It’s safe to say Panda mode is back on at AT&T Park.
Pablo Sandoval hit two home runs Thursday, including one that fueled a six-run fourth inning, as the Giants cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Sandoval now has three homers in his last two games to lead the team to a four-game sweep of the last-place Rockies and push their magic number to three after the Washington Nationals beat the Dodger 4-1.
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The Earthquakes this week became the first MLS team to clinch a playoff spot, marking their second trip to the postseason in the past three years.
The 2012 season has been a big turnaround for a club that has not finished higher than sixth in the Western Conference since A’s owner Lew Wolff brought the team back following the previous incarnation moving to Houston after the 2005 season, when they won the Supporters’ Shield for the best regular-season record.
Now the Earthquakes have their eye on bringing the Shield back to San Jose.
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City officials are heralding the first America’s Cup World Series event held in San Francisco as a success, as crowds lined Marina Green for five days to watch the world’s fastest boats push toward sailing’s biggest prize.
“The response from the public has exceeded our expectations,” said Stephen Barclay, CEO of the America’s Cup.
“This was our first event in San Francisco and our first opportunity to get a taste of racing the wingsail catamarans on the Bay. It’s simply been wonderful for everyone involved.”
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Oracle Team USA finished off a dominating week with a sweep of the week’s two America’s Cup World Series events as Russell Coutts’ team edged out teammate Jimmy Spithill in an all-Oracle final match race and Spithill finished the final fleet race in second place to earn the fleet-racing championship.
Spithill needed to finish in at least second place to stay ahead of Chris Draper’s Luna Rossa Piranha boat.
“I can’t emphasize how much the boys fought around the race track,” Spithill said. “We battled our way back to the top in each event and were rewarded for it.”
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Oracle Team USA Spithill made a dramatic comeback in the final race of the weekend to claim the fleet race championship, but if not for a last-minute penalty on Team Korea, Spithill may have been left in the cold.
The infraction came when Korea did not yield the right of way to Team Oracle as the two teams approached the finish line.
The International Sailing Federation’s Racing Rules of Sailing state that, “A yacht has right of way when another yacht is required to keep clear of her.”
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I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Judging from the comments of a television reporter — who will remain nameless — who was enjoying the same opportunity, I was not alone. But when you get invited to ride along during one of the America’s Cup World Series events, you don’t say no.
And so I found myself holding on for dear life on the back of the Artemis Racing White boat on Thursday during their match race against Luna Rossa Swordfish, listening to skipper Terry Hutchinson bark orders and frantically leaping from one side of the boat to the other at his direction.
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Oracle Team USA dominated every phase of the America’s Cup World Series events Thursday, with Jimmy Spithill’s team beating Luna Rossa-Piranha in its match race and taking the second fleet race. Spithill’s Oracle teammate Russell Coutts won the other fleet race.
Spithill finished second in the first fleet race, putting his crew atop the standings with 22 total points. Coutts is right behind him with 18 points, followed by the two Artemis teams, Red and White, which are tied for third.
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The first controversy of the Bay Area’s introduction to the America’s Cup World Series stemmed from technical difficulties on the umpires’ boat.
The officials use a digital text-messaging system to communicate with the skippers of the competing teams — a system that crashed during the second race between Team Korea and Ben Ainslie Racing.
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It was a clean sweep for all three winners in the first round of the America’s Cup World Series match races as Ben Ainslie Racing and both Luna Rossa teams — Swordfish and Piranha — came away with 2-0 victories to advance to the
quarterfinals.
Ainslie Racing had the tightest races in its matchup with Team Korea, a pair of nail-biting victories that left Ainslie a bit dazed as he makes the transition from winning Olympic gold in London as a solo racer on a dinghy to working with a team on a catamaran, a transition he compared to going “from a go-kart to an Indy car.”
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One skipper in today’s America’s Cup World Series events will find himself at something of a disadvantage compared to his competitors, though it’s safe to say Ben Ainslie will take the trade off.
Ainslie is coming fresh off winning a gold medal in the men’s finn sailing event at the London Olympics and will be facing a new challenge today as he moves from the biggest stage in sports to sailing’s toughest competition.
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Mayor Ed Lee was on hand Tuesday to greet all 11 skippers from the America’s Cup World Series teams as San Francisco prepares to host its first race in the globe-spanning event today.
While most of the teams have already been here for weeks, getting used to the waters and the boats they will use for this stage of the event, defending champion Oracle Team USA has been here for months, an advantage skipper Jimmy Spithill thinks will pay off.
Spithill said the biggest advantage he hopes for, however, is not going to come from familiarity with San Francisco Bay.
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After more than a year and a half of planning, politics and lawsuits, San Francisco will have its first chance to see
After more than a year and a half of planning, politics and lawsuits, San Francisco will have its first chance to see
the world’s premier sailors as the America’s Cup World Series makes its first appearance in The City starting Wednesday.
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Here is a breakdown of the teams competing in the America's Cup:
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Northern California’s top junior golfer has a chance to make history at the 84th annual San Francisco Junior Golf Tournament, which begins Tuesday at Lincoln Park Golf Course.
Andrew Bonner, 17, stands atop the year’s team points list and will be looking for his third consecutive win at the oldest match-play junior tournament in the country. He would be the first three-time winner since 1932, when Bob Marsky Jr. accomplished the feat.
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The Giants finished a dismal homestand with a 9-1 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday, and, strange as it may sound, will look to getting away from AT&T Park to spark a team that has lost seven of its past eight games.
Despite the recent slide, the Giants remain a half-game ahead of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who were idle Thursday. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said it’s time the team started acting like it.
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