What did it take for the A’s to squeeze past host Texas on Sunday and salvage a split of the two teams’ rapid fire, four-game series?
Everything they had.
The A’s saw their 8-0, fourth inning lead evaporate over the final innings, so much so they needed an afterthought, RBI single from Khris Davis in the top of the ninth inning to provide the margin of victory in a 9-8 nail biter.
“After losing the doubleheader, we were going to take a win any way we can get it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We gave some runs back, but thank goodness we got that last out.”
Davis’ two-run homer off Rangers’ starter Drew Smyly in the third inning seemed to accomplish the intended dismissal of the Rangers, putting the A’s up 5-0 at that point. If not, the A’s three-run fourth–highlighted by Marcus Semien’s two-run double–surely did the trick, putting the A’s up 8-0.
But it didn’t. The red hot Rangers–winners of 17 of 24 coming in–wouldn’t go away.
The Rangers took advantage of the best pitching the A’s had to offer, first with a pair of runs off staff ace Frankie Montas in the fourth. Then the Rangers burned set up man Lou Trivino for three runs in the eighth, and one more off Blake Treinen in the ninth. The A’s defense didn’t help matters with a pair of errors accounting for unearned runs in the sixth and the ninth to make things dicey.
With Treinen on to nail down the last three outs, the Rangers came up with three base hits to narrow the lead to 9-7, then 9-8 when Josh Phlegley was charged with a passed ball, allowing Nomar Mazara to race home from third. But with two on and two out, Treinen induced a fly ball out off the bat of Ronald Guzman to end in it.
“I’m glad we pulled this one out. We needed this win,” said Davis, who homered for the first time since May 13.
The four-game set took less than 48 hours to complete, and forced the teams to endure consecutive days in the grueling, North Texas sun. The Rangers pitching staff fared better than the A’s, as they got a lengthy start from Adrian Sampson on Saturday night. The A’s had to lean on all of its significant bullpen arms at least twice, which will impact their next series at the East-leading Tampa Bay Rays starting Monday.
photo from sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson reaches up but is unable to catch the throw to the bag as Texas Rangers’ Delino DeShields (3) sprints to first in the fourth inning of the second baseball game of a doubleheader in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, June 8, 2019. DeShields reached on the throwing error by Athletics third baseman Chad Pinder. …
On the A’s podcast with Joey:
#1 The Oakland A’s got swept in a doubleheader on Saturday by the Texas Rangers after the A’s had won three of their last four games. A’s dropped the first game at the Ball Park in Arlington 10-5 the A’s starter Paul Blackburn struggled to get hitters out.
#2 The Rangers wasted no time scoring three runs in the first and two runs in the third inning to start a 5-0 lead.
#3 The A’s a team never to give in scored four runs in the top of the fourth but their pitching collapsed in the bottom of the fifth surrendering four runs and the Rangers with the eventual win in the front game.
#4 In the night cap the A’s got some good pitching out of starter Chris Bassitt who went 5.2 innings, five hits, three earned runs and five strike outs but it wasn’t enough as the A’s offense couldn’t get Bassitt any runs in the 3-1 loss.
#5 A’s and Rangers mix it up again Sunday in the conclusion of the four game series the A’s will be starting Frankie Montas (7-2 ERA 2.83) and for the Texas Rangers Drew Smyly (1-4 ERA 7.93)
Beltre’s number was retired before game two began Photo: @Rangers
by Charlie O. Mallonee
Major League Baseball teams are totally unequipped to play doubleheaders in this new century. The doubleheader used to be a mainstay of the annual baseball schedule. My late father and I would deliberately plan to attend Cincinnati Reds games when doubleheaders were on the schedule. You bought one ticket and got to watch two games.
Then a few years ago, some bean counter in a Major League team’s front office figured out that his/her team was losing money by allowing fans to see two games for the price of one, and the traditional doubleheader died a sudden death. The era of the day-night doubleheader was born in order to squeeze every dime out the fans that can be had by every team in both leagues.
On Saturday, the A’s and Texas Rangers played a day-night doubleheader. The teams were rained out on April 13 and had a game to make up, so Saturday became the day the teams would play two games. It was the first doubleheader to be played in Arlington, Texas since September 30, 2012.
If you are the A’s, you hope for a sweep, will settle for a split and fear a being swept. Unfortunately for the Athletics, their worst fears came true on Saturday.
Game One
Photo/Graphic: @Athletics
LHP Joe Palumbo made his Major League debut in the first game of the doubleheader. The A’s sent RHP Paul Blackburn to the hill for his first start of the 2019 season.
The Rangers jumped on Blackburn in the bottom of the first scoring three runs and taking a lead they would never give up. Texas put two more runs up on the board in the third inning to take a 5-0 lead over the A’s.
Oakland mounted a comeback in the fourth inning when Matt Olson hit his eighth home run of the season with Khris Davis on base. Later, Josh Phegley hit a double to drive in Chad Pinder and Ramon Laureano. The score was 5-4 with Texas leading as the game went the bottom of the fourth.
Texas put up another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Elvis Andrus hit his 12th double of the year driving Shin-Soo Chin home to score to give the Rangers a 6-4 lead.
The Rangers added four more runs in the home half of the fifth inning. The big blow came when Tim Federowicz hit a three-run home run that made the score 10-4 in favor of Texas.
Oakland would score one more time when Josh Phegley hit his eighth home run of the season over the left field wall. The score at that point was Texas 10, Oakland 5 which would ultimately be the final score.
Jeffery Springs (4-1) who came on in the fifth inning to relieve Palumbo was credited with the win. He pitched 3.0-innings giving up one run (earned) off two hits. Blackburn (0-1) took the loss for Oakland.
Game Two
Photo/Graphic:@Athletics
If you hung around for game two, you are a true fan. The twin bill took over 10 hours to complete because the stadium had to be emptied before the ticket holders for game two were allowed to reenter. They did have a nice crowd of 39,514 on hand as the Rangers retired Adrian Beltre’s number 29 before the game began.
The A’s drew first blood in the game when Mark Canha hit his 10th homer of the season off Adrian Sampson into left-center field in the top of the fourth inning. It would be the only run the A’s would score in the contest.
Texas put their first runs in the scorebook in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jeff Mathis hit a single to left that sent Danny Santana home and Ronald Guzman to second. Delino DeShields then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Ronald Guzman to score. After five complete innings, Texas held a 2-1 lead.
The Rangers would score again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Danny Santana hit his second triple of the year driving Rougned Odor home to score the third and final run of the game for Texas. That was all the scoring the Rangers would need as they would win the game 3-1.
Adrian Sampson (5-3) was the winning pitcher as he won his first complete game in his major league career. Sampson gave up one run (earned) off four hits. He struck out seven while issuing only one walk.
Chris Bassitt (3-2) was hung with the loss. Bassitt gave up three runs (all earned) on five hits. He struck out five Rangers and walked two.
Up Next
The four-game series wraps up on Sunday at 12:05 PM PDT. The A’s will send Frankie Montas (7-2, 2.83) to the mound to stop the two-game losing streak. The Rangers will counter with Drew Smyly (1-4, 7.93). On paper, it would the advantage would go to the A’s.
The Oakland A’s found themselves a game over .500 once again after beating the Texas Rangers 5-3 in Arlington Friday night. Marcus Semien went 4 for 5 with two homeruns, including the game-winning two-run shot in the ninth and Blake Treinen wriggled out of a bases loaded one-out rally in the ninth to preserve the win for Yusmeiro Petit. Petit (1-1) also escaped a bases loaded jam in the seventh.
The A’s were trailing 3-2 entering the seventh inning, but Semien stepped up with one out and runners on first and third, singling home Mark Canha off Shelby Miller to tie the game. He knocked in his third and fourth runs of the game, launching a Jose Leclerc (1-2) offering over the wall in right for a two-run blast in the top of the 9th and a 5-3 A’s lead.
Treinen entered the bottom of the inning looking to nail down the game. He got a fly out of Rougned Odor but pinch-hitter Ronald Guzman singled and Delino DeShields and Logan Forsythe walked to load the bases. Treinen coaxed a 5-4-3 double play out of Elvis Andrus to end the game and notch his 13th save.
Oakland led 2-0 by the fifth inning after a Matt Olson RBI single and Marcus Semien’s first homer of the game, his eighth of the season, both of Texas starter Lance Lynn. A’s starter Brett Anderson was cruising through five, giving up no runs, but the 6th inning proved his downfall. Elvis Andrus hit an RBI triple, Nomar Mazara grounded out but plated a run and Hunter Pence blasted his 13th longball of the season to give the Rangers a 3-2 edge late in the game, a lead Semien would single-handedly erase.
The A’s and Rangers, separated by one game in the standings, will play two Saturday. Paul Blackburn draws the game one assignment for the Green and Gold, while Chris Bassitt gets game two. Joe Palumbo and Adrian Sampson get the ball for Texas.
The Oakland A’s downed the LA Angels Thursday night to bounce back from a very tough loss on Wednesday. The A’s got off to another good start. The A’s led 6-1 midway through the fifth inning. The Angels made it 6-3 in their half of the fifth when Mike Trout homered with a man aboard. A’s manager Bob Melvin must have thought it was deja vu all over again. The Angels rallied from a 7-1 deficit on Wednesday to beat the A’s. The Green and Gold did not want to suffer another defeat like that on Thursday.
The A’s put three on the board in the top of the fourth. Stephen Piscotty started the rally with a single. He went to second when the Angels’ catcher Dustin Garneau committed an error by mishandling a pitch from Tyler Skaggs. Three more singles and two sacrifice fly balls put the runs on the board. The Angels got one back in the bottom of the inning. Singles by Shohei Ohtani, Kole Calhoun, and David Fletcher loaded the bases for the Angels. Brian Goodwin drove in Ohtani with a sac fly to Ramon Laureano in center field. The A’s led 3-1.
The A’s plated three more in the fifth. Chad Pinder and Matt Chapman walked to get things going for Oakland. Khris Davis singled to drive in Pinder. Chapman and Davis advanced to second and third on Calhoun’s throwing error to the plate. Angels’ manager Brad Ausmus removed Skaggs from the game and brought in Jaime Barria to pitch. Piscotty’s fly ball to shallow left field was caught by Brian Goodwin. Goodwin’s throw slipped off his hand and Chapman scored. Davis went to third on the error. Laureano drove in Davis with a sac fly to left field. The Angels responded with two in their half of the fifth. Mike Trout hit his 16th bomb of the season with a man aboard to make it 6-3.
Piscotty hit a solo homer in the seventh, and the Angels scored one in the bottom of the ninth. The A’s won 7-4.
Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 31-31 for the year. The Angels drop to 30-33. Mike Fiers went six innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. He is now 5-3. Tyler Skaggs absorbed the loss and is now 4-6.
The A’s bullpen did their job Thursday night. Melvin used Ryan Buchter, Liam Hendriks, Lou Trivino, and Joakim Soria. Soria was nicked for a run in the ninth.
The A’s line score was seven runs, nine hits, and no errors. The Angels’ line was four runs, nine hits, and three costly errors.
Up Next: The A’s are on their way to Texas to play three with the Rangers starting Friday night. Lefty Brett Anderson (6-4, 3.95 ERA) goes for Oakland and Texas will send righty Lance Lynn (7-4, 4.50 ERA) to the hill.
#1 The A’s lead by 7-5 until the Angels came back to take a 8-7 lead, but the A’s, who never give up, scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 9-8 lead over the Angels. It ain’t over til it’s over and the Angels rallied scoring two runs to get by Oakland 10-9.
#2 Khris Davis is swing the bats like he’s never been out of the game with an hit and an RBI. Bob Melvin has to be glad Davis is back in the lineup.
#3 The Angels reliever Ty Buttrey gave up two runs to help the A’s to the lead. Buttrey pitched 1,2 innings, three hits and two runs for the loss.
#4 A big offensive night for Marcus Semien with three hits, two runs and three RBIs.
#5 A’s and Texas Rangers open their series on Friday night in Arlington. The A’s have not yet announced a starter and the Rangers have starter Lance Lynn (7-4, 4.50 ERA). It’s the A’s and Rangers Friday night at Globe Life Park.
The Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Angels played another wild one at the Big A in Anaheim. The two teams played a nine-inning game that lasted four hours and 13 minutes.
Both teams used an “opener” to start the game. The Angels used reliever Cam Bedrosian for one inning and replaced him with Felix Pena. The A’s Joakim Soria pitched the first inning and was later replaced by Daniel Mengden. This strategy was not successful for either team Wednesday night.
Angels leadoff hitter, Tommy La Stella, homered on the second pitch from Soria to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead. The A’s roughed up Pena for four runs in the second inning. The A’s had two doubles and two singles in the inning to put them ahead. Oakland scored three more in the top of the third to lead 7-1. The A’s put together four singles and a walk to get the runs on the board. The Angels answered with four runs in the bottom of the third. La Stella single to get the rally going for LA. Mike Trout hit his 15th dinger of the year to make it 7-3. Shohei Ohtani singled, and that was followed by a double off the bat of Albert Pujols. Kole Calhoun grounded out to first to drive in Ohtani with the third run of the inning. Pujols scored on David Fletcher’s single. The A’s lead was now 7-5.
The Angels plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 8-7 lead. With one out, second baseman Luis Rengifo singled. Mengden walked La Stella to put men on at first and second. It was at this point that A’s manager decided to remove Mengden from the game. Yusmeiro Petit was brought in to pitch. Angels DH Ohtani hit his fifth big blast of the year to put the Angels ahead.
The Angels maintained the lead until the top of the eighth. The A’s scored twice for a 9-8 lead. The A’s rally started when Marcus Semien walked with one out. Matt Chapman singled. That was followed by Matt Olson’s single to drive in Semien with the tying run. Chapman went to third, but Olson was thrown out at second. Chapman scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. The home plate umpire called Chapman out, but the call was reversed after a review. The A’s lead didn’t last long as the Angels tied the game. A’s reliever Liam Hendriks gave up two hits and an intentional walk to load the bases. Melvin brought in lefty Ryan Buchter to face the left-handed hitter Shohei Ohtani. Buchter walked him, and the Angels knotted the score at 9-9.
Lou Trivino, who got the final out of the eighth inning, retired the first two hitters he faced in the bottom of the ninth. Brian Goodwin then singled and stole second. The next hitter, Dustin Garneau, hit a ground rule double that went over Robbie Grossman’s head and bounced over the fence to drive in Goodwin with the winning run. The Angels won 10-9.
Game Notes: The A’s drop to 30-31. The Angels are now 30-32. LA’s line score was 10 runs, 14 hits, and no errors. Oakland’s line was nine runs, 15 hits, and no errors. Lou Trivino took the loss. Hansel Robles earned the win.
A’s hitting stars were Marcus Semien with three hits and three RBI. Jurickson Profar also had three hits and two ribbies. The Angels’ Tommy La Stella had three hits, one of with was a home run. Ohtani had two hits and four RBIs.
Daniel Mengden did not have a good outing. The A’s hurler lasted just 2 1/3 innings. He allowed six hits and six runs. The Angels’ Felix Pena went 1 2/3 innings and the A’s roughed him up for eight hits and seven runs.
Up Next: The A’s and Angels play the rubber game Thursday night in Anaheim. Game time will be at 7:07 pm.
#1 How key has Golden State’s Draymond Green for this Golden State team? He has been called the quarterback of the team.
#2 Green was called for a foul on the Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam. It was Green who said he would stop Siakam after he scored 32 points on Green in Game 1 and got an earful from rapper Drake on the way back to the dressing room after the game.
#3 What happened to the A’s? They’ve lost five straight games after winning 10 straight and are in Anaheim vs. the LA Angels for three straight games the A’s snapped the losing streak with a win over the Angels on Tuesday night.
#4 The Philadelphia Phillies’ Jay Bruce was added to their lineup for some power, but low and behold former San Francisco Giants outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who tore his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. The Phillies, who are in first place by a half game over the Braves, will miss McCutchen’s bat out of the lineup.
#5 Back to basketball, how does Golden State handle the absence of a couple of their key players Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant?
The A’s snapped their five-game losing streak Tuesday night as the beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2. It was also the start of a nine-game road trip. Frankie Montas, who has pitched very well for Oakland this season, had another outstanding outing as he went six innings and allowed four hits and two runs while improving his record to 7-2. He was cruising along until the bottom of the sixth. With one out, he had a 13-pitch battle with the Angels’ superstar, Mike Trout. Trout refused to strike out. He fouled off seven or eight pitches. With the count at 3-2, Montas drilled Trout on his left elbow. It seemed that Montas was a bit rattled by the battle that he had with Trout. He had to face Angels’ DH Shohei Ohtani, and Montas lost that battle as Ohtani blasted his fourth homer of the year to cut the deficit to two 4-2
The Angels’ starter Griffin Channing, who pitched well against Oakland last week at the Coliseum, did well except for two innings. The A’s were able to put two on the board in the second inning. With one out, Matt Chapman singled. Matt Olson walked to put men on at first and second. Khris Davis, the A’s DH, smoked a double over the head of Mike Trout that went for a double. Chapman scored. Stephen Piscotty hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Olson with the A’s second run.
The A’s made in 4-0 in the top of the sixth. Robbie Grossman singled with one out. Ramon Laureano homered into the left-field seats. The blast was measured at 403 feet. The Angels, as mentioned above, scored twice in their half of the inning.
The A’s manager Bob Melvin had Yusmeiro Petit pitch the seventh, Liam Hendriks, the eighth, and Blake Treinen the ninth. The A’s relievers did the job. They did not allow a hit in the last three innings of the game. Treinen set the Angels down in order in the ninth, and he earned his 12th save of the year.
Game Notes – With the win, the A’s improved to 30-30 while the Angels fell to 29-32. The A’s are in third place in the AL West. The A’s trail the Texas Rangers by one game in the race for second place in the division.
Ramon Laureano was the hitting star for Oakland, He had a double and home run in the game, and that extended his hitting streak to sixteen games.
The line score for Oakland was four runs, eight hits, and no errors. The Angels’ line was two runs, four hits, and no errors.
Time of game was three hours and four minutes and over 36,000 fans were on hand to see the A’s take the first game of the three-game series.
Game Two will be played Wednesday night in Anaheim. The A’s will send Daniel Mengden to the mound, and Felix Pena will go for the Angels. The Angels may use an “opener’ and then have Pena come in to pitch in the second inning.
Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:
#1 The A’s are in the middle of a five-game losing streak. They took Monday off and open up a road trip in Anaheim and Texas after getting swept by Houston. Is this a laundry list of things that manager Bob Melvin has to be concerned about?
#2 Frankie Montas will start on Tuesday night and has pretty much been the bright note in the A’s pitching rotation at 6-2, 2.81 ERA. Sometimes, it takes a spark to get things going again and Montas has had some games where he has been lights out.
#3 Free agent Dallas Keuchel is still up for grabs. He hasn’t pitched all season. Once signed, could he jump right in and help a ball club right away?
#4 Another free agent is the former Boston Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel, who can also help a club. He hasn’t thrown a pitch since the World Series. Could Kimbrel be ready once he’s called on.
#5 The Giants are playing on the road this past week against two last place clubs, including the Baltimore Orioles. What does getting a couple win off the Orioles mean for the Giants after struggling much of this season and opened up the series in New York with a 9-3 win over the Mets ?
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