GIANTS BREAK SKID WITH 4-2 WIN IN SAN DIEGO
(AP) — Pablo Sandoval hit his first home run since May 21, and All-Star Madison Bumgarner settled down to allow just four hits in seven innings as the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 Thursday night in a matchup of the worst teams in the weak NL West.
The defending World Series champion Giants, who snapped a four-game losing streak, have been in a free-fall since June 15. They had lost 19 of 24 games coming in and were a season-high 10 games under .500. They started the night two percentage points behind the Padres and ended it by jumping past San Diego into fourth place.
Bumgarner (10-5) allowed two runs on three hits in the first inning and then retired 14 in a row before Carlos Quentin singled with two outs in the sixth. The lefty struck out six and walked one.
The Oakland A's open up a three-game weekend series with the Boston Red Sox tonight. The A's are home after a good road trip where they went 4-2 taking two of three from both the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jarrod Parker gets the ball for the A's while Boston counters with John Lackey. First pitch 7:05pm from Oakland.
(AP) — The Golden State Warriors are a team that prized free agents have avoided for most of the last two decades, nothing more than loveable losers with a faithful following and an ambiguous name on the NBA map.
Maybe no more.
Calling it "a transformative moment for our franchise," general manager Bob Myers says Andre Iguodala's addition demonstrates that Golden State is now a desirable destination. The Warriors formally introduced Iguodala on Thursday, nearly a week after he agreed to a four-year, $48 million deal despite more lucrative offers.
Iguodala says he wanted to come to the Bay Area because he believes in the franchise's vision, which he saw firsthand when the Warriors knocked out his Denver team in the first round of the playoffs.
(AP) — The Sacramento Kings are taking over basketball operations of the NBA Development League's Reno Bighorns under a new shared partnership between the two teams.
Bighorns owner Herb Santos Jr. will remain in control of business operations in Reno as part of the agreement announced Thursday. The move will allow the Kings to groom players and coaches — and oversee roster moves — in an affiliation similar to minor league teams in baseball.
The partnership is the seventh of its kind between NBA and D-League teams.
The Kings and Bighorns have been tied together since Reno's inaugural season in 2008-09. Last season, Reno also was affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz. New affiliates for both teams will be announced later this summer.
