Category: MLB

The Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Joey Wendle gets ready to put the tag on the high flying Oakland A’s runner Matt Olson (22) in the eighth inning of Sun May 9, 2021’s game at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Oakland A’s (21-15) had a 3-0 lead against the Tampa Bay Rays (19-17) the Rays scored the go ahead in the top of the sixth inning eventually winning 4-3.

#2 A’s starter Cole Irvin pitched six innings giving up three runs and six hits. Irvin’s record 3-3 ERA 3.09

#3 The A’s need to protect their lead did manager Bob Melvin leave Irvin in too long as the game was tied up during his start

#4 The A’s won the season series against the Tampa Bay Rays despite losing on Sunday 4-3. The A’s remain on top in the American League West with a two game lead over the second place Houston Astros.

#5 The A’s open a three game series with the Boston Red Sox which opens up Tuesday night at Fenway Park starting for the A’s Chris Bassitt (2-2 ERA 3.70) for the Sox Nathan Eovaldi (4-2 ERA 4.62) first pitch 4:10 pm first pitch PDT

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

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s were having a weekend to their liking, dominating all the high leverage moments against the Rays, and pocketing a pair of wins in the process.

Then the fifth inning arrived, and the similarities between these two, scrappy small-market teams became readily apparent.

Simply, the Rays became the A’s.

Down 3-0, and facing the possibility of a sweep at the hands of the A’s, Tampa Bay responded, first getting a three-run homer from Wily Adames to tie it, and then a tie-breaking solo shot from Mike Brousseau in the sixth to sneak past Oakland, 4-3 at the Coliseum.

While neither team will scare opponents with a dominant, offensive attack, the A’s and Rays will shock opponents with big hits in big moments, and in this case, the Rays took their turn with the game on the line on Sunday.

“Home runs can make a lot of questions go away,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “The offense has been kind of grinding, battling through a little bit of a tough stretch here. But those home runs can really help alleviate questions after the game. So I know it’s one swing of the bat, but when you’ve got some guys on, it’s huge.”

The A’s settled Friday night’s opener with Seth Brown’s walk-off job in the ninth. Then on Saturday, Brown came up big again as his home run and RBI single gave the A’s a pair of two-run leads. But Sunday was the defending AL Champs response, and they made it stick to avoid the sweep.

“We felt pretty good at 3-0, but they’re a team that comes back,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “They’re scrappy like we are, and its probably gonna go down to the end, it did.”

The Oakland A’s Austin Allen rounds first base after hitting a home run off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow (20) at the Oakland Coliseum Sat May 8, 2021 (AP News photo)

Tampa Bay 3 – 10 – 1

Oakland 6 – 6 – 2

By Lewis Rubman

May 8, 2021

OAKLAND–The A’s announced this morning that Mike Fiers is back on the Injured List. He pitched gamely but vainly the day before yesterday in his last outing, during which he was battered for nine hits and five earned runs in 3-1/3 innings.

Burch Smith, who had been on the IL, also pitched on Thursday, giving up a run and two hits in an inning and a third of rehab relief for Las Vegas, took Fiers place on the roster. The diagnosis for Fiers was a sprained elbow in his right, pitching, arm. This his second visit to the IL this year and the third over his career. Smith had been sidelined with a strained right groin.

There also was a lot of movement in the Athletics’ starting line up. After a week of facing a diet of nothing but left handed opposing starting pitchers, the home team preseented an enhanced array of lefty batters to combat the offerings of Tampa Bay’s right hander Tyler Glasnow, who brought a 4-1, 2.06 mark to the mound.

Seth Brown, who drove in both Oakland runs in last night’s stirring victory with a pinch hit single and his heroic walk off homer, replaced Stephen Piscotty in right and batted second. Austin Allen, hitting in the eighth position, handled the catching duties.

The versatile and weak hitting Vimael Machín, batting ninth, took over at short for the weak hitting Elvis Andrus. And Tony Kemp was played second base, taking over for the switch hitting Jed Lowrie, whose hits better on the right side than on the left.

The decision to start Brown turned out to be a wise one. With Mark Canha on firsst and no one down, he blasted Glasnow´s first pitch to him 412 feet for a two run homer to center.

Meanwhile, Frankie Montás, who’s had a seesaw 2021, which shows in his 3-2,5.87 game time numbers, had pitched a scorelesss first inning, marred only by a walk to Yandy Díaz. He walked Kevin Kiermeir in the second, but his unsuccessful attempt to steal second ended the inning and his day´s work.

He sprained his wrist sliding into Chapman, covering in the shift, and brought Manuel Margot into the game to take over in right field for the bottom of the frame, right fielder Brett Phillips moving over to center. The results of x-rays of Kiermeir’s wrist were negative.

Inserting Austin Allen into the line up also proved to be the right move for Bob Melvin to make. Allen padded Montás’s cushion by driving a 96 mph four seamer 373 to right with no one on in the second. Hot, dry afternoons can compensate for playing day games after night games at the Coliseum.

Although two Rays batters had walked, and another, ex-A JoeyWendle reached first on a fielding error by the usuallly sure handed Olson, Montás didn’t yield a hit until Yoshi Tsuzsugo got a clean single to left with one out in the fifth.

The first real threat from Tampa Bay came an inning later. Austin Meadows led off with a double to the base of the center field wall. Yandy Díaz flew out to deep right field to move him up to thid. Then Brandon Lowe unloaded on an 0-1 95 mph four seamer for 407 foot home run. Montás no longer was coasting, and Yusmeiro Petit was warming up quickliy in the bull pen. After Wendle singled in left center, Petit entered the fray.

Montás had gone 5-1/3 innings and allowed two runs, both earned, five hits, including one home run, and two walks. 59 of his 88 pitches were strikes.

Petit got Margot to pop out to Machín, but, with Zunino at the plate, Wendle stole second and kept on motoring to third when Allen’s errant throw went into the outfield. Zunino then went down swing on an 88 mph four seamer from Petit.

After Glasnow issued ball four to Chapman with two out and no one on base, southpaw Cody Reed entered the game. The next four men due up were left handed. He needed to. face only one to end the frame. Although Chapman took second on a wild pitch to Moreland, the A’s DH flew out to right, which retired the side.

In spite of his rocky start, Glasnow pitched well, throwing 101 pitches, 64 for strikes over 5-2/3 innings. All three of the runs he allowed were earned and came before the end of the second frame. The two home runs the A’s got off him accounted for 2/3 of their total hits at the time. He. walked four and struck out 11.

Petit continued his excellent relief work into the Tampa Bay seventh, strikingout Tsuzsugo and Margot before Randhy Arozarena got Texas League single to left. At that point, good old relilable Diekman came in to face his fellow left hander Austin Meadows. Diekman struck him out on four pitches, preserving the Athletics’ slender lead.

Kemp singled to left and advanced to second when Murphy, who was hitting for Allen now that a southpaw was on the mound, grounded out, 1-3. When Andrus was announced as hitting for Machín, Kevin Cash brought 83 in right handed ex-Giant Hunter Strickland to face him. Andrus grounded out to Tsuzsugo at first, allowing Kemp to take third. Canha, whose BA was.248 but knows how to finagle his way on base with the best of them, walked, belringing Brown to the plate.

He had struck out in both at bats following his first inning homer. He took a 3-2 83 mph slider to the opposite field, beating the shift and upping Oakland’s advantage to 4-2. The run was charged to Reed. Strickland got out of trouble after walking Laureano by inducing Olson to ground out to his opposite number at first.

But Diekman found himself pitching in trouble in the visitors’ eighth. A clean single to right center by Meadows and a bunt that died just fair at third put runners on first and second with no outs. Diekman struck out Wendle on a full count and reitred Margot on a liner to Brown in right but surrendered a hard single to left, and it was a one rungame when Lou Trivino made his first appearance since his debacle three days ago. Mike Brousseau, pinch hitting for Tsuzsugo, took a 76 mph curve for called strike three.

The run charged against Diekman run came on three hits. He threw 25 pitches in an inning’s work in which he struck out two. Petit had thrown 16 in 1-1/3 innings, allowing a hit but no runs while recording three strike outs

Kemp’s two out double to left center in the bottom of the eighth drove Strickland from the mound. Ryan Thompson, also a right handed hurler, got Murphy smack a bouncer to Brousseaiu now playing first. Brousseau’s wild throw past the covering Thompson brought in Kemp but did’t earn Murphy and RBI. Andrus’s double, also to left center, which brought in Murphy, did earn one for the short stop. Canha’s ground out to third put an end to the inning. Neither of the two insurance runs was earned.

Trivino, now guarding a 6-3 lead, continued pitching into the ninth. He immediatel found himself in hot water dagain. Phillips singled to center. Next, Arozarena got plunked by a 95 mph Trivino fast ball, bringing the potential tying run to the plate with nobody out.

It took Trivino only four pitches to load the bases with a walk to Meadows. There now was double barrelled action in the Oakland bullpen with the three, four, and five batters due up. Díaz flew out to right. Lowe struck out swinging. Wendle swung on the first pitch and grounded out to Andrus.

The win went to Montás, leaving him 4-2, 5.50. Trivino earned his sixth save, an exciting one at that. His ERA is down to 3.86, but he remains a question mark as Oakland goes deeper into the season, even though Bob Melvin voiced confidence in his his closer during his post game remarks to the media. Glasnow got the tough loss. His record now is 4-2, 2.37.

The A’s will go for a series sweep tomorrow at 1:07. The anticipated match up is between two lefties, ShaneMcClanahan(0-0,2.25) and Cole Irvin (3-3,3.09).

In the first inning no one had any idea that Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea seen here throwing to the Tampa Bay Rays line up would throw a near no hitter into the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri May 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

Tampa Bay 1 – 3 – 1

Oakland 2 – 7 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

May 7, 2021

OAKLAND–The A’s have been facing some veteran hurlers recently, but none as veteran as 41 year old Rich Hill, their antagonist for tonight. Of all the players in the major leagues, only Alberto Pujols is older than he is, and yesterday Pujols was designated for assignment.

Hill’s pitching for Tampa Bay, i.e., St. Petersburg, reminds me that Ring Lardner, who wrote You Know Me, Al, which Virginia Woolf said contained “the best prose that has come our way,” and “a story about baseball, a game which is not played in England, a story written often in a language which is not English,” as well as “Golden Honeymoon,” a story that depicts St. Petersburg as a place where, like triples in Ramón Laureano’s glove, retired people go to die. (I’m 80 years old, so I can get away with this sort of morbid ageism).

Among his baseball travels during his 16 year major league career, was a sojourn with Oakland, for whom he started 14 games in 2016. Frankie Montás was one of the players the A’s got in exchange for sending Hill, along with Josh Reddick, to the Dodgers. Going into tonight’s fray at 1-1, 6.39, Rich hoped to show that despite his age, he’s on the hill, not over it. He, not incidentally, also hoped to extend the Rays’ five game winning streak, which has vaulted them into second place in the AL East, a game and a half behind Boston.

Sean Manaea, going for Oakland, is, at 29, not quite young enough to be Hill’s son, but easily could be his nephew. Like the rest of the A’s, he’s had a mixed season, taking the mound tonight was a record of 3-1, 3.48 over six starts. In his last three, he went 2-0,2.65. He received no decision in his most recent outing, giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings against Baltmore five days ago. Before that, he faced the Rays in St. Pete, going five innings and giving up four hits without a decision.

Manaea had a score to settle with Rays; he was the losing pitcher in the 2019 wild card game against them. Like Mike Fiers, who was ineffective against Toronto yesterday afternoon, he has a no-hitter to his credit. He accomplished that feat in April 2018, against Boston in the Coliseum. By the way, on this day two years ago, Fiers, after a pre-game delay of about an hour and forty minutes due to the misfunctioning of the left field light banks, threw his second no-no, defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0.

The A’s mound corps, starters and relievers alike, has been bouncing around between being a concern and a cause for pride and back again to being a concern. For the first 19 games of the season, even including the horrendous 0-6 stretch that marred the opening week of the season, Oakland’s team ERA was 2.73.

Now it’s 4.33. Only three American League teams have a higher one. Opposing hitters are doing so at a .257. In this they lead the league. (Remember that this has not been a hitters’ year). The Janus like nature of the home team’s pitching staff can be seen in its league leading status in both shut outs and wild pitches. (All of these figures are as of around 2:00 0’clock this afternoon).

Before Wednesday,the A’s relievers hadn’t blown a save or been charged a loss. By today, they had done both. Yesterday and the day before, the bull pen surrendered 12 runs; in the dozen contests that preceded that two day melt down, they’d given up a mere 10.

A bright spot had been Yusmeiro Petit’s 12 inning scoreless streak, which he extended tonight in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve a 1-1 tie and Jake Diekman to get the win by striking out both batters he faced in the top of the ninth before Seth Brown’s walk off home run gave Oakland the victory.

Oakland almost jumped out to an early lead in the second when, on an 0-1 count, Stephen Piscotty pulled a 72 mph curve into the left field stands, just a few outside the foul pole. But Hill shut down Elvis Andrus and Tony Kemp to keep the scoreless tie intact for the nonce.

Hill benefited from some excellent defense behind him in he bottom the sixth. Yandy Díaz made a nifty scoop of a grounder Olson hit behind him and first and beat his fellow first sacker to the bag. Then Manuel Margot made a diving catch of Sean Murphy’s dying quail to left to end the inning.

It seemed as though Manaea were paying hommage Dallas Braden’s Mothers’ Day perfect game as he set down the first 18 batters he faced. Then he walked Randy Arozamena to open the seventh. He struck out Margot, and then allowed a mighty blast to right center by Margot. Piscotty caught it with a little dump at the wall, and Yandy Díaz grounded into a 6-4 force out to end that frame.

Hill didn’t come out for the Oakland seventh. He had pitched a beautiful game, one in which he reminded me of Ed Lopat, throwing fast balls in the 80s and lots of breaking pitches, with excelllent control. He allowed only two hits, two walks, and a hit batter on 79 pitches, of which 56 were strikes.

His succesor, Andrew Kittredge, wasn’t as successful. After Chapman fouled out to first, Jed Lowrie got his third hit of the night, a double to right center. Seth Brown, pinch hitting for the right handed Piscottiy against the righty Kittredge, hit a single through the shift to brng in Lowrie with the game’s first run.

The elation of that one run lead was deflated when Mike Brosseau opened the eighth with a double to right center and Mike Zunino brought him home with the tying run on a single to center. The no-hitter and the lead were gone, and, after he struck out Keven Kiermaier looking, so was Manaea. He had pitched magnificently and left the game with a line of one run on two hits and one walk. He struck out 10 Rays on 90 pitches. 63 of them were strikes. Yusmeiro Petit was called on to replace him.

In spite of a blown call on what should have been a 3-6-1 double play, a called that was left standing on review, Petit managed to wiggle out of the inning after a single by Willy Adames had put men on the corners. He also pitched to one batter in the ninth, Margot, who lay down a bunt to third and was thrown out by the slick fielding Chapman. Petit then gave way to Jake Diekman, struck out his two batters.

Kittridge gave way to Pete Fairbanks, who kept the A’s off the board the in eight and who yielded to Jeffrey Springs, who couldn’t in the ninth. Seth Brown, who had driven in the game’s first run in the seventh took Springs 392 feet to right to give Oakland a hard fought and well earned win.

Diekman’s win was his second and brought his ERA down to 1.93, exactly one run higher than Petit’s phenominal 0.93. The loss charged to Springs put his record at 2-1,2.45.

Today’s game is going to be a tough act to follow. Tomorrow’s is slated to start at 1:07, with Frankie Montás (3-2,5.87) going mano a mano against Tyler Glasnow (4-1,2.06)