Big fourth inning sparks Diamondbacks to 5-3 win over Giants

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The Arizona Diamondbacks Daulton Varsho (12) signals safe and San Francisco Giants catcher Joey Bart (right) holds the ball up to show umpire in the bottom of the fourth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sat Sep 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, September 24, 2022

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Arizona batted around in the fourth inning, an outburst that provided the Diamondbacks and starting pitcher Merrill Kelly with all the offense they needed to defeat San Francisco 5-3 Saturday.

The loss snapped a five-game Giants winning streak.

Kelly (13-7) continued his mastery over the Giants, giving up two earned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out six. Reyes Moronta struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth to get his second save.

The Diamondbacks tallied five times while sending nine hitters to the plate in the fourth. Pavin Smith and Daulton Varsho led off the inning with back-to-back singles off Alex Cobb (6-7), and Christian Walker followed with an RBI single, driving in Smith.

A one-out walk to Josh Rojas loaded the bases, then Alek Thomas hit into a fielder’s choice to first. Wilmer Flores threw home, but his throw pulled the catcher, Joey Bart, off the plate, allowing Varsho to score, and the bases remained loaded. Carson Kelly’s sacrifice fly to center drove in Walker, and Geraldo Perdomo singled to right, driving in Rojas and Thomas.

“Two things – did Wilmer actually get the bag with his foot, and unless you get that close-up angle, it was pretty difficult to tell,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “The second thing – I think Joey thought he still had his foot on the plate. Then he had to reach for the ball and that pulled him off the plate. I think all of that happened really fast.

“Maybe Wilmer thought he grazed the bag and thought he could get two outs. I don’t think anybody is at fault. I think it was a very tricky play that didn’t turn out in our favor.”

Mike Yastrzemski led off the Giants sixth with a 413-foot home run to right, his 15th of the season, cutting the San Francisco deficit to 5-2. Yastrzemski, who was 2-for-3, also had a double in the first inning.

The Giants scored first on an RBI single by Jason Vosler in the fourth, driving in Brandon Crawford, who reached on a two-out single.

Cobb threw 93 pitches in five innings, giving up all five Diamondback runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked two.

The weekend series concludes on Sunday afternoon. Drew Jameson (2-1, 1.38) starts for the Diamondbacks, while San Francisco has yet to announce a starter, and could opt for a bullpen game.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: LHP Thomas Szapucki left Saturday’s game with left hip tightness. Kapler said the decision to pull Szapucki was a precautionary measure. … San Francisco made a number of roster moves prior to Saturday’s game – OF Luis Gonzalez was placed on the 10-day injured list (lower back strain), INF-C Ford Proctor was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento, and OF Lewis Brinson cleared waivers and was outrighted to the River Cats. … Proctor became the 65th player used by the Giants this season, setting a franchise record in that category. … Announced attendance on Saturday at Chase Field was 24,504. The outside temperature at game time was 102 degrees. Time of the game was 2:37.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s take over Mets deGrom in 10-4 win at Coliseum

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The Oakland A’s Shea Langeliers swings for an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum Sat Sep 24, 2022 against the visiting New York Mets (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The New York Mets (96-57) started out Saturday’s contest scoring three runs in the top of the first inning going to the bottom of the first inning the Oakland A’s (56-96) knew they had a tough customer in Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom.

#2 Bottom of the first the A’s came back to take the lead when Dermis Garcia hit for a two RBIs doubled in left, then Conner Capel who had four RBIs in the game grounded to second to score Seth Brown to tie up the game and Shea Langeliers hit a double to score Dermis Garcia for a 4-3 A’s lead.

#3 The Mets would get the tie again in the top of the second but the A’s would take the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning when Brown belted his 24th home run of the season to the deepest part of the ballpark at 414 feet for a 5-4 lead.

#4 The A’s chipped away at Mets pitching getting a run in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and picking two more in the bottom of the eighth inning to win a laugher 10-4.

#5 Game 3 of the series at the Coliseum on Sunday the Mets will send out their ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer (10-4, 2.15) he’ll face the A’s JP Sears (6-2, 3.58) a 1:07 pm PDT first pitch at the Coliseum.

Charlie O did the A’s podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com. Charlie will be back for the Sacramento Kings podcasts on Sundays after the conclusion of the A’s season.

PURE INSURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP: Despite delay, Stankowski, Duke pick up the pace

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Pure Insurance Championship concludes on Sun Sep 25th at Spyglass Hill at Pebble Beach (PGA photo)

By Jeremy Harness

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Saturday’s second round got off to a slow start, as foggy conditions caused a three-hour delay, forcing roughly half of the field to not be able to finish their rounds, meaning that those groups will resume play early Sunday morning, barring any more fog.

Timothy O’Neal, Steve Flesch and Chris DiMarco closed their first round on Friday tied for the lead, as each player shot a six-under 66.

However, it was Paul Stankowski who overtook all of them on Saturday, as he shot a five-under 67 at Spyglass Hill to vault into a tie for the lead. Since he was one of the few players who was able to finish, he’ll get few more hours of rest, as he would have to wait until the entire field has concluded its second round, which is not expected to happen until Sunday afternoon.

Stankowski birdied the first two holes of the day and then added another birdie at the par-5 seventh. He added two more birdies on the back nine without a single blemish on his scorecard. In addition, he hit all 14 of his fairways while hitting 12 of his 18 greens.

Ken Duke, who was one of the last players to keep his PGA Tour card by earnings alone – the PGA Tour discontinued this following the 2017-18 season – went on a tear on the back nine at Pebble Beach with three birdies, including a birdie at the par-five 18th to tie Stankowski at the top, shortly after the horn went off to announce the completion of play.

For clarification, when the horn is sounded, a player has the option of either finishing the hole (s)he is on, or simply marking his or her ball and going back to that spot the following morning.

Lee Janzen was briefly tied for the lead after birdieing his 15th and 16th holes at Spyglass, but a damaging double-bogey on his 17th hole, the par-four eighth, dropped him out of the lead and into a three-way tie for third.

Flesch finished his second round one shot behind Stankowski, as his one-under round of 71 placed him in a tie for second with Steven Alker.

Cal grad Charlie Wi matched Stankowski for the low round of the day, as he shot a bogey-free round of 67, including an eagle at the par-five seventh. He is in a tie for third at six-under overall with Brett Quigley.

Play was officially been suspended at around 7pm PDT, and play will commence at 7:30am PST in order for the second round to be completed, with the intention of allowing enough time for the third and final round to be completed.

A’s are all over Mets deGrom in 10-4 six run win at Coliseum

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New York (NL) (96-57). 4. 9. 0

Oakland (56-96). 10 14. 0

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Oakland A’s Seth Brown rounds the bases after hitting a solo shot against New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom in the bottom of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Sep 24, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Ken Waldichuk is not a household name. He came to the Athletics at this year’s trade along with Luis Medina, JP Sears, and Cooper Bowman in the deal that sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx.

A fifth round choice of the Yankees in the 2019 draft, he entered today’s matinee at 0-2, 7.13 in the bigs and was 6-4, 2.84 in his 2022 minor league appearances, all as a starter. Waldichuk is hoping to pitch well enough to ensure himself a permanent spot on the A’s 2023 roster.

The green and gold’s rookie left hander’s performance in the Athletics’ stunning 10-4 triumph over the visiting New York Mets wasn’t outstanding, but he stuck around long enough to earn the win hurling five frames and yielding four runs, all earned, on five hits, two of which went yard, and notching four Ks. He didn’t walk anyone but did hit two batters, which isn’t unusual for pitchers facing the Mets. His ERA crept up to 7.15.

Waldichuk’s mound opponent, Jacob DeGrom also is a candidate for a roster spot … in Cooperstown. DeGrom is primarily a fastball and slider pitcher who uses his change and curve effectively.

He brought a lifetime record of 82-55, 2.49 to the game today and was 5-2, 2.32 for the season. The 34 year old right hander had been on the injured list w for almost 13 months after damaging his elbow. He was reinstated to the active list on August 2.

DeGrom wasn’t in Hall of Fame form this afternoon, allowing the A’s to score early and often. He lasted only four innings but managed to throw 80 pitches in the short stint. 30 of them were balls. He gave up five runs, all earned, on six hits, including a home run.

DeGrom struck out five and walked four Athletics. He left trailing 5-4, and was tagged with the loss, giving him a season’s record of 5-3, 2.93.

Before the game began, Oakland made room for Ernie Clement, whom they acquired from Cleveland yesterday, by designating Sheldon Neuse for assignment.

The visitors went ahead in their first turn at bat, urged on by loud and frequent cheers of “Let’s Go, Mets,” and “Pete A-LON-SO!). James McNeil led off with a solid single to left and moved to third when Mark Canha dropped a single into center field.

Francisco Lindor sent a liner to Tony Kemp in left for the Mets’ first out but also their first tally, McNeill crossing the plate on the sacrifice.

Pete Alsono then whacked a 94 mph four seamer into the stairway above the 367 foot marker in left field for his 38th home run and 122nd, 123rd, and 124th RBI of the year.

That three run lead looked pretty formidable when the A’s came up in their half of the first and Tony Kemp grounded out to first. But Vimael Machín singled to left, and Seth Brown walked to load the bases.

Dermís García then sent a liner to left that looked like it would end up as a sacrifice fly until McNeil stumbled and it became a two run double that put the potential tying run on third. Conner Capel’s ground out to second brought that run in, and Shea Langeliers put the home team ahead 4-3 with a double to left.

One out into the second, Nick Vientos took advantage of the hot Coliseum air to tie the score at four with a 394 homer into the right field seats.

It looked as if DeGrom had found his groove after he set the top of the A’s lineup down in order inthe second, but Seth Brown sent his first offering of the home third just over the low center field fence to put Oakland ahead once more, this time 5-4.

The A’s threatened again in the fourth, putting runners on second and third on a walk to Machín and Murphy’s down the line double to left with two out. Brown hit a vicious liner to the right side that Alonso captured at first with an heroic dive to his right.

Trevor Williams replaced DeGrom to start the fifth and quickly surrendered Oakland’s sixth run on a one out solo round tripper to right by Capel, who made a magnificent catch of Alonso’s foul to right in the next inning. That was the inning in which Austin Pruitt took over from Waldichuk. It ended with a sterling grab of another foul on the opposite side of the diamond by Machín.

Joely Rodríguez replaced Wiliams to start the bottom of the sixth and left four batters later, having gotten two outs but also having surrendered a run on singles to Machín and Brown, interspersed by a ground out by Murphy that advanced Machín to second. Tyler McGill left the bullpen to get the final out with Oakland now ahead 7-4.

It was Adam Ottovino who tried to halt the A’s advance after the seventh inning stretch. He almost pulled it off. Capel led off with a dying quail that popped out of a diving Ruf’s glove when he jarred his arm against the outfield grass, resulting in a triple. Ottovino almost stranded Capel at third, but Allen smacked a single to right, and it was 8-4 Oakland.

It was time for the Athletics’ setup man, AJ Puk, to strut his stuff in the eighth. McNeil sent his first pitch into short center field, where Cristián Pache now was playing. He seemed to lose the ball in the sun, and it fell to earth for a single. In spite of another single, this one to Lindor, Puk and the A’s escaped from the inning unscathed.

Trevor May ws the next Met on the mound, and he had a rough eighth inning. Machín drew a base on balls. After Murphy flew out, Brown lined a double to right, and García walked to load the bases. Capel lined a single to right to bring in two runs and put the Athletics´score into double digits. Ruf’s defense looked dicey on both of the balls hit to him.

Tyler Cyr sealed the Oakland victory with a scoreless ninth, in which he issued a pair of two out walks. A beautiful horizontal grab of Canha’s left field bound liner by shortstop Nick Allen ended the metropolitan threat.

Ironically, Tony Kemp, who had been among the A’s few bright spots at the plate, was the only starter not to get at least one hit, going 0-5. He more than made up for this with his outstanding defense work, most notably at second base, where he was moved in the top of the seventh after playing six frames in left.

Will another HOF candidate bite the dust tomorrow afternoon? We’ll see when, at 1:07, Matt Scherzer (10-4, 2.15) goes against another relative newcomer, JP Sears (6-2, 3.58)

Miller shines in return to the majors, helps Giants to 6-5 win over Snakes

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The San Francisco Giants David Villar (right) gets a forearm bash from teammate Austin Wynns (left) after hitting a two run homer against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Fri Sep 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Friday, September 23, 2022

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Because of the way scoring works in baseball, Shelby Miller didn’t get the win on Friday night in San Francisco’s 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The well-traveled, 31-year-old Miller was just happy for another shot at the major leagues after the Giants selected his contract from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.

“It’s crazy to be back,” Miller said. “And it’s good that it was here in Arizona, where I live, so it’s nice to be back, for sure.”

Miller struck out seven of the 12 Arizona batters he faced in 2 2/3 scoreless innings before he was pulled after giving up a two-out double to Ketel Marte in the eighth. Alex Young (1-1) retired pinch-hitter Daulton Varsho to end the threat. Young was the pitcher of record when the Giants took the lead for good.

“Things went better than I hoped they would,” Miller said. “I felt like I commanded my fastball really well and got ahead of guys. My slider was working; just commanding everything and having the hitters on their heels a little bit.

“That was the plan, to get ahead of these guys and have some success.”

I know the season’s coming to an end, and however I can contribute to this team, I’ll try to help. I don’t know if this will benefit me for next year, but I’ll do the best I can and we’ll see what happens.”

Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Miller’s stuff “looked great,” adding, “I’ve seen Shelby have success in the past and it was nice to see him come through like that. He’s been waiting a long time for this opportunity. He came into this game and gave us exactly what we were looking for – he delivered strikes, he worked fast and forced the action.”

The Giants have won five straight games and nine of their last 13. San Francisco manufactured the eventual winning run in the top of the ninth inning.

After Mike Yastrzemski rapped a two-out single, Evan Longoria reached on a fielder’s choice, moving Yastrzemski to third on an error by Diamondbacks third baseman Sergio Alcantara. J.D. Davis followed with a double to left off Caleb Smith (1-3), driving in Yastrzemski with Longoria thrown out at the plate.

In the D-Backs ninth, San Francisco closer Camilo Doval retired Pavin Smith on a groundout and struck out Christian Walker before pinch-hitter Juan Rojas singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Alex Thomas grounded out to first baseman Davis to wrap up his 25th save.

“Camilo threw a slider at 101, and a sinker at 95 or 96. That’s quite a fluctuation,” Kapler said. “When Camilo introduced the sinker, it changed his arsenal entirely. At one point, the league was sitting on his four-seamer and slider combo. Lefties were giving him a hard time. Since the sinker came out, it’s been a whole different ballgame.”

San Francisco threatened in the seventh against Diamondbacks reliever

Luis Frias when pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. walked, Longoria reached on a two-out single and Davis walked to load the bases. But Frias struck out Brandon Crawford to end the rally.

Giants’ starter Carlos Rodón, pitching on eight days rest to allow a blister on his left hand to heal, left after throwing 93 pitches in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three while giving up four earned runs on four hits.

Kapler said it was “very difficult” to pull Rodón in the fifth inning. “It was difficult because we’ve seen him work out of jams like that in the past. So this was very much a what’s better for Carlos and his future decision. Unfortunately, as difficult as that was, it maybe wasn’t an ideal decision for us as a club.

“If it was the middle of the season, we might have let Carlos throw another 10 or 15 pitches. We felt pretty good about bringing in (Yunior) Marte in that situation. That was a decision, right or wrong, that I felt was best for his future.”

A two-out solo home run by Crawford, his ninth of the season, put San Francisco up 1-0 in the second inning. Austin Wynns hit the first pitch he saw from Diamondbacks starter Tommy Henry and parked it in the left field seats to lead off the third, giving the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Arizona tied the game at 2-2 on Stone Garrett’s fourth home run, a two-run shot with two out in the bottom of the third. After Rodón walked Ketel Marte, Garrett drove a fastball up in the zone to left-center and out of the reach of leftfielder Luis Gonzalez.

San Francisco regained the lead at 4-2 on two-run home run by Austin Wynns in the top of the fourth. Longoria led off the inning with a base hit and was thrown out at second after a shallow fly ball to right, allowing Davis to reach on a fielder’s choice. After Crawford struck out, Wynns homered to left, his second of the season.

The Giants extended their lead to 5-2 on Evan Longoria’s RBI single to left. With two out, Wilmer Flores, who walked and was sacrificed to second by Yastrzemski, scored on Longoria’s sharp grounder down the left field line.

That was the end of the night for Henry, who gave up five earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.

On Saturday, the Giants’ Alex Cobb (6-6, 3.48) faces Arizona’s Merrill Kelly (12-7, 3.15) in a battle of right-handers. Game time is 5:10 p.m.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: LHP Carlos Rodón has a chance to be the sixth Giants pitcher to lead the National League in strikeouts. Rodón is second in the NL with 227 strikeouts, trailing Milwaukee’s Corbin Burns, who has 228 after Friday’s games. Tim Lincecum is the only San Francisco Giant to lead the NL in strikeouts (2006, 2009, 2010). … When RHP Shelby Miller appeared in the sixth inning, he became the 64th player used by the Giants this season. That matches a team record set in 2019. The Cubs, Angels and Pirates have also used 64 players this season; the leader is Cincinnati with 66. … Attendance at Chase Field for the 3-hour, 37-minute game was 25,949.

Mets win over A’s 9-2, move up 2.5 games over Braves in NL East

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Oakland Athletics right fielder Conner Capel tries to make a sliding catch as the New York Mets Mark Vientos ends up with an RBI single in the top of the second inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Sep 23, 2022 (AP News photo)

New York (NL) (96-56). 9. 13. 0

Oakland (55-96). 2. 6. 0

Friday, September 23, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The playoff bound New York Mets, occupying first place in the NL-East, came into existence 60 years ago as a result of a successful franchise leaving town because its host city wouldn’t underwrite the demands of a rapacious owner for a new ball park.

Only two seasons had passed since the Brooklyn Dodgers won their first World Series championship-and one season since they went seven games against the Yankees in the next Series that the borough’s belovèd Bums packed their duffle bags and moved to Los Angeles, cajoling the New York Giants, who had swept Cleveland in the 1954 October classic, to go west with them.

Big league baseball expanded for the first time in the 20th century when, fearing Branch Rickey’s threat to create a rival circuit, the Continental League, it admitted the New York Mets and Houston Colt 45s to the senior circuit.

The two new teams began playing in 1962, with the New York franchise being a laughing stock until the 1969 Miracle Mets defeated the Orioles 4-1 in the 1969 World Series.

That’s not the only thing about the Mets that will resonate among followers of east bay baseball. A quick glance at tonight’s New York’s lineup reveals Mark Canha and starting pitcher Chris Bassitt.

The visitors’ batting coach is Eric Chavez, who was welcomed to the Athletics Hall of Fame before the game. Starling Marte currently is on the Mets’ injured list. But that’s not all, folks. The Mets’ color commentator is Ron Darling.

The personnel of the visiting team wasn’t all that was familiar to the Oakland fans. Their team was massacred, 9-2, by the marauding Mets.

Earlier in the day, the A’s announced that they had claimed infielder Ernie Clement off the waiver wire from Cleveland and recalled reliever Sam Selman from Las Vegas. Concomitantly they placed Joel Payamps on the 15 day IL, sidelining him for the rest of the season.

Bassitt went 30-24, 3.44 for the A’s over seven years starting in 2015. The Mets got him from Oakland this year in exchange for two other right handed pitchers JT Ginn and Adam Oller. The 33 year old Bassitt entered tonight’s contest sporting a record of 14-8, 3.32.

He was in fine fettle tonight, coasting through eight innings and allowing only two runs on six hits, one a round tripper, a walk, and a wild pitch. He struck out two batters and threw 91 pitches, 56 counting as strikes, on the way to his 15th win against eight defeats and lowering his ERA to 3.27.

Cole Irvin, the left hander who started for the A’s tonight had won his last two starts and was 9-11, 3.79 when he threw the game’s first pitch at 6:41.

His performance this evening consisted of 77 pitches, 54 of which counted as strikes, that he squeezed into 4-2/3 innings in which the Mets got to him for eight runs, all earned, on 11 hits, one a four run four bagger. Needless to say, he was the losing pitcher, falling to 9-12, 4.11.

The Coliseum was filled with chants of “Let’s Go, Mets” when they loaded the bases with one away in the top of the second on singles by Pete Alonso, ex-Giant Darin Ruf and Jeff McNeil.

DH Mark Vientos obliged the chanters by plopping a Texas League single to right that brought in Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo followed with a well hit single to center that plated Ruf and McNeil, putting the visitors up, 3-0.

Irvin kept the Mets in check through the fourth but Nimmo opened the fifth with a sharp single to right and Canha drove a two bagger off the center field wall at the 400 foot sign. After Francisco Lindor flew out to shallow right, the A’s southpaw granted Pete Alonso an intentional walk that clogged the basepaths.

Ruff hit a fly to medium deep right; Nimmo started for home, but Conner Capel’s strong throw stopped him in his tracks. Irvin’s first pitch to Edouardo Esobar was a hanging curve that ended up 379 feet from home, a grand slam to left field that gave the Mets a 7-0 cushion that they padded after McNeil’s single to left when Mark Vientos cleared the air with a double to right center that drove in McNeil with New York’s eighth tally.

That was the end of the line for Irvin. Collin Wiles came in to quell the uprising by whiffing McCann on three pitches.

Wiles pitched a perfect sixth but faltered in the seventh. The Mets had been hit by a record setting 108 pitches this year. Wiles made that 109 by plunking Ruf with one down.

Escobar forced Ruf out at second and then scored the boys from Queens ninth run on McNeill’s double to left center. (As you might expect, Canha, the human dartboard, leads the team in being hit; his total is 24).

Oakland finally put a run on the board after the 18,107 fans in attendance had raised their voices to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Sean Murphy sent a leadoff double to left, and Seth Brown gained a pyrrhic victory over The Curse by driving him home.

Dermís García got under Bassitt’s skin and over the left field wall, driving an 89mph sinker 426 feet from home for Oakland’s second run and fifth hit. It was García’s fifth dinger and 18th RBI in 82 at bats.

Drew Smith executed the formality of retiring the A’s in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 7.13) will go against Jacob deGrom (5-2, 2.32) at 1:07 tomorrow afternoon. That’s a scary proposition for both hurlers because Angel Hernández is scheduled to be the home plate umpire. The batters won’t be that happy with the situation, either.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: A’s just miss sweeping M’s; Kemp has been doing a lot of different things to help A’s

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Oakland A’s runner Tony Kemp (5) steals second base underneath Houston Astros shortstop David Hensley (17) during Sat Sep 17, 2022 game at Minute Maid Field in Houston. Kemp who won the Roberto Clemente Award on Tue Sep 20, 2022 and got the game winning hits on Tuesday and Wed Sep 21, 2022 against the Seattle Mariners (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Jeremiah, the A’s narrowly missed getting a sweep over the Seattle Mariners at the Coliseum on Thursday afternoon but saw their 5-3 go down and lost the contest 9-5.

#2 In the series the A’s got some good pitching on Tuesday night JP Sears pitched a one hitter to down the M’s 4-1 and on Wednesday night the A’s James Kaprielian pitched past the sixth inning for the first time in 34 starts for the win 2-1.

#3 Tony Kemp in each of the first two games of the series got game winning hits a home run on Tuesday night and a game winning RBI single on Wednesday night. Kemp was even named the Roberto Clemente Award winner this week.

#4 Kemp who played outfield in the first two games has had some handiwork when playing second base not committing an error in 57 consecutive games.

#5 The A’s host the New York Mets and former teammate Chris Bassitt (14-8, 3.32). Going for Oakland Cole Irvin (9-11, 3.79) a 6:40 pm first pitch at the Oakland Coliseum.

Join Jeremiah for the A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Marko Ukalovic: As it’s Garoppolo’s team Denver could be another big test for 49ers

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is congratulated by teammates in their game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi Stadium on Sun Sep 18, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the SF 49ers podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, talk about the shift in power dynamics now that 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is the starting quarterback.

#2 Trey Lance got only two series but was able to move the ball down field into the red zone on both opportunities only to have his ankle fractured in that second series. The two series did demonstrate his ability to move the ball down field and execute the playbook.

#3 Right now for the 49ers to get to the Super Bowl the 49ers will need Garoppolo to play above all NFL teams.

#4 What’s that got to be like for Garoppolo to almost get dealt and talk of it right up until the start of the regular season and now he’s the face of the team and pretty much the leader of the team after Lance’s injury.

#5 Denver is a very nosy place to play as Empower Field is like a 12th man. How much of an effort will it be for Garoppolo to get his voice heard over the Mile High crowd this Sunday.

Join Marko Fridays for the 49ers podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants bullpen throws 3-0 shutout at Rockies

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The San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski who hit a home run against the Colorado Rockies on Thu Sep 22, 2022 at Coors Field in Denver (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Mike Yastrzemski homered, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson each added run-scoring singles, and the San Francisco Giants blanked the Colorado Rockies 3-0 Thursday at Coors Field in Denver.

Jharel Cotton (1-0), the fourth Giants pitcher in a six-man bullpen game, gave up two hits in 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win. Opener John Brebbia threw the first inning, followed by Tyler Rogers, Jarlin Garcia, Cotton, Scott Alexander and Camilo Doval, who struck out one and earned his 24th save of the season.

The Giants bullpen scattered 10 hits with one walk in the combinerd shutout.

Starter Jose Urela (3-7) gave up the first two San Francisco runs in 5 2/3 innings and took the loss for Colorado.

The Giants went ahead to stay in the top of the first when Yastrzemski doubled, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Pederson’s two-out single to center.

In the top of the fifth, Yastrzemski homered to right, making it 2-0. The Giants extended their lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Luis Gonzalez reached on an infield single, moved to second on Joey Bart’s groundout, and scored on Wade’s single to center.

The Giants open a three-game weekend series in Phoenix Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Game time is 6:40 p.m.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Yastrzemski HR and Giants use six pitchers to shutout Rockies

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San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Daniel:

#1 San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was hitting .207 after Tuesday’s contest he came into Thursday’s game and slugged a much needed home run and was relieved to make contact with the baseball once again. There had been talk whether he would come back next season or not.

#2 The Giants Joc Pederson and LeMonte Wade both hit for an RBI single to contribute to the Giants two other runs in the 3-0 win.

#3 The win for the Giants helped get their first four game sweep over the Colorado Rockies since Jul 15-17, 2019.

#4 The loss Thursday was the Rockies fifth straight loss and this was the 12th time they got shutout this season.

#5 The giants open a three game series in Arizona Friday night Carlos Rodon starts for the Giants (13-8, 2.84) no pitcher announced for the Arizona Diamondbacks a 6:40pm PDT first pitch.

Join Daniel for the Giants podcasts Thursday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com