Category: MLB

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Hispanic Heritage Month Roberto Clemente was a Patriot

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In 1958 Roberto Clemente tried on a different kind of uniform the uniform of the United State Marine Corp, Clemente got an early release in 1959 and played on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960 (file photo mlbforlife.com)

Hispanic Heritage Month: Roberto Clemente was a Patriot

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

This month is designated as Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States. September 30, will mark the 49th anniversary of Roberto Clemente last at bat in 1972, and with his final at bat with the defending World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates he doubled to left-center field at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, off Mets lefty Jon Matlack, marking this double his 3,000 hit of his stellar career.

Three months later (almost to the day) he chartered a DC-7 plane (from San Juan, Puerto Rico) an airplane filled with help to the people suffering in Managua, Nicaragua of a devastating earthquake. Traveling to another country, to help people he didn’t know and for that he gave his life. The ultimate humanitarian.

Aside from a true gentleman and member of the MLB Hall of Fame, many might ignore that Roberto Clemente was also a Patriot. During the 1958 and 1959 off-season Clemente enlisted in the United States Marines Corps and served during the off-seasons until 1964.

He was also exalted into the US Marines Corps Sports Hall of Fame, posthumously (this Hall of Fame was established in 2001). Born In Carolina, Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente was a man of great discipline and dedication to whatever endeavor he chose to take part.

One of the great baseball awards, one that all players unanimously agree is a great honor, has nothing to do with baseball statistics or on-the-field performance, but of community and human nature. The Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award exemplifies sportsmanship, community involvement and the player individual contribution to his team, voted by baseball fans and members of the media.

Each of the 30 teams nominates a player, here in the Bay Area, the Oakland Athletics nominated Tony Kemp and the San Francisco Giants Brandon Crawford. Later a panel of baseball dignitaries selects one winner. The winner is announced at the World Series in front of a national television audience.

During an interview in 2020 that I conducted with Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen, who knew Clemente and played with him, about the story that he was going to Managua, Nicaragua, with Roberto Clemente on that DC-7 chartered plane he said that was not true.

But he did talk to Roberto before he left from San Juan, Puerto Rico, but Sanguillen tells me he was not planning to go, Clemente had a lot of friends with him, he was always surrounded by people. He learned about the plane crash from Luis Mayoral, a veteran sports journalist and broadcaster born in Puerto Rico.

Manny Sanguillen (quote) “Clemente told me once, if we make it to a World Series, I will take care of everything”. He did, in 1971 Clemente hit .411 won the World Series MVP like Bill Blass, who pitched a complete game seven to clinch it for the Pirates said after the game about Roberto: “Clemente did it all”.

Roberto Clemente had to work very hard to become the player he was; at the time when he played there was still much racism in the game. Clemente was a Latino of dark skin and that was enough for many (not all) to never give the man the credit he deserved.

As I was covering a game at Candlestick Park in 1972, for El Mundo Newspaper of Oakland and during his last season, I remember inside the press box after Clemente struck out, a loud voice was heard saying “send him back in a banana boat”. It happened, I heard it, but that was part of those years in baseball, not to mention many more much difficult years in the late 1950’s when he first broke into the game.

Today the Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award is one of the most coveted awards given to a player in Major League Baseball. The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame always informs during exhibits and inductions all over the country at baseball parks, libraries or community events and the name of Roberto Clemente still at the top of one of the most remember players by baseball fans alike all over the world.

Note: The US Marines Corps Sports Hall of Fame is located in Quantico, Virginia. There are various baseball players in their Hall of Fame, including Ted Williams, Gil Hodges, Jerry Coleman as well as Roberto Clemente. Also many in a variety of other sports, like Ken Norton (Boxing) and Lee Trevino (Golf).

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for the Oakland A’s on flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

DeSclafani wins 13th Giants make it nine in a row defeat Pads 6-1

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani delivers against the San Diego Padres in the second inning of Tue Sep 14, 2021 game at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Even though they have clinched a berth in the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants are still playing for seeding in the upcoming playoffs.

Buster Posey hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, helping the Giants to a 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 22,192 at Oracle Park. With the victory, the Giants have won nine games in a row.

Once again, the Giants put up six or more runs in a game for the ninth game in a row, matching the longest streak since moving to California in 1958 and the team record in 15 that was set in 1929.

The Posey home run would have been a two-run home run; however, Tommy La Stella, who led off the inning with a single was thrown out on a double play after Jurickson Profar made a great catch and throw to Manny Machado, who in turn, threw to Eric Hosmer on the fly ball hit by Brandon Belt.

Anthony DeSclafani pitched a fantastic game, as he went the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he allowed just one run on three hits, walking one and striking out and he raised his record to 12-6 on the record.

The Padres tied the game up in the top of the third inning, when Profar doubled, went to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Jake Arrieta and then scored when Trent Grisham grounded out to La Stella, who in turn, threw to Posey and after he was unable to get Profar, Posey threw to Belt to get Grisham.

Posey scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the third inning, as he scored on a throwing error by Arrieta on a pickoff attempt to get LaMonte Wade, Jr., at first base with Brandon Crawford at the plate. After Belt made the first out of the inning, Posey singled for his second hit in as many at-bats, then Wade, Jr., followed him by singling Posey to third.

La Stella got some redemption for his base running snafu in the bottom of the first, as he singled in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Steven Duggar.

Kris Bryant doubled off of Arrieta with one out in the bottom of the second inning with one out, it was the 200th double of his major-league career.

The Giants bullpen trio of Tony Watson, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval was outstanding, as they closed the game for the Giants without allowing a baserunner to reach base.

Darin Ruf hit a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Crawford, who doubled with one out in the inning.

Belt doubled in the bottom of the eighth inning that La Stella, who walked with one out in the inning and was then pinch ran for by Thairo Estrada, who scored in on the Belt double.

Posey then hit a ground ball to Manny Machado, who threw wildly to Hosmer at first for an error and Belt stopped at third; however, after a lengthy review, the review showed that the ball went on the netting and Belt was awarded home plate and Posey went to second.

NOTES: By clinching the playoff berth on Monday night, it was the earliest that the Giants have clinched a playoff berth in franchise history by one game over the 1912 New York Giants, this according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The 94 wins by the Giants are the third most by a team thru 144 games since 1969, trailing the 1975 Cincinnati Reds (won the World Series), who won 96 and the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals (lost the World Series, who won 95 (STATS, LLC). Both the Reds and Cardinals opponents in the World Series was the Boston Red Sox.

This is the first nine-game winning streak by the Giants since they won 10 in a row from May 20-31, 2004.

The nine-game winning streak by the Giants is the longest in the month of September since they won 14 in a row from September 4 thru September 16.

The streak began with a victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and ended on September 17 with a loss to the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium.

When La Stella hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, it was the fifth home run of the season for La Stella and he is the 17th player on the Giants to have at least five home runs, breaking the record of 16 different players set by the 2019 Seattle Mariners.

Also, in their City Connect uniforms, the Giants are now 7-1.

UP NEXT: Joe Musgrove will take the mound for the Padres on Wednesday night, as he searches for his 11th win of the season, while the Giants will send Dominic Leone to the mound.

A’s Drop Game One to Royals 10-7; Oakland also drops 3.5 games back in AL Wild Card race

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Oakland A’s Seth Brown dives back into first base after a pick off move as Kansas City Royals first baseman Carlos Santa waits for the thrown ball at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City on Tue Sep 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Drop Game One to the Royals 10-7

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Royals in Kansas City in game one of their series. Frankie Montas was on the mound for Oakland and Jackson Kowar started for Kansas City.

The A’s got on the scoreboard early scoring two runs in the first inning. Josh Harrison walked and Starling Marte had a double in the inning. Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie both had a sacrifice that drove Harrison and Marte in for the 2-0 score.

The A’s kept their foot on the gas in the second inning scoring three times for a 5-0 lead. Harrison and Andrus both had singles. Kowar had walked three in two innings and it was at this point that Ervin Santana took over in the second inning for Kansas City.

Oakland continued to roll and added another run in the third inning when Mark Canha doubled and scored when Santana threw two wild pitches. Now leading 6-0 the A’s had scored in the first three innings of this game.

Kansas City got going in the third inning scoring three runs and cutting Oakland’s lead in half 6-3.

The Royals would add another run in the fourth inning, a homerun by Hunter Dozier and Kansas City was chipping away at the A’s lead. Frankie Montas would leave the game with Deolis Guerra taking over on the mound.

The A’s would add a badly needed run in the fifth inning. Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus both had doubles with Brown scoring. It was a three up, three down for the Royals in the fifth.

The sixth inning proved to be a disaster for Oakland as Salvador Perez hit a three run homer for his 43rd of the year. Kyle Isbel had scored earlier in the inning. The Royals had taken the lead 8-7.

The Royals continued to storm back extending their lead to a 10-7 score. Another homerun from the team that is at the bottom for homers in the American League. Kyle Isbel homered with a runner on base. This was the first homer of his career and this was the Royals third home run of the game.

Oakland couldn’t get a thing going after the fifth inning. After the great start; leading 6-0 after three innings, there wasn’t much for the A’s. Just another of many disappointing late season showings. So the struggles continue within the Bullpen and now the starters as well.

First pitch in game two is scheduled for another 5:10 start.

No Time to Let Up: Giants open homestand with a 9-1 thrashing of the Padres

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The best record in San Francisco Giants history through 144 games. At least six runs scored in each of the last eight games, all wins. Four more homers on Monday night.

And one more: a playoff berth–considered highly unlikely when the season began–clinched earlier on the calendar than the club has done previously in franchise history.

The Giants are once-in-a-generationally hot, and they’re not showing any signs of letting up.

“We’re definitely happy that we’re going to the playoffs, there’s no doubt about that,” Brandon Belt said. “But we want to win the division. This is the first step, but we didn’t come here just to make it in.”

“You have quite a few World Series champions in that room and people who understand that this is one step in the direction that we want to go, but not the ultimate goal,” manager Gabe Kapler added.

An 9-1 thrashing of the helpless Padres on Monday happened so fast, the final five innings held no intrigue–and almost no additional scoring. The Giants put up five in the first, and three more in the fourth to lead 8-1.

And this was bullpen night, which is usually problematic given the Giants currently have two empty slots in their rotation, but on this occasion was supreme. Dominic Leone started (for the third time, the first was September 5) and he remained perfect. Leone threw a pair of scoreless innings, and has five scoreless in total in his three starts.

Jose Alvarez followed, allowing the Padres’ only run on Fernando Tatis’ RBI double, and the relievers rolled out from there. Six in all saw action with rookie Kervin Castro pitching the eighth and ninth. The Giants are expected to again turn to their relievers on Wednesday as Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood remain on the shelf.

Tommy La Stella opened the scoring with a 414-foot shot to straight away center field. Evan Longoria capped the five-run frame with three-run shot. Those home runs sandwiched Lamonte Wade Jr.’s triple that scored Darin Ruf.

Yu Darvish took the loss, allowing all four home runs, which included bombs by Belt and Mike Yastrzemski, both of which traveled further than La Stella’s in the first. Darvish–at least in Giants’ broadcaster Dave Fleming’s opinion–maybe the poster child for the hastily-adopted rules aimed at eliminating pitchers using sticky substances to grip the baseball, and maximize the ball’s rotation. Darvish has won just twice since the new rules took effect, he was 6-1 in prior to that.

The Giants were in their fine-tuned, power swinging mode with just eight hits to score nine runs. Six of the eight went for extra bases, all previously mentioned with the exception of Brandon Crawford’s double that contributed to the team’s eighth inning rally that capped their scoring.

The Giants won’t see much change in the NL West standings–the Dodgers were winning 4-1 in the seventh at the time this article published–but the pressure is on the defending champions, as their equally hot play hasn’t earned them in any traction in the race for the division title. Only 18 games remain, and the Giants have the friendlier schedule with 12 remaining home games.

One last reminder of how hot the Giants are: if they capture 14 of their last 18 games, that would give them 108 wins on the season. While that would require an insanely torrid pace, one the team can’t be doggedly pursuing with the playoff preparation their biggest priority, it would mean incredible history. Only the 1975 Reds and 1986 Mets have won that many games in the divisional era which dates back to 1969.

On Tuesday, the Giants battle the Padres again with Anthony DeSclafani and Jake Arrieta the listed starters for the 6:45pm start.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Matt Olson is the Oakland A’s 2021 MVP

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Matt Olson who won the 2021 A’s MVP Award hitting .276 Olson thus far this season has been the key to the A’s line up this season. (file photo from NBC Sports)

Matt Olson is the Oakland Athletics 2021 MVP

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

With the A’s still in the race for a postseason berth (more likely as one of the two wild card teams) their first baseman Matt Olson has been their most consistent player right out of Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona, earning his way to his first All Star Game selection in Denver, Colorado. Olson has shown more discipline at the plate and continues his stellar work with the glove at first base.

The two-time Gold Glove winner (2018-19) is on his sixth year with the A’s. 2019 was Olson’s best season at the plate, he hit for .267 with 36 home-runs and 91 runs batted in and struck out 138 times. During the Covid abbreviated 2020 season played in a team high 60 games that were scheduled, batted .195 with14 home runs and 42 RBI, also tops in the team.

During this 2021 season he enjoyed his best Spring Training and had a mission to be more selective at the plate. Olson has done that and then some. A’s are in Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals and then to Anaheim for three more against the Angels and a return to Oakland this September 20th for their last home stand. During the current season, Olson had significantly reduced his strikeouts, logically resulting in more contact, including a career high 32 doubles.

With 19 games left this season for the Athletics, Matt Olson has an excellent opportunity to end with his best overall numbers. He is just two home runs away from reaching his top of 36 in 2019 as well as two-RBIs shy of 100 for the first time in his career. And yes, Olson could win his third Gold Glove.

Matt Olson is humble, very quiet and unassuming player. During the pre-covid time when the media was allowed to go inside the dressing room prior to the game, you would not even noticed he was there. But once the game begins, he is the most consistent Oakland Athletics player on the field and their 2021 Most Valuable Player. There is no doubt about it.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish lead play by play announcer on flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Down To The Wire In Their Next Series

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Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas will start against the Kansas City Royals Tue Sep 14, 2021 at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City for game 1 of the three game series. (file photo San Francisco Chronicle)

A’s Down To The Wire In Their Next series

By Barbara Mason

It’s been a long baseball season but it has seemed especially long for the Oakland A’s. They have had more ups and downs than a boardwalk roller coaster. If it’s not the starting pitchers, it’s the at bats or some crazy defensive play and for awhile now it has been the bullpen with a capital B.

There are six more series left in the season. Oakland will be facing the Kansas Royals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves and take a look at what is next up for the A’s

Tuesday night they will be taking on the Kansas City Royals in a three game series. The Royals are not a factor in the playoff picture but would like nothing more than to play spoiler. That’s just what teams do when there is no post season in their future.

On Tuesday the A’s probable starting pitcher will be Frankie Montas who with an 3.57 ERA and has been very good on the mound. Montas has had some of his best stuff lately and has been impressive. If he can go deep and into the game, even as far as eight innings there will be less pressure on the bullpen.

It’s no secret that the Oakland bullpen has been less than stellar for while for now so taking pressure off them to perform is a good thing. It’s a shame that it has come down to this but its is what it is.

For the Kansas City Royals they will more than likely send Jackson Kowar to the mound with a 9.53 ERA. The A’s will need the bats to come alive early in the game coupled with their usual solid defensive play. They should have a lot of success in this series. The A’s will need some cooperation from the bullpen and that’s a given.

The bottom line is that this team has the tools to make a run this year. Tuesday night will hopefully begin the journey on that run.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Bullpen issues for A’s as relievers can’t shut the door late

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Oakland A’s reliever Sergio Romo got rocked on Sat Sep 11, 2021 by the Texas Rangers allowing four runs in the eighth inning in another A’s blown save at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum (file photo mercurynews.com)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara you’ve seen a number of late inning melt downs from the Oakland A’s bullpen where the starters go deep but the relievers just can’t hold the lead.

#2 A’s pitcher Cole Irvin took the game on Saturday into the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers with 6-2 lead and had all his pitches working for him did he look good enough to complete the game although that wouldn’t happen today with the pitch count.

#3 Irvin has been supportive and relievers Andrew Chafin and Sergio Romo were touched up by the Rangers who scored five runs in the eighth inning. Irvin said that they put in a great effect but the Rangers just saw the ball well and hit them were they ain’t.

#4 Going into a home stretch of the season like this where every game counts as the A’s make their best bet bid for a wild card birth they’re really going to need to lean on their bullpen to make over the hump.

#5 Barbara, the A’s open a three game series in Kansas City Tuesday night the bullpen has blown eight saves in their last 19 games those eight games are critical if you look at how close the wild card race is.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Giants nothing but success in Chicago; Host Padres Magic number is 1 can clinch tonight

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San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt sports a taped C for Captain on his jersey which he talked about on the NBC Bay Area post game show Sat Sep 11, 2021 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs (photo from nbcsports.com)

On Giants podcast with Marko:

#1 For the Giants (93-50) Kris Bryant it was a memorable and emotional return to Chicago (65-79) for him seeing his old teammates, friends, and yes a few Wrigley Field neighbors as the Cubs ran a video tribute in his honor before the game last Friday.

#2 Brandon Belt has certainly earned the C on his Giants road jersey he’s led by example hitting the home run ball with much frequency and has 23 for the season so far hitting .258. He had black electrical tape to his jersey as a C he certainly has earned the honor.

#3 Wilmer Flores returned on Sunday to the Giants after suffering a left hamstring injury. Flores had been used as a pinch hitter and was in the line up against left handed pitching. Giants manager Gabe Kapler is looking forward to getting productive help from Flores.

#4 Giants pitcher Jay Jackson who pitched an opener for the Giants and got rocked in the first inning on Sep 4th for four runs and a hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers was sent down to the Giants triple A Sacramento. Jackson was 2-1 with an ERA of 4.34.

#5 Giants lead in the NL West by 2.5 games over the Dodgers and open a three game series at Oracle Park in San Francisco against the San Diego Padres (74-67) the Padres have been .500 ball while the Giants have won nine of their last 11 games. The Giants still have to be cautious playing a club like the Padres they’ve got some talent.

Marko Ukalovic is filling for Morris Phillips for the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Flores returns in Giants win over Cubs 6-5

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The return of San Francisco Giant Wilmer Flores who made just one appearance against the Chicago Cubs in the three game series paid off as he rounds second after connecting for a two run fifth inning home run at Wrigley Field in Chicago (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

Wilmer Flores made his return to the San Francisco Giants lineup and he did not disappoint them at all.

Flores hit a home run and drove in three runs, helping the Giants to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs to complete the three-game sweep of the Cubs and ended the road trip with a perfect 6-0 record. Prior to the sweeping the Cubs, the Giants opened the road trip by sweeping the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

With the victory, the Giants have now won a season-high games in a row, their longest winning streak since they won seven in a row in August of 2020.

Kris Bryant, who made his return to Wrigley Field for the first time as a visitor and scored two runs in the finale.

The Giants led 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Cubs scored two runs to get within one run and chased Giants starter Logan Webb. Tyler Rogers came on to replace, and got out of the jam, as he struck out Willson Contreras looking and then got Alfonso Rivas to end the inning.

Closer Jake McGee came on to close it out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but gave up a double to Patrick Wisdom, who eventually got to third base; however, McGee ended the game on back-to-back ground ball outs by Frank Schwindel and Ian Happ to Brandon Belt at first base to end the game and McGee picked up his 31st save of the season.

Flores picked a run batted in for the Giants in the top of the second inning and the Giants stretched the lead to 3-0 in the top of the third inning that scored Flores.

The Giants and Flores put two on the board in the top of the fifth inning, as he hit a two-run home run to stretch the lead up to 5-2 and it was the career-high 18th home run for Flores.

Webb went the first six innings plus, allowing five runs (four of them earned), six hits, walking two and striking out five and picked up his 10th win of the season.

Happ hit his 22nd home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning that cut the Giants lead down to 3-2.

Justin Steele pitched the first five innings for the Cubs, as he allowed five runs to the Giants on 11 hits, walking two and striking out four and saw his record fall to 4-4 on the season.

NOTES: Flores was activated from the injured list with a strained left hamstring and so was Austin Slater, who was out with a concussion. To make room for Flores and Slater, Caleb Baragar and John Brebbia were optioned to Sacramento.

This was the first time that the Giants swept a three-game series from the Cubs since September 8-10, 1995, when Sergio Valdez, Terry Mulholland and William VanLandingham were the winning pitchers in that three-game series.

Overall, this was the 11th sweep of the season for the Giants, as this was their sixth series sweep on the road and have five at Oracle Park.

UP NEXT: Dominic Leone will take the mound in the opener of the four-game series against the San Diego Padres on Monday night at Oracle Park. The Padres will send Yu Darvish to the mound, as he looks for his ninth win of the season.

Texas-Sized Problems: A’s bats go quiet at the wrong time in 4-3 loss to the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–In a lot of ways, Sunday’s A’s game was lost on Saturday.

The agonizing 4-3 defeat to the Rangers at the Coliseum saw the A’s fall behind 4-0 through four innings, then rally to trail just 4-3 after six. But the final three innings were quiet ones; the A’s went hitless as they failed to even challenge Texas’ slim lead.

And if Sunday was bad, Saturday was worse, thus the conclusion that the struggling club lost whatever momentum it had in a brutal 8-6 loss in which the Rangers wiped out a four-run deficit in the final two frames as the bullpen again failed to hold a lead.

Instead of a potential five-game win streak to pull the A’s within a game of Boston for the second wild card spot, the A’s have lost 17 of 26 and can’t seem to get over the hump. Losing has a wearing effect, especially for a ballclub not blessed with a great deal of depth, and stuck in a rut with its pitching.

What’s clear is the A’s have been afforded opportunities, including this current stretch of nine games against three clubs with losing records. Along with that, the teams in front of them in the standings have flatlined with the Yankees winning just three of their last 10, and the Red Sox at .500 (5-5).

One issue is the Rangers, a team that stands 26 games below .500 after consecutive wins in Oakland, and has found a way–time and time again–to cool the A’s hitters. The season series between the A’s and Rangers concludes with the A’s holding a slim 10-9 advantage, and five of those nine Rangers’ wins have seen the A’s score three runs or less, including Sunday.

Not that the A’s didn’t do good things against the Rangers, most notably hit 34 homers in the 19 games between the clubs, just one home run off their franchise record for home runs against one club in one season. But often it was homer and little else. On Sunday, Yan Gomes homered in the fifth, and Matt Olson in the sixth, but the remainder of the Oakland output was three singles and a walk. A’s hitters in spots six through nine went hitless, drawing the only walk.

It didn’t help that Matt Chapman was unavailable after fouling a ball off his shin on Saturday, or that Mitch Moreland was in Alabama seeking a second opinion on his injured wrist that has sidelined him for two weeks.

James Kaprelian allowed all four Rangers’ runs, and fell to 7-5 on the season in the process. Kaprelian surrendered eight hits and a walk. He was lifted in the fourth by manager Bob Melvin, who probably couldn’t afford to be patient with the season on the line in these final 20 games.

Taylor Hearn went six innings for the Rangers, allowing the two home runs but little else. The reliever turned starter didn’t walk anybody, but gassed out after 80 pitches, a sign his transformation from reliever to starter isn’t yet complete.

The A’s hit the road for six ballgames starting Tuesday in Kansas City, then on to Anaheim for a weekend meeting with the Angels. Frankie Montas will be looking to pick up his 13th win of the season in the opener.