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A’s Lose Game Three To Twins 6-2 In First Game of Double Header

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Oakland A’s hitter Max Scheumann is frustrated after striking out against the Minnesota Twins in the top of the fifth inning at Target Field in Minneapolis during the front game of a doubleheader on Sun Jun 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (26-47) lost their eighth game in a row against the Minnesota Twins (39-32) 6-2. Starting pitcher J.P. Sears gave up six hits two of them home runs, four earned runs with only a single strikeout. The Twins starter Bailey Ober went 6.1 innings allowing six hits and one run with eight strikeouts. Oakland will be looking to avoid a sweep in this double header with first pitch at 4:40 PM.

Game recap: Game Three in the first of the double header opened up at 10:40 AM under partly cloudy skies and a high of 87 degrees. The weather report was favorable calling for no rain until early tomorrow morning. There would be no rain but but it was humid with a heat advisory calling for 87 degrees feeling more like 93 degrees during the game.

It was not the start that Oakland had envisioned after taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning of Friday’s game. The Twins Carlos Correa continued to hit as he has all series getting this game underway in the first inning knocking a two run home run out of the park for a 2-0 Twins lead. Minnesota would add to their lead when Royce Lewis hit a solo homer in the same inning for a 3-0 advantage.

Carlos Correa hit his second home run of the day in the fourth inning, a solo shot, and Minnesota was again on the scoreboard leading 4-0. Correa is 18 of 30 with three home runs in the past seven days. This guy is on a roll. In the seventh inning Carlos Santana hit a two-run home run. Everything was working for the Twins in this game.

Oakland did hit a solo home run in the seventh inning. Daz Cameron homered to left for a solo but again the A’s were leaning heavily on hitting home runs and when you are losing, solo home runs don’t make of an impact. Going into the eighth inning the A’s were losing 6-1. Oakland would one more run in this game in the ninth inning. Kyle McCann singled J.D. Davis home for a final score of 6-2 in favor of the Twins. Minneapolis will be looking for a sweep in the second game of the double header.

The A’s had nine hits in this game, the Twins had 12. Oakland left too many runners stranded something that has hurt them all season as they lost their eighth straight game.

It was a rough outing for J.P. Sears who allowed two home runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. The lefty had allowed eight home runs in his first 14 starts this season. He had not allowed a single home run in his past five starts so this was not a great start for him.

The Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober had a nice game going 6.1 innings allowing six hits, one run with eight strikeouts.

Game notes: Sunday afternoon the A’s got knocked off by the Twins in the front game of a double header after game three was rained out Saturday at Target Field. JP Sears pitched for 4.1 innings giving up nine hits, four runs, four hits and four walks. Sears struck out one batter.

In Friday nights game, the Twins won the game in another walk off 6-5. Oakland is no doubt sick of walk-offs ad nauseam. They lost two games in a row to the Padres Tuesday and Wednesday evening in walk offs after tying up the game in game two in the eighth inning and in game three leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. It has been a rough stretch for the Oakland A’s who desperately needed hits late in games never seem to materialize.

The second game of this double header is slated to begin at 4:40 PM. The A’s will be looking to avoid the sweep in this game. Joey Estes will take the mound for the A’s with a 4.78 ERA and a 2-2 win/loss record. Chris Paddack gets the nod for the Twins with a 4.70 ERA and a winning 5-3 record.

Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O: Astros Verlander out with neck discomfort; O’s Bradish on 15 day IL Sprained UCL; plus more news

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Houston Astros starter Justin Verlander throws against the Los Angeles Angels on Sun Jun 9, 2024 at The Big A in Anaheim. Verlander missed a start on Sat Jun 15, 2024 against the Detroit Tigers in Houston due to neck discomfort (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Houston Astros have had their share of tough luck this season but their a battling group now eight games off the pace in the American League West in third place. That said their number one starter Justin Verlander was scratched from Saturday’s game with neck discomfort. Astros Joe Espada said that Verlander had been suffering the last two weeks with the neck discomfort.

#2 Baltimore Orioles right hand pitcher Kyle Bradish is on the 15 day IL with sprained right UCL. Bradish left after pitching against the Philadelphia Phillies complaining about his elbow. The Orioles lost to the Phillies 5-3 on Friday night as Bradish suffered the injury at Camden Yards.

#3 MLB had announced that they have suspended umpire Pat Hoberg for violating the game’s rules. This being ten days after baseball had suspended four players and one was banished for life. Hoberg is appealing the case and is waiting for MLB to present evidence that he bet on baseball. If Hoberg is found to bet on games that he did not umpire in he will be suspended for a year. If he is found to have bet on games he umpired he will be banned for life.

#4 Houston Astros Jose Abreu was released by the Astros and is owed $30.8 million of his $58.5 million three contract. Abreu 37 years old was hitting .124, (14-113) with two home runs and seven RBIs for this season.

#5 Lastly it was learned that the Oakland A’s do have an escape clause out of Las Vegas if they were to get taxed. Other sports teams in Las Vegas do not pay a sales tax on tickets. Other entertainment venues like concerts, comedy clubs and live performances charge a nine percent sales tax. If a tax were to be levied on the A’s they would have an escape clause to leave Las Vegas. It’s very unlikely they will get taxed.

Join Charlie O for Headline Sports podcast Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Ballers come up short in 9th get edged by Rocky Mountain 5-4

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Oakland Ballers just couldn’t come up with one or two runs to get back in it in the bottom of the ninth on Sat Jun 15, 2024 at Raimondi in West Oakland (photo from Oakland Ballers X account)

Saturday, June 15, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

Rocky Mountain (9-11) 200 110 010 5 12 2

Oakland (13-10) 002 001 001 4 6 0

Time: 2:56

Attendance: 1,622

By Lewis Rubman

WEST OAKLAND–The combination of a hot, dry day in Oakland and the power hitting heavy Pioneer League would lead you expect that the ball would be flying out of the park with a certain regularity this Saturday afternoon at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. The balls weren’t leaving the park on a regular basis today, but they did exit the premises five times in the Oakland Ballers 5-4 loss to the visiting Rocky Mountain Vibes. The Vibes hit three of them and the Ballers, 2, which pretty much accounts for the difference in their final scores.

Rocky Mountain set the tone from the very start of the contest with back to back leadoff dingers to left by center fielder Brett Carson and left fielder Stephen Wilmer, their fourth and third, respectively, of the young season in this short season league. Wilmer’s shot apppeared to have gone foul to a vocal caucus of the 1,622 attendees, and they let third base umpire Allen Walker know it. They reminded him of their judgement on and off throughout the afternoon. They also were frequent critics of the ball and strike calls of home plate ump Grant Meyers (even when video reviews of the challanged calls often confirmed them). The Vibes’ last run would also come on round tripper by an outfielder. Right fielder Stephen Rivas’ two out blast over the right centerfield fence in the fifth was his seventh of the year. It came off Reed Butz, who had relieved St. Pierre in the fourth.

Before that, the Ballers had clawed their way back to a tie in their half of the third on a one out single by shortstop Myles Jefferson, who moved on to second when third baseman Dondrei on an error by Josh Day, his Rocky Mountain counterpart at the hot corner. Both runners advanced another 90 feet on a balk called on by the Vibes’ starting and winning pitcher, Carlos Lomelí. They scored on left fielder Trevor Halesma’s down the line single to left.

Oakland went into the home ninth trailing, 5-3. They shaved a run off that lead Once more the agent was a solo home run. Rocky Mountain’s fifth pitcher,Max Pattey, was on the mound in relief of Troy Morrill.It was second sacker Brad Burckel’s fourth four bagger of ’24 and went over right centerfield fence with one out. For a while, it looked like they might just pull off a comeback. Jaylin Smith pinch hit for center fielder Payton Harden, and grounded to short, where Devyn López had trouble fielding the ball. Smith beat the throw, arriving safely at first on the error. Then, taking advantage of the Pioneer League’s complex designated pinch hitter and designated pinch runner rules, Harden pinch ran for the man who had pinch hit for him. The game of musical chairs continued as Bryson Spagnuolo relieved Pattey and got Austin Davis to fly out to right center, Jefferson walked, putting Harden with the potential tying run in scoring position at second while Jefferson represented the potential winning run on at first. Hubbard, who had into the game batting .352 and had gone 0 for 4 so far in the game, popped out to second for the final out, earning Spagnueolo his third save

Lomelí’s win, his third against one defeat, left him with an ERA of 5.55, not particularly bad for the Pioneer League, especially on a team that plays half its games in the Colorado Springs, a stone’s throw from Pike’s Peak. Kelsey Ward pitched to three batters in the sixth, walking one, striking out another, and hitting a third. Kyle Pijaszek retired the side in the seventh. Morrill struck out the three Ballers he faced in the eighth, and the home run that Pattey surrendered in the ninth was the only hit he allowed in his 2/3 of an inning. Spagnuelo needed only eight pitchers to wrap thing up.

Oakland’s right handed starter, Zach St. Pierre, took the tough loss, which left him at 0-2, 7.36. He pitched decently through his 3-2/3 inning stint, allowing no one to cross the plate after the second batter, and even that run was tainted by questionable fair call on Wilmer’s home run. The Pioneer allow a computerized review of ball and strike calls, but challenges to plays on the field are decided by an umpires’ conference. Butz, the victim of what proved to be the game deciding home run went 3-1/3 innings without giving up another hit, walking two and notching three Ks in the process. Connor Richardson and Jake Dahle pitched a scoreless inning apiece.

The Ballers had promoted the game as the reveal party for their mascot. The fans took an immediate liking to the revelation that it was Scrappy, The RallyPossum, an unsubtle dig at that other Oakland team, the one that’s going to pack its bags and slink out of town at the end of the season.

At 13-5, the Ballers now are in fifth place in the overall standings of the 12 team Pioneer League.

Sunday’s Fathers’ Day game against the Vibes will start at 1:05. Pioneer League teams don’t announce their probable starters until the last minute. In any case, don’t expect a pitchers’ duel.

Despite heroic performance from Ramos Giants fall to Angels 4-3

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Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Angels.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Giants battled with the Angels in the second of their three-game series over the weekend.

On the mound for the Giants would be Keaton Winn who has had a rough start to the season but was looking for a bounce back win with his record sitting at 3-7.

While for the Angels it was Patrick Sandoval who has also had a similarly rough start to his campaign with a 2-8 record to start the season.

Things started off with a bang for the Giants offense as in the bottom of the first inning as the red hot Heliot Ramos launched on to center field getting a two-run homer. It was his eighth homer of the season and had an exit velo of 107.7 mph.

The Angels in the second responded with a long ball of their own this time off the bat of Mickey Moniak who made it a 2-1 ballgame.

Ramos’s night wasn’t quite done as in the fifth he would double getting Curt Casali home and giving the Giants their two-run lead back.

Once again though the Angels had a response and it what a response it would be. The tying runs came from Logan O’Hoppe who absolutely crushed one over the center field wall a total of 467 ft. Not only did it travel incredibly far it also exited off the bat at 110 mph. Truly a home run O’Hoppe will probably never forget.

With the game now tied 3-3 the Angles would take their first lead of the game in the seventh as Luis Rengifo singled to get Nolan Schanuel home.

Ramos managed to get another hit on the night as doubled in the seventh, but the Giants did nothing with it. That hit from Ramos ended up being the last hit from the Giants as they’d be shut down the rest of the way eventually losing 4-3.

Getting the win for the Angels would be Matt Moore who improves to 3-2 on the season. While Ryan Walker took the loss dropping his record to 4-3.

As mentioned above, Ramos had a stellar night with three hits and three RBI’s almost single-handedly leading the Giants to a win.

For the Angels the true best player of the game for them was O’Hoppe with his clutch home run and another hit in the game as well.

The loss drops the Giants to 34-37 and the Angels now move up to 28-42.

The Giants will look to avoid the dreaded sweep tomorrow these two teams will close out the weekend series at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Defending Champion Aces Fall to New York Liberty 90-82

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It was all an uphill battle for A’ja Wilson (22) and the Las Vegas Aces against the New York Liberty at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas on Sat Jun 15, 2024 (Getty)

By Barbara Mason

The Las Vegas Aces (6-6) remained close in their matchup with the New York Liberty (12-2) through the first half. of this game. The Liberty went on a 14-0 run in the middle of the third quarter which turned this game sideways for the Aces. Las Vegas came up short in this one losing 90-82. There was good news for Las Vegas however.

They will really power up when Chelsea Gray returns from her injury. They did not have their best offensive effort in the later minutes of the third quarter and a different outcome is a distinct possibility in their August 17 matchup and even more plausible in September when they meet up on the 8th.

The Liberty came out strong taking a 28-20 lead after the first ten minutes of play. The way that the Aces have struggled this season the quick start from New York was concerning. Las Vegas countered however, winning the second quarter 23-17 but did trail at the half 45-43. They had a much improved quarter.

Game recap: Going into the third quarter, the Las Vegas Aces trailed but we’re very much in this game. New York however, mounted a 14-0 run in the middle of the third quarter building a seven-point lead 67-60. It would all come down to who could ride this one out in the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter Kelsey Plum was hooked in an obvious foul which left her down on the court. The Liberty recovered the ball on the no call and drove down court to sink a three taking a ten-point lead 70-60. With Plum down on the other end of the court the Aces were trying to defend with a 4-5 situation. Through three quarters the Liberty were outplaying the Aces from inside and outside. The game had taken an ugly turn for the Aces.

With just under six minutes left in the game Jackie Young had committed her fifth personal. With every Las Vegas bucket, New York answered and the Aces were running out of time with under four minutes left in the game.

With so little time left on the clock, the Aces were faced with having to play a perfect game and try to overlook some of the calls in the second half which were questionable. They did not even come close to a near perfect game in fact, it was the Liberty who rose to the occasion. With under two minutes left on the clock and the Liberty in control leading 88-74 it was all but a done deal. The final was 90-82 in favor of the Liberty, their eighth win in a row.

Kelsey Plum was the high score for the Aces with 22 points and A’ja Wilson right behind with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Kiah Stokes had a terrific game with 12 rebounds. Alysha Clark chipped in 13 points in the loss. Chelsea Gray did not play which was a coach’s decision but with her listed on the player roster her return could be eminent.

The high score for the Liberty was Jonquel Jones with 34 points and 8 rebounds. The 6’6″ forward had an amazing game spurring her team on to the win.

Despite the loss, there is optimism for Las Vegas. The return of Chelsea Gray could very well change things drastically for the team. While there is room for improvement on the defensive side of the ball, the shortcomings are very fixable. They did not have their best offensive effort today so that will no doubt improve. There is a bright light at the end of the tunnel for the Las Vegas Aces.

Game notes: Saturday afternoon the matchup that everyone had been anticipating took place at Michelob ULTRA Arena between the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. This was a clash between the two super teams of 2023.

The question that looms right now, are both of these teams super this season. The Liberty have had a great start this season with a record of 12-2. They are rolling. As far as the Las Vegas Aces, they don’t appear to be what one could consider super right now. They have struggled this season with a 6-6 record, they are still missing Chelsea Gray, their defense has some cracks and they are considered the underdogs in this game.

After a brief illness Jackie Young was back and appeared to be in great form scoring 34 points in their last game, a win over Phoenix. Neither of these teams are at the top of the standings right now. With the incredible success that the Las Vegas Aces have enjoyed for the past five seasons teams around the league are focusing on ways to build, ways to take them down and six teams have indeed beaten Las Vegas so far this season.

It would appear that despite the great New York start the super team era could very well have reached the end of its rope. This year’s champion is a crapshoot at this point in the season. There are so many vying teams right now with the Lynx, the Storm, the Sun and the Liberty all viable.

Las Vegas will be back on the court Wednesday night on their home court taking on the Seattle Storm. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Giants’ Saturday Post-Game Notes & Quotes

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When was today’s 4-3 loss to the Angels decided? When Luke Jackson, the Giants’ third pitcher of the afternoon took the mound, and after he recorded the first two outs of the inning. At that point, Jackson walked Nolan Schanuel in a lengthy eight-pitch at-bat. With Luis Rengifo batting, Schanuel stole his first major-league base, and advanced to third on Curt Casali’s throwing error. Rengifo followed with a base-hit that gave the Angels their first lead of the afternoon.

“(The steal and then the error) gave Rengifo a chance to put the ball in play, which he does. And he found an open space — and ended up scoring a run that ended up being the winning run.” manager Ron Washington said.

The Giants have lost 19 games this season in which they had a lead at some point during the game. Those 19 games are the fifth most in MLB.

Casali’s throwing error was the 45th Giants error of the season. That number 45 ranks them second in errors committed in the NL only to the Marlins (48).

Schanuel’s stolen base was the 73rd stolen against the Giants this season. That number 73 leaves them tied for the most allowed in MLB with the Mets.

Heliot Ramos homered for the second straight day to give him eight homers on the season. It’s the second time this month he’s homered in consecutive games.

“He needs some help, too,” manager Bob Melvin said of Ramos. “He knocked in all three runs today and we left some out there.”

The Giants fell to 2-3 on their current homestand (Astros, Angels) with only Sunday’s series finale remaining. The Giants are now 26-18 all-time versus the Angels, excluding their World Series together in 2001.

Washington, 72, gave his thoughts on the Giants’ upcoming appearance against the Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, AL: “Baseball as a whole is bringing this thing back together in the way that it should.”

Washington never played in the Negro Leagues. He spent 10 seasons playing in the minor leagues for three different organizations (Royals, Mets and Dodgers). “Wash” expressed his gratitude that the Giants have vowed to bring all of their African-American players to Birmingham for the experience, regardless of whether they are currently on the active roster. LaMonte Wade, the Giants’ injured first baseman, has a chance to make his return to active duty at Rickwood Field on Thursday with that decision to be made early next week. Washington also lit up when retelling the stories of Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell, two of the Negro Leagues’ biggest superstars.

A’s-Twins rained out; playing two on Sunday

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Minnesota Twins Target Field in Minneapolis was inudated with rain forcing the cancelation of the Oakland A’s-Twins Sat Jun 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, June 15, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS – Though Saturday morning’s rain had let up by the scheduled start time of 1:10 p.m., more showers were on the way, and the AL game between the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins was postponed.

The game has been rescheduled as part of a day-night split admission doubleheader for Father’s Day on Sunday at Target Field. The first game will start at 1:10 p.m. (11 a.m. Pacific) and the second game is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. (4:40 p.m. Pacific).

Though it was not raining when the decision to call the game was made at 1:45 p.m., rain resumed falling by 2 p.m., as the National Weather Service reported at radar indicated a storm was approaching the Twin Cities.

For the re-scheduled double-header, the Athletics are expected to start right-hander Joey Estes (2-2,4.78) in the first game, and left-hander JP Sears (4-5, 5.02) in the second game. Then Twins are expected to go with a pair of right-handers – Bailey Ober (5-4, 5.13) and Chris Paddack (5-3, 4.79).

After Saturday’s storm system rolled through the Twin Cities on Saturday, an extreme heat advisory is issued for Sunday, A daytime high of 92 degrees is in the forecast, with a heat index of 100.

The Athletics are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak – 10 of their last 12 and 13 of their last 16. Oakland dropped a heartbreaker on Friday, losing 6-5 in 10 innings to the Twins. The A’s have been walked off in three of their last four games.

Oakland has two positive notes from Friday – Shea Longeliers hit the A’s first grand slam of the season, and leads MLB catchers with 13 home runs. Closer Mason Miller is tied for 10th in saves with 12, tops for MLB rookies. Miller’s 12 saves is fourth-best by an Oakland reliever.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants Spencer struggled, Halos get 3 runs in third and 4 runs in fourth to top SF

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It was a painful exit for San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Howard Spencer (56) as he hands to ball off to manager Bob Melvin (left) in the top of the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Jun 15, 2024

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris, San Francisco Giants starter Spencer Howard didn’t last long as he was lifted in the third inning after giving up seven hits and four earned runs. Not the kind of outing that Howard wanted to start the game off with.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels who have gone through their paces this season spent a deal of it in last place in the American League West but have moved out of the basement after last place the Oakland A’s have been on a steady decline currently losing 10 of their last 12 games and the Angels have won six of their last nine.

#3 One key thing to the Angels defeat over the Giants on Friday was they got a quality start from Tyler Anderson who went five innings with five hits, one earned run, five walks and five strikeouts.

#4 The Angels ball club has responded to manager Ron Washington. Washington who coached in Oakland, led the Texas Rangers to the World Series twice, and his last stint was a coach for the Atlanta Braves wants to really drive and make this Angels club relevant once again.

#5 It’s going to be a big week for you Morris, your headed off to Birmingham for the Negro Leagues Tribute at Rickwood Field in Birmingham when the Giants and the St Louis Cardinals play in the oldest park in the minor leagues on June 20th?

Morris Phillips is MLB podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast: Oilers backs against the wall it’s going to take a miracle now against Panthers

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Frustrations built up on the ice and the Florida Panthers Dimitry Kulikov (7) and the Edmonton Oilers Dylan Holloway (55) both rough up each other in game 3 on Sun Jun 13, 2024 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thu Jun 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Finals:

#1 The Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov assisted for a goal and scored a goa in game 3 on Thursday. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky saved 33 shots and prevented the Oilers from getting back in the game when they cut it down by one goal. The Panthers with the 4-3 win now up 3-0 in the series.

#2 Barkov said of not letting your guard down against the Oilers for game 4, “We know it’s going to be the hardest game for sure. We don’t take anything for granted. Every single day is one day at a time. Whether it’s one period, one shift.”

#3 One of the things the Panthers have done successfully in these Finals is keeping Connor McDavid under wraps. The Oilers did get within one goal but the goaltending of Bobrovsky stopped the remaining shots by the Oilers towards the end of the game and prevented the Oilers from tying the game.

#3 The Oilers need to come back down from 0-3 and win their next next four straight games without any hic ups in order to win the Stanley Cup. At this point that would take a miracle. Only four teams in NHL history have come back down 0-3 to win a series three times in the playoffs and once in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals.

#5 So it boils down to the tonight’s game 4 for the Oilers in Edmonton with home ice at Rogers Place it’s now or never but right now for the Oilers it’s going take a miracle to make a comeback.

Mary Lisa is an NHL analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Angels Moniak gets three hits and Anderson provides the pitching; Halos defeat Giants 8-6 at Oracle

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San Francisco Giants’ Thairo Estrada, left, scores next to Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Los Angeles (AL) (27-42). 013 400 000. 8 11 0

San Francisco (34-36). 001 000 050. 6 10 1

Friday, June 16, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–Having won five of their last seven games, the Giants once more were flirting with competitiveness when they faced the Los Angeles Angels this cool and breezy Friday evening. They figuratively failed to reach first base, falling to the fallen Angels, 8-6, that seemed to be a walk in the park for the visitors until the Giants made it close in the eighth..

The home team was busy, even before the 7:16 first pitch, Nick Ahmed came off the injured list, who is expected to bring some needed stability to short, started at that position, where he made some nifty plays, and went two for four at the plate. Casey Schmitt, who had been filling the void left by Ahmed’s departure, was optioned to Sacramento, and Marco Luciano, another shortstop, wound up his rehab assignment and, like Schmitt, was optioned to the River Cats.

Spencer Howard, at 0-2, 2.03 and coming off a strong 4-2/3 inning stint in Arlington, looked like a good choice to start for San Francisco. He wasn’t.

The 27 year old native of San Luis Opispo lasted a scant 2-1/3 frames, in which he managed to throw 59 pitches, 25 of which were balls. He surrendered four runs, all of them earned, on seven hits and a walk. He took the loss and now has a record of 0-1, 4.02.

The ex-Giant and eight year big league veteran, 34 year old southpaw change up artist Tyler Anderson, started the evening at 5-6, 2.63 and ended it at 6-6, 2.58. Bay Area favorite Ron Washington, at the helm for the Angels, decided to pull him with Thairo Estrada at bat and runners on first and second with one down in the bottom of the sixth.

Ben Joyce got Estrada on a slow grounder to short and closed down the nascent threat with Ahmed’s ground out to third. In his 5-1/3 innings of labor Anderson held the orange and black to a single tally, which was earned, on five hits, fiver walks, and to keep things symmetrical, five strikeouts.

The Angels opened the scoring in the top of the second. Logan O’Hoppe’s hard line shot ate up Ahmed at short for a single to left. Zach Neto bounced into a short to second force out only to be followed by Mickey Moniak’s blast that hopped over the right centerfield fence for an automatic double that put two runners in scoring position.

One of them, O’Hoppe, scored on Michael Stefanic’s clean single to right. They padded their lead in their next turn at bat on a leadoff walk to Taylor Ward, Kevin Pillar’s double to right that sent Ward to third, where he didn’t stop but went on to score on Austin Slater throwing error on returning the ball to second. A walk to O’Hoppe put runners on first and second. Each moved up 90 feet on Neto’s sacrifice bunt. They didn’t stay there for long; Moniak’s down the line two bagger made the score 4-0. An infield single and base on balls later, Howard was through, and Randy Rodríguez was on the mound to get the final two outs.

He retired another batter in the fourth before the roof fell in. There’s no point in narrating the horror show; a list the Angels’ acts of mayhem will do.

1) An RBI double by O’Hoppe. (Pillar was on first with a walk after his fly into the left field seats, which had been ruled a home run became a foul ball upon review; a home run by Neto (his ninth); and a triple by Moniak). Anderson now had an eight run lead to work with.

He also had a chance for his arm to tighten up after his teammates had batted around while they rounded the bases. The Giants scrapped up a run in the home fourth on singles by Wilmer Flores and Jorge Soler, a walk to Michael Conforto, and a double play that brought Flores home to make it 8-1.

Luke Jackson pitched a perfect sixth , giving way to Taylor Rogers, who allowed a single and a walk but no runs in the seventh before being replaced by Erik Miller for the penultimate episode. He disposed of the Halos in 1,2,3 order.

The Giants drove Adam Cimber from the mound after he faced five batters in the home eighth. Four of them reached base. Leading off, Soler was hit by a pitch and went to second on a wild pitch and then to third on Soler’s ground out to second.

He scored on Estrada’s single to left. 8-2. Ahmed singled to left, moving Estrada to second. Mike Yastrzemski pinch hit for Slater and doubled off the bricks over the State farm advertisement in right, driving in Estrada. 8-3. Héliot Ramos sent an 82 mph sider 422 feet, over the center field fence. 8-6. Bailey bunted for a single but was wiped out when Chapman grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. But we had a ball game.

Sean Hjelle mowed the Angel down to take us into the do. or die bottom of the ninth. Carlos Estevezz was on the hill for the Halos. Flores sent a. high fly deep into left field, where Pillar caught it at the wall. Soler fouled out to first. And Conforto went down swinging. That earned Estevez his 11th save of the season

For the Giants it was a valiant attempt and a painful loss.

Saturday at 1:05, Keaton Winn (3-7, 6.94) will face the Angels and Patrick Sandoval (2-8, 5.23) in the second of this three game series.