Oakland A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty is one of seven Athletics that were out for the home opener against the Baltimore Orioles at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Apr 18, 2022 (AP News file photo)

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

The Oakland A’s (5-5) surprised a lot of the oddsmakers after they were predicted to pretty much have a rough start not to mention a very unexpected opening of the season to open a ten game road trip.

The A’s who lost two out of three to the Philadelphia Phillies but won that last and final third game and got inspiration and won three out of four in Tampa Bay including a 13-2 landslide on Mon Apr 11th at Tropicana Field.

Then the A’s who lost two out of three to the Toronto Blue Jays did pick up a win on Thu Apr 14th winning a two run ball game 7-5. The A’s on trip got some run production from catcher Sean Murphy and some closing help from Lou Trivino. The A’s went 5-5 which was unexpected on the trip.

On the Covid list: On that last A’s road trip the A’s might have got away with a lot with a relatively unexpected successful road trip going 5-5 but for the A’s home opener the A’s have seven players out with Covid 19 protocol issues, outfielder Stephen Piscotty, catcher Austin Allen, infielders Jed Lowrie, Chad Pinder, pitchers AJ Puk, Lou Trivino and Kirby Snead. Called up infielders Nick Allen and Christian Lopes, and pitcher Sam Selman. The A’s who opened up their season in Philadelphia on Fri Apr 8th came at a time when the city of Philadelphia is having a relatively large BA 2 Variant outbreak and has mandated mask wearing and social distancing.

The Baltimore Orioles are 3-6 but had won two of their last three games against the New York Yankees at Camden Yards. This could be a lot closer of a series than the oddsmakers are predicting.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio lead play by play announcer heard on flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com