Category: MLB

A’s rout the lowly Royals 19-4

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s pummeled the Kansas City Royals 19-4 to start the seven-game, two-city road trip. The A’s went down in order in the first inning. They scored in every inning after the first. A’s starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who was acquired from the Royals in July, faced his old team for the first time in his career. Bailey had now faced 29 of the 30 teams in the MLB. The only team he hasn’t met is the Cincinnati Reds. He played for them for 12 years before coming to the Royals at the start of the 2019 season.

Bailey improved his season record to 12-8, He is now 5-2 in eight starts for the A’s. The Royals’ starter Brad  Keller was tagged with his 14th loss of the season. The A’s put five on the board in the second inning. Keller went 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs and three hits.

The A’s scored five runs in the second and five in the third. In the second, Mark Canha, who was named as AL Player of the Week, singled. A’s left fielder Seth Brown, making his Major League debut, singled in his first at-bat as a bi-leaguer. The big left-handed hitter from Oregon was hitting .297 with 37 homers and 104 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas. The 6-foot-2, 225 pound Brown was a sixth-round draft choice in 2016. Several members of his family were seen cheering him when he made his first hit. Keller walked Khris Davis to load the bases. He walked Jurickson Profar to drive in Canha with the A’s first run. Phegley walked to plate Brown and the A’s led 2-0. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien blasted a triple to deep right-center field, which cleared the bases. The A’s led 5-0. The Royals scored two in their half of the inning. With two out, Bubba Starling singled. He scored on Brett Phillips home run. The A’s led 5-2 after two.

The A’s put five more on the board in the third. Matt Olson got things going with a long single to right field. Mark Canha singled to send Olson to second. Brown singled again, and Olson scored on the play. It was Brown’s first Major League RBI. Josh Phegley reached on a swinging bunt. The ball could not be fielded cleanly by either the pitcher or the catcher. Canha scored on the play. Marcus Semien then hit his 23rd bomb of the season to make it 10-2 midway through the third inning.

The A’s added one in the fourth, and three in the fifth to make it 14-2.  The Royals got one back in the fifth. In the sixth, Profar hit his 16th of the season. In the seventh, Matt Chapman blasted his 30th. The A’s continued to pour it on. They scored two more in the eighth, and Khris Davis homered in the ninth to put the A’s way ahead 19-3. Lou Trivino pitched the ninth for Oakland, and he gave up the Royals fourth run of the night. The A’s won by a score of 19-4.

Game Notes: The A’s, as mentioned above, brought up Seth Brown to help in the outfield. The A’s needed another outfielder as Stephen Piscotty was placed on the 10-day IL with a high ankle sprain. The A’s had to make room on the 40-man roster. The team designated Nick Martini for assignment. If Martini clears waivers, he can go back to the A’s Triple-A club in Las Vegas.

The A’s had a long list of hitting stars Monday night. Josh Phegley and four hits and three RBIs. Marcus Semien had a triple and a home run and drove in seven runs. It was quite a night for Marcus. Matt Olson had three hits and two ribbies. Mark Canha had three hits and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Seth Brown had two, hits, one RBI, and he scored two runs. Khris Brown had three hits, one of which was home run, and he had two RBIs. Profar’s line was the same as Davis. Three hits, two RBI’s and a home run.

Homer Bailey went six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs. Lefty A.J. Puk pitched two scoreless innings and allowed one hit.

The A’s line score was 19 runs, 22 hits and no errors. The Royals’ line was four runs, 11 hits and no errors.

The A’s improved to 75-55. They are now in a virtual tie with the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. They also picked up 1/2 game on the Cleveland Indians in the race for the first Wild Card. They trail the Indians by 1/2 game. The Rays play three with the Houston Astros this week. Houston can help the A’s if they can handle the Rays. The A’s, in the meantime, Oakland must not let the Royals beat them. They have three more in Kansas City this week with and then in September when the Royals visit Oakland for three starting on September 16th.

The A’s have 32 games left on the schedule. They will finish the suspended game with Detroit on September 6th when the Tigers arrive in Oakland for three. The A’s were ahead when the game was suspended.

Up Next: Game two of the four-game series will be played Tuesday night in Kansas City. Mike Fiers (12-3, 3.46 ERA) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by lefty Mike Montgomery (3-6, 4.99 ERA). Montgomery had a rough outing against the lowly Baltimore Orioles last week. Game time will be at 5:15 pm.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Giants’ two wins in Oakland puts SF four games back in NL wild card

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Pillar, right, slides into home to score a run next to Oakland Athletics catcher Chris Herrmann during the second inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 The Giants took two from the Oakland A’s. It was something that was not expected after the A’s had took three out of four from the Astros and swept the Yankees.

#2 With the wins, the Giants cut their games back number from six to four. Manager Bruce Bochy in the past has brought Giants teams back from the doldrums to get into postseason. Does this team have faith?

#3 Special day for San Francisco third baseman Evan Longoria, who got his 1000th career RBI — a two-run single in the top of the seventh at the Coliseum to cap the Giants’ win 5-4.

#4 Longoria was key. He hit his 17th home run of the season. The Giants won by a run and needed every bit of luck they could muster. Was it a series that showed that they’ve haven’t given up?

#5 The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the City for a three-game series with the Giants. It’s another crucial series in the Giants’ bid for the wild card. For the D-Backs, Alex Young (5-3, 4.04 ERA), and for the Giants, Tyler Beede (3-7, 5.82 ERA).

Morris is the podcast host for Giants baseball each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

After superior showing against the Astros and Yankees, A’s come up empty against the Giants, lose finale, 5-4

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Well that’s not how great teams cap a superior home stand.

The A’s were flying high–and leading the wild card chase–after taking six of seven from the Astros and Yankees. But with two games remaining on their nine-game stand at the Coliseum, the A’s flopped dropping a second straight to the Giants on Sunday, 5-4.

Donovan Solano went 4-for-4 and Evan Longoria knocked in three runs as the Giants came across the Bay and achieved the two-game sweep. The A’s appeared to be in business after Mark Canha homered for the second time off San Francisco rookie Logan Webb to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth. But Webb and five relievers limited the A’s to a pair of hits the rest of the way, and the Giants kept their playoff hopes on life support with a second, straight win.

The A’s normally reliable bullpen played the culprit for the second straight game, as Blake Treinen allowed the go-ahead, two-run single to Longoria in the seventh. Treinen was on to pick up Jake Diekman, who walked Donovan Solano, and hit Mike Yastrzemski with a pitch, two of the only three batters he faced. After battling Buster Posey, Treinen allowed the hit to Longoria on the first pitch.

“I got a groundball,” Treinen explaned. “I can’t control where it goes.”

The A’s fell a half game behind the Rays in the wild card stack with the Indians a full game ahead, and in control of the top spot, and the opportunity to host the wild card game. All three teams fell on Sunday, putting greater focus on the A’s inability to pull out a win at home.

All three teams have concerns going into the season’s final 30 ballgames, mostly on the injury front. The Rays lost Brandon Lowe earlier this week, and now Kevin Kiermaier has bruised ribs. Tampa also just ended a lengthy, favorable portion of their schedule, and will face all playoff-worthy competition in the upcoming weeks.

The Indians placed Jose Ramirez on the injured list over the weekend, as they uncharacteristically lost a pair to the downtrodden Royals. Cleveland briefly lost control of the top wild card spot before regaining it on Saturday.

And the A’s are dealing with Stephen Piscotty’s high ankle sprain that will likely land him on the injured list. With Mark Canha getting hot, they might not miss Piscotty terribly over the short run, but Khris Davis’ prolonged slump continues to be an issue. Davis was benched Sunday in favor of Jurickson Profar as the designated hitter.

The A’s hope the schedule will aid their efforts with them visiting the Royals for four games, while the Rays visit Houston, then host Cleveland for the only three, remaining games between the three wild card hopefuls.

The A’s honored the 1989 World Series champs before the game, a chance for the fans to reconnect with Dave Stewart, Rickey Henderson and the other heroes of their most recent World Series title.

On Monday, the A’s open a week-long road trip at Kauffman Stadium with Homer Bailey facing Brad Keller.

 

 

Longoria gets 1,000th RBI in Giants win 5-4

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sfgate.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Evan Longoria hits a two-run single against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday,

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND-After the game Evan Longoria wore a vintage Chris Mullin Golden State Warriors jersey from the 1980s, and it was a vintage day for the third baseman.

Longoria hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland As 5-4 before a crowd of 47,321 at the Coliseum.

It was a huge day for Longoria, who tied up the game in the top of the third inning, as he hit his 17th home run of the season and it was also the 1,000th RBI of his career.

Since returning from the injured list on August 4 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Longoria is 23-for-68 (.338) with two doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs in 17 games.

With the victory, the Giants swept the two-game series, giving them the Bay Bridge Trophy, as they won the season series three games to one.

This was the 4,000th career game for Bruce Bochy, who became the just eighth manager in major league history to join this exclusive club. All seven managers in front of Bochy are all in the Hall of Fame.

Donovan Solano went four-for-four on the afternoon, as he also reached base on a walk. It was the second four hit game of the season, as he also did it on July 17 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The Giants final rally of the game began when Brandon Crawford reached on a Matt Olson fielding error to lead off the top of the seventh inning, Solano then reached for the fourth time in the game, as he walked on a 3-2 pitch. Mike Yastrzemski was then hit on the left hand to load the bases.

After an epic 11 pitch at-bat that Buster Posey strike out for the first out of the inning, Longoria singled thru the hole between second base and shortstop to score Crawford and Solano.

Unfortunately, the Giants ran themselves out of the inning, as Yastrzemski was caught stealing at third base.

Former As catcher Stephen Vogt, who hit a big three-run home run in Saturdays 10-5 victory gave the Giants a 1-0 lead, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kevin Pillar from third base. Pillar led off the inning with a double high off the wall in left-center field.

After Brett Anderson was able to retire Austin Slater on a groundout to first base, and Pillar went to third. Vogt then hit a sacrifice fly to Mark Canha that scored Pillar from third base.

Brandon Belt then walked, then Crawford and then Solano made it 2-0, as he singled to score Belt.

Unfortunately for the Giants, that lead would not last long, as Canha took the first pitch he saw from Logan Webb over the fence for his 21st home run of the season.

Jurickson Profar then followed that up with a double, and then scored, as Corben Joseph made it three straight hits with a double of his own to tie up the game. Chad Pinder then gave the As the lead, as he was the fourth consecutive As batter to get a hit, when he singled to score Joseph.

Canha made it two home runs in as many at-bats, as he launched a solo home run over the left-center wall to give the As the lead for good.

It was a troublesome second career start for Webb, who grew up in Rocklin, as he went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and two strikeouts.

Anderson went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out two; however, he did not fare in the decision.

It looked like the Giants won the game on a great defensive play from Pillar to Solano, when Josh Phegley was tagged out at second base; however, the call was overturned and then Will Smith was able to get Marcus Semien to ground out to Crawford to end the game.

Smith picked up his 30th save of the season, as he faced the final four batters of the game.

NOTES: Posey struck out for the second time in his career, as the first came earlier this season, when it occurred on against the New York Mets on July 18 at Oracle Park in a game that the Giants won 3-2 in 16 innings.

This was the first time that the Giants won back-to-back games at the Coliseum since September 26 and 27, 2015.

It was the also first series sweep by the Giants over the As since they swept them in three straight from July 24-26, 2015 at what was then called AT&T Park.

Once again, the Giants won a game by one run and it was their 30th win by one run on the season and are now 30-13 (.697).

UP NEXT: Tyler Beede opens up the six-game home stand on Monday night, as he faces the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park, while the Diamondbacks will send Alex Young to the mound.

MLB The Show Podcast with Matt Harrington: Giants need to sweep a lot of series to get wild card in their sights; Cervelli hooks up with Braves, feels no concussion issues; plus more

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photo from sfgate.com:  Scooter Gennett #14 of the San Francisco Giants turns a double play in the fourth inning against Nicholas Castellanos #6 of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on August 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

On the MLB podcast with Matt:

#1 Last chance for the San Francisco Giants, who open a two-game road trip to Oakland and face the A’s. The A’s are rolling they have won eight out of their last ten games and are tied for second for a wild card spot with Cleveland.

#2 The Giants’ wild card chances are becoming distant they got swept in Chicago and are six games back of second for a shot at the wild card.

#3 The Atlanta Braves in need of catching after Brian McCann was injured with a sprained left knee and picked up former Pittsburgh Pirate Francisco Cervelli at the pro-rated minimum MLB salary at the pro-rated amount of $119,000. Cervelli, who had concussion issues, caught six games with Pittsburgh Triple-A affiliate Indianapolis without any signs recurring problems.

#4 In Los Angeles on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant and comedian Larry David both took in the Dodgers-Yankees game. It’s not too often you’ll see the two New Yorkers in the same place in LA, but they were the talk of the game.

#5 Can the Atlanta Brave Ronald Acuna Jr. get to 40-40? Right now, he has 30 homers and 30 steals with a month and a week left in the season. September could be an exciting month for Acuna Jr chasing down 40-40.

Matt does the MLB podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Panda out for Tommy John, will miss next season also; Astros PR use prevent defense to keep Detroit reporter out of Houston clubhouse; plus more

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yahoo.sports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants utility player Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery and will miss all of this season and next.

On MLB The Show with Daniel:

1 Panda to undergo Tommy John Surgery, will miss all of next season, and the rest of this one

2 Astros defend decision to restrict Detroit Free Press reporter from entering locker room

3 Court rules that the Orioles owe nearly $100 million to the Nationals

4 MLB bans players from Venezuelan Winter League

5 The Players’ Weekend uniforms a bad marketing idea

6 RIP — Original Met Alvin Jackson

Join Daniel on the MLB The Show podcast each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s and Giants headed in two different directions before Bay Bridge series; Bailey and Puk can be of big help down the stretch;

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photo from sfgate.com: Juan Contreras of Stockton waves an Oakland A’s flag near the top of Oakland Coliseum’s Mount Davis during an MLB game between the A’s and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, July 21, 2018, in Oakland. A’s president David Kaval has announced he will open up Mount Davis to the fans for the two game series in Oakland.

On the A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

#1 The Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants could be headed in two different directions. The A’s, who are tied for second with Cleveland for the AL wild card, have day light to get into postseason. Meanwhile, San Francisco, which came off a three-game sweep in Chicago, are now six games back in the NL wild card standings.

#2 San Francisco Giant pitcher Logan Webb got to throw to his childhood favorite former A’s catcher Stephen Vogt. Vogt caught Webb on the last road trip in Arizona on Sun., Aug. 18th and Webb faced his face his childhood favorite team, the A’s.

#3 The A’s in this brief two-game series will be starting Homer Bailey on Sunday. Bailey (11-8) is expected to pitch high performance and he could be one of the key pitchers that helps the A’s get to postseason as it’s a very tight wild card standings.

#4 How do you see A’s reliever AJ Puk coming around? He struggled against the New York Yankees in relief on Wednesday, but manager Bob Melvin has high expectations for Puk, who is presumed to be a starter at some point.

#5 The A’s past some tough tests this past week taking three out of four from the Astros and sweeping the Yankees and are tied for second in the wild card. They’re expected to at least split with the Giants.

Join Joey on the A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Giants crush A’s 10-5 in game three of the Bay Bridge Series 2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
bb1
Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The A’s literally snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory on Saturday night as they watched a 4-2 lead going into the top of the eighth inning be wiped out when the San Francisco exploded for eight runs on seven hits off five Oakland pitchers. It was simply a stunning rally that the A’s did not see coming.

For the Giants, it felt like they had pent up emotion and energy that just had to be released. Madison Bumgarner did his best to keep his team in the game to give them the chance to win. When the A’s pitching staff gave the Giants the slightest of openings, the men from across the Bay took the opportunity and did the most with it.

The Giants took game one (game 3 of 4 total) of the Bay Bridge Series in Oakland 10-5 on Saturday night before 56,367 fans who were treated their money’s worth for coming out to the ballpark. The Giants scored 10 runs off 13 hits and left six men on base. For the A’s, they put five runs up on the board on 10 hits while leaving 10 men on base and committing one error. The game took three hours and 50 minutes to complete.

The Giants record for the season improved to 64-65 with the victory while the A’s fell to 74-54 on the year. San Francisco is now 5.0 games out the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The A’s are 0.5 games behind the Rays for the second Wild Card slot in the American League.

In this type of game where 14 pitchers were used, determining the winning and losing pitcher is almost “voodoo” science. Sam Coonrod (3-0) gets credit for the win while Yusmeiro Petit(3-3) was tagged with the loss.

Neither starter figured into the final decision

Chris Bassitt pitched 5.2 innings for the A’s on Saturday night. The right-hander ran into some trouble as he started through the Giants order for the third time. He gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford on 0-1 pitch with two out in the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Evan Longoria drove in Alex Dickerson from second base to tie the game at 2-2. That would be all for Bassitt as he was replaced on the mound by Jake Diekman.

Bassitt gave up two runs (both earned) off four hits (1 HR). He struck out five Giants and walked none. Bassitt threw 92 pitches (64 strikes).

Madison Bumgarner worked 5.0 innings for San Francisco in the contest. He also gave up two runs. The first run came off a leadoff home run by Mark Canha in the home half of the second inning that easily cleared the left-field fence. The A’s touched “Mad Bum” for another run in the bottom of the third inning.

Jurickson Profar walked to lead off the third for Oakland. Josh Phegley then singled to left field which moved Profar to second base. With one out, Matt Chapman hit a double to left that drove Profar in from second base to score the A’s second run of the game. The A’s took a temporary 2-0 at that point.

Bumgarner also gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits (1 HR). He struck five A’s and walked one. Bumgarner threw 97 pitches (64 strikes).

Did I just see a sacrifice?

Jurickson Profar was the leadoff hitter for the A’s in the bottom of the seventh, and he hit a double to right field. Catcher Josh Phegley then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the third-base side of the infield that moved Profar to third base (yes, everyone including the Giants was surprised). Marcus Semien followed up with an RBI single to left field. Matt Chapman singled to center sending Semien to third base. That would all for Giants reliever Jandel Gustave who would be replaced by Fernando Abad.

Matt Olson was the first Athletic to face Abad, and he hit a single to right that drove Semien home to score the fourth run of the game for Oakland. That would end the scoring for the A’s in the seventh inning and gave them a 4-2 lead, which proved to be not enough.

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That’s a lot of fans! Graphic: @Athletics

Focus on the A’s

  • Mark Canha hit his 20th home run of the year off Bumgarner in the second inning of the game. He also extended his hitting streak to eight games.
  • The A’s now have five players with 20-plus home runs on the season: Canha (20), Chapman (29), Laureano (21), Olson (26), and Semien (22).
  • Oakland has a record of 22-11 versus left-handed starters in 2019.

Spotlight on the Giants

  • Brandon Crawford hit his 10th home run of the season in the win on Saturday night and his first home since July 15 at Colorado.
  • Kevin Pillar has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games and is hitting .397 over that stretch.
  • Evan Longoria went 2-for-4 in the game, was hit-by-pitch and posted two RBI. He is hitting .347 since June 30.

Up next

The Bay Bridge Series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:07 PM at the Coliseum. The Giants will send rookie RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.80 era) to the hill to make his second start of the season. He made his major league debut last Saturday in Arizona picked up the win. Expect quite a few fans in the stands rooting for Webb who grew up in Rocklin just east of Sacramento.

The A’s will counter with LHP Brett Anderson (10-9, 4.06 era). Anderson has been having a rough go of things as he is 1-4 with a 5.02 ERA in his last five starts. Run support has been a big issue for Anderson. The A’s have provided three runs or fewer in 14 of his last 17 starts. Anderson was the losing pitcher in the game with the Giants in San Francisco on August 13.

Player’s Weekend Uni’s

The black and white themed uniforms created an interesting effect on the field Saturday night. It was really a throwback feel. In fact, I felt like I was watching the movie “Eight Men Out” at times.

I really liked the all-black uniforms the Giants wore as the visiting team. They were as the guy says in the SUV commercial — “sharp!”. The all-white worn by the A’s were had a very clean look, but the lettering and numerals were washed out. If they had outlined the lettering and numbers in black, the home uniforms would have been “sharp”.

The A’s pitchers did wear black hats because it was determined that the hitters were having trouble picking the baseball up against the all-white caps.

Pillar and Vogt come up huge in eighth to give Giants 10-5 win

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Stephen Vogt, right, celebrates with Buster Posey (28) after hitting a three-run home run off Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Buchter during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Kevin Pillar was a new addition to the San Francisco Giants earlier this season, and time and time, he comes with the biggest hit of the game.

Well, Pillar did it again, as he lashed a two-run double down the right field line in the top of the eighth inning, helping the Giants to a 10-5 victory over the Oakland As before a crowd of 53,367 at the Coliseum.

Stephen Vogt returned to the Coliseum, and put the game out of reach, as he smashed a three-run home run over the out-of-town scoreboard in left field.

In all, in that eighth inning, the Giants scored eight runs, sent 11 batters to the plate off of five different As relievers.

This was the first time that the Giants scored eight runs or more in an inning came on August 28, 2016 against the Atlanta Braves at what was then called AT&T Park, and it was the first time since August 17 ,2012 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park that they did it on the road.

The win by the Giants, stopped their four-game losing streak and they are 4-4 on their current nine-game road trip that ends on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the As saw their modest three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt at the hands of their Bay Area rivals.

Things did not start out well, as Mark Canha led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run into the left field bleachers to give the As a 1-0 lead.

Matt Chapman gave the As a 2-0 cushion in the bottom of the third inning, as his double went off the left field wall to score Jurickson Profar, who walked to lead off the inning. Following the Profar walk, Phegley singled and Semien flew out for the first out of the inning, then Chapman put the As on top with the double.

Chris Bassitt pitched a great game, as he went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on scattering four hits, walking no one and striking out five.

His counterpart on the mound, Madison Bumgarner went five innings, allowing two runs, while giving up four hits, walking one and striking out five.

Both Bassitt and Bumgarner did not factor into the decision in the game.

Brandon Crawford got the Giants on the board in the top of the fifth, as his laser to left field cleared the wall for his 10th home run of the season.

Evan Longoria tied up the game in the game in the top of the sixth inning, as he singled to left field that scored Alex Dickerson from second base. Dickerson doubled to left field to setup the Longoria at-bat.

Overall, since June 30, Longoria is hitting .347 (34-for-98) with 21 runs scored, nine home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Longoria went 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch and a RBI on the night.

The game was not tied for long, as Marcus Semien singled to left field off of Jandel Gustave that gave the As 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Jurickson Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for the time being.

Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for good.

Matt Olson gave the As a two-run lead, as he smoked a single to right field that scored Semien with what looked like the decisive fourth run; however, that eight-run inning put an end to that.

Profar reached base again in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he walked with two outs and then Phegley doubled in Profar. Reyes Moronta came on to face Semien, but he was unable to get that final out and Semien walked; however, Moronta was able to get Chapman to pop up to Longoria to end the inning.

Shaun Anderson came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, and gave up a walk to Chad Pinder; however, he was able to Khris Davis to ground into a double play.

Despite the fact that it was a save situation, Will Smith came into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the first game pitched for Smith since August 16 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval was evaluated by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday, and he recommends that Sandoval UCL (Tommy John) reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. Sandoval will have the operation during the first week of September.

Anderson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list, as his rehab stint in Sacramento came to a close. To make room for Anderson on the roster, Andrew Suarez was optioned to Sacramento.

Both the Giants wore their players weekend jersey, as the Giants wore all black jerseys and the As wore all white jerseys and caps. Bassitt wore a black cap on the mound instead of the white caps like the rest of his teammates.

UP NEXT: Logan Webb makes his second career start on Sunday afternoon for the Giants, while veteran Brett Anderson will take the mound for the As.

State of the A’s

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Photo credit: sfexaminer.com

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — After winning three out of four games against the AL West-leading Astros and sweeping a three game series against the AL East-leading Yankees, the A’s still trail Houston by seven games. The Astros seem pretty much of a lock for the division title, having a magic number of 28 with 33 games left to play. Oakland, meanwhile, has 35 games to go, including the suspended contest of May 19, in which they were leading Detroit 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. That game will be resumed on September 6 as a prelude to the full game the two teams will play at the Coliseum. That means that if Houston were play .500 ball for the rest of the season, the A’s would have to go 25-10 to tie them at the season’s end. 25-10 is a winning percentage of .714, the mark of the 1927 Murderers’ Row Yankees. That’s why Fangraphs’ granting the A’s only a 0.8% chance of winning the division makes a lot of sense.

But the huge disparities like this between the numbers one and two teams in a division is one of the reasons the wild card system was devised. The A’s outlook is a lot brighter there. Fangraphs give them a 59.3% chance of a wild card birth and a 60.1% making it to the ALDS. And (dare we even think about it?) Fangraphs’ calculations put the A’s chances of winning the World Series at 1.8%, with 10 teams ahead of them on the list.

So let’s take a look at the A’s opponents in their remaining regular season games, concentrating on what seem to be the toughest ones.

Tomorrow and Sunday, the A’s wind up the Bay Bridge Series with two afternoon games against San Francisco at the Coliseum. The Giants may have peaked on August 17, when their 11-6 win over Arizona put them first in the NL West wild card chase with a record of 63-61. Since then, they’ve lost four straight games and trail St. Louis by six games for a wild card berth. That doesn’t make them look like candidates for the toughest foes group, but it would be unwise to underestimate the power of an intense rivalry like the one between the two local teams.

San Francisco will pit two contrasting starters against the A’s. The left handed face of the franchise, veteran Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.72) will take the mound on Saturday, followed on Sunday by Logan Webb, the right-hander who won the August 17 game in his first and only major league appearance, when he held the Diamondbacks to one earned run in five innings. The A’s will go with Chris Bassit, who recently has been dealing a hot hand, and Brett Anderson, respectively.

Anderson has been reliably strong in the early innings but has tended to weaken notably in the middle frames. I suspect that he could best be used in stretch drive as an opener, but not if he’s used the way most openers are, throwing an inning or two, but for one or two times through the batting order, to be followed by a middle inning reliever. The name of A.J. Puk, who was electric but wild in his big league debut against the Yankees on Wednesday, comes to mind. So does that of good old reliable Yasmeiro Petit.

Ramón Laureano has been progressing in his recovery from the right shin stress reaction that has kept him on the IL since July 31, and there is talk that he could see action this week end, when the A’s California League affiliate Stockton Ports play against the San José Giants. If all goes well, Laureano could be with the A’s soon after their series with San José’s parent team has ended. This could alleviate the difficulties the A’s are experiencing from Khris Davis’ painfully slow return to the form he was displaying before his injury playing left field in Pittsburgh back on May 5. That relief would be obtained by freeing up Chad Pinder, Mark Canha, or a combination of the two for DH duty. Laureano also is a possible designated hitter, especially if Bomel wants to rest the youngster’s legs.

The A’s will fly to Kansas City following Sunday’s tilt against the Giants for a four-game set against the Royals before heading further east for three games against the Yankees, starting on August 30. Don’t bet on a repeat of this week’s sweep.

It’s too soon to know who the Bombers will send to the mound, but if everybody pitches on turn, it would be the same trio that opened the three games in Oakland, Domingo Germán, J.A. Happ, and Masahiro Tanaka. The strongest of that group would seem to be Germán. But, for all of his league leading sixteen wins, his ERA is a pretty non-intimidating 4.15 ERA. The ERA of the 5-5 Happ sits at 5.58, and the once formidable and still difficult Tanaka has the mediocre record of 9-7, 4.58 ERA. Assuming that the A’s rotation also will remain unaltered, Anderson, Bailey, and Fiers would be pitching for the Green and Gold. I’ve already mentioned my reservations about Anderson and how they might be resolved. Bailey’s ERA since coming to Oakland is one-tenth of a run higher than Happ’s season record, but if you discount his disastrous two-inning stint against the Astros on July 22, it comes out as a 3.75 ERA. Fiers probably is the ace of the A’s mound corps.

The A’s have a day off for travel after the Yankee series before returning to the Coliseum to face the Angels and Tigers, then it’s on to Houston.

Oakland will have gone to New York with a 3-0 record against the Yankees. That’s too small a sample to have much predictive value, but it’s nice to know. The same can’t be said about the team’s record against the Astros as they go into the four-game series that starts in Space City on September 9. In spite of Oakland’s triumphs at home last week, their hosts for the the upcoming series hold a 10-5 advantage over the course of the season. The bright side is that the A’s have won four of the six games they’ve played against the Astros since the 11-1 drubbing they received in the fatidic fray of July 22, the day that bulked up Bailey’s ERA.

While it was reasonable to anticipate the pitching matchups of the Stadium series, September 9 is too far down the road to make an informed guess at who will be pitching against whom in Houston. It’s possible that the Astros will have sewn up the division championship by then and that their principal aims will be staying in shape, avoiding injuries, and gaining home field advantage for the post season. That last is a not unimportant goal, especially considering the quirky contours of Minute Maid Park. Similarly, the A’s position vis-à-vis the other wild card contenders, not to mention the health of Jesús Luzardo, will exert a heavy influence on Oakland’s mound choices. With all these unknowns and more, it would be unwise to try to forecast the outcome of the four-game set in Houston, but it would be downright foolhearty to expect anything better for the A’s than a split.

I’ve haven’t talked in this column about games the A’s are scheduled to play against the Royals, Angels, Rangers, or Mariners. Although all of these teams are out of contention, none should be taken for granted. Indeed, the cliché about any given team on any given day is a cliché precisely true. Besides, also fans relish the role of spoilers. Still, taking into account the possibility of a surprise is a corrective for overconfidence, but it’s not particularly helpful in making even tentative predictions.

I’ve alluded to, but not discussed, what the A’s major competition for the wild card will be doing in the rest of the season. It’s tough enough to gauge the A’s hopes based on what they can control; it’s fruitless to speculate at this point about games of which they’re nothing but scoreboard watchers. Nonetheless, based on the team’s performance so far this season, and especially in the last week, I’d say that there’s reason for guarded optimism about seeing October baseball in the Coliseum.

How’s that for going out on a limb?