Tag: Sports radio

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Kittle and 49ers agree on five year $75 million deal

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In this Feb. 2, 2020, file photo, San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle (85) catches a pass in front of Kansas City Chiefs’ Daniel Sorensen during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game in Miami Gardens, Fla. The play was called back on a penalty by Kittle. Kittle has agreed to a five-year extension with the San Francisco 49ers that reportedly is the richest contract ever at the position. A person familiar with the deal says the sides agreed Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, on the deal to keep Kittle off the market next offseason. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle signed a five year $75 million deal with the 49ers after saying he wanted a bump up from the usual tight end salary and something close to a wide receivers salary and the 49ers absolutely wanted to work with Kittle.

#2 Kittle was one of the best pass catchers who ranked sixth over two seasons and had 2430 receiving yards, in receptions Kittle was 11th with 173, was second in yards after the catch with 1464.

#3 USA Today said that the 49ers paid Kittle too much but it really doesn’t matter.

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Battle of the Bay getting ready to commence

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The grinding of teeth as the San Francisco Giants pitcher Caleb Baragar is lifted in the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s game in Houston after the Astros Martin Maldonado tags Baragar with a three run homer. The Giants host the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park in San Francisco tonight (AP photo)

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants just dropped a series to the defending American League champs. Now they have to contend with the hottest team in the game.

The Giants and A’s will now head to Oracle Park to play a three-game series in front of an undisclosed amount of cardboard cutouts and synthetic, non-authentic crowd noise, a series that starts Friday night.

The A’s are sitting atop the American League West with a 13-6 mark, having won 10 of their last 12 games in the process. The momentum really kicked into high gear when they swept the defending American League champion Houston Astros last weekend.

The Giants, on the other hand, are in last place in the National League West with an 8-12 record, and have dropped eight of their last 11 contests. They have lost games in different ways, with subpar defense, bad bullpen and the meager offense that Giants fans have grown used to for the past few years.

They have also been bitten by questionable pitching changes by manager Gabe Kapler, which was the main sticking point of his getting fired by the Philadelphia Phillies last season.

With all of this in mind, things are not looking good for the Giants and their overmatched lineup, and it does not figure to get any better in the foreseeable future.

Frankie Montas will go for the A’s on Friday, and he will go head-up with Giants starter Johnny Cueto, who had a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his most recent outing, which is one positive that the Giants can take into this series.

If there is another for the Giants, A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano is currently appealing a six-game suspension that he drew after his altercation with Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron over the weekend. He could very well miss part of, if not all of, the weekend series.

That’s Amaurys’ News and Commentary: Bay Series 2020 A’s and Giants renew their Rivalry

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The Oakland A’s and Matt Chapman will be at Oracle Park in San Francisco for a three game series starting this Friday night. Chapman is shown here from last year’s Home Run Derby at last year’s All-Star game in Minnesota (AP file photo)

Bay Series 2020: A’s and Giants renew their Rivalry

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Our Bay Area teams have been hot and not so hot. The Oakland Athletics to one of their best starts in history occupy first place with a 13-6 record already four games over second place Texas Rangers, with just 41 games left in this 2020 season. The San Francisco Giants with a not so good 8-12 in last place five games out of first, with 40 games left. A red hot Colorado Rockies team with 12-6 has taken first place.

The Bay Area Series is always a treat for Northern California fans, although this year with zero fans in the stands. Giants always have received press coverage preference since they moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, while the A’s who arrived in Oakland ten years later in 1968 had their share of success, with four (4)World Series going to the City of Oakland.

The most memorable was the 1989 (last World Series title) when they swept the Giants in the middle of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. Every-time they meet I remember that memorable 1989, as memorable as this incredible 2020.

These two teams in 2020 are totally different. The A’s brain trust had said a few seasons ago that the year 2020 was their goal for this group of young players to jell as a unit and go far. Chapman, Olson, Semien, Laureano, Piscotty, Canha and a young and talented pitching staff headed by Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Jesús Luzardo, with veteran Mike Fiers and a supporting cast of Daniel Mengden and Chris Bassitt.

But it has been the A’s bullpen that has been ‘lights out’. Joaquim Soria, Jake Diekman, T.J McFarland, has worked the most with the reliable veteran Yusmeiro Petit plus closer Liam Hendricks now with a 1-0 1.93 ERA and five saves in nine games. He is not the “opener” anymore, but one of the most reliable closers in the game.

The A’s can play power ball with the best teams in baseball. Their defense has been solid and their starting pitching, minor their #1 lefty Sean Manaea, who has not won in four previous starts, he is 0-2 with an ugly 9.00 ERA in just 15 innings pitched. There was a lot of optimism for Manaea in 2020 after coming back from shoulder surgery faster than the A’S expected. However, flamethrower Frankie Montás has taken over the #1 position in the rotation since Opening Day.

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The San Francisco Giants in 2020 are in a rebuilding season. A cast of young inexperienced players, surrounded with veterans like Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford, and their top starter Johnny Cueto.

The face of this franchise, catcher Buster Posey, opted out during this Corona-virus season, after he and his wife adopted twins and decided to stay at home. Nevertheless, there are some interesting players like journeyman Donovan Solano who has played with the Marlins and Yankees and since 2019 with the Giants.

Solano is hitting .458 with 15 RBI. Would he be one that hit .400 in this shortened season? Also Mauricio Dubón is a good young player. Pablo Sandoval still hanging around and Hunter Pence returned to the team he enjoyed the most success.

The fences were moved in at Oracle Park, as the Giants who have been power-depraved might be able to connect for more home runs. Gabe Kapler (Manager) was sort of a controversial signing for the Giants, after the reign of future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Botchy who retired and left some big shoes to be filled.

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The Giants will host the Athletics on a three (3) game series at Oracle Park

Friday 6:45PM Giants Johnny Cueto 1-0 5.40 vs. A’S Frankie Montas 2-1 1.57

Saturday at 4:07 and Sunday at 1:05

The Bay Series will continue in September across the bay in Oakland, for the last three games.

September 18, 19 and 20.

May your favorite team win.

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October Bubble? MLB is seriously considering playing the Postseason in neutral warm-weather cities with two major league parks, the favorites are the Chicago and Los Angeles areas. A total of 16 teams will advance to the postseason, eight in each league. In case our two bay area teams are among those sixteen, they will probably play in the LA area. It actually doesn’t matter, since stadiums are going to be empty anyway during all the games anyplace in the country.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish Radio Talent for the Oakland A’s. Catch the A’s-Giants series at Oracle Park in San Francisco on NBC Sports Bay Area. Amaury does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s open up three game series with Giants at Oracle Park Friday

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas who gets the start against the San Francisco Giants on Fri Aug 14th at Oracle Park in San Francisco works against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO–The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants are both enjoying a day off on Thursday. The teams will begin Part One of the annual Bay Bridge Series Friday night at Oracle Park. They will play three games in San Francisco and three more in Oakland in September.

The A’s are currently in first place in the AL West with a record of 13-6. The Giants are in last place in the NL West with a record of 8-12. The Giants would love nothing better than to upset the A’s applecart this weekend.

Let’s take a look at the starting pitchers. Friday night’s game will feature the A’s Frankie Montas going against the Giants’ Johnny Cueto. Montas, named the American League’s Player of the Week, won his last two starts and struck out fourteen over fourteen innings of work. Overall, he is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.57.

The Giants’ Cueto pitched against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. He had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning. He lost it when veteran outfielder Hunter Pence misplayed a fly ball that fell for a hit. Cueto is 1-0 and has an ERA of 2.57 against Oakland.

On Saturday, rookie left-hander, Jesus Luzardo, pitches for the Green and Gold. Luzardo won his first Major League game last week over the Houston Astros. He went five and 2/3rds innings and allowed just two runs.

The Giants will start Kevin Gausman. Gausman, a former Baltimore Oriole, went six and 1/3rd innings and allowed one run facing the Dodgers last week. Gausman is 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA in four starts against the A’s.

Sean Manaea will go for Oakland on Sunday. Manaea has not had a great start to the season. He has yet to go five complete innings. In his last start against the LA Angels on Monday, he was unable to make it out of the third innings.

The A’s are hoping that Manaea can get back on track. The Giants will send righty Logan Webb to the hill to face Oakland. Webb is 1-1, and his ERA is 2.71. Against Houston, Webb went three and 1/3rd innings and gave up five runs, and two were unearned. In his only start against the A’s in 2019, Webb went four and 2/3rds innings and allowed four runs.

The A’s, winners of 97 games in 2018 and 2019, are optimistic about making the playoffs again in 2020. They have a strong starting rotation, excellent bullpen, and a roster full of versatile position players.

Shortstop Marcus Semien leads the a’s offense, third baseman Matt Chapman, first baseman Matt Olson, centerfielder Ramon Laureano, right fielder Stephen Piscotty, and left fielder Mark Canha add potent bats to the A’s cause.

The A’s are also solid on defense. Laureano made three sensational plays in Wednesday’s game against the Angels. Chapman is a Platinum Glove winner, and Matt Olson has two Gold Gloves, and Marcus Semien nearly won one last year.

The Giants are a team that is rebuilding. They have a new manager, Gabe Kapler. Andrew Bailey, the former A’s closer, is the pitching coach. Ron Wotus remains at third base for San Francisco.

The Giants will feature several familiar faces in the lineup. Brandon Crawford will be at shortstop. Brandon Belt at first and Evan Longoria will be at third. These three have not hit well to start the season. Crawford is at .208, Belt at .135, and Longo at .213. Second baseman Donovan Solano, who is day-to-day, leads the team with a batting average of .458. He has one home run and 15 RBIs to his credit.

The Giants will play Mike Yasztremski in center, Alex Dickerson in right, and Austin Slater in left. Yaz is hitting .314 with four home runs, twelve RBIs, and an OPS of 1.077. Dickerson stats are .271 BA, two Homers, and 5 RBI. Slater, also day-to-day with a sore right elbow, is hitting .342 with three dingers and four ribbies.

His OPS is 1.076. Pablo Sandoval or Hunter Pence may see time as the designated hitter. Pence can also play in the outfield if needed. Hunter, who had a bounce-back year with Texas in 2019, has had a rough start. Wilmer Flores, the ex-Met, can fill in at third or first base, if necessary.

The following players man the Giants’ bullpen. The Giants will use Trevor Gott as the closer. Shaun Anderson, sidewinder Tyler Rogers, Jarlin Garcia, Caleb Baragar, Sam Selman, Wandy Peralta will all see action over the weekend.

The A’s bullpen has been very reliable for Bob Melvin and the A’s. Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria, Jake Diekman, J.B.Wendelken, T.J.McFarland, Lou Trivino, and closer Liam Hendriks have been consistent throughout the first nineteen games of the season.

The A’s, as mentioned earlier, cannot take the Giants lightly. Good teams don’t let opportunities such as this to slip through their hands. The A’s know the key to success is winning series. On the other hand, the Giants hope to beat the starch out the guys from across the Bay. It is always fun when these two teams get together. It should be no different this weekend.

Kings Take A Feel Good Win Home To Sacramento; Defeat Lakers 136-122

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Sacramento Kings’ DaQuan Jeffries, left, defends against Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo via AP)
By Barbara Mason
 
It’s finally come to an end for the Sacramento Kings.  It came in a Thursday morning basketball game to complete the NBA regular season.  It will be on to the playoffs for one and back home to Sacramento for the other.  The Lakers have wrapped up the number one seed in the West.  We will not be seeing De’Aaron Fox who missed Sacramento’s last game and there will most likely be limited time for LeBron James as well.  Regardless of what is or is not at stake, a win for the Kings would be a nice finish to their season.
 
The first quarter was a high scoring affair.  The Lakers led by ten points 40-30.  The Lakers called on their bench early with Howard, Cook, Smith and Waiters putting in some early minutes.  Their accumulative points were 16.  The Kings bench saw a lot of action as well with six players taking the floor.  Bodanovic had 12 points and Bjelica had 9 in that first quarter.
 
The second quarter saw much more aggressive play by the Kings and a few minutes into the second quarter the Kings trailed the Lakers by a single point.  In a little over 4 minutes Sacramento had scored almost 20 points and with 5:57 left in the half the score was tied at 50.  With four minutes left in the half  Markieff Morris entered the game for James.  The Kings led at the half 66-56 outscoring the Lakers 36-16 in the second quarter.  The Kings Buddy Hield came off the bench for 15 minutes in the first half and scored 17 points.  The Kings bench scored 34 points.  The starters played significant minutes and had 32 points.
 
The Kings continued to keep the Lakers in check outscoring them in the third quarter 41-28.  James played only 15 minutes in the game.  The Kings top scoring efforts came from Buddy Hield with 28 points and Bogdanovic with 27.  Harrison Barnes had a disappointing 3 points for the 25 minutes he was on the floor.  The final was 136-122 in favor of Sacramento. The Lakers did outscore the Kings in the fourth quarter 38-29 but it wasn’t enough to get past the Kings.
 
It was a tough run in Florida for the Sacramento Kings but this final game will make the flight home just a little easier.  There were some great performances in this game and it would have been nice to see that kind of basketball to start the season. (the shortened season that is) It also would have been nice to have Fox on the floor but the Kings are not the only team that is missing key personnel.   
 
So now the Kings and the entire league will enter the unknown as they look ahead to the 2020-2021 season.  Right now no one has a crystal ball that can predict what that is going to look like. We will just enjoy the playoffs and then cross the next bridge when we come to it.  

 

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Cleveland pitchers late night out throws rotation off; NFL to introduce strict protocols; plus more

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Cleveland pitcher Mike Clevinger took the team plane after he possibly might have been exposed to outside sources with pitcher Zach Plesac when they snook out to meet with friends in Chicago (AP file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony R:

#1 Tony talk about Cleveland pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac who both left their hotels to be with friends while in Chicago. Plesac was busted trying to get back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning and Clevinger didn’t return to the hotel was found out in a later investigation by MLB security.

#2 Plesac had to drive back in a rental car and Clevinger took the team flight back to Cleveland but later was found out that he was out with Plesac with friends in Chicago possibly exposing themselves to Covid-19.

#3 The NFL is taking a lesson in all of this and they want strict protocols to watch the players that they don’t sneak out and meet with friends will the NFL take a page out of the MLB rulebook and batton stricter guidelines about leaving a bubble?

#4 Should the NFL have bubble locations split up amongst the west, central and east with the same kind of bubble rules the NBA and NHL have?

#5 16 years in a Dallas Cowboys uniform Jason Witten was waiting for the call to join the team for a 17th year but that call never came and now he’s in a Las Vegas Raiders combine after reaching out to Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, Tony what are your thoughts on Witten joining Las Vegas?

Join Tony R every other Thursday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Laureano is appealing his suspension; A’s had break out game on Wednesday

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(photo from Bay Area News Group) Oakland A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano who is appealing his six game suspension will be returning Aug 20th from the suspension

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry the A’s had that nine game win streak but after the Laureano and Cintron brawl last Sunday the A’s had lost two straight on Monday and Tuesday nights was the fight and the forthcoming suspension of Laureano a distraction to the team?

#2 Laureano in an interview in Anaheim said he appealed and later will take the suspension six games, that he’s a man and he said he shouldn’t have wasted his time with Cintron.

#3 Laureano will sit out games against the Giants and Diamondbacks and looks forward to coming back during the Angels series in Oakland Aug 21st and on the road in Texas and Houston at the end of the month.

#4 Laureano’s suspension in a 60 game equals 2.7 games, he was one of Oakland’s best hitters hitting .263 with three home runs and has been a disciplined and patient hitter at the plate for the A’s especially during that nine game win streak.

#5 The A’s the day off today they open up a three game series against the Giants at Oracle Park on Friday night set up the three game weekend series.

Jerry joins us for the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Astros don’t need sign-stealing to beat listless Giants 5-1

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Houston Astros’ Martin Maldonado hits a three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants got off to a nice start on Wednesday, but they could not get any further momentum going, and they fell to the Houston Astros, 5-1, at Minute Maid Park.

In the process, they dropped two of the three-game series to the defending American League champions, who have been found to have used different elaborate forms of sign-stealing over the course of at least three years, including the World Series-winning 2017 season.

After Alex Dickerson singled in Mike Yastrzemski to give the Giants a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Astros, who didn’t need the help of a banging garbage can to tell them what pitch was coming, began to tee off on the Giants’ bullpen starting in the fifth inning.

Houston tied it in the fifth on Alex Bregman’s single off Dereck Rodriguez scored George Springer.

The following inning, the Astros continued to tee off. Carlos Correa, who last week was struck out and then mocked by Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, which touched off a benches-clearing confrontation (social distancing was not maintained, by the way), scored on a wild pitch to give Houston the lead.

Martin Maldonado quickly followed with a three-run homer off reliever Caleb Baragar to extend the lead to four runs.

The only thing that the Giants did well following the fifth inning was that they did not get into a benches-clearing incident – unlike the Astros and Dodgers last week – to put themselves in danger of contracting COVID-19.

On the other hand, things were so good for the Astros that starting pitcher Zack Greinke called out a pitch he was to throw to Mauricio Dubon – yeah, he actually did that – and Dubon took the gift and promptly flied out to center to end the inning.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Tampa Bay wins after five OTs 3-2 in record setting game against Columbus

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Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the fifth overtime period of an NHL Eastern Conference Stanley Cup first-round playoff game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko how often do you see a five overtime game like the one the Tampa Bay Lightning played against the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3-2 win on Tuesday in Toronto?

#2 Braydon Point scored the game winner for Tampa Bay at 90:27 or at 10:27 of the fifth overtime the fourth longest playoff game in NHL history.

#3 Point scored on a long wrist shot that went over the Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo  for the win in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoffs.

#4 The game started at 3:09 pm Eastern and lasted 6:13 and finished at 9:22pm it was rough on the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes who were waiting for ice time for game one of their series that was postponed after waiting for hours at Scotiabank.

#5 The Bolts had a playoff record of 88 shots and both teams combined for 151 shots another NHL record, Korpisalo’s 85 saves goes into the books for the most saves in a game.

Marko does the NHL Stanley Cup podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Joe Lami: Flames Dube scores twice and Andersson gets game winner 3-2 over Dallas

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Calgary Flames’ Dillon Dube (29) is stopped by Dallas Stars goalie Anton Khudobin (35)] during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast with Joe:

#1 Joe talk about Dillion Dube who lit up the lamp for the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at the bubble in Edmonton who scored twice to pace the Flames to a 3-2 one goal win to take game of the first round over the Dallas Stars.

#2 Dube’s two goals were good enough to tie the Stars and it was the Flames Rasmus Andersson who broke the 2-2 deadlock and the Flames were off to victory from that point.

#3 TJ Brodie said there is great chemistry on the Flames and that is partly why they’ve got this far in the post season. Brodie said it feels different from previous years.

#4 How big was it for Andersson to get the Flames the game winner and goaltender Cam Talbot who stopped 24 out of 26 shots.

#5 How do you see this series having back to back games on Thursday and Friday nights between the Stars and Flames will they get exhausted from playing back to back or will they have pure adrenaline going into these two back to back contests.

Joe Lami does the NHL Stanley Cup podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com