Baseball Nation: All Posts by Ernie Pomin

2012 AHL schedule: Worcester Sharks begin season on Friday

2012-10-12T18:51:28Z

With the NHL lockout in full effect, the San Jose Sharks have nothing to do but wait. But their AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, begin their season this weekend with back-to-back matchups against the Norfolk Admirals out in Virginia.

Friday's season opener will start at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday's game will start 15 minutes earlier at 7:15 against the defending Calder Cup champions. Norfolk also lead the AHL in wins, points, and goal differential during the regular season last year as well, meaning the Sharks will have their hands full this weekend.

Worcester continues their roadie against the Portland Pirates next Friday, followed by their home opener on Oct. 20 against the Albany Devils.

The Sharks' schedule for the upcoming week is below. You can check out their complete schedule here.

Fri, Oct 12, 2012	Worcester	at	Norfolk	7:30 pm EDT
Sat, Oct 13, 2012	Worcester	at	Norfolk	7:15 pm EDT
Fri, Oct 19, 2012	Worcester	at	Portland	7:00 pm EDT *
Sat, Oct 20, 2012	Albany	at	Worcester	7:00 pm EDT

AHL schedule 2012: Manchester Monarchs ready for regular season

2012-10-12T18:31:11Z

With the Los Angeles Kings on the proverbial sideline as the NHL lockout continues to drag out, the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' AHL affiliate, are ready to start their season this weekend with a pair of matchups.

The Monarchs enter the regular season with three exhibition wins in their pocket, including a 7-1 romp of their Atlantic Division rival Portland Pirates on Monday. Manchester will travel to Providence to take on the Bruins for their first regular season game on Friday, than a meeting with the Albany Devils on Saturday. Their home opener will be next Friday, Oct. 19 with another meeting with the Providence Bruins.

Below is the Monarch's schedule for the upcoming week. You can check out their complete schedule here.

Fri, Oct 12, 2012	7:05 pm EDT	Manchester	at	Providence	7:05 pm EDT
Sat, Oct 13, 2012	5:05 pm EDT	Manchester	at	Albany	5:05 pm EDT
Fri, Oct 19, 2012	7:00 pm EDT	Providence	at	Manchester	7:00 pm EDT

2012 AHL schedule: Portland Pirates begin season Saturday

2012-10-12T18:07:05Z

The Phoenix Coyotes remain on the shelf as the NHL lockout continues, meaning that hockey fans must turn to the minor leagues to get their fix. Coyotes fans can turn to the Portland Pirates, their AHL affiliate, who have three games over the next week including their home opener.

The home opener is set for Friday, Oct. 19, at 4 p.m. PT from the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine, hosting the Worcester Sharks. The Pirates will play six home games at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee and 32 home games at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland. The first Pirates game in Portland will be November 2 against the St. John's IceCaps.

This will be the 20th season the team has played in Portland, Maine. Below is the schedule for the next week:

Date:	Time:	Visiting Team:		Home Team:
Sat, Oct 13, 2012	7:00 pm EDT	Portland	at	Adirondack
Fri, Oct 19, 2012	7:00 pm EDT	Worcester	at	Portland
Sat, Oct 20, 2012	7:00 pm EDT	Portland	at	Manchester

Conflicting reports on Felix Hernandez extension

2012-10-12T17:44:01Z

There have been some conflicting reports from baseball insiders about the status of contract extension talks for Cy Young-winning pitcher Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners. But as Jeff Sullivan of Lookout Landing points out, neither side wants to part, so a deal should come this offseason at some point.

General Manager Jack Zduriencik told the team's official website that Felix wants to remain a Mariner and the team wants the same, but would not comment any further on the situation. One reporter says talks have begun, while another says they haven't. Seems confusing right? Well, Sullivan thinks that the wheels have probably started to move on working on a deal:

But basically, if the Mariners were not presently at work thinking about a Felix contract extension, I'd be pretty surprised. It seems like the move to make, and if it's evident to me, you gotta figure it's evident to them.

The team is having a number of organizational meetings over the next few weeks, where talks may (or may not) ramp up with King Felix.

Hernandez posted a 13-9 record in 2012, including a perfect game on Aug. 15 against the Tampa Bay Rays, with a 3.06 ERA, 223 strikeouts, 56 walks and a 1.14 WHIP.

Stanford vs. Notre Dame: Cardinal prepare for talented Irish squad

2012-10-12T17:22:21Z

As the No. 17 Stanford Cardinal prepare for meeting with the No. 7 Notre Dame fighting Irish this weekend, SB Nation's Stanford blog, Rule of Tree, sat down with our Notre Dame blog, One Foot Down, for a question and answer session heading into their matchup.

Most Cardinal fans are familiar with Manti Te'o. Who are some of the other big names to watch on the stout Irish defense?

The strength of the Irish defense resides on the defensive line. Sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt is probably the most physically gifted athlete on defense outside of Te'o. He's 6'6, 303 pounds, and runs like a gazelle. He took a fumble back 77 yards against Navy and outran their entire offense. He was quiet against Miami but needs to have a good game against Stanford if the Irish want to win on Saturday.

The other big name is OLB/DE Prince Shembo. He's been maybe Notre Dame's best pass rusher this season. Stanford's offensive line is a stiff test, but he'll be asked to get in Nunes's face so he can't stand in the pocket and wait for his big targets to get open down field.

How do you expect the Irish to attack a Stanford defense coming off its worst performance of the season?

It's hard to tell, actually. I'm sure Kelly would love to run the ball in order to take some of the pressure off of Golson, but I don't know if that's realistic against the Stanford front seven. The Cardinal secondary has given up a lot of yards, but with a young quarterback and young receiving corps, I don't know if Notre Dame is in a position to take advantage of it.

I think we'll see Kelly test the waters in the run game in the first drive or two. If the Irish can move the ball on the ground, fantastic. If not, then I think Kelly will put the game into Golson's hands, for better or for worse. Either way, I think the Irish will try to spread the field to neutralize the Stanford linebackers a bit and maybe get them into a nickel package. Ramming the ball into that defense seems like a losing battle, but spreading the field might open things up a bit.

You can check out the entire Q&A here. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. PT with coverage on NBC.

Warriors preseason 2012: Golden State tops Haifa Maccabi 108-100

2012-10-12T16:54:01Z

The Golden State Warriors had their third dress rehearsal of the season on Thursday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland, and used a well-rounded attack to take out Israel's Haifa Maccabi by the score of 108-100.

Rookie Harrison Barnes made his first-career start and netted 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Fellow rookie Festus Ezeli, who will see a brunt of the minutes at center with Andrew Bogut still out, looked strong from the get-go and had 15 points and eight rebounds. Newcomer Carl Landry, a free agent signee, led the way for Golden State, with 24 points and eight boards.

Stephen Curry, who is still working his way back from offseason ankle surgery, finished the game with 13 points and 10 assists on just under 23 minutes of play for the Warriors, who are now 3-0 in exhibition play.

American Donta Smith, a 2004 second-round draft choice of the Atlanta Hawks, led visiting Maccabi Haifa with 28 points and eight rebounds. Speedy 5'10 point guard Paul Stoll gave several Warriors matchup problems all night, adding 18 points and three steals to the Haifa total.

The Warriors now prepare for their next preseason matchup against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Monday, Oct. 15. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PT.

Giants prospect Gary Brown shines in Arizona Fall League

2012-10-12T16:41:10Z

On a day that the San Francisco Giants moved on to the NLCS, a number of future Giants were getting some work down in the Arizona Fall League, including the likes of Gary Brown and Joe Panik.

Brown went 3-for-5 with two RBIs during the Scottsdale Scorpions loss to the Salt River Rafters on Thursday by the score of 6-5. He singled to start the game, extended Scottsdale's lead to 3-1 with an RBI single in the fourth and singled home a run to in the ninth as well.

Brown had a terrific season for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels, batting .279 with 73 runs and 33 stolen bases. He is hoping that the AFL will give him a head start on making an impression during Spring Training next year. "I always say it's a game of adjustments and that's what I'm doing here," the California native said. "I'm trying to work on and minimize my flaws and put myself in the best chance to make the club next year."

Other Giants prospects include Ricky Oropesa, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and Joe Panik, who scored a run but went 0-4 at the plate. Reliever Dan Runzler is getting some work in the AFL as well, tossing 0.2 innings with one strikeout.

Frys.com Open 2012 leaderboard: Nick O'Hern takes lead on Friday

2012-10-12T16:24:45Z

The second round of the Frys.com Open is underway at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif. and its Australian Nick O'Hern pulling away from the field early in Friday's action.

O'Hern is one shot clear of the field after his first three holes of the day, moving into the top spot on the leaderboard at 10-under for the week. German Nicolas Colsaerts is 3-under for the day, 9-under for the week, while Englishman Greg Owen is in third place at 7-under for the week.

Derek Ernst and Jhonattan Vegas are 6-under for the tournament so far, while Charles Howell III, John Mallinger and Jonas Blixt are 5-under.

Nathan Green and Kevin Streelman are making the biggest moves of the day, each moving up 38 spots on the leaderboard to 1-under for the week.

You can check out the complete leaderboard for the Frys.com Open over at Golf.com