Author: moepea

I like lilacs, mist and cold air.

Wood, Giants find the time and the place to get past Texas, 3-1

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Texas Rangers have been rough on left-handed starting pitchers this season, so Alex Wood and the Giants knew they’d need a special performance on Monday night.

Special and timely.

The Giants waited until the last possible moment to pounce, but they did just that with a two-run, seventh inning rally that carried them past the Rangers, 3-1 at Oracle Park.

With Wood lifted from the game for pinch-hitter Darin Ruf, the Giants lefty appeared destined for a no-decision despite allowing just four hits and a run in seven innings of work. But Ruf singled, following Austin Slater’s walk and preceding Mauricio Dubon’s tie-breaking base hit. Suddenly, Wood was in business, cheering loudly from the dugout and leading 2-1.

For those scoring at home, that’s three, consecutive right-handed hitting pinch-hitters–with spotty records–coming through with two outs and the game on the line.

“I liked that (Giants manager Gabe Kapler) used all his pinch hitters there. If they had not scored, then we had them in trouble,” Texas manager Chris Woodward recounted. “We just didn’t execute a pitch there at the end.”

How spotty? Ruf had managed just one hit in ten pinch-hitting appearances coming in, and Dubon, the last guy any manager would want hitting deep in a count, had just one hit in 31 plate appearances this season with a two-strike count.

So what does Dubon do with the game in the balance? He fouls off five, consecutive pitches and singles to center field on the eighth pitch of the at-bat to give his team the lead.

“If you don’t end up scoring a run, you’re almost out of players,” Kapler said. “Dubon’s at-bat was excellent, that’s the one that’s going to stand out. But Slater’s was equally as good and Ruf’s was awesome.”

The Rangers then contributed to the Giants’ fortunes when third baseman Charlie Culberson one-hopped his throw across the diamond for an error that allowed Mike Yastrzemski to reach and Ruf to score.

Wood improved his record to 4-0 (in just five starts) by avoiding any explosive hits outside Khris Davis’ triple off the bricks in the fifth, and hanging around in a matchup with Texas’ Kyle Gibson, who has a similar reclamation story to Wood’s and was almost as good on Monday.

Gibson pitched six innings, allowing four his and a run while striking out six. He did surrender a solo shot to Brandon Belt, the game’s first run in the fourth inning.

Wood became just the third lefty starter to defeat the Rangers joining Steven Matz and Mike Minor, who both accomplished the feat in the season’s first week. Since then, the Rangers have compiled a major league-best 12 wins against left-handed starters, including the last six opportunities consecutively.

The Rangers lost in interleague play for the 13th time in their last 14 matchups. The Giants improved to 13-4 at home, tying their best start to a season at home in their San Francisco history.

The teams conclude their brief series Tuesday afternoon with Texas’ Jordan Lyles facing Logan Webb.

A’s see 3-0 lead evaporate in a flash in series-ending loss to the Rays

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s were having a weekend to their liking, dominating all the high leverage moments against the Rays, and pocketing a pair of wins in the process.

Then the fifth inning arrived, and the similarities between these two, scrappy small-market teams became readily apparent.

Simply, the Rays became the A’s.

Down 3-0, and facing the possibility of a sweep at the hands of the A’s, Tampa Bay responded, first getting a three-run homer from Wily Adames to tie it, and then a tie-breaking solo shot from Mike Brousseau in the sixth to sneak past Oakland, 4-3 at the Coliseum.

While neither team will scare opponents with a dominant, offensive attack, the A’s and Rays will shock opponents with big hits in big moments, and in this case, the Rays took their turn with the game on the line on Sunday.

“Home runs can make a lot of questions go away,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “The offense has been kind of grinding, battling through a little bit of a tough stretch here. But those home runs can really help alleviate questions after the game. So I know it’s one swing of the bat, but when you’ve got some guys on, it’s huge.”

The A’s settled Friday night’s opener with Seth Brown’s walk-off job in the ninth. Then on Saturday, Brown came up big again as his home run and RBI single gave the A’s a pair of two-run leads. But Sunday was the defending AL Champs response, and they made it stick to avoid the sweep.

“We felt pretty good at 3-0, but they’re a team that comes back,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “They’re scrappy like we are, and its probably gonna go down to the end, it did.”

Giants rained out in Denver, DH scheduled for Tuesday

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By Morris Phillips

Cold temperatures and rain kept the Giants and Rockies from play in the opener of their three-game series in Denver on Monday.

The clubs–and their pitching staffs–get a soft landing with a doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday with both games shortened to seven innings.

Alex Wood is the scheduled starter for the opener at 2:40pm, and Aaron Sanchez, Monday’s scheduled starter, will pitch the nightcap.

The postponement is welcome news for Trevor Story, Brandon Crawford and others on both teams who are nicked up and could use an extra day to heal.

The Dodgers were postponed in Chicago, and the Padres won at home over the Pirates, a combination that keeps the Giants in first place in the NL West at 17-11.

Ramon To The Rescue: Laureano takes control late, A’s rally to beat the Orioles, 7-5

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The second Ramon Laureano fist pump came about six minutes after the first. And in Oakland A’s parlance, that’s the definition of winning time as the centerfielder hand-delivered a 7-5 win over the Orioles at the Coliseum.

Laureano’s first act was a leaping catch of D.J. Stewart’s drive to the centerfield wall that would have broken a 5-5 tie and given the Orioles an eighth-inning lead. Instead, Stewart stood motionless at the plate staring at Laureano with the ball snow-coned in his glove. The great catch picked up reliever Yusmeiro Petit–who responded with a fist pump of his own–and left Ryan Mountcastle stranded at second base.

Then with two outs in the bottom of the inning, and Mark Canha on board with a single, Laureano delivered a go-ahead two-run homer off Travis Lakins, who hadn’t allowed a run and only two hits in his previous nine appearances this season.

“He’s unbelievable out there in center,” starting pitcher Sean Manaea said of Laureano. “Each time it just impresses you a little bit more than it already has, which is insane because the bar is already crazy high. It’s awesome.”

“That’s just taking over a game,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s taking away two and giving you two. That’s pretty dramatic stuff.”

The win eased the frustration of dropping three straight to Baltimore and kept the A’s ahead of the pack in the AL West, a game in front of the Mariners, and a game-and-a-half ahead of the Astros.

The A’s came in a week removed from their 13-game win streak, a stark reminder in itself that the team had won just three of 15 outside the streak, including eight losses at home. Getting swept by the Orioles, along with producing baseball’s most bizarre story of the weekend–Jesus Luzardo breaking his finger while playing video games–wasn’t the team’s preference for sure.

But the improving O’s gave the A’s all they could handle, tying the game, 2-2 in the third, 4-4 in the fifth, then briefly leading 5-4 in the seventh.

It was at that point the A’s took control and the Orioles’ two bullpen standouts–Lakins and Paul Fry–uncharacteristically allowed runs to score. That Laureano was in the middle of it all wasn’t a surprise, the defensive standout has developed a reputation for lifting his team in high-leverage situations.

The A’s welcome back Marcus Semien on Monday, as the Blue Jays arrive for a four-game set with Frankie Montas and Steven Matz battling in the opener.

Welcoming Walks: Rockies provide gifts, as Giants roll to a 7-2 win

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Well, it’s like a walk in the park, or even better, like walking your dog.

Just know, when it goes down at a Major League park, it’s only good for the walkers… seeing highly paid competitors on the other side of a walk parade standing around their infield positions, slumped with their heads down, trying to figure out how their big league clubs reverted to Little League all of a sudden will simply make you uncomfortable.

The Rockies did all of that Wednesday night, as Colorado pitchers issued nine walks–and surrendered nine singles–in their 7-3 loss to the Giants. Alex Wood no-hit the visitors into the sixth inning as well, but now we’re just dumping on the dog. The Giants are playing well, but this one was really about how poorly the Rockies competed.

“That’s unacceptable for a big-league pitching staff to walk nine guys,” manager Bud Black said.

Three of the walks came with the bases loaded–that’s only happened three times in the history of the Rockies–and each one sucked the life out of the team starting in the second inning. Starter German Marquez issued a pair of the costly walks, essentially half of a four-run inning that put the Giants comfortably in front.

The Rockies fell to 1-8 on the road this season, one night after they hit three homers after the eighth inning and drew seven walks, all signs of a club being dialed in even with a string of undesirable results. But Wednesday, the Rockies dialed out and the Giants pounced.

In the seventh, Mike Tauchman, in his three-hit Giants’ debut, reached on an infield single that scored Evan Longoria. The next batter, Curt Casali drew the third, bases loaded walk from Yency Almonte, and the Giants led 6-2. Wilmer Flores, not patient enough to see a couple of balls, concluded the scoring with a hard hit single that plated Brandon Crawford.

“He was exactly as advertised,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of Tauchman, acquired from the Yankees in s deal for reliever Wandy Peralta. “Comfortable in the outfield. In the batter’s box, he’s a fighter. Very competitive.”

Wood did what many were anticipating, he added a third, brilliant outing to his brief career with the Giants, improving to 3-0 with 20 strikeouts and three walks. The 30-year old was sharp throughout with his slider, and just needed a near diving catch from Darin Ruf to extend his spell on the Rockies to seven innings. The eighth however was a struggle for Wood, who was lifted after allowing three singles and a walk consecutively.

“I feel like I’m dialed in, and I had all three (pitches) working tonight,” said Wood, no longer burdened by the back and shoulder issues that caused the Dodgers and Reds to lose patience with him in recent seasons. “Just commanding the ball well right now.”

The Giants improved to 16-9, tied with the Dodgers atop the NL West. Pitching continues to be their calling card, they rank second in team ERA at 2.93. But the potential of their offense, with 31 home runs despite an anemic, team batting average of .224 gives them hope for even greater growth once their bats gain efficiency.

After winning 5 of 7 at home, the Giants start a stretch of 20 of 28 on the road starting with a Friday night date with the Padres at Petco Park.

–

Hard-hitting Giants strike early and take care of the Rockies, 12-0

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants love to get their most violent, damaging swings in when they see a pitch they can drive. In MLB circles, that’s common knowledge about the club in 2021.

So Rockies starter Austin Gomber knew it, but couldn’t stop it in the Giants’ 12-0 win on Monday.

Before he was lifted in the second inning, Gomber gave up seven, solidly struck hits, walked four, and was charged with nine runs despite recording just five outs. The shortest starting assignment of his career included his most hits (7) and runs allowed (9) as well.

What’s worse for Gomber? He probably didn’t even sense that trouble was brewing. The key piece moving from St. Louis to Denver in the Nolan Arenado trade has been pitching well and cruised into the seventh inning on April 9, allowing three hits and a run, in his only other start at Oracle Park.

“A lot of the hits were just middle of the plate,” Gomber said afterwards. “I think it was more about execution and putting myself in bad counts. They had a good game plan.”

Manager Bud Black intimated that there may have been more to Gomber’s uncharacteristic performance in that the pitcher may have tipped his pitches. But both pitcher and manager agreed they couldn’t say more in that regard without consulting the videotape.

“I think that there were some pitches in the middle of the plate that they squared up,” Black said. “But we’re going to look at some video to see if there was something more to it.”

With the socially-distanced crowd of 4,129 thinned even more by uncomfortable wind and cold, the voices, pitches and bats were audible throughout the park. The Giants’ loud contact off Gomber made an impression. Their breakout performance included three doubles and a two-run homer from Buster Posey off Jhoulys Chacin in the sixth.

Posey knocked in a run in the four-run first inning, and Evan Longoria, in his return to the lineup following a weekend of inactivity due to a hamstring injury, knocked in runs in the first and second innings.

Gomber was lifted trailing 6-0, but two pitches later Mauricio Dubon’s bases-loaded double off Chacin made it 9-0.

“There’s not much to complain about tonight. What’s there to pick apart?” manager Gabe Kapler said. “The guys did a great job.”

Anthony DeSclafani pitched a complete game shutout for the Giants, allowing three hits, one walk while striking out nine. DeSclafani has allowed five earned runs over five starts and 30 innings pitched. His 1.50 ERA is dramatically lower than the 3.28 he posted in 2016 for the Reds, in his previous best season at the major league level.

“I kinda peaked at my pitch count and saw that it was low and I knew I had a chance to finish the game as long as I beared down and didn’t get too lax and tried to continue making pitches,” DeSclafani said.

The Giants have won 13 of 18 after a 2-3 start to match the record of the first-place Dodgers at 15-8. The two clubs don’t meet for the first time until May 21, with the Giants having 21 scheduled games against lesser competition prior to that date.

Cut down at Camden Yards: A’s 13-game win streak ends with 8-1 loss to the Orioles

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By Morris Phillips

Well, you can’t argue about a 13-game win streak, especially the A’s just concluded job with all the runs they scored and how lopsided many of the wins were.

No stretch to say that the A’s were hot enough that they weren’t going to lose to just anyone, not after constructing the biggest win streak in MLB in nearly four years.

Well, on Sunday afternoon John Means wasn’t just anyone. Means pitched into the seventh inning and refused to let any Oakland hitter get solid contact on his pitches outside Ramon Laureano’s solo shot in the fourth, his only blemish.

Austin Hays was the just the high-level sidekick Means needed, with homers in the second and fourth innings to give the Orioles a lead then give them lead for good. Baltimore added five runs in the bottom of the eighth to win convincingly.

Bob Melvin was philosophical after such a disappointing ending to a brilliant two-week stretch.

“I mean, you do want to win series but you also want to get greedy. And we’ve been greedy here recently,” the A’s manager said. “It’s about winning every game that you go out there and play. At the end of the day, if you leave and you win a series, that’s a good thing. But we wanted to win today. We wanted to win bad today.”

Means lowered his ERA in April to 1.50 by being the master of versatility, mixing in a moderate number of strikeouts (6) with a lot of weak contact on balls put in play, along with a hint of caution, three walks issued all at strategic junctures. On a day where Means threw more balls and had pitches fouled off (57 of 101 total pitches) than guys normally do and have success, the 28-year old veteran helped himself with a lot of patience and determination.

“He was exceptional today,” manager Brandon Hyde said of his ace. “The way he’s throwing the baseball right now — you feel good about your chances when John Means is on the mound. This is a guy who is going to pound the strike zone and be really competitive with multiple pitches to mix. He’s facing playoff-type lineups and going into the seventh inning.”

Means, a draft day afterthought who has worked himself into a staff number one, has seen just three starters perform better through the season’s first five starts: only Jacob de Grom, Corbin Burnes and Joe Musgrove have lower ERAs. The key for a Cy-Young level performer who has never had overpowering stuff?

Keep ’em off-balance.

“Because of the breaking balls, they can’t just look high-low anymore,” Hyde said of Means’ repertoire. “Being a little more unpredictable and his pitch mix is going to create guys not being on time. That’s the difference between this year and in the last couple years.”

The first-place A’s aren’t a playoff-type lineup just yet–not after the most fascinating and confounding 22-game start to a season in a lengthy period of big league history. But after Sunday, they know what needs fixing: an anemic team batting average of .218.

The best American League pitchers will take advantage of a lineup that makes too many outs and strikes out nearly nine times a game. The A’s and Bob Melvin are aware of it, as were Jose Berrios, Matthew Boyd and Jose Urena, the other starting pitchers that pitched well against Oakland during the 13-game streak. The A’s ability to draw walks, hit home runs, and make decisive, offensive plays in close games will only take them so far. In this case, 13 games into what could have a been a 14-game win streak.

The A’s head to St. Petersburg for a three-game set with the Rays that starts Monday. A potential rematch with Means looms for the opener of the homestand on Friday night at the Coliseum.

Casali, Giants dial up another shutout, Giants open homestand with a 3-0 win over the Marlins

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Deceptive advertising, that’s what it is.

The Giants tout a cerebral hitting approach, a lineup of dangerous sluggers, and explosive offense delivered late in games, but when you get to the park they give you pitching, more pitching and shutouts.

Not that there have been complaints…

Curt Casali, the Giants previously unknown backup catcher signed as a free agent in January, grabbed a slice of big league history Thursday by being the starting catcher in a fifth, consecutive Giants’ shutout, 3-0 over the Marlins. The feat hadn’t been accomplished by any big league catcher since Francisco Cervelli did it in 2015, and it brings Casali within one of Ed Phelps’ (Pirates) major league record of catching six, consecutive shutouts. Only five catchers–including Casali–have achieved the feat since 1901.

But what sets Casali apart from the other notable catchers, says it all about the 2021 Giants: five different starting pitchers have participated in the streak, a first. And nine different relievers have participated in the streak, no record, but impressive nonetheless.

Simply, the Giants have quality pitching and a couple of capable engineers running the show behind the plate.

“Me and Buster have worked really, really hard behind the scenes,” Casali said. “It feels like, finally, it comes to the forefront. I’m pretty proud. Obviously l’m not the one throwing the pitches.”

The advertised offense simply needed a cameo appearance versus the Marlins, providing three runs in the first. All three runs came after the first two hitters were retired on a single, two doubles with a walk of Evan Longoria mixed in.

Donovan Solano was placed on the injured list before the game with a calf injury. Longoria departed Thursday’s game after one at-bat, due to tightness in his hamstring. And Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford are dealing with various physical issues that kept both out of the starting lineup.

That’s the entire, Opening Day infield lineup out, and everything else the Giants had to offer in, yet they still made it work. Anemic batting averages, lessened defense at the corners, a travel-weary bunch returning from Philadelphia, but fortified with a bunch of quality pitches. That was the formula Thursday and Aaron Sanchez set the tone.

Sanchez allowed two hits, no walks in five innings, and did so with the speed on his fastball noticeably lacking. It mattered little as he induced ground-based and weak contact during his stint while lowering his ERA across four starts and nearly 20 innings to 1.83.

“My velo is down, but it’s been down,” Sanchez said. “It’s about getting outs, so I don’t really (reflect on) how hard I’m throwing.”

Gregory Santos followed Sanchez with his Major League debut and 98 mph fastballs mixed with 90 mph sliders made the occasion special. Santos struck out pinch-hitter Magneuris Sierra and leadoff man Jazz Chisolm, Jr. before inducing a ground out from Miguel Rojas on a 2-2 pitch.

With Santos and Camilo Duval, who debuted last week, the Giants bullpen has two, dynamic new arms. The catch? Both are extremely inexperienced, but talented, a gap that isn’t always bridged. But in these cases, the team’s willing to try.

The Giants’ 12-7 record is second only to the Dodgers among the 30 ballclubs. Achieving that mark with only seven home dates thus far is impressive, given the Giants have only lost once at Oracle Park.

On Friday night, Alex Wood faces Miami’s Sandy Alcantara at 6:45pm.

One Belt, Two Runs: Giants win 2-0 in Philly

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By Morris Phillips

Philadelphia fans will boo anyone at anytime. They’re pretty much known for that.

But it’s not all knucklehead behavior, there’s some common sense in there as well. So when it became clear that this was Gabe Kapler’s night, Philly fans relented.

The Giants, behind Brandon Belt’s bat and brilliant pitching, shut down the Phillies and stopped the boos, winning 2-0 at Citizens Bank Park on Monday.

Kevin Gausman survived six eventful innings to pick up the win and three Giants’ relievers finished the job, sparing Kapler any trips to the mound to incite the boo birds. The win, Kapler’s 200th as a manager, superceded all that huffing and puffing anyway.

“My feelings are I’m just kind of focused on doing a good job with the San Francisco Giants,” Kapler said when asked about his first return after two seasons managing the Phillies, “And that’s genuinely how I feel.”

What could have been all hyped up and agitated, was rendered mundane, first by Belt, who provided all the scoring in the third with a two-run shot off starter Chase Anderson. The slugger welcomed Anderson’s hanging breaking ball and redirected it 372 feet away beyond the right centerfield wall. But Belt’s blow didn’t portend a slugfest.

Instead, Gausman settled in, Anderson didn’t allow anything else and batters on both sides squandered some choice opportunities. The teams combined to go 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position, but it felt like Gausman faced all 15, as the Giants’ ace wiggled out of jam after jam.

“He wasn’t lights-out stuff — I think he’ll tell you the same,” Kapler said of Gausman. “He was just a fighter today, and I think that’s the reason he was able to do what he did.”

In the fourth, Gausman was saddled with runners at second and third, no outs. But he executed Plan A, striking out Mickey Moniak and Nick Maton, hitters with little big league experience (26 at-bats combined) inexplicably hitting back-to-back in the Philadelphia lineup. Pinch hitter Brad Miller was next, and Gausman tricked him with a splitter that was grounded to third for an easy third out.

Matt Wisler, Camilo Doval, and Wandy Peralta each contributed an inning of scoreless relief and the Giants had back-to-back shutouts after Sunday’s 1-0 win at Miami.

Kapler’s 200th win came with the fourth-year manager stuck on 200 losses, giving him the unique distinction in Major League history of holding both totals at same time. But that is his history: finishing two games under .500 with the Phillies (2018) and Giants (2020), and exactly. 500 in Philadelphia in 2019. This season’s 10-6 start–ironically with Kapler’s starting pitchers and bullpen being deployed brilliantly and backing it up with their performances–reflects the growth, especially juxtaposed against his numbers from the previous seasons.

“Hopefully it’s a big win for him, his first time coming back to Philly,” Gausman said of his manager. “It was a good way to kind of set the tone for this series.”

The Giants and Phillies resume play Tuesday with the Webb/Wheeler matchup at 4:05pm. Logan Webb returns to the starting rotation due to Johnny Cueto’s injury to face Zack Wheeler, who was traded from the Giants’ farm system nearly a decade ago.

A’s win streak hits eight, sweep the Tigers with 3-2 walk off job

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s tried to give Sunday’s contest away, but it was the Tigers that actually booted it, on Jeimer Candelario’s fielding error in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Mitch Moreland’s sharply hit ground ball got under Candelario’s glove and body, allowing Matt Olson to score from second base, in the A’s 3-2 win at the Coliseum.

What appeared to be an unlikely mistake with the game on the line gained greater context in the recent history between the two clubs in which the A’s have dominated, winning 22 of 23 since June 2015. Simply, disaster strikes Detroit when facing the A’s, and the Tigers’ new manager A.J. Hinch is merely catching up to the facts.

“Everything that kind of could go wrong did go wrong in this four-game series,” Hinch said. “We didn’t hit and then ultimately we just couldn’t finish them all off.”

Before the game’s deciding play, the A’s did plenty to damage their hopes, especially in leaving a baserunner stranded at third base in the fourth and eighth innings, as five Oakland hitters failed to hit the ball past the infield, and three of the five struck out. Overall, the A’s were 0 for 7 with a runner in scoring position, along with Mark Canha getting picked off first base in the second, and Aramis Garcia hitting into a double play in the fifth.

But while the A’s shot themselves in the foot on the basepaths, starter Chris Bassitt was keeping the A’s afloat with his first exemplary outing of 2021.

Bassitt went six innings, striking out eight, and retiring 14 of 15 in one stretch. The 32-year old veteran relied heavily on his mid-90’s cutter throughout, and caused Detroit’ batters pause with occasional curves and changeups. After being uncharacteristically wild at Arizona, Bassitt controlled his space by starting 15 of 25 batters with strikes, and issuing just two free passes.

“I thought he threw great,” manager Bob Melvin said of Bassitt. “We just didn’t score enough, didn’t support him enough early on. But he only ends up giving up two runs and keeping us in the game.”

The sixth inning offered the Tigers an opportunity they couldn’t refuse or squander, that after an amazing streak of 23 scoreless innings dating back to the first inning on Friday. Candelario drew a leadoff walk, then Willi Castro singled. With two outs, and after both runners advanced, Harold Castro delivered a two-run single and the lead to the Tigers.

Castro’s master stroke effectively ended Bassitt’s afternoon as well, but it didn’t end Detroit’s misfortune at the Coliseum.

In the bottom of ninth with the game tied following Sean Murphy’s solo shot, the sun demanded it make an impactful, cameo appearance. Victor Reyes was cast as the victim, unable to locate Olson’s fly ball as it landed harmlessly 20 feet to his right. That set the A’s up with the potential game-winning run at second base 6with one out. After Matt Chapman struck out, and Murphy walked, Moreland entered as a pinch-hitter batting lefty against left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.

And Moreland made it work.

The A’s were hoping to continue their mastery of AL Central teams on Monday, but the Twins are dealing with COVID issues on multiple fronts and they were shutdown Saturday and Sunday against the Angels, then not cleared for Monday in Oakland. The hope is the Twins’ positive tests will cease and they can resume play with a Twins-A’s doubleheader on Tuesday.

The A’s hope so: they’ve won 69 of 89 since June 2017 against the Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Indians and Royals.