Los Angeles Dodgers

Adrian Gonzalez off to monster MLB start with Los Angeles Dodgers

There’s one player that stands head and shoulders above the rest less than a week into the Major League Baseball season. On Wednesday, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez blasted three home runs in his first three at-bats to help the host Los Angeles Dodgers take two of three from the San Diego Padres.

Perhaps even more impressive is that Gonzalez has opened the season batting 10-for-13 with 5 homers, 7 RBI, 7 runs scored and 27 total bases. In just three games.

Gonzalez finished 4-for-4 Wednesday after going 3-for-4 on Tuesday and 3-for-5 on Monday.

Six different players have recorded six hits so far this week while five others have each connected on two home runs.

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It’s to be noted that announcer Vin Scully mentions in the video above that the last player to start a Dodgers season with homers in his first three games was Jimmy Wynn, who played in L.A. from 1974-75.

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: MLB postseason, NCAA football & NFL updates

On Saturday Chris Vazquez and I talked about Major League Baseball’s postseason as well as upcoming college football and National Football League games. Vazquez also provided his weekly picks for fantasy football players and Baltimore Orioles fan Ryan McCall joined us to talk about his visit to Camden Yards on Friday.

( – Click here for MLB playoff talk and to hear from O’s fan Ryan McCall – )

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk upcoming college football matchups – )

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk fantasy football and NFL matchups – )

 

San Francisco Giants march back into postseason with blowout win

The San Francisco Giants won World Series titles in 2010 and 2012 before missing out on the postseason a year ago. On Wednesday they returned in a big way with an 8-0 road win against the Pittsburgh Pirates for the National League wild card. The Pirates were playing in back-to-back postseasons after a 21-year playoff drought, but this time they barely put up a fight.

Madison Bumgarner was dominant on the mound, pitching a complete game with 10 strikeouts. Brandon Crawford took the home crowd out of the game early when he hit a grand slam in the top of the fourth. The Giants outhit the Pirates 11-4 and looked every bit ready for baseball in October.

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Video: Clayton Kershaw Repeats History in First Career No-Hitter

The Colorado Rockies were on the wrong end of a historic night Wednesday. Clayton Kershaw struck out a career-high 15 batters for the Los Angeles Dodgers to record the first no-hitter of his career in an 8-0 win.

Kershaw, who didn’t allow a walk but missed out on a perfect game on a throwing error in the seventh by Hanley Ramirez, celebrated the second no-hitter thrown by a Dodger this season with teammates as they rushed the field afterwards. Josh Beckett no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25 in a game that also ended in an 8-0 Los Angeles win. Beckett struck out six in that game.

It’s the sixth no-hitter thrown in the National League over the past two years. Three no-hitters were tossed in the NL in 2012, which is the last time the American League had a no-hitter when four were thrown in the AL that season.

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Carnahan Coverage: U.S. Men’s National Team Finishes Preparation for World Cup in Jacksonville

If you’ve ever wondered what’s become of former Major League Baseball shortstop Rafael Furcal I’ve got some news to pass along to you.

I spent the past weekend in Jacksonville covering the U.S. Men’s National Team for Major League Soccer, where I wrote a number of stories over the course of Friday and Saturday. But I did other things while I was there as well, such as attending a Jacksonville Suns baseball game before walking across the street to EverBank Field for the soccer match.

Below are the links to all eight soccer stories about the USMNT from the weekend. The first story created quite a bit of buzz among soccer fans and media members alike, which makes interest in a Furcal comeback pale mightily in comparison. But while I was at the park…

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