Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Orioles Eflin out on 15 day IL shoulder injury; Braves Riley out with broken hand; plus more news

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Baltimore Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin is out with a shoulder injury and is one the 15 day IL as of Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong:

#1 Jessica, the Baltimore Orioles right hander Zach Eflin is out with a shoulder injury and was placed on the 15 day IL. Eflin was scheduled to pitch on Wednesday against the New York Mets to close out the series. Eflin felt shoulder soreness and had to sit that game out.

#2 After the Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley broke his hand and said “I hate that I’m going to be out, not be out there competing with the guys. I also understand it’s part of the game. Injuries happen.” The Braves signed Gio Urshela who was released by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. Urshela was hitting .243 with five home runs.

#3 New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil left Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians in the fourth inning of a 9-5 loss. Gil has signaled for the trainer when he threw a change up to the Guardian Jose Ramirez and had to leave because of lower back tightness. Dr. David Trofa said that Gil would be reassessed again on Wednesday.

#4 Ten years ago former San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto helped the Giants win a World Series. Fast forward Cueto will get the call at age 38 years on Wednesday night for the Los Angeles Angels. Angels manager Ron Washington called up Cueto on Tuesday and said that he hopes Cueto will stick around and also influence the younger players.

#5 Tuesday the Chicago Cubs Cody Bellinger hit a two run double and Danby Swanson hit a home run to help the Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers 3-1. Bellinger was 2-4 and the Cubs got good pitching from Javier Assad 5.2 innings, allowing one run and six hits.

Jessica Kwong does Headline Sports podcasts every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Cardinal kick off season with TCU on Fri Aug 30th at Stanford Stadium

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Stanford Cardinal head coach Troy Taylor as seen here Sep 9, 2023 against the UCS Trojans in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Taylor hopes to improve this season after finishing 3-9 in 2023. (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 Head coach Troy Taylor has had a rough last two seasons finishing with duplicate records of 3-9. Coach Taylor is hoping to get things turned around with a league and with Ashton Daniels under center.

#2 Stanford enters the 2024 season with it’s worst three year losing record since 1958-1960 can being in the ACC make a difference, bring optimism and a new foundation in the ACC?

#3 Elic Ayomanor is someone that Taylor and Daniels will be relying on. Aymmanor will be looking for some key passes and if Stanford is to win this year’s he’ll be carrying a good amount of passes.

#4 The Cardinal have a lot of holes on both sides of the ball but defense is a major concern. Stanford has been rated with the worse defense in college football coming in and there was not much movement in the portal to fix it in the off season.

#5 The Cardinal opened up against the TCU Horned Frogs Fri Aug 30. The Horned Frogs were below .500 last season and head coach Sonny Dykes says he hoping for a shot to return to the National Championship game where they were in 2022. In 2023 the Horned Frogs struggled finishing two games below .500 at 5-7. Taking both teams 2023 experiences in account do you think this opener Friday could be a tight contest?

Michael Roberson is the Stanford Cardinal beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com and podcasts Stanford football Thursdays.

San Francisco Giants game wrap: Giants waste superb outing and fail to sweep White Sox, who score four in the ninth, 6-2 loss

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San Francisco Giants Mark Canha swings for a base hit in the bottom of the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Aug 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago White Sox 6 (31-97)

San Francisco Giants 2 (65-64)

Win: Fraser Ellard (1-1)

Loss: Erik Miller (3-4)

Time: 2:10

Attendance: 28,375

By Stephen Ruderman

Not only did the Giants fail to complete the sweep of the historically-bad White Sox, but they wasted another great outing by Logan Webb and imploded in the top of the ninth inning, as the South Siders scored four runs en route to a 6-2 win on Wednesday afternoon.

The Giants have been able to take advantage of playing not just the worst team in Baseball, but an historically-bad Chicago White Sox’ team that could end up having the worst season in Baseball History.

The Giants have won three-straight, including the first two of this series. Today, Logan Webb was making what seems like a rare start after a Giants’ win, as they had a chance to sweep and get back to their season-high three games over .500.

However, Webb would immediately run into trouble right out of the gate. Nicky Lopez led off the game with a triple, and he scored two batters later on a base-hit by Andrew Benintendi.

Left-hander Garrett Crochet made the start for Chicago. Crochet started off his afternoon with a scoreless bottom of the first inning and a one, two, three bottom of the second. Webb settled down with a scoreless top of the second and a one, two, three top of the third.

Casey Schmitt led off the bottom of the third with a double for the Giants’ first hit of the game. However, this being the Giants, Crochet set down the next three in order to escape the inning unscathed.

The White Sox would make the Giants pay for their wasted opportunity. Luis Robert Jr., who you could say “robbed” Curt Casali of an RBI base-hit with a sliding catch that he really didn’t need to make in the bottom of the third, led off the top of the fourth with a double.

Benintendi flew out to right field to move Robert over to third base, and Andrew Vaughn got Robert in on a sacrifice fly to left to make it 2-0. Talk about manufacturing a run.

Gavin Sheets then singled to extend the inning. Now usually wouldn’t go on about an inning like this since the White Sox did not extend their lead, but Korey Lee hit a ground ball right to third that Matt Chapman ran to his right to field right on the line, and Chapman made a perfect jump throw to first to end the inning.

Matt Chapman has shined at the hot corner all season, and his defense and leadership have been a huge boost for this team. He may be getting up in age, but he has certainly earned an extension.

Chapman’s great play was a shot in the arm for the Giants in the bottom of the fourth. Mark Canha led off the inning with a ground-rule double, and Heliot Ramos also doubled, which moved Canha to third—I know, make that make sense.

Chapman, who now had the chance to get the big hit after his great play at third, struck out swinging. Jerar Encarnacion got Canha in on a ground out to second to put the Giants on the board.

Still, the Giants were lacking that big RBI hit. However, they would get it when Thairo Estrada stepped up and singled the other way to right to tie the game.

From there, Webb was in complete command. He threw four more scoreless innings and retired 12 of the final 13 men he faced to cap off another incredible outing.

Webb went eight innings, giving up just two runs and five hits. He did not walk anybody, and he struck out six. Unfortunately, it was still the same story for Webb on the offensive side, as the Giants’ offense was only able to provide him with two runs of support.

For the White Sox, Crochet was done after just four innings. Chad Kuhl pitched a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the fifth, and a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Justin Anderson and Fraser Ellard then pitched 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth.

One complaint I had over the first two games of this series was that even though the Giants won both games, they were much closer than they should have been against a team like the White Sox. Unfortunately, Wednesday was the same story, and the Giants would pay for it big time in the ninth.

Erik Miller came in, as the game was still tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth. Miller got off to a good start, as he got Nicky Lopez to fly out to begin the inning. However, Robert walked and stole second. Benintendi also walked, and then Vaughn reached on an infield hit to load the bases.

Miller had his back against the wall, as the White Sox had the bases loaded with one out. Miller bounced back to strike out Sheets, and then Bob Melvin went to Spencer Bivens.

Korey Lee came up to the plate for the White Sox. Bivens quickly got ahead in the count 0-2, and was a strike away from getting out of it and sending the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied.

However, Lee took a pair of balls—pun or no pun intended—to even the count. Then he lined a sinker up the middle for a base-hit that scored a pair to give the Pale Hose a 4-2 lead. Lee had advanced to second on an error by center-fielder Grant McCray, and Lenyn Sosa singled to left to knock in a pair and make it 6-2.

It was a disastrous and embarrassing inning for the Giants. To add insult to injury, White Sox Interim Manager Grady Sizemore summoned former Giant John Brebbia, who was also one of the biggest characters on the Giants the last three years, for the bottom of the ninth.

Ramos led off the bottom of the ninth with his second double of the game. The Giants were now in a great position to bounce back and…..who am I kidding, Brebbia set down the next three, and the White Sox won 6-2.

Fraser Ellard got the win, and Erik Miller took the loss.

The Giants won the first two games against this awful White Sox’ team, but they made them both too close for comfort. Then Wednesday, they couldn’t even complete the easiest sweep of the season, and they lost in such an embarrassing way.

The Giants fall to 65-64, and on top of losing to the White Sox, they now have to begin a stretch in which 27 of their next 30 games will be against teams over .500.

The Giants flew to Seattle Wednesday afternoon, as they will embark on a six-game, two-city road trip. They will get a day off Thursday in the beautiful city of Seattle, and then they will start a three-game series in Seattle Friday, which will run through Sunday. That will be followed up with three in Milwaukee against the Brewers next Monday through Wednesday.

The pitching matchup for Friday’s series opener at T-Mobile Park has still yet to be announced. The only thing for certain is that yours truly will be there, and with the fact that it will be cold and rainy like Northern California in the winter, that makes me very happy. Not to worry, they have a roof up there. Just give us one sunny day.

First pitch on Friday will be at 7:10 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

*1. Diamondbacks 72-56 +4.0

*2. Padres 72-56 +4.0

  1. Braves 67-59 —

Mets 66-61 1.5

GIANTS 65-64 3.5

Cardinals 62-64 5.0

*Reds 62-65 5.5

*Cubs 62-65 5.5

*Tiebreakers taken into account.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Sox rally for 4 runs in ninth to defeat Giants 6-2

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Chicago White Sox Luis Robert Jr connects for a base hit in the top of the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Aug 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

On SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 The Chicago White Sox Korey Lee hit a two run RBI single that broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon that was part of a four run rally that helped defeat the San Francisco Giants 6-2. The win snaps the Sox four game losing streak.

#2 Giants reliever Erik Miller now 3-4 surrendered two walks to the Sox Luis Robert Jr and Andrew Benintendi with two out in the ninth inning with Lee at the plate he singled off Spencer Bivens to knock in the two runs. The Sox Lenyn Sosa hit a two run single for another two runs and the Sox came away with a four run win. How much trouble did you see Miller and Bivens having trying to work out of that jam?

#3 The Sox Robert and Gavin Sheets had two hits a piece and contributed in the game with two RBIs. As the White Sox who have lost won their third game in nine tries.

#4 Michael, how important is it that Chris Casalli is starting for the injured Patrick Bailey as catcher. Bailey is out on the 10 day IL with the oblique strain.

#5 The Giants open up a three game series with the Seattle Mariners starting Friday night a 7:10pm PT first pitch at T Mobile. Neither club has announced a starter as of Wednesday night.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The passing of Al Attles 87; Basketball in his Veins-As I remember

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Former Golden State Warriors head coach Al Attles from 1970-1983 passed away Wed Aug 20, 2024 at age 87 (USA Today photo)

Al Attles -Basketball in his Veins -As I Remember

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

I had the privilege of knowing Al Attles during the Golden State Warriors years when he was a team advisor-executive and would travel most of the time with the W’s during the 1990s. Then, I was employed by the team as their Spanish play-by-play announcer.

For the record, the “only one they ever had in their history” to date. At their time, only four or five teams were broadcasting NBA in Spanish; I believe the Warriors were after the Spurs, Rockets, and Lakers, maybe we were the fourth in the country to do Spanish on KIQI 1010AM San Francisco.

But first, here is a little history about a great man and a great gentleman, Al Attles, who left us today after 87 years on this earth. He was born in Newark, New Jersey; the “Jersey Jet” was a player for the Philadelphia Warriors from 1960-1962 and then with the San Francisco Warriors until 1971.

The first professional sporting event I ever covered in the Bay Area was a Warriors game in the 1970s. The Warriors played temporarily at the Cow Palace, Daly City, while the Oakland Arena was under construction. I remember Mr. Hal Childs, the first Media Relations person I had to deal with for my credentials; he was then with the Warriors.

Al Attles played on that historic day when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points. Attles was humble and would not tell you that his 17 points during that same game resulted from making every throw he made: eight field goals and one free throw. He made them all but was always humble as a player or coach.

I once joked with him that when Wilt Chamberlain scored the record 100 points in that game, he must have had a bunch of assists. He joked about how he passed to Chamberlain, but in the end, he admitted he had six assists. By the way, in that game, the Warriors won 169-134 over the Knicks. It was on March 2, 1962.

Al would usually be first on the team bus after every game when traveling with the Warriors on the road. I would be a few minutes later since my post-game show, as I did a solo broadcast on all games home and road, would be handled in 5 minutes, and then I would send it back to our main studios in San Francisco. I would ‘pick his head’ after a game, specially if we lost that game, during those years the W’s had good teams but no titles.

One day, I remember the team losing by a large margin and blowing out 20 points. As I walked onto the bus, he said, “Did you put this team together?” On other occasions, he would tell me, “Can you push the ball?” And it continued, but I always listened to his wisdom and learned a lot from this humble and generous man.

After playing, Attles’s career was dedicated to coaching. He always liked to talk and teach basketball and coached the San Francisco Warriors and then the Golden State Warriors from 1968 to 1975. He won the NBA title in that great 1974-75 season as a coach.

Although I cannot remember the exact date, I did cover the Victory Rally at San Francisco Union Square after they beat the Washington team in the 1974-75 season NBA finals. I had my SONY small recorder in hand.

I remember as I walked to the Warriors celebratory rally, running into the “one and only Bill King” (best basketball play-by-play announcer I ever heard), who was sporting Jesus sandals and purple socks. He was there to speak at the rally, Al Attles, and then owner Franklin Meuli, wearing his inseparable Sherlock Holmes hat, also talked to a friendly crowd celebrating the moment.

The whole Bay Area is mourning today.

Rest in Peace Al Attles, I will forever remember you your wisdom and your profound voice.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez was a former play by play announcer on the Golden State Warriors Spanish radio network and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: 49ers getting closer to a deal with Aiyuk

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San Francisco 49ers Brandon Aiyuck and the 49ers are reportedly getting closer to settling a deal on a contract extension (AP file photo)

SF 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 Dave, no doubt the 49ers want to get this deal done with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and from the sound of things on Tuesday the two sides might be closer to a deal. They put off the Pittsburgh Steelers trade that was on the table. The Niners and Aiyuk are trying to work the numbers but their getting closer.

#2 There is no doubt that the 49ers want to get this deal done and not let Aiyuk get away. The 49ers know that he’s had a great run with the team. The 49ers have made multiple offers to try to get him signed and he could have easily have taken other offers but it sound like he want to stay on a team that was in the Super Bowl last season.

#3 Dave, 49ers and Raiders match up for the last pre season game on Fri Sep 23 a 7:00pm kick off. 49ers at quarterback used Joshua Dobbs in their last game against the New Orleans Saints. Dobbs has started in the 49ers last two 49ers exhibition games and it’s most likely he’ll get the call on Friday night.

San Francisco 49ers podcasts with David Zizmor are heard weekly on Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

ChiSox Sizemore Knows His Sample Size Is Limited

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Chicago White Sox manager Grady Sizemore photo

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO—Making out the lineup isn’t a mundane act for Chicago White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore.

“It’s something that I enjoy,” Sizemore said. “But again, there’s nothing set in stone. I’m just trying to get guys comfortable, playing in their spots. We’re evaluating it every day on where we want guys. I just want the best matchups.”

The best matchups on Tuesday night at Oracle Park weren’t very favorable for Sizemore. The woeful Sox were limited to three hits by Robbie Ray, a pitcher who didn’t survive the first inning in his last start against the Braves. On Tuesday, he was reborn, or more accurately, given a dream matchup against one of the worst teams baseball has ever seen.

The White Sox fell to 30-97, an unforgivable 67 games below .500, and they dropped their 14th consecutive series in losing the first two games against the Giants. A 14-game losing streak, and 21-game skid after that drew national headlines. And if Sizemore’s club falls behind, they fold their tents early and get ready for the next game. On Tuesday, the game was played in a brisk two hours, twenty minutes, and Chicago fell to 0-74 when they trail after seven innings.

To say Sizemore has his work lumped upon his clubhouse desk so high he can’t see out the door would be fair. But none of this is fair. Pedro Grifol was shown the door on August 8, and GM Chris Getz tabbed Sizemore to get the team through the final 45 games with grace, dignity and a whole bunch of humility.

Of course, those needs pointed Getz to rock-solid, super-steady Sizemore.

“We knew this season was gonna have its struggles based on the roster that we had,” Getz said on the occasion of Grifol’s dismissal. “When you make a change, you want to be very certain that it’s going to be effective.”

So what does effective mean in this very unusual case? It means that Sizemore, who has just one year of coaching experience as a minor league instructor for the Indians in 2023 must win at least 11 of the final 36 games to keep his club out of the record books as the worst team ever by losing percentage in the 20th and 21st centuries, a period of 125 years. It’s a weighty assignment that will draw a bunch of unwanted attention on a city and a fan base that at this point just wants to be left alone.

The 42-year old Sizemore doesn’t particularly like attention. So he is the right guy for the job. When asked if he would like this interim job to morph into a managers’ job somewhere else in 2025, a possibility if not a likelihood, he characteristically didn’t bite.

“Right now, I just focus on what I can do for these guys now,” he said after the 4-1 loss. “I don’t think past tomorrow.”

Sizemore’s words have never been terribly entertaining, but his tale of the tape is.

He’s originally from Seattle, and he graduated from high school in nearby Everett, Washington, where he played football, baseball and basketball while compiling a stellar 3.85 GPA. He’s bi-racial; his father Grady II is black, and his mother, Donna, is white.

From the managerial pedestal, his background sets Sizemore apart. African-American managers are often older not unlike Dusty Baker and Ron Washington, and have far more coaching experience and grooming, again like Baker and Washington. Yeah, black managers have been chosen to lead a bunch of reclamation projects, but not one this dire.

But here he is, and really isn’t trying to make light of any of it.

“I’m never going to waste my time worrying about stuff,” he said in an interview and article granted to ESPN in 2006. “I am going to enjoy my time on the planet, and that’s it.

“I don’t judge people. I just accept them for who they are.”

GAME NOTES: Tuesday’s game was a matchup of starting pitchers who both have had Tommy John surgery, and missed a large chunk of playing time, which today, is an occurrence that’s becoming more and more frequent.

“It’s great seeing (the Giants’) Robbie Ray, another TJ guy, pitch,” Chicago’s Davis Martin said after the game.

Martin said he felt great afterwards, departing in the fifth inning after throwing 82 pitches, which was a mandated max by Sizemore and his staff.

Ray completely turned things around by pitching into the seventh inning, after he didn’t survive the first inning against the Braves in his previous start, a 13-2 loss that was the low point of last week’s four-game slide for the Giants.

Ray strikes out nine over six strong innings, Giants make it three-straight with 4-1 win over White Sox

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San Francisco Giants starter Robbie Ray struck out nine Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago White Sox 1 (30-97)

San Francisco Giants 4 (65-63)

Win: Robbie Ray (3-2)

Loss: Davis Martin (0-2)

Save: Ryan Walker (2)

Time: 2:20

Attendance: 28,766

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants have taken advantage of their easy schedule to get back on track, as Robbie Ray struck out nine over six strong innings, and the Giants beat the White Sox 4-1 to win their third-straight on Monday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The Giants beat the White Sox 5-3 Tuesday night after the White Sox got the tying run to second base with two outs in the top of the ninth. It was a game that was much closer than it should have been against the historically-bad White Sox, but at least the Giants were able to get the win.

Tuesday night, the Giants looked to make it three-straight with Robbie Ray on the mound on this Tuesday night at Oracle Park. Ray started the night off with a one, two, three top of the first inning. White Sox’ starter Davis Martin also started his night with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first.

Ray threw another one, two, three inning in the top of the second, and then the Giants got something going against Martin in the bottom of the second. Matt Chapman and Mike Yastrzemski singled to put runners at the corners with one out.

Monday night, the Giants finally got the timely RBI hits with runners in scoring position in a four-run bottom of the fifth. They weren’t able to do that in the bottom of the second Tuesday night, but Thaiuro Estrada was able to beat out the back end of a potential 5-4-3 double play, and Chapman scored to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The White Sox had Dominic Fletcher at first with two outs for Lenyn Sosa, who hit a double that bounced off the wall in left-center field. Fletcher was waived in, and he was initially called out at the plate. However, the White Sox challenged the call, which was overturned, and the game was tied.

The Giants loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third for Heliot Ramos, who walked to put the Giants back ahead. They had the bases loaded with nobody out and a chance to extend their lead, but being the Giants, they were unable to add on.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the fourth, and Ray pitched another scoreless inning in the top of the fifth.

Curt Casali led off the bottom of the fifth with a base-hit, and after Tyler Fitzgerald struck out, Martin was done. White Sox Interim Manager Grady Sizemore brought in Fraser Ellard, who immediately walked LaMonte Wade.

That put runners at first and second with one out for Ramos. Ramos knocked in a run with a bases-loaded walk his last time up in the third. Here in the fifth, he lined a base-hit up the middle that scored Casali to make it 3-1. It was the first RBI hit with a runner in scoring position for the Giants Tuesday night.

The Giants were unable to further extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth, but Ray responded with a one, two, three shutdown inning in the top of the sixth. The Giants then wasted an opportunity against Touki Toussaint in the bottom of the sixth.

Ray gave up a one-out base-hit to Gavin Sheets with one out in the top of the seventh. Ray then struck out Korey Lee, but Bob Melvin pulled him for Sean Hjelle, who got Miguel Vargas to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Ray was good Tuesday night, and much more consistent than Kyle Harrison was Monday night. Ray gave up just a run and three hits, while striking out nine over six and two thirds innings.

It seems like the Giants’ starters have been posting a lot of high strikeout totals in starts recently. That’s because they have, as the Giants are fifth in all of Baseball in strikeouts this season with 1,123.

Toussaint was back out for the South Siders in the bottom of the seventh. Ramos walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mark Canha then walked, too, but Matt Chapman grounded into a double play.

The good news was that Ramos was still 90 feet away at third. Mike Yastrzemski got Ramos in with a ground-rule double that got stuck underneath the side wall down the right field line, and that made it 4-1.

Submariner Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, which would have been a one, two, three inning had Dominic Fletcher not reached on catcher’s interference to start the inning. Gus Varland then threw a one, two, three bottom of the eighth for the White Sox.

Ryan Walker didn’t pitch two innings last night, and in fact, he didn’t pitch it all last night, which meant he was free to pitch tonight. Walker indeed came in for the top of the ninth, and he struck out the side in a one, two, three inning to close it out.

Robbie Ray got the win; Davis Martin got the loss; and Ryan Walker picked up his second save.

A win is a win, but it would have been nice had the Giants done better than going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position tonight. I am going to keep harping on that, because the Giants getting their act together and getting consistent key RBI hits with runners in scoring position is the only way they will be able to make a run at the Playoffs in September.

The Giants improve to 65-63, but they remain three and a half games back of the Braves for the third wild card. The Braves beat the Phillies 3-1 in Atlanta.

Wednesday, the Giants can get the sweep; win their fourth-straight; and get back to their season-high three games over .500 on a Wednesday getaway game. Giants’ ace Logan Webb (11-8, 3.17 ERA) will make what seems to be a rare start after a win, and he will be opposed by left-hander Garrett Crochet (6-9, 3.61 ERA). First pitch will be at 12:45 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

  1. Padres 72-55 +4.0
  2. Diamondbacks 71-56 +3.0
  3. Braves 67-58 —

Mets 65-61 2.5

GIANTS 65-63 3.5

Giants News and Notes:

Patrick Bailey was placed on the Injured List prior to Tuesday night’s game due to a right oblique strain. Catcher Jakson Reetz was called back up.

The St. Louis Cardinals released former Giant shortstop Brandon Crawford. Crawford, 37, was unable to get a major league deal from the Giants, but he got one from the Cardinals and signed during Spring Training. In just 28 games, Crawford hit .169, going 12-for-71 with one home run and just four RBIs.

With the Giants’ connection to their former players, especially those from the world championship teams of 2010, 2012 and 2014, you can’t help but wonder if a potential reunion could be in the works.

He Was a Giant? Nick Testa-C-1958-#47

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Former San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Testa who passed away in 2018 played for the Giants in 1958 (photo from findagrave.com)

He Was a Giant?

Nick Testa-C-1958-#47

By Tony the Tiger Hayes

A stocky catcher with tree-trunk legs, brawny arms and Greyhound Bus’ equivalent of platinum clientele status, Testa’s entire big league career consisted of one solitary Giants game at Seals Stadium in 1958, played during the first week of the club’s Golden Gate era.

But this was no mundane early season contest, Testa’s one and done MLB pilgrimage took place in a whacky 8-7 Giants victory (4/23/58), against the visiting Cardinals in a tilt that included a roaring San Francisco comeback from a 1st inning 5-0 deficit, and concluded on the Giants’ first ever California walk-off home run.

Reporting in the next day’s paper, San Francisco Examiner sports editor Curley Greive wrote the thrilling win was “the greatest game of the young season with a Dempsey wallop.”

The florid scribe concluded the improbable outcome was similar to “…losing a $10 bill and finding a $20. Like getting a rich inheritance from a miserly uncle.”

This was clearly a memorable day for the Giants and Testa – but his one day of big league action doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the New York City native’s baseball life.

The scrappy, 5-foot-8, 180 pound Italian-American was on nine different teams in the Giants system before reaching San Francisco in 1958 and, believe it or not, his baseball odyssey was just getting started.

Like a Johnny Cash lyric, Testa went everywhere, man.

Why was he a Giant?

More than 60 years later, it might look like Testa’s out of the blue one and done big league career might have come as the result of winning a poker bet with

Giants owner Horace Stoneham (always a possibility) or could it have been Testa was in possession of compromising photos of San Francisco manager Bill Rigney wearing Dodger Blue shower shoes… and little else.

Seriously, while Testa’s minor league track record was nothing spectacular, the 29-year-old rookie was well liked by the Orange & Black brass and teammates alike who welcomed Testa’s receiving skills, natural leadership abilities and his peppy New York personality.

But he was a slow riser. After signing with the New York Giants organization out of the Bronx’s Christopher Columbus High School in 1947, the catcher had banged around the Giants farm system for about a decade without much of a sniff of the majors.

Then in 1958, Testa surpassingly broke camp with the original Fog City club as a third-string receiver behind veteran Valmy Thomas and rookie Bob Schmidt on the depth chart.

Before & After

The Bronx dweller batted .292 as a first year pro ball in 1947 with the Seaford Eagles of the Eastern Shore League. Giants minor league stops with the Erie Sailors, Idaho Falls Russets (seriously), Jacksonville Tars and Dallas Eagles followed there after before his brief big league breakthrough.

After the backstop’s one game Seals Stadium appearance, Testa was released, but stayed on with the big club as bullpen coach.

“About a month into the season the other two catchers were doing so well, there was no way I was going to play,” Testa told Steve Bitker in his phenomenal 1998 penned book, “The Original San Francisco Giants. .“So (Rigney) says, ‘Would you consider being a bullpen coach the rest of the year?’ And I says, ‘Oh, sure, I’d love to.’ I was probably the youngest bullpen coach in the majors at 29.”

Testa returned the minors in 1959, playing another six seasons, and a year in Japan before retiring from organized baseball.

But in many ways Testa departure from professional baseball was just the start of his baseball experience.

Testa would continue to play, coach and manage for years in adult hardball leagues from New Jersey to Italy and England to Panama and Columbia. Testa once estimated that he had played in 3,000 games for 24 teams.

Testa was also head coach baseball at New York’s Lehman College and served as a popular full-time batting practice pitcher for both his hometown Mets and Yankees.

He Never Had a Bobblehead Day. But…

Testa entered his solitary big league game at Seals Stadium as a pinch-runner in the 8th inning with the Giants trailing the Cardinals 7-3. Testa was stranded on second, then remained in the game to catch incoming reliever Marv Grissom.

During his career Testa was known for his rugged catching skills, quick release and forceful throwing arm.

But Testa struggled behind the dish in his lone big league game.

Testa’s one out peg to nab Cardinals base stealer Don Blasingame, a future Giant, was high and late. The “Blazer” eventually scored on a Stan Musial double.

Later in the inning Testa was changed with a error when he muffed a wind blown foul pop up by Del Ennis.

Trailing 7-4 heading into the bottom of the 9th, the Giants rallied to score four runs to pull out an improbable 8-7 victory with all runs scoring after two outs were recorded by St. Louis.

Two runs scored on a Orlando Cepeda triple down the left field line that bounded over the head of Ennis. Testa was gearing to bat when Daryl Spencer followed by clocking a hanging curve from St. Louis pitcher Phil Clark over the left-field barrier for a game winning round-tripper.

Delirious fans showered the field with rented seat cushions.

The win was bittersweet for Testa. Despite finally playing in a big league game, he never got to chance to take his turn at-bat.

Testa was in the “hole” – two batters down the line- when Spencer bashed his game winning round tripper.

Giant Footprint:

Since relocating to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants have had five “Cup of Coffee” participants, i.e. players who played in one game, and one game only, in the majors: Testa, RHP John Fitzgerald, LHP Marshall Renfroe, RHP Jeff Stember and RHP Dan Slania.

Testa was the first, and the only non-pitcher.

Ray’s Baz taking care of Biz shuts out A’s in 1-0 in 1:54 special

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Tampa Bay Rays starter Shane Baz heads to the dugout in the bottom of the fifth inning against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tampa Bay (63-62). 000 000 010. 1 3 0

Athletics (54-72). 000 000 000. 0 3 0

Time: 1:54

Attendance: 4,377

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–We’ve become accustomed to well pitched, tight games at the site of the doomed pleasure palace off the Nimitz freeway, and this Tuesday night’s contest between the flirting with .500 Floridians from Tampa Bay and the too late surging Oakland Athletics (54-72) about to desert the bay for Sacramento and the desert was no exception. The Tampa Bay Rays (63-62) wound up on top, 1-0, in a game that could have gone either way.

The Athletics’ starting pitcher Joey Estes, hadn’t been part of the team’s recent renaissance that had given them a 24-15 record since July 1, the fourth best in the majors and earned them sole possession in the AL West, but he sure did pitch masterfully Tuesday night.

The 22 year old right hander pitched deep into the game, 7-2/3 innings, before Estes surrendered his third, and final hit. Unfortunately, it was a home run to José Siri, a 415 foot blast that went over the Sports California sign in center field, his 15th round tripper and 39th RBI of the year.

It brought his batting average up to .195. Aside from that one bad pitch, a 92 mph four seamer, you couldn’t have asked Estes for a better performance. A double by Yandy Díaz in the sixth was the only other extra base hit he allowed.

Estes faced 19 batters, throwing them 94 pitches, only 27 of them balls, issuing but one free pass. But he took the loss, leaving him with a record of 5-6, 4.44. Michel Otáñez got Yandy Díaz to ground out to short for the third out and then put the Rays down in order in the ninth.

Tampa Bay’s Shane Baz was just a smidgen better than Estes. He, too, lasted 7-2/3 frames and surrendered three hits . He walked three and struck out four. All of the hits against him were singles. 31 of his 92 deliveries were balls.

The win improved his season’s record to 1-2, 3.48). Edwin Uceda relieved Daz after Darell Hernaíz got the A’s third and final hit. He pitched a perfect ninth to earn his first save.

Miguel Andj́ar, Sean Langeliers, and Darell Hernaíz were the only A’s not held hitless. Langeliers’ safety was on a high bouncing ball to third. Tampa Bay’s Díaz was the only batter on either team logged a multi-hit game.

The match up for the third encounter of this four game series will start Wednesday, evening at 6:40pm PT and feature right handers Mitch Spence (7-8 , 4.54) for the Athletics and Ryan Pepiot (6-5, 3.69). If it’s anything like the first two games of this series, it’ll be great fun to watch.