Tag: mlb

Wade, Jr. goes deep twice in Giants win over Bucs 6-1

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San Francisco Giants LaMonte Wade Jr (31) rounds first and looks back at first base coach Antoan Richardson (right) after hitting a third inning home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sun Jul 25, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After losing the first two games of the series to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the San Francisco Giants got some big hits when it was needed the most.

LaMonte Wade, Jr., hit two home runs in his first two at-bats, helping the Giants to a 6-1 victory over the Pirates before a crowd of 30,303 at Oracle Park.

Wilmer Flores also went deep for the Giants, who have hit a major league leading 151 home runs on the season.

Alex Wood went 5.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking two and striking out eight on his way to ninth win of the season for the Giants.

The Pirates got to Wood in the top of the first inning, as Bryan Reynolds singled with two outs and then John Nogowski followed that up with a double that easily scored Reynolds that gave the Pirates the lead before the Giants first appearance at the plate.

That lead lasted one batter into the bottom of the first inning, as Wade, Jr., hit a JT Brubaker pitch into the centerfield seats to tie up the game at one.

Wade, Jr., gave the Giants the lead for good in the bottom of the third inning, as he launched his second home run in as many at-bats and his 12th of the season. It was the first multi-home run game of Wades career.

Wade ended up going 3-for-5 on the afternoon, as he also added a double in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Giants broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Giants scored three runs and Flores got it started when he lined a Duane Underwood, Jr., pitch down the left field line and over the 339 mark to extend the lead up to 4-1. Steven Duggar then followed it up with a double, and then Thairo Estrada singled, which sent Duggar to third base.

When Estrada stole second base, the throw by Jacob Stallings sailed into centerfield that allowed Duggar to score from third base and Estrada moved up to third base.

Estrada then scored the final run of the inning, when Curt Casali singled with one out.

Nick Mears gave the fourth home run of the afternoon, as Estrada hit his third home run of the season, just over the outstretched glove of Reynolds in centerfield.

The Giants bullpen of Jay Jackson, Jarlin Garcia, Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee pitched a perfect final 3.2 innings, where the quartet did not allow a baserunner to reach base.

Jackson came up with the biggest stop of the game in the top of the sixth inning, as Wood loaded the bases with one out; however, Jackson came on to get Kevin Newman to ground into a double play that ended the inning and the threat.

Adam Frazier was replaced at second base by Wilmer Difo in the bottom of the eighth inning, and then it was learned that Frazier along with cash was traded to the San Diego Padres for Michael Milliano, Jack Suwinski and Tucupita Marcano.

NOTES: With four more home runs on Sunday, the Giants have now hit 151 home runs on the season, passing the Toronto Blue Jays for the most home runs in Major League Baseball during the 2021 season.

Eight different players have reached the double figures in home runs this season for the Giants, and two players have nine home runs. The eight players are: Brandon Crawford, Mike Yastrzemski, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Flores, Darin Ruf, Alex Dickerson and Wade, Jr., while both Evan Longoria and Austin Slater each have nine home runs.

The Giants record for most players in double figures in home runs in a season is nine, which was accomplished in 1952, 1958, 1987 and 2000.

Following a loss, the Giants are now 25-12 and 62-37 overall, the best in the majors on both records

Al Michaels, who broadcasted games for the Giants in 1974 was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier today as the 45th winner of the Ford C. Frick Award.

UP NEXT: After an off-day on Monday, the Giants will begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, when Logan Webb will take the mound for the Giants, while Julio Urias will take the mound for the Dodgers.

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Women’s US soccer team makes come back with 6-1 win; Men’s US basketball team tips off against France; plus more

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US women’s soccer Lindsey Horan (9) is jubilant after scoring against New Zealand on Sat Jul 24, 2021 at Saitama Japan for the US’ first win at the summer games (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 The US women’s national team came back from their opening loss in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with a 6-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday. Goals scored by Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Christen Press, Alex Morgan with two goals.

#2 US men’s basketball players Devon Booker, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday flew to Tokyo by private jet and got into town before 11pm on Saturday as they will tip off against France less than 24 hours later after arriving in Japan. Booker, Middleton, and Holiday all played in the NBA Finals.

#3 In water polo the US women’s Olympic team made history with a dominant victory over Japan’s women’s team 25-4 a record for one sided win but the record fell hours later when Spain won in a water polo laugher beating South Africa 29-4.

#4 From a national TV standpoint from sponsorships and the networks in baseball behind closed door they’re pulling for the Los Angeles Angels to get a shot at the post season because of marquee players Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout who are baseball’s best two players as TV and sponsors could only hope the showcase both players in a post season situation. The Angels are in fourth place 11 games out of first in the AL West.

#5 New York Yankee two time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber is working his way through rehab to get back in the Yankees starting rotation. Kluber suffering shoulder strain is hoping to get back sometime this season. Kluber said he’s not trying to think about a timeline but try to work his way though rehab one day at a time.

Join Jessica for Headline Sports Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s drop another game to Mariners 5-4

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Seattle Mariners’ Mitch Haniger (17) does the forearm bash with Jake Bauers, center, after Haniger hit a two-run home run to score Bauers in the fifth inning on Sat Jul 24, 2021 at T Mobile in Seattle (AP News photo)

A’s Drop Another Game to the Mariners 5-4

By Barbara Mason

After splitting the first two games of the series the Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners met Saturday night in Game Three at T-Mobile Park.

Oakland had a very good game until the seventh inning of yesterday’s game. A horrible relief appearance by Jake Diekman throwing back to back wild pitches resulting in the winning run was the low light for Oakland. In the game there were 5 wild pitches thrown and three of them belonged to Diekman. The A’s had fallen behind in this game 3-0 but tied up the game. It was the seventh inning that spelled the difference.

In Game Three the A’s had their ace Chris Bassitt on the mound and Seattle called upon Logan Gilbert. Seattle took the early lead in the first inning when Mitch Haniger scored.

Oakland started stringing together hits in the third inning. Andrus, Kemp, Lowry and Laureano all had singles in the inning taking a 3-1 lead. There was a pitching change for Seattle in the latter part of the inning with JT Chargois taking over and getting the Mariners out of the inning. In the bottom of the third Mitch Haniger unleashed a 402 feet home run cutting the A’s lead to 3-2.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Seattle’s Mitch Haniger struck again hitting his second home run of the game giving Seattle the lead 4-3. In the seventh inning Aramis Garcis would tie up the game with a 336ft home run.

The score remained 4-4 into the bottom of the ninth inning. Lou Trivino loaded the bases in the inning. He walked two and allowed one hit and again a wild pitch allowed the winning run to score the walk off for the Mariners.

It was more trouble for the bullpen. Another loss for Oakland when relief pitching let the team down.

Tomorrow the A’s play their fourth and final game of this series attempting to tie up the series. They will need improved play from the bullpen to pull this off.

First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 1:10 PT. We will see Cole Irvin on the mound for Oakland and for Seattle Marco Gonzales will get the call.

Gausman shelled in 10-2 loss

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All San Francisco Giants starter Kevin Gausman could do leaving the mound in the fifth inning on Sat Jul 24, 2021 is talk in the glove after the Pittsburgh Pirates shelled him at Oracle Park. Giants manager Gabe Kapler in black jacket calls for a new pitcher (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

After getting off to a great start during the 2021 season, it seems that San Francisco Giants (61-37) pitcher Kevin Gausman is in a kind of rut.

Gausman lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, walking four and striking out two, as the Pittsburgh Pirates (38-60) made it two wins in a row after a 10-2 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park.

This is the second start in a row that Gausman, who was going for his 10th win of the season could not get past the fifth inning in a start.

In his previous start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, Gausman lasted just three innings, two runs (both on home runs), walked three and struck out five and did not fare in the decision.

Pirates starter Wil Crowe went the first 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out nine on his way to his second win of the season.

The Pirates got to Gausman in the top of the first inning, as they loaded the bases with nobody out, and then Gregory Polanco hit a sacrifice fly to Alex Dickerson in left field that scored Adam Frazier from third base after Frazier led off the inning with a single to centerfield, then went to second on a wild pitch by Gausman.

After KeBryan Hayes walked, Bryan Reynolds also drew a walk against Gausman that loaded the bases and then Polanco drove in Frazier with his sacrifice fly to left field.

Once again, the Pirates loaded the bases, as John Nogowski reached on a fielders choice and Jason Vosler committed a fielding error.

Gausman was able to get out of the inning and the jam, as he induced Ben Gamel to hit into a double play.

Thairo Estrada got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the second inning, as he grounded into a double play that scored Wilmer Flores from third base to tie up the game.

Flores singled to lead off the inning when he singled off of Crowe and then went to third on a Vosler single, and then scored the tying run on the Estrada double play.

The Pirates took the lead for good in the top of the third inning, when Polanco picked up his second RBI of the game, as he drove in Reynolds with the tie-breaking run. Gamel then added to the lead, as he singled Polanco.

Polanco added his third RBI of the evening in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

Kevin Newman broke the game wide open, as he hit a two-run single, when he singled to centerfield that scored both Nogowski and Gamel to give the Pirates a five-run lead.

LaMonte Wade, Jr., became the eighth different Giants player to reach double figures in home runs, as he hit his 10th home run of the season off of Crowe in the bottom of the season.

Michael Perez added to the lead in the top of the eighth inning, as tripled in Newman, who singled to lead off the inning. Wilmer Difo came off the bench to pinch-hit for former Giants pitcher Chris Stratton and hit a sacrifice fly to score Perez from third base.

Frazier then doubled following the Difo sacrifice fly, and after Hayes lined out to Steven Duggar for the second out. Reynolds then singled to right field to score Frazier from second base.

Mike Tauchman came on to pitch the final inning for the Giants, as the outfielder made his first ever appearance on the mound, as he pitched one inning, allowing one run on three hits.

Tauchman allowed a single to Newman put the final touches on the scoring, as he singled in the top of the ninth inning off of Tauchman to score Nogowski, who led off the inning with a double.

NOTES: After being out of the broadcast booth since June 6, when the Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park, Duane Kuiper made a surprise return to the booth and shocked his longtime broadcast partner Mike Krukow.

Kuiper, 71 is undergoing chemotherapy for an undisclosed condition came back to Oracle Park to broadcast a game.

In his first game in almost seven weeks, Kuiper spoke with Greg Papa on Giants Pregame Live and said.

“Hey, I missed me. Sorry,” Kuiper said. “Sitting on that couch after a while, my wife is so happy that I walked out of the house today, where she gets six hours where she doesn’t have to worry about me tripping or falling or what I’m going to eat or what’s going on. Anyway, I’m thrilled to be back, and the one thing I definitely learned while I was gone, for whatever it was, two months or so, is how much I appreciate my partners because I got a chance to watch them for all those games, and I certainly do appreciate them.”

UP NEXT: Alex Wood takes the Oracle Park mound on Sunday afternoon, as he looks for his ninth win of the season. The Pirates will send JT Brubaker to the hill, as he looks for his fifth win of the season.

M’s grab second inning lead as A’s lose one run game to M’s 4-3

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Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, right, gets a forearm bash by Luis Torrens (22) as Raleigh comes home to score after hitting a two run homer against the Oakland A’s in the second inning at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Fri Jul 23, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Loses Game Two To Seatle 4-3

By Barbara Mason

Friday evening the Oakland A’s (56-43) and the Seattle Mariners (52-46) clashed in Game Two of the series. Thursday’s game saw a slow start for both teams offensively but Oakland’s Sean Manaea had a spectacular game on the mound with a record 13 strikeouts in seven innings. This was probably his best outing this season which is saying a lot. He has been very good this season.

Ramon Laureano drove in two runs in the 4-1 win against the Mariners. For awhile it looked as if the A’s would win the game without a single home run but in the seventh inning Sean Murphy hit one out of the park. Mark Canha had a couple of hits after the long layoff due to injury. He got back on task in record time.

Friday night the teams were back at it with Oakland looking for another win. On the mound for Oakland was Frankie Montas and for Seattle Yusei Kikuchi.

It was a rough second inning for Montas. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh homered with a runner on base to take an early 2-0 lead. The very next at bat was Luis Torrens who sent one out of the park and just like that the Mariners were cruising with a 3-0 lead. The next three batters struck out swinging to end a very costly inning for the A’s as the M’s made it stand up for a 4-3 win at T Mobile Field in Seattle.

Oakland has been very good on the road and this visit to Seattle was no exception. In the third inning Matt Chapman homered and not to be outdone Matt Olson homered in the fourth inning. Mark Canha continued his offensive excellence hitting a double in the fifth inning to score Wilson and the A’s had tied up this game 3-3.

Oakland had a great opportunity in the seventh inning when they loaded the bases but Elvis Andrus struck out to put an end to taking the lead in this game for the moment. The A’s are leaving the bases loaded and coming up empty far to often this season.

Diekman came in to relieve Montas in the seventh inning. It was an absolute disaster. Two stolen bases and two wild pitches by Diekman resulted in a run for Seattle by Dylan Moore who easily scored on one of those pitches. Seattle had taken back the lead 4-3. Diekman threw a third wild pitch in the inning. The A’s finally got out of the seventh but had some work to do if they wanted to win this game. The Astros had won earlier and Oakland needed this win to keep pace with Houston.

Seattle really put on the pressure in the eighth inning with runners on first and second and only one out. Petit had come in to relieve Diekman. Another wild pitch and a tough night for Sean Murphy. There were five wild pitches in this game for the A’s. Oakland got out of the eighth inning unscathed and had one more shot in the ninth inning.

An uneventful ninth inning for the A’s resulted in a Seattle win 4-3. Murphy flied out, Chapman walked, Brown struck out and Kemp also struck out. Game over.

So the loaded bases in the seventh inning came back to bite Oakland big time and coupled with the horrific seventh inning this game was one to forget.

Oakland will try to put this behind them and get back on track in Game Three. First pitch will again be at 7:10.

Bad fielding cost Giants game; SF’s Wade Jr’s miscue allows two runs in Bucs 6-4 win at Oracle

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The San Francisco Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr (center) can’t get a handle on the ball that allowed two runs to score as Giants pitcher Jarlin Garcia (66) and Donovan Salano (right) watch after the Pittsburgh Pirates Ben Gamel hit the ball in the seventh inning (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

After amazing back-to-back victories over the reigning World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants (61-36) could not make it three in a row.

Adam Frazier walked with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning that scored Jacob Stallings from third base, as the Pittsburgh Pirates (37-60) defeated the Giants 6-4 at Oracle Park.

Stallings walked to lead off the inning against Dominic Leone, then Kevin Newman reached on a fielders choice and pinch-hitter Wilmer Difo walked to load the bases.

Following the Frazier walk that scored Frazier, KeBryan Hayes grounded into a force out that saw Newman thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning.

Jarlin Garcia came on to replace Leone and got Bryan Reynolds to strike out looking for the second out of the inning.

It looked like the Giants were going get out of the inning with just one run allowed; however, LaMonte Wade, Jr., was unable to field a ball hit for an error on a ball hit by Ben Gamel that scored Difo and Frazier to extend the lead up to 6-3.

Gregory Polanco hit a triple to right field in the top of the second inning that scored Gamel to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead.

The run-scoring triple gave the Pirates the lead and Reynolds extended the lead in the top of the third inning, as he hit his 18th home run, a two-run home run that upped the lead to 3-0 for the visitors from Pittsburgh.

Steven Duggar got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit his seventh home run of the season.

Johnny Cueto then walked and stole second base when Wade, Jr., struck out and it was the first career stolen base for Cueto.

Unfortunately, Cueto did not fare in the decision, as he went five innings, giving up three runs on three hits, walked just one and struck out seven before giving way to John Brebbia.

Alex Dickerson tied up the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit his 10th home run of the season. Buster Posey scored in front of Dickerson, as he doubled off of Pirates starter Chad Kuhl. Following the home run by Dickerson, Kuhl was replaced by former Giants pitcher Chris Stratton.

Donovan Solano treated the former Giants pitcher rudely, as he walked and after Jason Vosler struck out for the second out of the inning, Thairo Estrada singled Solano to third; however, Stratton was able to Duggar to end the threat.

Kuhl pitched 5.1 innings and like Cueto did not fare in the decision. In those 5.1 innings of work, Kuhl allowed three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out eight.

Darin Ruf walked with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and went to second on defensive indifference. Wade, Jr., then tripled to right field that scored Ruf from second base; however, Mike Yastrzemski struck out looking to end the game.

NOTES: Over the last two nights, the Giants came from behind in the 9th inning or later to defeat the Dodgers, winning 4-2 on Wednesday and 5-3 last night…according to Elias, it’s the first time the Giants won back-to-back games while trailing in the 9th inning or later since April 8-9, 2011 vs. St. Louis…the last time they did it against the Dodgers was August 9-10, 2008.
With Duggar and Dickersons home runs, the Giants have now hit 146 home runs on the season, as they passed the Toronto Blue Jays for the most home runs in the major leagues.

Prior to Cuetos stolen base in the bottom of the third inning, the last pitcher to steal a base for the Giants was Kirk Rueter against the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 29, 2003 at what was then called Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix.

The Giants have signed their first-round pick in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, as Will Bednar, the 14th overall selection out of Mississippi State is now a member of the Giants. Bednar helped lead the Bulldogs to their first-ever national championship after defeating SEC rival and defending champion Vanderbilt in the College World Series in Omaha.

A native of the Pittsburgh-area, Bednar, who went Mars Area High School, does family have in the ballpark, as his older brother David is in the opposing dugout, as he is a reliever for the Pirates.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman takes the mound on Saturday night, as he attempts to win his 10th game of the season for the Giants. While the Pirates will send Wil Crowe to the hill, as he looks for his second win of 2021.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: From Indians to Guardians

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Illustrations of the Cleveland Guardians new home and away caps, uniforms and socks (image from spectrumnews1.com)

From Indians to Guardians

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The 2021 Cleveland Indians might not make it to the postseason this year. With 68 games remaining the Indians are in second place in the Central Division, today nine games back from the Chicago White Sox. Starting 2022 they will be officially the Cleveland Guardians.

Maybe as Cleveland Guardians they will be able to do what they have not been able to do in 70 years in the American League win a World Series (currently the longest span among all teams in major league baseball without a World Series title). For many years (some of us) we remember when Cleveland was the city for jokes.

The old park next to Lake Erie was “The Mistake on the Lake”. Comedians used Cleveland all the time as the city they would relate their jokes to. Ironically one of the most famous and successful comedians, Bob Hope was the owner of the Cleveland Indians in the 1950’s.

As a founding member of the American League in 1901, the Cleveland Indians franchise has a rich history in baseball and the American sporting landscape. The Cleveland Indians have won six AL Pennant and two World Series, 1920 and most “recently” 1948.

Just a few months after Jackie Robinson made his major league debut, the Cleveland Indians under owner Bill Veeck signed Larry Doby, the first African-American player in the American League. Already the first AL team to sign an African-American player, Cleveland made history again when it named Frank Robinson as the majors’ first black manager in 1975.

A player-manager, Robinson wore this jersey on that historic Opening Day when he smashed a homer to help defeat the Yankees, 5-3. Like the late NY Yankees great announcer Mel Allen used to say “How About That!” These Cleveland Indians have been inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, Jessie Burkett, Bob Feller, Elmer Flick, Stan Covaleski, Lou Boudreau, Early Wynn, Earl Averill, Bob Lemon, Joe Sewell, Addie Jones, Larry Doby, and Jim Thome.

In 1954 the Cleveland Indians won 111 games and the American League pennant, and were swept by the New York Giants (4-0) in that year’s World Series. More wins during a regular season: Chicago Cubs in 1906, 116 wins and the Seattle Mariners in 2001 also 116 wins.

Cleveland Indians current owner Paul Dolan: “We are excited to usher in the next era of the deep history of baseball in Cleveland,” Dolan said in a statement. “Cleveland has and always will be the most important part of our identity. Therefore, we wanted a name that strongly represents the pride, resiliency and loyalty of Clevelanders.”

The name of Guardians is a Cleveland favorite. The Guardians of Traffic are large art-deco statues that adorn the Hope Memorial Bridge which connects Cleveland west side with the east side. The name Guardians has nothing to do with the very popular movie of 2017 Guardians of the Universe from the popular fictional DC Comic books and characters like: Nebula, Groot, Rocket and others.

Other superheroes of notable fame: Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Captain America, Thor, The Flash, The Hulk, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. If you are wondering about the Atlanta Braves, the Braves logo has remained the same since 1990.

Their imagery of Native American stereotypes was removed. They added a tomahawk, originally a Native American tool, which symbolizes throwing accuracy and force. Often these name changes in our professional sports teams are not originated by the people that are allegedly “offended.”

A good example was a poll conducted a few years ago about the Redskins name for the Washington football team. A poll reveled that nine in ten Native Americans were not offended by the Washington Redskins name. Nevertheless, today that team Washington Football Team will keep the name through 2021 and will unveil new identity in 2022.

With new names, comes new logos, new uniform styles and of course, more sales. As fans love all that stuff, perhaps the ownership of the Cleveland Guardians could donate all the money they are going to generate with these new marketing campaigns, to Native American organizations that are more concerned about their communities and improving their lives, than with the simple politically correct name change of a team.

Starting 2022 the Cleveland Indians will be the Cleveland Guardians. But, who knows, maybe 20 years from today when, billionaires, Branson, Bezos and Musk had colonized a few planets the trend will be space names and then the only team that would be “in vogue” will be the Houston Astros and they will probably “offend” somebody.

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

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants open three game series against Pirates tonight at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giant starter Johnny Cueto seen here throwing against the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park on Fri Jun 25, 2021 will start against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight to open a three game series (AP file photo)

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The San Francisco Giants second baseman Wilmer Flores has really come into his own hitting a gamer on Wednesday night at Dodgers Stadium for the game winner and hitting .250, 61 hits, 11 homers and 33 RBls.

#2 The Giants had lost the night before to the Dodgers and dropped from two to one game ahead of the Dodgers but the win on Wednesday got them right back with a two game lead.

#3 Going back to Flores once again he was facing the Dodgers relief ace Kenley Jansen who had 21 saves and an ERA of 1.45. Was it a matter of Jansen throwing a bad pitch or Flores just reaching out grabbing and taking Jansen deep.

#4 Michael what is the concern for outfielder Mike Tauchman whose hitting .156 with 33 strikeouts in his last 41 games and has an overall batting average of .176. He sat out Wednesday night’s game.

#5 Starting pitchers for Friday night baseball at Oracle Park in San Francisco as the Pittsburgh Pirates come in for a three game series. For the Pirates Chad Kuhl (3-5 ERA 4.31) he’ll face the Giants Johnny Cueto (6-5 ERA 4.01) how do you see this pitching match up.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB podcast with Larry Crino: Cleveland changes it’s name to Guradians; How Cruz will power Tampa Bay’s line up; plus more

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Former Minnesota Twin Nelson Cruz joined the Tampa Bay Rays on Thu Jul 22, 2021 after he was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays for three minor league pitchers. Nelson is seen here in his final game with the Twins on Wed Jul 21, 2021 running the bases against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago (AP file photo)

On the MLB podcast with Larry:

#1 The Cleveland Indians have announced today that their changing their moniker name to the Guardians after going through 1200 possible new names Cleveland settled on Guardians and decided to make the change due to the racist caricature of the smiling Chief Wahoo they used on their uniforms and hats since they adopted the name in 1915 Cleveland continues to merchandise the Chief Wahoo logo. The decision to make the change came after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police touching off social unrest.

#2 Three minor league pitchers are headed to the Minnesota Twins after being dealt for Nelson Cruz 41 who is on his way to Tampa Bay. Cruz can help a club and he is hitting .294, 19 homers, and 50 RBIs and is tied for second with 19 home runs for a designated hitter. He will have an impact on the Rays line up as the Rays push for to make the post season.

#3 The Chicago White Sox Yermin Mercedes who said “it’s over” is back saying he’ll never give up. Mercedes who was demoted by the White Sox to triple A affiliate the Charlotte Knights said he was done with baseball had a change of heart 24 hours later and will report to the Knights. One of the reasons for Mercedes demotion was that he dropped to hitting .150 in July from hitting as high as .450 in April.

#4 Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says the fans who booed reliever Kenly Jansen after he left on Wednesday and again on Thursday night were not right. Jansen has 21 saves and had been a lights out reliever for the Dodgers has now three straight blown saves. Against the Giants on Wednesday he gave up a top of the ninth inning two run homer to Wilmer Flores that gave the Giants the go ahead lead and later win. On Thursday night Jansen gave up four runs in the top of the ninth to the Giants for a Dodgers loss 5-3 loss. When Jansen left the game on Wednesday night the Dodgers fans gave him a round of boos. Roberts defended his player and said it wasn’t right that he was booed.

#5 Wednesday night the Toronto Blue Jays played their last game in Buffalo which had been their home all of last season and up to Thu Jul 22nd when they were granted permission to come back and play in Toronto. The Canadian government is opening up the Canadian border for the Jays and double vaccinated Americans will be allowed in Canada starting August 9th.

Join Larry for the MLB podcasts heard Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants four-run rally in 9th stun Dodgers 5-3, take series

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The San Francisco Giants Thairo Estrada slides after a LeMonte Wade Jr ninth inning single at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thu Jul 22, 2021 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

LOS ANGELES—Kenley Jansen might be public enemy number one in the Los Angeles area.

For the second straight game, the Los Angeles Dodgers closer blew a save in the ninth inning. This time it was a four-run rally by the San Francisco Giants in a 5-3 comeback win over their division rival on Thursday evening at Dodger Stadium.

San Francisco won the series taking three out of the four games. They are now three games up on Los Angeles in the National League West with the Dodgers four back in the loss column. The Giants finished 4-3 on their road trip.

The ninth inning consisted of a lot of drama and controversy that left the Dodgers irate at the end of the game.

With two outs and William Flores on first after a one-out single, Donovan Solano hit a double over the head of Cody Bellanger to centerfield. Jason Vosler worked a walk to load the bases. Thairo Estrada hit a ball to the left side where shortstop Chris Taylor threw to second base for the force out. The Giants challenged the call and it was overturned as Vosler clearly beat the throw thanks to his good lead off of first and hustle toward second base.

“”You don’t see it mean so much to a win as you did tonight”, said Giants manager Gabe Kapler regarding Vosler keeping the game alive. “I thought it was the most important play of the game.”

Darren Ruff, who came into the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch where he appeared to not have checked his swing. First baseball umpire Ed Hickox ruled no swing on the appeal and that not only allowed the tying run to score but sent Dodgers manager Dave Roberts into one of his best temper tantrums of his career as he was ejected from the game for a second straight night.

“There are lot of people that are pissed off, and I’m leading the way,” Roberts said after the game.

Lamont Wade Jr. played the hero role with a two-run single right after to give the Giants an improbable victory.

Buehler continued to his mastery of the Giants batting lineup even though it ended in a no decision for him. He pitched seven and a third innings holding the Giants to one run on five hits while striking out nine and walking just one.

In four starts this season versus San Francisco, Buehler has allowed only three earned runs in 27 innings.

Anthony DeSclafani, who hasn’t had any personal success against Los Angeles, pitched one of his best games against his nemesis going six innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out seven with only one walk.

“I think he got stronger as the outing went on. The ball he threw to Will Smith is probably one he’d like to have back. But other than that, I thought he pitched a good game. And I thought he was going toe to toe with (Walker) Beuhler, who also pitched an excellent game,” Kapler said.

The Giants (61-35) drew first blood early in the first inning. After a Lamont Wade Jr. leadoff double that followed with him stealing third base, Mike Yastrzemski hit a sacrifice fly to left field for a 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers (59-39) answered back in their half of the first inning with three straight singles off DeSclafani to even the score at one.

Los Angeles took the lead in the fourth inning when Will Smith smashed a two-run home run halfway up the bleachers in left center fielder off of DeSclafani. Smith’s 13th home run of the season was his second in the series against San Francisco.

Jake McGee pitched the bottom of the nine and earned his 20th save of the season.

GAME NOTES: For the first time in the series, the Giants did not hit a home run.

UP NEXT: The Giants return home on Friday 7/23 to host a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at 6:45pm at Oracle Park.