Category: Oakland Athletics

Seventh Heaven: AL pitching dominates in 4-3 All-Star Game win over the NL

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By Morris Phillips

CLEVELAND — For the American League and the Indians’ Shane Bieber, the 90th All-Star Game was everything it was cracked up to be.

The AL scratched together some early offense, then pitched with dominance on their way to a 4-3 win, their seventh win in a row in the Midsummers Classic. Bieber, pitching in front of his fanbase and his pride-filled manager, Terry Francona, struck out the side in the fifth to preserve a 1-0 lead, a feat that earned the 24-year old the game’s MVP, the first time a player from the host team has won the award since 1999.

“It’s an incredible feeling now, now that it’s kind of sinking in,” Bieber said. “Just to be able to do it in front of the home crowd, and my first All-Star Game is definitely not something that I expected, especially being added to the game five days ago, four or five days ago.”

Nine American League pitchers got one inning of work each, with AL starter Justin Verlander setting the tone with a two-strikeout first inning. By the time the NL got on the scoreboard for the first time in the sixth, they had just two hits while striking out 11 times.

Bieber and Oakland’s Liam Hendriks combined to fan Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte, Ronald Acuna Jr., Kris Bryant and Trevor Story consecutively before Charlie Blackmon homered off Hendriks to cut the AL lead to 2-1. In all, NL hitters struck out 16 times, and managed to hit just seven balls beyond the infield.

In contrast to last year’s showcase in Washington D.C., and juxtaposed against the homer-happy, first half to the 2019 season, the NL was completely out of step. Last year at Nationals Park, National League hitters clubbed five home runs–one each from Contreras and Story–while striking out 12 times and drawing five walks. In Cleveland, with seven hitters back in the lineup from D.C., they struggled to create a rally outside the eighth inning, when they struck for two runs off Cleveland’s Brad Hand.

“A lot of hard throwers and great pitchers over there,” Bryant said. “Unless you’ve seen them before, it’s a difficult matchup.”

While the NL offense appeared to hit the snooze button, the American Leaguers proved resourceful and scrappy, using infield singles to set up both of their initial runs. First, the Astros’ Alex Bregman legged out a chopper to third, and scored on Michael Brantley’s double. Then in the fifth, Gary Sanchez of the Yankees doubled, then moved to third on a ground out, and scored on Jorge Polanco’s infield hit.

The AL kept stitching it together in the seventh, when Oakland’s Matt Chapman drew a leadoff walk off Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff. Then with runners at the corners and no out, Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox hit into a double play, but Chapman scored on the play. Down 3-1, manager Dave Roberts summoned the Giants’ Will Smith to pitch to Joey Gallo, but the Rangers’ slugger spoiled that plan with a loud home run on Smith’s first pitch.

“I really didn’t understand the magnitude of it; I just hit a home run in the All-Star Game,” said an excited Gallo. “Watching this game growing up, and now I hit a home run in it. It’s pretty special. I think I have to take a step back. Everything happened so quick.”

Gallo’s homer was thumped, the loud crack of the bat inside the ballpark confirmed that. But the numbers did too. Gallo’s blast exited Progressive Field at 111 mph, the fastest in an All-Star Game since exit velocities were first tracked in 2015.

Gallo’s moment was Smith’s as well, and another humbling All-Star experience for Giants’ pitchers. Smith figures to be hot on the trade market in the coming weeks given his 1.98 ERA and 23 saves, but leaving a fat pitch over the plate to a left-handed slugger won’t enhance his value. But clubs will no doubt take note of the fact that Smith’s only allowed home runs to left-handed batters twice in the last three seasons.

The All-Star Game had a couple of feel-good moments with 19-year veteran C.C. Sabathia summoning closer Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen in the ninth, and getting a rousing welcome from Cleveland fans, who supported him over the first 7 1/2 seasons of his career. Sabathia has announced his retirement after the season, and his appearance organized by MLB was an acknowledgment of the extraordinary nature of his career.

Carlos Carrasco, recently diagnosed with leukemia, also made an appearance, with four of his Indians’ teammates and Francona. All five held placards across their chests saying “I Stand for Cookie (Carrasco’s nickname).” Carrasco stood in the middle, and his placard simply said, “I Stand.”

“He’s one of our teammates and one of the big guys in the clubhouse. You don’t wish that upon anybody. We just got to support him in any way we can,” said Brad Hand, one of Carrasco’s teammates on the field during the emotional moment.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: MLB Hispanic Museum honoring players at All-Star Game; Guerrero sets Home Run Derby record; plus more

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Photo credit: @Ron_Clements

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury talks about the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum being in Cleveland. This has got to be a special being able to show the fans what’s the Museum is all about.

#2 The Museum will be honoring former Cleveland second baseman Robby Alomar, Alomar had quite a career in Cleveland and looked forward to the honor by the museum.

#3 The Toronto Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero Jr. went deep enough times in the first round to set a Home Run Derby record for first round home runs.

#4 Fans are waiting for the All-Star Break to end and to get the second half started. Amaury talks about what to look forward to in the second half.

#5 In the second half of the season, the Oakland A’s have shown that they can put it together from the first half. What is to be expected from the A’s in the second half?

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum, the Spanish play-by-play announcer for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Hendriks and Chapman thrilled to be at All-Star Game in Cleveland

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Photo credit: @hyphen18

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 How thrilled must A’s pitcher Liam Hendriks and A’s third baseman Matt Chapman have to be about being selected for the 2019 All-Star Game?

#2 Hendriks has put up some great numbers in the first half of the season with 23 straight saves.

#3 It’s got to be monumental that Hendriks has pitched that long without a blown save.

#4 Chapman is hitting .265, with 90 hits and 21 home runs. He had a great offensive first half.

#5 A lot is on the line to win the derby; $1 million to win it at the All-Star Game.

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

Alonso’s Derby Debut a Dandy: Mets slugger outlasts Vlad Jr. in epic Home Run Derby

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By Morris Phillips

CLEVELAND — Imagine a village of Paul Bunyans, each man equipped with tree trunk legs, bulging biceps and granite necks.

Yes, in that environment, Mets rookie Pete Alonso might not stand out.

But in home run derby featuring mere mortal, major league sluggers doing their thing in the presence of a jacked up, sold out crowd at Progressive Field on Monday, Alonso stood out in a major way, by methodically and decisively taking control of the T Mobile Home Run Derby one blast at a time.

“You’ve got to go in with kind of a killer instinct. It doesn’t matter how many you hit, you just need to have one more than the guy you’re at,” Alonso said.

Alonso’s focused approach was a necessity in the presence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who thrilled the Cleveland fans with 91 total home runs–34 more than Alonso hit–a feat so prodigious and taxing, that 20-year old had little left in the contest’s last minute, falling one homer short of matching Alonso in the final round.

Both the 24-year old Alonso and Guerrero earned more than they will make as rookies this season for the Mets and Blue Jays with Alonso capturing the $1 million first place prize.

Not only did Guerrero equal his salary by capturing the second place prize money of approximately $500,000, he validated the contest’s selection process that tabbed him despite the fact he’s homered just eight times in first 61 major league games.

Guerrero decimated Oakland’s Matt Chapman 29-13 in the first round before outlasting the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson in an epic second round, 40-39. His battle with Pederson required two swingoffs to break ties and separate the sluggers.

At one point in his battle with Pederson, Guerrero homered 19 times in 25 swings. The feat was reminiscent of Josh Hamilton’s epic derby at Boston’s Fenway Park in which he homered 28 times in a span of 38 pitches. In both cases, the crowds howled with appreciation.

But in the end, Guerrero didn’t have enough to outlast Alonso.

“I’m happy I didn’t face him in the early rounds because he would’ve knocked me out,” Alonso said of Guerrero. “I gotta tip my cap. He’s a hell of a hitter, and he’s gonna have a really long career.”

“I got tired, but that’s not why I lost. There are no excuses,” Guerrero conceded. “He hit more home runs than me and he won.”

While Guerrero peppered the left field stands with his home runs, Alonso with his powerful base, sprayed homers from foul line to foul line. Alonso also maintained a relaxed motion, rarely repositioning his feet between swings, and as much as could, conserving energy.

In the end, it was the exact approach he needed to get past hometown slugger Carlos Santana in the opening round, and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the semis.

“I’m happy that I was able to conserve as much energy throughout the event, and that was huge,” Alonso said.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Hendriks and Chapman represent A’s at the All-Star game; Each player thrilled to be there

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Photo credit: @nypost

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Oakland A’s Liam Hendriks gets the call to represent the Oakland A’s after the Tampa Bay Rays’ Charlie Morton is a scratch. Morton, who pitched on Sunday, was not available for the All-Star game because he only got a day’s rest.

#2 Hendriks posted a 3-0 record (1.27 ERA). Hendriks is fourth in strike outs (58) and fifth in innings pitched (46.2).

#3 The Oakland A’s third baseman Matt Chapman took Sunday off to rest up to play in the All-Star game in Cleveland. Chapman hit .265, 21 home runs, 52 RBIs, 59 runs scored.

#4 Chapman will participate in the Home Run Derby. He has been hitting quite a few of them during the season and should be a great challenger on Monday night.

Jerry does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Futures Game ends in a tie after eight innings. A tie? Eight innings?

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By Morris Phillips

CLEVELAND — The last time a game ended in a tie on All-Star Weekend all hell broke loose.

This time the mood was considerably lighter.  Here’s how:

The 21st addition of the showcase for the top prospects in each big league club’s stable promised to be different, and it was. For the first time, instead of the USA vs. the World format, the teams were split traditionally, National League versus American League. Also, the ballgame was shortened from nine innings to seven, in part to limit the exposure to the pitchers, in keeping with how the precious commodities are treated on the minor league circuit where young arms routinely–but sparingly–hit 100 mph on the radar gun.

Home runs, wild innings? Sure, after last year’s 10-6 slugfest in Washington D.C. in which the clubs combined to hit eight home runs, why not run it back?

Well, the slugfest never materialized. Instead, the hard throwing proliferated, and the two clubs did all they could to scratch out some runs, but after eight innings–one more than scheduled–the game ended in a 2-2 tie.

In a nod to how things are currently done at the minor league level, extra innings began with a runner at second base to promote a quick ending, again to spare young arms, and minimize the number of marathon ballgames.  But in this case, neither club was able to push across a run in the eighth.

“Guys need their (mid-season) break, so you can’t play forever, and you only have so many pitchers here,” said Nationals prospect, shortstop Carter Kieboom.

So instead of a dramatic ending, all the late drama was contained in one at-bat from Rangers’ prospect Sam Huff, who came up with a 418-foot home run off Colorado’s Ben Bowden with one on and one out in the seventh to break up a 2-0 NL shutout. Ironically, Bowden was 20 for 20 in save chances at the Double-A level this year. But on Sunday night, he walked the leadoff man, Jo Adell, then one out later, gave it up to Huff.

“He got a pitch to hit and put a great swing on it,” said Jim Thome, the legendary Cleveland slugger who managed the American League squad.

Huff was named Futures Game MVP for his dramatic homer that exited Progressive Field at more than 109 mph.

Last year’s Futures Game MVP, Cincinnati prospect Taylor Trammel knocked in a run in the fourth to put the NL up 2-0. Then with Trammel on third, and lefty Kris Bubic on the mound, Trammel attempted to steal home. But Bubic recovered from being unaware and threw a perfect pitch low and outside that garnered an out call from the home plate umpire. But replay showed that Trammel got his hand across the bag just ahead of catcher Jake Rogers’ tag. But without a replay system legislated into the Futures Game, the call stood.

The Giants’ two top prospects–catcher Joey Bart and outfielder Heliot Ramos–got into the game, but didn’t factor into the headlines. Ramos grounded a single through the middle of the infield in his only at-bat, and Bart–wearing matching, rainbow-themed gloves and cleats–went 0 for 2.

Bart did make his mark defensively, throwing out Wander Franco trying to steal second base. Franco, only 18 years old and considered the consensus, number one prospect in baseball as a Rays minor leaguer, currently plays at the Double A level. But Bart’s release and throw were perfect, reaching second base in fewer than two seconds, faster than the current, effective standard for major league catchers.

A’s prospect, Jorge Mateo, a shortstop ranked as Oakland’s eighth-best minor leaguer, singled in his first at-bat, but came up empty as one of the batters in the eighth inning given an opportunity to end the game with a runner placed on second base at the beginning of the inning.

Back In Stride Again: A’s stay hot, head into All-Star break with 7-4 win over Seattle

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By Morris Phillips

Matt Chapman’s headed to the All-Star Game as a reserve, and as a last-minute addition to the Home Run Derby.

Not a bad choice. But the American League could probably do just as well with Matt Olson, Chapman’s Oakland teammate.

While Chapman enjoyed a well-deserved day of rest ahead of his flight to Cleveland, Olson showed off his All-Star worthiness with a first inning, three-run homer in the A’s 7-4 win over the Mariners. Olson’s shot was his sixth in his last 10 games, and his 19th of the season, all of them hit since May 12, five days after Olson’s delayed season debut due to a broken bone in his hand.

“You hear a lot about the hamate injury and the strength not coming back for a while,” manager Bob Melvin said of Olson. “But when you look at his home runs per at-bat, I can’t imagine it’s not right at the top of the league.”

While the A’s switched into blast-off mode in the first two innings of Sunday’s series finale, taking a 6-0 lead after Marcus Semien led off the second with a home run, the host Mariners were self-destructing, that according to manager Scott Servais.

After Olson’s blast, the next two A’s reached, then found their way around the basepaths when Dylan Moore inexplicably allowed Chad Pinder’s base hit to slide through his legs and go all the way to the wall. Chad Pinder and Ramon Laureano scored on Moore’s error.

“It was the walk. Somewhere in the middle there’s always a walk. You have to stay aggressive, and that led into the Olson three-run homer. We really couldn’t stop it after that,” Servais said.

Seattle’s response–single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, all of those four runs courtesy of Omar Narvaez–wasn’t enough to get the Mariners even, or knock A’s starter Daniel Mengden out of the winner’s circle. Still Narvaez’ outburst was impressive; he homered twice sandwiching a pair of run-scoring singles in a 4 for 4 performance.

Mengden’s been the perfect follow-up to Frankie Montas’ suspension, winning four of five decisions for the first time in his disjointed big-league career. On Sunday, he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks.

“When you come out of the game after the fifth inning with a lead, you’ve done your job. He’s done that,” Melvin said of Mengden.

The A’s recent ascension in the standings couldn’t be more reminiscent of what the club did in 2018. At 50-41, they’re only one game off their pace of last season, the precursor to the major’s best second half record that took them to 97 wins and a wild card playoff spot. But there are a couple of key differences.

Unlike last season, the A’s still have a realistic shot at winning the AL West. The Astros have a sizeable lead at 7 1/2 games, but they A’s still have 11 of the 19 games in the season series between the clubs to make up ground. Of course, the A’s will have to quickly reverse course in the rivalry, they’ve lost seven of the first eight to the Astros in 2019.

Also unlike 2018, the A’s haven’t found a couple of opponents to take advantage of like they did with the Tigers and Blue Jays (14-0 in 2018). Instead they’ve been dominated by the same Jays and Astros (1-13 in 2019). They could find some vulnerable opponents in the second half: the A’s have season series left with the improving White Sox, the downtrodden Royals and the dominant Yankees (seven games against each club).

Most importantly, unlike 2018, the wild card race is wide open. The A’s are right in the middle of a tight race with the Rays, Indians, Red Sox and Rangers with none of the five running away with the top spot as the Yankees did in 2018. That means the A’s have a realistic shot at hosting the game this time, and if they don’t finish on top, not having to play on the road against a clearly, superior club as the Yankees were last October.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s chipping away at Astros first place lead in AL West

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Khris Davis and the A’s came into Seattle for their series with the Mariners on a roll. (AP)

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey F:

#1 Joey tells us about A’s catcher Chris Herrmann’s big day on 4th of July last Thursday a grand slam, four hits and a run scored it was the last time Herrmann was in the line up but he made the best of it.

#2 The A’s are going well right now winning four of their last seven games. They’ve won two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels, A’s won two out of three from the Minnesota Twins, and on their trip to Seattle the A’s took the first game 5-2 and lost the second game on Saturday 6-3.

#3 The A’s have been getting pitching even in the loss on Saturday they got some substance from their starter Tanner Anderson who went 4.2 innings, nine hits, one earned run with two walks and three strikeouts.

#4 You can never tell what can happen on any given day in baseball the Mariners are a last place team but they battled A’s on Saturday and scored run in the middle innings but the A’s on the other hand are chipping away at the Houston Astros seven game lead in the AL West.

#5 A’s and Mariners conclude their three game series on Sunday the A’s will start Daniel Mengden (3-1 ERA 4.67) the Mariners starter Matt Carasiti (0-0 ERA 1.80). This will be the last game ending the first half of the season before the All Star game in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

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

Sad Saturday Night in Seattle for the A’s

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
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Matt Olson rounds the bases after hitting home run number 18 Photo: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland A’s hoped to guarantee a series win in their final set before the All-Star Break by downing the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night. That opportunity to win the series will now have to happen on Sunday in the “rubber game” of the three-game series after the A’s lost to the M’s 6-3 on Saturday night.

The A’s staked their starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to a 2-0 lead through three innings, but the game took a dramatic turn in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bassitt gave up four runs off just four hits.

With Domingo Santana on at first and no one out, DH Daniel Vogelbach launched the first pitch from Bassitt high into the right-field seats to tie the game at 2-2. The next batter, Omar Narvaez, singled to right. Kyle Seager then hit a 2-0 pitch into the right-field seats for a two-run home run. The inning ended with the M’s up 4-2, and they would never look back after that frame.

Focus on the A’s

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Graphic/Photo: @Athletics
  • Bassitt was charged with the loss and his record fell to 5-4 on the season. Bassitt gave up multiple home runs for the first time since May 21st in Cleveland. This was just the second time in 14 games that he had allowed more than three runs.
  • Matt Olson hit his 18th home run of the year in the third inning. Those 18 round-trippers have come in just 50 games. Interesting fact: 12 of his 18 home runs have been hit on the road.
  • Ramon Laureano put another home run in the scorebook. He hit his 15th HR of the season in the top of the ninth inning. Seven of his home runs and 22 of his 44 RBI have come in the last 22 games.
  • Bob Melvin said after the game, “He (Bassitt) got off to a good start, he was throwing hard. Everything looked like it was working. Then, he ends up getting a couple of two-run homers and now we’re behind. Maybe not his best outing and I just couldn’t let something happen with Vogelbach at the plate. Looks like he had good stuff today, it just happened quickly on him.”

Mariner’s notes

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Gonzales recorded his 10th win Photo: @Mariners
  • Marco Gonzales recorded his 10th win of the season in this game. He worked 8.0-innings giving up two runs (both earned) on five hits. Gonzales struck out six and walked just one. He has now recorded 10 wins before the All-Star Break in back-to-back seasons.
  • Daniel Vogelbach hit his 21st home run the year on Saturday night. The launch angle on his home run was 43 degrees. It was truly a “moon shot”.
  • Kyle Seager ended an 0-for-21 streak at the plate when he hit his two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. This was his first HR since June 21.
  • There has been a home run hit in each one of the Mariners first 93 games this season. That is an MLB record.
  • Bob Melvin on Marco Gonzales: “It seems like we’ve played that game against him where we’ve had him on the ropes early in the game and he’s limited the damage and ended up going seven or eight innings. It feels like we’ve played that game quite often against him. So you’ve got to give him some credit. We would have liked to have (done) a little bit more damage early on and scored a few more runs and got a little more distance but we didn’t and he settles in and pitches well.”

Up next

RHP Daniel Mengden (3-1, 4.67 ERA) will take the hill on Sunday for the A’s. The M’s will use RHP Matt Carasiti (0-0, 1.80 ERA) to open the game with the plan being to turn the game over to Wade LeBlanc as the primary pitcher. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM PDT.

A’s Rally in 7th for 5-2 Win Over M’s

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland A’s rallied in the seventh inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2 on the road Friday night. Franklin Barreto hit his first homerun of the season, Robbie Grossman knocked in two runs and Brett Anderson went six-plus innings for the win. Newly minted All-star and closer Liam Hendriks nailed down his fourth save of the year.

Seattle took the lead in the first off a J.P. Crawford sacrifice fly, but Barreto’s big fly off starter Yusei Kikuchi tied the game. Tom Murphy lifted a solo fly off Anderson in the bottom of the fifth to give Seattle a 2-1 edge. 

Kikuchi was cruising through six innings having given up just the one run, but he ran into trouble in the seventh. Matt Olson hit a ground-rule double to open the inning then scored on Khris Davis’ single and a throwing error by Domingo Santana in right. Mark Canha grounded out to move Davis to 3rd, then Davis scored on Ramon Laureano’s sacrifice fly for a 3-2 A’s lead.

Kikuchi (4-6, 4.94 ERA) would escape the inning, but wound up the loser after going seven innings with four hits and three runs (two earned) allowed. Anderson (9-5, 3.86 ERA), by virtue of the rally, wound up the winner after going 6 1/3 innings with five hits and two runs.

Robbie Grossman gave the A’s breathing room in the top of the ninth, knocking a one-hopper to the wall off Dan Altavilla good for two runs. Hendriks, crowned the A’s closer with Treinen injured, pitched a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts to close out the contest after Ryan Buchter and Yusmeiro Petit bridged the gap between Anderson and the closer.