Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A’s Relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum: Nevada may not sit still for A’s barnstorming ideas

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Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce CEO/President Mary Beth Sewald and Oakland A’s owner John Fisher at a preview regarding the A’s move to Las Vegas on Wed Jan 24, 2024. Sewald might be in for a disappointment after it was learned the A’s plan to play 10% of their home games away from Las Vegas (file photo by the Nevada Independent)

On the Oakland A’s Relocaton podcast with Daniel:

#1 Not only are the Oakland A’s relocating after this season to Sacramento in 2025 and Las Vegas in 2028 once they land in Vegas they plan to play ten percent of their home games in different locations for the purpose of marketing the team.

#2 Daniel, this idea is not go over too well with Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steven Hill who pushed for the A’s move to Vegas now only to learn that 10% of the scheduled home games will be played elsewhere and take away that revenue from the City of Las Vegas?

#3 How much of this idea can infuriate not only Hill but also the Nevada State Legislature who is giving the A’s and Bally’s $380 million in public funds to help pay for the Tropicana ballpark?

#4 The A’s could very well be liking the idea of making Sacramento their permanent home. A’s owner John Fisher could be looking at working with Sacramento Rivercats owner and Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive towards the idea of building and MLB park in Sacramento and getting out of the Las Vegas deal by entertaining the 10% home away from home idea?

#5 The idea of the A’s getting out of Vegas and MLB approving it would relieve Fisher from trying to come up with his share of the construction costs at $500 million and it would give Las Vegas an opportunity to still use the $380 million of public funds towards a MLB expansion team.

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

A’s stymied by Bryan Woo, as Mariners shut them out 3-0 to take series

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Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo pitches to the Oakland A’s in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jun 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Seattle Mariners 3 (36-28)

Oakland Athletics 0 (25-39)

Win: Bryan Woo (3-0)

Loss: JP Sears (4-5)

Save: Ryne Stanek (4)

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 6,571

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The A’s ran into a buzz saw in Bryan Woo, who shut down the A’s, and the Mariners shutout the A’s 3-0 on a hazy Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum to take the series.

The A’s were looking to win just their second series since they took two of three from the Miami Marlins from May 3-5. They were also looking to win consecutive games for the first time since that same series against the Marlins.

Left-hander JP Sears made the start for Oakland. Sears was coming off a start in Atlanta where he gave up four runs over seven innings against a powerful Braves team at Truist Park, one of the most live ballparks in Baseball.

Sears was back at the Coliseum for his team-leading 13th start of the season to go up against a Mariners team, who despite their record, has struggled offensively all season. Sears promptly got off to a nice start with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.

The Mariners went with right-hander Bryan Woo, who has pitched quite well since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on May 10. Woo has gone 2-0 with a minuscule 1.30 ERA in his first five starts of the season.

The A’s put Woo in trouble right away in the bottom of the first. Abraham Toro hooked a double down the right field line to start the inning, but he never got to third, as Woo was able to settle down to retire the side.

Sears walked Cal Raleigh with one out in the top of the second, but he induced a double play off the bat of Mitch Haniger to end the inning. Seth Brown reached second to lead off the bottom of the second when Mariners’ left-fielder Victor Robles tried to make a leaping catch on a routine fly ball to left field but ended up dropping the ball. Fortunately for Robles, Woo retired the side, and Brown never got past third.

The A’s had wasted opportunities in the first two innings, and they would need Sears to keep cruising, but Sears immediately got himself in trouble in the top of the third. Sears walked Mitch Garver, and then he hit Robles right afterwards to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Ryan Bliss then reached on a bunt single, the Mariners’ first hit of the game, to load the bases.

Sears struck J.P. Crawford out swinging for the first out, but Dylan Moore knocked in Garver with a sacrifice fly to left. The Mariners had a 1-0 lead, and Woo followed that up with his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon in the bottom of the third.

Sears hit Raleigh with a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth, and Raleigh followed that up by stealing second base. Sears struck Haniger out for the second out, but Garver hit a single to left to score Raleigh and make it 2-0.

As for Woo, he pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth. Both pitchers pitched scoreless innings in the fifth.

Sears went back out for the top of the sixth, but with activity in the A’s bullpen, he would most likely have to pitch a 1-2-3 inning to go a full six innings. Sears did indeed pitch that 1-2-3 inning to end a very strong day for him, in which he gave up just two runs and three hits over his six innings, while striking out eight.

Woo pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, and he was in complete control. That made it a bit surprising that his day would be done afterwards.

Woo had yet to go more than six innings this year, and he had his highest pitch count of the year with 85 pitches, but with how he was pitching Wednesday, it could have been assumed that Mariners Manager Scott Servais would have given him one more inning.

Still, it was quite an impressive outing. Woo allowed just two hits and three base-runners over his six shutout innings, and the A’s simply could not catch up to his fastball.

“We just couldn’t hit the heater,” said Manager Mark Kotsay. “I don’t know what it is about his fastball that gives us trouble…..We just could not hit the fastball.”

Dany Jimenez was the new pitcher for Oakland in the top of the seventh, and he worked through a pair of walks for a scoreless inning. Austin Voth came in for Seattle, and he pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

Jimenez was back out for the top of the eighth, He struck Julio Rodriguez out swinging to start the inning. Jimenez then walked Ty France, but he bounced back to strike Raleigh out swinging for the second out.

Then, Kotsay brought in the left-hander, T.J. McFarland, to face the right-handed-hitting Mitch Haniger. It seemed like a weird move from afar, but Haniger has struggled against left-handers this season. The move paid off, and Haniger grounded out weakly to third to end the inning.

Mike Baumann pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Seattle, and when McFarland went back out for the top of the ninth, Mitch Garver led off the inning with a home run to left-center to extend the Mariners’ lead to 3-0.

It was quite an afternoon for Garver, who reached base all four times he came to the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single, the home run and a pair of walks. He also scored two of the Mariners’ three runs.

Ryne Stanek then came out and pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his fourth save.

Bryan Woo got the win; JP Sears suffered a very hard-luck loss; and Ryan Stanek picked up the save.

“We have definitely pitched [well], and offensively, we haven’t taken advantage of that,” said Kotsay. “It’s been a tough stretch. Generally, [if] you have good pitching, you win games. We’ve had good starting pitching, I think, for the last 10 or so outings, and we haven’t really capitalized on it.”

The A’s fall to 25-39, and they will hope for better luck when they welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for three at the Coliseum starting Friday night. The Jays will be going with RHP Chris Bassitt (6-6, ERA 4.13) the A’s will counter with Left-hander Hogan Harris (0-0, ERA 3.14) who will be on the hill, first pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s fans support in Sacramento is much stronger than Las Vegas

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Oakland A’s owner John Fisher (left) and Sacramento River Cats owner Vivek Ranadive (right) meet with the media after announcing the A’s will be playing their interim games at Sutter Health Ballpark in Sacramento on Thu Apr 4, 2024. Fisher could be reconsidering Vegas for Sacramento. (Las Vegas Review Journal file photo)

A’s fans support in Sacramento is much stronger than Las Vegas

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The story that continues as a never-ending Telenovela on Spanish TV continues for the Oakland A’s, and although maybe not as long as the legendary soap ‘As the World Turns”. Rob Manfred , Commissioner of Baseball, is one of the forces that support the A’s leaving Oakland for Las Vegas.

From the very beginning of this story, Manfred has been a leading voice on the relocation idea. With Sacramento currently renovating Sutter Health Park, Manfred claimed that the A’s had received seat deposits from around 13,000 people. For the record: This season, the Oakland A’s are last in baseball, averaging 6,400 per game.

The people of Sacramento are showing interest in the A’s, while the people from Las Vegas are not remotely as enthusiastic. According to reports, Sutter Health Park is currently selling priority access to tickets for fans who put down a $100 per seat deposit on a season ticket membership. That is very reasonable in this very tough economy, where even a family visit to a fast-food restaurant is not that cheap anymore.

Sutter Heath Park’s capacity is about 14,000, including the outfield berms. However, Major League Baseball only considers fixed/permanent seats, no berms, and standing room unless the Commissioner makes an exception for the Rivercats Park in West Sacramento.

Time will tell how popular the A’s become in the State’s Capital, but this ordeal could end with the A’s moving to Sacramento permanently.

Do you wonder what the odds are in Vegas?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s get the pitching; Estes perfect ball into the 7th; Miller shuts door on Mariners in 2-1 win

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Oakland A’s Joey Estes throws here in the top of the first inning against the Seattle Mariners. Estes had a perfect game going into the sixth inning until the M’s JP Crawford hit a double to break it up at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 5, 2024 (AP News photo)

Seattle (35-28). 000 000 001. 1. 4. 2

Athletics (25-28). 001 010 00x. 2. 5. 0

Time: 2:14

Attendance: 9,735

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This decidedly non-Oaklandishly warm evening promised a slug fest. Instead we got a beautiful pitchers duel, fron which the Athletics, who had lost five of their last six games, emerged victorious by the slimmest of margins, 2-1.

When the A’s first submitted their lineup to MLB they named Luis Medina as their starting pitcher. Between then and game time Joey Estes , a right hander who had a 1-1, 5.50 mark in four games, all as a starter, against the M’s, had taken his place.

Estes is somewhat of a Mariners specialist; those four starts represent 56% of his major league career total. The 22 year old came to work with a season record of 1-1, 6.10. His work this evening was outstanding. He was perfect and went home with the win, which improved his numbers to 2-1, 4.67. He threw 6-1/3 innings and allowed exactly one hit. 58 of his 78 deliveries were strikes, and struck out five Mariners.

On the hump for the Mariners was Logan Gilbert, their first round draft choice (14th overall) in the 2018 draft. You could see why no one on the Seattle staff started more games in 2023 than he did. The 27 year old righty pitched seven innings of five hit baseball, allowing two runs, only one of which was earned, striking out five and not walking anyone. One of the five hits against him, however, was a home run. The tough loss left him 3-4, 3.12. The crew from Puget Sound used one other hurler. Mike Bauman pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth.

Neither team put a man on base until Zack Gelof broke the ice with one down in the bottom of the third. He smacked Gilbert’s first pitch four seamer 399 feet into the seats, over the State Farm advertisement in right field. It gave the A’s second baseman 13 RBI for the year.

The A’s picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth. It was unearned, but that doesn’t mean that Gilbert was faultless. With Daz Cameron on first with a one out single, Gilbert tried to pick him off. His throw went past first baseman Ty France, and Cameron scampered to third. He didn’t stay there long. With Gelof, the next hitter, at bat, catcher Clal Raleigh couldn’t handle a low pitch, and Cameron scored on the resultant passed ball.

Estes was impenetrable for 70 pitches over six frames. JP Crawford’s first pitch leadoff double in the seventh broke the spell. Estes got one more out and gave way to Austin Adams, who walked Julio Rodríguez, got Raleigh to fly out to center, and hit France with a pitch to load the bases. That was it for Adams. In came TJ McFarland who got pinch hitter Mitch Garver to ground out to short on a 3-2 pitch.

The top of the eighth was a hairy inning for the A’s. Seattle’s first two batters, Mitch Haniger and Dominic Canzone, singled off TJ McFarland, who’d taken over mound duties for the green and gold. McFarland then fanned Moore and gave way to Mason Miller, who got Crawford out on a fly to left center and Rojas on a grounder to Gelof.

The once invincible Miller came out in the ninth to attempt a five out save. He went to a full count on the first batter, Rodríguez and then threw him a 102 mph four seam fastball. The Mariners’ center fielder sent the ball to center field, over the fence for a 402 foot home run, his fifth round tripper of the season.

The A’s lead had dwindled to 2-1. But Miller recovered and, after walking Raleigh, struck out France and got Victor Robles, who had replaced Garver, to ground into a game ending 6-4-3 twin killing. It was Miller’s 12th save in 13 opportunities.

Thursday the sixth, JP Sears (4-4, 4.01) will go for the A’s. (Unless, Mark Kotsay makes another inspired last minute decision). He’ll face Bryan Woo (2-0, 13). The first pitch is scheduled for 12:37.

Oakland A’s podcast with Augie Messenburg: A’s fall short in ninth edged by M’s 4-3 at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s Abraham Toro whacks an RBI single against the Seattle Mariners in the bottom of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Augie:

#1 Augie, the Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby had nine strikeouts in five innings picking up his first win in a month. It was a long wait but Kirby pitched well enough to hold back the Oakland A’s 4-3 for the win.

#2 The Mariners got enough offense to pull it off with three hits from Josh Rojas and Ty France picked up two hits and an RBI for two runs.

#3 The Oakland A’s Abraham Toro hit an RBI single and JJ Bleday had a good night at the plate with two hit singles in their best efforts to strike back at the Mariners.

#4 A’s manager Mark Kotsay said that the Mariners are one of the better pitching staffs in the American League. All things considered Kotsay felt they fought back but just couldn’t get the tying run around in the ninth.

#5 The Mariners will start RHP Logan Gilbert (3-3, ERA 3.29) and for the A’s RHP Joey Estes (1-1, ERA 6.10). The A’s are getting the pitching but once again they need to get some run production going.

Augie Mesenburg is a podcast contributor and MLB analyst at http://www.sportsradioservice.com and is a reporter at 1080 KWAI Honolulu

Mariners Give A’s double-vision in 4-3 win

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The Seattle Mariners base runner Luke Raley (20) is out while sliding underneath Oakland A’s second baseman Zack Gelof (20) who throws to first base for a top of the fifth inning double play at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Jun 4, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

The Seattle Mariners presented Manager Scott Servais with a 57th birthday gift Tuesday at the Coliseum, as the Mariners edged Oakland 4-3 before an announced crowd of 5,624.

Seattle held off a ninth-inning rally by the Athletics to improve its record to eight games above .500 (35-27) and raised it’s lead in the American League West to 5 1/2 games.

After a successful 6-1 homestead, the Mariners have won four games in a row and eight of their last nine.

Abraham Toro had a run-scoring single and JJ Bleday collected two base hits for the A’s, who have lost five of their last six games.

In the bottom of the ninth, Seattle reliever Andres Munoz threw a wild pitch that allowed to score. Munoz left the game with a possible injury, and Taylor Saucedo – the Mariners’ sixth pitcher – retired Brent Rooker on a comebacker for the final out and his second save.

The Mariners cracked four doubles off A’s starter Mitch Spence (4-3) in the third inning to build a 3-0 lead.

J.P. Crawford led off the Seattle third with double to right-center, Josh Rojas followed with a two-bagger over the head of A’s right fielder Seth Brown Ty France delivered a two-run double to right-center, and Luke Raley drove in France with the fourth double of the inning.

Rojas led the Seattle attack with three hits, followed by two from Raley. Rojas also drove in a run with an infield single.

Meanwhile, George Kirby (5-5) logged nine strikeouts in five innings for his first win in a month. He allowed two runs on six hits and a walk.

Off the diamond, the Athletics (24-38) transferred right-hander Paul Blackburn to the 60-day injured list (stress reaction – right foot), left-hander Sean Newcomb was reinstated from the 60-day IL, right-hander Vinny Nittoli was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas, and right-hander Aaron Brooks was outright to Las Vegas after being designated for assignment two days ago.

On Wednesday, Logan Gilbert (3-3, 3.29) starts for Seattle and Joey Estes (1-1, 6.10) is on the mound for the A’s.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s open three game series with Mariners Tuesday at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s hitter Max Schuemann is beaned by a pitch thrown by Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Morton in the top of the third inning at Truist Field in Cobb County on Sun Jun 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Braves took the early lead in the first inning when the ever dependable Matt Olson singled Marcell Ozuna home for a 1-0 tally.

#2 After the opening inning there was not a lot of offense for either team. Through six innings the Braves had only two hits and the A’s had a single hit.

#3 A’s starter Luis Medina went 5.2 innings allowing the two hits, 1 run, 2 walks with 6 strikeouts. He had a nice outing.

#4 Braves starter Charlie Morton did well in his own right pitching six innings, one hit, with six strikeouts. It was more a pitching match than anything.

#5 The A’s open up a three game series on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners will start George Kirby (4-5, ERA 4.08) the A’s will start Joey Estes (1-1, ERA 6.10) for a 6:45pm PT first pitch.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2024 Final season of the A’s at the Coliseum (Part III) -Pioneers in Promotions

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The Oakland A’s hosted a Hot Pants day at the Oakland Coliseum on Jun 27, 1971 when they hosted the Kansas City Royals. Such promotions today would not be approved in baseball. (photo from Amazin A’s Craze on X)

2024: Final season of the A’s at the Coliseum (Part III) -Pioneers in Promotions

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The Oakland A’s, under owner Charlie O Finley, were pioneers in promotions like very few teams in Major League Baseball during the decade of the 1970’s. Innovation in uniform colors and marketing as they had promotions that today would be considered “prohibited.”

During the 1970s, among what became popular were Disco music and Hot Pants (initially started by a women’s magazine). The Oakland A’s marketing was limited to very few popular promotions, like “ladies wearing hot pants to a game come in for free,” which was popular at the Oakland Coliseum. No team will dare to do such promotions today for obvious reasons.

During the next decade, the 1980s, the Oakland A’s continued their promotions tradition and became much more dynamic under the ownership of Walter Haas and with the great marketing guru Andy Dolich, who changed the face of sports team advertising through the Clio Award-winning “Billy Ball” campaign, which increases the A’s attendance from 800,000 to 2.9 million.

Dolich also created the business and marketing efforts in three consecutive World Series, 1988-89-90. The season attendance was also improved, and the season ticket base increased from 326 to 16,000.

Although Charlie O Finley was the first A’s owner with many innovations and promotions, not only the “Hot Pants Day at the Coliseum” but all his ideas to transform the game, the Finley front office was small. It was constrained, and attendance was challenging, even when the A’s won championships.

When 1980 came around, Walter Haas of Levi Strauss, one of the great American corporations founded in San Francisco in 1853, promoted the game and any team in Major League Baseball with a marketing strategy from Andy Dolich that made history in the Bay Area.

Promotions have always been in the DNA of the Oakland A’s, especially from the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Since then, and with various others, it has become much more like a “survival in Oakland thing” to keep fans coming to the park.

We who have lived during these few decades, the story of the Oakland A’s, from the 1970s until today, understand much better. In my book I believe the #1 promotion is winning, that will always bring people to the park, however, you also need a new facility in the case of the A’s and owners who understand and care about the Bay Area market.

Historical Note: The St Louis Browns (today the Cardinals) were among the first teams with “Ladies Days” promotions. As early as 1883, the team designated games where women were allowed to attend for free with a male escort. That was 36 years before June 4, 1919, when Congress passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Even though in 1883, women did not have the right to vote in the United States, the St Louis Browns did have a special day for ladies at the park.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Lose Series To Atlanta 3-1 Generating Little Offense

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Oakland A’s starter Luis Media pitches to the Atlanta Braves line up in the bottom of the first inning at Truist Park in Cobb County on Sun Jun 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (24-37) only managed two hits in the third game of their series with the Atlanta Braves (33-24). Two hits will not get you very far against a tough opponent. Oakland did tie up the game in the seventh inning when Zach Gelof hit a home run but no offense was generated by the A’s after the long ball losing the game 3-1.

Game recap: The Braves took the early lead in the first inning when the ever dependable Matt Olson singled Marcell Ozuna home for a 1-0 tally. After the opening inning there was not a lot of offense for either team. Through six innings the Braves had only two hits and the A’s had a single hit.

Luis Medina went 5.2 innings allowing the two hits, 1 run, 2 walks with 6 strikeouts. He had a nice outing and was relieved by Brady Basso to close the fifth inning facing the final at bat for Atlanta, a tough one in lefty Matt Olson. Basso got the job done as Olson grounded out.

Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton was pulled after six innings starting to struggle with too many balls and too many walks. He had walked five A’s and he was relieved by Dylan Lee in the seventh inning.

This was still anybody’s game and even more so in the seventh inning when the A’s had their first home run of the game off the bat of Zach Gelof and this game was tied 1-1. Conditions got a lot better when the rain had come to a halt and the ball park was soaked in sunshine to start the seventh inning.

The go-ahead run came when a pop- up ball in the seventh inning ended up landing on the line and Gelof was unable to catch it for the out. There was some confusion as to who would catch that pop-up and even if that ball was going to end up as a fair ball.

The hit landed on the line and enabled Marcell Ozuna to score breaking the tie and the Braves took a 2-1 lead. Atlanta did have the bases loaded but Austin Adams, who had relieved Brady Basso, got out of the inning minimizing the damage to just the one run.

Oakland was unable to tie up this game in the eighth, in fact, it was the Braves that got the insurance run they were looking for. They took a 3-1 lead when Ozzie Albies singled to right and J.P. Martinez scored. With two outs, Atlanta had the bases loaded threatening to add to their lead. Oakland relief pitcher Dany Jimenez got out of the inning and the A’s had one last inning to make some noise.

The A’s went quietly in the ninth inning with a Zach Gelof line out, a Kyle McCann ground out. and a Max Schuemann fly-out. The Braves had won the game 3-1 and the series.

Game recap: Sunday afternoon the A’s finished up their series with the Braves at a rainy Atruist Park as the Braves took the series. After a real slugfest Saturday that saw Oakland come out on top 11-9, the A’s were looking to win the series against the very tough Braves but just couldn’t finish the job and score as many runs like they did on Saturday. Medina pitched well enough giving up just giving up two hits for Oakland. The Braves Morton gave up only one hit for the win.

The A’s will now head back home with a day off on Monday before taking on Seattle Tuesday in a three-game series. Joey Estes will be on the hill for Oakland with a 1-1 win/loss record and a 6.10 ERA. The Mariners will send George Kirby to start with a 4-5 win/loss record and a 4.08 ERA first pitch 6:45pm PT.

A’s Bats Catch Fire Beating Braves 11-9

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By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s Miguel Andujar slugs a top of the first inning single against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Field in Cobb County on Sat Jun 1, 2024 (AP News photo)

The Oakland A’s (23-36) scored early and often in game two of their series with the Atlanta Braves (32-23). They led for much of the game winning the game 11-9. Max Schuemann and Miguel Andujar had four hits apiece in the game. They led by as much as 8-3. The Braves fought back scoring six runs in the fifth inning but the A’s held on for the win on Saturday.

Game recap: The A’s took the importance of scoring first to heart taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Daz Cameron doubled to left driving Shea Langeliers and Miguel Andujar home. It was a great way for the team to start a baseball game. Atlanta show some muscle of their own tying up the game 2-2 in the opening inning. Marcell Ozuna hit a home run with Austin Riley onboard and this game was tied.

The A’s took back the lead in the second inning scoring four runs and the Oakland bats were on fire. Max Schuemann got the inning started with a single that brought Zach Gelof home for a 3-2 lead. The home runs that were missing in Fridays game showed up in this one. Miguel Andujar hit a homer straight down center a three-run shot with Aledmys Diaz and Abraham Toro on base taking a 6-2 lead. The A’s were already having some quality at bats after only two innings.

Atlanta tacked on another run in the third inning but still trailing 6-3. Oakland struck again in the fourth inning with their second home run of the game off the bat of Brent Rooker with Max Schuemann on base and the A’s had extended their lead to 8-3. There was nothing that the A’s offense could do wrong so far in this game.

Atlanta had a huge fifth inning scoring six runs taking a 9-8 lead. The Braves Austin Riley singled Orlando Arcia home and Michael Harris II also scored on an Abraham Toro error. Marcell Ozuna singled Austin Riley home, Matt Olsen hit a two run homer and Adam Duvall singled Travis D’Arnaud home for the sixth run in the inning for an Atlanta lead their first in the game.

The A’s had some work to do trailing for the first time in the game. In the sixth inning Brent Rooker doubled, his second hit of the game, driving Miguel Andujar and Max Schuemann home taking back the lead 10-9.

This was an explosive offensive display by both teams. There were also some additional explosive moments in the sixth inning when manager Mark Kotsay was ejected from the game. Oakland would have to manage without their skipper for the remainder of the game. This ejection could have very well pushed the team onto this victory. They certainly did Mark Kotsay proud.

The A’s would be looking for some insurance runs in the latter innings of this game. In the eighth inning, Oakland got that insurance run when once again Miguel Andujar singled Max Schuemann home, now leading 11-9. Max Schuemann was 4 for 4 in the game, in fact, eight A’s had at least one hit in the game. In this back and forth game, besides Schuemann, Miguel Andujar also had four hits as both of these guys continue to shine bright.

It all came down to the ninth inning. Could Oakland hang onto the lead and come away with the victory? Closing A’s pitcher Dany Jimenez struck out the third at bat Adam Duvall and that was the ball game 11-9. The A’s finished this game with 16 hits in an amazing offensive effort.

Starting pitcher for Oakland Aaron Brooke finished 4.1 innings allowing seven hits, and seven runs. Atlanta starter Chris Sale also went four innings allowing nine hits, eight runs and strikeouts. The offensive effort from both teams were eating up both pitchers.

Game notes: Saturday afternoon game two between the A’s and the Braves got underway. Aaron Brooks started for the A’s although he gave up seven runs he did get help from the line up and the relievers preserved. Chris Sale was on the hill for the Braves pitched just four innings and the A’s drilled him for most their runs with eight.

The key of this game for the A’s was the offense and they were hitting the ball on the button on Saturday. The A’s scored twice in the first and four times in the second inning which gave the A’s a great chance winning in game two. The Braves have a deep offense as well as a solid defense. The win over Atlanta was very impressive indeed.

The rubber game of this series is scheduled for Sunday with first pitch at 10:35am PT. The A’s will start RHP Luis Medina (0-0, ERA 0.00) for the RHP Braves Charlie Morton (3-2, ERA 4.29) first pitch 10:35am PT.

Top of the 6th ejection of coach

8 for 16 with runners in scoring position