Category: Oakland Athletics

Seven Not Heaven for A’s in Houston

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: The Houston Astros Evan Gattis (11) is greeted at the plate by teammate Carlos Correa (1) after belting a homer off Oakland A’s reliever Andrew Triggs in the fourth inning as A’s catcher Stephen Vogt stands in the background at Minute Maid Field on Friday

Jesse Hahn allowed seven runs in the first inning, dooming the Athletics early in a 12-2 road loss to the Houston Astros Friday night to end a five-game win streak. Houston (26-) also touched up mop-up man Andrew Triggs for five runs, with Evan Gattis knocking in four runs and Colby Rasmus and Tony Kemp knocking in a pair each to move ahead of Oakland (25-30) a half-game out of the AL West cellar. Marcus Semien hit his eleventh homer of the season while Billy Butler plated a run with his RBI double.

Hahn (2-3, 6.10 ERA) failed to retire three of the first four batters he faced but allowed only one run to that point on Rasmus’ RBI single. Evan Gattis ground out to second to push Jose Altuve across for a 2-0 lead. The A’s starter would fail to retire the next five hitters he faced, including a two-run triple by Tony Kemp, to get the hook from manager Bob Melvin with his team trailing 7-0. Long man Triggs came in and worked around a single to punch out Carlos Correa and end the inning with the Astros batting around the order.

Triggs surrendered a pair of runs in the fourth on a two-run shot by Gattis then gave an RBI single to Correa to exit the game with two outs in the fifth inning, two runners on and Oakland trailing 10-0. Marc Rzepcynski came on for Trigg, but allowed a pair of inherited runners to score on singles by Rasmus and Correa.

On the other side of the blowout, Doug Fister (5-3, 3.51) pitched six innings of four-hit ball for his fifth win of the season. The former Mariner and Tiger struck out three while walking a pair. He made way for Tony Sipp in the seventh, allowing the A’s to finally break through.

After battling Fister to an 18-pitch at-bat earlier in the game to no avail, Marcus Semien came through in the seventh. He greeted Sipp with a deep fly to left field for season homer number 11. He was replaced by Chris Devenski in the eighth inning. The righty allowed back-to-back doubles to Stephen Vogt and Billy Butler for the A’s second and final run.

Saturday’s game will be doubly challenging for the A’s with intended starter Rich Hill being scratched from his start with a groin injury. Kendall Graveman will be moved up a day in the rotation to take on Collin McHugh. Oakland hopes to avoid having another position player take the mound, as they did Friday with utility man Tyler Ladendorf making his pitching debut.

MLB Podcast with Tony Renteria: Braves Freeman gets the walk off on Law’s pitch

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AP photo: San Francisco Giant Hunter Pence grabs his leg during fourth and final game with the Atlanta Braves in the fourth inning, Pence was removed due to a hamstring pull at Turner Field

On the MLB podcast with Tony the San Francisco Giants got a couple of bad breaks on Wednesday when they lost a one run 11 inning ball game to the Atlanta Braves the club also lost Hunter Pence to a hamstring injury as he was running out a base hit. Giants reliever Santiago Cassilla had blown a save as the Braves forced extra innings. In the 11th the Braves Freddie Freeman hit a walk off home run to give the Braves the 5-4 win off Giant reliever Derek Law.

The A’s starter Sean Manaea is coming around he picked up his second win now (2-3) and the A’s got swept by the Twins. Manaea had a great outing going six innings, five hits, one run, three walks, and eight strike outs for the A’s.

Tony Renteria does the MLB podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Preview of the A’s vs The Astros in Houston.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Ryan Madson throwing against the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning on Wednesday at the Oakland Coliseum

HOUSTON–The A’s embark on an eight-game, ten-day road trip beginning Friday night in Houston. The A’s and the Astros will be battling it remain in third place in the AL West. The A’s, Astros and Angels are all under .500 and want to avoid being in the basement. The A’s have won five straight after a terrific performance by Sean Manaea on Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins in Oakland. The Astros were also on a five-game winning streak but lost to the Arizona D-Backs Thursday afternoon 3-0 to fall 1/2 game back of the A’s. The A’s are 25-29, and the Astros own a record of 25-30.

The A’s pitchers for the series will be Jesse Hahn, Rich Hill, and Kendall Graveman. Hahn pitched well his last time out and won his second game of the year. Lefty Rich Hill, the ace of the staff right now, is 8-3 and will be able to pitch on Saturday. Hill suffered a mild groin strain in his last start, but he has recovered. Kendall Graveman also won his last game and pitched well. He has a record of 2-6 and hopes to continue his progress.

The Astros did not start the season well. In April, their record was 7-17. They turned it around in May as they went 17-12. They are 1-1 in June. The turnaround occurred when manager A.J.Hinch moved right-fielder George Springer into the leadoff spot and moved All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve into the number two spot in the lineup. The Astros starting rotation feature the reigning Cy Young award winner, Dallas Keuchel, Doug Fister, Lance McCullers, Mike Fiers and Collin McHugh. Keuchel’s record is 3-6, and he has an ERA of 5.58. Keuchel hopes to turn things around, but the A’s will not have to face him this weekend. Doug Fister (4-3,3.86) will pitch Friday night. Fister beat the A’s on May first when the Astros visited Oakland. Lance McCullers (2-1,4.79) and Collin McHugh (5-5,4.82) will go for Houston on Saturday and Sunday.

The Astros have a good bullpen. Tony Sipp, Will Harris, Michael Feliz, Scott Feldman, Ken Giles and Pat Neshek do most of the relief work. Giles, obtained in a trade with the Phillies, has been a disappointment so far. Giles has appeared in 26 games and has a record of 0-2 and an ERA of 6.04. Their closer is former Athletic, Luke Gregerson. Gregerson has recorded thirteen saves but has also blown four.

The Astros have an explosive offense. They are led by shortstop Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, George Springer, catcher Evan Gattis, Marwin Gonzalez and Colby Rasmus. Springer is hitting .290 and has thirteen homers, and thirty-four RBIs to his Credit Altuve is hitting .330 with nine dingers and 31 RBIs. Altuve most certainly will be an All-Star again this year.

The A’s, as mentioned earlier, have won five in a row. The starting rotation has been much better lately. The A’s need Graveman, Hahn, Manaea to continue to pitch at least six innings. Hill has been a standout and is the only A’s pitcher to pitch into the eighth inning. Sonny Gray and Henderson Alvarez are still on the DL, but both should be back soon.The A’s used Eric Surkamp as a starter against Minnesota Tuesday night, but he went just four and 2/3rds innings and may make another start before a return trip to Nashville.

It should be pretty evenly matched series. The A’s and the Astros are getting better pitching from the starting rotations. The bullpens are good for both teams, and the hitters on both squads are getting timely hits.

Game one will be at Minute Maid Park Friday night at 5:05 PM.

 

The A’s Sweep the Series with the Twins

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s hitter Jake Smolinski is congratulated by A’s third base coach Ron Washington after hitting a home run in the fourth inning off Minnesota Pitcher Pat Dean at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, behind the strong pitching of starter Seam Manea, beat the Twins 5-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Manaea pitched extremely well. He went six innings and allowed just five hits and one run. After the game A’s manager Bob Melvin said  it was “probably his best start, so far this year.” He also said that Manaea looked “more comfortable on the mound.” At one point in the game, Manaea retired eight hitters in a row. He ran into a jam in the sixth when he loaded the bases with no out, but did not lose his composure and was able to escape with just one being scored. Very impressive outing for the young lefty. His record is now 2-3 for the year. Pat Dean took the loss for the Twins.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler led off with a double. Dean retired the next two hitters but walked Jake Smolinski to put men on at first and second. Dean uncorked a wild pitch and Butler and Smolinski moved up a base. Billy Burns beat out an infield hit to drive in Butler with the run. Smolinski tried to score all the way from second but was thrown out at home. The A’s added a run in the third. Singles by Jed Lowrie and Danny Valencia put men on at first and second with one out. Dean struck out Khris Davis for the second out of the inning. Billy Butler singled to drive in Lowrie. Second hit of the game for Butler.

The A’s scored their third run of the contest in the fourth. Jake Smolinski, filling in for the injured Josh Reddick, blasted a home run that went way up the steps in the walkway in left field. For Smolinski, it was his first homer of the year. For the fourth inning in a row, the A’s scored another run to take a 4-0 lead. Jed Lowrie singled to get things going for Oakland. The red-hot Danny Valencia doubled to send Lowrie to third. Khris Davis flew out to right to drive in Butler with the run.

The Twins scored a run in the top of the sixth. Manaea had retired eight batters in a row, but the streak was broken when he walked Brian Dozier. Trevor Plouffe singled, and Manaea walked Byung Ho Park to load the bases with no out. Eduardo Escobar flew out to center to drive in Dozier with the Twins first run. Manaea struck out Max Kepler and Juan Centeno to end the threat. The A’s, in their half of the sixth, scored a solo run again to take a 5-1 lead. Neither the A’s nor the Twins scored the rest of the way. The A’s win 5-1.

Game Notes – The A’s have now won five in a row and their record for the season is 25-29. The A’s are just four games under the .500 mark and have series with Houston, Milwaukee and Cincinnati coming up.

Manaea struck out a career-high eight batters and saw his ERA drop from 7.03 to 6.16. Hitting stars for the Green and Gold were Billy Butler, Jake Smolinski, and Dann Valencia. Butler was 2-for-3 and is hitting .297 with nine RBI over his last fifteen games. Smolinski hit his first dinger since being recalled from Nashville on May 20th. Valencia was 3-for-4 and owns a five-game hitting streak.

The Twins are having an abysmal season. Last year, they finished with a record of 83-79 and high hopes for 2016. However, they are hapless. Opponents have swept series from them nine times this year. Their record for the season is 15-37. They are an astounding twenty-two games under .500 and the season appears to be lost.

The A’s play the Houston Astros for three games this weekend in Houston. Jesse Hahn(2-2,4.15) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Doug Fister(4-3,3.86). Rich Hill will pitch Saturday and Kendall Graveman will start on Sunday. Houston will counter with Collin McHugh and Lance McCullers.

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The A’s outlast the Twins, win their fourth in a row.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Billy Burns left and Jed Lowrie celebrate after scoring on the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of Tuesday nigh’ts game at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s won their fourth consecutive game in a row by beating the Minnesota Twins 7-4 in a game that seemed to go on forever. Time of game was three hours and fourteen minutes. The A’s starter, Eric Surkamp lasted just 4 and 2/3rds innings. The A’s used four relievers to secure the win. Ryan Dull received credit for his first win of the season. The Twins starter, Tyler Duffey also went 4 and 2/3rd innings and took the loss. Duffey’s record is 2-4 for the year. Every time the Twins scored in an inning, the A’s responded by scoring in their half of the frame. The Twins did not have a shutdown inning in the game

The Twins struck first in the top of the second. Surkamp retired the first two hitters he faced to start the frame. Twins left-fielder hit a flyball down the right-field line that landed on the chalk for a double. The next hitter, Byung Ho Park, followed with a double to right to drive in Grossman with the first run of the game. The A’s tied the game in their half of the inning. Marcus Semien led off with a single. Chris Coughlan hit a ground ball to first. Joe Maurer threw to second to record the force out on Semien. However, the throw back to first from Twins’ shortstop Eduardo Nunez was wild, and Coughlan reached second on the error. Billy Burns tripled to drive in Coughlan and was at third with just one out. Twins’ pitcher Trevor Duffey struck out Coco for the second out and got Jed Lowrie to ground out to end the inning.

The Twins regained the lead in the third. With one out, Nunez singled to get things going. Surkamp hit Brian Dozier with a pitch to put men on at first and second. Joe Maurer followed with a single to left to load the bases. Miguel Sano hit into a fielder’s choice driving in Dozier with the Twins second run of the game. Sano appeared to injure his left hamstring beating the throw to first and had to leave the game.  The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the third. Stephen Vogt led off with a single. He scored when Danny Valencia took a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field for his eighth tater of the season. A’s lead 3-2 after three complete.

The Twins tied the game at three in the top of the fifth. Eric Surkamp retired the first two hitters he faced. However, he could not close out the inning. Trevor Plouffe singled and scored on a double by Robbie Grossman. A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Surkamp from the game and replaced him with Ryan Dull. Surkamp’s line was 4.2 innings pitched, and he allowed eight hits and three runs allowed. Dull struck out Park to end the Twins threat. The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead. Stephen Vogt led off the inning with a single. Danny Valencia doubled to drive Vogt in with the fourth run of the game. Valencia has driven in three runs so far. Duffey retired Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso. However, he could not get past Marcus Semien. Semien blasted a double to left to drive in Valencia. Twins’ manager Paul Molitor removed Duffey from the game. The new pitcher, Buddy Broshers, retired Jake Smolinski to end the inning. A’s lead 5-3.

The Twins scored a run to cut the deficit to one in the eighth inning. Robbie Grossman led off the inning with a double. For Grossman, it was his third double of the game. Grossman advanced to third when Byung Ho Park flew out to deep centerfield. Former A’s catcher, Kurt Suzuki singled to drive in Grossman with the Twins’ fourth run of the game. The A’s came back again in their half of the frame to score two more runs and increased the lead to three. The big blow was delivered by Stephen Vogt. Vogt doubled to drive in Billy Burns and Jed Lowrie to give the A’s the lead 7-4 after eight.

Game Notes.Stephen Vogt and Danny Valencia were the hitting stars for the A’s. Vogt had two singles, a double and two RBIs. Valencia had a homer and a double and knocked in three. The A’s improved their record to 24-29 while Minnesota drops to 15-36.

The final game of the three-game series will be Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum at 12:35 PM as the A’s go for the sweep. It will be a battle between two lefties. Sean Manaea (1-3,7.03) will pitch for Oakland and Minnesota will send Pat Dean (1-1, 3.43)  out to handle the pitching chores.

12,767 A’s faithful watched their heroes triumph on a very lovely night in Oakland.

 

 

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Graveman finds his game; A’s looking for Surkamp to have a good outing

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AP photo: A’s Coco Crisp gets the low five from A’s third base coach Ron Washington after hitting a first inning home run off the Minnesota Twins Monday at the Oakland Coliseum

On the A’s podcast with Jerry the A’s pitcher Eric Surkamp is a left hand pitcher but he hasn’t been able to go deep into the game. None of the games he’s pitched in has made it past the fifth inning and it would be nice if he could give the A’s a quality start and give them at least six innings. Surkamp hasn’t been able to do it yet hopefully he can do it against the Twins and the Twins are having a terrible season they did sweep the Mariners over the weekend.

The A’s are hopeful that Surkamp can get beyond his game he’s got the call to start on Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum and get the A’s some innings and get the relief core some rest. We’ll see what happens it’s not looking too optimistic. The A’s starter Kendall Graveman whose been inconsistent all season got the A’s a quality start with a 3-2 win he pitched six inning on Monday afternoon giving up six hits and two runs.

Jerry gets all the latest on the A’s listen to the podcast right here and each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The A’s snap the Twins four-game winning streak

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by Jerry Feitelberg

photo by en.wikipedia.org file photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 3-2 on a beautiful, sunny day at the Coliseum. Everything went right for the A’s Monday afternoon. Kendall Graveman, who has been so inconsistent this year, pitched extremely well and gave the A’s a quality start. Graveman went six innings and allowed six hits and two runs. The bullpen did its job and kept the Twins off the board to secure Graveman’s second win of the year. John Axford, Sean Doolittle, and Ryan Madson worked the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to preserve the win. The A’s offense came through with timely hitting to beat Ervin Santana. Santana owned the A’s in the past, especially when he was with the Angels, but the A’s beat him on Memorial Day. Lastly, the defense, so maligned this season, came up big time. The play of the game was Yonder Alonso robbing Joe Maurer of a hit. Maurer’s ball was a rocket that was heading to right field. Alonso dove to his right and caught the ball that prevented two runs from scoring.

Coco Crisp, leading off in the bottom of the first, homered into the right field stands. For Coco, it was the sixteenth time in his career that he had led off the with a home run. The Twins tied the game in the top of the second. Miguel Sano singled to get the rally going for the Twins. With two out, consecutive singles bu Eduardo Escobar and Juan Centeno allowed Sano to score with the tying run. In the top of the fifth, the Twins scored their second run of the game when singles by Danny Santana and Eduardo Nunez put men on at first and third with no out. Twins’ second baseman, Brian Dozier, flew out to deep right centerfield to drive in Santana. Chris Coughlan and Coco Crisp collided on the play. Coughlan held on to the ball, but it was a scary moment as both players appeared to be injured on the play. Fortunately for the A’s, neither player was hurt. The A’s tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning. Yonder Alonso led off with a single. Marcus Semien followed with a double off the wall in left-center to drive in Alonso. Semien was out trying to go third on the throw to the plate. Maurer cut the throw off and nailed Semien at third. Bob Melvin asked for a review, but the call was upheld.

The A’s scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. Jed Lowrie started the inning with a single. Stephen Vogt doubled to left to put men on at second and third with no out. Danny Valencia walked to load the bases. Khris Davis flew out to center to drive in Lowrie with the winning run. The inning ended when Billy Butler ground into a double play.

The A’s brought in John Axford to pitch in the seventh. The Twins Juan Centeno and Danny Santana singled. Eduardo Nunez laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to second and third with one out. Axford struck out Brian Dozier on a 98 mile-an-hour fastball. Bob Melvin brought in lefty Sean Doolittle to pitch to Joe Maurer. Maurer hit a line shot just to the right of Yonder Alonso. Alonso speared the ball for the final out of the inning. Two runs would have scored. Defensive play of the day.Doolittle pitched a  strong eighth inning, striking out two and Ryan Madson closed out the game setting the Twins down in order in the ninth. A’s win the game 3-2.

Game Notes- The A’s won their third game in a row after losing six of seven to New York, Seattle and Detroit. The A’s improved to 23-29 for the year. Graveman is now 2-6. Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05 PM.

A’s Hill wins again after the Tigers implode in the decisive, sixth inning

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Maybin comes up short

By Morris Phillips

So far in 2016, things have worked out for free agent-signee Rich Hill, and just the opposite for free agent-signee Mike Pelfrey. That pattern continued on Sunday as both starting pitchers crossed paths at the Coliseum in the A’s come-from-behind 4-2 win.

Staked to a 2-0 lead, and pitching as well as he had in any of his 10 previous starts for Detroit, Pelfrey saw things fall apart after he induced a double-play ground ball off the bat of Stephen Vogt, and appeared to be on his way to keeping the A’s at bay through the first six innings.

But Pelfrey gave up back-to-back singles to Danny Valencia and Khris Davis, then saw normally sure-handed Ian Kinsler boot a potential inning-ending ground ball off the bat of Yonder Alonso. That allowed Valencia to score from third, with the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Pelfrey then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing both runners to move up. Two pitches later—after issuing a walk to Marcus Semien, loading the bases—Pelfrey’s day was done.

“Pelfrey pitched well, and we were trying to him over the hump and let him pitch deep into the game,” Kinsler said of his gaffe. “To not come up with that, it hurts a little bit.”

“For some reason I’m having trouble getting through the sixth inning,” Pelfrey admitted. “That bugs me.”

Not as much as what happened next. Reliever Alex Wilson’s second pitch appeared to induce Billy Butler to deliver an inning-ending fly ball. But center fielder Cameron Maybin broke in on the ball, but saw it bound in front of his glove as he dove for the catch. That allowed two more runs to score, and suddenly the former Met and Twin was on the hook for the loss, despite not allowing an earned run.

Now 0-5, Pelfrey’s next start isn’t promised. Gifted a two-year, $16 million contract, the 6’7” right hander has failed to win any of his first 11 starts in Detroit. And he’s no Rich Hill, the A’s diamond signed to a one-year, $6 million deal that has now yielded eight wins in the same 11 starts. While Pelfrey’s trademark sinker hasn’t fooled anyone, Hill’s signature curve has shown real bite, putting him among the AL leaders in strikeouts after he fanned nine Tigers on Sunday.

And on Sunday the differences between the two were slight. While both allowed eight combined hits and walks, Hill was able to retire two more batters than Pelfrey, and was still standing when the afternoon caved in on Pelfrey and the Tigers in the sixth.

After walking the speedy Maybin to start the seventh, Hill recovered by striking out James McCann for the first out. But a balky groin that flared up earlier in the game cost Hill an opportunity to go further as a cautious Bob Melvin elected to remove his starter at that point. Reliever Ryan Dull came on to retire the two batters he faced, while also keeping Maybin rooted to first base.

Hill addressed the injury afterwards, saying he was fine, but with the A’s overpopulated as is on the disabled list, the concern persisted. Not only is Hill the A’s top performer thus far this season, he’s undoubtedly in line to make his first All-Star game appearance if continues to perform, and reaches double-digit wins prior to the break. Again, the 36-year old renaissance man insisted that he’s good going forward.

“It’s nothing significant,” Hill said. “Sleep on it, wake up, and I’ll be fine.”

The A’s captured the series with the Tigers, after dropping six of seven prior to Detroit’s arrival. The A’s are now 7 ½ games behind first place Texas in the AL West, and hoping a friendly, upcoming schedule will allow them to stay within striking distance of the Rangers and Mariners atop the division.

With all the injuries, the veteran leadership of the club—Ryan Madson, Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp—held a players-only meeting on Friday to insure the club maintains its focus through all the constant doings on the disabled list, which at one point numbered 12 players. The immediate response was good: Saturday’s offensive explosion and Sunday’s win in a closer, tense affair. Now, according to reliever Sean Doolittle, the club simply needs to back up those wins.

“With the injuries we’ve had, I think it would be somewhat foolish to start looking ahead,” Doolittle said, referring to a schedule that has the Twins, Brewers, Reds and Astros—all struggling—up next. “We need to play better at home, get more consistent.”

In Monday’s Memorial Day matinee, the A’s send Kendall Graveman to the mound, looking to end a personal, five-game losing streak. The resurgent Twins have Ervin Santana going, a pitcher who has beaten the A’s 15 times in 27 career starts.

 

A’s break out, hit three homers in 12-3 rout of the Tigers

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By Morris Phillips

In a typical big-league dugout, where guys are either locked in or tuned out, it’s hard to get anyone’s rapt attention.  But there Danny Valencia was, surrounded by Oakland teammates, recounting his swing on what became the second longest home run of his career, a 450-foot bomb that bounded off the center field hitter’s background, just below the suites level.

Valencia, facing the Tigers’ Matt Boyd, swung almost comically at ball up and outside, nowhere near the strike zone, a tomahawk with conviction that left his bat traveling 105 mph.  With Josh Phegley behind him and three other teammates in front of him, Valencia demonstrated where his hands where and how he started his swing, surprising everyone with how high his hands where.  Phegley, wide-eyed, marveled at the positioning of Valencia’s hands near his head.

Call it the beginning of a revolution, a call for unbridled aggression, or something else entirely, as Valencia’s homer gave the A’s a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s game they would go on to win 12-3 over Detroit, establishing a season high in runs scored and hits with 17.

The A’s got home runs from Valencia and Billy Butler—also a bomb—to establish a 3-1 lead.  But Victor Martinez’ two-run shot in the sixth got the Tigers even, before the A’s broke it open with five runs in their half of the sixth, and four more in the seventh.  Throughout, the warm air and the inexperience in the pitchers both teams used, inspired a hit fest, as 11 extra-base hits by both teams were sprayed over the eight plus innings of action.

“Hopefully, this is going to be a huge momentum carrier for us,” starting pitcher Jesse Hahn said.  “We’re pretty excited about it right now, and I think this is going to be the win that’s going to kind of take off our season for us.”

The A’s had been anything but an offensive, highlight factory coming in, having scored just one run in three of their seven losses in the previous eight games.  Along with the frustration in the dugout, that meant a lot of fans at the Coliseum sitting on their hands. 

Seven A’s produced multi-hit games, including Valencia and Phegley with three each.  Phegley proved his knee injury that landed him on the disabled list is thing of the past by spelling Stephen Vogt, catching the entire, lengthy game, and coming off with three knocks as well.  Billy Butler, starting at first base in a rare start, didn’t waste time.  “Country Breakfast” saw just seven pitches in three at-bats, but he homered to give the A’s a 1-0 lead in the second, and then with the game tied in the sixth, knocked in a pair of runs with a base hit. 

Khris Davis hit a three-run shot in the seventh to increase the A’s lead to 11-3.  Davis’ homer was his American League-best 11th in the month of May. 

The A’s (21-29) remain in a last place-tie with the Astros in the AL West, but Houston and Oakland wins on Saturday allowed both teams to shave their deficit behind the division-leading Mariners to eight games.

On Sunday, Rich Hill gets the call as the A’s close their three game-set with the Tigers.  Detroit’s Mike Pelfrey will make his 10th start, but is still looking for his first win.  Pelfrey is 0-4 with a 5.55 ERA and hasn’t enjoyed a quality start in any of his last seven starts.

 

 

 

MLB Podcast with Matt Harrington: Cain hurt, Saurez takes line drive, Giants struggle in Colorado; Tigers rookie handles A’s

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AP photo: Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea throws against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum

On the MLB Podcast with Matt the San Francisco Giants podcast Giants Matt Cain who had two great outing his last two times out but on Friday at Colorado had to leave the ball game against the Colorado Rockies due to a hamstring pull. He’s being observed by the Giants medical staff. Cain’s replacement reliever Albert Saurez took a line drive to the left leg but remained in the ball game. The Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood pitched seven inning without surrendering a run giving up just four hits.

The Oakland A’s on Friday saw Detroit Tigers rookie pitcher Michael Fulmer pitch eight innings and he gave up only one run to A’s hitter Jed Lowrie an RBI which accounted for the A’s only run in the 4-1 win over the Tigers. A’s pitcher Sean Manaea pitched into the fourth inning until the Tigers got back to back to back hits off Manaea and picked up two runs.

Matt gives you all the latest on the MLB podcast right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com