Month: July 2014

Hammel’s A’s Debut Derails Streak of Solid Starts

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By Matthew Harrington

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – What a difference a bridge crossing can make. After commanding performances against the black and orange Monday and Tuesday night at O.Co Coliseum, the Oakland Athletics fell to the San Francisco Giants 5-2 at AT&T Park Wednesday night to open up Western half of the Bay Bridge Series. Matt Cain earned his second win of the season, going six strong innings of two-run ball while 2014 NL All-Star Hunter Pence collected two RBIs, including a solo home run to centerfield off recently acquired A’s starter Jason Hammel.

“Cain was how he normally is,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “It’s a mix of pitches. It was probably fifty percent fastballs, different pitches, backdoor curveballs and changeups.”

While Jeff Samardzija transitioned seamlessly into the A’s rotation in his debut following Friday’s deal with the Chicago Cubs, Hammel struggled in his first go-around with the green and gold. There were, however, moments where he showed promise, including wriggling out of a bases loaded, one-out jam with limited damage on one run in the third inning.

“That’s what you’re going to get out of me,” said Hammel. “I’m going to battle hard out there. Tonight was just a grind. They grinded me pretty good, but we still had a chance to win.”

Even with his tenacious mindset, the righty (0-1, 3.60 ERA) yielded three runs (two earned) against a Giants offense that’s been held scoreless in three of eight contests in the month of July entering play Wednesday night. The newcomer is the first Athletics starter to not go six innings and yield more than one run in a week.
The bar isn’t set as high for Hammel f as it does for the centerpiece of Billy Beane’s blockbuster, but there certainly is precedent for expectations from his spot in the rotation for the AL-leading A’s. After all, the 31-year-old’s arrival made southpaw Tommy Milone expendable, prompting a demotion to Triple-A Sacramento despite a 6-3 record and 3.55 ERA this season. Milone’s most recent start, a six inning, four-hit blanking of the then AL-East leading Blue Jays on Independence Day was fresh in A’s fans’ minds after Wednesday’s loss.

Behind Hammel, the AL West-leading A’s (57-34) found themselves playing catch-up early. San Francisco scored a run each in the second and third innings before Oakland could knick Giants starter Matt Cain (2-7, 4.18) for a run. The first two men to touch all four bases for the home team reached on a walk surrendered by the Oakland starter.
“I got myself into trouble with those deep counts and drove my pitch count up,” said Hammel. “They put together some pretty good at-bats. They were patient tonight. I didn’t help myself by walking guys.”

“I thought he threw the ball well,” said Melvin. “It looked like he got a little more comfortable as the game went along. He started mixing in all his pitches a little bit more. He’s got good stuff. It’s not exactly what he would hope for, but we didn’t do him any favors in the field or scoring runs.”
First basemen Stephen Vogt crushed a full-count fastball at the belt over the wall in right field and just shy of McCovey Cove for his third homer of the season moving the A’s within a run at 2-1.

Hammel couldn’t make the run hold up in the home half of the inning though, allowing a Hunter Pence homer on a low fastball to restore the two-run lead.
“It was a fastball down the middle,” responded Hammel when asked what he threw to Pence. “It was supposed to be a four-seamer in and it just cut a little over the plate and he got it.”

Hammel kept San Francisco (50-41) off the board in the fifth, but the frame was not without its drama. With Michael Morse on second base following a two-out double, Hammel delivered a ball to Gregor Blanco. After the delivery, the hurler clutched his catching hand in pain. After a lengthy visit from the training staff and a gruesome on-camera distortion of an extremity, Hammel finished off the inning, getting the Giants centerfielder to bounce into the inning ending force-out.

“In the middle of the pitch before, my hand just cramped up,” said Hammel. “I couldn’t get it to straighten out. I had to stop and figure out what was going on. It looked like I dislocated it, but it was just a really bad cramp. My thumb cramped up and went completely down. It was stuck for a little bit but it will be alright.”
After the game Hammel confirmed with the gathered media that he is, in fact, not disjointed. He also talked about his hope to continue on despite 99 pitches.

“I made a couple of good pitches to get the ground ball and get out of the inning,” said Hammel. “I wanted to go back out there but Melvin played it safe.”

With Hammel departed, Jed Lowrie swung momentum back in the A’s in the favor in the sixth inning after lacing a two-out single off Cain to plate Yoenis Cespedes. A rocky bottom half of the inning from reliever Eric O’Flaherty snubbed out any hopes of a shutdown frame. The lefty allowed two runs, including a single to Pence for his second RBI of the night and uncorked a wild pitch that brought home a run as well. A free agent signing in the off-season, O’Flaherty was activated from the disabled list earlier this month after missing most of 2014 following Tommy John surgery required after 19 appearances last season with the Atlanta Braves. He had allowed only one hit in his previous two innings of work in the current campaign.

The A’s will get back to work looking to clinch a victory in the 2014 incarnation of the Battle of the Bay series with a victory in an afternoon tilt at AT&T Park Thursday. If Oakland comes out on top, the A’s will take the rivalry series 3-1 after sweeping the first two games of the series in Oakland on Monday and Tuesday.

“These games mean a lot in this area,” said Hammel. “This is as close to a playoff atmosphere as you can get right now.”

History isn’t on Minnesota-bound A’s lefty Scott Kazmir’s side when the All-star goes against former Athletic Tim Hudson under the San Francisco Sun Thursday. The A’s have lost 13 of the last 15 games at the ballpark on the shores of McCovey Cove.

“We were 1-1 last year,” said Melvin. “That’s all I remember. When you have two teams that play competitive ball against each other, home field will come into play. We have a good road record this year, but I’m sure they got a boost from their crowd tonight as well.”

Bounce-back win for Giants

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By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – When the Giants were bludgeoned by Washington exactly a month ago, not very many people treated it as a very big deal at the time.

That kicked off a major slump that lasted the entire month of June, however, and their 9 ½-game lead in the National League West disintegrated into a one-game deficit going into Wednesday night’s game.

The Giants desperately need any wins they can get at this point to get things back on track, and they got one Wednesday night against the best team in the major leagues in the form of the Oakland Athletics, 5-2, at AT&T Park before a crowd of 41,427 that seemed to be split down the middle.

This is just one win, but as crazy as this season has been already for them, this could prove to be the catapult that the Giants have been seeking for a month. It was a particularly-rewarding win because not only did it come at the expense of their cross-bay rivals, but that the A’s had held them to a single run in the first two games of this four-game series.

Starter Matt Cain got the Giants on the right path and kept them there while also getting the run support that has obviously been lacking for the better part of a week.

Cain went six solid innings and gave up only a pair of runs on five hits and held the lead throughout his outing. The win was his first since May 15, although he had pitched solidly in his previous two starts, giving up only two runs in 13 1/3 innings and being stuck with an 0-1 mark nonetheless.

The Giants took their first lead of the series in the second inning, as Joe Panik lined a single into left field following a one out-walk by Gregor Blanco. Blanco was getting ready to pull into third to put runners on the corners, but when A’s left fielder Yoenis Cespedes misplayed the ball and let it skip past him, Blanco turned the corner and made it home, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead.

The third inning was a clear indication that the bounces were going the Giants’ way this time. Center fielder Coco Crisp, who is considered one of the biggest All-Star snubs for the A’s this year, nearly came up with a spectacular diving catch of a shallow fly ball by Pablo Sandoval but had the ball pop out of his glove as he hit the ground.

The next batter, Buster Posey, skipped a single just past the outstretched glove of shortstop Jed Lowrie and allowed Brandon Belt to score.

In the fourth inning, Hunter Pence, who was named to his third career All-Star team on Sunday, launched one into the new vegetable garden beyond the center-field wall to boost the Giants’ lead to 3-1

After Oakland had cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth, the Giants again widened their advantage in the bottom half. Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford led off the inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Eric O’Flaherty.

With one out, Pence shot one up the middle just off the glove of second baseman Alberto Callaspo, which allowed Panik to motor home.

Two batters later, a wild pitch allowed Sandoval to come home and put the Giants ahead, 5-2.

From that point, the Giants bullpen, which was solid during the team’s hot start to the season, returned to form. Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and new closer Santiago Casilla combined to not surrender a single baserunner to go along with three strikeouts.

That’s Amaurys News and Commentary:LA jury finds Dodgers, ex-owner McCourt, negligent in Stow beating

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

LOS ANGELES–Bryan Stow the San Francisco Giants fan and his friends who were taunted during a Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers game at Dodgers Stadium on opening night March 31, 2011 and later beaten after the game by. The beating went unnoticed by police or security personnel that left Stow permenantly brain damaged after receiving kicking blows to the head that evening.

Stow and his friends were under attack from Dodger fans Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood who later admitted guilt in the beating. Stow and his family sued the Dodgers because of a lack of security in the area during the beating, the Stows sued for $18 million. The jury found the Dodgers guilty for 25 percent of the damages to Stow and that Norwood and Sanchez would be split the rest of the sum between them.

The Dodgers would be in for $14 million plus an extra $1 million for the pain and suffering caused to Stow, Stow attorney Tom Girardi had asked for double that amount. The trial lasted for weeks before the jury deliberated on a verdict. The jury made it’s decision based on Girardi being able to establish the lack of security in the Dodgers parking lot.

The Dodgers attorney Dana Fox said that the Dodgers had provided extra security that night because of it being opening night of the 2011 season. Fox said that the Dodgers provided the most intense security in the team’s history demonstrating payroll sheets as to the security personnel roster as to who was on duty that night.

Girardi argued be it as it may there was a lack of security in the part of the parking lot where Stow was beaten which was the negligence found against the Dodgers. Girardi explained that the Dodgers mere budget cuts or trimming of security that night costed Stow to be beaten to near death, “The Dodgers own pocketbook prevented them from providing proper security.” Girardi provided the jury a chart of the team’s budget for that night which came out to 62 cents per each fan in attendance which translates to a lack of security in the parking lot.

Fox argued that Stow was responsible for his beating by baiting and arguing with Norwood and Sanchez during the game “there were three parties responsible Sanchez, Norwood and unfortunately Stow himself, There were things that Mr.Stow did that put these things into action” said Fox. It was reported that all three had been drinking.

Girardi during the trial displayed how fans and the culture of Dodgers fans would be there to brawl during the McCourt years. Fans were not there for baseball they were there to drink, get drunk and fight. Girardi also said that beer sales were off the charts. Girardi reportedly was able to demonstrate the number of security and police calls that they received from fans who were involved or who reported fights in the stands or in the parking lot previous to the Stow beating.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for L.A. Angels baseball and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s want to move ahead with lease, doubt Raiders can tear down Coliseum

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by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–After Los Angeles developer Forest City withdrew from it’s plans to demolish the Oakland Coliseum and build a new stadium for the Oakland Raiders which would include building retail, a luxury hotel, and condos on the Coliseum foot print, the Raiders are now without a developer. The A’s who are saying “wait a minute, what about our ten year lease” are prepared to leave the Coliseum with two years notice if the Raiders get what they want and have the Coliseum torn down for a new football stadium and Coliseum city village. The Raiders want to get started by 2015 with construction.

Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid said that the city doesn’t have the funding to tear the Coliseum and put a new stadium on it, “they don’t have a developer, they don’t have the money” said Reid. The A’s and the city council came to an agreement when the council voted last week 6-2 in favor of getting the A’s a ten year lease.

With the Raiders stepping up and saying they want the stadium torn down in 2015 the A’s want a two year notice before they have to leave the Coliseum before construction on a new Raiders stadium. The two years would keep the A’s at the Coliseum until the end of the 2016 season enough time to find new digs for the 2017 season. The Raiders are saying they don’t want to wait until 2016 they want to start in 2015.

The city council and the Alameda County board of Supervisors will be voting on the A’s ten year lease on July 29th, the sueprvisors are on board with enough votes to pass the new lease but the jury is still out with the city council who are still debating on passing the lease agreement for the A’s. Some of the stigmas have been over the length of the A’s notice to be given before leaving the Coliseum in case they want to leave Oakland. The Joint Powers Authority have asked the A’s to renegotiate the four year notice requirement, the A’s are asking for two years notice before vacating, the Council is asking the A’s to share advertising revenue from the new $10 million scoreboard the team plans to install.

A’s co-owner Lew Wolf said he has no intention of renegotiating the lease and that the A’s are of the understanding they have an agreement for ten years ready to sign. Wolf and the A’s have permission from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to leave for either San Antonio or Montreal on a moments notice if there is no deal with the city.

The notion that the Raiders are asking to tear down the Coliseum so they can build a new stadium by 2015 got some headshaking reactions from some city officials, “(the idea is) totally preposterous, we owe about $180 million on the stadium, this is either smoke and mirrors or they are on crack” said County Supervisor Nate Miley.

Coliseum City attorney also a heavy in the Oakland political scene Zachary Wasserman wrote to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan on July 2 saying “it would be critical to demolish the existing stadium in 2015” if the stadium is not ready by then the Raiders plan to play elsewhere until the new Raiders stadium is ready, “(the Raiders) are making arrangements to play elsewhere” wrote Wasserman.

The A’s don’t believe that the Raiders can get an agreement from the JPA to start construction in 2015 and force the A’s out by 2015. The A’s want at least two years notice if they have to vacate the Coliseum to play elsewhere and the A’s are confident it won’t happen, “from our position, we just don’t think that (Raiders project) is going to happen, we are betting it doesn’t” said A’s spokesman Ken Pries.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering A’s baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Gray Strikes Out Eight, Extends A’s Win Streak To Six With Win Over Giants

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OAKLAND, CA - JULY 08: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by Craig Gentry #3 after Lowrie scored in the bottom of the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at O.co Coliseum on July 8, 2014 in Oakland, California. Lowrie scored on an RBI double from Nick Punto. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JULY 08: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by Craig Gentry #3 after Lowrie scored in the bottom of the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at O.co Coliseum on July 8, 2014 in Oakland, California. Lowrie scored on an RBI double from Nick Punto. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sonny Gray tossed seven great innings and struck out eight to earn his ninth win of the year and only surrendered one run to give the A’s a 6-1 victory over cross town rivals the San Francisco Giants.

In fact, over the last six games each of Oakland’s starters have went at least six innings and have only given up one run – the longest streak for an A’s team since 1914.

On the streak, Oakland ace Gray had to say, “That’s what we’re capable of as a staff. It might look good on the outside, but on the inside it’s what we expect of ourselves. It’s just how good all of us are, and it’s nice to be able to go out and get deep into some games, not only myself, but everyone this whole homestand. It’s been big, and the offense has been able to put up some big runs for us, and that’s how you win a bunch of games in a row.”

Head coach Bob Melvin echoed the praise for his starters.

“Once starters start to get on a roll like that they’re really kind of competing with each other and pushing each other. The next guy wants to be the guy to go out there and do just as well if not better, so it becomes kind of a fraternal thing amongst the starters.”

It also helps to have the bats coming alive during a home stand that was coming off a disappointing road series loss to the hated Detroit Tigers.

The A’s were able to rattle off 11 hits against the Giants tonight including five in the third inning when the A’s put four on the board.

After a lead off single by Jed Lowrie, Nick Punto hit his seventh double of the season into left field and drove in Lowrie and gave the A’s a 1-0 lead. Crisp followed Punto with a single of his own and scored Punto to make it 2-0. After a Gentry line out and a stolen base by Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes hit a fly to short center field that easily scored Crisp and made it 3-0. To round out the inning, Derek Norris singled to left field and brought in Cesepedes who was waiting on second to make it 4-0 after three innings.

The Giants were able to score next when Tyler Colvin homered to right field on a 92 moph fastball from Gray that he left hanging over the plate and brought the deficit to 4-1.

The A’s then scored two more times in the 8th to give the A’s the 6-1 victory and seal the home series win two games to none.

The A’s and Giants head back at it on Wednesday when newly acquired Jason Hammel goes up against the struggling Matt Cain, game time  7:15pm PST.

Gray sends Giants to another loss

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By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-It seems that the Oakland A’s are having their way with the San Francisco Giants after the first two games of the annual Bay Bridge Series.

The A’s got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the third inning, as they scored four runs on five hits and they took game two by the final score of 6-1 before a sellout crowd of 36,067.

Nick Punto drove in Jed Lowrie with the only run that the A’s would need, as he drove in Lowrie with a double and then Coco Crisp followed Punto with a double of his own.

After Craig Gentry popped out for the second out of the inning, Yoenis Cespedes singled in Crisp for the third run of the inning.

Derek Norris drove in the final run of the inning, as he singled to drive in his fellow All-Star Cespedes.

Sonny Gray pitched great another game, as he went seven innings, allowing just one run on six hits, walking just one and striking out a career-high eight on his way to his ninth win of the season against three losses.

“Their guy has good stuff and the ability to get a strikeout and make those kind of pitches,” said Bruce Bochy.

Once again, it was a tough night for a Giants starting pitcher, as Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits, walking three and striking out three; however he saw his record fall to 9-7 on the season.

“We just couldn’t stop it, started with a bloop and then they put some balls in play and good spots, then put up a crooked number, I thought he pitched well,” said Bochy.

The Giants blew ample opportunities to score off of Gray, as on two different opportunities they were unable to score runs after getting two runners on base with less than two outs.

Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse hit back-to-singles in the top of the second inning with nobody, but Gray was able to get Tyler Colvin to fly out to Gentry in right field, then he struck out Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford to end the threat.

After Gray got Panik to ground out to open the fifth inning, Crawford singled and then Gregor Blanco followed Crawford with his first hit in three at-bats.

Gray was able to get out of the jam, as he struck out Hunter Pence and then got Belt to groundout to Nate Freiman at first base to end the inning.

Colvin finally got the Giants on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he took a Gray offering and put it into the right field seats for his second home run of the season.

For the second night in a row, Bruce Bochy challenged; however like in the first game, Bochy lost his challenge, as Sandoval was called out on a close play at first base on a great throw by Lowrie from his shortstop position in the top of the fourth inning.

Replays showed that it looked like that Sandoval was safe on the play, but after a 1:28 review, the call stood.

When Gentry doubled in the bottom of the fifth inning, it was his first extra base hit since Game one of a doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners on May 7, a span of 40 games.

It was the longest streak by an A’s player without an extra base hit since Matt Alexander went 55 games without an extra base hit May 20, 1975 until August 27, 1977.

Luke Gregerson got into a jam in the top of the eighth inning, as he gave up a single to Pence, after a Belt fielders’ choice forced Pence at second base, Buster Posey walked to bring the tying run to the plate in the presence of Sandoval.

Unfortunately for the Giants, Gregerson was able to get Sandoval to strike out and then got Morse to end the inning.

The A’s added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Norris scored on a Freiman double and then Freiman scored the sixth and final run of the game, as he scored on a Alberto Callaspo single.

Jean Machi came on in the bottom of the eighth inning to replace Bumgarner, and after balking Freiman to third base and ending the inning on a double play, Machi was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez.

It was the first ejection of the season for Machi.

A Tale of Two Teams

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[tag San Francisco Giants, MLB,baseball]

by Jerry Feitelberg

A Tale of Two Teams

To quote Charles Dickens, it would be safe to say that it is “the best of times and the worst of times”

It is the best of times for the Oakland Athletics as they beat the San Francisco Giants by a score of 6-1.

For the A’s it was their sixth win in a row and their fifty-seventh of the year which is the most in A’s history before the All-Star game. For the Giants it definitely the worst of times as they lost for the eleventh time in the last thirteen games and are 7-20 after going 42-21 in the first 63 games. Their offense has gone south and they just missed being shut out for the fifth time in nine games.

The scoring summary follows below.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third against Madison Bumgarner.

Jed Lowrie led off with a bloop single. Alberto Callaspo then hit a blooper to right and Giants’ right fielder Hunter Pence made a fantastic play to rob Callaspo of a hit. Pence then egged the A’s fans on in the right field bleachers and A’s second baseman Nick Punto then lined a double down the left field line to drive in Lowrie. The A’s fans were ecstatic and the crowd made a ton of noise partly in retribution for Pence’s gesture and partly in joy for getting a run on the board. Coco Crisp followed with a single to drive in Punto with the second run of the inning and took second on the throw home. Coco then stole third to put a man on third with just one out. It was Crisp’s sixteenth steal of the year. A’s All-Star, Yoenis Cespedes singled to center and that allowed crisp to score with the third run of the inning.

Josh Donaldson walked and that was followed by a Derek Norris single to drive in Cespedes. The throw from Tyler Colvin got past Buster Posey and the runners advanced to put men on at second and third with two out. Nate Freiman struck out to end the inning but the A’s batted around and have a 4-0 lead after the end of three innings.

The A’s knocked Bumgarner out the game in the bottom of the eighth. Bumgarner walked Derek Norris to start the inning. Big Nate Freiman doubled down the right field line to score Norris with the fifth run of the game for the A’s. Umpire Angel Hernandez called a balk on Giant’s pitcher Jean Machi and that allowed Freiman to advance to third. Freiman scored on Alberto Callaspo’s single and the A’s have a 6-1 lead after eight. A’s bring in Ryan Cook to finish the game and after giving up a single to Tyler Colvin, Cook gets the next three hitters and the A’s win 6-1.

Game notes: The A’s recorded the 11th undefeated home stand of six or more games in Oakland history.

Sonny Gray improved his record to 9-3 and went seven innings for the third time in his last four starts.

A’s starters have now tossed six or more innings allowing one run or fewer in six straight games which is the longest streak since 1914. That’s 100 years,folks.

Line score for the A’s was six runs, eleven hits and no errors while the Giants posted one run, eight hits and one error. The third game of the series is Wednesday night in San Francisco. Jason Hammel will make his debut for the A’s and the Giants will counter with Matt Cain. Game time is at 7:15pm.

A’s could leave for of all places a baseball hungry Montreal if there is no lease agreement

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by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–What are the realistic chances of the Oakland A’s leaving town if the Oakland City Council votes against the ten year lease to keep the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum? Two cities have been proposed that the A’s would consider moving to if the council votes down the ten year lease and the A’s could leave as soon as this season to next season to two cities, Montreal or San Antonio.

City Councilman Larry Reid said that if the team does not get the lease and there is still a good chance the council can vote down the lease they would leave Oakland, “They have options, (Montreal) have already demonstrated their support of a professional team.” In Montreal in late March they have held a three exhibition games at Olympic Stadium and each game was sold out just before kicking off the regular season featuring the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

According to reports from A’s team spokesman Ken Pries he would not confirm or deny the A’s consideration of moving to either Texas or Canada but would only say the A’s are “sitting back and waiting to see what happens (with the Coliseum lease) and hoping for the best.”

Montreal had a Major League team the Montreal Expos from 1969-2004, low attendance, no new downtown stadium and old Olympic stadium were reasons why the team left and moved to Washington becoming the Nationals. A recent resurgence through the exhibition games have demonstrated peaked interest for Montreal having another shot at getting back into the show.

In 1994 the Expos were the winningest team in Major League Baseball and they were on their way to making post season and maybe having their best shot ever at winning a World Series, those dreams were dashed by the baseball strike that same season. If the team had gone all the way in 94 they would have had a new stadium built and would never have left Montreal as they did ten years later in 2004.

The only other place available in San Antonio for the A’s to play at is the Alamodome but in right field it’s only 280 feet down the line which is way too short of regulation which is at least 325 feet. So as far as stadium ready there seems like there is not a stadium ready in either Montreal or San Antonio that would be new and waiting for the A’s but A’s co-owner Lew Wolf may do what Councilman Reid says and bolt Oakland if the council rejects the lease agreement.

As far as the Oakland City Council is concerned in terms of the scheduled vote on July 29th it’s not too optimistic in terms of the chances of passing the Coliseum ten year lease. Amongst those of the council who object to the current lease they want to renegotiate the terms such as a share in advertising revenue from the new $10 million scoreboard the A’s have said they would put in above the outfield bleachers, and also council members are asking that the A’s give a four year notice before they can leave the Coliseum if the Raiders commit to building a football stadium at the Coliseum site.

The city has a wonderful opportunity here to keep the A’s in Oakland but after 14 months of negotiating the council wants to change the lease agreement that Wolff said he will no longer negotiate on and that the A’s are of the understanding that they have a lease agreement in place. The management of the city of Oakland is suspect right now I don’t have confidence that the council will do the right thing by keeping the A’s in Oakland and even Oakland Board of Supervisors president Nate Miley said he if the council does not pass the ten lease for the A’s to stay at the Coliseum the A’s will make good on their threat to leave “I’d put money on that” said Miley.

Jerry Feitelberg covers A’s baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

For the Giants, it’s just a bad time to come to Oakland

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By Morris Phillips

Sitting the dugout in the sixth inning after the Giants’ sixth inning surrender, the look on Ryan Vogelsong’s face was unmistakable.

While the look said it, Vogey’s mouth obviously did not. But you can bet it said, “I drove across the bridge to Oakland for this?”

The Giants frustration with losing continued on Monday and it simply hasn’t been easy for the club to take. A 5-0 loss to the A’s was their 19th in their previous 26 games, a month of bad baseball for a group that wouldn’t take it well if the poor stretch lasted just a week. But now it’s nearly a month, and what the Giants’ players don’t say, you can see it written in their faces.

Simply too many proud competitors juxtaposed against too many loses.

“We’ve got to get these pistons back firing,” manager Bruce Bochy said, basically reiterating that the team’s moribund offense that’s been shutout four times in the last eight games just won’t do.

The Giants managed just five singles on the night, four of those against A’s starter Jesse Chavez, who cruised through six innings as a byproduct. Chavez had struggled in his previous two starts, but the Giants couldn’t keep that trend going. Instead they struck out nine times against Chavez, and five of those were looking.

So when Vogelsong fell into trouble in the sixth it was fatal. Leading 1-0, Josh Donaldson took a ball on his hand/the nob of the bat and was awarded first base. One out later, Jed Lowrie singled and Alberto Callaspo greeted reliever Juan Gutierrez with a two-run double that put the A’s up 3-0 and in control.

“Things were going well until I took him out,” Bochy said of his decision to take Vogelsong out. “I thought he was getting close there and I wanted to protect him.”

The Giants played with Brandon Belt, who they regained over the weekend after his absence due to a broken hand. But they were without Pablo Sandoval for the second straight game due to an elbow injury. The first three hitters in the Giants’ lineup—Hunter Pence, rookie Joe Panik and Belt—went 0 for 11 with four strikeouts. Glancing at the entire, designated hitter-enhanced lineup, only cleanup man Buster Posey and Joaquin Arias managed to avoid striking out at least once.

But maybe the biggest factor on this night may simply be that this is a bad time to come to Oakland. The MLB-best A’s have won all five games on their home stand while trailing for a total of three innings. The AL West leaders maybe playing their best ball in a season of bests.

The Giants get Madison Bumgarner on the mound Tuesday. He’ll be opposed by the A’s Sonny Gray.

“Contagious” Starting Pitching Keys A’s to Win in Bay Bridge Series Opener

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – A bug is rapidly sweeping the Oakland Athletics clubhouse and every starting pitcher seems to have come down with it. It isn’t a case of the flu, but an epidemic of quality starts, with the latest “victim” to succumb being Jesse Chavez.

“It’s contagious,” said Chavez. “Yesterday, watching Jeff Samardzija pitch, I just wanted to feed off that. As a team, we feed off that. We’re playing good baseball. We’re happy to be home.”

The A’s right-hander matched a career-high in strikeouts (nine) over six shut-out innings in a 5-0 win against the San Francisco Giants at O.Co Coliseum Monday night. The win in the opener of the 2014 Bay Bridge Series marks the fifth-straight win for the A’s (56-33), who swept one of the American League’s best in the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game set over the weekend. A’s starters allowed three runs over 27 innings of work in the quartet of outings.

“I just want to hold down this spot for what happened earlier in the year,” said Chavez. “Whatever role they ask of me, I’ll do it. I’m just looking forward to being a part of this team.”

The decision for Chavez (7-5, 3.06 ERA) also marks a swing towards the early-season progress that had the reliever-turned-starter in the running for American League pitcher of the month in April. Chavez was 2-4 with a 4.08 ERA over his last eight starts coming in to Monday night, including a five-inning, five-run loss at Detroit in his most recent start last Wednesday.

“The last two starts, with two strikes I was over the plate a little bit,” assessed Chavez on his recent struggles. “My main focus was finishing the at-bat if I got ahead.”

Fernando Abad pitched 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief; Dan Otero did his part with 1 and 1/3 frames without a run. Ryan Cook fired off a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning to wrap up the game. In total, A’s pitchers scattered only five hits to the San Francisco offense. The Giants left seven runners on base, while Oakland stranded nine.

Craig Gentry represented the first A’s run of the night on a John Jaso ground-out in the fifth inning to snap Giants Starter Ryan Vogelsong’s 18 and 2/3 innings scoreless streak in interleague play. An inning later, Alberto Callaspo provided the crushing blow, greeting newly-inserted reliever Juan Gutierrez with a one-out, two-run double. Callaspo took the first offering from Gutierrez, a 92 mile-per-hour fastball, into the gap in right-center to plate Josh Donaldson from third base and Jed Lowrie from first. Vogelsong (5-6, 3.92) was charged with all three runs, and ultimately, the loss after his five and 1/3 innings of work.

Lowrie chased Vogelsong earlier in the inning, singling on a first-pitch delivery to put runners on the corners after Donaldson was controversially hit by a pitch to open the inning. Replay showed that the ball hit Donaldson’s fingers near the knob of the bat, sparking debate from Bruce Bochy. The Giants manager already burned his challenge when officials upheld a hit-by-pitch of Craig Gentry in the bottom of the fifth.

“It was originally called a foul ball,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Once (home plate umpire Paul Nauert) saw his hand, he changed the call around.”

“It hit the small pinky, the pinky knuckle,” said Donaldson. “He did the right thing. I have to give him some credit. When I heard it, it sounded like it hit the bat, but obviously I felt my hand hurting. I knew it hit my hand. He did the right thing, looked at my hand, saw it was swelling. He asked if I swung. I told him I felt like I didn’t.”

A couple of seventh-inning errors from Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford put Jaso and Yoenis Cespedes on second and third with no outs, setting up a Brandon Moss sacrifice fly off Gutierrez for a 4-0 lead. Donaldson, the starting AL all-star third baseman by way of fan vote, knocked Gutierrez out of the game on a laser up the middle to score Cespedes for the A’s fifth and final run of the night.

The sold-out crowd of 36,067 saw Oakland continue its dominance of San Francisco in the East Bay. Oakland has taken 10 of the last 12 games against their Northern California foes at the Coliseum.

“It’s always fun,” said Chavez of playing in the friendly rivalry. “It’s good baseball. It’s two good teams going at it. I think that’s good baseball.”

While the A’s continue to trend upward to the best record in the Major Leagues, the Giants have scuffled to one of the worst margins of victory in the league. Over the last 26 games, San Francisco (49-40) has gone 7-19 after winning 42 of the first 63 games of the season.

The black and orange send All-Star starter Madison Bumgarner to the mound Tuesday looking to split the two-game series in Oakland before the interleague rivalry series shifts to AT&T Park for a pair starting Wednesday. Oakland hands the ball off to its ace, Sonny Gray to sweep the first half of the home-and-home.