Latest Stories, page 5
Everything we have published, newest first. Opinion, recaps, history, and columns across every Bay Area team.
Four Signings in a Week: Okoronkwo, Irwin, Deguara, Hodge, and a Roster Held Together With Tape
A Super Bowl edge rusher off a torn triceps, a Stanford kid coming home, a blocking tight end and a Pro Bowl gunner. Every move makes sense. Needing all four in August is the problem.
Brock Purdy Is Carving Up Training Camp. Twenty Guys Watched Him Do It From the Sideline.
13-of-14 in team drills, three straight red zone touchdowns and a Dougie in the end zone. On the same field, twenty players were unavailable. Both things are true.
The 49ers Signed KhaDarel Hodge, and That Tells You Everything About This Receiver Room
A 31-year-old Pro Bowl gunner with three catches last season and Raheem Morris ties. Fine player, no complaints. But it is August fifth and we are already signing bodies.
Rangers 5, Giants 4: Vitello Sat Eldridge, Eldridge Tied It Off the Bench, and They Lost Anyway
Bryce Eldridge never started, then tied the game with a pinch-hit two-run single in the ninth. Ezequiel Duran's second double of the night dropped on the warning track and Texas walked it off. 48-66.
Heliot Ramos Is a Yankee: The Rest of the Selloff We Have Not Talked About
Ramos to New York for two prospects, Erik Miller to Boston for Marcelo Mayer, Mahle to Atlanta. Five trades in a day, and we shipped the one player we actually developed.
Reds 5, A's 4: They Led in the Eighth and Lost on Wild Pitches. Plural.
The tying run and the winning run both scored without Cincinnati putting a ball in play. J.T. Ginn's six-inning return from the blister, wasted. 45-68, and 0-5 since the deadline weekend began.
The 49ers Love Raheem Morris, and It Is Because He Lets Them Play Football
Five-down looks, new coverages, Warner and Greenlaw yelling at each other again, and a coordinator who tells this defense to go play instead of go think. It is the one good thing at this camp.
Purdy Is Ripping It in Camp, and That Throw to Demarcus Robinson Was a Dime
Over two defenders, back of the end zone, dropped in a bucket. Brock is playing fast and free again, and D-Rob has been the quiet best story of camp. Now just stay healthy.
Robbie Ray to the Padres: Of Course It Is the Padres
Nothing is official yet, but the word is out. A Cy Young winner on an expiring deal, headed to the team that just swept us out of Petco. I asked for the teardown. It still stings.
Arraez Is Gone: The Best Hitter We Had Is a Phillie Now
Arraez and Kilian to Philadelphia for Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair. The National League batting leader, the only at-bat in this lineup I trusted, is on a plane east.
It Is August and the 49ers Are Already Hurt. Again.
Pearsall out for the year, Kittle and Mykel Williams on PUP, four receivers off the field on the same day, and half a defensive line on the report. Nobody has played a snap yet.
Padres 5, Giants 4: Swept in San Diego, and the Deadline Is Tomorrow
Landen Roupp walked four in a four-run second, the Giants cut it to one three separate times and never got even, and San Francisco left Petco Park 0-3. They are 47-65 and 21-37 on the road.
Tigers 11, A's 0: Swept, Shut Out, and Outscored 32-7 in Three Days
Gage Jump walked six and did not finish the fourth, Detroit added four in the eighth, and a position player pitched the ninth. Five straight losses, 45-67, and a weekend they were outscored 32-7.
Monday's Deadline Is the Only Interesting Thing Left About This Season
Forty-seven and sixty-four. Ramos on the block, Lee reportedly staying, Arraez and Ray on expiring deals. If Posey does not tear it down Monday, he never will.
Tony Vitello Has No Idea What He Is Doing With This Lineup, and Bryce Eldridge Batting Leadoff Is the Proof
Sixty different batting orders in seventy-seven games. Eight different leadoff hitters. And now the 21-year-old middle-of-the-order bat is hitting first. This is why they never get in a groove.
Padres 6, Giants 5: Basabe Tied It Off a 103-MPH Fastball, and the Ninth Threw It Away
A guy playing his third game of the season drove in four, the Giants tied it in the eighth against a man throwing 103, and then gave it right back. 47-64, and 21-36 on the road.
Ricky Pearsall Is Out for the Year, and This Kid Just Cannot Catch a Break
Season-ending IR, PCL surgery coming, and a six-to-12-month road back. Pearsall still has not gotten one clean, healthy run at his career.
Padres 7, Giants 0: Two Hits. Two. That Is the Whole Night.
Carson Whisenhunt could not get out of the fourth and the lineup managed two hits in nine innings. The good feeling from Thursday lasted exactly a day.
Kyle Shanahan Update: He's Turning the Corner, and Camp Is Feeling It
Pads are on, and the coach is closer to being fully back in the middle of it, less than three weeks removed from a serious car accident.
Dre Greenlaw Hit Too Hard on Day One of Pads, and Christian McCaffrey Still Calls Him His Favorite Player
Greenlaw came out flying on the first padded practice of camp, and McCaffrey wasn't thrilled to be on the wrong end of it. He's also said Greenlaw is his favorite player in the league.
De'Zhaun Stribling Keeps Balling Out in Camp, and a Starting Job Is Starting to Look Inevitable
The rookie wide receiver isn't flashing for a day anymore, he's stacking good day after good day with Brock Purdy.
Deebo Samuel Is Coming Home: 49ers Bring Him Back on a One-Year, $7 Million Deal
A low-risk, high-reward reunion. Seven million dollars buys back one of the most uniquely dangerous weapons Kyle Shanahan's offense has ever had.
The Giants Are Playing Their Best Baseball of the Season, and the Brewers Series Just Proved It
3-2 over the last five games, with two wins over the MLB-best Brewers including a 16-3 rout. This is the best the Giants have looked all year.
The A's Free Fall Never Actually Stopped: 45-63, Fourth Place, and a Trade Deadline That Can't Come Soon Enough
Nine losses in a row was supposed to be the bottom. Instead the A's have gone 4-8 since, sitting 18 games under .500 with Monday's trade deadline arriving right on schedule.
How Steve Kerr Actually Handled Jonathan Kuminga
It was never as clean as "buried him" or "stood by him." A season-long negotiation between a coach who needed wins and a young forward who needed minutes.
Giants 16, Brewers 3: The Offense Finally Erupted, and It Was Glorious
Seventeen hits, a seven-run sixth, and Daniel Susac's first two career homers bury the MLB-best Brewers. Giants take the series and improve to 46-62.
Red Sox 4, Athletics 2 (10): Jacob Lopez Deals, the Offense Sleeps, Extras Bite Again
Lopez strikes out eight, Heim and Butler homer, and Monasterio's two-run shot in the tenth ends it. A's fall to 45-63.
Purdy and Rookie De'Zhaun Stribling Are Already Cooking, and This Niners Roster Is Loaded
Real chemistry with the rookie wideout, plus Evans and Kittle in the fold. On paper this is the deepest group Purdy has thrown to.
Kyle Shanahan's Car Accident Was Scarier Than We Knew, and Niner Nation Just Needs Him Healthy
A severe concussion, a broken nose, three broken ribs, a broken hand, and 40-plus stitches from the July 14 crash. He'll be limited early in camp while Chris Foerster picks up the load. Heal up, coach.
Brewers 8, Giants 2: Landen Roupp Never Found It, Bryce Eldridge's Homer Was the Only Answer
Roupp can't escape the fourth, Logan Henderson is nearly untouchable, and Milwaukee piles up 13 hits. Eldridge's eighth-inning homer is the only answer. Giants fall to 45-62.
Athletics 4, Red Sox 3: Brian Serven's Homer Holds Up, Tommy White Goes 4-for-4
Gage Jump goes six scoreless, Serven's two-run homer breaks it open, and Tommy White goes 4-for-4. Hogan Harris survives a two-run ninth. A's improve to 45-62.
The Front Office Keeps Failing Steph Curry, and "He Could Leave" Doesn't Sound Crazy Anymore
Wasted draft capital, half-measure trades, and a supporting cast that keeps aging out from under him. For the first time, imagining Steph somewhere else doesn't feel absurd.
Giants 3, Brewers 0: Tyler Mahle and Grant McCray Shut the Best Team in Baseball Down
Tyler Mahle throws six shutout innings, Grant McCray's two-run homer does the rest, and the Giants blank the 66-win Brewers at Oracle Park. Giants improve to 45-61.
Red Sox 4, Athletics 2: Ceddanne Rafaela's First Career Slam Beats a Costly No-Hit Bid
Jack Perkins carries a one-hit bid into the sixth before Rafaela's grand slam breaks it open. Soderstrom and Heim homer in the loss. A's fall to 44-61.
Angels 4, Giants 3: Mike Trout Ruins the Sweep, Whisenhunt Gets Rocked
Trout goes 4-for-4 with two homers off him, Arraez's two-run ninth falls one out short, and the Giants fall to 44-61 after taking the first two of the series.
Twins 11, Athletics 8: Down 7-0 Before Springs Left Hurt, and the Hole Was Just Too Deep
Jeffrey Springs exits early with an apparent injury, Kurtz's three-run homer sparks a real comeback, but it falls short. A's drop the rubber match, fall to 44-60.
Giants 7, Angels 6 (F/10): Devers Does It Twice, and the Bullpen Nearly Ruins It Again
A first-inning homer, a tenth-inning walk-off single, and a blown two-run lead in between. Giants snap a five-game skid and move to 43-60.
A's 2, Twins 0: Jacob Lopez Deals, Four Relievers Slam the Door
One hit allowed in five innings from Lopez, one more in four from the bullpen. Butler and Soderstrom drove in the only runs the A's needed. A's improve to 44-59.
Royals 5, Giants 4: We Finally Took a Lead, and It Lasted Half an Inning
Roupp struck out seven, the Giants led 3-2 in the seventh, and the Royals took it right back. Swept, five straight, 42-60.
Diamondbacks 15, A's 5: The Fifth Inning Went On Long Enough To Grow a Beard
Five homers, a seven-run fifth, and eight earned runs from a reliever who got two outs. Arizona takes the series.