Kasatkina outduels Rogers in thrilling final to win Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic singles title

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Daria Kasatkina shows off her championship trophy at the podium of the San Jose State Tennis Center on Sunday AUG 7, 2022. (Sports Radio Service)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Twice was the charm for Daria Kasatkina.

The 25-year-old Russian earned her first singles title of the year by defeating American Shelby Rogers in an exciting three set match 6-7 6-1 6-2 to win the sold out final of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Sunday afternoon at the San Jose State Tennis Center.

Kasatkina, who was a finalist at the MSVC last year, lost an epic first set to Rogers that lasted an hour and eighteen minutes. The set featured both players breaking serve twice with many of the games going back and forth in deuce battles.

Rogers won the tie-breaker 7-2 to claim the first set but wasn’t able to keep the momentum going in the second set. Kasatkina utilized her serve as well as her big weapon backhand to create winners or unforce errors by Rogers.

The turning point of the match was in the second set with Kasatkina up 4-1. The current 9th ranked player in the world was down 0-40 and fight her way back to win the next five points to take the game and eventually evening up the set one apiece.

“For sure that game helped me a lot,” said Kasatkina. “I felt good at that moment and that I would close out the set anyway. But when I came back in this game, at that moment I felt like I had to push right now and don’t give her a thing. It’s the kind of moments during the match when you’re not thinking about finishing the job, but when you have to push a little more to make it easier for the third set.”

Rogers suffered a wardrobe malfunction after the first game of the third set. The equipment out of adjustment rule was used so Rogers could switch out her old uniform for a new one that was quickly rushed out to her.

Kasatkina controlled the third set and cruised the rest of the way to the title winning the final six points of the match. When asked how she plans to celebrate her first title of the season Kasatkina said she has one bottle of sparkling wine but she’s not planning on popping it open.

“I’m not wasting it. I don’t like to waste important things. I’ll keep it and celebrate with my team,” Kasatkina said.

For Rogers, who played in her first singles final since 2016, that first ever title still eludes her since her career began in 2009. She is currently ranked 45th in the WTA rankings.

“I tried to do a different tactic of coming into the net a little bit to prepare me for the third set and to see if I could get a different rhythm going,” said Rogers. “She (Kasatkina) just really locked in and didn’t give me any free points.”

Rogers also said despite the outcome she is satisfied with her play and is looking forward to the rest of the hardcourt season.

“I was one set away, got one set closer (to winning the title). It was much better than the last time I played her (Kasatkina). So I’m really happy with a lot of the improvements I made today and just need to do it for a little bit longer,” Rogers said.

In the double finals earlier on in the day, the Chinese duo of Xu Yifan Yang Zhaoxuan took home their second doubles title of the year when they defeated the team of Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Hao-Ching and Japan’s Shuko Aoyama in straight sets 7-5 6-0.

The match was evenly played during the first set until Xu and Yang broke serve at 3-3 and then finished off the set breaking serve at 6-5.

The second set was dominated by Xu and Yang. At one point they won nine consecutive points as they didn’t lose a game to clinch their doubles championship.

“We were focused on every point,” said Yang. “We weren’t paying to attention to the score as much because I think it’s important to focus on our strategies and the mindset was our goal during the match.”

Xu and Yang also won the doubles title at Indian Wells back in March.

The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic tournament returns for it’s 52nd year in 2023 to the San Jose State Tennis Center from July 31-August 6.

RECORD ATTENDANCE-

San Francisco Giants report: Giants Top A’s 6-4 Retaining the Bay Trophy

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San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski (right) celebrates his solo home run with teammate Joc Pederson (left) in the top of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

Giants Top A’s 6-4 Retaining the Bay Trophy

By Barbara Mason

OAKLAND–Sunday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (53-55) won their seventh consecutive interleague road game 6-4 over the Oakland Athletics (41-68). The Giants swept Oakland in this two game series

The game remained scoreless through the first two innings until the Giants Mike Yastrzemski stepped up to the plate and homered in the third inning, the first of two home runs for the slugger in this game, The Giants would add to their 1-0 lead in the fifth inning.

Austin Slater doubled driving in Brandon Crawford for a 2-0 lead. The A’s would answer in the fifth inning with a single run but San Francisco was just getting started leading 2-1.

Thairo Estrada homered in the sixth inning with Wilmer Flores on base to take a 4-1 lead. Oakland continued to fight but did not even get on the scoreboard until the fifth inning. In the seventh inning Tony Kemp grounded into a fielders choice to second and Vimael Machin scored cutting the Giant’s lead in half 4-2.

In the eighth inning Yastrzemski hit his second home run of the game with Brandon Crawford on base and San Francisco had a 6-2 lead.

Oakland made a valiant effort in the eighth to catch up to San Francisco in the later innings. Seth Brown who has been hitting great since he returned from paternity leave knocked one out of the park with Sean Murphy on base but that was all that the A’s could muster. The final was 6-4.

The Giants got a great game from pitcher Logan Webb. He went seven innings allowing four hits, two earned runs and five strikeouts. The Giants had nine hits in the game as did Oakland. It was those long balls that made all the difference.

San Francisco will continue their west coast road trip heading down to San Diego to take on the Padres Monday night. Alex Wood will take the mound for the Giants with a 4.42 ERA and a 7-9 win loss record. The Padres will send Blake Snell who comes in with a 4-5 win loss record and a 4.16 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM PT.

Triple Bad: A’s fall 6-4 to the Giants, lose Bay series and set a frustrating ML record

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Allowing too many homers, and completely absent of hitting triples, the A’s were locked into their 2022 form on Sunday. Oh, and don’t dismiss the playing poorly at home at the Coliseum part as well.

The Giants came across the Bay on life support, but left with a couple of deep breaths, after beating the hosts 6-4 on Sunday, and sweeping the brief, two-game Bay Bridge series affair.

The A’s built momentum surrounding the All-Star break, winning 10 of 14, but that’s officially lost. They’ve dropped three straight, and six of eight following that two weeks of encouraging progress. Lately, the A’s have given up too many home runs, with three coming on Sunday, and a total of 13 homers allowed in the last three games.

Starter Adrian Martinez had Mike Yastrzemski in an 0-2 hole in the third inning when the first long ball was struck. Unfortunately, his pitch location on a potential strikeout pitch wasn’t near what it needed to be.

“It shows how slim the margin for error is,” catcher Sean Murphy said. “Those hurt.”

Reliever A.J. Puk was also in an advantageous 0-2 spot facing Thairo Estrada in the sixth, but he too caught to much of the plate with his next pitch, and the Giants’ lead increased to 4-1. Yastrzemski struck again in the eighth off Austin Pruitt, not on an 0-2 pitch, but that capped the A’s hat trick of bumbles.

Other than that, A’s pitching competed. Martinez picked it up, leaving the door open for another start for the prospect that was acquired from the Padres in the Sean Manaea deal.

“He was more in line. His change-up had a lot of depth to it,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Martinez. “His slider had more depth, it wasn’t side to side. I think he’s moving in the right direction.”

Pitching actually kept the A’s in it, as they sliced the deficit to 6-4 in the eighth when Seth Brown connected. Overall, the A’s limited the Giants to 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight base runners.

The A’s went a 69th consecutive game without a triple which is lengthiest stretch for any Major League club since 1901. The A’s set the AL record on Saturday, and surpassed the 2021 Mets on Sunday for eliminating a key piece of offense from their repertoire. Hitting just .216 as a team with a .276 on-base percentage has the A’s poised to break a few more records for offensive futility, which hopefully doesn’t come to pass. In winning 12 of their previous 20 prior to Sunday, the A’s hit .244 which shows a little improvement not only goes a long way, it could keep you out of the unsightly portions of the record book.

On Monday, the A’s draw the Angels which is significant in that it may be their last chance to avoid a last place finish in the AL West. Cole Irvin will face Anaheim’s Jose Suarez in the 6:40pm opener.

A’s HALL OF FAME CEREMONY:

Joe Rudi, Eric Chavez, Sal Bando, executive Keith Lieppman, clubhouse man Steve Vucinich and the late Ray Fosse were inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony. Present for the occasion were Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart, a subtle reminder of the better days for Oakland’s baseball jewel.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: Garoppolo in camp and throws look good 49ers still shopping him

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San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo (left) and Trey Lance (right) tune up in camp back on Jul 29, 2021. Both are tuning up in Camp 2022 at the 49ers practice facility in Santa Clara as the 49ers continue to shop Garoppolo (AP News file photo)

On the 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes:

#1 Joe, Jimmy Garoppolo is in camp his throws look good and the 49ers are still shopping him and if he remains with the team will be a back up for quarterback Trey Lance.

#2 What would you point to as the main reason why the 49ers weren’t able to deal Garoppolo yet at this point.

#3 Deebo Samuel in the off season wanted to leave the 49ers in meeting with the press never gave an answer why he was seeking to go to another team but the answer might be follow the money and it followed him $73.5 million on a three year extension.

#4 Samuel did admit getting a deal done gave him the feeling of pressure if he was going to get a good deal on the other side of it how much pressure was on head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to get it done?

#5 The 49ers host the Green Bay Packers on Fri Aug 12th in their first pre season game what’s the chances of seeing quarterbacks Lance and the Packers Aaron Rogers getting a few snaps?

Join J Hawkes for the 49ers podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Experience of watching Class A ball in Stockton

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Stockton Ports picked up a win over the Modesto Nuts in Class A minor league ball on Thu Aug 4, 2022 in Stockton (@stocktonports photo)

Thursday, August 4, 2022

By Eric Naiman and Lewis Rubman

Modesto Nuts (51-48). 10. 8. 2

Stockton Ports (33-66). 7. 11. 3

STOCKTON–Watching a ball game in the San Joaquin Valley is different from doing it on the shores of San Francisco Bay. For one thing, the temperature at game time was 93 degrees.

Here, in the low class A California League, Grantland Rice’s oft quoted lines “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,/He writes – not that you won or lost – / But how you played the game,” takes on new meaning. It’s of no great moment that the 33-66 Stockton Ports, on their way to the worst season in franchise history, dropped an 11 inning 10-7 decision to the 51-48 Modest Nuts. What matters to the organizations to which the teams belong-the A’s and Mariners, respectively-is how well individual players performed. To the fans, it’s the pleasure of the players’ performances.

No one on the Ports’ roster figures in the list of Oakland’s top 50 prospects. Gone are the days when you could spend a balmy summer’s night watching the Matts, Chapman and Olson, strut their stuff on the banks of the delta. The Nuts, on the other hand, boast of four top prospects. They are, in descending order Harry Ford, tonight’s DH, left fielder Gabriel González, and two. switch hitters, third baseman Milkar Pérez and center fielder Jonatán Clase. Modesto’s starting lineup also included the delightfully named right fielder Walking Cabrera. The home plate umpire’s moniker also was a source of innocent merriment, Daniel Bytheway.

The top of the third was neither innocent nor merry. Modesto scored one run, no hits, one error, a passed ball, a balk, and two wild pitches. (The top of the second was pretty ugly, too, but you get the picture).

It wasn’t a well played game, but it was an exciting one. The victorious Nuts used four pitchers. They were, in order of appearance Jake Miednik, Chris Jefferson, José Geraldo, and the winner, Raúl Alcántara.

Ed Baram took the loss for The Ports sent five men to the mound, Yehizón Sánchez, who started, followed by Luke Anderson, Hunter Brreault, Ed Baram, who took the loss, and Clark, who closed out the top of the eleventh.

The outstanding player of the game for Stockton was probably Junior Perez, whose two doubles produced two RBIs. He also stole third base twice, dying there in the third and in the eighth, and temporarily prevented Modesto from taking the lead in the eleventh with a perfect strike from center field to the plate. Unfortunately, he probably could have won the game for Stockton in the bottom of the eight but failed to tag up after a fly ball to shallow left. (He had taken much more of a risk on the previous play, when he just managed to elude the tag on his second steal.)

The middle relief pitching for Stockton was also a strong point. Luke Anderson pitched two and two third innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit, albeit a home run. Hunter Breault loaded the bases in the ninth by walking two and allowing one hit, but he got out of trouble by striking out the other three batters he faced.

The Ports were one pitch away from escaping the tenth inning without having allowed a run, but at the plate and on the mound they were lacking in the clutch, leaving runners on third in both the eighth and ninth. They are 8– 25 in the second half of the season. They must play better than .500 ball for the rest of the year if they are to avoid having the worst record in the franchise’s history.

Ebobisse’s late goal heroics earn the Earthquakes a point in 3-3 draw with Austin FC

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San Jose Earthquakes Jackson Yueill battles on the ground with Austin FC’s Danaiel Pereira during their match at Q2 Stadium on Saturday AUG 6, 2022. (CWEB.com)

by Marko Ukalovic

There’s something about Austin and comebacks.

Jeremy Ebobisse scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute as the San Jose Earthquakes escaped the Lone Star state with a 3-3 draw against Austin FC on Saturday evening at Q2 Stadium.

San Jose snapped a three-match losing streak with the first point in its last four matches. Austin FC has points in eight of its last nine matches dating back to June. The Quakes remained undefeated against Austin FC (2-0-3)

The late match heroics came when Cristian Espinoza sent in a cross from the right wing into the center of the box. No one from Austin FC marked Ebobisee who headed the ball past goalkeeper Brad Stuver for his team leading 13th goal of the season. He now ranks tied for third in goals in MLS this season.

‘Quakes goalkeeper Matt Bersano made his first career MLS start in place of JT Marcinkowski, who was out with concussion like symptoms.

There were plenty of fireworks in the first half as both teams combined for four goals in the opening 45 minutes.

Austin FC (13-6-5-45 points) drew first blood in the first blood in the sixth minute off a set piece. Diego Fagúndez centered his corner kick into the box where unmarked Julio Cascante headed the ball past Bersano for his second goal of the season.

San Jose (5-10-9-24 points) answered back two minutes later. Paul Marie sent in a ball to Benji Kikanovic whose one touch off his foot knuckleballed past Stuver into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

The Earthquakes gained their only lead in the 20th minute. After Espinoza’s corner kick was punched out by Stuver into the middle of the pitch, Marie gathered the ball, made one touch with the ball before blasting a shit from 30 yards out into the upper left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Austin stormed back in the 26th minute with the first of Sebastián Driussi’s two goal on the evening. Ethan Finlay caught the ‘Quakes back on their heels when he centered a pass over to a wide open Driussi who buried the ball in for his 15th goal of the season.

Druissi wans’t done as he gave Austin FC the lead back in the 44th minute. Finlay centered a ball into the box that knocked away by a sliding Judson. Driussi kept the ball alive before tapping into an empty net for his team leading 16th goal of the season.

Bersano finished the match with three saves on six shots to earn his first point. Stuver made two saves on five shots on target.

GAME NOTES: Both teams finished the match with five corner kicks.

Espinoza had his ninth assist of the season and 39th assist of his MLS career. He has now assisted four of Ebobisse’s 13 goals this season and is one assist away from tying Chris Wondolowski for fourth-most in assists in club history.

San Jose acquired two players at the transfer deadline. The club announced today the acquisition of center back Rodrigues on a 12-month loan with option to buy or extend through the end of 2023 from Brazilian side Grêmio. Rodrigues will occupy an international spot on the Quakes’ roster. Also, on Friday they signed veteran LaLiga fullback and Equatorial Guinea international Carlos Akapo. The deal for the 29-year-old – who last featured for Cádiz CF in the Spanish top flight – runs through the 2023 season, with a club option for 2024.

UP NEXT: San Jose stays in Texas when they visit FC Dallas on Saturday 8/13 at 6:00pm at Toyota Stadium

San Francisco Giants report: San Francisco handles Oakland 7-3 in Bay Bridge series

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San Francisco Giants slugger LeMonte Wade Jr belts a two run sixth inning home run against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 6, 2022 (AP News photo)

San Francisco Handles Oakland 7-3 In Bay Bridge Series

By Barbara Mason

OAKLAND–Saturday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (52-55) took on the Oakland A’s (41-67) at the Oakland Coliseum. San Francisco has been having quite a struggle since the All-Star game winning a paltry 3 of 15 games. Today they sent Carlos Rodon to the mound who comes in with an ERA of 3.00. Oakland pitcher Adam Oller has really been struggling with a 1-4 win loss record and an ERA of 7.68.

San Francisco had a strong start in this game scoring in the first inning for an early 1-0 lead. The Giants had the bases loaded in the first but only came away with a single run. Joc Pederson scored when Brandon Crawford walked. A’s pitcher Oller had a rough start walking three in the first inning giving the Giants a huge opportunity. Oakland was lucky to give up only one run in the opening inning.

The Giants put another run up on the board in the second inning extending their lead 2-0. LaMonte Wade Jr. scored off a Pederson single. Oakland would cut the Giants lead in half in the third inning. Sean Murphy singled driving in Nick Allen and the A’s were threatening.

San Francisco put an end to the Oakland charge in the sixth inning scoring four runs and taking a 6-1 lead. Wade Jr. hit a homer with Joey Bart on base for a couple of runs and J.D. Davis also solo homered in the sixth. The fourth run was off a Brandon Belt single with Austin Slater on base.

The third home run of the game for San Francisco came off the bat of Joey Bart and the Giants were in full control of this game 7-1 going into the ninth inning. The A’s inched a little closer in the ninth when Sky Bolt homered with Elvis Andrus on base, making it 7-3. It was just to little to late for Oakland. The final was 7-3

San Francisco had 11 hits in this game. The A’s had ten. Carlos Rodon had a good one giving up five hits and a single run. The A’s Adam Oller had a tough outing giving up eight hits and four runs with only one strikeout.

Tomorrow’s game will be another big one at the Coliseum. Saturday night’s game had an attendance of 40,065, the largest crowd Oakland has seen all season. The winner of the game Sunday will take possession of “The Bridge” trophy.

Logan Webb will take the mound for San Francisco with a 9-5 win loss record and a 3.20 ERA. At the time of this post Oakland’s starter was still undecided. First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM PT.

Rogers and Kasatkina advance their way to USA-Russia final showdown at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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Shelby Rogers intensely returns a serve against Veronika Kudermetova in her semifinal matchup at the San Jose State Tennis Center on Saturday AUG 6, 2022. (Neal Waters)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — American Shelby Rogers is one win away from her first title in 2022.

Rogers shot down Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in her semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon at the San Jose State Tennis Center.

It is the first final appearance for the 29-year-old veteran since 2016. She was able to break serve to open and close the first set that saw Rogers utilize her serve against Kudermetova.

In the second set Kudermetova tried to reverse course by breaking serve to open the second set. She was in good position to send the match to a third when she was serving up 4-3. However, Kudermetova lost her serve and ended up losing the game on a double fault.

Sensing the momentum shift, Rogers took advantage and won the final three games to close out the match to secure her first final appearance of the season. She lost in the semifinals against the Aryna Sabalenka at the Libema Open back in June.

“I felt like that was a huge game for me,” said Rogers. “If I could just swing out and get the breaks somehow, I would be in a really good position. I got a little lucky, she (Kudermetova) missed a couple of first serves here and there which you’re always thankful for that. I thought I stayed really solid and made her (to try to) outplay me. I was pretty excited with that tactic.”

Kudermetova is now 2-2 in semifinals appearances on the season and is 0-2 against Rogers in 2022.

“I was a little bit frustrated. I tried to push myself. I tried to be more aggressive and play more inside the court without making mistakes. Today I just couldn’t play well,” Kudermetova said.

In the other semifinal, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina punched her ticket to her second straight MSVC final appearance with a straight sets victory over the number two seed Paula Badosa of Spain 6-2 6-4.

“I’m really happy to be back on the finals,” said Kasatkina, the world’s number 12 player. “Looks like San Jose has been a nice place for me (to play in).”

Kasatkina played an aggressive style while being able to pick her spots down the lines. This is Kasatkina’s first semifinals win of the season (1-2). Her last semifinals appearance was at this year’s French Open where she lost to number one player in the world Iga Swiatek.

“I tried to have move her (Badosa) around as much as possible and break her rhythm. Today it worked,” Kasatkina said.

Badosa, ranked fourth in the world, started the second set up 2-0 but wasn’t able to keep the momentum going as Kasatkina was able to break serve two times during the second set and won the final games to clinch the match.

“Yeah it’s always tough when you play the caliber of these player,” said Badosa. “Because it feels like the court gets very very small. It gets smaller and smaller every time. I give credit to her (Kasatkina) because that’s what she does, and she does it very well.”

The doubles final is set as the team of Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chan defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos in three sets 2-6 7-6 10-3. They will take on the team of Yifan Xu and Zhaoxuan Yang, who defeated Kudermetova and Zhang Shaui in three sets 5-7 6-2 10-7, at 2:00pm on Sunday.

UP NEXT: Kasatkina vs Rogers in the MSVC final on Sunday 8/7 at 4:00pm at San Jose State Tennis Center.

Oakland A’s report: Wade and Davis hit back to back home runs in Giants 4 run sixth to defeat A’s 7-3

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Oakland A’s starter Adam Oller delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the second inning at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

San Francisco (52-55). 7. 11. 0

Oakland (41-67) 3.10.0

Saturday, August 6, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This past Thursday night, I took in a game between the Modesto Nuts and the Stockton Ports (and incidentally misreported Stockton’s losing pitcher as Clark Cota when the loss went to Ports’ Ed Baram).

When I returned after midnight from the sweltering banks of the San Joaquin Delta to Oakland’s benign breezes, I began to muse about what it would be like if the big leagues followed the minor league model of a split season.

The A’s before this evening’s nationally televised contest with the San Francisco Giants had a horrendous record of 41-66. But if, like the California League, we wiped the slate clean at the season’s half-way point, Oakland would have a respectable mark of 15-11 in the second half and a decent shot at a playoff berth.

Not that I’m advocating for such a radical change; I’m no fan of the existing open door playoff system, and opening the door even wider would just make the situation worse. But it’s a pleasant thought….

Giant backers don’t have even that consolation. The team that won 107 games last season was 41-41, the definition of mediocrity, in the first half of 2022. At 51-55, they came to the Coliseum a 10-14 team for the season’s second half. It’s nothing for the Athletics´faithful to gloat about, but a bit of schadenfreude can be tonic in the world of fandom.

Game recap: In the end, the tardily rebounding Athletics were trounced by the faltering Giants to the tune of 7-3.

The green and gold sent Adam Oller, a 27 year old righthander, who himself was rather green; his season record of 1-4,7.88 also constituting his lifetime mark. He has commuted between Oakland and Las Vegas, returning here most recently on July 27 to defeat Houston for his first big league victory.

He was up against Carlos Rodón, who had somehow escaped the orange and black’s August 2 yard sale and faced the A’s with a mark of 9-6, 3.00 at game time.

The experienced 29 year old southpaw throws twice as many four seamers as sliders, and the two of them account for about 93% of his deliveries. The other 7% or so is made up of curves and changeups. There’s a more than 10 mph difference between his fastball and change of pace.

Before the game started, the Giants restored Brandon Crawford and Joc Pederson to active duty. Both were in the starting lineup for San Francisco. To make room for them on the roster, the orange and black DFA’d Dixon Machado and optioned David Villar to Sacramento.

The A’s rookie lasted five plus innings and surrendered four runs, all earned although one was posthumous. The Giants touched him for eight hits, one of which was a home run, and a walk. He threw 93 pitches, 31 of which were balls. He took the loss and now has a record of 1-5, 7.63.

The Giants’ veteran, on the other hand, allowed only one run in his 5-1/3 innings of work. It was earned and came on five hits. Rodón struck out three without issuing a free pass. He threw 98 pitches, 38 of them balls. He earned his tenth victory against six defeats, and his ERA dropped to 2.95.

Oller began unpropitiously. He got two quick strikes on each of his first two hitters, Pederson and Luis González, only to walk both of them. He settled down to retire Wilmer Flores and Brandon Belt. But then Mike Yastrzemski laid down a beautiful bunt between the mound and third to load the bases. Brandon Crawford followed by drawing a walk on, you guessed it, another full count, and when Joey Bart flew out to center to end the inning, San Francisco was leading 1-0.

Chad Pinder blasted a one out double just to the right on the Craftsman sign in the right center field, but they wasted that opportunity to even the score.

The Giants’ didn’t waste LaMonte Wade, Jr.’s lead off double against the State Farm sign above and a little to the left of where Pinder’s shot had bounced. After Tommy LaStella grounded out to second, Pederson notched his 44th RBI of the season with a single to left center, bringing Wade home with the run that brought SF’s advantage to 2-0.

The home team drew close in the third with Nick Allen opening the frame with a single to right and, after Jonah Bride flew out to center, taking second on Sean Pinder’s ground out to third. Sean Murphy then sent a sinking liner that fell to the grass in center for an RBI single that brought Oakland to within a run of the Giants.

Oller held the Giants in check through the fifth but gave up a lead off single to Bart in the sixth. The count went to 1-2 on Wade. Oller offered him a 93 mh four seamer and the Giants’ DH took it deep, 385 to right for his fourth dinger of the year, a two run blast that put the Giants up 4-1.

That was it for Oller. Kirby Snead relieved (if that’s the word) him, letting pinch hitting JD Davis take his first pitch, a 92 mph sinker, a full 437 feet into center. The back to back homers came on back to back pitches from two different pitchers. But the Giants weren’t done. Austin Slater hit for Pederson and walked and stole second, scoring on a two out single to right by Belt that left Oakland behind by five.

Submariner Tyler Rogers took over for Rodón with one down and no one on base in the home sixth. A two out double by Lowrie didn’t prevent Rogers from A’s off the board.

In spite of his ineffective job in the sixth frame. Snead still was on the mound when the Giants came to bat in the seventh. He looked good striking out Crawford. He didn’t look good yielding Bart’s second round tripper of the afternoon, a solo shot that travelled 406 feet into center field. It boosted the Giants’ catcher’s batting average to .213 and his HR total to 10. Bart certainly is on track to coming out of his long slump. He finished the day at .211.

The A’s trailed 7-1 when everyone had sung “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and Yuniór Marte was on the mound for SF. All he allowed was a base on balls to Nick Allen. Jarlín García held the Athletics to a swinging bunt single by Murphy in the eighth.

Austin Pruitt held the Giants scoreless on a walk in the eighth. Sam Selman did the same in the ninth.

Oakland showed some signs of life against García in their last turn at bat. Elvis Andrus hit a bouncer back to the mound that got past the Giant pitcher and that Flores couldn’t handle at second. Skye Bolt, who had pinch hit for Piscotty in the seventh, jolted a 94 mph four seamer 368 feet into left to close the gap to 7-3, where it stayed until the bitter end.

The A’s haven’t announced who will start for them in tomorrow’s 1:07 meeting with their cross bay rivals. The Giants will send Logan Webb (9-5, 3.20) to the mound.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: It’s the last time the Giants and A’s battle this season

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San Francisco Giants hitter Luis Gonzalez takes the Chicago Cubs pitching deep on Sat Jul 30, 2022 in the bottom of the fourth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Gonzalez has the highest batting average .283 coming into the two game series against the Oakland A’s at the Coliseum this weekend (AP News photo file)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary:

It would be easier for me to grow another arm than for the San Francisco Giants or the Oakland A’s to make it to post season for this season as these two teams will be on the same field this weekend at the Oakland Coliseum.

Big crowds are expected on for the weekend series around 40,000 predicted on Saturday and the A’s are expecting more on Sunday. Most of those sales are from Giants fans because when you win 107 games like the Giants did last season you sell a lot of tickets for the next year.

There also was a lot of hope that the Giants would be in the race this year but it’s either going to be the San Diego Padres or the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants won’t make it as a wild card and they certainly won’t win the division.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com