Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s get another come from behind win with 9-7 victory over Tigers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Who are these guys? They sure don’t hit like this when they are playing in Oakland, but when the A’s on the road, they become fearless as any lead their opponent may own is not safe. The A’s overcame a 5-run deficit in Chicago to win. On Monday, they rallied to beat the Tigers, and they waved their magic wands again Tuesday night as the A’s came back from a six-run deficit to beat the Tigers 9-7.

The A’s starter, Frankie Montas, gave up six runs in just three innings of work. The Tigers scored four in the first and two in the third, and things didn’t look good for the Green and Gold. The A’s offense woke up in the fourth inning as they were able to put three on the board. Jed Lowrie started the rally with a single. Tigers’ starter Blaine Hardy retired Khris Davis for the first out. Matt Olson reached on a fielder’s choice. Lowrie was out at second. Stephen Piscotty reached on first baseman John Hicks’ error to put men on at first and second. Mark Canha hit a ball that went for a ground rule double. Olson scored the A’s first run. Jonathan Lucroy followed with another double to drive in Piscotty and Canha. The A’s trail 6-3 halfway through the fourth inning. Detroit increased the lead to 7-3 when they plated one in their half of the fourth.

The A’s scored three more in the top of the fifth. Hardy walked Marcus Semien to start the frame. Chad Pinder homered to make it a 7-5 game. Jed Lowrie, who has regained his hitting stroke, hit a solo home run to close the deficit to one 7-6.

The A’s relievers did their job and kept the Tigers off the board the rest of the way. The A’s offense tied the game in the seventh. Louis Coleman was now pitching for Detroit. Semien led off with a single. Matt Joyce reached on a fielder’s choice. Semien was out at second. Lowrie and Khris Davis walked to load the bases. Matt Olson grounded out 6-3 to drive in Joyce with the A’s 7th run.

Oakland took the lead for good in the ninth. Matt Joyce led off with a double and scored on Lowrie’s single. With one out, Matt Olson singled to send Lowrie into scoring position. Detroit brought in Warwick Saupold to pitch to Dustin Fowler. Fowler singled to drive in Lowrie with an insurance run, and A’s close Blake Treinen worked his magic once again as he set the Tigers down in order to earn his 19th save of the year and the A’s win 9-7.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s improve to a season-high 4 games over the .500 mark with a record of 42-38. They also moved into third place in the AL West a game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels lost to Boston 9-1 on Tuesday night.

The Tigers lost their seventh game in a row and are now 36-44 for the year.

Chris Hatcher gave up a run in the fourth inning, but Emilio Pagan, Ryan Buchter, and Blake Treinen stopped the Tigers cold the rest of the way. The win went to Buchter(2-0), and the save went to Treinen. The Tigers’ Shane Greene took the loss for the second game in a row.

Jed Lowrie was the hitting start for the A’s with four hits, and he raised his batting average to .288. He now has 13 homers so far an 53 RBIs. The A’s hit two more home run in their 27th consecutive road game which is a Major League record.

The A’s are now 6-2 on the 10-game road trip. Sean Manaea (7-6) will pitch for Oakland Wednesday night, and Mike Fiers (5-4) will be on the hill for Detroit. The game will start at 4:05 pm on Wednesday at Comerica Park in Detroit.

A’s rally to nip the Tigers 5-4

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s began a four-game series Monday in the Motor City against the Detroit Tigers. The A’s purchased the contract of the veteran hurler, Edwin Jackson, from Nashville earlier in the day. Jackson tied a major league record by playing for his 13th Major League team. The only other player was Octavio Dotel. Dotel also made a stop n Oakland in his Major League journey. Jackson was making his first start of the 2018 season and did very well for his new team. Jackson went 6 innings and, allowed six hits, one run, no walks, and seven strikeouts. “It’s always good to be wanted,” Jackson said. “When I can’t find a team that wants to bring me in, then I guess it’ll be time to sit down. But until then, I like to come out. I like to compete, to have fun. I feel like I still have something in me and that I can bring value to a team.”

The Tiger’s starter Jordan Zimmerman also pitched very well. Zimmerman and Jackson engaged in a pitchers’ duel. The only run that Jackson allowed came in the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers put the first run of the game on the board this way. Designated Hitter Victor Martinez led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. First baseman John Hicks reached on a fielder’s choice when Jackson was not able to cleanly field Hicks’ bunt. Jackson was charged with an error, and the Tigers had men on at first and second with no out. Jackson then had to face the Tigers’ most dangerous hitter, Nick Castellanos. Castellanos doubled to drive in Martinez with the Tigers’ first run. The A’s trail 1-0 after four complete.

Zimmerman did not let the A’s score in the fifth. Tigers’ manager Ron Gardenhire removed Zimmerman after the fifth and turned the game over to the bullpen.

Neither team scored in the sixth. The seventh inning was a different story. The A’s tied the game when right fielder Stephen Piscotty sent a Louis Coleman pitch over the fence for his 8th of the year. Nick Castellanos hit a three-run blast off A’s reliever Lou Trivino to send the Tigers ahead 4-1.

The A’s refused to fold. They plated three runs in the top of the eighth. Khris Davis started the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Piscotty doubled to send Davis to third. Marcus Semien hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Davis with the A’s second run. Jonathan Lucroy singled to drive in Piscotty and Lucroy scored when Franklin Barreto doubled to left center to tie the game.

The A’s took the lead for good when Jed Lowrie hit his 12th home run of the year off Shane Greene. Blake Treinen pitched the ninth and allowed just one hit to preserve the win for Oakland and earned his 18th save in the process. The A’s win 5-4.

Game Notes- Edwin Jackson was impressive in his first start as an Athletic, He gave A’s manager Bob Melvin six innings and allowed one run and six hits.”For most guys, it’s tough to go to a new team in the middle of a season. There can be some nerves and some uncomfortableness being with a new team,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “This is probably the last guy that you worry about that, being that it’s his 13th team. He seemed real comfortable when he came out of the bullpen, seemed really comfortable when he took the mound. That has a lot to do with experience.” Yusmeiro Petit, Ryan Buchter, Lou Trivino, and Blake Treinen finished the game for the A’s. Trivino gave up the home run to Castellanos but was the pitcher or record when the A’s took the lead for good. Trivino is now 6-1. Treinen, as mentioned earlier, earned his 18th save.

The A’s are now three games over the .500 mark with a record of 41-38. The Tigers drop to 36-43.

Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy were the hitting stars with three hits apiece. The A’s homered in their 26th consecutive road game which is a Major League record.

The A’s announced that they activated lefty Ryan Buchter off the 60-day DL and added Edwin Jackson to the 40-man roster. Nick Martini was returned to Nashville, and reliever Liam Hendriks was designated for assignment.

Game two of the series will be played Tuesday night in Detroit at 4 pm. Righty Frankie Montas (4-1) will go for Oakland, and the Tigers will counter with lefty Blaine Hardy (3-1).

 

Woulda Been Mo Better: A’s Set MLB Record, But Lose in Chicago, 10-3

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By Morris Phillips

Chicks, fans and home run hitters dig the long ball. The baseball gods–and the won-loss column–prefer a more well-rounded approach to the grand old game.

Just ask the Swinging A’s.

On the day the A’s established a modern-day, Major League record by hitting at least one home run in 25 consecutive road contests, they found little to celebrate as the White Sox took it to them, 10-3, at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Much of blame for the lopsided loss fell at the feet of Paul Blackburn, who cruised through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Blackburn allowed six hits and five runs in that frame, then saw his second pitch of the sixth inning exit the ballpark at 115 mph off the bat of Daniel Palka. Needless to say his hanging change up to Palka offered little mystery.

“I was executing my pitches well,” Blackburn said. “Except to six batters in the fifth and one leading off the sixth.”

“He was good for a while this time and had one real tough inning,” manager Bob Melvin said of Blackburn. “He’s still trying to find his way a little bit consistently.”

Blackburn fell to 1-2 with an unsightly ERA of 8.83 in four starts. In Oakland, where many are given the opportunity to succeed, but few are given a lengthy rope to fail, Blackburn would normally be forced to figure out his issues at AAA Nashville. But the A’s are strapped, and Blackburn will probably make his next scheduled start on Friday at the Coliseum against the first-place Indians.

In terms of the current standings, splitting a four-game series against a team that’s 25 games below .500 does little for the A’s postseason outlook. But as a team still three games above the break-even point, they have a profile, it’s just not very compelling at this point. The A’s are 11 games back of the Astros in the AL West, and 6 1/2 games behind the Mariners, the second wild card at this juncture. Winning on Sunday would have given them an additional distinction: holding the AL’s sixth-best record to themselves when the top-five have–at least for now–run away from the pack.

And the home runs? Yeah, they’re helpful, and they give the youthful A’s an identity, but in terms of wins and losses, maybe not so much. The A’s won 14 of the 25 games in their record stretch. Good, but not great.

“It certainly would have been a little better if we won the game,” Melvin said when asked about the home run record.

The A’s start a four-game set in Detroit on Monday.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s set new home run record at 25 straight games and Edwin Jackson to the rescue

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Photo credit: @WEEI

By Amaury Pi-González

The powerful A’s now own a major-league record on Sunday in Chicago. Mark Canha hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to establish a new home run record. A streak of 25 consecutive road games with a home run. Previous modern record was set in 1996 by the Baltimore Orioles. Considering how often home runs are hit these days, it will be interesting to see how long this record last. Last season was the season of the home run, a record of 6,104.

A’s are calling up journeyman pitcher Edwin Jackson. This will be his 13th team tying a major league record. The moment Jackson wears the Green and Gold, he will tie Octavio Dotel, as one of the only two pitchers in history to have pitched for 13 different teams. You need at least three mainstays in a rotation to stay afloat, especially in this very tough AL West. This is not the NL West, this is a division with the Astros, Mariners and Angels, three teams that could be playing ball in October.

Bob Melvin is one of the best managers in the game today. The two-time Manager of the Year (2007 Arizona, 2012 Oakland) has done a terrific job with a very inconsistent rotation and like an expert chemist is trying to find the formula on a team, where the bullpen is in much better shape than the starting rotation. We know that the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are not coming to Oakland. During the first half of the season we have seen Daniel Gossit, Paul Blackburn, Josh Lucas also taking the ball to start games. Daniel Mengden left a game this weekend in Chicago with a foot injury, so the A’s are calling up journeyman Edwin Jackson.

As of the start of the current road-trip in San Diego, there were three starters in the “rotation:” Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden and Frankie Montás. We can take Mengden out for a while with that foot injury and see how Edwin Jackson will do with the Athletics uniform. From the start of this season, the A’s could have used a veteran pitcher, this team has an abundance of young pitchers with little experience. It seems like 10 years ago that Kendall Graveman opened this season for the A’s against the Angels on March 29th at the Oakland Coliseum.

The A’s have been playing good ball during this road trip against teams. They should be able to beat the Padres, White Sox and Tigers. These are teams that are at the bottom of their divisions. Yet in baseball, to be a contender you must beat these teams. Their road trip continues into Detroit for a four-game series prior to returning home next Friday from a weekend series against the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians and then a two-game set vs. the San Diego Padres during Independence week.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s win a seesaw battle over the White Sox 7-6 on Saturday in Chicago

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Martini vs Chi
Nick Martini recorded his first major-league hit on Saturday Photo: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics won their second game of the four-game series with the Chicago White Sox 7-6 at Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday. However, the win did not come easy.

As the game entered the bottom of the ninth inning, the A’s held a 7-6 lead. Blake Treinen continued on the mound in an attempt to close it out for Oakland. Yoan Moncada led off for the White Sox and wound up safe at first when Treinen could not handle the throw from first baseman Matt Olson. Treinen was charged with an error. Avisail Garcia took a little pressure off Treinen by striking out.

Jose Abreu reached first safely when Marcus Semien made a fielding error and a fielder’s choice turned into back-to-back errors with the tying run at second base and the potential winning at first.

DH Matt Davidson then became Treinen’s best friend when he grounded into a six to four to three (Semien to Barreto to Olson) double play to end the game and give the A’s their second win in the series.

It may have been a costly win

A vs Chi
Photo: @WhiteSox

A’s starting pitcher Daniel Mengden had to leave the game after the second inning with a right foot sprain. The team does not know what is next for Mengden. It could be that he will be rested and possibly miss his next scheduled start. The other possibility is a trip to the DL if the injury is more serious in nature and requires extended time off.

Mengden has struggled in his last five starts. He is 1-2 with an 8.98 ERA over those five games. His opponents have batted .295 against him in those games. Mengden pitched 2.0-innings on Saturday giving up five runs (all earned) in the first inning including one home run.

Oakland could call Chris Bassitt back from Triple-A Nashville to take Mengden’s spot on the roster if that becomes necessary.

A’s with the bat
Nick Martini, who was called up to give the A’s some fresh legs after the Friday doubleheader, recorded his first major-league hit in the eighth inning when he singled to right-center field to drive home Stephen Piscotty from second base to give Oakland a 7-6 lead. Even though they no longer officially track it as a statistic, Martini’s RBI-single proved to be the game-winning hit.

Matt Olson, who homered in the second game on Friday night, hit his 17th home run of the year in the sixth inning off of White Sox pitcher Chris Volstad. This was the third time Olson has homered in back-to-back games this season. He also extended his hitting streak to five games.

Stephen Piscotty his sixth home run of the year in the second inning off Chicago starter Dylan Covey. He went 2-for-3 in the game to make it his 14th multihit game of the season.

A’s on the mound
The bullpen came through for the Athletics again on Saturday. Oakland had to use six relievers in the game. The relievers pitched 7.0-innings allowing just one run off three hits. They struck out 10 and walked just one hitter.

Lou Trivino had a very interesting relief appearance. He entered the game in the sixth inning with one out and the bases loaded. He induced Moncada to ground into a force play, but Anderson was able to score from third to tie the game. Trivino was charged with a blown save (1).

Trivino came back out for the seventh inning and struck out the side in order to keep the A’s in the game. Trivino was the pitcher of record when Martini hit his RBI-single and was awarded the victory to up his record to 5-1 for the year.

Treinen worked 1.2-innings for a five-out save. It was his 17th save of the season.

The A’s love the road
The A’s have now won six of their last seven games and are 4-1 on this 10-day road trip. Oakland is 20-17 on the road this season.

The A’s have homered in a franchise-record 24 consecutive road games.

The A’s are 13-7 in one-run games in 2018.

Up next
The A’s and White Sox will wrap up this four-game series on Sunday at 11:10 pm PDT. Oakland will send RHP Paul Blackburn (1-1, 8.03) to the mound. The White Sox will start LHP Carlos Rondon (0-2, 4.41).

MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington: Barreto comes through for A’s in a big way; Giants’ Stratton pitched well, but Padres get 9th inning rally

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Photo credit: @957thegame

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt Harrington:

The Oakland A’s Franklin Barreto wasted no time in his return to the A’s line up with six RBIs and two home runs. Barreto is playing second while Jed Lowrie is playing third in place of the injured Matt Chapman during the first game of the doubleheader in Chicago Friday. Trade talk has the A’s looking to shop either Jonathan Lucroy and Jed Lowrie to get some young prospects.

The Giants starting pitchera Chris Stratton sailed into the ninth with the Giants trailing by one run 3-2. The Padres scored three runs in the top of the ninth to get some insurance runs for a 6-2 lead. Stratton said the loss was his fault and Stratton almost had a complete game.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show podcast on Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

White Sox Win Game 2 of Doubleheader 6-4 over A’s, Snap Skid at 8

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Photo credit: @whitesox

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland A’s dropped Game 2 of a doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday night, falling to the White Sox 6-4. Pale Hose starter Lucas Giolito began the game strong, then managed to hold on long enough to end the White Sox losing streak at eight. Matt Olson knocked in two runs, going deep once for the Green and Gold.

A’s starter Chris Bassitt got staked to an early lead after Giolito ran into some control problems in the inning. With two outs, the White Sox hurler walked Matt Joyce and Khris Davis. Matt Olson knocked Joyce in with a single for the 1-0 lead before Mark Canha k’d to end the threat.Bled then moved to third on Tim Anderso’s double. They both scored on Omar Narvaez’s base-hit for a 2-1 White Sox edge. Charlie Tilson hit a two-out single to knock in Narvaez for a two-run lead.

Olson pulled the A’s within one in the top of the sixth, blasting his 16th long ball of the year off Giolito’s first pitch of the two-out at-bat. Bassitt couldn’t shut the White Sox down in the bottom of the frame though, exiting the game with runners on first and second with one out. Narvaez singled off reliever Danny Coulombe, but the runner couldn’t advance past third. The next batter, Adam Engel, would knock in both runs for a 5-2 White Sox lead, closing the book on Bassitt with five runs (four earned) over 5 1/3 innings.

The A’s would get two more runs off Giolito in the eighth after White Sox manager Rick Renteria stuck with his young hurler with electric stuff just an inning too long. Dustin Fowler and Marcus Semien singled to open the inning, chasing Giolito from the game with no outs in the inning and eight K’s. Stephen Piscotty walked to load the bases against Jace Fry. Chris Volstad came in to face Davis, who singled in two runners to greet the reliever.

The fourth pitcher of the inning, Xavier Cedeno, managed to coax three consecutive outs from the A’s. He got a line out to short Olson, a Canha punch out and a Chad Pinder forceout to strand the tying run with Davis at third.

Tim Anderson homered for Chicago in the bottom of the inning and Joakim Soria pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 11th save, punching out two Athletics for the win.

Up Next: Oakland’s Daniel Mengden takes the mound Saturday afternoon from the Windy City in Game 3 of the series at 11:10 am PDT opposing Chicago’s Dylan Covey. Despite the White Sox’s poor record, Covey has been a bright spot, sporting a 2.90 ERA over seven starts.

Barreto Bashes 2 HRs, A’s Win Game 1 of Doubleheader 11-2 over White Sox

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Matthew Harrington

While the Oakland A’s surely miss third baseman Matt Chapman in the lineup, the emergence of Franklin Barreto in Game 1 of a Friday doubleheader has softened the blow. Barreto, playing second so Jed Lowrie can shift to third base in Chapman’s absence, collected a career-high six RBIs in the A’s 11-2 win over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday night.

Barreto hit two homers, the second and third of his career, each with two men on base. Three other Athletics knocked in a run in the Game 1 rout. Starter Sean Manaea (7-6, 3.40 ERA)  fired seven innings for the win, giving up just one earned run while punching out seven. Pale Hose to hand the South Siders their eighth straight win. The A’s touched up White Sox starter James Shields for eight runs, but somehow avoiding seeing his ERA balloon up after all, but two were unearned.

Jonathan Lucroy picked up a sacrifice fly in the top of the second with the bases loaded, then Barreto stepped up to the plate with two runners in scoring position. After working a 2-2 count, Shields grooved a cutter over the heart of the plate that Barreto drove over the bullpen in left field for a 4-0 A’s lead.

Jed Lowrie singled home a run in the fifth, then the White Sox defense fell apart. Khris Davis singled home one run, then Leury Garcia’s gaffe fielding the ball allowed another run to score and Davis to scoot to second base. Matt Olson reached base on Yoan Moncada’s error that pushed Davis to third, then Davis sped home after Shields struck out Mark Canha but saw his pitch sail to the backstop allowing the inning to continue with the A’s up 8-0.

The White Sox scored in the bottom of the sixth off Manaea on an unusual twin killing. With runners at second and third, Jose Abreu came home on Kevan Smith’s bouncer to Lowrie. Matt Davidson decided to leave for third once the throw came to Olson at first, but Olson’s throw got him at third to end the inning with the A’s up 8-1.

Juan Minaya pitched a scoreless two innings in relief before Barreto could touch up Luis Avilan for another three-run bomb in the top of the eighth. This time, Barreto’s shot went well over the bullpen halfway up the bleachers in left field, giving Oakland an 11-1 lead.

Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect eighth, but Josh Lukas gave up an RBI double to Yolmer Sánchez in the ninth before wrapping up the win in Game 1 of the twin bill.

Preview: A’s 4-game series against the White Sox

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Photo credit: chicagotribune.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The first game of the Oakland A’s four-game series with the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field was postponed due to a rainstorm in Chicago. The A’s will play a doubleheader on Friday.

The White Sox are experiencing a down year. Under second-year manager, Rick Renteria, they are in fourth-place in the AL Central division with a record of 24-49. The White Sox visited Oakland in April, and they did not fare well as the A’s swept the three-game series. Without a question, the White Sox are in rebuild mode and people are not familiar with many of their young players.

The pitching matchups for the series will feature the A’s Sean Manaea going against the White Sox veteran James Shields in the opener that starts at 1:10 pm PDT on Friday Afternoon. Manaea won his last start against the Angels, and his record is 6-6. Shields’ record is 2-8, but he has given the White Sox innings. Shields has worked at least six innings or more in his last 11 starts, and eight have been arguably quality starts. That means at least six innings of work and no more than three runs allowed.

Chris Bassitt will go for Oakland in the second game, and he will be opposed by Lucas Giolito (4-7, ERA 7.19). Dylan Covey starts for Chicago on Saturday, and the A’s have yet to announce their starter. Daniel Mengden will seek his seventh win of the year and Chicago will counter with lefty Carlos Rodon (0-2, ERA 4.41).

The White Sox offense is led by big Jose Abreu. Abreu is hitting. 281 and has 11 homers and 42 RBIs on his resume. Chicago’s DH is Matt Davidson. Davidson’s batting average is just .231, but he has power as evidenced by his 13 dingers and 32 ribbies. Tim Anderson will play shortstop and Yoan Moncada, obtained from Boston in the trade for Chris Sale, will be at second base. Yolmer Sanchez will also see time at second and may play third, too. The only veteran in the outfield is Avasail Garcia. Garcia has been on the DL for most of the season and has played sparingly. Daniel Palka has been the right fielder for most of the year. Nicky Delmonico is in left field, and Adam Engel, Leury Garcia, Charlie Tillson, and former Athletic Trayce Thompson all have been in center field.

Wellington Castillo has handled most of the catching chores for Chicago. He is backed up by Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith. The White Sox have three lefties in the bullpen. They are Luis Avilan, Xavier Cedeno, and Jace Fry. The righties out of the pen are Nate Jones (four saves), Juan Minaya, Bruce Rondon, Hector Santiago, and Joakim Soria (10 saves).

The A’s come into the series with a four-game winning streak and are looking to improve their season record. The A’s offense loves to go on the road as they have hit almost twice as many homers on the road and about half as many at home. Many people believe the cold night air and the marine layer that invaded the Coliseum keeps the ball in the park.

The A’s will be without the services of third baseman Matt Chapman, who was hit on his thumb by a pitch. A’s manager Bob Melvin has moved Jed Lowrie over to third base and played Franklin Barreto at second. Barreto rewarded the team with a three-run blast in Wednesday’s game in San Diego. Super-sub Chad Pinder has been stationed in left field as well as third base, shortstop, and second base. Outfielder Matt Joyce, who hits from the left side, may be activated for the weekend series in Chicago. His presence in the lineup gives Melvin the ability to have another left-handed bat in the game against a right pitcher.

The A’s are currently two games over the .500 mark. The pitching rotation has been riddled with injury, but Melvin has been able to juggle his starters and pitchers have been recalled from Nashville to help out. Manaea and Mengden lead the staff win six wins each. However, they are going to need help from Paul Blackburn, Chris Bassitt, and others if they want to improve. Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Daniel Gossett, and Andrew Triggs are all on the DL. All four have started. Cahill and Triggs were effective but have not stayed off the DL. The same goes for Anderson and Gossett.

Hopefully, the A’s will take three out of four from Chicago before moving on the Detroit for four more games. After Detroit, the A’s return home to play three with Cleveland and two with San Diego before going on the road again for another 10-game trip.

Oakland A’s podcast with Morris Phillips: Budget crunch–A’s could share park with triple-A Nashville

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Photo credit @athletics_fanly: Former Oakland A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon pitched for the A’s with a Oakland Oaks throw back jersey during an A’s promotional day tribute to the old PCL team

On the A’s podcast with Morris:

We asked Morris his thoughts of the possibilities on the idea to bring the Oakland A’s triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, to Oakland. The money conscious-minded A’s could save a bundle from shipping players from Oakland to Nashville and vice versa by moving the team to Oakland and sharing the park with the Sounders and rename them the Oakland Oaks (named after the former PCL team in the ’40s and ’50s).

The A’s will probably own the Oakland Coliseum property soon enough and then they’ll have their say on running the facility once that’s in place. The Oaks could play at the Coliseum on days that the A’s are on the road. It would also be a good way to keep the Coliseum busy when the A’s are not using the park.

The A’s would save money on flying players back and forth from Nashville and if they would consider consolidating the the A’s and Oaks to one location. The NHL’s San Jose Sharks are doing that with their minor league club, which they moved from Worcester to San Jose, and they’ve saved a bundle on travel not to mention being able to being able to get players up to the big club by a short walk down the hallway.

If the A’s move to Jack London Square, they can continue to have the Oaks play at the Coliseum since the A’s would own the Coliseum property anyway. With the money the A’s save, they could finally have their Spanish radio broadcasters travel with the team and announce all 162 regular season games. They could afford to have them on the charter and stay at the team hotels and promote the A’s to their largest untapped audience, the Hispanic radio market.

Morris Phillips is filling in for Jerry Feitelberg for today’s podcast. Morris covers Oakland A’s baseball each Sunday home and away at http://www.sportsradioservice.com