photo courtesy KRON 4 News San Francisco: KRON 4 News anchor Marty Gonzalez interviews Amaury Pi Gonzalez about being the only announcer in MLB to broadcast for two different teams the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Angels on the link below
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Today KRON4’s Marty Gonzalez interviewed a one-of-of-a-kind baseball announcer.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish language play-by-play announcer for the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim.
That’s right – Two different teams, two different cities, 500 miles apart.
You might be wondering, “how does he do it?”
Amaury says he broadcasts the home games for each team.
This means he’s radio play-by-play voice while the A’s are at home at the Coliseum, and when the Angels are at home he travels to Southern California to handle play-by-play duties for Fox Deportes.
Amaury has handled broadcast double duties before.
He was the Spanish language voice for the San Francisco giants and the Seattle Mariners for three years beginning in 2003.
Amaury has also broadcast Golden State Warriors games, the Super Bowl, and championship boxing matches.
Still, the native Cuban says beisbol remains his first love.
Oakland- The A’s and the Los Angeles Angels played a game that seemed to go on forever as it took four hours and thirty-eight minutes to finish. The Angels’ manager, Mike Scioscia, set an American League record by using twelve pitchers in the game. The A’s used eight. The 14,571 fans in the stadium saw the two teams use twenty pitchers, score twenty runs, three home runs by the Angels and the A’s had two by first baseman Matt Olson. There were over 400 pitches thrown in the game.
The A’s Chris Smith (0-4) was looking for his first win of the year.He was opposed by Parker Bridwell (7-2). Neither pitcher lasted long as the hitters on both teams were taking advantage of the warm and humid condition at the park on Labor Day.
The A’s jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The key hit was a double with the bases loaded by Khris Davis. For Davis, it was his 94th, 95th, and 96th runs batted in this season. Bruce Maxwell singled to drive in Davis with the fourth run of the inning.
The Angels tied the game at four in the top of the second. Kole Calhoun and Andreton Simmons singled to put two men on with one out. Smith served up a gopher ball to Angels’ third baseman Luis Valbuena. Valbuena’s homer was an opposite field homer to left field. Catcher Martin Maldonado followed with a solo homer to tie the game.
In the third, the A’s regained the lead when rookie first baseman, Matt Olson, hit his thirteenth dinger of the year to put the A’s back in the lead 5-4. Olson has been red-hot as it was his fifth homer in his last seven games.
In the top of the fourth, the Angels sent Chris Smith to the showers. Smith walked C.J.Cron to start the inning. Maldonado followed with his second blast of the day to up the Angel lead to 6-5. Brandon Phillips followed with a single. A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Smith from the game and brought in the big righty Simon Castro. Castro walked the first hitter he faced, and that was Mike Trout. The Angels then executed a double steal sending Phillips to third and Trout to second. Castro uncorked a wild pitch and Phillps scored. The veteran and future Hall of Fame player, Albert Pujols, singled to drive in Trout with the Angels eighth run of the game. Smith’s line was 3 and 1/3rd innings of work, and he allowed seven runs, seven hits, and three home runs. Smith has given up sixteen home runs in just 46 innings of work. The A’s scored a run in their half of the inning. Maxwell and Matt Chapman singled to start the inning. Scioscia went to his bullpen immediately and brought in the veteran Jesse Chavez. Chavez pitched very well last week when the A’s were in LA. He went four scoreless innings in that game. Maxwell scored on a ground out by Marcus Semien, and the A’s now trail the Angels 8-6 after just four. Bridwell’s line was three plus innings pitched and he gave up seven hits, six runs, and one home run.
The Angels plated a run in the top of the fifth, and the A’s got it back in the bottom of the sixth. The Angels lead 9-7 after six complete. There was no more scoring until the ninth inning. Scioscia brought in Blake Parker to close out the game for the Angels. With one out, Jed Lowrie singled. It was Lowrie’s third hit of the day. Parker struck out Khris Davis for the second out.It was the 21st straight game for Davis with at least one strike out. All Parker had to do was retire Matt Olson for the final out of the game. Olson had other ideas as he hit his second round tripper of the day and the A’s tied the game at nine to send the game into extra innings.
The A’s closer, Blake Treinen, pitched a scoreless tenth inning. The A’s did not score in the bottom of the tenth. Treinen’s luck ran out in the eleventh. He gave up walks to Justin Upton and Eric Young, Jr. Angel’s right fielder Kole Calhoun lined a ball into the corner in right field for a triple to drive in Upton and Young. The Angels lead 11-9 with the A’s coming up to hit.
Scioscia used three pitchers in the eleventh inning. Troy Scribner, Jose Alvarez, and Keynan Middleton were able to keep the A’s off the board. The game ended when Davis hit into a double play.
Game notes – Bob Melvin had this to say about Monday’s marathon:”We scored four in the first and lost the lead pretty quickly after that. We just couldn’t hold them down in early innings,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We continued to fight and, when you’re going through a little bit of a losing streak like that, it shows some grit. Would’ve been nice to finish it off.” Yes, it would have been nice. The A’s have been getting hitting during the losing streak but the pitching, starting, and bullpen, has been awful. Billy Beane and David Forst must address this issue if the A’s are going to improve next year. The A’s best pitcher has just nine wins. Graveman, Manaea, Cotton, Gossett, and Smith are not the solution. Paul Blackburn has shown promise, but he is done for the season. The bullpen needs to be rebuilt. The A’s lost three games during the streak that they possibly could have won. They lost 10-8 to the Angels, &-6 to Seattle, and 11-9 on Monday to LA again. The A’s scored enough runs to win, but the pitching was not there.
With the Twins loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Angels are just 1/2 game behind the Twins for the second Wild Card spot in the American League.
Game two of the three-game series will be at 7:05 pm Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Kendall Graveman with a record of 4-4 will pitch for Oakland and the Angels’ Garrett Richard (0-0), who has missed all of the season due to injury, will be making his first start.
The Oakland Athletics have a major problem to solve between now and the beginning of the 2018 season. They have to figure out how to win games on the road.
Winning at home has been a positive for the 2017 Athletics. They have posted a 37-31 record at the Coliseum this season. The Mariners who swept them this weekend have 37-32 record at home this year. The Athletics home record would make them competitive in any division in baseball.
The Athletics road record is where the team hits the wall at 100 miles per hour. With the loss on Sunday, Oakland is now 21-47 on the road which is the worst record in the MLB. Turning that trend around will not be easy with a team that is as young and inexperienced as the Athletics. They will have to learn the art of winning on the road.
That is all a part of the rebuilding process. If an organization commits to a true rebuilding plan, it involves pain. No one likes pain — owners, executives, coaches, players or fans. But simply put … there will be pain.
Seattle took charge early on Sunday
Mitch Haniger had a 4-for-5 day at the plate*
The Mariners jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Seattle added another run in fourth inning to take a 3-0 lead.
While the Mariners were scoring runs, their starting pitcher Andrew Albers was shutting the Athletics down. He allowed the A’s just one hit over the six innings he pitched. Matt Olson hit his 12th home run of the season off the first pitch Albers delivered to him in the sixth inning.
The M’s came right back and scored solo runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. The A’s added their second and final run in the top of the eighth when Matt Olson hit a single that drove Mark Canha home to make it a 5-2 game in favor of the Mariners.
Then came the disastrous bottom of the eighth inning. The A’s sent Michael Brady to the mound to hold the Mariners at five runs. Carlos Ruiz led off with a double to center field and Gordon Beckham was sent in as a pinch-runner. Jean Segura — who was on fire at the plate the entire series — bunted his way on base and Beckham moved up to third.
With the infield drawn in, Yonder Alonso (yes, another former Athletic) hit a single through the shortstop position as Semien moved toward second to cover the base runner. Beckham scored and Segura stopped at third.
Robinson Cano singled to right field which drove Segura home and moved Alonso up to second. Nelson Cruz singled to left which allowed Alonso to score and sent Cano to second base.
Pitching coach Scott Emerson made a visit to the mound to explain to Brady that no help was coming from the bullpen. The A’s have an afternoon game on Labor Day so they were not going deep into the pen when they were six runs down and there were no outs in the inning.
Kyle Seager singled to left field which allowed Cano and Cruz to advance 90 feet. Mitch Haniger grounded into a force out that erased Seager at second base but Cano scored and the bases remained loaded.
Ben Gamel grounded into a force out that allowed Nelson Cruz to score the fifth and final run of the inning for the Mariners. When the dust settled, Seattle held a commanding 10-2 lead which led them to their third consecutive victory.
Seattle is now just 2.5 games out of being a Wild Card team in the American League.
On the mound
Oakland
Daniel Gossett struggled in his start on Sunday*
Daniel Gossett made the start for Oakland and never was able to take control of the game. He worked 3.2-innings giving up three runs (all earned) off seven hits (one home run). Gossett walked five and struck five. He threw 89 pitches (49 strikes) to the 22 batters he faced. Gossett was tagged with the loss and now has a record of 3-8 for the season.
Liam Hendriks was strong in his 1.1-innings of relief work. He faced just four hitters allowing no runs on one hit and striking out one.
The rest of the A’s relievers broke the rule “Goose Eggs” in their three innings of work. All three relievers gave up at least one run when the goal is to give up no runs — a “Goose Egg”. Cassilla gave up one run, Moll allowed a run and Brady had five runs scored during his one inning on the hill. All seven of the runs allowed by the relievers were earned runs.
Seattle
Andrew Albers pitched six strong innings on Sunday
Andrew Albers did everything the Mariners hoped their starter would do on Sunday. He pitched 6.0-innings to make it a quality start allowing the A’s just one run (earned) on one hit (one home run). He walked one and struck five. Albers was credited with his third win of the year to go with just one loss.
Emilio Pagan relieved Albers and was credited with 1.0-inning of work. He did face one hitter in the top of the eighth. Pagan allowed one run on two hits but was credited with a hold (5).
Marc Rzepczynski took over for Pagan in the eighth and faced two batters giving up one hit.
Then it was “Goose Egg” time for the Seattle bullpen. Nick Vincent took over for Rzepczynski and shut the A’s down posting all zeros. Vincent was credited with his 26th hold of the season.
Shae Simmons worked the ninth in a non-save situation allowing no runs on one hit and striking out two Athletics.
In the batter’s box
Matt Olson hit his 12th HR of the year Sunday
Athletics
Matt Olson was the real story at the plate for Oakland on Sunday as he went 2-for-3 with two Rbi and a run scored. He hit his 12th home run and upped his Rbi total to 26.
The A’s had just five hits in the game. They had just one hit — Olson’s home run — in the first six innings.
The Athletics were 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position (notice the lack of opportunity) and left four runners on base.
Mariners
Robinson Cano was the man of the day with the bat going 4-for-5 with four Rbi and scoring two runs. He hit his 21st home run of the season — a two-run shot in the first inning — off Gossett.
Mitch Haniger also had a 4-for-5 day that included two Rbi and run scored. He hit his 10th home run and his 18th double of the year in the contest.
Jean Segura had a 3-for-4 day scoring three runs. He upped his doubles total to 27 and upped his stolen base total to 20.
The M’s scored 10 runs on 17 hits and left 10 men on base.
Seattle went 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
The Mariners and Athletics have three games left to play against each other in Oakland on September 25, 26 and 27.
Up next
The A’s come home for Labor Day to play a day game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at 1:05 p.m. Rookie RHP Parker Birdwell (7-2, 3.52) will start for the Angels while the Athletics will counter with RHP Chris Smith (0-4, 6.27) who is still seeking his first victory of the year.
The Oakland Athletics lost their fifth game in a row as they dropped a 7-6 decision to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night at Safeco Field. The A’s (58-77) have lost the first two games of the three game series in Seattle to the Mariners (68-68).
The game was tied 6-6 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The A’s sent Blake Treinen to the hill to hold the game at 6-6 and to take it into extra innings. That plan did not work out as intended.
Jean Segura led off the ninth inning for the Mariners and reached base safely on a fielding error by Matt Olson. Former Athletic Yonder Alonso then singled to right field which allowed Segura to move to third base. The A’s then decided to intentionally walk Robinson Cano to load the bases with no outs.
The M’s Nelson Cruz went down on strikes and the A’s followed that with a defensive substitution moving Matt Joyce to left field and inserting Boog Powell into center field while having Khris Davis exit the game.
Kyle Seager then flied out to left field for the second out of the inning. That left everything up to the Mariners Mitch Haniger. With the count at 1-1 to Haniger, Treinen threw a wild pitch that allowed Segura to scamper home giving Seattle the walk-off win 7-6.
A’s manager Bob Melvin did not see the pitch as a wild pitch in a quote given to Reuters. “He (Treinen) gets himself a position to get out of it, we don’t handle the ball behind the plate and it costs us the game,” said Melvin.
Oakland blows a big lead
Matt Joyce hits his 21st home run of 2017*
The A’s let another solid lead be eroded on Saturday night. Oakland scored individual runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Seattle came back and scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 2-2.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Mariners made a pitching change. Seattle pulled their starter Yovani Gallardo and sent Casey Lawrence to the mound. The A’s capitalized on that change.
Matt Chapman led off the inning by grounding out to first. Bruce Maxwell then drew a walk. Marcus Semien then hit his 13th double of the season off Lawrence that moved Maxwell up to third base.
Matt Joyce came to bat with runners at second and third. He hit a three-run home run (21) off Lawrence to give the A’s a 5-2 lead.
Jed Lowrie was the next hitter and he drew a walk. After a visit to the mound by the pitching coach, Khris Davis stepped into the batter’s box and hit a double (24) to left field and moved Lowrie up to third base. That would be the end of the game for Lawrence as he was removed and replaced by reliever Ryan Garton.
Ryon Healy was the first Athletic to face Garton. He hit a fly ball to center field that would be caught by Jarrod Dyson but Lowrie was able to tag up and score the A’s sixth run of the game. Davis was able to advance to third base on Healy’s sacrifice fly.
Matt Olson flied out to left fielder Ben Gamel in foul ground to end the inning.
That would be the end of the scoring for the Athletics in the game. Seattle would add two runs in the fifth inning, one in the sixth, one in the eighth and then the final winning one in the bottom of the ninth.
It is tough to win when you allow your opponent to score five unanswered runs and take away your four-run lead.
On the mound
Oakland
Jharel Cotton started the game for the A’s and lasted four innings. It was the long-ball that did him in on Saturday night. Cotton gave up three home runs in his four innings of work which resulted in four Seattle runs (all earned). He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out one.
The Athletics used six relievers to finish the final five innings. Combined they gave up three runs (one earned) off three hits while walking two and striking out five. They also gave up one home run. It was not a picture perfect “Goose Egg” night by any means.
Treinen was charged with loss and his record fell to 1-4 for the season.
Seattle
Yovani Gallardo did not have a quality start for the Mariners. He lasted just three innings on Saturday night giving up two runs (all earned) off five hits. Gallardo walked two, struck out two and gave up two home runs.
The Mariners relief corps had an odd night. Lawrence lasted just 0.1-inning while giving up four earned runs of three hits. After he left the game, the Seattle bullpen settled down and did its job.
The Mariners final three relievers did their job almost to perfection. They posted the coveted “Goose Eggs”. They gave up 0-runs. Over those final 5.2-innings, the three Seattle relievers allowed just three Athletics to reach base.
In the batter’s box
Athletics
The A’s hit three home runs in the game. Bruce Maxwell (3) and Khris Davis (37) each hit solo shots. Matt Joyce (21) hit a three-run blast in the fourth inning.
Two A’s went 2-for-5 in the game — Marcus Semien and Khris Davis. They both scored a run and Davis had an Rbi.
Matt Joyce went 1-for-3 in the game with two walks, a run scored and three Rbi. His one hit was a home run.
The glaring stats of the night for Athletics offense has to be that they were just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and that they left nine men on base in the game.
Mariners
Mariners catcher Mike Zunino hits a home run*
Shortstop Jean Segura led the way for Seattle against the A’s on Saturday night. He went 3-for-5 in the game with two Rbi and two runs scored.
Former Athletic Yonder Alonso had a nice against his old mates as he went 2-for-4. He scored two runs, had two hits and had one Rbi in the game.
The M’s catcher Mike Zunino also had a good night with the bat. Zunino went 2-for-3 scoring two runs and adding one Rbi.
Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 at the plate posting two Rbi and scoring one run.
Up next
The Athletics and Mariners will close out this three-game series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. PDT.
The A’s will send rookie RHP Daniel Gossett (3-7, 5.21) to the hill. Gossett took the loss last Monday night in Anaheim against the Angels.
The Mariners will counter with LHP Andrew Albers (2-1, 4.20). Albers came to Seattle from the Braves in a trade last month.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto reacts after recording the last out of the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
By Matt Harrington
SAN FRANCISCO– The San Francisco Giants used nine different pitchers on Friday night against the St Louis Cardinals, the Giants came out with a three run burst in the bottom of the second and added two more in the bottom of the third and had a 5-2 lead at AT&T Park. Giants starter Johnny (Baseball) Cueto was sailing along until the top of the sixth when he was lifted for Steven Okert. Cueto left the ball game going five plus innings, four runs, two earned runs and a strike out.
The Giants had used including Cueto a total of nine pitchers and seemed like an inflated number as much so as the all time temperature high of 106 degrees in San Francisco history. The Giants also are faced with reliever Mark Melancon having surgery after the season. This was a known fact after Melancon’s last start and Melancon who pitched in Friday night’s game will have surgery regarding his pronator strain but should be ready next spring.
Oakland A’s notes: The A’s continue getting tortured they have now lost every game on this current road trip with two more games left. Friday’s loss wasn’t comforting at all losing to the Seattle Mariners 3-2 behind the effective pitching of Mike Leake who comes over to Seattle from St Louis. Leake held Oakland scoreless over six innings after giving up two runs to start the game.
A’s starter Sean Manaea put in a great effort giving up three runs in the bottom of the third and that was all the M’s were going to get but the A’s bats couldn’t get any production going. For Manaea 6 2/3 innings, seven hits, three runs all earned, walked and struck out three. Manaea drops his record to 9-9. The A’s continue this current trip at Safeco Field Saturday night Jharel Cotton (7-10) gets the start for Oakland and the Mariners Yovani Gallardo (5-10) will start for Seattle a 6:10PM first pitch.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Mike Leake throws to the Oakland Athletics during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
By Eric He
The Oakland A’s dropped their fourth straight game in a narrow 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. The A’s tried to shake M’s pitcher Mike Leake held to just two runs in what was considered a pitching duel on Friday night. Leake came into the ball game with a season ERA 7.32 over eight starts.
Leake had command after the A’s scored twice off him early in the game the A’s opened up the contest scoring two runs with singles by Marcus Semien and Matt Joyce on a double from Jed Lowrie. After the first inning offensive bid Leake was in control shutting out the A’s over the next six innings. The A’s slide with the bat continues scoring runs in just four times in 36 innings. “We score a couple and then in the third, we get first and second with nobody out and hit into a double play,” A’s manager Bob Melvin told AP News. “Then after that, (Leake) started finding the corner a little bit more than the middle of the plate. He has a lot of movement on all his pitches and we knew that going in. We made him throw the ball over the middle of the plate in the first three innings, and then he got better after that.”
With the win the M’s gained a game on the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card race cutting the lead to just 3.5 games but the M’s need to continue their winning ways if they’re going to catch the Twins by over taking other teams in the race. Leake in Friday’s contest looked like a season veteran in control and the Mariners in the thick of the race will be depending on Leake with Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez and Jim Paxson out with injuries.
Leake said the A’s showed they were going to take care of business early and Leake had to find his control after struggling early and bared down, “They showed they were going to be pretty aggressive today,” Leake said. “So I had to make a pretty quick adjustment. I started locating my fastball. … One thing that’s been difficult for me is being able to put guys away. The fact I was able to do that tonight was nice.”
The A’s and M’s do battle in game two of this three game series at Safeco Field a 6:10PM first pitch Saturday night
Oakland Athletics Left field Khris Davis (2) looks on in the dugout during an MLB game between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on August 30 2017 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
By Amaury Pi Gonzalez
The obvious similarity between these two teams, is that they are both going to finish in the cellar. Also, the play15 miles apart separated by a few bridges in the same area.
The Athletics are in the top ten of the American League(#6 today) in home runs, the Giants can’t hit home runs and are very close to the bottom in that department. One of the “secrets” is Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics left-fielder has hit more home runs between 2016 and this season that anybody else in the major leagues. He hit 42 in 2016 and is close to hitting about the same this season.
Defense is not close. The Athletics have committed more errors than anybody in both leagues, while the Giants fielding this season still respectable.
The Athletics can play six rookies rookies in any given moment in a starting lineup as they have done this season. The Giants are an old club, who will have to get some younger talent in the near future to compete with Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Rockies, all who had improved greatly. Pitching.
The Giants still have Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Mike Moore and Jeff Samardzija, although none of them is in the race for a Cy Young Award this season, they are established starters, overall not having a very good year. The Athletics have Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea,who are big league starters, while the rest of the rotation is constantly flying between AAA Nashville and Oakland all season long. Bullpen. The Athletics began with a decent bullpen with a few guys that had closed games like Santiago Casilla, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. Only Casilla remains, so they will still be looking for their closer of the future, if nobody steps up, Casilla will try to do the job.
Giants last season needed a closer and they got an expensive one in Mark Melancon, but he has been in the DL a few times, and some of the other guys are not yet established, so they have work to do also in the off season when it comes to their relievers.
Speed. The Athletics had Rajai Davis, until recently when he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox. Rajai led the American League in steals(42) last season with Cleveland. When Rajai left the A’s so did the stolen bases for the A’s. Giants are not a team that is going to beat you with their speed. I consider this a draw. Attendance. Giants. Mid July their National League record of sellouts of 530 consecutive games ended. Since 2000, (except 2008 and 2009 seasons)the Giants have over 3 million per year. The Athletics need a new ballpark to even think they can have a record of that sort.
World Series. The Athletics won 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989. The Giants 2010, 2012, and 2014. So there the Athletics still lead by one.
Happy and Healthy Labor Day weekend!
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio talent, the LA Angels Spanish TV talent, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin walks off the field after relieving relief pitcher Daniel Coulombe during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
By Jerry Feitelberg
When it rains it pours not in literal sense for the Oakland A’s but things on the current road trip have been rockey needless to say and after dropping their sixth straight road game the A’s want to get back into the win column after losing a tough contest in Anaheim on Wednesday night. The Angels who swept the A’s in three straight Wednesday was the toughest night. After an A’s eight run route that later went down the tubes in the top of the fourth the Angels made a five run come back in the bottom of the seventh to take the A’s in a two run victory.
The A’s bullpen no doubt the A’s will have a overhaul in the off season and A’s manager Bob Melvin will be taking a look at what he has now and what he can add later. The starting rotation could use the once over a few times and former Oakland A now Angels shortstop Chad Pennington hit his first career grand slam off A’s reliever Chris Hatcher who surrendered the slam in relief.
Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea works against the Texas Rangers in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
by Jerry Feitelberg
Seattle- The Oakland A’s are on their way to Seattle to face the Mariners for three games starting Friday night. The Mariners are in free fall right now and are in a state of desperation as they must right their ship if they hope to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 season. The Mariners have lost five in a row, and seven of the last ten games played as they have fallen four games behind the Minnesota Twins in the race for the second Wild Card spot in the American League.
The M’s won the first game of the series against the Yankees but lost the next two games. They then had the misfortune of having to play the red-hot Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore and lost all three games. If they have any hope of making the playoffs they have to sweep the A’s this weekend. The A’s are looking to rebound from a three-game sweep by the Los Angeles Angels. Oakland would love to upset the Mariners’ plans.
The pitching matchups for the weekend will feature Sean Manaea vs. Yovani Gallardo Friday night. Manaea is 9-8 and has been pitching better lately. Gallardo is 5-10, but he did beat the A’s earlier this year. Jharel Cotton will go for Oakland on Saturday, and he will be opposed by lefty Andrew Albers. Cotton has completed six innings in his last four starts and beat the Rangers last Sunday. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter in that game. Lefty Andrew Albers, acquired from the Atlanta Braves earlier this year, won his first two starts but lost to the Yankees in his last outing allowing eleven hits and eight runs, only three were earned as the M’s committed five errors in the first inning of that game. Daniel Gossett goes for Oakland on Sunday, and the M’s will use another lefty, Marco Gonzalez. Gossett pitched well for Oakland Monday night against the Angels, but it wasn’t good enough as he absorbed his seventh loss of the year. Gonzalez came to the M’s from the Cardinals and is 0-1.
The A’s are letting the young players show what they can do as the team enters the final month of the season. Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Chad Pinder, Bruce Maxwell, Boog Powell have all made contributions to the Oakland attack. Ryon Healy, in his second year, is having a good year and these young guys look to be the future of the franchise. The A’s, if they are going to be contenders in the future, need to shore up both the starting rotation and the bullpen.
The A’s pitchers will be facing a Mariner team loaded with veterans. They also have several former Athletics on their roster. They Include first baseman Yonder Alonso and Danny Valencia. Both of these players would love to beat their old team. The A’s pitchers will have to deal with Robinson, Cano, Jean Segura, Kyle Seager, and designated hitter Nelson Cruz. Cruz has feasted on Oakland pitching in the past and hopes to continue doing damage this weekend. Other players to watch are Ben Gamel, Jarrod Dyson, Leonys Martin, and Mike Zunino.
The A’s want to end the season on a high note and what could be better than taking the series from Seatte this weekend?
