Category: Oakland Athletics

The A’s meet the Rangers for the last time this season starting Friday

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Texas Rangers Carlos Beltran watched the flight of his home run against the Los Angeles Angels Wed Sep 21 as Angels catcher Carlos Perez watches in the fifth inning at the Ball Park in Arlington. Beltran will be in Oakland to face the A’s on Friday night.

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, tied for last in the AL West with the Los Angeles Angels, host the first-place Texas Rangers for a three-game set starting Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s want to be spoilers as they can throw a monkey wrench into the Rangers’ hopes for the best record in the AL. The Rangers lead the Boston Red Sox by just one game for the best record. The Beantown boys have won eight in a row sweeping a four-game series from the Yankees at home last week and have done the same to the Orioles this week in Baltimore.

The Rangers, managed by Jeff Banister, would love to sweep the A’s here in Oakland and get a little revenge for losing two out of three to the A’s last week in Texas. The Rangers have two players that have been to the World Series but have never won a championship. Carlos Beltran and Adrian Beltre have thirteen All-Star appearances, seven Gold Gloves, 5,543 hits, 862 dingers, 3097 ribbies and zero World Series rings. The Rangers will be sending their best hurlers to face the A’s this weekend. Cole Hamels, their ace, will pitch Friday night. Yu Darvish, whom the A’s pounded last weekend and is 2-8 against Oakland, goes on Saturday and Colby Lewis throws on Sunday. Lewis loves to pitch against Oakland and usually owns the Green and Gold but as they say in baseball” you never know.” The A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman, Raul Alcantara, and Jharel Cotton.

The Rangers have a lineup with hitters that can knock the stuffing out of a baseball. Beltran and Beltre head the list. They also have had production from second baseman Rougned Odor, shortstop Elvis Andrus, and Jurickson Profar who can play several positions and first baseman Mitch Moreland. Ian Desmond has had a terrific season coming to Texas as a free agent. Desmond had a hard time finding a club but he found a home in Arlington with the Rangers. His average is .287 and has banged twenty-two balls out of the yard so far to go along with eighty-four RBIs. Other outfielders are Nomar Mazara and Carlos Gomez. The Rangers signed Gomez after he was released by the Houston Astros and he has played much better since coming to the Rangers.

Jonathan Lucroy obtained at the trade deadline from Milwaukee, anchors the catching and he had shown the AL the reasons why he was on several All-Star teams when he was in the National League. The Texas bullpen has been stout, and closer Sam Dyson has recorded thirty-five saves. Matt Bush and Jake Diekman have played a huge role in the bullpen’s success, too.

The A’s, as mentioned earlier, would love nothing better to upset the Rangers’ apple cart. The A’s young guns Ryon Healy, Joey Wendle, Brett Eibner, Matt Smolinski, Bruce Maxwell along with veterans Stephen Vogt, Danny Valencia, Marcus Semien, and Khris Davis will be giving their all to defeat the Rangers. A’s manager Bob Melvin would like nothing better than to sweep the Rangers and then head to Los Angeles and Seattle to end the season. The young guys will be playing for next year, and the vets want to show the A’s that they are worth keeping.  Lots to play for this weekend.

 

Oakland A’s Wednesday game wrap: The Astros complete the sweep, beat the A’s again 6-5

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Houston Astros line up for their high five after sweeping the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon

OAKLAND–Last week, everyone was excited about the play of the A’s on the road as they won six out of seven and sent baseballs flying into the stratosphere. This week, the A’s have come back down to earth and are just an ordinary sub .500 baseball team as they lost their third straight game to the Houston Astros Wednesday afternoon 6-5. Each game was close but each time the guys from Houston came away with the win. With the victory, the Astros moved into a tie with the Detroit Tigers just one game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second Wild Card slot. The Astros trail the Toronto Blue Jays by two games for the first spot.The Wild Card race tightened a bit as Toronto lost to Seattle and Boston beat the Orioles again.

The A’s one in the first to take a 1-0 lead.The Astros countered with one in the fifth and three in the top of the sixth to give them a 4-1 lead. Oakland got a run back in their half of the inning to trail by two 4-2. Houston scored another run in the seventh, and the A’s put two on the board in the bottom of the frame. Houston lead 5-4 and they increased the lead to two in the top of the eighth. The A’s scored an unearned run in the ninth, but the game ended when Astros’ catcher Jason Castro threw out Arismendy Alcantara at second base. Bob Melvin asked for a review, but the call was sustained, and Houston completed the sweep.

Game Notes – The hitting stars for Houston were Evan Gattis and Carlos Correa. Gattis slugged two dingers and hit the thirty homer mark for the year. Correa had two hits and one ribbie. Daniel Mengden started for the A’s and took the loss. His record for the year is now 2-8. Astros’ starter Collin McHugh won his fifth straight decision, and his record is now 12-10.

The A’s are off on Thursday. Play resumes Friday night at the Coliseum when the A’s and Rangers play the final three home games of the season. The A’s end the season next week with stops in Los Angeles and Seattle. Friday’s game with feature Kendall Graveman pitching for Oakland and the Rangers’ ace, lefty Cole Hamels, will go for Texas.

 

 

A’s lose 2-1 in 10 innings, fail to back Manaea’s strong start

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manaea-in-a-groove

By Morris Phillips

The A’s offered a few things on Tuesday night—the final home start for a promising rookie starting pitcher, a kooky play and the resulting controversy, an ejection rooted in passion, competitive play and free parking—but offense was not one of them.

Three hours of baseball, 10 innings, three base hits.  Those three singles allowed the A’s to hang around, but the Astros prevailed, winning 2-1 in extra innings.

Sean Manaea made his second start following a stint on the disabled list, and the rookie was as good as he’s been all season, locating his fastball, finishing hitters with a nasty cutter and a changeup, and showing—once again—that he’s a big piece of the team’s future.

Manaea went six innings, allowing three hits while striking out seven.  He worked briskly, offering first pitch strikes to 12 of the 22 batters he faced.

But the offense wasn’t present to support Manaea.  Coming off their best road trip in more than two years, filled with offense, the A’s have laid eggs in their return to the Coliseum, going the final six innings scoreless on Monday, and the final four empty on Tuesday.  In all, the A’s have dropped five in a row at home.

“Unfortunately, that’s just part of the game, the ebbs and flows that come with it,” Ryon Healy admitted.  “We go on a road trip and we score endless amounts of runs and the offense is always there and you come home, and we scored three runs in the last two nights.  So definitely tough, but something we have to bounce back from and keep pushing forward.”

The Astros kept their faint post-season hopes alive with the win, and long reliever Chris Devenski was a big part of that.  In relief of starter Joe Musgrove, Devenski pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit, a period in which the Astros pushed across the tying run.  After Devenski denied the A’s in the ninth, the Astros won it when George Springer singled, chasing home teammate Tony Kemp.

In the third inning, players, coaches and umpires were scratching their collective heads, when Jake Marisnick appeared to beat out a bunt, a play intended to move up Teoscar Hernandez, who led off the inning with a base hit.  Marisnick, upon a review that was blessed with a couple of excellent replay angles, was called out on Yonder Alonso’s ever-so-slight swipe tag.

But during the play, Hernandez inexplicably stepped off first base and was also tagged out by Alonso—after Marisnick was declared safe—an act that the umpire’s interpreted to be forgivable in that Hernandez was reacting to the initial, overturned call.  When the umpires conferenced and allowed Hernandez to remain at first base, A’s manager Bob Melvin issued a formal protest.

“I’m just trying to cover my bases, once we got out of the inning, I rescinded it,” Melvin said.  “I don’t know how you can get in the head of a runner and say what he was thinking on that play.”

Jose Altuve, the clear, front runner for AL MVP honors, picked up his 200th hit of the season in the eighth inning.  Altuve became the first player to accumulate 200 hits in three consecutive seasons since Ichiro Suzuki finished 10 consecutive seasons of 200 hits in 2010.

Danny Valencia had enough of home plate umpire Marty Foster and his shifting strike zone after striking out in the ninth.  Foster ejected Valencia when he too forcefully expressed his feelings about the subject.  The A’s right fielder hitting cleanup was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

The A’s conclude their series with the Astros—they’ve now dropped seven straight to their division rivals—on Wednesday afternoon.  Rookie Daniel Mengden will face his hometown team in a matchup with Houston’s Collin McHugh.

 

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Davis has a shot at getting the all time A’s season home run record

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AP file photo: Oakland A’s Khris Davis dives back into the bag before the Texas Rangers Jurickson Profar can apply the tag in a double play attempt last Sunday Sep 18th at the Ball Park in Arlington

On the A’s podcast, the A’s Khris Davis is a couple years away from being in a arbitration situation and when they traded for Davis and made a move for him in the off season it was Khris with a K and big deal, this guy has been the surprise guy of the season he really has. Davis has come out and played with abandon. You talk about 40 home runs for the season.

This isn’t the first guy for the Oakland A’s to hit 40 home runs in a season since 2000 when Jason Giambi did it and when you think about it that’s pretty heavyweight company. Davis isn’t over with yet he’s got 12 games yet to go and he has a chance to put another three to five home runs up on the board yet. He has 99 RBIs so he’s sure to go over a 100 in that category as well.

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

A’s offense disappears, rookie Cotton denied in quiet 4-2 loss to the Astros

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high-cotton

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Whatever got into the A’s last week on the road didn’t follow them back to Oakland.

Marwin Gonzales knocked in a pair of runs in the ninth, breaking a 2-2 tie, and the Astros went on to beat the A’s at the Coliseum, 4-2 on Monday night.  After scoring 65 runs on their just completed 6-1 road trip, the A’s metaphorically lost their luggage, offense in tow, managing just three hits in dropping their third straight at home.

The dramatic drop in offense at the Coliseum—the A’s are scoring a full run less at home than they are on the road—falls squarely in the team’s under-utilized tool box, a function of a young team trying to find their identity, optimally as closely aligned to the tenets of Moneyball as possible, but currently not aligned at all.  These young A’s don’t draw walks, don’t hit particularly well deep in counts, and they don’t excite their home crowd with the necessary offense to win games.

Nonetheless, they’re showing signs.  Rookies Ryon Healy and Bruce Maxwell both homered on Monday with Maxwell’s his first as big leaguer.  Healy’s seemingly gotten all his firsts out of the way, hitting .381 after his home run Monday, the highest batting average of any American Leaguer in the month of September to date.  Second baseman Joey Wendle hit .375 on the just completed road trip.  And Khris Davis, no true youngster at 28 and completing his third full season at the big league level, has hit 40 home runs for the first time in his career.

But Davis needs work: improved defense, and a need to figure out what those Houston scouting reports say about him.  Of his 40 homers, only one has come against the Astros, and he’s hitting just .129 against the division rival after his 0 for 4 on Monday.

On the mound, rookie Jharel Cotton provided more hope for the A’s future on Monday.  Cotton’s third big league start was much like the first two: eye-opening and impressive.  With manager Bob Melvin closely monitoring his workload, Cotton went six innings, allowing two hits and a walk.  The 24-year old acquired in the Josh Reddick trade had the Astros flailing and frustrated due to his trademark cutter and 12-6 curveball.

“He’s locating all his pitches, his changeup in any count, and his curveball was probably better today than we’ve seen it,” Melvin said.  “He pitched great.”

But Cotton wasn’t around when the game was decided, Ryan Madson was, and the reliever found out how difficult it is to navigate Houston’s two most dynamic hitters—Jose Altuve and Carlos Correia—with the game in the balance.

After tying the game in the eighth, the Astros struck again in the ninth with Altuve punching a Madson offering racing towards his hands into right field for a leadoff single.  Then Correia displayed his considerable experience hitting behind the AL’s top hitter, a guy who’s seemingly always on base, by punching a ball through an exaggerated hole created partially by Wendle breaking to second base as Altuve looked to steal.

That set up the Astros with runners on first and third, no outs.  Then Evan Gattis was walked to set up a force at home, according to Melvin, again a measure to combat Altuve and his speed.  Then Gonzales delivered the game-winner on the first pitch from Madson, which he sent straight up the middle against the A’s drawn-in infield.

Former Athletic Luke Gregerson picked up the win by working out his own jam in the eighth.  Gregerson, working deliberately as always, induced a ground ball out from Danny Valencia stranding pinch-runner Arismendy Alcantara at third.

Houston’s win kept them alive in a crowded AL Wild Card picture where they trail Baltimore and Toronto by three games, with the equally desperate Tigers and Yankees in between the Astros and one of the two spots held by the Orioles and Jays.

The A’s look to make a better statement in their final week at home of the season on Tuesday.  Sean Manaea will attempt to pick up his seventh win in a matchup with Houston’s Joe Musgrove.

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Davis needs three more to tie all time season franchise record for home runs

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AP file photo: Oakland A’s Yonder Alonso (17) and Marcus Semien celebrate Khris Davis’ (right) 40th season home run on Sunday against the Texas Rangers at the Ball Park in Arlington on Sunday

On the podcast with Jerry, The Oakland A’s are sure as glad they have control of A’s catcher Khris Davis for next season. Davis impressed needless to say with 40 homers thus far after hitting one in Texas on Sunday to join the A’s franchise 40 club now second to the all time season holder Jason Giambi who has 43. Things didn’t start out very well for Davis in the season he was striking out 30-40% of the time.

Davis is the first Athletic to hit that 40 homer mark since Giambi did it in the 2000 season. The last person as you know that came close was in 2006 when “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas was in the running for the A’s. He went over the century mark in RBIs. So it’s been a totally productive season for Davis whose been playing very well and swinging the bats just as well.

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

 

Oakland A’s Sunday game wrap: Davis reaches 40-home run mark, A’s beat Texas again 5-2

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, September 18, 2016

AP photo: Khris Davis (right) and Ryon Healey (48) get pumped up for the Oakland A’s after Davis’ two run homer in the eighth inning off Texas Rangers pitcher Keone Kela at the Ball Park in Arlington

It was a big day for Oakland’s Khris Davis; not so good for the Texas Rangers.

Davis reached the 40-home run plateau in Arlington, Texas, with a pair of round-trippers on Sunday, leading the Swingin’ A’s past the Rangers 5-2.

The red-hot Athletics have won six of their last seven games, while Texas has lost three of their last four. The AL West-leading Rangers, however, still have the best record in the American League.

Davis’s 40 homers is the most for an Oakland player since Jason Giambi belted 43 in 2000. Ten of those home runs have come against Texas pitching – the most by any Rangers opponent this season.

Davis hit a solo homer off Rangers starter Colby Lewis (6-3) in the fourth. He added an insurance home run in the eighth, a two-run shot in the eighth.

Ross Detwiler (2-3) worked 5 2/3 innings to get the win. Detwiler held Texas to two runs on five hits. Ryan Dull got his third save of the season.

Detwiler gave up RBI singles by Delino DeShields and Ian Desmond, both in the third inning.

Joey Wendle led off the game with a home run for Oakland. The A’s took the lead for good in the sixth, when Marcus Semien tied the game with a bases-loaded walk off Lewis. Renalto Nunez followed with a fielder’s choice grounder, giving the A’s a 3-2 lead.

The A’s have 60 runs in their last six road games, the most for an Oakland team on a six-game road span since 2000. Oakland returns home to start a three-game set against Houston on Monday. After a day off, the Athletics finish their final home stand of the season when the Rangers visit the Coliseum.

A’s rout Rangers 11-2, Alcantara gets first major league win

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By: Eric He

AP photo: Oakland A’s starter Raul Alcantara fires a pitch at the Texas Rangers on Saturday night at the Ball Park in Arlington on the way to his first win of 2016

Raul Alcantara recorded his first major league win as the A’s crushed the Rangers 11-2 on the road on Saturday night.

Alcantara, in his third career start, pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three. He had plenty of run support, as the A’s clubbed three homers — two of them 3-run shots — to put the game away early.

The first batter of the game, Joey Wendle, homered to set the tone. The A’s jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the second inning, and then Marcus Semien clubbed a 3-run big fly to left field in the fifth to give Oakland a 7-0 advantage.

Danny Valencia provided the A’s with their third homer of the night. The A’s lit up Rangers’ starter Yu Darvish, who gave a seven runs to tie a career-high. He was out dueled by the rookie Alcantara, who manager Bob Melvin said had to be confident.

“I know he feels good about the outing, and it gives you a lot of confidence going forward, knowing you can pitch against a lineup like this and have some success,” Melvin told MLB.com.

With both teams taking a game in this three-game set, the rubber match to decide the series will be Sunday at 12:05 PST. Ross Detwiler will take the mound for the A’s and he will oppose the Rangers’ Colby Lewis.

Oakland A’s Friday night wrap: A’s Streak Ends on Rangers Walk-off Win

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: The Texas Rangers Jonathan Lucroy connected for a single that scored two runs gets a post game dousing from teammates Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor (12) as Oakland A’s reliever Ryan Madson is pinned for the loss at the Ball Park in Arlington

The Texas Rangers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning of A’s closer Ryan Madson for a walk-off win, snapping Oakland’s four-game win streak in the process. Jonathan Lucroy singled in a pair of runs to give the Rangers (88-60) a 9 ½ game lead over Seattle in the American League West. Khris Davis hit a two-run homerun for the A’s while Brett Eibner knocked in four runs including a solo homer.

The A’s (64-83) held a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning but the Rangers scored 5 unanswered runs to give Madson (5-6, 3.43 ERA) his 7th blown save of the year. Madson coaxed a ground out from Ian Desmond to open the inning, then gave up a double to Carlos Beltran. Beltran was lifted for pinch-runner Delino DeShields who advanced to third on a wild pitch. Adrian Beltre walked to put the winning run on base, then had Joey Gallo replace him on the base paths.

Gallo swiped second while Madson struck Rougned Odor out, moving the winning run into scoring position with two outs. Lucroy, a trade deadline acquisition, took Madson’s first offering, a 94 mile-per-hour fastball down the third base line for the winning hit. Sam Dyson (2-2, 2.62)  wound up the winning pitcher after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth.

The A’s jumped on starter Cole Hamels, scoring three runs in the top of the 4th. With Danny Valencia running on the pitch, Davis ripped a 2-2 offspeed offering to the opposite field in right for his 38th homer of the season. It’s the highest single-season total by an Athletic since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas went yard 39 times in 2006. Eibner would also single in Ryon Healy in the frame.

The Rangers would score two runs off Oakland starter Kendall Graveman in the bottom of the fifth, but after Eibner would let loose his 6th big fly of the season with Danny Valencia and Stephen Vogt on base for a 6-2 lead. The Rangers would plate two more runs off Graveman in the bottom of the sixth, then pull within one run after Carlos Gomez took Ryan Dull deep for his 10th homer of the season, a solo blast to make it 6-5 A’s.

One positive for the A’s came in the top of the sixth. Rookie Renato Nunez singled up the middle off Cole Hamels for his first career hit. If he’s in the line-up tomorrow, he’ll look to support fellow rookie Raul Alcantara in picking up his first win. The A’s will have to go through Rangers ace Yu Darvish in order to do so.

 

Royal pain: A’s pound the Royals again 14-5 and sweep the four game series

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s third baseman Ryon Healy (48) celebrates the four game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with Matt Olson (back) Thursday night at Kaufman Stadium

Kansas City, Mo – The Amazin’ A’s swept the four-game series with the Kansas City Royals as they pounded them again 14-5. The A’s, without question, played the spoiler role as they just about ended any hope that the Royals may have had about making the playoffs this year. The Royals, defending World Series Champs, did not look like the team that won the AL Pennant in 2014 and the World Series crown last year. The A’s manhandled their pitching as they outscored the Royals 43-12 in the series. The A’s starter, Daniel Mengden, pitched effectively Thursday night, and he recorded his second win of the season. Mengden went seven innings and allowed no runs and just three hits. He struck out six and did not walk a single batter. J.B. Wendelken pitched a scoreless eighth inning and lefty Dillon Overton was roughed up for five runs in the bottom of the ninth. Bob Melvin had someone warming up just in case, but Overton was able to get the final out of the game.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the second to start the ball rolling. With two out, Ryon Healy and Marcus Semien hit back to back doubles for the score. The A’s continued to attack the offerings of Edinson Volquez as they plated five more runs in the third. Joey Wendle singled. Volquez walked Danny Valencia to put men on at first and second with no out. Stephen Vogt doubled down the right field line to drive in both runners. After a walk to Yonder Alonzo, Ryon Healy hit a mammoth home run to put the A’s in the lead 6-0. Healy’s ball traveled an estimated 480 feet.

The A’s scored three more times in the fourth. Vogt drove in a run when he walked with the bases loaded. Khris Davis doubled to drive in two more and Royals’ manager Ned Yost removed Volquez from the game trailing 9-0. The A’s continued the onslaught. They added two more in the sixth when Vogt unloaded with a man on board to up the lead to 11-0. The A’s hitters kept blasting away and sustained the night of torture for the Royals and their fans when Marcus Semien hit his twenty-fifth of the season with two men on to make it a 14-0 game.

The Royals score five times in the bottom of the ninth but it was too little, too late and the A’s completed their first sweep of a four-game series since 2012 when they turned the trick against the Cleveland Indians

Game Notes- Hitting stars were Joey Wendle, Stephen Vogt, Ryon Healy, Khris Davis and Marcus Semien. Wendle had four singles in six tries. Vogt had a double, RBI walk and a home run. Healy had a double and a monster three-run dinger as did Marcus Semien. The A’s had just one three-run dinger in September until this series with the Royals. They had four in this series.

The A’s travel to Arlington, Texas where they will play the Texas Rangers over the weekend. The Rangers own the best record in the AL, and they will not take the A’s lightly as they want to have home-field advantage throughout the playoff. Kendall Graveman will pitch for Oakland Friday night and the Rangers’ ace, lefty Cole Hamels, will try to shut the suddenly potent A’s offense down. The game will start at 5:05 PM PT.