Tag: Sports radio

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Canha homers in first game back; Khrush Davis belts two homers for A’s

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Photo credit: nbcsports.com

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Was the decision to designate Kendrys Morales for assignment the right thing to do. Morales joined the A’s after Matt Olson broke a bone in his right hand, Morales but ended up hitting .204, one homer and seven RBIs.

#2 Pitcher Edwin Jackson has been on 14 different major league teams, and this week, the Oakland A’s dealt him to that 14th team, the Toronto Blue Jays. Jackson is expected to get a start this week and he’ll join the Jays in San Francisco as Toronto is in San Francisco for a two game series. Jackson is 6-3, 3.33 ERA.

#3 Ironically, Mark Canha has come full circle after Morales replaced him on the roster. Canha now replaces Morales. Canha homered in his first game with the A’s on Monday night and Charlie talks about what it means to have Canha back in the lineup again.

#4 It’s a while, but Khris Davis slugged two home runs at Safeco Field on Monday night for his 11th and 12th homers of the season. Davis looks like he’s got that old swing back again.

#5 Taking a look at Tuesday night’s pitchers at Safeco, the Oakland A’s will be starting with Brett Anderson (4-2, 4.19 ERA) for the Seattle Mariners Mike Leake (2-4, 4.37 ERA).

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Both Bay Area teams in bottom of standings; Nothing new on Western Front

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nbcsports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner gets ready to deliver, Bumgarner has been the talk of trade rumors which includes going to the Boston Red Sox.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Sometimes you can tell how a baseball season might end after one-quarter of the season already is in the books. That might very well be the case this 2019 season. Some teams are so bad, that you really do not need two to four months to evaluate (find out their identity) because you know they just do not have it. It is simple as that. In the A’s case, we knew their identity of this young team last year, and the question was can they duplicate that success? In the Giants’ case, we knew they were not going to be in the picture, and during Spring Training, the big interest was to trade Madison Bumgarner.

The Houston Astros are ruling the American League West and the Los Angeles Dodgers the National League West. These two teams have an excellent possibility of facing each other in the World Series. This is not a prediction, but a good possibility, and not because they are on top as of today, but because they have the players and depth. It didn’t matter that the Seattle Mariners had their best start for season since 1977 in their inaugural season or that the Diamondbacks, who are almost like the M’s, trade a lot of their key players in the off-season and nobody expected them to be playing this well.

Of course, let’s get to our two Bay Area teams.

The A’s who surprised the world and won 97 games last year and made it to the postseason, did not have a set rotation from the offset of Spring Training. Hopefully, their #1 starter Shawn Manaea will be back soon to anchor their hurting pitching staff. Some injuries have hurt the A’s, who basically had the same team as last year, with some exceptions like Jurickson Profar at second-base, taking the place of the reliable veteran All Star Jed Lowrie, who went to the Mets, but has not played yet and is recovering from an injury in Syracuse, N.Y.

For the Giants, the time is getting close for trading Bumgarner with a high probability of trade before the July 31 deadline. It is all a matter of whether they can get a couple of young prospects for the future — nothing more, nothing less — rebuilding is in the air at Oracle. But there is a chance the Giants roster might look very different soon. Although their problem is that they are stuck with older players with large contracts.

For the A’s, the most important news is not on the field, but that they have cleared the way to eventually build their new ballpark. What location remains the big question. The chances of the A’s making it to the postseason again are as good as ever inside a weak division. They look like a Wild Card team.

Outside baseball, the Sharks and Warriors are in the middle of their respective playoff series, and that is nothing new.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez writes That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary and Barbara Mason does That’s Amaury’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s hit five homers, but still lose 6-5 to Seattle in extra innings

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photo sfgate.com: In this multiple-exposure photo, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 13, 2019, in Seattle.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were in Seattle to start a nine-game road trip. Mike Fiers, who pitched a no-hitter against Cincinnati last Tuesday, started for the A’s. The Seattle Mariners countered with lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Fiers lost his bid for a second no-hitter in the first inning when Mitch Haniger led off with a solo blast.

The A’s hitters hit four solo homers to give the A’s a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. The M’s tied the game in the 8th when they scored three runs. The A’s reclaimed the lead when Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run with two out in the top of the tenth. It was the A’s fifth dinger of the night. The M’s answered with two runs in their half of the tenth to win 6-5.

The A’s had home runs from Mark Canha in the second, Khris Davis in the sixth and in the eighth, Matt Olson in the seventh, and Laureano in the 10th.

The M’s scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game. Trivino walked Haniger to start the frame. Haniger was erased on a fielder’s choice. The next hitter, the ever-dangerous Edwin Encarnacion, walked on a 3-2 pitch.

The pitch was over the lower part of the plate and above the knees, but the home plate umpire called it a ball. A’s manager Bob Melvin was seen screaming at the umpire from the dugout. The next hitter, big Daniel Vogelbach, hit Trivino’s pitch over the 401-foot marker in center field to tie the game. Melvin went after the ump again and was tossed out of the game.

As mentioned above, Laureano homered with two out in the tenth to give Oakland the short-lived lead. Joakim Soria, who struck out the side in the ninth, issued a walk to Vogelbach with two out in the inning.

The Mariners had the speedy Dee Gordon run for Vogelbach. Gordon then stole second to get into scoring position. Domingo Santana doubled to left to drive in Gordon with the tying run. M’s catcher Omar Narvaez singled to end the game as the M’s won 6-5.

Game Notes: Mike Fiers went five innings and allowed just two hits and one run. Yusmeiro Petit did not allow a run in his two innings of work. Trevino allowed three runs, and Soria took the loss.

Up Next: The A’s conclude the two-game series Tuesday night in Seattle. Brett Anderson goes for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Seattle’s Mike Leake.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: How does Holland get in front of the media? It should’ve been kept in house

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dallasnews.com photo: Starting pitcher Derek Holland #45 of the San Francisco Giants throws in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on May 8, 2019 in Denver, Colorado.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Giants pitcher Derek Holland said he faked an injury, which the Giants countered by saying Holland had a left bruised index finger. The Giants say medical records back up the injury while Holland was listed as injured and demoted from a starter to the bullpen.

#2 Holland was listed with the injured bruised finger and sat last month, Holland has insisted he was not injured and the Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi said, “The guy gets hit by a truck, he can’t walk out on the field. That I guess an unequivocal injury, but there’s a lot of gray area beyond that.”

#3 Holland, no doubt, was disappointed that he was forced to sit for the April 29th injury, and said there was nothing wrong with him and he really wanted to pitch.

#4 Holland says the front office doesn’t know what their doing with the exception for Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Holland said, “I did fake an injury. I’m not happy about that. But at the end of the day I’m going to do whatever they ask me to do.”

#5 Morris has the Giants day off report tonight. On Tuesday, the Giants host the Toronto Blue Jays for two games. The Jays will start Trent Thornton (0-4, 5.06 ERA) and the Giants will start Tyler Beede (0-1,18.69 ERA). Both pitchers are looking for their first win of the season.

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks set tone in Game 1 with Meier lighting up the lamp

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photo from nbcsports.com: The San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier can’t contain the thrill of scoring one of his two goals in the Sharks win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday in game 1 at SAP Center in San Jose.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Daniel:

1 Timo Meier scores twice, Sharks rout St. Louis in Game 1 of Western Conference Finals

2 Sharks’ Brent Burns has played much more than anyone in this year’s Cup playoffs

3 NHL Odds: Sharks given worst chance among remaining teams to win Stanley Cup

4 NHL explains controversial overturn of goal in San Jose-Colorado Game 7

5 Edmonton fires Ken Hitchcock, names Holland GM

Daniel does the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s get that walkoff feeling as the comeback team in series with Cleveland

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photo from mercurynews.com: Oakland Athletics reliever Liam Hendriks (16) throws in the ninth inning of their MLB game against the Boston Red Sox at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

On the A’s podcast with Joey:

#1 The Oakland A’s came away on Saturday with their second straight walkoff win over Cleveland in a narrow 2-1 win. In baseball, the critics once said signs of a good club is one that can come back from behind.

#2 The A’s have improved their home record to 14-9 at the Coliseum and have taken the first two games of this current series with Cleveland.

#3 The Oakland A’s Liam Hendricks, who started the ballgame as an opener, succeeded in striking out a batter, surrendering one hit and pitching one inning the opener concept in this one worked out.

#4 The A’s reliever Aaron Brooks came in the second inning and pitched four innings giving up four hits and striking out four and his game plan worked out in setting the Cleveland order down.

#5 The A’s and Cleveland conclude this three-game series at the Coliseum. Jefry Rodriguez (0-2, 2.41 ERA) he’ll counter against newly recalled Daniel Mengden (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who was just recalled from the A’s triple A affiliate Las Vegas.

Joey does the A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals podcast with Matt Harrington: Bruins with 1-0 series lead, host Hurricanes for Game 2 Sunday night

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Photo credit: @BDCBruins

On the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals:

#1 Six games in the second round of the playoffs, the Boston Bruins won four of out those six games to defeat the  Columbus Blue Jackets. Was this a series that the Bruins from the start an indicator that they would win?

#2 The third round began on Thursday night with the Bruins taking Game 1 of the series against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 5-3. The Bruins scored early and held the lead. Does scoring early for the B’s often means big problems to their opponents?

#3 The Bruins got two power plays within 28 seconds. Marcus Johansson and Patrice Bergeron scored power play goals.

#4 Bruins forward Charlie Wagner, who contributed with a goal himself, said that the power plays no doubt have made the difference in the B’s Game 1 win by two goals.

#5 Boston’s famous sports bar and grill near TD Waterhouse Garden named Hurricanes had to think of a way to fix their name as the Bruins were facing off against the Hurricanes. The bar cleverly came up with a banner that read “Beat the” over the Hurricanes sign above the restaurant awning.

Matt Harrington does the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoffs podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Len Shapiro: Sharks-Blues meet for the sixth time for the Conference Finals

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Photo credit: @Str8ToTheBanc

On the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals podcast with Len:

#1 This is going to be the sixth time that the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues have met in the Western Conference Finals. In those six meetings, the Sharks have won three of those series.

#2 The Sharks in 2016 played their only Stanley Cup Finals and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Are the Sharks a different team this season after facing elimination to the Vegas Golden Knights and taking out the Colorado Avalanche in seven games? Is this team more on a mission then that 2016 team?

#3 Sharks captain Joe Pavelski contributed to the cause with a goal after coming back from a critical concussion in Game 7 of the first round. How much did Pavelski inspire this team?

#4 In postseason play, the Sharks forwards Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl are in a two-way tie for second in NHL playoffs for scoring. Defensemen Brent Burns and Hertl have nine goals and 14 points so no doubt the Sharks are getting some offensive support.

#5 The Sharks open up the best of seven Saturday night at SAP Center in San Jose for Games 1 and 2. Len sets this series up for us.

Len is covering the NHL Western Conference Finals podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: As much snow balls as there were runs and hits in Rox 12-11 win Thursday

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sfgate.com photo: Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado is congratulated as he returns to the dugout after hitting a two-run home run off San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Derek Holland in the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Denver.

On the Giants podcant with Michael Duca:

#1 If you like a lot of runs, this was your ballgame. The Giants paid the Colorado Rockies a visit to Coors Field on Thursday for a 12-11 Rockies win.

#2 The snow at Coors was an afternoon that would give goosebumps to chill fans trying to warm up during cold hockey nights in Canada, but this was Denver in May, did the snow give the hitters an advantage as pitchers might had a hard time to stay warm and hit their spots?

#3 The Rockies’ Nolan Arenado got a home run in the first and three hits to contribute to the cause. Arenado got on base five times. Arenado hit a ball that was ruled a foul in the second inning, which would have been his second home run and 11th of the season.

#4 Ian Desmond and Mark Reynolds poured it on with a home run each. Both teams keep swinging away in the snow and 40-degree weather.

#5 The Giants open up a three-game series Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds at Oracle Park in San Francisco for the Reds, who were almost swept by the Oakland A’s in Oakland for the Reds Luis Castillio (3-1, 1.97 ERA) and for the Giants Derek Rodriguez (3-4, 5.75 ERA).

Join Michael Duca each Friday for the Giants podcasts heard at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals podcast with Joe Lami: Sharks’ DeBoer didn’t underestimate Avs; Bruins getting it done on the power play

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nbcsports.com file photo: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski (8) and the St. Louis Blues’ Vince Dunn (29) battle for the puck as the two teams meet Saturday night for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at SAP Center in San Jose.

On the NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals with Joe Lami:

San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer, after things settled down after the Sharks’ Game 7 victory on Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche, said the Avalanche were a team that handled a tough Calgary Flames team and got through them in the first round and it gave him some concern having to face Colorado.

While it gave DeBoer pause, he said he was proud of the job that the Sharks did in taking the second round against the Avalanche. Winning the second series without team captain Joe Pavelski, how both Brent Burns and Erki Karlsson both contributed with strong offensive performances. Burns and teammate Tomas Hertl combined with nine goals and 14 points.

The Boston Bruins held it together on Thursday night in Game 1 of the third round with a three goal win 5-3 over the Carolina Hurricanes, mostly because of the power play. The Bruins’ Marcus Johansson and Patrice Bergeron scored power play goals in 28 seconds. The Boston Bruins forward Charlie Wagner commented on the NHL Network that the Bruins took advantage of the power play, getting that huge 5-4 advantage gets them in their other end and they found their way to the back end of the net.

The Bruins, with their 5-3 win and having a 1-0 series lead, go to Game 2 on Sunday and the Bruins feel good to be on their home ice for this second game. Joe says the Bruins the huge favorite to take this series in five or six games.

Joe Lami does the NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com