Friday night the San Francisco Giants sustained a big blow from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense and starter Vicente Padilla. Though Aaron Rowand may disagree, the Giants’ arch rivals waited until the eighth inning of Sunday’s rubber match before delivering the knock-out punch.

Pinch hitting with a runner on and one out, Manny Ramirez hit career home run 548 off Giants reliever Sergio Romo (0-1), lifting the Dodgers to a 2-1 win, and spoiling one of Barry Zito’s best career starts as a Giant.

Zito was masterful in 7 1/3 innings, scattering four hits, fanning three, and allowed just one run, which was a result of a walk to pinch-hitter Garrett Anderson – the last hitter he would face — who scored on Ramirez’s blast. Ramirez hadn’t played in the series since departing part way through Friday’s contest with a strained calf. It was also just the second pinch-hit homer in Ramirez’s 18-year career.

“Romo, he’s been throwing as well as anybody,” Bochy told reporters. “He’s one of our setup guys. I like him out there. He’s made some great pitches. I’ve got him and (Jeremy Affeldt). That is their role, to pitch in the seventh and eighth innings.”

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was nearly just as good. The 22-year-old Dodger lefty pitched into the seventh, allowing just four hits and a run, while striking out nine, and walking four. The lone run allowed was on a Juan Uribe (1) solo-homer in the seventh, which came after a long battle, from which Uribe fell down 0-2 before battling back in the at bat.

Without the presence of veterans Mark DeRosa (hamstring), and Aaron Rowand – who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday – the Giants missed two right handed mainstays in their lineup that may have proved to be helpful against Kershaw.

Eugenio Velez led off and played left field, while Andres Torres filled in in center, hitting eighth. The duo combined to go just 1-for-7 with a walk, and three strikeouts. The Giants also wasted a lead-off double from Aubrey Huff in the fourth, and they left the bases loaded in the eighth when Ramon Trancoso got Uribe to ground out to end the inning.

Second guessing is a part of baseball, and over 162 games a skipper is going to have plenty of chances to be questioned. Giants manager Bruce Bochy will no doubt receive some heat because of the fashion his team lost this one.

But there’s a reason Ramirez holds the record for postseason homers with 28, and is a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer – he’s clutch, and he’s really, really good.
And pitching match-ups, execution, and righty-lefty showdowns often stand out more than assigning blame where it may more easily fit.

The Giants stranded eight runners on Sunday, and had lead-off runners on in three separate innings, and none of them scored. The result was the first series loss for the Giants in 2010, and prevented Zito from improving to 3-0 for the first time in his career.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

Theo is a staff reporter and feature writer for the Marin Independent Journal where he covers local prep and college sports. As an Associate Production Manager for ESPN, he helped produce Sunday Night Baseball among other national ESPN and ABC Sports telecasts. Besides his contributions to Examiner.com, the I.J. and Sports Climax, Theo is the play-by-play voice for Sonoma State University baseball and softball.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger’s meat remains in the news.

Ty Ballou, the owner of PLB Sports, told the New York Times he is severing ties with Roethlisberger and will no longer distribute Big Ben’s Beef Jerky. Lately it appears Ben needs little help in doling out any goods related to meat.

Ballou is said to be an avid Steelers fan and also told the newspaper he is disgusted by the allegations made against Roethlisberger in a Georgia sexual assault case.

Although the Georgia D.A. refused to press charges on the Steelers quarterback and the player did read an apology in front of the cameras, Ballou decided to terminate the contract:

“I can’t imagine anyone touching Ben Roethlisberger. Enough is enough. I hope there is a suspension,” said Ballou. “At some point in time, Ben has got to put himself in the right position and understand what it means to be a celebrity, a quarterback, a Steelers player.”

Ballou’s website lists many other athletes as endorsers for his products like Joe Greene, Kurt Warner, Nolan Ryan and Terrell Owens but the details surrounding Big Ben’s personal meat at the Capital City Bar in Georgia was the last straw and too much for him to handle.

“We’ve made a lot of money together. I’m leaving a lot on the table by terminating this contract. Even thought there were no criminal charges, there are just enough issues here that it’s the best interests of PLB Sports to break ties.”

Just curious, was the jerky sold in mini bites or jumbo size?

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler Bulldogs’ trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis was made possible after stepping up in the underdog role and playing great defense to knock off No. 1 Syracuse 63-59 and No. 2 Kansas State 63-58.

In the Syracuse win the Bulldogs took Orangeman guard Andy Rautins right off his game, never giving him a chance to set the pace and holding him to 15 points and against Kansas State they held guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to a combined .366 shooting percentage from the floor and a lone basket in the entire first half.

With all the games in the Final Four expected to be tight contests, the Bulldogs (32-4) are expected to again turn to defense to get past their next opponent Michigan State (28-8).

“You’ve got four teams that very much believe in their teammates, that very much believe in the systems and styles of play and they very much believe in defending. That’s obvious,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens.

The Michigan Sideline agrees. With their star and leading scorer, Kalin Lucas (15.2 points-per-game), in street clothes on the sideline nursing a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, they are also expected to come into the game thinking defense.

With Lucas on the bench, the Spartans’ leading scorer is averaging just 11 points a game.

Michigan State has gotten this far in the season by holding their opponents to 40.8 percent shooting and many games have dominated the boards.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has taken his team to the Final Four 6 out of the past 12 years and knows it will take a team effort to pull off a trip to the championship game.

“It’s going to be a little bit refreshing to have to watch and say, ‘How did that team do that?’ Not, ‘how did Magic Johnson or Carmelo Anthony do that? It really speaks to what team sports are about.”

Tip-off is Saturday at 6:07EST in Indianapolis.

In the other match-up the West Virginia Mountaineers (31-6) take on the Duke Blue Devils (33-5) with that tip-off at 8:47 EST.

Like the MSU and Butler game, this match-up is also expected to be physical and a lot about defense.

“It’s not going to be about fast breaking and beating you in transition,” said West Virginia guard Da’Sean Butler. “Playing ‘D’ rebounding, playing a rugged style that no one wants to watch. We usually win when we do those things.”

The Mountaineers are on a great roll and have won every game since Feb. 22.

On the other sideline, Duke is the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament. The Blue Devils were able to overcome under-achieving scoring performances by their top players in a few of the games leading up to this Final Four and advanced with stellar defensive play and by crashing the boards.

Surrounding their 7-foot center, Brian Zoubek, with several more players at 6-8 or taller, the Blue Devils had a 560-443 advantage this season on the offensive boards.

“Our team totally wants to rebound and play defense,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s much different than some Duke teams of the past. But they’ve accepted what they are, which is good, and they’ve tried to become better at who they are.”

More March Madness: NCAA Bracket – NCAA.com

This is Why March’s Last Name is “Madness” – Sports Climax 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After seeing the first weekend unfold, the best sporting event once again comes through with everything a sports fan could ever want in a tournament. The first weekend of March Madness had it all. It started with a double OT game as BYU outlasted Florida and finished with Purdue toppling Texas A&M in another OT game.

There were 4 OT games and 12 games that ended within 3 points of each other. There were upsets with Cornell and St. Mary’s making it to the Sweet 16 and then along came Northern Iowa: the giant slayer that shocked the world and turned brackets upside down when they beat the overall #1 seed Kansas.

Hopefully, this was enough of a wake-up call to the NCAA to leave this tournament just like it is because there is no need to mess with this perfect format.

The best part of all of this is we still have 15 games to be played to determine the 2010 National Champion. Here is what we learned from the first weekend. Everyone has considered the Big East the premier conference in college basketball and they received 8 bids to the tournament but with upsets to Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Marquette, only two Big East schools remain. (West Virginia & Syracuse)

The second best conference the Big 12 received 7 bids and only 2 teams also made it to the round of 16 with upsets to Texas A&M and Kansas only Kansas St. and Baylor advanced.

The most surprising conference would have to be the Big Ten who had three teams survive with only 5 teams getting bids. I had Purdue dead in the water after Robbie Hummel went down with a torn ACL. They fought through and did what Big Ten teams love to do in the tournament. They controlled tempo, played good defense and made clutch shots when they counted.

My all Kingpin Team of the 1st weekend:
Omar Samhan St. Mary’s- 30.5 ppg 9.5 RPG
Jordan Crawford Xavier- 27.5 ppg
Ali Farokhmanesh N. Iowa- 2 game winning shots 16.5ppg
Wes Johnson Syracuse- 24.5ppg 10 RPG
Louis Dale/Ryan Whitman Cornell- 23.5 ppg 22ppg

My Goats of the 1st weekend:
Scottie Reynolds- 4-31 Fg, 1:1 Assist T:O ratio
Sherron Collins- 4-15 0-6 3 pt attempts. 5 To’s vs N. Iowa
Georgetown giving up 97 points to the Ohio University
Predictions of Sweet 16.
Cornell vs Kentucky

Can the Big Red machine continue to dominate in this tournament against the Young flashy Wildcats. Cornell does a great job of controlling tempo and limiting their opponent’s possessions.

I would love to see a team who doesn’t give athletic scholarships beat the coach who always seems to land the top recruits every year who then leave for millions the next year. ESPN’s Jay Bilas picked Cornell into the Elite 8 and I would love to see our second #1 seed go down against an Ivy league school.

Butler vs. Syracuse – In this 5 vs. 1 matchup, I see the Syracuse Orangeman taking advantage of their length and athleticism to cause Butler some issues. I expect their 2-3 zone to suffocate Butler’s shooters and Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins to continue their good tournament play with another victory.

Xavier vs. Kansas St. – In this matchup, I like Xavier to spring the upset and beat Kansas St. in a rematch from Dec. 8 where K-St beat them by 15 at home. In Salt Lake City, I like kingpin Jordan Crawford to continue his strong play scoring the basketball. Xavier has been playing great team defense in the tournament and I think this will continue as they stifle the Wildcats and earn a trip to the Elite 8.

West Virginia vs. Washington – Washington is getting a lot of hype in possibly upsetting the Mountaineers. Washington was ranked 13th in the preseason coaches’ poll and looked to be having a disappointing season before getting their act together and reeling off 7 straight victories and winning the Pac 10 Tournament.

They have two studs in Quincy Pondexter and Point guard Isaiah Thomas. I feel that even though they are playing their best basketball they are playing a far superior opponent then their other two tourney matchups. West Virginia plays incredible team defense and crashes the boards better than any other team. I think they will slow down the 2 headed Husky monster and make it to the Elite 8for the third time in their schools history.

Tennessee vs. Ohio St. – In the Midwest bracket where Georgetown and Kansas have been eliminated can Tennessee add to the list of upsets? I don’t think so, I think the steady hand of Evan Turner and company will end their upset bid and beat the winner of MSU and N. Iowa to make it to their school’s 11th Final Four.

N. Iowa vs. Michigan State – In this matchup where the upset heard around the world is back at it against Tom Izzo’s Spartans who have made it to 7 Sweet sixteen’s in the last decade. I would love the Spartans in this one if their leading scorer and floor general Kalin Lucas wasn’t out for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Since he is hurt, I think N. Iowa will win this one in a close game. I wouldn’t count out Izzo’s Spartans because it’s March and he knows how to win in spring.

Duke vs. Purdue – I will say it, I was totally wrong about the Boilermakers. I thought they had no chance to make it through the weekend. They proved to me how tough and competitive their coach and team can be by beating a very good Texas A&M team in the second round. They are one of the biggest surprises for me in the Sweet 16 and have really come together and have played well thus far. I don’t think they can score enough to beat the Blue Devils and so I see Duke advancing to their 18th Elite 8.

Baylor vs. St. Mary’s – In the last of the sweet sixteen games, I like the Bears putting St. Mary’s Cinderella run on hold. I think kingpin Omar Samhan will run into the best interior defender he has ever seen in Ekpe Udoh. Udoh is long and 6’10 and I think will be able to bother Samhan. Baylor also has a number of big bodies they can throw at him to continue to make him work. I love St. Mary’s shooters but I think Baylor’s overall talent is better and I expect them to make it to their school’s 3rd Final Four.

Mateo is the NCAA contributor for SportsClimax.com.

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Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™