Category: Oakland Athletics

The Mariners overcome a five-run deficit, defeat the A’s 6-5

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for robinson cano mariners

The A’s jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Mariners scored six unanswered runs to come from behind to defeat the A’s 6-5 Tuesday night in Seattle. The Mariners scored three in the fourth and three in the fifth, and they drove A’s starter Jesse Chavez out of the game in the fifth and sent him to his thirteenth loss of the year. Mariners starter Mike Montgomery lasted just an inning  and a third as the A’s scored all five runs off him. The big story of the night was the Mariner bullpen. Edgar Olmos, Logan Kensing, Carson Smith and Tom Wilhelmsen kept the A’s at bay and secured the win for Seattle.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. Billy Burns, swinging on the first pitch, lined a single to center. Montgomery retired Mrk Canha and Brett Lawrie. However, he walked third baseman Danny Valencia to advance Burns into scoring position. A’s catcher Josh Phegley came through with a single to drive in Burns. 1-0 in the middle of the first.

The A’s scored four times on five hits in the second. Billy Butler led off the inning with a double to left. Josh Reddick then doubled down the right-field line to drive in Butler. Reddick advanced to third on a wild pitch. Shortstop Marcus Semien, back in the lineup after a two days on the bench, put a Mike Montgomery pitch into the left field seats.  Billy Burns singled for his second hit of the night. Montgomery retired Canha for the first out of the inning. Lawrie followed with a single to move Burns over to third. Mariners’ manager Lloyd McClendon decided that it was time to take Montgomery out of the game. The Mariners brought in lefty Edgar Olmos to face Danny Valencia. Valencia hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Burns with the fourth run of the inning and the fifth of the game for Oakland.  A’s lead 5-0 in the middle of the second inning.

The Mariners scored three times in the bottom of the fourth with his 38th home run of the year. Chavez retired the next two Mariner hitters. Austin Jackson doubled to deep center and then scored when first baseman Logan Morrison lined a shot down the right-field line that landed in the seats for his 13th homer of the season. Chavez retired Brad Miller for the third out.Mariners trail 5-3 after four.

The Mariners put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Mike Zunino singled to get the rally going. He advanced to second on a ground out to first. Zunino tagged and went to third on a long out to center. Nelson Cruz walked to put men on at first and third with two out. Robinson Cano hit a ball that glanced off Chavez’s glove that went for an infield hit. Had the ball not been deflected, Brett Lawrie probably would have retired Cano. Zunino scored on the play. Seth Smith walked to load the bases, and Austin Jackson singled up the middle to drive in two to take the lead.

The A’s had a chance to tie the game in the ninth. Sam Fuld reached second on a ground-rule double with two out. Josh Reddick flied out to right to end the threat.

Game Notes- A’s shortstop Marcus Semien hit his eleventh home run of the year in the second inning. Four of Semien’s homers have come against the Mariners. The two Seattle home runs off Jesse Chavez marked the sixth straight game that he has allowed a home run. The Mariners’ Robinson Cano hit his thirtieth double of the year. For Cano, it was the eleventh straight year with thirty doubles. Only Honus Wagner and Stan Musial in Major League have more consecutive years with thirty or more doubles.

The rubber match of the three-game series will start Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 in Seattle. Chris Bassitt (1-5,2.48) will pitch for Oakland, and King Felix Hernandez (14-8,3.74) will toil for Seattle.

Time of game was three hours and five minutes ans 17,498 were in the house.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Gallego firing controversial; looks like scapegoating

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by Charlie O Mallonee

SEATTLE–Knock me over with a feather I would have never projected in my wildest dreams that we’d be talking about former A’s third base coach Mike Gallego being fired and be replaced by Ron Washington. If your going to replace somebody Wash is a pretty good guy to do that with if you’ve got a ton of experience as a third base coach and obviously as a manager as well.

Why Gallego? Why now? The guy’s been your third base coach for seven years he’s helped put you into the playoffs he’s done good things and from all reports he has tremendous rapport with the players. He’s been in your organization for 19 years as a player and a coach. He had a little time with away from the A’s when he played with the Yankees and in the St.Louis organization.

This is the guy who was on your 1989 World Series team this guy bleeds green and gold and he’s been a big part of your situation and then you let him go? Why now? If the A’s were going somewhere and it would make a huge difference in the outcome although I’m not totally sure a change in third base coaches would really make the difference.

The A’s are obviously are not going anywhere, there’s no champagne that will be popped in the A’s locker room this October. It’s very confusing Gallego is known as a very aggressive third base coach he has had 19 runners thrown out at the plate this season. The A’s are the worst in MLB in one run games (14-29). You put that all together, but again what difference does that make now that there’s a change in third base coaches that is going to make a difference right now.

Six weeks to go what difference is it going to make? I have to file this part of the report “There must be scapegoats” things have gone terrible for the A’s this year. As good as things were last year having been in the fight and being in the playoffs, things have been horrible in Oakland. At some point the A’s have to have scapegoats and it can not be said with surety but this firing of Gallego falls in part under that.

Charlie O does the A’s podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Gallego firing was shocking; could Wash end up as A’s next skipper?

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Former A’s third base coach Mike Gallego was one of those guys who used to give you the run down on the team. He’s a very quiet but a very smart guy and it was surprising that the A’s let him go. What was it? was it a personal thing? was it a philosophical thing? was it a couple guys getting thrown out at the plate this past week?

I thought that Gallego did a terrific job at third base with the A’s not only as a third base coach but as a coach guiding and teaching the younger players. There’s a thing in baseball now when I was a younger kid most guys who made it to the big leagues they could play the game. Now there’s a lot of these guys that I’ve seen here in Oakland well Marcos Semien he’s got 31 errors.

How can you have 31 errors when your playing everyday? That’s why the A’s brought in Ron Washington who was the next third base coach for the A’s a well known guy. Semien had the job at shortstop and there are two positions in baseball that you have to field the ball there at defensive position onne is shortstop and the other one is catching.

Those two positions in baseball there might be some exceptions but they might find themselves a good defensive catcher like former Dodger Mike Piazza who hit more home runs than any other catcher in history that’s an exception. What I find in Semien he’s a pretty good hitter if he was hitting .230 he wouldn’t be close to a MLB team the man has to learn how to field.

So that’s why they brought Washington in I’m not surprised that this is a good move that Washington comes back to the A’s but what I don’t like that they let go of Gallego but they couldn’t make room. There’s two guys at one position so the ownership and A’s general manager Billy Beane had to make a decision and they made a decision to retain Washington who they hired for a few weeks to instruct Semien.

Semien had to learn how to field the ball and throw. The A’s promoted Washington to third base coach and Gallego was the odd man out and I’m very sadden by that news because like I said before and I mean it Gallego was a good guy, a good friend, that’s the way the ball bounces.

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

Oakland overcomes 5-run deficit to Defeat the Mariners

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s stormed back from a five-run deficit and scored eleven unanswered runs to pound the Seattle Mariners 11-5 Monday night in Seattle. The win ended the A’s eight-game road losing streak. Lefty Felix Doubront made his second start for Oakland. Doubront was injured in the first inning when a line drive hit his right foot. Doubront finished the first and second innings, but he limped off the mound at the end of the second. The A’s had to go to the bullpen early in the game. Evan Scribner pitched the third and Seattle torched him for five runs. Melvin let Scribner pitch another inning. Edward Mujica retired all six hitters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. Switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte, also retired all six hitters in order in the seventh and eight. Melvin brought in Drew Pomeranz to pitch the ninth and he, too, retired the Mariners in order to close out the game.  In all, the A’s relievers retired sixteen Mariners in a row to secure the win.

The A’s had just one hit off Mariners’ starter Hisaki Iwakuma in the first four innings of play. The A’s scored seven runs with two out to drive Iwakuma from the game. In fact, the A’s scored ten of their eleven runs after two were in both the fifth and ninth innings.

Evan Scribner had a rough outing as he allowed five runs in the third inning. Rookie shortstop, twenty-one-year-old Ketel Marte, led off the third with a double to right centerfield. Marte then stole third. Scribner hit Nelson Cruz with a pitch to put men on at first and third with one out. Robinson Cano singled to drive in Marte with Seattle’s first run, Franklin Gutierrez followed with a blast to center to put the Mariners up 4-0. Scribner retired the next hitter, but big Mark Trumbo hit a hanging curve into the left field seats for the fifth run of the frame. 5-0 after three. Scribner has given up fourteen home runs in just 57 innings of work this year.

Things turned around in the top of the fifth for the A’s. They sent eleven men to the plate and scored seven runs in the inning. All the runs came with two out. Stephen Vogt led off the inning with a double. Looked like he would be stranded there, but Billy Butler walked and Eric Sogard singled to load the bases. Billy Burns Doubled to drive in two. Mark Canha doubled to drive in two more to make it a 5-4 game. Josh Reddick reached on a single to Mariner first baseman Jesus Montero. Montero fielded the ball and failed to flip it to Iwakuma who was running to cover the bag. Montero lost the foot race to first. Reddick was ruled safe and Montero failed to check on Canha. Canha running at full speed scored from second to tie the game.  A’s third baseman, Danny Valencia put an Iwakuma slider over the fence in left to put the A’s in the lead 7-5.

The A’s added a run in the seventh. Mark Canha singled to left and advanced to second on a throwing error by Mark Trumbo. Trumbo was charged with the error, but it was sloppy play by the Mariner infield that allowed Canha to take the extra base. Reddick singled to drive in Canha.

The A’s weren’t done. They scored three more runs in the ninth. All the runs scored with two out. Josh Reddick homered to right. It was the fifteenth dinger of the year for Josh. Valencia and Vogt singled and Brett Lawrie doubled down the right field line to drive in two more for Oakland. 11-5 final in favor of the Green and Gold.

Game Notes- Stephen Vogt had two extra base hits (doubles) in the fifth inning. He became the seventh A’s player to have two extra-base hits in an inning. It was also the second game in a row that Vogt had two hits in an inning.  It was the first time since 1975 that the A’s have scored seven runs in an inning in two consecutive games

The A’s bullpen, with the exception of Scribner, retired sixteen hitters in a row,

Earlier in the day, the A’s announce they placed Kendall Graveman on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique muscle. The A’s recalled infielder Max Muncy from Nashville to take his place on the roster. It marks the third time that Muncy has been with the A’s this year.

The A’s also announced that third base coach Mike Gallego has been relieved of his duties and Ron Washington has been named third base coach for the remainder of the season. Washington returned to the A’s on May 21st after managing the Texas Rangers for nearly eight seasons.  He compiled a 664-611 record and guided the Rangers to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.  Washington has more wins than any other manager in Texas/Washington history.

Jesse Chavez will pitch for Oakland Tuesday night and he will be opposed by Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.

Time of game was three hours and nine minutes and 19,907 were on hand to watch.

The line score for Oakland 11 runs fifteen hits and no errors Line for Seattle five runs nine hits and one error.

A’s vs. Rays: Lineups, Pre-Game Notes and More

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By: Ben Leonard

The last-place Oakland Athletics (53-71) look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays (62-61) on Sunday.

They will send Kendall Graveman (6-9, 4.27) out on the hill, who has struggled mightily since the All-Star Break. July and August have not been kind to the A’s rookie pitcher, who has posted a 7.00 ERA in his six starts since the break.

Graveman will pitch on six days rest, which actually hasn’t been a harbinger of success for the rookie right-hander. He’s posted a 5.02 ERA in eight starts with more than five days of rest, while putting up a 3.79 figure with normal rest.

While he has struggled of late, Graveman doesn’t have a five-game personal losing streak solely because he’s been pitching poorly. A scuffling Oakland lineup behind Graveman has also been a factor, giving him just eleven runs of support in his last eight starts.

He’s only faced Tampa Bay once in his short career, stymieing their offense over six innings of three-hit, shutout ball this May. Perhaps the only good omen for Graveman, who has struggled to get hitters out as of late.

The Rays counter with right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who unlike Graveman is coming off a stellar outing (6 IP, 1 ER) against the first place Houston Astros. He has posted a 5.79 ERA in one career start against Oakland, albeit against a very different 2014 Athletics squad.

Odorizzi has dominated AL West squads this season, holding opposing squads to just three runs in 29.2 innings. He’s made five consecutive starts of at least six innings and one walk or less, but hasn’t won a road game since May 31st. Like Graveman, he’s struggled to get support from his team, receiving an AL-low 3.16 runs per game per nine innings.

There’s one thing that’s certain about Odorizzi: he will throw a lot of changeups. Since he picked up teammate Alex Cobb’s grip on the off-speed pitch in the 2013 offseason, 32.4% of his pitches have been changeups, second-most in the majors behind Rockies’ left-hander Jorge De La Rosa.

The A’s have really hit a rut since the All-Star Break, dropping 19 of their last 31 games. A big part of that has been their offense: they’ve averaged 3.20 runs in their last 49 games, not quite an offense dynamo.

LINEUPS:

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UPDATE: 

Manager Bob Melvin fielded questions on Sean Doolittle, who just returned from a minor league rehab stint. Melvin explained that because “there’s a difference in intensity between going through rehab at the minor league level and actually pitching in a big league game,” he will use him “not necessarily a low-leverage situation, but not a closing situation.” Doolittle was the A’s relief ace last season, saving 22 games and posting a 2.73 ERA.

Danny Valencia is back in the lineup, batting fourth and playing third base for Oakland, after an MRI revealed tendinitis in his right knee. Melvin said he feels good enough to play today, and is “willing to DH or do whatever he can to play on a day-to-day basis.” Melvin also didn’t know if he had dealt with this same issue in the past before.

Melvin praised Valencia for solidifying the middle of the lineup, saying he was “pleasantly surprised” about his production  “for a guy we picked up off waivers.”

On Saturday, both Billy Burns and the A’s ballboy, Scott, both made incredible diving plays. When asked which was better Melvin, said that both were “pretty good plays… Certainly Scott doesn’t get the opportunity to do that all the time… It lightened up the mood…But production-wise, Burn’s was probably better.”

 

 

A’s give it up late, suffer team-record 29th one-run loss to the Rays

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Loney ejected

By Morris Phillips

Scotty the ballboy sold out.  So did speedy Billy Burns.  Sonny Gray battled, and the fans filled the seats.

But in the end, it didn’t add up to much for the A’s.  Asdrubal Cabrera’s double in the ninth inning knocked in a pair of runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays edged past the A’s, 5-4.

Manager Bob Melvin been down this road a bunch in 2015.  Reliever Drew Pomeranz allowed Cabrera’s game-winning double marking the A’s 19th blown save, and eventually their team-record 29th one-run loss.

“That’s been a little bit of theme for us this year is that we have played seven or eight good innings and we end up losing some games late,” Melvin admitted.

The A’s fell to 53-70, the worst record in the American League, while the Rays boosted their standing in a wide-open AL playoff chase, despite being just one game over .500 and in fourth place in the AL East.

“We play in a lot of tight ballgames,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.  “We always talk about that’s the way our club’s built.  We pitch well and we defend really well.  These guys, at this point, are used to it.”

Gray was looking to build on his Cy Young award resume on Saturday in search of a 13th win to go with his AL-leading 2.04 ERA.  But balls were flying out the Coliseum Saturday night and Gray was the victim of three Tampa Bay home runs, all with the bases empty.  But while allowing the homers, Gray was battling, compiling 16 ground ball outs.

Marcus Semien came up with a nice diving stop and throw in the first, and Burns a diving catch in centerfield in the sixth, to back Gray’s uneven, but ultimately, effective pitching.  Scotty the ballboy proved his intensity was at the right level by diving for a foul ball in front of the A’s bullpen.  Burns and Scotty saw both of their efforts recognized on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

When the A’s rallied with a pair of homers of their own in a six-pitch span, Gray was in line for a win if a 4-2 A’s lead could be protected.

But that’s where Cabrera took over.  His solo shot off Gray in the seventh drew Tampa Bay within a run, and his double in the ninth won it.  Tampa Bay had dropped all 49 games this year they trailed after eight innings until Cabrera struck Saturday night.

On the night that the A’s preferred closer, Sean Doolittle, was activated from the disabled list, the A’s turned to switch-pitching Pat Venditte in search of his first career save.  But Venditte walked Daniel Nava and allowed a double to Logan Forsythe and was replaced by Pomeranz. Melvin said afterwards that the plan was to get Doolittle at least one appearance before he’s thrust back into his familiar closers’ role.

The A’s seemed to get an unlikely boost from home plate umpire Paul Nauert’s ejection of James Loney, who threw his helmet in disgust when he looked at strike three to end the top of the sixth.  The A’s responded with their pair of home runs of starter Erasmo Ramirez to take the lead less than 10 pitches after the ejection.

Kendall Graveman takes the mound for the A’s on Sunday in the series finale.  The Rays have Jake Odorizzi on the mound as they look for the sweep.

Lack Of Offense Spoils Bassitt Performance, Oakland Loses 2-1

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OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 21: Chris Bassitt #40 of the Oakland Athletics reacts after the Athletics turned a double play to end the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at O.co Coliseum on August 21, 2015 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 21: Chris Bassitt #40 of the Oakland Athletics reacts after the Athletics turned a double play to end the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at O.co Coliseum on August 21, 2015 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

by Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Chris Bassitt had another great performance tonight but the A’s bats were held in check for most of the night and the A’s fell to the Rays 2-1.

“We got our share of hits, we couldn’t get a big one when we needed one,” said Oakland head coach Bob Melvin.

Billy Burns, Danny Valencia and Billy Butler were all held hitless tonight and went 0 for 11. Brett Lawrie did his best as he was able to grab a pair of hits and score the A’s only run of night in the bottom of the ninth.

The Rays got on the board in the top if the second when Bassitt hit Logan Forsythe then after a wild pitch moves Forsythe to second. Desmond Jennings then smacked a line drive single to left field to bring in Forsythe and make it 1-0 lead for Tampa Bay.

In the top of the ninth the Rays added to their lead when Jennings hit his first homer of the year over the field fences and made it a 2-0 lead with the A’s down to their final three outs.

After a Reddick line out to start the bottom of the ninth Lawrie and Vogt hit back to back singles off of Rays reliever Brad Boxberger. With Crisp at bat Boxberger threw a wild pitch that move Lawrie over to third and Sam Fuld, who was in for Vogt, to second. A few pitches later Crisp hit a soft fly ball single to score Lawrie and move Fuld to the 3rd.

Oakland had their first run of the night with two outs left in the game.

Crisp stole second base with Marcus Semien up to bat and put the pressure on the Rays to get the last two outs. Boxberger was able to strike out Semien and then get Burns to fly out to Jennings to end the game and give the Rays the 2-1 victory.

The A’s and Ray’s head back at it tomorrow when the Rays send RHP Erasmo Ramirez (10-4) against the A’s RHP Sonny Gray (12-5).

The A’s host the Tampa Bay Rays Friday Night at the O.co Coliseum

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for chris bassitt

The Oakland A’s are enjoying an off-day Thursday but will return to action Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays.The Rays come to down with a record of 59-61 and are in fourth place in the AL East.They are 8 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the division and they still have a slight chance to make the playoff.

Kevin Cash at age 37 is the youngest manager in the Major Leagues and is the youngest manager in Rays’ history. He took over from Joe Maddon who left to take over the reins for the Chicago Cubs. Cash has done a good job. Their success is due to a good starting rotation and a strong bullpen. The Rays do not have a lot of power going for them, but they stay competitive and they are just two games under the .500 mark.

The starting rotation is made up of LHP Drew Smyly and Righties Nate Karns, Chris Archer. Jake Odorizzi and Erasmo Ramirez. Archer and Ramirez have ten wins each so far. Smyly is 0-2, but he was on the DL much of the year. Smyly is slated to pitch for the Rays Friday night. The Rays have two lefties in the bullpen, Xavier Cedeno, and Jake McGee. McGee has recorded six saves so far. The right-handed pitchers in the pen are Matt Andriese, Alex Colome, Steve Geltz, Brandon Gomes and closer Brad Boxberger. Boxberger has been outstanding and has twenty-nine saves to his credit.

The catching chores are split between Curt Casali and Rene Rivera. The big star in the infield is third baseman, Evan Longoria. Longo is hitting .277 with thirteen homers and fifty-five RBIs. James Loney is at first. Loney’s average is down and he has never been a great power, hitter. Logan Forsythe handles second base and Asdrubal Cabrera is at short. Tim Beckham is the utilityman. Brandon Guyer gets most of the starts in left field. Kevin Kiermaier is the regular center fielder and right field is held down by Grady Sizemore and Daniel Nava. Former A’s catcher, John Jaso, is the designated hitter.

The A’s, fresh off a two-game sweep of the Los Angels Dodgers, are sending Chris Bassitt to the mound. Bassitt has a record of 1-4, but the A’s have failed to give him any run support. He has an ERA of 2-60 and a WHIP of 1.01. Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray will pitch Saturday and Sunday. The A’s may not have Coco Crisp or Brett Lawrie available for the series. Both players are day-to-day. Crisp has ankle and hip soreness while Lawrie has a lat problem. Ike Davis just went on the 15-day DL. Mark Canha filled in nicely for Davis at first base and had six hits in his last two games and he should see more playing time. Billy Burns continues to play well in center for Oakland and his batting average is very close to the .300 mark and he is a definite Rookie of the Year candidate. Danny Valencia has played well at third base and Eric Sogard will fill in at second until Lawrie gets back. Jake Smolinski, recalled from Nashville Wednesday, should get some playing time in left and right field duties will be handled by Josh Reddick. Stephen Vogt and Josh Phegley continue to do a great job catching. The big problem with the A’s this year has been the bullpen. The pen failed Tuesday night but the A’s rallied to win. Drew Pomeranz closed out the Wednesday game against the Dodgers. The A’s need more consistency from them. Pretty sure that Billy Beane will be working to fix this problem in the off-season.

The A’s have six weeks left in the season. They probably will not make the playoffs this year, but Bob Melvin will not let them quit. The A’s can play the spoiler role. The Rays still have a chance and they will not be quitting either. Should be a good series.

A’s update

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by Jerry Feitelberg

During the A’s game with the Dodgers Wednesday, the Dodgers announced that they acquired second baseman Chase Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies for two minor league prospects. In addition, the Dodgers will assume two million dollars of salary for Utley for the remainder of the season.

The A’s announced that they placed Ike Davis on the 15 day DL and recalled outfielder Jake Smolinski from Triple A Nashville.

The A’s defeat the Dodgers, Sweep the Two-Game Series

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for jesse chavez

The Oakland A’s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 to sweep the two-game series Wednesday afternoon at the O.co Coliseum. The story of the game was the pitching of Jesse Chavez. Chavez probably had his best game of the year as he went eight innings allowing just two hits. His only mistake was a pitch to Jimmy Rollins in the third inning. The A’s rallied for two runs in the sixth and again in the eight to get Chavez his seventh win of the year. Lefty Alex Wood acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline absorbed his eighth loss of the season against eight wins.

The A’s jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Burns led off with a single. Burns advanced to third on a Mark Canha single to put men on at first and third with no out.  Danny Valencia hit into a fielder’s choice, and that allowed Burns to score the first run of the game. 1-0 after one.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. With one out, Chavez walked Dodger center fielder, Joc Pederson. Chavez retired Kike Hernandez for the second out, but Jimmy Rollins took one of his pitches into the right field seats. Rollins, a graduate of Encinal High School in Alameda, now has twelve dingers this year.

The A’s rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Eric Sogard led off the inning with a single. Billy Burns drilled a ball to the gap in left-centerfield to drive in Sogard with the A’s second run of the game. Mark Canha singled to right to advance Burns to third. Danny Valencia grounded into a 6-4-3 double play allowing Burns to score. The A’s lead3-2 after six complete.

The A’s added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead. Eric Sogard, as he did in the sixth inning, led off with a single. Billy Burns laid down a bunt that went for a base hit to put men on at first and second with no out. Mark Canha walked to load the bases.  Former A’s reliever, Jim Johnson, struck out Valencia for the first out of the inning. Dodger manager Don Mattingly brought in lefty Luis Avilan to pitch to Stephen Vogt. Vogt, pinch-hitting for Josh Phegley, Flew out to right driving in Sogard with the A’s fourth run. Righty Pedro Baez was now on the hill for LA to pitch to Jake Smolinski. Smolinski came through with a double to drive in Burns with the fifth and final run of the game for the A’s. Drew Pomeranz set the Dodgers down in order in the ninth to secure the win for the A’s. Final score 5-2 in favor of Oakland.

Game Notes- Jesse Chavez line was 8 IP, two hits, two runs, two walks and six strikeouts while throwing 116 pitches. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, who had three hits including two singles and a double. Mark Canha had two more hits and has had six hits in his last seven at-bats. Second Baseman Eric Sogard had two hits and scored each time he reached base.

After the game, Bob Melvin said that it was about time the A’s “gave him run support. He gave us eight innings, and it was one of his best games of the year. He also commented that a lot of people felt that Chavez faded down the stretch last year and that Chavez ” was on a mission to prove that wrong.” Melvin pointed out that Billy Burns was in the “middle of a lot” and that when he is”on base, he creates havoc.”

The A’s have an off-day Thursday and will resume play Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. RHP Chris Bassitt (1-4, 2.60) will go for the A’s, and  LHP Drew Smyly (0-2,4.35) will pitch for the Rays.

Time of game was 2 hours and thirty-four minutes and 26,122 paid to see the A’s win.