Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Despite A’s pitching arm injuries their getting around the ball on offense

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AP photo: The Chicago Cubs reliever Aroldis Chapman has 30 saves and 100 strikeouts over the last four seasons

On That’s Amaury’s Podcast commentary, A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden wouldn’t even be an after thought if it weren’t for the arm injuries the pitching staff has endured during the season. Mengden not only is on the big club but also is starting. So that shows if the A’s Triple A affiliate Nashville that any pitcher there if they can show any kind of presence they can get called up to the show and help out in Oakland.

With the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman by the Chicago Cubs the Cubs should have an inside track to not only the post season but a very likely chance at getting to World Series. Chapman comes over to Chicago from the New York Yankees this week and with his sure fire pitches that have reach speeds of 104 MPH that should make getting to post season all the more interesting for the Cubs.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels, the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Tuesday game wrap:The A’s Sonny Gray gets some support, the A’s down the Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Oakland A’s shortstop Marcus Semien (10) puts the tag on the Texas Rangers Rougned Odor (12) after attempting to stretch a hit into a double at Arlington on Tuesday night

The A’s evened the series with the Texas Rangers at one apiece when they beat them 6-3 Tuesday at the Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray, pitched well for the first four innings of the game. He unraveled a bit in the fifth as the Rangers had five straight hits and scored three times. Josh Reddick had the defensive play of the night when he threw out Rougned Odor at second when he tried to stretch a single into a double. Gray righted the ship and pitched a clean sixth inning, and the A’s bullpen did not allow Texas to score in either the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings to preserve the win.

The A’s scored three times in the fourth inning. The veteran center fielder, Coco Crisp, hit a solo homer with no on and no out for the A’s first run. It was the eighth of the year for Coco. Josh Reddick hit his seventh of the year with a man aboard to put the A’s ahead 3-0.

The A’s scored two more in the fifth. Marcus Semien hit his twenty-first of the year to center with nobody aboard. Reddick drove in his third run of the game later in the inning. The Rangers scored three runs in their half of the fifth. The Rangers’ Joey Gallo hit a solo homer to put Texas on the board. It was the first dinger of the yer for Gallo. Later in the inning, big Mitch Moreland hit a two-run blast to reduce the deficit to two.

There was no more scoring in the game until the ninth inning. The A’s put an insurance run on the board, nd they won by a final of 6-3.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s improve to 8-4 since the All-Star break and 46-55 for the season. The Rangers drop to 58-43 and are still in first place in the AL West.The Astros lost to the Yankees and they trail the Rangers by 3.5 games. The A’s are in fourth place twelve games behind Texas in the division.

The rubber game will be played Wednesday night at 5:05 pm in Texas. Lefty Sean Manaea will go for Oakland. Manaea had his best game of the year against Tampa Bay last week and the A’s are hoping he can continue to pitch well. Yu Darvish, on the comeback trail, will pitch for the Rangers.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A long way to dig out for the A’s but they have a whole half of a season to do it

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AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden pitches against the Texas Rangers in the first inning on Monday night at Arlington Stadium

Charlie O on the A’s podcast, the Athletics are ten games under .500 and are just a half game ahead of the last place Angels. That show you how hard it is to reverse trend on a losing trip. They’ve been working so hard, they’re still six games back of Seattle in third place. They’re a full eleven games back of Texas.

The A’s are 45-44 on the season they’re in fourth place and when you think about it they’re 7-4 in their last eleven games. They’re just a half game up over the Angels who are in fifth place. All of those wins  This is just the uphill battle the A’s have to go with. The key continues to be for the A’s that’s ten games under .500.

Charlie O has a lot of the inside track on the A’s headlines listen in on the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Rangers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, win in a walk-off

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Texas Rangers Andre Beltre gets congratulations from coach Tony Beasley after connecting for a seventh inning home run off the Oakland A’s

The Oakland A’s missed a golden opportunity to win their fourth in a row and improve to 8-3 since the All-Star break. They led the Texas Rangers 6-5 with two-out in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Madson had to retire just one more Ranger hitter to secure the win for Oakland. That hitter, Adrian Beltre, smoked Madson’s fastball into the stands in left-center with a man aboard to give the Rangers a 7-6 walk-off win.

The A’s jumped out a 2-0 lead in the first inning on the strength of Danny Valencia’s thirteen home run of the year. The Rangers scored in the bottom of the first when Ian Desmond hit one out. Desmond has nineteen so far this year.

The A’s scored three times in the third to take the lead 5-1. Valencia drove in his third run of the night with a double. The Rangers scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to make it a 5-4 game. A’s manager Bob Melvin took Mengden out of the game with two out in the fifth. Both teams scored a run in the seventh but the A’s still led by one. Beltre hit his first dinger of the night in the seventh off John Axford.

The A’s still had a chance to win. Madson retired the first two hitters but a single and Beltre’s second homer of the night sent the A’s down to defeat.

Game notes- Daniel Mengden continues to struggle. He was very impressive in his first four starts but has not been able to replicate that success in his last five outings. Mengden went four 2/3rds innings and allowed four runs and seven hits. He gave up the solo homer to Ian Desmond in the first inning. The loss snapped the A’s three-game winning streak and their dropped to 7-4 since the All-Star break. They are ten games under .500 with a record of 45-55 and have just sixty-two games left in the season.

The Rangers’ Prince Fielder appears to be done for the season as he will be undergoing neck surgery shortly.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Game time will be at 5:05 pm. Sonny Gray will be on the hill for Oakland. Gray had a rough outing last week against Houston and will be trying to be the Sonny of old. Nick Martinez, called up from Triple-A, will pitch for Texas.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Look to see Butler more as he’s showing signs of breaking out

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AP photo: Oakland A’s Billy Butler does the forearm bash with teammate Ryon Healy after hitting a home run off Tampa Bay pitcher Erasmo Ramirez in the eighth inning Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum

On the podcast with Jerry, Oakland A’s Billy Butler had a good day yesterday he drove in two runs he drove in the run in the first and then he hit a home run to win the game over the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday. He’s been used very sparingly in the DH role and he’s been used primarily against left handers.

Butler has been sitting since Danny Valencia has been playing at first base and the DH slot so that Ryon Healy can play. Valencia has a higher batting average he has more homers than RBIs than Butler. Butler hasn’t been able to get it going in most of the first half of the season but recently broke out towards the end of the first half of he season.

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

“Country Breakfast” delivers late in A’s third straight win over the Rays

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Madson save
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Ryan Madson, right, is greeted by catcher Bruce Maxwell, left, at the end of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, July 24, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland won the game 3-2. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–No, the baseball season doesn’t start on July 15, but, yes, the A’s are playing well.

Looking to turn dismal into respectable, the A’s took a big step forward on Sunday, beating the Tampa Bay Rays for the third consecutive day, 3-2, with Billy Butler’s eighth inning home run registering as the difference.

The A’s have won seven of 10 since the All-Star, with all 10 at the Coliseum. Oakland opens a three-game series at Texas on Monday, the first of 12 games remaining with the AL West leaders, nine of those at Arlington, Texas. The A’s remain in fourth place in the division, 12 games behind the Rangers.

Jesse Hahn returned to the big club, and pitched 7 2/3 innings—the second longest start of his career—departing with a 2-0 lead after allowing just four hits. Hahn’s outing impressed manager Bob Melvin, who cited the rigorous program his big right hander undertook at AAA Nashville in order to regain his form of last season.

But Hahn’s impressive outing turned into a no-decision just four pitches after his departure, as rookie Ryan Dull, who had allowed just two earned runs in his last 26 innings pitched, faltered. After starting Kevin Kiermaier with a called strike, Dull threw wild pitches on his next two offerings, allowing Kiermaier to advance to second, then third. Dull’s fourth pitch turned into a no-doubt homer to Logan Forsythe that tied the game.

“I just wanted to get a fastball in and I didn’t execute it,” Dull said. “Could have went with to the slider because we had the base open, maybe a better matchup against Miller. But you can’t second guess yourself anymore, just goes down as I didn’t execute the pitch I needed to.”

When Dull returned to the dugout, Hahn came to him to console the reliever, who admitted he was downcast at having given away the team’s lead and the starter’s opportunity to grab a win. But right after Hahn executed that classy move, Butler changed the narrative with his lengthy blast off reliever Erasmo Ramirez.

Already without Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick, the A’s were without Coco Crisp as well, due to a reoccurrence of his neck issues. That left the A’s with a makeshift lineup with Jake Smolinski in center field, Danny Valencia (for the first time) in right field, and rookie Ryon Healy hitting sixth. Rookie Bruce Maxwell made his first big league start, catching Hahn, but went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. With all the injuries, catcher Matt McBride was the team’s only positional reserve.

For Butler, the tie-breaking shot could rank as a high point of the designated hitter’s season of relative inactivity.  A career-long designated hitter and first baseman, Butler hit just his third homer of the season. “Country Breakfast,” a mainstay with the Royals for years, has hit 144 home runs at the big league level.

Butler’s shot allowed the team to avoid exposing their lack of depth, and a lengthy ballgame on getaway day. Ryan Madson came on to pitch a perfect ninth inning, striking out the final two batters of the ballgame.

Rookie Daniel Mengden will start for the A’s in Arlington on Monday, opposed by the Rangers’ Martin Perez. Mengden is still looking for his second major league win with his record sitting at 1-5.

A’s quiet for eight innings, then the fireworks in their 4-3 win over the Rays

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–Limited offense and a familiar deficit on the scoreboard had A’s fans sitting on their hands for eight innings on Saturday night. But the explosive ninth inning capped off by rookie Ryon Healy’s game-ending home run had those same fans howling all the way through the post-game fireworks display.

The A’s beat the Tampa Rays with walk-off dramatics for the second night in a row, just enough to at least temporarily escape the cellar in the AL West. And they did so despite two, major holes in their starting lineup, continuing an upward trend since the All-Star Break with a sixth win in nine outings.

“I don’t think there’s anything more fun than walk-off wins in baseball,” Healy said. “The fact we’ve been able to have so many in my short, eight-day career makes winning that much better.”

If anyone portends a brighter future for the Athletics, it’s Healy, who made his major league debut on July 15, signaling a reduction in playing time for veterans Danny Valencia, Yonder Alonso and Coco Crisp. A big guy with pop, Healy made his transition smoother by providing the quick feet and glove necessary to take over the third base job. Like a couple of other inexperienced A’s contributors, Healy has the look of a big-league mainstay with consistency as a hitter the final step in establishing himself.

Until those transformations take place, the A’s have to deal with their current reality, with lack of offense in home games as one of their biggest issues. On Saturday, Rays’ starter Drew Smyly took that issue and ran with it, holding the A’s to six hits and one run through six innings. Smyly entered Saturday’s contest with 11 losses, and no wins since May 16, but the A’s saw another, confounding left handed starter.

The A’s entered Saturday’s game hitting just .242 as a team at the Coliseum. Against left-handed starters, the A’s had lost 10 of 11, ending a streak of nine, consecutive losses on Tuesday against Houston’s Dallas Kuechel.

But those, two factors were just the foundation of the adversity facing the A’s on Saturday night. Josh Reddick and Stephen Vogt were scratched before the game, Reddick due to discomfort in his back, and Vogt was placed on the family medical leave list, necessitating that the veteran catcher miss at least three games.   Coupled with the 6:05pm start time, the bright sun and shadows, the Oakland offense not surprisingly mustered just one run, and only three baserunners getting as far as third base, through the briskly played, first eight innings.

Then in the ninth, with the A’s trailing 3-1, and Kendall Graveman’s five-game win streak in jeopardy, the A’s were faced with Tampa Bay closer Alex Colome, who had converted all 21 of his save chances. Likely alone in his optimism, Graveman held out hope in the A’s dugout, after pitching all nine innings, allowing nine hits and three runs.

“You just kind of had a feeling in the dugout we were gone to put something together eventually,” Graveman recounted.

Something came in the form of a pair of fastballs—interspersed with some nasty, breaking balls—from Colome. With a runner on, Jake Smolinski delivered first, sending a get-ahead fastball over the left field wall with Khris Davis aboard. Davis, the A’s leading home run hitter, had reached on an unlikely walk to a .246 hitter who with the A’s trailing by two runs, couldn’t tie the game as the inning’s leadoff hitter.

One out after Smolinski tied it, Healy ended it, sending a 3-2 offering over the wall in the left field power alley.

“It was awesome to see the guys there and how excited they were,” Healy said. “I saw the bullpen sprinting down, so I sort of slowed my jog a little bit to enjoy it and let them get there.”

The A’s look to make it three of four in their series with Tampa Bay on Sunday. Jesse Hahn was recalled from AAA Nashville to make the start, and he will face the Rays’ Blake Snell at 1:05pm.

 

 

Crisp’s Walk-off Preserves Manaea’s Gem

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: Oakland A’s Coco Crisp hits a single to break a 0-0 deadlock in the 13th to score Ryon Healy for the walk off victory on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND, Calif. –July 22nd is a very good day for Coco Crisp. Four years to the date since he singled home Derek Norris to sweep a four game series against the Yankees, Crisp delivered again, sending the Oakland A’s (43-54) to a 1-0 13th inning walk-off win over the Tampa Bay Rays (38-58). Ryon Healey scored the lone run, with starters Sean Manaea and Tampa’s Jake Odorizzi each going eight scoreless innings but settling for the no decision in a quick-paced pitcher’s duel.

“Odorizzi pitched a hell of a game,” said Manaea of his foe. “It was pretty easy to have everything going, not having much time in the dugout. You didn’t really have time to think.”

The rookie Healey opened the bottom of the 13th by lacing a Dylan Floro (0-1, 4.15 ERA) offering down the line in left field for the game’s only extra base-hit, a double. Marcus Semien, opening the game on the bench after starting the first 94 games of the season, couldn’t advance Healey after striking out. Crisp delivered in the clutch though, driving the ball through the left side of the infield to bring Healey home from second for the win.

“Everybody was ready to get out of there,” said Crisp. “Both teams, the pitchers, hitters, everybody wanted the next day to come about. We didn’t want to be out here all day.”

Oakland nearly scored in the 11th inning, loading the bases while facing three different relievers. After reliever Enny Romero walked Reddick to load the bags with two outs but Khris Davis swung at the newly inserted Kevin Kepsen’s first pitch for a rally ending ground ball.

Despite picking up the win, not getting Manaea the win after his stellar outing was a minor disappointment for the A’s. Manaea pieced together his best start of his career, going eight innings with five hits, seven strikeouts and no walks yielded. His fastball was in the low 90’s while his slider was in the low 80’s, with both pitches working to get outs for the south paw.

“He’s pitched some good games,” said A’s manager Melvin. “But not like that. That’s the best. When we heard about our best pitching prospect coming up, that was the type of game you look for. That was dominating.”

Manaea, who returned from the disabled list June 30th, has cobbled together a run of impressive outings since then. Over his first three appearances, he yielded eight runs, though six came in his first start off the DL. He went a career high eight innings Friday, throwing 103 pitches, 71 for strikes lowering his ERA from 5.13 to 4.63.

The A’s bullpen took over pitching five scoreless innings. Ryan Madson took over the ninth while Ryan Dull pitched the 10th and 11th frames. John Axford (4-3, 4.95 ERA) pitched the final two frames for the win.

While the bullpen strategy will be augmented for Saturday’s game, so will the lineup for Melvin’s charges. Mevlin put Josh Reddick in the two-hole while slotting Jed Lowrie fifth in the lineup Friday.

“That was a key time to come up with a lineup change,” said Melvin with a laugh.  “We go 12 innings without scoring. I’ll probably do something a little different tomorrow.”

No matter the lineup, the A’s have a shot at a strong pitching performance. Kendall Graveman takes the mound Saturday looking for a decision in his fourth straight start. The sinkerballer has allowed five runs over his last 21 2/3 innings of work. He’ll be opposed by scuffling lefty Drew Smyly.

The Tampa Bay Rays down the A’s; Gray shelled for nine hits and seven runs

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Sonny Gray got lit up by the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum here Gray delivers a pitch in the first inning

OAKLAND–The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the A’s  7-3 Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum behind the strong pitching of lefty Matt Moore. The A’s Sonny Gray had another tough outing, and he absorbed his ninth loss of the season. A’s manager Bob Melvin said that Gray was tinkering with some of his pitches to regain his command.  Melvin remarked that he feels Gray still has great “stuff” and that he is confident that he will regain the form that he had the last three years.

The Rays grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first. Logan Forsythe singled to right leading off the game. He advanced to third on two successive ground outs. DH Corey Dickerson singled to drive in Forsythe. With two out in the second, the Rays first baseman Tim Beckham, hitting just .213, sent  a Sonny Gray pitch into the seats in left field a for his fourth home run of the year. Rays lead 2-0 in the middle of the second. The A’s stormed back in their half of the inning. With two out and men on at first and second, Jake Smolinski hit his fifth dinger of the year to put Oakland in the lead 3-2. The ball hit the top of the fence and then bounced over. Had it bounced back to the field of ply, the umps may have ruled it a double.

Corey Dickerson tied the game at three with a leadoff opposite field solo home run. It was Dickerson’s fourteenth of the year.  The Rays scored four runs on five hits in the top of the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Five straight hits and a sac fly made life miserable for Gray in the fifth. The A’s failed to score in the bottom of the fifth and Sonny is done for the night. Sonny’s line for the night is five innings pitched, nine hits allowed, seven runs all earned.

Game Notes- The A’s are 4-3 since the All-Star break and fell to 7-10 in July. The A’s are now 42-54 for the season. The Rays improved to 38-57. Both teams are in last place in their respective divisions.

Sonny Gray is 4-9 for the year and 1-4 with a 4.86 ERA since coming off the DL on June 5th. Gray has won just one game since April 22nd. Jake Smolinski had the big knock of the night for Oakland when he hit a three-run dinger in the second inning.

The Rays have won three consecutive games for the first time since June 12-15. Matt Moore is 4-3 with a 2.68 ERA over his last eight starts.

Game two of the four-game series will be played Friday night in Oakland. Game time will be 7:05 PM. Lefty Sean Manaea will be on the hill for Oakland, and righty Jake Odorizzi will handle the pitching chores for Tampa Bay.

Time of game was two hours and forty-six minutes, and 14,412 fans watched the A’s go down to defeat.

The Astros defeat the A’s, avoid the sweep.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Houston Astros pitcher Doug Fister delivering pitch in the first inning puts a fist in the Oakland A’s hitting with a shutout on Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–The A’s were hoping to get a sweep against the Houston Astros Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s had Houston native Daniel Mengden on the mound looking for his second victory of the year. Houston’s Doug Fister, however, stopped the A’s cold as he went seven innings and allowed just four hits and he won his tenth game of the year beating the A’s 7-0. Mengden’s record is now 1-5. He gave up three runs and five hits and left the game after five innings. The A’s had no offense, no pitching, and no defense as they lost for fifty-third time this season.

The Astros struck first in the top of the first. With one out, Marwin Gonzalez, playing left field, singled.  The second baseman, Jose Altuve, batting .354 and leading the AL in hitting, followed with a single. Mengden walked Carlos Correa to load the bases. Luis Valbuena grounded into a fielder’s choice, and that allowed Gonzalez to score. Mengden retired Colby Rasmus to end the inning.

The Astros scored two more in the second. Mengden retired the first two hitters, but he could not retire any one of the next five hitters. The Astros rally consisted of a walk, double, walk, single and another walk that produced the two runs. The Astros lead 3-0 in the middle of the second.

The Astros put two more on the board in the eighth. Rookie lefty Patrick Schuster gave up a double and two walks to load the bases for the ‘Stros Jose Altuve. Altuve blooped a single that drove in the two runs for Houston. They lead 5-0 heading into the A’s half of the inning. Houston plated another two in the ninth. Schuster retired the first two batters but a single, triple and doubled produced the runs. Houston owns a commanding 7-0 lead with the A’s coming up in the bottom of the ninth. Houston reliever Chris Devinski retired the A’s in order to end the game.

Game notes- The A’s are 4-2 since the All-Star break and now fall to 7-9 in July. The A’s record is now 42-53.  Daniel Mengden is now winless in his last four starts.  Yonder Alonso and Ryon Healy both had their four-game hitting streaks snapped. Josh Reddick was 2-for-4 and has hit safely in his last three games. Stephen Vogt hit safely in his seventh straight game.

The Houston Astros are now 51-44 for the season and are 34-16 since May 23rd. Fister is 10-6 for the year and leads the Astros staff with the ten wins. Jose Altuve has reached base safely in 35 straight games, which is the longest streak by an Astro player since Jeff Bagwell had a 51-game streak from September 23rd, 1998 to July 31st,1999.

The Tampa Bay Rays arrive in Oakland for a four-game set with the A’s starting Thursday night. The A’s Sonny Gray (4-8,5.12) will pitch for the Green and Gold. Lefty Matt Moore will pitch for the Rays. Moore’s record is 5-7, and his ERA is 4.33. Game time will be 7:05 PM at the Oakland Coliseum.

Time of game on Wednesday was three hours and six minutes. 20,231 fans watched the A’s go down to defeat.