Tag: San Francisco

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Panda keeps Dodgers off balance in relief for SF; Twins’ Buxton out; Bryant adds more padding to his helmet

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(Photo: Lance Iversen, USA TODAY Sports) San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval became the first position player since Greg Litton (1991) to come in and pitch last Saturday night at AT&T Park in the first game of a doubleheader

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Panda works an inning in relief for the Giants/Giants second baseman is on the 10 day DL and might need surgery for his thumb and is expected to be out ten days

2 Injury-prone Twins OF Byron Buxton on the shelf again; Cubs’ Kris Bryant adding more protection to his batting helmet

3 Diamondbacks beat Washington on bases-loaded walk

4 Yanks skipper Aaron Boone – in uniform – asked for his credentials by security in Anaheim

5 Reds’ Joey Votto has his own ideas about the MLB schedule

Daniel does the MLB The Show podcast each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Williamson day to day; Samardzija work in progress; Moronta Express

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SFGAuthentics photo: Mac Williamson who hit a tape measure shot last Monday against the Washington Nationals and another homer the next night pictures his bats he used in spring training in March

On the Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 Mac Williamson the Giants outfielder is listed as day to day with a stiff neck caused by crashing into the AT&T Park padding while chasing down a fly. Williamson missed Wednesday’s game and is anxious to get back into the line up

#2 Williamson has impressed manager Bruce Bochy not only for his hustle but those tape measure home runs during the Washington series and his bat speed making solid contact

#3 In his second start on Wednesday pitcher Jeff Samardzija was rocked and early over four innings of work, eight hits, six runs, and we asked Michael is Samardzija really ready after his rehab

#4 Giants pitcher Reyes Moronta has been the talk for his first win on Tuesday night he was able to retire Washington hitters either from the left or right side of the plate. In Moronta’s debut he pitched for a 0.64 ERA.

#5 The Giants open a four game series tonight at AT&T Park against the Los Angeles Dodgers which includes a double dip on Saturday to make up for a rain out earlier this month. Michael goes into the length of time that the players, coaches, managers (from both teams) and stadium employees put into working both ends of a day night doubleheader. The first game starts at 1:00PM and the second game starts at 7:00PM on Saturday night.

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

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: Comparisons of Barry Bonds and Willie McCovey too early for Mac Williamson, but it’s fun

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Photo credit: @FareedNBCS

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris and Michael:

San Francisco Giant left fielder Mac Williamson has started his 2018 season in the show with a flourish. A right handed hitter mentioned with two left-handed hitters Willie McCovey–hence, the name Mac, and Barry Bonds for distance hitting. Williamson, who hits right-handed belted a two-run homer on Monday night against the Washington Nationals seven rows up the opposite way to right field in the 4-2 win to open the three-game series at AT&T Park.

Williamson belted a 464-foot home run to give fans a idea how far the blast was. This is an area that Bonds used to hit them and for that matter if McCovey was active and was able during his playing days he could do the same. Williamson hit Monday night was to the farthest part of the right field corner.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips do the SF Giants podcasts Mondays and Fridays at http://www.sportsradoservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: No hitting, no offense for Giants in loss to Diamondbacks

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The San Francisco Giants continue to flounder on offense as they lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 on Thursday night at Chase Field.

#2 Up and down, the San Francisco line up the hitters. You expect to connect have struggled against Arizona pitching namely Thursday starter Zach Greinke, who went seven innings, three hits and gave up a run kept the Giants’ lineup off balance.

#3 Pitcher Jeff Samardzija is scheduled to come back and pitch his first game of the season. Manager Bruce Bochy says Samardzija is on schedule and his rehab has been going smoothly.

#4 Madison Bumgarner had three pins removed for his pinky finger, which was fractured four weeks ago in spring training. Doctors say Bumgarner could be throwing in two weeks.

#5 Giants outfielder Hunter Pence said his thumb injury is preventing him from getting some good swings at the plate and holding him back. Pence has only one hit and 12 strikeouts in his last 20 at-bats.

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

 

Giants to start 2018 season with patchwork rotation

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Photo credit: @Starting9

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants spent a great deal of time–and money–upgrading their lineup in the field. Meanwhile, the once-vaunted rotation has begun to fall apart.

The most glaring absence is that of Madison Bumgarner, who suffered a fracture in his left hand after getting hit by a line drive Friday and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks as a result.

Enter Derek Holland, who started Monday’s game for the Giants and had his longest and overall best outing of the spring but was marred by a pair of solo home runs in a 9-2 loss to the A’s at AT&T Park.

Holland gave up only two runs on four hits over five innings and cruised through the first two innings without much issue. However, he made a huge location mistake in the third, and Matt Chapman made him pay for it immediately. He left a fastball over the plate waist-high, and Chapman drove it into the left-field seats to tie the game at 1-1.

Two innings later, he made the same mistake to Mark Canha, and the result was just as damaging. Holland could only watch as the ball disappeared into the seats in center field as the Giants fell behind, 2-1.

All in all, it has been a productive spring for Holland, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training who has been penciled in as part of the Giants’ starting rotation when the season starts. The former Ranger, who spent last season with the White Sox, had a 4.20 ERA entering Monday but showed very good command of the strike zone, which is what the Giants are looking for.

To make room for Holland on the roster, the Giants released outfielder Jarrett Parker.

He will take the mound for the Giants for Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, assuming the spot originally saved for Jeff Samardjiza, who has a strained pectoral muscle and will be out for the next 10 days, thus missing his first scheduled start of the year.

As the Giants head into Opening Day, the rotation is expected to look like this: right-hander Johnny Cueto, lefty Ty Blach, Holland and righty Chris Stratton.

After trailing by a run after seven innings, the Giants rallied in their half of the eighth and tied the game when Gorkys Hernandez sprinted home on a wild pitch.

The game eventually went into extra innings, but Oakland dropped a seven-spot in the 10th to even up this annual Bay Bridge series.

Sportstalk remote podcast at Il Fornaio in downtown San Francisco on Monday, March 19, 2018

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yelp.com photo: San Francisco Il Fornaio at 1265 Battery Street at Levis Plaza downtown San Francisco site of Sportstalk Podcast

Cast: David Zizmor (Host and Warriors analyst), Marko Ukalovic (SJ Barracuda beat writer), Len Shapiro (NHL analyst), Jeremy Kahn (SF Giants beat writer), Amaury Pi-Gonzalez (Oakland A’s Spanish announcer), and Lee Leonard (producer).

Podcasting from the beautiful Tuscan Room at Il Fornaio Ristorante at 1265 Battery Street at Levis Plaza downtown San Francisco. Remember Il Fornaio’s experienced staff will work closely with you to create a memorable event for you and your guests. Learn more about Il Fornaio’s catering from Il Fornaio’s hosts Estefania Arteaga (general manager), Jennah Feely (event coordinator), and ristorante managers Michael and Chris at your service daily. Call Il Fornaio at (415) 986-2210 to find out more.

On the Sportstalk Podcast, we took a look at how the San Francisco Giants are progressing in spring training they have six gold gloves coming into the 2018 regular season with Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford who each have three gold gloves and each won last year and Giants second baseman Joe Panik won his in 2016.

The position of catcher looks to be pretty solid for the Oakland A’s as catcher Jonathan Lucroy has come into camp providing leadership and great defense. Lucroy who handles pitchers well can be just what the A’s are looking for working with, calling, mixing of pitches and knowing the personality of the rotation. Bruce Maxwell said that he’s trying to lose some weight coming into camp at 270 pounds. Maxwell did swing the bats on Saturday going deep for a two-run homer.

Plus more discussions on the Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks all on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants bullpen gives up sure win in late innings

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by Michael Martinez

SAN FRANCISCO – Johnny Cueto (13-3) appeared to have his first win since the All Star break in the bag after he threw a solid six and two thirds innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Cueto also had a nice day at the plate putting together two hits and driving in a run. However, the Giants bullpen fell apart in the late innings and allowed the Orioles to make things competitive.

Hunter Strickland came in to relieve Cueto and got out of a seventh inning jam but gave up two runs in the seventh to let the Orioles back into the ball game, which included a solo shot by Mark Trumbo. The blast was Trumbo’s was number 34 of the season he still leads the AL in that category.

Derek Law replaced Strickland in the eighth and was able to limit the damage as the Giants still held a 7-5 lead heading into the top half of the ninth.

Then Santiago Casilla came into the game and not only let two runners get on base, but threw a hanging curveball right over the heart of the plate to Baltimore second baseman, Johnathan Schoop. Schoop made Casilla pay as he crushed the hanging breaking ball into the left field bleachers to give the Orioles the lead, eight to seven. The homer marked Casilla’s fifth blown save of the year.

“I have confidence in all my pitches,” Casilla said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I threw the curveball, and I just made a mistake. The ball didn’t break.”

The Giants then tried to make something happen off Orioles closer Zach Britton in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately could not get a run across the plate to push the game into extra innings. Britton added to his league leading save total, 37, as Baltimore sits just a half game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

For San Francisco, its their 18th loss since the Mid Summer Classic and a real bad one after they held a six run lead heading into the top of the seventh.

The orange and black hit their stride at the plate, tallying 14 hits for seven runs and forced Orioles skipper, Buck Showalter,  to remove starter Wade Miley in the fifth inning.

Giants back up catcher Trevor Brown got the scoring started with an RBI single in the second inning. Brown got the start behind the dish after Buster Posey was a last minute scratch due to back tightness. The injury could have been sustained from the flight back and has gradually worsened, according to Posey.

Before Sunday’s ball game, Brown had been hitless in his last seven at bats, with just three hits in his last 19. But Brown made the most out of his start and was a huge spark for SF’s offense. He finished the game three for five with three RBIs.

“He’s been great,” Posey said about Brown’s performance this year. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Outfielder Hunter Pence also had a good game and it appears his swing could be coming into form. Pence hit a bomb to center field, 436 feet to be exact, and added a single during the Giants big fifth inning. Pence’s dinger was his first since returning from the disabled list. Prior to today’s game, Pence had not put one into the seats dating all the way back to May 18.

Fortunately, the Dodgers (65-52) lost to Pittsburgh on Sunday, 11-3, keeping the Giants a game ahead in the NL West.

After blowing a huge lead and taking a loss in what looked to be the Giants first back-to-back wins since July 30 and 31 as well as their second consecutive series victory, San Francisco will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at home tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. PT as Matt Moore takes the mound.

“I think everyone knows what’s at stake. I don’t think there’s really any motivation needed,” Posey said. “This time of the year, this is when it’s fun. Each game as we get further and further along will have a little more importance on it. I think the group of guys in here generally thrive in these situations.”

San Francisco Giants Friday game wrap: Brown, Crawford Go Deep To Down Dodgers In A Wild Comeback Win

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: No hitter going? That’s all for you, as Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts takes Dodger starter Ross Stripling out in the eighth inning despite pitching a no hitter vs. San Francisco Giants

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-After nearly being on the receiving end of a historic no-hitter, the San Francisco Giants’ bats came alive late in the game to launch two home runs that would give the home team 2-0 series advantage over their rivals from the south.

After mustering just three baserunners through seven innings-all on walks- Trevor Brown’s homer in the eighth and Brandon Crawford’s long ball in the 10th would send the rain AT&T Park crowd home on a high note after the hometown squad would take both a no-hitter and a win away from the Dodgers on Saturday for a 3-2 victory.

Dodger rookie Ross Stripling put on a dazzling display of offspeed pitches mixed with solid fastball location that looked to put the Giants on the wrong side of a century old record for being no-hit by a debut pitcher.

But after completing 7 1/3 with a no-hitter in tact, a questionable move by manager Dave Roberts to pull the streaking youngster would lead another rookie to the spotlight instead.

The Giants first hit of the game would prove to be a crucial one, as C Trevor Brown’s first career home run would not only break up the Dodgers’ impending no-hitter, but would look to breathe new life into a stagnant Giants offense and send the game into 2-2 tie in the 8th inning.

Crawford would follow up the rookie’s display with an opposite shot of his own to lead off the 10th inning, launching his second career walk-off home run into the left field bleachers to hand his team the win.

The combination of home runs would see a Los Angeles kid in Brown hurt his hometown team, and a Bay Area native deal the finishing blow to his long-standing rival.

Lost in the fray of home runs and near no-hitters was Matt Cain’s impressive return to the mound. After a pair of injury marred seasons that saw the former ace hit the disabled list, the workhorse made a triumphant comeback in his first start of the season, surrendering just six hits over six innings of work while giving up just two runs.

The back of the rotation for both clubs saw strong outings from the returning ace in Cain and the newcomer Stripling. Both pitchers worked through the opposing lineups masterfully, while holding each team to just three runners in scoring position through the first five innings.

The duel was an encouraging sign for both clubs, as the former ace in Cain looked to rebound from injury-marred and ineffective seasons for the Giants, while Stripling looked to add some back-of-the-rotation punch for the Dodgers. But the Dodgers gained the advantage after five innings, as an RBI single from catcher A.J Ellis ended Cain’s scoreless streak after Joc Pederson came around to score following a leadoff double.

The Dodger’s young shortstop Corey Seager would pile on the damage with a two-out RBI single up the gut to make it a 2-0 deficit for Cain before he would escape the inning with a flyout to Justin Turner.

Meanwhile, Stripling continued his strong effort by mixing using an effective mix of offspeed pitches and fastball control to keep Giants runners off the base path, with just  two runners coming on consecutive walks through six innings.

The 26-year old looked to run into trouble heading into the 7th inning after issuing a leadoff walk to Hunter Pence, only to fall behind to Brandon Belt 0-3. But the Texas native rebounded by inducing a double-play ball from Belt, which was followed by a weak grounder from Matt Duffy to keep the no-hitter in tact.

Stripling looked to continue his quest to become the first rookie to throw a no-hitter in over a century during his debut, but after issuing a one-out walk to Angel Pagan, new Dodgers manager showed his short leash by yanking the youngster after an impressive debut.

The questionable move by manager Dave Roberts would come back to haunt the Dodgers, as Brown-who got his first start of the young season- would launch a two run home run off of RP Chris Hatcher to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th just moments after Stripling’s departure.

The Giants would work another runner into scoring position, before Hatcher would end the threat. But not before Brown’s longball would breathe new life into the ballgame.

Just as they had done the day before, the Giants would complete their comeback with a dagger of a homerun, as Crawford would connect with a 1-0 pitch from reliever Joe Blanton to secure the second straight win for the Giants against their NL West rivals.

The Giants look to make it three straight over the Dodgers tomorrow, as aces Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw square off in an afternoon start.

“Contagious” Starting Pitching Keys A’s to Win in Bay Bridge Series Opener

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By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – A bug is rapidly sweeping the Oakland Athletics clubhouse and every starting pitcher seems to have come down with it. It isn’t a case of the flu, but an epidemic of quality starts, with the latest “victim” to succumb being Jesse Chavez.

“It’s contagious,” said Chavez. “Yesterday, watching Jeff Samardzija pitch, I just wanted to feed off that. As a team, we feed off that. We’re playing good baseball. We’re happy to be home.”

The A’s right-hander matched a career-high in strikeouts (nine) over six shut-out innings in a 5-0 win against the San Francisco Giants at O.Co Coliseum Monday night. The win in the opener of the 2014 Bay Bridge Series marks the fifth-straight win for the A’s (56-33), who swept one of the American League’s best in the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game set over the weekend. A’s starters allowed three runs over 27 innings of work in the quartet of outings.

“I just want to hold down this spot for what happened earlier in the year,” said Chavez. “Whatever role they ask of me, I’ll do it. I’m just looking forward to being a part of this team.”

The decision for Chavez (7-5, 3.06 ERA) also marks a swing towards the early-season progress that had the reliever-turned-starter in the running for American League pitcher of the month in April. Chavez was 2-4 with a 4.08 ERA over his last eight starts coming in to Monday night, including a five-inning, five-run loss at Detroit in his most recent start last Wednesday.

“The last two starts, with two strikes I was over the plate a little bit,” assessed Chavez on his recent struggles. “My main focus was finishing the at-bat if I got ahead.”

Fernando Abad pitched 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief; Dan Otero did his part with 1 and 1/3 frames without a run. Ryan Cook fired off a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning to wrap up the game. In total, A’s pitchers scattered only five hits to the San Francisco offense. The Giants left seven runners on base, while Oakland stranded nine.

Craig Gentry represented the first A’s run of the night on a John Jaso ground-out in the fifth inning to snap Giants Starter Ryan Vogelsong’s 18 and 2/3 innings scoreless streak in interleague play. An inning later, Alberto Callaspo provided the crushing blow, greeting newly-inserted reliever Juan Gutierrez with a one-out, two-run double. Callaspo took the first offering from Gutierrez, a 92 mile-per-hour fastball, into the gap in right-center to plate Josh Donaldson from third base and Jed Lowrie from first. Vogelsong (5-6, 3.92) was charged with all three runs, and ultimately, the loss after his five and 1/3 innings of work.

Lowrie chased Vogelsong earlier in the inning, singling on a first-pitch delivery to put runners on the corners after Donaldson was controversially hit by a pitch to open the inning. Replay showed that the ball hit Donaldson’s fingers near the knob of the bat, sparking debate from Bruce Bochy. The Giants manager already burned his challenge when officials upheld a hit-by-pitch of Craig Gentry in the bottom of the fifth.

“It was originally called a foul ball,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Once (home plate umpire Paul Nauert) saw his hand, he changed the call around.”

“It hit the small pinky, the pinky knuckle,” said Donaldson. “He did the right thing. I have to give him some credit. When I heard it, it sounded like it hit the bat, but obviously I felt my hand hurting. I knew it hit my hand. He did the right thing, looked at my hand, saw it was swelling. He asked if I swung. I told him I felt like I didn’t.”

A couple of seventh-inning errors from Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford put Jaso and Yoenis Cespedes on second and third with no outs, setting up a Brandon Moss sacrifice fly off Gutierrez for a 4-0 lead. Donaldson, the starting AL all-star third baseman by way of fan vote, knocked Gutierrez out of the game on a laser up the middle to score Cespedes for the A’s fifth and final run of the night.

The sold-out crowd of 36,067 saw Oakland continue its dominance of San Francisco in the East Bay. Oakland has taken 10 of the last 12 games against their Northern California foes at the Coliseum.

“It’s always fun,” said Chavez of playing in the friendly rivalry. “It’s good baseball. It’s two good teams going at it. I think that’s good baseball.”

While the A’s continue to trend upward to the best record in the Major Leagues, the Giants have scuffled to one of the worst margins of victory in the league. Over the last 26 games, San Francisco (49-40) has gone 7-19 after winning 42 of the first 63 games of the season.

The black and orange send All-Star starter Madison Bumgarner to the mound Tuesday looking to split the two-game series in Oakland before the interleague rivalry series shifts to AT&T Park for a pair starting Wednesday. Oakland hands the ball off to its ace, Sonny Gray to sweep the first half of the home-and-home.

Giants Shutout for Second Loss in as Many Nights

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Photo Credit: Miami Marlins Google +
Photo Credit: Miami Marlins Google +

By: Joe Lami

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–The Miami Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants for the second night in a row on Saturday night by the final score of 5-0 to take the lead in the four game weekend set 2-1.

The night looked promising for the Giants, when Tim Lincecum smoked through the first inning with two strikeouts.  However, it looked like a completely different Lincecum in the second inning, as he walked two to set up the Marlins first run of the inning.  Lincecum walked both Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Marcell Ozuna to put runners on first and second, when  Adeiny Hechavarria knocked in Saltalamacchia for the eventual game winning run with the Marlins first hit of the evening.

Controversy occurred in the bottom half of the second inning for the Giants, when Brandon Hicks came up to the plate.  He lined a hard hit ball off of the bricks in right field for what should have been a double.  However, when rounding first, Hicks apparently missed first base.  After being challenged by the Marlins, it was deemed that Hicks missed first base, so he was called out.  “I thought I hit it, but I was looking up for the ball so I don’t know,” explained Hicks.

Instead of having runners of first and third with only one out, the Giants had two outs when Brandon Crawford was the next one to step to the plate.  He flied out to center on what would have been an easy sacrafice fly, but instead the fly out ended the inning.

“Crawford hit one and it would have been a run,” expressed Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

The Marlins were able to add two more in the sixth off of a tired Lincecum.  Casey McGehee started the inning with a leadoff double, only to be batted in when Garrett Jones came up next with a triple.  A scary moment occurred on the play, as Angel Pagan went diving for the ball, and ended up missing it, allowing Jones to get to third.  He banged up his shoulder on the play.  “He said he was a little sore, and will evaluate him tomorrow, but he should be okay,” Bochy commented.  Saltalamacchia then hit in Jones with a sacrifice fly to left to extend the lead to 3-0.

Lincecum was coming off of his best start of the season against Atlanta where he struck out 11, while allowing one run on two hits.  On Saturday night, the former Cy Young winner lasted six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, while striking out six.  “Timmy had a good outing, the way we have been swinging the bats of late, we could have expected more,” added Bochy.

Miami was able to add one in the seventh, when Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo shot for his 12th homerun of the season.  The Marlins also added one in the ninth that went unearned to make it 5-0.

Marlins’ pitcher Tom Koehler bounces back from his worst performance of the season, where he only pitched 3.2 innings against the Dodgers, with the win.  Koehler pitched seven, striking out seven, while only allowing four hits.  He ups his record to 4-3 on the year.

The Giants try to get back in the win column Sunday, as they will face these same Marlins for the final matchup of the four-game weekend set.  San Francisco will be putting Ryan Vogelsong on the mound, while they face Jacob Turner.