Tag: mlb

A’s stymied by Bryan Woo, as Mariners shut them out 3-0 to take series

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Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo pitches to the Oakland A’s in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jun 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Seattle Mariners 3 (36-28)

Oakland Athletics 0 (25-39)

Win: Bryan Woo (3-0)

Loss: JP Sears (4-5)

Save: Ryne Stanek (4)

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 6,571

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The A’s ran into a buzz saw in Bryan Woo, who shut down the A’s, and the Mariners shutout the A’s 3-0 on a hazy Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum to take the series.

The A’s were looking to win just their second series since they took two of three from the Miami Marlins from May 3-5. They were also looking to win consecutive games for the first time since that same series against the Marlins.

Left-hander JP Sears made the start for Oakland. Sears was coming off a start in Atlanta where he gave up four runs over seven innings against a powerful Braves team at Truist Park, one of the most live ballparks in Baseball.

Sears was back at the Coliseum for his team-leading 13th start of the season to go up against a Mariners team, who despite their record, has struggled offensively all season. Sears promptly got off to a nice start with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.

The Mariners went with right-hander Bryan Woo, who has pitched quite well since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on May 10. Woo has gone 2-0 with a minuscule 1.30 ERA in his first five starts of the season.

The A’s put Woo in trouble right away in the bottom of the first. Abraham Toro hooked a double down the right field line to start the inning, but he never got to third, as Woo was able to settle down to retire the side.

Sears walked Cal Raleigh with one out in the top of the second, but he induced a double play off the bat of Mitch Haniger to end the inning. Seth Brown reached second to lead off the bottom of the second when Mariners’ left-fielder Victor Robles tried to make a leaping catch on a routine fly ball to left field but ended up dropping the ball. Fortunately for Robles, Woo retired the side, and Brown never got past third.

The A’s had wasted opportunities in the first two innings, and they would need Sears to keep cruising, but Sears immediately got himself in trouble in the top of the third. Sears walked Mitch Garver, and then he hit Robles right afterwards to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Ryan Bliss then reached on a bunt single, the Mariners’ first hit of the game, to load the bases.

Sears struck J.P. Crawford out swinging for the first out, but Dylan Moore knocked in Garver with a sacrifice fly to left. The Mariners had a 1-0 lead, and Woo followed that up with his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon in the bottom of the third.

Sears hit Raleigh with a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth, and Raleigh followed that up by stealing second base. Sears struck Haniger out for the second out, but Garver hit a single to left to score Raleigh and make it 2-0.

As for Woo, he pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth. Both pitchers pitched scoreless innings in the fifth.

Sears went back out for the top of the sixth, but with activity in the A’s bullpen, he would most likely have to pitch a 1-2-3 inning to go a full six innings. Sears did indeed pitch that 1-2-3 inning to end a very strong day for him, in which he gave up just two runs and three hits over his six innings, while striking out eight.

Woo pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, and he was in complete control. That made it a bit surprising that his day would be done afterwards.

Woo had yet to go more than six innings this year, and he had his highest pitch count of the year with 85 pitches, but with how he was pitching Wednesday, it could have been assumed that Mariners Manager Scott Servais would have given him one more inning.

Still, it was quite an impressive outing. Woo allowed just two hits and three base-runners over his six shutout innings, and the A’s simply could not catch up to his fastball.

“We just couldn’t hit the heater,” said Manager Mark Kotsay. “I don’t know what it is about his fastball that gives us trouble…..We just could not hit the fastball.”

Dany Jimenez was the new pitcher for Oakland in the top of the seventh, and he worked through a pair of walks for a scoreless inning. Austin Voth came in for Seattle, and he pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

Jimenez was back out for the top of the eighth, He struck Julio Rodriguez out swinging to start the inning. Jimenez then walked Ty France, but he bounced back to strike Raleigh out swinging for the second out.

Then, Kotsay brought in the left-hander, T.J. McFarland, to face the right-handed-hitting Mitch Haniger. It seemed like a weird move from afar, but Haniger has struggled against left-handers this season. The move paid off, and Haniger grounded out weakly to third to end the inning.

Mike Baumann pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Seattle, and when McFarland went back out for the top of the ninth, Mitch Garver led off the inning with a home run to left-center to extend the Mariners’ lead to 3-0.

It was quite an afternoon for Garver, who reached base all four times he came to the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single, the home run and a pair of walks. He also scored two of the Mariners’ three runs.

Ryne Stanek then came out and pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his fourth save.

Bryan Woo got the win; JP Sears suffered a very hard-luck loss; and Ryan Stanek picked up the save.

“We have definitely pitched [well], and offensively, we haven’t taken advantage of that,” said Kotsay. “It’s been a tough stretch. Generally, [if] you have good pitching, you win games. We’ve had good starting pitching, I think, for the last 10 or so outings, and we haven’t really capitalized on it.”

The A’s fall to 25-39, and they will hope for better luck when they welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for three at the Coliseum starting Friday night. The Jays will be going with RHP Chris Bassitt (6-6, ERA 4.13) the A’s will counter with Left-hander Hogan Harris (0-0, ERA 3.14) who will be on the hill, first pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s fans support in Sacramento is much stronger than Las Vegas

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Oakland A’s owner John Fisher (left) and Sacramento River Cats owner Vivek Ranadive (right) meet with the media after announcing the A’s will be playing their interim games at Sutter Health Ballpark in Sacramento on Thu Apr 4, 2024. Fisher could be reconsidering Vegas for Sacramento. (Las Vegas Review Journal file photo)

A’s fans support in Sacramento is much stronger than Las Vegas

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The story that continues as a never-ending Telenovela on Spanish TV continues for the Oakland A’s, and although maybe not as long as the legendary soap ‘As the World Turns”. Rob Manfred , Commissioner of Baseball, is one of the forces that support the A’s leaving Oakland for Las Vegas.

From the very beginning of this story, Manfred has been a leading voice on the relocation idea. With Sacramento currently renovating Sutter Health Park, Manfred claimed that the A’s had received seat deposits from around 13,000 people. For the record: This season, the Oakland A’s are last in baseball, averaging 6,400 per game.

The people of Sacramento are showing interest in the A’s, while the people from Las Vegas are not remotely as enthusiastic. According to reports, Sutter Health Park is currently selling priority access to tickets for fans who put down a $100 per seat deposit on a season ticket membership. That is very reasonable in this very tough economy, where even a family visit to a fast-food restaurant is not that cheap anymore.

Sutter Heath Park’s capacity is about 14,000, including the outfield berms. However, Major League Baseball only considers fixed/permanent seats, no berms, and standing room unless the Commissioner makes an exception for the Rivercats Park in West Sacramento.

Time will tell how popular the A’s become in the State’s Capital, but this ordeal could end with the A’s moving to Sacramento permanently.

Do you wonder what the odds are in Vegas?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants open 3 game series in Texas Friday night

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Erik Miller (68) deals against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the bottom of the sixth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Wed Jun 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 Michael, the San Francisco Giants Wilmer Flores was key in the Giants 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Wednesday afternoon. Flores helped out with a third inning grand slam.

#2 The Giants who snapped their six game losing streak got a rally going with six runs for a 9-3 win. The run production came through to conclude the three game series for the Giants.

#3 The Giants also got a home run from Heliot Ramos in the third inning off Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery.

#4 Ramos found six ways to get on base with two hits and four walks, Flores got his first home run in 50 games so needless to say Giants manager Bob Melvin had faith in Flores.

#5 The Giants are headed for Texas for a three game series starting Friday night. They’ll start RHP Logan Webb (4-5, ERA 2.95) for the Rangers Michael Lorenzen (3-3, ERA 2.96) 5:05pm PT first pitch.

Join Michael Duca for the San Francisco Giants podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s get the pitching; Estes perfect ball into the 7th; Miller shuts door on Mariners in 2-1 win

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Oakland A’s Joey Estes throws here in the top of the first inning against the Seattle Mariners. Estes had a perfect game going into the sixth inning until the M’s JP Crawford hit a double to break it up at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

Seattle (35-28). 000 000 001. 1. 4. 2

Athletics (25-28). 001 010 00x. 2. 5. 0

Time: 2:14

Attendance: 9,735

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This decidedly non-Oaklandishly warm evening promised a slug fest. Instead we got a beautiful pitchers duel, fron which the Athletics, who had lost five of their last six games, emerged victorious by the slimmest of margins, 2-1.

When the A’s first submitted their lineup to MLB they named Luis Medina as their starting pitcher. Between then and game time Joey Estes , a right hander who had a 1-1, 5.50 mark in four games, all as a starter, against the M’s, had taken his place.

Estes is somewhat of a Mariners specialist; those four starts represent 56% of his major league career total. The 22 year old came to work with a season record of 1-1, 6.10. His work this evening was outstanding. He was perfect and went home with the win, which improved his numbers to 2-1, 4.67. He threw 6-1/3 innings and allowed exactly one hit. 58 of his 78 deliveries were strikes, and struck out five Mariners.

On the hump for the Mariners was Logan Gilbert, their first round draft choice (14th overall) in the 2018 draft. You could see why no one on the Seattle staff started more games in 2023 than he did. The 27 year old righty pitched seven innings of five hit baseball, allowing two runs, only one of which was earned, striking out five and not walking anyone. One of the five hits against him, however, was a home run. The tough loss left him 3-4, 3.12. The crew from Puget Sound used one other hurler. Mike Bauman pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth.

Neither team put a man on base until Zack Gelof broke the ice with one down in the bottom of the third. He smacked Gilbert’s first pitch four seamer 399 feet into the seats, over the State Farm advertisement in right field. It gave the A’s second baseman 13 RBI for the year.

The A’s picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth. It was unearned, but that doesn’t mean that Gilbert was faultless. With Daz Cameron on first with a one out single, Gilbert tried to pick him off. His throw went past first baseman Ty France, and Cameron scampered to third. He didn’t stay there long. With Gelof, the next hitter, at bat, catcher Clal Raleigh couldn’t handle a low pitch, and Cameron scored on the resultant passed ball.

Estes was impenetrable for 70 pitches over six frames. JP Crawford’s first pitch leadoff double in the seventh broke the spell. Estes got one more out and gave way to Austin Adams, who walked Julio Rodríguez, got Raleigh to fly out to center, and hit France with a pitch to load the bases. That was it for Adams. In came TJ McFarland who got pinch hitter Mitch Garver to ground out to short on a 3-2 pitch.

The top of the eighth was a hairy inning for the A’s. Seattle’s first two batters, Mitch Haniger and Dominic Canzone, singled off TJ McFarland, who’d taken over mound duties for the green and gold. McFarland then fanned Moore and gave way to Mason Miller, who got Crawford out on a fly to left center and Rojas on a grounder to Gelof.

The once invincible Miller came out in the ninth to attempt a five out save. He went to a full count on the first batter, Rodríguez and then threw him a 102 mph four seam fastball. The Mariners’ center fielder sent the ball to center field, over the fence for a 402 foot home run, his fifth round tripper of the season.

The A’s lead had dwindled to 2-1. But Miller recovered and, after walking Raleigh, struck out France and got Victor Robles, who had replaced Garver, to ground into a game ending 6-4-3 twin killing. It was Miller’s 12th save in 13 opportunities.

Thursday the sixth, JP Sears (4-4, 4.01) will go for the A’s. (Unless, Mark Kotsay makes another inspired last minute decision). He’ll face Bryan Woo (2-0, 13). The first pitch is scheduled for 12:37.

Melvin motivates and six-run third inning leads Giants to much needed 9-3 win to snap six-game losing streak

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San Francisco Giants Wilmer Flores salutes after getting a single in the top of the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix on Wed Jun 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Chase Field

Phoenix, Arizona

San Francisco Giants 9 (30-33)

Arizona Diamondbacks 3 (29-33)

Win: Sean Hjelle (3-1)

Loss: Jordan Montgomery (3-4)

Time: 3:30

Attendance: 24,178

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants finally snapped their six-game losing streak, and the offense finally came back to life, as a six-run third inning, capped off by a grand slam by Wilmer Flores carried the Giants to a 9-3 win over the Diamondbacks to salvage a game in Phoenix on Wednesday.

The Giants weathered some massive blows, and they won 10 of 12 to get to a season-high two games over .500 at 29-27. However, they have since taken a couple more blows, and have fallen back on hard times with a brutal six-game losing streak.

The Giants were three outs away from salvaging a game in their three-game series against the white-hot New York Yankees on Sunday, but the Yankees scored four runs off Camilo Doval in the top of the ninth inning to sweep them.

The Giants then lost the first two games of their three game series in the Sonoran Desert against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They lost on a walk-off home run by Pavin Smith on Monday, and then they lost again last night and just seemed lifeless and out of it.

Manager Bob Melvin aired out his frustrations with the team in the clubhouse following last night’s game, and today, the Giants desperately needed a win. There was no other way to say it.

The Giants would turn to Jordan Hicks, who President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi has successfully converted from a reliever to a starter. Hicks came into Wednesday’s game 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 12 starts, and the Giants would need another solid start from him Wednesday afternoon.

The veteran left-hander, Jordan Montgomery would make the start for Arizona, and the Giants had him on the ropes in the top of the first inning. Heliot Ramos walked with one out, and Thairo Estrada lined a base-hit to left field to put runners at first and second.

However, it would be another wasted opportunity for the Giants. Matt Chapman grounded out softly to first base, and Jorge Soler struck out swinging, as the Giants once again came up empty handed.

Hicks also ran into trouble in the bottom of the first. Corbin Carroll singled to right to get things started, and he advanced to second when Hicks used three disengagements with Blaze Alexander at the plate. Hicks then struck Alexander out swinging, and he also struck Joc Pederson out looking.

Hicks was looking to get out of it without any damage, but Lourdes Gurriel lined a single to left to knock in Carroll and put Arizona on the board first.

Both teams went down scoreless in the second, and the Giants looked to finally break through in the top of the third. Austin Slater, who was activated off the 10-Day Injured List prior to the game, led off the inning and did what he does best, and that’s line a base-hit the other way to right. Heliot Ramos then stayed hot and hit a towering two-run home run to left-center, his fifth home run of the season, to give the Giants their first lead of the series.

The Giants were just getting started off Montgomery. Estrada lined a base-hit to left, and Chapman walked. Soler singled on a soft ground ball to center, as Estrada was held at third, and that meant the bases would be loaded for Wilmer Flores. Flores hit a grand slam to left, and suddenly the Giants’ offense had woken up to score six runs in the top of the third, as they led it 6-1.

The Giants were looking to keep going. Mike Yastrzemski grounded a single up the middle, and Montgomery’s day was done after just two-plus innings.

Logan Allen was the new pitcher for Arizona, and he immediately walked Tyler Fitzgerald to put runners at first and second with still nobody out. Curt Casali, who got the start behind the plate Wednesday, flew out to left for the first out.

The Giants had now batted around, as Slater came back to plate after leading off the inning with a base-hit. With Slater up, Yastrzemski and Fitzgerald executed a double steal of second and third, but Slater struck out swinging for the second out. Ramos walked to load the bases, but Estrada grounded out to third to end the inning.

Hicks had to sit for awhile, and he ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third. Alexander started off the inning with an infield hit, and Gurriel walked with one out. Hicks was then able to settle down, and he struck Pavin Smith and Eugenio Suarez out, both looking, to end the inning.

Allen pitched a scoreless top of the fourth, and Hicks ran into more trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Jake McCarthy walked to start the inning, and Kevin Newman singled him over to second.

Catcher Tucker Barnhart tried to lay down a bunt, but he popped it back to Hicks. Hicks then struck Carroll out swinging for the second out, but Alexander reached on an infield hit up the middle to load the bases.

Hicks thought he had struck out Joc Pederson to end the inning on a 3-2 slider that nicked the outside corner, but Home Plate Umpire Chris Guccione called it ball four, and McCarthy scored to make it 6-2. Hicks had been getting pinched by Guccione throughout the day, and that helped drive his pitch count up to 92 pitches.

As a result, Hicks was done after three and two thirds innings. Hicks had a bloated pitch count, but he still received praise from his manager, Bob Melvin, when he got back to the dugout. Sean Hjelle came in for Hicks and got Gurriel to ground out to end the inning.

Allen pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, and Smith made it a 6-3 game with a home run to right to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Hjelle then retired the side to send the game to the sixth.

The Giants looked to add on against Allen in the top of the sixth. Ramos led off the inning with a base-hit to left for his second hit of the day. Estrada reached on an error, and Chapman walked to load the bases.

Yastrzemski thought he had walked to knock in a run with two outs, but Guccione called it a strike. After Yastrzemski flew out to left to end the inning, he had a few choice words for Guccione, and Melvin tore into Guccione, but the cool and collective veteran umpire kept both Yastrzemski and Melvin in the game.

“You know what, that’s a hard time to call for an umpire,” said Melvin. “I went and told [Guccione] that afterwards. It really is. It’s excruciating to have to call a game like that [with] so many really really close pitches at the bottom of the zone. I’m very understanding of that, but you know, you’re trying to stand up for your team. I appreciate him keeping me in the game. I’m shocked I was still in the game after that play, so I thanked him for that.”

Bryce Jarvis came in for Allen, and just as soon as the Giants’ offense had finally awakened, they just as quickly reverted back to their old ways. Jarvis retired the side in order, and the Giants wasted a bases-loaded, no-out golden opportunity.

Left-handed flame thrower Erik Miller pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, and the Giants wasted another opportunity against Jarvis in the top of the seventh. Ryan Walker came in and pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh for the Giants. Jorge Soler hit an absolute bomb to left off Brandon Hughes with one out in the top of the eighth to make it 7-3.

Submariner Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and the Giants added on two more runs in the top of the ninth to open it up to 9-3. Thairo Estrada knocked in Michael Conforto with a double high off the wall in left-center with nobody out, and Wilmer Flores, who was up with the bases loaded for the third time today, knocked in Heliot Ramos with a sacrifice fly to right.

The Diamondbacks got two runners on against Randy Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth, but Rodriguez closed it out to end it.

Sean Hjelle, who came in for Hicks in the bottom of the fourth, got the win, and Jordan Montgomery took the loss.

Bob Melvin’s message after Tuesday night’s game certainly worked, as the Giants looked like a completely different team. The Giants have finally snapped their six-game losing streak, and they improve to 30-33 on the year.

“It had nothing to do with me,” Melvin humbly said. “We just had good at-bats today.”

Now, the Giants will head to Arlington, Texas for a day off Thursday and the second leg of this all-2023 World Series road trip to take on former Giants Manager Bruce Bochy and the Defending World Champion Texas Rangers for a three-game series starting on Friday.

For Friday night Giants’ ace Logan Webb (4-5, ERA 2.95) will be on the mound. The Rangers will start Michael Lorenzen (3-3, ERA 2.96) First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. in Arlington, and 5:05 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

Heliot Ramos had himself quite a day, as he went 2-for-2 with two runs and four walks. He also became the fifth San Francisco Giants’ number-two hitter to reach base six times in one game.

“I’m just staying with my pitch [and] trying to attack the right pitch and make the right decision,” said Ramos. “It was really tough [to take those four walks], because I like swinging the bat.”

“He’s just so balanced,” said Manager Bob Melvin. “Every take, every swing, he’s completely locked in. I mean who walks four times, especially when you’re hitting like he is? You want to swing…..It’s really cool to watch, because he’s such a good kid. It’s been kind of a hard road for him to get here, and he’s taking full advantage of it.”

Austin Slater was of course activated off the 10-Day IL prior to today’s game. Luis Matos, who has considerably cooled off since winning the National League Player of the Week Award with his historic 16-RBI performance from May 13-19, was sent back down to Triple-A Sacramento.

Oakland A’s podcast with Augie Messenburg: A’s fall short in ninth edged by M’s 4-3 at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s Abraham Toro whacks an RBI single against the Seattle Mariners in the bottom of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Augie:

#1 Augie, the Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby had nine strikeouts in five innings picking up his first win in a month. It was a long wait but Kirby pitched well enough to hold back the Oakland A’s 4-3 for the win.

#2 The Mariners got enough offense to pull it off with three hits from Josh Rojas and Ty France picked up two hits and an RBI for two runs.

#3 The Oakland A’s Abraham Toro hit an RBI single and JJ Bleday had a good night at the plate with two hit singles in their best efforts to strike back at the Mariners.

#4 A’s manager Mark Kotsay said that the Mariners are one of the better pitching staffs in the American League. All things considered Kotsay felt they fought back but just couldn’t get the tying run around in the ninth.

#5 The Mariners will start RHP Logan Gilbert (3-3, ERA 3.29) and for the A’s RHP Joey Estes (1-1, ERA 6.10). The A’s are getting the pitching but once again they need to get some run production going.

Augie Mesenburg is a podcast contributor and MLB analyst at http://www.sportsradioservice.com and is a reporter at 1080 KWAI Honolulu

Wheelers roll over Ballers 9-3 in inaugural home opener at Raimondi Park

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The Yolo High Wheelers and Oakland Ballers played in the inaugural home opener at Raimondi Park in West Oakland on Tue Jun 4 2024 (photo by Gail Rubman Sports Radio Service)

Yolo High Wheelers (6-4) 010 002 222 9 10 0

Oakland Ballers (7-6) 200 000 001 3 5 1

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–4,100 fans filled Raimondi Park this evening to see the Oakland Ballers fall, 9-3, the Yolo High Wheelers, the other new entry in the Pioneer Baseball League, in the Ballers’ home, and I mean home opener. The A’s barely outdrew the B’s with 5624 at the Coliseum on the same night.

The game was crisp and close, with the Ballers leading 2-1 in the early innings 2-1, but baserunning mistakes prevented them from adding to their advantage, and the High Wheelers tacked on two runs in each of the four final frames to roll over their hosts in what had become somewhat of a farce.

Dondrei Hubbard’s two run homer to left center with Payton Harden on base put Oakland on top in the first. Yolo countered that in their half of the second when B’s starter Derrick Cherry granted back to back walks to Sam Kuchinski and Braedon Blackford, both of whom were singled home by Kirkland Banks.

Things started to go haywire for the home team in their half of the third. High Wheeler starter Cameron Repetti surrendered a one out walk to Austin Davis. Repetti then threw to first in a pick off attempt. Davis was caught in a run down from which it seemed impossible to escape, especially when first base umpire Ron Adams called him out for running out of the baseline.

Manager Micah Franklin contested the call, which came before the play had been completed. The umpires conferred and ruled that there was no play and that Davis could return to first safely.

The pickoff attempt had been Repetti’s second in the at bat, a fact he must have forgotten, because he made one more attempt to catch Davis napping. That third interruption constituted a balk, which sent the runner to second. The Ballers couldn’t capitalize on the no play, but its weirdness seemed to change the tone of the game.

By the bottom of the sixth, the B’s were trailing, 3-2, thanks to Sam Kochinsky’s two run four bagger to left center, but Oakland was fighting back. There were runners on first and second. The runner on second was Davis. He took his lead. Repetti turned around and fired the ball to second baseman Bobby Lada.

There was no rundown this time. Davis was well and truly picked off. Myles Jefferson’s single and a base on balls to Noah Martínez were to no avail. The damage couldn’t be undone, and Oakland never came close again.

Things got uglier for the Ballers in Yolo’s half of the eighth. Oakland, already down, 5-2, was on their third pitcher, Jake Dahle, who had followed Abraham de León, who had relieved Cherry. Dahle walked Braedon Blackford and, after fanning Tanner Smith, allowed a single to center. Manager Franklin yanked Dahle and replaced him with Connor Richardson. A wild pitch and a single by Angel Mendoza later, and the High Wheelers were up, 7-2,

Eric Walichuk took the mound as Oakland’s fifth and final pitcher of the night to start off the ninth. He struck out Lada, the first batter he faced. He fanned him on a wild pitch, and the Wheelers second sacker made it to first safely. He didn’t need to steal second; he had a five run lead, but he did. Another reason he didn’t need to pilfer the base was that José Gonzalez sent the ball over the left field fence to make the score 9-2

It hardly mattered that the B’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth against Noah Estrella, who came in to mop things up in the last scene of the final act of tonight’s farce. Indeed, he issued three walks and an RBI single to pinch hitter Jaylen Smith. Yolo won handily, 9-3.

The winners had four batters with multi-hit games, González, Kuchinski, Kirkland Banks, and Mendoza, each of which got two hits. Five Ballers got hits, one each for Harden, Jefferson, Hubbard, Trevor Halsema, and Smith.

Repetti was the winning pitcher; he’s now 1-0. De León, who faced four batters in 2/3 of an inning, took the loss and now is 0-1.

There are a few things about the Pioneer Baseball League that may be confusing to those of us who haven’t been following the events in the lower minor leagues. First, there is the league’s name.

If you search for “Pioneer League” or “Pioneer League baseball” on your computer, you’ll find a wealth of information on the Pioneer Baseball League, a youth organization in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, as well as about the PBL, a descendant of the original Pioneer League, founded in 1939.

When minor league baseball suspended operation in 2020 as a response to the Covid pandemic, it was a short season rookie league, which means that it followed the rules of MLB and its subsidiary MiLB. With the reorganization of MiLB in 2021, the PBL became a partner league, affiliated with MLB but not with any of its member teams.

The new circuit describes itself as “a true development league, with players having less than 3 years of professional experience … focused on innovation and experimental rules.” These two terms— three years experience as a pro and experimental rules — invite further clarification.

Appearance in 30 games constitutes a year for position players. For pitchers, it’s seven starts or 18 games played. All professional leagues, no matter where located except the MLB Draft League, the United Shore Professional Baseball League, the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, leagues in the Caribbean Federation (including the Dominican Summer League and Venezuelan Summer League), the Australian Baseball League or any other winter league.

The PBL also allows each member team to name one “Franchise Player.” The requirements for this designation are a minimum of two years’ experience in the PBL the most recent of which was with the team that names him as an FP. There is a one year term limit for franchise players.

Like their teammates, franchise players can be player-coaches. If the franchise player leaves the team through injury or transfer to the majors, the PBL team can request that the league president allow a replacement, a decision to be made at the sole discretion of the president.

The league doesn’t have a zombie runner rule for games tied at the end of nine innings. It has something new and completely different unless you’re a hockey or soccer fan, the knockout inning. It’s a home run derby between designated HR hitters from the two teams. Each HRH has two minutes to hit as many homers as possible.

The reconfigured PBL experimental rules allow designated pinch hitters and designated pinch runners, who can enter a game as a PH or PR and either stay in the lineup or return to the bench for the rest of the game, allowing the player he’s substituted for to remain in the game.

PBL batters, unlike those in other leagues, can appeal the home plate umpire’s call on checked swings. Even the appearance of the playing field in the Pioneer Baseball League may seem strange to newcomers.

The area around second base in which no fielder is allowed to stand before the ball is pitched is marked in chalk on the infield dirt. This area is called the “pie slice.” Interesting enough, the pie slice wasn’t marked off on Raimondi Park’s diamond tonight.

Time clock limits in the PBL can be found at https://www.pioneerleague.com/sports/bsb/2023/releases/20230216krjfqr.

Wednesday, the second of this six game series will start at 6:35. A six game series between the same teams … it sounds like the old PCL.

Diamondbacks score 3 in the third and 4 in the seventh in 8-5 win over Giants at Chase; SF suffers sixth straight loss

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison pitches in the bottom of the first inning against the Arizona Diamondback at Chase Field in Phoenix on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Chase Field

Phoenix, Arizona

San Francisco Giants 5 (29-33)

Arizona Diamondbacks 8 (29-32)

Win: Kevin Ginkel (4-1)

Loss: Kyle Harrison (4-3)

Save Paul Sewald (6)

Time: 2:59

Attendance: 23,548

By Stephen Ruderman

Make it six in a row for the Giants, as Kyle Harrison had better control, but he still gave up four runners over six innings; and while they showed a little fight later on, the offense was still pretty much shut down in an 8-5 loss to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Tuesday night.

The Giants came into Tuesday night losers of five-straight, and they turned to their young left-hander, Kyle Harrison, to be the stopper. It would be a matchup of left-handers, as Arizona went with Blake Walston.

Heliot Ramos, who was coming off a 2-for-4 game with a home run Monday night, was in the leadoff spot tonight and started the game off with a walk. Thairo Estrada, who was back in the lineup, struck out swinging, and Patrick Bailey grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Gabriel Moreno singled on a ground ball to left field with one out in the bottom of the first inning, but like the top of the inning, the three-hitter, in this case, Lourdes Gurriel, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Giants threatened in the top of the second. Matt Chapman singled to left, and Michael Conforto walked to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Jorge Soler popped out to second, and Wilmer Flores walked to load the bases.

The Giants were in a prime position to get out to an early lead, but Casey Schmitt struck out on a foul tip, and Luis Matos flew out to left-center to end the inning. The Giants had wasted another opportunity, but Kyle Harrison helped atone for it by throwing a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second.

The top of the third was almost the exact same as the top of the first. Hellot Ramos reached first for free, though this time, it was due to a curve from Walston that awkwardly hit Ramos on the side of his left knee. The fact that the Giants’ trainers were laughing instead of coming out was a sure sign that the 76-MPH curve did not hurt Ramos. Like the top of the first, Estrada was retired for the first out, and Patrick Bailey grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Jake McCarthy grounded one the other way for a base-hit to start the bottom of the third. Blaze Alexander then doubled McCarthy over to third. That brought up Kevin Newman, who lined a base-hit off the glove of third-baseman Matt Chapman that ricocheted into left field. McCarthy and Alexander both scored to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead, and Newman moved up to second on the throw from left-fielder Michael Conforto.

Ketel Marte singled Newman over to third, and Moreno knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 3-0. Gurriel then grounded into his second double play of the game to end the inning. With that, both teams’ number-three hitters had grounded into double plays.

The Giants looked to get on the board in the top of the fourth, as Chapman doubled to lead off the inning, and he advanced to third on a ground out by Conforto. Soler then knocked in Chapman with a ground out to short. It wasn’t an RBI hit with runners in scoring position, which the Giants have been so-dearly lacking, but it was an RBI, period, with a runner in scoring position. Hey, the Giants were on the board, so they would take it.

Unfortunately for the Giants, their momentum would be short-lived. Christian Walker lined a double to left to start the inning, and he advanced to third when Randal Grichuk reached on an error by shortstop Casey Schmitt. Harrison looked to get out of it unscathed after Walker was thrown out at the plate for the first out, and McCarthy struck out swinging for the second out. However, Alexander knocked in Grichuk with a base-hit to left, and Arizona had their run back, as they led it 4-1.

The Giants were hoping to bounce back in the top of the fifth, and they were in a decent position to do so. Schmitt was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Ramos walked with one out. Kevin Ginkel came in for Walston and struck Estrada out swinging for the second out. The Giants would then finally get an RBI hit with a runner in scoring position, as Bailey knocked in Schmitt with a soft single to left to make it 4-2.

Harrison settled down with a scoreless bottom of the fifth, and Ginkel retired the first two men he faced in the top of the sixth. Wilmer Flores singled to left, and after Bob Melvin sent up Brett Wisely to pinch-hit for Schmitt, and Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo countered by bringing in left-hander Joe Mantiply. Lovullo’s move paid off, as Wisely grounded out to short to end the inning.

Harrison finished off what was a so-so outing on a good note, as he threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth. Harrison was in much better control, as he didn’t walk anyone in his six innings of work, but he still gave up four runs and eight hits.

“I could be better,” said Harrison. “[I’ve] been working on a lot of stuff with my mechanics. I’m just trying to get back to [being] the version of myself that I’m used to seeing. [It] was a good step forward for me today. [The] velo[city] was there, it felt good. The changeup was there, [and] the slider was there, so [this] was a good [outing] to build on for sure.”

Justin Martinez came in for Arizona in the seventh, and Luis Matos led off the inning with an infield hit. Matos eventually got to third after a ground out and a wild pitch, and Bailey walked with two outs to put runners on the corners. It was up to Matt Chapman, but he stood and stared at a 101-MPH sinker for strike three to end the inning. It was yet another wasted golden opportunity for the offense.

Luke Jackson came in for Harrison in the bottom of the seventh, and things imploded for the Giants. Alexander grounded a single to right and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Newman. Jackson had a chance to get the lead runner at second, but Wisely, who was now in at short, forgot to cover the bag, and Jackson had to settle for the out at first.

Marte walked, and then Moreno floated a base-hit to left to score Alexander and make it 5-2. Gurriel followed that up with a double down the left field line that scored two and opened up Arizona’s lead to 7-2. With two outs, Grichuk knocked in Gurriel with a base-hit to left, and the Diamondbacks had now made it a laugher at 8-2.

Bryce Jarvis came in for Arizona in the top of the eighth, and he set down the first two men he faced. Flores walked with two outs, but he got a couple of sinkers up and in, and he let Ginkel know that he didn’t like it. Perhaps, that might have woken up the Giants.

Wisely also drew a walk, and Mike Yastrzemski pinch-hit for Luis Matos and hooked a three-run home run down the right field line to suddenly but quietly close it back to just a three-run game at 8-5. Yastrzemski, who is one of the veteran leaders for the Giants, quietly rounded the bases, as he hoped to be a spark.

Left-hander Taylor Rogers, who finished the bottom of the seventh, threw a scoreless bottom of the eighth. Lovullo then brought in his closer, Paul Sewald for the ninth.

Estrada was hit by a pitch to start the top of the ninth, but it was an 82-MPH slider that Estrada leaned into with his bulky fastball orange elbow guard. Hey, it was a break for the Giants.

The Giants almost caught another break when Bailey hit a ground ball up the middle that Kevin Newman fielded from short, as when Newman fielded it, instead of taking the sure out at first, he flipped the ball behind his back to the second-baseman, Ketel Marte, to barely get Estrada at second. It was a mentally-boneheaded, but a physically-terrific play by Newman. Sewald then struck Chapman out swinging and struck Conforto out looking to end it.

Kevin Ginkel ended up getting the win, and Kyle Harrison took his third loss of the year, as well as his second-straight. Paul Sewald picked up his sixth save.

The Giants fall back to four games under .500 at 29-33, and they have also now lost six-straight, as things are beginning to spiral. They also looked out of it throughout a lot of the game.

“That was a terrible game by us today,” said a visibly-upset Bob Melvin after the game. “When you’re going through losing streaks, at least you fight. For the most part, we have. That was an awful game. We made it interesting at the end, but [we] didn’t play well…..We had [their] starter on the ropes every inning, [and we] couldn’t cash in. It’s a bad game and a bad stretch by us. We just look like we were running around in quick sand for awhile.”

The Giants will try to snap their losing streak and salvage a game in the finale of this three game series Wednesday afternoon its Jordan vs. Jordan with the Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-2, ERA 2.70) going against the Diamondbacks LHP Jordan Montgomery (3-3, ERA 5.48) . First pitch will be at 12:40 p.m.

Giants News and Notes:

Jung-hoo Lee had successful surgery Tuesday to repair his dislocated left shoulder.

Lee dislocated his shoulder after crashing into the unpadded portion of the small right-center field wall at Oracle Park, as he was going for a fly ball in the top of the first inning of the Giants’ game against the Cincinnati Reds on May 12.

Lee’s recovery will take six months, and while he will be out for the remainder of this season, he should be good and ready to go when the Giants report to Spring Training next February.

Robbie Ray gave up a hit and struck out the side in the in the bottom of the first inning for the Giants’ team in the Arizona Complex League in their game against the Mariners’ team in Peoria.

This was Ray’s first appearance against live hitting since undergoing Tommy John surgery on his left elbow on May 3 of last year.

Keaton Winn followed up Ray’s outing, and gave up a run and struck out six over three and two thirds innings. Winn has been on the 15-Day Injured List since leaving his start on May 14 against the Dodgers with a right forearm injury.

MLB News and Notes:

Major League Baseball officially concluded their investigation into the gambling accusations of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara on Tuesday after Mizuhara pled guilty to bank and tax fraud charges. Mizuhara faces up to 33 years in prison.

Major League Baseball banned infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on his own team’s ganes.

Marcano placed bets for games in October 2022, as well as for games from July to November of last year. He made 387 bets in total, some of which were made involving games of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who Mercano played for last season.

Marcano, who is from Tucupita, Venezuela, played for the San Diego Padres in 2021, and spent 2022 and last season with the Pirates.

Marcano becomes the first player since Pete Rose to be banned from Baseball for placing bets on games.

MLB also suspended four other players for a year for placing bets on major league games.

Those players include pitchers Michael Kelly of the Oakland A’s, Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Jay Groome of the San Diego Padres, as well as infielder Jose Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Phillies.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Betting on Baseball Gets MLB Players Big Suspensions

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Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly has been suspended for one year for betting on baseball that equaled to $100 (Getty file)

#1 Tucupita Marcano in the San Diego Padres organization is looking at a lifetime ban for betting on baseball. Marcano placed 387 baseball bets which equaled $150,000 between Oct 16, 2022-Oct 23, 2022 and in Jul 12, 2023-Nov 1, 2023. Marcano betted while he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates 25 times.

#2 Michael Kelly pitcher for the Oakland A’s has been ruled ineligible for one year. Kelly bet on baseball as a minor leaguer ten times. Kelly bet on outcomes, over unders on runs and on pitcher strikeout totals. His bets totaled under $100 and he won $28.30.

#3 Jay Groome was suspended for one year for placing bets on the Boston Red Sox while he was a single A player. Groome bet on 30 MLB games wagering $453.74 losing $433.54 on MLB games.

#4 Jose Rodriguez has been suspended for one year for placing 31 bets on baseball from Sep 2021 to Jul 2022. Rodriguez bet on 28 MLB games and 3 NCAA games. Rodriguez bet on the White Sox seven times totaling $749.09.

#5 Andrew Saalfrank has been suspended for one year he placed 29 bets from Sep 2021 to Mar 2023 on baseball. He bet on baseball while in the Arizona farm system four times. Saalfrank bet $445.87 and lost $272.64 and placed 28 bets and won five of them.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Pavin Smith and Diamondbacks hand Giants their fifth-straight loss with walk-off home run 4-2

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Arizona Diamondbacks Pinch hitter Pavin Smith thanks heaven above for the ability to hit the game winning walk off home run to defeat the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the ninth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Mon Jun 3, 2024 (AP News photo)

Monday, June 3, 2024

Chase Field

Phoenix, Arizona

San Francisco Giants 2 (29-32)

Arizona Diamondbacks 4 (28-32)

Win: Ryan Thompson (3-2)

Loss: Randy Rodriguez(1-1)

Time: 2:12

Attendance: 21,551

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants took another brutal defeat on the chin tonight at Chase Field for their fifth-straight loss, as their offense remained stagnant for the most part, and Pavin Smith hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run in the bottom the ninth to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-2 win over the Giants in the series opener.

The Giants were looking to get a fresh start out on the road after suffering their worst loss of the season Sunday. Monday night, they would be up against the defending national league pennant winner Arizona Diamondbacks in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.

Right-handed Ryne Nelson made the start for Arizona, and he was perfect the first time through the Giants’ order, as he set down the first nine men he faced.

Bob Melvin decided to have a bullpen game for the Giants, and Erik Miller would do the honors as the opener. Miller immediately ran into trouble in the bottom of the first inning when Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno led off the inning with singles. Miller was then able to settle down, as he got former Giant Joc Pederson to fly out to center field, and he got Christian Walker to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Spencer Howard took the mound in the bottom of the second for the Giants, and he would not be so lucky. Lourdes Gurriel led off the inning with a line drive home run to left, and Arizona was still going. With one out, Eugenio Suarez hit a triple off the bottom of the wall in right-center, and two batters later with two outs, Blaze Alexander grounded a base-hit up the middle to knock in Suarez and make it 2-0.

Howard pitched a scoreless bottom of the third, and the Giants finally had their first base-runner when Brett Wisely singled to right to start the fourth. With one out and Wisely at second, Matt Chapman put the Giants on the board with a double out to the gap in left-center. The Giants were then looking to tie it, but Michael Conforto, who was in the lineup for the first time since May 11, popped out to second, and Heliot Ramos grounded out to second.

Spencer Howard then got into a groove. Starting with a Gurriel ground out to end the bottom of the third, Howard retired nine-straight until Melvin pulled him with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Sean Hjelle came in for Howard and got Gurriel to ground out to end the inning.

Nelson remained mostly in control for the Diamondbacks. The Giants left Wisely at second in the top of the sixth, but with one out in the top of the seventh, Ramos tied the game with a long home run to right-center.

“I’m just trying to stay confident and stay positive all the time,” said Ramos. “Not everyday I’m going to feel the same, but I just want to make adjustments and keep going.”

“I think he already has [established himself here], really,” said Melvin. “From the minute he got here, [he has] played with a lot of confidence…..[we’ve] hit him everywhere in the lineup, from in the middle to leadoff, and [he] continues to play with a lot of energy. He’s playing great.”

Hjelle hit Corbin Carroll with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Alexander singled him over to second. Hjelle was then able to get out of it after Marte popped out to catcher Patrick Bailey.

Casey Schmitt started the eighth with a base-hit to center, and then Trenton Brooks grounded into a double play. That would be it for Ryne Nelson, who ate up seven and two thirds innings for Arizona. Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo brought in Ryan Thompson, who got Brett Wisely to ground out back to the mound to end the inning.

Tyler Rogers pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for the Giants, and Thompson was back out for the top of the ninth. Matt Chapman singled with one out, and with two outs and Ramos at the plate, Melvin put on the hit and run, as Ramos singled Chapman over to third.

The Giants were in position to take the lead. They initially did when Jorge Soler hit a ground ball down the line to third-baseman Eugenio Suarez, who made an off-line throw to first, and anx First Base Umpire Brian Knight called Soler safe. However, Lovullo challenged the play, and on review, Soler was out to end the inning.

It was another wasted opportunity for the Giants, as Randy Rodriguez came in to try and send this one into extra innings. Gurriel struck out swinging to start the bottom of the ninth, but Jake McCarthy blooped an opposite-field double to left, and Pavin Smith pinch-hit and hit a towering two-run walk-off home run to the right of straightaway center to end it.

Thompson got the win, and Rodriguez was shoved with the loss. This is the fifth-straight loss for the Giants, who now fall to 29-32, and this is the first time they have dropped five-straight this year.

Despite another rough ending, there were some positives in this game for the Giants. Ramos went 2-for-4, and he showed some range in the outfield with a couple of running catches.

“[I try to] be aggressive with my position, trust myself and trust my instincts,” said Ramos. “As long as they keep giving me the opportunity, I’m going to be grateful, and I’m gonna try and do what I do best: that is play baseball.”

Kyle Harrison (4-2, ERA 4.15) will try and be the stopper Tuesday night, as the Giants will try and get their first win in a week in Game 2 of this series. The Diamondbacks will start Blake Walston (0-0, ERA 2.16) First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

News and Notes:

Michael Conforto was activated off the 10-Day Injured List prior to the game. In a counter move, Blake Snell was placed back on the 15-Day IL.