Category: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The Royals are back in the 2015 World Series this time against the Mets

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The 2015 Kansas City Royals have won the American League pennant for the second consecutive season and this year they will face the New York Mets who won the National League. Just as they were looking for their first World Series title since 1985 and failed against the San Francisco Giants last year, they will be back this year against the New York Mets. They will not have to face Madison Bumgarner, but the Mets rotations is much more formidable that of the Giants.

The first game during the regular season for the Kansas City Royals took place at Angel Stadium in Anaheim against the LA Angels. Good friend and now broadcaster for the Royals television network Rex Hudler told me prior to that first game in Anaheim about his team: “this team is going all the way this year”, well Rex you didn’t lie, the Royals showed again that they are the best team in the American League, and this year I believe a much better team than that 2014 squad. Dayton Moore the General Manager of the Royals deserves all the credit in the world for picking up key pieces for this 2015 club, guys like Kendrys Morales, one of the best designated hitters in baseball this season, all around super player Ben Zobrist and right handed starter Johnny Cueto.In a perfect world the Royals would have loved to face the San Francisco Giants again, and see if Bumgarner could duplicate his sensational 2014 World Series, but it was not to be, as the Giants never made it to the postseason in 2015.

The Royals have the best bullpen in baseball, and under Ned Yost(Manager)they have shortened the game, most teams ask their starter to go six innings, but in the Royals case is just five, since they have the strongest bullpen anchored by closer Wade Davis. The Royals do not strike out much, they are not a power hitting team, like the team they eliminated in six games the Toronto Blue Jays, but the Royals are as resilient of a team as there is in baseball, strong at every position, with great speed and a good bench they can beat anybody and it will not be easy facing the young and powerful pitching staff of the New York Mets this next week for the World Series ring.

Last time the New York Mets went to a World Series was in 2000. I worked that World Series doing play by play with Eduardo Ortega, the Spanish Voice of the San Diego Padres, for LBC(Latino Broadcasting Company) now ESPN Deportes. The Mets that year faced the New York Yankees who took the title, in what was the last Subway Series to this day. I remember it was the first time for me since 1989 when I did not have to travel far to work on both parks, 1989 was the Athletics vs the Giants,I drove to both parks, and in 2000 I stayed at midtown Manhattan and took the Blue Line(Flushing)train to Shea Stadium and the Bronx line to Yankee Stadium.

The Royals will open the series on Tuesday October 27, first two games will be in Kansas City, then the next three at Citi Field in New York, and if it goes to a sixth and seventh games, they will go back to Kansas City. If it goes to a seventh game, the Royals have the home field advantage, but they will not be able to use their great DH Kendrys Morales (.290 22 HR 106 RBI)when they play in New York. Somebody is going to have to sit, a tough decision for manager Ned Yost, Eric Hosmer is their regular first-baseman, and Morales can play first, but he has been their DH all season long.

The New York Mets rotation is as good as there is in the game: deGrom, Syndergard,Harvey,Colón, Niese and their closer is 26 year old Dominican right hander Jeurys Familial, who owns a nasty 93 mph splitter and a super fastball with great rotation. Familia during the regular season worked in relief in 76 games sdinised with a 1.85ERA and saved 43 games for the Metropolitans. Note:

I like the Royals in six games, the Kansas City team is on a mission and they are trying to complete what they began in 2014. The New York Mets are an excellent team with a manager that finally made it to the October Dance in Terry Collins, who is on his first postseason. The Mets swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. The Mets played just about perfect baseball and the lovable Cubs will have to wait until 2016, and they could easily be back with that great young talent. The Mets have more power than the Royals, stronger starting staff, but the Royals have a better bullpen, more speed on the bases, better defense, and I believe it is a better all-around baseball team than the Mets. But in World Series competition, you really never know.

It should be a good one.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is a talk show host for http://www.sportsradioservice.com and has covered MLB since 1974

MLB 2015 World Series logo photo credit google images

NFL podcast with Tony Renteria: Martin and Seahawks frustrated and mad after losing four straight want a piece of the 49ers

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by Tony Renteria

OAKLAND–On the podcast tonight a look at the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars trip to London with a 6:30 AM PT start. We talk about how both teams prepare and get over the jag lag of traveling over the pond and the time change. The Bills who dropped to 3-3 after losing to the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals (6-0) want to get this game badly to compensate.

The San Francisco 49ers who just got by the Baltimore Ravens 25-20 last Sunday at Levis Stadium got a crucial win after losing four straight. Seattle who are frustrated and looking to get back in the win column are going to be at Levis Stadium on Sunday. The 49ers playing division rival the Seahawks who lost three straight will have their hands full on Sunday.

Tony Renteria talks NFL headlines on the podcast tonight at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sportstalk remote podcast from Gaylord’s Indian Restaurant in San Francisco Mon Oct 12, 2015

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Cast: Jerry Feitelberg (host), Jeremy Harness, Len Shapiro, Mary Lisa Walsh, Joe Lami and Lee Leonard (producer) podcast from Gaylord’s Indian Restaurant at One Embarcadero downtown San Francisco. Just a few blocks away from Embarcadero BART this jewel of a restaurant serves up some of India’s best dishes. Our thanks to owner Susil for hosting us.

Sportstalk radio got to enjoy Tika Malsala chicken, Tandoori Chicken, some of the finest nan breads garlic and onion nan, fried chicken sticks and fried cheese sticks, the sauces were excellent condiments for the breads, chicken and cheese. Find out what your missing in fine Indian dinning cuisine. For desert take our word for it we enjoyed the Kulfi a saffron flavored ice cream with pistachios and Rasmalai sweet dumpling topped with saffron milk sauce. Jeremy Harness spared no deserts on this night.

Sports headlines covered: Mary Lisa says the Sharks are improved, Joe Lami and Len Shapiro say the team needs more work but likes the goaltenders of Martin Jones and Alex Stalock. Look for veteran skaters Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski to name a few to crash the nets as the Sharks start a road this this week in Washington, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, before returning home on Thursday Oct 22.

Also Jerry, Jermey, Joe, and Len cover the MLB Playoffs to end the show.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: When Utley gets back there could be bad blood between Mets and Dodgers

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

photo credit NY Daily News Utley sliding into Tajeda game 2 NLDS

LOS ANGELES–I watched the LA Dodgers Chase Utley’s slide so many times and he started the slide after he passed second base that should not be allowed and I agree with the two day suspension that Utley got as administered by Joe Torre in charge of MLB discipline. You want to be very careful I heard Torre said that the Arizona instructional league their teaching the players to slide into the base not around the base or not after the base.

What Utley did was that he started his slide after second base and he obviously took out the Mets shortstop Ruben Tajeda and broke his leg and Tajeda is out for the rest of the post season. Utley said it was a good slide but you should never slide after the base that’s what the bases are there for. To break your speed you should slide before the base and sometimes now you overrun the base.

I called a lot of games this year especially with the Angels on TV you overrun a base and an umpire calls him safe and then you go to the replay we see that the call is going to be decided by a fraction of an inch and the second baseman for example would throw to shortstop and the umpire would declare the runner out. This incident is going to be talked about now for the rest of this series between the Mets and Dodgers.

There could be some bad blood if the series goes on long enough and when Utley gets back in the Dodgers line up from the suspension. There could be fans cat calling and maybe some inside pitches thrown. The Mets are angry about losing Tajeda, although Utley got the two game suspension the Mets will be looking out for justice more than likely when Utley returns to the Los Angeles line up.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Territorial rights decision by Supreme Court locks A’s to Oakland

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

photo credit google images us supreme court judges

OAKLAND–A’s Owner and Managing Partner Lew Wolff has issued the following statement regarding today’s Supreme Court decision.
“Today, the United States Supreme Court formally declined to consider the City of San Jose’s challenge to Major League Baseball’s longstanding antitrust exemption. The Court’s decision, while significant, has no impact on our intense and unwavering focus on solving our ballpark issue and providing A’s fans the first class experience they deserve.” More news from the A’s today as they promoted Billy Beane to Executive Vice President and David Forst to General Manager. Forst just concluded his 16th season with the A’s and 12th as Assistant General Manager.

Regarding the US Supreme Court decision. This is “strike three” on the chances of the Oakland Athletics to moving from the city of Oakland to San José. But after you strike out, another hitter comes to the plate. The Oakland Athletics ownership have said the team is not for sale, in the words of owner Lew Wolff, “we are not for sale”. But there is always the possibility that if the current ownership doesn’t get their wishes of moving out of Oakland, with the first intention of going to San José, that there could be a change of mind in the future, who knows, even in the near future. Obviously 2015 was not the experience the fans wanted or even deserved. Sam Licardo, Mayor of San José took the decision in stride and said the city of San José doesn’t owe any money to the attorneys and that the area that was designated for the new A’s ballpark, (the Diridon area) would bring thousands of jobs as they will redevelop for other business, more than likely high tech companies in the Bay Area’s most populated and most economically thriving city.

One way to make the OCO more attractive to fans would be to make some changes. The Giants under then managing partner Peter Magowan, when they got the approval to build a new park(AT&T)prior to the move Candlestick Park was made to look a little bit better for the fans. Of course the A’s would need permission from the Alameda County politicos for any type of changes you would want to do to the Oakland Coliseum.

The Oakland Athletics, are one of the most historic franchises in baseball. In 1901 the Philadelphia Athletics club was founded, a charter member of the American League, in the mid 1950’s they played in Kansas City and in 1968 the Athletics debuted at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. They have won four(4)World Series at Oakland, 1972-1973,1974, and 1989, more World Series than the San Francisco Giants who have played in San Francisco since 1958. The Athletics are also second in total championships (all sports)in the Bay Area to the San Francisco 49ers, who have won five(5)Superbowls.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez each week for News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s fall to Mariners in season finale

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By: Eric He

The Oakland A’s wrapped up a disappointing 2015 campaign with a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon on the road, and it went just like many of their games this season — a promising start only to be erased by a sputtering bullpen and a one-run loss as a result.

Seth Smith’s solo shot to center field off Ryan Dull in the eighth inning was the difference in this one, as the A’s went down quietly in the ninth off Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen.

The A’s struck first with two run in the third inning — one on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Anderson and the other on Mark Canha’s 16th homer of the season.

But the Mariners responded with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings of A’s starter Chris Bassitt, who finished with a no-decision.

Oakland finishes with the worst record in the American League at 68-94, its worst record since 1993. It has been a forgettable season for the A’s, who were hampered by a revolving roster, injuries, and an unreliable bullpen. For a team coming off three consecutive playoff appearances, they certainly took a huge step back and shook up the roster in every which way.

The many trades last offseason — Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss, and Derek Norris were sent packing — netted the A’s many young prospects, but also resulted in poor clubhouse chemistry, per a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Yet, the A’s could be setting themselves up to shock the baseball world again next season. They were better than their record, which consisted of a high amount of one-run losses. Billy Burns, Mark Canha, Marcus Semien and Josh Phegley all showed promise in 2015 and could make up the future core of the A’s. Danny Valencia impressed after being acquired by the A’s midseason. Add that to established veterans in Josh Reddick and Stephen Vogt and that’s a half-decent lineup.

A’s fans are surely tired of their team coming up short year after year, whether it’s an early playoff exit or a non-competitive regular season campaign. What awaits them could either be a bounce back season or the start of a painful rebuild that seems to keep recurring in Oakland.

Semien, Venditte Play Heroes in Extras One Last Time in 2015

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The season is just about over for the Oakland Athletics with only one game remaining for the Green and Gold. That didn’t keep the A’s from milking every last moment of the 2015 season Saturday at Safeco Field where Oakland (68-93) topped the Seattle Mariners 7-5 in extra innings.

Marcus Semien launched a two-run shot in the top of the 13th inning to give the A’s a two-run lead and lefty Felix Doubront notched his first save of the season. The A’s blew a 4-0 lead but received 7 innings of scoreless ball from the bullpen after Daniel Coulumbe blew the 4-run edge.

Midseason acquisition Danny Valencia continued to impress , launching his 18th home run of the season off Roenis Elias in the top of the 1st inning. The homer also plated Brett Lawrie and Mark Canha for a 3-0 lead. The A’s added a run in the 3rd inning on a fielder’s choice ground out by Stephen Vogt with the bases loaded.

The M’s (75-76) responded in the bottom half of the frame, touching A’s starter Sean Nolin up for a trio of runs on Robinson Cano’s 21st homer of the season. The long ball came with a pair of runners on base and two outs in the inning.

The 6th inning proved to be the fatal inning for the A’s, with reliever Coulombe looking to preserve the one-run lead. After Seattle loaded the bases, Coulombe managed to induce a double play off the bat of Jesus Sucre that scored one. Ketel Marte pick up the two-out base hit, plating Shawn O’Malley to give Seattle a 5-4 lead.

The Fernandos, Rodriguez and Abad respectively, pitched a perfect 7th and 8th inning to give the A’s a chance with the final three outs of the contest. Former Mariner close Tom Wilhemsen entered the game in dubious fashion, walking Billy Burns then plunking Mark Canha to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. A wild pitch moved the tying run within 90 feet, with Brett Lawrie cashing it in on a sacrifice fly to left field to knot the score at 5-5. Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth to force extra innings.

Switch pitcher Pat Venditte (2-2, 4.40 ERA) performed brilliantly in his relief stint. The ambidextrous reliever pitched three innings without surrendering a hit, punching out three Mariners. His outing earned him the win, setting Semien up for the clutch homer.

Stephen Vogt opened the 13th inning with a single to right off reliever JC Ramirez. Semien then came up to the plate, working a 3-1 count before tagging Ramirez (1-2, 5.32) for the homer and the loss. Doubront pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning for his first save since 2011 and 4th of his career.

Oakland and Seattle wrap up the regular season with a Sunday matinee, pitting the A’s Chris Bassit against Seattle’s Vidal Nuno.

Behind Seven Strong Innings From Aaron Brooks Oakland Beats Seattle 4-2

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SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 02: Starting pitcher Aaron Brooks #36 of the Oakland Athletics pitches against the Seattle Mariners in the second inning at Safeco Field on October 2, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 02: Starting pitcher Aaron Brooks #36 of the Oakland Athletics pitches against the Seattle Mariners in the second inning at Safeco Field on October 2, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

By Kahlil Najar

SEATTLE – Aaron Brooks earned his third win of the year behind seven strong innings against the rival Seattle Mariners. Brooks scattered six hits over seven innings and only gave up a pair of runs in the fifth. Sean Doolittle continued his strong comeback as he came up in the ninth and took out the side in order.

Danny Valencia was again the A’s shinning star tonight as he went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and and a pair of runs. Billy Burns and Josh Reddick also contributed a pair of hits on the night.

The A’s got back to back singles in the third inning from Sam Fuld and Billy Burns and then with Mark Canha up Iwakuma pitched a ball and Mariners catcher Jesus Sucre tried to pick off Burns at first. Logan Morrison fielded the ball but then tried to pick off Fuld at second but the ball trickled under the shorts stops glove into short center field and Fuld was able to score all the way from first to give Oakland a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth the A’s swatted back-to-back-to-back singles from Danny Valencia, Stephen Vogt and Billy Butler to load the bases for Brett Lawrie. Lawrie ground into a force out at second but was able to drive in Valencia to give the A’s a 2-0 lead.

The Mariners gathered two runs in the fifth inning behind a Brad Miller homer and a single by Nelson Cruz to center field to drive in Jesus Sucre to make it a 2-2 game.

Danny Valencia broke the tie in the top of the eighth when on a 1-2 count Valencia launched a deep shot to left center field for his 17th homer of the year and make the score 4-2.

Bob Melvin sent in Sean Doolittle to close the game in the bottom of the ninth. Doolittle struck out the first two batters he faced and was able to get the last batter of the game to softly ground out to second base and seal the Oakland 4-2 victory.

Today’s win was only the seventh win on a Friday for the year for Oakland and only their second win in Seattle this year.

Tomorrow the A’s send Sean Nolin (1-2, 5.25) up against LHP Roenis Elias (5-8, 3.89) at 6:10pm PST.

The A’s are in Seattle for the last three games of the year.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s end their dismal season against the almost equal underperforming Seattle Mariners. The A’s made a lot of moves after the 2014 season. They added young pitching and received some position players in the trades with the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and the San Diego Padres. The A’s also made controversial trades during the 2014 season, too. They sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for Jon Lester. They sent prized shortstop prospect, Addison Russell, to the Chicago Cubs for Samarzidja and Hammels. The A’s barely made it to the playoff and were eliminated by the Kansas City Royals. The A’s hoped the moves would work. However, they had a terrible season. The A’s starting pitching rotation suffered a lot of injuries. Graveman, Hahn, Chavez, Bassitt all spent time on the disabled list Closer Sean Doolittle, a former All-Star, missed most of the season due to a shoulder injury. Evan Scribner and Drew Pomeranz are also on the Disabled list. The A’s used thirty pitchers in 2015, a new club record. The bullpen was a disaster.They blew a ton of saves and just couldn’t get anyone out.

The Mariners also had high hopes for the season. The Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik made some moves after the 2014 season to help the offense. The Mariners signed Nelson Cruz as a free agent from the Orioles. Cruz hit 40 homers in 2014 and has surpassed that total this year. Zduriencik increased the Mariners payroll. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager and Seth Smith add up to 80 million dollars. Many of the baseball “insiders” picked the Mariners to win the AL West. The Mariners felt they had a strong rotation with Hernandez, Tijuan Walker, James Paxton and Hisashi Iwakuma. Unfortunately for Seattle, Iwakuma and Paxton were both injured. Iwakuma made just nineteen starts. His record is 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA. The lefty Paxton is on the DL and posted a 3-4 win-loss record but had a decent 3.90 ERA. The Mariners bullpen also suffered injuries. Mike Montgomery had sixteen saves in sixteen opportunities, but he is on the DL. Reliever Danny Farquhar joined him on the DL. The closer’s role was handled by Carson Smith with thirteen saves and Tom Wilhelmsen, who appeared in 51 games and recorded twelve saves.

The Mariner offense was sluggish all year. Zduriencik made a trade with the Arizona D-Backs and brought in Mark Trumbo to help with the offense. The Mariners could not get it going all season. On August 28th, the Mariners relieved him of his duties and just announced the hiring of Jerry DiPoto as the new  GM this past Monday.

The Mariners also announce that their ace, Felix Hernandez is done for the year. Hernandez’ record is 18-9 with a 3.53 ERA. The A’s are not unhappy about him not being available to pitch against them this weekend. Mariner manager Lloyd McClendon said this about Hernandez “Felix has given me his heart and soul this year, and I don’t want to stress him anymore than I have to. This is the right thing to do. Felix is, I’m sure, not happy about this.”

Let’s take a look at what’s at stake this weekend. For both the A’s and Mariners, the games are meaningless. The Mariners are going to finish in fourth place in the AL West and the A’s are will finish last.  The players on both teams, however, will not go through the motions even with nothing on the line. The players want to show the manager, coaches and General Managers of the respective teams that they are valuable and should be included in the teams plans for 2016. The A’s have not done well against the Mariners this year as they have lost twelve of the sixteen games played. They would like to send a message to Seattle that they are not patsies and to be on the lookout for them in 2016.

However, with Billy Beane running the show in Oakland, no one on the roster is safe with the exception of Sonny Gray. On the other hand, Jerry DiPoto will be scrutinizing his 40 man roster and may be moving players, too.

The pitching matchups have been announced. For the Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma pitches Friday night, Vidal Nuno (1-5,3.80 ERA in nine starts) on Saturday and Roenis Elias(5-8 3.39 ERA)  on Sunday. The A’s counter with Aaron Brooks(2-4) on Friday, left Sean Nolin on Saturday and a pitcher to be named later on Sunday. That’s it for 2015. Neither team will be in the playoffs and rebuilding appears to be in both teams immediate future. Stay tuned, fans.

The A’s rally, then hold on to beat the Angels

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for Barry Zito

The A’s beat the Angels Wednesday night by a score of 8-7. The game had a lot of intrigues. First of all, Barry Zito started for Oakland in what was probably the final game of his career. Barry played seven seasons for the A’s and seven seasons for the San Francisco Giants. He won the Cy Young award in 2002 and won two championship rings with the Giants in 2010 and 2012. He was the epitome of a professional. Barry had a rough year in 2010 and was not included on the World Series roster that year. He never complained. Two years later, he came through big time for the Giants and helped them to their second title.Barry did not pitch in 2014 but in 2015 he attempted to join the A’s. The A’s rotation was set, and that meant that Barry would have to go to Nashville. Barry performed well, but he slowed down late in the season and thought his career was over. However, due to injuries to the A’s starters, he was called up to the Majors and started last Saturday against his old teammate and Friend Tim Hudson. Barry left after two innings of work. Again, he thought his pitching days were over but Bob Melvin informed him that he would be starting Wednesday against the Angels. Sonny Gray was supposed to start, but Gray’s season ended with an injury. Zito pitched well. He went four innings and allowed two runs and just four hits. He threw 76 pitches. He probably could have pitched another inning, but the A’s felt that he would not be effective as his arm strength had diminished since coming back from the injury.

The Angels entered the game just one-half game ahead of the Houston Astros in the race for the second Wild Card spot. If the Angels are to make the playoffs, they cannot afford to lose any games. Lots of pressure on them. They had won seven straight before Wednesday’s game, and the A’s were looking to upset the applecart. Garrett Richards was on the hill for the Angels, and the scoring follows below.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Centerfielder Mike Trout, last year’s Most Valuable Player in the American League, hit a solo home run to center. It was Trout’s forty-first dinger of the season.

In the top of the fourth the A’s scored three unearned runs to take a 3-1 lead. With one out, Josh Reddick singled. Danny Valencia reached on an error by Johnny Giavotelal. Stephen Vogt walked to load the bases. Brett Lawrie hit a grounder to third and Angels’ third baseman, David Freese, threw a strike to the catcher to get a force out on Reddick. Had the error not been made the Angels would have been out of the inning. However, Eric Sogard now had the opportunity to do damage. He came through with a line shot down the right field line that cleared the bases. A’s in the lead.

The Angels made it a 3-2 game in their half of the fourth. David Freese led off with a solo homer to left center. The Angels scored three times in the sixth. Catcher Carlos Perez reached on a single but was able to make it to third when Same Fuld misplayed the ball. Johnny Giavotella atoned for his error by hitting a home run.  Erick Aybar followed with a single and scored on a double by Kole Calhoun. Angels lead 5-3 after six.

The A’s scored four times in the seventh. Sogard reached on an error. Coco Crisp, pinch-hitting for Jake Smolinski, singled. Billy Butler, pinched hit for Sam Fuld, drew a walk to load the bases. The Angels brought in pitcher Trevor Gott to face Mark Canha. Canha responded with a bloop single to center to drive in Sogard. Josh Reddick walked to force in the second run of the inning With the bases still loaded; Vogt singled to drive in two more runs and the A’s now lead 7-5.

The A’s added a run in the eighth when Marcus Semien tripled. The ball got by Trout as he lost the ball in the lights. Semien scored when Crisp’s sharp ground ball went through first baseman C.J.Cron’s leg for an error. The Angels’ Carlos Perez got the run back when he homered in the bottom of the eight. Angels trail 8-6 with one out. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Sean Doolittle to shut the Angels down. Doolittle retired the next two batters to finish the eighth.

In the ninth, the Angels had the big boys coming up to bat. Doolittle had to face Calhoun, Trout, and Pujols. Calhoun homered to make it a one-run deficit 8-7. Doolittle retired Pujols and Cron. David Freese singled to put men on at first and third with two out. Former Athletic Collin Cowgill then hit a sharp ground ball to A’s third baseman Danny Valencia. Valencia threw him out at first to end the ball game. A’s win 8-7.

Game Notes- There were some oddities in the game. The A’s scored seven unearned runs in the game. The Angels made four errors while the A’s made two. The Angels hit five home runs. Four were solo, and one was a two-run job. Each team used seven pitchers.

The A’ announced that catcher Carson Blair had successful left knee surgery and that he should be ready for spring training.. The A’s have the day off on Thursday and head to Seattle for the final three-game series of the season. The Angels are on their way to Arlington, Texas to face the Rangers and will have to sweep them if they are to win the AL West crown. Houston will either be a half-game ahead of the Angels or a half- game behind depending on the outcome of the game in Seattle.

The   pitching matchups for Friday’s game with the Mariners will be Aaron Brook (2-4) going against Hisashi Iwakuma (9-6)

Attendance at Angel Stadium was 34,033, and the Angels drew over three million people this year.