Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A's Billy Burns slides head first into second base for a stolen base

Kazmir, Burns Lead A’s Over Rangers

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AP Photo/Ben Margot

By  Troy Clardy

OAKLAND –

One day after rediscovering how to win in walk-off fashion, Oakland decided to take a less dramatic route to victory.

The A’s scored early, then exploded late in a 7-0 win over the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum on Thursday afternoon. Scott Kazmir threw eight innings of one-hit ball, and Mark Canha and Josh Reddick homered to punctuate a six-run eighth inning for Oakland. With the win, the A’s (25-37) took two of three games against the Rangers (31-29).
After going 0-4 in his previous six starts, Kazmir rebounded with a masterfully efficient performance. A one-out single by Elvis Andrus in the fifth inning was the only hit the Rangers managed all afternoon. Along the way, Kazmir struck out six Texas batters, walking only two.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin was impressed. “He didn’t get too amped up early in the game and try to force things,” Melvin said of Kazmir’s day. “He went with the flow, spotted his fastball early on, mixed all his pitches, and revved it up as he went along.”

Kazmir got plenty of help from Billy Burns, who notched two base hits, walked once, drove in a run, and made two sensational catches in center field. The first catch robbed Delino DeShields of extra bases in the sixth inning. The second catch, a leaping, twisting, crashing-into-the-wall-and-hanging-on effort was a work of art that ended the top of the eighth inning.

No one was more appreciative of Burns’ defensive efforts than Kazmir. “That gets you going as a pitcher,” Kazmir noted. “Someone makes a play like that, you just want to return the favor and get those guys back into the dugout. He had a great game.”

Burns’ all-around play earned him all-around praise from Melvin. “You see him getting deeper at-bats and making big plays,” the manager said. “He’s just getting better. To do it at the big-league level can be tough, (especially) for a guy we didn’t really envision being here until September.”

After drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning, Burns scored on an RBI single by Ben Zobrist. Crossed up by a largely gutty effort from Texas starter Chi Chi Gonzalez, the A’s did not score again until the eighth, when Rangers manager Jeff Bannister turned to his bullpen. Texas relievers Sam Freeman, Jon Edwards, and Ross Detwiler thanked Bannister by serving up a towering two-run blast to left by Mark Canha, then letting Josh Reddick leave the yard with a three-run shot. Unlike Wednesday night’s walk-off result, there would be no late-inning drama in Oakland.

Sam Fuld rapped out three hits, including a double that extended Oakland’s half of the eighth inning. That performance gives Fuld four hits in his last five at-bats, which looks much better considering he had gone 7-for-79 previously.

With the three-game homestand in the books, Oakland heads to Anaheim for a three-game weekend series. The A’s now have back-to-back wins after losing their previous four games. But Scott Kazmir was hesitant to call his squad a team with momentum again.

“We’ll see,” he cautioned. “We don’t want to count (these games against Anaheim as wins) already. We’ve just got to go into Anaheim and take care of business.”

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The shift Ted Williams never changed his swing (photo Eddie Dyer and Joe Cronin)

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Just think what would happen to you and millions of drivers if, there was a new law in the United States of America, in which we all would have to drive on the left side of the road(like in England)and all our cars would have the steering wheel on the right side of the dashboard. In a way the very “popular” shift today in baseball has frustrated many hitters. Today’s computer generated technology gives each team and manager a full list of the tendencies of each hitter, where they usually hit the ball, where they do not. Obviously this technology was not available before.

Fans simply believe that hitters should hit(slap the ball)where there are no fielders. But anybody that has played baseball, knows that one of the most difficult things to do, is to hit the ball where you want. A guy like Red Sox David(Big Papi)Ortíz, he has shown his frustration and his displeasure with the shift every time he comes to the plate. But Ortíz has been playing for 20 years, do you think it is easy for him to adjust? Yes, he is a talented hitter, but we are creatures of habit, and it is not easy to change your swing when you had great success for so long. It will be easier for the younger guys to adjust, and eventually most will.

Called the Boudreau or Ted Williams shift, used against Ted Williams during the 1946 World Series by Boston Red Sox manager Eddie Dyer, to “contain” and “get into the head”of a great hitter like Williams. It was devised on a blackboard in between a doubleheader by Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau. Today’s shift were standard to guys like Johnny Bench or George Foster when they came to the plate. But usually was reserved for those type of hitters.However, as I have seen with my own two eyes, teams now use the shift for .178 hitters with regularity. In some cases it looks like a joke.

Ted Williams was first man who hit against the shift, always refused to try beating the shift, because it would mess up his swing. Can anybody argue against Williams here? Have we seen anybody hitting .400 since Teddy Ballgame?

The great Ted Williams, maybe the best pure hitter in the history of the game, must be turning over his grave!

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

Walk-Off Wins Back In Vogue at the O.Co Coliseum

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – As a rain washed through the Bay Area, temporarily easing the minds of dried out Californians, 25 athletes found solace from a few droughts of their own. The Oakland A’s snapped their four-game losing streak, outlasting a dominant Yovani Gallardo start to walk off against the Rangers bullpen 5-4. The much maligned A’s bullpen pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, struggling Billy Butler contributed with a big hit and Oakland became the Walk-off Capital of the World for the first time in 2015.

“Things are starting to go our way right now,” said A’s starter Jesse Hahn. “Hopefully it’s a big momentum changer for us.”

After an eighth-inning rally tied the game for the A’s (24-37), a ninth-inning surge put Oakland back in the win column. Sam Fuld, struggling with a batting average below .200, singled to open the inning, then swiped second base. After a Billy Burns infield single, Josh Reddick stepped up to the plate with a chance to win the game. He laced a bouncer off losing pitcher Keone Kela (4-3, 2.42 ERA) to a drawn in second baseman Adam Rosales for the walk-off fielder’s choice and a shaving cream pie from Stephen Vogt.

“We used to specialize in those here for a while,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “It’s nice to come back from 4-2 and tie it, then come back and score another run.”

On Tuesday, the A’s struggled to score until the starter was long removed from the equation but Wednesday Oakland jumped on Gallardo early in a promising start. Billy Burns started the inning on second base after Joey Gallo’s throwing error, moved to third on Josh Reddick’s single then came home on Ben Zobrist’s fielder’s choice.

Staked to an early lead, Hahn found his way into the A’s history books for the wrong reasons Wednesday. The righty plunked 3 batters over a brief 3 2/3 innings, becoming the 9th Athletic to serve up a triple beanball performance. He was touched up for 4 runs, including a 3-run third inning where the Rangers batted around despite only collecting three hits in the frame. Hahn plunked two batters and issued a free pass in his struggling to retire the Rangers in the 3rd.

“I just didn’t have my stuff,” said Hahn. “It was one of those weird outings, no fastball command, no feel for the breaking ball. When you don’t have that it’s hard to pitch well at this level.”

In his previous four outings, Hahn had allowed only 8 earned runs over 27 1/3 innings. In his penultimate outing, the 25-year-old pitch a complete game shutout in Detroit. Tuesday marked the first time all season he failed to pitch a full 5 innings, a stretch spanning 10 starts.

“It’s frustrasting because I was confident going out there,” said Hahn. “I was confident I’d put up good numbers again. It happens. It’s one of the weird ones. I’ve already forgotten about it. I have to let it go and move on to the next one.”

Oakland cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 4th, with Stephen Vogt opening the inning with the first A’s hit since the first inning. Vogt doubled to open the inning, then moved over to third base on a wild pitch with one out. He came around to score on Brett Lawrie’s grounder to short to put Oakland back within a pair of runs at 4-2.

Gallardo settled down after that, giving the Rangers their second-straight six-plus inning, two-run start against the A’s. The 29-year-old righty fired seven innings, picking up a season-high 10 strikeouts. Of his 110 pitches, an astounding 73 went for strikes.

Over 12 starts this year, the hard-tossing Gallardo has yet to allow more than four runs. Despite his consistent performances, he’s currently tied for 5th in the American League with a Texas-leading 6 losses. While he wasn’t tagged with the loss, Gallardo had to settle for a no-decision after his bullpen squandered the two-run advantage.

Oakland scored two runs in an inning for the first time in 24 innings in the eight, the first inning of work for the Rangers bullpen. Josh Reddick singled off southpaw Sam Freeman with one out, then Zobrist welcomed Tanner Scheppers into the game with a base-hit to right field. With the throw coming to third to try to cut down Reddick, Zobrist advanced to second on the play. Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo overthrew the ball, allowing Reddick to score easily. Vogt walked, bringing DH Billy Butler to the plate.

Over his last 10 games, “Country Breakfast” was hitting at a slim .179 batting average with only 7 hits and 3 RBIs over 39 at-bats. The big man came through in the clutch Wednesday, connecting on the game-tying single to plate Zobrist.

“A lot of times it’s a hit like that that’ll get you going,” said Melvin. “It’ll loosen you up a little bit. He finally found a hole.”

Lawrie popped out for the second out and Max Muncy gave a Scheppers offering a ride, but right fielder Shin-Soo Choo pulled in the ball with his back against the fence.

The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without contributions from the bullpen. Pat Venditte (2 1/3 innings), Fernando Abad (1) and Evan Scribner (1) combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, while Tyler Clippard (1-3, 3.20) picked up his first win of the season after pitching a scoreless ninth.

“That’s probably the key to the game,” said Melvin. “What Venditte did was terrific. Fernando Abad coming in and contributing, having an easy inning. The whole bullpen was probably the key to the game.”

The A’s now have a chance to win the series with Scott Kazmir squaring off against rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez in Thursday’s finale. If they manage to win the series, it’ll be the first time in six series since the Rangers (31-28) were on the losing end.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s struggle to get one in the win column and a long way to .500

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by Charlie O Mallonee

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s returned home from a long road trip and in their first game against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night they had starter Sonny Gray go out to the mound who pitches his heart out which turned out to be a two run ball game for a 2-1 lose and the A’s can’t come up with enough offense to keep them competitive.

So the A’s have now lost four in a row and this is exactly the kind of situation that the A’s cannot go through because their struggle is they have a record of 23-37 and are 14 games below .500. Their 11 games behind first place Houston so at this point their only goal is to get back to .500 or get back to .500. If your 14 games under .500 that’s tough to do and it’s the same old problem.

For the A’s it’s errors and that’s what really costed them in Boston they leave runners in scoring position last night against Texas 1-9 with runners in scoring in position. They left a runner stranded at third base that was the tying run to give them a chance to keep in the that ball game and have the potential run for the win.

The simply can’t do that the other day against Boston in the last game of the series in Fenway they went 4-13 with runners in scoring position and the other problem is relief pitching or the lack there of the relief core is just not getting it done. They did pretty well on Tuesday night in relief of Gray but the other problem is they couldn’t score any runs.

It’s really frustrating and right now the A’s are 9-18 at home, their 14-19 on the road, they always had a home field advantage especially with large territories and their not doing it at this point when their at home especially in front of the home fans. The A’s need right now is to focus on getting to .500 and it’s a struggle to get back there.

When they get back to .500 then you could start to look at things and then you could look at things and say what else are we able to do. The problem for the A’s the Rangers have won ten of their last 12. The Rangers have the best road record right now in the American League. The A’s after this Texas series in Oakland will go to the Southland and face the Angels and on Monday and Tuesday for two games in San Diego. The Padres are much improved team this season look out A’s.

Charlie O does A’s commentary each week listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Martinez Out-duels Gray, A’s Drop Fourth-Straight Game

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – The dark days have returned for the Oakland Athletics. Mired amongst the dredges of the American League cellar, the A’s find themselves fading once again after an 2-1 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers Tuesday night at O.Co Coliseum. Nick Martinez topped Sonny Gray, while Shawn Tolleson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 8th save of the season.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” said Melvin. “There’s a lot of things going. We lost a lot of one run games. It’s not uncommon to want to press because of it. When you don’t come through and you have opportunities, it’s frustrating.”

Oakland (23-37) has now dropped four-straight contests following a weekend sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. Prior to that series, the A’s were turning a corner. They swept long-time nemesis Detroit in convincing fashion before moving further East to Boston.

“We have to look at the big picture,” said A’s catcher Stephen Vogt. “We’re 9 of our last 15. We have to keep that perspective, that attitude. We played really well the last half of the home stand and in Detroit.”

If any could have put the A’s back on the winning track, it’d have been the pitcher on the hill Tuesday night. Sonny Gray (7-3, 1.74 ERA) grabbed the ball to open the three-game set, and despite a well-pitched effort, wound up the loser in tightly-contested pitching battle. The A’s stranded nine runners against the second-place Rangers (31-27).

“We had some opportunities,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “We didn’t get the one big hit when we needed to. That’s usually the case when you have close games like that.”

Despite Gray’s best efforts, the Rangers struck first in the third inning. Delino DeShields jetted his way to a one-out triple with a wall ball to right centerfield, but Shin-Soo Choo succumbed to Gray’s best offerings with a swinging strikeout. Prince Fielder bested the AL’s ERA leader in the next at-bat, blooping a flare between Marcus Semien and left fielder Ben Zobrist.

The A’s found themselves in a similar situation in the bottom of the fourth after Josh Reddick broke up Martinez’ no-hit bid. The A’s right fielder lead off the frame with a double then scooted to third on Ben Zobrist’s warning track pop-out.

With only one out and the heart of the order due up, Oakland looked sure to tie the contest up. Instead Stephen Vogt grounded out into a drawn-in infield, then Billy Butler followed suit with a slow bouncer up the middle to strand Reddick at third.

The A’s would load the bases with two outs the following inning despite collecting a single hit after Martinez hit Mark Canha, walked Semien and mishandled a Billy Burns squibber for an error. Reddick couldn’t cash in the run though, instead rolling out to second base.

Mitch Moreland punished the Athletics for not converting in the next half-inning, scorching a 2-1 Gray offering halfway up Mt. Davis to open up the top of the sixth. Moreland’s 7th dinger of the year, the 21st run batted in of the season, doubled the Rangers lead 2-0.

Gray would close out the sixth before turning the contest over to the bullpen. Gray threw 95 pitches in his six-inning outing, striking out six Texas batters while issuing a sole free pass but wound up the hard-luck loser due to a sputtering offense.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” said Melvin. “He gives up the bloop hit then Moreland scores the one run. You give up two runs and that’s a bad game? I’ll take that it any day.”

On many nights, Gray’s showing would be enough to top many a league’s ace. Not Tuesday though, as Martinez locked down on the bump. The 24-year-old threw a near flawless six innings, surrendering only one hit while walking one and hitting another batter.

“He cuts it, curveball, sinks it, late movement on the changeup,” said Melvin of the opposing starter. “He pitches backward when he has to. For the last year and a half or so he’s been one of the better pitchers in the American League.”

“He did a good job of keeping us off balance,” added Vogt. “He’s having a great year. He knows how to pitch. He’s an athlete.”

Once Martinez (5-2, 2.65) departed, the A’s saw an opening, winding up with runners on 2nd and 3rd against the Rangers bullpen with two down in the seventh. Again, A’s base runners would be denied the final 90 feet, as Rangers reliever Ross Detwiler coaxed a strikeout of pinch-hitter Josh Phegley after issuing three-straight balls to open the at-bat., b

“Phegley’s hitting .333 against lefties,” said Melvin. “It’s not often that I’ll hit for Reddick. You have to do what you the best you can in the situation. Phegley’s been swinging really goo

The A’s broke the shutout in the eighth after Zobrist, struggling to a .205 average this year while recently returning from injury, opened the inning with a liner to left field that DeShields misjudged into a double.  Another struggling hitter, Vogt, plated Zobrist on a single to center to put the A’s on the ledger.

On a night where the A’s struggled to score in general, even an easy RBI single turned into a struggle. The strong-armed Leonys Martin fielded Vogt’s liner and fired a rocket to home plate that skipped past the cutoff man right to catcher Robinson Chirinos. Zobrist was past Chironos, but didn’t slide, allowing the Rangers catcher to attempt a swipe tag. Zobrist was ruled safe, a hair ahead of the tag. Texas manager Jeff Banister challenged the play, but the call stood to cut the Rangers edge 2-1.

Oakland fans who chose to skip over game 3 of the NBA Finals had little to be excited for, but they were treated to a special moment. Switch pitcher Pat Venditte made his O.Co debut, warming up from both sides of the mound before firing off a 1-2-3 inning. He faced three righties, electing to pitch from the right side for all three.

“Like every inning we’ve seen from him, whether it’s here or in spring training, he’s focused,” said Melvin. “He’s confident. You know you’re going to get your match-up. He’s having a real good time, his first time in the Big Leagues. There can be some nerves involved but he’s showing it hasn’t bothered him. He’s having a great time and he’s pitching well on top of it.”

Oakland turns to another starter capable of turning in a gem, Jesse Hahn, for game 2 Wednesday night. He’ll be opposed by Yovani Gallardo, the Rangers offseason acquisition meant to be the complement to the now-injured Yu Darvish at the front of their rotation.

Oakland A’s – Texas Rangers preview

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s return home from a six-game road trip to resume play Tuesday night against the surprising Texas Rangers at the O.Co Coliseum. The A’s won the first three games sweeping the three-game set again the Detroit Tigers, but then they were swept three straight by the Boston Red Sox. The A’s looked good beating Detroit, but their shortcomings reappeared in the series against the Bosox. The A’s continue to have bullpen issues as well as poor fielding and not being able to get hits with men in scoring position. As a result, the A’s are in last place in the AL West with a record of 23-36.

One of the big surprises of the year has been the play of the Texas Rangers under the leadership of manager Jeff Bannister. They are currently in second place in the AL West with a record of 30-27 and are 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros. The Rangers have several of their top pitchers on the DL, but they brought up Chi-Chi Gonzales and he has two wins in two starts and has an ERA of 0.00.  Nick Martinez (4-2,2.89 ERA) has been solid. The Rangers added veteran Wandy Rodriguez to the staff to go along with Colby Lewis and Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo got off to a slow start, but he improved his record to 5-6 and sports an ERA of 3.54.

The Rangers’ offense is led by Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland, Adrian Beltre (currently on the 15 day DL),  rookie sensation Joey Gallo, Delino Deshields, Shin Soon-Choo, and Elvis Andrus. Josh Hamilton, recently acquired from the Angels, is also on the DL with a hamstring injury.

First-year manager, Jeff Bannister has done a terrific job as he has so many of his key players on the DL. Rangers ace, Yu Darvish, is on the shelf for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Matt Harrison, Nick Tepisch, Derek Holland are all on the 60-day DL and closer Neftali Perez is on the 15-day list.

Sonny Gray goes for the A’s Tuesday night, and the Rangers will have Nick Martinez on the hill. Let’s see if the A’s can get back on the winning track. Even with all the deficiencies the A’s have shown this year, it is not too late to climb back into respectability.

Boston Sweeps Oakland

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Sunday, June 7, 2015. Photo by Matt West.
Sunday, June 7, 2015. Photo by Matt West.

by Charlie O. Mallonee

At the end of the season, every member of the Oakland Athletics will have tried to forget game number 59. Game 59 was played on Sunday in Boston and the A’s lost 7-4.

With the win, the Red Sox (27-31) completed a three-game sweep of Oakland. The loss dropped the A’s record to 3-3 on the six-game road trip which is an acceptable result on a road trip. The A’s (23-36) will want to forget the game on Sunday because they should have won the game.

The Red Sox finished the game with seven runs, 13 hits and no errors. The A’s posted four runs on 11 hits and had no errors.

The winning pitcher was knuckleballer Steven Wright who is 3-2 for the year. The save went to Tommy Layne – his first save of the season.

The loss was hung on Tyler Clippard (0-3). Clippard was also charged with his second blown save of the year.

The death blow was issued by the Red Sox in the bottom of the eighth inning. The A’s held a 4-0 lead with starter Kendall Graveman on the hill. Graveman gave up a lead-off home run to Runsey Castillo, and A’s manager Bob Melvin handed the game over to his relief corps.

The four A’s relievers failed to get the job done as they gave up six runs on seven hits to to 10 Red Sox batters. When the disaster of an inning was over, Boston led the game 7-4 – the eventual final score.

Men Left on Base

The relief pitching did fail to get the job done, but the A’s really lost the game in the top of the fourth inning.

The A’s did score a run in the fourth inning; however, they had the bases loaded with no outs and failed to bring another run across the plate. Another run or two in that inning would have dramatically changed the complexion of the game.

The A’s have been plagued with leaving runners in scoring position all season. On Sunday, the A’s were 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Those nine runners left on base came home to haunt them at the end of the game.

By contrast, the Red Sox went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

On the Bump

Kendall Graveman gave the A’s a quality start on Sunday. Graveman pitched 7-plus innings (he faced one batter in the eighth inning). He gave up one run (earned) on six hits while striking out six and walking just two Boston hitters. Graveman threw 101 pitches for 66 strikes.

Graveman’s trademark sinkerball was giving him trouble in the early innings. Rather than sinking, it was staying flat and moving in and out over the plate. The lack of sink seemed to throw the Red Sox hitters out of sync and Graveman recorded an unusually high number of strike outs for the game. His sinker began to sink more as the game progressed.

Clay Buchholz never looked comfortable on the mound for the Sox. He gave up 4 runs (all earned) on 10 hits. He struck out four while walking two batters. Buchholz threw 102 pitches in his 4.2-innings of work.

Out of the Bullpen

Evan Scribner came on in relief of Graveman in the eighth inning. He promptly gave up a base hit to Pedroia which kicked off the Red Sox rally. Graveman is now 9-for-28 (.311) versus first hitters for the season. It is tough to have a quality relief appearance when you give up that many hits to the first batter you face.

Scribner gave up three runs on three hits. He did not record an out.

Drew Pomeranz faced on hitter and gave up a sacrifice fly to Ortiz.

Clippard was roughed up for three runs (all earned) on four hits. The Boston hitters were guessing correctly on whether Clippard was going to throw a fastball or a change up.

Switch pitcher Pat Venditte came in recorded the final out of the inning for Oakland.

Defense

The defense was not a problem for the A’s on Sunday as they committed no errors. Their only miscue was a passed ball.

In the Batters Box

The A’s had real trouble in this series with a lack of production from the number three, four and five hitters in the order. The middle of the order produced only five hits in the three-game tilt.

Stephen Vogt went 0-for-12 in the three games. Reddick went a respectable 4-for-10 at the plate. Billy Butler went 1-for-13 as the designated hitter. That qualifies as severe power drought.

The bright spot the A’s on offense continues to be Billy Burns. Burns now has a 12-game hitting streak (tied for the longest consecutive hitting streak of the season for the A’s). He went 3-for-13 in the series.

Catcher Josh Phegley also had a decent series at the plate. He went 4-for-7 in the series including two doubles on Sunday.

Up Next

The A’s will have Monday off after the long plane ride home from the East Coast.

The Texas Rangers come to Oakland starting on Tuesday for a three-game series. The Rangers have won seven of their last 10 games. Texas had leap-frogged the Angels to take sole possession of second-place in the AL West.

Sonny Gray (7-2,1.65) will pitch the opener for Oakland. Texas will send RHP Nick Martinez (4-2, 2.89) to the mound to face the Athletics.

A’s close without really being close in a second-straight 4-2 loss to Boston

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Silence at Fenway

By Morris Phillips

If it’s close, don’t expect the game to go to the A’s.

In a season so rough the A’s have sunk to the bottom of the pile in the American League, they’re some things this club has shown that it just can’t do.

Can’t win a close game, can’t win in extra-innings and can’t win during the daytime.

On Saturday afternoon in Boston, it was more of the same in two of the three just mentioned categories as the A’s fell to the Red Sox, 4-2.

Hanley Ramirez got the Sox off to a flying start with a two-run homer in the first inning, and David Ortiz and Mike Napoli had RBI hits in the third to give Boston a 4-1 lead at that point.

The A’s response? One run scored after the third inning, and one hit after the fourth.

So if you want to categorize this one, it’s close without really being close.  The A’s fell to Boston for the second straight day by a score of 4-2, which leaves them 3-9 in games decided by two runs or less.  In one-run ballgames, the A’s are 3-15, and both records are the worst in big league baseball.

“We’re in so many games and however we get there, you get tired of tipping your cap,” manager Bob Melvin lamented.

The A’s came into Boston as winners of nine of 12, and showing signs of breaking out of their malaise, and escaping the AL West cellar.  But Boston’s been struggling too, and their desperation to improve their status has outpaced that of the A’s so far this weekend.  After Wade Miley shut down the A’s on Friday, tough luck Joe Kelly took care of Oakland on Saturday.

Kelly hadn’t won a start at Fenway Park since last season, and hadn’t won anywhere since April 11.  Afterwards, manager Joe Farrell was quick to say he liked what he saw from Kelly, who went six, allowing one run and four hits.

“Whether it’s the ability to reach back and get a little extra velocity, whether it’s making a key pitch as he’s done the last two starts in particular with men in scoring position, he’s got a way about him to keep a moment under control and still execute.”

The A’s truncated offense had just two highlights: Billy Burns tripled home a run in the third inning, and Mark Canha took reliever Alexi Ogando just over the Green Monster in the seventh.

Boston elected to sit former Giant Pablo Sandoval for a second straight day as the Panda’s struggles at the plate extended to the field with two errors on Thursday.  Farrell addressed the subject, saying the consecutive days off were needed to allow Sandoval to “clear his head” and he expects the rotund one will be back in the Red Sox’s lineup on Sunday.

Kendall Graveman gets the ball on Sunday in a matchup with Boston’s Clay Buchholz as the A’s try to avoid the sweep.  Graveman will attempt to win for the third time without a loss since his promotion from AAA Nashville.

UPDATE ON INJURED FAN, TONYA CARPENTER: The Red Sox fan who was struck by a splintered bat in the second inning of Friday’s game has been upgraded from critical condition after spending 24 hours at a local Boston hospital.

Carpenter was sitting in box seats on the third base side of the diamond when Brett Lawrie’s bat broke and was sent helicoptering toward the woman sitting with her husband and child.  Carpenter was struck in the head and her screams could be heard throughout the lower deck of Fenway Park.  Carpenter, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital with injuries considered “life threatening.”

Before Saturday’s game a moment of silence for Carpenter was observed by the sellout crowd (pictured above).  Players for both teams admitted to be shaken by the incident with Boston’s Ramirez saying he couldn’t sleep from dwelling on what had transpired.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The difference between Boston and Oakland (photo John Gochnaur)

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The distance from Boston to Oakland is 3,094 miles, or 4,979 kilometers. The only countries in the world that do not use the metric system are Burma, Liberia and the United States of America. But in baseball distance, from Boston to Oakland it might as well be from planet Earth to planet Jupiter.

The Red Sox signed Pablo Sandoval this past winter for $95 million contract, to play third base. Pablo has committed seven errors, last one a key error that keyed an 8-4 lost to the Minnesota Twins, they benched him, he was out of the lineup last night.The Oakland A’s have a 24-year old rookie shortstop Marcus Semien, who lead the majors with 19 errors, and they hired famed two-time-AL pennant champion ex-Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington just to tutor Semien.

The Athletics fielding problem goes further than the 24-year old San Francisco native Marcus Semien. The team has played 57 games and committed 57 errors. Even with the great pitching headed by Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray, the errors have an effect on pitchers. A pitcher can make the best pitch in the world a ground ball to short for a double play but if the shortstop cannot field the ball…

Marcus Semien probably will not break the record in a season for a shortstop, Joe Sullivan (Washington) in 1893 committed 102 errors that’s the most for a shortstop in both leagues, in the American League a guy named John Gochnaur committed 98 errors with Cleveland in 1903.

This difference in baseball attitudes is not only about errors but baseball in general. The east coast takes their baseball much more seriously than we do here on the west coast, after all the game was invented in the east coast, so it has it’s roots there. Like I mentioned in previous articles, in Boston the Red Sox are not about selling Panda Bears to the fans, they are about winning every day, the only souvenir they really want is a title and the Commissioner’s trophy.

Another difference so far between the A’s and the Red Sox this season, the Red Sox are a payroll-rich market team and they are expected to win their division, and manager John Farrell is under great pressure right now. We cannot say the same about A’s skipper Bob Melvin, although he is definitely not happy with his team performance so far, he is not going to get fired, because under the Athletics system its not the manager that usually goes, its the player.

The Oakland Athletics have about a month (maybe a little less)to get their season in shape, or the sale of players is coming before the Macy’s White Flower day sale. The names already mentioned in rumors: Scott Kazmir, Tyler Clippard, Ben Zobrist, and possibly others. The Boston Red Sox? They will probably go for a big time pitcher like Philadelphia Cole Hamels, unless the first place Houston Astros can get to him, and the Astros might just have the young players terrible Philadelphia is looking for.

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

Venditte Makes MLB Debut But A’s Fall To Red Sox 4-2

Published on by kahlilnajar7Leave a comment
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 5: Pat Venditte #29 of the Oakland Athletics throws on the left side in relief in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 5, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a switch-thrower who was called up today from Triple-A Nashville. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – JUNE 5: Pat Venditte #29 of the Oakland Athletics throws on the left side in relief in the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 5, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a switch-thrower who was called up today from Triple-A Nashville. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

By Kahlil Najar

BOSTON – The A’s may have lost to the Red Sox 4-2 today however they were able to come away with a spectacular outing from switch pitcher phenomenon Pat Venditte. Venditte was called up from Triple-A today as the A’s sent down Dan Otero to work on his command. Pitching Coach Curt Young said, “He’ll go down, work hard, get himself right, and he’ll be back.”

Venditte lasted two innings and gave up one hit and was able to sit down one batter.

On his debut, Venditte said “You play it 1,000 times in your head how it’s going to happen. I don’t really remember a whole lot, just a lot of emotions and being able to tell my family and friends that the work was starting to pay off.”

“To show his composure like that and pitch the way he did and get two innings for us, it was terrific,” said Melvin on Venditte’s performance.

Unfortunately for Oakland wins aren’t awarded for middle relievers.

The A’s continued their nasty habit of errors and today had more errors than they did runs. Zobrist, Reddick and Lawrie committed the A’s blunders today. Additionally, Scott Kazmir didn’t have his best day as he earned his fourth loss and gave up nine hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Kazmir gave up three doubles with each of them contributing to a run on the day.

“I just have to be better out there,” said Kazmir. “And I will be next time.”

The A’s were able to score in the top of the fifth when they were able to smack three singles and score Brett Lawrie who got the first hit of the inning. The other Oakland run came in the seventh when Lawrie hit his fifth homer of the year.

Lawrie was also involved a horrific accident early in the game when he smacked a pitch to second that broke his bat the barrel of the bat launched into the crowd and critically hurt a woman who was there with her family. The woman was taken away in a stretch and we are still waiting on word from Boston Police to see how she is doing. Prayers go out to her and her family from the entire Sports Radio Service family.

Boston and Oakland head back at it tomorrow when the A’s send Jesse Chavez against Boston’s Joe Kelly.