Tag: mlb

Oakland Takes Game One In Minnesota Series 6-1

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Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano (22) gets the fist bump from A’s third base coach Mark Kotsay (7) after hitting a solo shot against Minnesota Twins pitcher Matt Shoemaker in the third inning at Target Field in Minnesota on Fri May 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Takes Game One In Minnesota Series

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Oakland A’s took on the Minnesota Twins in their second series this season. In their first series this year the A’s swept. The second and third games of the series were one run games, the third a walk-off in the tenth inning.

The A’s still sit atop the American League West at 23-16 while the Twins are near the basement of the American League Central with a 12-23 record. In today’s game the A’s welcomed back Chad Pinder after being out with a knee injury. The A’s got some key hitting and runs to overcome the Minnesota Twins in this first game of the three game series in Minnesota with a 6-1 win.

Frankie Montas took the mound for this game and for the Twins it was Matt Shoemaker who got the nod . Montas had a nice showing in his last game and Oakland was looking for another great showing in this one.

It was a quiet first and second inning for both teams. Ramon Laureano got Oakland up on the board with a homer in the third inning. The A’s had the early 1-0 lead.

Oakland made more noise in the fifth inning with a second home run by Sean Murphy driving Seth Brown home and giving the A’s a 3-0 lead. Oakland was not finished and in the sixth inning Stephen Piscotty homered bringing Matt Chapman home. With a 5-0 lead Oakland was cruising.

Minnesota got on the board in the sixth inning when Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run, his team trailing 5-1.

Burch Smith would relieve Montas in the bottom of the seventh inning. Smith would get out of the inning with Minnesota leaving runners stranded on second and third.

Oakland had their fourth home run in the eighth inning courtesy of Mark Canha and now led 6-1. They now had 51 home runs for the season which is the second most in MLB.

The final score was 6-1. Tomorrow’s game, game two of the series will start at 1:05 PT as the A’s look for their second win against Minnesota

Pirates Polanco’s 11th inning sac scores winning run 3-2

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, May 14, 2021

Gregory Polanco’s 11th inning, bases loaded sacrifice fly gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 win over San Francisco Friday night at PNC Park in what started out as a pitching duel – all of the scoring occurred after the seventh inning.

The Giants slipped to 23-15, still leading the National League West by 2 games over San Diego. The Pirates are in last place in the NL Central, 7 games out of first place.

Pittsburgh brought in Luis Oviedo (1-1) to face the Giants in the top of the 11th. After Brandon Crawford was placed at second, Mauricio Dubon flied out to center, moving Crawford to third. Austin Slater delivered a base hit to right, plating Crawford with the go-ahead run.

With Caleb Baragar (2-1) on the mound for San Francisco, the Pirates forged their game-winning rally. Michael Perez was placed at second and scored on Adam Frazier’s triple to right, tying the game at 2-2. After Kevin Newman popped out to short, Bryan Reynolds and Will Craig were both intentionally walked.

Polanco followed with a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Frazier with the winning run.

Crawford broke the scoreless deadlock with a solo home run in the top of the ninth, putting San Francisco up 1-0. The Pirates responded with an RBI single by Bryan Reynolds that sent the game into extra innings.

Frazier led off the Pittsburgh ninth with a single, moved to third on Newman’s single and scored when Reynolds singled to right.

Giants starter Kevin Gausman struck out 12 without a walk, giving up one earned run on five hits. Closer Jake McGee was charged with his second blown save of the season, and Tyler Rogers threw a scoreless 10th.

Miguel Yajure surrendered one hit in his five-inning start for the Bucs, with four strikeouts and a walk. Sam Howard, David Bednar and Richard Rodriguez each threw a scoreless inning in relief.

Johnny Cueto (2-1, 3.52) starts for San Francisco on Saturday, facing the Pirates’ Tyler Anderson (3-3, 3.05).

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Why this team continues to be so successful

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The San Francisco Giants Anthony DeSclafani delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thu May 13, 2021 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 San Francisco Giants (23-14) are having a good roll right now with one of the best records in baseball if you have to point to one thing that has working for them what would you say it is?

#2 When Giants manager Gabe Kapler first took over the team last season he had his doubters but here in 2021 he pretty much has met all the criteria and the team has a 2.5 game lead in the NL West and has won seven of their last ten games.

#3 Michael talk about everybody hitting on this ball club and no exception for Steven Duggar who hit a solo shot on Thursday to help the Giants get a 3-1 win.

#4 Once again starting pitching and the bullpen has been pulling out all the stops with starter Anthony DeSclafani who pitched five innings one hit and five strike outs.

#5 The Giants play game two of this four game series tonight at PNC Park let’s talk about the pitching match ups for the Giants Kevin Gausman (3-0 ERA 1.97) and for the Pittsburgh Pirates (15-22) Miguel Yajure (0-1 ERA 8.31).

Join Michael for the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Duggar’s 5th inning home run helps pace Giants in 3-1 win over Bucs

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The San Francisco Giants Steven Duggar is greeted at home plate by Anthony DeSclafani after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning at PNC Park in Pittsburgh against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thu May 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

The San Francisco Giants relied on good pitching and Steven Duggar’s first homer in nearly two years to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Thursday night at PNC Park and improve to 23-41 at the top of the NL West.

Starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani in five scoreless innings allowed only one hit, a single by Jacob Stallings in the first inning.

Duggar hit his first home run since June 13, 2019 in Petco Park, to right-center field with one out in the fifth inning off rookie starting pitcher Wil Crowe. It was his seventh career homer in four seasons and broke a scoreless tie.

The Giants had not scored in the first four innings against Crowe. Duggar, who was not on the lineup until Brandon Belt was scratched shortly before first pitch due to left side tightness, stepped up to the occasion.

“You just lock it in, it’s a lot of fun,” Duggar said of the last-minute opportunity to play. “We’re always ready here, so whether you’re off the bench or starting, so a lot of fun tonight and definitely excited to get the opportunity to start.”

After Duggar’s home run, San Francisco had two more runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 3-0. Duggar and Mauricio Dubon each had two hits. Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his third save.

In five innings, Crowe allowed three runs and six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

San Francisco nabbed their fifth victory in six games and boosted them to a season-high nine games over .500.

On Friday night, Giants right hand pitcher Kevin Gausman (3-0, 1.97 ERA) will face Pirates left hand pitcher Tyler Anderson (3-3, 3.05 ERA) for the second in the four-game series. First pitch is at 3:35 p.m.

— _

Red Sox rout A’s 8-1; A’s Manaea shelled in first two innings for six runs

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Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea gets a new ball after surrendering a two run homer to the Boston Red Sox Bobby Dalbec as Hunter Renfroe (left) runs the bases to score ahead of Dalbec at Fenway Park in Boston on Thu May 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (23-16) were going for a sweep of the three-game series against the Boston Red Sox (23-16). The A’s pitching kept the potent Boston lineup quiet in the first two games of the series. The Sox scored two runs in the first game and just one run Wednesday night.

Oakland sent out lefty Sean Manaea to handle the pitching chores Thursday night. Manaea was brilliant in his last outing as he held Baltimore to one run and two hits in seven and 1/3rd innings of work. As baseball fans know, left-handed pitchers have to have pinpoint control when pitching in Fenway Park.

Lefties have to keep the ball down and away to prevent the right-handed hitters from pulling the ball and keeping in the park. Manaea was not up to the task as three of the first four Red Sox hitters pounded him for three runs. Manaea was tagged for three more in the second and could not get anyone out in the third. The Red Sox went on to win 8-1.

The Red Sox put three on the board in the first inning. Red Sox second baseman, Michael Chavis, led off with a double. Manaea retired Alex Verdugo for the first out. J.D. Martinez, usually Boston’s DH, was playing in left field. Martinez singled to drive in Chavis with the first run of the game. Xander Bogaerts was the DH. Bogaerts homered to left to put the Sox up 3-0 after one inning.

The Red sox plated three more runs in the second inning. Right-fielder Hunter Renfroe led off with a single. First baseman Bobby Dalbec homered to make it 5-0. The Sox weren’t done. Manaea walked Jonathan Arauz. Manaea retired Chavis and Verdugo. J.D.Martinez singled, sending Arauz to second. Bogaerts doubled to drive in Arauz with Boston’s sixth run. 

The Red Sox sent Manaea to the showers in the top of the third. The first three hitters, Christian Vasquez, Renfroe, and Dalbec, all singled to load the bases. A’s manager Bob Melvin had seen enough. He pulled Manaea from the game and brought in Deolis Guerra to pitch. Guerra got Arauz to hit into a double play. Vasquez scored to put the Sox in the driver’s seat 7-0 after three innings.

The Red Sox scored once in the sixth to lead 8-0. The A’s were able to put one on the board in the top of the eighth. The night belonged to Boston as they won 8-1.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss, the A’s are now 23-16 for the year. Boston now has the same record as Oakland 23-16.

Sean Manaea’s line was two-plus innings of work. He allowed seven runs and ten hits. Sean’s record for the season is 3-2. The A’s bullpen went six innings and allowed one run. Deolis Guerra worked three innings and did allow a run. The Sox scored a run off Adam Kolarek. Reymin Guduan pitched two scoreless innings for the A’s

Garrett Richards’ line was six innings, five hits, and no runs. Richards won his third game of the year. He has two losses so far this season. Garrett Whitlock went three innings to earn his first save of the year.

The time of the game was two hours and fifty-five minutes. There were about 9300 fans in attendance on a chilly night in Boston.

The A’s are on their way to Minnesota to face the Twins for three games starting Friday night. Frankie Montas will go for Oakland. The Twins will send righty Matt Shoemaker out to handle the pitching chores. The game will start at 5:10 pm.

A’s beat Red Sox 4-1 gives James Kaprielian his first Major League victory

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Oakland A’s starter James Kaprielian pitches to the Boston Red Sox line up in the first inning at Fenway Park in Boston Wed May 12, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (23-15) sent James Kaprielian to the Hill Wednesday night to face the Boston Red Sox (22-16). Kaprielian was making his first Major League start. The young man from Southern California had his family in attendance, and he had to have some butterflies in his stomach at the start of the game.

The Red Sox welcomed him by scoring a run in the first inning. Kaprielian worked his way out of a jam and threw about 30 pitches in the frame. He settled down and kept the Red Sox off the board the next four innings. The A’s offense put four unanswered runs on the board, and James won his first game in the big leagues. 

The Red Sox drew first blood in the bottom of the first. Marwyn Gonzalez, who loves to hit against the A’s, got things going with a double to right field. Kaprielian walked Alex Verdugo and gave up a single to J.D. Martinez. The Red Sox had the bases loaded with no out and the chance for a big inning. Kaprielian retired the next two hitters. He walked Christian Vasquez to force in a run. Hunter Renfroe struck out to end the inning. Boston led 1-0 after one inning of play.

The A’s tied the game in the top of the fourth. With two out, Stephen Piscotty singled. Sean Murphy doubled to drive in Piscotty. The A’s scored two more in the top of the fifth. Mitch Moreland singled to start the rally. A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus doubled to center to send Moreland to third.

Jed Lowrie grounded out 6-3. Moreland scored on the play, Andrus advanced to third. Andrus scored when Eduardo Rodriguez committed a balk. The A’s led 3-1 midway through the fifth inning. Oakland added a run in the top of the seventh when Matt Olson blasted his eighth of the year. 

A’s manager Bob Melvin turned the pitching chores over to his bullpen after the fifth inning. Burch Smith pitched two perfect innings. With Lou Trivino pitching in the eighth, the Red Sox mounted a threat. With one out and men on at second and third, Red Sox catcher Christian Vasquez grounded out to Lowrie who threw to Olson.

Xander Bogaerts committed a baserunning blunder as he tried to score from third on the play. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, threw home to nail Bogaerts trying to score. The A’s led 4-1 after eight complete.

The A’s summoned lefty Jake Diekman from the bullpen to close out the game in the ninth. Jake retired the Red Sox 1-2-3 to preserve the win for Kaprielian.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 23-15 for the year. The Red Sox are 22-16. 

Kaprielian worked five innings and allowed one run and four hits. He struck out six and walked three. Kaprielian’s father was in attendance to watch his son start his first game in the Majors. The A’s acquired James in a trade with the Yankees in 2017. The trade sent Sonny Gray to New York. The Yankees picked Kaprielian in the first round of the 2016 draft. Kaprielian missed two years of playing time due to arm injuries. 

The A’s will be attempting to sweep the Red Sox on Thursday. The A’s pitching shut down the vaunted Boston offense allowing them three runs in the first two games of the series.

The A’s will send Sean Manaea to the hill on Thursday. Manaea was outstanding in his last performance. Garrett Richards will pitch for Boston. 

The game will start at 4:10 pm on Thursday.

Oakland Wins Game One Against Boston 3-2

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Oakland A’s players share congratulations after defeating the Boston Red Sox in game 1 of the three game series on Tue May 11, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston (@Athletics photo)

Oakland Wins Game One Against Boston 3-2

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday evening the Oakland A’s took on the Boston Red Sox at the storied Fenway Park in the first of a three game series. Both teams sit in first place in their respective divisions. The series will be a challenge for the A’s. This is probably the toughest series that they have faced all year, even tougher than Tampa Bay.

Ramon Laureano is back in the lineup which is great news for Oakland. They will have to call on all their resources to match up with Boston. The Red Sox have some heavy hitters; one of them Martinez who sacrificed in the first inning driving in Verdugo. After one inning the Red Sox had taken a 1-0 lead thanks to J.D. Martinez.

Chris Bassitt was on the mound for Oakland and Nathan Eovaldi pitched for Boston. With the exception of the one run in the first inning both pitchers were having solid performances through the first three innings.

It was quiet for the A’s until the fourth inning. Seth Brown walked and Matt Olson singled bringing Brown in and the game was tied 1-1. This was proving to be a highly contested ball game. Through six innings Chris Bassitt had nine strikeouts as this game remained deadlocked.

Boston’s Darwinzon Hernandez would take over on the mount in the top of the seventh inning. The A’s had a great chance in the seventh inning with Olson on third, Lowry on first with no outs. Matt Chapman singled and Matt Olson scored to break the tie 2-1. That’s all it took and after 16 pitches the Red Sox made a pitching change bringing in veteran Adam Ottavino. Elvis Andrus would single and Chapman scored to extend the lead to 3-1 in favor of Oakland.

The seventh inning was a good one for Boston as Rafael Devers homered cutting into Oakland’s lead 3-2. This game was going down to the wire.

It was a quiet eighth inning for both teams. The A’s could get nothing going in the top of the ninth and so the game was in the hands of Jake Diekman and he came through. The Red Sox made some noise in the ninth inning but came up short and the A’s won game one of the three game series.

Giants, Webb knock off Rangers 4-2; SF best record in baseball 22-14

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, May 11, 2021

San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb picked up the win against the Texas Rangers at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue May 11, 2021 (@SFGiants photo)

San Francisco got a quality start from Logan Webb on Tuesday, as the Giants defeated Texas 4-2 in interleague play at Oracle Park.

Webb struck out a career-high 10 in six innings as the Giants swept the two-game set from the Rangers, who are 0-5 against National League opponents this season.

Webb (2-3) earned his first win in his last three starts. He surrendered two runs and three hits. Jake McGee threw a perfect ninth inning for his 10th save.

Brandon Belt and Mike Yastrzemski each drove in runs for San Francisco.

Rangers starter Jordan Lyles (1-3) gave up two runs in five innings, while logging six strikeouts. Lyles won his first start of 2021, but has since dropped three straight decisions.

David Dahl hit his third home run of the season for the Rangers. His shot to left-center cut the Giants’ lead to 4-2. But the San Francisco bullpen responded with three scoreless innings.

Joey Gallo’s run-scoring groundout gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Giants responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the first on an RBI double by Yastrzemski and a base hit by Belt,

San Francisco added two more runs in the sixth on Texas third baseman Charlie Culberson’s throwing error.

The Rangers were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, helping San Francisco maintain MLB’s best home record at 14-4. The Giants have won five of their last six games at Oracle Park, but are 8-10 on the road,

Belt left the game in the eighth inning with what was called “mild tightness” in his left side. Giants manager Gabe Kapler called the move “precautionary.” San Francisco second baseman Donovan Solano, who has been on the injured list since April 22 with a calf strain, took BP and ground balls on Monday. He’s expected to go on a rehab assignment while the Giants are on the road.

The Giants open a four-game series in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (2-1, 2.40) will start the series opener for San Francisco,

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Oakland A’s Stadium Soap Opera – MLB to A’s “Build It or Relocate-“

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The Oakland A’s could become the Las Vegas A’s if the Howard Terminal plan falls apart for a downtown stadium in Oakland. Vegas came up as one of the top cities the A’s could relocate to. The A’s have been in Oakland since 1968. ( photo from the Las Vegas Review Journal)

Oakland A’s Stadium Soap Opera – Built It or Relocate-

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–Major League Baseball instructed the Oakland Athletics to explore relocation options as the team tries to secure a new waterfront park in hopes of keeping the team at Oakland, where they have played since 1968. AP Reported that MLB released a statement Tuesday expressing its longtime determination that the current Coliseum site is “not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.”

A’s President Dave Kaval remains hopeful of a stadium deal, but there is beginning to be a time crunch; “we’re going to immediately start working with the league on exploring other markets and working hand in hand with them to identify which ones make the most sense and pursuing that right away,” A’s President Dave Kaval told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “We need to keep our options know. People know, we can’t even keep the lights on here at the Coliseum.”

The goal had been to inaugurate the Howard Terminal Park in 2023, but now, even if approved by the City of Oakland City Council this summer, it would not be ready until the year 2027. So, you can draw your own conclusions, but to me it seems the City of Oakland is more focus on giving their citizens a guaranteed salary than keeping the Major League franchise in their city.

Again, we see how local politics could kill another stadium proposal, a few years ago it was Fremont, here in the Bay Area. For us who have lived most of our lives in the Bay Area, if the Athletics leave, we should not be that surprised. Remember how long it took for the San Francisco Giants to get their new park.

Las Vegas would make the most sense, they could play at their AAA park where the Aviators play, until they finish the construction of their new park and they will still be in the Western Division, but there are other options if they move out of Oakland. Other cities that were mentioned for an A’s relocation Portland, North Virginia, Vancouver, Charlotte, and Montreal.

If you wonder if rebuilding at the Coliseum location was a possibility (like many have said in the past) MLB said in a statement today “it is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of Oakland A’s baseball with Manolo Hernandez Douen on the A’s flagship station 1010 KIQI LaGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Just a rough outing for A’s Irvin last Sunday; Angels Maddon says Pujols didn’t yell at him upon release

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Oakland A’s pitcher Cole Irvin seen here throwing against the Toronto Blue Jays back on Tue May 4, 2021 took a tough loss on Sun May 9, 2021 against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s had Monday off and nearly swept the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday but were edged out by the Rays who scored a tie breaking run in the top of the sixth that held up for the win.

#2 The frustrating part of Sunday’s game was the A’s got off to a early 3-0 lead but A’s starting pitcher Cole Irvin allowed three runs for the Rays in the top of the fifth. For Irvin was it a matter of his getting tired or were the Rays picking up on how to hit him?

#3 The A’s will start Chris Bassitt (2-2 ERA 3.70) who will be matched up against the Boston Red Sox’ Nathan Eovaldi (4-4 ERA 4.62) for a 4:10pm first pitch at Fenway Park. Amaury tell us how you see this match up of two of the American League’s best teams.

#4 Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon said former Angel Albert Pujols didn’t yell at him as was reported by USA Today on Wednesday for leaving him out of the line up that ended with Pujols getting designated for assignment. Maddon also said he didn’t yell at either general manager Perry Minasian and club president John Carpino during a post game meeting upon Pujols learning of his release.

#5 Pujols had said upon leaving after his last day as an Angel that he still wants to play and that might happen if his former manager Tony LaRussa considers him for some role with the Chicago White Sox as a fill in DH or first baseman if Pujols would accept such a role.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play by play lead announcer for flagship station 1010 KIQI LaGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com