San Francisco Takes on Colorado Rockies Friday Night at Oracle

San Francisco Giants pitcher Ross Stripling will get the call against the Colorado Rockies on Fri Jul ,7 2023 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

San Francisco Takes on Colorado Rockies Friday Night at Oracle

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (47-40) finished off a three game series this past week with the Seattle Mariners (42-43). The Giants lost a close one in game one losing 6-5 on Monday. The game was lost in the ninth inning when the Mariners put four runs on the board in the top of the ninth to lead 6-2. The Giants scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but came up just short. In game two, the Mariners shut out the Giants 6-0 on Tuesday. San Francisco avoided the sweep with a win in game three 2-0 on Wednesday.

The Giants also lost a series over the weekend against the New York Mets. The standings in the NL West are tight with the Diamondbacks hanging onto first place, a game and a half ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants are three games out of first place. San Francisco will be looking to turn things around in their next series with the Colorado Rockies (33-56) which gets underway Friday night for a three game series.

The Giants will have a huge hole to fill with the left hand fracture suffered by second baseman Thairo Estrada which could sideline him for four to six weeks. He was struck in the hand on Sunday by a pitch from Mets reliever Adam Ottavino. Estrada had been batting .272 with nine home runs and 18 stolen bases. It is not only his offense but his defense that will be missed. A couple of rookies, Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisley could be used to fill the gap.

The Giants home run leader is Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis has the most RBIs and his batting average is .282. San Francisco will counting on both of them as well as a very strong batting lineup which features Austin Slater, Michael Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores, Lamonte Wadę Jr. J.D. Davis and Patrick Bailey. They do have the offense to get the job done.

The Rockies are coming into this game with a four game losing streak. They will be looking to get some better offense going after being handled by the Houston Astros last Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ross Stripling will get the call on the mound for San Francisco with a 0-2 ERA 6.51 record. Austin Gomber will be on the hill for the Rockies with a 6-7 ERA 6.64. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM.

Tigers prevent A’s from sweeping series; Bengals shutout and beat the Green and Gold 9-0 at Comerica

Detroit Tigers Jake Marisnick scores in the bottom fourth inning as Oakland A’s catcher Manny Pina can only watch at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thu Jul 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

What a difference a day makes. The Oakland A’s offense recorded 14 hits Wednesday and had four singles against the Detroit Tigers’ pitching on Thursday. The A’s pitching held the Tigers to three runs on Wednesday and gave up nine on Thursday.

The Tigers’ starter Michael Lorenzen, who will represent Detroit at the All-Star game next Tuesday in Seattle, had his way with the A’s hitters. The Tigers pounced on A’s starter Hogan Harris who allowed seven runs before his exit in the fifth inning. The Tigers shut out the A’s 9-0.

The Tigers scored two runs in the first, third, fourth, and one in the fifth off Harris. In the first, with one out, Spencer Torkelson singled. Andy Ibanez doubled, sending Torkelson to third. Harris struck out Tigers’ DH Kerry Carpenter for the second out. Tigers’ shortstop Javier Baez singled to drive in Torkelson and Ibanez to take an early 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, A’s starter Harris Hogan couldn’t find the strike zone. He Walked Matt Vierling and Andy Ibanez to put men on at first and second with one out. Kerry Carpenter singled to drive in Vierling. Ibanez went to third when A’s left fielder Tony Kemp bobbled the ball trying to make a throw. Harris walked Baez to load the bases. Harris walked three men in the inning. Ibanez scored on Jonathan Schoop’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

The Tigers continued to make life miserable for Harris in the fourth. Harris gave up back-to-back doubles to Zack Short and Jake Marisnick. Short scored to increase the lead to 5-0. Marisnick then stole third. Matt Vierling singled to make it 6-0.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay let Harris start the fifth inning. Harris’ pitch count was nearing 100 pitches as he started the fifth. Javier Baez led off the fifth with a double. Jonathan Schoops’ infield single sent Baez to third. Tiger catcher Eric Haase grounded into a double play, and Baez scored. The Tigers led 7-0. The A’s replaced Harris with Rico Garcia.

The Tigers added a run in the sixth when Jake Marisnick homered leading off the inning. Detroit continued to put runs on the board. They added one more in the eighth to increase the lead to 9-0.

Game Notes. The A’s were shut out for the tenth time in 2023. The only team with more shutouts is the Detroit Tigers. The A’s record dropped to 25-64. The Tigers improved to 37-48

The A’s line was no runs, four hits, and one error. The A’s had four singles in the game. The Tigers’ line was nine runs, 13 hits, and one error.

The A’s were without the services of three key players on Thursday. Ryan Noda, who blasted a two-run dinger on Wednesday, was unavailable due to a temporary illness. He should be back in action Friday night in Boston.

Esteury Ruiz injured his shoulder sliding back to first base on Wednesday and did not play in Thursday’s game. His injury does not appear to be too serious. Catcher Carlos Perez will be out until August 18th with a thumb fracture. Manny Pina took his spot on the roster.

The A’s finish the road trip with three games against the Red Sox in historic Fenway Park starting Friday night. After the game on Sunday, the A’s will be out of action until Thursday as Major League Baseball will hold the annual All-Star game in Seattle.

The A’s announced Luis Medina (2-7 ERA 6.37) as their starter on Friday. The Red Sox have not announced any starters for the three-game series. The game will start at 4:10 pm.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s win fourth out of last five in Detroit; Series concludes today at Comerica

Oakland A’s Shea Langeliers knows it’s hammer time after crushing a solo shot in the top of the fourth inning at Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers on Wed Jul 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, just an early start for the Oakland A’s scoring three runs on the Detroit Tigers in the top of the first inning.

#2 Jerry talk about Ryan Noda whose getting around on the ball for a three run homer in the first inning.

#3 The A’s are starting to cluster their games winning their fourth in their last five games.

#4 The Tigers offensively had only two hits in the first seven innings and both runners got erased on double plays.

#5 The A’s and Tigers conclude this three game series at Comerica today the A’s are going with starter left hander Hogan Harris (2-2 ERA 5.17) and for the Tigers Michael Lorenzen (2-6 ERA 4.28) a 10:10 AM PT first pitch.

Join Jerry Feitelberg for the A’s podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Angels hit with injury bug during Tues game; Protestors intrude on court at Wimbledon; plus more news

Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin (left) and outfielder Mike Trout (right) walk off the field after Trout was hit in the left wrist fracturing it and will be out from four to eight weeks. The Angels were up against the San Diego Padres on Mon Jul 3, 2023 when the injury occurred. (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica the Los Angeles Angels are feeling the pain literally. First the Angels outfielder Mike Trout was placed on the 10 day IL after getting hit in the left wrist while hitting fracturing his hamate bone. Trout is expected to be out of action for four to eight weeks. Anthony Rendon left Tuesday’s game with a left shin bruise after fouling a ball off of it x-rays proved negative and pitcher Shohei Ohtani left same game with a blister, Ohtani had to leave during his previous start due to a cracked fingernail.

#2 Protestors from Just Stop Oil  Deborah Wilde and Simon Milner-Edwards were escorted off the court after disrupting the between Sho Shimabukuro and Grigor Dimitrov as Dimitrov was about to serve. Both Wilde and Edwards got on Court 18 and showered it with orange confetti. Wimbledon officials were expecting some kind of protest and had stepped up security prior to the matches.

#3 After some 20 ESPN employees had been laid off the face of ESPN Stephen A Smith said he could be next. The World Wide Network in sports laid off high profile talent, Jalen Rose, Jeff Van Gundy, and Keyshawn Johnson last week and Smith raised the issue of race feared that he could draw the short straw saying that as a black person “when white people catch a cold black people catch pneumonia.”

#4 Jessica, MLB has announced replacements for injured players for New York Yankees Aaron Judge (toe), Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (sore shoulder), and Los Angeles Mike Trout ( broken hamate bone) with Astros’ Kyle Tucker, the Rays’ Wander Franco and the Pirates’ David Bednar, also Seattle fans will be thrilled to know that Mariners Julio Rodriguez and George Kirby will also be replacements.

#5 The NBA will introduce penalties against players who flop trying to get referees to call undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking that referees missed a foul call by exaggerating the effect of contact with an opposing player. The penalty for the flop will access the opposing team with one free throw and the player who flopped will be hit with a non unsportsmanshiplike conduct technical foul.

Join Jessica every other Wednesday for Headline Sports podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cobb Shuts Out Mariners Giants Win 2-0

Taylor Rogers pitching against the Seattle Mariners at Oracle Park July 5th, 2023 (AP news photo)

Wednesday, July 5th 2023

By Troy Ewers

SAN FRANCISCO-In front of a crowd of 24,108 in San Francisco, the Giants played the final game of their three game series against the Seattle Mariners and the ace for the Giants was Alex Cobb, who pitched a phenomenal game. Six innings, seven strike outs and no runs. Cobb in his last ten games is 9-1 and the Giants are now 12-4 when Cobb is on the hill. San Francisco snapped their four game losing streak and can go into their next series with that monkey off their back.

The game itself wasn’t a plethora of runs, but the two runs scored were big for the Giants. In the third inning Wilmer Flores started the rally with a hit that seemed to be an easy ground out, but the ball hit the bag and went over Jose Caballero’s head and Flores gets a single and Brandon Crawford moved to third, he got on base with a walk. Crawford would then score off of LaMonte Wade Jr.’s sac fly making it 1-0 Giants.

The next score for SF would come in the fifth inning when a routine fly ball is hot by Wade Jr. to center, but Julio Rodriguez dropped the ball and Austin Slater scored for the second and final run of the game. When Cobb left the game in the sixth inning, the Rogers brothers came in for an inning a piece and maintained the shutout for Cobb.

The 9th inning came and it was time for the all star Camillo Doval to take the mound and it was a 1, 2, 3 inning with a strikeout to close out the game. This was Doval’s 25th save of the season and he at this point has the most in the N.L. and the second most in the MLB.

The next game for the Giants is against the Colorado Rockies (pitchers not announced yet).

A’s rout Tigers 12-3; Oakland scores big in 1st, 6th and 8th innings in laugher

The Oakland A’s Esteury Ruiz swings for a two RBI single in the top sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wed Jul 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Wow, the A’s, after beating the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday, routed the Tigers 12-3 on Wednesday. The A’s offense came to life, and the A’s pitching was outstanding. The team that could muster two hits on Tuesday had 14 hits, including three home runs, that produced 12 runs.

The A’s opener Austin Pruitt worked three innings and retired all nine hitters. Lefty Ken Waldichuk had one of his best outings of the year. Waldichuk took over in the fourth and held the Tigers scoreless until the eighth.

The A’s scored three in the first, one in the third, one in the fourth, four in the sixth, and three in the eighth. In the first, the big blow was Ryan Noda’s ninth home run with a man onboard to give the A’s an early 3-0. In the third, Jordan Diaz singled with one out.

Aledmys Diaz doubled to drive in Jordan with the A’s fourth run. The A’s were pounding Tigers’ starter Eduardo Rodriguez. The onslaught continued when Shea Langeliers blasted a solo home run in the fourth to make it 5-0. Tigers’ skipper A.J. Hinch removed Rodriguez from the game.

The A’s made the game a runaway in the top of the sixth as they put four more runs on the board. With one out, She Langeliers singled and went to second on a throwing error by the Tigers’ third baseman Zack McKinstry. JJ Bleday singled, and Langeliers stopped at third.

Nick Allen walked to load the bases. Tony Kemp singled to drive in Langeliers and Bleday, and Allen went to third on the play. Kemp then stole second. Leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz singled to drive in Allen and Kemp. The A’s led 9-0 after six.

In the eighth, the A’s put more icing on the cake as they scored three times. With one out, Nick Allen and Tony Kemp singled. Tyler Wade was inserted into the game after Ruiz had to leave with an injury. Wade’s fielder’s choice allowed Allen to score.

Kemp was out at second. Jordan Diaz, who had two singles in the game, blasted a two-run home run into the seats in right field to finish the A’s scoring. The A’s led 12-0 midway through the eighth.

The Tigers finally put some runs on the board in the eighth. Waldichuk had allowed the Tigers just one hit in the first four innings of work. In the eighth, Waldichuk walked the first two hitters. He could not keep his fastball down in the strike zone. Waldichuk regained his composure and retired catcher Jake Rogers for the first out. Waldichuk now had to face Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera, a sure bet for baseball’s Hall of Fame, doubled to drive in the Tigers’ first run. Jake Marisnick, a former Oakland Athletic, drove in the Tigers’ second run with a sacrifice fly to right field. The Tigers added a run in the ninth.

Game Notes- The A’s won for the fourth time in the last five games and the 13th in the last 26 games. Their record improved to 25-63. This team wants the New York Mets to keep their record of 120 losses in a season. Their record over the last 26 games indicates that the team will continue to improve. The Tigers are now 37-48.

Waldichuk was the winning pitcher. He earned his second win. The losing pitcher was Eduardo Rodriguez.

The A’s line score was 12 runs, 14 hits, and no errors. The hitting stars for Oakland were Jordan Diaz, Esteury Ruiz, Shea Langeliers, Tony Kemp, and Ryan Noda. Diaz had two singles and a home run, Ruiz had two singles and stole his 43rd base, Langeliers had a single and a home run, Kemp had two singles and a stolen base, and Ryan Noda had a two-run blast.

The A’s will be going for a sweep on Thursday. A’s manager Mark Kotsay will send lefty Hogan Harris (2-2 5.17) to the hill for Oakland. Harris will be seeking his third win of the campaign. The Tigers will counter with Michael Lorenzen (2-6 ERA 4.28). The game will start at 10:10 am.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Memories of Oakland (No.6 in Series)  1987 All-Star Game at Coliseum

Logo from the 1987 All Star Game hosted by the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum (logo from Oakland A’s and MLB)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

On July 14, 1987 the Oakland Coliseum hosted the 1987 MLB All-Star Game. There were two Oakland Athletics on this game representing the American League and both were in the reserves; first baseman Mark McGwire and relief pitcher Jay Howell.

A’s legend Rickey Henderson was in the starting lineup but for the New York Yankees. McGwire won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1987 and went on the establish the current record for a rookie of 49 home runs.

The A’s had three consecutive Rookies of the Year, José Canseco in 1986, Mark McGwire in 1987, and Walt Weiss in 1988. 49,671 were in attendance at the Coliseum for that night’s game won by the National League All-Stars 2-0 over the American League All-Stars in 13 innings; Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos was named the Most Valuable Player. This was the only time since the A’s played at Oakland that the Oakland Coliseum hosted an MLB All-Star game.

Named by the Oakland A’s ownership as part of the Clout Committee, I was privileged to meet with various civic personalities, including the Mayor of Oakland Lionel Wilson as well as others in the community. The All-Star Gala is always a special gathering of community and baseball people, my wife Gail and I sat at a table that included two Twins greats, Kirby Pucket and Tony Oliva.

Prior to the game at the Coliseum, Bay Area Media personality, Rich Lieberman introduced me to the one and only Larry King, who was said to have conducted over 50,000 interviews on radio and television, from Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Paul McCartney to Margaret Thatcher and thousands in-between.

The Walter Haas ownership of the Oakland A’s did a wonderful job organizing this big event together with the City of Oakland and Major League Baseball, it was a classy well-organized event that made Oakland proud.

There was a time when Oakland was a proud city, as a matter of fact Oakland was once called ‘City of Champions”, with the A’s winning three consecutive World Series in 1972-73-74, the Warriors winning the NBA title in the 1974-75 season and the Raiders winning in 1976 the first of their three Superbowl titles.

It is said that Gertrude Stein, who was raised in Oakland, when later she grew up and became an American novelist, playwright and art collector, and then moved to Paris in 1903 where she lived for the rest of her life once said about Oakland; ”When you get there, there isn’t any THERE there.”

Two years later, after the 1987 MLB All-Star Game, the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the A’s vs Giants World Series, which the As swept in four games. It was felt that it would be inappropriate to have a parade in Oakland for the World Series champion Oakland Athletics.

They did celebrate, though with this subdued celebration (a victory rally) at the Jack London Waterfront and broadcast live by local San Francisco CBS affiliate, KPIX. It would be the last civic celebration by a professional sports franchise in Oakland until 2015 when the Warriors won the NBA title.

I always remember 1987 as a good year for Oakland and a “departing point” for what came later for the Oakland Athletics during the great Tony LaRussa years.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants need to get some runs on M’s pitching to come back in series at Oracle

The San Francisco Giants starter Keaton Winn delivers a first inning pitch against the Seattle Mariners at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Jul 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael:

On the Giants podcast with Michael Duca:

#1 Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert went the distance on Tuesday afternoon shutting out the San Francisco Giants giving up only five hits and striking out seven hitters. Gilbert had his control and kept hitters off balance all afternoon.

#2 Michael, Logan was so happy with the results of his handy work that he danced a bit and apologized for it later on saying he was just so excited to pitch a shutout and go the distance.

#3 The Mariners got some good hitting out of AJ Pollock who hit a two run blast as the Mariners came out ahead with a six run win. Pollock was key to providing some offense for the M’s.

#4 Michael, Giants manager Gabe Kapler wanted to use Michael Conforto as designated hitter rather than start him in the outfield. Conforto is recovering from his left hamstring injuries when he injured himself last week Wednesday making a catch in the outfield in Toronto.

#5 Game 3 is on tap tonight Michael, the Mariners will start Tommy Milone (0-0 ERA 1.93) and for the Giants righthander Alex Cobb (5-2 ERA 3.12) a 6:05pm PT first pitch. No doubt Cobb is looking for his sixth plus a chance to even the score from Tuesday night’s 6-0 loss.

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

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jim from the On Base Show: M’s Gilbert had great control on Giants line up on Tuesday

Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert is congratulated by catcher Tom Murphy following shutting out the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tue Jul 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Jim from the On Base Show:

#1 Seattle Mariners starter Logan Gilbert went the distance on Tuesday afternoon shutting out the San Francisco Giants giving up only five hits and striking out seven hitters. Gilbert had his control and kept hitters off balance all afternoon.

#2 Jim, Logan was so happy with the results of his handy work that he danced a bit and apologized for it later on saying he was just so excited to pitch a shutout and go the distance.

#3 The Mariners got some good hitting out of AJ Pollock who hit a two run blast as the Mariners came out ahead with a six run win. Pollock was key to providing some offense for the M’s.

#4 Jim, Giants manager Gabe Kapler wanted to use Michael Conforto as designated hitter rather than start him in the outfield. Conforto is recovering from his left hamstring injuries when he injured himself last week Wednesday making a catch in the outfield in Toronto.

#5 Game 3 is on tap tonight Jim, the Mariners will start Tommy Milone (0-0 ERA 1.93) and for the Giants righthander Alex Cobb (5-2 ERA 3.12) a 6:05pm PT first pitch. No doubt Cobb is looking for his sixth plus a chance to even the score from Tuesday night’s 6-0 loss.

Jim does the Jim On Base Show on You Tube and Facebook and guested for today’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Codero suspended for rest of season for domestic violence by Yanks; Angels IL problem; plus much more

New York Yankee pitcher Jimmy Codero has been suspended for the rest of the 2023 season including the post season for domestic violence. Details of what happened has not been disclosed by the Yankees. Codero’s suspension started immediately according to the Yankees. (AP News photo)

On the MLB podcast with Stephen:

#1 The New York Yankees suspended pitcher Jimmy Cordero for domestic violence. The Yankees in a statement said they are aware of Cordero domestic violence policy violations saying “there is no justification for domestic violence.” Cordero is suspended for the remaining 76 games and the post season. Cordero a 3.86 ERA with 34 strikeouts and ten walks. No details of the domestic violence charge was disclosed.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout is out with a fracture left wrist and was put on the ten day IL, Anthony Rendon was injured after fouling a ball off his left leg and is suffering from a shin contusion and did not suffer an fractures, finally Angels star pitcher Shohei Ohtani will not play in the All Star game due to a blister in his last outing and had a cracked finger nail in his last start.

#3 On Tuesday Chicago Cubs manager David Ross took all he could after the Cubs saw a four run lead and beat the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Park in Milwaukee. There were frustrations in the 11th inning when Cubs first base coach Mike Napoli shouted his disagreement with plate umpire Erich Bacchus on third strike call on Cubs hitter Dansby Swanson. Ross came out onto the field to argue and was also tossed out by Bacchus. The Cubs did come back to win it in 11, 7-6.

#4 Stephen talk about second baseman Thairo Estrada he’s suffering from a left hand fracture that will sideline him from two to six weeks. Estrada was hitting .272 with 79 hits, 9 home runs and 31 RBIs. The Giants will replace him with Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisley at second.

#5 What are the chances? The organization Schools over Stadiums has launched a petition campaign to put a bill on the ballot to stop the state of Nevada from using $380 million in public money to finance a new Las Vegas A’s ballpark at the Tropicana location. The campaign needs over 25,000 signatures in four Nevada districts to get the measure on the ballot and over 1 million votes to end the state’s public funding of the Las Vegas ballpark money Schools over Stadiums say should be used for education.

Join Stephen Ruderman for the MLB podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com