Month: April 2016

The A’s face off against the Yankees Tuesday in New York

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by Jerry Feitelberg

photo credit bing images: Aroldis Chapman New York Yankees

The Oakland A’s play the Yankees in New York Tuesday night to start a ten-game road trip that will take them to New York, Toronto, and Detroit. It will be a major test for the A’s to face these three potent teams. First, up will be the Yankees. The legendary franchise is struggling a bit to start the season. The Yankees are a veteran club, and many of their key players are reaching geezer status. However, these geezers can be dangerous, and the Yankees have a starting rotation that could be one of the best in baseball. The Yankee bullpen is also strong even with Aroldis Chapman out with a 30-day suspension.

Alex, Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Jacoby Ellsbury lead the Yankee lineup. All these players have made the All-Star team in past years. A-Rod has been an MVP. Teixeira and Ellsbury were MVP candidates. The Yankees acquired former Chicago Cub shortstop, Starlin Castro, to play second. Castro has responded and is hitting .333 and has an OPS of .925. The Yankees also have stolen thirteen bases so far to lead the league in that category. A’s catchers Stephen Vogt and Josh Vogt will have to be on their toes to keep Ellsbury and Gardner from stealing a base.

The starting rotation inclu the veteran C C Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino. Their bullpen is excellent. Dellin Betances is the setup man, and Andrew Miller is the closer for right now. Johnny Barbato and Chase Shreve have also performed well so far.

The Yankees have committed seven errors in the first eleven games. The A’s, however, lead the league with ten.Both the A’s and the Yankees are one game under the .500 mark. The record for the Green and Gold is 6-7. The pitching matchups for the three games are the following. On Tuesday, the A’s will send LHP Eric Surkamp to the hill. Surkamp enters the game with a 0-1 record and an ERA of 4.00. He will be opposed by Michael Pineda (1-1, 6.55 ERA). On Wednesday, it will be Kandal Graveman (0-1, 2.38) going against Nathan Eovaldi (0-1, 6.94.) Thursday’s game will feature lefty Rich Hill (1-2, 4.15 ) versus Luis Severino (0-2, 5.91.)

The A’s  are starting to hit, and they gained a little confidence as they beat the World Series Champs, the Kansas City Royals, two out of three over the weekend. Graveman, Chris Bassitt, and Sonny Gray have all pitched well. Rich Hill has had two not-so-good outings and one good performance so far. Eric Surkamp has to perform well, or he may be sent down when Jesse Hahn is ready. The A’s bullpen has been fairly good this year. They are way better than last year.This road trip will be a big test for the team.

The A’s  still have work to do to improve the defense. They lead the league with ten errors in the first thirteen games. If they are to improve over last year’s won-lost record,  they cannot give opponents extra outs. Bob Melvin, Ron Washington, and company have their work cut out for them. Lastly, the A’s need to win at least five games on the trip. It will be a tall order as the pitchers will face three potent offensive lineups. Should be interesting.

 

 

Giants drop rubber match to Dodgers, Samardzija outlasted by Maeda

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By: Eric He

photo credit AP: The Los Angeles Dodgers Joc Pederson (31) gets congratulated by Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts (30) after going yard in the fifth inning off San Francisco Giant pitcher Jeff Samardzija at Dodgers Stadium

LOS ANGELES — Jeff Samardzija was cruising his way through the vaunted Dodgers lineup — until one pitch slipped from his hand.

It was supposed to be a sinker off the plate to Joc Pederson, but it stayed in the zone and Pederson crushed it out to right field to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead for the Dodgers — a lead they would not relinquish for a 3-1 win over the Giants at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night.

“We were sinking [Pederson] away off, and it just stayed on the plate and he put a good swing on it,” Samardzija said.

Samardzija had shut the Dodgers down through four innings until giving up the home run in the fourth inning.

The Dodgers added an insurance run in the seventh, and it was manufactured by Yasiel Puig, who led off the inning with a single and stole second. Then, on a single by Yasmani Grandal that was deflected by Joe Panik and rolled into the lip of the outfield grass, Puig aggressively headed home and scored ahead of the throw.

A walk to the next batter forced Samardzija from the game — the righty allowed three runs in six innings of work.

Samardzija, one of the Giants’ big free agent acquisitions, had a 1-0 record with a 3.38 ERA prior to Sunday’s game.

“I’m not upset about how it went today,” Samardzija said. “Obviously, the one pitch was unfortunate but other than that, I think we did exactly what we wanted to do: a lot of balls on the ground, a couple of double plays, some quick innings.”

Joe Panik led off the scoring with a loud home run to right field, his second of the season that put the Giants up 1-0. The run was the first one allowed by Dodgers’ starter Kenta Maeda in the big leagues.

Maeda entered the night not having allowed a run through two starts, each of which lasted six innings.

And after Panik’s home run, he settled down big time. The Giants put their first two runners on in the fourth inning, but Matt Duffy hit into a double play to end the threat. Maeda then retired eight straight Giants, with Brandon Crawford breaking the streak with an opposite-field single in the seventh with one out. But he was promptly erased when Samardzija bunted into a double play.

Manager Bruce Bochy defended the decision to leave Samardzija in the game instead of pinch-hitting for him with the tying run on base.

“He was throwing the ball very well,” Bochy said. “His pitch count was very good.”

Maeda went seven innings and allowed just the one run on four hits, striking out seven. It may have taken the Giants some time to adjust to the Japanese rookie.

“You can’t make excuses,” Buster Posey said. “You’ve just got to go out and do the best you can. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to cash in there early.

“I thought he changed speeds well. Once he got past the first couple innings, he commanded the ball better in the zone.”

The Giants have now lost four of their last five and drop two of three to the Dodgers in the series. The Giants are 4-3 against the Dodgers thus far this season.

“These two teams [the Giants and Dodgers] are going to go at it and we’re going to battle each other all year,” Bochy said. “They’re good games, close games. It’s exciting when we play each other.”

The Giants will head back home to kick off a four-game series against the Diamondbacks on Monday.

Burns makes a lot out of a little in the A’s big 3-2 win over the World Champion Royals

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Moustakas blast
Kansas City Royals’ Mike Moustakas (8) hits a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning of a baseball game, Sunday, April 17, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

 

By Morris Phillips

photo on the cover by AP: Coco Crisp (4) and Josh Reddick (22) jump for joy after the A’s win the series over the Kansas City Royals Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–Billy Burns’ hard hit groundball in the eighth inning didn’t have the look of a game-changer, but it was, keying perhaps the biggest win of the young season to date for the A’s.

Facing Joakim Soria, Burns fought off a 2-2 pitch, sending a two-hopper over and past the first bag and into the visitor’s bullpen, allowing the speedy centerfielder to do what he does best… run. Reymond Fuentes raced over from right field, and bobbled the pickup, which allowed Burns to cruise into third base standing up. Most any other major leaguer—not gifted with Burns’ wheels—would have settled for two bases.

With the blessing of first base umpire Mark Carlson, and by a matter of inches, Burns had put the A’s in position to pull out a 3-2 win over the World Champion Royals, who just happen to be the current kings of pulling out close, low scoring ballgames.

“Fortunate to sneak one down the line there,” Burns said.

“Got it just enough inside the line and hit it just hard enough to get by (first baseman Eric Hosmer),” manager Bob Melvin said.

Burns’ big hit was followed by Josh Reddick’s sacrifice fly that broke a 2-2 tie that for the A’s was plenty hard earned. The A’s game-winning third run may not have been as hard earned as the first two runs, but it was surely a long shot. With the game tied late, Hosmer was hugging the line, and definitely not in the mood to let Burns get a shot for extra bases. But the ball shot past the diving Hosmer, evading his glove by inches.

Earlier the A’s were confounded by Royals’ starter Kris Medlen, who allowed just two hits, and kept the A’s from fully taking advantage of the four walks he issued. The one gift the A’s did benefit from was really on catcher Salvador Perez, who couldn’t snag Medlen’s strikeout pitch to Chris Coghlan, allowing Coghlan to reach on a passed ball, and Coco Crisp to score from third base.

That pulled the A’s within 2-1 in the fourth inning, but they’d get no closer until pinch hitter Jed Lowrie grabbed a bat in the seventh.

Coghlan delivered the hardest hit ball for the A’s on Medlin’s final pitch—one out into the seventh—a ground rule double that one-hopped the centerfield fence. Manager Ned Yost then called upon Kelvin Hererra, his prized setup man, to maintain the narrow lead.

But Lowrie delivered an RBI single on a 3-2 pitch after fighting off a pair of nasty sliders. Lowrie’s hit not only tied the game, but rendered the efficient Medlin to a no-decision.

A’s starter Chris Bassitt got deeper into the game than Medlin, pitching seven full, but also was saddled with a no-decision. Bassitt pitched well again, allowing five hits and two runs with a home run ball allowed to Mike Moustakas with two outs in the fourth the one pitch he wished he could get back.

“I was caught between pitches and wasn’t convicted to it at all,” Bassitt said. “And that’s kind of what happens when you throw a pitch that’s not really convicted against a good hitter. He makes you pay for it.”

Closer Ryan Doolittle was given the day off, and Ryan Madson stepped up in the ninth, earning his fourth save. John Axford pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and picked up the win.  Oakland took the final two against the Royals, after dropping four straight and seven of their first eight games this season at the Coliseum.

The A’s flew to the East Coast after the game and will open a 10-game road trip in New York on Tuesday. After three against the Yankees, the A’s travel to Toronto and then finish with four games in Detroit. Eric Surkamp will pitch the opener at Yankees Stadium, opposed by Michael Pineda in a 4:05pm EST start.

 

San Jose Barracuda Sunday game wrap: Barracuda Clinch Playoff Spot, Dominate in Regular Season Finale

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit San Jose Barracuda: Barracuda celebrate on home ice at SAP Center after clinching for a playoff spot in 6-0 win over the Stockton Heat on Sunday

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Sunday afternoon’s contest at the SAP Center was do-or-die for the San Jose Barracuda. The math was simple; earning a single point from the game would put them in the Calder Cup Playoffs in their inaugural season. Losing in regulation meant the Charlotte Checkers would move over to the Western Conference, taking the final spot by virtue of a higher points-percentage.

“To be honest with you, I was a nervous wreck all day,” added Barracuda coach Roy Sommer.

With everything at stake, coach Roy Sommer’s charges responded to the pressure with a dominant 5-0 blanking of the visiting Stockton Heat.

“It’s hard to get into the playoffs,” said Sommer. “It means your team has to be doing something right.”

6 different players scored, and Jeremey Morin, Nikolay Goldobin and Jeremy Langlois notched multi-point games for playoff bound Barracuda (31-26-8-3). Aaron Dell made 41 saves for his 4th shutout of the season, denying the Stockton Heat (32-32-2-2) an opportunity to play spoiler.

“We could have gone with Grosenick today,” said Sommer. “(Dell) is the one who earned where he’s sitting right now. I went back with him and I thought he was excellent tonight.”

Barracuda forward Barclay Goodrow must have been taken notes on his sometimes-teammate with the San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski. Goodrow opened the game’s scoring 5:11 into play on an identical move to the Shark’s captain’s game-winning goal in the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs against Los Angeles.

Goodrow skated with the puck behind the Heat net, turned the corner around the cage and about-faced to square up with the goal. The winger elevated the puck past Stockton goaltender Nick Schneider for his 20th tally, moving him into a tie with Nikolay Goldobin for the team lead at that time. The tandem of former Ivy League defenseman Gus Young and Joakim Ryan assisted on the goal.

“I thought he was one of our better players tonight,” said Sommer. “He played heavily, went to the net, did a lot of good things.”

San Jose struck once again 1:28 later on tenacious work along the board by Jeremy Langlois. The hard-nosed winger took puck along the boards behind Schneider’s right shoulder while avoiding being checked off the puck. From there, Langlois dropped the puck along the wall to Goldobin. Goldobin slid the puck back to Langlois who had peeled off into the slot for a one-timer. Langlois ripped the puck past Schneider for his 12th of the campaign.

“You could sense it in the dressing room,” said Sommer. “The intensity in the dressing room. The first ten minutes meant business.”

The Barracuda added a pair of goals in the 2nd period with the first strike coming on a piece of smooth passing from the San Jose captain. Bryan Lerg took a puck to Schneider’s right and slid it to a crashing Trevor Parkes. Parkes redirected the puck past Schneider’s left toe for his 18th goal of the season and 3rd of the weekend to put San Jose up 3-0 12:54 into the period.

Goldobin wrestled the scoring lead away from Goodrow just outside the final minute of the period. The Russian winger lifted a puck over Schneider that sent the keeper’s water bottle soaring for a commanding 4-0 lead. Langlois (1g, 1a) and Jeremey Moring (2a) picked up their second points of the evening, assisting on Goldobin’s 21st goal of the year.

“It’s hard to score 20 goals in the American League as a vet, let alone a rookie,” said Sommer. “The talent is coming to the forefront with him. Other coaches are saying ‘Man, that 82 is something.’”

Morin notched his 3rd point of the game on his 16th goal of the season, giving the Barracuda plenty of distance in the opening minutes of the 3rd period.

Noted pugilist Alex Gallant used his hands for something other than fighting, netting his first career AHL goal with 29.4 second remaining in the 3rd. Jordan Sims assisted on the goal for his first point with the Barracuda.

By virtue of earning the final spot in the big dance, the Barracuda will face off against Los Angeles Kings affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The Kings AHL affiliate in 2015, the Manchester Monarchs, took home the Calder Cup last season before LA bumped Ontario up from the ECHL. The Barracuda went 3-6-3 against Ontario in the season series.

“We played them pretty hard all year,” said Sommer. “We played really tight. They haven’t been blowouts by any means.”

“They’ve had our number all year,” added forward Trevor Parkes. “But every game has been a one-goal game. We’ve got all week to prepare.”

NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks hope to end this one in four games; Hawks Crawford all time winninest goalie plus more playoff news

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AP photo: San Jose Sharks Roman Polak left battles for the puck with the Los Angeles Kings Trevor Lewis right in the second period on Saturday night in game two at Staples Center

On the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast the San Jose Sharks who edged the LA Kings 2-1 at Staples Center to take a  2-0 lead in the first round coming back to San Jose on Monday night for game three can the Sharks who have struggled all year at home win the playoffs at SAP Center?

The Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford surpassed ex-Hawk goalie Tony Esposito for most wins by a goalie in post season with 46. Esposito did it in 14 playoff seasons and Crawford still has more playoff games ahead to notch up the record.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in game two on Saturday. The Caps now move into position to knock off the Flyers as they’re up 2-0. The Caps had help with goals scored by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

The Nashville Predators took game one of the first round against the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. This series is expected to be a tight and exciting series. The Ducks during the regular season finished up in first place and the Preds finished with a very impressive record at 41-27-4.

The New York Islanders defeated the Florida Panthers to tie the series all up at 1-1 the Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo helped in front of the net stopping 41 shots in the 3-1 win on Friday night in Miami.

Categories NHL

San Jose Barracuda Saturday post game wrap: Barracuda fail to clinch playoff spot against Stockton

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By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda were 20 minutes away from clinching a playoff spot, but they will have to wait another day after blowing a third period lead to the Stockton Heat in a 5-4 loss on Saturday night.

Up 4-3 in the third period, the Barracuda allowed two goals in 84 seconds. Kenny Agostino tied the game for the Heat, and then Hunter Shinkaruk converted on a wraparound moments later to give the Heat the lead.

The Barracuda had come back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 advantage with three goals in the second period. Nikolay Goldobin cut the lead to one less than two minutes into the second and Nikita Jevpalovs tied the game at 13:56. And less than a minute later, Trevor Parkes delivered a spectacular coast-to-coast goal to give San Jose the lead.

San Jose had fallen behind 3-1 after one period. The Heat converted on their first shot on goal and a late power play goal gave them a two-goal lead into first intermission.

The Barracuda need just one point to clinch a playoff spot, but just one game remains: another date against the Heat, this one at SAP Center on Sunday.

Sharks get first lead and Game 2

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~ (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ LOS ANGELES — San Jose had the first leadoff goal at Staples Center this year, as goalie Martin Jones and the defense in front of him won over the Kings 2-1 Saturday.

Jones was on his way to a shutout until another late game scramble gave Los Angeles a goal.

He has won his last three starts while facing an increasing amount of shots, this latest game turning away 26 of 27 shots. Both teammate Paul Martin and Coach Peter DeBoer talked about his composure. Martin said, “When something happens…not too high, not too low. He’s very focused that way, so I think for us to play in front of him, calms us to know that he’s back there.”

The Sharks captain Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist, two points for the second straight game and now has a four game goal streak.

Pavelski scored on San Jose’s first shot of the game for the second game in a row. Teammate Joe Thornton, who returned to the scoreboard, made a quick and close pass to Brent Burns along the side, who made another quick pass to Pavelski. From the center of the right faceoff circle, he shot it into the net with teammate Tomas Hertl in front of goalie Jonathan Quick at 3:37 of the first.

Pavelski and teammate Logan Couture led the first with two shots apiece. The Kings had five giveaways to the Sharks’ one.

San Jose’s Joel Ward had to leave during the second due to a hit, but was able to return later.

The Sharks got a 5-on-3 due to calls against Tyler Toffoli for roughing and Milan Lucic for charging at 8:14. San Jose took advantage 30 seconds later. Quick saved the initial shot by Pavelski, but Couture put in the rebound. Patrick Marleau got the second assist. That gave their fourth straight power play goal and 15th in 19 games. Couture’s last goal was April 5 and also a game winner.

It looked like it was going to be another quiet third.

There were overlapping power plays at 11:28. San Jose’s Nick Spaling was called for tripping and 29 seconds later, the Kings’ Jeff Carter was called for slashing.

38 seconds after the second power play expired, Los Angeles went on the power play again.

53 seconds into the power play, Vincent Lecavalier scored, aided by Jake Muzzin and Tanner Pearson.  

The teams finished with a combined 87 hits, 40-47. DeBoer said, “It was a hard fought game. It was a man’s game out there. A lot of physical contact, a lot of battles; two teams fully invested…”

Los Angeles’ Alec Martinez was out, as were Kyle Clifford and Andy Andreoff. In was Nick Shore, Marian Gaborik, who returned after being out over two months and Jamie McBain. Coach Daryl Sutter said, “…I thought [Jamie] McBain was our best defensemen and that Gabby [Marian Gaborik] was our best winger.” It was McBain’s first career playoff game.

Game notes: In playoff Game 2 comparisons, the 2013 Round 2 game was a 4-3 score. Both teams are now even at two apiece in Game 2’s. The Kings’ Drew Doughty finished with 29:15 of ice time. The margins for missed shots and attempts blocked were 11 (17-28, 13-24 Los Angeles-Sharks). San Jose will head to home ice, starting with Game 3 Monday at 7:30pm.

San Francisco Giants Saturday game wrap: SF’s Cueto retires first 13 hitters as Giants edge Dodgers 4-3

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by Jessica Kwong

AP photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto points to whose guiding him on the mound as he picks up his third win of 2016 against the LA Dodgers on Saturday

LOS ANGELES–San Francisco Giant Johnny Cueto allowed only one run and struck out seven in seven and one-third innings on Saturday night to give his team a 4-3 victory and snap the rival Los Angeles Dodgers’ three-game winning streak.

The win was highly welcomed after the Giants the previous night lost 7-3 in a matchup between Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw that lopsided in Los Angeles’ favor.

Cueto has started 3-0 for the third time in his career, and Giants manager Bruce

Bochy said he wasn’t surprised he could perform at that level.

It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Cueto allowed a baserunner.

“Look at his track record – he’s had an unbelievable career,” Bochy said. “We know how good he is how.  He competes and yesterday he wasn’t even pitching, he was by me yelling. He’s into the game. He loves being out there and he’s all about winning.”

The Giants’ Joe Panik singled on a ground ball and allowed the Denard Span to put the Giants up 1-0 in the first inning. In the fourth inning, Hunter Pence scored after Brandon Crawrford hit a ground-rule double.

San Francisco brought their lead up to 4-0 in the fifth inning, when Brandon Belt singled a line drive and Panik scored, and Buster Posey scored when Matt Duffy grounded into a double play.

Cueto, who was pulled after 109 pitches, attributed his impressive start this season to “I just staying healthy, working hard and staying aggressive.”

The Dodgers ramped up their game in the seventh inning, when Justin Turner scored off of Kike Hernandez’s line drive. In the eight inning, Corey Seager hit a home run allowing A. J. Ellis to also score and the Dodgers trailed 4-3.

San Francisco held off the Dodgers for the victory on Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s 61st birthday.

With the Giants’ win Saturday, they climb back up to tie the Dodgers at first place in the NL West with a 7-5 record.

The crowd Satuday night was the Dodgers’ third sellout of the season. The third and final game in the series between the rivals starts at 5:05 p.m. Sunday.

A’s end four-game losing streak, beat the Royals behind Gray, Reddick

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Reddick blast
Oakland Athletics’ Josh Reddick, right, is congratulated by Billy Burns and Marcus Semien (10) after hitting a three-run home run off Kansas City Royals pitcher Chris Young in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Morris Phillips

The Coliseum Complex hosted two reigning World Champs on Saturday afternoon in the NBA Warriors and the World Series Champion Royals, dwarfing the A’s and their early-season struggles at home.

Nonetheless, the Athletics—now 26 seasons removed from winning big—measured up by posting a big win, and avoiding their worst start to a season at home since 2001.

Josh Reddick hit a three-run shot in the first inning to back Sonny Gray, who labored through six innings in the A’s 5-3 win. The A’s improved to 5-7 on the season, and won for only the second time in eight games at the Coliseum.

“You never want to say this early in the season anything’s a ‘must’ win, but it was a big win for us,” manager Bob Melvin said.

Stephen Vogt homered for the second consecutive game, and the A’s pounded out double-digit hits for the first time in 2016. But this one was won in the middle innings as Kansas City tried to mount a comeback, challenging Gray with lengthy at-bats in the fourth and fifth inning, but denting the A’s ace for just one run.

Gray’s pitch count mounted in the first three innings, and the fourth and the fifth put him at 100 pitches for the game. Just like they did in their post-season run to the World Series crown, the Royals were battling at the plate, while Gray felt his stuff was good, he was missing location more often than what he would find comfortable .  The A’s defense behind Gray gave, but occasionally took, with second baseman Jed Lowrie committing a pair of errors.

“Today he dug deep for us to get through that sixth inning,” Melvin said of Gray.

“They’re really pesky and make you work for every single out,” Gray said, basically describing each of the first five innings.

With a run in, and two on in the fourth, Gray induced a ground ball from Alcides Escobar that ended the inning. In the fifth, Kendrys Morales looked at a pair of called strikes before grounding into an inning-ending double play with two more runners aboard.

Eager to compete—and win—Gray made sure he avoided eye contact with Melvin when entering the dugout after the fourth and fifth, in fear that the manager would lift his starter. Melvin took Gray’s cue and sent him back out for the sixth.

“Obviously, I’d like to get deeper. But I’m glad they gave me the opportunity to go back out there,” Gray said.

Gray rewarded that faith with a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth that required his final 14 pitches of the afternoon. The A’s bullpen took it from there as John Axford, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson recorded the final nine outs.

Chris Young took the loss for Kansas City, falling to 0-3.  The 6’10” veteran looked like a mechanical mess, allowing Reddick’s blast, walking a couple, and getting pulled in the fifth with the Royals trailing 4-2.

The win ended a four-game losing streak dating back to their sweep last weekend in Seattle. Lucky for Oakland, the AL West hasn’t set the world on fire in the first two weeks, and the first place Rangers—just 7-6—are comfortably within reach.

The A’s look for a series win on Sunday with Chris Bassitt on the mound opposite Kansas City’s Kris Medlin at 1:05pm.

DOOLITTLE SAYS HE FINE, AND MELVIN CONCURS: Sean Doolittle pitched to just one batter, and wasn’t in his familiar closers’ role on Saturday, one day after allowing Eric Hosmer’s mammoth home run over the center field wall, just part of his early struggles that have his ERA sitting at 6.35. Melvin made it clear that his closer hadn’t been demoted, but had earned a reduced role on Saturday after working the previous two days.

Doolittle retired Alex Gordon on seven pitches to end the eighth.

He spoke afterwards, and after looking at video, and speaking to catcher Stephen Vogt, felt encouraged that he hasn’t compounded his trouble by not getting out of innings after allowing some damage. Still, he understands the anxiousness of the fans and others, especially with the team struggling and the specter of Jim Johnson’s awful April two years ago.

“Against the backdrop of what’s been happening this season, it looks way worse than it is,” Doolittle said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Jose Earthquakes Saturday post game wrap: Road Woes Continue for Quakes

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: San Jose Earthquakes

The San Jose Earthquakes controlled the majority of play Saturday at Providence Park  but still fell to the struggling Portland Timbers 3-1. Chris Wondolowski converted a penalty kick in stoppage time for his 7th goal of the season, but the Quakes were trailing 2-0 at the time still seeking out their first road win of the season. Fanendo Adi scored a brace for Portland.

San Jose owned the possession battle, holding on to the ball for 63% of the game, but neither team scored in the opening half. On the other half of the break, Jack McInerney scored in the 52nd minute, then Fanendo Adi added a strike in the 65th minute. Adi would add a stoppage time goal after Wondolowski’s penalty for the 3-1 final.

The Earthquakes held the shots advantage 16-14, but it took Wondolowski’s penalty to beat Timbers replacement keeper Jake Gleason. The penalty came after a Quakes corner kick when a Timbers player held Wondolowski on the attempt. The Quakes striker outwaited Gleason, with the keeper diving to his right while Wondolowski went down the middle. Gleason entered the game after starter Adam Kwarasey left the game with injury. The Timbers have allowed the most goals in the MLS (14) this season and picked up just their second win Saturday.

The Earthquakes return home to face Sporting KC at Avaya Stadium next Sunday.