Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Fiers and Kelly for a song can help launch A’s even further

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Photo credit: Photo collage of Mike Fiers (left) and Shawn Kelley (right) from @AthleticsPR.

On the A’s podcasts with Charlie O:

1. We said the MLB trade deadline would not be the end of the trading season from the A’s and we were right! They’ve added two new pitchers. What kind of impact will Mike Fiers and Shawn Kelley make on the A’s?

2. The A’s made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday. What do we need to know about those transactions?

3. Oakland has won six straight games and moved into second place in the AL West and Wild Card. Can they sustain their position?

4. It’s an all LA rest of the week. Two with the Dodgers and three in Anaheim. How important are these games?

5). You say August 10-22 may be the most important 12 days of the season for the A’s. Why?

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s proving to be buyers, getting Kelly and Fiers; Halos’ Trout out day-to-day with wrist injury; Willie Mac takes the plunge at 80

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 The Oakland A’s are loading up proving that their buyers and they’re trying to seal the deal for the post season as they acquired pitchers from the Washington Nationals, Sean Kelly, and from the Detroit Tigers, Mike Fiers, this past week.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout is suffering from a right wrist contusion after an awkward slide last Wednesday to avoid a tag from the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Matt Duffy. Trout will be day-to-day, according to Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.

#3 Former San Francisco Giant first baseman and Hall of Fame legend Willie McCovey got married for the second time–his first marriage in the 1960s–with his longtime girlfriend Estela last week. McCovey had a great career and he was the other fence buster with his former teammate Willie Mays during the great ’60s.

#4 The Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez hit a curve ball in the sixth inning in Monday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals for his 25th home run of the season. Baez now has three home runs in his last four games.

#5 The Houston Astros are on pace to win 100 games as they came back in the top of the ninth down 1-0 and got a three-run home run from Marwin Gonzalez for the 3-1 win at AT&T Park over the San Francisco Giants. There are three teams in MLB on the 100-win pace: the Boston Red Sox (113 wins), the New York Yankees (100 wins), and the Astros (101 wins).

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

 

Preview for the upcoming 2-game series between the A’s and Dodgers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s host a two-game series with the Dodgers starting Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The teams met earlier in the season as they split a pair in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 10th and 11th.

The defending National League champion Dodgers are currently in a tie for first place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Colorado Rockies are two games back, and the San Francisco Giants are in fourth place.
The Dodgers acquired two players in July that they hope will propel the team to another NL West division crown. They made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles to get All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, and it appears that he will be nothing more than a two-month rental. Machado will be at shortstop for LA as Corey Seager is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery. The other key player is Brian Dozier, who is another former All-Star who still has a lot of pop in his bat.

Both games between the two clubs will feature battles of left-handed pitchers. Tuesday night, the Dodgers will send Rich Hill out to do the pitching. Hill, who was with the A’s in 2016, went to the Dodgers along with Josh Reddick for Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas, has a 4-4 record and a 3.63 ERA. Hill is on a roll as he has allowed only two earned runs in his last 20 innings of work. Anyways, the A’s will have their ace, Sean Manaea, toeing the rubber. Manaea has a 10-7 record, and he beat the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, allowing just one run and five hits. On Wednesday, the three-time NL Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw, will go for LA. Kershaw has a 5-5 record and has a 2.55 ERA. Kershaw has spent some time on the DL with back problems this year. The A’s will counter with Brett Anderson. Anderson has a 2-3 record and a 4.64 ERA. Anderson beat the Detroit Tigers last Friday, and he gave the A’s seven strong innings of work. The Dodgers’ closer was Kenley Jansen.

The Dodgers have a lot of power in their lineup. In addition to Machado and Dozier in the infield, Cody Bellinger will be playing first. Bellinger, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, is hitting .241 with 18 dingers and 50 RBI’s. Third base will be manned by Justin Turner. Turner spent a lot of the season on the DL. Nonetheless, Turner’s batting average is .259 and he has six homers and 22 RBIs. In case the Dodgers need someone to fill in on the infield, they can use Max Muncy or Chris Taylor. Muncy, a former Athletic, has found a home in LA. His average is .259, and he has crushed 24 home runs and knocked in 49. Taylor has 12 dingers and 50 ribbies to go along with a 2.55 batting average.

All four of the Dodger outfielders are in double-digits in the home run department. Kike Hernandez, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson all have hit 17 homers this year. Yasiel Puig has 14. Catching will be handled by Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes.

The A’s, winners of their last six games, are currently in second place in the AL West. They trail the first-place Houston Astros by just four games. In the race for the first Wild Card slot, they find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees. The first Wild Card team hosts the one-game playoff. The A’s, with a record of 67-46, have the fourth best record in baseball. Their win-loss record is better than any team in the National League. The A’ are 33-10 in their 43 games.

The A’s improved the bullpen with the acquisition of Shawn Kelly, and on Monday, they announced that the had made a trade with the Tigers for Mike Fiers. Fiers has a 7-6 record with a 3.48 ERA in 21 starts this year.

It should be a good series, and hopefully, the fans will pack the ballpark. There will be two contending teams with a lot on the line.

A’s In Overdrive: 6-0 shutout gives Oakland a clean sweep of the Tigers

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The 201st start of Trevor Cahill’s Major League career was quite simply his biggest to date, and from the beginning on Sunday, the 10-year veteran appeared intent on making it one of his best.

Cahill threw six innings of shutout ball, while striking out 10 batters, and the A’s cruised to a 6-0 win, sweeping their season series with the Tigers, seven straight. Cahill, who was signed to a second tour of duty with the A’s in the off-season, won his third consecutive start for the first time since 2012, when he was with Arizona. Cahill, along with Brett Anderson and Edwin Jackson, were supposed to serve as experienced stop gaps, but on the A’s month plus hot streak, the trio has provided much more.

“I feel confident when every one of our starters goes out there, I feel like we’re going to win,” Cahill said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

Cahill made his big league debut in 2009 and pitched for three mediocre A’s teams before he was dealt to Arizona prior to the 2012 season. In the desert, Cahill’s promise as a starter began to fade, and he finished the 2014 season working out of the bullpen. After brief stints with the Dodgers and Braves, Cahill signed with the Cubs and pitched out of the bullpen in their 2015 postseason run that ended in the NLCS versus the Mets. In 2016, Cahill made 49 appearances out of the bullpen, but was inactive in the postseason as the Cubs captured their elusive World Series title.

This spring, when Cahill reached terms to return to Oakland, he was joining his third team in less than two seasons, the embodiment of an aging–yet just 30-years old–pitcher, no longer a starter, or an effective reliever. Fast forward a couple of months, and Cahill appears to be another in a long list, like Dennis Eckersley, Frank Thomas, Josh Willingham and others who revived their careers at the Coliseum playing for the A’s.

Cahill took the mound on Sunday, in his first, late season start for a team in playoff contention in his career, and occupying a pivotal role for a club that appears to be set everywhere except in the starting rotation. While speculation persists that the A’s will add a starter or two through a waiver wire deal, Cahill has made his case, pitching better and better culminating with his appearance on Sunday.

In the first inning, Cahill allowed a leadoff single to Mike Gerber, then allowed the baserunner to advance when he threw wildly to second on a fielder’s choice play. But with the bases loaded and two outs, Cahill recovered, striking out Jim Aducci to end the inning.

From there, Cahill cruised, retiring James McCann to end the fourth inning, the only other time he faced a batter with a runner in scoring position. Afterwards, Cahill acknowledged that his job is much easier being on a club with two, obvious strengths in its bullpen and quick-strike offense.

“We know the bullpen is a strength,” Cahill said. “We know the guys can score, so it helps us out. Gives us confidence to go out there, trust our stuff. We have an offense that can pick us up if we do make a mistake. If we do get in a jam, our bullpen is really good, obviously.”

The A’s got all the offense they needed on solo shots from Khris Davis and Matt Chapman. Both sluggers also homered in Saturday’s game. But rookie callup Ramon Laureano racked up three hits and a RBI, proving that the A’s can put together offense without needing someone’s to hit the ball out of the park.

Oakland moved within four games of Houston in the AL West, and 2 1/2 games of the Yankees in the race for home field advantage in the AL Wild Card game as both teams lost one run ballgames on the road.

How hot are the A’s? Sizzling, as captured by their 43-game run in which they’ve now won 33 times. Besides sweeping Detroit and Toronto, home and away, the A’s won their sixth straight, the third time they’ve had a win streak of that length this season. And among the six, hottest clubs in MLB over the last 43 games, the A’s are the hottest, so hot, they’ve won eight more times than the Rockies and Indians, the fifth and sixth teams on that list.

On Tuesday, the A’s see the NL West-leading Dodgers in a two-game set that starts with Sean Manaea looking for his 11th win.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Giants’ injuries mounting, key players missing; Angels’ manager Scioscia to retire after 19 years; A’s win streak hits at 5 games

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Photo credit: @MLB

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:

1 Giants try to salvage final game of series vs. Diamondbacks. Buster Posey passes concussion test and was back in the Giants’ lineup on Sunday. Giants have mounting injuries to key players.

2 Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia will review stepping down after 19 years at the helm.

3 A’s rookie Ramon Laureano is the hero in Friday’s 13-inning win over Detroit. Swingin’ A’s keep rolling.

4 Astros’ All-Star Alex Bregman rips President Trump over LeBron James’ tweet.

5 Mets offers its fans free therapy to cope with team’s woes.

Daniel Dullum does it all–reporter covering Giants baseball in Arizona and does the MLB podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s win their fifth game in a row, downing the Tigers 2-1 on Saturday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Chappy HR
Chapman hit home run number 14 Photo @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND, Calif. — The announced attendance at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night was 33,668. They came to see the hometown Oakland Athletics, who started the game versus the Detroit Tigers in second place in the American League West and in the American League Wild Card playoff race. The big crowd also came to see a “Harry Potter” inspired fireworks show that would follow the contest.

The fans were treated to another A’s win as they beat the Tigers 2-1. It was the A’s fifth consecutive win as they have won every game of this current homestand. Oakland is now 20 games over .500 as they improved to 66-46 with 50 games left to play in the regular season.

The one question this reporter had after the game was – how many of the 33,668 paying customers really enjoyed the A’s win? It was a bit like taking a ride with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the Waybac Machine because it was not a typical 2018 MLB game. Strong pitching and good defense dominated the game with some hitting highlights thrown in for good measure.

Mr Peabody

It was my kind of game, but I am an “old guy.” I love a pitcher’s duel. I do not have to see a half dozen home runs to feel like I have been to a great game. I hope the veteran fans in the crowd on Saturday night helped the younger fans appreciate what they were seeing. It is a side of baseball I hope we never lose an appreciation for as fans.

There were home runs

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All of the A’s runs came via the long ball. Matt Chapman led off the third inning by hitting a 0-2 pitch from Jordan Zimmerman to straightaway center field for his 14th home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1. After Jed Lowrie lined out to center field, Khris Davis stepped into the batter’s box to face Zimmerman. Davis “crushed” his 30th home run of the year into the left field seats off the first pitch delivered to him. That gave the A’s a 2-1 lead which as it would turn out would be all they would need to win the game.

Davis became the sixth player in A’s history to hit 30-plus home runs in three straight seasons. The last Athletic to accomplish the feat was Miguel Tejada in 2000-02.

Pitching was very strong

IMG_0520

Edwin Jackson continues to be an amazing performer on the mound for the A’s. He worked 6.1 innings giving up one run (unearned) off five hits. Jackson struck out three Tigers and walked just one. He earned the victory which upped his record to 3-2 on the season with a 2.87 ERA. Not bad for a pitcher who started off in Triple-A while trying to get back to “the Bigs.”

Lou Trivino came on to relieve Jackson in the seventh inning and gave up just one hit and no runs in 1.2 innings on the mound. If you are an A’s opponent and are trailing late in the game, you watch Trivino work magic on the hill knowing that in the ninth inning the worst is yet to come.

And, the worst did enter the game in the ninth as Blake Treinen took the ball to close out the contest. It was not a perfect inning as he did allow one hit while striking out two batters. Treinen now has 28 saves for the year to go with his 0.95 ERA.

The Tigers’ Jordan Zimmerman lost his fourth decision in a row. He has not won a game since July 6 when he beat Texas. Zimmerman was 4-0 before the losing streak began.

Zimmerman threw 6.1 innings giving up two runs (both earned, both home runs) while striking out six and walking just three. Frankly, Zimmerman pitched well enough to win on almost any given night except this one.

Drew VerHagen pitched 1.2 innings of perfect relief for Detroit, but the Tigers could not produce any more runs.

Defense

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In a 2-1 game, there are many plays by the defense that should be talked about, but we are only going to mention two in this story.

The two plays that will be referred to were both made by rookie outfielder Ramon Laureano, who played in his second major league game on Saturday night. He was supposed to have the night off, but Mark Canha came down ill and Laureano was pressed into service.

In the top of the fifth inning with two out, the Tigers’ Mike Gerber hit a “flare” into left-center field. Laureano ran to his right, stretched out and put a glove on the ball but it popped out of his glove. Gerber saw the ball get away and immediately kept running for second base. Laureano jumped up and threw the ball to second baseman Jed Lowrie who put the tag down on Gerber who over-slid the bag in his haste to get the extra base. That was the third out of the inning and the crowd expressed their appreciation for the rookie in a very vocal manner.

Jeimer Candelario led off the top of the seventh inning for Detroit. He hit a 2-2 pitch from Jackson into right-center field that looked like it would fall in for a base hit. Laureano ran hard to his left then went into a controlled slide and made a great catch for the first out of the inning. Yes, the crowd went wild.

Quick notes for hardcore fans

  • Quick game – 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • A’s six hits – 10 strikeouts
  • Tigers’ seven hits – six strikeouts
  • Runners In Scoring Position

A’s 0-for-10 (Wow!)

Tigers 1-for-4

  • Team Left on Base

Oakland 7

Detroit 4

  • Errors

A’s 1

Tigers 1

Up Next
The A’s will go for the series sweep on Sunday when they will send RHP Trevor Cahill (3-2, 3.39 ERA) to the hill to face the Tigers’ LHP Francisco Liriano (3-5, 4.62 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM PST.

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: How bad is Posey’s concussion?; Have the Mariners derailed?; Astros edge Dodgers Friday in World Series reunion

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Photo credit: @NBCSAuthentic

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

#1 Talk about taking one for the team on Friday night! San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey took one for the team as the Arizona Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt hit a foul tip right into Posey’s mask. It rung Posey’s head so much that he had to be helped to the dugout by the trainer. Posey might be in his closing days as a catcher.

#2 The Seattle Mariners have completely derailed! They lost their fourth straight game and dropped the first two games of this four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2. The M’s are now 1 1/2 games back of the A’s for the AL Wild Card race.

#3 The Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a 2017 World Series reunion with the Astros taking the first game of the series 2-1 on Friday night. The Astros’ starter Justin Verlander struck out 14 hitters to keep the Dodgers under control.

#4 The Chicago Cubs continued their winning ways with a one-run win over the San Diego Padres 5-4. The Cubs are holding onto first place in the NL Central with a one-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs’ Javier Baez hit his 23rd home run of the season, tying Baez’ all time best for homers.

#5 The Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano got a walkoff base hit that won it for the A’s in 13 innings as the A’s shutout the Detroit Tigers 1-0. The A’s continued to pour it on being the hottest team in baseball. The A’s are only five games back in the AL West of the Atlanta Braves.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rookie Plays Hero in the Field, at Plate to Walk A’s Off 1-0 Over Tigers in Extras

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

By Matthew Harrington

Ramon Laureano’s first Major League hit would have been a lifelong memory regardless, but on Friday night, he authored the perfect storybook ending to a 13-inning marathon night at the Coliseum. Laureano waited 13 innings for his big moment, lacing a walk-off single in extra innings to hand the Oakland A’s a 1-0 win over the Detroit Tigers.

A’s Brett Anderson and Tigers’ Blaine Hardy dueled all night in a classic pitchers’ duel that featured dueling no-hitters through five innings, but both departed with a no-decisions after neither pitcher’s offense decided to offer up any favors. For Anderson, the start was timely. There were rumors at the deadline of a possible acquisition of starter Mike Fiers, signaling an end to Anderson’s second stint in Green and Gold. His two hits yielded Friday night gave the A’s confidence moving forward on the deal they didn’t make.

Giving the A’s confidence in a move they did make was Laureano. The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic was hitting .297 in the Pacific Coast League, mashing 14 homers for the A’s affiliate before replacing Dustin Fowler on the big league roster. He was acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Houston Astros for Minor League pitcher Brandon Bailey, who’s currently playing High-A ball.

Laureano came up to the plate looking entirely overmatched in his previous four at-bats, striking out twice and stranding a runner. The bottom of the 13th with two outs against Buck Farmer would be his moment. After Nick Martini walked to open the inning, Farmer got two outs, but catcher Jonathan Lucroy kept the inning alive with his single. Laureano fell behind in the count to a quick 0-2 count before taking a ball, then lacing an 81.9 mile-per-hour slider of the out of town scoreboard in right field, giving the A’s (65-46) the win and a 1 1/2 game lead over Seattle for the second Wild Card spot–19 games over .500.

Laureano showed off his arm in the top of the inning after Jose Iglesias swiped second base on an errant throw. Laureano gunned down the greedy runner at third base, erasing the winning run from scoring position and ending the inning to make Emilio Pagan (3-0, 3.52 ERA) the winning pitcher.

Pagan was just one in a string of strong reliever performances on the night. Jeurys Familia took over for Anderson in the eighth and allowed just one hit. Blake Treinen took the ninth and 10th hoping to end it early for the A’s, firing scoreless innings with two hits and four strikeouts, but no victory. Yusmeiro Petit was the surgeon out of the pen, firing two innings of his own to get through the 11th and 12th with no hits or walks and three punchouts, giving way to Pagan on the winning inning.

The Tigers thought they had a shot to beat the A’s for the first time in 10 games against Oakland after Hardy went seven while allowing one hit, then called upon Louis Coleman, Alex Wilson, and Victor Alcantara to hold off the A’s. All were successful, and Farmer (3-4, 4.88 ERA) even pitched a scoreless 12th inning before winding up the loser in the 13th.

Edwin Jackson, fresh off career win number 100, will take the mound Saturday for Oakland. He’ll be opposed by Detroit’s Jordan Zimmermann. Game time is set for 6:05 pm PDT.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s now tied with M’s in the Wild Card; look to put some pressure on the first-place Astros

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Photo credit: sfgate.com

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The Oakland A’s open a three-game set at the Oakland Coliseum starting Friday night with the Detroit Tigers. These are not your 2012 Tigers who went to the World Series that season. The aging Bengals have Miguel Cabrera out with a torn triceps and Victor Martinez is near the end of his career.

The Tigers’ best hitter is Nick Castellanos, who was on the American League All-Star team, and the most potent hitter on the club. The Tigers’ dealing of former pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander certainly impacted the Tigers’ rotation and it really hasn’t recovered since then. The Tigers are 47-62 and 13 games out of first place in the AL Central.

The A’s are the hottest team in the Majors, winning 30 of their last 37 games and coming off a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s improved to second place in the wild card race, catching the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. The A’s made up for an 11-game deficit, coming all the way back to catch the M’s.

Tonight, the Tigers will start Blake Hardy (4-3, 3.61 ERA), and for the A’s, Brett Anderson (2-3, 5.51 ERA).

Catch Joey each Friday for the Oakland A’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s 3-game series versus the Tigers starts Friday night

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Photo credit: sfchronicle.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s host the visiting Detroit Tigers for a three-game series this weekend. The Tigers are not the same team that played the San Francisco Giants in the 2012 World Series. They are also not the same team that eliminated the A’s in the 2013 ALCS. The Tigers, my friends, have gotten old. Miguel Cabrera, who’s arguably their best player as well as a former MVP and Triple Crown winner, is out for the season with a torn triceps muscle. Their DH Victor Martinez is 39 years old and is nearing the end of his career.

The Tigers’ best player is right fielder Nick Castellanos. Castellanos made the AL All-Star team and is the most dangerous hitter in the Tigers’ lineup.

The Tigers’ pitching staff has been revamped. Max Scherzer left a couple of years ago to go to the Washington Nationals. Justin Verlander was acquired by the Houston Astros last year after the trade deadline in a waiver deal. Doug Fister had a few good years with the Tigers, but has floundered and is now on the DL with the Texas Rangers. Anibal Sanchez is gone, and Rick Porcello was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 2015 for Yoenis Cespedes.

The Tigers’ current starting rotation consists of left Blaine Hardy, who will start Friday night, Jordan Zimmerman, Drew VerHagen, Lefty Francisco Liriano, and lefty Matthew Boyd are the other starters. The 34-year old left Liriano has been around the block a few times and his best days are behind him. Zimmerman came to Detroit as a free agent, but  he had some good years with the Nationals, but has been a bust with the Tigers. VerHagen and Boyd are not household names yet.

The rebuilding Tigers will have John Hicks at first, Niko Goodrum at second, Jose Iglesias at shortstop, and Jeimer Candelario at third. Iglesias has the most experience and is a very slick fielder. The Tigers’ outfield will feature Jacoby Jones, Victor Reyes, Mike Gerber, and Nick  Castellanos. James McCann will handle the catching.

The Tigers’ bullpen is a work in progress. Their best-known reliever is Shane Greene. The A’s took Greene to the woodshed twice in June as they tagged him with losses in two consecutive games.

The A’s continue to be the hottest team in the AL. Since June 16th, the A’s are 30-20 and have made up an 11-game deficit to tie the Seattle Mariners for the second Wild Card spot in the AL. The A’s trail the first-place Houston Astros by just five games, The A’s have 10 games left with Seattle and six with Houston. Nothing can be taken for granted as the A’s continue to play well. They are confident the can come back anytime, anywhere. They own the eighth inning and have scored more runs in the eighth than any team in baseball. They have a terrific manager in Bob Melvin. Melvin had three lean years, but now has the horses and is doing a great job of managing.

Friday night’s game will feature a battle between two left-handed pitchers. Blaine Hardy (4-3, 3.61 ERA) will go for Detroit, and he will be opposed by Oakland’s Brett Anderson (2-3, 5.51 ERA). Anderson pitched six innings in his last two starts. Saturday’s game will have Jordan Zimmerman pitching for the Tigers, and he will be opposed by Edwin Jackson. Jackson beat the Toronto Blue Jays last Monday for his 100th career victory. On Sunday, the Tigers will have 34-year old left Francisco Liriano will be on the mound for Detroit, and the A’s will have the big righty Trevor Cahill do the pitching for Oakland. Cahill defeated the Blue Jays last Tuesday and allowed just six hits and two runs in six innings of work.

The A’s have to continue to win if they hope to make the playoffs. They play three against the Tigers this weekend. They have two interleague games with the LA Dodgers on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are off again on Thursday. They resume play against the LA Angels for three games starting August 10th then return home to play three against the Mariners, three against the Astros, and three against the Rangers.

The A’s have 52 games left on the schedule. The team has to play at a high level if they want to make the playoffs. It is as simple as that. End of story.