Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Butler signs with Yankees for MLB minimum salary: A’s on the hook for this and next season’s contract

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AP file photo: Former Oakland A’s designated hitter Billy Butler will get paid the Major League minimum salary from the New York Yankees for this season and from the A’s $11 million next season. Butler is seen here swinging against Cleveland pitcher Josh Tomlin in Cleveland on July 30th

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:  The New York Yankees who are contention for a playoff spot signed Billy Butler the former A’s designated hitter for the Major League minimum. The A’s Butler’s former team are tightfisted in spending money and it was a surprised that their going to eat a season and a half of recently released Butler’s contract worth $11 million. As they have been over the years the A’s are just keen to eating a player’s salary. To owe Billy Butler $11 million in the season coming up and to have jettison him and to say “hey were just not going to need you” and let him go was not surprising, it was totally shocking.

There were a couple of things about that that stood out to me and the least of those were the fact that the A’s general manager David Forst said “were going with youth movement.” The A’s are going to go with the youth movement, your going to see less and less of the “let’s pay the older guys” coming in and give them big dollars for a couple of years or three years.

Meanwhile the Yankees who have improved since the All-Star break and the departure of Alex Rodriguez who retired add Butler to their line up for power at designated hitter. Butler was signed primarily to face left handed hitters as the Yankees are scheduled to face three left handers over the next four days. This will mean that Butler who had no chance at seeing post season with the A’s will have a better chance at seeing the playoffs with the Yankees who are just two games back in the wild card and four games back for first place in the AL East.

Charlie O has your A’s headline coverage each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s Wednesday game wrap: The A’s do it again, beat the Royals in shut out fashion 8-0

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell congratulates A’s pitcher Chris Smith (56) after shutting out the Royals 8-0 at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City

Kansas City, Mo- The new kids on the A’s roster are opening eyes all around the league as the A’s won their third game in a row as they shutout the Kansas City Royals 8-0. The A’s, coming off a 3-6 homestand against the Red Sox, Angels, and Mariners, are looking like an entirely different team. The Royals, who were fighting for the second Wild Card slot, were licking their chops hoping to either sweep the A’s or take three out four from them. However, they play the games on the field, and the A’s have won the first three games of the four-game series and are delivering a severe blow to the Royals’ chances.

Lefty Sean Manaea made his first start in sixteen days as he was not able to pitch due to a shoulder injury. Manaea pitched well. He went five innings and allowed no runs and gave up just three hits. A’s manager Bob Melvin took him out after the fifth even though Manaea’s pitch count was low. The Royals’ Yordano Ventura took the loss. Ventura went just four and one-third innings and allowed five runs, seven hits and walked four. Ventura had over 100 pitches before Ned Yost removed him from the game.

The A’s drew first blood in the first inning. Joey Wendle singled. Danny Valencia walked. Ventura uncorked a wild pitch, and the runners advanced to second and third with no out. Stephen Vogt was safe on a fielder’s choice. He hit a sharp grounder to Royals’ first baseman Eric Hosmer. Hosmer threw a strike to Salvador Perez who tagged Wendle out on a close play at home. Khris Davis walked to load the bases. Yonder Alonso singled to drive in Valencia and Vogt to put the A’s up 2-0.

The Oaktown boys plated three more runs in the third. With two out, Alonso and Ryon Healy singled. Marcus Semien drove both of them in with a double to deep right field. Catcher Bruce Maxwell singled to drive in Semien and the A’s now own a 5-0.

There was no more scoring until the top of the eighth. Oakland scored three more times to put the game out of reach. The A’s bullpen of John Axford, Liam Hendricks, and Chris Smith kept the Royals scoreless, and they allowed the Royals just one hit in the last four innings of the game. The A’s win 8-0.

Game Notes- Sean Manaea notched his sixth win of the year and the first on the road.The A’s line score was eight runs on thirteen hits and no errors. The line for KC was no runs, four hits, and one error.

Daniel Mengden will pitch for Oakland Thursday night, and Edinson Volquez will hurl for the Royals.Game time will be at 4:10 PM PT.

The A’s travel to Arlington, Texas to face the Rangers over the weekend. They return home on Monday to start the final homestand of the year. The play three with the Astros and then three more with the Rangers.

 

 

Someone take the Cotton out of the Royals aspirin bottle: The A’s come from behind, beat the Royals again 5-4

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Jharel Cotton throwing in the second inning had all his pitches going against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Kaufman Stadium

Kansas City, Mo- The Oakland A’s scored four times in the top of the eighth to beat the Royals 5-4 Tuesday night. Jharel Cotton, making his second big league start, pitched well again. He pitched five and two-thirds innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. Two of the runs were unearned. He had command of his fastball, curve, and changeup. The Royals’ starter, lefty Danny Duffy, also pitched very well. Duffy went seven and one-third innings, and he was charged with three runs on just three hits. Unfortunately for Duffy, two of the hits were solo homers by Davis and Healy.

The Royals scored twice in the fourth, but the A’s cut the deficit to one in the fifth when Khris Davis hit a solo home run. For Davis, it was his thirty-seventh of the year and his ninetieth RBI of the year. The Royal scored their third run of the game in the sixth and sent Cotton to the showers.

Duffy was in control until the fateful eighth inning. Ryon Healy hit his ninth dinger of the year to make it a 3-2 game. Duffy walked the next hitter, and he was done for the night. Brett Eibner singled off reliever Matt Strahm to put men on at first and second with one out. Royal manager Ned Yost brought in Joakim Soria to pitch. Bob Melvin sent in Yonder Alonso to pinch-hit. Alonso came through with a booming double to center field to drive in Joey Wendle and Brett Eibner. Marcus Semien singled to left, and Alonso scored when Alex Gordon, a four-time Golden Glove winner, bobbled the ball. The A’s lead 5-3 after eight.

The Royals scored a run in the bottom of the ninth when A’s closer committed a balk with a runner on third. Madson faked a throw to third and wheeled to first and picked off the runner. However, baseball ruled that move was illegal and is now a balk. Madson gathered himself and retired Eric Hosmer on an unassisted play at first by Alonso. Final score 5-4 for Oakland.

Game three of the four-game series will be played Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City at 4:10 PM PT.

Lefty Sean Manaea will pitch for Oakland, and Yordano Ventura will start for KC.

Time of game was 2 hours and fifty-six minutes. 29,673 people watched the A’s beat their beloved Royals for the second night in a row.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s get good and mad after getting swept and take it out on Royals

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On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry, the A’s Ryan Madson took the loss against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in a one run defeat after starter Raul Alcantara pitched a much improved game at the Oakland Coliseum. Alcantara pitched 5.2 innings the only home run he gave up was to the Mariners catcher Mike Zunino. Alcantara had several strike outs, one walk, to one hit batter.

It was quite a contrast from his first performance. Alcantara came in with an ERA of 15.00 and it dropped down to about 7.00. He was pitching very well. A’s manager Bob Melvin was very pleased with his performance. You have to remember the game he started where he hit three players was his first game ever in the major leagues.

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

 

 

The A’s win a laugher, pound the Royals

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s Marcus Semien and Joey Wendle (52) celebrate win over the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium on Monday night

Kansas City, Mo- Who are these guys? They can’t be the A’s that played at the Coliseum last weekend. Those guys went 3-6 on the last homestand, and the opposing teams scored ten runs or more in four of those games. The guys wearing Green and Gold  Monday night pounded Royal pitching as they scored sixteen times and had seventeen knocks in the game and beat the defending champs, the Kansas City Royals, 16-3.

There was no scoring until the top of the third inning. The A’s Khris Davis hit his team-leading thirty-sixth home run of the season with two men aboard. He hit the ball about 447 feet. There was no doubt about it leaving the park. The lead didn’t last long as the Royals tied the game at three in the bottom of the third.

The A’s scored three more in the fourth.Singles by Bruce Maxwell, Brett Eibner and a sac fly by Joey Wendle sent Royals’ starter Dillon Gee to the showers. Ned Yost used three more pitchers in the inning, and the A’s scored two more to make it a 6-3 game. The A’s added a run in the fifth and then put the game away when they scored five times in the sixth. The big blow was struck by Marcus Semien. Semien had not homered since early August. It was a three-run job and his twenty-fourth of the season. The A’s own a huge lead 12-3. The A’s added four more in the ninth to win 16-3.

Game notes- A’s starter, Ross Detwiler pitched just four innings. He had a 1-2-3 first, but the Royals had baserunners in the next three innings, and he had a high pitch count. Lefty Daniel Coulombe pitched the fifth and sixth inning. He did not allow a hit and struck out five. Zach Neal pitched the last three innings of the game and earned a save. Coulombe was the winning pitcher, and Dillon Gee took the loss.

Every A’s hitter in the starting lineup had a hit Monday night. Joey Wendle, Danny Valencia, Ryon Healy, and Bruce Maxwell had two hits each. Stephen Vogt had three hits and two RBIs. Khris Davis and Marcus Semien hit three-run dingers.

Game two of the four-game series will be played at 4:10 pm Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The A’s will send Jharel Cotton to the mound, and lefty Danny Duffy will go for the Royals.

31,061 fans saw the A’s club their heroes into submission.

 

A’s offense absent again as the Mariners sweep at the Coliseum

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By Morris Phillips

AP photo: The Oakland A’s pitcher Raul Alcantara put out a much better start but couldn’t get in the win column against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–Raul Alcantara was all over the place in his big league debut on Labor Day.  He left a far more focused and lasting impression on Sunday, but it didn’t result in a win as the A’s were swept by the Mariners, losing 3-2.

No A’s pitcher had walked three guys and committed a balk in a game in the team’s history in Oakland.  In fact, the churning record books revealed that the embarrassing feat hadn’t been done since 1930 when Howard Ehmke had a meltdown.

Ehmke’s poor game came at the end of a 16-year big league career, and less than a year year after he started Game 1 of the World Series and struck out 13 in a complete game win, then considered a stroke of genius by manager Connie Mack to start a nearly forgotten veteran who hadn’t pitched in more than a month leading up to Game 1.

For Mack, the decision to start Ehmke was one of the biggest moves of his legendary managerial career.  For Ehmke, it was redemption for an aging pitcher that had a solid, but below-the-radar career to that point.

After winning the Series that year, the A’s brought Ehmke back for the 1930 season, but after his meltdown performance, he was released less than two months into the season.

While Ehmke’s meltdown was his swan song, the A’s maintained that Alcantara’s was beginner’s nerves for an emerging pitcher that had figured it out at the minor league level after a brief, but eye-popping stint at AAA Nashville.  On Sunday, the organization’s instincts proved correct in Alcantara’s six plus innings of work in which he allowed seven hits and was hurt only by Mike Zunino’s two-run homer in the second inning.

“I think his stuff his really, really good, it’s definitely an indication of what we thought and what I thought coming into this week it would be,” catcher Stephen Vogt said.

It may have been Vogt’s decision to throw Zunino a second slider in the at-bat that may have been a bigger mistake than Alcantara’s in throwing the pitch.  Even to that point, the Dominican pitcher had shown his fastball-change combo was electric, according to Vogt.  Afterwards, Zunino said seeing the slider a first time allowed him to react quicker to it the second time.

The hanging slider was crushed, ending up in the left field seats, more than 400 feet from the plate.

But the rest of the afternoon would be partially frustrating for Mariners’ hitters who compiled 12 hits, but couldn’t come up with the big one in a game that remained tied 2-2 from the second inning to the ninth.

In the ninth, Zunino struck again with a leadoff double, and Ketel Marte delivered the winning run with a single off Ryan Madson scoring pinch-runner Ben Gamel.

Offensively, the A’s had another frustrating afternoon, compiling six singles and Brett Eibner’s RBI triple in the second inning.  The A’s as a team have the second lowest batting average in the American League, and had scored just 39 runs in their previous 14 games before Sunday.

The Mariners have won five straight, while the A’s fell to a season-worst 22 games below .500.

On Monday, the A’s travel to Kansas City with Ross Detwiler facing the Royals’ Dillon Gee.

BUTLER RELEASED: The A’s parted ways with designated hitter Billy Butler before Sunday’s game, a surprising move given that he had nearly $10 million remaining on his contract for the remainder of this year, and next.  But Butler continued his regression at the plate that surfaced at the conclusion of his lengthy career in Kansas City, hitting .258 with 19 home runs in 236 games in Oakland.

Did Butler’s physical confrontation with teammate Danny Valencia in the team’s clubhouse last month factor into the decision?  The A’s say no, but it’s hard to believe that given the team’s emphasis on chemistry after last year’s team was considered less than cohesive.

 

 

 

 

The A’s have released Billy Butler

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s Billy Butler hits a sacrifice fly for an RBI off the Boston Red Sox in this Sep 2nd photo is now without a team

Oakland, Ca- The Oakland A’s have announced that they have released Designated Hitter, Billy Butler. The club still owes him 11.67 million dollars on his contract. The move signals that the A’s are in total rebuild mode. Look for other moves later after the season ends.

There has been speculation that the clubhouse altercation with Danny Valencia in August was a factor in the decision, but Butler remarked that it was a non-issue. Butler had a poor year in 2015 hitting just .251. He had 15 homers and 66 RBIs. This year, Butler was used primarily against left-handed pitchers. His average was .276, and he had just four dingers and 31 ribbies on his stat sheet this year.

Many people were shocked last year when the A’s signed Butler to a three-year, thirty million dollar deal last year. He numbers were on the downside in Kansas City and for a team with limited resources as the A’s,  the news of his signing was shocking. They made a mistake, and now they have to take their lumps as Butler is no longer a member of the A’s.

A’s find there’s no mercy rule down two touchdowns, lose 14-3 to the Mariners

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–This was a good week for the Oakland A’s—radio personality Mychael Urban made that declaration on his “Inside the Bigs” show Saturday morning—it just didn’t end good.

The A’s saw improving Kendall Graveman toss a clunker, allowing a career-worst 12 hits in a 14-3 blowout, that saw the A’s trailing 14-0 before a late field goal lent a measure of respectability.  Graveman came in with just as many wins (10) as his pitching opponent, Felix Hernandez, but he left needing to go back to the drawing board.

“I just didn’t overall locate the ball as well as I have in the past,” Graveman said.  “Just get back to it and continue to work and finish out the last couple strong and wash this one away.”

“It was just one of those games where he was a little bit off and didn’t have command of his fastball like he normally does,” manager Bob Melvin said of his pitcher.

While Graveman struggled, Hernandez cruised, winning for a 14th time in Oakland, tying Tommy John for the most wins by an opposing pitcher at the Coliseum.  King Felix allowed six hits and a walk in six innings of work, but no runs.  Four of the six hits he allowed came in the first two innings, when the A’s threatened but couldn’t break through.

Hernandez kept the A’s off balance with his assortment of breaking pitches in full effect.  It hasn’t been the perennial Cy Young candidate’s best season, but when he’s on, he’s lethal.  Against the A’s inexperienced lineup, and given the club’s offensive struggles at home, this one in the books early.

“When you give him a lead—I think it was up to six runs—he’s not going to let those slip away,” Mariners’ manager Scott Servais said.  “He knows how to get deep into games.  That’s why he’s Felix.”

Seven Mariners had at least two hits in the team’s 17-hit attack.  Nelson Cruz had three hits and scored twice, Kyle Seager had a pair of hits including a solo shot in the seventh that Dennis Eckersley—the big head, run around the warning track version—had a bird’s eye view of in the seats in the right field corner.  Seager’s shot made it 9-0 and the normally wide-eyed Eck appeared downcast as well watching the slugger’s ball careen around the field level staircase to his left.

The Mariners got two in the first inning, four in the third, two in the sixth, and six runs in the seventh to build their 14-0 lead.  A’s reliever J.B. Wendleken got beat up pretty good in the seventh, allowing four hits and five earned runs.  Wendleken’s ERA sits at 10.80 after seven forgettable appearances—all in A’s losses—where he’s allowed 17 hits in 11 plus innings of work.

The A’s got a little back late, but they needed a fielding error from Seager to push across the first run in the seventh.  In the eighth, Ryon Healy connected, his two-run blast was his eighth of his abbreviated big league season.

The Mariners have won three straight to get within three games of the second wild card spot, but that just leaves them on the fringes of that race with the red-hot Yankees, Tigers and Astros among the five teams on the list above them.  The A’s finished their “good” week at 3-3, with good encompassing several eye-popping performances from their youngsters.  The A’s registered a pair of nice late-inning victories on Sunday and Tuesday, and saw Jharel Cotton make an impressive big league debut on Wednesday, while drawing comparisons to Pedro Martinez.

Still the A’s sit 60-81, and with their 41st loss at home will register consecutive losing seasons at the Coliseum for the first time in the 21st century.

On Sunday, Raul Alcantara gets his second shot at respectability, looking for a major upgrade on his first big league appearance in which he couldn’t finish three innings.  James Paxton will go for the Mariners, he’s won both of his previous starts against the A’s.

Oakland A’s Friday night game wrap: Mengden Improves But A’s Fall 3-2

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Robinson Cano right and Kyle Seager (15) of the Seattle Mariners jumps for joy after defeating the Oakland A’s 3-2 Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum to open a three game series

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics dropped a tight 3-2 decision to divisional foes the Seattle Mariners Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Rookies Joey Wendle and Bruce Maxwell knocked in runs for the A’s, but a pair of Mariners homers from Norichika Aoki and Mike Zunino did in Daniel Mengden and the A’s. Sean Doolittle pitched a scoreless inning of relief, his second appearance since returning from the disabled list.

Mengden (1-7, 6.39 ERA) entered his start Friday coming off the worst outing of his career. The mustachioed hurler last just 2 2/3 innings against the Red Sox on Saturday, giving up 7 earned runs. The righty with the funky wind-up rebounded from that outing to put together a start showing his trending upward, not downward.

“It seems like he was just missing,” said Melvin. “He was getting into counts where he had to throw a lot of pitches and next thing you know he’s at 75 pitches. He ends up getting through five, he can hang his hat on how he finished.”

Mengden went 5 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six batters, the third highest total this season. He hit a snag in the first inning thanks to an unfortunate bounce. After walking Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz ripped a liner to left field that was going to one-hop Khris Davis. Davis charged in but appeared to get caught in a divot from the conversion from the Raiders field to the A’s outfield, causing the ball to hop over his glove and to the wall. Cano came home to score on what was officially ruled a double for a 1-0 lead. Aoki would homer to open the 3rd, his second long ball of the year for a 2-0 lead.

Mengden would load allow the next two hitters to reach, with former A’s Seth Smith and Robinson Cano singling back-to-back. Mengden got the slugger Cruz to line out to short, then coaxed a pop out from Kyle Seager. He would load the bases after walking Adam Lind, but wiggled out of the jam with a punch-out of Leonys Martin to finish off the inning.

He would then retire another six straight, including picking up two strike outs to wrap up his appearance and give confidence moving forward. The righty was phenomenal in his first month in the big leagues, posting a 2.81 ERA over his first four starts but saw that number balloon up to 5.73 in June, prompting a demotion to Nashville.

“It didn’t appear like we would get five innings out of him,” said Melvin. “Certainly his last two innings were by far his best. He attacked the strike zone more. You could just see his confidence went up.”

Despite the strong outing, Mengden left the game on the hook for the loss. Mariners’ starter Hisashi Iwakuma (15-11, 3.96) pitched well, going 6 2/3 innings with two runs allowed. He was staked out to a 3-2 lead when Mike Zunino crushed a Daniel Coulumbe offering onto Mount Davis for his 10th homer of the season. They had cut the Mariner’s lead to 2-1 in the 5th before the dinger. They would score a run in the bottom of the 7th to pull within one but the Seattle bullpen would shut them down. Edwin Diaz picked up his 14th save of the season.

One tweak that worked for the A’s was batting Joey Wendle in the leadoff spot. Wendle went three for four and is expected to be in the leadoff spot again Saturday against Felix Hernandez when Kendall Graveman takes the hill.

“His first at-bat he saw eight pitches and ended up getting a hit,” said Melvin. “It seemed like he had a good at bat every time up there. He’s got a little speed, can use the hole. We’ll use him in that leadoff spot for a little bit now. He did a good job.”

The Oakland A’s vs the Seattle Mariners preview.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP file photo: Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma starts on Friday against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum is seen throwing against the Los Angeles Angels Sat Sep 4th at Safeco Field in Seattle

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s have seven games left to play against the Seattle Mariners this season. They will play three here in Oakland this weekend and the travel to Seattle to play the last four games of the 2016 season. The A’s are not ging to make the playoffs this year, but these games are vital to Seattle as they are still alive in the race for the second Wild Card slot. The two teams have met twelve times so far this year, and the Mariners lead the series 7-5.

The Mariners will be using the regular starters this weekend. Righties Hisashi Iwakuma (14-11) will pitch Friday night, and King Felix Hernandez (10-5) will pitch Saturday night. Hernandez has had a tough season as he spent some time on the DL and his season’s ERA is over four. He usually owns the A’s, but Oakland pummeled him here in Oakland earlier in the season. Lefty James Paxton (4-6) has not had a good season either. The Mariners were hoping for big things from Paxton, but stuff can happen and Paxton did not meet expectations. The A’s, on the other hand, are playing for pride. A’s manager Bob Melvin is taking a good look at some of the younger players as the season is nearing the end. Danny Valencia and Billy Butler are two players that are seeing their playing time diminished.The A’s are using Brett Eibner, Jake Smolinski and Khris Davis in the outfield and Ryon Healy has supplanted Valencia at third. Marcus Semien remains at short, while Joey Wendle, recalled from Nashville,  is playing second base in place of the injured Jed Lowrie. Yonder Alonso is at first, and he was the batting star Wednesday against the Angels. Stephen Vogt still handles most of the catching chores, but Melvin will use Bruce Maxwell or Matt McBride. Other players that may see action are Chad Pinder and Max Muncy.

The Mariners are a veteran club with players that can put up excellent numbers. Second baseman Robinson Cano is the team leader. He is hitting .304 with 32 homers and 86 ribbies. The designated hitter, Nelson Cruz, continues to hammer the ball. He owns a batting average of .282 and has 35 homers and 85 RBIs on his stat chart this year. Third baseman Kyle Seager is another power hitter. Seager knocked 26 big flys out of the park this year and his brother, Corey, the rookie shortstop of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has 24. The are the first pair of brothers to hit 50 dingers in a season since the Upton brothers, Justin and Melvin, did it in 2011. Adam Lind and Dae-Ho Lee share playing time at first base. They have hit 33 homers combined and have knocked in 105 for Seattle. The Outfield features Seth Smith and Nori Aoki in left. Franklin Gutierrez and Leonys Martin share center field and Ben Gamel obtained in a trade with the Yankees, has seen playing time in right.

Edwin Diaz, Vidal Nuno, Pat Venditte, a former Athletic, and closer Steve Cishek will all see action this weekend. The A’s bullpen has been a strong point for Oakland most of the year. Ryan Dull, Liam Hendriks, John Axford, and Ryan Madson have all pitched well. However, there have been times when they haven’t done the job, but the good outweighs the bad.

Should be interesting as the young A’s will be trying to end the season on a high note and the Mariners will have to play at their best if they hope to reach the Wild Card slot.

 

 

 

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