Brandon Crawford singled in the 6th inning, scoring Brandon Belt, and the Giants defeated the Dodgers 2-1 on Tuesday night at AT&T Park.
Brandon Belt also homered for the 4th time in 6 games, and San Francisco won their 5th straight game. After a brutal 9-game trip, Giants are now 5-1 on this homestand.
Rich Hill returned from the disabled list to pitch 5 innings, giving up just 1 run on 6 hits. He struck out 6 and didn’t walk any. Belt hit his 8th homer of the season off of Hill to lead off the 4th inning.
The Dodgers tied the game at 1-1 in the 6th inning on a home run by Chris Taylor. Taylor crushed a 2-0 pitch into the centerfield bleachers, his 4th off the season. It came off of Giants Starter Ty Blach.
Belt lead off the 6th inning with a single against Dodger reliever Luis Avilan. He advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, then scored on Crawford’s single to right-center, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Blach (1-2) picked up his first win of the season. He went 7 strong innings, giving up only the home run to Taylor, and allowing five hits.
Derek Law pitched the 9th for his 4th save of the season. Hunter Strickland allowed a pair of hits, but pitched the seventh inning unscathed for the Giants.
Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager were given the day off by Dave Roberts. However, Bellinger entered the game in the 6th inning, playing left field. He lined out in his only at bat. Seager pinch-hit in the 8th inning, grounding into a double-play.
The Dodgers will try to avoid getting swept on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park. The boys in blue will look to their ace, Clayton Kershaw (6-2; 2.43 ERA) to stop the bleeding. The Giants will go with Johnny Cueto (4-2; 4.15 ERA).
Roman Josi scored late in the 3rd period on a power play goal, and the Predators defeated the Ducks 2-1 in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Josi put home a rebound from the right circle after John Gibson made the initial save on a shot by Viktor Arvidsson from the blue line. Gibson could not find the rebound, which allowed Josi to take advantage of an open corner of the net. It was the Predators’ first power play goal of the series.
The Ducks held a 1-0 lead heading into the 3rd period, but Filip Forsberg tied the game nearly 4 minutes into the period. Forsberg beat Sami Vatanen to a lose puck behind the Anaheim goal, then centered the puck to Ryan Ellis, whose shot was stopped by Gibson. However, the rebound bounced back to Forsberg who was standing off to the side of the net, allowing him to put the puck past Gibson for his 6th goal of the season. Gibson made 38 saves on the night.
The Predators had two goals that were waived off after Forsberg’s goal. Officials waived off first a would-be goal by Colton Sissons at 6:25 and then Ryan Johansen’s goal at 6:33.
After a scoreless 1st period, the Ducks took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Corey Perry. Perry fired the puck from a sharp angle near the goal line, which bounced off Pekka Rinne’s leg and into the net. It was his 3rd goal of the season.
The Ducks got off to a fast start, outshooting Nashville 8-4 to open the game. However, the Predators took the next 11 shots and outshot Anaheim 40-20 for the game.
Anaheim had their own goal disallowed in the 2nd period. Brandon Montour’s backhander got by Rinne, and it appeared the puck had cross the goal line. However, the net came off its moorings at the same time with Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm crashing into it. The goal was disallowed immediately.
Keith Urban sang the national anthem, and his wife, Nicole Kidman was in attendance. Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was in attendance as well.
Game 4 of the series will be on Thursday night Nashville.
The Lakers learned they will receive the #2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft after the league held the draft lottery on Tuesday night in New York.
LA can now breathe a deep sigh of relief since their 1st round pick in June’s draft was top 3 protected. Had the Lakers pick fallen out of the top 3, it would have been sent to Philadelphia as part of the Steve Nash trade from 2012. The Suns received the draft pick from the Lakers, then traded the pick to Philadelphia later on.
The Boston Celtics received the #1 pick in the draft. The Celtics received that draft pick from the Brooklyn Nets, as part of the trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in 2013.
The 76ers will be picking 3rd, their third straight year in the top 3. Following the 76ers will be the Suns, Kings, Magic, Timberwolves, Knicks, Mavericks, Kings, Hornets, Pistons, Nuggets, and Heat.
The Lakers had the most at stake of any team on Tuesday night. By keeping their 2017 1st round pick, LA will also be keeping their 2019 1st round pick as well. Had they lost this year’s pick, they would have had to to sent the 2019 1st round pick to Orlando to satisfy the Dwight Howard trade. Instead, the Lakers’ 1st round pick in 2018 will go to the 76ers unprotected, and in 2019, they will send Orlando a pair of 2nd round picks.
As for who the Lakers might select with the #2 pick, many of the top players in this year’s draft are point guards. Washington’s Markelle Fultz, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, Kansas’ Josh Jackson, and Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox are all candidates.
Expect all four to workout for the Lakers over the few weeks. At this point, draft experts expect Fultz to go #1, which makes Ball a strong candidate to go #2.
Mike Trout homered for the 4th straight game, and the Angels rallied to beat the White Sox 5-3 on Monday night in Anaheim.
The Halos trailed 3-0 in the 5th inning, but Kole Calhoun connected on a 3-run homer to tie the game. The next batter was Mike Trout, who drilled a solo blast over the left field wall, and the Angels suddenly had a 4-3 lead. Martin Maldonado added another solo homer in the 7th inning for the Angels.
Jesse Chavez (3-5) picked up the win for the Angels. He pitched 7 strong innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. Bud Norris got the final four outs for his 8th save of the season.
The White Sox got on the board in the 4th inning on a 2-run homer from Jose Abreu. An RBI triple from Tyler Saladino made it 3-0. in the 5th.
Mike Pelfrey (0-4) took the loss for the Sox. He gave up 4 earned runs on 3 hits.
The White Sox put runners on first and second with two out in the ninth, but Kevan Smith struck out looking to end the game.
Game 2 of the 3-game set will be on Tuesday night at the Big A. JC Ramirez (3-3, 4.20 ERA) will be on the mound for the Halos, while the White Sox counter with Derek Holland (3-3, 2.43 ERA).
Brandon McCarthy came off the disabled list on Tuesday for the Dodgers, but he endured a rough start as the Giants defeated LA 8-4 at AT&T Park on Monday night.
McCarthy (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season, pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up 6 earned runs on 8 hits. That included a four-run fourth inning, when McCarthy allowed a 2-run infield single by Eduardo Nunez, and lost track of a base runner.
With the score tied 1-1 and runners on second and third, Nunez hit a broken-bat grounder up the middle, which Corey Seager fielded. Buster Posey scored from third on the play, but Brandon Crawford appeared in trouble when he didn’t stop at third and Seager hurried the ball to McCarthy on the mound.
However with his back to the plate, McCarthy didn’t see Crawford caught between third and home and instead focused on Nunez, who took a wide turn around first and didn’t stop. McCarthy had to wait to throw to second until Seager got back there and Nunez slid in safely, while Crawford easily scored the third run of the inning. Crawford began the inning with an RBI double as well.
Nunez then stole third when McCarthy failed to keep him close and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Giants would go on to add two more runs in the 7th inning on a solo blast from Buster Posey, off of Grant Dayton, and then an RBI double from Nunez.
The Dodger offense came very early and very late. Yasmani Grandal knocked in an RBI double to give LA a 1-0 lead, but the Dodgers wouldn’t score again until the 9th inning, when they were already down 8-1. Chris Taylor had an RBI double and Franklin Gutierrez added an RBI single, but the rally wasn’t nearly enough.
LA lost for the 5th time in 8 games against the Giants this season. Matt Cain (3-1) picked up his 2nd win of the season against the Dodgers. He gave up only 1 run on 5 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Cain also became the 12th Giants pitcher to reach the 2,000-innings mark with the franchise.
Game 2 of the series will be on Tuesday night at AT&T Park. Rich Hill (1-1) is set to come off the DL because of a blister to make the start for the Dodgers against Ty Blach (0-2).
Don’t worry Laker fans. Tuesday isn’t that big of a deal. It’s ONLY the entire future of the organization at stake for the next five years determined by a couple of ping pong balls. The have a slightly less than 50% chance of keeping their 1st round pick this year, which has to be in the top 3 for it to belong to them. With those kind of odds, I’d feel better if PWC and Warren Beaty were involved in the lottery, because it might actually improve the Lakers’ chances. Somebody usually gets screwed every year. Hopefully it’s not the Lake Show. If they do end up keeping the pick though, I’m thinking they will try like hell to trade that pick for an all-star caliber player.
Then there’s the Clippers and their dilemma about what to do with JJ Redick. The 32-year-old sharp shooter is seeking $18-20 million a year for his new contract. Even if you love Redick as a player, trying to convince your owner to spend that much money on a player like him is like your wife trying to convince you to pay $700 for some pair of designer shoes that she can wear with one outfit. Those shoes will make your wife look nice, but you’re going to pay that much so she can look great every now and again with her one outfit? Redick is nice player, but there’s only one thing he can do great, and that’s shoot. It’s a nice thing to have in your lineup, just like it’s nice for your wife to have those shoes in her wardrobe, but not at that price. We are talking about the NBA though, so somebody is probably going to be dumb enough to pay the price for him.
As for the rest of the NBA playoffs, the Spurs missed their chance to steal the momentum against the Warriors yesterday. Golden State was rusty and San Antonio let that chance slip away. The Warriors are so good that not even Mike Brown coaching them against Greg Popovovich can prevent them from winning. As for the James Harden disastrous performance against the Spurs, superstars can have bad games in the playoffs, but nobody repeatedly has the body language and disinterest in big games that Harden has had the last couple of years. He reminds me of the dude you work with who is sitting in the meeting and looking at his watch every 5 minutes because he’s just punching the clock and doesn’t care about the final result. Next time he should book his vacation plans later in the summer instead of during the playoffs. There’s also a great new Shaq and Kobe NBA 2K commercial. Nice to see these two playing nice these days.
What would Monday Morning Coffee be without an update on Lavar Ball? The latest outrageous comment to come out of his mouth is that his son doesn’t need advice from Kobe Bryant, and that Lonzo will not take his game and “pattern after nobody”. The real stupidity in his comment that nobody is talking about is how this will impact his “Big Baller Brand” business. Kobe Bryant’s followers are cult like, and frequently threaten to impound your car, riot, and then demand that you are ejected from the universe if you say anything bad about The Black Mamba. Whether or not Lonzo plays for the Lakers, he still needs to sell sneakers. Kobe fans buy sneakers, and they sure won’t be buying Lonzo’s new sneakers after The Mamba was dissed. Lavar and his brand just lost a big potential customer.
After 38 games, here’s what you need to know about the Dodgers. 15 of their 22 wins have come against teams under .500. The are just 7-9 against teams over .500, so they aren’t very good against real teams. Also, of their 7 losses to teams under .500, 4 of them have come against one of the worst teams in baseball, the Giants. Remind me again why you people are excited about the potential of this team? The best thing about the Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw and Cody Bellinger. The worst thing is Andrew Friedman and his data driven approach that has proven nothing in a big market.
Then there’s the Angels. Remember when we thought the Halos would have no problem scoring runs? Well in 12 of their last 20 games, they’ve been held to 3 runs or less. It’s not hard to figure out why either. When you stick three guys in your lineup regularly that can barely hit .200, you aren’t going to get much production. Is Billy Eppler really incapable of finding a better left fielder or 2nd baseman? I know Mike Trout is the greatest player since the Dinosaurs roamed the earth, but not even he can make up for the rest of the stiffs hitting around him. I’d also like to thank Garrett Richards for his stupidity in not having Tommy Johns surgery last summer, resulting in him “hoping” he’ll be back from his latest arm injury in September. It’s going to take this guy 3 years to get his body right instead of the 1 year it should have taken.
That Anaheim Ducks playoff game was really something last night. The Ducks had such a bad start to the game, they showed up even later than their fans usually do. They were also fortunate that Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne managed to play like he took a few too many shots of tequila at J.T. Schmid’s Brewery across the street prior to the game. That series looks like it will go 7 games. The NHL also has absolutely no shame in it’s choice of sponsors.
I can’t believe that we have to wait two more months for the first half of the final season of Game of Thrones! Maybe what they really meant by “Winter Is Coming” is that it’s going to take so long to get to the last season that global warming might actually put us into another ice age by the time we get to see it. I’m looking forward to it, but given the pace of the show so far, I have a hard time imagining that we’re going to get a satisfying conclusion to the show in another 12 episodes or so.
Nick Ritchie scored with less than 3 minutes left in the second period to put the Ducks ahead for good, and Anaheim defeated the Predators 5-3 in game 2 of their best-of-seven series on Sunday night at the Honda Center. The series is now tied 1-1.
Ritchie fired a shot from the left circle, which appeared to glance off the mask of goalie Pekka Rinne and into the net. The Anaheim forward also scored a game-winning goal four days ago, in game 7 of the Ducks series against Edmonton.
Rinne made 22 saves on the night for the Predators, but did not look nearly as sharp as he has throughout the playoffs.
Anaheim survived a frantic 3rd period push from the Predators. Antoine Vermette added an empty-net goal to make it 5-3 with 44 seconds left.
The Ducks trailed 2-0 to start the game. Ryan Johansen scored on a breakaway just 4:18 into the game, and then James Neal scored on a backhand shot into a wide open net in front of a screened John Gibson at the 8:32 mark.
However, the Ducks started to surge late in the 1st period. Sami Vatanen blasted a slap shot past Rinne with 1 minute left in the 1st.
Just 39 seconds into the 2nd period, Jakob Silfverberg tied the game on a brilliant cross-ice pass from Rickard Rakell. Silfverberg caught the Predators defense standing around, and found the puck on his stick with a wide open net to shoot in.
The Predators would regain the lead near the 8:00 minute mark of the period when Filip Forsberg tapped in a rebound after a wrap-around attempt by Viktor Arvidsson, which left Gibson scrambling to cover an open corner of the net.
However, Ondrej Kase tied the game with his first career playoff goal at the 10:41 mark. Kase pounced on a rebound in front of Rinne, which slide underneath the goaltenders’ legs, and barely crossed the goal line.
Richie’s goal capped the thrilling 19-minute surge for Anaheim, which saw them score four goals. The Predators hadn’t allowed four goals in any playoff game this season prior to Sunday night.
Gibson made 30 saves on the night, including withstanding a several flurries in front of the net by Nashville in the 3rd period.
Game 3 of the series will be in Nashville on Tuesday night.
Pat Valaika hit a pair of home runs and had four RBI, as the Rockies took down the Dodgers 9-6 on Sunday night at Coors Field. The win resulted in a split of the four-game series between the NL West division rivals.
Antonio Senzatela (6-1) got the win despite allowing four runs in five innings, which was his shortest outing of the season. The Rockies’ rookie right-hander is tied for MLB lead in wins. It was also a very emotional day for Sanzatela, pitching on Mother’s Day, as his mother died of breast cancer last July. He used a pink bat to raise awareness about the disease.
Nolan Arenado also went deep, as the Rockies extended their NL West lead to 1.5 games over the 2nd place Dodgers.
The Dodgers got home runs from Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig. They also led 4-3 in the 4th before Valaika’s first homer of the game put the Rockies ahead. It was a 2-run shot that cleared the center field wall off of Julio Urias.
Uris (0-1) only lasted 4 innings, and took the loss He gave up 6 runs on 7 hits, while making only 68 pitches.
After Arenado’s 2-run homer in the 5th, the Rockies lead 7-4. The Dodgers attempted to rally in the 8th. Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger each had RBI singles, pulling LA within 7-6. However, it was Valaika’s 2nd homer of the game, another 2-run shot, which put the game out of reach.
Greg Holland struck out the side in the 9th inning, earning the Rockies’ closer his 16th save of the season.
The Dodgers will now travel to San Francisco to open a 3-game set with the Giants at AT&T Park on Monday. 4 of the Giants’ 15 wins this season have come against the Dodgers. Brandon McCarthy (3-0, 3.10 ERA) is on the mound for LA in game 1, while the Giants give the ball to Matt Cain (2-1, 4.54 ERA).
Alex Meyer pitched 6 1/3 innings strong innings and picked up his 2nd win of the season, as the Angels beat the Tigers 4-1 at the Big A on Sunday afternoon. The win salvaged a split of the four-game series between the Tigers and Angels.
Meyer (2-1) was once a reliever that the Angels are using as a starting pitcher since being acquired late last season, and is starting fulfill some of his potential. The 6+ innings were a career-high for Meyer, who made 96 pitches, and gave up just 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 7 Tigers and threw his fastball as hard as 98 MPH consistently. Bud Norris pitched the 9th for his 7th save of the season.
The Angels got a solo home run from Mike Trout in the 1st inning, tying the game at 1-1. It was the third straight game Trout went deep. Danny Espinosa hit a solo shot of his own in the 4th inning, giving the Halos the lead.
In the 7th, the Angels added a pair of insurance runs. Andrelton Simmons delivered an RBI single, scoring Juan Graterol. Trout added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, making it 4-1.
The Tigers only run of the game came on an RBI single from Nicholas Castellanos in the 1st inning. Ian Kinsler lead off the game with a double, followed by the Castellanos hit. After that Meyer did not allow a hit until the 7th.
Justin Verlander (3-3) took the loss for the Tigers. He pitched into the 7th inning, giving up all four runs, striking out 7 and walking 5. He passed Tommy John and pulled even with Eddie Plank for 53rd place in baseball history with 2,246 career strikeouts.
The Tigers haven’t won a series in Anaheim since 2009. They have played 8 series at the Big A during that stretch.
Trout also stole two bases, joining Alex Rodriguez as the only players to get 175 homers and 150 steals before their age-26 season. Cameron Maybin stole second base three times for the Angels, matching his career high in steals.
Albert Pujols got the day off for the Halos. He was replaced in the lineup by C.J. Cron at first base, who returned from the disabled list.
The Angels will now host the White Sox in Anaheim for a 3-game set beginning on Monday night. Jesse Chavez (2-5, 4.29 ERA) gets the ball for the Halos, while the Sox go with Mike Pelfrey (0-3; 5.21 ERA).
J.D. Martinez hit a pair of home runs, including a solo shot in the 9th, giving the Tigers a 4-3 win over the Angels on Saturday night in Anaheim.
Martinez came off the disabled list on Friday after missing the first 33 games with a foot injury. His 9th inning homer came off of Halos reliever Bud Norris (1-2), who took the loss.
Alex Wilson (1-1) pitched the 8th to get credit for the win. Justin Wilson struck out the side in the 9th for his 2nd save.
The Angels tied the game at 3-3 in the 7th inning on Mike Trout’s 10th homer of the season, which came off of Tigers’ reliever Shane Greene.
Detroit took a 3-2 lead in the 6th inning when Justin Upton connected on his 8th homer of the season.
Ricky Nolasco pitched 6 innings for the Angels. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and struck out 4.
Albert Pujols had a 2-run single in the 5th to tie the game at 2-2. That gave Pujols 1,844 RBIs, tying Carl Yastrzemski for 11th on baseball’s career list.
The Halos fell behind 2-0 in the 2nd on Martinez’ first homer of the game, a 2-run shot off Nolasco.
Daniel Norris started for Detroit, pitching into the 6th. He gave up 2 runs on 7 hits.
The Halos will try to salvage a split of the four game series on Sunday at the Big A. Alex Meyer (1-1, 7.62 ERA) on the mound for the Angels. Justin Verlander (3-2, 4.25 ERA) goes for Detroit.
