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San Francisco Giants Feature With Tony the Tiger Hayes: Forgotten Giants Player Dick Groat in 1967; He Was a Giant?

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Photo credit: 1960sbaseballblog.blogspot.com

By: Tony “Le Tigre” Hayes

Forgotten Giants Player
Dick Groat – SS – 1967 – # 20

He Was a Giant?
The understated Dick Groat wasn’t blessed with the panache of Deion Sanders, the Madison Avenue push of Bo Jackson or the Gold Medal winning cache of Jim Thorpe.

But Groat–briefly a Giant in 1967–was on par with any other multi-sport star American has produced.

He earned MVP honors in MLB (Pirates) and Player of the Year and All-American honors in College Basketball (Duke), yet he rarely gets included among the top players who flittered between sports depending on the seasonal calendar.

Why Was He a Giant?
As a Phillie, Groat collected his career hit 2,000 in 1966, but by 1996, he was literally on his last legs.

The years of constant running and jumping finally caught up to Groat and he would spend two weeks that spring hospitalized after his ankles swelled to three times their normal size.

But even this severe case of cellulitis could not spoil Groat’s competitive spirit and he was game when acquired by San Francisco in mid-1967 to back up the infield and pinch hit.

Before & After
One of the best athletes ever out of the Pittsburgh area, Groat accepted a dual baseball/basketball scholarship to Duke University. Under the guidance of Coach Red Auerbach, Groat was an immediate success in the hardwood.

Twice, he was selected as an All-American and was named National Player of the Year in 1952 when he averaged 25.2 points per game for the Blue Devils. Twice, he also garnered All-American honors for Duke’s baseball team.

Initially, Groat pursued pro careers in both sports and played the 1952-53 season as a sharpshooting guard with the NBA’s Ft. Wayne Pistons, averaging 12 points per game.

Groat opted to focus on baseball for his hometown Pirates and batted .284 as a rookie in 1952 without spending a day in the minors.

In 1960, Groat–a shortstop by trade–was named NL MVP, after winning the batting crown and leading the Bucs to their first World Series title in 35 years.

Later, Groat was dealt to the Cardinals and was a key contributor to their 1964 World Championship club.

He Wasn’t Hal Lanier. But…
The crew-cutted Groat arrived in San Francisco in the midst of the Summer of Love.

Playing time was scant for the 36 -year -old but, he had his moments in the Fog.

In back-to-back wins vs. the visiting Phillies (7/28/67-7/29/67), Groat poked a pair of hits as starting shortstop in each contest.

In 34 games with SF, Groat would bat .171 with four RBIs.

He retired following the 1967 campaign.

Giant Footprint
As a member of the Pirates in 1957, Groat combined to record the last putout of the New York Giants’ final home game–and last game ever–before the club’s move to San Francisco (9/29/57).

After Don Mueller flew out and Willie Mays grounded out for the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth, Dusty Rhodes punched a ground ball to Groat, who in turn fired to first baseman Frank Thomas to conclude the 9-1 Pittsburgh win and 74 seasons of New York Giants baseball.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Rodriguez with fantastic rookie start; Holland goes after fifth straight win tonight

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Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

Son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez, might have punched his ticket to the big leagues with a Major League win in his debut in a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rodriguez is the first Giants rookie to pitch for win in his big league debut since Ryan Sadowski did it in August 2009 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Field. Rodriguez said that the Giants offense helped battle back the Phillies when they rallied for five runs in the sixth inning.

After 159 at-bats since his last homer, the Giants’ Andrew McCutchen tagged a homer to right field–a very difficult place to hit one out at AT&T Park. The last right-handed batter to get a big fly out over the right field fence was Nick Hundley on May 2nd.

Tonight, the Giants will start Derek Holland, whose on a four-game win streak and will open the series at AT&T against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks with a 7:15 PDT first pitch.

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

 

Rodriguez impresses in first MLB start, Giants beat Phillies 6-1 to complete sweep

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Photo credit: @BruceBochy

By: Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Things were looking bleak for the San Francisco Giants, especially with the way Jake Arrieta was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies.

That all changed in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Giants exploded for five runs off of Arrieta and the Giants came back to defeat the Phillies by the final score of 6-1 before a crowd of 40,491 at AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon.

The win not only completed the three-game sweep for the Giants, but gave Dereck Rodriguez his first major league win in his first major league start. In the three-game sweep, the Giants outscored the Phillies 12-1.

This was the first three-game sweep by the Giants over the Phillies since July 10-12 of 2015.

Rodriguez went six innings, allowing only one run on five hits, walking one and striking out six. The one run that allowed was a home run to Arrieta that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

“He’s got a nice feel out there for pitching,” said Bruce Bochy. “He’s not afraid to throw secondary pitches at any time. Commands the ball well. He does the little things.”

The right-hander, who converted from an everyday player to a pitcher just five years ago is the first Giants rookie to win his first major league start since Joe Martinez on August 5, 2009 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

It’s awesome, it’s a great feeling,” Rodríguez said. “We battled out there and in that sixth inning, the guys really pulled together and put up a five spot.”

Ryan Sadowski was the last Giants pitcher to win his major- league debut, and that came on June 28, 2009 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Arrieta was cruising into the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Giants finally got to Arrieta and erupted for five runs.

Gorkys Hernandez got the rally started, as he singled off of Arrieta, following get knocked down by a Arrieta pitch, then Alen Hanson then singled and then Joe Panik tied up the game with a single to right-center field. Buster Posey then drove in Hanson for the eventual game-winning run, and then Andrew McCutchen put the second pitch he saw from Arrieta in the at-bat onto the arcade for his fourth home run of the season.

McCutchen broke a 159-plate appearance streak since his last home run, the longest such streak of his career. His home run to right field was the first by a right-handed batter at AT&T Park since Nick Hundley did it on May 2 against Clayton Richard of the San Diego Padres.

In all, Arrieta also went six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out four. With the loss, Arrieta fell to 5-3 on the season.

The five runs that Arrieta allowed in the bottom of the sixth inning, matched the total amount of runs that he allowed in the month of May (three earned) in 30 innings of work. His streak of 33.0 innings of not allowing a home run ended on the McCutchen home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, where the Giants scored five of their six runs.

Mark Melancon made his season debut in the top of the seventh inning, and struck out the side before giving way to Will Smith.

“It’s been a long time,” Melancon said. “So, it’s a really good feeling to be back and help these guys out and it was fun. A lot of fun.”

Buster Posey put the finishing touches on the scoring, as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the fourth home run of the season for Posey. Last season, Neris hit Posey, and accused Neris of hitting him on purpose.

“I don’t know, I was just trying to go about the at-bat and fortunately, it turned out in my favor,” Posey said.

Since his return from the disabled list, Joe Panik picked up multiple hit games in all three games, and prior to his stint on the disabled list, Panik had only one multi hit game in his last eight games.

NOTES: Derek Holland looks to extends the Giants winning streak to four games, as the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks head to town and send Zack Godley to the mound.

The Phillies are the first team in major league history to score one run in a three-game series and their only run coming on a home run by their pitcher, according to STATS, LLC.

Rodriguez is the fifth Giants rookie this season to pick-up a win for the team, joining Reyes Moronta, Andrew Suarez, Pierce Johnson and Roberto Gomez.

UP NEXT: The Giants will host the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series starting Monday night at 7:15 pm PST.

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Farquhar throws out first pitch recovering from aneurysm; Seahawks’ Russell wants to help move team to Portland; plus more

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photo from the nytimes.com: Chicago White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar (43) tosses out the first pitch Friday June 1st at Cellular One Field before their meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar throws out first pitch six weeks after suffering brain aneurysm

2 Seahawks quarterback and wife want to bring MLB to Portland, Ore.

3 Giants win third in a row, beat Phillies with three-hitter.

4 Royals bounce back to beat A’s Saturday after Friday’s 16-0 pounding by Oakland.

5 RIP Bruce Kison age 68 – winning pitcher in first nighttime World Series game in 1971.

Daniel Dullum on the MLB The Show podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A pair of Andrews lead the Giants to a 2-0 shutout of Phillies

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — After being total dismantled by the Philadelphia Phillies less than three weeks ago, the San Francisco Giants have totally turned the tables through the first two games of this series.

Andrew Suarez went seven innings for the first time in his career, as the Giants shutout the Phillies 2-0 before a crowd of 39,208 at AT&T Park on Saturday night.

Suarez allowed only three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five, as he won for the second time this season.

“I had a good feel, and Hundo (Nick Hundley) called a great game,” said Suarez.

Suarez was the first Giants pitcher since Ty Blach on May 5th against the Atlanta Braves at Sun Trust Park to go at least 7.0 innings. In that game versus the Braves, Blach went 7.2 innings.

Coupled with Friday’s shutout over the Phillies, this is the first time since September 26, 1963 and May 19, 1964 that the Giants have shut the Phillies out in back-to-back games.

The Giants finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning as Joe Panik doubled off of eventual losing pitcher Vince Velasquez, went to third on a Brandon Crawford and then made a great slide to avoid the Jorge Alfaro tag at home plate on a ball hit by Andrew McCutchen to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. The play was so close that Phillies manager Gabe Kapler challenged the call, and after a 1:35 review, the call stood and the Giants were in the lead.

McCutchen made the play of the night in the top of the third inning, as with Alfaro on third base after he tripled to lead off the inning and then with two outs, Cesar Hernandez hit that was headed for the right-center field alley that would have given the Phillies the lead; however, McCutchen made a great running catch to end the inning.

“Catch everything that you have to rundown,” said McCutchen.

The Giants got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Panik singled and then went to third on a Brandon Crawford single and scored the all-important second run, as the throw from Odubel Herrera was cut off by Carlos Santana.

Hundley picked up his first multi-hit game since May 2, as he went 2-for-3 on the evening.

Bruce Bochy turned the game over to his bullpen in the eighth inning, and Tony Watson threw just six pitches to retire the side in order. This was the 500th career appearance for Watson, who made his major-league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2011 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

This was a tough loss for Velasquez, who went five innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out nine. In his two starts versus the Giants this season, Velasquez struck out 21 batters.

NOTES: Dereck Rodriguez makes his first major league start on Sunday, as he will face Jake Arrieta, who is 5-2 in his first season with the Phillies. In his career versus the Giants, Arrieta is 1-0 with a 2.84 earned run average.

In his lone appearance as a big leaguer, Rodriguez pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) and five hits before being forced to leave the game with a shin contusion on his right shin.

Brandon Belt was placed on 10-day disabled list after having an emergency appendectomy on Saturday morning.

“Looks like three weeks or in that area before he will be back,” said Bruce Bochy about the return of Belt.

Alen Hanson returned from his rehab assignment with Single-A San Jose and was activated from the 10-day disabled list.

Hunter Pence also returned from his rehab assignment, and was activated from the 10-day disabled list.

To make room for Pence on the roster, Gregor Blanco was designated for assignment and will be outrighted to Sacramento, where he will report on Tuesday, this according to Bochy.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Phillies conclude their series with a finale on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PST.

Panik returns, Stratton dominates in Giants’ 4-0 shutout of Phillies

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — After striking out 55 times when they were swept against the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco struck out eight times in the opener.

Chris Stratton pitched six innings, allowing just four hits, walking just one and striking out seven, as the Giants defeated the Phillies 4-0 before a crowd of 38,119 at AT&T Park.

This is the fourth consecutive win for Stratton, who improves to 7-3 and it was the longest that game Stratton went since going 6.2 innings in a game where he did not fare in the decision against the Washington Nationals on April 23rd at AT&T Park, a game that the Giants would win by the final score of 4-2.

Joe Panik made his return to the team from the disabled list a memorable one, as he walked twice and singled twice and ended the night going 2-for-3. Panik also scored the Giants first run of the game, and drove in a run with a single in the bottom of the second inning that scored Mac Williamson.

This was the first time that Panik reached base four times in the same game since he got four hits against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 27, 2017.

The win by the Giants stopped a six-game losing streak, including the four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park last month. This was the Giants’ eighth win over the Phillies at AT&T Park since 2015, their second-best record against any National League team. With the win, the Giants moved within three games of the Colorado Rockies in the NL West after the Rockies lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field and the Giants and Dodgers are tied for third place in the NL West.

Brandon Belt was forced to leave the game after his only at-bat in the first inning, where he struck out and was in the hospital, where he was being evaluated for appendicitis.

Nick Pivetta, who struck out seven Giants in his last start did not fare as well this time, as he went four innings, allowing three runs on five hits, walking three and striking out three.

Evan Longoria got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning when he singled to score Panik, who led off the inning by being walked against Pivetta.

Panik drove in the Giants second run of the game in the second inning, as he singled in Williamson, who led off the inning with a walk.

That would be the score, when Gorkys Hernandez continued his hot streak, as he singled to left field to score Brandon Crawford, who led off the inning with a double.

On the evening, Crawford went 2-for-4, as he came off of a month, where he hit .412 (42-for-102) with nine doubles, four home runs and 21 runs batted in.

The Giants scored their fourth and final run of the evening in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Andrew McCutchen tripled to lead off the inning and then scored on a wild pitch by Hector Neris with Pablo Sandoval at the plate.

In his only inning of work, Neris gave up a run on three hits, struck out three and threw three wild pitches.

Neris joined Frank Hermann as the only Phillies pitchers to have thrown three wild pitches in one inning or less. Hermann did it on August 21, 2016 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.

Dylan Cozens made his major-league debut for the Phillies, and singled in his first at-bat against Stratton in the top of the third inning.

The Phillies got a late rally going in the top of the ninth inning off of Hunter Strickland, as Scott Kingery narrowly beat out a throw by Panik at first base for an infield hit and then Odubel Herrera lashed a double down the right field line that sent Kingery to third base. Strickland then regrouped to strikeout Carlos Santana, then Maikel Franco to groundout to Strickland, where he made a great play to Franco at first base and finally got out of the jam, when Nick Williams flew out to Hernandez for the final out.

Overall, the Giants bullpen pitched the final three innings, and the trio of Tony Watson, Sam Dyson and Strickland gave up two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out six.

In his first season with the Giants, Watson likes pitching at AT&T Park, as he has yet to allow an earned run at home this season and is the only reliever to pitch more than 12 innings at home without allowing an earned run this season.

NOTES: Andrew Suarez will take the mound on Saturday night, as the Giants look for their third consecutive win, while the Phillies will send Vince Velasquez to the mound.

There were a multitude of roster moves made by the Giants, as Tyler Beede was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento following Wednesday’s game against the Rockies.

Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Single-A San Jose.

Mark Melancon was activated from the 60-day disabled list, and Jose Valdez was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list and was then Designated for Assignment.

Dereck Rodriguez will start on Sunday in place of Jeff Samardzija. This will be the first major league start for Rodriguez, who made his major-league debut on Tuesday against the Rockies at Coors Field.

With Rodriguez in the rotation, Ty Blach is being moved to the bullpen and will be the Giants long man.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Phillies will meet in Game 2 on Saturday night at 7:05 pm PST.

Montas’ Masterpiece: A’s Blowout Royals 16-0

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Matthew Harrington

In the one full season the Oakland A’s have had Frankie Montas on the roster after a 2016 trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he had exclusively pitched from the bullpen. His days of relief look to be long over if his 2018 campaign is an indication of the type of player the A’s acquired after shipping Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to LA at the deadline.

Montas (2-0, 0.64 ERA) fired eight innings of shutout ball, picking up his second win in as many starts Friday night in Kansas City on a night when he didn’t have to be perfect. Overshadowing Montas’ seven-hit gem is the offensive outburst of 16 runs by the Green and Gold, good for an easy 16-0 win.

Matt Olson and Dustin Fowler each hit two home runs and plated nine RBIs. Stephen Piscotty knocked in two runs on a bases-loaded double and Khris Davis scored two on an RBI single. Chad Pinder and Jonathan Lucroy were the only A’s starters to not knock in a run, but Lucroy did go 3-for-5 on the night.

Olson took Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-6, 6.08 ERA) deep twice, blasting homers 10 and 11 of the year off the struggling starter. In total, Kennedy went three innings, allowing eight earned runs. Most of the damage off Kennedy came in the third after the A’s entered the inning up 1-0 then knocked him around for seven in the frame.

Scott Barlow stopped the bleeding, allowing just one run in his three innings of work, but relievers Brian Flynn (four runs) and Jason Adam (three runs) coughed up the Royals second seven-run inning of the game in the top of the ninth.

Reliever Emilio Pagan came in for Montas in the bottom of the ninth, yielding a hit but pucnhing out two to close out the game and hand Montas the official win assumed likely six innings ago. For Montas, it’s a second-straight win in as many starts after returning to the club after a sprained UCL kept him out of play since spring training. His first start was an absolute game, going six innings against the Diamondbacks, allowing three hits and a lone earned run while punching out seven.

His stuff wasn’t as hard to hit today, K’ing only two Royals. But what he lacked in electric stuff, he made up for in efficency. He needed just 99 pitches, 67 for strikes, to get through eight innings. If not for the recent shoulder injury, its likely manager Bob Melvin would have thrown him out for the recent shoulder injury. Not bad for a guy the A’s were using solely in long relief last season. Out of the pen, Montas went 1-1 with a 7.03 ERA.

Trevor Cahill takes the mound Saturday for the A’s facing his former team. Cahill played for the Royals last season after coming over in a July trade. He’ll be opposed by another pitcher facing his former team, with Jason Hammel taking the bump for Kansas City. Hammel pitched for Oakland in 2014 after coming over in the July 4th trade that also netted the A’s Jeff Samardzija.

Giants hope to erase memories of Phillies’ sweep

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The last time the Giants saw the Philadelphia Phillies, it got ugly very quickly and did not get much better for the rest of the series.

The end result was a three-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, and the Giants hope to make that a very distant memory this time around. They start a three-game series at AT&T Park Friday night.

The Giants (26-30) currently sit four games behind the first-place Colorado Rockies, with whom they won only one of a three-game series at Coors Field, in the National League West. Meanwhile, the 31-23 Phillies are in third place in the highly-competitive NL East, but they are only a game behind the front-running Atlanta Braves.

For the series opener, Chris Stratton (6-3, 4.07 ERA) will take the hill for the Giants opposite Phillies righty Nick Pivetta (4-3, 3.26 ERA). Pivetta was a hard-luck loser in his most previous decision, a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, during which he went five innings and surrendered only two runs on four hits.

Stratton, meanwhile, has won each of his previous three outings, going five innings in each of them. In his last outing, a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs, Stratton gave up three runs on only four hits, walking three and striking out six but gave up a pair of home runs in the process.

On Saturday, Ty Blach (3-5, 4.96 ERA) will face Philadelphia righty Vince Velazquez (4-5, 4.08 ERA). For the Sunday finale, left-hander Andrew Suarez (1-4, 5.65 ERA) will face Phillies righty Jake Arrieta (5-2, 2.16 ERA), who came over from the Cubs and was the Phillies’ biggest free-agent acquisition.

A’s bats come alive to beat the Rays 7-3; Mengden wins sixth game of the year

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@Athletics photo: A’s starter Daniel Mengden, who pitched for eight innings gets the win on Thursday afternoon over the Tampa Bay Rays to avoid a sweep at the Oakland Coliseum

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- Tha A’s salvaged the finale of the four-game series as they hit three home runs to help Daniel Mengden win his sixth game of the year. Mengden was brilliant for eight innings as he allowed no runs and just three hits. He stumbled a bit in the ninth, but the A’s bullpen quelled the Rays rally to win 7-3. The Rays’ Ryne Stanek, who, usually pitches out of the bullpen, was selected to continue Kevin Cash’s program of using relievers to start.

The Rays were hoping to sweep the A’s as their pitching had held the A’s to just three runs in the last three games. The A’s hitters were scuffling, but today, they snapped out of the hitting funk. The A’s Khris Davis, who was on the 10-day DL, was cleared to play and he helped get the team going when he doubled in his first at-bat. The A’s also hit three home runs to aid Mengden’s cause. The A’s had hit just 19 at home so far this year as compared to 47 on the road. The changed the numbers when the three Matts, Olson, Chapman, and Joyce all homered.

In the bottom of the second, the A’s exploded to score three times.  The A’s had scored just three runs in the 4-game series with the Rays had to be ecstatic as the bats came alive. Khris Davis, in his first at-bat after being on the 10-day DL, doubled to right-centerfield. Chad Pinder walked to give the A’s runners at first and second with one out. Bruce Maxwell struck out for the second out. Stephen Piscotty, who has been scuffling, doubled to the left-field corner to drive in Davis and Pinder. Mark Canha followed with a single to give the A’s the lead 2-0 after two complete.

The A’s scored two runs on two hits in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-0 lead. With one out, Matt Olson hit a solo home run to right. Two batters later, Matt Chapman sent a Ryan Yarbrough pitch into outer space for his ninth of the season.

Matt Joyce joined the homer parade in the eighth. Stephen Piscotty walked to put a man on first with one out. The Rays recorded the second out of the inning when Mark Canha popped out to the Rays’ first baseman Brad Miller in foul territory. Joyce then blasted his seventh big fly to put the A’s in the driver’s seat 7-0.

A’s manager let Mengden start the ninth. Mengden gave up a single to C.J.Cron and Joey Wendle to put men on first and second with no out. Rays’ catcher Wilson Ramos doubled to drive in Cron and Wendle. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Josh Lucas to pitch. Mengden received a standing ovation from the 12, 070 fans in attendance. Lucas struck out Daniel Robertson for the first out. He then walked Brad Miller. Lucas struck out Rob Refsnyder for the second out. He needed one more out to get the save, but he couldn’t retire Christian Arroyo. Aroyo slammed a double into left field to drive in Ramos. Miller stopped at third base. Melvin brought in closer Blake Treinen to end the game. Rays’ right fielder Josh Field hit a blooper that looked as if it was going to fall in for a hit. Chad Pinder made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch to end the game. It was not easy as the ball bounced off Pinder’s glove, but he somehow was able to grab the ball with his bare hand as he fell to the ground.  The A’s win 7-3

Game Notes: Mengden had his scoreless streak end at a career-high 25 innings. It was the longest streak by an A’s pitcher since Sean Doolittle in 2014 (26.1) and the longest by an A’s starter since Corey Lidle in 2002 (32.0). Mengden also pitched 16 consecutive innings without issuing a walk. He has won four consecutive games for the first time in his career. Blake Treinen recorded his 13th save of the year, and it was his 10th save in May tying him with Dennis Eckersley for the most saves in May in Oakland history.

The A’s seven runs ended a 14-game consecutive streak of 4 runs or less. They finished the month with a record of 15-14 which was the first winning record in May since 2014.

The line score for Oakland was 7 runs, 7 hits, and no errors. The Rays’ line was 3 runs, 7 hits, and 2 errors. The A’s improve to 29-28 while the Rays fall to 28-27.

Up Next: The A’s start a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals Friday night in Kansas City. They are off on Monday before going to Texas for two more with the Rangers. Frankie Montas, who pitched well in his last start, will handle the pitching chores for the Green and Gold and the Royal will start the veteran righty, Ian Kennedy. Kennedy is 1-5 and has an ERA of 5.15. Game time is at 5:15 pm PST.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Panik’s return is near; Cueto to throw on flat ground; plus more

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Photo credit: @zesty_mlb

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

Just mentioning that Giants second baseman Joe Panik is super itchy to get back. Panik expects to play and have a seamless transition in case anyone is trying to throw him in the minor leagues for any amount of time.

Also, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is going to start throwing on flat ground sometime this week. The Giants need him, it’s just not Cueto; it’s Bumgarner the Giants are seeing that breaking point in terms of the rotation. With the Giants having to fill all these holes, Suarez pitched great, but now starter Jeff Samardzija has an issue, but not with the shoulder.

Join Michael and Morris for the SF Giants podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com