Author: Charlie O. Mallonee

I have been a sports reporter/broadcaster since 1976 which means ... I'm old and I love sports. I have done play-by-play for minor league baseball - including the infamous "Bad News Bees" - San Jose State football and football and high school sports in the Bay Area and on the Monterey Peninsula. I had the great privilege to host a weekly sports talk show on KNRY Radio Monterey/Salinas with my producer the late,great Gary Araki. I also hosted and produced "the Sports Fanatics" talk show on KSAC Radio in Sacramento. For the last 10 years, I have been a beat reporter covering the Oakland Athletics for Sports Radio Service. Three years ago, I became the senior reporter for our Sacramento Kings coverage. My goal is to bring you the news, views, fun and excitement of every event I am assigned to report on for Sports Radio Service.

A’s beat the Angels 7-3 on Saturday night to even the series at one game apiece

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LAA Sat
Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Seven was the magic number for the Athletics on Saturday night in Anaheim. The A’s scored seven runs on seven hits and recorded seven RBI en route to a 7-3 over the Los Angeles Angels in the second game of a three-game series. The series is currently tied at 1-1.

The A’s jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning and they never trailed in the contest. Oakland scored three runs in the second inning, one run in the fifth, two in the eighth and added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning.

The Angels scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it a 3-2 game which is as close as they would come to taking the lead. The Halos scored one more run in the home half of the seventh inning but that was not enough to catch the surging Athletics.

Oakland got a strong performance from their starting pitcher

LAA Triggs
Triggs warming up in Anaheim Photo: @Athletics

Andrew Triggs made his second start of the season for the Athletics and made the most his opportunity on the mound. Triggs worked 5.2 innings giving up just two runs (both earned) off four hits. He struck out six Los Angeles batters while walking just two. Triggs did give up one home run to Justin Upton – his third of the young season.

The A’s bullpen had Triggs back

Ryan Buchter came in to relieve Triggs and he struggled a bit. Buchter gave up one run (earned) on one hit in 0.2 innings worked. The run came off a home run hit by Luis Valbuena which was his second round-tripper of the year.

Emilio Pagan pitched 0.2 innings of relief and posted all zeroes except for one strikeout. Pagan earned his second Hold of the season.

Blake Treinen worked two innings to close out the game. He issued two hits but gave up no base-on-balls and no runs. Treinen struck four Angel hitters. He posted his second save of the year.

No Athletic batter had multiple hits

LAA starters
Graphic: @Athletics

The A’s seven hits were spread out among seven different Oakland players. 

Jed Lowrie hit his second home run of the season in the fifth inning off Akeel Morris. Matt Chapman recorded his first triple of the year in the game while Stephen Piscotty hit a double.

Piscotty, Semien, Lowrie, Chapman, Maxwell, and Olson all posted an RBI in the game.

The A’s went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

Series wraps up on Sunday

The eyes of the baseball world will be on the game between the A’s and Angels on Sunday afternoon. Oakland will face the phenomenon of the MLB this season – Shohei Ohtani (0-1, 4.50) for the second time this season. Ohtani’s first ever win in the major league’s came over the A’s last Sunday in Oakland.

The A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman (0-1, 8.10). Graveman has been plagued by giving up the long-ball in both of his starts. He will not be able to issue home runs to the powerful Angels lineup and expect to come away with a victory.

Kings surprise Grizzlies with a 94-93 win at the buzzer on the road in Memphis

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Kings vs MEM final

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Just 6.4-seconds remained on the clock in the fourth quarter in Memphis when the Kings called timeout. Dillon Brooks had just buried a 25-foot 3-point jump shot to give the Memphis Grizzlies a 93-92 lead. The Kings were in need of a quick miracle if they were going to leave the home of Graceland with a victory.

Sacramento inbounded the ball and it ended up in the hands of Bogdan Bogdanovic – who had suffered a horrible shooting night – with 1.5-seconds to go in the game. “Bogie” drove on the bucket and pulled up from 16-feet out to sink a two-point basket that gave the Kings a 94-93 advantage. Memphis called an immediate timeout.

With 1.1-seconds to go in the game, the Grizzlies attempted to inbound the ball at midcourt but – yes, you guessed it – Bogdanovic was there to make the steal and the Kings would win the game 94-93.

The King’s record improved to 26-54 on the year while the Grizzlies dropped to 21-58 for the season.

It really wasn’t a very exciting game

Bogi vs Mem
Bogdanovic – Kings star of the game Photo: @SacramentoKings

As exciting as the ending was, the rest of the game was not that thrilling. In fact, the game was really very boring much of the time. The Kings did not hit a 3-pointer (0-for-6) in the first half. They went just 2-for-6 from the free throw line.

The Grizzlies most notable starter was Ben McLemore to go with the Brooks brothers (no not the suit guys) and two other players you have probably never heard of or have seen in an NBA box score before.

Memphis is in full “tankathon” mode. They currently have the second-worst record in the NBA and could be in contention for the number one draft pick if the ping pong balls would fall the right way. The Grizzlies have lost four games in a row and are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Still, they appeared to want to beat their old coach Dave Joerger on Friday night on their home court.

The Kings certainly started slow and really should be in “tankathon” mode. Sacramento has no first-round draft pick in 2019, so their 2018 selection has to a great one – a home run if you will. Their only goal should be to move up in the lottery standings, but on Friday night winning for their coach versus his former team seemed to take over other goals. But until the fourth quarter, it was really a boring contest.

Coach Joerger looked happy after the game

Dave Joerger did have a look of satisfaction on his face after his team delivered a win to him in Memphis on Friday night. Joerger was the Grizzlies head coach for four seasons and the win appeared to be a bit of sweet revenge for the Kings head coach who would no doubt deny its importance.

The win also had to please Zach Randolph – who was given the night off – and Vince Carter who both played for Memphis before joining the Kings.

Top Performances

Kings starting 5 Mem

Kings

  • Willie Cauley-Stein was the Kings leading scorer with 18 points in the game. He also grabbed eight rebounds, made three assists, made two steals and blocked two shots.
  • Buddy Hield scored 14 points coming off the bench to go with a team-high six assists and five rebounds.
  • Justin Jackson had another solid game scoring 13 points in almost 30-minutes on the floor. Jackson shot 5-for-10 overall and 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point line. His 3-pointer with 17.2-seconds to go in the game gave the Kings the lead and the momentum to keep them in the game.
  • De’Aaron Fox put 13 points in the book shooting 5-for-13 from the field. He also hauled in six rebounds and dished out four assists.
  • Two-way player JaKarr Sampson also had a very nice night as a starter posting 11 points and pulling down six rebounds in just over 24-minutes of playing time.

Grizzlies

  • It was a huge night for the “Brooks Brothers” in Memphis on Friday. MarShon scored a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds. Dillon put up 16 points and distributed six assists in the Grizzlies losing effort.
  • Ivan Rabb recorded a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
  • Kobi Simmons and Omari Johnson scored 11 points each in the game.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings play their final road game of the season on Monday night in San Antonio.

Memphis

The Grizzlies host the Pistons in their home finale on Sunday.

 

 

Kings Press Row Podcast: April 5, 2018, When does the “tankathon” begin?

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press row podcast

hosts Jordan “Chape” Chapin and Charlie O. Mallonee

  • Why did the Kings win in “Laker Land”?

  • What the heck happened to the Kings in PHX?

  • Should the Kings dive into the tank for the rest of the season?

  • Why haven’t the Kings been playing the tanking game?

  • Who could be the Kings selection in the 2018 NBA Draft?

  • What type of players are going to be available in the draft?

Kings squeak past the Lakers 84-83 Sunday night at Staples

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Buddy vs Lakers
Kings leading scorer Buddy Hield to the hoop Photo: @SacramentoKings

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The odds were against the Kings on Sunday night in Los Angeles. Sacramento had played at home on Saturday and lost to the World Champion Golden State Warriors. The chances of winning the second game of a back-to-back set on the road drop significantly in “the Association”.

Evidently, the Kings did not read any of the oddsmaker’s sites before the game because they played like they were favorites to win the game on Sunday and win they did.

With the game tied at 80 all with 39.6-seconds remaining in the game, Buddy Hield stole the ball from Caldwell-Pope. Hield finished off the fastbreak opportunity with a dunk that gave the Kings an 82-80 lead.

On the next possession, Bogdanovic made another steal when the Lakers Alex made a bad pass. The Kings set up the offense and De’Aaron Fox drove the lane putting up a seven-foot floating jump shot that gave Sacramento a four-point lead. The Lakers called an immediate timeout stopping the clock with 9.7-seconds remaining to play.

Out of the timeout, Caldwell-Pope missed a 23-foot 3-point attempt that was rebounded by Josh Hart. The ball was passed to Brooke Lopez who hit a 26-foot jumper to cut the Kings lead to just one point. Lopez immediately committed a foul to stop the clock with two-tenths of a second to go in the game but the Lakers would never regain possession.

The Kings won the game 84-83.

Top Performances

Kings (25-53)

  • In what seems to an every game occurrence, Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 19 points. Hield shot 8-for-15 overall and hit 3-of-5 from downtown. He also collected four steals in the game.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 15 points by sinking 6-of-7 shots from the field. He was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point land.
  • De’Aaron Fox worked his way through a tough shooting night to score 14 points. He went 6-for-18 shooting (0-for-3 3-PT) but wound up hitting the winning bucket. Fox also led the Kings with six assists.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein recorded 11 points in less than 20-minutes on the floor. He hit 5-of-8 shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Cauley-Stein also dished out four assists.

Lakers (33-43)

Randle vs Kings
Julius Randle scored 19 points vs Kings Photo: @Lakers
  • Julius Randle led the way for Lakers against the Kings by scoring 19 points. He shot 5-for-8 from the floor and hit 9-of-14 chances from the free throw line.
  • It took 13 shots for Caldwell-Pope to score 16 points which is not the kind of ratio a coach is looking for from a starter. He went 0-6 from behind the 3-point arc.
  • Kyle Kuzma – (WARNING: EDITORIAL OPINION) the best rookie on the Lakers roster – posted 13 points hitting 5-of-16 shots from the floor and converting 3-of-9 chances from downtown. Kuzma played 39-minutes in the game.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings second stop this final road trip of the season will be in Phoenix on Tuesday night. This will a battle of Draft Lottery Teams. The Suns lost to the Warriors on Easter Sunday 117-107 and have now lost 15 games in a row.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers will travel to Salt Lake City to face the playoff-bound Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

If the 2018 NBA Draft would be held today

Bamba
Possible Kings draft pick Mohamed Bamba of Texas Photo: @TexasMBB

Who would the Kings draft is they had to select today? According to Tankathon. com, Sacramento would have the number six selection and they would use it to take Freshman center Mohamed Bamba out of Texas. Bamba is a 7-footer who weighs 216 pounds. He will be 20 years old at the time of the draft.

Bamba played in 30 games averaging 12.9 points per game and 10.5 rebounds a game. He averaged blocking 3.6 shots per game. Bamba his known for being an excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor as well as an excellent shot blocker. He is also a strong defender against the 3-point shot.

Golden State too much for Kings to handle; Warriors win 112-96

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01d4386acfd9bbd7022f27d83076f8fd36d85fe546
Warriors vs Kings Photo: Sports Radio Service

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – The Sacramento Kings dream of winning the 2017-18 season series versus the NBA World Champion Golden State Warriors will not be realized as they were soundly beaten by the Dubs 112-96 on Saturday night in Sacramento. The Kings will finish the four-game series with a very respectable 2-2 record. No one would have predicted that outcome back in October.

The Warriors had to play with this game without their superstar Steph Curry but unlike the last time the teams met in Oakland, Golden State had their other three All-Star players available to face the upstart Kings. Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were all healthy and ready to go at the opening tip-off.

The Kings kept it close in opening 12-minutes as they trailed the Warriors by just three points – 28 to 25 – at the close of the quarter. Durant scored 15 for Golden State while De’Aaron Fox put up 10 for the Kings. Both teams were ice cold from 3-point land as the Warriors went 1-for-4 and Sacramento hit just 1-of-7 from long-range.

The Warriors opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run that really set the tone for the rest of the game. Golden State maintained a lead of nine to 11 points for most the period. SAC was able to cut the Warriors lead to eight points at the half when Buddy Hield hit a 25-foot jump shot at the buzzer. At the half, Golden State held a 57-49 lead over the Kings.

Frankly, there really is not that much more to talk about in what became a runaway game. The Warriors held a 93-69 lead at the end of the third quarter and the Kings second unit played hard in the final period to outscore Golden State 27-19 for the quarter.

The Warriors won the game 112-96. Golden State’s record improves to 55-21 while the Kings drop to 24-53 for the season.

A Dark Cloud Over the Game

McCaw
Teams huddle in prayer for McCaw Photo: @SacramentoKings

With less than 50-seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Warriors Patrick McCaw cut across the lane to attempt a layup. Vince Carter stepped in front of McCaw to defend against him. McCaw’s leg came down on Carter’s shoulder and McCaw free-fell to the floor landing on his tailbone.

McCaw was not allowed to stand up and was eventually removed from the court by a stretcher. He was taken to the hospital where he will undergo testing.

The Warriors and Kings huddled together in prayer for McCaw before continuing the game.

Top Performances

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the Kings leading scorer with 19-points. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
  • De’Aaron Fox added 15 points of his own for SAC. He also led the team in assists with eight.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 12 points in the game.
  • Bruno Caboclo played 15-plus minutes in the game and scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

Warriors

  • Kevin Durant put up a double-double scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in just over 30-minutes on the court. He was their leading scorer.
  • Klay Thompson returned after missing eight games to score 25 points against the Kings.
  • Draymond Green scored eight points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Up Next

Kings

The Kings get to celebrate Easter in Los Angeles by playing the Lakers at the Staples Center. The game is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM PDT.

Warriors

Golden State will also have to work on Easter Sunday as they will host the Phoenix Suns for a 5:30 PM PDT tip.

 

 

A’s battle to the end, but lose to Angels 2-1

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By Charlie O Mallonee

Oakland — On the night the Oakland Athletics introduced their 50th Anniversary Team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the A’s gave the 27,665 fans a real show on the diamond. Unlike the the run-fest on Opening Day, it was an old fashioned pitchers duel on Friday as the Angels downed the Athletics 2-1.

Angels stater–LHP Tyler Skaggs–was in midseason form as kept the A’s hitters off-balance by mixing up his pitches and changing speeds. Skaggs worked 6.1-innings of shutout baseball while giving up just three hits to Oakland batters. Skaggs struck out five and walked none.

When Skaggs left the game in top of the seventh inning, he took a 1-0 lead with him to the clubhouse, thanks to Mike Trout’s first home run of the season that he hit out of the park in the top of the first.

Blake Wood worked the final two outs of the seventh and Kenyan Middleton kept the A’s from scoring in the eighth inning.

After the Angels added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, Mike Sciosia handed the ball to Blake Parker to close out the game and that is when it got interesting.

Khris Davis was A’s lead off hitter in bottom of the ninth. Davis walked. Matt Olson then hit a single through the right side of the infield moving Davis up to second. Parker struck out Stephen Piscotty and Matt Chapman.

Oakland catcher Jonathan Lucroy kept hope alive when he hit a solid single to right-center field that drove Davis home and moved Olson up to third. Parker induced Matt Joyce to ground out third to first to end the game.

Skaggs got the win and the save (just barely) went to Parker. The antacid went to Mike Sciosia.

The A’s Sean Manaea took the loss but he pitched well enough to win. Manaea pitched 7.2-innings giving up just one run off four hits. He walked none and struck out seven LAA hitters. The lefty threw 95 pitches–65 strikes. Oakland manager Bob Melvin told reporters after the game that Manaea did not want to come out of the contest when he was lifted in the top of the eighth inning.

The one blemish on the scoresheet for Manaea was the first inning home run he gave up to Mike Trout. As Melvin mentioned, after going 0-6 on Thursday Trout was overdue. Trout has now hit 14 home runs at the Coliseum in his career.

The A’s scattered seven hits divided between seven different batters. They had only one extra base hit in the game. Oakland went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

The A’s did not hit poorly on Friday night. They were stopped by a very outstanding performance by a starting pitcher and excellent support from two of his three relievers.

Oakland A’s 50th Anniversary Moment
The A’s played on March 30th for the first time in their history.

Opening Day Trivia
Khris Davis hit his third home run on an Opening Day as a member of the Oakland Athletics on Thursday which ties him with Dave Henderson and Terry Steinbach for the A’s record.

Matt Olson became just the fourth player in MLB history dating back to 1908 to hit an Opening Day home run on his birthday (Jeff Mathis (2011) Ian Stewart (2010) Scott Rolen (2000)).

Up Next
On Saturday the “second-coming” of Rollie Fingers, RHP Daniel Mengden will make his first start of the season for the Athletics. Mengden posted a record of 3-2 in seven starts last season with an ERA of 3.14. The Angels will counter RHP Matt Shoemaker who made 14 starts for the Halos in 2017 and finished with a 6-3 record while recording a 4.52 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 P.M. The game can be seen on NBC-California, heard on the A’s Radio Network and en Espanol on 1010 AM and 990 AM.

The Big Reveal
The MLB debut that everyone has been waiting for will happening in Oakland on Sunday when the highly touted, two-way Japanese player Shohei Ohtani will make the start for the Angels. Game time is 1:05 P.M.

Kings lose hard fought game to Pacers, 106-103

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Bogie vs Bogie
It was Bogdanovic vs Bogdanovic in this game! Photo: @Pacers

By: Jordan Chapin

SACRAMENTO- On one of the final home games of the season, the Kings put on quite a show against the playoff bound Indiana Pacers but didn’t have enough down the stretch as they fall to Indiana 106-103. After a sloppy game on Tuesday night against the Mavericks, Sacramento came out tonight, and really seemed like they were playing for their city. Led by the outstanding shooting nights of Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Kings were in it for the entirety of the game, but ran into an all-star by the name of Victor Oladipo.

Kings starting 5 vs Ind
Kings starting five vs Pacers Photo @SacramentoKings

Sacramento looked as good as they have this season in the first half of the ballgame. Willie Cauley-Stien was doing everything out on the floor before heading into the locker-room, including scoring 17 of his 19 points and shooting (9-of-10) from the field. The Kings outscored the Pacers bench 48 to 22 led by a 20 point night from Buddy Hield and Frank Mason doing a little bit of everything.

The second half of the game, the Kings continued to shoot the ball well and played hard, but the all-star, Victor Oladipo, began to show why he has led his team to the 5th-seed in the East. He finished his night with 24 points, five boards, and two assists, including the dagger 3-pointer that sealed the win for Indiana. Even after two crazy made baskets in the final seconds of the game by Hield and Bogdanovic, the Kings luck ran out as they fell 106-103.

Indiana sweeps the season series with the Kings, although it took a hard fought game from the Pacers to seal the win. The Kings will finish their six-game homestand on Saturday as the World Champion Golden State Warriors come to town. Fans were able to get into the game tonight and it really seemed like the Kings were playing for the Sacramento faithful. With only seven games remaining, the Kings will not surpass their win total of 32 from last season, but it seems they are truly playing for what is to come in the future.

Kings fall to Mavs 103-97 as protests continue outside of Golden 1 Center

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mavs

By: Jordan Chapin

SACRAMENTO — As the season starts to wind down in the NBA, the protest are still in full swing here in Sacramento. For a second time, protesters stood outside of the Golden 1 Center and once again a lot of Kings faithful were not able to get in. Although there was a lot of action outside the arena, the same can not be said for what was going on inside as the Kings fell to the Mavericks 103-97.

Sacramento barely shot 40% from the field and a measly 26% from 3-point land. In a game the Kings trailed in for a majority of the time, there was one bright spot, Kosta Koufos. Kosta only played 14 minutes, but racked up 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go along with seven boards. The two point guards for Sacramento – Fox and Mason – combined for (3-for-23) from the field. The Dallas Mavericks led by as much as 16 points with heavy contributions from Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr..

For the fans that were able to get into the game, the Kings did make it interesting at the end as they cut a 15-point lead to a five-point lead in the last three minutes of the game, but they eventually lost the battle to the clock as they didn’t have enough time on it to squeak by the Mavs.

Sacramento has split the season series with Dallas, 2-2. The final attendance for tonight’s game was just over 4,000 people in an arena that holds over 17,000.

The Kings will return to the Golden 1 Center on Thursday, as they will see an old face in Darren Collison and face a playoff-bound Indiana Pacers.

The staff of Sports Radio Service is praying for and sends our condolences to the friends and family of Stephon Clark during this incredibly difficult time.

Stephon_Clark

 

Baseball is back in the Bay; Giants down the A’s 5-1 on Sunday

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baseball AZ

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Baseball returned to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon as the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics played the first of three annual Bay Bridge Exhibition Series games at the Coliseum in Oakland. The G-Men came out on top in game of one as they downed the A’s 5-1 before 21,229 fans on very chilly day.

Johnny Cueto made the start for the Giants and Daniel Gossett took the hill for the A’s. If you are a Giants fan you are very happy with the way Cueto pitched especially with the loss of Bumgarner. The big righthander pitched 5.2-innings giving up just one run (earned) on five hits. He struck out six and walked just one batter. Cueto threw 82 pitches (57 strikes). He looks ready to go for the regular season.

The Athletics  Daniel Gossett looked good for the first two innings and then ran into some real trouble in the top of the third inning. Gossett gave up three runs off three three hits with the real damage coming from a Buster Posey two-run double that slammed off the center field wall. He would give up a solo run in the fourth inning.

Gossett worked 3.2 innings giving up those four runs (all earned) on five hits. He struck out two and walked one. Gossett threw 78 pitches (47 strikes).

“I thought his stuff was good. Similar to what we saw during regular Spring Training. He just did’t throw enough strikes,”said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “He got himself in a jam and Posey got a big hit … they scored some runs off of it. He has to be a little more efficient with his strikes and get ahead in the count.”

The A’s used six pitchers in the contest:

  • Yusmeiro Petit worked 1.1 scoreless innings giving up no hits.
  • Daniel Coulombe struck one and walked one but did not give up a hit in his one inning on the mound.
  • Liam Hendricks posted all zeros in his inning on the hill. Melvin said it was his best outing of the training season.
  • Raul Alcantara struggled in his one inning giving up one run on one hit. The hit was a home run to the Panda – Pablo Sandoval. Melvin indicated Alcantara has to start throwing his breaking ball for strikes.
  • Simon Castro closed out the game by giving up no runs on no hits while striking out two and walking one.

There were not the many highlights on offense. The A’s only run came in the bottom of third inning when Dustin Fowler led off the inning with base hit. After Joyce came close to hitting one of out the park to deep center field, Semien grounded out to short and that moved Fowler into scoring position at second base. Jed Lowrie then hit a single up the middle and the speedy Fowler raced home to score the only run of the game for the Athletics.

The totals in game for the Giants were five runs, seven hits and no errors while the A’s posted one run, six hits and two errors. San Francisco is now 14-15 for the spring and Oakland falls to 13-15.

The two meet in San Francisco on Monday night.

Athletics Current Roster

Khris Davis
Khris Davis is ready for the season to begin Photo: @Athletics

The A’s have 17 pitchers, seven infielders, seven outfielders and three catchers for a total of 34 players. That number must be cut to 25 by Thursday. Look for Oakland to keep 13 pitchers, 10 position players and 2 catchers.

Due to injuries, the A’s are down to five starting pitchers by default. It appears the bullpen will receive maximum usage this season. The team did work at upgrading the relief corps in the off-season and now it appears it is a good thing they did with the injuries to the starters.

Who will play center field?

The battle is between Dustin Fowler, Boog Powell and Jeff Smolinski. Powell saw action with the A’s in 2017 playing in 29 games and hitting .282 including three home runs. He also played in 23 games for the Seattle Mariners before being traded to Oakland. Smolinski appeared in 16 games for the Athletics batting .259 with an OPS .607.

The Athletics acquired Fowler from the New York Yankees in the Sonny Gray trade. Fowler appeared in one game for the Yankees which is the total of his MLB experience. When Fowler was traded, he was on the disabled list with a ruptured right patellar tendon. He came off the DL last November.

Powell is hitting .250 for the spring with an OPS of .665. He has hit two home runs and two stolen bases. Fowler is batting .195 in 41 trips to the plate this spring. He has not hit a home run but has recorded four RBI and has three stolen bases. His OPS is .471.

Smolinski has hit .289 this spring with an OPS of 1.003. He has hit four home runs and recorded 13 RBI. Those are some numbers that may be hard to ignore

This appears to be a battle between power and speed. The advantage that Fowler possesses is his speed which can be a real asset on defense and could be a real help on offense if he could use that speed to get into scoring position. The problem is the on-base-percentage of .227. If that OBP is over .350, now that speed becomes a weapon.

The fact is the experience and offensive production of Powell and Smolinski gives them a real advantage in staying with the “big club” on Thursday and beyond. The A’s need Fowler to develop into a leadoff hitter who can get on base by the base hit, bunt or base-on-balls. He probably needs some time at Triple-A to work on those skills.

After the game on Sunday, Bob Melvin had this to say about Fowler, “He’s doing a nice job and he’s starting to swing the bat better. He’s starting to hit the ball the other way which means he’s getting on top of the ball and more on track. Early in the spring that wasn’t the case. His bats are getting better and better.”