Tag: mlb

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Who will win the AL MVP?; Ex-Raider Ball suffering aneurysm; Vikings’ Griffen asked to take mental evaluation

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Photo credit: @StribSports

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 In the American League MVP selection, it comes down to the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout with .314, 38 HRs and 77 RBIs, and for the Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts .343, 32 HRs and 80 RBIs.

#2 Former Oakland Raiders linebacker Neiron Ball, who played for the team for only six games in 2015 and was also a former Florida Gator. Due to a knee injury, Ball left the Raiders in his brief NFL career suffered a brain aneurysm that ruptured on September 16th. Could head trauma play a role in brain aneurysms and other head injuries after a player has retired?

#3 Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was ordered by the Vikings to take a mental health evaluation after having an outburst at the team’s Minneapolis hotel last Saturday. He was heard screaming and yelling that he was going to shoot someone if they didn’t open the door to his room. Police were called and found that he had no weapon.

#4 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that the comparison of the 1998 Chicago Bulls to the 2018 Golden State Warriors is a huge difference. The ’98 Bulls had free agents that were going to leave the team and the 2018 Warriors have players that plan to stay and the top brass is going to work to keep the free agents.

#5 The New York Yankees look like they have a great shot at getting the AL Wild Card title. The Yankees lead the Oakland A’s by two full games and neither team have given up. Both A’s and Yankees still continue to win.

London does the Headline Sports each week and will host the next remote podcast at Il Fornaio in downtown Sacramento Mon Nov 5th at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Name all the things that went wrong with S.F. this season

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 What went horribly wrong for ex-Giants general manager Bobby Evans?

#2 There were plenty of injuries throughout the season: Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Jeff Samardjiza, Johnny Cueto, Joe Panik and Evan Longoria; just to name a few did that lend to the lack of play for the Giants, and thus, Evans getting the blame for the mounting loses.

#3 The Giants fell short of losing 100 games last season and have lost 13 of 16 as of Tuesday night and are 12 games under .500 did. That also factored into Evans’ departure.

#4 Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he was hoping to stay on with the Giants for next season. The front office says they’re going to look for outside help for replacing Evans. Where does Bochy’s future lie with this change?

#5 Finally, how much blame does Giants CEO and team president Larry Baer share in the failure of last year’s team as well as this year’s team?

Marko Uklovic did the Giants podcasts for the 2018 season and will be doing the San Jose Barracuda podcasts starting next week on Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bumgarner’s walk-off single lifts Giants to 5-4 win over Padres in 12 innings

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner came up with the biggest hit of the night when it was needed the most.

Bumgarner, who was forced to pinch hit after there were no more pinch hitters hit a walk-off single off of Brad Wieck in the bottom of the 12th inning, as the San Francisco Giants came back to defeat the San Diego Padres 5-4 before a crowd of 36,063 at AT&T Park on Tuesday night.

The Bumgarner single off of Wieck scored Gorkys Hernandez from third base, after Hernandez tripled to lead off the inning against Wieck.

This was the first walk-off of Bumgarner’s career, and his fourth career pinch-hit with the last coming on July 21, 2016 against the Washington Nationals.

Chris Stratton went just 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking five and striking out five.

The win by the Giants stopped their five-game losing streak, as they won for just the fifth time in their last 22 games.

The Giants took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Gregor Blanco came off the bench and doubled down the left field line to score pinch-hitter Joe Panik, who singled and Hunter Pence, who singled Panik to third base. Gorkys Hernandez led off the inning with a double, but was thrown out trying to steal third base for the first out of the inning.

Unfortunately, Will Smith was unable to close it out, as he gave up a one-out double to Wil Myers and then Framil Reyes singled to score Myers.

Eric Hosmer gave the Padres the lead in that third inning, as he singled in Robbie Erlin and Myers, on the play, Hernandez to control the ball for an error that sent Reyes across the plate.

Abiatal Avelino then committed the Giants second error in as many at-bats, as he was unable to field the Hunter Renfroe ball that scored Reyes from third base.

Erlin went the minimum five innings, allowing two runs on four hits, not walking a batter and striking out four, but did not fare in the decision.

Evan Longoria gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead on a double that scored Pence, who led off the by reaching on an error by Javy Guerra.

Pence, whose contract with the Giants comes to an end on Sunday got the Giants within one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he hit his fourth home run of the season.

NOTES: With the victory, the Giants raise their record to 52-19 when they score four or more runs in a game.

Bumgarner is the first MLB player since Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs to get a walk-off single without pitching in a game. Lester’s walk-off came on July 31, 2016 against the Seattle Mariners at Wrigley Field.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Padres conclude their series Wednesday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

The Giants’ Casey Kelly takes the mound, as he looks for his first win, while the Padres will Eric Lauer to the mound in the series and season finale between the two teams.

Chris Herrmann’s pinch-hit, 2-run homer pushes Mariners past A’s 10-8 in 11 innings

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Photo credit: @710ESPNSeattle

By: Ana Kieu

The Oakland A’s were looking for another win against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Tuesday night.

The A’s took a 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning. The A’s jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Ramon Laureano hit a line drive single to Guillermo Heredia. Jed Lowrie scored on Laureano’s single. Matt Olson to third, and Laureano to second. The A’s added two runs as Matt Joyce hit a two-run, line drive single to Heredia. Both Laureano and Olson scored on Joyce’s single.

The M’s hastily tied the score 3-3 in the bottom of the first inning. Nelson Cruz homered on a line drive to center for his 37th homer of the season. Both Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura scored on Cruz’s game-tying homer.

The A’s, however, extended its lead to 6-3 in the top of the second inning. Nick Martini tripled on a sharp ground ball to Haniger for a 5-3 lead. Both Chad Pinder and Jonathan Lucroy scored on Martini’s triple. Jed Lowrie then singled on a fly ball to Haniger for a 6-3 lead. Martini scored on Lowrie’s single.

The M’s pulled within two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Dee Gordon grounded out, Pinder to Olson. Mike Zunino scored on Gordon’s ground out.

The M’s made it a one-run game in the bottom of the third inning. Jean Segura homered on a fly ball to left for his 10th homer of the season.

The A’s tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning. Marcus Semien homered on a fly ball to left for his 15th homer of the season.

The A’s tacked on yet another run in the top of the sixth inning. Olson ripped a ground-rule double on a fly ball to left-center. Martin scored on Olson’s ground-rule double. Matt Chapman to third.

Then, the M’s made it a one-run game once again. Denard Span doubled on a sharp line drive to Laureano. Both Ryon Healy and Gordon Beckham scored on Span’s double.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the M’s tied the score 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kyle Seager hit a ground ball single to Mark Canha. Ben Gamel scored on Seager’s game-tying single. Andrew Romine to second.

The A’s Twitter was counting the ticks on the clock and then the ballgame went into extra innings. Fans in attendance got a chance to watch some free baseball.

At least, the ballgame came to an end in the bottom of the 11th inning…just not in favor of the A’s. Chris Herrmann homered on a fly ball to right center. Ben Gamel scored on Herrmann’s homer.

The M’s defeated the A’s 10-8 in game two of the series.

Notes

Up Next
The A’s and Mariners wrap up their series Wednesday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Giants Have Many Decisions to Make This Winter

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The Giants could go in a new direction. Would if be towards analytics and be more creative with their player acquisitions and trades? AT&T Park will never be a home run friendly park, even if they acquired Bryce Harper; that alone might not be enough for them to contend on their division. Many decisions now rest with the new person that will take over Baseball Operations, replacing Bobby Evans, who was fired prior to the game Monday against the Padres at AT&T Park.

The Giants have $132.9 million committed in 2019, $129.4 million in 2020 and $94.1 million in 2021–just five players.

The Giants have a lot of money tied up into a handful of players and most of them are bound to return in 2019.

Next year’s Giants will have Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey (coming back for surgery), Johnny Cueto $130 million (coming back from surgery), Jeff Samardzija–$90 million, and Mark Melancon–$63 million, These players are veterans who are in their 30’s.

Yes, the Giants need to get younger. Are the Giants going to pick up the 2019 option for Bumgarner? $12 million, that is a bargain, but maybe the new General Manager/Baseball Operations that will take Evans’ place might consider trading him for a few young prospects. I would trade Bumgarner if I was able to find a few young, exciting, promising players. Why not? He is the best bait you’ll have for a nice deal.

The Giants had a good run and won three World Series, but they got melancholic with their established players,  pouring big money on them and hoping for another run, which never happened. It is understandable, as they have a great fan base and want to keep that winning style of baseball happening at AT&T Park. But the last two seasons were not exciting at all. When you do not hit in today’s game, you become a boring team.

Yes, their pitching this year surprisingly was not that bad, but this is not Soccer/Fútbol, there is no tie and you have to win. You have to hit and hit with power in today’s game. The Giants are the only MLB team this year with no player hitting at least 20 home runs. Look across the bay, that A’s team has Khris Davis, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Stephen Piscotty, Jed Lowrie, Mark Canha, Marcus Semien and company–they all hit home runs and that is a huge part of the game and they ended up winning.

And by the way, the Coliseum–just like ATT Park–is also not a home run friendly park.

Good luck to the next man or woman who will be running the Giants’ Baseball Operations.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: After getting shutout, Giants drop to 13 games below .500

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On the Giants podcast with Morris and Michael:

The San Francisco Giants’ long season is about to be put to rest. The Giants are 13 games under .500 after notching another loss on Monday night at AT&T Park in a resounding 5-0 shutout by San Diego pitcher Bryan Mitchell (6.16 ERA). The Giants straddled the .500 line as if the wheels have kind of fallen off.

The Giants had played a series in San Diego and St. Louis before returning back to San Francisco to host the Padres. The Giants mustered only seven hits in the ball game, but couldn’t get a runner to cross the plate. They’ve seen Mitchell before and his fast ball was good, but the Giants got shutout by a pitcher with a 6.16 ERA.

Our thanks to Morris and Michael for their work on the Giants podcasts. Join them both for Cal Bears podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s clinch playoff spot, then defeat the Mariners 7-3

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Photo credit: @CaseyPrattABC7

By: Ana Kieu

The good things kept coming to the Oakland Athletics, who beat the Seattle Mariners — in the series finale at Safeco Field on Monday night. Prior to the road game, Oakland clinched the final available American League playoff spot when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the New York Yankees 4-1. Unless if Oakland erases its five-game deficit, they’ll face the Yanks in the AL Wild Card Game on October 3rd.

The M’s got on the board first. Robinson Cano homered on a fly ball to center in the bottom of the first inning for an early 1-0 lead. As a result, Cano got his 10th home run of the season.

The A’s took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning. Jonathan Lucroy homered on a fly ball to left for the go-ahead play, which was his 22nd home run of the season and 100th career home run.

The A’s made it a 3-1 game in the top of the sixth inning. Khris Davis homered on a fly ball to center for his 46th home run of the season. Davis joined Jimmie Foxx (1932, 1933) as the only players in A’s history to hit 45-plus home runs with 120-plus RBI in a single season.

The M’s Dee Gordon hit a game-tying, two-run shot that bounced off the top of the right wall and over. The score was 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

But the A’s weren’t ready to back down just yet. Matt Chapman homered on a line drive to center. Jonathan Lucroy scored on Chapman’s play to help the A’s to a 5-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning.

The A’s continued to pour in the runs in the top of the eighth inning. Matt Olson singled on a ground ball to Ben Gamel. Stephen Piscotty scored on Olson’s play, and Matt Joyce went to third. The A’s were up 6-3. Then, Marcus Semien hit a sacrifice fly to Mitch Haniger. Chad Pinder scored on Semien’s sac fly. The A’s extended its lead to 7-3.

The A’s defeated the M’s 7-3. Oakland’s Ryan Buchter (5-0) was the winning pitcher. Seattle’s Shawn Armstrong )(0-1) took the loss.

Notes
A’s fans can bring Stomper home with them. Check out athletics.com/auction to bid on this week’s Stomper in the Town statues.

Up Next 
The A’s and Mariners meet again Tuesday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

Giants fire Bobby Evans after four seasons

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By: Mizuho Takagi

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants announced in a statement Monday that Senior Vice President and General Manager Bobby Evans would be removed from his general manager duties effective immediately. The team said Evans would be reassigned with responsibilities to be determined.

“I want to thank Bobby for his tireless work on behalf of the Giants. He played an important role in our team’s success throughout his tenure, which includes three World Series championships, four NL pennants and eight playoff appearances,” said Giants President and CEO Larry Bear in a statement.

The Giants will immediately begin a search for its next head of baseball operations.

“I take great pride in the long standing continuity of our baseball department. I want to express my thanks to Bobby for all he has given to the Giants over the past 25 years and for his countless contributions,” said Giants Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Brian Sabean in a statement. “I will be working closely with Larry as the organization finds its next leader of baseball operations.”

Evans first joined the Giants as a minor league administrative assistant in 1994 and later promoted to director of minor league operations in 1998,  and director of player personnel in 2005. He became vice president of baseball operations in 2009 and was named as general manager in April, 2015. Evans is signed through 2019.

The Giants opened their final homestand of 2018 and lost 5-0 to the Padres on Monday. The Giants are in fourth place of National League West Division with a 72-85 record in its second straight losing season.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants may be out, but haven’t given up; Get swept in St. Louis; Get ready for San Diego tonight

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@SFGiants file photo: Hunter Pence (left) sits with former coach Tim Flannery at Dodger Stadium during Flannery’s time with the team. Pence is expected to finish his tenure with the Giants this week.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 The Giants went through the motions in St. Louis and lost their 50th game on the road in a three-game sweep with the Cards.

#2 Manager Bruce Bochy said that St. Louis is a really balanced ball club with a tough lineup.

#3 The Cards executed all the reasons why they’re a wild card competitor. With what Bochy said, they have power, speed, and are good athletes.

#4 The 50-game road loss was a five-game improvement over last year’s loss total of 55.

#5 The Giants open a three-game series tonight against the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park. This most likely will be the final curtain for Giants’ Hunter Pence and Gregor Blanco as members of the team.

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Cardinals break out the brooms following 9-2 rout of the Giants

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Photo credit: @Cardinals

By Jeremy Kahn

After starting the final road trip of the 2018 season with consecutive victories, the road trip ended up being a nightmare for the San Francisco Giants. In particular, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yairo Munoz drove in the only run that Miles Mikolas would need with a single that scored Jedd Gyorko, as the Cardinals completed a three-sweep with a 9-2 victory over the Giants at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

Mikolas, who won for the 17th time on the season against just four losses, went seven innings, allowing just one run, walking a batter and striking out eight, as the Cards keep pace for the second Wild Card spot in the National League behind their division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Not only did Mikolas come up big on the mound, but he helped himself out with a single to right field in the bottom of the fourth inning to score Harrison Bader.

The Cards broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning, as they scored five runs that got started when Bader hit into a fielders’ choice that scored Patrick Wisdom.

Munoz drove in his second run of the afternoon, as he singled to score Yadier Molina and then Andrew Suarez’s day ended and was replaced by Pierce Johnson, Jose Martinez doubled to score Bader and Munoz. Paul DeJong put the capper on the inning, as he singled to score Tyler O’Neill.

Brandon Crawford drove in the lone runs for the Giants in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit a two-run home run that also scored Evan Longoria.

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run for the Cards in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the finishing touches on the scoring.

Suarez went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking one and struck out five and saw his record fall to 7-12 in his rookie season.

NOTES: Over their last 12 road games of the season, the Giants went 2-10, that included an 0-6 road trip when the Giants were swept by the Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers.

In the month of September, the Giants are 4-16 in their 20 games during the month.

UP NEXT: The Giants return to AT&T Park to host the Padres for a three-game series starting Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Derek Holland begins the Giants’ final homestand on Monday night, as he looks for his eighth win for the season, while the Padres will send Bryan Mitchell to the hill, as he searches for his second win of the season.