by Jerry Feitelberg

Sonny Gray pitched a gem Tuesday night as he shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0. Gray’s brilliant performance removed some of the gloom from the clubhouse. The A’s traded Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals for two pitchers, Righty Aaron Brooks, and twenty-year lefty Sean Manaea. On Monday, the A’s traded reliever Tyler Clippard to the Mets. The A’s needed a shot in the arm, and Gray came through big-time in that department. Gray pitched a complete game. He gave up just three hits while striking out nine and walked one. Former Athletic, Brett Anderson took the loss for the Dodgers.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. Billy Burns singled on the very first pitch of the game. Marcus Semien walked to put men on at first and second with no out. Brett Lawrie grounded into a fielder’s choice. Burns took third on the play and later scored when Billy Butler hit a slow grounder to third. There was no way for the Dodgers to complete a double play, so Burns was able to score with the A’s first run.

Josh Reddick hit a solo home run to right in the top of the seventh; It was Reddick’s 13th dinger of the year. The A’s lead 2-0 after seven.Reddick also had a single and double in four trips to the plate Tuesday. The other hitting star of the game was none other than Sonny Gray himself. Gray singled to right with his first career hit leading off the eighth. He looked surprised that he made contact, but he did and was able to manage a weak smile when he reached first. Final Score 2-0 in favor of Oakland.

Game notes- with the win, Gray’s record improved to 11-4. The A’s played their 101st game of the year, and they are now 45-56. After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin was all smiles talking about Gray’s performance. However, he said, Gray will want to talk more about getting the hit than anything else tonight. He also said the Josh Reddick “swung the bat great and used the whole field.” Melvin commented that the three trades the A’s made since last Thursday made it a “rough day for everybody.”

The Dodgers’ record drops to 56-45 but remain 1/2 game ahead of the San Francisco Giants as the Giants lost to Milwaukee 5-2 in San Francisco. The A’s did their job by beating the Dodgers but the Giants missed a golden opportunity to pass the Dodgers in the NL West standings. The A’s will have their work cut out for them Wednesday evening as they will be facing the Dodgers’ ace, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is 8-6 this season but has been dominating lately. The A’s will send Jesse Chavez out to pitch. Chavez had a bad outing in his last game, and he will be trying to get back on the winning track.

Time of game was two hours and twenty-two minutes, and there were 50,182 people in attendance at Dodger Stadium. Game two will be played in LA at 7 pm Wednesday night.