Thursday, March 29, 2024

Cleveland (1-0). 010 500 002. 8. 11 1

Athletics (0-1). 000 000 000. 0. 4. 1

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 13,522

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Before this evening’s opening game of the 2024 American League season, the Oakland United Coalition and the Oakland 68s held a joint press conference in the Coliseum parking lot to demand that the county sell its half interest in the property to the city of Oakland, rather than to the group that calls itself the Coliseum Way Partners, a Fisher family front.

In announcing the event, the protesters stated, ” If the Board of Supervisors moves forward with the County’s sale of the Coliseum to the Oakland A’s ownership, the billionaire Fisher family will further disenfranchise a community that has suffered from neglect, disinvestment, and poverty for decades.

The team’s management has made it clear that they are unwilling to negotiate in good faith with the community, the City of Oakland, and the Port of Oakland and instead have been a barrier to development and the flow of services and resources to a community that desperately needs them.

By selling the County’s stake in the Coliseum to the City of Oakland, local residents and fans will have a greater say in ensuring the site is used to create a safe, healthy, vibrant, and economically viable community.”

The weather in the parking lot was, like the deal the A’s are offering their host city, raw. The events inside the Coliseum proper, also suited the occasion. The current tenants of that decaying edifice were facing a club from Cleveland, home of the fictional team in Major League, the 1989 film in which a benighted ownership tries to tear down the club in order to move the franchise.

Game recap: In the movie, the scheme backfires and the then Indians put together a pennant winning season. But there was no happy ending for the Athletics tonight; Cleveland steam rolled them, 8-0.

On the mound for the Athletics was Alex Wood, an 11 year veteran southpaw who finished 2023 with a 5-5, 4.33 record for the Giants. He went 0-0, 4.40 in his four spring training starts. Those less than mediocre numbers looked good compared with the ones he put up tonight. He allowed six runs, all earned, on seven hits, a walk, and a hit batter in 3-1/3 innings. He threw 64 pitches, 44 for strikes. He took the loss and now is 0-1, 16.20.

Oakland fan favorite Stephen Vogt, making his managerial debut for the Guardians, chose Shane Bieber for his starter. The 28 year old righty presented more impressive credentials than Wood, having gone 5-6, 3.80 in ’23 but 60-32 lifetime. He was quite effective tonight, shutting out the A’s on four hits and a walk while striking out 11 of them in only six frames. He left after throwing 83 pitches, 55 for strikes.

Eli Morgan replaced him after the 13,522 people in attendance asked God to bless America and set the A’s down 1-2-3 in the seventh, as did Tim Herrin in the eighth and Nick Sandlin in the ninth. Bieber’s performance gave him a record of 1-0, 0.00.

Cleveland drew first blood, on back to back one out doubles to left and left center, respectively, by David Fry and Tyler Freeman. The Guardians padded their lead in the next frame, sending Wood to the showers on another one out double, this time by Josh Naylor; Fry’s single to left; a hit batter, Freeman; and RBI singles by Andrés Giménez, and Austin Hedges, the last one of the infield variety.

After Brayan Roccio smacked another two bagger, Kyle Muller took over and stopped the hemorrhage. He stayed on the bump through the top of the fifth, going 2-2/3 innings and allowing only one hit and notching up two Ks. 24 of his 32 offerings counted as strikes. TJ McFarland relieved him at the start of the seventh and set the side down in order before yielding to Michael Kelly for the eighth.

He wiggled out of a bases loaded situation to hold the Guardians’ lead at 6-0 but surrendered Cleveland’s final two tallys, which Ramírez drove in with a triple off the right field wall and Fry with a sac fly that scored Ramírez. McFarland would have given up more if it weren’t for Seth Brown’s diving grab of a Freeman liner. The Guardians challenged the out call, but it was confirmed.

There were a few bright spots in the Athletics’ dreary performance. Gelof pulled off two beautiful plays, a backhand snatch and throw Naylor’s grounder in the second and a brilliant off-balance throw to nab the speedy Ramón Laureano at first in the fifth, and Noda made a spectacular diving catch of Steven Kwan’s game-opening pop up.

The Guardians and Athletics will go at it again tomorrow evening at the Coliseum. That’s Friday, March 29 at 6:40. This time, a right hander, Ross Stripling, will start for the A’s, and a lefty, Logan Allen, will take the mound for Cleveland.