That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: A’s simply are missing the hitting; Failure to score is keeping A’s in loss column

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The Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano steals third base in the bottom of the fifth inning of Sun May 15, 2022’s game against the Los Angeles Angels at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s have been thin on scoring runs in recent games. (AP News photos)

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas has had some great outings but took another loss on Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels 4-1. The A’s simply have not been able to provide enough offense against a team like the Angels.

#2 Onto Montas his line impressive six innings, four hits, two earned runs, one walk, and 12 strikeouts. He’s been consistent keeping runners in check and hitters off balance.

#3 The A’s host the Minnesota Twins tonight opening up a three game series here at the Coliseum. The Twins have won five out if their last ten games maintain first place in the AL Central and have a three game lead over the second place Cleveland Guardians.

#4 Amaury, in other baseball news speaking of not getting any run support Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene went 7.1 innings, no hits and nine strikeouts and reliver Art Warren pitched two thirds of an inning walking the Pittsburgh Pirate Rudolfo Castro who eventually scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the eighth as the Pirates were no hit but won the game 1-0.

#5 Amaury, The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox were the first game to be postponed in the 2022 season. There were multiple Covid 19 positive tests within the Guardian organization which included manager Tito Francona the Guardians are scheduled to face Minnesota Twins Friday night for three games.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Howard Terminal Ballpark-Lawsuit has 270 days of life

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Artists rendition of the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal Ballpark at Jack London Square in downtown Oakland (image from the San Francisco Chronicle)

Howard Terminal Ballpark – Lawsuit have 270 days of Life-

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Howard Terminal New Ballpark. A huge project that would transform the City of Oakland.

-$12 Billion private investment

-$1 Billion for the construction of the ballpark

-3.000 units of housing

-1.5 million square feet of office space

-270,000 feet of retail space

-400 room hotel

-18 acres of parkland

-$450 million in community benefits

In 2014 California Judicial Council approves new court rules, (below)

  • New court rules will significantly expedite the timeline for lawsuits brought under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to challenge the certification of the environmental impact report (EIR) or the granting of any project approvals that require the actions or proceedings for certain large “leadership” development projects certified by the Governor.
  • For these leadership projects, the CEQA lawsuit, including appeals, must be resolved within 270 days of certification of the administrative record.

The A’s are facing two lawsuits, one by the Union Pacific Railroad Company and another by the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, which is a coalition of marine, port and transportation.  Both lawsuits are challenging the certification of the ballpark’s environmental impact report, another important part of process to approve the project.

Most recent good news for the A’s came in early May, from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission which said a report that the land where the A’s proposed to build the ballpark is not needed by the Port of Oakland.

This was a preliminary recommendation, although a positive step, now the Commission will decide on June 30 whether to accept that recommendation. If that hurdle is cleared, the A’s are running between-second and third, on their way to score the new ballpark in Oakland.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez at the Oakland Coliseum for a visit at the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and for News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with Barbara Mason: Warriors feel prepared for third round of playoffs will open at Chase Center for games 1 and 2

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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr after missing games 5 and 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies will return for game 1 of the third round on Wed May 18, 2022 at the Chase Center in San Francisco (AP News photo)

  1. It was a critical game for Golden State Friday night even though they led the series 3-2.

2 . Kevin Looney had a banner night -Warrior defense came up big.

  1. Slow start for both teams- it was a second half game 7.

4 Klay Thompson kept the team afloat in game 7 finishing with 30 points.

  1. It was a late game rally by Stephen Curry late in the game that secured the win.

Join Barbara for the Golden State Warriors podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Where’s the O in Oakland? A’s are looking for it after quiet 4-1 loss to the Angels

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Thirteen times in 37 games the A’s haven’t given themselves a chance. In the cavernous, sparsely populated Coliseum, you can hear what everyone’s asking.

Where’s the offense?

The A’s got a high quality start from Frankie Montas but did little to support it in 4-1 loss to the Angels on Sunday. Thirteen times the A’s have scored one or no runs, and they lost for the 12th time on Sunday under those limitations.

The A’s finished with five hits, proof they couldn’t solve Patrick Sandoval or reliever Jimmy Herget. Both pitchers had their moments of vulnerability, but the A’s never produced a breakthrough. Eleven at-bats with a runner in scoring position were squandered. The A’s only run came on Sean Murphy’s ground out with Jed Lowrie breaking to the plate from third.

The hosts could claim fatigue. In a once in a career type week with nine games in seven days, the A’s finished 5-4, but lost three of the last four to their Southern California rivals.

Last season–with Matt Olson and Matt Chapman leading their offense–the A’s won 15 of 19 against the Angels. This season the health of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, along with the emergence of Taylor Ward have allowed the Angels to turn things around. They’re tied for first place with the Astros, and Sunday’s win moved them 11 games over .500 for the first time in nearly three years.

“Our goal is to win within our division,” Maddon said. “That’s a big goal of ours this year. We were horrible at it last year, and especially against Oakland. They beat up on us like a drum last year. We have to get better within our division. We’ve got to win series like this on the road.”

Ohtani capped his best series in Oakland with a loud, two-run shot off Montas in the first inning. On Saturday, Ohtani hit his 100th home run in the second game of the scheduled doubleheader.

“Not many people hit Montas but I don’t know, that was 97 mph elevated and he got all of it. When he’s starting to get to that, heads up.”

Anaheim nursed a 2-1 lead until the eighth when they came up with single runs in the eighth and ninth to put the game away.

On Monday, the A’s loaded stretch of games continues with the Twins visiting the Coliseum. Zach Logue will be recalled from AAA Las Vegas and make his third, big league start for the A’s in a match-up with the Twins’ Chris Archer.

Ohtani puts the clamps on A’s in 4-1 Halos win at Coliseum

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Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani gets around on a Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas top of the first inning pitch for a home run at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun May 15, 2022

By Jerry Fetielberg

The Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani connected for the second game in a row for a home run at the Oakland Coliseum to help pace the Angels past the Oakland A’s 4-1 on Sunday afternoon as the Angels took three out of four games in the series.

Ohtani who hit his 100th career homer on Saturday’s second game of a doubleheader becoming the third Japanese born player to accomplish such a record knocked out his eighth home run of the season a real rip 425 feet into the right field Coliseum stands.

Angels manager Joe Maddon was impressed by the length of the Ohtani blast and said not too many people can hit a ball off A’s starter Frankie Montas like that, “That had some great hang time to it,” Maddon said. “Not many people hit Montas but I don’t know, that was 97 mph elevated and he got all of it. When he’s starting to get to that, heads up.”

Angels starter Patrick Sandoval contributed big in his performance getting into the sixth inning with one out surrendering four hits and just one earned run. Sandoval in his last two outings got touched up but against the A’s line up on Sunday he had his control and helped the Angels go 11 games over the .500 mark in the AL West.

Sandoval also improved his ERA dropping it to 1.91 he walked four batters but was able to get out of some close calls leaving runs aboard after the first three innings. Sandoval cut it really close leaving runners in scoring position four different times.

Ohtani was walked intentionally to the sound of the Coliseum crowd booing many of who were wearing Angels red jerseys this coming after Montas had got two out and gave up a top of third inning lead off triple to leadoff hitter Taylor Ward.

The A’s were 0-11 while leaving men on second base, the A’s ended Sandoval’s shutout in the bottom of the third inning when A’s catcher Sean Murphy hit into a ground out RBI. Montas had his pitches working despite the loss going six innings giving up four hits and two earned runs, walking one and striking out 12 Angels batters.

The Minnesota Twins (20-15) are a team that have presence and they come to the Coliseum to open a three game series on Monday night the Twins will be starting right hander Chris Archer (0-1 ERA 4.43) going up against the A’s lefthander Zach Louge (2-1 ERA 1.35) a 6:40 pm PDT first pitch.

Cardinals hand Giants a second loss 15-6

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In a game where everybody touches them all and the St Louis Cardinals Paul Goldschmidt (left) was no exception after hitting a first inning home run against San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon (right) at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Sun May 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

Cardinals Hand Giants A Second Loss 15-6

By Barbara Mason

Saturday the San Francisco Giants (20-13) were shut out by the St. Louis Cardinals (18-15) 4-0. Sunday they were looking to bounce back in the final game of their series. It did not go as planned for San Francisco losing by a significant margin 15-6 at Busch Stadium in St Louis.

The Cardinals scored in the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. They had 17 hits in this game and it was not until the ninth inning that the Giants showed much signs of life. The Cardinals bats were just too much for San Francisco to handle.

Joey Bart and Luis Gonzalez both hit home runs in the ninth inning for the Giants. Darin Ruf and Thairo Estrada both scored on the Gonzalez homer. San Francisco was trailing by the score of 15-2 going into the ninth inning so it was too little to late for the Giants.

Joc Pederson also had a homer in the sixth inning for San Francisco. The Giants had seven hits in the game in a very disappointing series for the team.

The Cardinals also hit three home runs in this game. Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Yadier Molina all hit homers with runners on base. St. Louis completely outplayed the Giants in front of their home crowd.

The Giants will now travel to Colorado for a series with the Rockies. The first game will be Monday with first pitch at 5:40 PM. Going for San Francisco starter LHP Alex Wood (3-2 ERA 3.60) and for Colorado RHP Antonio Senzatela (2-2 ERA 4.88) gets the call first pitch 5:40 pm PDT

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcast with Len Shapiro: Lightning eliminate Leafs in game 7; Canes Domi scores twice in 2-1 win; plus more

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) celebrates with teammate Victor Hedman (77) after knocking the Toronto Maple Leafs out of the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup in Toronto in game 7 on Sat May 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Len:

#1 One thing you can say about the Tampa Bay Lightning their like a boom a rang just was soon as you thought they were done they come back.

#2 The Bolts got help from one player who did all the work Nicholas Paul who scored twice that was all Tampa Bay need to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to three in the best of four out of seven in a 2-1 game seven win to advance.

#3 The Carolina Hurricane’s Max Domi had a pair of goals and an assist which help defeat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Carolina. It was a series where the home team won each of the games as the Canes won the series 4-3.

#4 Rounding off Saturday night’s action the Edmonton Oilers shutout the Los Angeles Kings in game 7 in Edmonton 2-0. Oilers goalie Mike Smith stopped all 29 Kings shots for the win.

#5 The Oilers Connor McDavid and Cody Ceci scored a goal a piece both goals turned out to be critical for the Edmonton win.

#6 Evander Kane has been a big value for the Oilers in the regular season and in the playoff push, in hindsight do you think the San Jose Sharks who put him up for free agency might be thinking that they made a mistake letting Kane get away?

Join Len for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff podcasts each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barrera’s walk-off homer helps A’s earn doubleheader split with Angels; A’s win 4-3, lose 9-1

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The Oakland A’s Luis Barrera connects for a right field walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels in the front game of a doubleheader at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat May 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, May 14, 2022

Luis Barrera hit a dramatic walk-off home run for Oakland in game one, and Shohei Otani reached a unique milestone in game two for the Los Angeles Angels, as the AL West teams split a doubleheader Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum.

The Athletics won the first game 4-3, while the Angels took the nightcap 9-1. Oakland is in fourth place in the AL West at 15-21, while the Angels are in second place with a record of 23-13.

GAME 1
Athletics 4, Angels 3In the bottom of the ninth, Raisel Iglesias (1-1) was called upon by Los Angeles to preserve the Angels’ 3-1 lead, and promptly retired pinch hitter Seth Brown and Sean Murphy on outfield flyouts.

Ramon Laureano doubled to right-center, followed by a walk issued to Christian Bethancourt. Barrera homered 373 feet to right field, ending the game and atoning for a throwing error in the eighth that allowed the Angels’ third run.

The Angels scored two runs in the top of the eighth to break a 1-1 tie. Anthony Redon hit a run-scoring single to left, and Andrew Velazquez also hit an RBI single to left. Mike Trout, who was intentionally walked, scored on the play after Barrera’s throwing error.

Oakland tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh on Jed Lawrie’s RBI single to center, scoring Laureano, who opened the inning with a double.

Barrera’s heroics made Lou Trivino (1-2) the winning pitcher. Trivino worked the final 1/3 of the ninth inning, logging one strikeout. A’s starter Paul Blackburn went 6 2/3 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Angels starter Jhonathan Diaz worked 4 2/3 innings, giving one hit and four walks with four strikeouts. Reliever Aaron Loup was charged with a blown save.

Laureano had two of Oakland’s five hits. Brandon Marsh was 3-for-4 for Los Angeles.

GAME 2
Angels 9, Athletics 1

Shohei Ohtani hit his 100th career home run in the top of the fifth inning off A’s starter Adam Oller (0-3). By hitting his seventh home run of the season, Ohtani became the second MLB player to hit 100 home runs as a hitter and strike out 250 hitters, joining only Babe Ruth.

Ohtani also became the third Japanese-born MLB player to hit 100 home runs, joining Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki.

Oller was rung up for eight earned runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out three. Justin Grimm and Adam Kolarek also pitched in relief for the A’s.

Michael Lorenzen (4-2) held the A’s to one earned run on five hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. Angels leadoff hitter Taylor Ward was 3-for-3 with a double and his eighth home run of the season, along with five runs batted in.

The two teams wrap up their weekend series on Sunday afternoon. Patrick Sandoval (1-1, 2.03) starts for the Angels, while the A’s counter with Frankie Montas (2-3, 3.77). First pitch is set for 1:07 p.m. PDT.

Whitecaps rally late to earn 3-3 draw with the Earthquakes

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San Jose Earthquakes’ Jeremy Ebobisse (11) and Cade Cowell (44) celebrate Ebobisse’s goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps in second half action at BC Place in Vancouver on Sat May 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

VANCOUVER, B.C. — It was a one-point stinger up north.

Down a goal late in the match, the Vancouver Whitecaps scored the equalizer in the first minute into stoppage time in the second half to comeback for a 3-3 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday afternoon at BC Place.

A corner kick from Déiber Caicedo found Erik Godoy in the middle of the box and his right footed shot found the back of the net for the center fullback’s first goal of the season to earn a point for the home team.

San Jose, who have four points in their last two MLS matches, were left scratching their heads as they had three points in their grasp but weren’t able to hold on to their one-goal lead they had twice late in the second half. Vancouver has points in back-to-back matches.

“First of all, one point on the road is a point,” said Quakes interim head coach Alex Covelo. “It’s something positive that we can bring home. In relation to the game, I think you’re right. We created three goals in transition. We were talking about that at halftime that we had to be more aggressive once we recovered the ball to go forward but without losing our composure.”

The Earthquakes controlled play for the majority of the first half as they created scoring chances while keeping the Whitecaps on the back of their heels.

San Jose (2-5-4) started the second half with a fleury of chances in an opening minute sequence. Two shots from Paul Marie were blocked inside the box and a Marcos Lopez’s chance from 20 yards out hit the post.

Vancouver (2-6-2) drew first blood the 56th minute. Lucas Cavallini finished off a give and go with Ryan Raposo with a left footed shot that beat Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski into the right corner for his second goal of the season.

San Jose answered back in the 62nd minute when Cristian Espinoza made a brilliant individual effort when he sent in a cross into the box where an unmarked Jamiro Monteiro headed the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the season and in a Quakes uniform.

The Quakes earned their first lead of the match in the 73rd minute on the first goal of Jeremy Ebobisse’s brace. Monteiro found Cade Cowell along the left wing. Cowell dribbled into the box before finding Ebobisse, who one-timed the ball past Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper for his sixth goal of the season.

“I think that Jeremy [Ebobisse] is a player that tries to help us in build-up, trying to arrive to the box, he has very good feet, he has goals. Today, he helped us a lot. He helped us a lot today, and every game that he plays for us, offensively and defensively. Obviously when you are a striker, a nine, you have to be in those spaces. Sometimes the ball arrives, sometimes not. Jeremy has been good. I’m so happy for him,” Covelo said.

Vancouver responded two minutes later on a counterattack. The Whitecaps caught the Quakes flat footed as Caicedo waited for his moment to find Raposo who one-timed a right footed shot just inside the right post for his second goal career MLS goal in the 75th minute.

Ebobisse recorded his brace in the 81st minute to once again give the Quakes a one-goal lead. Cowell found Espinoza along the right side of the box. Espinoza then crossed the ball back into the middle where Ebobisse finished off a tic-tac-toe of a goal for his team leading seventh goal of the season.

Ebobisse is tied for first in MLS in goal scoring this season with his seven goals in 10 matches, that includes three braces.

“The team achievements come first,” Ebobisse said. “The goals today were useful for a tie, but ultimately I want to win. I’ve been to an MLS Cup before. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my team’s way and ever since, that’s been the plan, to get back there. If my goals help get us there, then I’ll be super grateful and grateful to the rest of the team who are providing the service for those goals. However, we can get to the playoffs and make a run, I’m happy to play my role.”

Cavallini had a chance to give the Whitecaps an improbably comeback win on the last play of the match but his header from six yards out hit the left post and went out of bounds.

Marcinkowski finished the match with four saves on seven shots on target. Cropper made three saves on six Quakes shots on targets.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with five corner kicks. Vancouver had three.

San Jose is now 4-1-1 in all competitions under Covelo, including a 2-1-1 record in MLS play and 2-0-0 record in U.S. Open Cup play.

The Quakes have now scored 19 goals as a team, fifth most in Major League Soccer.

Espinoza recorded two assists during the match. It marked his fifth and sixth assists of the season and 35th and 36th of his MLS career.

Jan Gregus tallied an assist on Monteiro’s goal. It marked his sixth assist of the season and 25th of his MLS career.

Cowell assisted on both of Ebobisse’s goal. It marked his second assist of the season and ninth of his MLS career.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Portland Timbers on Wednesday 5/18 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

St Louis beats San Francisco in shutout 4-0; End SF’s six game win streak

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St Louis Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson throws against the Giants line up in the first inning at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Sat May 14, 2022. Hudson and the Cardinal bullpen shutout the Giants on a eight hitter (AP News photo)

St. Louis Beats San Francisco In a Shut Out 4-0

By Barbara Mason

In the first of this series the San Francisco Giants (20-13) handled the St. Louis Cardinals (18-15) without much trouble. They had eight hits and eight runs winning 8-2.

Saturday the two teams met in the second game of their series. In this game San Francisco again had eight hits with a completely different outcome. The Giants were shut out 4-0. St. Louis had seven hits in the second game of this series.

On the mound for the Giants was Jakob Junis who went 5.2 innings. He got relief pitching from John Brebbia and Camilo Doval for the loss.

St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson went five innings for the shut out and was relieved by Genesis Cabrera, Andre Pallante, Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos who all had a hand in this win.

The Cardinals scored in the second inning off a double from Brendan Donovan for the early 1-0 lead. They would tack on another in the fifth inning when Tommy Edman hit a solo home run to right and a 2-0 lead.

They would solidify the win in the seventh inning with two runs off a couple of doubles from Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado for the 4-0 final.

Notes: The Giants traded utilityman Mauricio Dubon to the Houston Astros for catcher Michael Papierski. Papierski who will report to the Giants minor league affiliate Sacramento. The Giants in turn called up infielder Donavon Walton.

Walton was picked up by the Giants on Wednesday from the Seattle Mariners. Walton played in Saturday’s game against the Cards playing at second and hitting for a double.

Giants infielder Tommy LaStella is coming right along after suffering from right Achilles inflammation he’s been looking good in rehab hitting for a grand slam and going 2-5 on Saturday in Sacramento.

The Cardinals activated RHP Drew VerHagen who suffered a right hip impingement and came off the IL. The Cards optioned LHP Packy Naughton to Triple-A Memphis.

The Giants were able to hit in this game but could not bring anyone home. The final game of this series will be Sunday in a late game. First pitch is schedule for 4:08 PM. Starting for San Francisco Sunday left hand pitcher Carlos Rodon (4-1 ERA 1.80) and for the Cards righthander Adam Wainwright (3-3 ERA 3.18)