Tag: mlb

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: A’s vs Mariners–Bullpen Mano a Mano

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By: Amaury Pi-González

Two Western Division teams fighting for one of the two Wild Card spots in the American League. One of them, the Seattle Mariners was supposed to be a contender, while the other one, the Oakland Athletics, is the biggest surprise in baseball this season.

Nobody can win a World Series without bullpen talent, all you have to do is go back during the past  few years and see the bullpens of the teams that won the title. The game today lends to starters–with some exceptions–to go between 5 to 6 inning, and then it is bullpen time.

Both clubs have made additions to their bullpens. Earlier this season, M’s manager Jerry DiPoto, brought veteran Alex Colomé from the Tampa Bay Rays (with 12 saves) to join their tremendous closer Edwin Nuñez (43 saves). This year, the A’s began with Blake Treinen, who saved 17 games for the team last season, but this year, he became one of the best closers in the game with 29 saves as well as his first ever selection to the MLB All-Star Game.

When the A’s got really hot and passed the M’s for the No. 2 position in the wild card race, the A’s management went to work. First, they acquired the New York Mets’ Jeurys Familia, a man that saved 51 games in 2016, then Minnesota Twins’ Fernando Rodney, who is 40 years old and a 16-year veteran who has played for five different teams and made 325 saves in his career. He packed his imaginary arrow and came to the Bay Area.

The A’s have 10 games remaining with the M’s, seven in Oakland, beginning next Monday for the first three and then three in Seattle during the last week of the season. This could be a battle of bullpens. The M’s Félix Hernández has been their No. 1 starter and he still is on paper.

However, King Félix, a leader on that pitching staff for 14 years, doesn’t bring the same dominant stuff to the mound anymore. He has a 8-10 record with a 5.73 ERA in 23 starts. Many years ago in Seattle, I saw Félix make his last start at Triple-A with Tacoma. Tremendous stuff, but that doesn’t last forever. Their No. 1 today was lefty James Paxton is 10-5 with a 3.63 ERA in 23 games (two completed games). He is their real top of the rotation man.

Edwin Jackson has done a terrific job for the A’s and now Mike Fiers, after a very good outing against the Dodgers, is part of the rotation. The A’s No. 1 is without a doubt, Sean Manaea, the young lefty is 10-8 with a 3.50 ERA in 24 starts and one complete game, a no-hitter against the Red Sox in Oakland back in April. It is worthy to mention that M’s Marco Gonzáles is having his best season. He is 12-7 and 3.79 ERA in 23 starts with one complete game.

As far as for both of these contending team starters, the M’s might have a slight edge, but when it comes to the bullpen, the A’s bullpen is much deeper than the M’s. That is just a fact. Will the A’s bullpen continue to perform as good? It is hard to find a better bullpen in baseball, maybe the Yankees, but definitely not many as solid as the A’s relievers. The A’s also picked up Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley, who began his career with the M’s, who gave up a completely meaningless ninth inning home run to Austin Jackson, which turned the Nats’ 23-run win into a 21-run win. He was mad about giving up that homer, threw his glove really hard on the ground, and that was his last game with the Nats. So the A’s told him, “Pick your glove up”and come our way!

Starting next Monday, when the A’s return from their trip to Anaheim against the Angels, I expect a bullpen battle between the A’s and M’s. This is when the rubber meets the road. Also, in this home stretch, the A’s will be facing other division teams like Houston, Texas and Los Angeles Angels, and of course a battle royale when the New York Yankees invade the Oakland Coliseum in the first week of September.

Fastens your seat belts, it going to be quite a ride!

Listen to the A’s games in Spanish on KIQI 1010AM/990AM, covering the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Sacramento, Stockton, and the Valley.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s on the road for brief three-game series in Anaheim; Oakland coming off 7-1 homestand

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Photo credit: @KPOD1240AM

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

The Oakland A’s went 7-1 on their last homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was like the A’s were a knife going through butter as they made it look so easy. The A’s are playing with a lot of confidence and after acquisitions of pitchers Mike Fiers from Detroit, Sean Kelly from Washington, Jeurys Familia from the New York Mets, and picking up Fernando Rodney from Minnesota on Thursday night, the A’s have a real pitching nucleus.

Fiers, who pitched on Wednesday night for five innings plus, didn’t get the win, but was instrumental with 5.1 innings, four hits, one earned run, and eight strikeouts. A’s third baseman Jed Lowrie started working on his leg by doing sprints, treadmill, and lower body workouts.

Tonight, the A’s open a three-game series in Angels Stadium as they’ll start Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.64 ERA) going up against the Angels Felix Pena (1-3, 4.97 ERA).

Joey does the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants injuries, errors, lack of offense mounting drop third straight home game

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USA Today file photo: Pittsburgh Pirates starter Trevor Williams hands his father a signed ball as Williams starts against the Giants tonight at AT&T Park in game two of the four game series this weekend

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

The San Francisco Giants who got dumped by the Houston Astros got a taste of what the Pittsburgh Pirates were all about on Thursday night in a five run 10-5 loss. The loss drops SF to seven games below in the Wild Card and the NL West. The Giants starter Andrew Saurez got rocked in the second inning surrendering two consecutive homers.

For Saurez’ pitching line, three runs, two homers, five innnings, seven hits, three earned runs, for his eighth loss. The defense Saurez didn’t help much committing three errors by Joe Panik, Evan Longoria, and Hunter Pence. The Giants will try it all over again tonight at AT&T Park Trevor Williams gets the call 9-8 and for the Giants Derek Holland 5-8.

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

 

Bonds gets highest team honor with No. 25 being retired

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Photo credit: @YawkeyWayReport

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds will someday become a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but in the meantime, he will receive an honor reserved for Hall of Famers with the New York/San Francisco Giants.

This Saturday Night, prior to the Giants game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that Bonds was drafted by with the 7thpick in the 1985 Amateur Draft, the Giants will retire Bonds’ number 25.

Bonds will be the first member to have his number retired that is not a member of the Hall of Fame.

The power-hitting left fielder, who hit a Major League record 762 home runs in his career from 1986-2007 will join 10 others with their numbers retired, and another four honored by the team, as they did not have uniform numbers.

Bonds’ godfather Willie Mays was the first player to have his number retired by the team, as his number 24 was retired in 1972 after he was traded to the New York Mets.

After he retired as a member of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975, Juan Marichal received the highest honor from the Giants, as is number 27 was retired that same year, 1975.

Playing in his last season in the majors, Willie McCovey was honored with his number 44 being retired on September 20, 1980.

Just one day later, the Giants honored two of their heroes from their days in New York, as they retired 4 in honor of Mel Ott and number 11 for Carl Hubbell on September 21.

New York Giants first baseman/manager Bill Terry was honored with his number 3 being retired on April 5, 1983.

Two of the greatest New York Giants were honored on August 17, 1986, as both Manager John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were honored by the team with the letters NY, as neither wore a number while a member of the Giants.

Despite the fact that he never played for the Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers player Jackie Robinson number 42 was retired by all major-league teams on April 15, 1997. Robinson retired in 1956 after just 10 years in the major leagues, as he was traded to the Giants from the Dodgers for Dick Littlefield, but he went to work for Chock Full O’nuts as a Vice President instead of joining the Giants.

Orlando Cepeda received the greatest honor from the organization, as his number 30 was placed on the wall at Candlestick Park in its final season on July 11, 1999.

Gaylord Perry became the first player to get his number retired at AT&T Park, as his number 36 revealed on the Club Level on July 23, 2005.

That same season, the broadcasting duo of Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons were honored with microphones on the Club Level.

Monte Irvin was the last player to get his number 20 honored, as his number was unveiled on June 26, 2010.

The next retired number after Bonds’ is up in the air, but it could be Will Clark’s number 22 and current players Madison Bumgarner and his number 40 and Buster Posey with his number 28.

Preview of the A’s and Angels’ 3-game series starting Friday night

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Photo credit: youtube.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s start a short three-game road trip starting Friday night at Angel Stadium against the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s record of 34-11 is the best in baseball since June 16th. They went 7-1 in the last homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The A’s split the two-game series with the Dodgers, and the entire experience felt as if it were the MLB playoffs.

The A’s are playing with supreme confidence right now. They acquired twp pitchers, Jeurys Familia and Shawn Kelley, to buttress the bullpen, and added a starter, Mike Fiers. Fiers’ debut against the Dodgers was impressive. Fiers didn’t receive credit for the win, but he gave the A’s 5 1/3 innings of work before A’s manager Bob Melvin turned the game over to his outstanding bullpen.

After the quick stop in Anaheim, the A’s will return home to face the Seattle Mariners for three and the Houston Astros for another three. The A’s lead the M’s by three games in the race for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. They trail the division-leading Astros by five.

There were high hopes for the Angels this year. The people in Orange County thought their team would be contending for the division crown. Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia was optimistic that this year would belong to his team. After all, they signed the highly-touted Japanese star, Shohei Ohtani, to play for them. Ohtani would pitch and on the days he didn’t, he would be their DH.

Unfortunately, Ohtani has been sidelined with elbow problems for most of the year. He has received plated rich plasma infusions to treat a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. He hasn’t pitched since June 6th. His record was 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA. Ohtani is expected to resume throwing off the mound on August 11th. As a DH, Ohtani is hitting .268 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in 69 games.

In addition to Ohtani’s problems, the Angels’ pitching staff has also been racked with injuries. Pitchers John Lamb, Garrett Richards, and Kenyan Middleton all have undergone Tommy John surgery. Jake Jewell had surgery to his right ankle and is out for the year. Alex Meyer had surgery on his right shoulder last September and has not been able to return to action. Matt Shoemaker has surgery on his right forearm and may be back in August. Lefty Tyler Skaggs may return this weekend after being sidelined with a left abductor strain.

The Angels’ best player Mike Trout is day-to-day due to an injury to his wrist. He is expected back this weekend. Trout, the two-time MVP in the American League, is hitting .309 with 30 home runs and 60 RBIs. Kole Calhoun, who struggled earlier in the season, had raised his average to .214 and has 15 homers and 44 RBIs. Justin Upton is another dangerous hitter in the Angels’ lineup. Upton is at .255 and has 23 dingers to go along with 65 RBIs. The other offensive threat is the 38-year-old Albert Pujols. Pujols is hitting .253 and has banged out 18 homers along with 56 RBIs.

The A’s and Angels have met 10 times so far this season. Both teams have five wins apiece. After this weekend’s series, they will play six more games. Three will be in Oakland, and the A’s will wrap up the season in Anaheim.

The probable starters for Friday night’s game will be Felix Pena (1-3) for LA and lefty Brett Anderson for Oakland. Edwin Jackson will pitch on Saturday, and Trevor Cahill will go on Sunday. Sunday’s starter for the Angels have not been announced yet.

The Angels would love nothing better than to be spoilers. The A’s cannot take this team for granted. Yes, the Angels are disappointed by their lack of success so far this season. They have the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, but they will still miss the playoffs.

There have also been a lot of rumors regarding the status of their long-time manager Mike Scioscia. Scioscia has managed the team for 19 years, and he won a World Championship in 2002. Reports have him leaving at the end of the season. Scioscia has adamantly denied the reports. However, in baseball, one never knows.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Sources–A’s not happy with flagship station The Game; Fiers and his pitching debut for A’s; plus more

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

The Oakland A’s front office according to sources say they’re not too happy with their flagship station, The Game 95.7, because the station is dedicating too much time to the San Francisco Giants and less airtime for the A’s. The A’s are the hottest team in baseball. According to the source, are asking what do they have to do to get more airtime on their own flagship station? Do they have to play like the 1927 New York Yankees?

The A’s starter Mike Fiers, making his A’s pitching debut on Wednesday night pitched himself a game with some good off speed pitches, painted the corners, worked a pitch that dropped to the bottom of the strike zone, and kept the Los Angeles Dodgers off balance all night, which is no easy task for five-plus innings.

The A’s, who had a six game win streak going into Tuesday night’s game, but lost 4-2; but still monumental with the winningest record in baseball. The Dodgers are no pushovers as they’re hanging in there with Arizona a half-game back and the footsteps of the Colorado Rockies just two games behind. There’s some competition to be had in the NL West.

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s beat and does the podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants and Pirates to face off in crucial weekend series starting Thursday night

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Photo credit: gamblingsites.org

By Daniel Dullum

The San Francisco Giants had Wednesday off following their brief interleague series with the Houston Astros, which saw them drop both games and fall below the .500 mark as they struggle to stay in the NL West race.

Up next is the Giants’ four-game series at AT&T Park, hosting the Pirates. Back in May, San Francisco (57-58) dropped two of three to Pittsburgh. The Giants haven’t fared much better at home against the Bucs, dropping 12 of their last 17 games to Pittsburgh.

The Pirates (59-56) come in needed these games as much as the Giants and do so after a 4-3 win Wednesday at Colorado. A hot streak around the All-Star break put Pittsburgh on the fringe of the NL playoff chase, along with Atlanta, Arizona, Colorado, St. Louis, and Washington.

Thursday’s pitching matchup has the Giants’ left-hander Andrew Suarez (4-7) facing Pittsburgh right-hander Ivan Nova (6-6). On Friday, lefty Derek Holland (5-8) goes for San Francisco against the Pirates’ righty Trevor Williams (9-8).

While righty Joe Musgrove is slated to start for Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Giants haven’t announced a probable starter. Dereck Rodriguez is expected to start for the Black and Orange on Sunday.

Saturday’s starter won’t be Jeff Samardzija, who could begin a rehab assignment next week. He’s been on the DL since July 15 with right shoulder inflammation. Johnny Cueto, of course, is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on August 2. This is worth noting, as both were counted on at the start of the season to avoid this dilemma.

One glaring area the Giants must improve upon, and manager Bruce Bochy has addressed it more than once–clutch hitting. The Giants are hitting .204 with runners in scoring position and two outs this season, lowest in the NL and third-lowest in the Majors, trailing Texas (.189) and Baltimore (.191).

Another area is simply playing better at home. The Giants have won seven of their last eight games at AT&T Park.

Good news is that Evan Longoria continues to swing a hot bat, hitting .359 over a nine-game stretch with six extra-base hits. Andrew McCutchen’s bat has heated up as well of late, hitting .387 with a double, two homers and three RBIs in the eight games going into Tuesday.

Despite taking a precautionary day off (suspected concussion symptoms–passed all testing), Buster Posey is hitting .452 over an eight-game stretch, and .343 over 17 games.

While both teams have a slim shot at the postseason, whoever loses this series is likely out of the 2018 playoff picture for good.

A’s edge the Dodgers 3-2 for a series split

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Dodgers played a very close and very entertaining game Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. It was the type of game that one would expect between teams that are contending for a playoff berth. The A’s sent newly acquired starter Mike Fiers to the hill to face the powerful LA Dodger lineup. The Dodgers had their ace, Clayton Kershaw, handling the pitching chores. The A’s would have to work hard to win, and they did just that as they beat the Dodgers 3-2.

Fiers was terrific for the first four innings. He retired all twelve hitters he faced and struck out eight along the way. The Dodgers scored a run in the fifth on a  Yasmany Grandal home run, and Fiers allowed two more hits in the inning but did not allow another run. He retired the first hitter in the sixth, but Manny Machado sent Fiers to the showers when he hit a double. A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Fiers from the game at that point and turned the game over to the bullpen. Fiers received a standing ovation from the A’s fans as he left the field. The game summary follows below.

The A’s scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Khris Davis and Mark Canha singled to put men on at first and second. Kershaw retired Matt Olson on one pitch for the second out of the inning. With the count at 3 and 2 and the runners on the move, Stephen Piscotty singled to drive in Davis. Canha stopped at third. Rookie Ramon Laureano singled to drive in Canha with the A’s second run. The A’s lead 2-0 after four.

The A’s starter, Mike Fiers, who had been perfect for the first four innings of the game, gave up a home run to Dodgers’ catcher Yasmani Grandal. Grandal blasted his 20th of the year into the seats in right field. The Dodgers nicked Fiers for two more singles in the inning, but he was able to escape with no further damage.

The Dodgers tied the game in the top of the seventh inning. Cody Bellinger led off the frame with a single. Reliever Lou Trivino retired Yasiel Puig on a foul out to first baseman Matt Olson for the first out. Max Muncy, a former Athletic, hit a sharp ground ball to Olson. Olson didn’t field the ball cleanly. He was able to retire Muncy, but Bellinger was able to get to second safely. Dodger shortstop Chris Taylor singled to drive in Bellinger with the tying run.

The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth. The A’s rally was started by Marcus Semien who singled to start the inning. Matt Chapman flew out to center for the first out. Jed Lowrie, mired in a 3-for-28 slump, singled to right sending Semien to third base. The next hitter, Khris Davis, hit a slow roller to Dodgers’ third baseman Manny Machado. Machado threw home in an attempt to Nail Semien for the out. The umpire called Semien out but reversed the call when Grandal could not hold onto the ball. Davis was safe at first on a fielder’s choice. Nick Martini, pinch-hitting for Mark Canha struck out, and Matt Olson hit into a fielder’s choice for the third out. The A’s lead 3-2 as the teams head into the ninth.

A’s closer Blake Treinen did his job as he earned his 29th save of the year.  He struck out Cody Bellinger for the first out. Yasiel Puig then walked. Muncy hit a ground ball to A’s first baseman Matt Olson. Olson made an unassisted play at first for the second out, but Puig moved into scoring position. Treinen had to get Chris Taylor for the final out. He got Taylor to hit a soft fly ball that Jed Lowrie was able to catch for the final out of the game. The A’s win 3-2.

Game Notes- With the win the A’s improve to 68-47. The now lead the Seattle Mariners by three games as the Mariners lost to the Texas Rangers 11-7. The Dodgers are now 63-52 and fall 1/2 game behind the Arizona D-Backs who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0.

The A’s end the homestand with a record of 7-1. They also split the four-game series with the Dodgers. The A’s are now 34-11 dating back to June 16th. It matches the best 45-game stretch in the majors this season. The A’s end interleague play with a record of 12-8.

Jeurys Familia was the winning pitcher, and he is now 3-0 with Oakland. Treinen recorded his 29th save. JT Chargois took the loss for Los Angeles.

The A’s are off on Thursday, and they start a three-game series on Friday with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. Lefty Brett Anderson will go for Oakland, and Felix Pena will pitch for the Angels.

Time of game was three hours exactly and 33, 062 fans packed the Coliseum to see the A’s prevail.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Native American groups glad Cleveland removed offensive logo from uniforms and caps; After domestic violence charges, Osuna settling in at Astros; plus more

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On Headline Sports with London:

The Cleveland Indians have removed the offensive Chief Wahoo logo from their caps and uniforms and replaced the logo with the block C. Native American Nations are relieved and glad that the racist logo had been removed. Cleveland said the removal was because the team wants to go in different direction in their marketing.

The Houston Astros’ controversial acquisition of pitcher Roberto Osuna has raised questions about his domestic violence charges and what impact it will have on the Astros clubhouse? Apparently whatever clubhouse issue that might have been was resolved after Osuna recorded his first win Monday night against the San Francisco Giants.

The NBA schedule is ready and has added LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to play the Golden State Warriors on Christmas day.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown his support in for LeBron after Trump questioned LeBron’s intelligence. The story was national headlines last week and Rodgers said he’s all behind LeBron for his interview with CNN’s Don Lemon.

The WNBA doesn’t get too much national headlines, but they did this week when the Las Vegas Aces canceled their game against the Washington Mystics. The Aces tried flying to Dallas to get a plane to Washington, but were delayed at both Vegas and Dallas. The trip took them some 26 hours to get to Washington. The Aces got to their hotel some four hours before tipoff and said it wasn’t safe to play with no sleep and decided against playing the game. The WNBA ruled that it was a forfeit and a loss in the loss column for the Aces.

Headline Sports podcasts can be heard with London Marq each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Bartolo Colón–Número Uno in Latin America

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

History was made at Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, August 7th as Bartolo Colón from the Dominican Republic and with his Texas Rangers team won his 246th game and became the #1 pitcher in total wins born in Latin America. His Texas Rangers routed the Seattle Mariners 11-4, Colón pitched seven innings. His last out was his 94th pitch of the game as he retired Dee Gordon. The “Big Sexy” gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings of work.

“It was a long journey, but it finally came and it feels good” Colón said. “I always give thanks to God and to my family and the support that I have from them.”

Colón began his career in 1997 with the Cleveland Indians, and has pitched for a total of 21 years with 10 different teams. He won over 20 games in two occasions. In 2005 with the Angels, he ended with a 21-8 record and a 3.48 ERA, earning the American League Cy Young Award. A master of control, when he began he was a power pitcher with a fastball from 95-100 MPH. He pitched with the Oakland A’s in 2012 and 2013. I remember in A’s Spring Training, he tutored a Cuban-born newcomer, Yoenis Céspedes, to the Major Leagues. They became good friends.

With his 246th win, Colón passed his compatriot Juan “The Dominican Dandy” Marichal and then Nicaragua’s Dennis “El Presidente” Martínez among the top pitchers with most wins born in Latin America. Colón in Spanish means Columbus (like Christopher Columbus) and like the man who discovered the DR in the 1400’s, this Colón is in a class all by himself.

In case you did not know; there are 28 pitchers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York with less wins than Colón’s 246.