Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s beat the Giants to win Game 2 of the Bay Bridge Series 5-4

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO — The A’s and Giants met in Game Two of the three-game Bay Bridge Series. Both teams will be making decisions as they have to get down to 25 players by Thursday. The A’s will have to make decisions on 12 players, and the Giants have to cut nine. The teams will have one more game left after Monday’s game to evaluate their talent.

It was a cold, rainy miserable night at Oracle Park. The game was delayed for one hour and 25 minutes. The game started at 8:10 pm. The A’s scored the first run of the game in the first inning. The Giants’ pitching did not allow a hit until the seventh inning. All the Giant could show for the first six innings was two hits. In the top of the seventh, with more seagulls in the outfield seats than fans, the A’s erupted to score four times on five hits. Ty Blach gave up three doubles and two singles, and the Giants didn’t help their cause as the committed two errors in the inning. The A’s led 5-0 midway through the seventh. The Giants have not scored in 15 innings so far against the A’s in the series.

The A’s lefty reliever, Ryan Buchter, had a bad outing in the seventh inning. He faced five Giants’ hitters and failed to record an out. The Giants had two hits and three walks when A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Buchter from the game. The Giants scored twice and had the bases loaded for new A’s pitcher J.B. Wendelken. The Giants’ new acquired catcher Erik Kratz greeted Wendelken with a single to drive in two more runs. The Giants trail 5-4 with no out in the seventh. Wendelken retired the side with no further damage. Wendelken allowed a hit in the eighth and Ryan Dull sent the Giants down 1-2-3 in the ninth. The A’s won 5-4.

Notes- The game was played in 3 hours and 10 minutes and the attendance was announced as 25,102.

Up Next: Game Three of the Series will be played at Oracle Park Tuesday night at 6:45 pm. It will be the last Spring Training game of the year.

A’s look capable and confident in their return to the Bay, down Giants 5-0

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Apparently the A’s starting rotation isn’t the season-opening mess it appeared to be in Japan.

Projected No. 3 starter Brett Anderson breezed through six innings of work, allowing just three hits, as the A’s opened the Bay Bridge exhibition series with a 5-0 win. Frankie Montas, also slated for the starting rotation, looked good as well, pitching the final three innings and chalking up three strikeouts.

After staff ace Mike Fiers and No. 2 Marco Estrada had subpar outings against the Mariners in Tokyo, manager Bob Melvin was pleased to see the 31-year old Anderson carry over his sharpness that he developed in Arizona.

“He’s really pitched well. You really don’t go on spring training results for guys like him but it’s nice to see him in the fashion that he is,” Melvin said.

The A’s may have carried greater urgency than a normal exhibition given they’re already saddled with an unsightly 0-2 regular season record, but it wasn’t readily apparent. Melvin noticed a lack of energy in batting practice he attributed to jet lag.

“It seemed like we were kind of sleepwalking through. But you put a couple of good swings on them and the next thing you know you’ve got five runs on the board,” Melvin noted.

The lack of energy dissipated once the game started as the A’s got home runs from Stephen Piscotty, Jurickson Profar and Ramon Laureano to account for all the game’s scoring. That was plenty given the sharp efforts of Anderson and Montas. Piscotty connected in the first with Matt Chapman aboard, Profar added a solo shot in the fourth (in his A’s debut at the Coliseum), and Laureano capped the scoring with a two-run shot in the seventh.

Dereck Rodriguez took the loss for the Giants, allowing two of the three homers in his four innings of work.

The A’s open the regular season on Thursday at the Coliseum against the Angels, the first of a four-game set. Game time at 1:07 pm.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Olson hurt; A’s swept in Tokyo; Bad start to ’19 season for A’s

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nbcsports.com photo: Oakland A’s first baseman Matt Olson injured his right hand fouling off a ball Thursday in Tokyo against the Seattle Mariners. Olson could be out for months.

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Oakland A’s Gold Glover Matt Olson fouled a pitch off his right hand while swinging against the Seattle Mariners. The hand will be further looked at by team doctors once the A’s arrive back in the Bay Area from Tokyo on Thursday night.

#2 Olson couldn’t grip the bat after the foul ball and that sounds like the diagnosis for a hamate bone injury. If so Olson could be lost for months. Jerry explains the hamate bone injury.

#3 What was tough for the Olson injury is Olson didn’t miss a game all last season. He played in all 162 regular season games for the A’s. This was game two and already the talk was he could be out for a few months.

#4 The other big news was that Ichiro played in his very last game for the Seattle Mariners and his baseball career. Ichiro failed to get a hit and has hit .086 in spring training.

#5 The A’s host the Los Angeles Angels for a four-game series at the Oakland Coliseum starting on Thursday afternoon on March 28th. The A’s had a huge media contingent last season opening day when Shohei Ohtani and the Angels came to Oakland. This season Ohtani who had off season Tommy John surgery will not be back until June or July and will only be a DH.

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

Ichiro says farewell, and Mariners beat A’s in extra innings 5-4

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photo from Nogi/Agence France-Presse: Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki left the field in the bottom of eighth inning on Thursday night to an ovation from fans in Tokyo

By Jerry Feitelberg

On an emotional day in Tokyo, Ichiro Suzuki said farewell to baseball. The 45-year old Suzuki went 0-for-4 in his last game and left in the eighth inning as the crowd rose to give a standing ovation for the last time an active player. Ichiro, without question, will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. He will be the first Japanese-born player to reach that lofty level.

There was still a game to play, and the M’s won for the second day in a row as they downed the A’s 5-4 in 12 innings. The M’s sent Yusei Kikuchi to do the pitching honors and he did fairly well in his MLB debut. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and 4 hits. Marco Estrada made his A’s debut. His line was five innings of work and he gave up five hits and three runs.

The M’s put two runs on the board when former Oakland Athletic, Ryan Healy, took Estrada deep with a man on board. The M’s increased the lead to 3-0 in the third when Mitch Haniger sent one of Estrada’s pitches into the seats.

The A’s closed the gap when they tallied two in the bottom of the fifth. Marcus Semien singled to drive in Matt Olson with the A’s first run. Jurickson Profar scored the second run on Jay Bruce’s fielding error.

The M’s added a run in the seventh, but the A’s DH Khris Davis singled to drive in Semien and Matt Chapman with the tying runs.

The game remained tied until the top of the 12th inning. The M’s loaded the bases with one out. Domingo Santa, who hit a grand slam on Wednesday, reached on a fielder’s choice. The A’s failed to make the inning-ending double play and the M’s scored the go-ahead run. The M’s bullpen closed out the game for the win. The final score was 5-4 in favor of the M’s.

Game Notes and Stats: Marcus Semien was the hitting start for the A’s with three hits. Ramon Laureano had two knocks.

Up Next: The A’s resume Spring Training with three exhibition games against the San Francisco Giants. The two teams will play in Oakland on Sunday and then play in San Francisco Monday and Tuesday. The A’s are off on Wednesday. The A’s will start the season will a day opener Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels. Game time will be at 1:05 pm. They will have the night opener Friday at 7:05 PM.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: SF DA drops domestic charges against Baer; Don’t spend it all in one place, Trout sports richest contract; plus more

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mercurynews.com photo file: San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer whose out on leave of absence has been the focus of a Women’s group who are asking MLB to discipline Baer after his physical March 1st altercation with his wife Pam.

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony R:

#1 San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer will not face charges of domestic abuse according to San Francisco DA spokesman Alex Bastian. Baer who had a March 1st altercation with his wife Pam which was video taped.

#2 Women’s right groups in San Francisco still say Baer should be suspended from baseball and that Major League Baseball still has a responsibility to discipline Baer.

#3 The Los Angeles Angels this week set the all time sports record for highest salary paying the Angels Mike Trout a record $430 million.

#4 The Oakland Raiders newest lineback Vontaze Burfict who at one time as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals went helmet to helmet with then Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown concussing Brown. Burfict says it’s all good and that they have one goal now and that’s win together as a team.

#5 The Oakland A’s opened their first two games of the season with the Seattle Mariners in Tokyo on Wednesday and Thursday. MLB is doing all it can to promote the game in Japan. Tony tells us if he sees it as a success.

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants sign ex-A’s OF Joyce; blank Indians in Cactus League

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photo from sfgate.com file: The Giants are looking over Matt Joyce, who was released by the Indians Tuesday but clocked 25 homers for the A’s in 2017.
Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle 2017

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Former Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce agreed to a minor league contract with the Giants, following his release by Cleveland.

Joyce, 34, spent the last two seasons with Oakland. Last season was an injury-plagued one for Joyce, who played in 83 games while battling a lingering back injury. He hit .208 for the A’s with seven home runs and 15 runs batted in.

The left-handed batting Joyce had a more productive year for the Athletics in 2017, belting 25 home runs and driving in 68 while hitting .243 in 141 games. Adding Joyce figures to add depth to the Giants’ outfield.

Steven Duggar, Gerardo Parra and Mac Williamson are expected to be the regular San Francisco outfield, while Cameron Maybin earlier signed a minor league contract with the Giants.

The Indians signed veteran Carlos Gonzalez to a minor league deal on Tuesday, making Joyce expendable. Cleveland released Joyce from his minor league contract, which made him a free agent.

THE GAME
Giants took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Key hits were Brandon Belt’s third home run of the spring, a double by Yangervis Solarte and an RBI single by Drew Pomeranz.

San Francisco added five more runs in the fourth; Steven Duggar, Buster Posey and Evan Longoria each had run-scoring doubles.

Pablo Sandoval gave the 8,296 in attendance something to get excited about in the sixth when he legged out a bases-loaded, three-RBI double. Alen Hanson followed with a triple to score the Panda.

Pomerantz (2-1) threw five hitless innings, walked four and struck out one. Tony Watson, Will Smith, Nick Vincent and Steven Okert each threw a scoreless relief inning.

The Giants are 11-12 in Cactus League play. They host Colorado on Friday and Arizona on Saturday in Scottsdale before facing Oakland in the Bay Bridge Series on March 24 at the Coliseum.

Revamped Mariners blast their way to start the season with a 9-7 win over the A’s

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Photo credit: @Mariners

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s squared off against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, March 20th in the Tokyo to start the 2019 season. The Mariners made several moves in the off-season, and loaded up their lineup with power hitters. Those steps paid off as the M’s downed the A’s 9-7.

The A’s sent Mike Fiers to the mound to pitch. It was the first time in Fiers’ career that he had ever started on Opening Day. He pitched well for the first two innings, but things fell apart for him and the A’s in the top of the third. The A’s staked him to an early 2-0 lead. A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty hit a solo homer in the first to give the A’s a 1-0 advantage. Then, they tacked on an unearned run in the second to lead 2-0.

In the third inning, Fiers struggled with his control. The M’s scored a run to make it 2-1. Fiers loaded the bases and had to face Domingo Santana, who had a great year with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017. He did not do well last year, and the Brewers sent him to Seattle in a trade. Santana put the M’s in the lead with his first home run of the year and his first career grand slam to propel the M’s to a 5-2 lead. The A’s DH, Khris Davis, responded with a two-run shot in the bottom of the third. The A’s trailed 5-4 after three.

Liam Hendriks gave up a run in the fourth, and Ryan Dull gave up three runs in the fifth. M’s shortstop Tim Beckham greeted Dull with a two-run blast. The A’s Matt Chapman brought the A’s closer with a three-run dinger in the seventh to make it 9-7. The M’s bullpen of Corey Gearrin, Zac Rosscup, and Hunter Strickland closed out the win for Seattle.

Game Notes and Stats: The M’s started 45-year-old Ichiro Suzuki in right field. Ichiro received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at the Tokyo Dome. He was 0-1 and had a walk before exiting the game in the fourth inning. Ichiro probably will retire after Thursday’s game.

Marco Gonzalez was the winning pitcher. His line was 6 innings pitched, 7 hits, 4 runs, and 69 pitches.

Fiers’ line was 3 innings of work, 4 hits, and 5 runs. He absorbed his first loss of the year.

Matt Chapman was the hitting star for the A’s with 2 hits, including a home run, and 3 runs batted in. Piscotty and Khris Davis also homered. Tim Beckham had three knocks including a big two-run homer for the M’s.

Up Next: The two teams play Thursday again in Tokyo. Righty Marco Estrada will make his A’s debut, and he will be opposed by the Mariners’ Yusei Kikuchi. Kikuchi will be making his first start as a Mariner and is highly regarded by the fans in Japan. Game time is at 2:35 am.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Melvin says this year’s spring much healthier than last season

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Photo credit: @MLBStats

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The A’s manager Bob Melvin said the team looks more healthier than last spring training and that’s more important than anything else.

#2 A’s catcher Chris Herrmann said he was going for arthroscopic surgery rather than having ligament repair. It was reported that Herrmann chose arthroscopic surgery because the recovery time is much shorter.

#3 Another thing that Melvin is happy about is that A’s catchers Josh Phegley and Nick Hundley had great springs as both catchers hit two home runs, Phegley hit .346 and Hundley hit .292.

#4 Melvin said coming into spring he had confidence that that Phegley would have a great spring.

#5 A’s hitters Matt Chapman, Khris Davis, and Matt Olson didn’t have the best springs at the plate that Melvin expected, but they collectively hit in Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs. Davis got an RBI double, Olson got an RBI single walked twice, and Chapman  singled, doubled and scored twice.

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

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A look at this year’s A’s pitchers–can they stay healthy?

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Photo credit: @mlbtraderumors

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Oakland A’s pitcher Mike Fiers says he excited to be pitching opening day for the A’s against the Seattle Mariners in Japan.

#2 Talk about Marcos Estrada–he very well could be lined up to be the number two pitcher for the rotation.

#2 Is reliever Blake Treinen ready to close games and is he ready to relieve?

#3 Talk about free agent catcher Chris Herrmann, who will require arthroscopic knee surgery and will not ready for opening night.

#4 Former San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Hundley will be the A’s starting catcher and his backup will be Josh Phegley.

#5 A’s pitcher Jharel Cotton, who had Tommy John, has been throwing 40 pitches in bullpen sessions for the A’s.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: What has happened to Golden State?; No stupid move on Phils part getting Harper; As Bumgarner goes so does Giants pitching staff: plus more

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Photo credit: @warriors

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 The Golden State Warriors, who had lost four of their last six games, got a stunning win in Philadelphia against the 76ers 120-117. The Warriors needed the win to stay on top in the Western Conference. They now lead the Denver Nuggets by 1 1/2 games who the Warriors play on Friday. They also struggled against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night and play the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.

#2 Was it stupid or did it make sense for the Philadelphia Phillies to sign Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million deal?

#3 How much of a measuring stick will San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner be and how effective will he be for the Giants?

#4 Down to 45 players on the spring roster, the Oakland A’s need to cut 20 more players before the regular season starts. How much confidence do you have Bob Melvin’s selections when the regular season nears?

#5 The A’s haven’t given up on Kyler Murray. They feel he will come back to baseball and it’s their hope he will play ball for them. What are the chances?

Barbara Mason is filling in for That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com