Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: 49ers WR Jalen Hurd looking at knee surgery; Cleveland pitcher says he’ll leave team if Clevinger and Plesac stay

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jalen Hurd (17) is facing knee surgery, he had a MRI, Hurd missed most of the 2019 season from a back injury (sfgate.com photo)

Headlines with Barbara podcast:

#1 The San Francisco wide receiver 49ers Jalen Hurd is going to have major knee surgery, Hurd missed last season due to a back injury and was diagnosed with a torn ACL after having an MRI.

#2 Hurd during the pre season last year had three catches for 31 yards and had two touchdowns for 20 yards and four yards of the opening game of the pre season but was shelved for the rest of the season when back trouble started.

#3 Cleveland relief pitcher Oliver Perez said he would leave the team if pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac were allowed to stay with the team. Although Clevinger and Pleasac were both tested negative for Coronavirus and had apologized for leaving the team hotel to meet with friends when the club was in Chicago violating team policy regarding Covid-19 protocols. Both were optioned to the team’s alternative site.

#4 During a team meeting on Friday teammates were very vocal about what Clevinger and Plesac did put the club in jeopardy as both players apologized. Teammates were angry that Clevinger took a team flight after being in contact with meeting with friends and Pleasac who was caught trying to sneak back into the hotel by MLB security was forced to drive back to Cleveland from Chicago.

#5 The Oakland A’s who took another loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-1 tonight and that makes A’s (16-8) and Yankees (16-6) behind the Dodgers (18-7) for the best record in baseball.

Join Barbara Tuesday nights at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Yastrzemski and Sandoval homer in Giants 8-2 win

San Francisco Giants’ Alex Dickerson, right, congratulates Mike Yastrzemski after a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)

By Jeremy Kahn

This time the San Francisco Giants built a lead too big that not even the Los Angeles Angels could come back from.

Mike Yastrzemski and Pablo Sandoval each hit home runs, as the Giants defeated the Angels 8-2 at Anaheim Stadium.

With the victory, the Giants put a stop to a five-game losing streak that included three demoralizing defeats in the late inning.

Yastrzemski hit his team-leading sixth home run, as he took the fourth pitch he saw from Angels starter Dylan Bundy over the right field wall to give the Giants an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. It was the first leadoff home run of Yastrzemskis career.

The right fielder was the star of the day, as he also came up big on defense, as he robbed David Fletcher of a potential RBI single when he made a diving catch to end the bottom of the second inning.

Giants starter Trevor Cahill pitched four innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out four. Cahill pitched for the Angels during the 2019 season. Reliever Jarlin Garcia, who was the fifth Giants pitcher of the afternoon evened his record on the season at 1-1.

Bundy also went four innings, as he allowed four runs on four hits, four walks and a strikeout, as he lost for the second time this season.

Sandoval tomahawked a two-run home run in the top of the second inning to increase the Giants lead up to 3-1 and give them the lead for good.

Tommy La Stella tied up the game, as he took a Cahill pitch deep over the right field wall, a solo home run that was measured at 420 feet.

Five Giants relievers went the final five innings allowing just one run on just one hit, walked two and struck out one. The quintet of Caleb Baragar, Sam Selman, Wandy Peralta, Garcia and Shawn Anderson gave the Giants morale boost after a tough weekend against the Oakland As and in the opener of the three-game series against Angels on Monday night, when La Stella hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Angels a 7-6 victory.

NOTES: Yastrzemski now has 13 runs batted in with two strikes, tying him with Kole Calhoun of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the most in the major leagues. His batting average is .300 (15-for-50) when there is a count of that matter, and 10 of those hits are for extra bases.

When the first pitch was thrown by Bundy, the temperature at Anaheim Stadium was 99 degrees and it marked just the 10th time since the stadium opened on April 18, 1966 that the temperature was 99 or above. The record is 108 degrees on July 6, 2018 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

UP NEXT: With the series heading up to the Bay Area, Johnny Cueto will take the ball on Wednesday night for the Giants, while Patrick Sandoval heads to the Oracle Park mound.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s take advantage of Giants struggling bullpen; A’s close out two game series tonight in Arizona

Oakland Athletics’ Chad Pinder, right, celebrates with Sean Murphy (12) after hitting a two-run home run off San Francisco Giants’ Wandy Peralta in the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1  The A’s went on a tear against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend that included two comeback wins with home runs from Stephen Piscotty on Friday night for a grand slam that tied the game in the ninth and the eventual come back in the tenth and on Saturday Mark Canha hit the game winning home run to edge the Giants.

#2 The Giants bullpen has suffered through this series and they sent out catcher Tyler Heineman to pitch in relief who wound pitching a scoreless inning on Sunday using breaking pitches

#3 Once again the A’s slugged another one out against the Giants with a 15-3  laugher to close out the three game sweep at Oracle Park.

#4 One of the big reasons for the A’s success in the series is the Giants relievers have given up 23 home runs in 24 games and evidence of that is when they had to go to a position player Heineman for relief help.

#5 The win put the A’s 4.5 games in first place in the American League west with a 16-6 record the winningest record in MLB.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the A’s Spanish lead announcer on 1010 KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsadioservice.com

Giants’ Bullpen Blues: SF collapses in the ninth again, lose 7-6 to the Angels

San Francisco Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson, bottom, dives for a ball hit by Los Angeles Angels’ Tommy La Stella as third baseman Evan Longoria jumps out of the way during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, Aug. 17, 2020 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

After the seventh inning, the perfect ending had to have crossed manager Gabe Kapler’s mind.

Six consecutive outs and the Giants could end their four-game losing skid with Mike Trout standing in the on-deck circle unable to lift his Angels.

If only Kapler had the horses..

Instead Trevor Gott surrendered a game-ending, two-run homer to Tommy La Stella in a 7-6 Giants’ loss, their third via a ninth inning collapse in four games.

For Gott, his season has gone from delight to disaster: the reliever elevated to closer has allowed six, ninth inning home runs while his ERA has ballooned to 14.73.

“We’ll look for a softer landing spot for him. I think we’re going to need to figure out how to get his confidence back,” Kapler said of Gott.

For La Stella and the Angels, the win was the perfect tonic for ending a four-game skid in which they were overpowered by the A’s before getting swept by the Dodgers over the weekend. The win marked the first time in 11 games they had won after trailing initially. And yes, the game did end with Trout due up next, but the prospect of the Giants getting what they wanted, fueled La Stella.

“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t swing out of the zone, especially with Mike coming up next,” La Stella said.

Trout did his damage earlier with a solo shot in the third that tied the game, 2-2. The Angels’ superstar became the first slugger to reach 10 home runs this season, only to see San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. homer twice in their game against Texas to take the Major League lead with 11.

For the Giants, Trout’s homer off starter Tyler Anderson marked an ominous milestone, the 20th consecutive game the team’s pitching staff has allowed at least one home run, an ongoing franchise record.

The Giants led 2-0 after Brandon Belt’s homer in the first, then after they trailed 5-3, a three-run rally in the sixth gave them the lead again. Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run double scored Brandon Crawford and Mauricio Dubon to make it 6-5 Giants in the sixth.

Relievers Jarlin Garcia, Tyler Rogers and Tony Watson each pitched scoreless innings to get the Giants to the ninth with the lead. But Gott couldn’t hold it, striking out Brian Goodwin on three pitches, and allowing David Fletcher a bloop single before La Stella ended it.

Dylan Bundy, in search of his fourth win, will start for the Angels on Tuesday, opposed by Trevor Cahill for the Giants. Cahill served as a starter and reliever in 2019, his one and only season as a member of the Angels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peralta’s ninth-inning single lifts D-Backs past Athletics 4-3

Arizona Diamondbacks David Peralta (6) celebrates his RBI walk-off base hit with teammates after a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks won 4-3. (AP Photo/Matt York)

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, August 17, 2020

David Peralta’s run-scoring single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-3 win over the visiting Oakand Athletics Monday in the first of a two-game series at Chase Field in Phoenix.

This was the Diamondbacks’ fifth consecutive win and ninth in their last 12 games, putting them above .500 for the first time in the shortened season. Oakland has MLB’s best record at 16-7.

Stefn Crichton (2-0) threw a scoreless ninth to get the win.

After Nick Ahmed led off the D-Backs ninth with a double off Oakland reliever Joakim Soria (1-1), Jake Diekman took over on the mound for the A’s. Kole Calhoun struck out, right before Ketel Marte singled to left, moving Ahmed to third.

Starling Marte was intentionally walked, loading the bases. With the outfield in, Peralta singled to right, scoring Ahmed.

Oakland tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth. Matt Chapman’s sacrifice fly to right scored Vimael Machin, who singled and moved to third on Austin Allen’s double to right, cutting the Arizona lead to 3-2.

Ahmed’s error on Matt Olson’s grounder to short allowed Franklin Barreto – pinch-running for Allen – to score the tying run off D-Backs’ reliever Hector Rondon.

Robbie Grossman’s solo home run in the seventh inning put the A’s on the board after Arizona built a 3-0 lead.

The Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Carson Kelly, preceded by Eduardo Escobar reaching on a fielder’s choice, driving in Peralta, who doubled.

Peralta opened the scoring for Arizona with a solo home run to right in the third inning off Athletics’ starter Chris Bassitt.

Bassitt surrendered three runs over 5 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and three walks. Arizona starter Zac Gallen gave up one earned run in seven innings, with eight strikeouts and one walk.

The short series concludes Tuesday with a pitching matchup of right-handers – Frankie Montas (2-1, 1.57) for Oakland against the D-Backs’ Luke Weaver (0-3, 11.85).

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: After losing two in the late innings where is SF’s confidence?; Will Giants shop Cueto?

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto, left, briefly talks with Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson after Pederson flew out to end the third inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Morris going into Anaheim and having lost the series to the Oakland mostly by late inning heroics by the A’s how much does that devalue the team’s confidence?

#2 The way you see it was this a matter of the Giants bullpen just failing or was it just bad pitch selection on pitches to Stephen Piscotty for his grand slam Friday to tie the game and to Mark Canha for his homer on Saturday?

#3 How bad is this Giants team collapsing a five run lead in the ninth inning and Giants pitcher Trevor Gott who gave up the game winning three run homer for the go ahead eventual winner.

#4 Morris how soon is practical for the Giants to bring up catcher Joey Bart who has been in training camp with the Sacramento Rivercats. Bart is close to being promoted but the Giants wanted to take a cautious approach to his promotion but fans and players are calling for him to come up to the show.

#5 There has been talk that Giants starter Johnny Cueto’s latest success might give him some trade value, Cueto had a great start on Friday before reaching his pitch count and nearly threw a no hitter against the Dodgers Sat Aug 8th.

Morris joins Sportstalk for the Giants podcasts on Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

No Doubt Clout: A’s sweep the Giants, win 15-3 with thunderous home run display

By Morris Phillips

Normally, a trip to Oracle Park doesn’t prompt an offensive breakout. But these aren’t normal times: from protective masks, empty stadiums to overnight thunderstorms by the Bay, baseball in 2020 has a different rhythm.

The A’s undoubtedly have caught that rhythm. And they’re not a normal team, in fact, through 22 games of a two-month season, they’re exceptional.

Friday and Saturday, the A’s were merely good when they absolutely had to be, winning with a pair of epic, ninth inning rallies. On Sunday, they were fabulous from first pitch to last, drubbing the Giants 15-3 behind 17 hits, nine of which went for extra bases including a pair of massive homers.

“For a while we were winning close games, getting big hits and the pitching was ruling the day,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It seems the bats have woken up some.”

Melvin said woken, Oakland fans might say hella woke after Chad Pinder–first pitch swinging in a pinch-hitting role–touched off a three-homer, fifth inning with a majestic bomb that left the park traveling at 112 mph.

The reaction from the Oakland dugout to the crack of the bat reverberating through a near-silent ballpark? Priceless.

The cheers from Pinder’s fast reacting teammates almost seem verbalized, as in “I’ve seen home runs, but not like this..”

Pinder entered a 2-2 game, as Giants’ starter Logan Webb departed, and manager Gabe Kapler summoned lefty reliever Wandy Peralta to face Tony Kemp. Melvin played a hunch that the righty-hitting Pinder could incite a rally. The manager’s intuition–as often happens with hot clubs–was spot on. Pinder’s two-run shot led to a nine-run outburst that put the game away.

After Pinder struck, Mark Canha tripled home two runs, Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run shot, and Marcus Semien add a two-run blast. Incredibly, Piscotty’s homer measured thirty feet further than Pinder’s, and one-hopped the bleachers’ concourse.

“Not even in batting practice have I seen a ball go up there,” Melvin said afterwards via Zoom chat. “It looked like it was headed for the glove (yes, the giant-sized, leather glove above the concourse).”

Mike Fiers went six innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, and picked up the win. His 91-pitch effort was his lengthiest to date.

The A’s have won 13 of 15 after a 2-4 start to the season. Their 16-6 record is the best in the Majors.

Are they the best team in baseball? Maybe, maybe not, but they certainly looked like it in sweeping the Giants.

NOTES: Through 22 games, the A’s are a statistical conundrum that makes perfect sense when combined with these two facts: they don’t have any significant injuries, and after winning 95 games in back-to-back seasons with that group returning almost intact, they have more confidence-building experience than their opponents, especially on offense.

When have the A’s been able to say either of those two statements?

Now the conundrum: the A’s entered Sunday with a .219 team batting average, which ranked them 14th in the American League, ahead of only Cleveland (.196!!). But the A’s have drawn 92 walks (3rd in the AL), and been hit by a pitch 17 times (1st).

A dramatic juxtaposition indeed, the walks and hit batters keep the A’s above water despite their anemic batting average. But here’s an even more startling statistical twist.

The A’s have struck out 221 times in 22 games, more than 10 times a game, and the second most in baseball behind only the Braves, who struck out 16 times in their 4-0 win over Miami on Sunday.

Balancing those strikeouts? The A’s have hit 35 home runs, more than three for every two games played, a high number of which have come late in games to either tie, lead or win.

And making all those disparate offensive numbers sing? The A’s pitching staff has compiled a 3.49 ERA, fifth best in baseball, and a number almost a full run lower than the MLB average (4.41). When you have to wait a full nine innings for an offense to kick in, you need a pitching staff that keeps you in the game. The A’s staff does that.

A’s-Giants series numbers for the A’s offensively: 29 strikeouts (14 on Saturday), 35 hits (17 on Sunday), nine home runs (multiple homers in an inning, once in each of the three games), 15 walks (five off starter Logan Webb, who departed in the fifth inning on Sunday).

 

 

 

 

 

SF Giants game wrap: Break out the brooms for the A’s in 15-3 victory

Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty, right, swings for a three-run home run off San Francisco Giants’ Dereck Rodriguez in the fifth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Well, the Oakland A’s did not have to come back on the San Francisco Giants in the series finale of the Bay Bridge Series.

Chad Pinder hit a pinch-hit two-run home run off of Wandy Peralta on the first pitch that Peralta threw in the top of the fifth inning, as the A’s completed a three-game series sweep with a 15-3 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park.

The 15 runs are the most scored by the A’s at Oracle Park and the second most ever scored against the Giants, following the 16 runs that they scored on June 26, 2005 in a 16-0 shutout by the A’s over the Giants, who got only one hit on that afternoon, when Deivi Cruz singled off of Rich Harden in the fifth inning.

The Pinder home run, his third pinch-hit home run of his career landed more than three-quarters up the left-field bleachers that gave the A’s the lead for good.

Sean Murphy walked to lead off the inning with a walk, and Marcus Semien popped out for the first out of the inning, Gabe Kapler decided that it was enough for Logan Webb and he was replaced by Peralta, who promptly gave up the long home run to Pinder.

Both Matt Chapman and Matt Olson both singled, and then Saturdays hero, Mark Canha drove in both Chapman and Olson, as he tripled into the right-center gap.

Peralta was then replaced by Dereck Rodriguez, who got Khris Davis to pop out to Brandon Belt at first base for the second out of the inning, but Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run home run that landed at the base of the Coca-Cola bottle, clearing the bleachers.

The hit parade continued, as Murphy, who led off the inning with a walk, doubled in his second at bat of the inning and Semien made it a nine-run inning, when he launched a two-run home run of his own. Pinder then made it two hits in the inning, as he singled and then the inning finally came to a screeching halt, as Chapman was robbed of a hit by Alex Dickerson in left field.

Webb was tagged with the loss, as he went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, while walking five and striking out five.

Peralta did not retire a batter, as he gave up five runs on four hits and walked one before giving way to Rodriguez, who gave up three runs (two home runs) on four hits in his first two-thirds work on the afternoon.

Mike Fiers went six innings, as he went gave up two runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out four on his way to his second win of the season.

Davis gave the A’s an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, as he grounded into a double play against Webb that scored Olson from third base. Olson picked up his first single of the season, as he singled in front of Mauricio Dubon in center field, Canha and Robbie Grossman then walked to load the bases prior to the Davis double play.

Brandon Belt tied up the game in the bottom of the second inning, as he lined his second home run of the season onto the arcade in right field.

Chapman gave the A’s the lead once again in the top of the third inning, as he doubled into the gap in right-center field to score Tony Kemp from first base and Chapman moved up an extra 90 feet, when Dubons throw went awry for an error.

Mike Yastrzemski tied up the game in the bottom of the third, as his blooper landed just beyond the reach of Chapman at third base that scored Brandon Crawford and that would be the score until the A’s broke the game wide open with a nine-run fifth inning.

Piscotty drove in two more runs in the top of the sixth inning, as he doubled to score Olson and Davis.

The five runs batted in for Piscotty tied a career high set versus the Boston Red Sox on April 4, 2019 at the Coliseum.
Crawford led off the bottom of the seventh inning by his hitting his first home run of the season, against A’s reliever James Kaprielian, who was making his major-league debut for the As.
Donovan Solano saw his 17-game hitting streak come to a halt, as he took the collar on the afternoon, as he went 0-for-5; however, he still hitting .408 on the season.

With one last chance to get a hit to extend the streak, Solano grounded out to end the game.

NOTES: This is the first time that the A’s have swept the Giants in San Francisco since June 13-15, 2008 and the first sweep over the Giants since June 17-19, 2011.

With three more home runs allowed on the afternoon, the Giants have allowed 39 home runs on the season, and at least one in 19 consecutive games, extending their team record. The Diamondbacks have given up a major league high 46 on the season.

UP NEXT: Neither the Giants nor the Los Angeles Angels have announced their starters for the beginning of their two-game series that begins on Monday night at Anaheim Stadium.

Headline Sports podcast with Daniel Dullum: Lightning, Coyotes and Bruins moving up; Sun perfect but have their bubble bursted; plus more

The Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Karpisalo (70) gets in front of the puck as Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) and the Jackets center Boone Jenner (38) look for the puck in game 3 of the third period Sat Aug 15, 2020 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. (Nathan Dennette/Canadian Press via AP)

On Headline Sports with Daniel:

1 From under the NHL bubbles: Action picks up in East and West, big wins for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes, and  Boston Bruins.

2 Bruins star goalie Tukka Rask opts out of playoffs

3 NBA: Suns are 8-0 in the bubble, fall short of making playoffs; Divac steps down as Kings GM, Dumars takes over

4 Dominoes fall: Pac-12, Big 10 cancel fall sports, NCAA cancels fall championships

5 Reds-Pirates game postponed after Reds player tests positive for Covid-19; 32 postponements in 60-game schedule

6 L.A. Kings suspend mascot actor after sexual harassment lawsuit

Daniel does Headline Sports podcasts every other Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: What to expect from Kittle this season; Can safeties Ward and Tartt stay healthy this season?; plus more

Niners strong safety Jaquiski Tartt hasn’t played since he suffered a rib injury in the team’s loss in Baltimore on Dec. 1. Photo By Nick Wass / AP

On the 49ers podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 Joe George Kittle who signed one of the largest contracts for a tight end at $75 million for five years. Talk about some of the things expected from Kittle this season.

#2 Talk about 49ers safeties Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt and how important it will be for them to stay healthy this season?

#3 Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders who came to the 49ers from the Denver Broncos last season won a Super Bowl with the team and left as quickly as he came and signed on with the New Orleans Saints back in March for $19 million was there any way the 49ers could have kept Sanders from getting away?

#4 Taking a look at running back Raheem Mostert who recently came to an agreement with the 49ers and at one time was about to leave San Francisco but a resolution was administered how important was it for the 49ers to sign Mostert?

#5 As far as rushing is concerned talk about how you see the kind of season that Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Jerrick McKinnon will have?

Join Joe Hawkes for the 49ers podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com