Category: Oakland Athletics

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s play three games with the Seattle Mariners starting Friday night at the O.co Coliseum. The A’s trail the Mariners by three games as they battle for fourth place in the AL West. Neither team has had a great season. The Mariners were picked by many to win the West, but they have been a major disappointment. The Mariners fired their GM last week and are now in the hunt for a new man. The A’s had a rough start to the season and have never recovered. The bullpen has been a disaster all season and A’s GM Billy Beane will have his work cut out for him as they rebuild for 2016. A’s fans would love to see their team climb out of the basement and land in fourth place. It may not be much, but the hardcore Oakland fans know that a fourth place finish would be a step in the right direction.

There have been some bright spots for the A’s fans this year. Billy Burns in center field has been terrific, and he is a candidate for AL Rookie of the Year. Big Mark Canha, playing first base almost every day and spot duty in left field has shown that he can hit more consistently playing every day. Josh Reddick, now healthy, has been solid. Brett Lawrie and Danny Valencia have shown that they belong. A’s starting pitching has been good, but injuries have made it difficult for Bob Melvin and the coaching staff. Jesse Hahn, Kendall Graveman, Chris Bassitt are out for the year, but these guys have shown that they belong and could be the nucleus of a great staff for years to come.

The Mariners, on the other hand, have been a disappointment. They still have Felix Hernandez as their ace and Hisashi Iwakuma is solid. Iwakuma threw a no-hitter a couple of weeks go. Nelson Cruz has been a big bat for them but Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager have not been as good as they have been the last couple of years, Cano, to his credit, has 30 doubles for the 11th straight year and is four extra-base hits away from having fifty extra-base hit for 11 straight years, too. He will then match Albert Pujols in that category.

The pitching matchups for the weekend will be the following. On Friday night, it will be 25-year-old Aaron Brooks taking the mound for Oakland. Brooks is 1-1, and he will be opposed by left Edgar Olmos, also 25 years old. Saturday’s game will feature the veteran right Jesse Chavez going against Seattle’s ace, King Felix Hernandez. Hernandez is 14-8 this year but is 21-8 lifetime against the A’s. There will be a fireworks show after the game. On Sunday, lefty Felix Doubront will go for Oakland, and Hisashi Iwakuma will pitch for Seattle. The Mariners are 9-4 against Oakland this year and need just one more win to win the season series for the third straight year.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Los Angeles Angels won the rubber game of the three-game set by a score of 9-4 Wednesday afternoon at the O.Co Coliseum. They gave Sonny Gray the worst defeat of his young career. Gray lasted just five innings giving up six runs on eight hits. Gray’s record drops to 12-7. The Angels starter, Andrew Heaney, earned his sixth win of the season. He pitched seven innings giving up three runs on seven hits.

The Angels got to Sonny Gray for four runs and five hits in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Kole Calhoun started the inning with back to back singles to put men on at first and third with no out. Gray threw a wild pitch allowing Calhoun to score. Albert Pujo;s singled to drive in Trout with the second run of the inning. David Murphy singled sending Pujols to third. Murphy advanced to second on the throw.  C. J. Cron ground out to Marcus Semien. Pujols scored. David Freese singled to drive in Murphy with the fourth run of the inning. The A’s came roaring back in their half of the first. With two out, the A’s scored three times and had five straight hits. Brett Lawrie doubled down the rightfield line to get the rally started. Danny Valencia singled to drive him in with the A’s first run. Catcher Josh Phegley blasted his eighth home run of the year to dead center field to close the deficit to just one. Jake Smolinski and Billy Butler singled, but Heaney struck out Josh Reddick to end the frame. A’s trail 4-3.

Albert Pujols took Sonny Gray deep with a man on in the second inning to give the Angels a 6-3 lead halfway through the second inning. Pujols has hit thirty-five homers this year and 555 lifetime. He is tied with Manny Ramirez for fourteenth all-time.

The Angels added two more runs in the top of the eighth. David Murphy singled leading off the inning. He scored on a C.J.Cron double. Cron advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a David Freese single. The A’s got one back in the bottom of the eighth. Brett Lawrie, leading off, hit a laser shot over the wall in left. The fifteenth homer of the year and second in the last two games.

The Angels scored another run in the ninth to put them up 9-4. Single, double and a fielder’s choice put the run on the board for LA.  The A’s could do nothing in the bottom of the ninth, and they lose 9-4.

Game Notes- The A’s have lost two straight games and are now 7-7 in their last 14 games. The A’s have homered in a season-high nine consecutive games (12 total). Billy Burns had his eight-game hitting streak snapped. Billy Butler hit his 300th career double in the fourth inning. Brett Lawrie had two hits including a home run and is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with five home runs, nine RBI and 12 runs scored over his last 12 games.

The A’s are off Thursday. Play will resume Friday in Oakland when they Seattle Mariners come to town for a three-game series this weekend. The A’s announced that Aaron Brooks (1-1, 5.47) will handle the pitching chores and the Mariners’ starter will be left Edgar Olmos (1-0, 2.13).

Time of game was 2 hours and fifty-three minutes and 13.392 were on hand for the final game of the three-game series with the Angels.

The 17th Annual Oakland A’s Breast Cancer Awareness, Day, presented by Zevia, is set for this Sunday, September 6th. The A’s again honor those who have courageously battled breast cancer. This event raises funds to support research, education, advocacy and free services for cancer patients and their families throughout the Bay Area.

by Jerry Feitelberg

It was the Mark Canha, Danny Valencia, and Mark Smolinski show Monday night as the trio drove in ten of the eleven runs scored by the A’s Final score 11-5 for Oakland. A’s starter Felix Doubront went six-plus innings allowing seven hits and four runs while winning his second game of the year. Angels’ starter Hector Santiago was tagged with the loss his record drops to 7-9.

The Angels scored the first run of the game in the first inning. With one out, Felix Doubront walked Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. C.J.Cron flew out to deep left field for the second out. Erick Aybar, who has a history of tormenting the A’s, singled to drive in Trout. Shane Victorino followed with a single to load the bases, but Doubront was able to strike out Chris Iannetta to end the threat.

The Angels scored two more runs in the top of the third. Singles by Pujols and Cron put men at first and third with one out. Pujols scored on an Aybar sacrifice fly. Victorino singled to advance Cron to third. Cron scored when the Angels pulled off a double steal. Phegley attempted to nail Victorino, but the throw was not in time, and Cron was able to make it home safely.

The A’s scored five times in the bottom of the third. Josh Reddick led off the inning with a double. With one out, Reddick tagged up and went to third on a long fly out to center. Santiago walked Mark Canha and Brett Lawrie to load the bases. Danny Valencia doubled down the left field line to drive in two. Josh Phegley walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Jake Smolinski also doubled down the left-field line to clear the bases and give the A’s the lead 5-3 after three complete.

The A’s scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. With one out, Brett Lawrie reached on an error by Angels’ third baseman Kaleb Cowart. Danny Valencia followed with his second double of the night to drive in Lawrie all the way from first. Left fielder Shane Victorino slammed into the wall causing part of the wall to collapse. The players came off the field until the repairs were made.

The A’s scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. “County breakfast’ Billy Butler doubled to right center. Reddick walked, and Marcus Semien singled to left. Third base coach, Ron Washington held Butler at third. Billy Burns then hit into a  very unusual double play. He hit a sharp ground ball to third. Angel third baseman, Kaleb Cowart, stepped on third to force Reddick. Cowart threw to first but the throw was wide. Butler tried to score from third but was thrown out at the plate. Butler should have gone back to third, The next batter, Mark Canha, unloaded his eleventh home run of the year over the left-field wall to drive in Semien and Burns as well as himself. 9-3 at the end of six.

The Angels added single runs in the seventh and eighth to make it a 9-5 game. The A’s, however, came back in the bottom of the eighth to score twice and take an 11-5 lead heading into the ninth. Evan Scribner started the ninth but had to leave with an injury. The A’s brought in Drew Pomeranz and he close out the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- The A’s have won their last three games in a row while the Angels are heading south rapidly. The Angels are 2-5 on the nine-game road trip and are 11-26 in their last 37 games. . The A’s are 11-4 in their last 15 home games and are 26-27 against American League West competition.

The Angels and A’s resume the series Tuesday night at the O.co Coliseum at 7:05 pm. Cody Martin will pitch for the A’s and he will be making his first Major League start. Martin was acquired by Oakland from the Atlanta Braves in July. The twenty-five-year-old righty made 21 appearances ion relief for the Braves and had an ERA of 5.40. Matt Shoemaker will go for the Angels.

Time of game was three hours and thirty-four minutes, and 12,049 hardy souls watched the game.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s continue their two-city six-game road trip Friday night in Phoenix when they face the Arizona DiamondBacks in interleague play. Since the A’s will be in a National League park, the designated hitter will not be used and the pitcher will have to hit. The A’s have one more series in interleague play and that will occur when the San Francisco Giants cross the bay to face the A’s for three games on September 25th, 26th and 27th. It will also be the last three home games of the season for the A’s.

The D-Backs finished 2014 with a won-loss record of 64-98. Over the winter, the D-Backs hired former A’s manager and a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, Tony La Russa as their Chief Baseball Officer. They named former A’s pitching great, Dave Stewart, as their Senior Vice-President and General Manager. They also hired former A’s bench coach, Chip Hale to be the club’s manager. Hale was Bob Melvin’s bench coach the last three seasons but will be starting his eleventh year working for Arizona. The team has several other former A’s on their coaching staff. Mike Fetters, who was with the club in 1998, is the club’s Quality Assurance Coach. Don’t ask me what that means but it sounds like a good job. Mike Harkey, who is the pitching coach, played for Oakland during the 1995 season. Dave McKay is the first base coach and he held that position when La Russa managed the A’s from 1986 to 1995. Ariel Prieto, who was a translator here when the A’s employed Yoenis Cespedes and Bartolo Colon, is the  D-Backs coach/interpreter

The D-Backs have improved their won-loss record so far this year. They have a record of 62-64 and will play one more game before starting the series with the A’s Friday night. They have lost three in a row but are 5-5 in the last ten games. Arizona will send Chase Anderson to the mound to pitch Friday night. Other starters include Robby Ray, Jhoulys Chacin, Patrick Corbin and Rubby De La Rosa. Corbin pitched Wednesday night and De La Rosa is scheduled to pitch Thursday.  The bullpen is manned by Daniel Hudson, David Hernandez, Andrew Chafin, Addison Reed, Randall Delgado, Josh Collmenter and their closer is Brad Ziegler. Ziegler is a former A and has twenty-three saves to his credit in 2015.

The D-Backs offense is led by Paul Goldschmidt. Goldy is hitting .331 and is third  in the National League in that department. He has hit 25 homers and knocked in 94. The other big bats in the lineup are right fielder David Perata, center fielder A.J.Pollock, and right fielder Ender Inciarte. Peralta is batting .303 with thirteen home runs and sixty-seven RBIs. Pollock checks in with a .321 average with thirteen dingers and 54 RBIs. Inciarte is at .295, four homers, and 34 RBIs. In addition, Yasmany Tomas, in his first season in the Majors, playing forty-nine games in right and thirty-one at third base is at .292, eight home runs and forty-three runs batted in in just ninety-eight games.

Jake Lamb plays most of the game at third, Chris Owings is at second and shortstop is manned by Nick Ahmed.The veteran, Aaron Hill fills in as a utility player. Catching is handled by Wellington Castillo and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The A’s, in the meantime, will be looking to break a modest two-game losing streak. The A’s won the first game of the road trip but lost the last two games to the Mariners in Seattle. At this point in the season, the A’s will be looking at their players and will be evaluating them for 2016. For example, Mark Canha is playing every day at first base. Ike Davis is on the DL for the rest of the year and Canha, hopefully, will take advantage of the opportunity and show that he does not have to be platooned. The A’s will also be making decisions on second baseman Eric Sogard. Sogard can also play short and is relatively inexpensive. The A’s may want to keep him around. The A’s have moved Brett Lawrie over to second to give Danny Valencia playing time at third base. Lawrie is fun to watch. He is just twenty-five years old and has played well all year. Valencia, in the short time that he has been an A, probably will return next year as the A’s third baseman. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien has been a work in progress. Semien can hit and has some pop in his bat. His big problem has been fielding. While his error rate slowed down since the start of the season, he still has committed thirty-two so far and is just two shy of the record of thirty-four held by Burt Campaneris in 1968.The big question for the A’s in the outfield will be left field. Coco Crisp is not having a good year. Crisp has been slowed by injuries the last two years and he has not been able to get it going this year.  Coco is hitting just .152. He has been so important to this team since 2010 and the A’s hope that he can return to his high level of play. Burns in center and Reddick in right should be back.

The big reclamation project over the winter should be the bullpen. The A’s need a closer. Last year’s closer, Sean Doolittle, has been on the DL most of the season. His last two appearances were not great. Doolittle has lost velocity and command. He will need to get stronger over the winter if he is to return to that role. The bullpen, at times, has been the arson, squad. Evan Scribner started well but has given up too many home runs. Fernando Rodriguez, Fernando Abad, Drew Pomeranz, Edward Mujica, Pat Venditte, and Dan Otero have all been inconsistent. The A’s have the most blown saves in baseball and they have lost the most one-run games, too.

The A’s vs the D-Backs for three in Phoenix. Should be a good series. Opportunity for the A’s to evaluate their players and opportunity for the D-Backs to continue to improve.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners, behind a stout pitching performance by King Felix Hernandez, defeated the Oakland A’s 8-2 Wednesday afternoon in Seattle. The Mariners took the three-game series two games to one. The A’s were hoping that their starter, Chris Bassitt, would be on the top of his game. The A’s were facing their nemesis, Hernandez, and they knew that it could be a rough afternoon. Indeed, it was. Hernandez was dominant. He made two mistakes in the game. The first mistake was a leadoff home run to Billy Burns to start the game. The second mistake came in the seventh when Brett Lawrie led off with his thirteenth homer of the year. The A’s had just three hits total in the game. Hernandez went eight innings allowing three hits and two runs and those runs came on the two homers. Bassitt, on the other hand, was roughed up for four runs ans six hits in the first inning.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Billy Burns hit the first pitch of the game over the wall for his third home run of the season. The lead didn’t last long as the Mariners stormed back in their half of the first inning. They  sent ten men to the plate and scored four runs and had six hits. Rookie shortstop Ketel Marte led off the frame with a single. He advanced to second on a ground out. Mariner right fielder, Nelson Cruz who is a candidate for MVP honors, singled to drive in Marte with the tying run. Robinson Cano followed with a single. Former Athletic, Seth Smith, doubled down the left-field line to put the Mariners ahead 2-1. Mark Trumbo singled to plate Cano. Smith scored on a single off the bat of Logan Morrison. Mariners lead 4-1 after one inning of play.

The Mariners added a run in the bottom of the sixth. Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte was now on the hill for the A’s. Ketel Marte led off the inning with a double. He advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Nelson Cruz. The A’s scored their second run of the game when Brett Lawrie homered leading off the seventh. The Mariners got the run back in their half of the seventh. Sean Doolittle pitched the seventh and appeared that he was struggling with his command as he had top throw thirty-three pitches in the inning. 6-2 after seven.

The Mariners added two more runs in the eighth inning. Fernando Abad was in the game for Oakland. Kyle Seager took him deep. Nelson Cruz followed that with his thirty-ninth home run of the year to make it an 8-2 game.

The A’s have an off-day on Thursday as they travel to Phoenix to meet the Arizona DiamondBacks for three games over the weekend.  Sonny Gray will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Chase Anderson.