MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Reds Aquino and Astros Alvarez belt 3 HRs; Mets hot win their eighth straight game; plus more

photo from nytimes.com: The Cincinnati Reds Aristides Aquino gets the warm welcome at the plate after belting one of his three home runs at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati in the Reds 21 run win over the visiting Chicago Cubs

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 The Cincinnati Reds Aristides Aquino connected for three home runs all in the first four innings of Saturday’s game in the Reds 10-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds hit a total of six homers in the game.

#2 The New York Mets continued their winning ways with their eighth straight win and for the second night in a row a come back win over the Washington Nationals 4-3. The Mets have won 15 out of their last 16 wins.

#3 Is the three game homer going to be the norm the Houston Astros as Yordan Alvarez accomplished the feat in a 21 run win over their hosts the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Saturday in a 23-2 win. The Orioles who are going the other way have had their share of frustrations including this week when Chris Davis and manager Brandon Hyde who got into a out of control argument in the Orioles dugout during a game.

#4 In the game on Saturday night Astros Carlos Correa hit the longest home run ever hit at Camden Yards which landed in the back of the center left bleachers. The Astros were just teeing off.

#5 Speaking of comebacks the Chicago White Sox just got by the Oakland A’s on Saturday night. The Sox with a 3-0 lead in the top of the ninth all they needed to do was put the A’s away but not so easy the A’s scored twice falling just a run short to tie it up and lost to the Sox 3-2.

Matt does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Rookies with three homer games; Cleveland all knotted up with Twins in Central; plus more

photo houstonchronicle.com: The Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez gets congratulations in the Astros dugout after a first inning home run at Camden Yards, the first of three against the Baltimore Orioles in a 21-run win 23-2 Saturday night.

This week on MLB The Show with Daniel Dullum, who is Sports Editor of the Apache Junction/Gold Canyon News at the home office in Gold Canyon:

1 Rookies making baseball history with three-homer games

2 Indians erase 11-game deficit in AL Central, tie Twins for first

3 Swingin’ A’s 1 ½ games out of AL wild card

4 Samardzija beats Phils, Giants 4 games out of NL wild card

5 Tim Tebow’s baseball season over due to injury

Catch Daniel each Sunday for the MLB podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Podcast: Daniel Dullum talks sports that will make you think and laugh!!!

black headset hanging on black and gray microphone
Photo by Barthy Bonhomme on Pexels.com

Podcast: Daniel Dullum talks sports that will make you think and laugh!!!

  • Daniel is a reporter for SportsRadioService.com and the sports editor for the Apache Junction – Gold Canyon News in Arizona
  • Daniel and Charlie O have a great time talking baseball
  • They talk about the wild combined Astros no-hitter on Saturday night
  • Daniel and Charlie discuss the huge trade that brought Zach Grienke to the Astros and the impact that will make
  • What about the Giants and their moves?
  • Could they have been the Henderson, Nevada D-backs?
  • Will the Philly Phanatic be a free agent in 2020? Really!

Join Daniel and Charlie for some fun talking about all things baseball!

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Ex-Marlins most likely will boycott Jeter HOF speech; Twins reach 200 home runs fastest of the season; plus more

file photo from Cincinnati.com: Former Miami Marlins Tony Perez (left) and Andre Dawson (right) who were fired by Marlins owner Derek Jeter will most likely skip Jeter’s Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown. Also, former Marlins Jeff Conine and ex-manager Jack McKeon are also considering sitting out Jeter’s HOF speech.

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 Former Miami Marlins Andre Dawson, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez and Jack McKeon most likely will not attend Marlins owner and former New York Yankee great Derek Jeter’s Hall of Fame speech at his induction. The four former players and McKeon the manager were unceremoniously fired when Jeter took over as team owner.

#2 It was the Houston Astros’ Gerrit Cole who was the pitcher who reached 200 strikeouts the fastest in the majors this season. Now, the team who has reached 200 home runs the fastest, are the Minnesota Twins making no secret they’re a fences swinging club.

#3 Speaking of home runs, the Boston Red Sox Mookie Betts’ three-home run game. He’s the fourth player in the last four days to hit three runs in a game.

#4 The New York Mets’ Robinson Cano, who had hit only six home runs all season, got three home runs on Tuesday starting the multiple home run derby for the last four days.

#5 The San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner sweepstakes is over, according to sources. Multiple teams inquired about acquiring the Giants superstar pitcher, but there were not enough prospects that clubs could up with to get MadBum. While the deadline is July 31st, the team is confident that Bumgarner is staying.

Matt Harrington does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsadioservice.com

 

Verlander, Springer, and Altuve lead the Astros to another win over the A’s, 4-2

Photo credit: @lasvegasbetting

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s finished their seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record. They split the four-game series with the AL Central leader, the Minnesota Twins, and lost two out of three to the AL West leading Houston Astros. The Astros, behind their ace Justin Verlander beat the A’s 4-2 at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the first inning. Marcus Semien reached on a throwing error by Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman. He scored on a Matt Olson single to right field. Josh Reddick committed a rare mistake, and that allowed Semien to score.

A’s starter Chris Bassitt was sharp as he retired the first seven hitters he faced. He struck out the last five. Astros catcher Robinson Chirons, who had tormented the A’s over the years, broke the spell with a double. He came around to score when George Springer blasted his 23rd of the year to put Houston ahead 2-1.

In the fifth, Bassitt plunked Chirinos on the hand to start the frame. Chirinos scored again when Jose Altuve hit his 15th of the season over the fence in center field. The Astros led 4-0.

The A’ added their second run of the game in the top of the ninth. Astros’ closer Roberto Osuna gave up a run. The A’s failed to score, and the game was over. Houston won 4-2.

Game Notes: Chris Bassitt gave the A’s six innings of work. He allowed five hits and four runs. Bassitt is now 7-5 for the year. Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen each worked an inning and did not allow Houston to put any runs on the board.

Verlander, who probably will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame when he is finished playing, improved to 13-4. His line was six innings, two hits, one unearned run, two walks, and 11 strikeouts.

The A’s drop to 58-45 and trail the Astros by 7 1/2 games in the division. The Astros improved to 66-38.  The Astros continue to dominate the A’s as they lead the season series 9-2.

Up Next: The A’s return home to face the Texas Rangers for four games starting Thursday night. Brett Anderson (9-5, 3.82 ERA) will go for Oakland. Game time will be at 7:07 pm.

A’s rally late to beat the Astros 4-3

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s stymied by Wade Miley’s slants for eight-plus innings. Miley was masterful all evening long. He retired the first 16 A’s hitters he faced. The A’s ace Mike Fiers had a rough second inning, but settled down and kept the Astros from scoring. Neither starter had a decision. The A’s grabbed the lead for the first time in the top of the ninth. The Astros tied the game at three. The A’s scored a run in the 11th, and Yusmeiro Petit retired the Astros to secure the win for Oakland 4-3.

The Astros put two on the board in the second inning. Houston’s left fielder Michel Brantley singled to start the rally. He went to second on a ground out. Yuli Guriel, playing third base for Houston, hit a line shot to center. Ramon Laureano decided to go for a shoestring catch. The only problem with that decision was this: If you don’t catch the ball and it gets by you, it will be an inside-the-park home run. Fiers may have been a bit rattled, but he settled down and retired the Astros with no further damage. Houston leads 2-0 after two.

The A’s broke up the perfect game with one out in the sixth when Chad Pinder singled. The A’s could do nothing against Mylie until the top of the ninth. In the meantime, Fiers kept his former team off-balance until Bob Melvin removed him from the game with two outs. Melvin brought in lefty Ryan Buchhaler to face Michael Brantley. Brantley struck out to end the threat.

With one out in the ninth, the top of the A’s order came through. Marcus Semien started the rally with a walk. He went to second on Matt Chapman’s single. Astros manager A.J. Hinch brought in his closer Roberto Osuna to pitch. The Astros do not have a lefty in the bullpen, and that cost them the lead. How so? Olson blasted his 21st homer of the year to plate three runs and put the A’s ahead. The Astros did not quit. They came back to tie the score in their half of the ninth. Joakim Soria was trying to close out the game for Oakland. With one out singles by Guriel and Josh Reddick, men were on at first and third. Guriel scored on an Aledmys Diaz’ sacrifice fly to right. The game went to extra innings.

The A’s broke through in the 11th. Collin McHugh was now pitching for Houston. McHugh is known for his sweeping curveballs, and he retired the first hitter he faced. Matt Olson singled, and Mark Canha walked. Ramon Laureano, who was the AL Player of the Week and a former Astro prospect, doubled down the left-field line. Olson scored. Canha also crossed the plate, and the A’s appeared to have a 5-3 lead. The ball got stuck under the wall in left-field, and the Astros claimed that the ball was dead and Canha should be sent back to third base. After an umpires’ review, the call was reversed, and Canha went back to third.  The A’s Yusmeiro Petit, working his second inning of relief retired the Astros in order to secure the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- It was the first win in Houston for the A’s this season. They are now 2-8 against the division leaders.

Fiers’ line was 7 2/3 inning of work, and he allowed six hits and two runs. Miley went eight-plus innings, and he allowed four hits and two runs.

Petit was the winning pitcher, and McHugh took the loss.

Time of game was three hours and 14 minutes.  39,204 went home unhappy as their hometown team lost 4-3.

Up Next: The A’s finish the three-game series Wednesday at 11:00 am PT. Chris Bassitt (7-4) will go for Oakland, and the A’s will be facing the very tough Justin Verlander (12-4).

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Cubs’ Garcia and Schwarber start game with 2 big flies; Twins get rare triple play against Angels; plus more

Photo credit: @robelgarcia16

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Chicago Cubs got a splash hit and a home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Monday night. Robel Garcia hit a tremendous drive into McCovey Cove and Kyle Schwarber hit his 22nd home run of the season.

#2 The Minnesota Twins got a 5-4-3 triple play in the first inning on Monday night when the Los Angeles Angels’ Edwin Encarnacion hit a grounder to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez, who tagged third and relayed the throw to second with the Twins’ Jonathan Schoop covering and Schoop threw to first baseman Miguel Sano for the triple play.

#3 The Houston Astros pitcher Gerritt Cole is the second fastest pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in baseball history and he did it against the Oakland A’s in a 11-1 rout. For the A’s, it was their second straight loss, and for Cole, he was in total command and showed why he reached 200 strikeouts so quickly.

#4 As the trade deadline gets closer, the San Francisco Giants; key pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith are up for grabs. There also has been talk that Giants manager Bruce Bochy has talked with team president Farhan Zaidi about possibly keeping Bumgarner and Smith. It’s possible the Giants might not move them the later it gets.

#5 Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says with the roster, the Astros have they could win the whole thing. Luhnow said that with the four starters they have, they can win on good pitching and get deep into the postseason.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play-by-play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s. The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010AM/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com 

Astros pound the A’s 11-1

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Astros continued their domination if the A’s this season. They beat the A’s for the eighth time in nine tries. There is no question that the Astros, along with the New York Yankees, are the two best teams in the American League. The Astros have solid players at every position, and they showed the A’s how good they can be by beating them 11-1

Homer Bailey made his second start as a member of the A’s. Things fell apart for Bailey in the second inning. The Astros put four on the board. The scoring started when rookie Yordano Alvarez hit a solo home run to right-center field. The Astros loaded the bases with no out. George Springer singled to make it 2-0, and the bases were still loaded. Bailey walked Jose Altuve to force in the third run of the frame. Alex Bregman grounded out to drive in the Astros’ fourth run of the game.

Bailey started the third inning, but it was not his night as the Astros scored seven times to put the game out of reach. Yule Guriel and Aledmys Diaz homered in the inning. Bailey left with the score 9-0. Brian Schlitter gave up two more runs.

The A’s only run of the game came when they had their only two hits of the night. Matt Chapman doubled and scored on Mark Canha’s double.

Game Notes: Gerrit Cole was dominant. He went seven innings and allowed two hits and one earned. He struck out 11. His record improved to 11-5.

Homer Bailey absorbed his first loss as an Oakland Athletic. His line was two-plus innings pitched, nine runs and eight strikeouts. He is now 8-7 for the year.

The A’s used outfielder Nick Martini as a pitcher. Martini pitched an inning and kept the Astros off the board. He was recalled from Las Vegas to take Brett Anderson’s spot. Anderson is on paternity leave.

Yordano Alvarez set a Major League record by driving in his 35th run in his first 30 games. Albert Pujols previously held the record.

Alvarez, Guriel, and Aledmys Diaz were three Cuban-born players to homer in the game.

Up Next: The A’s hope to turn the tables Tuesday night. Game time is at 5:10 pm PT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s rise from last place to making a run at the Astros

Photo credit: @Athletics

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The A’s are making a run at second place in the AL West and chasing the Houston Astros after having a rough first half. They came on strong in the closing weeks of the first half now in sight for a wild card and just six games back behind the Astros.

#2 The San Francisco Giants are another team that has been making noise. They have won 11 of their last 12 games and they didn’t waste any time in Colorado, taking out the Rockies in a doubleheader on Monday.

#3 If the Giants were to trade Madison Bumgarner, would he be a second half trade rental?

#4 The Tampa Bay Rays have won five of their last six games, including two wins over the New York Yankees on July 4th and 5th. The Rays are in a heated battle with the Yankees, which started Monday night.

#5 The Chicago Cubs had won five of their last six games going into Monday night’s game with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs are holding a two-game lead in the NL Central.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play-by-play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s. The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010A/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market and does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s rolling good enough to catch Houston in second half

Photo credit: bleacherreport.com

On the A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Jerry, the A’s are opening the second half of the season with a record of 50-41. They for a good part of the first half were a team in last place in the A.L. West. What were some of the factors that lifted them out of the cellar to second place and just seven games out of first place?

#2 The A’s have been getting some great offensive help, but it’s looking up and down that lineup with some of the key bats and key support that they’ve got that have helped the along the way.

#3 Going into the second half, the A’s will continue to try and figure their nemesis, the Houston Astros. The Astros are chalked with talent up and down their lineup, the A’s face the Astros in a couple of weeks, and when that time comes, the Astros will be an important series.

#4 The A’s are in need to get some starting pitching they won’t get Jharel Cotton is reportedly developing well on his come back while Daniel Mengden, who made a comeback, threw an outstanding game on his return to the A’s.

#5 Second half of the season getting ready to get started the A’s are opening things up hosting the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. For the Sox, Ivan Nova (4-7, 5.58 ERA), and for Oakland, Mike Fiers (8-3, 3.87 ERA).

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com