The Oakland A’s hit five home runs at Petco Park on Wednesday afternoon in San Diego to rout the Padres 12-4. Franklin Barreto started the homer barrage with a three-run blast in the second inning to propel the A’s to the victory. Frankie Montas rebounded from a loss to the Houston Astros last week to win his fourth of the season.
The A’s sent Padres’ starter Joey Lucchesi to the showers in the top of the second inning. Lucchesi had control problems as he hit Matt Olson with a pitch. He then walked Stephen Piscotty to put men on at first and second with no out. Barreto, who entered the game with a batting average around .160, blasted a 424-foot homer to start the rout. The next hitter, Josh Phegley, also hit his first homer of the year and the A’s led 4-0. Padres’ manager Andy Green removed Lucchesi with two out in the inning and brought in another lefty, Robbie Erlin, to pitch.
In the top of the third, Mark Canha led off the frame with his ninth big fly to make it 5-0. Matt Olson followed with his 15th to make in 6-0. The A’s added another run after Barreto reached on a single but advanced to third when the Padres committed two errors on the play. Phegley hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in Barreto with the A’s seventh run. The Padres put their first run of the afternoon on the board after Montas gave up a single to A.J.Ellis, a walk to Travis Jankowski, and a single to Cory Spangenberg.
The A’s scored one in the seventh and two in the eighth on the strength of Jed Lowrie’s blast off Phil Hughes to make it a 10-1 game. The Padres used a position player, Cory Spangenberg, to pitch the ninth. The A’s tallied two more to lead 12-1 in the middle of the ninth. The Padres plated three in their half of the ninth, but it was not enough as the A’s won the going away 12-4.
Notes: The A’s leading home run hitter, Khris Davis, was not in the lineup due to a stomach ailment. Davis was available for pinch-hitting duties, but there was no need for him at all.
Frankie Montas improved to 4-1. He went 6 2/3 inning and allowed one run and five hits. Montas threw 105 pitches. Joey Lucchesi took the loss, and his record is now 3-3.
The A’s have now homered in 21 consecutive road games with at least one or more home runs. The A’s have won four games in a row and are 38-36 for the year. The Padres are 34-42.
Up Next: The A’s begin a four-game series with the Chicago White Sox Thursday night in the Windy City. Chris Bassitt (0-2, 2.45 ERA) will go for Oakland, and righty Lucas Giolito (4-7, 7.19 ERA) will pitch for Chicago. Game time will be at 5:05 pm PDT.
The way the A’s won the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday night was made of the stuff that kids dream about doing when they become big league players.
The Padres led 2-1 and had their closer, Brad Hand, pitching in the ninth. Hand retired the first two hitters. All Hand had to do was retire Stephen Piscotty to end the game. Piscotty had two strikes on him. One more strike and the game was over. But that did not happen as Piscotty blasted a pitch into the second deck in left field to tie the game.
A’s reliever Lou Trivino retired the Padres in order, and the game went into extra innings. Jed Lowrie slammed a two-run blast to put the A’s ahead 4-2 in the 10th, and Blake Treinen earned his 16th save of the season to give the A’s the 4-2 win.
Paul Blackburn made his third start of the year. Blackburn recovered from a poor outing against the Houston Astros last week as he went five innings and allowed just four hits and two runs. Padres’ lefty Eric Lauer was just a smidge better as his line was six innings of work and he allowed three hits and one run.
The Padres took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, Cory Spangenberg walked. Eric Hosmer singled sending Spangenberg to third. Jose Pirela hit into a fielder’s choice and Spangenberg scored on the play.
The A’s tied the game in the second. Khris Davis led off with a walk. Davis was safe at second on an error by Padres’ shortstop Freddy Galvis. Matt Olson was safe at first on the play. Mark Canha singled to load the bases. Piscotty hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Davis scored the A’s first run. The Padres regained the lead in their half on the second. Franmill Reyes, who is 6-foot-5 and weighs 275 pounds, doubled to left. Padres’ catcher Franny Lopez lined a double done the right field line to drive in Reyes with the Padres’ second run of the game.
The A’s used four relievers to keep the Padres scoreless. Emilio Pagan, Santiago Casilla, and Lou Trivino did the job. Blake Treinen pitched the 10th and earned the save. The Padres’ Jose Castillo, Craig Stammen, and Kirby Yates also kept the A’s off the board until the ninth inning. Padres’manager Andy Green brought in lefty Brad Hand to pitch the ninth. Hand, who leads the National League with 21 saves, almost did the job. With two strikes on Piscotty, Hand tried to get a fastball by him. Piscotty did not miss, and the ball left the park in a hurry.
The Padres brought in righty Adam Cimber to pitch. Cimber uses a submarine-style delivery to confuse the hitters. He reminds people of Brad Ziegler, who used to pitch for the A’s. He did not fool Marcus Semien who lined a single to center. With two out in the inning, Marcus stole second and went to third when the throw from Lopez went into centerfield. Cimber now had to face Lowrie. Lowrie had not homered since May 11th when the A’s were in New York. Lowrie hit his 10th of the season over the fence in right field. Blake Treinen retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the 10th. He gave up a single, but then struck out Eric Hosmer to end the game.
The A’s are now 37-36 for the year, and San Diego falls to 34-41.
Up Next: The A’s will meet the Padres again on Wednesday afternoon at 12:40 pm PDT at Petco Park.
photo from fifa.com: The Brazilians exult after scoring on Switzerland during the FIFA match in Moscow Russia during 2018 World Cup
On the podcast with Amaury:
What has it meant for the economy in Russia to have this year’s World Cup and how will it impact the Mexican, U.S., and Canadian economy for 2026. FIFA gains more interest than any other sport when the event comes up once every four years. Even non-soccer fans turn to it.
A’s open two game series in San Diego: The San Diego Padres the A’s next opponent have a similar business model to the Oakland A’s. Padres general manager AJ Preller no longer employs expensive free agents. The Padres use their farm system more, use younger players and use a few veterans.
The A’s are at .500 the 13th time this season. The A’s also will be missing Matt Chapman and Matt Joyce both on the ten day D.L. The A’s will start Paul Blackburn tonight. In his last start Blackburn got lit up by the Houston Astros at the Oakland Coliseum going 1 1/3 innings and giving up eight runs.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio talent for the Oakland A’s, the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum, does a music show on KIQI radio, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
The Oakland A’s start a 10-game, three-city road trip Tuesday with a two-game inter-league series with the San Diego Padres. The A’s then go to Chicago for four games against the White Sox and on to Detroit for another four-game series against the Tigers.
The Padres, under third-year manager Andy Green, find themselves in last place in the National League West with a record of 34-40 but are just 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Padres’ general manager A.J. Preller has built the roster in a manner very similar to the A’s. Preller’s first year with the club was very controversial as he spent a lot of money acquiring expensive free agents in the hopes of making the Padres a contender. The experiment failed, and Preller is trying to follow the Houston Astros model of using young talent and having a couple of veterans in the lineup. Preller’s one big move over the winter was the signing of former Kansas City Royals’ first baseman Eric Hosmer to a big contract.
Most A’s fans probably are not familiar with the Padres. The Padres’ lineup will feature Freddy Galvis at shortstop, Jose Pirela at second base, Eric Hosmer at first, and Corey Spangenberg and Christian Villanueva have shared time at third. Travis Jankowski, Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe are the outfielders. Matt Szczur and Franmill Reyes have are the backups. A.J. Ellis and Raffy Lopez are the catchers.
Since the game is being played in an NL city, there will be no DH.
The A’s are back at the .500 mark for the 13th time this season with a record of 36-36. They will be without the services of Matt Chapman. Chapman was placed on the 10-day DL with a right thumb contusion. Matt Joyce is also on the 10-day DL. Franklin Barreto or Jed Lowrie will be at second. Chad Pinder or Lowrie will play third.
The pitching matchup for Tuesday night’s game will feature Lefty Eric Lauer (3-4, 6.20 ERA) going for the Padres and righty Paul Blackburn on the mound for Oakland. In his last start, Lauer went 5 2/3 innings and gave up two runs and allowed eight hits. Blackburn, after an impressive start after coming off the DL, was shelled by the Astros last week as he gave up eight runs in just 1 1/3 innings of work.
On Wednesday, Tyson Ross (former A’s starter) will take the mound and will be seeking to send his former team down to defeat. Ross had a quality start against the Atlanta Braves last week, but his effort was not good enough as he took the loss. Ross is 5-4 and has an ERA of 5.41. Frankie Montas (3-1, 2.67 ERA) will go for Oakland. Montas lost to Houston last week and is hoping to get back on the winning track.
The A’s will see a couple of their former star players on the Padres’ coaching staff. Mark McGwire is in his second season as the bench coach for the Padres. The former slugger was a hitting coach with the St.Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres hitting coach is Matt Stairs.
The A’s would like to sweep the Padres before heading to Chicago. The A’s are not familiar with the Padres but as someone once said this about baseball, “You never know.”
Semien hits his sixth HR in the top of the sixth inning Photo: @Athletics
by Charlie O. Mallonee
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics can cross two things off of their to-do list after beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6-4 on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum. First, they needed desperately needed end a four-game losing streak that began last Tuesday. Task completed.
Secondly, the A’s needed to get a win versus an AL West division opponent. They had lost six straight games to AL West teams and 12 of their last 13 games versus the West. The win on Saturday allows the team to check that off their list as well.
The A’s cannot let down after this victory, but it should prove to them that they are very capable of playing and winning in the Western Division.
Manaea looked unstoppable for four innings
Manaea looked unstoppable for the first four innings Photo: @Athletics
Sean Manaea made the start for the A’s and his slider was really working for him. The lefty set the Angels down in order for the first four innings. He looked unbeatable especially after Chad Pinder hit a home run to stake Manaea to a 1-0 lead.
Then came the top of the fifth inning. Albert Pujols led off the inning with a single. Martin Maldonado followed up with a single to right field. With runners at first and second, that brought Chris Young to bat. Young was the last minute replacement for Justin Upton who was scratched due to a stiff lower back.
Young crushes a HR off Manaea Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
Young hit a no doubt about it home run to over the left field wall to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Manaea was able to work his way out of trouble to end the inning, but the mood of the team and fans had definitely changed.
The sixth inning was the Angels’ downfall The Angels had to use LHP John Lamb — who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake — to make the start. Lamb gave up a home run to Pinder in the fourth inning and then, Marcus Semien hit his sixth round-tripper of the season off Lamb to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. That would be all for Lamb, who exited the game with a 3-2 lead.
Reliever Noe Ramirez entered the game and hit the first batter he faced — Chad Pinder. Jed Lowrie flied out to center for the first out of the inning. DH Khris Davis walked. Rameriez then hit Matt Olson for his second hit-batsmen of the inning. With the bases loaded, Stephen Piscotty hit a blistering single up the middle that drove Davis and Olson home to score. When the inning ended, the A’s led the game 5-3.
Oakland would add one more run in the seventh inning on a Jed Lowrie RBI single.
The top of the ninth inning got a little exciting Blake Treinen was brought in to close out the game in the top of the ninth. It was his first time on the mound in six games and he looked a little rusty.
The A’s closer gave up a run (earned) on one hit while walking two and striking out one Angels hitter. The situation did not become desperate, but it was not as clean of a close as the team would have liked it to have been.
Chad Pinder had a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate for the A’s. He was just a double short of posting a cycle on Saturday. Pinder’s home run was his sixth of the season and he recorded his 14th RBI. Pinder hit his first triple of the year in the game.
Marcus Semiem hit his sixth HR to pick up his 27th RBI of the year.
Stephen Piscotty raised his RBI total to 29.
Jed Lowrie now has 43 RBI which is keeping close to the leaders in the majors
The A’s scored six runs off six hits and recorded six RBI. Their batters struck out eight times.
The A’s left six men on base while going 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Los Angeles of Anaheim (38-33)
No batter for the Angels had a multi-hit game.
Chris Young picked up the big hit with his 3-run home run in the fifth inning. That upped his RBI total to 10.
Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each recorded a hit.
The Angels scored four runs on six hits while striking out six times.
The Angels left four men on base and went 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
On the Hill A’s (Streak: Lost 1 game; 4-6 in last 10)
The win went to starting pitcher Sean Manaea, who is now 6-5 on the season. It was his first win since back in May. Manaea worked 6.0-innings giving up three runs (all earned) off four hits. He walked one and struck out four. He did give up one home run.
Treinen earned the save (15) but struggled to get there.
Petit and Trivino each worked an inning of scorless relief.
Angels (Streak: Lost 1 game; 5-5 in last 10)
John Lamb who made the start did not figure into the decision.
Noe’ Rameriez (2-3) was charged with the loss.
Jake Jewell was used for one inning of relief by the Angels and it was his Major League debut.
Up Next
The Angels and A’s will close out this three-game series with the “rubber game” of the match on Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT. The Angels will start LHP Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.68) -who will the third lefthander to start for LA in this series. The A’s will counter with RHP Daniel Mengden (6-6, 3.90).
Foul territory is tough to cover at the Coliseum Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
photo from normantranscript.com: The Oakland A’s Kyler Murrray joined the A’s for workouts on Saturday at the Coliseum. Murray signed with the A’s to play on the club next season as he will join the Oklahoma Sooners as quarterback in August for the 2018 NCAA season
On the MLB The Show podcast with Charlie O:
Today’s opponent for the Oakland A’s, the Los Angeles Angels, came in Friday night with a five-game losing streak, which they ended and the A’s extended their four-game losing streak to four in the loss to the Angels.
The A’s will try and reboot and get game two of this home three game series today at the Coliseum today. The A’s got a little pick me up when Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray was selected and worked out with the team over the weekend. Murray said he would quarterback at Oklahoma and after football season Murray will be back swinging the bats for the A’s for spring training in February.
Murray has a deal worth over $4 million with Oakland and his contract allows him to play football and go to school at Oklahoma which would be during August through early January.
San Francisco Giants update: The San Francisco Giants’ road problems continue after they dropped the opener of their three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night 3-2 at Dodger Stadium. The Giants are suffering on offense and couldn’t rally on Friday night.
The Dodgers are fighting to get into first place and they know the Giants are in a world of pain, losing four of their last five games, and are out their All-Star caliber players: pitcher Johnny Cueto and third baseman Evan Longoria with injuries.
The Giants were missing Brandon Belt due to an appendix surgery. Belt is scheduled to be suited up at Dodgers Stadium tonight and he was on a roll before he had to have the surgery. Belt made a fast recovery and is anxious to start swinging the bats.
Charlie O does the A’s podcasts weekly and is filling in for Matt Harrington on the MLB podcast today at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Kinsler crosses the plate after hitting a home run the fourth inning Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
by Charlie O. Mallonee
Where did the “Big Mo” go? You remember “Big Mo” – a.k.a momentum. Right now, it feels like the Oakland Athletics have lost all of the momentum that they had been building up earlier in the season.
The A’s are 5-8 in the month of June which is not good, but what makes that record even more devastating is the fact that six of those eight losses have come at the hands of American League West teams. The A’s cannot be losing that many games inside the division and hold on to any hopes of making the playoffs even as a Wild Card team.
What hurts, even more, is the Angels came into the game riding a five-game losing streak of their own. They are a team that had great expectations for 2018 and have now been beset by injuries.
The Angels are the team that the A’s must pass first if they are going to move up in the Western Division and make a run at the Mariners and Astros.
This game did not start well Chris Bassitt was back on the mound making his second start in a week for Trevor Cahill, who is now on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained right achilles. Bassitt pitched well last Saturday against the Royals, despite taking the loss. Things did not go well Friday night.
After inducing Angels leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler to ground out, Bassitt gave up a single to Mike Trout. He then issued a walk to Justin Upton. Albert Pujols reached base safely when Bassitt fielded a ground ball and his throw to first base sailed into foul territory. Trout and Upton were able to scramble home to score while Pujols ended up at second. When the top of the first was over, the Angels lead 2-0 with both runs being unearned.
Bassitt was no mystery to the Angels batters Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
The third inning brought more bad news for Bassitt and the A’s. Trout singled to open the inning. Upton followed immediately with a single of his own. With Trout at second and Upton at first, Pujols reached first on Chad Pinder’s throwing error that allowed Trout to score and Upton to advance to third.
The Angels went on to score two more runs in the top of the third inning and held a 5-0 lead as the A’s prepared to come to bat in the bottom of the third.
Los Angeles went scored again in the fourth inning — which would be the final inning of work for starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. The Angels would go on to score two more runs off Oakland reliever Carlos Ramiez in the top of the fifth.
The A’s finally put runs up on the board in the home half of the fifth inning. Mark Canha led off the inning and reached base on a throwing error charged to the LA shortstop. Piscotty and Smolinski both struck out. Catcher Josh Phegley hit an RBI double to center field that drove Canha home to score. Marcus Semien then hit an RBI double of his own that allowed Phegley to score the second run of the game for the A’s. After five full innings, the Angels held an 8-2 lead.
The A’s added one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Chad Pinder ran home from third on a wild pitch by Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian to make it an 8-3 game.
The A’s never quit trying. In the ninth inning, Stephen Piscotty picked up a one-out single off LA reliever Justin Anderson. Pinch-hitter Dustin Fowler hit a hard grounder to second that Kinsler had trouble fielding and he legged it out for a single while Piscotty advanced to third. With Semien at-bat, Fowler moved up to second on defensive indifference. Semien walked to load the bases.
Anderson threw a wild pitch to Chad Pinder and Piscotty was able to score from third base to make it an 8-4 contest. Pinder struck out to end the game.
The Angels beat the A’s 8-4 in game one of the three-game series.
Tyler Scaggs picked up the win for the Angels and upped his record to 6-4, 2.81 ERA. The A’s Chris Bassitt is hung with the loss as his record drops to 0-2, 2.45 ERA. There was no save awarded for the game.
Major postgame news In his postgame news conference, manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Matt Chapman will be going on the disabled list beginning Saturday due to a hand injury. Franklin Barreto was lifted from the Nashville Sounds game in El Paso before its conclusion so he could travel to Oakland for Saturday.
Chad Pinder will most likely be the primary replacement at third base but do not be surprised to see Lowrie spend time at the “hot corner” while Barreto fills in at second base.
Melvin’s postgame comments
Tough night in #Oaktown as #Athletics drop the opening game of a 3-game series with #Angels 8-4. Unforced errors & trying to play catch-up made it a long night for #RootedInOakland. One bright spot: Jed Lowrie had a 3-hit game. Bassitt struggled in his 2nd start. Chapman to DL! pic.twitter.com/gDv7INezET
— Sports Radio Service (@SportsRadioSrvc) June 16, 2018
In the batter’s box Angels (38-32, 3rd place AL West)
Mike Trout (the best player in baseball? If not, tell me who is better!) collected three hits in the game. That was hit his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
Ian Kinsler hit his ninth home run of the year in the fourth inning off of Bassitt. He is batting (21-for-66) with five doubles, seven home runs, and 12 RBI in his last 16 games.
Catcher Jose Briceno broke an 0-for-8 hittless streak with a 3-for-4 game at the plate on Friday night.
A’s (34-36, 4th place AL West)
Jed Lowrie got back on track by ending an 0-for-8 hitless streak by picking up three hits in four trips to the plate on Friday night.
Josh Phegley had his first multi-hit game of season. One of those hits was an RBI-double.
Marcus Semien is being very productive with runners in scoring position. He is batting .359 when he has runners on base with a chance to score.
On the hill Los Angeles of Anaheim
This was Tyler Skaggs third consecutive win, which is the longest winning streak of his career.
Skaggs struck out eight A’s batters, walked only one and allowed seven hits. He gave up two runs (none earned).
The three Angels pitchers allowed a combinded 10 hits while they struck out 11 Oakland batters.
Oakland
Starter Chris Bassitt is still looking for his first win since August 4, 2015. Of course, Bassitt missed almost two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery. He is actually 0-8 since his last win in 2015.
The A’s used five pitchers in game on Friday night.
A’s pitchers gave up eight runs off just nine hits in the game.
Up next
Coming on Saturday, the Angels and A’s will meet again at 1:05 pm PDT at the Coliseum. Los Angeles will start RHP Nick Tropeano (3-4, 4.83 ERA). The A’s will send LHP Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.49 ERA) to the hill.
@OnionSports photo: Shohei Ohtani is expected to have Tommy John surgery and could miss a year and half of baseball returning in the 2020 season
On the A’s podcast with Joey:
The A’s are coming off a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros in a 7-3 loss on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum. Can they stop the bleeding starting tonight as they face the Los Angeles Angels? The Astros’ starting pitcher Justin Verlander notched up win number nine against two loses and had command of the A’s line up.
A’s starter Frankie Montas got touched up by the Astros’ offense. The Astros and some of their power hitting got things started right away in the first inning with two runs. The A’s who were no match for Houston this week and now host the Angels tonight. The Angels, without Shohei Ohtani, can feel a difference in the clubhouse, fans in the stands, through the lineup and pitching rotation without Ohtani in the lineup.
OAKLAND — The Houston Astros pounded the A’s 7-3 at the O.co Coliseum on Thursday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep.
The Astros were in complete control for the entire three games and showed everyone why they are one of the best teams in all of baseball. They have the best starting rotation in baseball, and their everyday lineup is loaded with hitters loaded with confidence. They won a World Championship last year, and they are intent on going back to the playoffs and trying to win the big prize for the second year in a row.
Justin Verlander started for Houston and the big righty cruised to his ninth win of the year. Oakland starter Frankie Montas was no match for the powerful Astros’ offense, and he absorbed his first loss of the season.
With two out in the first inning, the Astros put two runs on the board. Carlos Correa singled and scored on Yuli Guriel’s double off the wall in left field. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Guriel with the second run of the inning. Reddick was thrown out trying to go to second on the throw home.
In the bottom of the second, A’s designated hitter, Khris Davis, homered to make it a 2-1 game. For Davis, it was his 20th big fly of the year and his third–all solo jobs–in the last two games. Verlander settled down ,and retired the next three A’s hitters in order.
The Astros plated their run of the game in the third inning. With one out, Montas walked Jose Altuve. Atuve advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Carlos Correa’s second single of the game to put the ‘Stros up 3-1.
The Astros’ offense continued the onslaught in the fourth. Montas retired the notorious A’s killer, Evan Gattis, for the first out. He then walked Marwin Gonzalez. Astros’ catcher Brian McCann slammed his fifth home run of the year into the seats in right field. The Astros lead 5-1 in the middle of the fourth.
In the top of the sixth, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, who is a terrific fielder, had an inning that he would like to remove from his memory. Astros’ catcher Brian McCann hit a high pop up that Chappie lost in Oakland’s famous “high sky.” He couldn’t find the ball and when he did it bounced off his chest for an error. Tony Kemp followed with a smash that Chapman smothered but couldn’t make the play at first. The official scorer ruled it a hit. Alex Bregman hit a ground ball to Chapman Chapman stepped on third for the force out but his throw home sailed over Matt Olson’s glove. Kemp scored on the play and Bregman went to second. Chapman was charged with his second error of the inning. Jose Altuve doubled to drive in Bregman. A’s manager Bob Melvin walked to the mound and took the ball from Montas. Santiago Casilla retired the two Astros’ hitters necessary to end the inning. The score was 7-1 in favor of Houston.
Khris Davis led off the seventh with a high pop up that Astros’ first baseman Yuli Guriel could not find in the high sky. The ball dropped safely and Davis wound up on second base with a double. Matt Olson then took a Justin Verlander fastball into the right field bleacher for his 14th tater of the year and now trail the Astros 7-3.
The Astros’ manager A.J.Hinch used Chris Devenski in the 8th and Hector Rondon in the ninth as they shut down the A’s in order in each of the last two innings. Houston won 7-3.
Game Notes: With the win, the Astros improve to 45-25. The A’s are now one game under .500 with a mark of 34-35. Justin Verlander won his ninth game of the season while A’s starter Frankie Montas lost his first. Verlander went seven complete and allowed three runs and five hits. Montas pitched five and 1.3rd innings and was tagged for seven runs. Five were earned and two were unearned. Verlander is 9-2 and Montas is 3-1.
The Astros’ line score was seven runs on 13 hits and no errors. Brian McCann hit the Astros’ only home run.
All the A’s runs were the result of a home run. Khris Davis hit a solo job in the second and Matt Olson clobbered a two-run dinger in the seventh. The A’s scored three runs on five hits and they committed two errors on defense.
Thursday’s game with the Astros took two hours and 45 minutes.
13.009 fans were in attendance.
Up Next: The A’s finish the 10-game homestand with three games against the Los Angeles Angels.
The A’s Chris Bassitt (0-1, 1.29 ERA) will handle the pitching chores and he will be opposed by lefty Tyler Skaggs (5-4, 3.08 ERA).
Friday night’s game will start at 6:35 pm PDT.
There will be a fireworks show immediately after the game.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s appear to be working on their clock, and that’s probably not going to sit well with the Green and Gold fanbase. The A’s minority owner Billy Beane is arguably a baseball problem and not just a marketing mishap.
In the 2016 novel Beantown, author Frederik Backman wrote, “There are two things that are particularly good at reminding us how old we are: children and sports.”
That’s indeed a difficult statement for folks who are 50 years and older to dispute as their children and perhaps grandchildren have already established their own personalities in the workplace. Sports, however, is a bit of a tricky topic–its intriguing statistics and historical events have likely been engraved in our minds in our childhoods.
And, like any other baseball follower, I can recall box scores, no-hitters, and vice versa. That being said, there are some parts of MLB history that shouldn’t be continued for an extended period of time.
Without further ado, here are three people who should leave the A’s right now.
1. Billy Beane
A’s minority owner Billy Beane has made some money-less trades in the past. The Moneyball tactics simply aren’t working. The A’s need to strength their rotation and pen their annual drafts, and Beane hasn’t been on top of things for quite a while. Also, Beane takes sure-fire chances on young guys with limited amounts of baseball experience. In addition, Oakland has had a high turnover rate with players in all positions, which isn’t going to contribute to their success on the field.
2. Bob Melvin
A’s manager Bob Melvin has been named “Manager of the Year” twice–once in 2007 and the other in 2012. But that doesn’t mean that Melvin deserves a spot in the A’s management team.
Melvin has been in Oakland for far too long. Melvin’s decisions on players have often been poor. For example, why call up Franklin Barreto if he wasn’t going to play him? Mark Canha and Dustin Fowler should’ve made the 2018 Opening Day roster instead of Barreto. Both Canha and Fowler are on the A’s roster now, but they had to be called up in order to be in Oakland.
Not only that, Melvin has mismanaged the bullpen this season. Melvin continues to put various pitchers on the mound who have shown us why they shouldn’t be out there to begin with.
3. Marcus Semien
A’s shortstop Marcus Semien is supposed to be the lead-off hitter in Oakland, but he’s not. Semien puts up subpar numbers for a player who’s supposed to leading off. Semien has worsened the A’s defense with his countless amount of errors, so that should paint a mental picture of his incompetent defense.
There you have it. The three people who should leave the A’s right now. Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.
