Tag: Sports Radio Service

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Yanks Judge is hitting out of his mind at .423; Big moves for PNC fall fan taking his first steps; plus more MLB news

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New York Yankees Aaron Judge takes a hack against the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium on Sat May 3, 2025. Judge is burning up the American League with a .423 clip. (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 New York Yankees mega star Aaron Judge despite going 1-5 on Sunday Judge is hitting an amazing .423 and has a 14 game hitting streak and is hitting .474 with ten extra bases hits during the streak and and has got on base for 30 games.

#2 The 20 year old fan who fell from a 21 foot wall above the warning track at PNC onto the warning track during a Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates game last week on Monday. Kavan Markwood has “a long way to go” to recovery. Markwood had slipped off the railing and landed on the warning track. Markwood took his first steps on Monday. Jennifer Phillips an organizer has established a GoFundMe page for Markwood saying that it will be a “a slow, slow process, but seeing him up and moving was a huge win and definitely lifted everyone’s spirits.”

#3 New York Yankee pitcher Gerrit Cole is focused on getting his brace removed off his right elbow two weeks ago after having reconstruction surgery last month. The next step of Cole is to start throwing again a goal to return for the 2026 season.

#4  Cincinnati Reds rookie leftfielder Tyler Callihan made a sliding attempt against the Atlanta Braves trying to get to a ball that turned into an inside the park home run on Monday night as the Reds were shutout by the Reds 4-0. In the bottom of third the Braves Matt Olson hit a fly that Callihan tried track down but ended up crashing into the padded wall in foul ground up the left field line. Callihan hit the wall jarring the ball out of his glove and fell on his back in pain grabbing his left arm. Callihan ended up with a broken left arm.

#5 Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman both homered and got to Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara once again in a 7-4 win over the Marlins on Monday night. The Dodgers got two hits from Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez and the Dodgers have now won eight of their last nine game on the ten game road trip.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

“Never Tell Me The Odds” – Utah Hockey Club Wins Revenge Of The Fifth

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Utah General Manager Bill Armstrong was all smiles following the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery which saw his team steal the 4th pick in the June 27 draft. (photo from the author Tom Walker)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–In Monday’s first round of the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery which was broadcast live on ESPN, the New York Islanders with their 3.5% chance of winning came out on top, leapfrogging from the 10th position over the San Jose Sharks (18.5%) and Chicago Blackhawks (13.5%) which had respectively won the previous two draft lotteries.

It remains unknown if Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong tapped into the power of the Dark Side of the Force to influence the second round of the lottery, but in the aftermath of “May the Fourth” which is informally recognized as Star Wars Day, Utah owned “Revenge of the Fifth” when the final ping pong ball enabled the team which had just 1.5% chance of improving its position to move up the maximum possible distance to 4th from 14.

Last week Utah accidentally leaked that it might soon adopt the “Mammoth” nickname next season, but following their heist in the draft lottery, perhaps the “Outlaws” deserve renewed consideration.

Moments following the selection process, Utah General Manager Bill Armstrong held a Zoom call with local media to discuss the outcome.

Armstrong was exuberant in his opening remarks.  “To pick at four … A couple of seconds ago we were just like ten back, so it still hasn’t sunk in – but what a great opportunity for us to be able to move up that far in the draft, and now we’re right up at the top of the draft.  This is an exciting moment for us.  It’s a game changer for us.  I can’t wait to huddle with the scouts tomorrow and go over it.  Obviously we’ve been studying the players that were available to us, where we thought they’d fall.  Now we’re going to leap up a little bit and it’s going to be exciting times.  Just great stuff for the franchise.  I can’t express in words on the excitement of when that happened, and the opportunity in front of us.”

How does the new draft position change things?  “Your mind just totally switches to who’s available that you can get at four.  …  It’s gonna be a great challenge for us to kind of go back and look at some of the players that are available at that spot and go to work.”

Armstrong talked about the typical mindset going into the draft of teams which fall out of contention with weeks to go in the season  Utah remained mathematically viable until the final days of the regular season, and did not expect to be in this position looking forward to the draft.  Armstrong said, “We were a pretty good team that chased it down the stretch playing meaningful games and chasing a playoff spot, and we’re getting to that point where we’re becoming a really good team that’s gonna have a chance to get into the playoffs, and so not only knowing that we have that in front of us with a really good team and some really good prospects coming, but the fact that we’re picking at four again and going into free agency, these are exciting times for Utah.”

For situations like this, Armstrong emphasized the importance of everyone on the staff.  “This is why you pay your amateur staff, because now you’re switching spots and you’re having to draft higher, and they’ve been looking, coming down the stretch, they’ve been kind of seeing where we’re going to place and chasing those type of players.  Now it’s in motion, we’re going to switch and go into a new world of looking at the top end of the draft and seeing what’s going to slide our way at four.  The good news for us is that we’ve done it before.  We’ve picked in that range in the last few years, so that’s gonna help us prepare for it.  And I think the simple fact that our staff’s pretty good at always keeping an eye on what’s up there, and has done some great work during the year, and now we’re gonna go dissect it and get down to business tomorrow.”

Speaking of previous drafts, Armstrong said, “Normally you sit in these things and sometimes nobody moves and you go home unhappy or you got bumped down a spot and you go home unhappy, but we’ll never forget this moment. This is truly a great moment in the franchise.”

When asked about the depth of this year’s draft, Armstrong responded, “It’s a good draft. I think when you’re picking up top you get a chance to get a real game changer, a top-two line guy that can be a difference maker on your team.  You still have to pick well.  If you go back to the 2012 draft, take a look at the top four that went off the board, and they all never worked out for them in the NHL, so you still gotta be a savvy staff that gets down to business and ignores all the critics, all the hype, and who’s supposed to go, and this and that, and really get down to it.  I think our staff’s done an amazing job over the years of just kind of ignoring all the noise and getting down to hockey players.  And you probably saw that the year that Cooley was picked.  There was a lot of hype about a lot of different players and we just stuck to our guns and drafted what we thought was the best player in the draft.”

For those who were wondering, the top four in 2012 were Nail Yakupov (Edmonton), Ryan Murray (Columbus), Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal), and Griffin Reinhart (NY Islanders).  Yakupov would play 350 games with 3 teams over 6 seasons in the NHL (62 G, 74 A,-136 Pts) before moving on to the KHL for the rest of his career.  Murray played 10 years in the NHL, registering 445 games with 4 teams (15 G, 116 A, 131 Pts).  Galchenyuk played 11 seasons in the NHL with 654 games (146 G, 208 A, 354 Pts).  Lastly, Reinhart would play just 37 games in parts of four seasons in the NHL (0 G, 2 A, 2 Pts).

When asked his draft strategy, whether Utah is looking for a particular type of player to fill a specific need, or if they will pick the best available player, Armstrong replied, “We really look at the best player available.  We’ve always done that as a staff.  Like I said, we kind of ignore all the hype and the noise around it, and all the bloggers and all the great things that they write about players – ‘and don’t draft this guy’ –  and our staff’s really good about just digging into hockey players. … It really comes down for the best player for us.  We always keep track of how many D-men we’ve drafted every year, and obviously as you get down into the later rounds, but when we’re picking up top we’re going to take the best player.”

When asked if he expects his phone to be ringing with teams making offers for the pick, and whether he would entertain such offers, Armstrong responded, “I think that’s something that obviously we’ll always talk about.  We’ll never shut that door.  That’s always been an avenue for us to get players, and we’re at the position right now as a team where we’re trying to make that next step, so we’ll always look at that.  That’s part of the process.  The amateur guys will be looking at the guy to pick – they don’t want to hear anything about trades!  But yes, the phone will be ringing.”

The final media question had to do with how the team might involve the community on draft day.  “Because we’ll be picking so high, it’ll cause a little bit excitement in the community and into our fan base,” Armstrong said.  “I think they’ll be really excited.  They’ll get into it.  They just have to remember that it’s not like basketball – the guy doesn’t play right away.  So I think that’s the big difference we’ve tried to explain to people.  It’s like, ‘They go back to Junior and sometimes they’re three and even more years away from playing, so it takes a little bit longer,’ but I think last year when we drafted a lot of the people thought, ‘hey, they’re coming in right away to play,’ and I’m like, ‘no, it takes some time.’  But truly an incredible day for us here and we’re gonna to have the opportunity to pick a real good player high in the draft and take a big swing here.  It’s gonna be exciting.”

Now the big question is whether the June 27 draft pick will be wearing a sweater featuring a Mammoth, an Outlaw, or something else.

Tom Walker is a Utah Hockey Club beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento A’s podcast Tony Renteria: A’s Wilson with third walk off hit for season; Sac now 1 game out of first place

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Sacramento A’s hitter Jacob Wilson connects for a game winning 11th inning walk off base hit at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento on Mon May 5, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento A’s podcast Tony Renteria:

#1 Sacramento A’s Jacob Wilson knocked in the winning run as the A’s edged the Seattle Mariners 7-6 in 11 innings at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento on Monday night in the first of a three game set.

#2 Wilson had himself quiet and evening getting three hits and three RBIs and a base hit which tied up the ball game against the M’s pitcher Andres Munoz in the tenth that scored ghost runner JJ Bleday.

#3 In the 11th inning A’s Gio Urshela got on board with on a sacrifice bunt and the M’s intentionally walked two hitters to load the bases with Wilson coming up. Wilson got a walk off base hit off M’s pitcher Casey Legumina that went up the middle when the infield was playing in for the win. It was Wilson’s third walk off hit this season.

#4 A’s reliever Mason Miller walked two hitters in the top of the ninth and struck out M’s hitter Cal Raleigh to retire the side. Miller who had a blown save in Miami comes through big on Monday night against the first place Mariners.

#5 Tuesday night’s match up at Sutter Health as RHP Emerson Hancock (1-1 ERA 6.62) making the start for the Mariners and for the A’s LHP Jefferey Springs (4-3 ERA 4.98) for a 7:05pm first pitch. Springs picked up the win against the Texas Rangers in Arlington after going six innings, two hits and no runs scored on Thu May 1.

Join Tony Renteria for the Athletics podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cubs Score Five Runs In Sixth Inning Beating San Francisco 9-2

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Chicago Cubs Carson Kelly (15) rounds the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning as the San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (foreground) can only watch at Wrigley Field in Chicago Mon May 5, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (22-14) kept pace with the Chicago Cubs (22-14) going into the fourth inning. With the game tied, the Cubs made their move scoring 2 runs taking a 4-2 lead. The sixth inning was the killer for the Giants. The Cubs scored five runs winning the game 9-2. Chicago’s defense was superb finishing the game with 9 hits and put out an equally dangerous offensive effort.

Game recap: Two quick opening innings took this game into the third inning. The Giants had one hit in the first two innings, a single by Matt Chapman in the second but that was it for the offense. The Cubs also had two quiet innings to start the game.

The Giants went three up, three out in the third inning but the Cubs Dansby Swanson doubled in the bottom of the third followed by top of the order batter Ian Happ who hit a two run home to right center taking a 2-0 lead. The Giants had an error in the first that would be followed by more infield problems.

San Francisco tied up the game in the fourth inning when Luis Matos homered to left center driving Matt Chapman home for the 2-2 score. The Giants rally was stopped short when the Cubs pushed the score back out to 4-2.

With two outs the Giants were almost out of the inning but the Cubs Nico Hoerner singled, Dansby Swanson singled and Nicky Lopez singled in an offensive flurry. Swanson’s single drove in base runners Crow-Armstrong and Hoerner who both scored for the 4-2 tally. San Francisco had a second Giant’s error in the inning. San Francisco finally got out of the inning but the damage had been done.

The Cubs had more in store for the visiting Giant’s. Chicago went crazy in the fateful sixth inning scoring five runs and taking a 9-2 lead. Carson Kelly got the inning going with a solo home run.

The Cubs would extend their lead when they loaded the bases with no outs. Relief pitcher Spencer Bevins had a rough time loading the bases and walking in another run for a 6-4 lead. Hoerner sacrificed and a third run crossed home plate.

Chicago finished off the inning with a Seiya Susaki single that drove in both Nicky Lopez and Dansby Swanson for a 9-2 lead going into the seventh inning.

A quiet seventh and eighth inning took San Francisco into the top of the ninth inning down to their last three outs. The Giants went quietly into the night losing game one to Chicago 9-2. The four errors San Francisco had contributed to this loss. The Giants have had quite a time with errors this season; already 20 so far.

San Francisco Giant’s starting pitcher Landen Roupp went 5.0 innings finishing with five hits, two earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts.

Game notes: Monday evening the Giants took on the Cubs kicking off a six game road trip. San Francisco has dropped into third place in the National League West but is within a game and half of first place. Both clubs have good records but Chicago is holding down first place in the National League Central , three full games ahead of the second place Reds. The Cubs won their series with the Brewers over the weekend and the Giants also won their weekend series against the Colorado Rockies. The opening game of this game was pretty clear that the Cubs have the pitching which they got out of starter Matthew Boyd and plenty of hitting with a five run rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Tuesday the Giants Justin Verlander (0-2 ERA 4.38) will take another crack at it on the mound looking for his first win as a Giant. The Cubs will start Colin Rea 2-0 who comes in with a 1.46 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 4:40 PM

6th inning bases loaded no outs

San Jose Barracuda/AHL Playoffs podcast Marko Ukalovic: Series is tied as Barracuda-Eagles head back to Colorado Tuesday night

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Colorado Eagles center Chris Wagner (14) and goaltender Trent Minor (50) can’t stop a shot on goal as the San Jose Barracuda’s center Collin Graf (51) watches the puck cross the crease at Tech CU in San Jose on Sun May 4, 2025 (photo by San Jose Barracuda)

San Jose Barracuda podcast Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda Danil Gushchin scored the game winner with 27 second left in the overtime stanza to defeat the Colorado Eagles in Game 2 of the Pacific Divsion Semifinals at Tech CU last Sunday.

#2 San Jose had 1:12 left in their power play to start the overtime period. Gushchin carried the puck inside the Eagles zone and created a give and go with Colin Graf. Gushchin’s backhanded attempt was saved by Colorado netminder Trent Miner. The rebound was kicked in through the five-hole of Miner by Chris Wagner as Gushchin earned his first goal of the playoffs.

#3 The opening 20 minutes of the game was scoreless as both teams displayed tight checking throughout the period. The Barracuda dominated the shot clock 14-6 over the Eagles yet neither goaltender Yaroslav Askarov nor Miner allowed a puck past the crease.

#4 San Jose (1-1) started the second period on a four-minute power play due to Tye Felhaber taking a high sticking penalty that drew blood at the end of the first period. However, the Cuda power play did not generate enough quality scoring chances.

#5 San Jose and Colorado battle it out in Game 3 on Tuesday May 6th at 6:05pm at Blue Arena series is tied as this one goes back to Loveland.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Athletics podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s continue with best road record in baseball at 12-7

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Sacramento A’s Tyler Soderstrom slugs an RBI single that scored teammate Nick Kurtz in the top of the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins at Loan Depot in Miami on Sun May 4, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the Sacramento Athletics game wrap:

#1 Sacramento A’s rookie Nick Kurtz hit a triple in the top of the ninth inning and wound up scoring on a base hit by Tyler Soderstrom that helped the A’s beat the Marlins 3-2 on Sunday.

#2 Kurtz hit a pitch from Marlins pitcher Anthony Bender down the left field line and Soderstrom hit a single that helped give the A’s with two outs and get the two out of three game series win. The A’s with the win are now 13-7 and have the best road record in the AL.

#3 The A’s jumped on the lead in second inning when Miguel Andujar and Jacob Wilson got base hits on Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera. Andujar and Wilson scored when Gio Urshela hit a double. Later Usrshela was thrown out by Dane Myers at home on a Jhonny Pereda single to end the inning.

#4 The Marlins tied up the game with two down and the bases empty and got a rally pitcher JP Sears for two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. But that was all they were going to get as the Marlins fell short by a run to Sacramento 3-2.

#5 The A’s return back to Sacramento and host the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the first of a three game series. Starting pitcher for the M’s Bryce Miller (2-3 ERA 3.52) for the A’s Louis Severino (1-3, ERA 3.30) first pitch 7:05pm PDT.

Join Barbara Mason for the Athletics podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Days of Hope, Fremont was in the A’s plans

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Former Oakland A’s pitcher Yusmeiro Petit signs autographs for fans at the A’s 2018 Fan Fest at Jack London Square in Oakland (photo by the author Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

Days of Hope, Fremont was in A’s Plans

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

2018 at Jack London Square, where the Oakland Athletics still hoped to build a brand new ballpark, was another year where hope was in the air, hoping the team would remain in The Town.. The A’s Fanfest was popular, with fans gearing up for the season. Little did these fans know that in just a few years, the team would not be playing at Oakland, where they won six American League pennants and four World Series.

The A’s Fanfest at Oakland was always well attended by fans and visitors from all over the Bay Area and the country, baseball people, collectors, tourists, dreamers, and most of all, baseball aficionados seeking autographs from their favorite Oakland A’s players.

The Oakland Athletics had high hopes for staying in Oakland within a new stadium during the years the Oakland Coliseum was deemed outdated and needed replacement. This desire extended across several ownership groups and multiple Bay Area cities, including Oakland, as they struggled to secure funding and land for a new ballpark.

Specifically, the A’s explored options in Fremont, San José, and ultimately, a waterfront site in Oakland. However, the decision to relocate to Las Vegas in 2023 marked the end of these attempts to find a new home in the Bay Area. Currently temporarily playing in Sacramento.

During the A’s Fanfest, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame were busy, as many A’s players would sign autographs and meet with the fans. Next to our location was another non-profit founded by ex-A ‘s Manager and Hall of Famer, Tony LaRussa.

Tony has long advocated for animal welfare and is passionate about helping animals find a home. Tony was not happy about the possibility of the A’s relocating out of the city, which made him a winning manager and a Hall of Fame manager. “I think we should have figured a way; If it wasn’t going to be Oakland, it should have been somewhere in the Bay Area.” -his quote.

Fremont, the city, my home for a longtime was talked about to be the next home of the A’s, not a bad idea, only 20 minutes south of Oakland and even closer to San José, a perfecrt location for the team to stay in the Bay Area.

A meeting to discuss bringing the A’s to Fremont was held at the Saddle Rack in Fremont on February 25, 2009. This meeting was part of a larger effort by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and local fans to support the team’s relocation to Fremont.

I was there, with the group that supported the idea to have Fremont as the new home of the A’s. But there was also opposition, and they won. Lew Wolff was the team owner at that time and told the citty in a letter that the team stopped all plans to build a state-of-the art stadium in Fremont Wolff, who owned the team told city officials in a letter that the team has stopped all plans to build a state-of-the-art stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb, of Fremont south of its current home at the Oakland Coliseum.

He cited expected delays to the project as a reason for his decision. “Delays that are both real and threatened have made it impossible for me to assure my organization of an implementation date consistent with our needs and the requirements of Major League Baseball,” Wolff wrote in the letter.

He noted that the team had already committed more than $80 million to the project, $24 million of which is not recoverable. Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman was disappointed by the decision. Wasserman was the Mayor who developed Fremont into one of the Bay Area’s most prosperous and populated cities.

Fremont is the fourth-largest city in the Bay Area, after #1 San José, #2 San Francisco, and #3 Oakland. Fremont is also the home of the #1 Tesla manufacturing plant in the United States, “Silicon Valley East.” Fremont, CA with 230,000 population.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

AQUA ADVENTURE WATER PARK CENTRAL PARK FREMONT FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY- OPENS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND https://goaquaadventure.com/

San Francisco Giants game wrap: Adames hits two HRs, and Giants win series in 9-3 laugher over Rockies

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San Francisco Giants game wrap:

San Francisco Giants Wilmer Flores (41) congratulates Willy Adames (right) who had two home runs after the game against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun May 4, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Colorado Rockies 3 (6-28)

San Francisco Giants 9 (22-13)

Win: Logan Webb (4-2)

Loss: German Marquez (0-6)

Time: 2:29

Attendance: 41,087

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–Willy Adames hit two home runs, and the Giants took the series over the Rockies in a 9-3 laugher.

As the Giants looked to take the series against the Rockies Sunday, they had the perfect man on the mound in their ace, Logan Webb. To be honest though, Webb had a bit of a rocky time—no pun intended—in the top of the first inning. Webb only gave up one hit, but the Rockies hit the ball hard off him.

The Rockies also had the perfect man on the mound for the Giants in German Marquez, who came into today’s game 0-5 with a 9.82 ERA. Mike Yastrzamski lined out to begin the bottom of the first inning, but with one out, Willy Adames battled his way through a long at-bat, as he fouled off four two-strike pitches

The longer an at-bat goes, the more the momentum is going to swing in favor of the hitter, because he’s getting a great look at what the pitcher is throwing. Even if Adames strikes out, it’s a great at-bat, because he got a lot of pitches out of Marquez, and because he can give a detailed scouting report to his teammates on what Marquez is featuring.

Adames ended up with the best result possible. On the tenth pitch, he hit a home run to left-center field, which not only got the Giants on the board, but got this sold-out crowd into the game early.

Webb then settled down with a scoreless top of the second and a one, two, three top of the third. Marquez also settled down with a scoreless bottom of the second, and he retired the first two men he faced in the bottom of the third.

With two outs, up came Adames, who hit his second home run of the game. This one was a mammoth blast to left field that went about a third of the way up into the bleachers. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a total mammoth blast, but it certainly seemed and felt like one.

Webb worked through some trouble in the top of the fourth, and he got a chopper off his leg which he turned into a 1-3 putout. Webb immediately shooed to the dugout to make sure nobody came out, but Dave Groeschner came out anyway. Of course Webb was fine, and he stayed in the game.

After Marquez threw his first one, two, three inning of the day in the bottom of the fourth, the Rockies got on the board in the top of the fifth. Mickey Moniak led off the inning with a triple, and Jacob Stallings got him in with a base-hit to left to make it 2-1.

Alan Trejo reached on an error, and Webb was in trouble. However, Webb then got Brenton Doyle to ground into a double play, and he struck out Jordan Beck to end the inning with the Giants still ahead.

The Giants had their response in the bottom of the fifth. Luis Matos led off with a double, and Patrick Bailey singled him over to third. Christian Koss grounded out, but Mike Yastrzemski knocked in a pair with a base-hit to center, and that made it 4-1.

That did it for Marquez, as the Rockies brought in Angel Chivilli.

Only three times in the history of Oracle Park has a player hit three home runs in a game. Kevin Elster did it for the Dodgers the day the park opened on April 11, 2000; Pablo Sandoval of course did it in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series against the Tigers; and Joc Pederson did it in a wild game against the Mets on May 24, 2022.

Willy Adames had a chance to be the fourth man to do it. He hit a long fly ball deep to right-center field, but the ball hit off the wall. Yaz scored to make it 5-1, so not all was lost.

The Giants had scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, and Webb remained in control. The Giants scored four more in the bottom of the seventh to make it a laugher at 9-1, but Willy Adames was unable to get that elusive third home run. Still, 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, a double and three RBIs ain’t shabby.

Webb went seven innings when all was said and done. He walked two, and struck out six.

The Rockies scored a pair of runs off Spencer Bivens in the top of the eighth to make it 9-3. Lou Trivino came in for the ninth and ran into a bit of trouble, but he ended up pitching a scoreless inning to end it.

Logan Webb got the win, and Garman Marquez got the loss.

The Giants responded to their first three-game losing streak of the year with a three-game winning streak, as they improve to 22-13.

The Giants will head to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago to take on the Cubs, who themselves are off to a great start at 21-14. The Giants will have three in Chicago Monday through Wednesday, and then three in Minnesota against the Twins over the weekend Friday through Sunday.

Landen Roupp (2-2, 5.10 ERA) will take the ball for the Giants in the series opener Sunday night. Left-hander Matthew Boyd (2-2, 2.70 ERA) will go for the Cubs. First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m. at Wrigley, 4:40 p.m. back home in San Francisco.

Giants News and Notes:

Sunday’s crowd of 41,087 was the eighth sellout of the season here at Oracle Park. The Giants are just two sellouts shy of their highest total since 2018, which is 10 (2022 and 2024).

Athletics Edge Marlins 3-2 with Late-Inning Heroics from Rookie and a Steady Sears

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Sacramento A’s Nick Kurtz (left) dives into third base for a triple as the Miami Marlins third baseman Connor Norby (right) puts on the tag a little late at Loan Depot Park in Miami on Sun May 4, 2025 (AP News photo)

Athletics Edge Marlins with Late-Inning Heroics from Rookie and a Steady Sears

By Mauricio Segura

The green and gold keep finding new ways to win, and on Sunday, it came down to a clutch swing from a newcomer and ice-cold nerves from a bullpen looking to bounce back. Tyler Soderstrom’s ninth-inning RBI single broke a 2-2 tie, lifting the Sacramento Athletics to a 3-2 win over the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park. The victory helped the Athletics close out the road trip 5-2 and keep pace in the AL West with their eighth win in 12 games.

Nick Kurtz, the A’s No. 1 prospect, kickstarted the decisive frame with a one-out triple, the first of his week-long career, before Soderstrom, pinch-hitting for Luis Urías, lined a go-ahead single to center to drive him in. Soderstrom also swiped second for good measure, flashing the kind of confident hustle that’s becoming his trademark.

That one run proved enough for right-hander Tyler Ferguson, who nailed down his first career save with a clean ninth, striking out Kyle Stowers to end it.

The A’s had taken an early 2-0 lead in the second inning on Gio Urshela’s two-run double, but the Marlins answered in the fourth when Dane Myers’ sharp double into right brought home two to even the score. It stayed gridlocked from there, as both bullpens traded scoreless innings until Soderstrom’s dagger in the ninth.

JP Sears continued his quietly dominant run as the A’s most reliable starter. The lefty tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, striking out four and walking none. Sears has now issued two walks or fewer in all seven of his starts and holds a 2.94 ERA. His control remains elite, only 1.60 walks per nine innings this season, and he’s yet to allow a first-inning run all year.

The Athletics’ defense backed Sears well, especially Jacob Wilson and Gio Urshela, who both made key plays on tough grounders. Offensively, Wilson collected two more hits and continues to thrive with runners on, now batting .400 in those situations. Meanwhile, Miguel Andujar extended his hot streak with another multi-hit game and a stolen base, pushing his average to .347 over his last 19 contests.

The bullpen was airtight. Mitch Spence followed Sears with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball before giving way to Ferguson. Together, they locked up Miami over the final 3.1 innings, a welcome sight after Saturday’s bullpen meltdown.

With the win, the Athletics improve to 19-16 and secure a second best spot in the AL West just half a game in front of 3rd place Houston and 2.5 games behind Seattle.

They return home Monday to face the first-place Seattle Mariners starting for the M’s Bryce Miller (2-3 ERA 3.52) with A’s starter Luis Severino (1-3 ERA 3.30) on the mound, looking to ride this momentum through the homestand.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman: Giants conclude four game series with Rockies today at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (left) and LaMonte Wade Jr (right) celebrates the win against Colorado Rockies on Sat May 3, 2025 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

San Francisco Giants podcast Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Saturday’s game at Oracle Park was one for the books as the San Francisco Giants down to the last place Colorado Rockies 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning saw Matt Chapman connect for a grand slammer that put the Giants back in the drivers seat taking a 6-3 lead which would end up being the final score.

#2 The Giants won their 11th game when the were behind by two or more runs that leads the Majors this year.

#3 The grand slam by Chapman was his third career grand slam and it was the Giants first since Chapman did it on May 11, 2024 against the Cincinnati Reds.

#4 San Francisco Giants starter Jordan Hicks struck out seven hitters the most this season for Hicks. Hicks pitched five innings, allowed three hits, three earned runs, and two walks.

#5 Starting pitchers for the Rockies RHP German Marquez (0-5 ERA 9.82) for the Giants RHP Logan Webb (3-2 ERA 2.83) talk about how you see this match up today?

Stephen Ruderman is a San Francisco Giants beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com