Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants take rubber game from Rockies; Rocky pitcher Freeland leaves with shoulder injury

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeman withering in pain from an apparent shoulder injury in the bottom of the seventh against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jul 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Giants pitcher Logan Webb was great Sunday. He pitched a complete game shutout against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park. The Giants won, 1-0, capping his performance by striking out the side in ninth. 

#2  Webb scattered seven hits and struck out 10 of the 31 batters he faced. 75 of his 103 pitches counted as strikes. The effort improved Webb’s record to 8-7, 3.14.

#3 Colorado starter Kyle Freeland threw a beautiful game for the 6-1/3 innings he was able to pitch before he injured himself fielding Casey Schmitt’s bunt in the bottom of seventh, an attempted sacrifice that went into the books as the sixth hit allowed by the Rockies’ starter. Freeland suffered a dislocated shoulder.

#4 The Giants had broken a scoreless tie in the bottom half of the fourth with JD Davis’s 421 foot home run to left center fielder. It came on Freeland’s first pitch of the frame, an 85.4 mph sinker that rose on a 30 degree angle leaving the Giants’ third baseman’s bat at 109.1 mph. 

#5 The Giants are off for the All Star break and return to action on Fri Jul 14th at PNC Park in Pittsburgh to start the second half of the season. Talk about Giants All Star representative Camilo Doval who been lights out in relief with a 2-2 record and a 2.63 ERA.

Join Marko for the San Francisco Giants podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s day off report: Medina gets the call to open series in Cleveland on Tuesday; Ruiz leads off and has MLB stolen base lead

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Oakland A’s Esteury Ruiz slides home safely after scoring on a Ramon Laureano single against the Seattle Mariners Tue May 23, 2023 in first inning action at T Mobile Field in Seattle (AP file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s finished an up-and-down week, ending the seven-game homestand with two wins and five losses. The A’s had won seven games in a row before they lost two to the Tampa Bay Rays and three to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The A’s seven-game win streak saw them win two against the Pittsburgh Pirates and a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates and Brewers are in a dogfight for first place in the NL Central. The A’s won the first two games of the four-game set with the Rays.

It was no easy task as the Rays own the best record in baseball. The team had almost 28,000 people in the seats on Tuesday, June 13th. Organizers of a reverse boycott hoped to show A’s owner John Fisher and baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred the fans would support the team in Oakland.

Fisher, as usual, said nothing. Manfred dismissed the effort as meaningless as he said their effort was no better than the average attendance at a game in Major League baseball. Manford also said the city of Oakland needed to do more.

Oakland needed a program in place to build the stadium. Manfred is tone-deaf. Oakland had raised over 400 million dollars in grants for infrastructure needs. The City Council was two days away from a vote. The A’s ownership had turned the fans off by trading away their best players and leaving the fans with a team with the worst record in all of baseball.

Winning brings people into the seats. Then, to make matters worse, the Nevada legislature voted to approve $380 million to give to the A’s to help build a stadium in Las Vegas. The Nevada governor signed the bill.

The only hope the A’s fans have is that the owners of the other 29 teams will reject the move. Manfred has said baseball will waive the $300 million relocation fee. The owners share those fees. Many of them say they want Las Vegas to get an expansion team. The fees for an expansion team are around two billion. That’s a lot more money to share.

None of the drama on the relocation situation should affect what’s happening on the field. The A’s still have to go out and play the game. A’s manager Mark Kotsay has to be pleased with his team’s performance in the last 12 games.

They went 7-5. During the winning streak, the A’s starters and relievers pitched well. The A’s offense came to life, and the team showed improvement. They split four games with the Rays. They lost three games to the Phillies. Two of the losses were by one run. The Phillies are the hottest team in baseball. They have won fourteen of the last 16. The Phillies were in the World Series last year.

The A’s start a six-game road trip in Cleveland Tuesday night. The A’s will play three against the Guardians and then finish the road trip with three against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Guardians are in second place in the AL Central with a record of 33-38.

They are two and 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins. Manager Terry Francona is in his 11th year as the skipper of the Guardians.

The A’s will send Luis Medina (1-6, 7.55) to the hill Tuesday night. Cleveland will counter with Aaron Civale(2-2, 2.67). Righty Paul Blackburn (0-0, 3.49) goes for the A’s on Wednesday. The Guardians have not announced a starter. Lefty JP Sears(1-4, 4.24) will be on the mound on Thursday. Logan Allen (3-2, 3.95) goes for Cleveland.

The key players for the Guardians are first baseman Josh Naylor, third baseman Jose Ramirez, and outfielders Stephen Kwan and Will Brennan. Their catcher is Josh Naylor’s younger brother Bo Naylor. Closer Emmanuel Clase leads the Guardians bullpen. Clase is 1-4 but has recorded 20 saves this year.

Their setup guy is Trevor Stephan. The Guardians do not have a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen. The A’s will see relievers Sam Hentges, Enyel De Los Santos, Elijah Morgan, Nick Sandlin, Xzavion Curry, and two recently recalled from Triple-A, Daniel Norris and Tim Herrin. The A’s will not see the Guardians’ ace Shane Bieber in the series.

The A’s want to get some wins on this road trip. They will need better pitching and timely hitting. They know they can win on the road. They are looking for players such as Esteury Ruiz, Ryan Noda, Brent Rooker, Seth Brown, JJ Blesday, Ramon Laureano, Roberto Perez, and Shea Langeliers to get back on the hit parade. Blackburn has pitched well since coming off the IL.

Also of note A’s leadoff hitter Ruiz leads the majors in stolen bases with 36 for the season and could get some good coverage on the base paths that could help Oakland get a leg up for this upcoming road trip.

Medina has improved, and Kotsay wants him to give the A’s a quality start on Tuesday night. JP Sears, acquired in the trade that sent Frankie Montas to the New York Yankees, has to find a way to stop serving up gopher balls. Sears has allowed 17 dingers in his starts this year.

The A’s still are the worst team in baseball. Kotsay continues to have a positive outlook. He has seen some improvement in the last two weeks. The A’s would love nothing better than winning each series against the Guardians and The Blue Jays.

MLB The Show podcast with Mauricio Segura: A’s fan reverse boycott tonight; Rangers deGrom still out with elbow injury; plus more

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Oakland A’s fans display “Sell” T shirts at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s fans are planning a reverse boycott to show that the A’s have their support in Oakland and it is their hope that it would impact MLB so that they might rethink allowing the A’s to move from Oakland to Las Vegas (USA Today photo)

On the MLB The Show podcast with Mauricio Segura:

#1 Oakland A’s fans have made the top headlines from coast to coast the battle cry is one word as they hand out green t shirts that say “Sell” on them. They plan to hold a reverse boycott tonight handing out the T shirts to the first 7,000 fans at the Oakland Coliseum. It’s been reported that this contest is sold out.

#2 Mauricio, after the Milwaukee Brewers were swept by the Oakland A’s in three games they have fallen from first to second and are now one game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates it has to be surprising circumstances for the Brewers who had the last place A’s come into American Family Field and sweep them in their own park.

#3 Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom who clocked pitches 99.4, 99.5, 99.7, 100.1 and 101.0. On opening day deGrom lasted just 73 pitches later he was taken out and had to have elbow surgery. deGrom has a five year $185 million deal and there could be some fear the Rangers will be on the hook for the money if deGrom is damaged goods.

#4 Mauricio, talk about three All Stars who will be making their first appearance at the mid summer classic this July first Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy who hitting .287, 54 hits, 12 homers and 42 RBIs, from the Tampa Bay Rays Yandy Diaz .313, 65 hits, 12 home runs, 34 RBIs, and third from the St Louis Cardinals Nolan Gorman .257, 52 hits, 15 home runs, and 46 RBIs.

#5 It’s going to be a special time for fans visiting the great Northwest for the All Star game in Seattle Tue Jul 11, 2023 they’ll be seeing the best in baseball and what a great host the city of Seattle is, there are the great points of interest Pioneer Square, Chinatown, Westlake District and of course T Mobile Field the home of the All Star Game.

Join Mauricio for the MLB The Show podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s catch fire can it last?; Oakland on five game win streak

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Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown hits a three-run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, June 11, 2023, in Milwaukee. (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s improved their record to 17-50 with a sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers (34-32) at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Sunday 8-6.

#2 Barbara did you get any indication after the A’s beat the Pittsburgh Pirates two out of three that they might go on a run on this road trip?

#3 In Milwaukee on Sunday the A’s got home run help from Seth Brown and Brent Rooker on back to back homers in the fourth inning?

#4 After losing 15 straight games which ended on Monday in Pittsburgh the A’s have gone on a five game run getting their first sweep of the season and first time putting five wins together.

#5 The A’s return back to the Oakland Coliseum to open a three series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. The Rays will start Zach Eflin (8-1 ERA 2.97) he’ll be opposed by the A’s James Kaprielian (1-6 ERA 2.71) a 6:40pm PT)

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Charlie O: Phils manager tossed for clock reset issues; Twins Polanco back on IL for hamstring injury; plus more

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On the MLB The Show podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Philadelphia Phillies manager Ron Thompson was ejected after plate umpire Roberto Ortiz refused to reset the pitch clock after Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola requested a new baseball. Ortiz had threw out several baseballs and requested new ones and Ortiz felt that he had reached his quota of disposed baseballs. Thompson came out to argue that Ortiz should have reset the clock back from 10 seconds to 20 seconds with a runner on base in the sixth inning. Crew Chief Bill Miller got most of Thompson’s heat after ejecting Thompson, while Nola was facing the Los Angeles Dodgers David Peralta. Thompson questioned how Ortiz knew for sure that Nola was trying to stall for time by throwing out baseballs.

#2 The Minnesota Twins second baseman Jorge Polanco is back on the ten day IL due to a left hamstring. Polanco returned to the line up on June 1st from being out with the left hamstring injury. Polanco is hitting .250, with five home runs, 16 RBIs in 30 games.

#3 Los Angles Dodgers pitcher Shelby Miller was place on bereavement leave on Saturday. Miller 32, 1-0 ERA 2.57 and has relieved in 24 games for the Dodgers. Friday night Miller pitched two innings striking out three in two innings of work.

#4 The Oakland A’s for the first time have a won four straight games. The A’s who have baseball’s worst record at 16-50 and are 26.5 games in last place in the AL West. The A’s took two of the last three games in Pittsburgh and the first two games of a three game series in Milwaukee. Is it possible that they might have turned a page or too early to tell?

#5 Charlie lastly, the saga of the $380 million tax credits that the Oakland A’s are seeking from the state of Nevada and Clark County continues as the Nevada Assembly adjourned Thursday and will return on Monday to vote on whether or not to approve the bonds. If the bonds are not approved the A’s will have to find another deal to work out possibly with the City of Oakland and Mayor Sheng Thao who has a deal from the previous Howard Terminal bargaining session. If the Nevada Legislature approves the stadium bonds the Nevada State Assembly must approve the measure before Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signs off on the deal.

Join Charlie O for the MLB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Beat Pirates 9-5 for Second Straight Win

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Oakland Athletics’ Jace Peterson doubles off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Roansy Contreras, driving in two runs, during the first inning at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Wed Jun 7, 2023 (AP News photo)

By: Mary Anne

The Oakland Athletics concluded a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Thursday. The A’s looked to win two games in a row and hung on to beat the Pirates 9-5 in the series finale. With the win, Oakland improved to 14-50 and Pittsburgh dropped to 32-29.

The A’s starting lineup consisted of Ryan Noda, Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, Ramón Laureano, Jace Peterson, Jonah Bride, JJ Bleday, Shea Langeliers, Kevin Smith, and Hogan Harris. Harris pitched for five innings and gave up four hits, three earned runs, three walks, two strikeouts, and one home run before exiting the game.

The A’s jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Brent Rooker singled on a line drive to Ji-Hwan Bae, and Ryan Noda scored for a 1-0 lead as Seth Brown went to third base. Jace Peterson doubled on a ground ball to Connor Joe, and Brown scored for a 3-0 lead as Ramón Laureano went to third base.

Jonah Bride singled on a line drive to Bae, and Laureano scored for a 4-0 lead as Peterson went to third base. JJ Bleday singled on a line drive to Bryan Reynolds, and Peterson scored for a 5-0 lead as Bride went to second base. Noda walked, and Bride scored for a 6-0 lead as Bleday went to third base and Kevin Smith went to second base. Brown walked, and Bleday scored for a 7-0 lead as Smith went to third base and Noda went to second base.

The Pirates avoided being shutout by the A’s in the bottom of the second inning. Rodolfo Castro homered on a fly ball to center field to cut the A’s lead to 7-1.

The Pirates added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rodolfo Castro doubled on a fly ball to JJ Bleday, and Carlos Santana and Ke’Bryan Hayes scored to cut the A’s lead to 7-3.

The A’s extended their lead in the top of the seventh inning. Ryan Noda homered on a fly ball to left field for an 8-3 lead. Brent Rooker doubled on a sharp line drive to Bryan Reynolds, and Seth Brown scored for a 9-3 lead.

The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Connor Joe walked, and Jason Delay scored to cut the A’s lead to 9-4 as Andrew McCutchen went to third base and Bryan Reynolds went to second base.

The Pirates inched closer to the A’s in the bottom of the ninth inning, but that’s all she wrote. Bryan Reynolds singled on a line drive to Ramón Laureano, and Ji-Hwan Bae scored to cut the A’s lead to 9-5 as Andrew McCutchen went to second base.

The A’s will take on the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Friday, June 9 at 5:10 pm Pacific.

MLB podcast The Show with Stephen Ruderman: A’s fans to hold reverse boycott Tuesday night at Coliseum; Future of A’s in hands of Nevada Assembly

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Renderings view from the MGM in Las Vegas of a possible Las Vegas A’s ball park at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino which if approved by the Nevada State Legislature should be completed in either 2027 or 2028. (Renderings from the Oakland Athletics Baseball Company)

On the MLB podcast The Show with Stephen:

#1 The Oakland A’s this week proposed a very unusual start time for home games once their up and running in Las Vegas at the Tropicana and that would be a 4pm PT first pitch. The idea is that would not cause interference with the take off and landings at Las Vegas Airport which home plate faces.

#2 There are also some more musts that the A’s must achieve to economically make this ball park in Vegas a success they must sell out every single game and you have to consider 30% of tourists need to be part of that make up of that sold out attendance.

#3 The A’s are further challenged with having the smallest ball park in MLB a 30,000 seat capacity and they must sell out not just the 81 home games but also other events and shows at the Tropicana site.

#4 The Nevada State Legislature has not held the vote to pass this year’s budget because Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo will not sign off on it and the A’s ball park SB509 project has been pushed back because they can’t pass a budget even without the ball park on it.

#5 Stephen, the A’s last thread of hope hangs with the Nevada Legislation, 50 plus years of Oakland A’s baseball, four World Series, six Hall of Famers in Oakland’s history are in the hands of these Nevada assembly people. The deadline to pass a budget has passed and now their looking at a special session how much does the stadium weigh on this budget getting passed.

Stephen Ruderman does the MLB podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s snap 15 game road skid; Oakland crushes Bucs hitting four home runs winning 11-2

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Oakland Athletics’ Jace Peterson (6) returns to the dugout after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Chase De Jong during the eighth inning at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Tue Jun 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

 A’s Crush Pirates Hitting Four Home Runs Winning 11-2.

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday evening the Oakland A’s (13-50) played game two in their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-28) the A’s finally snapped their long 15 game road losing streak at 15 games with a crushing 11-2 win at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

On Monday night at PNC the A’s had a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning of game one but could not hold on losing the first game of the series 5-4. The Bucs did score in three innings in the game with eight hits.

Game One was a very competitive game for Oakland and they came into the second game of the series looking to even it up.

Tuesday A’s-Bucs game recap: The Pirates took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and the A’s tied up the game in the second. Shea Langeliers hit a home run in the second inning to give Oakland the 1-1 tie.

Oakland took the lead in the third inning 2-1. Seth Brown doubled Ryan Noda home and again the A’s had a very competitive game in the works. The Pirates tied up the game 2-2 in the fifth inning when outfielder Bryan Reynolds scored.

Oakland scored three runs in the sixth inning. Jace Peterson, Jonah Bride and Ryan Noda all had singles driving in base runners and taking a 5-2 lead.

The A’s were not even close to being finished. In the eighth inning Oakland knocked a couple of balls out of the park, both of them two run homers. Jace Peterson hit the first one followed by Brent Rooker with the second long ball. Its was Oakland’s night to shine leading 9-2 going into the ninth inning.

This was the kind of game that most ball players dream of. Jace Peterson would hit a second home run, a two run homer and he was 5 of 5 for the evening. Seven different A’s scored in this game. The final was 11-2 and Oakland had broken their 15 game road game losing streak.

This was a terrific game for Oakland, a competitive game. They had 15 hits and four home runs. The A’s had evened the series and a game like this is bound to give the players an amazing lift. Pitcher James Kaprielian went six innings and got his first win of the season.

Game three will be played Wednesday morning with first pitch scheduled for 9:35 AM PT. Hogan Harris (0-0 ERA 6.97) will take the mound for the A’s going for the series win. The Pirates will send Roansy Contreras (3-4 ERA 4.82) to the hill. The A’s scored in five innings in Tuesday’s game. This is the way that a team wins and hopefully the A’s can duplicate more of this play in Wednesday’s contest.

A’s Blow Lead in 5-4 Loss to Pirates

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The Oakland A’s Nick Allen turns on the jets to run out a ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Mon Jun 5, 2023 (@Athletics photo)

By: Mary Anne

The Oakland Athletics opened a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. The A’s fell short against the Pirates 5-4 in a back-and-forth series opener at PNC Park. Entering play, Oakland looked to end their four-game losing streak, but they couldn’t get in the win column as they dropped to 12-50, while Pittsburgh improved to 32-27.

The A’s Pitt stop wasn’t complete without their starting lineup of Esteury Ruiz, Ryan Noda, Brent Rooker, Seth Brown, Carlos Pérez, JJ Bleday, Jonah Bride, Jace Peterson, Nick Allen, and JP Sears. Sears pitched for 4 2/3 innings and gave up two hits, one run, one earned run, five walks, and six strikeouts before exiting the game. And, although Manny Piña wasn’t in the A’s starting lineup, the Venezuelan catcher celebrated his 36th birthday today.

The A’s wasted no time taking a quick lead in the top of the first inning. Ryan Noda singled on a line drive to Ji-Hwan Bae, and Esteury Ruiz scored for a 1-0 lead.

The A’s added to their lead in the top of the third inning. Seth Brown doubled on a line drive to Ji-Hwan Bae, and Ryan Noda scored for a 2-0 lead. Brent Rooker went to third base. Carlos Perez was out on a sacrifice fly to Connor Joe, and Rooker scored for a 3-0 lead. Brown went to third base with one out.

The Pirates avoided a shutout in the bottom of the fifth inning. Connor Joe doubled on a fly ball to Seth Brown deflected by Jace Peterson, and Mark Mathias scored to cut the A’s lead to 3-1. Andrew McCutchen went to third base.

The Pirates snatched a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Andrew McCutchen walked, and Ke’Bryan Hayes scored to cut the A’s lead to 3-2. Mark Mathias went to third base, and Austin Hedges went to second base.

Bryan Reynolds walked, and Mathias scored to tie the game 3-3. Hedges went to third base, and McCutchen went to second base. Jack Suwinski flew into a sacrifice fly double play, Seth Brown went to Jonah Bride, and Hedges scored for a 4-3 lead. McCutchen was out at third base with three outs.

The A’s tied the game 4-4 in the top of the eighth inning. Aledmys Diaz doubled on a sharp line drive to Bryan Reynolds, and Brent Rooker scored for a 4-4 tie.

The Pirates regained their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Andrew McCutchen was out on a sacrifice fly to Ryan Noda, and Ji-Hwan Bae scored for a 5-4 lead with two outs.

The A’s and Pirates will meet again on Tuesday, June 6, at 4:05 pm Pacific. A’s starter for Tuesday right hander James Kaprielian (0-6 ERA 8.12) he’ll be opposed by the Pirates right hander Mitch Keller (7-1 ERA 3.25) at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants host second place Orioles in 3 game set Friday at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski scores a run on a wild pitch by Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller, right, during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed May 31, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 The San Francisco Giants (28-27) couldn’t win the rubber game match against the Pittsburgh Pirates (28-27) on Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park in San Francisco as the Pirates Bryan Reynolds belted three RBIs and the Bucs scored four times in the top of the third inning which help keep Pittsburgh ahead for much of the game in a 9-4 win.

#2 The Pirates with the victory are now a game above .500 and had hit and run production from ex-Giant outfielder Andrew McCutchen and first baseman Connor Joe who both went 3-4 with an RBI. Pirates manager Derek Shelton was please that the offense is starting to pick up.

#3 For the Pirates have not won consecutive games since they dropped below the .500 mark since the beginning of the season when they were 1-2. Since their 20-8 start the Pirates have gone 8-19.

#4 Michael, the Giants committed two errors in the game and errors can cost you runs talk about how the two errors impacted the Giants on Wednesday afternoon?

#5 The Giants have the day off on Thursday and open up a series against the Baltimore Orioles (35-21) on Friday night. The Orioles will start Dean Kremer (5-2 ERA 4.58) he’ll be opposed by the Giants Logan Webb (4-5 ERA 2.75) first pitch at Oracle Park at 7:15 pm PT.

Join Michael Duca for the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com