Category: MLB

Oakland A’s second baseman Zack Gelof couldn’t make the catch on the Detroit Tigers Andy Ibanez’ line drive in the top of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Sep 24, 2023. This was the A’s final home game for 2023. (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 JP Sears, who had struggled through a 5-12, 4.52 season, also struggled again Sunday. He faced 23 batters over five innings, throwing them 97 pitches 58 of them strikes. 

#2 Opposing Sears in this battle of southpaws, was Eduardo Rodríguez, (11-9, 3.57 at game time), who did a fine job in his seven innings of work. He shut the Athletics out on five hits, four walks, and a wild pitch.

#3 Miguel Cabrera was in Detroit’s starting line up as the designated hitter. He closed out his Coliseum career by going 0 for 4 with a walk but drew loud applause after his last at bat, at which he struck out.

#4 Esteury Ruíz, leading off instead of batting in his recent number nine slot in order to improve his chances of breaking the record of stolen bases by an American League rookie (66) made two attempts in the bottom of the first. He was successful in pilfering second but was out by a mile when he tried to steal third.

#5 The A’s will travel on Minneapolis and Anaheim for the half a dozen games remaining in their schedule. Paul Blackman (4-6, 4,11) will face the Twins on Tuesday at 4:40 Pacific Time. The Twins will go against Kenta Maeda (6-7, 4.28).

Barbara Mason did the Oakland A’s podcasts Mondays during the 2023 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Detroit Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez throws to an Oakland Athletics batter during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on the last A’s home game on Sun Sep 24, 2023 (AP News photo)

Detroit (73-83). 002 000 000. – 2. 11. 0
Oakland (48-108). 000 000 000 – 0. 7. 1

Time: 2:34

Attendance: 13,102

Sunday, September 24, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND—Well, that did it. The Oakland Athletics wrapped up their home season with 2-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers in a contest riddled with missed opportunities.

JP Sears, who had struggled through a 5-12, 4.52 season, also struggled again this afternoon. He faced 23 batters over five innings, throwing them 97 pitches 58 of them strikes. He allowed two runs, both of them earned but not entirely his fault. He struck out seven and walked two before being relieved in the sixth by Adrián Martínez, who threw 2+ scoreless innings. Sears took the loss and went home with a record of 5-13, 4.49.

Martínez held the Tigers in check for 2+ frames before yielding to Kyle Muller with Jake Rogers on first with a bloop single to center. Muller managed to keep the Tigers off the board in the eighth, with a little help from a great throw by Rooker to nab Zach McKinstry trying to advance from first to third. McKinstry had gotten on base when Noda made a fine grab and throw of his attempted sacrifice to force Rogers out at second. Zach Neal hurled a scoreless ninth..

Opposing Sears in this battle of southpaws, was Eduardo Rodríguez, (11-9, 3.57 at game time), who did a fine job in his seven innings of work. He shut the Athletics out on five hits, four walks, and a wild pitch.He threw an even 100 pitches; 61 counted as strikes, chalking up five Ks.

Jason Foley followed him and was pulled in favor of Alex Lange after allowing a two out single to Rooker. Langer fanned the pinch hitting Seth Brown to end the inning and then stayed on to close out the game. Rodríguez earned the win, his 12th against nine losses and brought his ERA down to 3.40. Langer earned the save, his 25th.

Miguel Cabrera was in Detroit’s starting line up as the designated hitter. He closed out his Coliseum career by going 0 for 4 with a walk but drew loud applause after his last at bat, at which he struck out

Esteury Ruíz, leading off instead of batting in his recent number nine slot in order to improve his chances of breaking the record of stolen bases by an American League rookie (66) made two attempts in the bottom of the first.

He was successful in pilfering second but was out by a mile when he tried to steal third. That brought his total to 64. Ruíz’s leadoff double in the fourth gave him another chance to steal. He took advantage of it as the lead runner in a double steal that he and Gelof pulled off, catcher Jake Robinson’s throwing straight through to second.

That gave the A’s two runners in scoring position with none out. They blew that opportunity. when Ruíz was thrown out at home on Rooker’s grounder to third and Díaz bounced into an inning ending double play. It was a case of The Curse of the Leadoff Double being compounded by The Curse of the Double Steal and The Curse of the Double Play.

Another base running error conspired with The Curse of the Leadoff Double one inning later. Shea Langeliers laced the fatidic two bagger and then tried to advance to third on Ryan Noda’s hard ground ball to short. He. was not successful. The A’s went on to load the bases and leave three more runners on base.

Sears was the victim of some poor fielding in the top or the third that teamed up with a couple of Tiger hits to give the visitors the 2-0 lead they would hold for the rest of the game. Parker Meadows banged a double off the Budweiser ad beneath the 362 foot marker in left field. Matt Vierling followed with a walk.

Andy Ibáñez lifted a pop fly to short right. Zack Gelof attempted an over the shoulder catch but couldn’t keep the ball in his glove; it was scored as. single. Spencer Torkelson’s fly to right fell in for a single, driving in the two runners, and Torkelson took second on Rooker’s errant throw to the infield. Sears bore down, and second base is where Torkelson was stranded. Sears, Martínez, Muller, and Neal shut the Tigers down from there on.

The A’s will travel on Minneapolis and Anaheim for the half a dozen games remaining in their schedule. Paul Blackman (4-6, 4,11) will face the Twins on Tuesday at 4:40 Pacific Time. The Twins will go against Kenta Maeda (6-7, 4.28).

Oakland Athletics pitcher Joe Boyle works against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Sep 23, 2023 (AP News photo)

Detroit (72-83). 001 000 000. – 1. 6. 0

Oakland (48-107) 002 000 02x. 4. 6. 2

Time: 2:38

Attendance: 9,776

Saturday, September 23, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND—About the only bright spot in the 10-1 beat down the A’s suffered at the hands of the San Diego Padres on September 17 was the brilliant debut of the 24 year old right handed pitcher Joe Boyle, who pitched three innings of one hit shutout ball before ceding the mound to a trio of his elders consisting of Ken Waldichuk, Darin Sweet, and Francisco Pérez, who proceeded to collaborate with Oakland’s impotent offense in the ignominious defeat that followed Boyle’s departure.

Friday night, the A’s bats regained their lost vim, vigor, and vitality, Waldichuk held the Detroit Tigers to a couple of runs on four hits in six innings as the Athletics broke their eight game losing streak in an 8-2 triumph over the visiting Bengals. Saturday, the green and gold defeated the orange in black, 4-1 in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.

This afternoon Boyle was back on the mound for Oakland against the Tigers, who, with yesterday’s bitter defeat, joined the A’s in the group of teams mathematically eliminated from playoff competition. Boyle wasn’t as sharp this afternoon as he’d been six days ago, but he lasted longer and pitched extremely well.

He allowed a single in the first and a leg double to Parker Meadows in the second. A well hit two bagger by Zach McKinstry and an error by Jordan Díaz on a sharp grounder to third in the second combined for an unearned Tiger run in the third.

AJ Hinch, the ex-Athletic at the helm of the Detroit squad, indisputably used an opener, 28 year old right hander Miguel Díaz. He spent most of this season with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, where he went 2-4-14, 5.05. His brief appearance ended after an inning and a third in which all he yielded was a second inning leadoff walk. The southpaw Joey Wentz took over after with one on and no outs and induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the frame.

The A’s reversed Detroit’s one run lead in the home half of the third. After Nick Allen’s one out single to center, Esteury Ruíiz lifted a fly just to the right of the left field foul pole for his fifth home run and 45th and 46th RBI of the season. Wentz took the loss because of those two runs, bringing his won–lost record down to 3-12 and his earned run average up to 6.45.

Boyle came out for the fifth with no one warming up in the Oakland bullpen, which qualified his performance as a traditional start in my book. He ended up going six innings and allowing just that one unearned run and a total of five hits and a walk while striking out five of the 24 Tigers he faced.

He threw 94 pitches, only 30 of which were balls, and maintained his immaculate ERA while winning his first victory in the show. Lucas Erceg relieved him at the beginning of the seventh and allowed nothing but a walk in his one inning tenure.

Dany Jiménez, who took over for Erceg for the eighth, wasn’t as effective as his predecessors. He struck out two but also walked three, with a wild pitch thrown into the bargain, before Trevor May was called in to bail him out with the bases loaded and Parker Meadows, who had gone one for two with a double and a walk, at the plate. May fanned him on five pitches.

Oakland scored a couple of much needed insurance runs off Jason Foley in the bottom of the eighth. He issued a one out walk to Nick Allen, who moved up a base on an infield single by Ruíz. Nola followed that with a double off the right field wall that drove in Allen and sent Noda to third. Gelof’s single to right made it a 4-1 Athletic lead. The rally was squelched when Seth Brown hit into a 4-6-3 twin killing.

The top of the ninth wasn’t easy for May. He issued a full count walk to Carson Kelly to lead off the inning. Akil Baddoo hit a hard grounder to Gelof. He had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, and the A’s had to settle for a force out at second.

Zach McKinstry smacked a hard ground ball to Allen at short. Rather than throw to second, he made a one hop throw to first that Noda couldn’t come up with. Matt Vierling’s single to center loaded the bases. But May celebrated his 34th birthday by fanning Torkelson and Carpenter to earn his 20th save.

Sunday’s, 1:07 game will end the A’s home season. JP Sears (5-12, 4.52) will face Detroit’s Eduardo Rodríguez (11-9, 3.57).

Oakland Athletics’ Brent Rooker (25) is congratulated by third base coach Eric Martins (3) after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Sep 22, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Stephen:

#1 The Oakland A’s ended that long dreadful eight game losing streak on Friday night with a convincing 8-2 win. For A’s manager Mark Kotsay would say that’s a weight off his shoulders.

#2 The A’s have lost ten of their last 13 games and are 47-107, the A’s have the losingest record in Oakland franchise history.

#3 Brent Rooker continues to get around on the ball hitting his 29th home run of the season he and Zack Gelof have been key in some of the A’s offense this season.

#4 Pinch hitter Shea Langeliers came in and belted his 21st a three run homer in bottom of the sixth inning the A’s wanted to win a ball game and the line up came out hitting on Friday night.

#5 Starting pitchers for Saturday’s contest for the Tigers right hander Joe Boyle (0-0 ERA 0.00) for the A’s right hander Miguel Diaz (0-0 ERA 1.04) whenever you don’t see enough of new pitchers it’s a game where the line ups could be doing some guessing.

Stephen Ruderman is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com