Category: MLB

Oakland A’s game wrap: Giants six run lead collapses; A’s come back in the tenth 10th 8-7

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Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty (25) celebrates after hitting a grand slam off San Francisco Giants’ Trevor Gott in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

The Oakland A’s Stephen Piscotty played heroics with a ninth inning tying home run after the San Francisco Giants held a 6-0 lead and watched it collapsed after the A’s scored five runs to tie the game up 7-7 thanks to Piscotty’s grand slam.

The A’s would go onto win it 8-7 after Mark Canha hit a fly to right fielder Hunter Pence for a sacrafice to score Matt Chapman from third for the game winner. Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas was scheduled for the start but was scratched for replacement starter Jesus Luzardo who get scalded when the Giants scored a run in the first followed by three runs in the second and two in the third to take a 6-0 lead early in the game.

Luzardo lasted just 3.1 innings surrendering nine hits and six earned runs the Giant picked up their seventh run in the eighth inning when Mike Yastrzemski belted a solo home run for 394 feet to center left to give the Giants a two run lead. Yastrzemski’s home run was off A’s releiver TJ McFarland.

With the A’s trailing by five runs going to the top of the ninth 7-2 the A’s Matt Olson slugged a home run to center to make it 7-3 off Giants reliever Trevor Gott. Gott than loaded the bases with Khris Davis, Robbie Grossman, Mark Canha on board Piscotty went deep 365 feet to left field and the A’s tied the ball game at 7-7. Later to win it in the tenth on a sac fly by Canha scoring Chapman.

Winning pitcher for the A’s Joakim Soria now 2-0 and an ERA 0.00, losing pitcher for the Giants Jarlin Garcia 0-1 ERA 0.00.

Saturday night’s starters at Oracle Park for the Oakland A’s Frankie Montas (2-1 ERA 1.57) who suffered upper back tightness on Friday night will start on Saturday and for the Giants Kevin Gausman (0-1 ERA 4.05). Gausman last pitched Sunday Aug 9th against the Dodgers in LA and got a quality start of 6.1 innings of one run baseball. First pitch tonight 4:07pm

 

 

 

 

 

A’s complete huge comeback to take Game One of Bay Bridge Series 8-7

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto works against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-This new rule of a runner on second base to begin extra innings is not working out for the San Francisco Giants at home, and it helped the Oakland A’s complete a phenomenal comeback.

Matt Chapman scored on a sacrifice fly from third base off the bat of Mark Canha, as the A’s defeated the Giants 8-7 in 10 innings in the opener of the Bay Bridge Series at Oracle Park.

The A’s trailed in the game by the score of 7-2 entering the top of the ninth inning, and then began their comeback.

As first baseman Matt Olson continues to hit the ball well, as he launched his seventh home run of the season that landed in the Giants bullpen in the top of the ninth inning off of Trevor Gott.

Things went from great, too good, too bad and then finally to the downright ridiculous within a span of four batters after the Olson home run.

Gott walked Canha, then the bizarre occurred when Grossman reached on a fielders choice, when Flores fielded the ball and threw to Brandon Crawford to get the force out instead of just going over to first for what would have been the second out of the inning. Gott then hit Davis to load the bases, and then with one swing of the bat, the game was all tied up, as Piscotty launched a grand slam that sent the A’s dugout into a frenzy.

That was the second grand slam of the season for Piscotty and like his walk-off grand slam against the Texas Rangers, he is the 14th player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in the ninth inning in the same season and the first A’s player to ever do it (Mike Selleck of A’s PR with that note).

Tyler Rogers replaced Gott, and immediately gave up a single to Sean Murphy and then a double to Marcus Siemen to put runners on second and third with one out. Rogers then struck out Chad Pinder for the second out of the inning, and after an eight pitch at-bat, Rogers struck out Chapman to end the threat.

Johnny Cueto was lights out, as he went seven innings, allowing two runs on just three hits, walked two and struck out five; however, he did not fare in the decision after the As exploded for five runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie up the game.

Evan Longoria got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as he took a Jesus Luzardo pitch and put it into the left field bleachers to give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead.

Hunter Pence did even more damage in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit a three-run home run off of Luzardo.

Longoria broke what looked like the game wide open in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he singled to left field that allowed both Chadwick Tromp and Mauricio Dubon to score to give the Giants a six-run lead.

The A’s finally got to Cueto in the top of the seventh inning, as Canha singled to left and then Grossman tripled down the right field to break up the shutout.

With Cueto at exactly 100 pitches, Giants manager Gabe Kapler came out to the mound, but instead of pulling Cueto, he let him stay on the mound to face Kris Davis, who grounded out to Solano to score Grossman from third base, Cueto then got out of the inning, when he got Piscotty to ground out to Dubon for the final out of the inning.

Solano extended his career-high best hitting streak up to 16 games, when singled to lead-off the bottom of the third inning and three batters later, Pence hit his second home run in four days. The Fort Worth, Texas native returned to his home state, and more important to the city where he his major-league career began with the Houston Astros to key a come-from-behind victory that saw the Giants come back from a 6-2 deficit to win 7-6 in 10 innings.

Mike Yastrzemski he hit his fifth home run of the season that landed in the front row of the left field bleachers in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the home run, Yastrzemski raised his batting average from .297 to .307 with one swing of the bat.

NOTES: Longoria’s home run in the bottom of the first inning was the 299th home run of his career, leaving him just one shy of becoming the 149th member of the 300-home run club and would tie Chuck Klein and Justin Upton for 147th place all-time.

That was the 26th home run of Yastrzemskis career in his 145th game, and in comparison, his grandfather Carl, who hit 452 home runs in his career hit his 26th home run in his 245th career, thank you Sarah Langs for that tidbit.

This was the first time that the A’s have won a game after trailing by five runs in the ninth inning since July 15, 1952, when the then Philadelphia A’s defeated the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) when Eddie Joost hit a walk-off grand slam off of Satchel Paige to win 7-6 at Shibe Park (thank you Dave Feldman).

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman will start for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, while Sean Manaea will start for the A’s.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Kings win their last two games to close season; Can Warriors get high draft pick?; plus more

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Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield (24) defends against Los Angeles Lakers’ Talen Horton-Tucker (5) during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo via AP)

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 London the Sacramento Kings won their last two games to close out their regular season. They defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 136-122 on Thursday although they won’t go the the playoffs winning that last game was a good note to end the season.

#2 The Kings defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 112-106 on Tuesday so Sacramento got to string two wins together after losing five of six games.

#3 Are the Golden State Warriors in rebuild? After their dismal 2019-20 season their looking for a high draft pick in the lottery. The Warriors are a 14% chance of getting a number one draft pick.

#4 This past week for the Oakland A’s had it’s twists and turns. They had a nine game win streak come to an end last Monday night in a loss to the Angels. A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano who is expected to serve a six game suspension soon for charging the Houston Astros dugout on Sunday had a spectacular game with three amazing catches and a hit for two RBIs on Wednesday.

#5 The Big 12, SEC, and the ACC will schedule non conference games for September 1st and then starting September 26th they will start the regular season. Despite other conferences in the NCAA canceling they will push on with games and people have to ask if this is such a safe idea?

London Marq does Headline Sports podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Battle of the Bay getting ready to commence

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The grinding of teeth as the San Francisco Giants pitcher Caleb Baragar is lifted in the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s game in Houston after the Astros Martin Maldonado tags Baragar with a three run homer. The Giants host the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park in San Francisco tonight (AP photo)

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants just dropped a series to the defending American League champs. Now they have to contend with the hottest team in the game.

The Giants and A’s will now head to Oracle Park to play a three-game series in front of an undisclosed amount of cardboard cutouts and synthetic, non-authentic crowd noise, a series that starts Friday night.

The A’s are sitting atop the American League West with a 13-6 mark, having won 10 of their last 12 games in the process. The momentum really kicked into high gear when they swept the defending American League champion Houston Astros last weekend.

The Giants, on the other hand, are in last place in the National League West with an 8-12 record, and have dropped eight of their last 11 contests. They have lost games in different ways, with subpar defense, bad bullpen and the meager offense that Giants fans have grown used to for the past few years.

They have also been bitten by questionable pitching changes by manager Gabe Kapler, which was the main sticking point of his getting fired by the Philadelphia Phillies last season.

With all of this in mind, things are not looking good for the Giants and their overmatched lineup, and it does not figure to get any better in the foreseeable future.

Frankie Montas will go for the A’s on Friday, and he will go head-up with Giants starter Johnny Cueto, who had a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his most recent outing, which is one positive that the Giants can take into this series.

If there is another for the Giants, A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano is currently appealing a six-game suspension that he drew after his altercation with Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron over the weekend. He could very well miss part of, if not all of, the weekend series.

That’s Amaurys’ News and Commentary: Bay Series 2020 A’s and Giants renew their Rivalry

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The Oakland A’s and Matt Chapman will be at Oracle Park in San Francisco for a three game series starting this Friday night. Chapman is shown here from last year’s Home Run Derby at last year’s All-Star game in Minnesota (AP file photo)

Bay Series 2020: A’s and Giants renew their Rivalry

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Our Bay Area teams have been hot and not so hot. The Oakland Athletics to one of their best starts in history occupy first place with a 13-6 record already four games over second place Texas Rangers, with just 41 games left in this 2020 season. The San Francisco Giants with a not so good 8-12 in last place five games out of first, with 40 games left. A red hot Colorado Rockies team with 12-6 has taken first place.

The Bay Area Series is always a treat for Northern California fans, although this year with zero fans in the stands. Giants always have received press coverage preference since they moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, while the A’s who arrived in Oakland ten years later in 1968 had their share of success, with four (4)World Series going to the City of Oakland.

The most memorable was the 1989 (last World Series title) when they swept the Giants in the middle of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. Every-time they meet I remember that memorable 1989, as memorable as this incredible 2020.

These two teams in 2020 are totally different. The A’s brain trust had said a few seasons ago that the year 2020 was their goal for this group of young players to jell as a unit and go far. Chapman, Olson, Semien, Laureano, Piscotty, Canha and a young and talented pitching staff headed by Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Jesús Luzardo, with veteran Mike Fiers and a supporting cast of Daniel Mengden and Chris Bassitt.

But it has been the A’s bullpen that has been ‘lights out’. Joaquim Soria, Jake Diekman, T.J McFarland, has worked the most with the reliable veteran Yusmeiro Petit plus closer Liam Hendricks now with a 1-0 1.93 ERA and five saves in nine games. He is not the “opener” anymore, but one of the most reliable closers in the game.

The A’s can play power ball with the best teams in baseball. Their defense has been solid and their starting pitching, minor their #1 lefty Sean Manaea, who has not won in four previous starts, he is 0-2 with an ugly 9.00 ERA in just 15 innings pitched. There was a lot of optimism for Manaea in 2020 after coming back from shoulder surgery faster than the A’S expected. However, flamethrower Frankie Montás has taken over the #1 position in the rotation since Opening Day.

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The San Francisco Giants in 2020 are in a rebuilding season. A cast of young inexperienced players, surrounded with veterans like Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford, and their top starter Johnny Cueto.

The face of this franchise, catcher Buster Posey, opted out during this Corona-virus season, after he and his wife adopted twins and decided to stay at home. Nevertheless, there are some interesting players like journeyman Donovan Solano who has played with the Marlins and Yankees and since 2019 with the Giants.

Solano is hitting .458 with 15 RBI. Would he be one that hit .400 in this shortened season? Also Mauricio Dubón is a good young player. Pablo Sandoval still hanging around and Hunter Pence returned to the team he enjoyed the most success.

The fences were moved in at Oracle Park, as the Giants who have been power-depraved might be able to connect for more home runs. Gabe Kapler (Manager) was sort of a controversial signing for the Giants, after the reign of future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Botchy who retired and left some big shoes to be filled.

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The Giants will host the Athletics on a three (3) game series at Oracle Park

Friday 6:45PM Giants Johnny Cueto 1-0 5.40 vs. A’S Frankie Montas 2-1 1.57

Saturday at 4:07 and Sunday at 1:05

The Bay Series will continue in September across the bay in Oakland, for the last three games.

September 18, 19 and 20.

May your favorite team win.

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October Bubble? MLB is seriously considering playing the Postseason in neutral warm-weather cities with two major league parks, the favorites are the Chicago and Los Angeles areas. A total of 16 teams will advance to the postseason, eight in each league. In case our two bay area teams are among those sixteen, they will probably play in the LA area. It actually doesn’t matter, since stadiums are going to be empty anyway during all the games anyplace in the country.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish Radio Talent for the Oakland A’s. Catch the A’s-Giants series at Oracle Park in San Francisco on NBC Sports Bay Area. Amaury does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s open up three game series with Giants at Oracle Park Friday

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas who gets the start against the San Francisco Giants on Fri Aug 14th at Oracle Park in San Francisco works against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO–The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants are both enjoying a day off on Thursday. The teams will begin Part One of the annual Bay Bridge Series Friday night at Oracle Park. They will play three games in San Francisco and three more in Oakland in September.

The A’s are currently in first place in the AL West with a record of 13-6. The Giants are in last place in the NL West with a record of 8-12. The Giants would love nothing better than to upset the A’s applecart this weekend.

Let’s take a look at the starting pitchers. Friday night’s game will feature the A’s Frankie Montas going against the Giants’ Johnny Cueto. Montas, named the American League’s Player of the Week, won his last two starts and struck out fourteen over fourteen innings of work. Overall, he is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.57.

The Giants’ Cueto pitched against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. He had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning. He lost it when veteran outfielder Hunter Pence misplayed a fly ball that fell for a hit. Cueto is 1-0 and has an ERA of 2.57 against Oakland.

On Saturday, rookie left-hander, Jesus Luzardo, pitches for the Green and Gold. Luzardo won his first Major League game last week over the Houston Astros. He went five and 2/3rds innings and allowed just two runs.

The Giants will start Kevin Gausman. Gausman, a former Baltimore Oriole, went six and 1/3rd innings and allowed one run facing the Dodgers last week. Gausman is 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA in four starts against the A’s.

Sean Manaea will go for Oakland on Sunday. Manaea has not had a great start to the season. He has yet to go five complete innings. In his last start against the LA Angels on Monday, he was unable to make it out of the third innings.

The A’s are hoping that Manaea can get back on track. The Giants will send righty Logan Webb to the hill to face Oakland. Webb is 1-1, and his ERA is 2.71. Against Houston, Webb went three and 1/3rd innings and gave up five runs, and two were unearned. In his only start against the A’s in 2019, Webb went four and 2/3rds innings and allowed four runs.

The A’s, winners of 97 games in 2018 and 2019, are optimistic about making the playoffs again in 2020. They have a strong starting rotation, excellent bullpen, and a roster full of versatile position players.

Shortstop Marcus Semien leads the a’s offense, third baseman Matt Chapman, first baseman Matt Olson, centerfielder Ramon Laureano, right fielder Stephen Piscotty, and left fielder Mark Canha add potent bats to the A’s cause.

The A’s are also solid on defense. Laureano made three sensational plays in Wednesday’s game against the Angels. Chapman is a Platinum Glove winner, and Matt Olson has two Gold Gloves, and Marcus Semien nearly won one last year.

The Giants are a team that is rebuilding. They have a new manager, Gabe Kapler. Andrew Bailey, the former A’s closer, is the pitching coach. Ron Wotus remains at third base for San Francisco.

The Giants will feature several familiar faces in the lineup. Brandon Crawford will be at shortstop. Brandon Belt at first and Evan Longoria will be at third. These three have not hit well to start the season. Crawford is at .208, Belt at .135, and Longo at .213. Second baseman Donovan Solano, who is day-to-day, leads the team with a batting average of .458. He has one home run and 15 RBIs to his credit.

The Giants will play Mike Yasztremski in center, Alex Dickerson in right, and Austin Slater in left. Yaz is hitting .314 with four home runs, twelve RBIs, and an OPS of 1.077. Dickerson stats are .271 BA, two Homers, and 5 RBI. Slater, also day-to-day with a sore right elbow, is hitting .342 with three dingers and four ribbies.

His OPS is 1.076. Pablo Sandoval or Hunter Pence may see time as the designated hitter. Pence can also play in the outfield if needed. Hunter, who had a bounce-back year with Texas in 2019, has had a rough start. Wilmer Flores, the ex-Met, can fill in at third or first base, if necessary.

The following players man the Giants’ bullpen. The Giants will use Trevor Gott as the closer. Shaun Anderson, sidewinder Tyler Rogers, Jarlin Garcia, Caleb Baragar, Sam Selman, Wandy Peralta will all see action over the weekend.

The A’s bullpen has been very reliable for Bob Melvin and the A’s. Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria, Jake Diekman, J.B.Wendelken, T.J.McFarland, Lou Trivino, and closer Liam Hendriks have been consistent throughout the first nineteen games of the season.

The A’s, as mentioned earlier, cannot take the Giants lightly. Good teams don’t let opportunities such as this to slip through their hands. The A’s know the key to success is winning series. On the other hand, the Giants hope to beat the starch out the guys from across the Bay. It is always fun when these two teams get together. It should be no different this weekend.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Cleveland pitchers late night out throws rotation off; NFL to introduce strict protocols; plus more

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Cleveland pitcher Mike Clevinger took the team plane after he possibly might have been exposed to outside sources with pitcher Zach Plesac when they snook out to meet with friends in Chicago (AP file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony R:

#1 Tony talk about Cleveland pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac who both left their hotels to be with friends while in Chicago. Plesac was busted trying to get back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning and Clevinger didn’t return to the hotel was found out in a later investigation by MLB security.

#2 Plesac had to drive back in a rental car and Clevinger took the team flight back to Cleveland but later was found out that he was out with Plesac with friends in Chicago possibly exposing themselves to Covid-19.

#3 The NFL is taking a lesson in all of this and they want strict protocols to watch the players that they don’t sneak out and meet with friends will the NFL take a page out of the MLB rulebook and batton stricter guidelines about leaving a bubble?

#4 Should the NFL have bubble locations split up amongst the west, central and east with the same kind of bubble rules the NBA and NHL have?

#5 16 years in a Dallas Cowboys uniform Jason Witten was waiting for the call to join the team for a 17th year but that call never came and now he’s in a Las Vegas Raiders combine after reaching out to Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, Tony what are your thoughts on Witten joining Las Vegas?

Join Tony R every other Thursday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Laureano is appealing his suspension; A’s had break out game on Wednesday

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(photo from Bay Area News Group) Oakland A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano who is appealing his six game suspension will be returning Aug 20th from the suspension

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry the A’s had that nine game win streak but after the Laureano and Cintron brawl last Sunday the A’s had lost two straight on Monday and Tuesday nights was the fight and the forthcoming suspension of Laureano a distraction to the team?

#2 Laureano in an interview in Anaheim said he appealed and later will take the suspension six games, that he’s a man and he said he shouldn’t have wasted his time with Cintron.

#3 Laureano will sit out games against the Giants and Diamondbacks and looks forward to coming back during the Angels series in Oakland Aug 21st and on the road in Texas and Houston at the end of the month.

#4 Laureano’s suspension in a 60 game equals 2.7 games, he was one of Oakland’s best hitters hitting .263 with three home runs and has been a disciplined and patient hitter at the plate for the A’s especially during that nine game win streak.

#5 The A’s the day off today they open up a three game series against the Giants at Oracle Park on Friday night set up the three game weekend series.

Jerry joins us for the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Astros don’t need sign-stealing to beat listless Giants 5-1

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Houston Astros’ Martin Maldonado hits a three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants got off to a nice start on Wednesday, but they could not get any further momentum going, and they fell to the Houston Astros, 5-1, at Minute Maid Park.

In the process, they dropped two of the three-game series to the defending American League champions, who have been found to have used different elaborate forms of sign-stealing over the course of at least three years, including the World Series-winning 2017 season.

After Alex Dickerson singled in Mike Yastrzemski to give the Giants a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Astros, who didn’t need the help of a banging garbage can to tell them what pitch was coming, began to tee off on the Giants’ bullpen starting in the fifth inning.

Houston tied it in the fifth on Alex Bregman’s single off Dereck Rodriguez scored George Springer.

The following inning, the Astros continued to tee off. Carlos Correa, who last week was struck out and then mocked by Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, which touched off a benches-clearing confrontation (social distancing was not maintained, by the way), scored on a wild pitch to give Houston the lead.

Martin Maldonado quickly followed with a three-run homer off reliever Caleb Baragar to extend the lead to four runs.

The only thing that the Giants did well following the fifth inning was that they did not get into a benches-clearing incident – unlike the Astros and Dodgers last week – to put themselves in danger of contracting COVID-19.

On the other hand, things were so good for the Astros that starting pitcher Zack Greinke called out a pitch he was to throw to Mauricio Dubon – yeah, he actually did that – and Dubon took the gift and promptly flied out to center to end the inning.

A’s bounce back beat Angels 8-4

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, having lost the first two games of the three-game set, with the LA Angels, bounced back Wednesday afternoon to win 8-4. The A’s used three home runs and three fantastic defensive plays by Ramon Laureano to beat LA.

The A’s Chris Bassitt went five and 2/3rds inning to earn his second win of the year. Pitching against the Angels is no easy task as they have two rabbits that set the table for the power guys. Mike Trout homered for the third time in the series and has hit four of eight home runs this season against the A’s.

Anthony Rendon, signed as a free agent after winning a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals, homered for the third straight game. Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, and Brian Goodwin are all tough outs. The Angels outscored the A’s 20-17 in the series.

The A’s Matt Olson, with two out in the first inning, blasted a 454 foot home run to right field to give the a’s an early 1-0 lead. A’s manager Bob Melvin said Olson’s blast “gave us a jolt of energy.” The lead didn’t last long as the reigning AL MVP blasted a Chris Bassitt pitch over the wall in right field to tie the game. For Trout, it was his eighth of the year and the fourth against the A’s.

The A’s put two more on the board in the second. Mark Canha led off with a double. Robbie Grossman, hitting a robust .310, homered to put the A’s in the lead 3-1. It was Grossman’s third of the year.

The Angels roared back to tie the game in the bottom of the third. With one out, Brian Goodman doubled. Singles by David Fletcher reached on an infield single. Goodwin advanced to third and scored on Tommy LaStella’s single. Fletcher went to third and scored on Mike Trout’s sacrifice fly.

The tie didn’t last long. Stephen Piscotty led off the fourth with a solo home run to left to make it 4-3. Oakland added another run in the fifth. Marcus Semien led off with a double. Angels’ reliever Jacob Barnes retired the next two A’s hitters. Barnes served up a hanging slider to Matt Chapman, and Chappie did not miss. Chappie’s blast went over left fielder Brian Goodwin’s head for a double. The A’s lead 5-3.

The Angels made it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth. With two out, Angels’ third baseman Anthony Rendon homered. Rendon homered in all three games, and it was his fourth of the year. A’s manager Bob Melvin, brought in Jake Diekman to take over from Bassitt. Diekman struck out Albert Pujols to end the inning. The A’s were still ahead 5-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ramon Laureano made his third sensational defensive play of the day to rob Goodwin of the game-tying home run. Laureano raced back to the base of the centerfield wall and timed his leap to catch the ball as it was about to leave the park.

In the eighth, the A’s scored three runs with only one hit. Three Angel relievers walked Grossman, Piscotty, Murphy, and Marcus Semien for one run. Laureano singled to drive in two more to put the A’s ahead 8-4. Joaquin Soria shut the Angels down in the eighth, and Liam Hendriks closed out the game for Oakland in the ninth. The A’s win 8-4.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s are now 13-6 for the season. The Angels drop to 7-12. Chriss Bassitt is now 2-0. Canning Griffin absorbed the loss, and his record is 0-3.
Ramon Laureano made three outstanding defensive plays and had a two-run single for the day. Liam Hendriks set an A’s record by striking out a batter in 28 consecutive games. He held the record at 27.

The Angels used eight pitchers on Wednesday. Angels’ catcher Jason Castro struck out four times to earn a Golden Sombrero.

The A’s are off on Thursday. They meet the San Francisco Giants for a three-game set at Oracle Park on Friday. It will be the annual Battle of the Bay. The two teams will play six games this year, and the winner of the series gets to receive the Bay Bridge trophy.
Frankie Montas will go for Oakland. Johnny Cueto will pitch for the Giants. The game will start at 6:45 pm.