Category: MLB

Texas Rangers’ Joey Gallo, right, is congratulated by Andy Ibanez, left Gallo hit a two run homer in the top of the fifth inning against the Oakland A’s on Thu Jul 1, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

Texas 8 – 15 – 1

Oakland 3 – 5. – 0

By Lewis Rubman

Thursday, July 1, 2021

OAKLAND–It’s not a June swoon, but the A’s went into the month leading the AL West by a half a game at 31-25 and left it a half a game behind Houston at 48-34. There were plenty of bright spots.

The two Matts found their hitting stride; Elvis Andrus began to look like the Andrus who had played for Texas; Tony Kemp showed what a versatile professional could do. There were some outstanding pitching performances, especially from the starters, and the team ERA dropped from 4.24 after 51 games to its present 3.25. The bull pen, however, is unreliable, and the weakness there isn’t readily evident in stats like the individual relievers’ ERA.

During the season’s first 71 games, the pen lost four games. In the last 11 contests alone, it lost three. In its last 10 games, the pen suffered four blown saves and posted a collective ERA of 6.26.34.1% of inherited runners crossed the plate.

Today’s southpaw starter, Sean Manaea, is, on the whole, one of the bright spots. His won-lost record for last month was a not particularly impressive 3-2, but his ERA was 1.13, and opposing left handed batters manged a meager .181 BA against him, although righties swatted him for a healthy .277 average and lefties did some serious damage to him this afternoon. He went to the mound with a 6-4, 2.91 record. His mound rival for Texas was righty Dane Dunning (3-6, 4.63).

It was not a pretty match up for fans of the green and gold. The home team took an 8 -3 drubbing to start the new month off on the wrong foot. The game wasn’t as close as the final score might have indicated. Oakland was outhit, 15-5.

Manaea got into trouble early. After retiring Isiah Kiner-Falefa on ground outs to Chapman at third, he surrendered a double Adolis García bounced off the 7 Up advertisement in left center field. García stole third while Joey Gallo was at bat, but that was redundant, because it was Joey Gallo at bat. He laced a solid single to right that brought in the game’s first run. A fine running catch by Ramón Laureano of Andy Ibáñez’s fly to medium deep center ended the episode.

For a moment it looked like Oakland had tied the score in the bottom of the second. Laureano opened the frame with a solid single to left. Moreland followed that by dropping a Texas league single to center. Each advanced a base on Andrus’s nubber in front of the plate.

With Seth Brown at bat, they each moved up another base on what home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs (a vacation replacement) called a ball that escaped catcher John Hicks’ grasp. The more veteran umps disagreed with call, and Riggs changed it to a hit batter. That loaded the bases, but Aramis García went down swinging, and Kemp grounded out, short to third, to quell the uprising.

Nat Lowe doubled the Rangers’ lead by blasting Manaea’s first pitch in the top of the fourth, an 80 mph hanging curve that landed in the front rows of the right field seats. That was the only inning Acevedo pitched. He got out of it after gibing up a single to Culberson, who was forced out at second by Kiner-Falfa, who got picked off first by Acevedo, who then struck out White. Deolis Guerra took his seat on the pitching merry go round for the seventh frame.

The curse of the lead off double struck in the home half of that inning. Moreland hit the two bagger and was still on second after Andrus flew out to right center, Brown whiffed, and García flew out to right.

Joey Gallo did his thing in the fifth. He teed off on the 91 mph sinker that Manaea threw as a first pitch with White on first and one down. When the ball landed in the right center field seats, Gallo had 20 home runs and 45 RBI. The Rangers had a 4-0 lead. All of their runs had been driven in by left handed hitters off the left handed Manaea, three by Gallo and one by Lowe.

It was Dunning who was removed from the mound first. After shutting Oakland out for four innings on three hits, two walks, and two hit batters, he was replaced by John King to start the bottom of the fifth. Dunning had thrown 68 pitches, 43 of which were strikes. He left without having lasted long enough to get the win. That went to John King, who now is 6-5 (as is Manaea), 2.86.

Manaea didn’t come out to pitch the sixth. He had hurled 94 pitches, 65 of them strikes, and yielded four runs on nine hits, including two for the distance. He walked one Ranger and unleashed a wild pitch. He was charged with the loss. His ERA ballooned to 3.13.

John Hicks, in his first big league game of the season, began it with a bang by taking Manaea’s replacement, Domingo Acevedo, deep to lead off the sixth. It left the park over the 367 foot sign in left field. This time, it was a case of a righty scoring against a righty.

That pattern was broken in the seventh when left handed Nate Lowe homered to right with Gallo on base to up the Ranger’s lead to half a dozen runs. The shot, his 11th home run of the year came on an 81 mph change up. This was the second multi homer game for the Rangers’s first baseman. It also was the end of the day for Guerra, who took over for Acevedo to start the seventh and would give way to Burch Smith in the eighth. None ofl the A’s pitchers escaped without being scored on.

Singles by Hicks, Kiner-Falefa, and White did the trick in getting to Smith. Texas skipper Cliff Woodward showed some mercy by sending in David Dahl to pinch hit for Gallo. He ended the inning with a foul pop fly to Chapman. Smith stayed in through the top of the ninth, the only frame in which an Oakland reliever managed to blank the Metroplex Maulers

Oakland finally scored in the home eighth. Kemp led off by getting hit by a pitch. Chapman walked. Matt Schwindel pinch hit for Olson and launched a loud foul a few feet to the left of where his debut home run had landed last night.

Then he hit a bounder back to King, who threw the ball into center field, allowing Kemp to score and Chapman to reach third. At this point Woodward yanked King, who hadn’t given up a hit in his three inning stint on the mound but would be charged with three runs, two of them earned. Brett Martin replaced him and, after yielding a down the line double to left by Chad Pender, who had replaced Lowrie at second, retired the next three A’s he faced.

Spencer Patton closed the game for Texas. He allowed a two out double to Kemp, but that was all.

The Red Sox come to town tomorrow for a three day holiday week endseries. Frankie Montás (7-7, 4.72) will face Eduardo Rodríguez (6-4, 5.83) in the opener, scheduled to start at 6:40).

The Oakland A’s Chris Bassitt who picked up his ninth straight win is seen here pitching in first inning against the Texas Rangers at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry the Oakland A’s (48-34) have now won two of their last three games they had been struggling against the Texas Rangers (31-49) but on Wednesday night were able to pull off a 3-1 win and picked up three runs in the second inning that stood up.

#2 A’s starting pitcher Chris Bassitt who has been pitching lights out baseball won another won for his ninth straight.

#3 Jerry, talk about Bassitt’s outing on Wednesday night going seven innings, three hits, with one walk and seven strike outs.

#4 Bassitt had everything working for him Wednesday he retired 16 out of 18 hitters and in the sixth inning and the Rangers with runners at first and third and two outs he got Joey Gallo to hit into a ground out to first to get out of the inning.

#5 For Thursday’s third and final game of the series the Texas Rangers will start Dane Dunning (3-6 ERA 4.63) he’ll be matched up against the Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea (6-4 ERA 2.91) a 12:37 pm PDT

Join Jerry F for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Frank Schwindel thanks the heavens after hitting a two run homer against the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the second inning at the Oakland RingCentral Coliseum on Wed Jun 30, 2021 (AP News photo)

Texas 1 – 7 – 1

Oakland 3. -5 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

Wednesday June 30, 2021

OAKLAND–At 6:40 Wednesday evening, Frank Schwindel made baseball history. He was listed on the line up card for the A’s when Chris Bassitt threw his first pitch in anger for the home team in tonight’s contest against the Texas Rangers. The right handed first baseman and catcher, who also can play in the outfield, was added to the roster yesterday (his 29th birthday).

When home plate umpire DJ Reyburn shouted “Play,” Schwindel became the 2,000th player in the history of the Philadelphia-Kansas City-Oakland Athletics franchise. He’d been tearing up the PCL, where his 16 home runs were tied for first in all of minor league baseball. He also was tied for the top spot in the league in hits and runs batted in. The A’s game notes provided a glimpse of his 2021 record for Las Vegas.

AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OBP SLUG .324 44 185 42 60 11 0 16 41 13 34 .369 . 643

Schwindel was Oakland’s starting designated hitter. He first came to the plate with the A’s ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the second. That run had just been scored against Texas southpaw Kolby Allard (2-3, 3.33) on a walk to Chapman, a single by Pinder, Lowrie’s foul out to right that allowed Chapman to take third, and Sean Murphy’s sac fly to right.

The rookie took Allard’s initial offering for a ball and then laced into a 91 mph four seamer that ended up 395 away in the left field upper deck seats. The Rangers, laboring under the misapprehension that the ball had left playing field in foul territory appealed the call, but it was upheld on review after about 40 seconds. Schwindel ended up going one for two for the game.

The A’s ended up winning, 3-1. Bassitt, who brought an 8-3, 3.25 mark to the mound, was trying to slow the 47-34 Athletics’ slide towards .500, now had been staked to a three run lead. His rival hurler, Allard, kept the A’s from building on that advantage, holding them to two hits, both singles, after Schwindel’s blast.

His final line was six innings pitched, three runs, all earned, on four hits and a walk. He threw 91 pitches, 61 for strikes, before exiting after the sixth and yielding the mound duties to Josh Sborz, who retired the A’s in order in the seventh and then left the game in favor of Taylor Hearn, who blanked Oakland for an inning in spite of a single to Andrus, who advanced to second on left fielder White’s error and stole third.

Bassitt held on to that lead, leaving after seven innings, in which he blanked the Metroplex Maulers on three hits and one base on balls. He struck out seven and threw 102 pitches, 61 of which were considered strikes. He was credited with the win. Bassitt’s successor,Yusmeiro Petit, allowed only a two out single in the eighth and gave way to Lou Trivino in his role as closer.

Joey Gallo spoiled what had been a near perfect evening for the home town guys. He took Trivino deep with one out in the ninth, sending a hanging curve into the right center field seats. Nate Lowe kept the Rangers’ hopes alive by singling to center, bringing up Eli White, representing the potential tying run.

White sent a grounder to short, and Lowe beat Andrus’s throw to Kemp, who had replaced Lowrie at second and made a brilliant grab of Hold’s line drive to end the eighth. The A’s appealled the safe call on Lowe, but it was, quite rightly, upheld. Heim, the ex-Athletic, now had the chance to turn the game upside down, but he took a 95 mph four seam fast ball for called strike three. Then Nick Solak Skyed out to Bolt, and the A’s had evened the series.

Positives for Oakland: Schwindel’s debut; Bassitt’s brilliance; Petiit’s return to form. Negatives for Oakland: Trivino’s rocky ninth; the offensive hitting a stone wall after the second; Chapman’s hitting streak being stopped at 16.

Sean Manaea (6-4, 2.91) will toe the rubber tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon at 12:37. He’ll be facing Dane Dunning (3-6, 4.63).

The Texas Rangers Joey Gallo slugs a homer in the sixth inning against the Oakland A’s on Tue Jun 29, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

Texas 5 – 9 – 0

Oakland 4 – 7 – 1

By Lewis Rubman

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

OAKLAND–This Tuesday evening’s contest between the (47-34) Oakland Athletics and the (31-48) Texas Rangers featured a repeat of last Wednesday’s pitching match up between the A’s promising rookie right hander James Kaprielian (4-1, 2.86 going into tonight’s game) and the Texans’ Mike (1-7,5.40).

Houston’s first round draft pick in 2010, who had pitched for the Astros and the Atlanta Braves before signing with the Rangers as a free agent during the last off season. The A’s couldn’t get past the Rangers losing by a run on Tuesday night at the RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland 5-4.

In their last duel, Foltynewicz shut the A’s out on six hits in as many innings before leaving with a 2-1 lead. He wound up with a no decision. Four years ago, pitching for the Braves, he took a no-hitter against the A’s in the Coliseum into the ninth inning. He lost the no-hitter to a lead off homer by Matt Olson, but still won the game.

Kaprielian also took a no decision out of Wednesday’s clash at Arlington. He held the Rangers scoreless for four innings but surrendered one run in each of the fifth and sixth frames before exiting with Oakland behind 2-0.

The A’s pulled ahead in the top of the seventh, and Kaprielian, as the pitcher of record, would have gotten the win. Instead, Yusmeiro Petit was charged with a blown save and the loss. The final score had Texas ahead, 5-3.

Tonight, both starters pitched well. Kaprielian left after six innings, trailing 3-2. All the runs scored against him were earned, and the came on six hits, two of which went for the distance.

He struck out six of his opponents and didn’t walk anyone. He threw 105 pitches, 70 for strikes. Faoltynecwicz did better. He went sseven full linnings, allowing two runs, both earned, on four hits, one a home run, and a walk. He struck out six, and 60 of his 95 offerings were considered strikes. Faoletynecwicz ended up getting the win, while the 5-4 loss was pinned on Kaprielian.

Before the game, the A’s announced that J.B. Wendelken had returned from the 10-day injured list. This might strengthen the Athletics’ bull pen, which has been struggling for the past week or so. He gave signs tonight that he might do just that.

The team also promoted Frank Schwindel from Las Vegas. The A’s made room for them by optioning the versatile but under performing Vimael Machín back to the Las Vegas Aviators and designating right-handed reliever Cam Bedrosian for assignment.

Matt Chapman got the Athletics off to any early lead with his 11th home run and 41st RBI of the year, a 420 foot solo blast that left home plate at 108 mph into the left center field seats. It came on the first pitch Foltynewicz threw him, a 93 mph four seamer. It also extended Chappy’s hitting streak to 16 games, the longest in his career as well as the longest current streak in the majors.

Joey Gallo knotted it up with a fly that sailed over the 388 foot marker in right center field with two down in the fourth. It was his 17th of the year and, like Chapman’s, produced his 41st run batted in of the season. It came off of a 91 mph fast ball that Kaprielian threw on a 3-1 count.

Hard hitting and sloppy Texas fielding put the A’s back up in the bottom of the inning. With one down, Lowrie drove a liner that just cleared the glove of the leaping Solak at second for a clean single to right. Ramón Laureano followed with a sinking liner to deep left that Eli White dove for, missed, and let get past him for a double that scored Lowrie. Laureano took third on the throw.

Ex-Athletic Jonah Heim tied it up again in the top of the fifth, following White’s lead off single with a double to right. The Rangers’ catcher moved on to third on Solak’s clean single to right, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Andy Ibáñez hit a hard grounder to third.

Chapman elected to go to second for the double play. Heim elected not to try to score. Solak was out at second, but Ibáñez beat Lowrie´s relay to first, and the situation remained runners on the corner, but this time with one down. Heim once again chose not to try to score on Isaih Kinter-Falefa’s fly to medium deep center, a run prevented by Laureano’s reputation for strong, accurate throws . Lowe flew out to Laureano to end the inning.

In the sixth, Joey Gallo went deep on a 1-1, 93 mph four seamer of the evening, a 386 foot smash to left that left his bat at 104 mph for his second round tripper of the evening. Like his first, it came with the bases empty, so it put Texas up by only one run.

Sergio Romo took over for Kaprielian in the seventh and set the Rangers down in order, helped by a spectacular running, diving catch in left by the evergreen Kemp in left. The newly returned J.B. Wendelken replaced Romo on the mound in the eighth. He gave up one hit, a lead off single to right by Kiner-Falefa that was either a beautiful piece of opposite field hitting or the result of a late swing.

Joely Rodríguez relieved Foltnewicz after the Rangers´starter had worked seven frames. He walked a pinch hitting Chad Pinder on four pitches but then struck out Kemp and Chapman before retiring Olson on grounder into the shift.

Domingo Acevedo came in for the ninth, hoping to hold the Rangers´ advantage steady at one run. He didn´t. A one out single by Heim and Solak´s fly that landed just inside the right field foul pole and just over the right field fence left the Athletics behind 5-2 when they faced closer Ian Kennedy in the bottom of the ninth.

Lowrie, leading off, blasted Kennedy’s 2-0, 94 mph four seam fast ball 417 feet over the center field wall to narrow the gap to 5-3. After Laureano took a called strike three, Mitch Moreland drove thee first pitch he saw from Kennedy 351 feet into the depths beyond on the right field fence, making it a one run game.

Murphy fouled out, and it was up to Andrus to keep the A’s hopes alive against his former teammates. He came through with a single up the middle, bringing Pinder to the plate. He promptly popped out to first to end the A’s attempt at a comeback.

Kennedy got, but certainly didn’t earn, the save, his 14th.

The A’s will try to bounce back Wednesday evening at 6:40 with Chris Bassitt (8-3, 3.25) duking it out with Rangers starter Kolby Allard (2-3 ERA 3.33).