MLB podcast with Charlie O: Big payroll Padres continue to struggle; Brewers Adames out of hospital on 10 day IL for concussion; plus more

San Diego Padres Michael Wacha pitches during first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York on Sat May 27, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The San Diego Padres (24-28) who took another loss on Saturday to the New York Yankees at Yankees Stadium, the Padres had big expectations this year but even with Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto, and Manny Machado the Padres are holding down fourth place in the NL West still there a lot of the season to make that payroll payoff.

#2 During a game against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night at American Family Park the Milwaukee Brewers Willy Adames just avoided suffering fractures when he was sitting the dugout and was struck by teammate Brian Anderson that struck him in the head. Brewers manager Craig Counsell said that was a scary moment. Adames has been released from the hospital is in good spirits and is on the 10 IL for concussion protocols.

#3 Yankees manager Aaron Boone who has been kicked out of three of the last ten games said the last ejection was a weird experience. Last Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles Boone was arguing a third strike call and lost it when umpire Edwin Moscoso turned his back to him. It got heated and Crew chief Chris Guccione had to step in between them. Boone who had spittle came out of his mouth towards Moscoso’s direction ended up being suspended by MLB Sr Supervisor VP of on field operations Michael Hill after reviewing it Thursday night.

#4 There was damage control for the Los Angeles Dodgers who uninvited the Sisters of Perpetual who are a drag group who serve as a charity, protest and satirical performance were reinvited on Jun 16th after being disinvited. The Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw tweeted out that the Dodgers will be hosting a “Christian and Faith Night” at Dodger Stadium on Jul 30th. Can you talk a little about the politics of this situation.

#5 Charlie the Nevada State Legislature will have a chance to vote on the Oakland A’s Tropicana ballpark. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo said that the ballpark tax credits in the neighborhood of $180 million won’t pass unless their a is budget passed for the state. State Legislature Democrats say they won’t for the resolution for the ballpark because that puts taxpayers at risk if the A’s fail to profit once the park is complete. But as you know what’s said up front is different than what’s negotiated behind closed doors.

Join Charlie O for the MLB podcast Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants Swept In Mexico City Series Losing To Padres 6-4

San Francisco Giants center fielder Mike Yastrzemski, center, walks with a trainer after an injury as manager Gabe Kapler walks alongside, right, during the eighth inning. Yastrzemski is headed to the IL after injuring his left hamstring on Sun Apr 30, 2023 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City. (AP News photo)

Giants Swept In Mexico City Series Losing To Padres 6-4

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (11-16) finished up their two-game series getting swept against the San Diego Padres (15-14) in Mexico City 6-4. A lot of fans were expecting another slug fest much like the one we saw Saturday. 19,633 fans got to enjoy Sunday’s game, only the second MLB game played in Mexico city ever.

The Giants jumped all over the Padres to start this game. After four innings San Francisco led 4-0. The Giants had three home runs in the first four innings. The first one came off the bat of LaMonte Wade Jr in the first inning. In the second inning another long ball from J.D. Davis and in the fourth inning Mitch Haniger sent one sailing over the wall to take a 3-0 San Francisco lead. They would extend their lead when Mike Yastrzemski singled Michael Conforto home in the fourth.

The Giants held the lead into the fifth inning and then that is when the tide turned.. San Francisco did not have another hit after the sixth inning single from Yastrzemski.

In the bottom of the fifth the Padres scored three runs starting off with an Austin Nola two-run home run followed by a Juan Soto single driving in Fernando Tatis Jr. After seven innings the Giants were hanging onto a 4-3 lead.

San Diego had another three-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. Jake Cronenworth singled driving Juan Soto home to tie the game 4-4. Matt Carpenter would double bringing Xander Bogaerts and Cronenworth home taking a 6-4 lead. That would be the final in this game with the Padres sweeping the series.

The losses were bad enough but there were some costly injuries in this series. Brandon Crawford missed todays game after right calf tightness suffered yesterday in the fourth inning and Mike Yastrzemski attempted a diving catch on a shallow fly ball in center field that resulted in a possible hamstring issue and was forced to leave todays game. He was hurt in the eighth inning.

Giants starting pitcher Alex Cobb had a great game under the tough conditions despite the loss. He went five innings and gave up seven hits and three runs with seven strikeouts. He struggled a bit in the fifth with the altitude and Scott Alexander relieved him in the sixth inning. In this game Cobb got his 1000th strikeout mixing up his pitches but the bullpen struggled for the rest of the game.

San Francisco will now travel to Houston taking on the Astros Monday night. Ross Stripling (0-1 ERA 6.89) will take the mound for the Giants and for the Astros Luis Garcia (4-4 ERA 4.00) will start. It will be a tough game for the Giants after dealing with the altitude in Mexico City with little to no rest before Monday night’s game. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PM.

Giants Lose Slugfest In Mexico City to San Diego 16-11

San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado celebrates a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City, Saturday, April 29, 2023. (AP News photo)

Giants Lose Slug Fest In Mexico City to San Diego 16-11

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the San Diego Padres (14-14) hosted the San Francisco Giants (11-15) in a two game series. The two teams are squaring up in the first regular season game ever in Mexico City. A ton of offense was a big part of this hitter-friendly environment that had runs galore.

Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium sits at 7,350 elevation which is 2,000 feet higher than Coors Field . The air is much thinner in Mexico City but along with that the stadium walls are much shorter. The game showcased a whole lot of hits and runs in the Padres 16-11 win.

Game recap: Fan were not disappointed with the deluge of offense that the two teams provided. The Padres scored in the first five innings to lead the game 10-8 which included five home runs. Nelson Cruz, Juan Soto, Xander Bogarerts, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado all hit long balls in this slug fest.

The Giants had a couple of home runs in the third inning and a huge fourth inning scoring six runs. Brandon Crawford and LaMonte Wade Jr. both hit home runs in the third inning. In the fourth inning, Mitch Haniger hit a three-run home run to tie up the game 5-5. The Giants took the lead 8-5 in the fourth. Thairo Estrada doubled in three runs and LaMonte Wade Jr, Mike Yastrzemski and Blake Sabol all scored.

In the fourth and fifth innings the Padres had the four home runs for the 10-8 lead.

In the seventh inning, Blake Sabol hit a two run home run to tie up the game 10-10. The Giants took the lead on a David Villar solo home run 11-10.

That lead was short-lived when Manny Machado hit his second home run of the game, this one a two-run home run to take back the lead 12-11. The Padres extended their lead in the eighth inning 14-11. Trent Grisham doubled driving in Ha- Seong Kim and Austin Nola. The Padres loaded the bases in the eighth inning scoring two more runs now leading 16-11.

The game went into the ninth inning and the Giants had one last chance to make a difference in this game. Trailing by five runs, they had a lot of work to do. The first MLB game played in Mexico City was in the books.

When all was said and done fans watched 11 home runs sailed out of the park. The Giants had five of those home runs and San Diego came in with six. This game was an absolute nightmare for both teams pitchers. While this was not the ideal for either team’s bullpen, it sure gave the fans in attendance a lot of high offense baseball.

Sean Manaea started for San Francisco but lasted only two innings. He allowed five hits and four earned runs.

Sunday game two of this series will start at 1:05 Alex Cobb (1-1 ERA 1.91) will be on the mound for the Giants and Yu Darvish (1-2 ERA 3.00) will get the nod for San Diego.

San Francisco Giants off day report: Giants prepare for mile high 2 game series with Padres in Mexico City

San Francisco Giants left hand pitcher Sean Manaea will start to open a two game series in Mexico City against the San Diego Padres on Sat Apr 29, 2023 (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Francisco Giants are in Mexico City to play two games against the San Diego Padres this weekend. The Giants traveled to Mexico City Thursday night. The team spent the day getting acclimated to the altitude. The elevation of Mexico City is 7,349 feet, 2000 feet higher than Denver’s.

The game will be played at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu. It should be interesting to see if the thin affects the flight of the baseballs. Let’s hope a humidor is there to keep the baseball from entering the stratosphere.

The Giants, who had a five-game streak snapped on Thursday, want to return to winning. The Giants are in fourth place in the NL West with a record of 11-14. Their opponent, the San Diego Padres, is in third place in the NL West, with a record of 13-14.

Many baseball pundits have picked the Padres to win the NL West. The Padres have yet to play up to the level that they wanted. Former A’s manager Bob Melvin, in his second year as the Padres’ skipper, wants his team to start playing better. The Padres have spent much money acquiring players over the past several years.

Third baseman Manny Machado was recently signed to a long-term contract. Former Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts also signed a long-term deal. The Padres traded for Juan Soto. Soto was an All-Star with the Washington Nationals but has not played as well with the Padres.

The Padres know his potential and hope he can return to where he was. Outfielder Fernando Tatis, Jr. is back on the field after serving an 80-game suspension for using a performance-enhancing drug. Tatis was the shortstop, but with Bogaerts in the lineup, the Padres have moved him to the outfield.

Other players to watch this weekend are centerfielder Trent Grisham, first baseman Jake Cronenworth, second baseman Ha-Seong Kim, and designated hitters Matt Carpenter and Nelson Cruz.

The Padres use lefty Josh Hader as their closer. Nick Martinez is the setup guy. The Padres have five relievers on the IL. Two pitchers, Jose Castillo and Drew Pomeranz, will return this weekend. Other relievers are Luis Garcia, Steve Wilson, Tim Hill, Brent Honeywell, and Raymond Kerr.

The Giants have announced Sean Manaea will be their starting pitcher on Saturday. Manaea was with the Padres last year, and he would love nothing better than to beat his former team. Manaea is 0-1 and has 6.61 ERA. The Padres will counter with Joe Musgrove. Musgrove is 1-0, and his era is 5.40. The Sunday game will feature the Giants’ Alex Cobb (1-1, 1.91 ERA) going against Yu Darvish (1-2, 3.00 ERA).

The Giants welcomed back Mitch Hanger and Austin Slater from the IL. Slater may see some action as Mike Yastrzemski may not be available. DH Joc Pederson is back after a short stay on the IL. The Giants will have La Monte Wade, Thairo Estrada, Brandon Crawford, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Haniger, and Joey Bart in the starting lineup this weekend. David Villar and Wilmer Flores can fill in if needed.

The Giants would love to sweep the Padres this weekend. The Giants finished a successful homestand and want to continue their winning ways. After the two-game set with the Padres, the Giants travel to Houston to play the World-Champion Astros.

MLB podcast with Charlie O: It just continues to get worse for A’s; It just keeps getting better for Rays

Tampa Bay Rays Randy Arozarena with folded arms is hitting .359 with two home runs and 11 RBIs one of the top hitters in the Rays line up (@RaysBaseball photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie O, it’s the tale of two teams one team the Oakland A’s are predicted to have a even rougher and tougher season than their 102 loss season and it’s not getting off to a great start either with a loses starting to mount now sitting on a 2-8 start of 2023.

#2 The other team that’s already getting lots of props the Tampa Bay Rays who have won their first ten games defeating the Red Sox in their last game at Tropicana Field Monday night. The Rays have been getting both plenty of pitching and hitting defeating the A’s last Saturday and Sunday in landslide wins 11-0.

#3 Got to ask you have impressive it is for the Rays were in good company with the 1939 New York Yankees. The Rays had a nine game win streak scoring four or more runs going and needed four games to catch the 39 Yankees who have 13 straight wins scoring four or more runs it didn’t happen as the Rays topped the Sox by a run 1-0 on Monday for their tenth straight win.

#4 The Rays also got some top notch hitting Sunday from lead off hitter Brandon Lowe with four RBIs and two runs scored, Randy Arozarena who got two hits and an RBI. The Rays simply are the talk of baseball right now with their 10-0 record.

#5 Charlie, you’ve been around minor league baseball a time or two talk about the Los Angeles Angels affiliate on Sunday the Rocket City Trash Pandas who allowed a hit in a doubleheader and came away with a split. Three Panda pitchers combined for a seven inning no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds affiliate the Chattanooga Lookouts Sunday. The Pandas allowed seven runs in the top of the seventh, five walks, hit five batters, a run scoring wild pitch and a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded which would have been the final out.

#6 Atlanta catcher Travis D’Arnaud has been placed on the seven day injured list. D’Arnaud received a concussion after the San Diego Padres Rougned Odor collided with D’Arnaud at the plate in the Padres loss to the Braves 4-1 Saturday at Sun Trust Stadium in Cobb County. How much or how little did the Buster Posey rule play a part in this collision?

Charlie O does the MLB podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Astros Alvarez beats M’s with one swing of the bat in walk homer; Yanks Cole and Rizzo provide help in 4-1 win over Cleveland; plus more

The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez watches flight of his home run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Tue Oct 11, 2022 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica lets look at the MLB playoffs from Tuesday night. The Houston Astros took the first game of the ALDS getting by the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston 7-5. The Astros Yordan Alvarez crushed a three run walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth for the win.

#2 The New York Yankees got a 4-1 win past the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched 6.1 innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk, and eight strikeouts for the win. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run and had two RBIs in the win.

#3 The Philadelphia Phillies just got by the Atlanta Braves 7-6 at Truist Park in Cobb County. The Phils held onto to the win despite the Braves scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a last attempt to come back.

#4 The Los Angles Dodgers drew first blood in game one of the NLDS defeating the San Diego Padres 5-3 at Dodgers Stadium. The Dodgers scored early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and three runs in the bottom of third inning.

#5 Lastly Jessica the Guardians pitcher Nick Sandlin will miss the rest of the 2022 post season after going through an MRI that showed he has a major muscle injury in the right shoulder. How will Sandlin’s absence impact the Guardians pitching in the post season?

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports Wednesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: 3 game Wild Card format favorable; Chapman cut from Yankees after Friday workouts no show; plus more

New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman is lifted by manager Aaron Boone in the top of the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium against the Boston Red Sox on Thu Sep 22, 2022. Chapman has been cut from the roster for the ALDS during the 2022 post season. (AP News file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, how much of an improvement is it that the Wild Card went from one and done to a best of two out of three format?

#2 The New York Mets and San Diego Padres NLWS had some excitement when that series ended it up a in a 1-1 tie something you wouldn’t see in Wild Card games past.

#3 On Sunday the New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman did not show up for a mandatory workout Friday at Yankee Stadium manager Aaron Boone said that Chapman has been removed from the post season roster.

#4 Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that you have to be all in at this time of the year and the Yankees have players who are fighting for a spot on the roster and Chapman not only let the team down by not showing up but he chose to be absent.

#5 Amaury, I know you occasionally get an invitation to call the play by play on either the MLB Network or Telemundo for post season after the regular season is completed where are you on that and I know you look forward to that each post season?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the play by play voice for Oakland A’s Spanish radio network and does That’s Amaury News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Breaking Even: Giants win 8-1, finish season at .500 for the first time in franchise history

By Morris Phillips

Manager Gabe Kapler knows this situation all too well. The Giants franchise hasn’t ever experienced a break-even, season finish in their history dating back to 1883.

Finishing at .500 (81-81) one season after winning 107 games isn’t ideal, but it is history. The Giants finish to 2022 marks just the fifth time a 100-win club has finished the following season without a winning record. The Giants may have not wanted that distinction, but they’ll take this one: they’re the first team since the 1925 Cardinals to be as many as eight games below .500 with 16 games remaining to finish .500 or better. Beating the Padres 8-1 on Wednesday gave them a 12-4 finish, and a clear sign that the club is engaged, not splintering, under Kapler’s leadership.

Some good, some bad. But more good than bad, just ask the manager.

Kapler has five seasons leading a big league club under his belt–the last three in San Francisco–and his 2019 Phillies team also finished 81-81. Conversely, that club lost 12 of its final 17 to finish that season at .500, and in his first season in Philly (2018) Kapler’s club led the NL East in early August only to win just 16 of their last 49 and finish with a losing record (80-82).

On the final day of 2019, the Phillies fell behind the Marlins 4-0 only to rally and come up short in a 4-3 loss. Eight times that day, Phillies’ hitters came up empty with runners in scoring position when one, successful at-bat could have pulled them even with the Marlins and given them a chance to win, and post a winning record. The Citizens Bank Park fans weighed in as always, by cheering Bryce Harper, who completed his first season in Philadelphia with 35 homers and 114 RBI, and booing Kapler.

“Expectations were high and we didn’t get the job done, but it wasn’t for lack of effort,” Kapler said after that game.

Eleven days later, Kapler was fired by Philadelphia, which freed him up to interview and be tabbed by the Giants to become their manager in 2020.

This finish will be far easier to digest for the team and the manager. David Villar homered twice in the win over the Padres, the second one with style as Villar’s drive bounced off the racing Jurickson Profar’s glove and into the first row of seats in left field. That gave the Giants a 7-1 lead in the eighth inning as they took full advantage of a Padres’ team that was more focused on their cross-country flight to New York for their first their first post-season encounter with the Mets on Friday night.

Austin Slater also homered in the win, and Lamonte Wade Jr. had three hits and an RBI. The three knocks were just enough to get Wade’s batting average to .207, a far more dignified end to his season than with the .198 average he started the day with.

Mike Yastrzemski had a pair of hits and two RBI. Yaz finished the season as one of only four Giants to get over 100 hits (104).

Joey Bart had a day as polarizing as his season as a whole. While he finished with a single and a run scored, he also struck out three times. Bart will need to cut down on his strikeouts (112 K’s in 97 game appearances) going forward, but his first, full season as the club’s catcher was a success behind the plate. Bart’s defense was impressive and memorable, as was his handling of the pitchers. On Wednesday, Bart helped eight relievers navigate the paired-down Padres lineup, allowing just four hits and a run, with the run allowed by opener John Brebbia in the first inning.

Again the bad: the Giants finished the season with 28 losses to the Padres and Dodgers combined. Against all other opponents they were 71-53. The newly-configured schedule for 2023 will see the Giants play their two tormenters six fewer times each as MLB switches to a more balanced schedule with increased interleague play.

Will that help the Giants? It could, but a headline-generating off-season filled with a couple of splashy, free agent signings will be the key to answering that question. All signs point to the Giants being heavily involved in attempting to sign slugger Aaron Judge, as well as their own free agent, starting pitcher, Carlos Rodon.

The Padres (89-73) qualified for the post-season for only the second time in the last eight seasons, but now find themselves facing a daunting task. They’ll play a best-of-three series in New York against the 100-win Mets. In order to prevail, they’ll have to face the challenge of seeing standout starting pitchers Jacob de Grom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt on consecutive days. If they don’t prevail, post-season baseball won’t come to Petco Park.

From a business and a momentum-building standpoint, nothing could be more important. In 2022, the Padres drew 2,987,470 fans, the fifth-highest in the majors this year and the second-highest in franchise history behind 3,016,752 in Petco Park’s inaugural season of 2004.

“More than anything we want to win the series so we can see playoff baseball here in San Diego,” slugger Wil Myers said.

Padres clinch No. 5-seed in NL playoffs with 6-2 win over Giants

San Diego Padres Wil Myers gets congratulated by teammates after hitting a bottom of the eighth home run against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park in San Diego Tue Oct 4, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Sean Manaea worked six strong innings in a final tuneup before the postseason, and the San Diego Padres defeated San Francisco 6-2 Tuesday at Petco Park.

The Padres (89-72), one of the three National League Wild Card teams, clinched the No. 5-seed for the upcoming playoffs. San Diego travels to New York for a best-of-three series with the No. 4-seed Mets starting on Friday.

San Francisco (80-81) has one last chance to finish the season at .500.

Manaea (8-9) gave up one hit and one walk while logging six strikeouts in his six scoreless innings. Giants starter Alex Cobb (7-8) struck out seven without a walk in five innings, but gave up the go-ahead run on seven hits. Jharel Cotton surrendered four earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. Luis Ortiz and Cole Waites finished up for San Francisco.

San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on Manny Machado’s RBI single. In the bottom of the sixth, the Padres forged a four-run rally. Ha-Seong Kim hit a two-RBI double, Austin Nola drove in Kim with a base hit and scored on Wil Myers’ infield single.

The Giants came up with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. LaMonte Wade Jr. walked, moved to second on Mike Yastrzemski’s infield single and scored when Ford Proctor hit into a fielder’s choice and Kim made a throwing error trying to complete a double play. Proctor scored on a two-out single by Bryce Johnson.

Myers, who went 2-for-4, hit his seventh home run of the season increasing the Padres’ lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth. San Diego reliever Nick Martinez struck out three of the four hitters he faced to close out the contest in a non-save situation.

On Wednesday, the Giants and Padres play their regular season finale at 1:10 p.m. Mike Clevinger (7-7, 4.33) starts for San Diego, while the Giants did not immediately name a starter.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: How frustrating has it got as tempers rise amongst seven game losing streak

San Francisco Giants shortstop expresses his displeasure after third base umpire Ryan Blankney called Crawford out on a check swing and later tosses him out of the ball game in Wed Aug 31, 2022 game against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco (NBC Sports Bay Area photo grab)

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 How much of an opportunity was lost when the Giants were swept by the San Diego Padres this week at Oracle Park.

#2 The Giants now slip 10.5 games behind third for the wild card spot would be safe to say that’s too much of climb to make up in one month’s time.

#3 How much frustrating is it for Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford who got tossed from Wednesday’s game after getting called out on a check swing in the bottom of the second inning.

#4 The Giants who are on a seven game losing streak and didn’t lose on Thursday because they had the day off. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said that patience is thin, tempers flare and the stress level is high.

#5 For Friday night the Giants host the Philadelphia Phillies for three games at Oracle Park the Phils are going with Kyle Gibson (9-5, 4.08) and for the Giants Alex Cobb (4-6, 3.81) a 7:15 PDT first pitch.

Join Michael Fridays for the Giants podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com