San Francisco Giants podcast with Charlie O: Belt seeing ball well; Wood looks like he never missed a step great start on return

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San Francisco Giants slugger Brandon Belt arrives in the dugout after hitting a forth inning two run home run against the San Diego Padres on Mon Sep 13, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

San Francisco Giants podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, the Giants in this last homestand split four with the San Diego Padres and won the three game series from the Atlanta Braves. Both clubs could give the Giants fits but manager Gabe Kapler had to be pretty happy with the way they played.

#2 Brandon Belt has been on a tear lately on he nearly hit two home runs on Thursday clearing the fence once and hitting into a double that look like it had the distance. Later in the game in the sixth Padres right fielder Jurickson Profar caught a Belt drive in deep right center.

#3 You have to hand it to the Giants pitching staff on Saturday for the fine piece of work they turned in getting a great start out of Alex Wood who just came out of Covid 19 quarantine and pitched three innings four strike outs, Wood was followed by six relivers who combined to shut out the Atlanta Braves on Saturday 2-0.

#4 Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto’s rehab from an elbow injury is coming along Cueto played catch for the second day in a row throwing some 120 feet. The Giants are hoping to see him back out on the hill on Sep 27 and 28th he will be throwing in bullpen sessions and looking past Sep 27 the Giants would like to get him ready for post season.

#5 Former San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie was on hand to be honored on the Giants Wall of Fame. Lurie who saved the Giants from moving to Toronto in 1976 when he purchased the team with the late Bud Herseth. Later Lurie sold the team to the late Peter Magown and the late Walter Shorenstein at the end of the 1992 season preventing the Giants from moving to Tampa Bay. Giants CEO Larry Baer said of Lurie, “Bob’s fingerprints are all over Oracle Park”

Charlie O is filling in for Morris Phillips for the Giants podcasts heard Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Fortinet Championship: Homa surges ahead for win as McNealy falters late

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Max Homa holds the Fortinet Championship Trophy at the 18th hole at Silverado Springs in Napa after winning Fortinet Championship PGA Tournament on Sun Sep 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

FORTINET CHAMPIONSHIP: Homa surges ahead for win as McNealy falters late

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA, Calif. – The guy known for his hilarious golf-swing roasts did some more roasting with his own game on Sunday.

Starting his Sunday two shots back and playing two groups ahead of the leaders, Cal alum Max Homa was steady as can be for the first five holes and then caught fire, making birdie on three of the next four holes.

He then bogeyed the 10th but came right back two holes later by holing out from the rough for an eagle-2 at the par-4 12th. He quickly followed that up by draining a 21-foot birdie putt at the par-4 13th.

He then two-putted for birdie at the par-5 16th and then rolled in a 19-foot breaking birdie putt at the par-4 17th to take the lead, and when McNealy suffered a double bogey at the 17th moments later, he suddenly had a three-stroke lead that he would not relinquish.

As a result, the 30-year-old collected his third-career win on the PGA Tour by taking the Fortinet Championship by a single stroke.

“I really learned it’s a marathon,” Homa said. “Those Sundays are long, a lot of things happen. I played with Scott Stallings, he played awesome especially right off the jump and he kind of got going ahead of me and I just kept telling myself to just keep playing golf and, you know, just let the birdies come. Don’t force anything, don’t try to beat anybody, just go play the golf course.

“I’ve been playing the back nine really well all week so I learned that a lot from Riviera, just plugging along, picking up maybe a shot here and there and kind of — I had a really good feeling. This golf course sets up where 16, 17, 18 is where the crux of the movement comes, so I was really pleased to par 14, 15 and go into 16 tied. I’ve been playing the par 5s well. I know Maverick had been as well, but I wanted to at least not have to do anything nuts on the last three, but I needed to be close enough on those three to have the opportunity to go and something happen and fortunately was tied going into those and could just play kind of play normal solid golf.

McNealy, who was looking for his first PGA Tour win, played the first 16 holes like a man poised to get that W, going four-under and bogey-free during that stretch.

Then came that short, but tricky, par-4 17th that ultimately decided the tournament.

Homa had birdied that hole a few minutes prior, and McNealy, who had hit his wedges and short irons very well all week, went with a long iron off the tee rather than a driver, to put himself in position for a comfortable second shot.

However, he blew his tee shot way right and hit a tree, and although he got a nice deflection off a tree, he ended up 181 yards from the hole. He then hit his second shot past the green and had major troubles around the green.

“I was just trying to hit the same shot I hit yesterday, which is a low 2-iron,” McNealy said. “I caught it off the heel and it caught the last branch of the tree and dropped straight back. Standing there from 195 yards with a 6-iron and I hit it exactly — it was a great second shot — exactly where I wanted to play to and misjudged the lie. That’s something that I want to work on going forward.”.

It took two more shots to get on the green and then two-putted for a disastrous double.

However, he had one last push at the par-5 18th, as he hit a nice drive followed that up with a shot that hit the green. When that shot did not fine the bottom of the cup, Homa was ensured the victory, but he nonetheless drained the ensuing 32-footer for eagle.

“That eagle putt was gravy, but I was really proud of that drive on 18 because hitting that fairway, it sets you up for birdie,” McNealy said. “And this is the first event of a new season. There’s a big difference between T-2 and solo second, that’s a lot of FedEx points, it’s world ranking points, it’s every shot matters, especially when you’re up at the top of the leaderboard. I was really proud of how I executed.”

A’s Win, Late Drama Included For Free: Miscues late almost ruin 3-2 win over the Angels

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By Morris Phillips

Yeah, yeah, the A’s bullpen… but here’s a twist: this time Lou Trivino was the hero with a warm, Southern California breeze sprinkled in.

Trivino came on to record the final five outs of the game–without allowing a hit or a walk–after the Angels scored a pair of ninth inning runs to break up a shutout authored by starter Frankie Montas and Jake Diekman, who combined to put the home team asleep for eight innings, allowing just one hit.

The A’s secured a 3-2 win in Anaheim to sweep the series–and keep their playoff hopes alive–when Mark Canha singled, and Jed Lowrie followed with a sacrifice fly to score placed runner Matt Olson in the top of the 10th.

Winners of five straight, the A’s still face daunting odds to pass the Yankees (who lost Sunday) and either the Red Sox or Blue Jays (both who won) to secure one of the two wild card spots. Among the biggest of the A’s challenges: they’re in the midst of a 16-games in 16-days stretch that won’t digest any easier after Sunday’s heart stopper.

But before all of what come’s next, the A’s have to be proud of themselves for what was accomplished in Anaheim. Not only did they complete a road sweep, they finished 15-4 in the season series against the Angels, a domination of a division rival that’s almost a prerequisite to gaining a playoff berth these days. But not only that, the A’s stood up to Shohei Ohtani, who was terrific, firing darts across the plate for eight innings.

Ohtani struck out ten, utilizing his splitter on more than half of his 108 pitches across eight innings. He was energized, showing great life on his fastball late in the game when he struck out the side in the seventh, and fanned Matt Chapman in the eighth with a couple of the pitches hitting 98 mph. But Ohtani failed to keep Yan Gomes in the ballpark in the third, and Chapman from circling bases in the fourth. The two solo shots were the difference–until the late drama–as Ohtani allowed three other hits and no walks in his the third longest outing of his career.

But Montas was just as good.

The A’s ace in the absence of the miraculously healing Chris Bassitt took full advantage of an Anaheim lineup that was absent of the normal big names with the exception of Ohtani, who he smartly walked twice. Beyond that, Montas struck out seven, walked two others for a total of four, and allowed a double to Brandon Marsh in the third inning with two outs. Montas then shut that down, by issuing a pass to Ohtani, and striking out Phil Gosselin to end the inning.

“When you go up against Ohtani, you know you have to be really good, and he was,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He matched him all the way until both were out of the game and out-pitched him really.”

But as so many baseball games go, the pitching gems didn’t decide it, instead the follies almost did.

Romo, hardly an ideal closer given the lack of velocity on his pitches, was called upon in the ninth, a role he’s assumed following Trivino’s well-chronicled struggles. Almost immediately, Romo fell into straights allowing a double to Gosselin, and an infield single to Jared Walsh after throwing just six pitches. After Luis Rengifo grounded out, but advanced the runners, Jose Rojas delivered a single to left that plated Gosselin. But Seth Brown’s throw to the plate–with Walsh held at third–sailed over Gomes at the plate and to the backstop. That pinned an error on Brown, freed up Walsh, and allowed the Angels to tie the game.

Just that quick–after 10 pitches–Romo was done, and Trivino was summoned. On six pitches, Trivino struck out Max Stassi and Jack Mayfield (both looking) to keep the Angels from grabbing a lead.

“It’s demoralizing to give up the lead,” Melvin said. “You have to go back out there and work for it again and they did. It doesn’t surprise me.”

In the tenth with the lead, Trivino did it again. He got David Fletcher to ground out, Brandon Marsh to ground into a fielder’s choice, wiping out Mayfield, the runner placed at second to start the inning. Then he got Kean Wong to fly out to end it, all done with eight pitches.

In five outings ending September 4, Trivino allowed runs in each appearance, all in games that the A’s ended up losing. That cost Trivino his closer’s role. But this week, he’s been better: despite allowing five hits combined in appearances Wednesday and Friday, he posted two holds and a win.

“Huge for him kind of getting back to what he’s been doing here for the better part of the season,” Melvin said. “Great for us, great for his confidence and obviously the timeliness of it was huge.”

The A’s open up a four-game set with Seattle at the Coliseum on Monday night. Sean Manaea will be opposed by the Mariners’ Tyler Anderson, who’s allowed three home runs and five walks in his two most recent starts and has a 6-9 record on the season.

Injuries pile up for Steelers; Raiders Carr throws for two touchdowns in 26-17 win

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Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt (90) gets the swoop down on Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) Watt would later leave the game with a injury and watch from the sidelines in the second half at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on Sun Sep 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Rich Perez

The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) couldn’t withstand the injuries and fell to the Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) 26-17 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. One of the key injuries of the game was when outside linebacker TJ Watt left in the first half and it felt like one of the wheels fell off for the Steelers.

Watt was seen on television standing on the sidelines in the second half with uniform off wearing Steelers cap and garb colecting his thoughts. Watt suffered a groin injury and you could feel the tension at Heinz Field which you could cut the Steel Curtain with a butter knife as any adrenaline the Steelers had left them.

The Steelers were coming off a 26-17 opening week win from last Sun Sep 12th in Buffalo but all that was for not as they couldn’t muster any defense against the Raiders. The Raiders had a 9-6 lead after the first half and outscored the Steelers in the second half 17-10 the Steelers offense just fell flat.

Raider quarterback Derek Carr threw 28-37 for 382 yards and two touchdowns and key for Carr he never threw an interception he got protection all day from his offensive line. Other Steelers injuries cornerback Joe Haden and inside linebacker Devin Bush were inactive also suffering from groin injuries.

Steelers defensive tackle Tyson Alualu is out for the season with a fractured ankle and that didn’t take long as the injury happened during the Raiders first possession. Carr threw for a 61 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Henry Ruggs. The offensive line protected Carr so well that he had time to drop back and throw to Ruggs at 50 yards for the score.

Carr dropped back to pass 42 times in the game a lot of opportunities and was sacked twice. Watt got to strip sack Carr in the first half before he left with his injury. The Steelers Melvin Ingram also got the other sack. Carr made it look easy in the second half and had no struggles with the Steeler secondary. After suffering multiple injuries the Steelers looked as if all the wind had been taken out of their sails.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said the team needs time to grow and next Sunday comes fast after playing a game like they did on Sunday, “Win or lose, we’ve got to grow. We’ve got too many young people, new people in significant roles. They’ve just got to grow in terms of understanding those roles, the details required to win, the skills relative to their position to execute in those critical moments.”

The Raiders will entertain the Miami Dolphins (1-1) who were shut out Sunday by the Buffalo Bills (1-1) 35-0 on their home field in Miami. Kick off at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sun Sep 26th is at 1:05 pm.

NCAA Football podcast with Michelle Richardson: Oklahoma holds off Nebraska 23-16; Michigan State blows past Hurricanes; plus more

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Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler (17) lead the Sooners to a 23-16 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers 23-16 on Sat Sep 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

On the NCAA Football podcast with Michelle:

#1 Number 3 Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 23-16 on Saturday. The Sooners just got by the Cornhuskers in the first quarter the Sooners outscored the Cornhuskers 7-3 after that the Cornhuskers matched the Sooners in the second quarter a 0-0 shutout, in the third quarter the Sooners outscoring the Cornhuskers 9-6 and in the four quarter a 7-7 score.

#2 Michelle how shocked were you to see #1 Michigan State Spartans defeat #2 Miami Hurricanes 38-17. The Spartans quarterback Payton Thorne was 18-31 for 261 yards and threw a lot of touchdowns four of them in the win.

#3 No.1 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated No.11 the Florida Gators 31-29 in a close contest. The Gators scored six in the fourth quarter but came up short by two to tie it and the Crimson Tide remain perfect at 3-0. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young went 22 for 35 for 233 yards and three touchdowns.

Michelle’s Final thoughts

Michelle does the NCAA Football podcasts each Sunday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rosario goes cycling in Braves victory 3-0

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Eddie Rosario who hit for the cycle for the Atlanta Braves is jubilant after hitting a triple against the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Sep 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Wouldnt you know that it would be a former member of the San Francisco Giants that cost them a big weekend sweep.

Adam Duvall hit a two-run home run off of Anthony DeSclafani in the top of the seventh inning, helping the Atlanta Braves to salvage the finale of the three-game series with a 3-0 victory over the Giants before a crowd of 32,210 at Oracle Park.

Max Fried was absolutely fantastic for the Braves, as he went seven innings, allowing zero runs on three hits, walking just one and striking out five on his way to raising his record to 12-7 on the record and with the win, the Braves will remain in first place over the Philadelphia Phillies.

On the other side of things, the Giants lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers was reduced to one game in the National League with the loss and the Dodgers 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.

It was a huge day for Rosario, who hit for the cycle, as he went 4 for-4 on the afternoon against Giants pitching. Rosario came up in the top of the ninth inning with a chance at the getting the cycle, and got it when he singled off of Kervin Castro. Rosario doubled in the second, tripled in the fifth, homered in the seventh and singled in the ninth to complete only the second cycle since the ballpark opened on April 11, 2000.

This was the fourth cycle of the season in Major League Baseball this season, as Trea Turner, then of the Washington Nationals, Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres and Rosarios teammate Freddie Freeman also hit one and it was the 10th cycle in Braves history.

DeSclafani went the first six innings and was looking fantastic until he gave a double to Austin Riley that Austin Slater brought back into the ballpark like Steven Duggar did with a ball hit by Jorge Soler. In all, DeSclafani went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six and his record fell to 12-7 on the season.

Immediately following the Duvall home run off of DeSclafani, Zack Littell came on and was greeted rather unceremoniously, as Rosario made it back-to-back home runs to lengthen the Braves lead.

Unfortunately for the Giants, they were unable to get anything going against Fried, who baffled them on all afternoon.

Former Dodgers outfielder and Bay Area Joc Pederson, who went to Palo Alto High School went 2-for-4 with a single and a double.

With a chance to break the game wide open in the top of the eighth inning, after Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman each singled off of Jose Alvarez with one out in the inning, Camilio Doval came on and was able to get out of the jam, as he got Riley to fly out to Darin Ruf in left field for the second out of the inning and then Doval struck out Duvall to end the inning.

Former Giants closer Will Smith came on in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired the Giants in order to get his 33rd save.

NOTES: Eric Byrnes came up with the only other cycle in the history of the 21-year old ballpark, when completed the cycle on June 29, 2003 as a member of the Oakland Athletics, when the ballpark was then known as Pacific Bell Park.

Byrnes went 5-for-5 on the afternoon, with a single, two doubles, a triple and a home run in a 5-2 win over the Giants.

Felix Rodriguez gave up the triple that Byrnes needed in the top of the ninth inning to complete the cycle.

UP NEXT: After an off-day on Monday, the Giants will open their final road trip of the regular season, as they head off on a two-city, six-game road trip to San Diego to face the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, and then head to Colorado to face the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field beginning on Friday night.

Aces win regular season finale, 84-83

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Monica D. Spencer/The Republic Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury attempts to keep the ball from Las Vegas Aces’ Kiah Stokes during a Sept. 19, 2021 game at the Footprint Center.


By Shawn McCullough

The Aces got a late bucket from Jackie Young to beat the Mercury in Phoenix, 84-83.

Young grabbed a rebound off a Kelsey Plum miss and put it back with just 4.3 seconds left in the game to secure the win for Las Vegas.

Young finished the game with 10 points, while Plum came off the bench and scored a game high 23 points.

Liz Cambage played 9:31 and had four points with four rebounds after coming out of the health and safety protocol.

With the win, the Aces finished the regular season 24-8 and secured the double bye by finishing in second place in the standings.

The WNBA playoffs will begin on Thursday, September 23rd.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

– The Aces shot 46.4% from the field.
– Each team pulled down 33 rebounds.
– Ten Aces players saw substantial minutes in a game that didn’t matter in the standings.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 3 Riquna Williams
C – 41 Kiah Stokes
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 12 Chelsea Gray

Aces Injury Report:

Angel McCoughtry—Out, right ACL

49ers escape Philadelphia with 17-11 victory over Eagles

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Running for daylight the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) throws the ball on the run against the San Francisco 49ers in the first half at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sun Sep 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Joe Hawkes
Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA — In a city where they’re know for grit and toughness, the San Francisco 49ers were tougher and grittier going into Philadelphia and coming away with a 17-11 victory led by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and a stingy defense that played strong all game long.

Garoppolo struggled with his accuracy early, sputtering the offense that led to three-straight three-and-outs. The offense failed to produce a first down, which is the longest streak to open the game under head coach Kyle Shanahan.

But Garoppolo shook off the shaky start and started making plays, completing 22-of-30 pass attempts for 189 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

“That’s part of being the quarterback. You gotta want the ball,” Garoppolo said.

Both of San Francisco’s touchdown drives went for 90-plus yards.

Philadelphia bungled an opportunity to go up 10-0 midway in the second quarter, instead of nursing a 3-0 lead thanks to a 45-yard field goal by kicker Jake Elliott in the first quarter.

After second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts connected with wide receiver Quez Watkins on a 91-yard completion to the San Francisco 6-yard line, the Eagles had a first down at the 1-yard line following a defensive pass interference penalty on veteran cornerback Josh Norman. But on fourth down from the 3-yard line, wide receiver Greg Ward took a flip on a reverse and threw an incomplete pass to Hurts in the back of the end zone.

On the ensuing drive, the 49ers utilized the final 4:12 remaining in the second quarter to get into the scoring column and take control of the game heading into halftime.

Starting from their own 3-yard line, Garopplo was razor sharp leading the 49ers down the field. Garoppolo completed a 5-yard pass to wide receiver Deebo Samuel on third-and-3. On the next set of downs, Garoppolo used his legs to pick up four yards on a quarterback sneak on third-and-1.

Following a timeout, Garoppolo connected with Samuel for a 40-yard completion over the middle of the field from their own 49-yard line before Samuel was brought down at the Philadelphia 11-yard line. On the next play, Garoppolo found wide receiver Jauan Jennings for the touchdown, giving the 49ers a 7-3 edge at halftime.

“For it to be 7-3 at halftime was pretty unbelievable,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

For the second straight week, Samuel led the 49ers in receiving hauling in six catches for 93 yards. Tight end George Kittle had four catches for just 17 yards.

Jennings’ first career catch (and touchdown) in the NFL, capped off a 12-play, 97-yard drive in 4:08. That was the longest scoring drive by the 49ers since Dec. 16, 2018 against the Seattle Seahawks.

After the Eagles went three-and-out on their first possession in the second half, the 49ers had their work cut out for them again after the Eagles punted the football to the San Francisco 9-yard line. But Garoppolo was unfazed, engineering an impressive 16-play, 91-yard drive punctuated by his 1-yard touchdown run that pushed San Francisco’s lead to 14-3 early in the fourth quarter.

On the ground, rookie running back Elijah Mitchell led the 49ers with 17 carries for 42 yards. The backfield did take some hits as Mitchell (shoulder), JaMychal Hasty (ankle) and Trey Sermon (concussion) all left the game with injuries. San Francisco entered Sunday’s game already without starting running back Raheem Mostert, who was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in Week 1.

Kicker Robbie Gould added a 46-yard field goal with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter extended San Francisco’s lead to 17-3. It felt the way that the defense was playing today, the 49ers were in the HOV lane to their second victory of the season.

Not so fast.

The Eagles weren’t ready to go down without a fight in front of a sellout crowd at Lincoln Financial Field in their home opener. Especially since it was the first time fans were inside “The Linc” since a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 5, 2020.

Philadelphia cut San Francisco’s lead to 17-11, following a 1-yard touchdown run by Hurts and a 2-point conversion by running back Kenny Gainwell. But the Eagles never got the football back.

Hurts finished the game completing just 12-of-23 pass attempts for 190 yards. He also rushed for 82 yards.

Hurts threw a 38-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jalen Reagor that was overturned because Reagor stepped out of bounds before he made the catch down the right sideline.

“We had a lot of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on,” Hurts said. “We have to be consistent in our execution. I have to be consistent in my execution as field general. A lot to learn.”

Missed opportunities hurt the Eagles’ chances at pulling out a victory for the eighth time in 10 games over the 49ers.

Defensive end Nick Bosa finished with two sacks, pacing a 49ers defense that allowed just 328 total net yards for the Eagles.

The 49ers (2-0) return home after practicing for a week at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia and a pair of road victories in the Eastern time zone in their pocket.

San Francisco host the visiting Green Bay Packers on prime time on NBC’s Sunday Night Football in their home opener at Levi’s Stadium for Week 3, while the Eagles (1-1) visit NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 27.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: 49ers defense needs to add pressure against Hurts and the run today

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San Francisco 49ers linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowels will need to improve the blocking game as opposed to his blocking in Detroit last week. He and the 49ers take on the Philadelphia Eagles today at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (file photo from 49ers.com)

On the 49ers podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 Joe, talk about the progress of Brandon Aiyuk who had missed ten days of practice and with Trent Sherfield looking impressive in pre season and opening day last week. Aiyuk is expected to be hard hitting and explosive in his first game back this season in Philadelphia.

#2 Joe, talk about linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles about his ability to defend the run, being successful in blocks and in zone coverage?

#3 Rookie Trey Sermon running back is making his rookie debut on Sunday how big is Sermon with the loss of Raheem Mostert to step up at the running back position.

#4 The 49ers Jeff Kerr was a speculation if he was going to make the 53 man roster coming out of pre season but made the club and battled with the Lions Frank Ragnow last week. This week he takes on the Eagles Jason Kelce. Some of the tackles who struggled against the Lions have been moved to the linebacker position including Kerr. Kerr did have a good game against the Lions.

#5 Joe, the 49ers take on Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles last week Hurts just owned the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta with a convincing 32-6 win. Hurts under center threw for 27 for 35, 264 yards, and three touchdown. NFL oddsmakers were shocked by the Eagles performance and their home against the 49ers how much work will it take for the 49ers defense to stop Hurts.

Join Joe Hawkes for the 49ers podcasts each Sunday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Continue To Roll Past Angels 3-1; A’s now 2 games back in AL Wild Card race

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Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani swings for a broken bat single in the seventh inning Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy watches at Angels Stadium in Anaheim on Sat Sep 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Continue To Roll Past Angels

By Barbara Mason

After holding on in a very tight game, the Oakland A’s beat the Los Angels Angels in game one of their three game series 5-4. The bullpen, which has really been struggling, had a great game.

In tonight’s game the A’s had James Kaprielian starting the game and the Angels had Jose Suarez on the mound. His ERA is 3.59 and Kaprielian is a 3.83 ERA. The A’s took game two of the three game series on Saturday night 3-1 at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

The first inning was a very productive one for the A’s. The one thing that we did not see in last night’s game was the long ball and Matt Olson took care of that in his first at bat. He had a solo home run followed by a Mark Canha walk, a Chad Pinder double and a Matt Chapman double. When the dust had settled the A’s had an early 3-0 lead.

The pitching rose to a new level as both pitchers dismissed batters right and left. Both players had very nice performances through six innings.

Due to pitch count Suarez came out of the game in the sixth inning and was relieved by Oliver Ortega who finished off Oakland in the inning.

After six full innings Oakland held their 3-0 lead. There was not a lot of offense for either team after that first inning.

In a surprising move Deolis Guerra came in to relieve Kaprielian in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kaprielian would have faced Ohtani who had already flied out and struck out. Guerra gave up a hit to Ohtani in the seventh inning in Shohei’s third at bat. An apparent double play was reversed and there were two out and two on in the bottom of the inning for the Angels.

Los Angeles did get one run in the inning after the reversed call. The A’s were a bit unnerved after that call. The entire team had left the field when the double play was called by the ref. They managed to pull it back together allowing the one run and still led 3-1 going into the eighth inning.

In six innings Kaprielian allowed two hits and in one inning Guerra allowed three hits. With 90 pitches it would seem that Kaprielian had one more inning in him. The Oakland bullpen had to get through two more innings for their second win of this series.

It was a very nervous ninth inning with the bases loaded for the Angels. With two outs Josh Harrison would leap up and catch a line drive to end the game. This was a critical catch for the A’s. If Harrison doesn’t make that catch this game is tied so a great game for Oakland.

The A’s will play an afternoon game tomorrow in the final game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:07. Frankie Montas will be on the mound for Oakland and in a surprise Shohei Ohtani has the nod for the Angels. His sore arm has healed in record time and so this will be a great matchup.