael the Sacramento A’s are about to play an entire season in a minor league park that seats 14,014 fans including adding them on the outfield grass behind the fence. Do you see this concept working at Sutter Health Park. Will the amenities be acceptable for fans and players.

#2 81 games is a long season if you consider working in a tiny work space such as the players, fans, employees will have to at George M Steinbrenner Park for the Tampa Bay Rays and the Sacramento A’s at Sutter Health Park. In the course of that amount of games will there be a point where it’s workable or not workable for those involved?

#3 The Los Angeles Angels released outfielder Mickey Moniak on Tuesday. The moved shocked many who have followed Moniak who hit .219, 14 home runs last year. In two and half seasons with the Angels Moniak hit .242 with 100 RBIs and had an OPs of .709. Moniak was going to share the outfield duties with Jo Adell. His release comes two days before the regular season.

#4 Michael Duca ESPN with us on the podcast and like ESPN wrote about the New York Yankees they got to carry it like a battlescar can the Yankees really bounce back after their fifth inning World Series nightmare?

#5 Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts who lost 18 pounds couldn’t keep solid food down is reportedly on the mend and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had him in the line up for today’s exhibition game after being out of action since the beginning of spring training.

Join Michael Duca for the MLB podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB podcast Stephen Ruderman: Raleigh signs 6 yr $105 million deal with M’s; Ex-Yank Gardner’s son cause of death still a mystery; plus more news

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Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh signed a six year $105 million extension on Mon Mar 24, 2025 and is considered one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball (AP News photo)

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman:

#1 The Seattle catcher signed Cal Raleigh to a six year $105 million extension deal. Raleigh last season hit .220 hit 34 home runs, 100 RBIs, and had 120 hits. Raleigh called the “Big Dumper” is considered one of the best catchers in baseball.

#2 Miller Gardner 14 the son of former New York Yankee Brett Gardner who passed on Mar 21st cause of death was not asphyxiation. Miller with other family members fell ill during a family vacation. Brett said that Miller passed away in his sleep peacefully.

#3  Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker will both be on the opening day roster as the two first round draft picks will take the last two spots on the pitching rotation for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers rotation are Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle, Rocker and Leiter. The Rangers also have been picked as a favorite to win the American League pennant.

#4 Arizona Diamondbacks have announced that left hander Jordan Montgomery will go under Tommy John next week. Montgomery 32 said that he knew his season was over due to the elbow injury and ironically it happened just two days before the regular season. Montgomery was 8-7, with a 6.23 ERA in 25 games and had 21 starts last season for Arizona.

#5 Stephen, Heliot Ramos looks like he could very well be the San Francisco Giants lead off hitter taking a spring training batting average of .308, with 12 hits, two home runs, and eight RBIs into Tuesday. Ramos belted a home run on Monday night against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Join Stpehen Ruderman for the MLB podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast Tony Renteria Tue Mar 25, 2025: Kings face Western Conference best Thunder; plus more news

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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives on the Sacramento Kings Keegan Murray (13) in the first half at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Mon Mar 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento Kings podcast Tony Renteria:

#1 Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and later took a hard foul that forced him to leave the game in the Celtics 113-95 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night at Golden 1.

#2 Tatum got hurt in the latter part of the third quarter after hitting his fifth 3 pointer. Domantas Sobonis was hit for a Flagrant 1 foul. Tatum was laid out on the floor for a few minutes and later got up to shoot one of two free throws before having to leave the game.

#3 Kristaps Porzingis scored 16 points grabbing seven rebounds, Payton Pritchard had 20 points and Derrick White scored 12 points and had eight assists to help the Celtics cause.

#4 Sabonis scored 16 points and 17 rebounds Sabonis had been sitting out with an ankle injury from a previous game and DeMar DeRozan had 20 points and ten assists.

#5 Tonight Tuesday it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder who come calling. The Thunder are tops in the Western Conference at 59-12, they have an amazing road record at 28-7, and have won six in a row. Do you see a struggle for the Kings tonight against a very potent Thunder club?

Tony Renteria does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Dodgers Roberts encouraged by Mookie’s progress; Yanks Yarbrough signs for 1 yr $2 million deal; plus more MLB

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Mookie Betts walks around in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout and has been out of the line up since losing 18 pounds and having trouble keeping down solid food. Manager Dave Roberts says that Betts should be back in the line up on Tue Mar 25, 2025 (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he feels “really encouraged” by Mookie Betts recovery. Betts had been ill and couldn’t keep solid down and lost 18 pounds. Betts went through a full workout at Dodger Stadium on Monday and is expected to be back in the line up on Tuesday.

#2 New York Yankees signed left hander Ryan Yarbrough to a $2 million one year deal with a $250,000 in contract bonuses the Yankees announced on Monday. Yarbrough 33 pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays in spring training and opted out of his contract Sunday after learning that he would not be on the opening day roster.

#3 Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez will not open the season and will be on the injured list as Suarez is recovering from a lower back injury. Suarez could be ready to pitch sometime in April according to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

#4 At the Sacramento A’s and San Francisco Giants Triple A team the Sacramento River Cats ballpark Sutter Health Park the grounds crew will have replacement grass on standby in the event the grass starts to brown or deteriorate. The A’s and River Cats are considering the amount of games being played on the shared field they will need the sod on standby.

#5 The Phillies left hand pitcher Matt Strahm did not pitch in the final Grapefruit League game on Monday due to a finger injury while packing. Strahm tore a fingernail on his left middle finger while preparing for a trip to the Phillies spring training home in Clearwater Florida.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

Kings Struggle to Contain Celtics, Playoff Pressure Mounts after 113-95 Loss

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Domantas Sabonis goes to the basket defended by Kristaps Porziņģis in the Sacramento Kings battle with the Boston Celtics on Monday night. (Photo: Sacramento Kings on X)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Golden 1 Center was full of green for the game on Monday night. If you were in the building, you may have wondered if the A’s were holding a fanfest.

No, the Boston Celtics came to town, and the reigning NBA champs were heavily supported by traveling fans and local Celtics fans. The Kings were coming off a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, while the Celtics were on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Portland.

The last time these two teams played was in Boston on January 10th, when the Kings beat the Celtics 114-97. I asked Doug Christie pregame if he thought the Celtics would have a little extra after the Kings blew them out in Boston. “I would say the only thing in our league is that you can use some things as motivation, especially when you are champions. The one that you do know is that they will not look past you. I think that is the biggest thing.”

On Monday, the game tipped off at 7 PM PST at Golden 1 Center as the Celtics handed the Kings a 113-95 defeat.

In the first quarter, the Kings hit first with good physicality and active hands leading to offensive opportunities. Five minutes and forty-four seconds into the game, the Kings led by nine and had control of the game. Soon after, the Celtics made a run of their own to close the quarter. The Celtics would end up outscoring the Kings 30-29 in the first quarter thanks to a buzzer-beater three from Payton Pritchard.

In the second, the Kings battled. However, the Boston offensive attack was good enough for them to pick up a five-point, 56-51 lead going into the halftime break. The Kings were playing the Celtics well on the defensive end of the floor, but there’s only so much you can do to contain them. Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard led the Celtics in scoring in the first half with 17 and 14, respectively. Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray led the Kings in the first half, each scoring 10 points.

The Kings needed to match the defensive intensity from the first half to defeat the Celtics.

In the second half, the Kings were plainly outmatched. The Celtics outscored the Kings 32-27 in the third and 25-17 in the fourth. In the third, Jayson Tatum would go down as he rolled his ankle on a Domantas Sabonis closeout on a three-pointer. Tatum made 1 of 2 of his free throws, left the game, and would not return. The Celtics remained unbothered by his absence as they defeated the Kings 113-95. There’s not much more to the story than that. The Kings fought, but ultimately, the offense became ISO-focused, and the ball stopped moving. The Kings desperately need to figure out how to close games as a team or they will soon find themselves outside of the play-in picture.

After the game, Doug summarized the night saying, “Disappointing. The areas we really need to be good in is creating extra possessions, offensive rebounds, turning them over. We weren’t able to do that and we need to shoot threes at a higher clip… points of emphasis.” I asked Doug how they get more three-pointers up, and he said, “It has got to be one, two dribbles at the most and kick it out… just the ability to move the basketball, and we can’t hold onto it too long.”

With the loss, the Kings fell to 35-36. The Kings need to right the ship in a hurry if they want to hold onto a play-in game spot at season’s end.

Key Performers:
DeMar DeRozan led the Kings with 20 points on an inefficient 9-24 shooting.

Playoff Picture:
The Kings fell to 35-36 on the season and are only 0.5 games in front of the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks for the 11th seed in the Western Conference.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at 7 PM PST inside Golden 1 Center.

Detroit has Utah HC Seeing Red In 5-1 Thrashing

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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) had a rough night against the Detroit Red Wings faced 13 shots, saved nine and allowed four goals at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Mar 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah finishes homestand on a losing note as Red Wings score five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win at the Delta Center.

Heading into Monday night’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings, the Utah Hockey Club had won seven of their last nine home games in an effort to keep their playoff hopes alive. Each team entered the matchup with 32 wins on the season, with Utah holding an edge in points thanks to 11 overtime or shootout losses versus 6 for the Wings who are also in the Wild Card hunt in the Eastern Conference.

The first period started off bright for the home team when Tyler Motte was whistled for tripping against Kevin Stenlund, giving Utah an early power play opportunity. Captain Clayton Keller fired a perfect pass to Dylan Guenther who one-timed a slap shot past Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon for his 26th goal of the season and a 1-0 Utah lead.

A little more than a minute later, however, Utah defenseman Sean Durzi lost the puck in the offensive zone and Vladimir Tarasenko was off to the races, feeding linemate Elmer Soderblom who put the puck past Karel Vejmelka for his 4th goal of the season to tie things up.

Early in the second period, Red Wings forward Marco Kasper banked the puck off of Utah’s Lawson Crouse in front of the net for a fluke goal, his 14th of the season, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead. The two squads would exchange power play opportunities during the period but the two netminders held off any further scoring.

At 9:51 of the third period, Detroit would collect its second fluke goal of the game when a shot toward the net from the blue line by Simon Edvinsson would deflect off the stick of Austin Watson at the top of the faceoff circle and fly just over the left shoulder of Karel Vejmelka into the top corner of the net to make it 3-1.

For Watson it was his first goal of the season in his fourth game as a Red Wing. With the clock winding down to the final few minutes, Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker, but Detroit was able to capitalize as Alex DeBrinkat put the game out of reach for good with his 33rd goal of the season into the empty net, assisted by Patrick Kane.

Adding insult to injury, with 88 seconds left on the clock, Tyler Motte picked up a rebound from a shot by Craig Smith to notch his 3rd goal of the season and finish off Utah 5-1.

In the locker room after the game, Utah defenseman Ian Cole weighed in on the game. “I think overall, it was a decent game, but ultimately, regardless of what the balance is, we lost the game. There’s a lot of turning points that we could talk about over the course of that game, but overall, we didn’t get the job done.” With regard to the challenge of making the playoffs, Cole continued, “Nothing’s easy, right? You need a lot of good force on your side. You need calls on your side, you need to take advantage of opportunities, and you need to play really, really good hockey. You need kind of a perfect storm to get into the playoffs and then have success when you’re in the playoffs. You need all those things going for you. Tonight some of those things did not go for us, but we’re right back at it against a great team in Tampa in a couple days. We’ll have to look at the video and figure out what went wrong and what we could have done better, and then fix that and move on.”

Captain Clayton Keller also faced the media. “We had a good start. We had a lot of possessions, some shots early, but I don’t think we did a good enough job of getting to the inside, hitting those rebounds … power plays got to be better. We had a good start there, but we have to find a way to get another one there. So that’s definitely frustrating as well. … There’s never going to be any quit in this room ever. We’re going to fight all the way until the end. We’re going to try to win every single game from here on out. Never know what can happen. We’re going to stay motivated, learn from this game, (and) attack this next road trip. We go 3-0, you never know what will happen.”

Utah Head coach André Tourigny began his media room comments by saying, “I think we got a little bit unlucky on our goal against. The puck was bouncing a lot tonight. It was tough to execute. I would have loved to simplify a little bit, go more at the net, and (be a little) bit more dirty. I thought we had a good start. But we could have simplified a little more in our shooting mentality in trying to make plays. Like I said, at the end of the day we got unlucky.” When asked what adjustments he would have liked to have seen, Tourigny commented, “More (of a) shooting mentality, more shots on net, more broken plays. Give them credit; they played well defensively, which we did as well. We gave up five shots after two (periods). We kept them on the outside pretty good. The way we played defensively was alright. Offensively, I think we could have simplified. … I have no problem with the way we played in terms of intensity, battle, those kinds of (things). I don’t have much to say. I’m trying to be creative here. We didn’t execute right offensively and we tried to do too much. We should have gone to the net and had some scrappy goals and we didn’t.”

Utah now hits the road for a trio of games against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago before returning to Delta Center on April 1 against Calgary for the first of five games on the final homestand of the inaugural season.

Orange & Black @ Orange & Black Giants score 3 runs in 5th to defeat Tigers 6-4 at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants Heliot Ramos is thrilled after hitting a home run against San Diego Padres on Sun Sep 15, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. On Mon Mar 24, 2025 Ramos was three for four with a home run, three hits and three RBIs against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Detroit (12-14) 000 200 000 2 5 0

San Francisco (20-6) 100 031 01x 6 11 0

Time: 2:17

Attendance: 24,144

By Lewis Rubman

Monday, March 25, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO–The players have broken camp, and your San Francisco Giants are ready to wrap up spring training with a couple of games against their transbay rivals, the Oakland Athletics. No, wait a minute! There’s something wrong here. It’s the Detroit Tigers your Giants are facing. Not even ex-Athletic A.J. Hinch at the helm can change that. Some things never change, though.

There’s always the fear of injury. The Giants, fearing a recurrence of the back injury that stole their exciting center fielder, 이정후, AKA Lee,Jung Hoo, from them half-way through last year’s letdown season. anxiously await his full recovery from his latest setback.

In the 17 Cactus League games Lee had appeared in, Lee hit .300 with an OPS of .967. No one wants a repeat of Blake Snell’s 2024 on again, off again recovery saga. Lee returned to action in Sunday’s game against the River Cats in Sacramento and went one for two, with a run scored and another driven in over five innings. He went 0 for 3 Monday night.

Matt Chapman seems to have recovered his groove at bat, but his fielding, which can be elegant, has suffered a noticeable decline this spring.. Last year, he, like many of his teammates, committed a lot of hidden errors, including late or poorthrows that prevented double plays and so were unchargeable.

This spring, they’re more visible. Chappy’s five errors in 15 games are a concern. He alleviated some of that this evening with a beautiful backhand grab on Manuel Baez’s scorcher down the third base line and a hard, accurate throw to first to retire the Tigers’ shortstop in the top of the fifth..

For what it’s worth, however, San Francisco, having defeated Detroit, 6-4, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate, can feek It was one of those games in which by the sixth or seventh inning inning you spend more time and attention trying to keep track of the substitutions than on the action on the field, so don’t expect much detail from the report.

San Francisco used five hurlers, starting with Robbie Ray, who went five frames and allowed two runs, both earned, one four hits, which included a pair of solo home runs in the fourth, He struck out four and gave up one free pass, gaining the win.

Ray was followed by Lou Trivino, Spencer Blevnins, Tyler Rogers, and Eric Miller, each of whom pitched an inning. Blevens gave up a single in the seventh. The only other Giant reliever to suffer any damage was Miller, who yielded two runs, both earned, on two hits, and a walk.

The Tigers used nine pitchers over eight innings. Tyler Horton, the first of the lot got tagged with the loss,

Ramos went 3 for 4, with three RBIs, and a homer for the hosts. The other Giant with a multi-hit game was Patrick Bailey, at 2 for 4, with two RBIs.

The two teams, both clad in orange and black, will continue to confuse the crowd Tuesday, at 5:05PM PDT. The Giants will then fly to Cincinnati to open the season on Wednesday, returning for their home opener on April 4 at 1:35 in the afternoon.