Month: September 2017

Cleveland Indians fans celebrate a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, in Cleveland. The Indians set the American League record with 21 consecutive wins. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston-The Cleveland Indians, led by Manager Terry Francona, broke the A’s record of twenty consecutive wins on Wednesday in Cleveland. The A’s set the record in 2002 with twenty wins in a row. Many People thought the record would stand longer than fifteen years, but the Indians did as they won their twenty-first of the year beating the Detroit Tigers 5-3.

Players, managers, coaches, and fans know that records are meant to be broken. The A’s sent their congratulations to Francona and the Indians. Francona was the A’s bench coach in 2003 and left the A’s to take the Red Sox job in2004. Everyone knows what he did in Boston. He took the 2004 team to the World Series crown and ended an 86-year drought. Francona won it again in 2011 and last year, almost did it again as his Indians lost to the Cubs in extra innings.

All anyone can say is way to go Indians and here’s hoping the team breaks the twenty-six game Major League record set by the New York Giants in 1916.

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Blake Treinen, right, celebrates with catcher Bruce Maxwell after the A’s defeatedthe Boston Red Sox 7-3 in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston- The A’s evened the series with the Red Sox as they ambushed Red Sox starter, Doug Fister in the very first inning on their way to a 7-3 victory. Fister, in his last three outings, had given up one or two runs in the first inning. In those games, he was able to right the ship and pick up the win. That did not happen Wednesday night in Beantown. It was a tough loss for the Muddy River boys as their hated rivals, the New York Yankees, beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 and picked up a game in the race for the AL East crown.

The A’s scored four times in the first inning. Jed Lowrie drove in a run with his second triple of the series. Lowrie was the Sox’ shortstop when he broke into the lineup in 2008 and was with Boston for five seasons. His triple drove in Marcus Semien with the first run of the game and Jed scored when Khris Davis singled to center. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, who is wowing everyone with his fielding and bat, hit his eighteenth dinger of the year to up the score to 4-0. Boston scored a run in the bottom of the first to make it 4-1.

The A’s plated two more in the third inning. Jed Lowrie doubled to drive in MAtt Joyce with the A’s fifth run. Lowrie scored on a fielder’s choice.  The Sox scored a run in their half of the third, but the A’s still led by four. 6-2 after three innings of play.

The Red Sox’ Jackie Bradley, Jr hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. The A’s got the run back in the sixth. There was no more scoring, and the A’s bullpen did their job as they limited Boston to just three hits and no runs the rest of the way. The A’s win 7-3.

Game Notes- The A’s Jharel Cotton, who received support from the offense, won his eighth of the year and is now 8-10. He went five innings and allowed six hits and three runs. Bradley tagged him for a solo home run and giving up home runs has been the bane for Cotton this year. A’s manager Bob Melvin used five relievers to finish the game.

With the loss and the Yankee win, Boston’s lead over New York shrunk to just three games with seventeen left to play. Dustin Pedroia and Bradley, Jr. were the hitting starts for Boston. Pedroia had three hits, and Bradley smoked his sixteenth big fly of the year.

Game three of the series will be played Thursday at 10:30 am. Daniel Gossett will be making his first start ever against Boston and will be opposed by lefty Drew Pomeranz who is a former Athletic and would love nothing more than beating his old team.

Oakland Athletics players celebrate their victory over the Houston Astros in a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O

1) What happened with the A’s over the weekend – why were they able to dominate the Astros

2) Cleveland’s 2-0 shutout over the Detroit Tigers ties them with the 2002 Oakland A’s for 20 straight wins in a season Tuesday night

3) How important is this 9 game road trip?

4) The 2018 schedule was released today- how does it look for the fans ?

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts, right, is congratulated by Hanley Ramirez after his two run home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park in Boston, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Boston- The Boston Red Sox pounded the A’s Tuesday night as Mookie Betts hit two homers and a triple that drove in six runs and the Red Sox won 11-1. The A’s Sean Manaea, who is left-handed, did not have a happy experience in Fenway Park this evening. Fenway has been a graveyard for lefties over the years, and Manaea became another victim.

The A’s, on the strength of a Jed Lowrie double, plated the first run of the game in the first inning. The lead didn’t last long as the Bosox tallied five times in the bottom of the second. The big blow was a triple off the bat of Mookie Betts. Betts homered in the fourth with a man aboard and the Sox extended the lead to 7-1. Manaea’s night was over. He went just 3 and 2/3rds innings, and he gave up eleven hits and seven runs.

The Sox scored two in the fifth and two in the sixth. Mookie Betts hit his second homer of the night with a man aboard off Raul Alcantara to make it an 11-1 game. There was no more scoring after the sixth inning.

Game Notes. Eduardo Rodriguez evened his record at 5-5 and is now 2-0 versus the A’s in his career. He went six innings and gave up just one run and one hit. Manaea absorbed the loss, and his record is now even at 10-10.

The hitting stars for Boston were Dustin Pedroia, Chris Young, Xander Bogaerts, and Mookie Betts. Betts became the first Red Sox player to have two consecutive 20-20 seasons. The only other Red Sox player to have two 20-20 season was Jackie Jensen who did it in 1954 and 1959.

The line score for the A’s was one run, three hits, and two more errors. The Red Sox line was eleven runs on sixteen hits and no errors. With the win, the Red Sox, coupled with the Yankees’ loss to Tampa Bay, increased their lead in the Eastern Division to four games.

Just a historical note: The Cleveland Indians tied the A’s record of twenty consecutive wins Tuesday night to tie the American League record. The Major League record is held by the New York Giants. They won twenty-six in a row way back when.

Game two of the series will be Wednesday night in Boston. Jharel Cotton will go for Oakland, and the Sox will counter with lefty Drew Pomeranz. Game time is at 4:10 pm.