Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Harper, Phils call it a season, eliminated at Nats Park; Giants finish up their regular season; plus more

Photo credit: wtop.com

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 How ironic is it that last meeting between Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in Washington against the Nationals turned out to be a loss that mathematically eliminated the Phillies in Washington DC? The Nats fans found that to be poetic justice.

#2 The San Francisco Giants end their 2019 homestand and regular season this week as they opened a three-game series with Colorado. The Giants have some young prospects and veteran players who are looking to come back next season so everyone will play hard to the final game on Sunday.

#3 The Giants’ Bruce Bochy set to retire, Pablo Sandoval out with an injury for the rest of the season and Madison Bumgarner may not be back all have been a direct force in the Giants’ more successful days.

#4 The Oakland A’s are holding a 1/2 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL wild card race. The A’s are finishing up their regular season on the road against the Angels and Mariners. Can they pull it off?

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes, who won two out of their last seven games, faceoff against Philadelphia on Wednesday night, and on Friday, they host the Seattle Sounders. This is their best chance to put together a couple wins at home.

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

Red Sox, Giants aren’t where they want to be, could the two, iconic franchises partner up to improve their 2020 outlook?

By Morris Phillips

Statistically, the 2019 Giants are a mixed bag of hope and despair, but one number continues to set itself apart from the group: the Giants have hit just 158 home runs, 52 fewer than the Major League average, and way fewer than anyone could envision a playoff contender subsisting on.

Not hitting home runs, not scoring runs? Well, a trip to Boston to face the Red Sox could be the fix the Giants need to put themselves into a statistically, palatable place. The Sox have put up 831 runs–more than 100 runs above the major league average–and the Giants wouldn’t mind seeing some of that offense rub off on them.

Bringing your lucky charm to the interleague series couldn’t help either. The Giants are offering the hyped debut of Mike Yasztremski at Fenway. Yasztremski, the grandson of the Boston Hall of Famer, has a .265 average with 19 home runs and 65 RBI. His grandfather, Carl, will be on hand at Fenway on Tuesday night.

The Giants hope to retain Yasztremski, Kevin Pillar and Alex Dickerson in the off-season to bolster their outfield in 2020. But if not, could the Giants make a run at Boston’s J.D. Martinez, who has an opt-out clause in his five-year deal after this season? A year ago, Martinez was among baseball’s premiere offensive threats as Boston ascended to a World Series title. This year, Martinez has been off his game, but not so much so that he couldn’t realistically rebound in 2020. Would the Giants consider giving the former Diamondback a five-year deal and making him the centerpiece of their offense going forward?

Chris Sale started 2019 far removed from his All-Star form, briefly righted his ship, then was declared done for the season with an elbow injury. Sale signed a five-year, $145 million extension in the off-season, just part of Boston’s pricey rotation of 2020 and beyond. David Price, Nathan Eovaldi also are big ticket items for the Sox in 2020.

Still Rick Porcello and Pablo Sandoval come off the books this off-season, which could lead the Red Sox to pursuing Madison Bumgarner to bolster their rotation. After a season in which the Giants found few rewarding offers for their iconic starter, he could be a bargain in free agency. Could that lead Bumgarner to Boston?

The revolving door could start with Martinez or Bumgarner or some other names. Will Smith, a 2020 free agent, could be of interest to Boston, as could Tony Watson. The Giants could take a look at Porcello if the price is right.

One thing’s certain: both franchises will look shed salary before they add it. Dave Dombrowski, Boston’s architect for their 2018 championship roster has already been shown the door, likely meaning his replacement will have the mandate to be more fiscally responsible. That’s probably an easy one to determine. Both franchises have too many weighty commitments going forward.

Johnny Cueto, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt all have two years remaining with the Giants. In 2020, the financial commitment to those five players alone will total $91 million.

The Red Sox have $237 million in commitments to Price, Sale and Eovaldi over the next three seasons. But they also have interest in resigning Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts to long term deals, so that probably means the new Sox GM will be aggressive in trying to shed one of the three starters on this list.

These circumstances could draw the two franchises together as mutual beneficiaries. If so, it’s bound to be creative. But how could it not be? These two franchises know how to operate having won seven of the previous 15 World Series titles.

On Tuesday, Giants’ rookie Logan Webb faces Eovaldi at 4:05 pm.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Excitement builds, Yastrzemski scheduled to play all 3 games at Fenway Park

photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski scores after hitting a solo home run during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, in Phoenix. It was Yastrzemski’s third home run of the game. It was Yastrzemski’s third home run of the game.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Whose got to be more excited about Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski playing at Fenway Park? Starting on Tuesday night, Yastrzemski, his grandfather former Boston Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski or our very own MLB analyst Bill Gould?

#2 On Sunday against the Miami Marlins, Yastrzemski scored on a diving head first slide to score one of the Giants’ two runs, which was enough to get by the Marlins 2-1. Yaz is having a rookie season hitting .265, 56 runs, 87 hits, and 51 RBIs.

#3 Giants starter Johnny Cueto pitched five innings of shutout ball and gave up three hits in the win. The Giants had five pitchers come into relieve after Cueto left and they combined to hold off the Marlins to just one run.

#4 This is kind of a special series besides of the reunion of grandfather and grandson Yastrzemski. The Giants, who do not play at Fenway except for every three years. This is a special place for them to return to since it doesn’t happen often to come to a historical place like Fenway.

#5 This will be Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s last road trip as manager. The Giants conclude their 2019 road schedule in Boston and then to Atlanta. Pablo Sandoval, who was a Red Sox but not on this trip, wouldn’t quite expect the same reception Yaz will.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s open homestand Tuesday night against LA hoping to hang onto wild card hopes; Panda gets ready for Tommy John surgery after send off; plus more

Photo credit: bleacherreport.com

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Kansas City Royals challenged the A’s when they were at Kaufman Stadium and so did the New York Yankees to conclude the road trip. Even through the pit falls, the A’s are only a 1/2 game out for a wild card berth. This thing could go right down to the end of the season?

#2 Pablo Sandoval, the man that San Francisco fans call the Panda, took a curtain call hitting for as a pinch-hitter on Sunday in the seventh inning in what can be considered the Panda’s last game in San Francisco. Sandoval played numerous positions for the Giants and will be having Tommy John surgery.

#3 The Houston Astros continued to prove their a force to be reckoned with after their starter Justin Verlander threw his third career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. It was the second time that Verlander threw a no-hitter at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

#4. The Oakland Raiders get to open the season at the Coliseum against the Denver Broncos for Monday Night Football. The Raiders had a successful preseason and head coach Jon Gruden is confident about the team going into week 1.

#5 This is the Raiders’ last season at the Coliseum. Gruden certainly wants it to be a great send off for the Raiders and wants to drive them to a postseason that could get them to the AFC Championship to the finally the Super Bowl. He would love to bring a trophy to Oakland for the final year there.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play announcer heard on KIQI 1010 San Francisco. Also, join Amaury for That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Panda out for Tommy John, will miss next season also; Astros PR use prevent defense to keep Detroit reporter out of Houston clubhouse; plus more

yahoo.sports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants utility player Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery and will miss all of this season and next.

On MLB The Show with Daniel:

1 Panda to undergo Tommy John Surgery, will miss all of next season, and the rest of this one

2 Astros defend decision to restrict Detroit Free Press reporter from entering locker room

3 Court rules that the Orioles owe nearly $100 million to the Nationals

4 MLB bans players from Venezuelan Winter League

5 The Players’ Weekend uniforms a bad marketing idea

6 RIP — Original Met Alvin Jackson

Join Daniel on the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Jerry Feitelberg for Michael Duca: Pillar’s bat helps Giants in month of August; Dickerson back in the lineup; plus more

Photo credit: jweekly.com

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Jerry for Michael:

#1 Kevin Pillar has had a good month of August for the Giants, hitting .255, 115 hits, 15 homers and 63 RBIs. He has been clutch. How impressed is Jerry about Pillar?

#2 How important is it to have Alex Dickerson back in the lineup? He suffered an oblique strain and is doing a reduced workout now.

#3 How impactful is it that Pablo Sandoval being out of the line up with the inflamed right elbow and how much will they miss Pablo being around as he will be out at least 10 days on the injured list? Sandoval was hitting .269, 14 home runs and 41 RBIs before the injury.

#4 Manager Bruce Bochy said he wasn’t sure how long Sandoval will be out, but the team will have to see how Sandoval responds to treatment.

#5 The Giants are in Arizona for a four-game series with the Diamondbacks. It’s an important series just being 4.5 out of first place for the NL wild card.

Jerry is filling in for Michael Duca catch Michael who does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sandoval wins it for the Giants in extra innings again, 2-1

photo from sfgate.com: Chris Rice hands Giants second baseman Pablo Sandoval his 5-month-old daughter, Roya, in the dugout before Saturday’s game against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego. Rice’s bare-handed catch of Sandoval’s game-winning home run Friday night while holding Roya became an instant sensation.

By Jeremy Kahn

It seems that the San Francisco Giants just love to play extra innings and they are back where this hot streak started.

Pablo Sandoval hit a solo home run with two out in the top of the 11th inning, as the Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 2-1 at Petco Park.

Sandovals home run off of Logan Allen was his 13th of the season, and it gave the Giants their 12th win since the All-Star break and 18-4 since July 1, when they began a three-game series against the Padres in San Diego.

Mark Melancon pitched a perfect 10th inning, as he struck out two in the inning and improved to 4-2 on the season.

Will Smith came on to close it out in the 11th inning, as he saved his 25th game of the season, which a game-ending double play off the bat of Eric Hosmer.

Jeff Samardzija was strong again, as he went six innings, allowing one run, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out six, as he did not fare in the decision.

Bay Area native Joey Lucchesi also pitched six innings, as he gave up just one run on only two hits, walking four and striking out eight.

Lucchesi was cruising, as he was able to get the first six Giants in order; however, he then walked Tyler Austin, who then stole second and then scored when Donovan Solano doubled to center field.

Samardzijas only mistake came when Austin Hedges hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that landed on the third level of the balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building.

The Giants bullpen was lights out, as the quintet of Reyes Moronta, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson, Melancon and Smith threw a combined five innings, allowing just one hit, not walking a batter and striking out four.

NOTES: Derek Holland, who was designated for assignment by the Giants earlier this week, was traded to the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations.

Bruce Bochy, who announced during Spring Training that he would be retiring at the end of the season was honored prior to the game by the team that he managed from 1994-2006.

During his 13 years with the Padres, he led them to the World Series, where they swept by the New York Yankees.

“It’s where I made my start in 1995,” Bochy said. “A young general manager named Randy Smith took a chance on me and I’m forever grateful for that. We had some great times here. We got to the World Series in ’98. That’s a highlight. When we won the pennant, Trevor Hoffman threw the pitch that led to a fly ball to Steve Finley and we were into the World Series,” Bochy added.

In his 12 years with the Padres, Bochy won a team record 951 games during his tenure.

“We got some division titles here. Didn’t quite get the championship but had some great memories with a lot of great players, who I still have really good relationships with. No question there’s a ton of memories here, including this ballpark. I started at Qualcomm/Jack Murphy. It’s nice to be part of what was built here.”

Bochy was given a bottle of wine, and fishing poles in a pregame ceremony that included former Padres Steve Finley, Mark Sweeney, Carlos Hernandez and Andy Ashby, also current Padres owner Ron Fowler joined in on the ceremony for Bochy, who also played for the Padres in the 1980s.

UP NEXT: Shawn Anderson takes the mound on Saturday night for the Giants, while the Padres will send Cal Quantrill to the hill.

Sandoval wins it in a Giants walk-off in the 13th

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Pablo Sandoval sent the San Francisco Giants players and fans into a frenzy with one swing of the bat.

Sandoval hit a pitch barely off the ground and over the left field wall in the bottom of the 13th inning off of Brad Brach, as the Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-4 in 13 innings before a crowd of 39,747 at Oracle Park.

That was two inches off the ground again like the ball he hit down the line yesterday and then to go to the opposite field like that in this ballpark, it’s a testament to the flight of the ball, said Cubs Manager Joe Maddon.

Brach got Buster Posey to strike out for the first out of the inning, and on the first pitch to Sandoval, the Giants won their third straight game.

It was the fifth career walk-off for Sandoval, and his first since August 9, 2018 against the Cubs, when he hit a single to left field.

This was the Giants fifth consecutive win by one run, and they are 24-10 this season in one run games, the best record in the major leagues. They are 10-2 in extra-inning games this season, including 4-0 on this current home stand.

Overall, the Giants have won three in a row, 10 out of their last 11 and 17 out of their last 20 game to move to 52-50 on the season.

The last time that the Giants won 17 out of 20 was from July 25 until August 16, 2001.

Sam Coonrod pitched a perfect 13th inning to pick-up his first win of his major-league career. Coonrod struck out Javier Baez and Kris Bryant before getting Anthony Rizzo to ground out to Joe Panik for the final out of the inning.

Things were looking good for the Giants, as they entered the top of the eighth inning with a slim 4-3 lead and the bullpen in full force.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, as Kris Bryant doubled, then went to third on a Rizzo groundout back to Reyes Moronta and after a walk to Peninsula native Daniel DeScalso, Tony Watson gave up the game-tying single to Jason Heyward. Watson was able to regroup and struck out Robel Garcia to end the threat.

I thought we battled back in the eighth inning. Anytime you play that long and hang in there I mean it’s nice to see nobody give up and still go out there and compete. It just wasn’t our night tonight, said Bryant.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out seven, but he did not fare in the decision.

The Cubs took the lead in the top of the first inning, as Baez doubled off of Bumgarner, then Bryant singled in Baez; however, the inning ended when Pablo Sandoval, who was playing in the shift near second base, made a great play to on a ball hit by Rizzo, as he tagged Bryant and threw to Brandon Belt to complete the double play.

That was the lead until the bottom of the second inning, as the Giants tied up the game, as Alex Dickerson doubled to lead off the inning and then slid away from the throw by Kyle Schwarber to the plate on a Yastrzemski sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, the tie would not last long, as the Cubs retook the lead in the top of the third inning, as Bryant singled to score Baez, who singled and then stole second and third.

Dickerson got the rally started, as he hit a solo home run to left field to tie up the game, then Brandon Crawford singled, which was followed by a Mike Yastrzemski walk and then Kevin Pillar hit a Yu Darvish offering to the left-center field power alley to give the Giants the lead.

Darvish went six innings, allowing four runs on six hits, walking just one and striking out six, as like Bumgarner, he did not fare in the decision. He also saw his 13.0 inning scoreless streak come to an end in the bottom of the second inning, and the four runs allowed marked his first runs since July 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

NOTES: The last time that the Giants picked up four walk-off wins in a six-game span was in the year that they moved to San Francisco in 1958. During that season, the Giants defeated the Milwaukee Braves, the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals from July 5-13, 1958.

Rizzo went 0-for-5 on the night, as his 13-game hitting streak came to an end.

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede closes out the home stand on Wednesday afternoon, as he looks for his fourth win of the season for the Giants. Jon Lester will take the Oracle Park mound for the Cubs, as he looks to get his 10th win of the season.

MLB podcast with Matt Harrington: Dodgers show love of new t-shirts are as deep as the ocean; Giants Pomeranz and Panda pitch and hit for win over the Brew Crew; plus more

@adriangarro photo: Los Angeles Dodgers Max Muncey gets a laugh out of the freshly printed t-shirts on Friday night at Dodgers Stadium in reference to his chatter with San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner after hitting a home run off him on the Dodgers last trip to San Francisco.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Who would ever thought that the Los Angeles Dodgers would ever print the famous words from Dodgers slugger Max Muncy after he hit a splash hit off San Francisco Giants starter Madison Bumgarner when Muncy and the Dodgers were in San Francisco that said “Go get it out of the ocean” a reference to Bumgarner telling Muncy to “run and not watch the ball” after a home run and then Muncy telling Bumgarner “If you don’t want me to watch the ball go get it out of the ocean.” The Dodgers this week have been wearing blue t-shirts with those words printed on it.

#2 For the second consecutive game, San Francisco Giants pitcher Drew Pomeranz got the winning decision in a 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Pomeranz pitched for five innings, giving five hits and two runs striking out five hitters.

#3 The once former Boston Red Sox third baseman that was given up for dead Pablo Sandoval for San Francisco went 3-4 on Friday night, including a double and a home run

#4 The Oakland A’s are certainly a ball club that is playing .500 ball after their 10-game win streak a couple weeks back ended they have been playing some back and forth ball going 6-4 on their last road trip and dropping their first game to Seattle 9-2 to open a homestand in Oakland on Friday night.

#5 You have to enjoy the two-way competition between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees in the AL East. The Rays with a 1/2 game margin over the Yankees make it for a competitive battle. The Rays bounced back from having the A’s taking two out three from them in their previous series with a win over the LA Angels 9-4. The Yankees got trounced on Friday night by the Chicago White Sox 10-2.

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

 

Panik’s walk-off gives Giants huge 4-3 win

Orovillemr.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Joe Panik watches his two-run single in front of Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The Giants won 4-3.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Down to his last strike on multiple occasions, Joe Panik came up huge in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Panik slapped a single to right field off of Luke Jackson that scored Kevin Pillar and Mac Williamson, as the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 before a crowd of just 28,030 at Oracle Park.

This was the second walk-off of the season for the Giants, and the second this month, as Buster Posey hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 1.

As for Panik, this was his second career walk-off hit and first since May 1, 2015 against the Los Angeles Angels.

Jackson came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he looked for his team-high seventh save of the season; however, in the end it did not happen.

The closer got Evan Longoria to ground out for the first out of the inning, but Brandon Crawford singled to left, then Jackson got Steven Duggar to strike out for the second out of the inning and then Crawford advanced an additional 90 feet on defensive indifference.

Pillar then cut the Braves lead down to one, as he singled in Crawford and then Pablo Sandoval came to the plate. Pillar then stole second to get into scoring position that setup Sandoval for the possible game-tying hit.

Sandoval hit a ball into the hole at third base that Josh Donaldson dove and kept the ball from going into left field that would have tied up the game, and Pillar stayed at third base. Williamson came on to pinch run for Sandoval, and stole second that setup Paniks heroics.

Panik fell behind 0-2 and then the count went to 3-2, and finally on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Panik hit a 95 mile per hour into right field that scored both Pillar and Williamson to give the Giants an improbable victory.

The Braves got on the board in the first inning, as Dansby Swanson singled and eventually scored on a Nick Markakis double to left field.

Panik got the Giants rally started in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, he went to second on a Buster Posey single and then over to third on a Brandon Belt fly ball to left field. Evan Longoria then tied up the game, as he doubled to left field to easily score Panik from third base; however, the rally ended, when Crawford struck out to end the inning.

Both Teheran and rookie Shawn Anderson matched each other inning for inning until the Braves finally got to Anderson in the top of the sixth inning and chased the rookie, who was making just his second major league start.

Donaldson and Markakis ended Andersons night, as they hit back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth inning and that brought on Reyes Moronta, who got Austin Riley to fly out to Duggar in centerfield; however, both Donaldson and Markakis advanced an additional 90 feet. Brian McCann broke up the tie, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Stephen Vogt in left field.

Freddie Freeman extended the Braves up to two runs in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit an opposite field single that scored Ronald Acuna, Jr., who walked with one out in the inning and went to second on a Swanson walk.

Acuna made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the third inning, as he robbed Brandon Belt of a solo home run.

If people that thought Acunas plat was huge, Crawford also came up with two huge defensive plays of his own.

The shortstop snared a Freeman line drive in the top of the third inning that looked like it was going into left field, but Crawford caught the ball to rob Freeman of a base hit.

Crawford came up huge on the defense again in the top of the ninth inning, as Acuna attempted to steal second base and was originally called safe; however, replays showed that Crawford applied the tag on the foot and the umpires went to replay and after a 44-second review, it was determined that Acuna was indeed out.

Paniks two-run walk-off base hit gave the win to Trevor Gott, who is 2-0 on the season, while Jackson falls to 2-1.

Anderson, who was making his second start of his career, went five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out three, as he did not fare in the decision.

The veteran Teheran went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking three and striking out six.

Once again, the Giants helped out, as they went the final four innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking out two.

NOTES: Vogt started in left for just the second time in his major-league career, and it was his fifth appearance in left field and 17 in right field. Vogt last played in the outfield in 2017.

Sandoval picked up his 10th pinch-hit of the season, and is now 10-for-25 as a pinch-hitter this season.
In 16 career games against the Giants, Donaldson is 21-for-60, a .350 clip with seven extra base hits.

Acuna, who hit two home runs in the series opener on Monday night, has reached base in seven of his 10 plate appearances in the series, as he has walked twice and picked up five hits.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija looks for his third win of the season, as he takes the mound on Wednesday night for the Giants, while left-hander Max Fried looks to raise his record to 7-2 on the season, as he toes the rubber for the Braves.