That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Marte seeing the ball well since joining A’s; Sweet revenge for Pujols homered against old team Halos

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He can do it all hit, field, and run the bases the Oakland A’s outfielder Starling Marte steals second base under the Texas Rangers glove of second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the first inning of Sun Aug 8, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Starling Marte went 4 for 5 on Sunday in the Oakland A’s efforts to complete a four game sweep over the visiting Texas Rangers 6-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 In Marte’s nine games since joining the A’s on July 28th from Florida Marte has gone 17 for 40 (.425) and have won seven of those nine games.

#3 Teammate and A’s pitcher James Kaprielan said of Marte that he wouldn’t want to pitch to him and that Marte is an underrated player.

#4 How big was it for Los Angeles Dodger pinch hitter Albert Pujols to hit a two run homer against his old teammates the Los Angeles Angels last Sunday at Dodgers Stadium. Pujols threw away the bat and admired the shot before circling the bases.

#5 For Pujols who left the Angels under not the best of circumstances. The Angels said they were going to use Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter and Jered Walsh as their first baseman and Pujols would have an opportunity to play when the Angels needed to rest Ohtani or Walsh. That didn’t sit with Pujols too well who was rumored to have had a loud argument with Angels team president John Carpino and general manager Perry Manasian just before the trade. The home run for Pujols had to have some sweet revenge to it.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play by play announcer on flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Field of Dreams Yankees vs. White Sox Thursday

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Actor Ray Liotta (right) played Chicago White Sox Shoeless Joe Jackson in the movie Field of Dreams the real Shoeless Joe Jackson (left) in Cleveland uniform (circa 1915) just before he joined the White Sox (photo from Zimbio)

Field of Dreams Game Yankees vs. White Sox on Thursday

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

One of the most iconic baseball movies ever, “Field of Dreams” in 1989, a sports fantasy drama, will take place in real life, this Thursday August 12, an American League, Major League game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, the two protagonists on the film in Dyersville, Iowa.

But this time it will not be a fantasy, but a reality. Two great franchises, contending this 2021 season will play the game on a temporary field adjacent to the original corn field where the movie was shot. A stadium with capacity for 8,000 people was build just for this game.

Members of the “Field of Dreams” cast will also be on hand, including leading man Kevin Costner. The movie was based on a true story about Shoeless Joe Jackson who played from 1908 to 1920, mostly in left field with the Chicago White Sox.

Although not in the movie, Shoeless Joe ended with a .356 lifetime batting average and literally showed Babe Ruth how to hit. He would be a Hall of Famer but is not, because of the 1919 Black Sox betting scandal. Betting is the “mortal sin” for a baseball player (Pete Rose) that has not changed for more than a century.

The movie is from the 1982 novel by Canadian author WP Kinsella. The game was postponed from its planned 2020 debut by the pandemic and it will mark the first MLB game in the State of Iowa. Fox will broadcast the game at 5PM Iowa Central time and the first pitch around 6:15 PM Central time.

Joe Buck and John Smoltz will call the game and Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci will serve as reporters. Uniforms for Yankees and White Sox of that era were made for the game, as they will be re-created by those used by such stars of the past such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte.

Thursday it will not be Universal Studios who will be in charge of the production, but Major League Baseball, Commissioner Robert Manfred, The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, FOX Sports and the city of Dyersville, Iowa. Major League Baseball hit a home run with this production and I would say it is “must watch television” for the baseball fan.

After almost two years of games with no fans because of the pandemic and all kinds of challenges and changes to the game of baseball on the field, this idea is one of the best things that the game can do to raise interest and even curiosity with the average baseball fan.

 Film: One of the best lines from “Field of Dreams” 1989. Actor Ray Liotta playing Shoeless Joe Jackson, line:  “Ty Cobb wanted to play. But none of us could stand the sunnabitch when we were alive –So we told him to Stick It!!”.

And probably the easiest to remember, when Costner was walking alone inside the corn fields around his ranch, a voice that whispered; “If you build it, he will come” Dyersville, Iowa, population 4,130.  Des Moines, biggest city in Iowa is 190 miles away (2 hours 53 minutes by car) Forecast for the game: Sunny 88F clear skies. Attention Iowa:  Play Ball! 

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio play by play voice on the Oakland A’s flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Diamondbacks and Giants open two game series Tuesday; Wood to start for SF

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Alex Wood gets the start on Tue Aug 10, 2021 at Oracle Park against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks (mercurynews.com file photo)

On the Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Francisco Giants (71-41) open a two game series against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks (35-78) at Oracle Park in San Francisco Tuesday night. The last time the two teams met the Giants took three out of four from the D-Backs in Arizona.

#2 The Giants are coming off a winning series against the Milwaukee Brewers a tough first place customer in the National League Central. The Giants took two out of three from the Brewers over the weekend at Miller Park.

#3 The Diamondbacks last in the NL West some 36.5 games back of first place and have lost seven of their last ten games.

#4 Marko talk about the Giants designating Aaron Sanchez (1-1 ERA 3.06) for assignment and Steven Duggar .250 being optioned to Triple A Sacramento.

#5 The Diamondbacks will start Zac Gallen (1-6 ERA 4.62) and the Giants will go with Alex Wood (9-3 ERA 4.03) a 6:40pm first pitch at Oracle Park to open the two game series

Marko was filling in for Morris who does the Giants podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s visit Cleveland for 3 game series Tuesday night

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Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea gets the call on Tue Aug 10, 2021 against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Here Manaea stands on the mound after surrendering an RBI single in the first inning against the San Diego Padres Jake Cronenworth on Tue Aug 3, 2021 (file photo from sfchronicle.com)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Oakland A’s open a three game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Tuesday night after having Monday off. The A’s are coming off a three game sweep over the Texas Rangers.

#2 The Rangers struggles might be the A’s thankfulness as the Boston Red Sox are flailing and the Toronto Blue Jays are emerging in the Wild Card race and with the A’s winning they gain ground in the Wild Card race as they hold first place.

#3 The A’s have won seven of their last nine games and the A’s at one time were behind the first place Houston Astros in the AL West by as much as 4.5 games have now cut the lead to just two games.

#4 For the first time since June 19 the A’s are some 16 games over .500 and what helps after the A’s acquired outfielder Starling Marte from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline especially after the 80 game suspension of outfielder Ramon Laureano for banned substance use.

#5 A’s travel to Cleveland Tuesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland for the first of three games, the A’s will be starting Sean Manaea (8-7 ERA 3.26) and for Cleveland Triston McKenzie (1-6 ERA 5.89) talk about this match and series.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Won’t Win A World Series: Giants’ win total can’t help come postseason, but it’s impressive

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The last time the Giants were 30 games above .500 was 2003, when Barry Bonds could decide a game with just one or two official at-bats a game, and the Dodgers… well the Dodgers couldn’t pull things together with a not yet mature Adrian Beltre and an over-the-hill Fred McGriff.

Those were good times.

They also ended way too soon. The Giants won 19 of their final 27 games that season, ran away with the NL West, winning 100 games, and went home quick after three straight losses to the Marlins in a NLDS series that started with a promising Giants 2-0 win.

In that series, no Giant hit a home run. Bonds walked eight times, and ended up with nine official at-bats. His one extra-base hit–a double–didn’t decide anything. Rich Aurilla and Marquis Grissom couldn’t buy a base hit. And Joe Nathan and Sidney Ponson were two guys that didn’t do much on the mound amongst a Giants pitching staff that was clearly capable of much better outings.

The undeniable disclaimer in all this: regular season win totals mean nothing in the postseason. This is just one example, they are hundreds of such examples involving all the great franchises and eras in baseball.

So that being made explicitly clear, the 2021 Giants are racking up the wins, and in and of itself, it’s pretty impressive.

This year, the Giants have managed to stay in first place in baseball’s most challenging division for more than two months. They’ve answered the head-to-head challenges put forth by the Dodgers and Padres. They’ve had one, three-game losing streak, and one, four-game losing streak. They haven’t had one stretch where they’ve gone on a huge tear, instead they have three, five-game win streaks and they’ve taken advantage of almost every one of their 19 opponents.

They lead the majors in home runs currently with 169 in 112 games, and along with that they’ve scored the most runs via the home run of any club. The Giants aren’t particularly impressive in terms of hits, doubles and batting average, but they are right around league average in all three categories. They’ve fielded the oldest lineups of any club throughout the season, and they suffered in that regard to a degree with most of that veteran core having extended periods on the injured list. Their strikeout total is high, but they’ve hit an extraordinary number of homers in close games, which brings us to the biggest surprise–their pitching.

The Giants currently rank third in baseball in team ERA (3.35) and their pitching staff has been stingy in allowing home runs–114 thus far, fewer than just three other clubs. They don’t walk people either (296 walks allowed) which is second fewest in MLB and 166 fewer than the Cardinals, who have issued the most. Again, the pitching staff is a veteran unit, only five other clubs have groups that are older, and in that regard, the Giants have had to answer questions about durability and sustainability. But to date, the group has held together with remarkable consistency due to its overall depth.

In the San Francisco era, only three Giants’ clubs have won at least 100 regular season games. Those seasons were 1962, 1993 and 2003. None of those three seasons ended well–the 1962 club lost the World Series in Game 7 in dramatic fashion. The 1993 club didn’t even qualify for the playoffs, and was eliminated in the final regular season game at Dodger Stadium, and the loss was almost immediately lopsided and uncompetitive.

The most games any of the three, most recent World Series champion Giants won was 94 in 2012. That juxtaposition makes sense in that no club sets itself up to play its best baseball if its grinding through the regular season right to its conclusion. So does this version of the Giants want to win 100 games?

If it must to outlast the Dodgers and Padres, of course. Falling into the wild card, even as a host participant, would be a huge letdown for a club that has spent the majority of the season in first place. But after that, one game playoff decides the Giants’ first postseason opponent, little is gained. As the highest ranked qualifier in the National League, the Giants will draw the winner–most likely the Dodgers–in a seven-game series in which the only advantage they’ll have is home field in Game 7.

If it doesn’t have to win 100, the Giants will likely use the final two weeks to set their lineup and rotation for the NLDS. But avoiding the wild card winner is unlikely. The Giants are well ahead of the Brewers and Phillies in the NL Central and East, and as the highest ranked qualifier they will draw the wild card winner–likely the Dodgers or Padres.

So do they win 100? If it’s done in organically, with all hands contributing, why not? But don’t look for the process to unfold in the final weeks like 2003. This time the Giants–with their next 12 games in the Bay Area, nine at Oracle Park, and three in Oakland–need to put together their 100-game push now. Winning 10 of 12 or 11 of 15 would do the trick. If so, they would merely have to play .500 ball in the season’s 30 or so remaining games to reach 100.

San Francisco Giants day off report: McCovey’s wife Estela putting up ex-slugger’s awards, rings, and mementos on auction block

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San Francisco Giants Hall of Fame slugger Willie McCovey said of his wife Estela in 2012 that when you work closely together you fall in love. Estela decided to put McCovey’s mementos up for bid. (photo from McCovey Chronicles)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Giant the late Willie McCovey’s wife Estela will be putting up McCovey’s awards, mementos, and world series rings. The list from the late slugger “Stretch” will premier his 1969 National League MVP Award plaque his 2012 and 2014 World Series rings are also up for bid.

The other items include his first baseman’s gloves and mementos that have a total inventory of 200 items that will go up for sale. Estela will be working with Heritage Auctions over the weekend and the bidding is already in progress and all bids will end by August 22.

Estela’s heartbreak emotion at the time of McCovey’s passing says again this is another hard time of remembrance of the former Giants slugger as she passes on his greatest awards from an illustrious career as she told the SF Chronicle’s John Shea, “It’s hard for me emotionally. It’s hard just to think I’m giving away Willie’s stuff. I still don’t know if it’s the best time. I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong time.” said Estela.

The items were willed to Estela from McCovey’s estate amongst those his All Star Game rings from 1984 and 2007, 1989 and 2002 National League Championships and World Series rings from 2012 and 2014. McCovey had numerous uniforms, ball and bats from his big league career which started when the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958.

McCovey said of his wife Estela who he met while he was in rehab from back surgery was his caretaker. Estela Bejar at the time (2010 the same year as the Giants first of three World Series Championships) worked at her sisters home care facility and Estela still works there today. McCovey said in 2012 interview with Shea, “When you work that close together sometimes you fall for each other. She’s just a really, really, caring person.”

Morris Phillips is a San Francisco Giants reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s open up three game set in Cleveland Tuesday night at Progressive Field

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Starling Marte the Oakland A’s outfielder slugged four hits that help pave the way for an A’s win on Sun Aug 8, 2021 over the Texas Rangers is seen here gesturing to the A’s dugout in the bottom of the sixth inning after collecting his four hit of the game (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are going to Cleveland, Ohio, to start a ten-game road trip. The A’s, winners of eight of their last ten games, will begin with three against the Indians (54-55). The A’s will then play three against the Texas Rangers and finish the trip with four against the Chicago White Sox.

The A’s swept the Rangers over the weekend. The A’s improved to 64-48 for the year. They find themselves two games behind the Houston Astros in the race for the AL West crown. In addition, they are now 1/2 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox as the number one Wild Card team. If the season were to end today, The A’s would host the Wild Card game at the Coliseum.

The Indians, who will be known as the Guardians next season, are 54-55 for the year. Last month, the two teams met for three games at the Oakland Coliseum, just after the All-Star break. The Indians won the series two games to one. Two of the three games were decided by one run. The other game was won by Cleveland 4-2.

On Tuesday, The A’s will be sending lefty Sean Manaea to the hill to face the Indians. Manaea, in his last start, did not fare well against the San Diego Padres. Manaea’s pitched well in his two previous starts before the San Diego game.

A’s manager, Bob Melvin, hopes Manaea will get back on track. The Indians will counter with righty Triston McKenzie. McKenzie is 1-5 with an ERA of 5.89. On Wednesday, Frankie Montas will go for the A’s. Montas beat the Padres last week.

Montas is 9-8 for the year, and his ERA is 4.10. His opponent will be Cal Quantrill. Cal, the son of former Major League pitcher Paul Quantrill, his 3-1 and an ERA of 3.14. Thursday’s game will feature the A’s ace, Chris Bassitt (11-3, 3.19 ERA), going against Dan Plesac (6-4, 4.84.) Plesac is the nephew of Dan Plesac, who pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The A’s will be facing a team that is rebuilding. The Indians’ star shortstop, Francisco Lindor, signed a free-agent deal with the New York Mets. Their star pitcher, Shane Bieber, is on the 60-day Il. Their manager, Terry Francona, has stepped away from the team for the rest of the season. DeMarlo Hale is the interim manager. The team has a lot of new players that are not familiar to A’s fans. The Indians roster is made up of a lot of young players and a couple of older players.

A’s fans should keep an eye on third baseman Jose Ramirez. Ramirez is hitting .254 with 24 homers and 65 RBIs. Shortstop Amed Rosario is batting .270 to go along with six dingers and 32 ribbies. The other big bat is designated hitter Franmill Reyes. Reyes broke in with the San Diego Padres in 2018. The Padres traded him to Cleveland in 2019. Reyes’ line is .275/20 HR/52 RBIs.

The Indians’ bullpen has all right-handed pitchers. They are using James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase as the closers. Karinchak has 11 saves and Clase has 16. The veteran reliever, Bryan Shaw, has appeared in 55 games so far this season. Expect to see him pitch against the A’s this week. Hale will call Nick Wittgren, Trevor Stephan, Nick Sandin, Blake Parker, and Justin Garcia from the bullpen to shut down the A’s attack.

The A’s cannot afford to take the Indians lightly. They know the Indians can beat them. With the addition of Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, and Yan Gomes, the A’s offense has an entirely different look.

The A’s struggled to get clutch hits with men in scoring position before these three players arrived in Oakland. Marte had a walk-off home run against the Rangers Friday night. Yan Gomes, pinch-hitting in the ninth with two out and down to his last strike, came through with a single to tie the game. The A’s won that game in extra innings.

The A’s are playing well. Their starters have been pitching into the seventh innings. The bullpen has been outstanding—the A’s need to win the series against the Indians and the Rangers. They will have to be at their best when they play the White Sox. The Sox are in first place in the AL Central. They are cruising to the playoffs. The Sox will be gunning for revenge as the A’s eliminated them from the playoffs last year.

The A’s have momentum on their side right now. They know they are a good team. They know they can come back late in a game to win. They lead the AL in walk-off wins. Let’s hope they can have a successful road trip.

Earthquakes take down LAFC 2-1

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San Jose Earthquakes get by LAFC at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Sun Aug 8, 2021 the Quakes improve their record to 5-6-7 tenth place in the MLS Western Conference (@LAFC image)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE—The San Jose Earthquakes welcomed their newest addition to their team with a 2-1 win over LAFC on Sunday afternoon at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose traded for Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse this past Thursday in exchange for $667k of General Allocation Money (GAM) in 2022 and $500k of GAM in 2023. The also rewarded Ebobisse with a new contract through the 2024 MLS season.

San Jose won at home for the first time since May 1st. They are now unbeaten in seven straight matches (2-0-5) to give them 21 points and tied for eight place in the Western Conference. LAFC have lost two matches in a row and are winless in its last five.

The Quakes were looking for more scoring punch and head coach Matias Almeyda has another weapon added to his arsenal. Ebobissse has scored 26 goals to go along with his eight assists, including five game-winning goals and two game-winning assists, across 88 appearances (54 starts). He has scored 23 goals in 65 appearances since the start of the 2019 season, tied for 11th most in MLS during that time.

Ebobisse’s teammates were able to score two goals in the first 28 minutes of the first half.

San Jose (5-7-6) drew first blood in the 11th minute. Off a set piece, Cristian Espinoza serviced a ball into the box where fullback Nathan lifted his foot high enough to get a piece of the ball that went past LAFC goalie Tomás Romero for his second goal of the season.

Nathan’s goal came two minutes after Cade Cowell set up Jackson Yueill who shot the ball off the crossbar.

The Quakes doubled its lead in the 28th minute when Espinoza intercepted a headed ball down the right wing and cut back into the middle, making Tristan Blackmon slide past him, before finding a wide open Chofis who buried the ball into the lower left corner for his team leading fifth goal of the season.

“I think it’s fundamental that we continue to keep the order that we’ve had in these last few matches. The last three or four matches were against really good teams, the best in the league in my opinion. We’ve done well. We’ve been able to take the victory in two of them, so I think it’s about keeping order and continue to be a team that gets better physically,” Espinoza said.

Ebobisse made his Quakes debut in the 36th minute when he substituted in for Luciano Abecasis to a standing ovation from the Earthquakes faithful.

“I think he Is a player that will give San Jose a lot,” said Almeyda on Ebobisse’s debut. “Whenever a player wins on their debut, that is important. He and his teammates gave their maximum effort.”

Three minutes later, LAFC (6-7-5) cut the lead in half thanks to an own goal by Jackson Yueill. Carlos Vela sent in a free kick from 35 yards out into the middle of the box and unfortunately for San Jose, the ball deflected off of Yueill’s head and into the back of the net.

Latiff Blessing had a great opportunity to score the equalizer in the 65th minute when he cut back on his right foot inside the box and outdeked two San Jose defenders. However, his point blank shot was stopped by Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski.

Ebobisse said it has been a nice, easy transition since coming to San Jose.

“It was a really warm welcome from everyone, starting with the fans and getting into the locker room with players, coaches. Everyone in the team environment has been super open and have been trying to make it as easy as possible for me to feel settled in. Once we get onto the field, we all speak the same language, the language of the sport and we start to see different connections popping up. It’s just really exciting and refreshing to be in this environment. There’s more for me to give from a personality standpoint and then from a footballing standpoint. The first couple of days, with the hectic nature of packing up, taking a flight and getting acquainted with a new system, meeting everyone and getting to know different names and different tendencies, I think it’s been a relatively smooth transition,” Ebobisse said.

LAFC did not generate any scoring chances in the last nine minutes of stoppage time.

Marcinkowski finished the match with six saves on six shots on target to earn the victory. Romero made two saves on four shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had six corner kicks. LAFC had three.

The Quakes extended their winning streak against LAFC to three. San Jose is now 3-5-0 all-time vs. LAFC, including a 2-2-0 record at home.

Chofis’ goal marked the first game-winning goal of his MLS career.

Espinoza tallied assists on Nathan and Chofis’ goals, marking his fifth and sixth assists of the season and 27th and 28th of his MLS career. It marks the first time an Earthquakes player tallied two or more assists in a single match since April 24, 2021 (Cade Cowell; two vs. D.C. United). Espinoza has now tallied six assists, including two game-winning assists, in six regular season appearances vs. LAFC.

Yueill made his 100th MLS appearance, starting and played the full 90 minutes.

UP NEXT: San Jose continue its three-game homestand on Friday 8/13 as they host the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

San Francisco Handles Milwaukee 5-4; LaStella’s 8th inning gamer holds up in win

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San Francisco Giants Tommy LaStella hits for a game winning RBI single in the eighth inning that stood up for the gamer against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee (AP News photo)

San Francisco Handles Milwaukee 5-4.

By Barbara Mason

Giants Friday and Saturday a look back:The San Francisco Giants (71-41) have really had their work cut out for them with the Milwaukee Brewers (66-46) going extra innings in the two games they have played with them so far. They lost the first one in ten innings 2-1 and won the second in eleven innings by the score of 9-6. Today they take on the Brewers in game three hoping to take the series in a timely manner and avoid anymore extra innings.

The Brewers sit atop their division in the National League Central with a 66-45 record. Yesterday with the win San Francisco reached the 70 win mark, the best in baseball right now. Today’s game promises to be yet another dogfight.

Giants recap Sunday: San Francisco got on the board early when Darin Ruf homered to give the Giants the lead 1-0. Not to be outdone the Brewers’ Omar Narvaez knocked a homer to center in the fourth inning with one on base taking the lead 2-1.

The Giants had a great opportunity in the sixth inning loading the bases but were only able to score one run still trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the inning. The Brewers extended their lead when Giant pitcher Jose Alvarez threw a wild pitch allowing Eduardo Escobar to score. The Brewers now led 4-2 and were giving San Francisco all they could handle.

Brandon Belt homered in the seventh inning driving Lamonte Wade Jr. home and San Francisco had tied this game 4-4. The Giants would extend their lead in the eighth inning off a double from Brandon Crawford and a single from Tommy La Stella. San Francisco had a slim lead 5-4 going into the ninth inning. It was a tight game but the Giants held onto the lead and won the series 2-1. The final score of the game was 5-4.

San Francisco will have tomorrow off before heading home to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday in a two game series. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:45 PM.

Collins defeats Kasatkina to capture Mubadala Silicon Valley Championship in a three set victory

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8-8-21-SAN JOSE-DANIELLE COLLINS POSES WITH HER CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY TALKING TO THE MEDIA AFTER HER THREE SETS VICTORY OVER DARIA KASATKINA TO WIN THE MUBADALA SILICON VALLEY CLASSIC FINALS. Courtesy of Sports Radio Service.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE—Danielle Collins is living up on cloud nine.

The American came into San Jose on fire, winning the Palermo Open, and left town scorching as she defeated Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in an emotional three-sets victory 6-3 6-7 (11-9) 6-1 to conclude the 50th anniversary of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Sunday afternoon at the San Jose State Tennis Complex.

It is the second straight tournament championship for Collins as well as the second of her career.

It has not been all beds of roses for Collins in 2021. The 27-year old budding tennis star had surgery back in April for endometriosis. The condition is where cells like the ones in the lining of the womb grow elsewhere in the body. It caused her too much physical agony.

“Before my surgery, I was having to pull out of so many tournaments because of what I was dealing with my endometriosis,”, said Collins. “Now that I’m feeling better, it’s hard for me to think back to all of the weeks and days and months of having to deal with that. Always having to work around my training, always having to take stuff for (the pain) and not have it get any better. So I’m just trying to embrace every moment of feeling good.”

Collins broke serve in the first set when she was up 4-3 and used that momentum to close out the set.

In the second set Kasatkina was down 5-3 and ended up breaking serve at 4-4. However Collins rallied to tie it up at 6-6, sending the second set in an epic tiebreaker.

The tiebreaker went back and forth with neither player budging. A couple times during the tiebreaker Collins became frustrated with fans cheering before the point was over. Kasatkina seized the moment and ended up winning the tiebreaker 11-9 to force the deciding third set.

In the third set, Collins regained her form and was able to control the final seven games as Kasatkina looked to be running on fumes the rest of the way.

“I did get the sense that (with) my tactics I was doing the right thing,” said Collins. I did feel I was wearing her down a little bit. I was really persistent, (saying to myself) I got this. “

Collins had Kasatkina running up and down the court throughout the entire match and it proved to be too much for Kasatkina.

“She started up 2-0 in the beginning (of the third set),” said Kasatkina. “When (your) opponent is winning game by game in the third set and you already pretty tired, then yes it seems like the life is leaving your body.”

When asked after all she has been through with her physical well being, if she thought she would be a two-time winner this year, Collins would have never envisioned her recent success.

“It wasn’t even a thought in my brain. Honestly, one of my goals was to win a tournament this year. To now win two, it’s been…incredible. It’s still hard to comprehend that I’ve won two (tournaments) back to back. Like I said yesterday, that wouldn’t have been possible months ago, years ago. To be able to just know I can physically go out on the court and play with this type of stamina, this endurance, it means so much to me,” Collins said.

For her effort, Collins takes home the grand prize of $67,570 out of the total prize money of $565,530.

The team of Croatia’s Daria Jurak and Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac defeated the Brazilian-Canadian team of Luisa Stefani and Gabriela Dubrowski in straight sets 6-1 7-5 to capture the doubles championship earlier in the afternoon.

The Balkan duo dominated the first sets only losing one game to Stefani and Dubrowski. They had a first serve percentage of 73.3% and 10 out of 11 first serve points to cruise to the open set win.

“We were really hungry to win this tournament,” said Klepac. “Hungry to win the finals. I am happy with our performance.”

In the second set, Stefani and Dubrowski went up 5-4 and were on the verge of forcing the deciding tiebreaker third set. However, Jurak and Klepac broke serve and were able to finish off their opponents winning the last three games of the match and collect their trophies.

“Andeja (Klepac) was saying keep on going,” said Jurak. “Believe it can turn around. We can break them (on serve) again and that’s exactly what happened. We believed we could win even when we have some of the hiccups. I mean you’re human beings, it can happen.”

Jurak and Klepac compared their on court relationship to a husband and wife, when explaining how well their chemistry works.

“Well we’ve spent a lot of time together. “And I’m very demanding person. I want it too badly sometimes. She (Klepac) knows how to deal with it. That’s a huge deal for me. It’s like a marriage. When the woman says to the man, ‘ok shut up now I now understand!’. You know, she’s doing this to me. That’s how it goes (when you’re playing) in doubles,” Jurak said.

The team takes home $25,230 for winning the championship.

The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic returns next year to the San Jose State University Tennis Complex in 2022 from August 1st-7th.