White Sox win first game of four-game set with A’s 5-2

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Former Oakland A’s and now Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendricks gets into the double fist pump mode after closing the door on his former team on Mon Aug 16, 2021 in Chicago (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s met the Chicago White Sox for the first time this season Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field on the Southside of Chicago. The teams entered the game with identical records of 68-50. The A’s sent Frankie Montas to the hill Monday night.

Montas had pitched well in his last several starts. The White Sox countered with the veteran lefty, Dallas Keuchel. Montas had to be on the top of his game as the White Sox lineup is loaded with tough outs. Two outstanding Chicago players returned to action after missing most of the season with injuries. Eloy Jiminez was back in the lineup, hitting behind last year’s MVP Jose Abreu. Luis Robert returned to his spot in center field after being on the 60-day IL.

The A’s knew they had to put runs on the board to beat Keuchel. Oakland put two on the board in the top of the second. Matt Chapman, with one out, blasted his 18th home run of the year. The home run was Chappie’s fourth blast in the last three games. Keuchel then hit Josh Harrison with a pitch.

He walked Stephen Piscotty and Vimael Machin to load the bases. Mark Canha singled to drive in Harrison with the A’s second run. Keuchel settled down and retired the next two A’s hitters to end the threat. The A’s didn’t know it at the time that they were done for the night.

Chicago added single runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Montas left the game after the fifth inning, trailing 3-2. Frankie gave up three runs and allowed eight hits, all singles. He threw 99 pitches in his five innings of work. The White Sox added another run in the bottom of the eighth. Luis Robert led off the frame with his third home run of the year. 

The White Sox bullpen held the A’s offense at bay after Keuchel left after five innings of work. The A’s only hit after the fourth inning came in the eight when Jed Lowrie doubled. Former A’s closer Liam Hendriks struck out the side in the ninth to record his 27th save of the year. Chicago wins 5-2.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the A’s record stands at 68-51. The A’s trail the Houston Astros by two and 1/2 games in the race for first place in the AL West. The A’s drop 1/2 game behind the Boston Red Sox to be the number one Wild Card. The New Yankees downed the LA Angels to move with one and 1/2 games behind the second AL Wild card.

The line for Oakland was two runs, six hits, and one error. The A’s had two extra-base hits. Matt Chapman’s homer and Jed Lowrie’s double.

The line for the White Sox was five runs, ten hits, and no error. Luis Robert paced the Sox’ attack with three hits, two singles, and a home run. Chisox manager Tony LaRussa played small ball in the bottom of the sixth. Robert led off the inning with a single.

Robert then stole second. He was called out on the throw from Yan Gomes to Machin. The Sox won the challenge, and Robert was credited with a stolen base. Robert went to third on Brian Goodwin’s ground out. Sox catcher Zeby Zavala, who had two singles earlier in the game, laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to drive in Robert with Chicago’s fourth run of the night.

Chris Bassitt will pitch for the A’s Tuesday night. Bassitt is 12-3, and his ERA is 3.06. Chicago will counter with Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez is 1-0, and his era is 1.35

San Francisco Giants podcast with Charlie O: Kevin Gausman gets the call tonight against Mets

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Kevin Gausman (left) San Francisco Giants starting pitcher tonight shares congratulations with LaMonte Wade Jr after Wade hits a two run home run on Wed Aug 11, 2021 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park in San Francisco as the Giants host the New York Mets (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, Alex Wood raised his win total to ten games with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies the Giants (76-42) win the rubber game on Sunday and lead the second place Dodgers 4.5 games.

#2 Giants pitcher Alex Wood went 6.2 innings six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts.

#3 The Giants Tommy LaStella three hits and two RBIs whose been contributing big for the Giants offense on Sunday.

#4 LaMonte Wade Jr made a seventh inning throw to the plate to help save the game and Wade Jr has been doing great thing at the plate with a .250 average, 50 hits and 15 home runs.

#5 Meet the Mets: The New York Mets (59-57) come to Oracle Park and will start Rich Hill (6-4 ERA) and for the Giants Kevin Gausman (11-5 ERA 2.29) 6:45 pm (PDT)

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Peters with two HRs helps Rangers defeat A’s; A’s open up three game series in Chicago tonight

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Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea gives up the big fly a two run homer to the Texas Rangers DJ in the first inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara a tough series in Arlington again the Oakland A’s lost two out of three the A’s are now three games out of first place in their chase of the Houston Astros.

#2 The A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea gave up three runs in the first inning to the Rangers who jumped all over the A’s for seven runs and seven hits five innings.

#3 The DJ Peters hit two homers for the Rangers, Peters hit the fourth longest home run against the A’s at Globe Life Field that went into the second deck in left center field.

#4 Manaea has been struggling now 8-8 allowed 15 runs in his last 11 innings in his last three games.

#5 The A’s open up a four game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Monday night, the A’s will start Frankie Montas (9-8 ERA 3.98) and for the White Sox Dallas Keuchel (7-6 ERA 4.51) 5:10 pm first pitch.

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

Las Vegas pulls off a dramatic come from behind win against Washington 84-83

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Las Vegas Aces A’JA Wilson led the Aces with 20 points and a double double against the Washington Mystics on Sun Aug 15, 2021 at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas (image from @LVAces)

Las Vegas Pulls Off A Dramatic Come From Behind Win

By Barbara Mason

June 5th in review: The last time the Las Vegas Aces and the Washington Mystics met was on June 5th and the Aces narrowly won that game by the score of 96-93.

Right now the Aces have a record of 16-6 and the Mystics have a 8-11 record. After their last meeting the Las Vegas Aces were slightly favored to win this game.

Being favored doesn’t always translate into a win as Las Vegas was soon to find out.

Sun Aug 15th game recap: Sunday’s game was a shocker at least in the first quarter. The Mystics outscored the Aces 27-15 and while it did get better in the second quarter Las Vegas was playing at a steep deficit.

At the half the Aces trailed by the score of 50-35 in a first half drubbing. A’ja Wilson had only scored 7 points in the first half and there were no double digits to be had by Las Vegas. On the other hand the Mystics Tina Charles and Myisha Hines-Allen both had scored double digits. Charles had 16 points and Hines-Allen with 10.

The Aces had a lot of trouble getting going in the first quarter and even though they played fairly even in the second quarter they were clearly behind the eight ball in this game, struggling mightily. We have seen them in the past come from behind and win and they would need all onboard to come away with a win in this game.

As the third quarter wore on it became evident that the Aces were in deep trouble as the Mystics continued to pour it on showing now signs of relinquishing the lead. The Aces did outscore the Mystics in the quarter but only by a single point and they would a whole lot more in the fourth quarter to get by Washington.

As we have seen before, Las Vegas began to pour in on in the fourth quarter. There was just under five minutes left in the game and the feisty Aces had pulled to within six points 76-70.

With 4.6 seconds left on the clock Las Vegas took the lead 84-83. A failed shot by the Mystics Ariel Atkins gave the Aces the improbable win.

Las Vegas got a very slow start in this game but they were gangbusters at the end. A’ja Wilson finished with 20 points, Liz Cabbage had 17 and Jackie Young had 14. While it was an amazing comeback, the team does not want to fall behind in a game the way they did in this one anytime soon.

Next up for the Aces will be this Tuesday when they will again take on the Mystics. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

A’s, Manaea roughed up in 7-4 loss to the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

The look on Sean Manaea’s face? Not good.

After allowing a second home run on Sunday afternoon to Texas’ DJ Peters–or better yet, assisting Peters–Manaea looked up at the Globe Life Field retractable roof, and without saying anything, and just looking at his eyes, appeared to be saying, “What am I doing?”

In the grandest circuit of professional baseball anywhere in the world, you won’t see two, more majestically struck baseballs. Peters deserves credit, but Manaea would admit, he was more than helpful.

It’s been one of those seasons for Manaea: sometimes spectacular, sometimes awful, the A’s top line starter can’t find a groove from start to start. Manaea allowed seven earned runs in Sunday’s 7-1 loss, the second time he allowed as many runs this season. He also allowed five earned runs in a loss at the Coliseum two weeks ago to the Padres.

But in 12 of his 25 starts this season, Manaea’s been splendid, allowing zero or one earned run. In one stretch of five starts spanning June and July, Manaea strung together five such starts, including his four-hit, complete game shutout at Seattle on June 2. None of the last three starts for Manaea have fallen into the splendid category. With the season on the line, he needs to get back to winning.

“Giving up home runs, so, yeah,” Manaea said when asked what needs to change. “I guess, throwing stuff down the middle, I guess that counts as better command.”

“It was just some long balls that got him today,” manager Bob Melvin said of Manaea. “This is a tough stretch for him. A lot of guys go through tough stretches. You’ve got to pitch your way out.”

Manaea was both good and bad within Sunday’s start. He walked just one batter, struck out five, but five extra-base hits–three homers and two doubles– each chased home at least one run. None were cheap, especially the two hit by Peters. The 460-foot home run he tagged in the first inning was one of the longest hit in the short history of the new Arlington ballpark, and could be seen picking up passengers in flight.

“I just want to be as prepared as possible and do my homework, from the elite bullpen arms to the starters every day — watching films and taking notes,” Peters said of his breakout performance which netted him two of his four career home runs. “Obviously, I’m still new but being as prepared as possible is definitely key. That’s what all of the championship teams do.

Manaea departed trailing 7-1 after five innings, and that put the A’s in an impossible spot, but they still rallied with Mark Canha’s homer in the sixth, and RBI hits from Tony Kemp and Sean Murphy in the seventh and eighth. But the ninth brought no magic: Starling Marte flew out to left with a pair of runners aboard to end the ballgame.

Matt Chapman stayed hot with a solo shot in the 2nd off winning pitcher Koby Allard. He had three hits on the afternoon, and he’s homered three times in the first six games of the road trip.

The A’s have 44 games remaining, and as they’ve grown accustomed to in recent seasons, there are plenty of moving parts around them. The Astros also lost, so the A’s squandered an opportunity to get within 1 1/2 games of the AL West lead. The trio of wild card contenders in the AL East–Boston, New York and Toronto–all won with Boston equaling Oakland’s mark at 68-50.

Frankie Montas gets the start Monday in Chicago for the first of four games with the White Sox. Familiar face Dallas Kuechel gets the start for Chicago, and at age 33, the veteran may be losing velocity and fooling hitters less frequently. Kuechel has allowed 21 home runs in 22 starts this season.

Wood wins his 10th of the season defeats Rockies 5-2

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San Francisco Giants starter Alex Wood throws against the Colorado Rockies line up in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Aug 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Two of the biggest plays of the series finale between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies came within minutes of each other.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., threw out Elias Diaz at the plate on a Connor Joe base hit that preserved the Giants led to end the top of the seventh inning and then Kris Bryant came off the bench to reach on a botched fielding play between Joe and Garrett Hampson that allowed Bryant to reach on a fielding error, as the Giants defeated the Rockies 5-2 before a crowd of 33,337 at Oracle Park.

Bryant reached second on the fielding error, then he gave the Giants a two-run cushion, when pinch hitter Austin Slater doubled in Bryant.

After Darin Ruf, the third pinch hitter in a row for the Giants was hit by a pitch on his elbow guard, Tommy LaStella singled to load the bases, and Wilmer Flores singled in Slater for the second run of the inning.

Brandon Belt was unable to drive in a run that could have broken the game wide open, as he flew out to Joe in left field for the first out of the inning. Just like Belt, Brandon Crawford was unable to help out at the plate, as he struck out for the second time in a row.

Robert Stephenson was able to get out of the jam, as he got Mike Yastrzemski to pop out to Ryan McMahon to end the threat.

Alex Wood pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he gave up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six.

It was the 10th win of the season for Wood, who raises his record to 9-0 in games following a loss and the Giants are now 11-0 as a team in games Wood starts following a team loss.

With the victory, the Giants are now 40-18 at home this season, the best home record in the major leagues and just ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who are 40-21.

This was the Giants seventh win in a row in day games, and have won nine out of their last 10 games in day games.

The Giants finally got to Rockies starter Jon Gray in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Curt Casali singled to centerfield to score Yastrzemski, who led off the inning with a single, then stole his third base of the season. Following a walk to Wood to load the bases, Wade, Jr., struck out for the first out. Tommy LaStella hit a two-run double that just missed being a grand slam by inches to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Gray went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five and saw his record fall to 7-9 on the season.

Diaz got the Rockies on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled to score Hampson. Charlie Blackmon came off the bench to single Yonathan Daza to get the Rockies within one run; however, Dominic Leone was able to get out of the jam, when Wade made that great throw to get Diaz to end the inning.

NOTES: Jay Jackson was reinstated form the injured list prior to the game, while Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento. Luis Gonzalez was recalled from Sacramento and placed on the 60-day Major League Injured List, as he recovers from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

This is the Giants second best start thru 118 games since the team moved to California in 1958, trailing only the 1993 team that was 79-39 thru the same amount of games.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman takes the mound on Monday night, as he searches for his 12th win of the season, while Rich Hill will go for his seventh win of the season for the New York Mets. This is the beginning of a stretch that the Giants will see each other six times over the next 9 games, that concludes on August 26 at Citi Field in New York.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: Lance looks ready throws for 128 yards; Garoppolo looks sharp in his short stint

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Play of the game, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Trent Sherfield (left) sprints down field for an 80 yard reception the Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mike Hughes (21) and safety Devon Key (24) give chase after a brilliant pass from quarterback Trey Lance (AP News photo)

On the 49ers podcast with J Hawkes:

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance show some elusiveness, Lance went 5-14 for 128 yards and a touchdown. He had some good throws that were dropped by the receivers he could have had eight completions if the receivers had caught the ball.

Lance’s 80 touchdown throw to Trent Sherfield was a good play, Lance’s throw was a dart it had a little wobble to it but it was a good throw. Lance had some great aggressiveness good play calling. Lance pretty played the entire second quarter after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo quarterbacked one series. For Garoppolo played for ten snaps Garoppolo in his time under center in the game looked good going 3-3 for 26 yards and was able to get the ball out of his hand quickly.

The receiving core there are guys who are trying to make the roster Jauan Jennings had a nice catch on a ball that was throw by quarterback Josh Rosen in the second half the pass was a little high. Jennings one reception and 26 yards in the contest, Wide out Charlie Woerner caught one for 34 yards and didn’t score, and Trent Sherfield one reception and 80 yards and one touchdown.

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

Chiefs win edge over 49ers in clubs’ first preseason game 19-16

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance (5) threw against the Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Demone Harris (96) at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sat Aug 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ August 14, 2021

~ San Francisco almost made a late comeback Saturday, but Kansas City was able to prevail 19-16 with 1:19 left in the contest.  

49ers’ rookie quarterback Trey Lance made a splash in his debut, with an 80-yard rocket to wide receiver Trent Sherfield. 

Quarterbackwise, the traditional starters, San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes each played the first drive, followed by Lance and Chad Henne.

The first three drives of the game resulted in punts. 

Kansas City got on the board first due to good field position combined with a 13-yard pass interference penalty to Talanoa Hufanga. Henne made a five yard pass to Byron Pringle with 2:57 left in the first. 

After an incomplete pass and a seven yard sack in his first drive, Lance followed it up with his 80-yarder score eight seconds later. It stayed 7-6 when kicker Robbie Gould’s extra point hit an upright. Lance finished 5-of-14 for 128 yards and was sacked four times. 

The 49ers made it two scoring drives in a row as Deommodore Lenoir intercepted Henne. Robbie Gould helped the cause at the end of the resulting drive with a 36-yard field goal, making it 9-7 with 12:29 left in the second.

Lance made another big play with 9:44 left, throwing 34 yards to Charlie Woerner. 

The Chiefs brought in “rookie” undrafted free agent quarterback Anthony Gordon with 7:45 left.

With just under a minute left before halftime, kicker Harrison Butker went for a 62-yard field goal. It would have been a career-best, but fell short. 

The 49ers led all halftime stats except for first downs.

Kansas City went up 10-9 after the first drive of the second half. It was the longest drive of the game, lasting 6:14 and culminating with a 52-yard field goal by Butker.  

After the opening drives, quarterbacks rookie Shane Buechele and Josh Rosen came in for San Francisco and the Chiefs respectively. 

The 49ers had two drives resulting consecutively in an interception and a fumble. The interception came with their closest position of the second half so far when they were on KC’s 19.

Kansas City padded their lead by three with a 46-yard Butker field goal with 4:27 left to go in the game and this sparked two more scores.

Nsimba Webster started San Francisco’s drive with a 43-yard return followed by a 34-yard rush. 

With the clock winding down and potential overtime looming, the Chiefs made sure it did not happen and Buchele walked into the endzone for the game’s final points.

The match officially ended on an illegal shift penalty to the 49ers.

Red zone totals were 2-2 for Kansas City and 1-3 for San Francisco. 

Up Next: The 49ers will face one of their Southern California counterparts next in the form of the Los Angeles Chargers at the new SoFi Stadium Sunday August 22 at 4:30pm. 

Big error costs Giants winning streak to Rockies 4-1

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Colorado Rockies centerfielder Yonathan Daza gloves then drops the ball on a San Francisco Giants Tommy LaStella base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On the night when Evan Longoria returned to the starting lineup for the San Francisco Giants, it was a costly error by another Giants infielder that eventually cost them their six-game winning streak.

Ryan McMahon hit a ball that Donovan Solano was unable to corral for an error, and that allowed Trevor Story from third base and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Giants 4-1 before a crowd of 32,282 at Oracle Park.

Brendan Rodgers led off the inning with a single that extended his hitting streak up to 16 games to lead off the inning, then Trevor Story singled and then Charlie Blackmon walk to load the bases with nobody out off of eventual losing pitcher Dominic Leone. C.J. Cron then drove in the eventual game-winning run, as he was able to leg out ball that was handled by Brandon Crawford, who flipped the ball from his glove to Solano for the first out; however, Cron was able to the throw to first base.

Leone went 0.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and walked one before being replaced by Jose Alvarez, as he fell to 2-2 on the season.

Solano then made the fielding error that extended the inning, as Story scored from third base with the second run of the inning.

Cron gave the Rockies an early lead in the top of the second inning, as he led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run off of starting pitcher Sammy Long.

The Giants tied it up in the bottom of the second inning, when Solano singled to centerfield and Longoria scored the tying run. Longoria reached on a fluke hit base hit that saw Cron unable to catch the wind drawn pop-up.

Long went two innings for the Giants, as he allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck out four.

Zack Littell, who picked up the save on Friday night came on to replace Long and he went the next three innings, allowing just a walk and striking out four.

Kyle Freeland pitched the first six innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out two and won for the fourth time on the season.

The Rockies added on an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, as McMahon grounded into a fielders choice that saw Crawford tag out Cron.

NOTES: With Longoria being activated from the 60-day disabled list and being recalled from his rehabilitation assignment. Long was also recalled from Sacramento and too make room for Longoria, Thairo Estrada was optioned to Sacramento, and Jay Jackson was placed on the injured list.

With Longoria returning to the Major-League roster, the Giants now have every position player from the Opening Day roster back, with the exception of Mauricio Dubon, who is in Sacramento for the first time since April 21, when Solano hurt his right calf and was placed on the injured list on April 22.

When Wilmer Flores hit his three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning on Friday night, it was the 15th home run of the season for Flores and he is the sixth different Giants player with at least 15 home runs this season, joining Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Lamonte Wade, Jr., and Mike Yastrzemski. Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants have never had more than six players with 15 plus home runs in a single season.

This was only the second loss of the season to the Rockies at Oracle Park, as the Giants are 7-2 in their home park this season, with Sunday being the last game in San Francisco this season.

The Giants still have to travel to Colorado twice more this season, as they are only 1-2 there this season. Over the last month of the season, the Giants and the Rockies play there six times.

UP NEXT: Alex Wood looks for his 10th win of the season, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon. While the Rockies will send right-hander Jon Gray to the hill, as he looks to even up his record at 8-8 on the season.

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

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Oakland A’s Matt Chapman (left) hits the first of two home runs against the Texas Rangers in the second inning gets congratulations from third base coach Mark Kotsay (7) at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Sat Aug 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Oakland A’s took on the Texas Rangers in Game Two of their series. After a rough game yesterday laden with errors Oakland really needed to clean up their act and get back on track. There is no way the A’s should be losing to the Rangers although during this season Texas has seemed to have Oakland’s number at times.

A clean game void of errors should be the pathway to the A’s first win in this series.

Oakland got off to a good start in the first inning when Jed Lowry singled driving Starling Marte home jumping out to a 1-0 lead. The Rangers would tie up the game in the inning 1-1. The good news was that the A’s did not fall behind in the early innings.

In the second and the sixth innings those home runs started coming in. Matt Chapman had one in the second and Matt Olson had a home run in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. The Texans answered and tied up this game 3-3. After six innings this game was closely contested.

The A’s had scored in three innings but really got going in the seventh inning. Two more home runs, one by Mitch Moreland and Matt Chapman had his second homer of the game. The A’s were really rolling at this point. Marte doubled and Olson singled as well in this taking the lead 7-3.

It was a quick eighth inning as relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit took care of business in short order. The A’s were three outs away from the win and tying up the series.

The Texans could not contain those Oakland home runs and in the ninth inning Seth Brown knocked another one out of the park. This was a season high five home runs for the A’s as they led 8-3. They had scored in five different innings.

Oakland cleaned up those errors, they had a great defensive game and those home runs made all the difference in this A’s win.

Game Three is scheduled for 11:35 AM with the A’s looking to win the series. Sean Manea is set to take the mound for the A’s while the Rangers Kolby Allard will get the nod for Texas.