San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Bailey on ten day IL with Oblique Strain; Casali in as starting catcher

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San Francisco Giants Chris Casali swings for an RBI single against the Chicago White Sox in front of Sox catcher Corey Lee at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Aug 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris he’s known as dependable Matt as Matt Chapman took Chicago White Sox pitching deep in the bottom of the sixth inning to help pace the Giants in a 5-3 win on Monday night here at Oracle Park.

#2 For Chapman it was his 20th home run and he’s raking some of the home runs that he’s had this season had been key in either winning games or sparking the offense.

#3 The Giants got some good pitching from starter Kyle Harrison who allowed one run and five hits and walked two hitters.

#4 Harrison on Monday pitched in the fifth straight game where the Giants have limited their opponents to three or fewer runs.

#5 The White Sox and Giants in game two of this three game series at Oracle Park and the Sox will start RHP Davis Martin (0-1, ERA 3.00) and for the Giants LHP Robbie Ray (2-2, ERA 6.00) first pitch 6:45pm tonight.

Morris Phillips is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Las Vegas Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Evaluating Pierce’s decision to go with Minshew as starter

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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) was tabbed starting quarterback by head coach Antonio Pierce for the 2024 season. Minshew is seen here throwing against the Dallas Cowboys last Sat Aug 17, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (AP News photo)

On the Las Vegas Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce announced after last Saturday’s game that quarterback Gardner Minshew would be the starting quarterback for the Raiders. The competition was stiff between Minshew and Aidan O’Connell but Minshew won it out.

#2 Pierce said that some of what Minshew showed in pre season games showed in practices which counted towards the decision.

#3 Pierce said says while the quarterback situation is not a finished product and based off what Pierce has seen he feels Minshew gives the Raiders the best chance.

#4 Minshew is in his sixth year in the NFL and started last season with the Indianapolis Colts and led them to the post season. Minshew does come in with experience and credentials that could help the Raiders.

#5 The Raiders conclude the pre season with the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on Fri Aug 23rd in Las Vegas. Since announcing Minshew as the starter do you see him sitting out that last pre season game and O’Connell taking most of the game’s snaps?

Join Tony Renteria for the Raiders podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Miguel Tejada Inducted into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame

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left to right, Manolo Hernandez Douen, Amaury Pi Gonzalez, and Miguel Tejada celebrate Tejada’s induction into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame on Sat Aug 17, 2024 at the Oakland Coliseum (photo by Jose Orellana KIQI radio)

Miguel Tejada Inducted into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–On Sunday, the 18th of August, before the second game of the last ever Bay Bridge series against the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland A’s ceremony on the field officially inducted these players as the sixth Oakland A’s Hall of Fame class of 2024. Born in the Dominican Republic, Miguel Tejada, born in Cuba, José Canseco, who choked up at ther end of his acceptance speech on the field, saying he never dreamed of receiving this honor.

A sunny and joyful afternoon at the Coliseum in front of 32,727 A’s and Giants fans it resembled a big family during an Oakland historic and sad day. We will never again see the Oakland A’s play the San Francisco Giants at this Oakland Alameda-County Coliseum, the home of the four-time World Series champion Oakland A’s.

This was indeed a historic day here in the East Bay. The Giants arrived from New York in 1958, and the A’s from Kansas City in 1968. Numerous families in the Bay Area share fans for each team. They have been friendly geographical rivals ever since.

Miguel Tejada visited the A’s Spanish Radio booth, something the affable ex-player has done in the past, but this time sporting a very bright, nice green jacket, minutes after being inducted into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame. A humble Miguel Tejada told us about his inspiration for baseball, his Dominican Republic compatriot Juan Marichal.

I asked Miguel about his family, who accompanied him in receiving this well-deserved honor. I asked him about his 10-year-old son, and he told me he was playing baseball and might be another shortstop.

Miguel Tejada played for the A’s from 1997 to 2003. A six-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, the 2002 American League MVP, and the 2005 All-Star game MVP. His career spanned 16 years, mainly with the A’s, and he made stops later in Baltimore, Houston, San Diego, and San Francisco.

In his better years, he was wearing Green and Gold. Inducted also; Hall of Fame Broadcaster Bill King (1927-2005), Manager Dick Williams (1921-2011), and Eddie Joost, who was born in San Francisco and played in the 1940s as an infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics. Carney Lansford, a 2023 inductee, was also there.

In 2019, A’s Cuban-born shortstop Dagoberto Blanco (Campy) Campaneris, the great lead-off hitter who Reggie Jackson once called a key piece of the A’s 1970s dynasty, was inducted into the Oakland A’s Hall of Fame.

Campy played the most number of games in Oakland Athletics franchise history, with 1,795 games in his career. Campaneris was the A’s shortstop during those three consecutive World Championships in 1972-73-74. Campy Campaneris is the A’s Franchise All-Time Hits Leader (1882), All-Time Plate Appearances Leader (7895), All-Time At Bats Leader (7180),

Tremendous shortstop defensively, a base stealer, a great bunter (a lost art today), and an excellent teammate. He is a humble man who represented his country of Cuba, Major League Baseball, and the Oakland Athletics, as well as anybody I know.

There are no more ceremonies scheduled for the A’s in 2024. The A’s missed retiring #19, the number Dagoberto Blanco (Campy) Campaneris wore during their dynasty of the 70s. Unfortunately, fans who wanted to see his number retired will never see it.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants get too-close-for-comfort 5-3 win over White Sox in series opener

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San Francisco Giants third coach Matt Williams (9) congratulates Matt Chapman (right) who scored on a sixth inning home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon Aug 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

Monday, Aug. 19, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Chicago White Sox 3 (30-96)

San Francisco Giants 5 (64-63)

Win: Kyle Harrison (7-5)

Loss: Jonathan Cannon (2-7)

Save: Jordan Hicks (1)

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 29,209

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants got back over .500 with a 5-3 win that was too close for comfort against a team like the White Sox, but their offense came back to life with runners in scoring positions, as the Giants were saying so we’ll take it!

After the Giants snuck out of Oakland with a 4-2 win thanks to their home run-happy offense Sunday, they returned home across the bay to play the worst team in Baseball, the Chicago White Sox. Every couple of years or so, we get that one really bad team that threatens to overtake the 1962 New York Mets, who went 40-120, for the most losses in a single season.

The White Sox came into tonight’s game 30-95, on pace to go 39-123. Perhaps, the 2024 Chicago White Sox will be that team. With the Giants fighting to stay in contention for the third and final wild card spot in the National League, they were playing a team that they not only had to sweep, but that they had to absolutely pound into the ground.

Left-hander Kyle Harrison made the start for the Giants Monday night, and he got his night started with a pair of one, two, three innings. Though Harrison owes it to center-fielder Grant McCray, who took a hit away from Luis Robert Jr. with a great diving catch with one out in the top of the first inning.

Jonathan Cannon made the start for the South Siders, and he also got his night started with a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the first. Cannon then threw a scoreless bottom of the second.

Harrison ran into trouble in the top of the third, as the White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out. Harrison struck Lenyn Sosa out on three pitches for the first out, and that brought up Robert, who would get robbed by great defense again.

Robert hit a ground ball to the right side, and second-baseman Thairo Estrada, who was activated off the Injured List and in the lineup for the first time since July 25, dove to his left to field it and turn an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Cannon threw a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the third, and Harrison escaped another jam in the top of the fourth.

Harrison was in trouble again in the top of the fifth, as the White Sox had Brooks Baldwin at second with two outs. Robert, who was robbed of hits in the first and third, would not be robbed this time, as he lined a base-hit the other way to right field to score Baldwin.

The Giants had wasted an opportunity in the bottom of the fourth, and now they were losing to the worst team in Baseball.

Estrada and McCray singled with one out, and the Giants had themselves another golden opportunity. Curt Casali then came up and shot a base-hit off the end of the bat to right-center that knocked in Estrada to tie it. It was a much-needed RBI hit with a runner in scoring position for the Giants, who were surprisingly not done yet.

Tyler Fitzgeraled lined a double down the left field line to score McCray and give the Giants the lead. LaMonte Wade hit a sharp ground ball to first that shot off the glove of the diving Lenyn Sosa, and Casali scored to make it 3-1.

The Giants were getting big RBI hits with runners in scoring position and keeping the line moving. They have been more than capable of doing that all year, which makes it all the more disappointing that they have struggled doing so throughout the season. If this offense kept doing this after the Giants won 10 of 12 at the end of May, who knows where they would stand right now.

Heliot Ramos was then able to knock in Fitzgerald with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-1. The Giants had their first four-run inning since their four-run 10th inning on Aug. 8 when they won that insane game in our nation’s capital in their effort to skip down before Tropical Storm Debby got in.

After three-straight rocky innings, Harrison settled down to end his night on a high note with a one, two, three top of the sixth. Harrison gave up just one run over six innings, but his outing was pretty much half and half, as he had three one, two, three innings, and three shaky innings. Harrison was quite lucky that the offense picked him up in the bottom of the fifth.

Matt Chapman led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left off Cannon to make it 5-1. For Chapman, it was his 20th home run of the season. Cannon then retired the side to end his night.

Erik Miller threw a scoreless top of the seventh for the Giants, and the Giants wasted an opportunity to add on against Gus Varland in the bottom of the seventh. It was a wasted opportunity that would make this game a bit scary in the final two innings.

Bob Melvin brought in Spencer Bivens for the top of the eighth, and he ran into trouble when the White Sox put runners at second and third with one out. That would be it for Bivens, as with the Giants trying to stay in contention, Melvin wasted no time going to his eighth inning man, Tyler Rogers.

Miguel Vargas hit a sacrifice fly to left, and Robert scored to make it 5-2. White Sox Manager Grady Sizemore then had Gavin Sheets pinch-hit, and Sheets floated a base-hit to center to knock in Korey Lee and make it 5-3.

Rogers escaped further damage in the top of the eighth, and Chad Kuhl pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth for the White Sox.

Ryan Walker pitched two innings in Oakland yesterday, so he was not available Monday night. Instead, Melvin went with Jordan Hicks, who had 12 saves last season. However, the White Sox made things scary for Hicks and the Giants in the top of the ninth.

Brooks Baldwin singled to lead off the inning, and Robert lined a base-hit to left with one out. It was Robert’s third hit of the game, and if it wasn’t for the defense of Grant McCray and Thairo Estrada, Robert may have very well had himself a five-hit night.

The White Sox had runners at first and second with one out. Andrew Vaughn flew out to left for the second out, but with Korey Lee at the plate, a passed ball by Casali allowed the runners to get to second and third.

The White Sox were quite possibly a base-hit away from tying this thing. Lee worked the count full, but on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Hicks threw a sinker at the top of the zone that Lee just got a bit too much underneath of, and he flew out to left-center to end it.

Kyle Harrison got the win; Jonathan Cannon got the loss; and Jordan Hicks picked up his first save of the season.

The Giants finally had an inning where they got RBI hits with runners in scoring position, but it was their pitching that let them down Monday night. I get that we should be celebrating after a win, and we should, but against a team like the White Sox, this game was a lot closer and scarier than it should have been. The Giants did win though, so we’ll take it, but just make it cleaner Tuesday!

The Giants are back over .500 at 64-63, and since the Braves were off Monday night, the Giants are three and a half games back of Atlanta for the third wild card.

The Giants and White Sox will be at it again in this 1917 World Series Rematch Tuesday. Robbie Ray (2-2, 6.00 ERA) will make the start for the Giants, and Davis Martin (0-1, 3.00 ERA) will take the ball for Chicago. First pitch will be at 6:45 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

  1. Padres 71-55 +4.0
  2. Diamondbacks 70-56 +3.0
  3. Braves 66-58 —

Mets 65-60 1.5

GIANTS 64-63 3.5

Cardinals 61-63 5.0

*Reds 61-64 5.5

*Cubs 61-64 5.5

*Tiebreaking procedures taken into account.

Giants News and Notes:

With Thairo Estrada being activated off the Injured List prior to the game, Brett Wisely was sent back down to Triple-A Sacramento.

A’s starter Boyle throws gas in 3-0 shutout over Rays at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s starter Joe Boyle delivers against the Tampa Bay Rays in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Aug 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tampa Bay (62-62) 000 000 000 0 2 1

Athletics (54-70) 200 010 00x 3 6 1

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 3,938

Monday, August 19, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This comfortable August evening, the incipient I’m a Stranger Here Myself Athletics, fresh from splitting and coming within a hare’s breath of sweeping the Bay Bridge Series, opened a four game series Monday night against the team representing the region spanned by another Bay Bridge, the one that connects Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The resultant 3-0 Athletic triumph brought the team’s record to 54-71, playing well above .500 since July 1st, the fourth best in the majors since that date. The Rays fell to 62-62.The attendance was a little over 10% of Saturday evening’s afternoon crowd for the Giants game and less than 10% of the number of mourners at Sunday afternoon’s wake.

The unhoused occupants of the homeless encampment known as the Coliseum got six full and shut out innings out of southpaw Joy Boyle, who dispatched the 24 Rays he faced on two hits, a walk, and a wild pitch.

His brilliant performance earned him his third win against five losses while reducing his ERA to 6.21. Grant Holman and TJ McFarland, held the Rays off the board in the seventh and eighth frames, respectively. The former allowed a base on balls; each of them notched a strikeout. Mason Miller came through with his 19th save, allowing only a 3-2, two out walk to José Siri.

The A’s opened the scoring early and never looked back. Lawrence Butler drew a leadoff walk against Rays starter Taj Bradley, who did a pretty good job on the mound himself. Indeed, he followed Butler’s free pass by whiffing Brett Rooker.

JJ Bleday, however, had Bradley’s number. Bleday’s were 16 (his HR total for the season), 388 (the feet it travelled into the left field seats), 102.6 (the blast’s exit velocity), and 91.2 (the speed of Bradley’s 1-1 four seamer). The green and gold scored only once more, but with the pitching they got, even that was superfluous.

Zack Gelof defied The Curse of the Leadoff Double. Max Schuermann sacrificed him over to third, and Butler’s 362 foot sac fly to right brought him home for the final tally of the game.

Bradley was charged with the loss, which left him with a record of 6-8, 3.55. Like Boyle, Tampa Bay’s starter had toiled six frames before his exit. He gave up five hits, and the three runs scored against him were earned. He struck out three and walked two.

53 of his 89 deliveries counted as strikes. Richard Loveland allowed a single to Abraham Toro, struck out Gelof and Butler, and uncorked a wild pitch while shutting out the A’s in the seventh. Joel Kuhnel, recalled earlier in the day from the Durham Bulls, struck out a couple of Athletics in a perfect eighth.

The Athletics benefited from a replay review in the bottom of the fourth. Seth Brown originally was called safe at first on what would have been a 6-4-3 double play. Tampa Bay challenged the decision, which was overruled, and Brown was out on a 6-4-3 double play.

Another intimate gathering is expected Tuesday, evening at 6:40. Right handers Shane Baz (0-2, 4.21) of the Rays and Joey Estes (5-5, 4.72) for the As will entertain the guests.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants host sliding White Sox for three game set at Oracle tonight

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San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski (left) is congratulated by Tyler Fitzgerald (49) after the Giants 10th inning win over the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 18, 2024 (@SFGiants X photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Marko, the San Francisco Giants who won the second game of the brief two game series at the Oakland Coliseum did some damage in the top of the tenth inning with the score tied 1-1 when Jerar Encarnacion belted his second home run of the season a two run shot to center to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.

#2 Michael Conforto followed up Encarnacion with his 13th home run of the season a blast to right for 395 feet to give the Giants a 4-1 lead and it looked like the Giants were going to put this one away.

#3 Not so fast the Oakland A’s in the bottom of the tenth inning never a team to give up made a valiant effort to get back in the ball game when they cut the Giants lead in half to two runs when Max Schuemann hit a ball to Giants second baseman Brett Wisely who made a fielding error and allowed Lawrence Butler to score making it 4-2.

#4 With the bases loaded and two out and a chance to tie it up A’s hitter Shea Langeliers struck out swinging and the Giants came away with a 4-2 win to conclude the final Bay Bridge Series resulting in a split.

#5 The Giants will open up a three game series starting Monday night at 6:45pm PT against the Chicago White Sox. The Sox will start RHP Jonathan Cannon (2-6, ERA 4.02) for the Giants LHP Kyle Harrison (6-5, ERA 4.14)

Marko Ukalovic does the San Francisco Giants podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: A’s keep rolling and playing solid ball; Opposing teams know A’s are the team to beat

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San Francisco Giant Mike Yastrzemski is tagged out by the Oakland A’s Max Schuemann at second base at the Oakland Coliseum Mon Aug 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The A’s are rolling they have won five of their last seven games and are now 16-10 since the All Star Game and is the sixth best record in MLB and are currently 53-71.

#2 The A’s have won more games than last season and are just seven games short of their 60 wins in 2022.

#3 The A’s are now tied for fourth place with the Los Angeles Angels for fourth place in the AL West and could move into third place if they could eclipse the Angels with a successful four game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

#4 The A’s so far are 8-6 in the month of August. There is no doubt since going 15-9 in July that teams are gearing up for the A’s knowing they had one of the best records in baseball in July.

#5 Just had to ask the Las Vegas Stadium Authority held a meeting last Thursday and LVSA CEO Steven Hill who headed the meeting was confident that the A’s would have their financial house in order by the October 17th meeting and that the A’s share of the construction should all in place by that time. The A’s said their financing $350 million and getting private financing $850 million in private equity. Can the A’s pull off the financing for the Las Vegas ballpark before the December deadline?

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcasts Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s open three game match with Rays tonight at Coliseum

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San Francisco Giants Matt Chapman (26) tags out the Oakland A’s JJ (33) at third base in the bottom of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 Barbara, the San Francisco Giants who won the second game of the brief two game series at the Oakland Coliseum did some damage in the top of the tenth inning with the score tied 1-1 when Jerar Encarnacion belted his second home run of the season a two run shot to center to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.

#2 Michael Conforto followed up Encarnacion with his 13th home run of the season a blast to right for 395 feet to give the Giants a 4-1 lead and it looked like the Giants were going to put this one away.

#3 Not so fast the Oakland A’s in the bottom of the tenth inning never a team to give up made a valiant effort to get back in the ball game when they cut the Giants lead in half to two runs when Max Schuemann hit a ball to Giants second baseman Brett Wisely who made a fielding error and allowed Lawrence Butler to score making it 4-2.

#4 With the bases loaded and two out and a chance to tie it up A’s hitter Shea Langeliers struck out swinging and the Giants came away with a 4-2 win to conclude the final Bay Bridge Series resulting in a split.

#5 The A’s will open a three game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Coliseum Monday night at 6:40pm PT. Starting pitchers for the Rays RHP Taj Bradley (6-7, ERA 3.49) for the A’s RHP Joe Boyle (2-5, ERA 7.39)

Barbara Mason does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers Handle New Orleans Saints 16-10 in Second Pre-Season Game

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) is under pressure from San Francisco 49ers defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (middle) and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott in first half action at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sun Aug 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco 49ers (1-1) beat the New Orleans Saints (1-1) in their second pre-season game 16-10. Brock Purdy played three series but a larger number of starters did not take the field which included Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Nick Bosa. It is not known if they will be available to play in the final pre-season game due to numerous injuries that persist right now.

The new kickoff rule that has been put in place could have played a role but with all the injuries it is something that every team is dealing with so they had better get it straight.

New Orleans played their starters with Derek Carr at the helm and the 49ers dealt with a pretty good defense led by Cameron Jordan and Anfernee Orji. Wide receiver Chris Olave no doubt gave San Francisco a run for their money.

Game recap: There was no score at the end of the first quarter but the Saints had put together an impressive drive going into the second quarter. Carr and company had driven down inside the ten yard line for a first and goal.

Carr had completed seven of nine passes for 47 yards. New Orleans went for it on fourth down on the 1/2 yard line and scored the touchdown. Taysom Hill the Saints “swiss army” scored. The Saints can depend on this guy who can play any offensive position and he is a good one. They had finished off an extended drive that had started on their own five yard line for the early 7-0 lead.

San Francisco drove downfield in the second quarter coming up short and was forced to kick the field goal. Jake Moody took the field kicking a 47 Yd Field Goal giving the 49ers their first points of the day. San Francisco quarterback Joshua Dobbs was perfect going six of six for 48 yards putting San Francisco in field goal range. It was a nice drive for the 49ers.

Saints young quarterback Spencer Rattler got his chance under center coughing up the ball on the fourth snap and San Francisco gobbled it up taking possession. Rattler got sacked and couldn’t hang onto the ball and the 49ers were in business.

49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs drove inside the ten yard line for a San Francisco first and goal and a chance to take the lead in this game. A couple of penalties later, the Niners were looking at a third and goal and were eventually forced to kick another field goal. Jake Moody kicked his second field goal of the game for 24 yards.

The Saints were unable to make much of an impact on their next possession. San Francisco took over on downs and had a near perfect two minute drive to end the half. Dobbs drove the team inside the ten yard line for a first and goal. On fourth and goal, Dobbs took the ball into the end zone himself giving San Francisco a 13-7 lead at the half.

Despite four incomplete passes from the Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler in the third quarter the Saints were able to get within field goal range. Kicker Blake Grupe made a 52 yard field goal and the Saints were within three points of San Francisco trailing 13-10.

The score remained 13-10 going into the fourth quarter. San Francisco held the Saints throughout the final quarter and tacked on their third field goal for the final score of 16-10. Jake Moody kicked a 36 yard field goal mid-way through the quarter. Moody had been perfect the entire game.

Game notes: Sunday evening the 49ers hosted the Saints at Levi Stadium. This was the 49ers second pre-season game after dropping their first to the Titans last Saturday 17-13. There had been some practices scheduled this week but they were unfortunately called off due to injuries.

Fans will be able to see a few Brock Purdy series and Fred Warner and the defensive starters who remain healthy may also be seen since they were warming up pre-game but there are a slew of starters that are banged up and did not play. As it turned out Fred Warner would not play along with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Nick Bosa to name a few. In all there were a dozen players who did not take the field.

The 49ers will take on the Las Vegas Raiders in their final pre-season game which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas next Friday night with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Las Vegas Aces Return to Form Beating Los Angeles Sparks 87-71

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The Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby (50) gets her shot blocked by the Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas on Sun Aug 18, 2024 (photo by Las Vegas Aces)

By Barbara Mason

The Las Vegas Aces (17-9) struggled through the first quarter against the Los Angeles Sparks (6-21) but began to turn it all around in the second quarter. It was full speed ahead as the fourth quarter wore on as A’Ja Wilson and the Aces put the hurt on the Sparks. Wilson celebrated another double double finishing with 13 rebounds and 34 points.

Game recap: Her focus was to slow down the Sparks and she was more than convincing getting stop after stop. They had really turned yesterday’s loss around playing some solid ball in today’s game particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

Las Vegas just could not get on top of this game in the first quarter and the game was tied after the first ten minutes of play at 21. The Aces started to turn it around in the second quarter taking a 44-37 lead at halftime winning the second 23-16.

Las Vegas has been typically a second half team and they did win the third quarter 20-16 extending their lead 64-52. They had really turned this game around with discipline and tenacity something they had been lacking against New York Saturday.

The Aces were dominating from beyond the arc and A’Ja Wilson kept this game in hand in the paint making her presence known throughout the game and with less than six minutes left in the game had yet another double double with 11 rebounds and 27 points.

She was all over the court keeping this game in check. The fourth quarter saw Las Vegas take a stranglehold on the game and while the Sparks continued to fight, the Aces refused to let their foot off the pedal. Any move that Los Angeles made was answered by Las Vegas throughout the fourth quarter and with less than three minutes left in the game the Aces had an 82-68 lead. The final was 87-71.

It was a frustrating loss for the Sparks who managed the game fairly well in the first half but came apart in the second particularly in the final minutes of the game. Las Vegas surged in those final minutes and there was no stopping them. A’Ja Wilson finished with 13 rebounds and 34 points. Kelsey Plum had 18 points and Jackie Young had an improved game with ten points although we have seen a lot more from her and that is yet to come.

Game notes: After a loss Saturday to the Liberty, a pretty convincing Liberty win 79-67, the Aces turned around and beat the Sparks at Michelob ULTRA Arena Sunday afternoon. The Aces got back into the form that they had just prior to heading over to Paris for the Olympics. Saturday’s loss was tough, the team was just out of sync. The Aces had a slow start to the season but had really turned it on after the first few weeks of the season really amping it up playing some impressive basketball.

Wednesday evening the Aces will have their hands full with back to back games against the Minnesota Lynx the first game in Las Vegas and the second game Friday night in Minnesota. Las Vegas winning those games could shake up the standings at bit although there is still a lot of basketball still to be played.

This will be a challenging assignment for the Aces and they will need all hands on deck. There is no doubt they have the talent to pull this off. It all begins this Wednesday evening as the series gets underway with tipoff scheduled for 6:30 PM. This game will air on ESPN.