The Kings have signed Tanner Pearson to a 4-year contract extension worth $15 million. Pearson would have been a restricted free agent on July 1st.
The 24-year-old left wing scored 24 goals and 44 points in 80 games for the Kings last season. In the past two years, he’s scored 39 goals for the Kings, and been one of the most reliable offensive players.
“We were able to come to a good deal, and we were both pretty happy about it,” Pearson said. “There’s obviously a bit of negotiating that had to be done. Other than that, it went pretty smoothly and I’m happy with staying in L.A.”
With a salary cap hit of $3.75 million, Pearson’s new contract should help the Kings manage their difficult salary cap situation a little better.
LA also traded the rights to goaltender Ben Bishop to the Dallas Start for a 4th round pick in 2017. The pick originally belonged to the Montreal Canadians.
Dallas has until July 1 to reach an agreement with Bishop, before he’ll be able to negotiate with all 30 other teams as a free agent.
The Kings will now look to re-sign forward Tyler Toffoli, who is also scheduled to be a restricted free agent on July 1st. Toffoli scored 16 goals last year in an injury-shortened season. He’s scored a total of 47 goals in the past two seasons.
Austin Barnes drilled a walk-off RBI double in the 10th inning, and the Dodgers defeated the Pirates 4-3 in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Chavez Ravine.
Barnes was used as a pinch-hitter with 1 out in the 10th, and Ross Stripling was used as a pinch-runner as well, scoring on the play.
Kenley Jansen (2-0) got the win after pitching a scoreless 10th inning. Julio Urias started for LA, taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning until Andrew McCutchen doubled to lead off the 7th inning. The 6 1/3 innings were a career-high for Urias, who allowed a run on two hits, two walks, with five strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches.
The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the 8th inning when John Jaso connected on a pinch-hit home run off of reliever Pedro Baez. However, the Dodgers would tie he game in the 9th inning when Cody Bellinger delivered a run-scoring single, which brought home Corey Seager. LA nearly won the game at that point, but Jody Mercer turned a spectacular double play. Mercer scooped up the ball while keeping his foot on the bag after pitcher Tony Watson bounced a ball wide of second base.
After breaking up the no-hitter, the Pirates scored two in the 7th inning to tie the game at 2-2. Francisco Cervelli doubled in McCutchen, which put the Pirates on the board. Max Moroff followed with an RBI single, which scored Cervelli. That was Moroff’s first major league hit and first career RBI.
Yasmani Grandal gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the 4th inning with a 2-run blast to center field off of ivan Nova. The ball landed int the center field bleachers, and was Grandal’s 4th homer of the season.
Nova pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up only those 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2. Daniel Hudson (0-2) took the loss for the Bucs, after giving up the game-winning hit to Barnes.
The Dodgers will go for the sweep on Wednesday night at the Ravine. Kenta Maeda (2-2; 5.81 ERA) is on the mound for LA, while the Pirates give the ball to Chad Kuhl (1-2; 5.54 ERA).
Yunel Escobar hit a 3-run homer and drove in 4 runs, and the Angels took down the A’s 7-3 on Tuesday night in Oakland.
Albert Pujols and Ben Revere also hit solo home runs for the Halos, who found some offense after Mike Trout sat out his 4th straight game with a hamstring injury.
Alex Meyer (1-1) picked up the win, pitching 5 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking 5. Bud Norris pitched the 9th to pick up his 6th save of the season.
Pujols solo blast put the Angels up 1-0. The A’s responded with a 2-run blast form Yonder Alonso, which was his first of two homers on the evening. He added a solo shot in the 6th inning as well.
The Angels would put up four runs in the 2nd inning on the home runs by Revere and Escobar, suddenly giving them a 5-2 lead.
In the 4th, the Halos would add two more, off a Cliff Pennington run-scoring single, and an RBI groundout from Escobar.
Jharel Cotton (3-4) took the loss. He went 5 innings, giving up all 7 runs on 8 hits. Not even having Kevin Durant in the house could help the A’s on this night.
The Angels are now 6-0 this year on Tuesday night. Both teams will go at it in the rubber game on Wednesday afternoon. Jesse Chavez (2-4; 4.46 ERA) gets the ball for the Halos, and the A’s will go with Andrew Triggs (4-2, 2.34 ERA).
Chris Taylor hit a a grand slam during a 6-run first inning, and the Dodgers crushed the Pirates 12-1 on Monday night at Chavez Ravine.
Yasiel Puig also homered in the 1st inning, and Alex Wood (3-0) pitched a 2-hit shutout in 5 innings of work. Wood struck out 11 Pirates and walked only 1.
“I’ve got to continue to be consistent,” Wood said. “I’m just going to build off that, and get ready for the next one.”
The Dodgers jumped all over Pittsburgh starter Trevor Williams (1-2). Williams lasted just 3 innings, giving up 8 runs (6 earned), on 7 hits. He was filling in for Jameson Taillon, who had surgery on Monday for suspected testicular cancer.
It was Taylor’s first inning blast that put LA in the drivers seat. “That really set the tone,” outfielder Joc Pederson said. “We built off that the rest of the game.”
Taylor and Pederson had three hits apiece. Pederson, Yasmani Grandal, and Enrique Hernandez each drove in a pair of runs.
Ross Stripling pitched 3 innings of relief, giving up 1 run on 3 hits for LA. Adam Liberatore pitched a scoreless 9th.
LA put Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list after he dislocated his nonthrowing shoulder in the weight room last week. That resulted in Liberatore getting called up, and Wood getting the start, which the team announced early Monday afternoon.
The Dodgers will try to keep it rolling tomorrow night in game 2. Julio Urias (0-0; 0.84 ERA) will get the start for the boys in blue, while the Bucs will give the ball to Ivan Nova (3-3, 2.14 ERA).
Jed Lowrie belted a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the A’s defeated the Angels 3-2 on Monday night in Oakland. It was the A’s 3rd straight walk-off win.
Lowrie connected on a 1-0 pitch, his 2nd homer of the game, drilling it 405 feet over the right center field wall. The home run came off of Halos reliever Deolis Guerra. Guerra (2-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings, and was shutting down the A’s until he faced Lowrie, who’s homer was the only hit Oakland generated off the Angels right-hander.
The Angels took a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Luis Valbuena 2-run homer. Those were the only two runs given up by Oakland starter Kendall Graveman, who pitched 7 innings. Graveman got the no decision, but scattered 7 hits and just the 2 runs, while striking out 6 and walking 1.
Oakland got four innings of scoreless relief from Ryan Madsen, Santiago Casilla, and Liam Hendriks. The trio gave up only 2 hits in their 4 innings of work. Hendriks (1-0) got credit for the win.
Lowrie’s first home run of the game came in the 4th inning off of Angel starter Ricky Nolasco, which cut the Angels’ lead to 2-1.
Just one inning later, Oakland tied it on another solo home run, this time from Trevor Plouffe. Nolasco gave up the 2 runs on 5 hits, in 7 innings of work. He struck out 10 batters in 103 pitches.
Mike Trout sat out for the 4th time in 5 games, and the Angels offense struggled. The Halos were 0-6 with runners in scoring position, leaving 9 men on base on the night.
The news got even worse for the Angels when shortstop Andrelton Simmons got hit by a pitch in the first and left an inning later with a bruised left hand and right thumb. X-rays were negative and he is day to day.
The Angels and A’s will be back at it tomorrow night in Oakland. Alex Meyer (0-1; 9.39 ERA) will take the mound for the Halos, while the A’s will counter with Jharel Cotton (3-3; 4.64 ERA).
Hey Andrew Friedman….do you still want to send Cody Bellinger back to the minors? I didn’t think so. Bellinger is hotter than the sun right now, and he’s the only reason the Dodgers snapped out of their early season slump. Two Dodger stories from last week made me want to throw my laptop out the window. The first was the idea that the Dodgers need to send Bellinger back to the minors to control his future cost. If the Dodgers think that way, they are failing to understand that guys like Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, and Justin Turner, won’t be great forever, and that there is a window to win with them. The other story that annoyed me was the suggestion that the Dodgers have the best pitching staff in the big leagues because they haven’t invested too much money in any single starter, except Clayton Kershaw. This is a cute strategy until October, when you don’t have any real starting pitchers to get you through the playoffs.
I don’t know about you, but I’m shocked the Angels haven’t collapsed like the United States Congress. How are they still hovering around .500, yet they are in the bottom third of nearly every critical offensive and defensive statistical category in the American League? They are counting on dudes like Ricky Nolasco, Jesse Chavez, and JC Ramirez to go to the mound to get them victories. They’ve had four guys in their lineup getting regular playing time of late hitting .200 or less. I don’t even think the greatness of Mike Trout and Mike Scioscia can overcome this. I think staying in the race has more to do with how terrible Texas and Seattle have been than anything else.
Let’s talk NBA playoffs. Due to human rights concerns the NBA should suspend the remaining portion of the Eastern and Western Conference playoffs, and just give us Warriors vs Cavs. The NBA’s motto is “NBA Cares.” If they did, they would just give us the finals already. The Warriors and Cavs are so much better than everybody else, there’s a very reasonable case to be made that 26 other teams in the league should tear it down and rebuild. This is how Drake feels after his Raptors got bounced by the Cavs for the third straight year.
Lonzo Ball’s new “Big Baller Brand” sneakers will be sold for $495. For that price I can go hire an Asian child to make unlimited pairs of his shoes. I did hear however that 3 pairs of shoes have already been pre-ordered. That means that “Big Baller Brand” has tripled their sales forecast. As much fun as it is to make fun of the price and Lavar Ball, he really may turn out to be a genius. If Lonzo ends up going to LA or New York, he gets a marketing boost right there. Ultimately though, Lonzo has to be a star player and if he is, then what looks like a ridiculous bet on his son now may prove to pay off.
Just when you thought it was the Oilers who choked against the Ducks, now it looks like Anaheim is the real head case after losing game 6 last night. Don’t worry Ducks fans, if you lose game 7 at home for the 5th year in a row on Wendesday, your playoff tickets can be redeemed at Zales for “choker” necklaces, in honor of your annual collapse. I have to say though, up until last night Ryan Getzlaf has played like he’s Jesus Christ rising from the dead, and looked like one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of hockey skates. The bad news for Anaheim though is that they now have 3 whole days to think about their past playoff failures before taking the ice again, which can’t be good for their chances. I guess we’ll find out if the issue was coach Bruce Boudreau from the last four years, or if they just aren’t able to ever meet the moment.
The Kentucky Derby was won by “Always Dreaming”, which is a horse that must have been named after the Rams playoff chances. I can definitely relate to that horse that jumped out of the gate and just said “nope” and stopped running. He probably belongs in a rodeo instead. The derby is easily the biggest group of white rich guys assembled since the Trump cabinet. How could you not root for “Patch”, the one-eyed horse?
Did anybody watch the Canelo Alvarez – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight? This is exactly why boxing is dying. That was the best fight the sport could give us, in what will probably be the only big fight of the year. Canelo is so savage, he didn’t even sit down between rounds for the entire fight. Since most of you probably missed the fight, here is a quick recap….
The Oilers jumped out to a huge lead in game 6 against the Ducks, and this time, they wouldn’t give it back. Edmonton hammered Anaheim 7-1 in game 6 of their 2nd round playoff series, tying the series 3-3, and forcing a game 7 on Wednesday night in SoCal.
Leon Draisaitl had a hat trick along with two assists, while Mark Letestu had two goals and two assists, and the Oilers had a 5-0 lead after the first period.
Zach Kassian and Anton Slepychev also scored for the Oilers, while Cam Talbot made 34 saves in the win.
The Ducks only goal came from Rikard Rakell, which came midway through the 2nd period. It was a miserable night for the Anaheim goaltenders. John Gibson was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 6 shots, just 8:30 into the game. Jonathan Bernier didn’t fare much better, stopping 25 shots, but Letestu scored his first goal of the game when Bernier couldn’t find the puck that was sitting right in front of him in the crease.
“Stuff happens sometimes,” Gibson said. “It’s my job and obviously I wasn’t good enough tonight as i want to be. I just kind of let them down.”
Letestu 2nd of the game came on a one-timer over Bernier’s right pad for a power-play goal with 1:15 remaining in the first.
Draisaitl completed his hat trick on a give-and-go with Milan Lucic with 4:30 minutes left in the second period when Ryan Kesler was serving a roughing minor.
“You want to flush it but you gotta look at what you did wrong too. There’s a lot of mistakes that we made tonight,” Andrew Cogliano said. “Uncharacteristic mistakes and we deserve to lose that way. You don’t see other teams giving up breakaways in the first 10 minutes of a hockey game to move on to the conference finals.”
The Ducks will be looking to end a streak of futility in game 7. In the last four seasons, Anaheim has lost four consecutive game 7’s at home, ending their season. In each of those four series, the Ducks have held a 3-2 series lead. Anaheim was eliminated in the first round of 2013 by Detroit, in 2016 by Nashville, the second round in 2014 by the Kings, and the conference finals in 2015 by Chicago.
“Each year is a new year; each day is a new day,” Gibson added. “If you look at the past, you don’t get anywhere.”
Edmonton’s last Game 7 was the 2006 Stanley Cup final, which they lost 3-1 at Carolina. Edmonton is 6-3 in franchise history in game 7, and 3-2 on the road. The Ducks are 2-6 in game 7 in their franchise history, and 1-4 at home. The good news for the Ducks however is that home teams have won nearly 60% of game 7’s in the NHL.
It all goes down Wednesday night at the Honda Center. The winner will advance to the Western Conference Finals to play the Nashville Predators.
Jose Altuve and Evan Gattis hit home runs and the Astros defeated the Angels 5-3 in the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim.
The Angels played without Mike Trout for the 2nd straight game, sitting out with a sore hamstring, and this time Houston took advantage.
The Halos jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this one after a solo blast from Yunel Escobar in the 1st inning, followed by a Martin Maldonado RBI single in the 2nd.
Angel starter Matt Shoemaker ran into trouble in the 3rd inning. With one out, Alex Bregman doubled, and after Jake Marisnick struck out, George Spring walked. Then Josh Reddick singled, driving in Bregman, which put the Astros on the board. The next batter was Altuve, who connected on a 3-run shot to left field, giving Houston a 4-2 lead. The Astros would add another solo shot in the 7th off of Shoemaker, courtesy of Gattis, who connect on the first pitch of the inning.
Shoemaker (1-2) took the loss after pitching 6 innings, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 4 while making 80 pitches. After the Gattis homer in the 7th, Yusmeiro Petit came in to relieve Shoemaker.
Escobar drilled his 2nd homer of the game in the 5th inning, driving a pitch over the center field wall off of Mike Fiers. Fiers (1-1) picked up the win after going 5 innings, giving up all 3 Angel runs on 4 hits. He made 94 pitches, striking out 1 and walking 4. Ken Giles picked up his 8th save of the season, pitching a perfect 9th inning, and striking out the last two batters he faced.
Houston got 4 scoreless innings of relief from James Hoyt, Will Harris, and Giles. The three combined to give up just 2 hits, while striking out a total of 7 Angels.
The Astros are now 21-11, which is their best start in franchise history. After taking two of three over the weekend, they are now 17-6 against the AL West. The Angels are now 16-17 on the year, 5.5 games back of Houston in the division.
The Halos will now travel up to Oakland to open up a 3-game set with the A’s beginning Monday night. Rickly Nolasco (2-2; 4.68 ERA) will be on the hill for the Angels, while Oakland will counter with Kendall Graveman (2-2; 3.95 ERA).
Cody Bellinger hit his 1st career grand slam, as the Dodgers routed the Padres 10-2 on Saturday night at Petco Park.
Bellinger was 2-4 on the evening, with 5 runs batted in. Clayton Kershaw (5-2) pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up just 1 earned run on 5 hits, striking out 9 Padres along the way.
The game was scoreless until the 4th when Bellinger got things started with an RBI single that scored Justin Turner. The Dodgers would tack on two more in the inning on a pass ball from Padres’ catcher Austin Hedges, scoring Franklin Gutierrez, and then an RBI single from Yasiel Puig, which scored Bellinger.
Kike Hernandez made it 5-0 in the 5th inning with a 2-run double, scoring Justin Turner and Chris Taylor.
That was all for Padres’ starter Clayton Richard (2-4). He allowed 5 runs on 7 hits on the night.
The Friars only offense of the night came on a solo homer by Ryan Schimpf, his 8th of the season, which came off of Kershaw in the 8th. They would also add an unearned run in the 9th inning on a fielding error by Justin Turner.
Bellinger is now hitting .357 for the Dodgers. In the first two games of this series, he’s 5-9 with 3 homers, 9 RBI, and 4 runs.
Chris Taylor walked three times and scored twice. He is one of just five MLB players this season with at least 30 plate appearance whose OBP and OPS are greater than .470 and 1.07 respectively.
The only bad news for LA was the amount of exertion Kershaw and Kenley Jansen put forth for a 10-2 rout. Kershaw threw 118 pitches, and Jansen threw 33. Skipper Dave Roberts said that Kershaw would likely get an extra day of rest before pitching again, while Jansen indicated that he likely would not be available tomorrow.
The Dodgers improved to 17-14 on the season, and remain two games back of 1st place Colorado in the NL West. The Dodgers are scheduled to go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park, but Roberts was told it is “unlikely” they’ll be able to get the game in based on the weather forecast. The scheduled starters are Brandon McCarthy (3-0; 3.10 ERA) for the Dodgers, and Trevor Cahill (2-2; 3.60 ERA).
Andrelton Simmons delivered an infield single in the bottom of the 9th inning, scoring Kole Calhoun, and the Angels defeated the Astros 2-1 on Saturday night at the Big A in walk off fashion.
Simmons hit a chopper high off the plate to short, which gave Carlos Correa trouble. The Astros shortstop attempted to throw home, but it was in not nearly in time to get Calhoun at the plate.
Calhoun led off the 9th inning against Chris Devenski with a walk. Then Albert Pujols hit a single to left field, which allowed Calhoun to make it all the way to 3rd base, after some aggressive running by the Angels right fielder. Luis Valbuena struck out, but that set the stage for Simmons heroics.
Bud Norris (1-1) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless 9th inning. Devenski (2-2) took the loss for the Astros, after giving up the game-winning run in the 9th.
Both teams exchanged runs in the first two innings. Carlos Beltran doubled in Correa in the first inning, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead.
The Halos response in the 2nd after Cameron Maybin produced an RBI groundout, which scored Valbuena.
J.C. Ramirez did not factor in the decision, but had a strong start. He pitched 6 innings, giving up the lone run in the 1st inning, while yielding 8 hits, striking out 2 and walking 2. Blake Parker, David Hernandez, and Bud Norris combined to give up just 1 hit over the last 3 innings.
The Astros got 7 strong innings from Lance McCullers. He allowed just 1 run on on 2 hits, striking out 4 Angels, but did not factor into the decision either.
Mike Trout was a late scratch in this one with a tight hamstring. The Angels improved their record to 16-16 on the season.
The rubber game of the 3-game set will be on Sunday afternoon at the Big A. Matt Shoemaker (1-1; 4.78 ERA) goes to the mound for the Halos, while the Astros will counter with Mike Fiers (0-1; 5.68 ERA).
