Bears want to see Montez Sweat’s snap count rise moving forward originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

When a team blows a 12-point lead with less than five minutes to play, the game is going to be scrutinized. When the team that blew the 12-point lead has a history of letting wins slip away, the scrutiny will intensify. So, as people have dug into the Bears’ 31-26 loss against the Lions in Week 11 people have started to question why some of the team’s best players weren’t on the field in the biggest moments. Among those, new pass rusher Montez Sweat, who only played 39 of 62 snaps on defense.

“You certainly want to see that rise,” said head coach Matt Eberflus on Wednesday. “You always want to see that rise, and it’s been rising… It’s gonna continue to rise.”

Sweat is no stranger to playing high snap counts. With the Commanders this year he averaged 47.1 snaps per game.

“Generally, I want to be there every play, but the body and the heart doesn’t really work like that,” Sweat said.

Eberflus cited the team’s fast-paced and high intensity practices as a reason why it’s taken Sweat some time to prepare for a more robust workload with the Bears, but acknowledged the team needs him on the field for critical moments like third downs and two-minute drills. Eberflus said getting players like Sweat onto the field is sometimes easier said than done.

“The drives matter. Is it a 15-play drive? Is it an eight-play drive? It’s always great when we go three-and-out. That’s easy. But yeah, you just look at the drives.”

Eberflus also noted that the flow of the game was different against the Lions. Instead of a typical back and forth affair that leads to a one big defensive drive and one big offensive drive, the Bears had to run their two-minute defense twice in a row.

On one of those drives, Sweat came out to catch his breath for a few plays. But the Lions started playing a hurry-up offense, so the Bears didn’t get a chance to sub Sweat back into the game. Eberflus also isn’t in the business of telling players they need to go back on the field if they check themselves out of the game for a quick rest.

“These are pro athletes and they’ve played a lot of football, so you leave it to him,” Eberflus said. “When he’s exhausted and needs to take a play or two, you let him, then get back in there as fast as you can. When there’s a stoppage in play, get back in there. I think that’s always been best practice. Some guys stay out and they just want to stay out there and you can clearly see they’re tired and their effectiveness goes down. You want to keep your rushers fresh and that’s just the whole mode of doing that.”

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SAN FRANCISCO — All it took, apparently, to snap the Giants’ season-long losing streak was to keep going down the list of MLB’s biggest losers.

They lost two of three to the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates. Swept by the woeful Washington Nationals. Couldn’t beat the dreadful Detroit Tigers.

The Giants must have been thrilled to return home to meet the one roster constructed to drive fans away, not win ballgames. Still, it took a heroic effort from Alex Cobb and, at long last, a piece of timely hitting from Mike Yastrzemski to snap their six-game losing streak, squeaking by the MLB-worst A’s, 2-1, on Tuesday in the first game of the Bay Bridge series.

And those Oakland diehards? Not dead yet. Many of the 40,014 fans in attendance broke out in “Sell-the-team!” chants throughout the fifth inning.

But rejoice, for the Giants’ losing streak is.

With two outs in the eighth inning, Yastrzemski did something no Giants hitter had done in nearly week: He delivered a hit with runners in scoring position. After coming up empty in 27 straight at-bats since Wednesday, Yastrzemski ripped a double down the right field line that scored Luis Matos from second and broke a 1-1 tie.

Despite finally getting back in the win column, the Giants can’t be happy about another clunker of an offensive effort, this time against the worst team with the worst pitching staff in the majors. They haven’t scored more than three runs or recorded more than six hits in a game since last Tuesday, the last time they won.

After a self-described “clunker” of a start leading to the second loss of the streak, Cobb pitched like a man determined not to let it happen again. Aided by a lineup that has produced the fewest runs and lowest OPS of any offense in the majors this season, the 35-year-old right-hander breezed through six shutout innings and was in line for the win until was in line for the win until Tyler Rogers coughed up the lead in the eighth. To be fair, he didn’t have much wiggle room to work with.

Cobb struck out seven of the first nine batters he faced and finished with a season-high nine punchouts, five coming on a splitter that was working as well as ever.

For as bad as the A’s hitters have been, their pitchers have been even worse.

Second-year lefty Ken Waldichuk, a product of St. Mary’s College (Moraga), took a 6.75 ERA into Tuesday’s game but faced little resistance from a Giants lineup on fumes. Upon entering in the second inning, Waldichuk retired the first nine hitters he faced and struck out six while allowing only one hit over 4⅔ innings.

Even the Giants’ lone runs were only an effect of the A’s doing.

It took a walk to J.D. Davis to put Matos in scoring position in the eighth.

They loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning and managed to score only one — unearned — run.

Wilmer Flores, who drew a walk to lead off the inning, should have been out at third on a poor bunt from Brett Wisely. The ball rolled directly back to the mound, giving Waldichuk a force-play on the lead runner, Flores, at third. Waldichuk’s throw, however, sailed wide, pulling third baseman Jace Peterson off the bag.

Flores scored on a sac fly from Casey Schmitt, which otherwise would have been the third out of the inning.

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With an out in the seventh inning and a Pittsburgh Pirates run behind the Cleveland Guardians, Ji-Man Choi watched and wished while he waited on deck behind Carlos Santana.

“I was hoping he would take a walk so I could probably make a difference up there,” Choi said through interpreter Daniel Park. “When the bases are loaded, I can actually concentrate a little more.”

Choi followed up with a line drive to right field for a two-run single that gave the Pirates the lead and later slid across home plate to score after Jared Triolo’s two-run single that provided the perfect cushion worried.

The Pirates ended their offensive ineptness against Cleveland and rebounded from a four-run deficit with a seventh run from five to a 7-5 win Wednesday afternoon before 26,541 at PNC Park.

The Pirates (42-54) ended a five-game losing streak and failed to win both the three-game streak and six-game home streak after losing three straight losses to the San Francisco Giants over the weekend.

“We were struggling,” said Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds, “so it was good to get a win and make it such a comeback win.”

The Guardians had outplayed the Pirates 21-1 in the first two games of the series. The Pirates had only 10 runs in the five games since the All-Star break and were unwilling to embark on a six-game trip to play the Los Angeles Angels and the San Diego Padres, and in an ominous one Mood.

“It was a big win,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “I give them credit because we kept grinning. It could have been a (bad) situation. We got a run in the first two games and managed it pretty well. They kept going even though they went under.”

The seventh place served as a rallying point for the pirates.

After Nick Gonzales pulled a one-out walk against Nick Sandlin in the seventh game, the Guardians brought in left-hander Sam Hentges to take on pinch-hitter Endy Rodriguez. The rookie catcher, who was 0 for 7 with six strikeouts in his first two career games, hit a bloop single that landed flat left of center in his first major league hit.

“It shows that they trust me,” said Rodriguez, the Pirates’ 2022 minor league player of the year. “That’s good. If they trust me and I trust myself, we’ll have something good. It’s good for me.”

Connor Joe hit a pinch hit for Jack Suwinski and missed an infield single to stress the bases, setting the stage for a crucial play that marked the turning point.

Reynolds missed a sharp grounder in what was initially thought to be a 6-4-3 double play late in the inning on a tight call at first base. The Pirates challenged the call and it was overturned, allowing Gonzales to score and reduce Cleveland’s lead to 4-3.

“I always run hard across the board,” Reynolds said with a shrug. “Of course I was hoping to be safe. I thought it was me when I hit the sack. Basically it was about people having good bats and passing the baton down the line.”

Carlos Santana pulled a full-count walk to again fill in bases for Choi, who aligned the two-run single to the right and gave the Pirates a 5-4 lead.

The Guardians turned to Enyel De Los Santos, but Henry Davis pulled another full-count walk to cover bases for the third time. Triolo hit a two-run single to the left to score Santana and Choi for a 7-4 lead.

“That’s exactly what we talked about, having this big inning where we can get the win,” Triolo said. “We had guys throughout the lineup who swung good balls and had good bats. That’s what it takes.”

Cleveland got a boost when first baseman Josh Bell shot Ryan Borucki’s 2-1 sweeper for his 11th home run — and second in as many games against his former team — Ryan Borucki 401 feet into left field and the stand shortened to 7:5.

David Bednar threw a clean ninth throw, earning his 18th save.

Rich Hill, the Pirates’ left-hander, was knocked out after the first six batters he faced before David Fry hit a leadoff double from Clemente Wall in the third and then advanced to third base through Myles Straw’s sacrificial bunt. But Hill tricked Cam Gallagher into seeing a full-count curveball for a strikeout and then tricked Steven Kwan into dodging to the left, where Reynolds made a diving catch.

The Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the fourth set when Andres Gimenez landed a perfect squeeze bunt on first baseline and Jose Ramirez scored from third base.

Cleveland added three more runs in the fourth run when Amed Rosario hit a two-run double that popped out of Jack Suwinski’s glove when he crashed into the bullpen fence left of center, and Bell followed up with a single to the right Center to make Rosario score 4-0.

The Pirates responded in the fifth set when Davis hit a leadoff single, advanced to third base with Triolo’s single to the left, and scored when Gonzales smoked a single through the middle. Suwinski doubled to the right to hit Triolo and cut the Guardians’ lead to 4-2.

Triolo extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a Pirates player this season and the second-longest active streak in baseball. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Triolo is only the third Pirates player since 1900 to have a streak of 12 or more games in his first 17 career games, tied with Jewel Ens (1922) and Woody Jensen (1931).

The Pirates pulled Hill after his 97th pitch led to a two-out double from Straw, and Dauri Moreta got Gallagher eyeing a 95-mph four-seater at the top of the zone for what was called a third shot to prevent a run.

“We’re obviously against the urgency of winning,” Hill said. “In my position as a starter, I have to do better and put us in a better winning position and that’s frustrating. But I take full responsibility for that. I think the comeback effect we’ve had all year is because we made it early. We know we can do it and we’ve proven it.”

Kevin Gorman is a Contributor to Tribune-Review. You can contact Kevin via email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter.

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Sanchez vs San Francisco:

Aaron Sanchez had surgery to repair a torn capsule in his right shoulder, which kept him from pitching in the majors in 2020’s 60-game COVID campaign, and the right-handed starter had a biceps issue which limited him to just nine games (seven starts ) and 35 1⁄3 IP with the San Francisco Giants in 2021, after he signed a 1-year/$4M deal with the club.

This time around, Sanchez, 29, got a 1-year/$2M contract from Washington (which includes up to $4M in performance bonuses), and he started the season at Triple-A Rochester in the Nationals’ system, but came back up to the majors to start against the Giants last weekend in the nation’s capital, giving up six hits, a walk, and four earned runs in 4 1⁄3 IP.

“I just stayed on the attack all day, really,” he said after his 2022 debut. “That’s my game. Try to get guys on their heels, and then when they start swinging, then you mix it up, just didn’t fall my way today.”

“He’s a ground ball guy, and he throws a lot of ground balls. When he’s good, that’s what he does. So I was definitely pleased by that, they found some holes, but he threw the ball well,” manager Davey Martinez said following a 5-2 loss to the Giants in DC

Tonight at San Francisco’s Oracle Park, Sanchez took the mound with a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Juan Soto, who homered in the top of the first inning, and the starter worked around a 2-out single in a scoreless first, but gave up a two-out single and two-run home run, by Giants’ CF Austin Slater and third baseman Jason Vosler, respectively, in a 16-pitch home-half of the second inning.

Slater singled to start the Giants’ fifth, took third on a one-out single by Joey Bart, and came in on a sac fly by Luis González, which made it a 5-3 game after five innings, with Sanchez up to 71 pitches after the 13 pitch bottom of the inning.

With the Nationals up 9-3 after five and a half, and a long top of the fifth inning, the visiting team went to the pen…

Aaron Sanchez’s line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 71 P, 51 S, 5/3 GO/FO.

Wood vs Washington:

In his third start of the season for the Giants, with whom he signed a 2-year/$24M deal this past November, after signing on with San Francisco on a 1-year/$3M in 2021, Alex Wood, 31, gave up four hits, a walk, and two earned runs over five innings, in which he struck out five Washington Nationals’ batters in a 77-pitch effort in a 5-2 win for the lefty and his club.

The outing left the lefty with a 2.51 ERA, a 3.69 FIP, four walks, 16 Ks, and .241/.305/.389 line against in 14 1⁄3 IP.

Wood’s ERA was up to 3.07 after he gave up a one-out solo shot to center by Juan Soto, who crushed an 0-2 sinker and hit a 409-foot home run off the Giants’ lefty, his 4th of 2022, 1- 0

Maikel Franco lined a double to left field to lead off the second, and scored two outs later on an RBI line drive to left-center by Victor Robles, who came around on an opposite field single by Alcides Escobar for a 3-0 lead after one and a half.

It was 3-2 in the third when Nelson Cruz walked with one down, took third on a misplay in right on a Josh Bell single, and scored on another double by Franco, 4-2, and then 5-2 on Lane Thomas’s two -out infield single.

Alex Wood’s Line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks, 1 HR, 86 P, 62 S, 8/1 GO/FO

Soto Solo:

Juan Soto finished the Nationals’ 10-game homestand 6 for 32 (.188/.366/.281), taking the 23-year-old Nationals’ outfielder from a .289/.460/.553 line on April 17th to . 243/.418/.429, and he hadn’t hit a home run in 48 plate appearances going back to the 16th of April.

The three home runs he’d hit on the season were all solo shots too, for his only 3 RBIs in 21 games this month.

His fourth was a one-out solo shot in the top of the first tonight, 108 miles off the bat, out to center in Oracle Park, 409 feet from home. Wood wants that one back. Soto picked up his first RBI on a non-solo home run later in the game…

Bullpen Action:

Giants’ righty Yunior Marte took over on the mound in the top of the sixth, and gave up a hit by Victor Robles (2 for 3), then hit Alcides Escobar, setting César Hernández up with an RBI opportunity he cashed in with a line drive to right field on a first-pitch slider, 6-3.

Jarlín García came on to face Juan Soto, lefty vs lefty, with two on and one out, and Soto lined a 1-1 changeup off the top of the brick wall in right in the Giants’ home for an RBI hit, and a 7 -3 lead. Hernández scored in the next at-bat on a throwing error on a double play attempt on a Nelson Cruz grounder to first, 8-3, and 9-3 when Cruz took second on the E, and scored on a Josh Bell grounder by third .

Austin Voth gave up back-to-back singles to Wilmer Flores and Brandon Crawford after he took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, but struck out the next two batters (with a wild pitch moving both runners in scoring position).

Steve Cishek took over with two out, and runners on second and third, and the side-arming right-hander popped Austin Slater up to end the threat. Quiet 9-3.

Sam Clay gave up a solo home run to left by Joey Bart in the bottom of the seventh, 9-4.

Giants’ righty Kervin Castro walked Juan Soto to start the eighth, and Soto took third on a ground-rule double by Josh Bell, then scored on an RBI single to center by Maikel Franco, 10-4. Lane Thomas drove in a run with a single as well, 11-4, and two runs scored on Victor Robles’s fourth hit of the night, (after he had 7 in 52 PAs before today), 13-4, and 14-4 on an Alcides Escobar single.

Francisco Perez gave up a leadoff single and back-to-back, 2-out walks in the eighth inning, and was replaced by Paolo Espino, who got out No. 3 to leave the bases loaded.

Josh Bell and Maikel Franco were both 4 for 6 after singing in back-to-back, 1-out at-bats in the ninth.

Espino came back out in the ninth and wrapped up a long night on the east coast with a scoreless ninth…

Final Score: 14-4 Nats

Nationals now 7-15

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Overnight temperatures in certain San Francisco neighborhoods could dip to near-freezing temperatures, according to ABC 7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma. As such, San Franciscans will want to take certain precautions with their pets, plants, and property.

“Bring your pets inside,” Tuma said in an interview with The Standard. In the coming days, the city’s official National Weather Service outpost in the Lower Haight might just record a low of 38 or 39 degrees Fahrenheit—which would be the chilliest reading in the past 6 years.

Also, anyone with particularly sensitive plants on the porch, balcony, or window sill should consider bringing those indoors, as well. David Stoner, president of Sloat Garden Center, said he is expecting San Francisco to experience frost over the next night or two. While frost is unlikely to deal a death-blow to established plants, it can damage the folliage.

The best course of action for proactive plant parents, according to Stoner, is to bring your plants inside. You can also move them under an overhang, or cover them with a frost blanket.

Stoner also noted that most plants prefer to be well watered when entering a period of extreme cold. The one exception to that rule: succulents and cacti. These, he said, should be as dry as possible heading into cold weather.

The reason the leaves of your burros tail, candelabra aloe, zebra plant and jade tree are so fleshy is that they are filled with water. And when those leaves approach freezing, the ensuing frost can damage the tender cells of those leaves, leaving the same plant that survived weeks without water in direct sunlight with withered, frost-bitten leaves.

Succulents are hearty, but they can be damaged by frost. | Getty Images

As for concerns about bursting pipes, Tuma said it’s always possible that freezing temperatures approaching could deal a final blow to older plumbing, though this issue is more common with sub-freezing temperatures.

San Francisco hasn’t officially recorded a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit since 1990—even as it’s relatively common for areas directly north, south and east of the city to dip below freezing a few times every winter.

That’s due to something called the “urban heat island” effect, Tuma said. Winter temperatures never get far below freezing anywhere in the Bay Area; as such, the remaining heat that San Francisco’s concrete, asphalt, metal and glass surfaces continue to radiate after sunset helps keep the city warmer than its suburban and rural neighbors.

So see

Tuma had two more notes for locals bracing for the cold snap.

First, the good news: It’s possible that the dip in temperatures could pull some of the pollen out of the air, which might bring relief to allergy sufferers.

Second, he said, don’t be too hard on yourself if you feel cold. The first couple of cold days after a warm spell like we just had can be jarring to the body.

“Wear your gloves, wear your hat,” Tuma said. “I know we get the reputation for being weak, but your body’s not used to it.”

Nick Veronin can be reached at [email protected].

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The post Chilly Snap Coming to San Francisco, In a single day Temps May Hit Lowest Level in 6 Years appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

It’s time to pull out the wool mittens and hat. Chilly temperatures are expected to grip the San Francisco Bay Area over the next several nights and mornings, through Sunday morning. Some inland valleys could see the mercury dipping into the bone-chilling 20s, while San Francisco is forecast to drop to 40 on Friday and Saturday mornings.

“Frost and freezing temperatures possible for inland valleys and cold sheltered spots,” the National Weather Service warned. “These temperatures will impact those without adequate heating, and may damage or kill sensitive vegetation.”

The weather service forecast lows near 40 along the bay and coast, mid- to upper 30s for coastal valleys, and upper 20s to lower 30s for inland valleys.

“It’s going to be a good cold snap for a few days, especially in regards to the lows,” said Sean Miller, a forecaster with the weather service. “Saturday morning is expected to be the coldest morning during this event. We should be warming up after Sunday morning.”

Forecast lows around the Bay Area:

-San Francisco: near 40;
-San Jose/South Bay: mid- to upper 30s;
-East Bay: lower to mid-30s;
-North Bay valleys: upper 20s to lower 30s;
-Monterey Bay: mid- to upper 30s to about 40;
-Eastern Monterey and San Benito counties: mid-20s to low 30s.

Afternoon highs will be in the mid-40s to mid-50s through the weekend.

Conditions will be dry through the weekend, with rain returning next week, possibly as early as Monday.

“We expect rain early next week within the Monday to Wednesday timeframe,” said Miller. “We’re still a few days out, so things could change with that. In general, it looks like it could be a good rainmaker. We’ve gotten into an active pattern here and it looks like we’re going to continue with that into the near future.”

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It’s time to pull out the woolen mittens and hat. Cool temperatures are expected to grip the San Francisco Bay Area for the next few nights and mornings through Sunday morning. Some inland valleys could see the mercury dip into the bone-cold 20s, while San Francisco is expected to drop to the 40s on Friday and Saturday morning.

“Freezing and freezing temperatures are possible for inland valleys and cold sheltered spots,” the National Weather Service warned. “These temperatures affect those without adequate heating and can damage or kill sensitive vegetation.”

The Weather Service forecasts lows near the 40s along the bay and shoreline, mid to high 30s for coastal valleys and high 20s to low 30s for inland valleys.

“It’s going to be a good cold snap for a couple of days, especially on the lows,” said Sean Miller, a weather service forecaster. “Saturday morning is expected to be the coldest morning during this event. We should warm up after Sunday morning.”

Forecast lows around the Bay Area:

-San Francisco: almost 40;
-San Jose/South Bay: mid to upper 30s;
-East Bay: under to mid 30’s;
– North Bay valleys: upper 20’s to low 30’s;
-Monterey Bay: Mid to late 30s to about 40s;
– Eastern Monterey and San Benito counties: mid-20s to under 30s.

Afternoon highs will be in the mid-40s to mid-50s throughout the weekend.

Conditions will be dry all weekend with rain set to return next week, possibly as early as Monday.

“We expect rain early next week within the Monday through Wednesday time frame,” Miller said. “We have a few more days to go so things could change. In general, it looks like it could be a good rainmaker. We’ve gotten into an active pattern here and it looks like we’ll continue to do so in the near future.”

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