Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s couldn’t get enough hitting in five run loss to Red Sox 7-2 at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s leftfielder Chad Pinder gets in the leftfield corner to put the squeeze on the baseball hit by the Boston Red Sox Francy Codero in the top of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri, Jun 3, 2022 (AP News photo)

Boston. 7. 10. 0

Oakland. 2. 6. 0

Friday, June 3, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In yesterday’s Boston Globe, Alex Speier summed up the status of tonight’s visitors to the Coliseum. He wrote,

“June arrived with a sobering reality check. At 23-27, the Red Sox entered Wednesday night’s game against the Reds with the sixth-worst record in the American League, closer to the last-place Orioles than any team currently in a playoff spot.”

The Sox’ hopes of getting to .500 over a seven-game homestand against two last-place teams — the Orioles and Reds — had vanished. One thing the Sox can have a chin up on is they got offensive help including a key home run from the Sox Xander Bogaerts in a 7-2 romp over the Oakland A’s in front of 17, 852 fans who mostly here to see the Sox.

As much as the Sox looked like an improved team in May compared with their poor early performance, they still played .500 ball. They will need significant improvement if they are to emerge as a legitimate contender.”

Speier was damning the Bosox with faint praise, but he also was offering a glimmer of hope to the Fenway Faithful that the ever decreasing number of Oakland fans might envy. The green and gold haven’t been a legitimate contender since the last days, or even weeks, of 2021.

And yet the Athletics are competitive. They have been competitive in almost every game they’ve played. 14 of their 53 contests going into today were decided by just one one run. That’s 26%. The total for games decided by two runs or less was 15, or 34%.

That’s competitive; it’s just not successful. They’re 4-10 in the single run margin encounters and 13-16 in those with a difference of two tallies or less. And they don’t win at home.

Boston played .500 ball in May; Oakland has played .500 ball on the road. So, Athletics baseball can be, and often is exciting, even if one of its perverse pleasures is discovering new ways for the team to blow its chances of winning.

Boston may have suffered the Curse of the Bambino. Perhaps there is a similar malediction at work here in Oakland, but the only Curse of the Coliseum of which I’m aware is being played out in press releases, board hearings, and negotiations with Las Vegas.

The starting pitchers for this evening presented some interesting similarities and differences. Both of them are right handers; both of them are pretty run of the mill. Before today opposing batters were hitting .247 against Nathan Eovaldi this season. James Kaprielien’s OBA was .245.

A few years ago that would have been adequate; this year, with the MLB-wide batting slump, it’s somewhat less so. Their game time won-lost records and earned run averages, however, certainly were different. The Sox’ starter was 2-2,3.77 while Oakland sent Kaprielian to the mound with a record of 0-2,5.93. Their histories before 2022 also diverge.

The 32 year old Eovaldi broke into the majors in 2011 with the Dodgers and was 61-65, 4.19. He has undergone two Tommy John surgeries, and only two other players have started more big league games than he has with a medical history like that. This was his 11th start of the season, a category in which he is team leader.

His fastball averaged 96.2 mph between his first appearance in the show and the end of last season, a period in which he pitched for five teams. He has an extensive and honorable post season record, including a 97 pitch relief stint in the 12th-17th frames in the third game of the 2018 World Series. In those six innings he gave up just one run, and it was unearned.

He then surrendered a walk off homer to Max Muncy in the 18th. Kaprielian, on the other hand, is 28 years old, and a difference of four years is significant in baseball. The A’s are the only team he’s pitched for in the bigs, and there’s nothing in his achievements so far that made him stand out, even to the extent that Eovaldi does.

Tonight, then, it was no Roger Clemmens-Dave Stewart match up. Nor was Mo Vaughn or Big Popi slugging it out with Hendu and Bash Brothers. Not even Manny being Manny. It was two historic franchises that had fallen on bad times doing what they could with what they had, a group that, by the way, included JD Martinez, who was leading the majors in batting average, and Rafael Devers, MLB leader in hits, total bases, and doubles.

It was a close game until the middle innings and wasn’t a blow out until the last episode. Boston led 4-0 in the eighth, but when that inning was over, the A’s had closed the gap to 4-2.The final score was 10-7in favor of the team from the Hub (Sox).

Kaprielian took the loss, followed on the hill by Parker Markel, Austin Pruitt, Sam Selman, Domingo Acevedo,and Sam Moll. Oakland’s starter now has a record of 0-3,6.06.

Jed Lowrie hit a two out double in the A’s first, and the Red Sox threatened in the second, but no one crossed the plate until Xander Bogaerts drove a 92mph four seamer 389 feet deep into left field to put the Bosox ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth.

It was the sixth round tripper and 24th RBI of the year for Boston’s shortstop. Before the inning ended, Kaprielian walked Alex Verdugo and Franchy Cordero whacked a double to right to double the visitors’ lead.

Oakland reacted in their half of the fourth with a single to right by Ramón Lauireano, who advanced to second on a wild pitch thrown to Lowrie, who eventually struck out.

Seth Brown’s single to center moved Laureano up another base, and Brown’s steal of second put the tying run in scoring position. Andrus then flew out to right, and Pinder grounded out to short, and Oakland still trailed by two.

When Kaprielien plunked Alex Verdugo with an 88 mph slider with Martínez on first and one down in the sixth, the A’s starter was through throwing for the evening. Parker Markel relieved him and yielded a resounding double off the left field wall to Trevor Story that again doubled Boston’s advantage, driving in both runners.

Those runs were charged to Kaprielian, whose line read 5-1/3 innings pitched, four runs, all earned, on five hits, two walks, one hit batter. He struck out one batter and surrendered one homer. Of his 87 pitches, 49 counted as strikes.

Tyler Danish took over mound duties for the Bay State team in the bottom of the seventh. Eovaldi had done a good job in his six frames on the bump, shutting out the home team on four hits, a walk, and a wild pitch. while striking out eight. Of his 93 offerings, 62 qualified as strikes. He got the win, improving his record to 3-2,3.41.

When Danish walked Cristián Pache to lead off the home eighth, manager Alex Cora pulled Danish and sent in Matt Strahm to face Kemp. Kotsay countered by having Sheldon Neuse pinch hit. Strahm struck him out swinging but issued a full count free pass to Laureano, bringing DH Lowrie to the plate with two on and one down.

Lowrie was batting from the right side, where his average was .194. But he came through with a sharp double to left, cutting Boston’s lead to 4-2. Christian Bethancourt was announced as a pinch hitter for Brown, and Boston reacted by sending John Schriber in to pitch to him.

Bethancourt looked at a third strike, leaving the A’s hopes for a comeback to Elvis Andrus. With a 2-2 count on him, Lowrie took third on a wild pitch. Andrus then walked, but Chad Pinder grounded out to second, and that was that.

Boston responded to those signs of life from the Oakland bats by notching three runs in the top of the ninth, cashing in on Domingo Acevedo’s wildness, which he manifested by walking and then hitting the first two batters he faced.

After he retired Hernández, Acevedo was lifted for Sam Moll, who gave up run producing doubles to Devers and Bogaerts.

Ryan Brasier preserved the Sox´five run margin by setting down the bottom third of the Oakland lineup on nine pitches.

The series will continue over the weekend, with Oakland sending its top two pitchers to the mound. Paul Blackburn (5-1,2.15) and Frankie Montás (2-5,3.20) will start, in that order, against Nick Pivetta (4-4,3.95) and Rich Hill (1-3,4.85) respectively Both the Saturday and Sunday games are scheduled to start at 1:07.

Decision on A’s future in Oakland comes up on Jun 30th with BCDC vote

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Artist rendition of a Oakland A’s Howard Terminal ballpark located at Jack London Square in downtown Oakland which is the A’s first choice to remain in Oakland (image from the San Francisco Chronicle file)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s and the city of Oakland are nearing the final stages of knowing if a new ballpark in Oakland is going to happen. The A’s have been searching for a new home for decades now, and it appears that the future will be determined this summer or fall.

Recently, the biggest hurdle that needs to be cleared by the A’s is a binding vote from the SF Bay Conservation & Development Commission (BCDC). This group has a say in if the land at Howard Terminal can change designations from port use to be developed by the A’s.

This is a step the A’s must clear if the hope of remaining in Oakland is to remain intact. If the commission votes to not change the designation that would signal the end of the A’s in Oakland.

On Thursday, the commission held an eight-hour meeting in which many community members and officials for both the A’s and the city spoke.

A’s president Dave Kaval spoke on many of the issues and features of the project. For the city, mayor Libby Schaff and others spoke about the positive impact of the project and maintained that the port would not be hindered by the project.

The rubber will hit the road on June 30th when the commission will hold the binding vote to either grant or deny the change. They will determine if the A’s leave Oakland or move forward to keep the club in the East Bay.

If the vote fails it is almost certain the A’s will be moving to Las Vegas. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has seemed to green-light the A’s to explore the new location. The A’s have already begun to explore the new location and began looking at sites and negotiating with the city.

A’s fans hope the vote is affirmative for the A’s to continue to move forward with the waterfront ballpark.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Bad attendance even food trucks don’t come out; A’s down to four man rotation as Logue is demoted to Triple A Las Vegas

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Oakland A’s pitcher Zach Logue who was demoted by the A’s to Triple A Las Vegas on Wed Jun 1, 2022 is seen here pitching against the Detroit Tigers in Comerica Park in Detroit on Wed May 11, 2022 (AP file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Jeremiah, Oakland A’s attendance has been so bad the A’s during their three game series with the Houston Astros a first place team in the AL West just to give you an idea how bad it is truck vendors and people who sell knock off shirts and caps don’t come to the Coliseum to sell anymore.

#2 There seems little encouragement for fans to come out of late the A’s are in dead last in the AL West some 14 games out of first place, prices have doubled for tickets, parking is $30 and team president David Kaval who used to attend A’s games and encourage fans to write and talk to him has shut his open door policy.

#3 The A’s who optioned pitcher Zach Louge to Triple A Las Vegas leaving the fifth spot in the rotation open. Louge got shelled four runs and seven hits in his last start by the Texas Rangers on Sat May 28th in Oakland in an 11-4 loss.

#4 Jeremiah just getting your take on the rest of the A’s pitching rotation James Kaprielian starts tonight, Paul Blackburn, Frankie Montas, and Cole Irvin to follow.

#5 Taking a look at the starters for tonight’s game at the Coliseum starting for the Boston Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi (2-2 ERA 3.77) going for the A’s James Kaprielan (0-2 ERA 5.93) first pitch 6:45 pm PDT.

Jeremiah does the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Preview of Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s series: A’s lost seven of last eight; Sox have lost five of last ten

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The Oakland A’s Chad Pinder looks relieved scoring a run after a long scoreless and hitless drought against the Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander who lost his no hitter in the bottom of the seventh on Wed Jun 1, 2022 at Ring Central Coliseum in Oakland (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s (20-33) have three games left on the ten day homestand. They lost the series with the Texas Rangers (24-26) three games to one. The Houston Astros (33-18) swept their three games with Oakland this week. The A’s are off on Thursday.

The A’s open a three-game set with the Boston Red Sox (24-27) starting Friday night. The A’s have been scuffling for a while. The A’s started the season winning ten of the first eighteen games. Since that time, they are 10-25.

With the good early start, many pundits thought their predictions for Oakland may have been wrong. However, the A’s are not playing well right now, and the same pundits are saying, we told you so.

The A’s hope that attendance will improve this weekend with Boston in town. Good-sized crowds would show up at the Coliseum to see the Red Sox in past years. This year attendance has been down for the Green and Gold.

Fans are upset about the possibility that the A’s may move to Las Vegas. The A’s have stated that they have two sites in mind in Sin City where they can relocate. In the meantime, a key committee will hold a vote on June 30th. An affirmative approval would buoy hopes that the 12 billion dollar Howard Terminal project can proceed.

The Red Sox got off to a slow start in 2022. They did not sign Kyle Schwarber to a contract. Schwarber wanted to stay in Boston, but their front office did not commit to him, and he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Red Sox traded Hunter Renfroe to the Milwaukee Brewers and got back Jackie Bradley, Jr. Renfro put up good power numbers for Boston. Bradley has rarely hit for average, and fans in Boston are still shaking their heads over this trade.

The Red Sox still have several hitters in their lineup that can cause severe damage. Their big hitters are Rafael Devers, J.D.Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Trevor Story, Alex Verdugo, and catcher Christian Vasquez. Devers is hitting .341 with 11 homers and 26 RBIs.

J.D.Martinez comes in with a .360 batting average. Trevor Story was hot last week, and he now has nine dingers and 37 runs batted in. Other players contributing are first baseman Bobby Dalbec, centerfielder Kike Hernandez, and backup second baseman Christian Arroyo.

The Red Sox will send Nate Eovaldi to the hill Friday night. Eovaldi was a key ingredient when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. Eovaldi is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.77. Oakland will have James Kaprielian handle the pitching for the A’s. Kaprielian is 0-2 with an ERA of 5.93.

On Saturday, Nick Pivetta will go for Boston. Pivetta is 4-4 with an ERA of 3.95. The A’s will counter with Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.25. Blackburn suffered his first loss of the season last Monday to the Houston Astros.

Sunday’s finale will feature lefty Rich Hill going for the Red Sox. Hill is 42-years old and was with the A’s in 2016. The A’s traded him to the Dodgers and received Frankie Montas. Montas will start for Oakland and is 2-5 with an ERA of 3.20. Montas has pitched well but has received little run support from his teammates.

The A’s and the Red Sox have been opponents since the creation of the American League way back in 1901. Both teams have won nine World Series crowns. Both teams have had down years. After the trade that sent Babe Ruth to the Yankees, the Red Sox were not very good.

Their fortunes changed when Tom Yawkey purchased them. The Red Sox went 86 years without winning a World Series. They have won four since 2004. The A’s last appeared in the World Series in 1990. They won their last World Series Championship in 1989.

The A’s have made the playoffs several times in the last 20 years. They advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once.

The A’s would like to get back on the winning track. The Red Sox would love to sweep the three-game series to reach the .500 mark. Let’s hope the fans show up. The series between these two teams have always been fun.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s look to rebound after getting swept by Astros; Open three game series with Red Sox Friday

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The Oakland A’s Elvis Andrus strokes a two run bottom of the seventh double against Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Houston Astros (33-18) starter Justin Verlander had all his pitches working for him as he threw no hit ball against the Oakland A’s for six innings at the Oakland Coliseum talk about his mix of pitches and what kept him in command.

#2 Jerry the A’s did wake up in the bottom of the seventh with three runs scored and took a abbreviated two run lead 3-1 after Verlander left the game.

#3 Yordan Alvarez whose been a thorn in the A’s side during the series didn’t make the third game of the set an exception as Alvarez hit a three run double in the top of the ninth contributed to the Astros four run rally to come back and edge Oakland 5-4.

#4 Jerry, the Coliseum has not been nowhere near like they used to be in years past and the A’s have been having crowds well below 8,000 per game. The team has now slipped to 20-33 and are 14 games behind the Astros. That said they do lose but they are in most of their games.

#5 The A’s have Thursday off but return to host the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at the Coliseum. Starting pitchers for the Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi (2-2 ERA 3.77) going for the A’s James Kaprielan (0-2 ERA 5.93) first pitch 6:45 pm PDT.

Join Jerry for A’s podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Astros’ ninth-inning rally enables them to sweep three-game series; A’s can’t hold lead in 5-4 loss

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Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander who pitched six plus innings of no hit baseball throws against the Oakland A’s in the first inning at Ring Central Coliseum on Wed Jun 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Houston Astros (33-18) sent their ace, Justin Verlander, to the mound to face the Oakland A’s (20-33) on Wednesday afternoon at the Ring Central Coliseum. The Astros were hoping to sweep the three-game series from the A’s.

The A’s hoped that lefty Cole Irvin could stop the Astros and salvage a win. Both pitchers pitched well on Wednesday. In his five and 2/3 inning of work, Irvin held the hard-hitting Astros to one run and six hits. Verlander was better.

Verlander held the A’s hitless until one out in the seventh inning. The fans were starting to think Verlander would pitch his fourth career no-hitter. The A’s upset Verlander’s applecart when they scored three times to take a 3-1 lead after seven complete. It became a bullpen game.

The A’s relievers had to get the last six outs of the game. They held the fort in the eighth. Things went south in the ninth as the Astros scored four times to take a 5-3 lead. Oakland scored a run in the bottom of the ninth. The Astros won the game 5-4 and swept the three-game set from the A’s.

The Astros scored the game’s first run in the top of the third inning. With two out and Alex Bregman on first, singles by Yordan Alvarez and Aledmys Diaz gave Houston a 1-0 advantage.

Cole Irvin pitched well to keep his team within striking distance. Verlander was untouchable for six innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Verlander walked Chad Pinder. Verlander struck out Seth Brown for the second out.

A’s shortstop, Elvis Andrus, swinging a hot bat, doubled to drive in Pinder with the A’s first run. The next hitter, Christian Bethancourt, took Verlander deep.

The ball went over the centerfield wall to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. For Bethancourt, it was his first home run of the season, and it was his first home run since August 12th, 2016.

In the eighth, A’s relievers A.J.Puk, and Dany Jimenez had to work out of jams to keep the Astros from scoring. Jimenez ran out of luck in the top of the ninth. Astros’ centerfielder, former San Francisco Giant Mauricio Dubon, got the rally going with a single.

Yuli Guriel, pinch-hitting for Martin Maldonado, singled to put men on at first and second with no out. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. Jimenez walked Jose Altuve to load the bases. Jimenez struck out Kyle Tucker for the first out.

Jimenez walked Alex Bregman. Dubon scored, and the Astros trailed the A’s 3-2. Brad Ausmus, filling in for Mark Kotsay, who was tossed for giving his opinion to the home plate umpire, brought in lefty Sam Sellman to face left-handed hitter Yordan Alvarez.

Alvarez found a pitch to his liking, and his double to right-center cleared the bases to give the Astros a 5-3 lead. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker brought in Ryan Pressley to close out the game. The A’s scored a run and gave Baker some anxiety, but Oakland failed to tie the game and fell to Houston 5-4.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 20-33. The Astros are 33-18. The A’s are 1-6 on the homestand and are now 2-10-1 over the last thirteen series.

The line score for the A’s was four runs, four hits, and no errors. The Astros’ line was five runs, eleven hits, and one error.

The Astros’ Bryan Abreu earned the win. Pressly recorded his eleventh save of the year. Dany Jimenez took the loss and is now 2-3. Cole Irvin did not figure in the decision. Irvin’s earned run average dropped to 2.96. That may have been the A’s only bright spot.

The A’s host the Boston Red Sox for three games starting at 6:40 pm Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum starting pitcher for the Red Sox Nathan Evoaldi (2-2, 3.77) and for the A’s James Kaprielian (0-2, 5.93)

The time of the game was 3:07. 5,189 fans watched the A’s lose.

A’s Bats continue to nap Montas suffers fifth loss Astros win 3-1 at Coliseum

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Houston Astros’ Chas McCormick hits a home run in front of Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy during the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 31, 2022 (AP News photo)

Houston. 3. 7. 0

Oakland. 8. 1

Tuesday May 31, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–One of the anomalies of this year’s version of the Oakland Athletics (20-32) is the difference between their performance on the road and what they do at home. The A’s are 7-19 at the Coliseum; behind the Chicago Cubs who just ahead of the A’s for the worst record at their home park at 8-17.

Tueday’s starting pitcher for the green and gold, Frankie Montás, is an anomaly within that anomaly. He took the mound dropped his record to 2-5, 3.20.

His opponent, Houston Astro starter Cristián Javier, also has fared better at home than when travelling. He’s now 3-2, 2.43 and was fantastic 0.38 in Arlington when facing the Texas Rangers.

In the end, Javier would escape with a no decision, Montás would throw seven beautiful innings and leave in the eighth, trailing 2-1. He took the loss in Oakland’s tough 3-1 defeat at the hands of the visitors in front of a crowd of 3,469 fans.

Tuesday’s confrontation began with confusion. Action was stopped for several minutes during Houston’s first at bat when Montás asked the umpires to verify the pitch count as shown on the scoreboard.

They decided that the scoreboard had it right. When the home team came to bat, Tony Kemp led off by depositing a fly ball on the running track just to the left of the right field foul line for a double.

The Curse of the Lead Off Double struck again, and Kemp died on second. The A’s, who seldom miss a chance to miss a chance, wasted Elvis Andrus’s one out stand up double to left in the second.

Andrus connected for another two bagger, taking a 79 mph slider into the left field seats on a bounce with two down in the bottom of the fourth with the score still tied at zero. This time, his effort wasn’t wasted. Sheldon Neuse followed him with a four pitch walk, and Cristián Pache’s single to center drove Andrus in with the game’s first run.

A 3-2 walk to Kemp loaded the bases and brought Jeff Lowrie to the plate with a relatively good chance to blow the game relatively open. It also gave him a chance to strand three runners, which is what he did, fouling out to first on a 2-2 count.

Yordán Alvarez opened the fifth with a single to short that seemed to have been deflected by Montás’s glove. A nifty catch by Pache of Yuri Gurriel’s drive to deep right center granted the A’s pitcher a momentary reprieve before Jeremy Peña lined a single to center to put runners on first and second.

Montás fanned Castro for the second out. Then Chas McCormick sent a single to left that scored Alvarez to tie the game.

But that wasn’t the end of the play. Everyone on base tried to advance, and Peña was thrown out in a rundown between third and home, leftfielder Luis Barrera to catcher Sean Murphy to second Tony Kemp to third Sheldon Neuse back to catcher Murphy to short Elvis Andrus who made the tag not your typical 7-2-4-5-2-6 put out if your scoring at home. That ended the inning.

Phil Maton relieved Javier in the top of the fifth. He had gone four frames and allowed one run, which was earned, on four hits and walks, striking out three. His pitch count was 85, and 47 qualified as strikes.

Oakland quickly jumped on Maton with a single to right by Ramon Laureano and a double to the same field by Seth Brown that sent the base runner to third. But Murphy smacked a grounder to third, and Laureano was cut down at the plate.

Barrera flew out to left center, bringing Andrus, who had gone two for two, to the plate. His fly out to left center closed the inning, and the A’s lost a golden opportunity to regain their brief and slender lead.

Montás retired the Astros to a conga beat (i.e., 1-2-3) in the sixth.

The Athletics faced Ryne Stanek in the home half of that stanza and achieved only a walk and a stolen base by Neuse.

Montás began to show signs of tiring when he had completed 6-1/3 innings of work. Yordan Alvarez and Guriel smacked solid singles, putting runners on first and second. The Peña hit a double play ball that Neuse, moving to his left, bobbled, loading the bases with ´stros. But, tired or not, Montás kept his cool and got Castro to hit into an inning ending 4-6-3 twin killing.

It was Rafael Montero’s turn to face the A’s in the seventh. All the Oaklanders could manage against him was a lead off single to right by Laureano, who seems at last to be hitting his stride.

Chas McCormick drove Montás from the box before he could get an out in the eighth. His blast to straight away center field, over the 400 foot sign, carried 422 feet and came on 97 mph fastball, Montás’s 98th offering of the night. He left, having yielded two runs, both earned, on seven hits and not a single walk, having struck out five. He deserved a better fate.

Zach Jackson was his replacement. He issued free passes to Jose Siri, Jose Altuve, and Michael Brantley, with a gratuitous wild pitch to Altuve thrown into the bargain. It looked as though home plate umpire Manny González was squeezing Jackson on some of his pitches to Brantley.

But there was no doubting his calls on his fourth straight walk, which allowed Siri to stroll home with Houston’s third tally. That was it for Jackson, and it was Sam Moll who had to face Alvarez with the bases still loaded and no outs.

The lefty came through, retiring Alvarez on a foul to third and getting Gurriel to go down swinging before Jeremy Peña grounded into a third to second force out to keep the A’s in the game. Moll, too, stayed in the game, pitching to one man, Jason Castro, and striking him out looking.

Héctor Neris was Houston’s fourth reliever in as many innings. He retired the side in order, notching two strikeouts in the process.

Lou Trivino took over for Moll and looked sharp mixing his fast ball and a curve to strike out McCormick. He mixed his pitches well against Siri, who also went down swinging.

Ryan Pressly, looking for his ninth save in 11 opportunities, faced the top of the Oakland batting order in the last chance ninth. Kemp lined a solid single to right, making him two for four for the night. Jed Lowrie flew out to left center. Laureano fell behind 0-2 quickly and just as quickly bounced into a game ending 6-4-3 double play. Time of game 3:23.

The win went to Montero, now 3-0 ,0.44. Pressley was credited with the save and brought his ERA down to 2.25. On Wednesday it will be Justin Verlander (6-2, 2.03) for the Astros against A’s starter Cole Irvin (2-2, 3.15) to wind up the series tomorrow at 12:37.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Montas focusing on pitching despite being on trade block

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Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas gives up the ball to manager Mark Kotsay in the bottom of the seventh on Tue May 10, 2022 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Montas gets the start tonight against

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary:

#1 Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas has an amazing splitter that’s kept hitters off balance. Montas in his last ten starts has an 3.28 ERA and has 60 strikeouts under his belt.

#2 Montas has been on the trade block since spring training opened in February and is still with the club but the A’s seem to be waiting for the right offer if they going to move him.

#3 The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez left very little doubt about with his two home runs which totaled 913 ft combined. Alvarez 6’5 who wears No. 44 reminds some of the reporters who covered Monday’s game of Willie McCovey.

#4 I know you had a chance to speak to Astros manager Dusty Baker before tonight’s game Dusty’s club is loaded the Astros have the best ERA in the American League at 2.86 and are hitting a team .226 batting average Dusty has lots to be proud about.

#5 Amaury taking a look at the starting pitchers for tonight for the Astros righthander Cristian Javier (3-2, ERA 2.43) and for the A’s righthander Frankie Montas (2-4, 3.28) a 6:40 pm first pitch.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for Oakland A’s baseball on flagship station Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s outlast Texas in mistake -filled contest, win 6-5 and avoid a series sweep

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The Oakland Coliseum was the Field of Dreams Sunday afternoon, a venue for second chances where Major League teams normally aren’t afforded unlimited numbers.

With both teams gathering and bungling, the winning A’s were actually afforded an 18th opportunity to knock in a runner in scoring position–3 1/2 hours after the first pitch–and they responded with Jed Lowrie’s game-winning single to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

“We didn’t cash in on a lot of opportunities but when it counted we did,” Lowrie said of the rollercoaster-like 6-5 win. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Something to work on but we got the win.”

The A’s trailed the first 7 1/2 innings and took the lead, only to let the Rangers tie it without needing a hit. The winning rally was realized with two outs in the ninth, and extra innings–and likely four plus hours of baseball–staring the teams in the face.

“Leaving guys on base early, they just kept going,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We want that to be our identity. We want teams to know, whether we win or lose, when they leave this place, that this team has fight and grit.”

The Rangers nearly left with four, consecutive wins but were dragged down by a season-worst five errors, the most egregious belonging to Marcus Semien, who failed to make a routine throw to the plate to cut down Ramon Laureano with the lead run in the eighth.

But Semien got his new team back in it in the top of the ninth by drawing a walk, stealing second, and eventually scoring on Dany Jimenez’ wild pitch.

Brett Martin was entrusted with giving Texas a chance to get to extras but he gave up a base hit to Christian Pache, who moved up on Laureano’s ground out, then scored on Lowrie’s base hit. The A’s were 2 for 19 with runners in scoring position before Lowrie ended it, an obvious nod to how many scoring chances they realized and squandered throughout the afternoon.

Rangers starter Dane Dunning escaped a two on, one out, and a bases loaded situation unscathed in the first five innings. The A’s couldn’t corral Dunning’s slower than slow slider, or his change up. Dunning’s other pitches got him into trouble as the starter yielded seven hits, three walks and a hit batsman in four innings plus but departed with a 4-0 lead after trouble surfaced in the fifth.

Sean Murphy got the A’s on the board with a double down the line that scored Lowrie. Dennis Santana, who relieved Dunning, also allowed Elvis Andrus’ RBI double and was on the mound when Andy Ibanez’ fielding error allowed Andrus to score the A’s third run.

Oakland starter James Kaprelian gave up home runs in the first (Corey Seager) and third (Brad Miller) that gave Texas a lead. Kaprelian, like Dunning, couldn’t survive the fifth, departing with four runs allowed on six hits.

The first-place Astros and manager Dusty Baker visit the Coliseum on Memorial Day with Paul Blackburn aiming for a 6-0 start to his season. Blackburn and his 1.70 ERA will be matched with Houston’s Framber Valdez at 1:07pm.

Rangers six run fifth inning rally buries A’s in 11-4 loss at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s rightfielder Ramon Laureano slide on his knees to reach a shallow hit ball to no avail by the Texas Rangers Charlie Culberson in the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat May 28, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s (19-30) were back in action on Saturday afternoon in Oakland. The A’s played the same as the Texas Rangers (22-23) on Friday night in their last game. The A’s were defeated at home by the final of 8-5. In the first game of the series on Thursday, the A’s also lost by the final of 4-1.

On Saturday, it was game three of a four-game series that was set to begin at 1:05 PM PST. Set to on the mound was Zach Logue for the A’s and Taylor Hearn for the Rangers. Saturday saw the A’s lose their third straight game by the final of 11-4.

On Saturday, the Rangers got off to a quick start on offense. Neither the first or second innings were anything to write home about. However, then came the 3rd inning. The Rangers bats came alive in the third as they scored four runs.

Corey Seager hit a two-run home run off A’s starter Zach Logue to give the Rangers the early lead. Following that, Adolis Garcia went back to back with Seager with a solo homer to put the Rangers up 3-0. The Rangers weren’t done yet as Nathaniel Lowe would hit an RBI triple to wrap up the scoring in the 3rd inning.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, the A’s would get on the board themselves with an RBI single from Sheldon Neuse to make the score 4-1. The Rangers would add to that scoring surge in the 5th inning with six more runs.

Andy Ibanez and Kole Calhoun would each have an RBI single in the 5th inning but it was Marcus Semien and his grand slam that was the exclamation mark. At this point in the game, the Rangers were up 10-1 in the game and all A’s fans were looking for was a little life from the squad.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, the A’s would add a second run on a Ramon Laureano solo shot to left field. However, the momentum would turn back to the Rangers soon after.

In the 6th inning, the Rangers would get their last run of the game on a Marcus Semien bases-loaded walk to make it an 11-2 game. The A’s managed to get out of that inning to hold the Rangers to just one run.

Sheldon Neuse would get another RBI single in the 6th inning to make it an 11-3 game. The rest of the way the A’s scored one more run on a fielder’s choice out on Elvis Andrus and Ramon Laureano scored. It was a rough go-around for the A’s who have really struggled this series against the Rangers.

The win went to Rangers starter Taylor Hearn (3-3, 5.36) who didn’t pitch a great game but well enough for the win. He tossed 6.0 innings giving up eight hits and three runs. The loss went to A’s starter Zach Logue (2-4, 5.47) who really struggled in 2.1 innings giving up seven hits, four runs, and two home runs. No save was recorded.

Up Next: The A’s finish out the four-game series against the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 PM PST.