Author: Matthew Harrington

Chapman’s First Walk-Off Homer Gives A’s 4-3 Win Over Tribe

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics walked off 4-3 against the Cleveland Indians, thanks to Matt Chapman’s first career walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning at the Coliseum on Friday night.

The game was back-and-forth with both the A’s and Indians trading leads. Joakim Soria (1-2, 4.66 ERA) picked up the win after pitching two lights-out innings with three strikeouts while Brad Hand (2-2, 1.62 ERA) wound up the loser after the first batter he faced, Chapman, took him deep over the left field wall.

Until Chapman came to the plate to start the bottom of the 12th inning, neither team had so much as a baserunner in extras. Chapman worked a 2-0 count against Hand, but the Indians closer pumped two strikes over the plate that Chapman looked at. Hand missed badly with the 2-2 slider, then delivered a slider over the heart of the plate that Chapman bounced on for the walkoff and a double-digit (10) season homer total.

Frankie Montas was scheduled to pick up the win, pitching six innings with seven strikeouts to only one walk with the A’s ahead 3-2. He gave up two runs, an RBI double for Jake Bauers and a fielder’s choice in the top of the second, but Lou Trivino blew the save to tie the game 3-3 on Francisco Lindor’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.

The A’s scored two runs off opener Cody Anderson, plating a run in the bottom of the first on a wild pitch, then tying the game in the bottom of the second on a Josh Phegley single. Ramon Laureano took a low and away slider from Neil Ramirez out of the park in the bottom of the sixth, his fourth homer of the season to give the A’s a 3-2 lead at the time and allow Montas to come out of the game ahead at the time.

Phegley Plates 8, A’s Sink Pirates 14-1

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland Athletics boast one of the most fearsome hitters in Khris Davis, so it’d be no surprise to see an nine RBI game for an A’s player. What is surprising is that it was journeyman catcher Josh Phegley, who did it Friday night at PNC Park in a 14-1 A’s win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, not Davis.

The A’s knocked in 11 runs between the second and fourth innings, including scoring seven off Bucs starter and losing pitcher Joe Musgrove (1-3, 2.63 ERA). Phegley went 4-for-5, knocking in an obvious career high in eight runs, including a solo homer in the ninth inning. Matt Chapman also homered in a pair in the seventh for the A’s runs after their early game rally. Brett Anderson (4-2, 3.89 ERA) got the win after going six innings allowing four hits and the one run on a Josh Bell RBI ground out in the bottom of the first.

Khris Davis started the second inning rally, reaching base on a throwing error from Jung Ho Kang, the Stephen Piscotty doubled. Kendrys Morales knocked in Davis with an RBI single to tie the game. Jurickson Profar was hit by a pitch to load the bags for Phegley, who cleaned them with a double for a 4-1 lead. Marcus Semien knocked in Phegley later in the inning on a grounder to first and a 5-1 lead.

Davis led off the next inning and advanced to 2nd on Morales’ single, but the A’s were looking at two outs and coming up empty after Profar flew out. Phegley knocked in Davis for a 6-1 edge and later in the inning Semien walked with the bases loaded for a 7-1 edge. Semien, along with Chapman and Phegley were the only A’s with multiple RBI.

Profar singled in a run off Nick Kingham in the top of the third and Phegley hit another bases-loaded two-bagger to knock in three and give the A’s an 11-1 advantage. They wouldn’t need more, but they’d get more with the two long balls in the late innings.

The A’s hope they have more runs in their bats Saturday when they continue their interleague trip to Pittsburgh. Chris Bassitt takes the mound after a sterling season debut in his last outing, while Trevor Williams takes the hill for the Pirates.

Vlad Jr. Debuts, Jays Walk Off Over A’s 4-2

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Photo credit: @Cut4

By Matthew Harrington

All eyes were on the A’s Friday night as they took on the Toronto Blue Jays. No, it wasn’t because of the man leading the galaxy in homers, Khris Davis, but instead on a Jays player with a Hall-of-Fame pedigree. Vlad Guerrero Jr., baseball’s top prospect, made his debut Friday night, “accounting” for the winning run in a 4-2 walk-off win. Former Athletic Eric Sogard homered and Brandon Drury hit a two-run walk-off jack. Robbie Grossman knocked in both A’s runs with a two-run homer.

Mike Fiers started for the A’s and had arguably his best start of the season going seven innings with six hits and the two earned runs. He was touched up by Sogard in the first. Randal Grichuk added another on an RBI single in the bottom of the third, but Fiers wriggled out with the no-decision after Grossman took reliever Joe Biagini deep to tie the game in the top of the eighth. Marcus Stroman started the game for the Jays and was once again lethal against Oakland, firing seven innings of one-hit ball after limiting the A’s to one run on eight innings in an earlier outing this season.

For Guerrero, the debut started off failing to live up to the hype. He was 0-for-3 heading into his ninth-inning at-bat. Guerrero worked a double off Yusmeiro Petit for a double. He was lifted for pinch-runner Alan Hanson who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt but was stranded after Teoscar Hernandez’s line-drive out. Drury hit the game-winning homer off Petit (0-1, 2.93 ERA)  though to send the Toronto faithful home with a win. Closer Ken Giles (1-1, 2.19 ERA) wound up the winner with a clean top of the 9th, striking out two A’s while working around a hit.

Oakland will face Vlad Jr. and the Jays Saturday with Brett Anderson starting for Oakland and Aaron Sanchez taking the bump for Toronto.

Stroman Stymies A’s, Jays top Oakland 5-1

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sfgate.com photo: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman works against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning of a baseball game Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum 

By Matt Harrington

OAKLAND — The proof hadn’t quite been in the pudding for Marcus Stroman this season, but that changed after Friday night. The Blue Jays beat the hosting Oakland A’s 5-1, with Stroman picking up his first win of the season, despite entering play with a sub-2 ERA. Matt Chapman knocked in the only run for Oakland (11-11) while Brandon Drury homered for the Jays (9-12).

Stroman (1-3, 1.74 ERA) looked to go the distance, but was lifted in the ninth inning after allowing the leadoff batter of the inning Kendrys Morales to reach base. His line wound up being six hits, one earned run and six strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.76, but was 0-3 entering Friday’s game. Closer Ken Giles finished out the ninth.

The A’s pounced on Stroman early, with Marcus Semien singling with one out in the first then scoring from first on Matt Chapman’s RBI double for 1-0 lead. The wheels fell of for the Green and Gold in the top of the next inning though, with the Jays knocking four runs off starter Aaron Brooks (2-2, 5.32 ERA).

The first three batters reached base before Brooks got Drury to pop out. Then Socrates Brito singled in a run, Danny Jansen knocked in two and former Athletic Eric Sogard knocked in one in three consecutive plate appearances. Brooks got the final two outs, but was tagged again in the top of the fourth for the solo shot by Drury. He finished with five innings in the books and five runs on six punchouts. Yusmeiro Petit, Fernando Rodney and Joakim Soria all game on for scoreless relief appearances.

Saturday’s contest will feature Matt Shoemaker squaring off against opening day starter Mike Fiers. Fiers has a 2-1 record, despite his 7.06 ERA.

Sharks Avoid Elimination, Beat Knights 5-2 to Force Game 6

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks staved off elimination Thursday night, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 in Game 5 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to put the series at a 3-2 advantage for Vegas. Martin Jones had arguably his best game of the series after being pulled in two of the previous contests and Tomas Hertl scored a pair of goals. Vegas netted a pair of power play goals on both of their man-advantage attempts.

San Jose looked to keep Vegas off the board in the opening minutes after allowing a goal in the opening seconds in every period of Game 4. They were up to the test, locking Vegas down and even scoring 1:16 into the game. Tomas Hertl beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his third goal of the playoffs, with Erik Karlsson picking up an assist.

The Sharks built on the rare lead in the series after trailing in every game except game one, scoring on Logan Couture’s third goal of the series after tucking in a loose puck when Timo Meier’s original shot sat between Fleury’s pads 11:06 into play.

Vegas picked up a goal after Evander Kane was given the gate for a high-sticking penalty with 1:43 left in the first period. On the ensuing power play the puck bounced off Reilly Smith’s skate with 30 seconds left in the frame to cut the Sharks lead to 2-1.

Barclay Goodrow tipped a Justin Braun shot past Fleury 12:22 into the second period for his first goal of the series, but that’d be it for scoring in the middle stanza. Vegas would score again 11:36 into the third period on Jonathan Marchessault’s second of the series after Erik Karlsson was given a questionable tripping penalty.

First, Jones made an unbelievable cross-crease save to keep out the tying goal, then Hertl allowed the Sharks to breath a little easier when he fired a rebound just outside the crease past Fleury for a 4-2 lead on the power play at the 14:45 mark. Logan Couture drew the penalty after being high-sticked. The centerman lost a couple teeth in the process, but at first glance, seemed to show the referees not calling a penalty while Couture lay on the ice. A conference of the officials ultimately yielded a power play for the Sharks.

Joe Pavelski added the empty-netter with 1:46 to ice the game. Jones made 30 saves to silence any doubters for one night.

Game 6 will be played Sunday at T-Mobile Arena, with the time to be determined. If a Game 7 is necessary, the series will shift back to San Jose Tuesday night.

Fiers Stays Cold, Davis Stays Hot, A’s Rally Past Rangers 8-6

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matt Harrington

Mike Fiers isn’t having a great start to his 2019 season, but that’s fine because Khris Davis certainly is. Fiers went only five innings in Arlington Friday night, surrendering 6 runs to the Texas Rangers but the A’s rallied back to win 8-6 capped by Davis’ MLB-leading 10th homer of the year. Oakland scored seven runs in the sixth inning or later after trailing 6-1 to that point.

Fiers put the A’s in a hole after allowing a solo homer to Asdrubal Cabrera and a three-run shot to Elvis Andrus after a coughing up two runs in the first inning on a run-scoring double from Logan Forsythe and a ground out that plated a run in the first. Thanks to a strong bullpen effort, Fiers escaped with a no decision though, a blessing considering his 7.06 ERA to start the year. 

Fiers exited the game after five innings, but the A’s magic really began in the top of the sixth. Matt Chapman hit a bases loaded single to pull the A’s to 6-3, then Davis’ fielder’s choice added another. Stephen Piscotty doubled home a run to make it 6-5.

Ramon Laureano homered in the next inning to tie it after Yusmeiro Petit pitched a clean sixth inning. Davis homered in the eight to make it 7-6 A’s and make Lou Trivino the winner after he pitched a perfect seventh and retired a batter in the bottom of the eighth. Josh Phegley had tacked on an insurance run in the top of that frame and Ryan Butcher got the second out of the inning coming in for Trivino. Blake Treinen nailed down his fifth save of the year after picking up the final four outs including three punchouts. 

Game two will be played on Saturday at 5:05 pm PT.

McHugh Hold’s A’s to 3 Hits, Astros Beat Oakland 3-2

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By Matt Harrington

The Oakland A’s fell to the Houston Astros 3-2 on the road Friday in a pitcher’s duel between Frankie Montas and Collin McHugh. Carlos Correa hit his first longball of the season and Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve knocked in runs for the 2017 World Champions. Ramon Laureano knocked in a pair of runs to continue a torrid 2019.

Montas wasn’t particularly sharp, allowing seven hits over hit innings, but he stymied a potent Houston lineup to just the two earned runs. Alex Bregman singled a run home in the bottom of the third for a 1-0 lead, then Correa’s big fly gave Houston a 2-1 lead an inning later after Laureano’s run-scoring single in the top of the frame.

Laureano accounted for two of the three hits off Houston Starter Collin McHugh. McHugh went six, allowing the one run while working around three walks with four punchouts. His pen was particular stellar, going three innings with just the one run allowed by Roberto Osuna in the ninth inning.

The run, a second Laureano RBI single, would cut the gap for the A’s, but Houston took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh after Jose Altuve doubled off JB Wendelken to knock in George Springer.

The Astros send free-agent acquisition Wade Miley to the mound Saturday in his second starting in the year after losing his first appearance. Aaron Brooks makes his second start of the season for the Green and Gold after baffling the current world champ Red Sox to no runs on six innings and two hits.

A’s Pen Blows Lead, Halos Rally in Eighth to Beat Oakland 6-2

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By Matthew Harrington

The strength of the 2018 Oakland A’s was a weakness Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum, with the A’s bullpen blowing a two-run lead after seven innings. Joakim Soria surrendered four runs in the eighth to pick up the loss in a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels. 

Marco Estrada pitched a gem, going six innings while scattering two hits and Khris Davis hit a two-run homer, but the rally punctuated by Andrelton Sinmons’ two-run single proved the difference. Mike Trout also doubled in two runs in the Angels’ first win of 2019.

Estrada and Halos starter Matt Harvey dueled to five scoreless innings each, but Davis tagged Harvey for a two-run jack in the sixth to give the A’s the lead. Enter the lockdown pen.

Lou Trivino picked up a hold after a clean 7th but offseason acquisition Soria entered in the eighth and found himself in hot water instantly. Former Athletic Jonathan Lucroy and Brian Goodwin singled back-to-back to open the inning, then Kole Calhoun doubled in Lucroy.

Soria  (0-2, 22.50 ERA) walked Trout to load the bases before departing the game for Ryan Buchter. Buchter walked Justin Bour to tie the game, giving way to Liam Hendriks. Hendriks coughed up Simmons’ two-run single before collecting all three outs of the inning.

Fernando Rodney but gave up three singles and got a double play in the first few batters he faced. Then Trout tagged him for a two-run double and a 6-2 Halos lead. Cody Allen finished the game off for the Halos pen after winning pitcher Hansel Robles (1-0, 0.00) and Ty Buttery pitched scoreless frames. 

Brett Anderson takes the hill for the A’s Sunday looking to pick up the second win of the season for the Green and Gold after also dropping two games in the Tokyo Dome to the Mariners earlier in the month. The Angels will send Felix Pena to the mound.

Hawks Jump On Sharks Earlier, Hand San Jose Seventh Straight Loss 5-4

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By Jerry Feitelberg

For a portion of their game Thursday night, the San Jose Sharks looked on their way to losing for a seventh straight time, a lackluster effort yet again highlighted by poor goaltending, scoring droughts and poorly executed hockey. Then, a 3-0 deficit was trimmed and turned into a 4-4 hockey game and suddenly it looked like Team Teal had found the intestinal fortitude required to steer a ship drifting towards a waterfall. Though, the late-game magic of the Sharks’ mid-season magic run has definitely run up.

The Sharks ultimately fell to the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 and trail the Calgary Flames for the Pacific Division lead by six points with just five games remaining. Chicago took a 3-0 lead into the second period, San Jose rallied back, scoring three in the second period to tie the game 4-4 late in the second, but a Chris Kunitz goal late in a five-goal second period wound up the difference maker as San Jose couldn’t find a touch for the net in the third period.

Alex DeBrincat opened the scored 4:10 into the first on a 5-on-3 power play, and after a brief review for goaltender interference, had his 39th goal stand. Connor Murphy’s goal deflected past Sharks goalie Martin Jones just over two minutes later and Jonathan Toews scored his 33rd goal of the year with 11 minutes gone in the first.

Lukas Radil, firmly in the lineup with the glaring absence of captain Joe Pavelski, scored his seventh goal of the season a minute later to give the Sharks some late life in the first, then Gustav Nyquist scored a power play goal 2:33 into the second. Tomas Hertl picked up his second assist of the game after picking up the primary helper on his countryman Radil’s first goal since January.

DeBrincat broke the 40-goal plateau in his sophomore 4:21 into the middle stanza, but Hertl added a goal for a three-point night on another Sharks power play goal 6:29 into the second to cut the lead 4-3. The Sharks’ power play accounted for two goals, but still felt like it missed opportunities on five chances.

Timo Meier picked up his 29th goal of the year with 3:54 left in the second, but Chris Kunitz had the puck bounce of his body and into the net off Patrick Kane’s shot with 1:52 left to play. The Sharks threw just nine shots on a perfect Hawks keeper Corey Crawford in the third to drop the contest. In total, he stopped 26 of 30 Sharks shots.

The going gets tougher for San Jose over the weekend, as they face the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night, sitting just five points ahead of the 2018 Western Conference Champions. After that, they go back-to-back, facing the Calgary Flames in a must-win game at home on Sunday if they hope to bridge the distance for the Pacific Division lead.

Sharks Miss Out on Gaining Ground in Pacific, Fall to Red Wings 3-2

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mercurynews.com photo: San Jose Sharks drop their sixth straight game to the Detroit Red Wings Monday night at SAP Center the Sharks started out before the skid with a six game winning streak. 

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks let a prime opportunity to tighten the gap from 1st place in the division slip to the wayside Monday night at home. The Sharks fell to the Detroit Red Wings 3-2, failing to take advantage of a Calgary Flames shutout loss to the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Kings.

San Jose sits six points back of the Flames with six games left to play and seem destined for a first-round playoff nightmare match-up against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sharks were looking to snap an 0-4-1 skid due in large part to absences by key contributors like Joe Pavelski and Erik Karlsson, but a Red Wings goal just 38 seconds into the game put a heavy weight on the Sharks early. Andreas Athanasiou added his team-leading 29th goal with 4:23 left in the second for a 2-0 edge. 

Martin Jones made three saves on breakaways to keep the Sharks in the game to open the third period, but a lackluster San Jose backcheck on the power play gave Christopher Ehn an easy short-handed rebound goal for a 3-0 lead at the 8:38 mark. 

Evander Kane would score his 28th goal as the power play continued but the Sharks couldn’t find another until Tomas Hertl scored with five seconds left in regulation. Jonathan Bernier made 39 saves to finish off the Sharks, who were expecting to feast on a struggling Winged Wheel side that will miss the playoffs for a third straight time.

San Jose draws the Chicago Blackhawks at home Thursday night, facing a team trying to keep its head above the elimination from contention waters. The Sharks will hope to right the ship by then with the team directly behind them (Vegas) and in front of them (Calgary) coming to the Shark Tank for back-to-back weekend home games.