Giants Clinched Playoff Berth
San Francisco – Looking back to the era of Bruce Bochy, no one thought the San Francisco Giants would return to the postseason anytime soon. After adjusting to a new manager, Gabe Kapler with only a few remaining players from that championship era (Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt). A new era has emerged at Oracle Park, last night the Giants were the first team to punch their ticket to the playoffs after their 9-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.
Standing all alone in first place, San Francisco continues to have the best record in the Majors. The Los Dodgers remain close behind 2 1/2 games. The smell of October baseball is just around the corner and the Giants are no strangers to competition. They know the road ahead will not be easy but in the meantime they’ll enjoy this victory then it’s back to work.
“If you could dream up a team to get to go through the grind of a big league season with, this one is going to be pretty close to being it,” Posey said.
Photo by SFGiants/Twitter
Raiders win a thriller on Monday Night
Las Vegas – The Las Vegas Raiders won a 33-27 thriller on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. The game was in it’s final minutes of regulation when Daniel Carlson kicked a 55-yard field goal to tie the game and force overtime. But in typical Raiders fashion, Derek Carr found an open Bryan Edwards for a 33-yard touchdown to end the game.
Unfortunately, Edwards was short from the goal line and Carr’s next pass to Willie Snead was intercepted by Anthony Averett in end zone. That was a crushing blow to Las Vegas but a stout Raiders defense proved they’re worthy of primetime. Lamar Jackson was sacked and stripped of the ball, Darius Philon recovered and Carr’s 31-yard pass to Zay Jones for the game winning touchdown was simply outstanding. No better way to end the first game of the season in a new stadium.
While the Ravens scored first to take a 14-0 lead Carr and his offense slowly got back into the game by ending the first half 14-10. By the second half it was a back and forth scoring rush. Every time the Ravens scored the Raiders were right behind making a play.
“I hope this is a sign of things to come,” Carr said after the game.
49ers dominate the Lions for season opener
Detroit – The 49ers danced their way to their first victory while using both quarterbacks. Jimmy Garoppolo bounced back from his previous injuries to have a stellar game, he went 17-for-25 for 314 yards that included one touchdown.
Backup Trey Lance got in on the fun, during the first quarter Lance connected with Trent Sherfield for a 5-yard touchdown. By the second quarter San Francisco’s run game took flight, Elijah Mitchell rushed for a 38-yard touchdown, JaMycal Hasty rushed for a 3-yard touchdown, Dre Greenlaw ran back an interception for 39 yards for the touchdown and Robbie Gould kicked a 40-yard field goal to make it a 31-10 game.
Deebo Samuel’s 79-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo was the highlight for the third quarter. And Gould’s 52-yard field goal in the fourth sealed their victory. The biggest disappointment was losing two key players in their first win of the season. It was confirmed after the game, running back Raheem Mostert sustained a “chipped cartilage” in his knee and he will be out up to 8 weeks. Cornerback Jason Verrett suffered a season ending knee injury. Verrett’s injury came with 7 minutes left in the fourth. He battled previous torn ACL’s in the past (2016 and 2018) and now his worst fear was confirmed on Monday.
“Losing a player like Jason is a pretty big deal just because of the type of person he is and how good of a player he is,” said head coach Kyle Shananhan. “I’m glad we were ahead of the case, bringing in Josh [Norman] last week. And we should get E-Man [Emmanuel Moseley] back soon. I can’t guarantee this week but I’m holding out hope for it. With that being the case, I feel like we’ve got enough guys in our building. But that’s something that you’ve always got to look to see if there’s any way you can improve. You always do that.
I talked to him [Verrett] a lot last night. I think a bunch of the guys did. I think he got the official news a few hours ago and I haven’t been able to see him since he got the official news yet. But he was very upset. Exactly how you guys could imagine. Jason puts his heart into this and he’s been through this a ton. And it’s tough for him, but he’s also a man and is as tough of a guy as I’ve been around. So, he’ll persevere. It takes time. It’ll pass, but you have to grieve it a little bit. And I know he’s probably doing that right now and we all are for him.