Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s beat the Astros 5-3 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 series lead

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Graphic @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

When you have to play a four-game series with the team who owns the second-best record in Major League Baseball, your goal has to be to go for a 2-2 split. That most certainly is a success level. You might not have gained any positions, but you will not have lost any either.

On Wednesday night, the A’s beat the Astros 5-3 to take a 2-1 series lead in their four-game series with the mighty Houston Astros. Now, the Athletics can play with “reckless abandon” on Thursday night and try to win the series. Not only would that help them in their pursuit of the AL Wild Card Slot #1, but it would really put them inside the heads of the Astros, who could be their first-round opponents in AL Playoffs.

LHP Brett Anderson has a strong start

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Photo: @Athletics

Anderson worked 5.0-innings allowing just two runs (both earned) off seven hits (one HR). He walked three and struck out four hitters. George Springer hit his 34th home run of the season off 2-2 pitch from Anderson. It traveled 433 feet over the center-field wall.

Anderson threw 86 pitches (54 strikes). He was also credited with the win, which raised his record to 12-9 for the year. Anderson faced 23 batters in his 5.0-innings on the mound.

An A’s reliever stepped into the spotlight

Jesus Luzardo made his long-awaited major league debut on Wednesday when he entered the game as a reliever for Anderson. Oakland had scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to stake the rookie to a 5-2 lead.

Luzardo got off to a great start getting the first two hitters out, but then he gave up a home run to Martin Maldonado. He gathered himself and struck out Myles Straw for the third out of the inning.

Luzardo set the Astros down in order in the seventh and eighth innings.

The rookie LHP worked 3.0-innings giving up one run (earned) off one hit while walking none and striking out two Astros. He tossed 36 pitches (22 strikes).

Luzardo became the first player born in Peru to play in the major leagues.

Don’t forget the guy who got the save

Mr. Dependable — Liam Hendriks — recorded his 20th save of the season setting the Astros down in order including striking out two batters.

Focus on the A’s with the bat

  • Marcus Semien had a 3-for-5 night with the bat scoring two runs and posting one RBI. One of his hits was his 28th home run of the season.
  • Rookie Sean Murphy went 1-for-4 at the plate. He hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning.
  • Matt Olson had a 1-for-4 night hitting with a double (24) that drove in two runs.

AL Wild Card Race

The Tampa Bay Rays are still in Wild Card Slot #1 but by just 1/2 game over the A’s. The A’s own AL Wild Card Slot #2 but are just 1/2 game ahead of the Indians.

It really is a three-team race. The Red Sox are now 10.0-games out the Wild Card and have lost five games in a row. They are now playing for next year.

Up Next

It will be a good pitching matchup in the season-series finale between the A’s and the Astros on Thursday night. The A’s will send RHP Homer Bailey (12-8, 4.87 ERA) to the mound to face possible Cy Young winner RHP Justin Verlander (18-5, 2.52 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PM Bay Area time.

A’s crush the Astros 21-7 on Tuesday night

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Graphic: @NBCSCA

By Charlie O Mallonee @Charlieo1320

This morning on my Oakland A’s podcast with Lee Leonard, I told our listeners not to panic about the A’s 15-0 loss to the Astros on Monday night. Baseball is a funny game and sometimes a game will just get away from a team. Just as frequently, when a team scores a bundle of runs in a game – they will not be able to repeat that feat in the next game no matter how hard they try. It’s just a “baseball thing”.

The A’s turned the table on Tuesday

Oakland showed up on Tuesday night ready to play and scored seven – that’s right seven – runs in the top of the first inning before the Astros ever had a chance to pick up a bat. The Houston starting pitcher – Wade Miley – was credited with working 0.1-innings while giving up seven runs (all earned) off seven hits. He walked one and struck out none. Miley entered the game with a record of 13-4 and an ERA of 3.74. His record is now 13-5.

It was like the A’s had all of this pent-up energy that just had to be released and they took it all out on the Astros on Tuesday night. The A’s scored two runs in the second inning, two in the third, six runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth, one in the sixth and tacked one more on in the top of the ninth inning for a total of 21.

Oakland won the game 21-7.

Tanner Roark picked up the win

Tanner Roark picked up his 10th victory of the season in this game. He worked 5.2-innings allowing five runs (all earned) off eight hits. He walked one and struck out three. He did give up three home runs. Roark threw 105 pitches (65 strikes).

Ryan Buchter faced one-hitter and Daniel Mengden worked 3.0-innings giving up two runs (both earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out one. Mengden did allow one home run.

Focus on the A’s with the bat

  • Mark Canha: went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and one RBI.
  • Chad Pinder: also had a 3-for-6 game scoring one run and adding an RBI.
  • Khris Davis: joined the 3-for-6 club with two runs scored and three RBI. Davis hit his 20th HR in the game.
  • Sean Murphy: had a two-home run game. He went 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and four RBI.
  • Matt Olson hit two home runs and now has 31 for the year.
  • Marcus Semien hit his 27th round-tripper of the season in this contest.
  • For the A’s, it was 21 runs off 25 hits and just eight men left on base.

Wild Card Race

Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Cleveland all were winners on Tuesday. The Rays stay in Wild Card Slot #1 with a 1.5-game lead over the A’s. The A’s own Wild Card Slot #2 with a 0.5-game lead over the Indians. The race is tight and very competitive.

After the Houston series, the A’s do have a game versus a team with a winning record.

Up Next

Game three of the four-game series will be played on Wednesday night at 5:10 PM PDT. LHP Brett Anderson (11-9, 4.08) will start for Oakland while RHP Jose Urquidy (1-1, 5.33) will take the mound for Houston.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s going for the gusto in big series in Houston; Giants can play for pride and prospects at this point; plus more

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Photo credit: orovillemr.com

On the Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Oakland A’s always have their plate full when they go to Houston for a four-game series, and this series is no different, the A’s need each one of these games to keep pace in the AL wild card.

#2 The San Francisco Giants just want to win their games for prides sake. They have battled one of the NL’s best the Los Angeles Dodgers and took two out of three from them in LA. For a team that is struggling and out of the wild card race, a great effort by the Giants.

#3 The Oakland Raiders played in Denver on Monday Night Football, but the overshadowing story is how they let their big fish wide receiver Antonio Brown go and who turned around and signed with New England but as karma would have it Brown was accused of rape by his trainer in Florida and is on suspension until the NFL concludes it’s investigation. Brown has stated that he will countersue his accuser for civil extortion.

#4 The San Francisco 49ers got a key win on opening week in Tampa Bay. The Niners defense forced four turnovers and Kwon Alexander who was ejected for a personal foul going helmet to helmet on Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston got the game ball.

#5 The Cal Bears took the Washington Huskies by storm after a 2 1/2 hour delay. The Bears and Huskies played back and forth football until 1:30 in the morning and the Bears edged the Huskies out with eight seconds left in the game on a Greg Thomas field goal to win it 20-19.

Headline Sports with Barbara is heard every Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: The return of Manaea could be the difference in A’s run at the postseason

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nbcsports.com photo file: The Oakland A’s are more than glad to see the return of pitcher Sean Manaea who has dominated in his first two outings of the season so far.

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

It makes a world of difference for the Oakland A’s to have a front line pitcher like Sean Manaea return to the A’s rotation dropping into the rotation for the A’s at this point. As the A’s are fighting for that number one slot in the AL wild card race.

What a gift having Manaea back because he was on the injury list it’s not a issue for Manaea to be a roster player come playoff time. It’s a dream. It’s like making a trade when you don’t have trade deadline availability. Beyond that we know that Sean is one of the nicest guys in the world.

He was so devested when that injury came, he was very depressed because he was pitching so well and he turned that depression around so quickly with a determination to get healthy and he had set his goal and sites on being back exactly this time with the team.

Charlie has lots more A’s news on the podcast tune in and every Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Beane and Forst made the right decisions staying at the A’s

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photo sfgate.com

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Boston Red Sox fired their general manager David Dombrowski citing reasons why the Oakland A’s Billy Beane and David Forst declined to work for the Sox.

#2 Dombrowski led the Sox to a World Series last year. The Sox beat the Dodgers. Dombrowski will have no problem getting another front office job.

#3 A’s pitcher Sean Manaea has had such a great comeback his last outing. He beat Detroit with ten strikeouts for a 3-1 win. Manaea will be a huge plus for the A’s rotation.

#4 The A’s are close to calling up Jesus Luzardo from Las Vegas. Luzardo is ranked #3 as a left-handed pitching prospect.

#5 The A’s are in Houston facing their toughest American League opponent and the road to the World Series goes through Houston in the postseason.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play-by-play talent on KIQI 1010 San Francisco and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Astros tie single-game HR mark, rout A’s 15-0

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Photo credit: @astros

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, September 9, 2019

Oakland’s road to an American League Wild Card berth hit a serious pothole on Monday, as Houston rang up A’s pitching for seven home runs in a 15-0 Astros win at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros, who lead the AL West, built an 11-0 lead after two innings, buoyed by a pair of solo homers by Yordan Alvarez, a three-run blast by Alex Bergman, two-run shots by Robinson Chirinos and Jose Altuve, and a solo homer by Michael Brantley.

Despite the loss, the Athletics remain in the second AL Wild Card berth, leading Cleveland by one game and trailing Tampa Bay by 1 ½ games.

The Astros became the first team ever to hit six home runs in the first two innings of a game, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Houston’s seven total homers tied a club record.

Chirinos added a three-run blast in the in the seventh.

All of that offense made life easy for Astros starter Zack Greinke (5-1), who struck out five without a walk and gave up two hits in six innings.

Mike Fiers (14-4) surrendered the first five Astros home runs in one-plus inning. He struck out one, but gave up nine earned runs on nine hits. Paul Blackburn, who worked five innings of long relief, gave up the other two Houston homers.

Game two of the four-game series on Tuesday matches up right-hander Tanner Roark (9-8, 3.86 ERA) for Oakland against Astros left-hander Wade Miley (13-4, 3.35 ERA). Game time set for 5:10 p.m. PST.

Sportstalk at Ping Yang Grill and Dessert in San Francisco remote podcast: Monday, September 9, 2019

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yelp.com photo: Dining room section at Ping Yang Grill and Desert at 955 Larkin Street in downtown San Francisco which was formerly Little Henry’s Restaurant.

Cast: Mary Lisa Walsh (SJ Sharks beat writer), Marko Ukalovic (SJ Barracuda beat writer), Jeremy Harness (NFL analyst, PGA Golf reporter), Lewis Rubman (Oakland A’s beat writer), David Zizmor (SF 49ers podcast host), and Lee Leonard (producer).

On the podcast today from Ping Yang Grill and Dessert at 955 Larkin Street downtown San Francisco: Our thanks to your host Bay owner and proprietor at Ping Yang Grill and Dessert. Ping Yang serves some of San Francisco’s favorite Thai food: Pad Thai, Thai Crepe, Chicken Thigh, Tom Yum Soup, Curry Noodle Soup, Tender Pork Shoulder, Beef Short Ribs, Chocolate Crepe, Nutella Banana Crepe, and many more. Bay welcomes you to try many of Ping Yang’s dessert favorites. Located at the corner of Larkin and Sutter Streets in downtown San Francisco, Ping Yang Grill and Dessert.

On today’s podcast: Discussions on the National Hockey League 2019-20 season preparing to start. The San Jose Sharks what they added and how Erik Karlsson will be the face and impact of this year’s team. The Oakland A’s in the hunt for postseason play. The San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo and how the progress looks from week one. The Oakland Raiders, who lost Antonio Brown to the New England Patriots, plus much more.

A’s Wrap up Homestand With 3-1 Win Over Tigers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Ana Kieu

Sean Manaea reminded A’s fans of his dominance in his return on Sunday at RingCentral Coliseum. Manaea allowed just one run in seven innings of work.

The A’s (84-59) defeated the Tigers (42-100) by a final of 3-1 and boarded a flight to Houston to open a four-game series against the Astros at Minute Maid Field on Monday at 5:10 p.m. PST.

The A’s got on the board first. Marcus Semien scored on a Mark Canha ground out for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The A’s plated two runs for a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Khris Davis doubled on a fly ball, which enabled Canha and Chad Pinder to score, respectively.

The Tigers ended the A’s chances of a potential shutout with a lone run in the top of the fifth inning. Cristin Stewart homered on a fly ball to center field for his ninth home run of the season.

With the win, Oakland went 5-1 on the six-game homestand and also managed to pick up a road win against the Tigers in the middle of it.

The A’s also celebrated Pride in Oakland in their front office and in The Town itself. This was a perfect time for the LGBTQ folks and their allies to celebrate who they are and what they stand for.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s looking to put frosting on the Tigers and the series Sunday

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sfgate.com photo: Detroit Tigers’ Willi Castro is hit by a pitch from Oakland Athletics starter Chris Bassitt during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 in Oakland, Calif.

On the A’s podcast with Joey Friedman:

#1 The A’s have won four of their last five games all on this current homestand. A little home cooking could cure some ills especially when you’re trying to put last week’s Yankees series in the rearview mirror.

#2 The A’s are having a time in this current series with the Detroit Tigers, who are at the Coliseum today. With an A’s win, they would have taken three out of four in this series, which includes a makeup game from Friday.

#3 The A’s need to keep winning and they have four games left against a team with a winning record like the Houston Astros, who the A’s visit on Monday night at Minute Maid Field. They could be baseball’s toughest customer.

#4 The A’s also have 16 games left with teams who have below .500 records. The A’s need all the wins they could get in order to keep pace in the AL wild card race.

#5 A pair of left-handers to start today’s contest at the Coliseum. For the Tigers, Daniel Norris (3-11, 4.76 ERA). For the A’s, Sean Manaea (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Second start of the season for Manaea.

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

The A’s devour the Tigers 10-2 on Saturday night in Oakland

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Det 9-7
Graphic: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee @Charlieo1320

Oakland — The Oakland Athletics (83-59) did exactly what they had to do on Saturday night – beat up on a lesser opponent. The “Rooted in Oakland” crew demolished the lowly Detroit Tigers (42-99) by the score of 10-2. The Tigers have the worst record in all of Major League Baseball and have been eliminated from any possibility of playing in postseason in 2019.

The A’s realistically are destined to play in the AL Wild Card game. They want desperately to be the home team in that game. To be the home team, the A’s need wins and wins should come easier over teams that have losing records. It is truly a “survival of the fittest” environment from now until the end of the regular season.

The A’s have only four games remaining to play against a team with a winning record. They begin a four-game series in Houston on Monday night with the Astros who are tied with the Yankees for the best record in the majors at 93-50. Their other 16 games are with Detroit (1), Texas (6), Kansas City (3), LAA (2) and Seattle (4). The A’s must devour the weak in order to come out on top.

Chris Bassitt worked hard to earn a win

Bassitt struggled in the first two innings of the game on Saturday night. After giving up two hits in the top of first, Bassitt was bailed out by a 6-1-4 double play that is detailed later in this story.

In the top of the second, the A’s starter faced seven Detroit hitters. He gave up two runs off three hits and he hit a batter. The Tigers left two runners on base. Despite having some difficulties, Bassitt struck out three batters and appeared to be starting to find himself.

Bassitt would go on to pitch 6.0-innings giving up just the two runs (both earned) off eight hits. He walked none but did hit one Detroit batter. Bassitt struck out 11 Tigers in 6.0-innings on the mound. That is a career high for Bassitt and the most for an A’s pitcher in a game this season.

After the game, Bob Melvin said, “Bassitt often gets better as he goes along in a game. He also gave our bullpen a break by going six innings.”

Bassitt is now 10-5 on the season with a 3.64 ERA. This is the first time Oakland has had three 10-game winners since 2013 when they had five.

Wild Card Standings

The A’s now have sole possession of the second Wild Card slot in the American League. They are one game back of Tampa Bay (85-59) who is in the number one spot and would host the one-game playoff if the season ended today.

The Indians are 1.5-games behind the A’s for the second spot in the Wild Card race at 82-61. Boston is 7.0-games back and has an elimination number of 14. It would take a miracle and a massive collapse by the Rays, A’s or Indians for the Red Sox to become a part of the race.

Focus on the A’s

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Olson gets congratulated Photo: @Athletics
  • Matt Olson went 4-for-4 in the game. He hit his 29th home run of the season in the fifth inning off Jordan Zimmerman on 1-2 pitch that sailed into the right-field seats. Olson also added three RBI to bring his total for the season to 73. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
  • Jurickson Profar matched his career high for home runs when he hit number 20 of the season in the second inning off Zimmerman. Profar is batting .340 over his last 15 games. He has also been very helpful to his team by being able to play both outfield and infield as needed.
  • Matt Chapman hit his 32nd home of the season in the eighth inning which ties Eric Chavez for the most in a season by an Athletics third baseman.
  • Oakland now has six players with 20-plus home runs which is a franchise record.
  • A’s pitchers combined for a total of 19 strike outs on Saturday night – a season high.

Spotlight on Detroit

  • Jordan Zimmerman allowed six earned runs for the first time since July 19. He previously had allowed a total of seven earned runs in four career starts against the A’s. Zimmerman is now 1-10 on the season.
  • Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-4 in the game which gave him a team-leading 38th multiple-hit game for 2019. It was also the 804th multiple-hit game of his career tying him with Ivan Rodriguez for 39th-most in MLB history.
  • Harold Castro had 4-for-4 game with the bat with two RBI for the Tigers. That tied his season high.
  • The Tigers have not had a winning record versus the AL West since 2014. They are 53-112 against the division since 2015.

Up next

LHP Sean Manaea (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the ball for the A’s and make his second start of the season to close out this three-game series with the Tigers. He had a no-decision in first start of the season last Sunday in New York against the Yankees. The Tigers will counter with LHP Daniel Norris (3-11, 4.76 ERA). He had a no-decision in his last start on Tuesday in Kansas City.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM at the Oakland Coliseum.

Shouldn’t the infield fly rule have been called?

In the top of the first inning with runners at first and second and one out, the Tigers Christin Stewart hit an infield fly into foul territory on the third-base side. The wind then pushed the ball back into the field of play. Matt Chapman attempted to catch the ball but was unable to do so. Marcus Semien picked the ball up and tossed it to Bassitt who was covering third. The pitcher stepped on the bag and Harold Castro – the runner at second was called out. Bassitt then alertly threw the ball to Profar who stepped on second base and Miguel Cabrera – the runner at first was called out on what scored as a 6-1-4 double play.

As a former amateur umpire, I was immediately looking for one of the four umpires to have his right arm up in the air to indicate that the infield fly rule was in effect. I was shocked when no call such call was being made. So was Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire who immediately came out to discuss the situation with the Homeplate umpire – Dan Bellino.

The umpires explained that the infield fly rule is to be called when the ball can be caught with “ordinary effort”. The “men in blue” said in their opinion Chapman would have needed to use extraordinary effort to have made the catch of Stewart’s fly ball, so the infield fly rule did not apply.

In this reporter’s opinion (and as a former umpire), the umpiring crew was caught off guard when an apparent foul ball came back into fair territory.