Monthly Archives: May 2017

Mariners Rally Past Halos

May 3, 2017

Jarrod Dyson delievered a 2-out, 2-run double in the 8th inning, and former Angel Jean Segura tacked on a 2-run single after that, as the Mariners defeated the Angels 8-7 on Wednesday night at Safeco Field.

The Angels tried to rally in the 9th inning when Kole Calhoun drilled a solo homer to left field, pulling the Halos within 8-7, but that was as close as they would get.

The Angels trailed 4-0 heading into the 6th and rallied for four runs at that point. Mike Trout got the Halos going with a 2-run shot to center field. A sac fly from Andelton Simmons, a run-scoring single from Cliff Pennington , and a 2-run double from Yunel Escobar put the Angels ahead 6-4.

The Mariners hit a couple of long balls earlier in the game to take a 4-0 lead. Robinson Cano hit a solo blast in the 1st inning off of Ricky Nolasco, then Segura added a 2-run homer in the 5th. Nelson Cruz hit an RBI single in the same inning, and the Mariners looked like they would cruise to an easy victory at that point.

Nolasco lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 2, while also giving up both Mariner home runs. He did not factor in the decision.

Blake Parker (0-2) took the loss for the Angels after giving up 4 runs in the 8th inning. Jean Machi (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Seattle, while Edwin Diaz recorded his 5th save.

The rubber game of the 3 game set will be on Thursday night at Safeco Field. Alex Meyer (0-1; 4.91 ERA) gets the start for the Angels, while the Mariners go with Ariel Miranda (2-2; 3.81 ERA).

Ducks Tie Series With OT Win

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May 3, 2017

Jakob Silfverberg scored the game-winning goal 45 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks defeated the Oilers 4-3 in game four of their best-of-seven series on Wednesday night in Alberta. The series is now tied 2-2, and heading back to Anaheim for game 5.

Silfverberg took a pass from Ryan Getzlaf for a one-timer from the left circle, which beat Cam Talbot for the winner. Getzlaf had two goals and two assists on the night.

Anaheim secured the win despite losing the lead with 1:42 left in the 3rd period. Drake Cagglula took a centering pass from Patrick Maroon and chipped the puck by John Gibson to tie the score and send the game to OT. Gibson made 29 saves on the night for the Ducks.

The Ducks scored three unanswered goals in the 2nd period to take a 3-2 lead. Ryan Getzlaf got the scoring started 1:37 into the period, after taking advantage of a turnover from Jordan Eberle. The goal had to be reviewed by the officials for goaltender interference, but it ended up counting.

Just under 4 minutes later, Rickard Rakell took a pass from Getzlaf across the crease on a broken play, and put the puck past Talbot to tie the score 2-2.

Then at the 14:25 mark, Getzlaf was at it again, pouncing on a rebound after a terrific initial save on Rakell. With the goal, he surpassed Teemu Selanne for the most playoff goals in team history, with the 36.

The Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a power play goal from Milan Lucic, followed by a goal from Connor McDavid late in the 1st period. Talbot made 35 saves for Edmonton.

Game 5 will be back in Anaheim on Friday night at 7:30 pm.

Angels Rally To Beat M’s in 11

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May 2, 2017

Albert Pujols knocked in the go-ahead RBI single that scored Mike Trout from 1st base in the top of the 11th inning, as the Angels defeated the Mariners 6-4 in extra innings on Tuesday night at Safeco Field.

Pujols drove a pitch to right field off of reliever James Pazos, which forced Ben Gamel to dive for the ball. He came up short in his attempt, and the ball bounced up against the wall, allowing Trout to score. It was the 1,840th RBI of Pujols’ career and he passed Al Simmons and Ted Williams for 14th on the all-time list.

Pujols would then steal 3rd base, and then score later in the inning on a fielders choice by Andrelton Simmons.

Pazos (0-1) took the loss and Deolis Guerra (2-1) pitched the last two innings to get credit for the victory.

Matt Shoemaker got the start for the Angels, pitching 5 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 5. The Angels used 6 relievers after that, who only allowed 1 run on 3 hits over the next 6 innings.

James Paxton started for the Mariners and also did not factor into the decision. Paxton went 5 1/3 inning, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits.

The Angels took a 4-3 lead in the 8th inning after a 2-run shot from Kole Calhoun. However, the Mariners would tie it at 4-4 in the 9th, when Robinson Canoe singled in Jarrod Dyson.

Danny Valencia also went deep for the Mariners, giving them a 3-2 lead in the 6th inning with his 2nd homer of the season.

The Angels fell behind 2-0 in the 3rd inning, but after a Cameron Maybin RBI double in the 4th, and a Jefry Mare sac fly in the 5th, they had tied the score 2-2.

Game 2 of the series will be Wednesday night at Safeco Field. Ricky Nolasco (2-2; 4.13 ERA) gets the start for the Angels, while the Mariners go with Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2; 4.15 ERA)

Dodgers’ Offense Comes Alive Against Giants

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May 2, 2017

Yasiel Puig drove in four runs and Cody Bellinger delivered a 3-run triple as the Dodgers hammered the Giants 13-5 at the Ravine on Tuesday night.

Puig went 2-5 with 3 hits and scored 2 runs to go along with his 4 RBI. Bellinger had 2 hits, 2 runs that went with his 3 RBI. Franklin Gutierrez hit his 1st homer of the season, and the Dodgers rallied from a 4-run deficit to win for the 5th time in 6 tries.

Alex Wood (2-0) got the win for the Dodgers, pitching 5 innings, yielding 5 runs (4 of them earned) on 7 hits. He struck out 8 and walked 1. He threw 82 pitches in the first three innings, but fought through it to get the victory.

Matt Moore (1-4) took the loss for the Giants. He only lasted 3 1/3 innings, giving up 9 runs on 6 hits.

The Dodgers fell behind 2-0 in the 1st inning after Moore hit a 2-run single to right center with the bases loaded. Brandon Belt connected on a 2-run double to right in the 2nd, and it was 4-0.

Gutierrez got the Dodgers on the board with his solo blast in the 2nd, and Bellinger’s triple tied the game at 4-4. Alex Wood helped his own cause with an RBI single, and then Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly to right, which capped a 6-run rally for LA.

San Francisco got 1 back in the 3rd on an RBI single by Joe Panic. However, the Dodgers would blitz the Giants for four more runs in the 4th, and another four in the 6th, capped off by an RBI single from Adrian Gonzales.

LA is now 15-13 on the season, and they are 2 games back of 1st place in the NL West.

The rubber game of the three game set will be on Wednesday night at the Ravine. Julio Urias (0-0; 1.59 ERA) will be on the mound for LA, and Jeff Samardzija (0-4; 6.32 ERA)

Giants Get By Dodgers

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May 1, 2017

The Dodgers usually don’t lose when Clayton Kershaw is on the mound, but the unusual happened on Monday at Chavez Ravine. The Giants beat Kershaw and the Dodgers 4-3.

Hunter Pence and Buster Posey hit home runs off of Kershaw, and Johnny Cueto went 7 strong innings to improve his record to 4-2 on the season.

Kershaw did not look as invincible as he usually does on this night. The Dodger ace pitched 6 innings, giving up four runs (three of them earned) on eight hits, striking out five, and yielding a pair of home runs.

The Giants didn’t waste much time getting on the board in this one. With one out in the 1st inning, Christian Arroyo singled, then Hunter Pence hit a 2-run shot to left, and it was 2-0 San Francisco.

The Dodgers got one back in their half of the 1st inning on an RBI groundout from Yasmani Grandal. They had a chance for more, but Adrian Gonzales struck out, which stranded Corey Seager at 2nd base.

Kershaw would help his own cause in the bottom of the 2nd inning, delivering an RBI single that scored Cody Bellinger, which tied the game 2-2. Bellinger led off the inning with a ground rule double.

In the 3rd, the Giants got to Kershaw again, with Buster Posey smacking a 2-run homer to left field, giving San Francisco a 3-2 lead.

Arroyo added to the lead in the 5th, delivering a run scoring single that scored Gorkys Hernandez.

Chris Taylor pinch-hit in the 7th inning, and got the Dodgers a little bit closer with an RBI single that scored Bellinger. Taylor is now hitting .607 since he was recalled from the minor leagues. However, the Dodgers would not get any closer than 4-3.

Over the course of Cueto’s 7 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 6 hits , striking out 6 and walking 1. Derek law recorded the final out of the game, earning him his 1st save of the season.

Justin Turner went 0-4, which ended his 16-game hit streak. He lined out twice. The loss also snapped the Dodgers four game winning streak.

Pence came into the game batting just .100 in his career against Kershaw, without a home run. The Giants also entered the game with a season-low 16 home runs, prior to hitting a pair against the Dodger ace.

The Dodgers will try to get back in the win column on Tuesday night at the Ravine. Alex Wood (1-0; 2.29 ERA) gets the start for LA, while the Giants will send Matt More to the hill (1-3; 4.80 ERA).

Monday Morning Coffee

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May 1, 2017

The Clippers should be totally embarrassed the way the Jazz eliminated them in game 7 yesterday. They lost 3 times at home in a seven game series. Role players are supposed to play well at home, and the Clips role players disappeared like houdini. JJ Redick couldn’t even get his shot off, yet somebody is going to pay him $20 million next season. Jamal Crawford is making $14 million and was nowhere to be found for much of the series. The Clippers “depth” is actually more shallow than Howard Stern, and that’s what really needs to be addressed in the offseason. However, based on what we’ve heard from Steve Ballmer and Doc Rivers, keeping this team together is up to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Unless the Spurs get creative with their salary cap, their probably isn’t a better place for CP3 to go. As for Griffin, he seems uncertain whether or not he wants to stay, and the Clippers don’t seem confident in his return. In any case, a 1st round loss in 7 is probably better for the Clippers own self perception, instead of getting swept by Golden State.

Meanwhile, the Lakers and their fans are going to be sitting on pins and needles between now and the NBA draft. First they’ll be anxiously awaiting May 16th, which is the day they find out if they keep their top 3 protected pick. Should they keep it, it becomes a huge building block for the future, or a very valuable trade asset. The Laker will also be awaiting the announcement of the All-NBA teams, which they hope will not include Paul George on the 3rd team. If it does, then there’s a much stronger likelihood that George remains an Indiana Pacer because he can be offered an extension around $220 million, which no other team can match. How would you like to be Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson right now? This means that their success as executives for the next 3-5 years might just be determined by luck in the next two months. Who could blame someone for being superstitious?

Is it too early for the Dodgers to panic? Probably not. They just faced the worst team in the National League for four games, and could do nothing more than split four games with them. Even their sweep against Philadelphia were unimpressive. The rotation is so underwhelming after Clayton Kershaw. For the last week Dave Roberts was pretending like Brandon McCarthy was the 2nd coming of Don Drysdale. Then he looked mediocre on Saturday against the Phillies. Now they’ll probably pretend like Alex Wood is the next Sandy Koufax. To make matters worse, Adrian Gonzales doesn’t have any power, yet for some reason, the teams plans on sending Cody Bellinger back to the minors in a few days. I’m not analytics guy, but I think hitting three home runs in your first week of Major League Baseball is pretty good.

As for the Angels, why didn’t Garrett Richards just have Tommy Johns surgery? He’s going to be out until near the All-Star break, and then who knows if his arm will even hold up after that. Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney is probably going to be back in the rotation before Richards ever gets healthy again. I’ve gotta admit though, the Angels are playing better than i thought. It makes you think if they can stay in contention by the trade deadline, maybe reinforcements will be on the way. However, then you realize they don’t even have the prospects to make an impact trade. Even if they did, would it be worth it at the risk of further damaging the health of their top pitchers? The Halos need to get their young and most valuable pitchers healthy before continuing to give some “half a deck of cards” effort toward contending. Otherwise, they really are wasting Mike Trout’s best years.

On the ice, good thing for the Ducks they won last night. Their fans were probably having a hard time deciding whether to buy tickets to the next round, or buy a season pass at Disneyland. The Oilers are far less intimidated by Anaheim than the Ducks thought they would be. They also have one of the best players on the planet in Connor McDavid. As for the NHL Draft lottery, it was crazy. The Devils, Flyers, and Stars ended up with the top 3 picks. To put that in perspective, the Devils had the 5th worst record, and an 8.5% chance to get the top pick. The Flyers had the 13th worst record, and the Stars had the 8th worst record. That means Colorado, Vancouver, Vegas, and Arizona got screwed out of good draft position after having horrible seasons. Good thing the NHL uses E&Y. PWC has declared La La Land the winner of the NHL Draft Lottery.

The Rams might have a new coach, but it still didn”t prevent the front office from keeping their annual tradition of draft day foolishness. Last year, it was trading a boatload of draft picks for Jared Goff. This year, they did not select a single offensive lineman in the draft. That’s right folks. The Rams had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL last year, and did very little about it, other than 1 free agent signing. Without a decent offensive line, I have no idea if Goff can actually play, or if Todd Gurley is good running back or not. It’s arguably the most important position to build your team around, and the Rams have neglected it for two years. Here comes another horrible year.

I can’t make fun of the Chargers too much for their draft, because they actually did a great job. That’s unusual when you talk about the Bolts. The bad thing for the Chargers is that they didn’t draft a quarterback to start grooming a successor for Philip Rivers. Also, before you start naming the Chargers as 2017 AFC Champions, keep in mind that they still play in one of the toughest divisions in football, and will have to contend with the Raiders and Chiefs.

As for the rest of the NFL draft, Myles Garrett is on suicide watch after being draft by the Browns. Cleveland is probably counting on a local radio contest to decide who is their starting QB in 2017. Colin Cowherd said it best…..the NFL draft is like planning a wedding. You start out by saying “We’ll keep it small baby, family and friends, it’s just about us and our love.” Then three weeks before the wedding you have 300 guests, most of them business colleagues and family you hardly know, and you pay $200 for each of those charger plates underneath the plate you actually eat off of. You do this all because you saw it at another wedding several months earlier. NFL teams have a plan, and then they are pressured by what other teams are doing. I guess nobody learned from the Rams stupidity last year.

Finally, ESPN has fired so many people, they had the Rocky statue covering part of the NFL Draft. Everyone is pointing to the fact that their content is becoming more political rather than sports oriented. However, this has nothing to do with their issues. The customers motivation to cancel cable has killed ESPN after the billions they spent on broadcast rights fees for the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Eventually the current cable model will be destroyed, but in the meantime, this is going to hurt cable companies and eventually sports teams. Still, ESPN is making the cuts that are an absolute must. If Andrew Friedman were in charge, he would have fired Linda Cohn, Max Kellerman, the legacy staff, and sent the LA SportsCenter crew to Miami. Is it too soon for this logo?

Jazz Eliminate Clippers In Game 7

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April 30, 2017

Gordon Hayward scored 26 points , and the Jazz eliminated the Clippers at Staples Center on Sunday afternoon with a 104-91 victory.

The Clippers were eliminated from the 1st round of the playoffs for the 2nd straight season. They’ve also blown a series lead in the last 5 postseasons. Last season LA was eliminated by Portland when both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were injured. This year, the Clippers were without Griffin, after losing him to a toe injury in game 3.

George Hill and Derek Favors each scored 17 points for Utah, which won its first playoff series since 2010.

“We’ve been through some pretty hard downs,” said Hayward. “It definitely feels really good to go from 25 wins to where we were this year making the playoffs, winning a series.”

DeAndre Jordan led the way for the Clippers with 24 points and 17 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford scored the majority of his 20 points late in the game, but it wasn’t enough to rally the Clips.

The Clippers’ starting backcourt struggled. Chris Paul, who was double teamed for much of the afternoon, scored 13 points and had 9 assists, but was just 6-19 from the field. He also tweaked an ankle in the 3rd quarter, which slowed him down. JJ Redick, who struggled for most of the series, had 3 points on 1-5 shooting.

Paul was disappointed, but attributed part of the problem to defense. “It came down to today to keep us afloat, keep us alive,” he said. “We’re done. Late when we did start scoring, we couldn’t get stops.”

After an even 1st quarter, the Jazz opened up a lead as large as 11 points in the 2nd quarter, and took a 46-39 lead into halftime.

The 3rd quarter saw the Jazz open up with a 23-9 run, which blew the game open, and extended the lead to 69-48. With Rudy Gobert in foul trouble, Boris Diaw contributed 8 points in that stretch, and the Jazz complete 3 different 3-point plays.

Utah was in command for most of the 4th quarter, ahead by as many as 17 points, despite the fact that Favors and Gobert were plagued with foul trouble, as both big men fouled out.

Redick’s only basket of the game, a 3-pointer with 3:28 to play, cut the Jazz lead to 98-90, but the Clips could not get any closer. A 13-foot jumper by George Hill, a Redick missed layup, followed by two made free throws by Joe Johnson pushed the lead back to 12 with two minutes left.

The only lead of the game for LA was by a single point just minutes into the game. They shot 44% from the field and were outscored 56-46 in the paint.

The Clippers now head into the offseason with a multitude of questions hanging over them. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have the ability to opt out of their contracts’ and become free agents. JJ Redick will also become an unrestricted free agent. Re-signing any 2 of them would require incurring luxury tax penalties.

Game 7 may also have been the final game of Paul Pierce’s NBA career. The 19-year NBA veteran had 6 points and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes. He has previously said this would be the final season of his Hall of Fame career.

The Jazz now face the Warriors in the 2nd round of the playoffs beginning on Tuesday night in Oakland.

Ducks Beat Oilers To Get Back in Series

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April 30, 2017

The Ducks scored a franchise record 6 goals on Sunday night in Alberta, defeating the Oilers 6-3 in game 3 of their 2nd round series. The Ducks now trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

The final score was not indicative of how competitive the game was. Anaheim jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Oilers fought back to tie the score, putting together a relentless attack in the 2nd period. However, the Ducks scored 3 unanswered goals to retake control of the game, and get back in the series.

Rikard Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Wagner, and Ryan Kessler scored for the Ducks, as did Jakob Silfverberg, who scored a pair. John Gibson made 24 saves, including several on a pair of big stops on a 3-on-1 Oiler break in the 2nd period.

The Oiler goals came from Patrick Maroon, Anton Slepyshev, and Connor McDavid. Cam Talbot made 22 saves for Edmonton, but he had a moment in the 2nd period he probably wants back.

Less than a minute after the Oilers tied the game, Wagner fired a slap shot from a sharp angle from the right wing boards, which deflected in off of Talbot’s blocker. That ended up being the game-winning goal, at 9:28 of the 2nd period.

Anaheim caught several breaks after that. The Oilers were on a power play a few minutes after Wagner’s goal, when Leon Draisaitl beat Gibson cleanly with a sharp angle shot. Unfortunately for the Oilers, that shot bounced off the post, keeping the Ducks lead at 4-3.

Then in the 3rd period, when Silfverberg scored his 2nd of the game at 4:56, it appeared as though he was offside on the play. Despite a coaches challenge, the officials ruled that it was a goal.

Kessler would close out the scoring halfway through the 3rd period, and the Ducks were on their way to their first win of the series.

Rakell took a long pass from Getzlaf and got behind the Oilers defense to score on a breakaway just 25 seconds into the game. That was the fastest playoff goal to start a game in franchise history.

Silfverberg pounced on a loose puck a little over 5 minutes into the game when Adam Larsson was unable to clear the puck away from Talbot.

Getzlaf made it 3-0 at 8:09 of the 1st when he intercepted Darnell Nurse’s clearing attempt around the boards, then beat Talbot with a wrist shot.

With just 40 seconds remaining in the 1st period, Maroon deflected a shot past Gibson to put the Oilers on the board and give them some momentum heading into the 2nd.

Just 1:28 into the 2nd, the puck deflected off of Slepychev’s skate and into the net to pull the Oilers within 3-2. Then McDavid tied it with a spectacular goal at 8:40, spinning away from Sami Vatanen and rifling a shot past Gibson. The Oilers kept the pressure on throughout the period, even after Wagner’s goal, but Gibson continued to withstand the pressure.

Game 3 will be on Wednesday night in Alberta. In the meantime, the Ducks will travel to Kelowna, B.C., to get away from the madness of Edmonton over the next few days.

Ryu and Dodgers Sweep Phillies

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April 30, 2017

Hyun-Jin Ryu picked up his first win of the season, and Andrew Toles hit a 3-run homer, as the Dodgers defeated the Phillies 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Ravine. The win completed a 3-game sweep over Philadelphia.

Ryu (1-4) pitched 5 1/3rd innings, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 9 Phillies. He walked 3, and lowered his ERA to 4.05, after a rough start to the season. Ryu threw 93 pitches before being pulled with 1 out in the 6th. Sergio Romo came in at that point, and he would strike out the next two batters to end the inning.

Luis Avilan and Pedro Baez each threw scoreless innings, and the Dodgers gave the ball to Grant Dayton in the 9th. Dayton gave up a 2-out, 2-run homer to Odubel Herrera, but Kenley Jansen came in after that to earn his 7th save by striking out Cesar Hernandez.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on an RBI single by Freddy Galvis, which scored Hernandez. Hernandez opened up the game with a triple, after Yasiel Puig had deep fly ball pop out of this glove. After Galvis run-scoring single, Daniel Nava walked to put two on with no outs, but Ryu struck out Maikel Franco, then got Aaron Altherr to fly out. The final out of the inning came when Michael Saunders struck out. Ryu cruised through the next four innings, needing only 56 pitches, after throwing 24 in the 1st. He allowed just 1 hit over that stretch.

Justin Turner extended his hit streak to 16 games with an RBI single in the 1st inning, which tied the game 1-1. One inning later, Chris Taylor hit a solo homer to left center giving the Dodgers the lead. The Dodgers would maintain that lead until the 6th, when Toles extended the lead to 5-1 with his 3-run bomb.

Nick Pivetta (0-1) took the loss for the Phillies. He allowed two runs and nine hits in five innings of work in his major league debut.

Turner and Yasmani Grandal had three hits apiece. Turner raised his batting average to .404 on the season.

The Dodgers continue their homestand on Monday night, when they open a 3-game series with the San Francisco Giants. The first game of the series will feature Clayton Kershaw (4-1; 2.29 ERA) on the mound for the Dodgers, while Johnny Cueto (3-1; 5.10 ERA) will get the ball for the Giants.

Halos Take Rubber Game From Texas

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Apri 30, 2017

The Angels finished the month of April on a high note, defeating Texas 5-2 on Sunday afternoon in Arlington. The Halos took two of three games during the weekend showdown between the division rivals.

Kole Calhoun and Jefry Marte hit home runs, and JC Ramirez got his first win as a starter after four tries. Ramirez (3-2) matched a career-high with 9 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, giving up only two runs on four hits.

Bud Norris got the final four outs of the game to earn his 5th save of the season. Norris struck out four of the five batters that he faced, including Rougned Odor with two on to end the 8th inning.

The Halos fell behind early on an RBI single from Carlos Gomez, but Calhoun’s solo blast to center field tied it up at 1-1. Marte came through in the 5th with a 2-run single, but Shin-Soo Choo’s solo home run off of Ramirez cut the lead to 3-2.

The Angels padded their lead in the 6th inning on an RBI single from Yunel Escobar, while Marte’s 9th inning solo shot to left field capped the scoring, making it 5-2.

Martin Perez (1-4) took the loss for the Rangers. He went 5 2/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, while striking out 1 and walking 4.

Calhoun had two hits, scored twice, and also made a spectacular play by throwing out Gomez trying to score form second on a single in the 1st inning, after the Rangers had taken a 1-0 lead.

The Angels finished April with 14 wins in 27 tries. They have not had a better record at this stage in a season since 2011.

The Halos will now travel to Seattle to begin a 3-game set with the Mariners starting Tuesday. Matt Shoemaker (1-1; 4.73 ERA) will get the ball for the Angels in the first game, while the Mariners go with James Paxton (3-0; 1.39 ERA).