Category: Oakland Athletics

Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz tips his hat to fans as he leaves in the ninth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Oakland Athletics on Friday, June 30, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

On the MLB Podcast with Matt:

Last Friday night was a just a tough night for the Oakland A’s in general, they were nearly no hit by Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz and he was dealing there’s no doubt about. There is no other way to look at it other than he was dealing. He was commanding high in the strike zone, he was getting strike outs, he was getting weak pop ups. Normally a pitcher is throwing a no hitter into he ninth inning there’s been maybe one or two fielders but for the most part the Braves have two former Gold Glovers in the outfield of Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte.

The Braves really didn’t make a lot of web gem plays and as the you got deeper and deeper in that game it felt like the A’s were going to get no hit and that was what was going to happen. It was really a battle with Foltynewicz with his pitch count which was starting to be an issue when he getting into the 90s in the seventh inning and his arm might fall off before he can get into the eighth inning and that’s what really happened. Foltynewicz had the confidence to finish the game but he ran out of gas before giving up that ninth inning homer to the A’s Matt Olsen to lose the no hitter.

Matt Harrington does the MLB Podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz works against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 30, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND–Sonny Gray had his best start of the season Friday night against the visiting Atlanta Braves, but Mike Foltynewicz fired the best game of his career, one-hitting the Oakland Athletics for eight innings in a 3-1 win. Matt Olson homered with no outs in the bottom of the ninth to break up the no-hitter and shutout in one swing. Rookie Dansby Swanson knocked in the lone run off Gray while Oakland reliever Sean Doolittle let in two runs on RBI hits by veterans Brandon Phillips and Matt Kemp. Ex-Athletic closer Jim Johnson nailed down his 17^th save of the year. Oakland continued its streak of being the team with the longest streak of avoiding being no-hit, a streak since 1991.

Foltynewicz (6-5, 3.83 ERA) was dealing, striking out 8 A’s hitters while coughing up just the one hit. He walked four A’s, but managed to work around the baserunners. He entered the ninth with his pitch count at 110, but a full-count battle with Olson resulted in a deep homer to the bleachers in right on a two-seam fastball from the 25-year-old.

With his starter’s pitch count at 119, interim manager Brian Snitker took the ball from Foltynewicz, handing it to Johnson for the save. Johnson allowed one hit before finishing up the game.

For Oakland, Gray’s eight innings of work were stellar in their own right and would normally have accounted for a win for the homer-happy A’s. Gray only struck out four but was highly effective, firing 62 of 98 pitches for strikes. He allowed only two hits, but they came in the same inning. Gray gave up a leadoff double to Johan Camargo to open the third, then Swanson doubled him home with one out to take a 1-0 Atlanta lead.

The Braves tacked on two insurance runs for the then-unhittable Foltynewicz off Doolittle in the ninth inning. Ender Inciarte scored from first on Brandon Phillips’ one-out double, then Phillips came around to score on Matt Kemp’s line drive single for a 3-0 lead at the time.

The young A’s will be tested Saturday when R.A. Dickey takes the hill Saturday for Atlanta, with many of the younger players getting their first looks at a knuckle ball. With Steven Wright of the Red Sox injured, this will be the first taste of the knuckler the A’s will get this year. The Green and Gold send Antioch native Paul Blackburn to the hill to oppose Dickey. Blackburn will be making his major league debut after going 5-6 with a 3.05 ERA for Triple-A Nashville.

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jesse Hahn walks to the dugout after being pulled from the baseball game during the third inning against the Houston Astros Wednesday, June 28, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s had five homers on Wednesday but fell short of a victory 11-8 and Khris Davis is heating up again for Oakland he hit two home runs he’s a very streaky hitter and he’s got 21 homers for the season and he put the A’s ahead 5-4 and that was the only time Oakland had a lead. Unfortunately that would have been enough in most games to win. The A’s had eight runs on five solo homers to go along with Davis’ other home runs.

The relief pitching and Jesse Hahn just didn’t have it on Wednesday night. Hahn was pounded last week on Thursday with ten runs in two innings. Wednesday night he went two plus innings and gave up six runs to nine hits and Josh Smith came in and the Astros pounced on him and he gave up four more runs.

Jerry does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Houston- The Oakland A’s concluded their six-game road trip to Chicago and Houston Thursday as they fell to the Astros 6-1. The A’s won four of the six games and are 8-6 in their last fourteen games. Against the Astros, however, they are 2-10 for the season and have seven games left to play against this very talented team. The Astros, doormats in the AL West a few years ago, have been built into a possible World Series Championship team by Jeff Luhnow.

The Astros started the rebuilding process by signing Jose Altuve. Altuve is just 27 years old and is at the top of his game. The Astros drafted George Springer and Carlos Correia. Correa is one of the best shortstops in the game and Springer is a force in the outfield. He usually plays in right field, but the Astros often move him into centerfield.

The Astros signed former A’s standout, Josh Reddick as a free agent and he had a great series as he tormented his former team in this series. Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Evan Gattis, Jake Marisnick, and Alex Bregman have all made contributions to this team as they have run ramshackle over the entire American League so far this year.

The A’s, who are now going with younger players as they try to rebuild the team. They gave the Astros a fight as they won the first game of the series, slugged it out in the second, and lost on Thursday afternoon to another former Oakland Athletic, Brad Peacock. Peacock beat his former team twice in the last 10 days, once in Oakland and Once in Houston. Peacock’s line was five innings pitched, two hits, allowed, one run while he struck out seven and was a bit wild as he walked six. The A’s Daniel Gossett didn’t pitch poorly but the Astros 22-year old superstar, Carlos Correa took him deep twice and drove in four runs to send him down to his third loss of the season.

Oakland scored first in the game in the top fo the fourth inning. The A’s loaded the bases with no out and were hoping to get a couple of key hits to get a jump on this very potent Astro team. Brad Peacock, with one out, was able to get Adam Rosales to ground into a fielder’s choice. Ryon Healy scored on the play and Peacock retired the next hitter to escape with very little damage. The Astros scored twice in their half of the inning to take the lead for good. Josh Reddick doubled with one out. Gossett retired the ever-dangerous Altuve for the second out, but Carlos Correa connected on a 3-2 pitch that went over the wall in right-center-field. The Astros are ahead 2-1 after four complete.

Gossett started the sixth inning but couldn’t get anyone out. Josh Reddick led off the frame with a single. Altuve doubled off the wall in right-center-field to drive in Reddick with Houston’s third run of the game. Gossett had to face Correa once again, and Correa won the battle as he hit a monster shot that went way over the 409-footoot mark in centerfield to make it 5-1. Gossett was finished for the day and A’s manager Bob Melvin brought Liam Hendricks in to pitch. The Astros scored another run in the seventh as they won the game 6-1.

Game Notes- The Astros bullpen shut the A’s down the last four innings of the game allowing them no runs and just three hits. Chris Devenski pitched the sixth and seventh, left Reyman Guduan the eighth, and James Hoyt the ninth.

The A’s return home for a six-game homestand against the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox. The Braves are just a couple of games under the .500 mark and appear to be on the upswing. The A’s swept the Chisox in Chicago last week, and they hope to do the same next week when the series starts on Monday.

The A’s will send Sonn Gray to the hill Friday night, and he will be opposed by the Braves’ Mike Foltynawwicz. Gray is 3-3 with an ERA of 4.45.  The right-handed Foltynewicz is 5-5, and his ERA is 4.10. On Saturday, Jharel Cotton goes for Oakland and his opponent will be the 42-year-old veteran knuckleball master, R.A. Dickey. Dickey, who won a Cy Young Award a few years ago, has won six and lost five.

The series finale on Sunday will feature Lefty Sean Manaea, who at 7-4, is the A’s most consistent and reliable starter this season. Julio Teheran, with a record of 6-6, will pitch for Atlanta. After the A’s finish the series with the White Sox, they travel to Seattle for four games with the Mariners then have four days off for the annual All-Star game which will be played in Miami. The A’s first baseman, Yonder Alonso, probably will represent the A’s at the mid-season classic.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Houston-The Houston Astros showed the A’s why they have the best record in baseball as they pounded Oakland pitching for 17 hits and snapped Oakland’s four-game win streak as they downed the A’s 11-8. A’s starter, Jesse Hahn, was hoping to rebound from a very poor outing last week when the Astros pounded him for ten runs in just two innings of work. Hahn did not have it again Wednesday as he went two-plus innings and gave up six runs on nine hits. Josh Smith didn’t fare much better as he was rocked by the Astros for three more in the third. The A’s didn’t quit, but the Astros answered every challenge and their bullpen shut the A’s down in the 8th and 9th innings.

The Astros’ George Springer, leading off the bottom of the first, hit a rocket into the right field seats give Houston an early 1-0 lead. The Astros, who clobbered Hahn last Thursday in Oakland, scored the second run of the inning on a double by Jose Altuve, an infield single by Carlos Correa and Brian McCann singled to drive in Altuve. Hahn was able to escape with no further damage, but he had to throw 30 pitches in the inning. The A’s Khris Davis sent a ball into the stratosphere leading off the second inning to make it a 2-1 game.

The Astros scored two more on three hits and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second.With one out Nori Aoki singled. He went to third on a booming double to left field. Our old friend, Josh Reddick, hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Aoki. The next hitter, Jose Altuve, singled to drive in Springer with Houston’s fourth run of the contest.

In the third inning, the A’s scored four times to take a 5-4 lead. Singles by Jacob Brugman, Matt Joyce, and Jed Lowrie produced the first run in the inning for Oakland. Khris Davis, who homered his first time at-bat, homered again when he took Paulino deep into the Crawford Boxes. It was his third two-homer game of the season and his 21st  dinger of the year. The Astros, in their half of the inning, had six hits and tallied five runs to regain the lead 9-5. Hahn was lifted after giving up singles to McCann and Beltran. Hahn had a rough outing last week against Houston, and the Astros continued to pound him. Josh Smith came into the game, and he couldn’t hold the Astros down. The Astros sent ten men to the plate in the inning.

The A’s Ryon Healy hit his 19th homer leading off in the fourth, and Matt Olson homered in the sixth to trail by just two runs 9-7. A’s manager Bob Melvin is hoping that his bullpen can keep Houston from scoring and the team will be able to rally. The Astros kept the pressure on the A’s as they score their tenth run of the night in the bottom of the sixth.

Both teams continued to hit the ball in the seventh. Jed Lowrie hit a solo homer to make it  10-8 but the Astros continued to hit the A’s pitching. John Axford, now pitching for Oakland, gave up hits to Yuli Gurriel and George Springer. Josh Reddick had another hit to drive in Gurriel to up Houston’s lead to 11-8 with two out. Michael Brady, now pitching for the A’s struck out Jose Altuve to end the inning.

Houston’s Luke Gregerson retired the A’s 1-2-3 in the eighth The Astros’ closer Ken Giles retired the side to record his 18th save of the year. The Astros snap the A”s four-game win streak by a score of 11-8.

Game Notes- The A’s hit five home runs in the game, but four were solo jobs. The A’s also struck out 17 times. The A’s used five pitchers and Astros manager A.J.Hinch used six. The line score for Houston was 11 runs on 17 hits and no errors. The A’s had 8 runs on 8 hits, and they did not commit a miscue.

George Springer and Josh Reddick were the hitting starts for Houston with three hits apiece.

A’s first baseman, Yonder Alonso, had to leave the game when he fouled a ball off his knee and he dropped to the ground in a tremendous amount of pain. After the game, Bob Melvin said the Alonso suffered a bone contusion but did not know when Alonso would return.

Time of game was three hours and thirty minutes and 34,705 people watched the Astros pound the A’s.

Oakland Athletics’ Ryon Healy (25) is congratulated by Jed Lowrie (8) after hitting a grand slam against the Houston Astros during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Houston- The Oakland A’s won their fourth game in a row, all on the road, as they beat the Houston Astros 6-4 Tuesday night. The A’s, who had lost eight of nine so far this year and fifteen of the last seventeen against the Astros, finally found the recipe for success. The young A’s, behind a solid performance by Sean Manaea and the hitting of Ryon Healy, gave manager Bob Melvin reason to smile. The A’s have now won eight of the last twelve and are now seven games under the .500 mark with a record of 35-42 and are three games behind the Seattle Mariners for fourth place in the division. They no longer have the worst record in the American League as things have gone south for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

The A’s manufactured a run in the top of the second inning. Astros’ starter, Mike Fiers, hit Khris Davis with a pitch. Davis stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell singled to drive in Davis, and the A’s had an early 1-0 lead. The Astros had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the second. Marwyn Gonzales singled with one out. Center fielder Jake Marisnick, who has hit A’s pitching very hard this season, doubled off the left-center field wall. Gonzalez, who should have been running with two out, was held at third. Manaea escaped damage when he struck out George Springer to end the inning.

The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Springer led off with an infield hit. Jose Altuve then singled to center to put men on at first and second with no out. Manaea, pitching very carefully to Carlos Correa, walked him to load the bases. The next hitter, Evan Gattis, who also has tormented the A’s ever since his arrival in Houston, hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Springer scored to tie the game. Manaea retired the next batter to escape any further damage.

The A’s rallied in the top of the sixth to score times. Matt Joyce and Jed Lowrie singled to get things started. Khris Davis popped out for the first out. Fiers walked Yonder Alonso to load the bases. Fiers retired the next hitter and now had to face Ryon Healy. With the count 3-2, Healy hit a big fly to right field that went over Springer’s glove into the seats for a grand slam. If Dave Niehaus were alive, the call would have been something like this:”Get out the mustard and rye bread, Grandma, it’s a grand salami.” It was Healy’s 18th round-tripper of the year and his first career grand slam.

The A’s added a run in the eighth on doubles to extend the lead to 6-1. Ryan Madson relieved Manaea with two outs in the sixth. He closed out the sixth and seventh innings for the A’s. Sean Doolittle did the same in the eighth. Melvin brought in Liam Hendriks to pitch the ninth and things did not go well for him. Hendriks did not retire a hitter as he gave up three runs on three hits. The big blow was George Springer’s 22nd home run of the year for Houston. Melvin brought in his closer, Santiago Casilla, and Casilla got the job done as he was able to finish off the Astros.

Game Notes- Sean Manaea’s record in now 7-4 for the year. Manaea went 5 and 2/3rds innings and allowed just one run, but he did allow a season-high nine hits.Houston’s Mike Fiers came into the game having been 4-0 with an ERA of 1.72 in his last five starts. His last loss came on May 20th.

Jharel Cotton is supposed to pitch for Oakland on Wednesday. However, Cotton developed a blister on his right thumb in his last start and may not be available. The A’s announced that shortstop Marcus Semien is on a rehab assignment at Single-A Stockton. It is estimated that he will need 35 to 50 at-bats before he can come off the DL. There is no word on the status of Kendall Graveman or Andrew Triggs at this time.

Game two of the three-game series will be Wednesday at 5:05 pm at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea works against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

On the Oakland A’s Podcast with Charlie O:

1) The A’s are coming off a sweep of the White Sox in Chicago and now they head to Houston, just where do they stand?

2) What about the Astros, where are they in the standings?

3) Who will pitch in the opening game on Tuesday night?

4) Who are the probable starters for Wed & Thu ?

5) Is it true that the scouts were out in Chicago to look at Sonny Gray?

6) What about the injury situation? Any update from the MASH tent?

7) You say Stephen Vogt has landed on his feet after being released by the A’s

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Jake Marisnick (L) of the Houston Astros celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run homer during the second inning in a 12-9 win over the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum in California on June 22, 2017. The Astros extended their winning streak to four games. (Kyodo via AP Images) ==Kyodo

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s swept three games from the Chicago White Sox this past weekend in the Windy City. In fact, the A’s last three series have all been sweeps. They swept four from the Yankees, were swept by the Astros, and the sweep over the Chisox. The A’s have an off-day on Monday before going to Houston to play the Astros who lead the AL West with a record of 52-25.

The A’s, who are in the midst of a youth movement, have are 7-4 in their last eleven games and are 34-42 overall. The A’s have brought up Matt Olson, Jaycob Brugman, and Franklin Barreto to go along with  Chad Pinder, Ryon Healy, Matt Chapman, and Bruce Maxwell. Pinder and Chapman are currently on the DL, but the others are making their presence felt, and they are giving the long suffering A’s fans hope that the team is on the way up. Barreto was four-for-ten in the Series in Chicago. Olson had two homers in Saturday’s game, and Brugman, Barreto, and Olson hit their first big-league home runs in the same game. It was the first time that happened since 1914.

The A’s are following the playbook of the Houston Astros. That playbook was to draft good young players and bring them up to see what they could do. As the team became better, the Astros added solid veterans to beef up the hitting. Most of their pitchers were home grown, and then they sought out relievers from other clubs to strengthen the bullpen Luke Gregerson came from Oakland, and they got Ken Giles from Philadelphia.

The Astros were terrible the first year in the AL West. The A’s beat them sixteen times in 2013. The one-star player they had at the time was Jose Altuve. Since that time, they have added Carlos Correa, George Springer, Marwin Gonzalez. They have also added veteran players such as catchers Evan Gattis and Brian McCann. The Astros signed former A’s outfielder, Josh Reddick, and former Yankees DH Carlos Beltran. Both these veterans give the Astros more thump in the lineup. The Astros starting pitching has had some injury problems but Lance McCullers is back and former Cy Young Award winning pitcher, Dallas Keuchel, should return soon. Keuchel will be in contention for the award again this year as he was having a good year before he was injured.

The A’s will send lefty Sean Manaea to the hill Tuesday night. Manaea was 5-0 in his last six starts before losing to Houston at home last Wednesday. Mike Fiers will pitch for Houston Tuesday night. Fiers is 4-0 with an ERA of just 1.72 in his last five starts.Jesse Hahn starts on Wednesday for the A’s. Hahn was rocked for ten runs last Thursday in Oakland. Hahn hit Houston’s leadoff hitter, George Springer with a fastball and that seemed to unnerve Hahn.

The Astros will counter with David Paulino who also beat the A’s last week. Thursday’s finale will feature Jharel Cotton going against Brad Peacock. Cotton picked up his fifth win of the year beating the White Sox last week. There was a sour note as Cotton had to leave the game in the sixth inning with a blister on his right thumb. Brad Peacock, who also picked up a win against Oakland las week, will handle the pitching chore for Houston.

The A’s, who have woeful on the road this year, really played well in Chicago as they won three straight on the road for the first time this year. The Chicago White Sox, however, are not the Houston Astros. If the A’s win two out three, the confidence will be there knowing that this team is on the rise. Let’s hope that the young men waering Green and Gold end the road trip on a high note.