Tag: mlb

White Sox win first game of four-game set with A’s 5-2

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Former Oakland A’s and now Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendricks gets into the double fist pump mode after closing the door on his former team on Mon Aug 16, 2021 in Chicago (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s met the Chicago White Sox for the first time this season Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field on the Southside of Chicago. The teams entered the game with identical records of 68-50. The A’s sent Frankie Montas to the hill Monday night.

Montas had pitched well in his last several starts. The White Sox countered with the veteran lefty, Dallas Keuchel. Montas had to be on the top of his game as the White Sox lineup is loaded with tough outs. Two outstanding Chicago players returned to action after missing most of the season with injuries. Eloy Jiminez was back in the lineup, hitting behind last year’s MVP Jose Abreu. Luis Robert returned to his spot in center field after being on the 60-day IL.

The A’s knew they had to put runs on the board to beat Keuchel. Oakland put two on the board in the top of the second. Matt Chapman, with one out, blasted his 18th home run of the year. The home run was Chappie’s fourth blast in the last three games. Keuchel then hit Josh Harrison with a pitch.

He walked Stephen Piscotty and Vimael Machin to load the bases. Mark Canha singled to drive in Harrison with the A’s second run. Keuchel settled down and retired the next two A’s hitters to end the threat. The A’s didn’t know it at the time that they were done for the night.

Chicago added single runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Montas left the game after the fifth inning, trailing 3-2. Frankie gave up three runs and allowed eight hits, all singles. He threw 99 pitches in his five innings of work. The White Sox added another run in the bottom of the eighth. Luis Robert led off the frame with his third home run of the year. 

The White Sox bullpen held the A’s offense at bay after Keuchel left after five innings of work. The A’s only hit after the fourth inning came in the eight when Jed Lowrie doubled. Former A’s closer Liam Hendriks struck out the side in the ninth to record his 27th save of the year. Chicago wins 5-2.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the A’s record stands at 68-51. The A’s trail the Houston Astros by two and 1/2 games in the race for first place in the AL West. The A’s drop 1/2 game behind the Boston Red Sox to be the number one Wild Card. The New Yankees downed the LA Angels to move with one and 1/2 games behind the second AL Wild card.

The line for Oakland was two runs, six hits, and one error. The A’s had two extra-base hits. Matt Chapman’s homer and Jed Lowrie’s double.

The line for the White Sox was five runs, ten hits, and no error. Luis Robert paced the Sox’ attack with three hits, two singles, and a home run. Chisox manager Tony LaRussa played small ball in the bottom of the sixth. Robert led off the inning with a single.

Robert then stole second. He was called out on the throw from Yan Gomes to Machin. The Sox won the challenge, and Robert was credited with a stolen base. Robert went to third on Brian Goodwin’s ground out. Sox catcher Zeby Zavala, who had two singles earlier in the game, laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to drive in Robert with Chicago’s fourth run of the night.

Chris Bassitt will pitch for the A’s Tuesday night. Bassitt is 12-3, and his ERA is 3.06. Chicago will counter with Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez is 1-0, and his era is 1.35

San Francisco Giants podcast with Charlie O: Kevin Gausman gets the call tonight against Mets

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Kevin Gausman (left) San Francisco Giants starting pitcher tonight shares congratulations with LaMonte Wade Jr after Wade hits a two run home run on Wed Aug 11, 2021 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park in San Francisco as the Giants host the New York Mets (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, Alex Wood raised his win total to ten games with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies the Giants (76-42) win the rubber game on Sunday and lead the second place Dodgers 4.5 games.

#2 Giants pitcher Alex Wood went 6.2 innings six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts.

#3 The Giants Tommy LaStella three hits and two RBIs whose been contributing big for the Giants offense on Sunday.

#4 LaMonte Wade Jr made a seventh inning throw to the plate to help save the game and Wade Jr has been doing great thing at the plate with a .250 average, 50 hits and 15 home runs.

#5 Meet the Mets: The New York Mets (59-57) come to Oracle Park and will start Rich Hill (6-4 ERA) and for the Giants Kevin Gausman (11-5 ERA 2.29) 6:45 pm (PDT)

Charlie O is filling in for Morris Phillips for the Giants podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Peters with two HRs helps Rangers defeat A’s; A’s open up three game series in Chicago tonight

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Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea gives up the big fly a two run homer to the Texas Rangers DJ in the first inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara a tough series in Arlington again the Oakland A’s lost two out of three the A’s are now three games out of first place in their chase of the Houston Astros.

#2 The A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea gave up three runs in the first inning to the Rangers who jumped all over the A’s for seven runs and seven hits five innings.

#3 The DJ Peters hit two homers for the Rangers, Peters hit the fourth longest home run against the A’s at Globe Life Field that went into the second deck in left center field.

#4 Manaea has been struggling now 8-8 allowed 15 runs in his last 11 innings in his last three games.

#5 The A’s open up a four game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Monday night, the A’s will start Frankie Montas (9-8 ERA 3.98) and for the White Sox Dallas Keuchel (7-6 ERA 4.51) 5:10 pm first pitch.

Barbara does the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s, Manaea roughed up in 7-4 loss to the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

The look on Sean Manaea’s face? Not good.

After allowing a second home run on Sunday afternoon to Texas’ DJ Peters–or better yet, assisting Peters–Manaea looked up at the Globe Life Field retractable roof, and without saying anything, and just looking at his eyes, appeared to be saying, “What am I doing?”

In the grandest circuit of professional baseball anywhere in the world, you won’t see two, more majestically struck baseballs. Peters deserves credit, but Manaea would admit, he was more than helpful.

It’s been one of those seasons for Manaea: sometimes spectacular, sometimes awful, the A’s top line starter can’t find a groove from start to start. Manaea allowed seven earned runs in Sunday’s 7-1 loss, the second time he allowed as many runs this season. He also allowed five earned runs in a loss at the Coliseum two weeks ago to the Padres.

But in 12 of his 25 starts this season, Manaea’s been splendid, allowing zero or one earned run. In one stretch of five starts spanning June and July, Manaea strung together five such starts, including his four-hit, complete game shutout at Seattle on June 2. None of the last three starts for Manaea have fallen into the splendid category. With the season on the line, he needs to get back to winning.

“Giving up home runs, so, yeah,” Manaea said when asked what needs to change. “I guess, throwing stuff down the middle, I guess that counts as better command.”

“It was just some long balls that got him today,” manager Bob Melvin said of Manaea. “This is a tough stretch for him. A lot of guys go through tough stretches. You’ve got to pitch your way out.”

Manaea was both good and bad within Sunday’s start. He walked just one batter, struck out five, but five extra-base hits–three homers and two doubles– each chased home at least one run. None were cheap, especially the two hit by Peters. The 460-foot home run he tagged in the first inning was one of the longest hit in the short history of the new Arlington ballpark, and could be seen picking up passengers in flight.

“I just want to be as prepared as possible and do my homework, from the elite bullpen arms to the starters every day — watching films and taking notes,” Peters said of his breakout performance which netted him two of his four career home runs. “Obviously, I’m still new but being as prepared as possible is definitely key. That’s what all of the championship teams do.

Manaea departed trailing 7-1 after five innings, and that put the A’s in an impossible spot, but they still rallied with Mark Canha’s homer in the sixth, and RBI hits from Tony Kemp and Sean Murphy in the seventh and eighth. But the ninth brought no magic: Starling Marte flew out to left with a pair of runners aboard to end the ballgame.

Matt Chapman stayed hot with a solo shot in the 2nd off winning pitcher Koby Allard. He had three hits on the afternoon, and he’s homered three times in the first six games of the road trip.

The A’s have 44 games remaining, and as they’ve grown accustomed to in recent seasons, there are plenty of moving parts around them. The Astros also lost, so the A’s squandered an opportunity to get within 1 1/2 games of the AL West lead. The trio of wild card contenders in the AL East–Boston, New York and Toronto–all won with Boston equaling Oakland’s mark at 68-50.

Frankie Montas gets the start Monday in Chicago for the first of four games with the White Sox. Familiar face Dallas Kuechel gets the start for Chicago, and at age 33, the veteran may be losing velocity and fooling hitters less frequently. Kuechel has allowed 21 home runs in 22 starts this season.

Wood wins his 10th of the season defeats Rockies 5-2

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San Francisco Giants starter Alex Wood throws against the Colorado Rockies line up in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Aug 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Two of the biggest plays of the series finale between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies came within minutes of each other.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., threw out Elias Diaz at the plate on a Connor Joe base hit that preserved the Giants led to end the top of the seventh inning and then Kris Bryant came off the bench to reach on a botched fielding play between Joe and Garrett Hampson that allowed Bryant to reach on a fielding error, as the Giants defeated the Rockies 5-2 before a crowd of 33,337 at Oracle Park.

Bryant reached second on the fielding error, then he gave the Giants a two-run cushion, when pinch hitter Austin Slater doubled in Bryant.

After Darin Ruf, the third pinch hitter in a row for the Giants was hit by a pitch on his elbow guard, Tommy LaStella singled to load the bases, and Wilmer Flores singled in Slater for the second run of the inning.

Brandon Belt was unable to drive in a run that could have broken the game wide open, as he flew out to Joe in left field for the first out of the inning. Just like Belt, Brandon Crawford was unable to help out at the plate, as he struck out for the second time in a row.

Robert Stephenson was able to get out of the jam, as he got Mike Yastrzemski to pop out to Ryan McMahon to end the threat.

Alex Wood pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he gave up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six.

It was the 10th win of the season for Wood, who raises his record to 9-0 in games following a loss and the Giants are now 11-0 as a team in games Wood starts following a team loss.

With the victory, the Giants are now 40-18 at home this season, the best home record in the major leagues and just ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who are 40-21.

This was the Giants seventh win in a row in day games, and have won nine out of their last 10 games in day games.

The Giants finally got to Rockies starter Jon Gray in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Curt Casali singled to centerfield to score Yastrzemski, who led off the inning with a single, then stole his third base of the season. Following a walk to Wood to load the bases, Wade, Jr., struck out for the first out. Tommy LaStella hit a two-run double that just missed being a grand slam by inches to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Gray went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five and saw his record fall to 7-9 on the season.

Diaz got the Rockies on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled to score Hampson. Charlie Blackmon came off the bench to single Yonathan Daza to get the Rockies within one run; however, Dominic Leone was able to get out of the jam, when Wade made that great throw to get Diaz to end the inning.

NOTES: Jay Jackson was reinstated form the injured list prior to the game, while Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento. Luis Gonzalez was recalled from Sacramento and placed on the 60-day Major League Injured List, as he recovers from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

This is the Giants second best start thru 118 games since the team moved to California in 1958, trailing only the 1993 team that was 79-39 thru the same amount of games.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman takes the mound on Monday night, as he searches for his 12th win of the season, while Rich Hill will go for his seventh win of the season for the New York Mets. This is the beginning of a stretch that the Giants will see each other six times over the next 9 games, that concludes on August 26 at Citi Field in New York.

Big error costs Giants winning streak to Rockies 4-1

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Colorado Rockies centerfielder Yonathan Daza gloves then drops the ball on a San Francisco Giants Tommy LaStella base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On the night when Evan Longoria returned to the starting lineup for the San Francisco Giants, it was a costly error by another Giants infielder that eventually cost them their six-game winning streak.

Ryan McMahon hit a ball that Donovan Solano was unable to corral for an error, and that allowed Trevor Story from third base and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Giants 4-1 before a crowd of 32,282 at Oracle Park.

Brendan Rodgers led off the inning with a single that extended his hitting streak up to 16 games to lead off the inning, then Trevor Story singled and then Charlie Blackmon walk to load the bases with nobody out off of eventual losing pitcher Dominic Leone. C.J. Cron then drove in the eventual game-winning run, as he was able to leg out ball that was handled by Brandon Crawford, who flipped the ball from his glove to Solano for the first out; however, Cron was able to the throw to first base.

Leone went 0.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and walked one before being replaced by Jose Alvarez, as he fell to 2-2 on the season.

Solano then made the fielding error that extended the inning, as Story scored from third base with the second run of the inning.

Cron gave the Rockies an early lead in the top of the second inning, as he led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run off of starting pitcher Sammy Long.

The Giants tied it up in the bottom of the second inning, when Solano singled to centerfield and Longoria scored the tying run. Longoria reached on a fluke hit base hit that saw Cron unable to catch the wind drawn pop-up.

Long went two innings for the Giants, as he allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck out four.

Zack Littell, who picked up the save on Friday night came on to replace Long and he went the next three innings, allowing just a walk and striking out four.

Kyle Freeland pitched the first six innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out two and won for the fourth time on the season.

The Rockies added on an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, as McMahon grounded into a fielders choice that saw Crawford tag out Cron.

NOTES: With Longoria being activated from the 60-day disabled list and being recalled from his rehabilitation assignment. Long was also recalled from Sacramento and too make room for Longoria, Thairo Estrada was optioned to Sacramento, and Jay Jackson was placed on the injured list.

With Longoria returning to the Major-League roster, the Giants now have every position player from the Opening Day roster back, with the exception of Mauricio Dubon, who is in Sacramento for the first time since April 21, when Solano hurt his right calf and was placed on the injured list on April 22.

When Wilmer Flores hit his three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning on Friday night, it was the 15th home run of the season for Flores and he is the sixth different Giants player with at least 15 home runs this season, joining Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Lamonte Wade, Jr., and Mike Yastrzemski. Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants have never had more than six players with 15 plus home runs in a single season.

This was only the second loss of the season to the Rockies at Oracle Park, as the Giants are 7-2 in their home park this season, with Sunday being the last game in San Francisco this season.

The Giants still have to travel to Colorado twice more this season, as they are only 1-2 there this season. Over the last month of the season, the Giants and the Rockies play there six times.

UP NEXT: Alex Wood looks for his 10th win of the season, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon. While the Rockies will send right-hander Jon Gray to the hill, as he looks to even up his record at 8-8 on the season.

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

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Oakland A’s Matt Chapman (left) hits the first of two home runs against the Texas Rangers in the second inning gets congratulations from third base coach Mark Kotsay (7) at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Sat Aug 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Oakland A’s took on the Texas Rangers in Game Two of their series. After a rough game yesterday laden with errors Oakland really needed to clean up their act and get back on track. There is no way the A’s should be losing to the Rangers although during this season Texas has seemed to have Oakland’s number at times.

A clean game void of errors should be the pathway to the A’s first win in this series.

Oakland got off to a good start in the first inning when Jed Lowry singled driving Starling Marte home jumping out to a 1-0 lead. The Rangers would tie up the game in the inning 1-1. The good news was that the A’s did not fall behind in the early innings.

In the second and the sixth innings those home runs started coming in. Matt Chapman had one in the second and Matt Olson had a home run in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. The Texans answered and tied up this game 3-3. After six innings this game was closely contested.

The A’s had scored in three innings but really got going in the seventh inning. Two more home runs, one by Mitch Moreland and Matt Chapman had his second homer of the game. The A’s were really rolling at this point. Marte doubled and Olson singled as well in this taking the lead 7-3.

It was a quick eighth inning as relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit took care of business in short order. The A’s were three outs away from the win and tying up the series.

The Texans could not contain those Oakland home runs and in the ninth inning Seth Brown knocked another one out of the park. This was a season high five home runs for the A’s as they led 8-3. They had scored in five different innings.

Oakland cleaned up those errors, they had a great defensive game and those home runs made all the difference in this A’s win.

Game Three is scheduled for 11:35 AM with the A’s looking to win the series. Sean Manea is set to take the mound for the A’s while the Rangers Kolby Allard will get the nod for Texas.

Field of Dreams Game; Most Watched game in 16 years

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The Field of Dreams in Dyersville Iowa on Thu Aug 12, 2021 hosted by Major League Baseball featuring the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. The most watch game in 16 years. (photo from Fox Sports TV)

Field of Dreams game. Most Watched game in 16 years.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary.

By Amaury Pi-González

Fox’s Field of Dreams game that aired last night (Aug 12th) on the FOX network was the most watched regular season baseball game in the US in 16 years.

Years past Major League Baseball games were played in different countries. MLB has played regular season games in: England, Japan, México, Puerto Rico, Australia. The game has become more international than ever, and there is nothing wrong with that. We live in a smaller world with social media and instant communications; everybody is more “tuned-in” than ever before. In some of these games outside the US, the game was the season opener.

It is worthwhile to remember that this great game of baseball that we love was originally invented here in the United States of America. There was nothing wrong, but a touch of genius by The Commissioner of Baseball and the powers-to-be, to come up with the idea of a Field of Dreams game, at the same location where the popular 1989 movie of the same name took place.

In the small country town of Dyersville, Iowa, in the middle of the country. The #1 corn producer in the country, Iowa was the scene for the game this Thursday, a total Home Run by all involved.

Baseball is the ultimate team sport, but at the same time, it emphasizes individualism, like no other sport. When a hitter stands alone at the plate, he stands there, trying to hit the ball and help his team into victory, which is exactly what Tim Anderson did in the ninth inning.

The Field of Dreams game was a total success and shows how great baseball can be. The romanticism and escapism of the location (a field build next to the original field and house, where the movie was filmed) was an awesome thing to see. FOX TV carried the game and spectacular shots, specially doing the sunset with a sky that could have been painted by sports painter-artist LeRoy Neiman.

“It was a small movie” said star of the film Kevin Costner, who is the first to say, it has become a film that forever will be a reminder of what baseball can do. He said: “A movie where there was no car chase, no love scene, but the final scene was a man playing catch with his father.”

Any of us who had played baseball from little league to high school or beyond, understand the love involved of playing catch with your father. That connection that is forever connects us all. One of the most poignant scenes was prior to the game, when Kevin Costner came out of the corn field followed 30 seconds later by players from both teams, New York and Chicago, walking slowly and shaking hands with Mr. Costner.

The television production was supreme, in a surreal setting in the middle of a corn field, where an 8,000 seat baseball park and diamond was build. Two Major League teams, contending to go deep in October, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, played an exciting game, a “traditional” nine innings game like it would had taken place in the 1920’s with uniforms of that time. Then a Hollywood ending when the lead changed twice in the ninth, culminating with the dramatic home run to right field by Tim Anderson, the leader of this White Sox team, their shortstop and leadoff hitter.

The main reason this was a total success? The players loved it, and let’s face it; the players are the key part of the game, which is what people come to see. The players were truly enjoying this game, they were smiling, they were talking, they seemed to be part of ‘taking it all in’ the whole experience. Most of these players where little boys, some not even born, when Field of Dreams first came to the screen 32 years ago.

Commissioner of Baseball Fred Manfred told everybody, “This will not be the only time”. This was a great idea by MLB, to marry the nostalgia and romanticism of a great baseball film-story to a real baseball game, not an exhibition, but a game between two contending teams in a typical American setting, a small town in the Midwest. Norman Rockwell would have loved this. Burt Lancaster was there in spirit.

This Field of Dreams game sends us all back to the days when baseball was the National Pastime.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Flores goes deep in Giants close win 5-4

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San Francisco Giants Wilmer Flores (41) gets congratulations from teammate Austin Slater (13) after hitting and scoring on his three run home run in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco Fri Aug 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Wilmer Flores came up with the biggest hit of the night for the San Francisco Giants.

Flores hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, helping the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies before a crowd of 36,126 at Oracle Park, for the Giants sixth win in a row.

With the victory, the Giants now have 75 wins on the season, and this is just the second time since the Giants moved to California in 1958 that they have 75 wins thru their first 116 games of the season. The last time they did it was in 1993, when they won 103 games and finished in second place in the National League West, one game behind the Atlanta Braves.

Austin Slater led off the bottom of the inning with a double, after a flyout by Kris Bryant, Buster Posey walked and then after a Darin Ruf flyout for the second out of the inning, Flores then launched his 15th home run of the season into the left field bleachers to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Thairo Estrada then got in on the act, as he singled in Donovan Solano, who followed Flores by walking and then Mike Yastrzemski then singled to advance Solano to second, who then scored on the Estrada single to give the Giants a 4-0 lead at the end of the first inning.

Anthony DeSclafani pitched the first five innings for the Giants, as he allowed two runs on two hits, walking two and striking out four. It was the 11th win of the season for DeSclafani against five losses.

Over the final four innings of the game, Gabe Kapler turned the ball over to his bullpen and the quartet of Jay Jackson, Tony Watson, Tyler Rogers, Jake McGee and Zack Littell preserved the win over the Rockies.

Austin Gomber went four innings for the Rockies, as he allowed five runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out two, as he saw his record fall to 9-7 on the season.

The Rockies got on the board in the top of the second inning, as Sam Hilliard walked with one out, then Garrett Hampson singled Hilliard to third and then Gomber helped out his own cause, as he dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt that allowed Hilliard to easily score from third base.

After the Giants batted around in the bottom of the first inning, Austin Slater led off the inning by doubling and he then scored the Giants fifth and final run of the inning, when he scored on a Ruf single off of Gomber.

CJ Cron drove in what proved to be the final run of the game for either team in the top of the third inning, as he singled off of DeSclafani to score Ryan McMahon, who walked to lead off the inning.

McMahon then singled in the top of the fifth inning, as he extended his hitting streak to 10 games, a new career high.

After going 0-for-3 in his first three at-bats on the evening, Bryant ended up picking up two hits in his final two at-bats.

Slater continues to hit the ball well, as he went 3-for-5 on the evening with two runs scored and Flores also picked up two hits and three runs batted in for the Giants, who maintain their five-game lead in the National League West over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won earlier over the New York Mets 6-5 at Citi Field on a two-run home run by Will Smith off of Jeurys Familia in the top of the 10th inning.

The San Diego Padres lost on a Daulton Varsho walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Padres 3-2 at Chase Field. With the loss, the Padres are now 10 games behind the Giants in the National League West and are now five games behind the Dodgers in the Wild Card race and only 2.5 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the second wild card spot.

Former Giants outfielder Connor Joe got the Rockies within one run in the top of the ninth inning, as he hit a two-run home run off of McGee; however, McGee was able to get pinch-hitter Trevor Story to ground out to Flores at first base for the second out. Brendan Rogers then extended the game, as he singled off the right field wall, Charlie Blackmon then singled up the middle just moments after he barely missed hitting what would have given the Rockies a 6-5 lead.

Zack Littell came on to replace McGee and he was able to close it out with a strikeout of Cron to end the game.

NOTES: Brandon Crawford and the Giants agreed to terms on a two-year extension that will have the Bay Area native in a Giants uniform through the 2023 season.

Prior to the game, the Giants activated DeSclafani from the 10-day injured list, while Camilo Doval was optioned to Sacramento and Aaron Sanchez was placed on unconditional release waivers.

This was the 39th home win of the season for the Giants, as they are now 39-17 at home, good enough for the best home record in the major leagues.

The Flores home run in the bottom of the first inning was the Giants 60th home run of the season with two outs.

With the 7-0 shutout of the Rockies on Thursday night, the Giants now have 13 shutouts, tying them with the Milwaukee Brewers for the most in the Major Leagues.

On the other side of things, the Rockies were shutout for the 15th time in the 7-0 loss in the series opener and it is most times that they have been shutout in a season. In their inaugural season of 1993, they were shutout 13 times during the entire season.

UP NEXT: While the Giants have yet to announce a starter, the Rockies will send Jon Gray to the mound in search of his eighth win of the season.

Texas Tops Oakland 8-6 to open series in Arlington

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The game wasn’t a laugher but Yohel Pozo of the Texas Rangers gets a laugh after taking Oakland A’s pitcher Sergio Romo deep in the the sixth inning for a three run homer at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Aug 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

Texas Rangers Top Oakland 8-6

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night recap:The Oakland A’s are on a roll winning the past seven games in a row. In those seven games they swept a four game series with the Texas Rangers followed by sweeping a very good Cleveland Indian team.

Game Three against the Indians was a wild affair with the A’s winning by the score of 17-0. Everyone was hitting in that game and tonight they took on the Texas Rangers in another three game series looking to extend their winning streak.

When we look at the Rangers they are struggling mightily sitting in last place in the American League West with a record of 40-75 while the A’s have a record of 67-48, and only 1 1/2 games out of first place in the division.

This is a series that Oakland should comfortably win although in the first game of their last series it took extra innings to put the game away.

Friday night recap: The first inning in this game could not have started more miserably for the A’s. They fell behind 3-0 in the inning and were not able to score until the fifth inning. Oakland really put the pedal to the metal in not only the fifth but the sixth inning as well.

In the fifth inning, Seth Brown doubled and Marte singled giving Oakland a couple of runs but still trailing 3-2. The sixth saw the A’s take the lead 4-3. In the inning Moreland tripled and Chapman singled.

The Rangers came right back with a homerun by Yohel Pozo with two runners on base taking back the lead 6-4. In the seventh inning Matt Olson hit his 29th home run. With the score 6-5, although trailing, the A’s seemed to have things under control. We have seen those comebacks more often than not.

The Rangers really threw a wrench into the A’s planned comeback when DJ Peters hit the Rangers second home run of the game with a runner on base taking a 8-5 lead.

Seth Brown hit a double in the eighth inning allowing Matt Chapman to score and going into the ninth inning Oakland still trailed by the score of 8-6. Andrus would pop fly out, Marte strike out and Matt Olson thrown out at first base.

This was a disappointing loss for the Oakland A’s in a game that they should not have lost. The Rangers had two unearned runs in the first inning when the A’s had some costly errors. Sergio Romo had a disappointing outing which we have not seen in quite awhile and the offense was off after the display that we all saw last night.

It will be onto game two of the series with the A’s looking for their first win. There is no doubt that we will see a different team tomorrow with first pitch at 4:05 PM. Oakland will clean up those errors and James Kaprielian will be on the mound for the A’s looking to tie up the series.