Bay Area Buzz 10/16: Giants Win Game 4, Carson Palmer, Perrish Cox
Bay Area Topics
Giants Win Game 4
"It is difficult to win a pennant without hitting home runs. But it is impossible to stand atop the hill when you’re rolling in the slop.The Giants followed every one of their October codicils in a 6-4 comeback victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the NLCS on Wednesday night, and it has them one win away from their third World Series appearance in five years.Rule No. 1: Play a clean baseball game.Rule No. 2: When your opponents break Rule No. 1, rub their noses in it.The Cardinals cracked after six innings of relentless pressure, and first baseman Matt Adams commissioned himself a bust in a museum wing that includes likenesses of Brooks Conrad, Scott Rolen, Vlad Guerrero, Gio Gonzalez and a freshly sculpted Randy Choate.Adams followed a fundamental mistake with a total breakdown as the Giants tied it and took the lead on consecutive scoring plays that didn’t involve a hit in the sixth inning.Juan Perez scored when Gregor Blanco grounded to first base and Adams’ throw to the plate splashed in the dirt. Then Joe Panik hit a carbon copy grounder and Adams, after taking the forceout, inexplicably lobbed it to second base to try for Blanco. He had no hope or chance, and Brandon Crawford dashed home to give the Giants their first lead of the game.It was the 10th run the Giants have scored without a hit in their last five postseason games, including the NLDS clincher over the Washington Nationals.Buster Posey hit a pair of two-out, RBI singles along with a sacrifice fly and Yusmeiro Petit proved his value again, pitching the first three of six shutout innings by Giants relievers, as Bruce Bochy’s team took a 3-to-1 edge in the series with a chance to close it out behind Madison Bumgarner at AT&T Park on Thursday."
–Andrew Baggarly, CSN Bay Area
Carson Palmer
"Derek Carr has never met Carson Palmer, but he does know the former Heisman Trophy winner is from the Central Valley’s cradle of quarterbacks.It turns out Palmer went to Kastner Junior High in Fresno. Same as Derek’s brother David Carr. Same as Billy Volek, the former Fresno State and NFL quarterback.“They have a quarterback tradition there, as the legend goes,” the Raiders rookie quarterback said after practice Wednesday. “I guess that’s where it starts, at Kastner.”The former and current franchise quarterbacks for the Raiders collide Sunday when the Raiders (0-5) host the Arizona Cardinals (4-1).Carr is coming off the best game of his young career, throwing four touchdown passes and completing 18 of 34 passes for 282 yards. Palmer guided the Cardinals to a 30-20 win over Washington after missing three games with a right shoulder injury.One of the reasons Carr is a Raider is that Palmer is not. After Palmer passed for 4,018 yards, 22 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in a 4-12 season for the Raiders in 2012, he was sent to Arizona for two low draft picks.General manager Reggie McKenzie acquired Matt Flynn to go along with Terrelle Pryor while the Raiders tried to identify a quarterback of the future in the draft. That quarterback turned out to be Carr, taken in the second round in 2014.“I remember watching him when he was at USC and I was a big fan of his,” Carr said of Palmer. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be playing against him. It’s going to be cool to talk to him after the game.”"
–Jerry McDonald, San Jose Mercury News
Perrish Cox
"Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas and 49ers cornerback Perrish Cox will oppose each other Sunday night when the 49ers and Broncos meet in Denver. It won’t be the first time.Thomas testified against Cox in a 2012 sexual assault trial that could have potentially put Cox in prison for life. Cox, a one-time teammate of Thomas’ in Denver, took a year off to fight the accusation and was eventually found not guilty.During the trial, Thomas testified that Cox said, “she’s ready” before allegedly having sex with the alleged victim who maintained that she was drugged. She later became pregnant, and before the fetus was aborted, DNA tests determined Cox was the father. Cox and his lawyer disputed those results.Testifying against Cox was fraught for Thomas. His maternal grandmother and mother are in a federal penitentiary on drug charges. Thomas’ mother, Katina Smith, remains in prison partially because she refuses to testify against his mother, Minnie Thomas.…The physical matchup is one thing. But what about the psychological one? Does Cox hold a resentment against Thomas for his testimony? And who could blame Thomas for his testimony, particularly in light of his own family history? Will these two, who are likely to be inches away from each other across the line of scrimmage, even talk to each other?They have already encountered each other twice in preseason games, including one in August at Levi’s Stadium. Cox said he did not shy away from Thomas either time.“I don’t hold nothing against nobody,” Cox said a few weeks ago. “I have family, I have my teammates. I don’t have anything against that man. I wished him the best. That’s what I told him before the (preseason) game.”Cox attempts to treat Thomas like any other NFL player.“I had mixed thoughts about everything when (the trial) was going on, but when everything was over, it was over,” Cox said. “I moved on with my life.”"