Category: Oakland Athletics

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s did it again as they rallied to score three runs in the top of the eighth to beat the World Champion Houston Astros 6-4 at Minute Maid Park on Thursday. With the win, Oakland took three out of four in Houston.

The A’s are continuing to show everyone that they are for real. They are playing with a lot of confidence as they have now scored 69 runs in the eighth inning. They lead all of baseball in that department. The A’s have won eight games when trailing after seven innings. That, too, leads the Major Leagues. They are 35-0 when leading after seven innings and 44-0 when leading after eight. No one else in baseball is undefeated.

“When you do it so many times, you have confidence doing it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And it was different guys today, too. At this point, it’s a true team effort, and that’s powerful when you have 25 guys contributing.”

Trevor Cahill started for the As. Cahill was activated off the 10-day DL. He struggled. Cahill went just 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs and three hits.

Below is the game summary:

In the third inning, the Astros roughed up Cahill for two runs. With one out, Cahill issued walks to Tony Kemp and George Springer. Both advanced a base when Cahill uncorked a wild pitch. Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman slammed a double to left to drive in Kemp and Springer.

The Astros made it 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Cahill retired the first two hitters: Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez. Former A’s player, Max Stassi, singled. Melvin had seen enough, and he brought in Chris Hatcher to pitch to Kemp. However, that strategy failed as Kemp homered.

The A’s took it in stride as they mounted their comeback in the top of the fifth. Chad Pinder and Mark Canha singled to start the rally. Astros’ starter Charlie Morton to load the bases with no out. Nick Martini doubled to drive in Pinder and Canha. Lucroy went to third. Morton retired Semien for the first out. The next hitter, Stephen Piscotty, reached on an infield single. Lucroy scored on the play. The Astros made a pitching change. Morton was out, and Collin McHugh was in. McHugh retired the next two A’s hitters. The A’s trailed 4-3.

There was no more scoring in the game until the top of the eighth. Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch brought in Chris Devenski to pitch. The A’s Khris Davis and Matt Olson singled to get things going. The other Matt, third baseman Matt Chapman, doubled to left field to drive in Davis. Olson stopped at third. Devensiki retired Chad Pinder for the first out. Mark Canha followed with a single to deep left field to drive in Olson and Chapman. The A’s were now ahead 6-4, and they needed the bullpen to finish off the Astros.

Bob Melvin selected lefty Ryan Buchter to pitch the eighth. Buchter did his job as retired the Astros in order. Melvin went to the bullpen again, and this time he brought in Lou Trivino to close out the game. Trivino, a rookie sensation, came through once again as he, too, set the Astros down to secure the 6-4 win for the A’s.

Game Notes: The A’s are now 53-41 for the season and are a season-high 12 games over .500. Melvin used five pitchers, and Yusmeiro Petit was the winning pitcher. Trivino earned his fourth save. Chris Devenski took the loss for the Astros.

Up Next: The A’s conclude the three-city, 10-game road trip with three games against the San Francisco Giants. Edwin Jackson will pitch for Oakland, and he will be opposed by San Francisco lefty Madison Bumgarner. The first game of the Battle of the Bay Series will be on Friday at 7:15 pm PDT.

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, who felt they should have beaten the Astros Tuesday night, rebounded from that ignominious loss and sent a message to the Houston-based team.

Their message? We are not the same guys that you beat eight times in the first nine games. We are a different team now, and we know that we can play with the big boys.  Just ask the Red Sox!

The A’s won the season series 4-2 and the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. The A’s have been playing well on the road, and their confidence has been building. They know that they are never out of any game, no matter what the score. They scored four runs in the ninth to tie Tuesday night’s game and took the lead in the 11th only to lose on a once-in-a-lifetime play.

Since the days when Tony LaRussa was the A’s skipper, the players have been to turn the page. Tony would tell them, “You can’t do anything about what happened yesterday. Forget what happened as today’s game is a new canvas.”

The young A’s did just that as they defeated Lance McCullers and the Astros by a score of 8-3. McCullers was making his fourth start of the year against the A’s. He owned a record of 3-0 and had a 1.89 ERA against the A’s. The A’s made a statement early in the game as they pounced on McCullers for three runs in the first and three more in the fourth. The hitting heroes for the A’s were Chad Pinder with a home run and Khris Davis with three RBIs.

With one out in the first inning, McCullers issued consecutive walks to Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie. A’s DH, Khris Davis, extended his hitting streak to 13 with a double to drive Semien and Lowrie. Stephen Piscotty singled to send Davis to third, and Davis scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Chapman to take a 3-0 lead.

The A’s tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth. The rally started when McCullers hit Matt Chapman with a pitch. McCullers then walked Mark Canha. The next hitter, Chad Pinder, sent a McCullers pitch into the seat in left field to put the A’s ahead 6-0.

The Astros retaliated by scoring two in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Bregman continued his hot hitting with a single. AL MVP Jose Altuve followed with a single that sent Bregman to third. Altuve then stole second. Yuli Guriel drove in both runners with a single to right to make it a 6-2 game.

Astros’ first baseman Tyler White hit his first home run of the season in the fifth to inch his team a bit closer. The A’s got the run back in the top of the sixth. Former A’s pitcher Brad Peacock gave up a double to Marcus Semien. After retiring Jed Lowrie, Peacock could not get by Khris Davis. Davis hit a triple to deep center field to drive in Semien. Josh Phegley singled to right field in the top of the ninth to drive in the A’s eighth run of the game.

The A’s bullpen held the Astros scoreless after the fifth inning. Emilio Pagan allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings of work. Ryan Dull worked an inning, and Ryan Buchter pitched the ninth for Oakland. Oakland wins 8-3.

Game Notes: Chris Bassitt earned his second win of the year. He is now 2-3 and has a 3.38 ERA. He has won his last two starts. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs and five hits.

McCullers record dropped to 10-4. He worked just four innings and gave up six runs on four hits.

The A’s are now 4-2 on the road trip and are back to games over the .500 mark with a record of 52-41.

A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty left the game in the fifth inning after he was hit by a pitch. The team confirmed that it was just a bruise.

Up Next: The A’s will conclude their road series against the Astros Thursday at 11:10 am PDT on the MLB Network.

Trevor Cahill will come off the 10-day DL and pitch for Oakland on Thursday. His record so far this season is 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA.

Cahill’s opponent will be Charlie Morton, who is 11-2 with a 2.77 ERA. Morton has won four of his last five starts.

Photo credit: chron.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

There is an adage in baseball that goes something like this, “You never know what you are going to see in the game tonight.”

Was that ever true Tuesday night as the A’s lost on a play that will be remembered for a long, long time? The A’s came from behind to tie the game in the ninth. They took the lead, 5-4, on Stephen Piscotty’s home run in the 11th, but were not able to hold on as the Astros scored twice to win the game, 6-5, at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night.

The Astros scored twice in the bottom of the 11th. The A’s All-Star closer Blake Treinen walked Josh Reddick. That proved to be Treinen’s undoing. Kyle Tucker singled to send Reddick to third. With the infield drawn in, Tony Kemp hit a ground ball to Marcus Semien. Semien’s throw home appeared to be in time to nail Reddick, but Jonathan Lucroy was not able to come upwith the throw and Reddick scored the tying run. Tucker went to second and Kemp was safe at first on a fielder’s choice. Treinen retired George Springer for the first out.

The next hitter was Alex Bregman. Bregman had homered twice in the game and Treinen was not about to give him anything that he could hit. Bregman hit a tapper that bounced off the plate and into fair territory. Bregman thought it was a foul, but when Lucroy tried to tag him out, Bregman jumped back. The ball squirted out of Lucroy’s hand and bounced off the home plate umpire. Lucroy picked up the ball but his  throw to first glanced off Bregman’s batting helmet and went down the first base line. Tucker scored the winning run. Bench coach Ryan Christenson who took over as manager when Bob Melvin was thrown out earlier in the game. He had to convince the umps to review the play. They finally did but the call was upheld and the game was over.

The A’s were held scoreless by Justin Verlander and two Houston relievers until the ninth inning. In the meantime, the Astros built a 4-0 lead. The Astros took an early 1-0 lead in the first when Alex Bregman clobbered his 18th big fly. The ‘Stros tacked on one in the second, one in the fourth and one in the seventh when Bregman homered again.

The A’s, as they have done so many times this season, plated four runs in the top of the ninth as they rocked Houston’s closer Ken Giles. Mark Canha and Jed Lowrie singled to start the rally. Khris Davis followed with a single to drive in Canha with Oakland’s first run. Matt Olson singled to drive in Lowrie. Gile struck out Piscotty and Matt Chapman, but he could not get by Marcus Semien, Semien, who had tripled and doubled earlier, doubled again to drive in Davis and Olson. The Astros failed to score in the bottom of the ninth and the game went into extra innings.

The A’s took the lead in the top of the eleventh when Stephen Piscotty did it again. He homered off Collin McHugh to put the A’s ahead 5-4. It was Piscotty’s 11th homer of the year and his fourth home in his last four game. The Astros rallied to score twice and they beat the A’s 6-5.

Game Notes: With the win, Houston improved to 612-32. The A’s fell to 51-41.

Blake Treinen blew the save and took the loss. His is record in now 5-2. McHugh was the winning pitcher for Houston.

Sean Manaea was not at his best Tuesday night. He went four-plus innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. He was not charged with the loss as the A’s got him off the hook with the four-run rally in the ninth.

Houston’s Justin Verlander pitched well as he went six innings and allowed no runs and just three hits. Verlander didn’t walk anyone and had six strikeouts. He threw 108 pitches and Houston manager A.J.Hinch removed him from the game.

The A’s announced that second baseman Jed Lowrie was selected to the AL All-Star team. Lowrie will be playing in the Midsummer classic for the first time and will be joining Blake Treinen representing the Green and Gold.

The A’s also made a roster move. They recalled Ryan Dull from Nashville and sent Frankie Montas down. The move initially appeared to be surprising as Montas pitched very well Monday night and was the winning pitcher. However, with the All-Star break starting next Monday and no action for four days, the A’s felt that it would be better for Montas to go to Nashville as he would not miss any playing time and he would be recalled when his turn would come up in the rotation.

Up Next: The A’s will send Chris Bassitt to the hill Wednesday night and the Astros will counter with Lance McCullers. Trevor Cahill pitches Thursday and Charlie Morton will work for the Astros. Game time is set for 5:10 pm PDT.