Tag: Arizona Diamondbacks

Giants back in win column defeat D-Backs 8-5 at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants’ J.D. Davis (7) is congratulated by Blake Sabol (2) and Joc Pederson (23) after scoring on a double by Michael Conforto against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri Jun 23, 2023 (AP News photo)

Arizona (46-31). 010 120 010. – 5. 8. 0

San Francisco (43-33). 003 050 00x – 8. 12. 1

Time: 2:25

Attendance: 31,992

Friday, June 23, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–After going 10-0 since the end of their previous home stand, the Giants turned on a dime yesterday, losing 10-0 to the stumbling San Diego Padres. Tonight, facing the division leading Arizona Diamondbacks, Gabe Kapler’s crew had a chance to resume their rudely interrupted progress. They took advantage of the opportunity, winning, 8-5 and cutting a game off the D-Backs lead in the race for the NL West pennant.

Logan Webb, tonight’s starting pitcher for San Francisco, began the game as the team’s win leader with six. He also was the team’s leader in losses, again with six. His earned run average was 3.11. When the game was over, he was 7-6, but his ERA had risen to 3.16. He lasted seven full innings, throwing 98 pitches, 32 if them balls. Three of the four runs scored against him were earned, and they came on five hits, ne of the a four bagger. He struck out five and walked two.

The D-Backs chose ten year veteran Zach Davis, who was 1-3, 7.11 when he threw his first pitch. He needed to throw six more innings to reach his 1000th frame. He fell short of that milestone today, going four innings and allowing six runs, all earned but four posthumous, on six hits. He walked four and struck out two. He was charged with the loss and now is 1-4 with an ERA of 7.82.

After yesterday’s game, the Giants announced that they had bought outfielder Dalton Guthrie’s contract from the Phillies and assigned him to Sacramento. They found room for the newcomer on the 40 man roster by placing Mitch Haniger on the 60 day injured list.

Ex Giant Evan Longoria got a nice hand from the Oracle Park crowd when his first at bat was announced. It came in the top of the second, and Longoria’s reception immediately cooled off when he sent a 91 mph sinker 436 feet into center field, easily clearing the fence for his 10th homer and 20th RBI of the season and putting the visitors up, 1-0.

Michael Conforto’s two out double that rolled to the Bank of America advertisement just to the left of the 399 foot marker in center field turned the tables on the Snakes in the home third, making it 2-1 in favor of the hosts. Blake Sabol’s two bagger to the National Car Rental ad just to the left of the B of A sign plated Conforto and tacked another tally on to the Giant’s lead.

The Rattlers picked up an unearned run in the top of the fourth. With Christian Walker, who had walked, on first with two out, Alek Thomas hit a nubber in front of the plate. He beat Bailey’s throw to first for single and advanced to second when that throw sailed into right field. Thomas made it to second on the error, and Walker raced to third on the hit and scored on the error. That closed the gap to 3-2 in favor of the boys from the Bay.

Arizona resumed its attack in their next turn at bat. Jake McCarthy led off with a single that just slipped by a diving Isan Díaz at second and into right for a single. Ketel Marte followed with a double to right that zoomed tantalizingly close to Wade, playing first, putting two men in scoring position, Corbin Carroll hit a bounding ball to Wade, who got the force out at second, but Carroll beat out Crawford’s return throw to first, which allowed Perdomo to cross the plate with the tie breaking run. It now was 4-3, Arizona..

But not for long. Wade walked to open the bottom of the fifth. Marte couldn’t handle Pederson’s hard shot to second, which went for an infield hit. Wade scored from second and Pederson motored to third on Davis’s double down the line to left.

That ended Davies’ travails. Joe Mantiply relieved him and allowed the two inherited runners to core on Conforto’s double that landed just on the fair side of the right field foul line, close to the pole. Austin Salter pinch hit for Sabol and flew out to center, but Bailey smacked a homer over the National Car Rental sign, and – just like that – it was 8-4, San. Francisco.

Surprisingly, Mantiply stayed on for the sixth and set the Giants down in order. Drey Jameson took over for the Diamondbacks after the seventh inning stretch. San Francisco almost blew the game open against him, loading the bases. Then, with two away, Díaz, making his major league debut, sent towering fly to the back of the warning track in right, where McCarthy corralled it for the third out.

Tyler Rogers allowed Arizona a run in the eighth. It came on Texas League double to center by Corbin Carroll that Crawford made a valiant try for but couldn’t quite catch it. Carroll went to third on Walker’s single to right and then scored on a force out by Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. SF still lead, but now it was 8-5.

If the Giants are leading. by the three runs in the top of the ninth at Oracle Park, can Camilo Doval be far behind? Not tonight, at least, he couldn’t. Thanks to his 100 mph + cutter and a great play by Crawford for the third out, he put the Diamondbacks down in order to earn his 21st save and reduce his ERA to 1.82.

The Giants had returned quickly to their winning ways and now, though still in second place, only two and a half games behind Arizona for the division lead.

Saturday, afternoon, the rivals will face off in the second of this three game series. Game time is 1:05. The pitching match up is Merrill Kelly (9-3, 2.90) for Arizona against the Giants starter TBA. I suspect a bullpen game is in the offering. The first 20,000 fans will receive a food themed Hawaiian style shirt.

Giants Win Streak Snapped at ten; San Diego clobbers SF 10-0 at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants’ Luis Matos, middle, and Bryce Johnson, right, watch from the dugout during the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Thu Jun 22, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants (42-33) looked to complete a four game sweep against the San Diego Padres (36-39) and extend their winning streak to 11 games it was not to be as the Padres had their hitting shoes on snapping San Francisco’s ten game win streak at Oracle Park Thursday 10-0.

Thursday’s game by the bay was beautiful with a 61 degree sunny day as the backdrop with a huge crowd of 38,638 people, but the final score was ugly for the orange and black. Blake Snell (San Diego) and Alex Wood (San Francisco) were on the mound for their respective clubs and to say they had polar opposite outings would be an understatement.

Alex Wood started this game in the first inning by walking the Padres leadoff batter Ha-Seong Kim and then with one out walking Juan Soto. After Manny Machado lined out, with two outs and two men on, Gary Sanchez set the tone with a theee run home run that hurt the confidence of Wood instantly, but it wouldn’t be the only three run bomb Alex Wood would watch go into the stands today.

In the third inning Machado hit the second three run homer which scored Soto and Tatis Jr. making the game 6-0 for San Diego. After the top of the third Wood’s day was over and a pitching change was made. On the opposite end of the spectrum Padre starter Blake Snell was a stone cold stunner, pitching six innings allowing only three hits and throwing 11 strikeouts.

Two of the three Giants hits Snell allowed were by Patrick Bailey, but no offense occurred other than these three hits, not even a walk for the Giants. The scoring wouldn’t stop for the Padres. In the fourth inning Kim hit a homerun with one out on Jakob Junis’s first pitch of the game (Junis replaced Wood) making the score 7-0 and in the fifth inning.

San Diego put the dagger in the heart with a three run rally off four hits from Machado, Sanchez, Jake Cronenworth, and Nelson Cruz, which gave us our . The next four innings would go by quicker than a blink of an eye where each team basically would go down fairly quickly, the Giants ending the game with four straight 1-2-3 innings and by the end of the eighth innings Giants fans wanted to beat the traffic and started popping out of their seats.

Blake Snell was awarded the win (4-6) and Wood would gain a loss (2-2), but the Giants can’t dwell on this loss even for one day, because the next game is the beginning of a three game series with the NL West division leaders, the Arizona Diamondbacks and that game is Friday night.

On the mound for the Giants will be Logan Webb (6-6 ERA 3.11) and he will face Arizona’s Zach Davies (1-3 ERA 7.11) for a 6:45pm PT first pitch at Oracle. For the Giants this next series can really propel them to the top of the division, but the depth of this current roster seems to be in question as the injury bug hits key players in this home stretch.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s gave it an effort in Arizona series; battled to the end but dropped two of three

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Oakland Athletics’ Esteury Ruiz breaks his bat while hitting a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 It was a series unlike the Texas Rangers series where the Oakland A’s lost three out of four where the A’s battled the Arizona Diamondbacks a second place team in the NL West and who are playing hard to climb up in the standings. The A’s who have had middle and closing issues have kept manager Mark Kotsay on the edge of his seat.

#2 The A’s started Luis Medina today who started at 0-2 had a great start going six innings giving up three runs on three hits and six strikeouts although the A’s were behind 3-0 until the bottom of the seventh he kept them in the game.

#3 How big was Ramon Laureano’s three run home run to get the A’s back in this one. It was Laureano’s fifth home run of the season.

#4 Shintaro Fujinami was struggling on the mound as a starter and converted into being a reliever came into pitch the eighth and ninth innings. Fujinami got the third out on a strikeout in the eighth but in the ninth with the score tied and double action in the A’s bullpen and runners at first and third Fujinami loaded the bases and manager Mark Kotsay went and got him. Adrian Martinez came into relieve and Jose Herrera hit a sac fly that scored Lourdes Gurriel Jr to break the deadlock.

#5 It’s a whole new series on Friday Jerry as the A’s travel to Houston to take on Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros after taking Thursday off. Starting pitchers for the A’s left hander Ken Waldichuk the Astros have not announced a starter as of Wednesday.

Join Jerry for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

D-Backs win rubber game from A’s of three-game series 5-3

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Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera, left, tags out Oakland Athletics’ Tony Kemp at home plate during the seventh inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Arizona D-Dacks rebounded from a 9-8 defeat in 12 innings Tuesday night to beat the A’s 5-3 Wednesday afternoon. The two starters, Oakland’s Luis Medina and Arizona’s Kyle Nelson were in a pitchers’ duel for the game’s first six innings.

Nelson allowed a single to Esteutry Ruiz in the first and kept the A’s hitless until he left the game in the sixth. Medina allowed three hits in his six innings. Two of the hits were home runs. He allowed a solo blast in the second to Christian Walker and a two-run shot of the bat of Corbin Carroll in the sixth. 

The D-Backs won the series two games to one.

The D-Backs drew first blood in the top of the second inning. Leadoff hitter Christian Walker sent Luis Medina’s 79 mph curveball over the wall in left field. For Walker, it was his 11th dinger of the year. Medina settled down and retired the next three hitters. Arizona leads 1-0 midway through the second inning.

The D-Backs plated two more runs in the top of the sixth. With one out, Luis Medina issued a walk to Geraldo Perdomo. The next hitter, right-fielder Carbin Caroll sent Medina’s 91 mph four-sea1m fastball over the wall in center field. Esteury Ruiz tried to make a leaping catch, but the ball went past his grasp.

It was Carrol’s sixth blast of the year. The D-backs lead 3-0. D-Backs’ starter Ryne Nelson, who had allowed the A’s one hit in the first five innings, suddenly couldn’t find the strike zone in the bottom of the sixth. He walked three batters to load the bases. He also uncorked a wild pitch. The A’s had two chances to get runners in. The D-Backs’ manager, Torey Lovullo, brought Luis Frias to pitch. Frias did the job by retiring the next two hitters to end the inning. The D-Backs lead 3-0 after six.

The A’s tied the score in the seventh. Still pitching for Arizona, Luis Frias walked the first two batters in the inning. Frias now had to deal with Ramon Laureano. Laureano settled the issue by blasting his fifth home run of the season out of the park to tie the game.

The A’s blew an opportunity for another run when Tony Kemp got thrown out at home. After Laureano’s homer, Kemp singled. Nick Allen laid down a sacrifice bunt, sending Kemp to second. Esteury Ruiz, so good when hitting with runners in scoring position, singled to short center field. Kemp was thrown out attempting to score on the hit. The game is now tied 3-3 after seven.

With Shintaro Fujinami on the mound to start the ninth, the right-hander from Japan had things go south quickly. The D-Backs’ leadoff hitter, Lourdes Guriel, Jr, doubled leading off for Arizona. Fujinami retired Pavin Smith for the first out. The A’s issued an intentional walk to Dominic Fletcher.

Fujinami walked Emmanuel Herrera to load the bases with one out. A’s manager, Mark Kotsay, brought Adrien Martinez in to pitch to Jose Herrera. Herrera hit a sacrifice fly to drive the D-Backs’ fourth run of the game. Ketel Marte singled, and Arizona plated another run. The D-Backs lead 5-3. The A’s failed to score in their half of the ninth. Arizona wins 5-3.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 10-35. The D-Backs improve to 25-19. 

The A’s starter Luis Medina gave up three hits in six innings. Two hits were home runs, and the other was a double. Medina’s line was six innings, three hits, three runs, two homers, six strikeouts, and two walks. Arizona’s starter Ryne Nelson allowed one hit and no runs in five and 1/3rd innings. He struck out six and walked four. After giving up a hit to Esteury Ruiz, the leadoff hitter in the first inning, Nelson held the A’s hitless until his exit in the sixth inning. 

The hitting start for Oakland was Ramon Laureano. Laureano’s home run in the seventh tied the game. 

The line score for Oakland was three runs, five hits, and no errors. Arizona’s line was five runs, six hits, and no errors. 

The A’s are off on Thursday. The A’s will travel to Houston to face the Astros at Minute Maid Park For three games starting Friday night. Left Ken Waldicchuk (1-2, 7.02 ERA) goes for Oakland Astros manager Dusty Baker has not named a starter for Friday night’s game.

The time of the game was 2:51 minutes. 4,133 were on hand to watch the A’s lose for the 35th time this season.

A’s Go 12 Rounds Against The Diamondbacks, But Win 9-8 With A Walk Off Hit In Extra Innings

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Oakland Athletics’ Esteury Ruiz, center, celebrates with teammates after a game winning single during the 12th inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

OAKLAND–In front of a crowd of 3,261 in the Coliseum, the Arizona Diamondbacks played the Oakland A’s for game two of this three game series. On the hill to start Kyle Mueller (Oakland) and Tommy Henry (Arizona) and they both went four innings and each gave up four runs. The A’s came away with a thrilling 9-8 win over the Diamondbacks in 12 innings at the Coliseum.

Christian Walker’s two run home run for Arizona in the first was just a sign of things to come all game. This was Walker’s tenth home run of the season. A’s responded when the star of this team Esteury Ruiz got a double, then stole third (Ruiz’s 20th stolen base), and Brent Rooker’s single would bring Ruiz in making the game 2-1.

Rooker’s RBI single makes 30 on the season so far, which shows that having Ruiz lead off can almost guarantee a run, because Rooker can bring him in. The second inning saw a quick innings as both sides were retired rather quickly, but in the third the A’s would tie the ballgame up when Nick Allen hit his first homerun of the season.

In the forth, the Athletics would take the lead from a solo bomb by Ramon Laureano with two outs in the inning. This home run seemed like the highlight of the night, but little did everyone know we were in for a longer night than expected.

The Diamondbacks would mute the crowd when a Emmanuel Rivera RBI double would score two men in, but right after that big double, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hits a two run home run making the game 6-4 and the crowd in Oakland assumed that they were in for another Oakland loss at the hands of pitchers taking their foot off the gas when the batters put numbers on the board.

That feeling these A’s fans had was even amplified when two more runs by the D-Backs in the seventh were put up. Then the moment that caused a bigger eruption in Oakland than the K-Pop concert in the Oracle Arena right next to them was when the bottom of the seventh rally started.

With two outs Rooker and Diaz’s singles got them on base and got this momentum going, then an Evan Longoria error put Carlos Perez on base, making the bases loaded, and boom went the dynamite as Ryan Noda hit a monster grand slam over the left field wall.

This didn’t just tie the game 8-8, but it was Oakland’s first grand slam of the 2023 season. The Coliseum went absolutely crazy for this and after two scoreless innings, we had extra innings. A quiet tenth and 11th inning led the crowd to get restless, but it was the calm before the storm as in the 12th inning the Oakland star Esteury Ruiz with the bases loaded would hit the ball right at the shortstop, Nick Ahmed, and the ball would hit his glove, and the man on third walked right on home.This was Ruiz’s second walk off the season and it’s clear he’s making his presence felt on this roster.

The A’s split the series so far with Arizona one game a piece Wednesday is the finale in a day game at 12:37pm PT where Luis Medina (0-2, 8.18) of Oakland will take on Ryne Nelson (1-2, 6.20) of Arizona.

Giants Six Run Second Inning Rally Too Much Heat For Philly in 6-3 SF win

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San Francisco Giants’ Michael Conforto hits a three-run home run during the second inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon May 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

SAN FRANCISCO–In front of 23,819 baseball fans, the Philadelphia Phillies (20-21) played the San Francisco Giants (18-23) for the first game of this three game series. On the hill was Alex Wood (SF) and Conor Brogdon (PHI) and it wasn’t long before the bats came alive for both teams. The Giants didn’t waste anytime getting run support scoring six runs in the bottom of the second inning at Oracle Park for a 6-3 win over the Phils.

It was a heavy load of offense that came and went like a shooting star. In the first inning both teams combined for three hits, but no runs were scored. The second inning was where everything came alive. It started with the Phillies getting two runs off an Alec Bohm home run which scored Kyle Schwarber.

The park was’nt too happy about this, but they knew it was still an early game with a whole lot of baseball left and when it was Giants turn at bat, the orange and black didn’t disappoint. Casey Schmitt who came into this game hitting .458 started the rally off with a single and even though he’d come out due to Joey Bart’s fielder’s choice, there was no looking back for San Francisco.

Bryce Johnson would hit a single that brought in Bart 2-1 Phillies. After an error got Thairo Estrada on base, Michael Conforto would hit a huge three run home run to give the Giants the lead 4-2 and the bleeding wouldn’t stop there. A J.D. Davis double, Mitch Haniger single (which brought in Davis), and Brandon Crawford single (which brought in Haniger) made the game 6-2 and Oracle Park was louder than a Bad Bunny concert.

Even though it was early, the win probability was high for the Giants, but the question in the park was can the bullpen hold this together for another seven innings. The answer to that question was yes, but it wasn’t without a little drama. Jacob Junis would replace Wood after four innings and would only give an inning after giving up a run making the game 6-3.

Scott Alexander would come out of the bullpen and pitch one inning, but gave up no hits, so he did his job. In the eighth inning the Giants brought in Taylor Rogers and even though he secured two outs, Giants manager Gabe Kapler took him out and put in closer Camilo Doval to finish it off and he did close the door in the 9th inning it was a 1-2-3 quick getaway. The highlight was a beautiful Sportscenter top ten catch from J.D. Davis at third and after Lamonte Wade Jr. catches a foul ball at first, which ended the game. Giants win and Alex Wood leaves with the W.

Tuesday’s game of the series will see Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.80 ERA) for the Phillies and Alex Cobb (3-1,1.70 ERA) for the Giants on the hill with a 6:40pm PT first pitch. SRS reporters Lewis Rubman will have the game recap and Tony the Tiger Hayes will have a “He was a Giant” feature.

D-Backs win 4th consecutive game defeat A’s at Coliseum 5-2

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ Lourdes Gurriel Jr. celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon, May 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

Arizona (24-28). 022 100 000. – 5 10 1

Oakland (9-34). 001 000 010 – 2. 4. 0

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 2,064

Mon May 15, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–On this day in 1899, the Cleveland Spiders fell to 3-20 after a 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The attendance at the game was all of 200.

On this day in 1962, the New York Mets won a 13 inning, four hour and 54 minutes long marathon under the lights at the Polo Grounds against the Chicago Cubs. The winning pitcher was Roger Craig. The attendance was 8,463, but there’s no record of how many of those hung around to the end.

On this day in 2023, the Oakland Athletics fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-2, before an intimate gathering of 2,064 paying customers who saw the team drop to 9-34.

Before game time, the A’s announced that they had reinstated Adrián Martínez from the 15 day injured list and optioned fellow right handed pitcher Zach Neal to their triple AAA farm team in Las Vegas.

It’s easy to make snide remarks about the Athletics; I was tempted to add, “and that’s your A’s highlight for tonight” to that last paragraph, but there are some hopeful signs among the current crop of Athletic players. The team’s game notes point out that going into today Ryan Noda was first among Major League rookies in on-base percentage and walks (27), fourth in OPS , tied for fifth in runs , tied for sixth in doubles and for seventh in three baggers and extra base hits (12), and was eighth in slugging .

That last is a category in which Brent Rooker led all of MLB> He also led the majors in OPS and ws tied for fourth in homers as well as being sixth in OBP. Esteury Ruizis the leader of the pack among rookies ML rookies in hits, doubles, stolen bases, and hit by pitches.

Drew Rucinski took the mound for Oakland with a record of 0-3, 8.16. When he left after 3-2/3 innings,his ERA had risen to 9.00 He’d thrown 89 pitches, 47 for strikes and yielded five runs, all earned, on six hits, two of them home runs, and five walks. He didn’t strike anyone out. The loss left him 0-4.

Nine year MLB and four campaign veteran of the Korean Baseball Organization, Diamondback starter Merrill Kelly, took a 3-3, 3.18 record with him to the mound. He was on his game tonight. His ERA fell to 2.92 over the course of his mound tenure, and at game’s end his won-lost record had improved to 4-3.

At one point, Kelly struck out five consecutive Athletics batters. His strike out total was nine. In his seven innings of work Kelly allowed only four hits, one of them for four bases. Only one of the two runs with which he was charged was earned. He threw 97 pitches, 70 for strikes

The Diamondbacks rattled their sticks early. Number nine hitter, Geraldo Perdomo lifted a hanging slider into the stairs behind the Oakland A’s Community Fund sign in right , bringing in Giant killer Dominic Fletcher from second, which he had reached on a lead off double, to grab an early 2-0 lead.

Lourdes Gurriel doubled the margin on another slider, a 2-2 delivery that carried over the NBC Sports California sign to the right of the 388 foot marker in center field. Corbin Carroll, who had led off the frame with a base on balls, scored before him.

Oakland didn’t get a base runner until there were two away in the bottom of the third. Nick Allen beat out Perdomo’s hurried throw on a grounder to third for a single and advanced to second when throw got past first baseman Pavin Smith. A Texas League single to right center by Ruíz made it 4-1.

But the momentum hadn’t shifted. A lead off walk to Perdomo in the top of the fourth was followed, one out later, by a seeing eye single that shortstop Allen chased down in right field while Perdomo motored to third. A broken bat sac fly to short by Carroll brought Perdomo in with Arizona’s fifth run. A walk to Gurriel, and Sam Long was on the mound for Oakland.

He got the last out on three pitches and remained in the game, somehow surviving a bases loaded game in the top of the fifth without yielding a tally and holding the Rattlers scoreless in the sixth. He gave way to Richard Lovelady, who retired the side in order in the top of the seventh. The newly returned Adrián Martínez performed his version of that feat in the eighth.

Jace Peterson made things interesting in the Oakland half of that frame with a lead off home run, his third homer of the year, a 409 foot no doubter to right center. Arizona now led,5-2 first base umpire then ejected Arizona’s manager, Torey Lovullo for arguing a check swing call, and then a walk to Díaz and a Nick Allen single, his third of the night, signaled the end of Kelly’s up to now successful start. Miguel Castro took over for him. He retired Ruíz , walked Noda, and ended the threat by getting Rooker to fly out to right.

The A’s had one more chance. Lefty Andrew Chafin came in to pitch the ninth. Aldemys Díaz pinch hit for Bleday and flew out to center. Langelieres flew out to left. Laureano skied out to right, and Chafin had earned his sixth save.

The D’backs will stick around the Coliseum for a couple of more days before both teams take to the road, Oakland departing for Houston, and Arizona decamping to Pittsburgh. Tomorrow’s, Tuesday’s, match up will feature Kyle Muller (1-3, 7.34)for the home team and Tommy Henry(1-1,4.43) for the visitors.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Diamondbacks come calling at the Coliseum as A’s open three game series Monday night

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The Texas Rangers made a laugher out of game 4 of the four game series at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun May 14, 2023 (@Rangers photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara, in a contest that saw the Oakland A’s (9-32) tie the score up against the Texas Rangers (24-15) in the bottom of the seventh inning 3-3 on a Shea Langeliers home run to left center it would be the last time in the game that the A’s had a shot at taking game 4 of this four game set from the Rangers.

#2 The Rangers opened up on the A’s in the top of the eighth inning scoring eight times when Jonah Heim singled to center scoring Adolis Garcia on a error to break the 3-3 deadlock going up 4-3.

#3 Leody Taveras hit into fielder choice that allowed Heim to score making 5-3 and the Rangers touched up A’s relief pitching.

#4 The Rangers would add four more runs which included Garcia who got up again belting a grand slam homer and put the Rangers up by eight runs 11-3 for their 24th win of the season and the Rangers lead the A’s in the AL West standings by 16 games.

#5 The A’s open up a new series on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs are going Merrill Kelly (3-3 ERA 3.18) as starter, the A’s will be going with Drew Rucinski (0-3 ERA 8.16) for a 6:40 pm PT first pitch at the Oakland Coliseum.

Join Barbara Mason for the Oakland A’s podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants drop third straight game to Diamondbacks 2-1

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San Francisco Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada, left, turns a double play while avoiding Arizona Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker, right, on a ball hit by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the first inning  at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sun May 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Sunday, May 14, 2023

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Mother’s Day crowd at Chase Field was treated to a new age pitching duel that involved a combined total of seven hits surrendered by six pitchers. In the end, it was Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s run-scoring double in the bottom of the ninth that gave Arizona its third win in a row over the San Francisco Giants Sunday.

The win pulled the Diamondbacks (24-18) to within 2 ½ games of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, while fourth-place San Francisco (17-23) is 8 ½ games off the pace.

In the Diamondbacks ninth, Christian Walker drew a walk from Giants reliever Tyler Walker (0-3) to lead off the inning, then Gurriel doubled down the left-field line, and, as the ball rattled around by the bullpen, a hustling Walker scored the game-winning run from first base.

“We generally play our defenders to the most likely spot the ball is going to be hit, based on spray charts,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Sabol did everything he could to hit the cutoff man and have a play at the plate, but we weren’t able to convert.”

Gurriel’s 21st run batted in of the season made Miguel Castro (2-1) the winning pitcher. Castro, the fourth Diamondbacks hurler, retired the Giants in order in the top of the ninth, striking out Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt in the process.

Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt struck out the side in the first inning and retired 11 of the first 12 hitters he faced until surrendering a solo home run to Michael Conforto in the fourth inning. It was Conforto’s seventh home run of the season.

Pfaadt, a fifth-round pick from Bellarmine University in 2020, struck out five, walked three and gave up only one hit – the home run by Conforto – in his five innings. Jose Ruiz worked the next two innings, striking out four without a walk, and Scott McGough threw a scoreless eighth.

“I just wanted to go out there and trust myself,” Pfaadt said. “That’s what we did today. Hopefully, we can get rolling after this.”

Arizona tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI double down the right field line by Josh Rojas. Geraldo Perdomo, who reached on a fielder’s choice, scored from first.

Logan Webb gave the Giants a quality start, giving uo one earned run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in seven innings, while throwing 98 pitches. Tyler Rogers retired Arizona in order in the eighth before facing Walker and Gurriel in the ninth.

Webb worked out of an early jam in the first inning. After Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch with one out, walks to Corbin Carroll and Christian Walker loaded the bases. But Gurriel hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Giants return home Monday to start a three-game series with Philadelphia. Alex Wood (0-0, 2.45) will start Monday’s game for the Giants and Alex Cobb (3-1, 1.70) starts on Tuesday. No probable starter has been announced for the Wednesday contest.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: INF Brandon Crawford was activated from the 10-day injured list following Saturday’s game; INF David Villar was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and RHP Luke Jackson was placed on a rehab assignment with Single-A San Jose. … Beofre going 0-for-4 on Sunday, INF Casey Schmitt hit safely in his first five games in MLB, batting .550 (two home runs, five runs batted in, 1.550 OPS). Schmitt’s 11 hits in his first five games is second-best in Giants history (since 1901), trailing only Jim Davenport with 12 in 1958, the Giants’ first season in San Francisco. … The Giants can become the first MLB franchise to reach 11,500 wins (including playoffs) with their next win. .,. San Francisco has hit 61 home runs through its first 38 games, third-best in MLB behind Tampa Bay (80) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (67). … The roof was closed on Sunday at Chase Field. Game time temperature was 97 degrees outside, 74 degrees inside. … The announced attendance was 26,267; time of game was 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Fletcher continues to swing sizzling bat as Snakes down Giants 7-2

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Arizona Diamondbacks’ Dominic Fletcher watches his three-run triple against the San Francisco Giants in the sixth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sat May 13, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, May 13, 2023

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The hits just keep on coming for Arizona rookie Dominic Fletcher. Literally.

The 25-year-old rightfielder continued the torrid pace he’s set since he was called up from Triple-A Reno on April 30. Fletcher drove in five of Arizona’s seven runs Saturday with a triple and a home run in the Diamondbacks’ 7-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Fletcher is hitting .486 in his first 12 major league games. He was 2-for-4 on Saturday.

“I’m going to be aggressive on pitches in the zone and try to do damage,” Fletcher said. “If there’s a pitch through the zone that I can drive, I’m going to swing.

“There’s a comfort level here with my teammates and the coaching staff, and everyone here has done a great job of welcoming me. I just go out there, play hard and play to win.”

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said, “And, don’t forget that defensive play he made in the first inning to keep (the Giants) to just one run, At the plate, he’s making the most of this opportunity with every at-bat. That’s what we love about him.

“He’s an engaged player, and does it on both sides of the ball.”

Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (6-1) worked 7 2/3 innings – his longest start of the season – logging six strikeouts while giving up two earned runs on five hits and two walks. Andrew Chafin retired one batter to snuff out a potential rally in the eighth, Anthony Misiewicz gave up a two-out double to Michael Conforto and a single to Casey Schmitt in the ninth before Kyle Nelson struck out Blake Sabol to end the game.

“It was a grind,’ Gallen said of his performance. “I didn’t have the greatest feel for my curveball. I was just trying to make pitches and keep us in the game. Our defense made a lot of great plays that kept it close and bailed me out of some spots.”

Anthony DeSclafani (3-3) was cruising along until he ran into trouble in the sixth, when he was pulled after Arizona loaded the bases with nobody out. The D-Backs’ three go-ahead runs were charged to DeSclafani, who struck out two, walked one and gave up five hits.

“Several weeks ago, he dropped a piano bench on his toe, his toenail took the brunt of it,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “He felt good enough to keep going, but he’s been in quite a bit of pain. So we’ve monitored it and decided it was good enough to play.

“Tony’s pretty tough. He battled pretty hard out there tonight and I know he’s battling though some pain. He was cruising for a couple of innings, but when he covered first base, and you could see how he came off the mound, that was enough.”

Kapler commended DeSclafini’s fastball and slider, saying, “He was able to get some weak swings. I thought he performed well.”

The Diamondbacks broke up DeSclafani’s bid for a shutout and took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jose Herrera started the rally with a single and moved to second on a single by Josh Rojas. After Ketel Marte reached on an infield single to load the bases, Scott Alexander replaced DeSclafani.

During Corbin Carroll’s at-bat, Alexander threw a wild pitch that allowed Herrera to score the tying run. After Christian Walker was intentionally walked, Alexander struck out pinch-hitter Evan Longoria before Fletcher drilled a three-RBI triple to the right-center field gap.

“Their whole lineup is pretty dangerous from top to bottom,” Kapler said of the Diamondbacks. “You have one batter swinging the bat really well (Fletcher) and another one right behind him. It’s a challenge to get through their lineup right now.”

San Francisco got a run back in the top of the eighth when Wilmer Flores doubled with two out, driving in Brett Wisely, who reached on a fielder’s choice.

The Diamondbacks added three runs in the bottom of the eighth off San Francisco reliever Tristan Beck, two of them on Fletcher’s second home run of the year. Fletcher’s drive to right was originally ruled a triple, but was changed to a home run following a video review.

“Initially, I thought (centerfielder Wisely) dropped it or it popped out of his glove,’ Fletcher said. “Then, I did all that hard work and I could have been jogging the whole time!”

San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Thairo Estrada struck out and reached on a wild pitch, then scored on a J.D. Davis sacrifice fly that started a double play (retiring baserunner LaMonte Wade Jr.) to end the inning.

Schmitt and Conforto each went 2-for-4 for the Giants. Schmitt has a .550 average (11-for-20) in his first four major league games.

The series wraps up on Sunday, with a matchup of righthanders – Logan Webb (3-5, 3.46) for San Francisco against the Diamondbacks’ Brandon Pfaadt (0-1, 12.10). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: The largest crowd of the weekend series at Chase Field was an announced attendance of 25,147. … The roof was closed after being open on Thursday and Friday.