Tag: mlb

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: What’s the best benefit in trading McCutchen?; Can Giants overcome Mets?

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the SF Giants podcast with Miguel:

What were the best benefits for the San Francisco Giants in trading a player like Andrew McCutchen to the New York Yankees? In recent years, McCutchen’s last All-Star appearance was in 2015. McCutchen’s skills have gradually slipped. He hit .255 for San Francisco this season and the Pirates parted with him, sending him to San Francisco,  knowing that his batting average had slipped.

With the Yankees’ Aaron Judge out with a right wrist injury, will McCutchen help in the outfield and in the Yankee lineup? Michael also had a chance to speak to McCutchen during the season about what kind of a player was he and what he meant to the Giants clubhouse.

The Giants open a three-game series tonight at AT&T Park against the NY Mets. Michael sets up this series and the Giants chances of wining the series.

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

Mariners embarrass the A’s in a 7-1 laugher

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Photo credit: @Mariners

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — A’s starter Frankie Montas took one for his team Thursday night as he was roughed up for five runs in the first inning. A’s manager Bob Melvin decided to leave Montas in the game. Montas responded by allowing just two more runs and four hits in his next five innings of work. His line for the night was six innings of work, and he allowed seven runs and eight hits.

The Mariners trounced the A’s 7-1. Reliever J.B. Wendelken, who was recalled from Nashville, pitched three scoreless innings and gave up just one hit for a very impressive performance. M’s starter Wade LeBlanc dominated the A’s for seven innings. The A’s never mounted a threat as LeBlanc scattered three hits over his seven innings of work.

Frankie Montas, who made his first start since being recalled from Nashville, did not do well in the very first inning against the M’s. The M’s put five runs on the board, two of them were unearned, as Montas had control problems. The Mariners had four hits in the inning and were helped out by a Matt Chapman throwing error. Montas didn’t help his cause as he walked right fielder Ben Gamel with the bases loaded to force in a run. Montas threw 38 pitches in the inning.

Montas settled down a bit in the top of the second. Nevertheless, the M’s tacked on their sixth run of the game in that frame. Left fielder Denard Span started the inning with a leadoff triple. M’s second baseman singled to drive in Span. Montas retired Nelson Cruz for the first out and got Kyle Seager to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Montas retired the M’s in order in the third inning. Melvin was hoping the A’s offense will get going and that Montas can give him at least five innings of work, but that wasn’t the case. In the top of the fourth, with one out, Mitch Haniger blasted his 23 home run of the year to give the M’s a 7-0 lead.

The A’s finally put one on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Marcus Semien walked. He went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jed Lowrie’s single. The A’s trailed 7-1 after eight.

The A’s went down in order in the ninth, and the M’s took the first game of the four-game series 7-1.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s fall to 80-55. The M’s improved to 75-59 and now trail the A’s by 4 1/2 games for the second Wild Card spot. The A’s remain 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros as the Astros lost to the LA Angels Thursday night.

Time of game was two hours and 40 minutes and a very small crowd of 10,844 watched as the A’s were subdued by Seattle.

Up Next: Game two of the four-game series will feature the A’s Mike Fiers (10-6, 3.15 ERA) vs. the M’s Mike Leake (8-8, 4.03 ERA). Game time will be at 7:05 pm PDT Friday night.

Goodbye, San Francisco: Yankees acquire Andrew McCutchen in a trade

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Photo credit: @Cut4

By: Ana Kieu

Well, Andrew McCutchen’s tenure as a San Francisco Giant didn’t last long. McCutchen, a five-time MLB All-Star from 2011-15, was acquired by the New York Yankees in a rather unexpected trade Thursday night.

The Yankees agreed to a trade with the Giants. As a result, New York will send Abiatal Avelino (infielder) and another Minor Leaguer to San Francisco for the Giants’ regular right field, according to multiple reports.

McCutchen is batting .255 with 15 homers, 55 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 130 games this season. The 31-year-old was a longtime face of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ franchise, and now, he’s on his way to the Big Apple.

McCutchen will likely help the Yankees boost their outfield production as they’re currently waiting for Aaron Judge, a Linden, Calif. native, to make his much-anticipated return from his right wrist injury. The Yankees’ move will also likely give the team a brand-new player an additional player to spell out Giancarlo Stanton, who has played in 83 consecutive games. In addition, Yankees manager Aaron Boone will receive more flexibility when it comes to the DH slot.

The only negative is that McCutchen hasn’t been an MLB All-Star since 2015, so we may have to see how everything works out.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Astros avoid losing series to A’s; Cahill gets lit up for four runs in start

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Photo credit: astros.mlblogs.com

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Houston Astros avoided dropping the three-game series to the visiting Oakland A’s on Wednesday at Minute Maid Field with one-run 5-4 win.

#2 The game changed hands until the Astros’ Tyler White hit a home run into the left field seats off A’s reliever Jeurys Familia for a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth.

#3 A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill continues to struggle on the road. Cahill went 3.1 innings, five hits, four runs and three unearned runs. Cahill’s record drops to 1-3 with a 6.92 ERA.

#4 The Astros would not be denied scoring twice in the first and after they got their streak snapped at six games on Tuesday night. The Astros have won six of their last seven games.

#5 The A’s leave Houston and head back to the Coliseum for Thursday night’s contest with the Seattle Mariners. A big series with Seattle in third and the A’s in second 5 1/2 games in front of Seattle in the AL West.

Join Jerry for the A’s podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants to host Mets for three-game series starting Friday night

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Photo credit: goldstar.com

By: Ana Kieu

The Giants have been pretty darn good as of late. But let’s not forget that the Giants struggled in Flushing against the Mets in Citi Field and merely got out of the Big Apple with a 3-1 win to halt what could’ve been the Mets’ three-game sweep at home.

This weekend, San Francisco will host New York for a three-game series before embarking on a six-game road trip starting in Coors Field with the Rockies and then Miller Park with the Brewers. That’s quite a lot of airfare miles, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

The Giants, however, must avoid looking down on the Mets. Why’s that? The Mets are cellar-dwellers just like the Giants, so they can possibly play spoilers like they did with the Nationals and Phillies.

In other news, the Giants’ Twitter retweeted a tweet from Baseball Hall that announced an “On This Day in 1965” on Wednesday, writing that Willie Mays set a record with his 17th homer in the month of August in the Giants’ 8-3 win over the Mets. Coincidence, much?

The Giants’ Twitter also announced that on Tuesday that more than 50 volunteers from CarMax, the Giants and the American Red Cross put together 500 kits for aid in disaster relief efforts. Lou Seal and Chase d’Arnaud were also there. You can help by going on redcross.org/Giants.

And, if you have some extra bucks to spend, you can book your next three-day stay in San Francisco with Hilton–the official hotel partner of the Giants’ 60th anniversary season–and you’ll save 50% off on Sunday night stays.

The Giants host the Mets at AT&T Park for game one on Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT. You can watch the game on NSBA and SNY.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez to be on NBC Bay Area’s Comunidad Del Valle

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By http://www.sportsradioservice.com staff

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez will be featured during the Comunidad del Valle program on NBC Bay Area (KNTV; CH 3) in English as well as its sister station on Telemundo Bay Area (KSTS; CH 48) in Spanish this Sunday.

Damian Trujillo is the host on this popular weekly program with appearances by talented and influential Latino members. Pi-Gonzalez, who writes for this site, is in his 41st season as a MLB announcer and is currently the Spanish voice for the Oakland A’s.

Amaury has been interviewed about the new Mural of The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame, which he is the vice president of a non-profit organization, at the Club Level entrance of the Oakland Coliseum. This exciting 2018 A’s season adds to his distinguished resume as a sports broadcaster.

Pi-Gonzalez has been considered a pioneer in Spanish sports broadcasts in the Bay Area since his first season with the A’s in the late 1970’s. He has also called games for the Giants, Mariners and Angels on radio as well as television for Fox Sports West. In addition, he has called two Caribbean World Series in the early 2000s as a play-by-play announcer in English for Fox Sports International.

Once the Spanish voice for the Golden State Warriors in the 1990’s, Pi-González has talked about his passion and tutored young Latino students throughout his career. He was also a sports anchor for Telemundo (CH 48) in the Bay Area in the 1990s and Trujillo has known him since those good old days.

Comunidad del Valle will be aired on NBC Bay Area (KNTV; CH 3) this Sunday, September 3 at 9:30 am PDT in English. A Spanish version of the program will be aired on Telemundo Bay Area (KSTS; CH 48) at 8 am PDT this Sunday. But, check your local listings for programming, just to be sure.

Tyler White’s walk-off homer lifts the Astros to a 5-4 victory over the A’s

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Photo credit: @astros

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Houston Astros beat the Oakland A’s 5-4 in the rubber match at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday afternoon. It was a very competitive game as both teams organized come-from-behind rallies to either take the lead or tie the game. The Astros won the game in the bottom of the ninth when rookie Tyler White sent a Jeurys Familia pitch into the seats in left field to give the Astros the walk-off win.

A’s Trevor Cahill, who has not pitched well on the road this year, did not do well again Wednesday in Houston. Cahill’s road record was 1-3 with a 6.92 ERA in eight road starts. The A’s were hoping that Cahill would do better, but he didn’t. He went just 3 1/3 innings and allowed five hits, four runs (one unearned), struck out two and walked a season-high six batters. Astros’ starter, Dallas Keuchel, wasn’t much better. Keuchel went six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs. Neither Cahill nor Cahill figured in the decision.

The Astros put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Astros center fielder George Springer led off with a single. Power-hitting third baseman Alex Bregman bunted. On the play, Bregman was credited with a single and Chapman committed an error on the throw to first. Springer went to third and Bregman advanced to second on the error. Second baseman Jose Altuve, who’s the reigning AL MVP, followed with a single to drive in Springer. Bregman stopped at third base. Carlos Correa then lofted a fly ball to left field that was deep enough to allow Bregman to tag up and score. The Astros lead 2-0.

Neither team scored in the second inning, but A’s center fielder Ramon Laureano made a sensational over the shoulder catch off the bat of Tony Kemp. The 24-year rookie continued to amaze everyone with his defensive prowess.

The A’s plated three runs in the top of the third. Singles by Marcus Semien and Matt Chapman put men on at first and third with no out. Jed Lowrie’s single to left drove in Semien with the ‘s first run. Astro left fielder Tony Kemp almost made a fantastic play attempting to catch the ball. Fortunately for Oakland, Kemp could not hold on, and the A’s had their first run of the day. A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty double down into the corner in left field to drive in Chapman and Lowrie and gave the A’s the lead 3-2.

The Astros regained the lead in the fourth inning. Cahill walked the leadoff hitter, Yuli Gurriel. Josh Reddick reached on a fielder’s choice. Gurriel was out at second. Cahill walked Max Stassi to put men on at first and second. Cahill walked Tony Kemp to load the bases. George Springer singled to drive in Reddick. Cahill walked Bregman to force in another run. At this point, A’s manager Bob Melvin ended Cahill’s day, and Shawn Kelley was brought in to pitch. Kelley ended the threat, and the Astros were back in front 4-3.

The score remained the same until the seventh. Former A’s pitcher, Brad Peacock, was now handling the pitching for Houston. With one out, Peacock was not able to find the strike zone. He walked Chapman, Lowrie, and Khris Davis to load the bases. He then plunked Piscotty with a pitch to allow Chapman to score and the game was tied 4-4.

The A’s used Lou Trivino in the seventh, Fernando Rodney in the eighth, and Jeurys Familia in the ninth. Trivino and Rodney kept the Astros off the board. Familia retired the first hitter he faced in the ninth, but White ended the game with one swing of the bat as he sent the pitch over the wall in left field. The Astros won 5-4.

Game Notes: With the loss the A’s fall to 80-54. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Astros in the race for first place in the AL West.

The Mariners lost to San Diego, and they trail the A’s by 5 1/2 games in the race for the second Wild Card post.

Up Next: The M’s head to Oakland to start a four-game series with the A’s. Game one is set for Thursday at 7:05 pm PDT.

Frankie Montas will pitch for Oakland, while Wade LeBlanc will be on the mound for Seattle.

Headline Sports with London Marq: Meyer meets with players before starting suspension; Cardinal alum come to give 2018 offense some tips; plus much more

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Photo credit: @WillCainShow

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 Ohio State coach Urban Meyer met with players and assistant coaches of his team to explain his suspension from the team. Meyer was restricted from addressing the suspension and it’s issues but was allowed to talk to his team and Athletic Director Gene Smith. How will something like this a national story impact the Buckeyes going into week one of the season?

#2 Stanford Cardinal had some of their old alumni come in to address specific offensive issues with the incoming class of 2018 as the Cardinal’s opening kickoff begins on Friday, August 31. The former quarterback Kevin Hogan spoke with the quarterbacks, Andrew Luck talked to the offense, and Tavita Pritchard spoke with the offense as well. It’s a good way to have some of the team’s former alumni come back and inspire the current team.

#3 Turning to baseball, lots of talk about the direction of the AL West. First, the Houston Astros at one point were struggling, but on their current homestand, they know facing the visiting Oakland A’s, it was a critical matchup. The Astros on Monday night set the tone with a 11-4 thrashing of the A’s and on top of that the A’s learned that their ace starter Sean Manaea will be on the 10-day DL. The A’s shook it off and got a one one win on Tuesday night to even the series 4-3.

#4 The Boston Red Sox are coasting 6 1/2 games in front of the second-place New York Yankees and they got a key win on Tuesday night over the Miami Marlins. The Marlins were no pushovers, but lost by a run, 8-7.

#5 The San Francisco 49ers close out their preseason Thursday night at Levis Stadium against the Los Angeles Chargers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan will be trimming down the roster in preparation of opening week in September. What are some of the things that he will be expecting during Thursday’s game?

London Marq does the Headline Sports podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After losing Posey, team rallies around to battle D-Backs; McCutchen looks to stay in S.F.

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Photo credit: @Deadseriousness

On the Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 Buster Posey is done for the rest of 2018 due to hip surgery. Was his demise the key turning point where oddsmakers said the Giants’ season is pretty much done?

#2 Jeff Samardjiza looks like he could have surgery. He tried to rehab and tried throwing off flat ground, but he is being checked by an orthopedic surgeon. This is the second surgeon as he’s seeking a second opinion.

#3 The Giants in the Diamondbacks series starting Monday night have been getting some good pitching with Chris Stratton, who started, and the game ended up in a 2-0 shutout. Tuesday’s game was a 0-0 pitchers duel for most of the way between the Diamondbacks Andrew Chafin and the Giants Sam Dyson which San Francisco won 1-0.

#4 During their skid, the Giants seriously considered dealing outfielder Andrew McCutchen in their last trip to Cincinnati once that got out–the New York Yankees, Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals were said to take an interest. The waiver talk has simmered down and the Giants have looked good during the current series in Arizona.

#5 Talk a little bit about Aramis Garcia and his role backing up catcher Nick Hundley. Giants’ catching instructor Bill Hayes has some high hopes for Garcia when he gets in the lineup.

Marko Ukalovic does the Giants podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Hernandez saves the day with a walkoff; Giants shutout the D-Backs 1-0

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — When the San Francisco Giants needed the biggest hit of the game, they turned to the spark plug of the first half, Gorkys Hernandez.

After sitting on the bench for eight and a half innings, Hernandez hit a single to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 before a crowd of 37,276 at AT&T Park on Tuesday night.

With the victory, the Giants are now six games behind the D-Backs, who are now with the Colorado Rockies atop the National League West, while the reigning National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers are a game behind.

This was the first walk-off hit of Hernandez’s career, as the Giants have won four in a row and six out of their last nine since being swept by the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark from August 17-19.

As for the first-place D-Backs, this was their fourth loss in their last five games and it was seventh time this season that they have been shutout.

The Giants have held the D-Backs scoreless over the past 23 innings, as the D-Backs last scored in the bottom of the fifth inning of the series finale on August 5.

Steven Duggar came up huge on both the offensive and the defensive sides of the diamond in the shutout win for the Giants.

After Austin Slater grounded out for the first out of the inning, Duggar drew a walk against losing pitcher Brad Ziegler. Then Nick Hundley singled to left field, and Duggar rounded second and was heading to third before putting on the breaks and slid back into second.

It was on that play where Duggar slid into second that showed everyone why the Giants called him up to be their everyday center fielder, as he jammed his shoulder into the ground and after stretching for the training staff, Bruce Bochy and others, Duggar did a few stretches and stayed in the game. Alen Hanson was announced as a pinch hitter, but Torey Lovullo countered with left-hander Jake Diekman and Hernandez was called onto pinch-hit and he came up with the biggest hit of the night to win the game for the Giants.

Duggar came up huge on defense in the top of the eighth inning, as he cut off a ball hit by David Peralta, threw to Brandon Crawford, who in turn, threw to Hundley to get Nick Ahmed at the plate after he went through the stop sign of third base coach Tony Perezchica.

Madison Bumgarner was sharp once again, as he went seven innings, allowing just four hits, walking four and striking out five, as he did not fare in the decision.

Bumgarner got into jams in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but it was vintage Bumgarner and he got out of all the jams unscathed.

Ketel Marte led off the top of the fifth inning with a double, but then Bumgarner regrouped to get Jeff Mathis and Clay Buchholz, but then John Jay walked and then A.J. Pollock flew out to Duggar in center for the final out of the inning.

Things got real dicey in the top of the sixth inning, as Bumgarner gave up a base hit to Paul Goldschmidt off the left field wall that kept Goldschmidt at first base and then walked Eduardo Escobar. Bumgarner got Steven Souza for the first out, but then Ahmed singled to load the bases.

Evan Longoria made a heads up on a Marte hit ball, as he threw to Hundley for the second out of the inning and the inning nearly came out of control, as Brandon Belt snared the Hundley throw before it went into the outfield to give the D-Backs the lead. Bumgarner then got out of the jam, as he got Mathis to fly out to Duggar to end the inning.

Once again, things got a little hairy in the top of the seventh inning, as Bumgarner fanned Buchholz for the second time, but then Slater lost the ball in the lights for a three-base error that allowed Jay to get to third base. Pollock then walked, but Goldschmidt, who just feasts on Giants pitching, was not able to get the run across, as he popped out to Joe Panik for the second out of the inning and then Escobar grounded out to Panik to end the seventh inning and yet another escape for the Giants and Bumgarner.

Buchholz also went seven innings, allowing just five hits, walking two and striking out three, as like Bumgarner, he did not fare in the decision.

It was a tough start to the night for Panik, as he grounded into a double play just moments after it looked like Andrew McCutchen stole second base in the bottom of the first inning, but Panik fouled the Buchholz pitch back to the screen.

Two innings later, Panik hit a ball to centerfield that sent McCutchen to third base and it looked like Panik got into second safely; however, Lovullo challenged the call and after a nearly two-minute review, the call was reversed and Panik was called out to end the inning.

NOTES: This was the Giants’ 12th shutout of the season, and their sixth at home.

It was the third time this season that they have shutout their opponents in back-to-back games, as they shutout the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two games of the season, then the Philadelphia Phillies on June 1-2 and now the D-Backs.

This was the ninth walk-off win of the season for the Giants, and the first since Buster Posey singled in the bottom of the 13th inning to defeat the Chicago Cubs on July 11.

UP NEXT: The Giants and D-Backs close out their series with a Wednesday night finale at 7:15 pm PDT.

Dereck Rodriguez looks for his seventh win of the season on Wednesday night, as he takes the hill in the series and season finale against the D-Backs, who will send 13-game winner Zack Godley to the mound.