Category: Oakland Athletics

Seattle Mariners’ Jesse Winker celebrates with Julio Rodriguez, left, after hitting a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

Seattle. 9. 13. 0

Oakland. 0. 7. 0

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In 1954, the first year since 1948 in which the Yankees didn’t win the American League pennant–in fact, they won the World Series all those years– Douglas Wallop published a novel that soon became a hit Broadway musical and later a box office smash from Hollywood. That prophetic novel bore the prophetic title “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” and its adaptations were heralded as “Damn Yankees!”

All of you know the story. Joe Hardy, a middle aged realtor from Washington, DC, makes a deal with the devil to become Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo, the second coming of Joe Jackson.

A turning point comes when Joe, a lifelong fan of the Senators –who earned the motto “Washington, first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League”– playing for his favorite team, feels remorseful after breaking up a no hitter being pitched by Bobby Shantz. To keep Joe from opting out of his contract, the devil summons the temptress Lola, who confidently announces, “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets.”

Shantz was a lefty who pitched for the Philadelphia and Kansas City A’s from 1949 through 1956 and didn’t have the chance to pitch for a good ball club until he joined the Yankees in 1957. Nonetheless, he managed to go 24-7,2.48 for the 1952 A’s, a team that went 79-75-1. accounting for an astounding 30% of Philadelphia’s wins.

I often think of Bobby Shantz when, as happened tonight, Paul Blackburn is the A’s starting pitcher. His win share doesn’t match Shantz’s feat of 70 years ago, much less Ned Garver’s achievement of 1951, when he went 20-12, 3.73 for the 52-102 St. Louis Browns, but with 26% of Oakland’s 23 victories at game time, Blackburn is worthy of their company, especially in the light of the expansion of rotations between the early 1950s and early 2020s.

Game recap: And let’s not forget that the season’s still young. When the game was over and Seattle had defeated Oakland by the resounding score of 9-0, Blackburn was the losing pitcher and has a record of 6-3, 2.97, while the A’s, who took the field at 23-45 were 23-46.

Blackburn had lasted only four plus innings and was charged with seven runs, all earned, on 10 hits, two walks, and a wild pitch. Of his 92 deliveries, 58 were counted as strikes, but he still was credited with 26% of his team’s wins.

The Mariners’ starting pitcher, George Kirby, didn’t come to the Coliseum with any historical, literary, or show biz baggage of which I’m aware, just a more than respectable 1-2, 2.56 record with a fourth place team in a five team division.

The 24 year old righty hadn’t started a major league game before this year. He pitched the first five innings of the May 24 game against Oakland at T-Mobile Field, getting a no decision in the A’s 7-5 win, allowing four runs, all earned, on eight hits, including a homer, and striking out nine without walking anyone.

He left tonight’s contest after hurling six shutout frames, holding Oakland to five hits and a walk. He struck out six and brought his record to 2-2,3.12, throwing 96 pitches, for strikes, in the process.

The game started inauspiciously for the home team. JP Crawford led off with a line drive to center that fell in for a single. Ramón Laureano dropped the ball, and Crawford advanced to second. For some reason the scorer ruled it a double.

Two batters later, Julio Rodríguez smacked a 92 mph sinker over Laureano’s head and on a hop over the dead center field fence, scoring Crawford. In spite of a subsequent walk and wild pitch, Blackbourn got himself out of the jam, and the A’s came up for their first at bats trailing by only 1-0.

Blackburn coughed up another tally with two down in the second and Cal Raleigh, batting in the ninth position with an average of .185 (.183 from the left side) tore the leather off of another 92mph slider from the A’s righty. This one didn’t bounce, coming down 416 feet deep, over the fence in center to double the Mariners’ lead.

France led off the third with a single to left center and was forced out at second on Nick Allen’s nifty backhanded grab and throw of a Rodríguez grounder to the left side. Rodríguez proceeded to steal second and score on Jesse Winker’s single to right center.

After Blackburn fanned Eugenio Suárez for the second out, Winker made it to third on Taylor Trammell´s high bouncer down the right field foul line that Stephen Vogt, playing first, leaped for but couldn’t come down with.

It went for another double. Justin Upton walked to clog the basebaths, but Blackburn struck out Adam Frazier and once more limited the Mariners to a single run. But that run made it 3-0, Seattle.

The visitors made up for not scoring in the fourth by adding five runs to their lead in the fifth. After Rodríguez’s lead off single to right center, Winker unloaded on a changeup to blast his sixth round-tripper of the year. This one went 422 feet into the right field seats.

Blackburn stuck around long enough to give up a single to Suárez and a double to Trammell before ceding to Domingo Tapia. The reliever caught Upton looking at a third strike, but Frazier reached first when his grounder to short allowed Suárez to cross the plate. After Raleigh went down swinging, Crawford drove Trammell and Frazier in with a double to right center.

All of Tapia’s inherited runners had scored, putting the M’s up 8-zip. They added another run in the seventh on a single by the pinch hitting Abraham Toro and a double to the also pinch hitting Kevin Padlo, after which Lou Trivino came on to close out the frame.

Austin Pruitt set the M’s down in order in the eighth.

Penn Murfee was on the mound for the Seattle when the A’s came to bat after the seventh inning stretch shut them down, allowing only a single to Vogt. He was followed by Tommy Milone in the eighth, who set the Athletics down to a conga beat–one, two, three, kick– and hung around for the ninth to close the game out.

Utility infielder Sheldon Neuse pitched–I should say lobbed–the top of the ninth for the disheveled A’s. He retired the side in order, all the outs coming on flies to the warning track. The green and gold will try to salvage a win out of this series tomorrow at 12:37 when they send Frankie Montás (3-7,3.53) to the mound to duel with the M’s Robbie Ray (6-6,4.25).

Seattle Mariners’ Jesse Winker, right, smashes an RBI double in front of Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy (12) in the top of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum Tue, Jun 21, 2022. (AP News photo)

Seattle. 8. 12. 0

Oakland. 2. 7. 0

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics opened their three game series against the Seattle Mariners hoping to extend their one game winning streak that left them at 23-45 to 24-45.

They failed miserably, and when all was said and done, the green and gold’s record had fallen to an abysmal 23-46, dropping them to seven games behind the visiting Mariners in the battle for fourth place in the five team division. Seattle had entered the fray at 29-39 and emerged from it with a balance of 30-39

The team from the Puget Sound sent Marco González, 30 year old southpaw veteran of eight big league campaigns, who had been the first round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 draft.

He brought a 3-7, 3.41 record with him and left after eight innings of excellent work, having allowed two runs, both earned, on seven hits, one of which went yard, and a walk bringing his ERA down to 3.33. He threw 101 pitches, 73 qualifying as strikes, on the way to earning his fourth win of the year against seven defeats.

The starting pitcher for the East Bay contingent was 28 year old right hander James Kaprielian, sporting the unenviable record of 0-5, 6.31. He didn’t perform in his only 2022 appearance against Seattle, a game the A’s won 7-5 at T-Mobile Park on May 24. He threw five innings and was responsible for all of the Mariners’ runs, and they were earned.

Tonight, he pitched well for five frames before being driven from the mound with one out in the Seattle sixth. He gave two runs, both earned, on five hits, one of which went the distance, two walks, and a hit batter. He struck out seven and had a pitch count of 89, 32 of which were balls.

There were a couple of faces in the A’s lineup we hadn’t seen in a while. Sheldon Neuse was at the hot corner, batting seventh, and Nick Allen followed him in the batting order and covering second. Both of them, along with southpaw reliever Kirby Snead, were recalled from Las Vegas earlier today.

In other roster moves announced today, Domingo Tapia was added to the roster as a substitute player. Dany Jiménez was added to the 15 day IL retroactive to Monday, Sam Moll was put on the Covid 19 list, and Matt Davidson was DFA’d. Luis Barrera, who had contributed significantly at the bat and on the field in Sunday’s win over Kansas City was optioned back to the Aviators yesterday shortly on Monday.

Taylor Trammell put the Mariners one up by depositing Karprielian’s first offering of the third, a 94 mph four seamer, 399 feet, over the fence in dead center field. It was his third home run and eighth RBI of the season.

A hit batter and a double play later, Ty France bounced a ball just over Christian Bethanccourt’s head, down the first base line and stretched it into a two base hit. The A’s challenged Nic Lentz’s safe call, but it was, correctly, upheld. So, after two and a half frames, Oakland was on the short end of a 1-0 score.

It stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when Julio Rodríguez led off with a single to left and raced home on the double that Jessel Winker lined into the right field corner. Eugenio Suárez followed that with a fly that Pinder chased down at the left center field wall in front of the Ray Fosse sign.

That was it for Kaprielian, who was relieved by the newly returned Kirby Snead, who ended the threat by getting Justin Upton to fly out to right and picking off Dylan Moore, who had pinch hit for Adam Frazier and received an intentional pass.

Kirby walked Taylor Trammell and Cal Raleigh to open the top of the seventh, throwing in a wild pitch that allowed the former to take second while the latter was at bat. Then he showed himself to be his own best friend by inducing JP Crawford to bounce into a 1-6-3 double play.

This brought Austin Pruitt out of the bullpen and on to the mound. He should have stayed in the bullpen. Ty France singled up the middle to bring in Trammell with Seattle’s third tally, which was charged to Snead.

He followed this up by surrendering back to back to back blasts to Julio Rodríguez, Winker, and Suárez. Those round trippers measured 445, 439, and 411 feet respectively. Pruitt finally retired the side by striking out Moore. Oakland now trailed 7-0.

Their bats finally woke up in the home seventh, thanks to the returning infielders. Neuse hit a one single to right center and trotted home on Allen’s two out 378 foot four bagger that landed in the left field seats, 378 feet from home. It came off a 79 mph change up and cut the M’s margin to 7-2.

It was no surprise that Pruitt didn’t come out to pitch the eighth after his disastrous third of an inning on the mound. Adam Oller took care of that frame. In spite of a two out double, confirmed on review, again correctly, by Raleigh, Oller held the score to 7-2.

He didn’t do as well in the visitors’ ninth. After surrendering a single to France, he hit Rodríguez with a pitch and loaded the bases with a walk to Winker. He almost pulled a Houdini, retiring Suárez on an infield fly and fanning Moore. But Justin Upton singled to left, driving in only one run, thanks to baseball´s don’t rub it in unwritten rule. So the A’s went into the ninth with an 8-2 deficit.

Erik Swanson set the A’s down 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Ken Giles did the same in the ninth

The same teams will play each other tomorrow at 6:40 with George Kirby (1-2, 3.56) pitching for the M’s and hard luck Paul Blackburn (6-2, 2.26) going for the A’s in a battle of right handers.

Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy hits a bottom of the sixth inning home run in front of Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Jun 19, 2022. Murphy and the A’s host the Seattle Mariners Tue Jun 21, 2022 in Oakland. (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s have an off day on Monday. The players can savor the win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Jared Koenig earned his Major League victory as he and the bullpen pitched a 4-0 shutout.

The A’s return to the field Tuesday night as they meet the Seattle Mariners for the second time this season. The Mariners dominated Oakland last season, winning 15 out of 19. When the A’s visited Seattle from May 23rd to 25th for three games, they stunned the M’s by winning the series two games to one.

Both teams are not playing well in 2022. The Mariners find themselves ten games under .500 at 29-39. The M’s bolstered their starting rotation when they signed lefty Robbie Ray as a free agent. Ray in 2021 Cy Young Award-winning pitcher. Ray is slated to pitch Thursday afternoon. His record is 6-6, with a 4.25 ERA.

The A’s have lost 17 of the last 22 games played. They have won only three games in June. The A’s are in fifth place in the AL West, and they trail the first-place Houston Astros by 19 games. A’s manager Mark Kotsay has not allowed his players to quit. He gets maximum effort from every player on the squad. They may not be winning, but it’s not for lack of effort.

The pitchers for the three-game series will feature on Tuesday night the A’s James Kaprielian on the hill. Kaprielian is still looking for his first win. He is 0-4, with an ERA of 6.31. Lefty Marco Gonzalez will pitch for Seattle. Gonzalez is 3-7, and his ERA is 3.41.

Wednesday night’s game will see the A’s best pitcher, Paul Blackburn, going for his seventh win. Blackburn went eight innings in his last outing. The A’s are thrilled with his improvement. Settle will counter with George Kirby. Kirby is 1-2, 3.56 ERA.

As mentioned above, Robbie Ray goes for Seattle on Thursday afternoon. Frankie Montas (3-7, 3.53) will pitch for Oakland.

The key players on the Seattle roster are shortstop J.P.Crawford, first baseman Ty France, third baseman Eugenio Suarez, centerfielder Julio Rodriguez, and outfielders Jesse Winker and Justin Upton. Suarez and Winker are in the first season with the M’s.

The M’s made a trade with Cincinnati to bring them to Seattle. Justin Upton has played in only four games since signing as a free agent after the LA Angels designated him for assignment.

Upton is a lifetime .262 hitter and has recorded 324 homers and 1000 RBIs in his 16 years in the big leagues. Rookie Julio Rodriguez, who hails from the Dominican Republic, is hitting a solid. 265 with eight homers and 24 RBIs’

The M’s bullpen has used two pitchers to close out games. Paul Sewald and Diego Castillo each have four saves. Other bullpen stalwarts are the 39-year-old Sergio Romo, Eric Swanson, Andres Munoz, Penn Murfee, and former A’s pitcher, lefty Tommy Milone.

The A’s would love nothing better than to sweep the M’s. It’s possible, but the hitting has to improve. The A’s as a team are hitting .210.

The team on-base=percentage is .274, and the on-base plus slugging OPS is .608. The A’s have a woeful record of 8-24 at the Coliseum. The M’s are 14-21 on the road. As a team, they are hitting .232. Their OBP is .315, and their OPS is 6.89.

The stats indicate the M’s should win the series. The problem in baseball is that one never knows what will happen on any given night. The A’s have unveiled a new third baseman, Jonah Bride. Bride has shown that he can handle Major League pitchers.

He is playing third base, and it has been easy for him handling the rocket shots coming his way. The A’s are confident he will improve as he gets more playing time. Christian Bethancourt plays both first base and can handle the catching and has wielded a hot bat lately.

Sean Murphy hit a big three-run blast on Sunday to help the A’s get the 4-0 win over Kansas City. If they are to improve, the A’s need the hitters to put the bat on the ball.

Each team will be looking for silver linings in this series. The A’s want to get good hitting and good pitching. The same goes for Seattle. Several scouts will be at the game as the teams are getting close to the August 2nd trade deadline. It should be interesting.