Tag: Cincinnati Reds

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Do the Giants have a shot at being viable this season?; Puig tries to take on the whole Pirates team in brawl; plus more

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Photo credit: @BruceBochy

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 It’s early in the season, but do the San Francisco Giants (4-8) have the players it takes to get out of the cellar and make this a viable season?

#2 The Cincinnati Reds’ Yasiel Puig wasted no time making things happen between himself and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. After Chris Archer Pirates pitcher hit the Reds’ Derek Dietrich in the backside, Dietrich took exception to getting hit and started jawing at Archer at that point both benches emptied and Reds star Yasiel Puig tried to take on the entire Pirates team.

#3 Talk about the Kyrie Irving-Kevin Durant paring at the New York Knicks for next season. How will this important would a tandem like this be for the Knicks and how will it impact Golden State?

#4 The Oakland A’s, who won three of four from the Boston Red Sox, went out on the road and got swept in three games from the Houston Astros. The A’s still made the third game competitive with a one run loss. The Astros played catch up ball in order to win. The A’s lost the first game 12-4 of the four game series in Baltimore. In game two the A’s got a 13-2 win on Tuesday night.

#5 Oracle Arena is the home of many memories for fans, reporters, players and coaches Sunday. Was the last regular season game for Golden State what did you take away from 47 years of sports events at the arena in Oakland?

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez, who does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The A’s meet the Cincinnati Reds as Inter-League play continues

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s will meet the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series starting Friday night in Cincinnati. This will be the final stop on an eight-game, ten-day road trip that saw the A’s lose three in Houston and two more in Milwaukee. The A’s hope to get back on the winning track and they will send Sonny Gray to the mound. Gray’s season has not been going well for him as he did not pitch well. Gray went on the DL when the medical staff discovered that he was suffering from a strained right trapezius muscle. Gray returned to action last weekend in Houston and pitched very well. Gray went five innings and allowed just one run and five hits.

The Cincinnati Reds are another team that is trying to rebuild. The Reds own a record of 22-37 and are in last place in the NL Central trailing the division-leading Chicago Cubs by 19 1/2 games. The Reds are managed by Bryan Price. Price is a Bay Area product. He graduated from Tamalpais High School and went to UC Berkeley. Price was the pitching coach for the Reds when they were managed by Dusty Baker. The Reds, like the A’s, seem to be either very good or very bad. The Reds, in their long history, have won nine NL Pennants and five World Series. The last time the Reds were in the World Series was 1990 and they swept the favored Oakland Athletics four games to none. Since 199o, the Reds have made the playoffs four times, and three of those were under the tutelage of the aforementioned Dusty Baker. The A’s, on the other hand, have also not been to the World Series since 1990. They made the playoffs nine times, the last being the Wild Card game against the Royals in 2014.

The A’s best starter this year, Rich Hill, has been placed on the Disabled List due to a groin strain. Hill seemed to be making progress, but he aggravated the injury during a bullpen session. Third baseman Danny Valencia missed the Milwaukee series due to illness and hopes to play Friday night. Leftfielder Khris Davis has numbness in a finger due to an elbow injury.Davis did not play in Milwaukee either but did pinch-hit in one of the games. The A’s need both those players in the lineup.

The Reds infield shapes up this way. Former NL MVP, Joey Votto will be at first. Votto is hitting just .230 but has eleven homers and 39 RBIs to his credit. The veteran, Brandon Phillips will be at second, and Zach Cozart will be at short. Cozart is having a terrific season so far. He is hitting .303 with nine dingers and twenty-five RBIs. Rounding out the infield is Eugenio Suarez. Suarez, while not hitting for average (.234) has a lot of power. He has hit thirteen home runs and driven in thirty-nine.

Adam Duvall, the former San Francisco Giant, patrols left field for the Reds. Duvall was sent to Cincinnati last year when the Giants acquired Mike Leake. Duvall is having a big year for the Reds. He is hitting .268 and has hit seventeen home runs and knocked in thirty-nine. The speedy Billy Hamilton is in center. Hamilton is hitting .268 and has sixteen stolen bases. The steady Jay Bruce plays in right, and he also has put up good numbers. He owns a batting average of .284 and has put thirteen balls out of the park. Bruce has driven in forty-one so far.

The Reds starting rotation, as the A’s, leaves a lot to be desired. The pitchers are Anthony De Sclafani, Dan Straily, Alfredo Simon, lefty John Lamb and another lefty Brandon Finegan. De Sclafani will pitch Friday night against Oakland and has no record this year. Dan Straily, the former Oakland Athletic, and Houston Astro gets the ball on Saturday, and John Lamb will pitch Sunday. Sonny Gray pitches Friday night for Oakland. Kendall Graveman will follow on Saturday. Graveman has a record of 2-6 and an ERA of 5.49. Graveman’s last outing against Houston was  a no-decision. He allowed five runs on seven hits in just 4.1 innings of work. Graveman has not been able to complete the sixth inning in seven of his eleven starts. Sunday will feature two left-handed pitchers. Sean Manaea (2-4,6.20ERA) has pitched better in his last two outings. He beat the Twins but took the loss in his last start against the Brewers. John Lamb(1-3, 4.74 ERA) goes for the Reds.

After the Reds series, the A’s return home to start a nine-game homestand against the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angeles and the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

Reds Steal One From San Francisco; Giants’ Woes Continue

Published on by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–The Cincinnati Reds stole a game from the San Francisco Giants on Saturday Night at AT&T, as they beat the Giants 7-2 in 11innings.  Cincinnati was trailing 1-0 going into the ninth inning, when Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homerun to put the Reds ahead.  A Giants rally capped off by a RBI double from Buster Posey in the ninth would force extra innings, but the Reds were too strong in the 11th for the Giants to come back.

The Giants continue to slump, as they are now 4-14 in the last 18 games.  The Giants have had one bright spot in that span, with Tim Lincecum’s No Hitter this past Wednesday against the Padres, but before then the Giants haven’t won a game at home since June 12, where they hammered the Nationals 7-1.

San Francisco was led by a strong pitching performance from Matt Cain, who hasn’t been himself this season going into Saturday.  Cain entered Saturday with a 1-6 record and a 4.82 ERA in 12 games.  Cain looked like the pitcher we have known though on Saturday, as he pitched seven scoreless innings, while giving up six hits, two walks and striking out four.  Saturday also marks the first time since September 26, 2012 in which Cain pitched at least seven scoreless innings.  However, the great performance goes for not, as Cain is given the no decision.

“It was a tough one, Cain pitched his heart out,” said Giants’ Skipper, Bruce Bochy after game.

Alfredo Simon was great on the other side as he surrendered one run on three hits.  Simon has been stellar for the Reds on the season boasting a 10-3 record with a 2.92 ERA, heading into Saturday night, and it continued to show, as he getsa no decision.

The Giants started the night with a bang, as Gregor Blanco led off with a base hit.  However, the Giants would have to wait until the fifth inning, until they got their next one.  The only Giant to get on base between the first and fifth inning was Pablo Sandoval in the fourth inning, when he hit a grounder and it was misplayed by Zack Cozart for an error.  Brandon Crawford recorded the second hit of the evening on his bobblehead night with a single.  Adam Duvall followed up by doubling into the left field corner sending Crawford to third.  With one out in the inning, it sent Joe Panik up to the plate.  Panik would knock in the only run for the Giants of the night, as he hammered one right up the middle but, it was knocked down by Simon and Brandon Phillips made the throw to first.  Matt Cain ended the fifth on a bunt for hit attempt to get the second run in, by he was thrown out at first.

San Francisco led the game into the top of the ninth, when Sergio Romo came into the game.  Romo started the shaky inning with a walk to Joey Votto, bringing Phillips up to the plate.  Phillips entered the at bat 0 for 3 on the evening, but made the difference in the ninth when he shot a hanging a slider deep into left field to give the Reds the 2-1 lead.  Romo was forced to finish the inning, but had trouble doing it as both Devin Mesoraco and Ryan Ludwick would hit it to the warning track before being gloved down by Juan Perez.

The Reds entered the ninth inning with the lead and one of the most dangerous closers in the game coming in, Aroldis Chapman.  Chapman entered the game 16 for 16 in saves situations, and pitching his fourth day straight.  The Giants would be the first team to break Chapman on the season as they started the ninth inning with a Hunter Pence single to right.  The turning point was an amazing ten-pitch walk forced by Sandoval putting runners on first and second.  Buster Posey was the pinch hitter and drove a 101 MPH fastball to left to bring home the tying run on the no-out double.  Runners were at second and third with no outs, and the Giants looked like they had the win in the bag, however Chapman buckled down and forced two ground outs and then struck out Duvall to end the ninth.

The Reds would strike again in the 11th inning scoring two runs off of Cozart single, that brought in Votto; who doubled to start the inning, and Phillips who was intentionally walked to set up the double play ball.  Cincinnati would put the nail in the coffin when Chris Heisey knocked two more in with a triple to right to put the Reds up 6-2.  The bleeding would continue for the Giants when Billy Hamiliton doubled to right to bring in Heisey to make it 7-2.  The Giants would get one back in the bottom half to make it 7-3.

Jonathan Broxton earns the win for Cincinnati to up his record to 3-0.  Javy Lopez gets the loss, dropping his record to 1-1. The Reds take a 3-0 series advantage this weekend, as they will go for the sweep tomorrow with a pitching matchup of Homer Bailey vs. Tim Hudson.