Month: August 2014

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – Throughout most of Monday night’s contest, the Oakland Athletics offense couldn’t muster any life against the Tampa Bay Rays pitching. The Swingin’ A’s appeared maligned, the bats non-existent after failing to convert with the bases loaded three times in the first nine innings. It turns out the A’s were just playing like the furry visitor who wandered around the outfield wall in the 10^th inning. Caught on camera for the game’s television broadcast was a large, furry creature strolling around the warning track.

Yes, an opossum is on the loose at O.Co Coliseum, and that’s just fine with A’s players. The unnamed critter heralded a 10th inning rally culminating in Derek Norris’ second career walk-off hit, lifting Oakland (68-43) to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

“He’s been out here before when we’re warming up a few times,” said A’s starter Jeff Samardzija. “We might have to give him a name or a jersey. Hopefully, we’ll keep feeding him and he’ll keep bringing us wins and we’ll be alright.”

Heading into the bottom of the 10th inning, the A’s stranded a season-high 18 base runners. The inefficiency of offense had the hometown fans in doubt when former Athletics closer Grant Balfour took the mound to shut down his old teammates. Fans in the outfield seats greeted him with his “Balfour Rage” salute, drumming the air as the reliever loosened up.

“I think fans were waiting five months to do that,” said Norris. “He was here for three years. He was a fan favorite, a raging closer bulldogging it out there. I can see why he’s a fan favorite. I really think they were waiting for that for four months. Fans are going to get excited over strange things, but they’re supporting us which is the biggest thing. You can’t fault them for showing appreciation for one of their favorite players of the last few years.

Once again the A’s loaded the bases, this time with one out against an erratic Balfour (1-4, 4.93 ERA), but appeared on track to once again fail to bring the runner in from third.

“My thinking was, if we keep getting in that position, we were going to come through,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “I honestly did.”

Brandon Moss struck out while Derek Norris quickly found himself in an 0-2 hole against the Aussie. Fighting off the third strike, Norris sent the Balfour delivery back up the box for the game-winning hit, earning the catcher a shaving cream pie and Gatorade shower.

“Sometimes he falls into patterns,” said former batterymate Norris of Balfour. “Tonight he was mixing it up. He was throwing well. Once he gets runners in scoring position, he throws on another switch. I saw it time in and time out we’re he’d walk the first two guys and then go one-two-three. I was just looking for something over the plate.”

Jeff Samardzija pitched another gem for the A’s, going seven innings while allowing only two earned runs on three strikeouts.

“I thought my stuff was all there minus the splitter,” said Samardzija. “My splitter was garbage tonight. As the splitter goes, so goes my strike out total.”

He, however, had to settle for the no decision for the third time in six starts with Oakland. Instead, reliever Ryan Cook earned the “w” after pitching a flawless 10^th inning.

“That seems to be my M.O. since I’ve gotten here,” said Samardzija. “Go out and throw some innings then watch these guys put on a show at the end of the game. One of these games, I’ll be out there ripping the jersey myself. It’s fun watch. I love this team and how they play and don’t quit.”

Cook (1-1, 2.48) almost didn’t have a shot at the victory after the Rays (54-58) managed to put runners on the corners with one out in the top of the ninth against Sean Doolittle. Facing pinch hitter Brandon Guyer, Doolittle fielded a safety squeeze bunt attempt, charging the ball before underhanding it to Norris for the tag out of an advancing Sean Rodriguez. Doolittle struck out Kevin Kiermaier to end the ninth and keep the score knotted at 2-2.

“Their team, when first and third, has a lot of action,” said Norris, noting that a squeeze play was on the A’s radar. “There’s no way to defend a perfect bunt. Luckily he bunted it strong enough to Sean that he had time. It was still a difficult play to make and it was even more difficult with the new blocking the plate rule. I had to make sure I was giving him a lane then taking it away.”

Evan Longoria put Rays on top first with a second inning solo shot off Samardzija, his 8^th homer of the season, before Jed Lowrie tied the game up in the home half of the third on an RBI double. Desmond Jennings hit a two-out single in the fifth to put Tampa on top 2-1.

There were a couple bad pitches that bothered me,” said Samardzija. “That 2-0 to Longoria, the 1-2 to Jennings were dumb pitches. I’d like to have those back but other than that we made some great plays and had a chance.”

Josh Donaldson’s run-scoring single off Rays starter Alex Cobb an inning later set up the late-inning theatrics. Cobb went 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs while wriggling out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and second innings.

For Oakland, the win was much-needed to keep the Los Angeles Angels at bay for one more day. The Halos topped the crosstown rival Dodgers 5-0 with the A’s outcome yet to be determined, moving a half-game back of the AL West lead. A Rays win would have resulted in a tie atop the western hierarchy, this time between the Northern and Southern California teams, for the first time since April 28^th. Instead, the A’s kept their one-game gap another day.

Defending the advantage Tuesday night will be former Ray Jason Hammel. Hammel, a member of the 2008 AL Champions in Tampa, has yet to win with the A’s after coming over in the July 4^th trade that yielded Jeff Samardzija. He’ll be opposed by another starter who changed uniforms midseason, with Drew Smyly making his Rays debut after being a part of the haul Tampa received in exchange for shipping former Cy Young winner David Price to Detroit.

According to Melvin, leadoff man Coco Crisp will start Tuesday’s game after a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh inning Monday night. Crisp missed the previous seven games with neck stiffness.

“He looked good,” said Melvin. “We plan on playing him tomorrow.”

By Morris Phillips

Just for the record, Yoenis Cespedes went 1 for 7 with a pair of runs scored in first two games as a Boston Red Sox.

While the A’s and their concerned fans are wondering where the offense went, it’s clear that it didn’t fly to Boston with the home run champ. In fact, Cespedes hit just three home runs in his final 30 games as an Athletic.

With or without Cespedes, the A’s are struggling offensively, and that continued Sunday in a 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The AL West leaders were shut down by Royals’ staff leader James Shields, who allowed four hits and two runs in eight innings of work. If not for Josh Reddick, who smashed a pair of solo homers, the A’s could have been shutout, and as a result, had even more questions to answer.

“We know we’re going to come out of it, we’re just all tired of waiting,” Reddick said. “We’re a better lineup than what we’ve shown in the last week, and we all know that.”

With 52 regular season games remaining, the A’s are still the team with the major league’s best record, but the Angels—by virtue of surviving a grueling 3-3 road trip back east—have cut the gap within the division to one game. The A’s remain a virtual lock for a post-season berth, but without any security that they can avoid a second place finish in their division, and the one-game playoff crap shoot that comes with such a finish, they need to pick it up fast with the Tampa Rays and Minnesota Twins—a pair of sub-.500 teams—coming to the O.co Coliseum this week.

“We just haven’t been at our best offensively here, and now we come up against some good starting pitchers who are on their game early,” manager Bob Melvin said.

If the trend of the A’s having to worry about opponents’ starters more than opponents have to worry about the A’s newly configured super rotation, then it will be quite a surprise. If so, then Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb (7-6) who starts against Oakland Monday and Minnesota’s John Gibson (10-8) who gets the ball Friday at the Coliseum will have to be a lot more formidable than Jeff Samardzjia and 12-game winner Scott Kazmir who they are matched up with.

Possible, but not likely. But again, the A’s have to pick it up. Defensively, the A’s seem just fine. On Sunday, the A’s turned four double plays including Reddick’s leaping catch at the right field wall and throw back to double off Alex Escobar in the seventh. Defense like that–chock full of spectacular outfield play courtesy of Reddick, Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry, once he regains his health—plays a perfect complement to the A’s pitching.

And even with the A’s recent slump, they remain number one among all 30 teams with 545 runs scored on the season. So while an offensive hiccup over the last week is of concern, it probably doesn’t mean the A’s won’t continue to be outstanding with the bats.

If anything bears watching, it’s the performance of All-Stars Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss in the middle of the A’s lineup. The pair went a combined 0 for 7 on Sunday with three strikeouts. If a tense, playoff race along with all the expectations brought about by the acquisitions of Jon Lester and Samardzjia causes any of the A’s to tighten up, these two heavy lifters could be the first to experience it.

On Monday, Cobb faces Samardzjia in the opener of a three-game set at 7:05pm.

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–I love pitching, do not read me wrong. But didn’t the Oakland Athletics have enough pitching before they acquired Jon Lester? Their starters earned run average, as well as their bullpen (relievers) have been at the top since April.

The Oakland A’s have been in first place since April 28th, leading the Western Division. I understand when A’s General Manager Billy Beane got Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, that made all the sense in the world. Jon Lester is one of the best pitchers in postseason, but the Athletics first need to win the division, I do not think they would like to be a wild card and play one elimination game for all the marbles.

Beane is tired of losing game 5 to the Detroit Tigers, understood, but even hours after he traded Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for Jon Lester, Dave Dombrowski General Manager of the Detroit Tigers traded for David Price.

So now the A’s have a rotation of: Gray, Lester,Kazmir, Samardzija and Hammel. The Tigers have: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Price,Rick Porcello and Anibal Sánchez. That is the last three American League Cy Young winners, the American League co-leader in wins, and last year’s American League champion. I think the Tigers rotation is above that of the A’s, even with the addition of Jon Lester.

Now, the Athletics hitting. I know we live during a time in baseball where everything is numbers, and I realize that numbers are very important, but at this pace we are just going to have mathematicians and statisticians running the game. It is ridiculous, like back when Ichiro was in Seattle, I remember they had stats of when Ichiro got a hit with the roof open, and when he got a hit with the roof close at Safeco, yes I was there and I remember those “notes”.

Some believe that a sacrifice bunt is giving an out away, yes, but if you can advance that runner with a bunt, and then you get a hit, you can drive in a run and win a game for…a guy like Lester. We all know playoff games are very rarely 14-12 affairs. I know these deals were made by both General Managers with the postseason in mind,so let us not ‘beat around the bush here.

Assuming that Detroit plays the A’s for the third consecutive ALDS, and leaving the pitching aside, the Tigers have not only a better starting rotation, but a much superior lineup; even more this year. Case #1 JD Martínez who came from Houston to Detroit in the past winter, is having the season of this life, with the “other”Martínez, Victor who usually hits more Home runs than he has strikes out, not to mention a man that hits over .380 with men in scoring position, Miguel Cabrera and the rest of the supporting cast. The only advantage today the A’s have over the Tigers is the bullpen, there the A’s better. Detroit recently signed Joakim Soria, who is now helping closer Joe Nathan.

Yoenis Céspedes was the soul of the Oakland Athletics. A trade of this sort, rips the soul out of a team, and yes the A’s also receive aside from Lester, the very popular Jonny Gomes, from Petaluma, who can get in the heads of the young hitters and all that…bla…bla..bla…and that is good, and who knows, he might win a big game for the Athletics in the playoffs, that is the beauty of baseball,remember Boston fans Bucky Dent?

So yes everything is possible in this fascinating game. I respect Beane the GM at the Oakland A’s, he is an astute man, not a genius in my book, a genius has to at least win a World Series, and that has not been accomplished, yet.

Maybe this is his best shot. Everybody understands that the possibility of the A’s re-signing Céspedes after the 2015 season was as probable as snow in Arizona in August. Yes, the A’s made a huge splash in the baseball world, and for a week a team that seldom receives the publicity that it deserves got the attention of the baseball world, networks and all media. And that is good. However, I was not a fan of this trade, and I hope it works and brings a World Series to the forgotten city of Oakland for the first time since 1989.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice of the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

By Morris Phillips

Given his newly-acquired ace’s trademark intensity and ever-present scowl, A’s manager Bob Melvin joked that he was afraid to walk to the mound in the seventh inning Saturday and pull Jon Lester with the A’s leading 8-3.

“He’s a big guy,” Melvin noted.

“I never liked that feeling of walking off a mound in the middle of a game,” the 6’3”, 240 lbs. Lester said. “I’d rather be able to shake the manager’s hand in the dugout but that’s just me, how I work.”

According to Melvin, Lester’s no-nonsense game day routine begins “from the moment he walks in the door.” Well known for his work ethic and his familiarity with the lineups he faces, Lester racked up 110 wins, two World Series titles and three All-Star game appearances as a Red Sox.

The lefty’s first appearance as an Athletic went pretty well, but not as sparkling as final eight starts with Boston. For the first time since June 7, Lester allowed more than two runs, with the third run on Saturday coming on pinch hitter Christian Colon’s single in the seventh that forced Melvin’s hand.

“We get so amped up for our first of everything, whether it’s your first start, first postseason start, whatever it is,” Lester said. “Now it’s just getting back to work and the job at hand and getting used to my surroundings.”

“You want to put a good foot forward, so I’m glad today went the way it did, and I’ll go back out there in five days and do it again.”

In Lester, the A’s have a true ace, according to Melvin, one of three or four best starters in the game today. And not only is Lester an ace, he’s riding a hot streak as well with his ERA over his last nine starts, including Saturday at a miniscule 1.38. Against the Royals–among his favorite opponents to face—Lester’s ERA is 1.65 in 12 career starts, the lowest of any pitcher to face Kansas City (minimum 75 innings pitched).

But the numbers that obviously flashed across GM Billy Beane’s desk as he pondered a blockbuster deal in which he traded two-time home run derby champion Yoenis Cespedes for Lester and Jonny Gomes was Lester’s ERA in the World Series: 0.59, the lowest ever, as well as his four post-season wins in the Red Sox’s 2013 championship run. If Lester’s career in Oakland lasts just a couple of months as appears likely given the king’s ransom he will be line for as a free agent in the off-season, the A’s and Beane are in position to make it the best couple of months imaginable given the A’s and Lester’s status.

That experience started Saturday as Lester picked up his first win with Oakland, backed by an eight-run fifth inning in which 12 A’s got a chance to bat. The A’s offensive explosion came after the club went 20 consecutive innings without scoring, and getting shut out on Friday, 1-0. Like so many A’s rallies in 2014, this one didn’t end soon enough for the opponent, as the A’s racked up 8 hits and needed more than 30 minutes to go through the whole process.

In that uprising, Derek Norris led off with a double, the only extra-base hit in the inning. Then Gomes reached on an infield nubber, and after the Royals recorded an out, the next five A’s delivered base hits to give the A’s a 4-1 lead. Reliever Aaron Crow, on for Kansas City starter Jason Vargas, then walked Josh Donaldson to force in a run with the bases loaded. One out later, Gomes delivered his second hit of the inning, which was misplayed by left fielder Alex Gordon turning the play into a bases-clearing experience that put the A’s up 8-1.

Among the A’s whose presence is now critical in the absence of Cespedes, newly reacquired Sam Fuld and recently disabled Josh Reddick had big afternoons. Fuld had an infield hit in the fifth inning, but he really turned heads by quickly getting his feet set on Mike Moustakas’ fly ball out in center field and throwing out Gordon at the plate in the fourth. Reddick delivered a hit, scored a run, and knocked one in, giving him 14 hits (.386) since he returned to the lineup on July 22.

The A’s turn to another ace on Sunday when Scott Kazmir takes the mound in search of his AL-leading 13th win. The Royals will counter with James Shields, looking for his 10th win, in the 1:05pm start.