Melky Cabrera’s offensive production seemed impossible to replace as news broke in August that he had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. With 159 hits, 84 runs and a .907 OPS sucked out of the order, the Giants looked incapable of keeping pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who held a one-game lead in the National League West.
Of course, Bruce Bochy’s club, which returns to town tonight for the exhibition Bay Bridge Series, went on to win the World Series thanks to the timely contributions of several unexpected heroes.
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PHOENIX (AP) — Jhoulys Chacin was roughed up in his final spring training start, allowing six runs and 10 hits in five innings, and the Colorado Rockies lost 6-5 to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
Nate Freiman hit a two-run double off the glove of Dexter Fowler in center field to put Oakland ahead in the fifth.Jeremy Barfield led off the A's three-run fourth with a homer off Chacin.
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Brandon Belt hit his eighth spring home run and Madison Bumgarner threw five effective innings and the San Francisco Giants wrapped up their spring training in Arizona with an 8-6 victory over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Hunter Pence also homered for the Giants. Nick Noonan, trying to make the team, had a triple, double and single for the World Series champions, who open a three-game exhibition series against Oakland on Thursday night in San Francisco.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Forbes estimated the New York Yankees have the highest value in Major League Baseball for the 16th straight year at $2.3 billion, and the average for an MLB team increased by 23 percent in the last year to $744 million.
The magazine said Wednesday the Yankees' value increased from $1.85 billion last year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are second in MLB at $1.62 billion — nearly $400 million below the price paid for the team last May when a group headed by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson bought the franchise from Frank McCourt.
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The Giants selected the contract Tuesday of right-hander Chad Gaudin from the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, meaning he will begin the season in San Francisco’s bullpen.
Gaudin, who turned 30 on Sunday, is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in nine spring training games, including two starts.He was 4-2 with a 4.54 ERA in 46 games with Miami in 2012 and was signed by the Giants to a minor league contract on Dec. 13.
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By:
Staff and wire report
03/26/13 7:13 PM
PHOENIX — The A’s placed infielder Adam Rosales on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a strained muscle on the left side of his ribcage.
He will miss the early portion of the season for the defending AL West champions, who open the year Monday at home against Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners.
Rosales got hurt in Monday’s victory against the Milwaukee Brewers at Phoenix Muni Stadium. He was batting .324 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 21 spring games and also had eight walks for a .468 on-base percentage.
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MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Ryan Vogelsong has one more spring start before taking his turn in San Francisco's starting rotation early next month when the regular season opens.The right-hander appears ready for the season to start now after working six strong innings to help lead the Giants to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.Vogelsong's only goal in his last start before the season Saturday in Oakland is simple: "Don't get hurt," he said. "Don't take a line drive back off of something."
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PHOENIX (AP) — Kyle Lohse is joining Milwaukee's pitching staff at just the right time. It appears the Brewers can use the help.Chris Young hit a grand slam and Josh Donaldson homered among his four hits as the Oakland Athletics backed Bartolo Colon with a big offensive performance in a 9-7 victory over Milwaukee on Monday.Brewers starter Chris Narveson served up Young's slam in the fourth. The left-hander allowed six runs on eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.
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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Barry Zito enjoyed the challenge of facing Josh Hamilton with runners on.
Zito pitched five effective innings and Buster Posey hit a go-ahead single in the ninth to lift the San Francisco Giants over the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 on Sunday.
In a moment that had a regular-season feel to it, Hamilton stepped in against Zito with two on and two outs in the fifth. With fans of both teams cheering, the left-hander threw a slider and two curveballs to get a swinging strikeout.
Hamilton had doubled off Zito earlier in the game.
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PHOENIX — The A’s roughed up Los Angeles Dodgers starter Josh Beckett to the tune of seven runs on six hits in four innings of a 7-4 victory Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Sunday.
Beckett had strong efforts in his three previous spring starts, but the right-hander couldn’t get many of his pitches to work this time around.
“He couldn’t get the breaking ball over. That’s a big weapon for him,” Mattingly said. “It slows guys down.”
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