Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Lynn’s command a big factor in keeping runs down against A’s

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: beyondtheboxscore.com

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 On Sunday, it was too much Lance Lynn of the Texas Rangers. Lynn struck out 12 A’s hitters, walked one and allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings of work as the Rangers avoided getting swept at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 Seth Brown and Khris Davis’ hitting in the five and six holes combined for seven strikeouts,.Davis was able to get a double in the eighth off the Rangers.

#3 Attendance is up for the A’s at home. The A’s increased their attendance by 88,595. They drew 38,453 to boost their season home total to 1,662,211.

#4 The Texas Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo tied the Rangers’ all-time record for leadoff home runs matching Ian Kinsler. The Rangers had five homers off the A’s on Sunday.

#5 The A’s are in Anaheim and they’ll be starting Homer Bailey (13-8). The A’s heavily depend on Bailey as every win counts at this juncture of the season.

Charlie does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Preview of the A’s final week of the season in LA and Seattle

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

By Jerry Feitelberg

Here we are. The A’s have just six games left in the regular season. They had an off-day on Monday as they traveled to Los Angeles to face the Angels. They have two games left with LA and then fly to Seattle to play four with the Mariners to end the season. The A’s own a record of 94-62 and lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 1 1/2 games for the first Wild Card. The Rays beat Boston on Monday to pick up 1/2 game on the A’s. The Rays play the next two games at home against the AL East champs, the New York Yankees. New York could help the A’s bt sweeping the series. The Rays then go to Toronto for three.

The A’s have to continue winning. They cannot let up as both Tampa and Cleveland have a chance to make the playoffs. The Angel and Mariners would love nothing better than upsetting the A’s applecart. The Angels and M’s will finish in fourth and fifth places in the AL West. Each team has had a season of adversity. The Angels have had to deal with the loss of Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs’ death put the Angels in a season-long funk. Also, their start centerfielder, Mike Trout, is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. The Angels have been devastated by injury and are limping to the finish. The Mariners got off to a good start. They have traded away many of their star players as they are in rebuild mode. The A’s cannot afford to take them lightly.

The A’s Will send Homer Bailey to the hill Tuesday night in Anaheim. Bailey is 13-8 with an ERA of 4.55. The Angels will counter with lefty Dillon Peters. Peters is 3-3 with an ERA of 4.81. Peters will be making his first start ever against the A’s. This is a situation where the A’s cannot afford to relax. They will be going against a pitcher they have never seen. The A’s cannot afford to lose this game. It could happen, but it will be up to manager Bob Melvin to figure out the matchups. On Wednesday, it will be a battle of lefties. Brett Anderson will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Andrew Heaney. Anderson is 12-9 with an ERA of 4.00. Heaney is 4-6 and has an ERA of 5.10. The last time Heaney faced the A’s, he went six innings and gave up five runs.

The A’s finish with four against the Mariners. On Thursday Mike Fiers (15-4, ERA 3.91) will handle the pitching chores for Oakland. The M’s will counter with the veteran righty, Felix Hernandez. King Felix is nearing the end of his illustrious career. Hernandez has beaten the A’s many times over the years, but these days, he is a shadow of his former self. His record is 1-7, and his ERA is 6.51. He would like nothing better than handing the A’s a loss. Lefty Sean Manaea (3-0, 1.14ERA) will make his fifth start of the year, and lefty Justus Sheffield (0-1, 5.81 ERA) will go for Seattle. Saturday will feature Tanner Roark and the M’s Marco Gonzalez. The Rangers sent Roark to an early shower last Sunday. Roark gave up at least four home runs early in the game, and the A’s could not recover. His opponent, lefty Marco Gonzalez, the M’s best pitcher with a record of 16-12 and 4.09 ERA) has given the A’s a tough time all season long. The final game of the year will see Homer Bailey going for Oakland and Justin Dunn pitching for Seattle. Dunn will be making his third start of the year.

The A’s know that they cannot let up for one second. Even though they are playing teams with losing records., they must not take either team lightly. If they win four of the last six, that should be enough to give them the first Wild Card. They would then host the one-game playoff in Oakland. They would later play either the Yankees or the Houston Astros in the ALDS. The A’s won the season series from the Yanks 4 games to two. The Astros won the season series from Oakland 11-8. The A’s, however, won six of the last eight games from Houston. The Yanks and the Astros know that the A’s are a good team. The A’s have solidified their starting rotation with the addition Of Bailey and Roark. The bullpen will feature Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria, Jake Diekman, A.J.Puk, Jesus, Luzardo, Chris Bassitt, Blake Treinen, and closer, Liam Hendriks.

The A’s have power up and down the lineup. They have three infielders with 30 or more home runs. Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, and Matt Olson all can change a ballgame with one swing of the bat. Outfielder Mark Canha had hit 26 bombs. Ramon Laureano is back, and he had 22 in the books before he was injured. Versatile Chad Pinder can also put the ball out of the park.  The A’s are excellent on defense, and they do not beat themselves. They have all the ingredients necessary to make a run to a championship. They can do it. No one knows what will happen. The Kansas City Royals won the 2014 Wild Card game against Oakland and went to the World Series. They won it all the following year. Anything can happen in baseball. They have to make the playoffs. Anything can happen. Baseball is unpredictable. The A’s are playing great baseball at this point in the season. They know they can win. They just have to do it.

 

Coliseum turns into Rangers Home Run Alley, A’s lose regular season home finale 8-3

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND — All the sections that don’t normally fill up during A’s games got populated on Sunday.

By A’s fans and Rangers’ home run balls.

For Oakland, that’s only half the battle as the A’s failed to climb closer to a postseason berth and home field advantage in AL Wild Card game. For Tanner Roark, it was a failed audition for a postseason rotation spot with plenty of openings for consistent performers that keep the ball within the park.

And for the Rangers, it was about time, after five consecutive, lopsided losses to the A’s and 13 losses to Oakland in the first 18 meetings of 2019. Moreover, the Rangers were tired of dropping road games. Texas finished the season 33-48 on the road for the second, straight season, and that’s just not good enough, not for a team that was in playoff contention through the season’s first 120 games.

“We’re disappointed that No. 81 didn’t mean something for the postseason,” Elvis Andrus said.  “We did not play well on the road this year. It something we have to improve.”

The Rangers avoided an eighth, consecutive loss and a winless road trip in an emphatic manner with leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo sending the first pitch of the ballgame deep into the centerfield bleachers, estimated at 461 feet from the plate. Willie Calhoun and Andrus also went deep in the Rangers’ four-run, first inning, and those homers weren’t cheap either.

Roark would allow a second homer to Calhoun, and five earned runs in three innings before he was lifted. The veteran acquired from the Reds hadn’t lost at the Coliseum since being acquired in July. That winning streak ended with a thud, but the impression’s been made, Roark will be in consideration for a start at home in Game 3 or 4 of an ALDS if the A’s get that far.

“Like we’ve done all year since I’ve been here, you move on. Nobody dwells on anything. You just get better,” Roark opined.

The A’s were 10-1 in their previous 11 games coming in, making their two-game lead over Tampa Bay seem insurmountable, which it isn’t. The Rays also lost on Sunday, but Cleveland won Sunday night to pull into a dead heat with the Rays. The A’s are wholly focused on not only qualifying for the postseason but hosting the Wild Card game, which didn’t go their way last year in the Bronx against the Yankees.

With a week to go, the A’s would wish for one more thing. That the Rays and Indians finish in a dead heat, forcing them to play each other 24 hours prior to the winner traveling to Oakland. But with a week, and six games remaining, we digress.

The A’s rotation for the final week remains a mystery with Frankie Montas eligible to return from his 80-game suspension on Wednesday. Homer Bailey will start Tuesday in Anaheim, but little is set beyond that with the A’s wanting line up one of their starters–likely Mike Fiers or Sean Manaea for Tuesday’s Wild Card playoff.

If the chosen starter can’t cut it, the A’s have a deep bullpen with additions A.J. Puk, Jesus Luzardo and Chris Bassitt ready to take prominent roles.

The A’s drew 38,453 fans to the home finale, and saw their home season attendance improve better than 80,000 fans over what they drew in 2018. The A’s finished with a 52-29 record at the Coliseum.

Oakland A’s podcast Joey Friedman: A’s keeping pace with Rays in AL Wild Card race; Road to the World Series goes through Houston and New York

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics’ Chad Pinder, right, celebrates with Ramon Laureano (22) after hitting a three-run home run off Texas Rangers’ Mike Minor during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, in Oakland, Calif

On the A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

#1 The A’s are keeping up with the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card race. The A’s are ahead of Tampa Bay by two games close out their series on Sunday with Texas and then the Rays host the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

#2 Is it true Joey that the A’s could stand in the way of the New York Yankees and Houston Astros dreams to get to the World Series? Either way, one of those three teams is the road to the World Series.

#3 Oakland A’s starter Mike Fiers has been the ace all season long on Friday night he went eight innings, two hits, and struck out five throwing 95 pitches and kept the visiting Texas Rangers off balance for the 8-0 win. Fiers has been doing it all season and improved his record to 15-4.

#4 Oakland A’s broadcaster Ken Korach, whose always been available to talk with his colleagues in the press, was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame on Saturday night. Korach has been broadcasting A’s baseball since 1996 amongst his highlights calling the Oakland A’s 2002 20 consecutive game win streak and he mentioned on the scoreboard vision Friday night during a pre game sit down that his biggest highlight of all-time came when Dallas Braden threw a no-hitter on Mother’s Day May 9th 2010 not only to call the game, but Ken said he got emotional remembering his late mother during the moment when Braden embraced his mother after the game.

#5 The A’s close out their regular home season schedule Sunday against the Texas Rangers at the Oakland Coliseum. For the Rangers, Lance Lynn (14-11, 3.77 ERA), and for Oakland, Tanner Roark (10-8, 4.12 ERA).

Joey does the A’s podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Saturday game wrap: It’s a laugher, A’s trounce Texas 12-3; A’s could sweep Rangers Sunday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics’ Marcus Semien (10) celebrates with Matt Olson, right, after hitting a home run against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

Texas: 3 | 8 | 2

Oakland: 12 | 14 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — Before today, the only time the A’s had faced Brad Burke, tonight’s starter for the Rangers, was last week in Arlington on Friday 13th. It was an unlucky day for Texas, who lost the game, 14-9, and the left handed rookie, who was lifted after six innings of work with his team leading 7-6. In his brief stint on the mound, all of the six runs scored against him were earned, coming on six hits, three of which were home runs.

Nonetheless, Burke is a promising youngster. He came to Texas in the three way trade between the A’s, Rangers, and Rays that brought Jurickson Profar to Oakland this past off season. Before that, he had been in the Tampa Bay organization, where he was the 2018 pitcher of the year, with a combined record in advanced-A and double-A of 6-2, 3.08 ERA. It’s noteworthy that his numbers were better in the higher classification. His main pitch is the four-seam fastball, which he mixes with curves, sinkers, change ups, and the very occasional slider.

His opposite number tonight was Sean Manaea, whose long awaited return from shoulder surgery and its consequent rehab assignments he celebrated with a 2-0, 0.50 ERA record in his three starts. One of those was on the road against Texas, where he threw six innings of three hit shutout ball, chalking up three strike outs in the process. That was a week ago Sunday.

Manaea got off to a shaky start, but a timely double play and a running catch in right by Laureano with a runner on second got him out of trouble. Burke, on the other hand, had a nightmare of a first inning. Two-thirds of an inning, to be exact. The A’s batted around, with hits by Chapman, Olson, Laureano (a double) off Burke and by Phegley and Chapman off his replacement, Luke Farrell, bringing in seven runs, all charged to Burke. A wild throw to first by third baseman Danny Santana on what would have been a double play ground ball by Canha allowed runners to advance, but they would have scored any way. So, after one inning of play, Oakland was up by seven.

Manaea continued to be unsteady in the second frame, allowing two hits before the second out was made, but, once again he followed the Lefty Gomez plan for successful pitching, clean living (we assume) and a fast outfield, to escape unscathed.

There was no reason for Farrell, who had surrendered two hits and a walk in his one-third of an inning performance, to remain in the game, and he didn’t. Jonathan Hernández was didn’t fare any better. He gave up two hits and three walks and already had allowed two runs when he left with the bases loaded and two outs in the second. Adrian Sampson, the Rangers’ fourth pitcher in two innings, came in and struck out Chapman on a full count.

The Rangers’ third was notable for two spectacular defensive plays: Laureano’s diving, rolling over catch of Andrus’s fast falling foul in right and Chapman’s backhand grab in the shift of Willie Calhoun’s hard shot towards left and then his off balance throw to get him at first.

Sampson’s effective relief work restored a semblance of order, so when Shawn Kelliey replaced him to face the top of the A’s lineup in the bottom of the fifth, the score still was 9-0. That expectation lasted three pitches. On the fourth Semien blasted Kelley’s 80 mph offering into the left center field seats for his 35th home run of the year. Three men later, Canha made it 11-0 by going long for the twenty-sixth time of the season, slamming a 368-foot drive over the left field fence. Kelley finished the inning but gave way to Joe Palumbo, who pitched the home sixth without allowing anyone except Davis, who got to second on a throwing error by Odor, to reach base.

The top of the sixth finally saw the Rangers get on the board. Elvis Andrus led off with his 11th dinger, a no doubter to center. Danny Santana hit his 26th two outs later, a fly to left that narrowed the gap to 11-2. The long and short of it is that Rougned Odor then dropped a bunt down the third base line against the shift for a single, and JB Wendelken came in to relieve Manaea, who either was tiring or had lost his concentration. He had worked 5 2/3 innings, allowed two runs, both of which were earned, on six hits, two of them home runs. one walk, a wild pitch, and a hit batter. His ERA ballooned to 1.14. He would get the win.

Wendelken got his man, DeShields, out on a grounder to Neuse at second.

Joe Palumbo took care of the A’s with a scoreless bottom half of the sixth, and Jesús Luzardo answered the bell for the visitors’ seventh, punching out two of the four Rangers he faced. Of the remaining two, one walked, and the other flew out.

Ryan Bouchter took his turn on the mound for Oakland in the eighth and coughed up the Rangers’ third solo home run. It came from the bat of Nick Solak and ended up over the left field fence.

Jeffrey Springs was the last Texas pitcher the A’s had to face. They touched him for their 12th and final run, Phegley driving in Davis from third on a single to left.

Once Manaea had lost his touch, hitting was the story for the A’s. Semien went three for three; Chapman, two for four; Canha, two for four; and Neuse, three for four. Semien and Canha homered.

Daniel Mengden closed out the game, throwing a shut out ninth with the help of two splendiferous plays by Franklin Barreto at short.

Because Tampa Bay pulled another victory out of the jaws of defeat back in St. Petersberg, they stayed two games behind Oakland in the race for home field advantage. Cleveland’s loss to the Phillies dropped the tribe to a game behind the Rays in the battle for the second wild card slot. The A’s magic number dropped to six. The magic number to eliminate any threat from Cleveland now is five.

Tomorow will be September 22nd, an appropriate time for number 22 Ramón Laureano bobblehead day. Game time is 1:07 p.m.Tanner Roark will try continue the A’s winning ways, facing Lance Lynn, who will take the mound for the Rangers.

In a brief ceremony before tonight’s contest, the A’s inducted Rickey Henderson, Walter Hass, Campy Campanaris, Vida Blue, Mark McGwire, and Tony LaRussa into the team’s Hall of Fame.

Fiers dominant in A’s 8-0 blow out win over the Rangers

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

Texas: 0 | 2 | 1

Oakland: 8 | 8 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — Major League Baseball players are a motivated group. They dedicate years in the minors to learning their craft in small towns and all-night bus riders until, when they reach the top, they report for what we call spring training, although the calendar insists it’s winter. They toil through 162 games, sometimes playing day games after night games, in what can be grueling weather, and travelling through three time zones (or more if they play in an overseas series) to face (or throw) a hard pellet at speeds of more than 95 mph. If their team qualifies, they play in a post season tournament that can last as long as twenty games. These men are driven. They’re also well paid at this level, which is a huge incentive for them to perform well in spite of the hardships and dangers they face. They also take a good deal of legitimate pride in their accomplishments.

When September rolls around a new layer of motivation is added. By Labor Day, the field of contending clubs in each of MLB’s six divisions narrows considerably, and the teams with a reasonable chance of making the playoffs push and shove, claw and gnaw to make the cut for postseason play and, once they’ve achieved that, to gain home field advantage throughout the remainder of play by having the best winning percentage of the lot.

But contenders aren’t the only teams who play with added intensity in the season’s waning days. They also have a chance to avenge five and a half months of being kicked around by spoiling the more successful teams’ bids for the different championships up for grabs in September. On the first of the month, the active rosters are expanded, and Spoiler Schadenfreude joins every non playoff team.

These are some of the reasons why stretch drive baseball can be so compelling even when the opponents are going in opposite directions. Not every game will provide as much drama, anticipated and realized, as the last three games of the 1951 National League season, which culminated with Bobby Thompson’s shot heard ‘round the world, or even the final game of 2012 when the A’s defeated the Rangers to occupy first place for the only time all season, which enabled them to advance to the playoffs.

Late season intensity wasn’t the only reason the teams had to be motivated for tonight’s contest. The stadium give away was a bobble head honoring the A’s starting pitcher, Mike Fiers (14-4, 4.09 ERA), who was coming off two dreadful starts. The statuette saluted him for his May 7 no-hitter against Cincinnati, but his bid to repeat that feat ended with his first pitch of the evening, which Shin-Soo Choo slapped into center field for a single. A double play and fly to left, however, set things straight. Fiers allowed only one more hit—and that was his only other base runner—in the rest of his eight inning stint. So you could say that he rose to the occasion.

His opposite number, Texas southpaw Mike Minor (13-9, 3.33 ERA) also had a bitter taste in his mouth from his most recent outing, in which he gave up seven earned runs in as many innings to the same A’s he was facing tonight. Just as Fiers’ recent bad experiences had been break in his pattern of success, Minor’s year had been a good one until recently. It included a spot on the AL roster for the All-Star Game, and brought a career-high 188 punch outs to the Coliseum mound tonight.

Minor’s troubles began later, but were more serious than the one Fiers had faced. With Laureano and Murphy on base and one down in the bottom of the second, the slumping Chad Pinder slammed a 94 mph four-seamer over the center field fence fore his 13th round tripper of the year, which gave the A’s an early 3-0 lead.

Oakland tacked on another run in the third on a walk to Chapman, who advanced to second on a ground out to first by Olson and scored on Canha’s two ball, two strike double to right. The A’s made it 5-0 in the fourth when Semien’s two-out two-bagger to left plated Sean Murphy, who had walked, advanced to second on Pinder’s single and to third on Neuse’s DP grounder to short. Canha’s lead off dinger to lead off the fifth brought his total to 25 and stretched the A’s advantage to 6-0.

After throwing five innings and 105 pitches (61 strikes) and allowing six runs, all earned, Minor’s exercise in frustration was over. He had surrendered six hits, giving his numbers a certain symmetry. He struck out only two, but this raised his year’s total to an impressive 190. He was replaced by Ariel Jurado, who set the side down in order before being replaced, in turn, by Yohander Méndez.

The A’s resumed their scoring ways once Méndez, like Minor a left handed hurler, entered the fray to pitch the seventh. With one out, Olson walked, as did Canha. Then Laureano doubled to right center, scoring the former and sending the later to third. A walk to Davis loaded the bases. This brought up Seth Brown, who had been brought in to pinch hit for Pinder when the Rangers switched pitchers from the left-handed, ineffective Minor to the right-handed, effective Jurado. Brown and Méndez went to a full count before the A’s rookie whiffed on a changeup, When Fiers got his first out in the eighth, a strike out of Nomar Mazaro, it was the deepest he’d gone in a game since August 9th, when he’d thrown seven innings of shutout ball in US Cellular Field. He finished tonight’s performance having thrown 95 pitches, striking out five Rangers, and allowing two hits and nothing else. He improved his record to 15-4, 3.91 ERA.

Taylor Guerrieri gave away the A’s final run with a wild pitch to Canha with Chapman on third. Canha eventually struck out.

Then Chris Bassitt set the Rangers down 1, 2, 3 in the ninth.

The loss went to Minor, who now is 13-10, 3.52 ERA.

The A’s hefty offensive was a relief after they had managed to score only three runs in their last two games, both of which they still managed to win. That the pitching, or at least Fiers and Bassitt didn’t let up in spite of a comfortable margin also was good news.

With Houston’s victory tonight, the A’s were mathematically eliminated from the AL West pennant race. Cleveland and Tampa Bay’s wins kept them tied with each other, two games behind Oakland in the struggle for first wild card honors.

Sean Manaea (2-0, 0.50 ERA) will go against Brock Burke (0-1, 5.19 ERA) in a battle of left-handers starting at 6:07 p.m. tomorrow evening and followed by a fireworks display celebrating the evolution of pop.

State of the A’s

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @MLBStats

By Lewis Rubman

Mark Canha’s walk off double, following Homer Bailey and the bullpen’s (yes, you read that right) 11-inning shutout win over the Royals has faded into recent history, and so has the euphoria it brought. The A’s have a day off, and we have a chance to take a dispassionate look, if baseball fans are allowed to use that adjective, at how things stand for the team.

First of all, no one now has even unspoken illusions about catching up with Houston in the regular season. The Astros hold an eight-game lead over Oakland with nine games to go for each team. Even if the A’s won all their remaining games, all Houston would need is one win to finish the season with a tie for the best record in the AL West. All that would get the A’s would be the chance to play the tie-breaker at the Coliseum.

The A’s outlook is brighter in the wild card race. Boston will be eliminated unless it wins every game left on its schedule and the team it trails loses all of its. Cleveland is on the ropes, which means that there’s a good chance that what’s left for Oakland is a battle by proxy with Tampa Bay for the right to be the home team in the one and done play-in round to determine the wild card team that will get the chance to battle Houston in the ALDS. The one-shot nature of the wild card game and the brevity of the best three out of five format for the ALDS accentuate the craps shoot nature of the whole process. The closest thing to a sure bet is that, if you care enough to read this column, your blood pressure will rise between now and at least October 2, when we’ll finally know–weather permitting–whether Oakland, Cleveland, or Tampa Bay will be on its way to Minute Maid Park to open the Division Series.

Let’s look first at the Indians, if only to take a guess at their chances of displacing the Rays as the A’s play-in opponent, although we shouldn’t forget that there is a possibility, however unlikely this morning, that Cleveland will overtake both Oakland and Tampa Bay and make one of those teams an also ran.

FanGraphs’ probability ratings make no claim to be infallible; their very name indicates that. But they are an extremely valuable tool for assessing a ball club’s chances. They give the Indians a mere 44% chance of making the play offs, which is our immediate concern, and, incidentally, a 42.8% of winning the division title, which would mean defeating Houston in the ALDS. The same source offers a probable season’s won-lost record of 94.5-67.5 for the Tribe. (That half a win points to the difference between a real season and a statistically analyzed one).

Still on the Indians’ schedule are a game against Detroit and a two game inter-league series against the Phillies, both at Progressive Park, né The Jake. Daniel Norris, who pitched well as an opener in the Bengals’ 3-1 September 8 loss, which was charged against him, will start for Detroit. Although the Tigers haven’t announced it, he most likely will be used in the same role today. His opponent, Mike Clevenger, is 11-3, 2.68 ERA, so don’t count on Cleveland’s elimination number dropping today.

Philadelphia, like Cleveland, is hanging on to the chance of a wild card spot, having an elimination number of eight in its division at this writing. Looking at the pitching match ups and the teams’ batting records, I think the Indians have the edge in the series, so Oakland shouldn’t count on getting help from the Phillies.

Like the A’s, the Tribe will finish its season on the road. They’ll start with a three game set on the south side of Chicago. Cleveland’s current 89-63 record is three games off from being a mirror images of the ChiSox’ 66-86, but that doesn’t mean that the Sox are a push over. The Indians are hitting only .239 against their pitching, albeit with a more respectible OPS of .711, and trail them 7-9 in the season series.

Washington will be Cleveland’s last opponent in the regular season. The Nats currently occupy second place in the NL East, where they have been eliminated from the division race and are in the first wild card position by a game and a half.

In short, it would be foolish to predict which series the Indians will win in what’s left to them in 2019 and which they’ll lose. But it seems more than reasonable to expect that they’ll lose at least as many as the A’s need them to, unless the green and gold has an unlikely melt down and need Cleveland to do the same.

That leaves the thorny problem of the Tampa Bay Rays. FanGraphs computes their probable record at the end of the season as 95-67, two games behind the A’s 97-65. If not a razor thin margin, it’s still a well-sharpened scissors thin one, one close enough for FanGraphs to give the Rays a 60% chance of a play off spot. They give the A’s a 96.3% shot at that, and they calculate each team’s chance of winning the wild card game as the same as their getting into it, that is, 60% and 96.3%, respectively. The team from St. Petersburg has the most challenging schedule of the three contenders for the two wild card berths. They’ll battle the Red Sox, the Green Monster, and Peskey’s Pole tomorrow through Sunday. That’s tough, but what’s awaiting them is tougher. They go to the Bronx, where the Yankees will be fighting for home field advantage, not just in the Division Series, which they already have qualified for, but in the rest of the postseason. A strong opponent with something worth fighting for is a formidable obstacle to fulfilling FanGraph’s computerized forecast, and the Bombers just might keep Tampa Bay from reaching the 95-win mark.

So there are grounds for reasonable, but guarded, optimism about the A’s chances as they take on , with Fiers, Manea, and Roark on the mound, the Rangers this weekend in Oakland.

Fiers has gotten rid of the nerve irritation that cut short his last start and also has gotten rid of his number six, lying on its back beard by cutting it off entirely, thereby restoring his facial equilibrium. He didn’t pitch well in his two starts at Texas this summer, but he’s been having an excellent season overall, including a no-hitter and a near record streak of starts without losing. Like most of the A’s rotation, he’s bullpen reliant. Manaea has looked great since coming off the IL, and Roark’s 3.83 ERA over 47 innings since joining the A’s at the trade deadline was inflated by two of the runners he’d left on base in his last start scoring after he’d been relieved. The Rangers haven’t yet announced their Sunday starter. Of the two they have announced, the choice for Friday, Mike Minor, is the one more likely to give the A’s trouble. He’s 13-9, 3.33 ERA, but only 5-4, 4.22 ERA at home.

Then it’s on to Anaheim for a pair of games against the Angels. The Halos are having an awful season and have been further weaken by the loss of Shohei Ohtani, but they’re always a menace when they play the A’s.

The A’s will close out the season with a four-game series against Seattle at T-Mobile Park, booking ending their opening and closing games of the 2019 season against the same team but in a different domed facility. My guess is that it will be then that they decide (or learn) if there’s life after game 162 for them. I think there will be, in spite of the problems that still hover over them. The bull pen remains is unpredictable. Khris Davis isn’t going to carry the team on his shoulders. (I suspect that he’s been playing hurt). Jurickson Profar isn’t throwing wildly, but he still looks awkward with his throws, and, though he has power batting left, it’s from the right side that his batting average is good. Since most pitchers are right-handed, this combination makes Profar’s somewhat of a weak spot in the batting order. Laureano’s legs aren’t 100% yet, and Piscotty’s on the IL. Chapman’s BA is slipping, but he’s still a joy to watch in the field. And Oakland counts with (if not yet on) some definite assets that were missing before September. Luzardo and Puk, though still relatively untested, have been all you could hope for. Manea has been (knock wood) lights out. Brown and Murphy are looking good and might find their way on to a post season roster, if there is one, with some judicious juggling of the injured list.

Another plus is Mark Canha’s stepping up to the role of every day center fielder. From high power, low average utility player, he has become a well-rounded batter whose defense has improved from good to excellent thanks to his playing consistently in one position. Not to mention Semien and Olson, both of whom, in addition to their prowess at the plate and their virtues in the field, help compensate for Profar’s throwing problems. Let’s hear it, too, for Liam Hendriks and Yusmeiro Petit.

The great comedy team of Bob and Ray, the voices of Harry and Bert Piels in a classic series of beer advertisements from the 1950s, used to sign off their radio show by saying, “Write if you get work and hang by your thumbs.” We’ll have to settle for hanging by our thumbs for a while.

A’s shutout Royals 1-0 in 11 innings

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

Kansas City: 0 | 4 | 1

Oakland: 1 | 5 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — Last night’s thrilling come-from-behind win over Kansas City, starting with Olson’s astounding home run blast in the seventh and culminating in Hendrik’s electrifying revindication of Mondaly’s debacle in the ninth, nudged the A’s an inch or two further towards a play off berth. They entered this afternoon contest against the pesky Kansas City Royals two full games ahead of Tampa Bay, who lost last night to the Dodgers, for the home field advantage and two and a half games in front of Cleveland, whose elimination number from wild card competition stands at 11 with just that many games left to play. At game time Oakland had 10 to go. Any combination of Oakland wins and Cleveland losses of 11 or more in those 21 contests would put the A’s in the postseason, if only for a single encounter. After the game was over, they’d picked up a half a game on Cleveland, who now have an elimination number of 10 with 11 games remaining on their schedule.

Danny Duffy, the Royals’ starting pitcher is a reminder that Kansas City’s most recent glory days are not that far back in the team’s past; he pitched a half a dozen innings in the 2014 and 2015 World Series for them. So far this year, his record had been a mediocre 6-6, 4.55 ERA, and he had yet to throw a pitch against the A’s. The Oakland hitter with the best record against him was Robbie Grossman at six for 17 (.353). The A’s switch-hitter outfielder was not in the A’s opening lineup, probably owing to his .180 batting average against lefties this year.

Oakland’s starting pitcher, Homer Bailey, has ties to a less glorious time in Kansas City baseball history. He had gone 7-6, 4.80 ERA for the Royals this season when they dealt him to the A’s on July 14. Between then and the time the A’s took the verdant, recently rained upon field after a 28-minute delay caused by same light rain that had refreshed the playing surface, the veteran right hander had gone 6-2 with an ERA of 4.70, sometimes pitching very well, other times, not.

Looking at the starters’ records, you wouldn’t have anticipated how well they would perform. The once and future Royal hurlers traded shutout innings until they both had left the game. Their successors did the same until there were two men down in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Oakland threatened in their half of the fourth when Semien opened the frame with a two bagger to right center, but the A’s fell victim to the curse of the lead off double when Duffy struck out Chapman and Canha, with Olson’s fly out to deep right sandwiched between the two Ks.

It was Kansas City’s chance to threaten in the top of the seventh. With one out, Jorge Soler smacked a double to left for the Royals’ third hit. A strikeout and an intentional walk later, Ryan O’Hearn hit a sinking fly to left. Chad Pinder made a spectacular diving grab of the ball to preserve the tie.

Bailey finally left the game after the A’s went down in the seventh. He had pitched seven complete innings and yielded only three hits and an intentional walk. His strike out total was a personal season-high 11. 66 of his 95 pitches were strikes. His replacement was Yusmeiro Petit, making his league leading 76th appearance.

When Scott Barlow took over for Duffy to pitch the Oakland eighth, the Royals’ starter had gotten through seven innings, allowing just two hits and a walk on 103 pitches, 67 of which were strikes. He struck out six Oakland batters.

Barlow lasted until he yielded a two out walk to Chapman in the bottom of the ninth. Those two outs had come about on strikeouts of a pinch hitting Jurickson Profar, followed by another against Semien. It took left-handed sidearmer Tim Hill one pitch to retire Olson on a pop to short.

Jake Diekman, another ex-Royal, replaced Petit to pitch the 10th.

He stuck out the two men he faced. Then Cheslor Cuthbert was announced as a pinch hitter for Ryan O’Hearn, which brought in JB Wendelken to strike Cuthbert out on five pitches. Ah, the intricacies of lefty-righty match ups!

Monday night’s winning pitcher, Kevin McCarthy gave up two quick singles to Canha and Laureano but bounced back to fan Khris Davis and get Sean Murphy to get Laureano out at on a bounder up the middle that second base man Merrifield made a good catch of and flipped to short stop Mondesí for the force. It was cold comfort that Canha advanced to third because he died there when Grossman, facing the latest Royal reliever, grounded out short to first.

Wendelkin survived a hairy top of the 10th. Bubba Starling began it with a single to right. Meibris Viloria sacrificed him to second. Brian Phillips was out on a hard line drive to Canha in center. Mondesí walked to load the bases with two out. Then Wendelkin got Jorge Soler to swing and miss on a 1-2 slider.

Jesse Hahn was on the mound when the A’s came to bat in the bottom of the eleventh. Profar worked him for a walk. Semien went down swinging, but Profar swiped second on the strike out pitch, so the play was a functional sacrifice. Chapman took a called third strike. Now, with Olson at the plate, it was time for Kansas City to grant an intentional walk. Mark Canha, whose Hometown Hero t-shirt was the afternoon’s give away, sent a 1-2 offering from Hahn down the right field line for a walk off double.

The hard earned win went to Wendelken, bringing his season’s totals to 3-1, 3.66 ERA for his 1 1/3 innings of work. Hahn was saddled with the loss.

11 innings of excitement, played in three hours and seven minutes, under clear skies in warm weather. This is how a play off chase should be conducted.

The A’s have a day of rest tomorrow. I won’t; I’ll be writing a discussion of the state of the race for the postseason. The team returns to the Coliseum on Friday, where Mike Fiers (14-4, 4.09 ERA) will face Mike Minor (13-9, 3.33 ERA) and the Texas Rangers at 7:07 p.m.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The case for Marcus Semien as A’s 2019 MVP

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: nbcsports.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

He is the Oakland Athletics shortstop since he came in via trade with the Chicago White Sox in 2014. I would be pressed to find any A’s player that has shown more improvement during that period than Marcus Semien. His glove and his bat are at an all-time high during the 2019 season, his last one under a one-year contract by the A’s.

Semien plays the shortstop position considered the most valuable defensive position in the infield except for catcher.

In 2015, Semien lead the league for a shortstop with 35 errors. To date, he only has committed 12 miscues. Ex-A’s coach Ron Washington and current coach Matt Williams have a lot to do with that.

Semien has played 153 games, leading the American League in that department.

Semien leads the team in runs scored, which is one of the most important stats for a player. After all, scoring runs is the most important. If you have any doubts, please ask Mike Trout.

Semien’s over .280 batting average, with 31 home runs and 87 runs batted-in, which are by far his best offensive numbers ever.

Semien’s OPS (On Base Plus Slugging) is over .800 and is one of the new sabermetric baseball statistics.

Aside from A’S MVP in 2019, Semien will get some consideration for American League MVP, although the Angels’ Mike Trout, the Astros’ Alex Bregman and the Yankees’ D.J. LeMahieu will get more recognition nationwide.

Semien is a good teammate who works hard. He was born and raised in the Bay Area.

The A’s will have a decision to make, but Semien already said he would like to stay here and sign a multi-year deal.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer is establishing Spanish radio play-by-play in the Bay Area since the mid-1970’s with the Oakland A’s. He is also a longtime contributor on sportsradioservice.com

A’s get back into the win column by beating the Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
KC2
Graphic: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland A’s got back into the win column on Tuesday night as they downed the Kansas City Royals 2-1 at the Coliseum. The A’s were down 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning when they bit back at the upstart Royals.

Matt Olson hit a 450-foot home run into the center-field stands off a 2-1 pitch from the Royals starting pitcher Jorge Lopez. Lopez then had the most logical response to Olson’s home run — he hit Mark Canha with a pitch. No, Canha was not pleased.

With Canha at first, Seth Brown doubled to left-center field and drove Canha home to score what would prove to be the winning run of the game. Brown, who has been “clutch” for Oakland since being called up to the majors, made Lopez pay for his stupidity of hitting the next batter after Olson hit his home run. Lopez should have been ejected from the contest.

Focus on the A’s

KC1
Photo: @Athletics
  • Oakland is now 24-8 (.750) versus the AL Central Division this season.
  • Liam Hendriks, who picked up his 23rd save of the season, has struck out 116 batters as a relief pitcher to set a franchise record. The old record was 115 and was set by Rollie Fingers in 1975.
  • A.J. Puk earned his second career win in this game. He has pitched 2.0 scoreless innings in each of his last outings. He gave up one hit and struck out two batters on Tuesday night.
  • Matt Olson now leads the A’s and American League first basemen with 35 home runs (that is after missing the first six weeks of the season due to injury).
  • Mark Canha has now been hit by a pitch 17 times this season. That ties him with Shin-soo Choo for the most HBP in the American League.
  • Relief pitcher Joakim Soria has not allowed a run in his last five appearances.
  • The A’s are now in Wild Card Slot #1 with a two-game lead over Tampa Bay, who is in Wild Card Slot #2. Cleveland is 1/2 game behind Tampa Bay for the second Wild Card spot.

Spotlight on the Royals

  • Royals starting pitcher Jorge Lopez has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last three starts.
  • Cheslor Cuthbert recorded his first multi-hit game since August 8th in Detroit. He is hitting .341 with three doubles and one HR versus AL West teams this season.
  • Hunter Dozier is batting .345 with four doubles, a triple and seven RBI in the month of September.

Up next

The Royals and A’s meet in a getaway day game tomorrow that will get underway at 12:37 PM PDT. The Royals will send LHP Danny Duffy to the mound. He has a 6-6 record on the season with a 4.55 ERA. He had a no-decision in his last start in Houston.

The A’s will start RHP Homer Bailey, who they obtained from the Royals, on Wednesday afternoon. Bailey is 13-8 on the year with a 4.76 ERA. He won his last start versus the Astros in Houston.