Tag: Sports radio

Sonoma Raceway: Truex keeps ahead of Busch for his fourth checkered flag

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photo from mercurynews.com: Martin Truex Jr celebrates winning the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday

By Tom Zulewski

SONOMA — As the laps wound down at the Toyota/SaveMart 350 on Sunday, Martin Truex Jr. didn’t have too much to worry about — until he found a mirror full of Kyle Busch, who was closing in fast. When the checkered flag fell, Truex had just enough to keep his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate at bay and win on the newly-expanded road course for the second year in a row.

The driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota took his fourth checkered flag of the 2019 season. “I was just trying to get all I could out of the car and not burn the tires up too much,” said Truex, who became the first repeat winner at Sonoma Raceway since Jeff Gordon won three straight from 1998-2000. “I knew Kyle pitted later than I did and had fresher tires. He was beating us pretty good for a while and I had to try and manage my car the best I could. If I could maintain a decent gap, we’d start to equal (lap times) out. “From there, it was run 10 perfect laps and don’t screw up.”

Truex Jr. stayed good enough to beat Busch by 1.861 seconds. Ryan Blaney came in third and Matt DiBenedetto had a career-best finish of fourth place. “It’s a little bit harder when you’re the leader,” Truex crew chief Cole Pearn said. “There are spots where you have to follow for a couple of corners, and you can lose three, four, five-tenths a lap. That’s enough to close and get a dive-bomb, so that’s all we were really worried about.”

Busch thought his chances of catching and passing Truex were limited. “I didn’t think there was gonna be a lot of a chance when I got there considering he was gonna be riding around and saving his tires,” Busch said. “It was gonna be a tall order to keep my momentum and speed going for the entire run.” Busch got his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota within a second of Truex, but couldn’t get any closer over the final five laps around the 2.52-mile layout that featured the return of the Carousel, a blind corner that returned as part of the track after a two-decade absence.

DiBenedetto, who hails from nearby Grass Valley, said he was looking forward to joining friends and family to watch the race on tape. “I’m going to text A.J. (Allmendinger) when I get back (home),” DiBenedetto said. “I’ve always been confident in my ability to wheel a race car, but I’m going against guys that are so good and so experienced, we had to make sure we got the car right.”

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – 31st Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, California

Sunday, June 23, 2019

1. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 90.

2. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 90.

3. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 90.

4. (19) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 90.

5. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90.

6. (23) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 90.

7. (21) Ryan Newman, Ford, 90.

8. (32) Erik Jones, Toyota, 90.

9. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 90.

10. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 90.

11. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 90.

12. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 90.

13. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90.

14. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 90.

15. (25) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 90.

16. (10) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 90.

17. (5) Daniel Suarez, Ford, 90.

18. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 90.

19. (2) William Byron, Chevrolet, 90.

20. (18) David Ragan, Ford, 90.

21. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 90.

22. (24) Paul Menard, Ford, 90.

23. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 90.

24. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 90.

25. (13) Michael McDowell, Ford, 89.

26. (30) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 89.

27. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 89.

28. (28) Matt Tifft #, Ford, 89.

29. (20) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 89.

30. (29) Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, 89.

31. (35) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 89.

32. (27) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 89.

33. (37) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 89.

34. (33) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 88.

35. (38) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 88.

36. (34) Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, Fatigue, 64.

37. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Engine, 60.

38. (36) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 53.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 83.922 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 42 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.861 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 2 for 6 laps.

Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Larson 0;W. Byron 1-21;C. Elliott 22-24;M. Truex Jr. 25-37;D. Hamlin 38-41;M. Truex Jr. 42-63;K. Busch 64-66;M. Truex Jr. 67-90.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Martin Truex Jr. 3 times for 59 laps; William Byron 1 time for 21 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 4 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 3 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 10,11,21,22,24,37,4,42,48,88

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,17,18,19,2,22,24,42,43,9

Tom Zulewski covers the NASCAR Somona Raceway each year at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Locastro’s RBI single in 10th helps Snakes sink Giants 3-2

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sfgate.com: Arizona Diamondbacks’ Tim Locastro hits an RBI single against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning during a baseball game, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in Phoenix.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, June 23, 2019

PHOENIX — After losing six games in a row, the Arizona Diamondbacks were ready to celebrate something.

Centerfielder Tim Locastro lit the fuse for the occasion with a 10th inning walk-off run-scoring single that gave the D-Backs a 3-2 NL West win over the San Francisco Giants Sunday before 25,071 at Chase Field.

As soon as Locastro’s drive shot past Giants third baseman Evan Longoria, the Diamondback dugout emptied onto the field.

“Those are the things you look for as a team, when you finally have something good happen,” Arizona Manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’ve been coming in here talking about losing baseball games, and that’s hard. It’s tough on the team and tough on everyone.

“But you have to find a way to keep grinding. That showed the personality of this team.”

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases against San Francisco reliever Mark Melancon (3-2) before Locastro delivered his game-winner. After Christian Walker led off the Arizona 10th with a single, he was erased at second when Nick Ahmed hit into a fielder’s choice. Pinch-hitter Jarrod Dyson walked and Carson Kelly was intentionally walked.

Ahmed scored the winning run from third on Locastro’s drive over the third base bag.

‘With one out, I’m just trying to get the ball to the outfield,” Locastro said. “Actually, I knew that (Melancon’s) tendency is to come in a little bit, so I was looking in there and got one over the third baseman’s head.

“As soon as I hit it, I saw (Longoria) jump up for it. As soon as I saw it drop, I gave it a fist pump and knew we had the win. I was very excited.”

“It didn’t surprise me that (Dyson) drew that walk,’ Lovullo said. “He was fighting off pitches and that was a key moment of the game. It’s built because of Christian Walker having a good at-bat and getting on base.”

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the third when Caleb Joseph drew a one-out walk and scored on Locastro’s base hit.

The Giants tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. Evan Longoria led off with a single, moved to third on Brandon Belt’s double and scored on an infield groundout by Stephen Vogt.

The Diamondbacks regained the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Adam Jones reached on a strike three wild pitch, moved to third on Eduardo Escobar’s single and scored on a base hit by Christian Walker.

Kevin Pillar tied the game at 2-2 with his 10th home run of the season to lead off the Giants seventh, hastening Merrill Kelly’s departure. He worked six-plus innings, struck out nine, walked two, and gave up two earned runs on four hits.

The D-Backs bullpen — Andrew Chafin, Yoan Lopez, Greg Holland and winning pitcher Matt Andriese (4-4) held San Francisco scoreless in the final four innings, with a combined three strikeouts and no walks or hits.

“It was pretty bad to give up that leadoff homer to Pillar. It would have been liked getting out of there with a lead, but the guys did a great job of picking me up and getting a huge victory,” Merritt Kelly said. “Hopefully, we’ve got some good energy going.”

Giants starter Shaun Anderson threw a strong six innings, giving up two runs on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Relievers Reyes Moronta and Sam Dyson held the Snakes scoreless and hitless in their combined three innings.

“We just couldn’t get anything going with the bats,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘They got the big hit, we didn’t. That’s the difference in the game.”

Lovullo said that Ketel Marte was not available for today’s game, even going into extra innings. Marte had been listed as day-to-day after suffering a left groin cramp on Friday.

“There was a minimal risk, but we held him back today. (Marte) will be out there when we play the Dodgers.”

Locastro added, “Now we have to get on a streak and that’s the goal moving forward.”

The Giants return home to host Colorado Monday through Wednesday. Lefthander Drew Pomeranz (2-7, 7.09 ERA) faces the Rockies’ Jon Gray (7-5, 4.18 ERA) in Monday’s series opener. San Francisco’s probables for Tuesday and Wednesday are Madison Bumgarner (3-7, 4.28 ERA) and Jeff Samardzija (4-6, 4.23 ERA).

TAGS: Tim Locastro, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, MLB

MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum: Dickerson inspiring Giants with a hot bat; Twins have not lost 3 straight this season; plus more

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San Francisco Giants’ Alex Dickerson follow through on a two-run double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 22, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

On the MLB podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 A’s pitcher Frankie Montas gets 80-game suspension from MLB for PED policy violation

2 Report: Rays could start splitting seasons between Tampa Bay and Montreal

3 Giants’ OF Dickerson swinging hot bat after call up from Sacramento

4 Twins have still not lost three straight games this season; sign reliever Cody Allen to minor league deal

5 Nomar Mazara of Texas hits 505-foot dinger

6 Wilkin Castillo’s first major league hit in 10 years a game-winner for the Marlins

MLB podcast with Daniel is heard Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB podcast with Matt Harrington: Was Montas success related to PED use?; Could MLB’s high number of HRs have something to do with substance abuse?

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nytimes.com photo: Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred talked about the Tampa Bay Rays splitting time between playing in Tampa Bay and Montreal

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas (9-2 ERA 2.70) has had an outstanding season, he had everything working for him and that was just the thing when he tested positive for performance enhancers. Was his great season lent to his use of PEDs?

#2 MLB has a high number of home runs this season so far, the last time you saw home runs majestically fall into the bleachers like this season was when former St Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire and former Chicago Cub Sammy Sosa were playing. Does this draw suspicions about how this has come about?

#3 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is considering moving a team to either Montreal or Portland. The topic of the Tampa Bay Rays who are drawing poorly and need a new stadium will be playing half there games in Montreal and in St Petersburg. Other cities vying for an MLB team are Portland, Charlotte, Nashville, and Las Vegas.

#4 A new Oakland A’s stadium hangs in the balance in downtown Oakland, the Oakland City Council have said they have lots of questions regarding financing the stadium and other environmental issues if by happenstance the city council thumbs down a new stadium for the A’s at Jack London Square the A’s also could be moving to another city on that list.

#5 San Francisco Giant Alex Dickerson who hit a grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Friday night fused a huge win for San Francisco 11-6. The Giants with the win snapped their four game losing streak.

Matt Harrington does the MLB podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Here’s your weekly dose of Quakes news

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. The Quakes partnered with Telemundo 48 to air three matches in Spanish during the 2019 season.

2. Quakes to host eighth annual Wine and Dine event on August 25th.

3. Nick Lima and the US men’s soccer team got their first Gold Cup win Tuesday, a 4-0 shutout of Guyana.

4. Quakes Academy midfielder Sophie Jones was named Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

5. The Quakes faced LAFC in Los Angeles on Thursday in the US Open Cup’s Round of 16.

Ana does the San Jose Earthquakes podcasts each week for SportsRadioService.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants nearly come back on Dodgers on Thursday night

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Dodgers nearly did what they did on Wednesday night and run away with a ballgame as the Dodgers started out the game with a 6-0 lead.

#2 The Giants rallied back in the last three innings of the game and nearly tied up the ball game against Dodger pitcher Kenley Jansen.

#3 On a Giant bunt by Tyler Austin up the first base side, Dodger first baseman Cody Bellinger’s throw to third base that Giants baserunner Stephen Vogt was called out. The play was reviewed and it look like Vogt’s foot hit the bag about the same time the ball hit Dodger third baseman Justin Turner’s glove how did Michael see it.

#4 When the Dodgers’ Max Muncy came up to the plate to face Giants starter Madison Bumgarner the Dodger’s scoreboard showed a replay of the home run that Muncy hit off Bumgarner last time the Dodgers were in San Francisco plus the Dodgers played “Under the Sea” and “Smoke on the Water” during the replay.

#5 The Giants are in Arizona for a three-game battle with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants will start Jeff Samardzija (3-6) going against the Diamondbacks’ Taylor Clark (1-2).

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s Bassitt had everything working for him on Wednesday; Orioles suffer 8th straight loss; plus more

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Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt sat down the Baltimore Orioles, pitching 5.1 innings of no-hit baseball at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon.

#2 For the lowly Orioles, they suffered their eighth straight loss, sit in dead last place, and are desperate need of both hitting and pitching.

#3 For Bassitt pitching as well as he did, he really had all his pitches working for him and really handled the Orioles in those first 5.2 innings, allowing only two hits.

#4 Bassitt also retired 16 of the 18 batters he faced, saying he felt better in this outing than the last two outings he had.

#5 The A’s open up a four-game series on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, who lost their last two games against the New York Yankees. The Rays will start Charlie Morton (8-1, 2.37 ERA), and for the Oakland A’s, Frankie Montas (9-2, 2.85 ERA) at the Oakland Coliseum.

Jerry Feitelberg does the Oakland A’s podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Could Pope and Bullock end up as Warriors?; How could 4 people get shot at Raptors parade?; plus more

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Photo credit: @WarriorNationCP

On the Headlines Podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Los Angeles Lakers, who signed Anthony Davis are looking for more, but so are the Golden State Warriors, who are looking at the Lakers’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock. Will these additions at Golden State fill that void that the Warriors lacked during the final game of the NBA Finals?

#2 Regarding the shooting of four people at the Toronto Raptors parade in Toronto, does this indicate no one is safe anywhere and this could go down again if Toronto was to win again?

#3 The NBA Draft is coming up and the Sacramento Kings are expected to get some of the top picks. Where do they need to start from first?

#4 The Los Angeles Dodgers came back after dropping the first game of this three-game series with convincing wins, thanks to some great offense, On Tuesday night, the Dodgers got a 9-0 shutout and the Dodgers dominated again with a 9-2 win over the Giants on Wednesday night.

Tony Renteria does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Women’s US Soccer team prepares for Sweden; Brazil gets 1-0 World Cup win; plus more

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USA Today photo: June 18: Brazil forward Ludmila shoots against Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani. Alexis Reau, Presse Sports-USA TODAY Sports.

On the Headlines Sports podcast with London:

#1 Abby Dahlkemper said that it’s in the USA women’s soccer DNA to “win and do really well.” The women’s US team, who are the defending champs, are preparing for their game against Sweden. Both teams have clinched for berths in the top 16.

#2 World Cup soccer Brazil team got a 1-0 victory over Italy in Valenciennes, France, the win advanced Brazil for the sixth time to the knockout rounds. Brazil got their goal from Marta, who is playing in her fifth World Cup at 33 years old.

#3 The US Men’s team gets the gold with a win over Guyana. The US’s Tyler Boyd scored two goals as the US got a convincing 4-0 win over the Guyana team on Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minnesota for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

#4 There was relief when former XFL player Rod Smart, who was famously known for his football jersey when he played for the Las Vegas Outlaws in 2001 that read “He Hate Me” came up missing for six days. His family expressed concern. The Smart family are happy to announce that Smart was found safe and sound and no reason given for his absence. Smart played a season with Philadelphia and four with Carolina in the NFL.

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes are on a good run. They have gone undefeated in their last four games, and if you include their US Open Cup run against Sacramento, five undefeated games. The Quakes play LAFC on Thursday night to try to keep it going.

London Marq does Headline Sports podcasting each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh & Len Shapiro: Sharks’ Jumbo Joe at 40, but wants to stay in San Jose, willing to re-up

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photo by nhl.com: San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton stated that he would like to stay with the Sharks for at least one to five more years.

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Joe Thornton plans to resign with the Sharks for the 2019-20 season he’s almost 40 had some injuries in past season can you see him entering September and keeping up with the younger players?

#2 Thornton’s plans are to stay with San Jose and he hopes to keep this up for at least five more years if he could he stay healthy.

#3 Thornton has had knee injuries he tore his ALC and MLC in his left knee in 2017 and last season tore his MCL in his right knee in 2018. Thornton in confident he’s back and there are no issues going into next season.

#4 The Philadelphia Flyers will absorb the $3.8 million that former San Jose Shark defenseman Justin Braun had remaining on his contract. Braun was dealt for draft picks Mary talks about how Braun will fit into the Flyers system.

#5 The biggest move was on Tuesday when the Sharks signed Erik Karlsson for a $92 million eight year deal. Karlsson after the post season was expected to go shopping for a team most likely the Ottawa Senators his former team. The Sharks were determined to keep him and got him to the table for a long term deal.

Mary Lisa is a beat writer for the San Jose Sharks and podcasts on the Sharks during the Sharks season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com