Category: Oakland Athletics

The A’s defeat the Tigers again , Sweep the Series

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Baseball is such a crazy game. No matter how many years one follows the game, things occur that make fans literally go insane. Take the 2015 edition of the Oakland A’s, for example. They had such a horrible start to the season. Nothing went right for the for the first 44 games of the season. They could not buy a clutch hit. Their fielding was terrible as was the bullpen, They played a lot of one-run games but could not win. However, hopefully, the team may have turned around the season as they won in Detroit Thursday afternoon 7-5 to sweep the Tigers. It was a season-high fourth win in a row for Oakland and their ninth win in the last 12 games. They are not out of the hole yet as they are still ten games under .500 with a record of 23-33, but things are looking better. The A’s Jesse Hahn pitched well as he recorded his third win of the year and his record improved to 3-5. Drew Pomeranz, working out of the bullpen, pitched the eighth and shut down the Tigers. The only sour note in the game was the performance of Dan Otero. Otero is not having one of his best years. Some of the time, Otero is good and some of the time he is not-so-good. His outing Thursday was a not-so-good outing. He retired one hitter, the ever-dangerous Miguel Cabrera but gave up four runs on four hits as the Tigers made it a 2-run game. Bob Melvin went to his closer, Tyler Clippard, for the save and Clippard came through getting  Nick Castellanos  and James McCann on flyballs to the outfield to end the game.

The A’s scored three runs in the top of the second. Josh Reddick and Brett Lawrie singled to start the frame to put men on at 1st and 3rd with no out. Eric Sogard reached on a fielder’s choice when Tigers’ pitcher Shane Greene made an error on the throw to second trying to start a double play. Reddick scored on the error. Lawrie was safe at second and Sogard was safe at first. The next hitter Josh Phegley tripled to deep center field to drive in Lawrie and Sogard.

The A’s added a run in the fourth, two in the 5th and one more in the 7th. In the fourth, Stephen Vogt walked leading off the inning. Vogt scored on a Billy Butler double to left. In the 5th, Billy Burns walked and stole second. It was the 10th steal for Burns. The Tigers issued an intentional walk to Vogt. Billy Butler singled to left. Burns scored and when Tiger left-fielder Daniel Fields overran the ball, Vogt came home with the A’s 6th run of the game.

The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the 6th. With tow out, Anthony Gose and Jose Iglesias singled to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Miguel Cabrera singled to drive in Gose with the run. The A’s got the run back in the 7th of tiger pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. Gorzelanny walked Ben Zobrist and Stephen Vogt. With two in the inning, Brett Lawrie doubled to drive in Zobrist with the A’s 7th run.

Jesse Hahn was done after 7 innings and it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Oakland. Drew Pomeranz was brought in to pitch. It was Pomeranz’s first appearance since coming off the DL and he worked a scoreless 8th inning for Oakland.  Bob Melvin made the call to the bullpen. Dan Otero came in and retired the first batter he faced, Miguel Cabrera. That was they only hitter that Otero retired. Daniel Fields doubled. Ian Kinsler singer to drive in Field to make it a 7-2 game. J.D. Martinez singled. That was followed by a Tyler Collins’ home run. Detroit is back in the game trailing 7-5. Melvin brought in his closer, Tyler Clippard and Clippard retired Castellanos and McCann to end the game.

Game notes- The line for Jesse was 7 IP, 5 hits, and 1 run allowed. Hahm\n’s record in now 3-5 with a 3.51 ERA. Pomeranz went 1 inning with all zeros and Tyler Clippard earned his 9th save. Shane Greene took the loss for Detroit and his record in now 4-5. He went 4.1 innings and gave up 6 runs, but two were unearned.

The A’s move on to Boston for a three-game set at Fenway Park. It will be a battle of left-handers as Scott Kazmir will go for Oakland and Wade Miley will be on the hill for the Red Sox.

Game time will be at 4:05pm PT.

The A’s beat the Tigers again behind the strong pitching of Sonny Gray.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s are on the move. They beat the Tigers 6-1 to win their fifth game out of the last six and the eighth out of the last eleven. The  A’s ace, Sonny Gray, was dominant as he went eight innings allowing no runs and just two hits. He threw 108 pitches picking up his seventh win of the year. His record is now 7-2 and he owns an ERA of just 1.65. The Tigers’ Anibal Sanchez took the loss. Sanchez is now 3-7 with a 5.67 ERA for 2015. The A’s offense was led by Billy Burns, Josh Reddick, Brett Lawrie and Billy Butler.

The A’s scored three runs in the top of the third. Brett Lawrie doubled with one out to get things going. After Marcus Semien popped out, Sanchez walked Mark Canha and Eric Sogard to load the bases. The next hitter, Billy Burns, hit the first pitch from Sanchez for a triple that cleared the bases to put the A’s up 3-0. Josh Reddick hit a solo homer in the third to put Oakland ahead 4-0. The A’s added another run in the eighth and ninth. The Tigers scored their lone run in the bottom of the ninth.

Game notes- Fernando Rodriguez relieved Gray in the ninth and gave up one run on two hits. It was the fourth time in twelve starts that Sonny Gray did not allow a run. The A’s announced that Drew Pomeranz has been activated off the DL and will be working out of the bullpen. Arnold Leon was sent back to Nashville.

The Tigers have lost six games in a row for the first time since the 2011 season.

With the win, the A’s have won the series for the second consecutive time. The A’s meet the Tigers Thursday morning at 10:05 am PT. Jesse Hahn will go for Oakland and Shane Greene will pitch for Detroit.

Oakland Starts the Road Trip win a Comeback Win to Defeat the Detroit Tigers

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

What’s going on with the A’s? They started off the six-game road trip with a 5-3 comeback win over the Tigers in Detroit night. The A’s are starting to look like the team that everyone hoped would compete for the top spot in the AL West. However, that did not happen  as the A’s got off to a terrible start, but the A’s have won four of the last five and seven of the last ten. In Tuesday’s game, the A’s had a quality start from Kendall Graveman and three innings of hitless relief. Evan Scribner kept the Tigers down in the 7th and 8th innings to set the stage for Tyler Clippard who closed out the win for Oakland with his eighth save of the year. The A’s played well defensively and did not make an error for the second straight game. The A’s also had a key hit in the 7th to put them ahead for good. Ben Zobrist hit a line drive over the right field fence for a grand slam. All the ingredients were in play. Hitting, pitching, bullpen, and defense. Let’s hope the Green and Gold can continue their winning ways.

The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes singled to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Graveman retired the next two batters but walked Tyler Collins to load the bases. Cabrera scored when Graveman uncorked a wild pitch. Nick Castellanos followed with a single to drive in Cespedes and Collins.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the 7th. Brett Lawrie led off with a single. Lawrie advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marcus Semien followed with an infield single to put runners at 1st and 3rd. The A’s caught a break on the next play. Eric Sogard hit a ground ball to Ian Kinsler. The Tiger second baseman threw home thinking that Lawrie was running on contact but Lawrie held at third at Sogard was safe at first on the fielder’s choice to load the bases. Billy Burns singled to center to drive in Lawrie with the A’s first run.  The Tigers brought in Angel Nesbitt to face Ben Zobrist. Zobrist, batting from the left side, hit a line drive that cleared the fence for a grand slam. The A’s have the lead for the first time in the game. There was no more scoring as the bullpen shut the Tigers down the final three innings to secure the win for Oakland.

Game notes.

Kendall Graveman improved his record to 3-2. He went six innings allowing eight hits and three runs. Scribner pitched two hitless innings to record his 6th hold for Oakland. Tyler Clippard earned his eighth save and he allowed no hits in his inning of work. Billy Burns had two more hits to raise his average to .330. Brett Lawrie also had two hits and the slam was the second home run of the year for Zobrist.

After the game, Ben Zobrist had this to say. “It’s big, because I feel like that’s happened to us more than it has us taking advantage of their mistakes this year,” said Zobrist. “It had to turn around. It’s been turning around gradually, and we’re fighting and battling to get back to the kind of team we know we are. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”

“Huge momentum for us there,” said Graveman. “It was one of those games where the pace was slow, and you just felt like something had to go our way. And you get a couple plays there that go our way in that inning that maybe hadn’t gone our way all year, that gave us a little confidence, a little boost, and once that went out, that was a really good feeling in the dugout there.”

The A’s ace, Sonny Gray will pitch Wednesday night and he will be opposed by Anibal Sanchez. Game time will be at 4:05 PT from Detroit.

”

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s putting up fight in battling to get out of the AL West basement

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Charlie O Mallonee

DETROIT–The three game win streak that the A’s picked up is a great thing it was the first series win for Oakland since May when they took two out of three from Texas. That’s a long time between series wins and they did it again on Tuesday night winning the first of three games in Detroit with a win 5-3.

The A’s had won six of their last nine ball games and things are on the positive the A’s jumped to a 5-3 lead when Ben Zobrist hit a grand slam home run off of Tiger pitcher Alfredo Simon at Comerica Park on Tuesday night which wound up being the final score. The A’s have won four of their last five games.

The A’s are 13-25 over their last 37 games remember they started out 8-8 the season and 20-33 overall now that’s the worst in the American League. They have won four out their last six, their in the cellar in the AL West with 12.5 games off the lead. They’ve been 25 days in the cellar.

Right now it’s not about getting into first place I really believe right now the goal for the A’s has to be get to .500. If they can get to .500 then there’s a lot of opportunities and if they get to .500 their not going to be as quick to break up the team. If this team gets into late July when the trade deadline comes up as their still looking at a record as they have right now there’s going to be some players that some A’s fans like their going to be gone.

So it’s really important for the A’s to keep themselves together to keep competitive in the AL West and keep the fans interested to make their goal “let’s get back to .500”. The starting pitching for the A’s all season long has been the shining star for the Oakland A’s. There 5-2 in their last nine games they have a 1.23 ERA which every team in MLB would love to have from their starting pitchers.

The starters for the season have an ERA of 3.19 which is the best in the AL and you ask the question why are they 20-33? The don’t have the number one relief core that is part of the problem. Right now the A’s are third in innings pitched by their starters. They have gone into Tuesday night’s game 316 innings pitched by their starters.

Join Charlie O and his A’s podcast commentary below heard weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s hit the road to Play Detroit and Boston, Sneak Preview.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s have an off-day on Monday as they are travelling to the Motor City to face the Detroit Tigers for three games and then move on to Boston for a weekend series with the Red Sox. The Tigers were here last week and took two out of three from the A’s. The Tigers scored just four runs in the two wins over Oakland and, with a little luck and better fielding, the A’s could have won all three. The two losses were by one run as the Tigers won 1-0 and 3-2 after losing the opener to the A’s 4-0.

The Tigers are returning home after being swept four straight by the Los Angeles Angels  in Anaheim the past weekend and they have fallen to third place in the AL Central. The Tigers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are 28-24 for the season. The Tigers are led by their big first baseman, the All-Everything Miguel Cabrera. Tiger designated hitter Victor Martinez is on the DL with a sore knee and is not expected to play in the series. Cabrera and Martinez have combined to be a devastating force in the Tiger lineup but with Martinez out, the Tiger offense is not as potent as it has been in the past.

The Tigers will have Alfredo Simon(5-2, 2.67 ERA) on the mound and the A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman. Graveman won his second game of the year when the A’s were in Tampa and went 5 2/3rds inning against the Yankees Thursday night. Graveman left the game trailing 3-0 but the A’s rallied to beat New York and it was a no decision for Graveman. Wednesday’s game will feature Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez (3-6, 6.75 ERA) and the A’s will have their ace, Sonny Gray (6-2, 1.82 ERA) handling the pitching chores. The final game of the series will have Shane Greene (4-4, 5.19) going against Jesse Hahn (2-5,3.77). Hahn pitched a complete game against the Tigers on May 25th beating them 4-0. Greene took the loss.

The Tigers will be looking to regroup and get on the winning track while the A’s have shown improvement as they have won six out of the last ten games played. The A’s took three out of four from the Yankees and played very well. The A’s showed improvement in several areas. They stopped making errors. They still lead the Majors with 51 so far but they hired former Ranger manager Ron Washington to work with the infielders and, hopefully, the fielding will continue to improve. The bullpen showed signs of improvement, too. The A’s were hoping that Sean Doolittle would come back and resume his closer role once he increased the velocity on his pitches. Unfortunately, Doolittle made just one appearance. Doolittle pitched one inning  and only one of pitches reached the 90 miles per hour mark. Dooliotte’s best pitch is a 93 or 94 mile per hour special. Doolittle, however, experienced severe pain in the shoulder and it was back to the DL. No one knows how long he will be sidelined. Tyler Clippard has stepped in as closer and has seven saves so far for Oakland. Evan Scribner has done a good job, too. If the A’s are going to get better, they will need Abad, Dan Otero, Arnold Leon, Fernando Rodriguez, and Angel Castro to be able to come in and do the job.

The other area of improvement has been the return of timely, or if you will clutch, hitting. The A’s went through a stretch where they went 0-for 21 with runners in scoring position. They did better in that department over the weekend against New York. The A’s kick-starter, Coco Crisp, has been on the DL for almost the whole season. The A’s tried Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld, but neither player has done  much hitting for the club. One bright spot has been the speedster, Billy Burns. Burns had had four multi-hit games and has sparked the A’s offense. Burns is hitting .327 and in Sunday’s game against New York, stole two bases and scored on Stephen Vogt’s home run.Josh Reddick is hitting.302 with 7 homers and 31 RBI while catcher Stephen Vogt’s average is .322 with 11 Home runs and 38 RBIs. Another key factor for the A’s has been the return of Ben Zobrist. Zobrist can play multiple positions and that gives Bob Melvin a lot of flexibility when he making out the lineup cards.

After the Detroit series, the A’ play the Red Sox in Boston. The Sox won two out of the three games when they were here in Oakland. The Red Sox’ offense has not been there for them this year. Their big star, David Ortiz, is not having a good year. Hanley Ramirez was hot for a while in April, but he was injured and has not regained his hitting stroke and is a defensive liability in left field. Pablo Sandoval is hitting .249 and Mike Napoli is at .208. Mookie Betts and Rusny Castillo are still question marks in the outfield. Boston’s starting pitching has been mediocre, to say the least. The starting rotation of Buchholz, Miley, Porcello and Kelley will not strike fear into any opposing team. The A’s have a chance to sneak up on Detroit and Boston before they return home to face the Texas Rangers in Oakland and then fly to Anaheim to play the Angels before heading to San Diego for two with the Padres and return home for two more with San Diego and face the Angels again for three.

Support your local pitcher: A’s get behind brilliant Chavez in 3-0 win over the Yankees

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Chavez

By Morris Phillips

Insistent that they’re not a bad ballclub, the A’s took advantage of the Yankees over the weekend in an effort to state their case.

The A’s shutout New York, 3-0, on Sunday as starter Jesse Chavez was masterful, and Stephen Vogt—with two swings of the bat—provided all the needed offense.

By winning three of four from the Yankees, the A’s couldn’t escape the American League cellar, but they did avoid the stain of being the big league’s worst performer in May with their 11th win, one more than the Red Sox and Marlins, who both lost on Sunday.

More importantly, there’s visible signs of life at the O.co Coliseum, where the A’s had failed to capture any of the last eight series at home, a streak dating back to September 2014.

“That’s a big confidence boost for us going into Detroit and Boston,” Vogt said.

Nothing said the A’s are ready to do something different more than their support of Chavez, and his second straight, spot-on performance, in which he shut the Yankees’ powerful lineup for eight full innings.  Previously, the A’s had left Chavez hanging in four previous starts where they didn’t score even one run while he was in the game.

Needless to say, Chavez has had to be mentally tough to go through a stretch in which he was tagged with losses in five of his six decisions despite a winner’s ERA of 2.44.   A major part of his success—first as a reliever, and now as a starter—is shutting down opponents early on.  Chavez struggled early on Sunday, needing 42 pitches to get through the first two innings.  After that, in a reversal of previous patterns, he cruised, throwing 110 pitches in eight frames.

“The first two innings I was just fighting myself,” Chavez said.  “I was not using the slope to my advantage.  I had to just really step back after that second inning and be like, ‘Just do what you do and pretend it’s a bullpen and drive to both sides of the plate.”

Chavez improved to 4-0 in his career against the pinstripes, a major accomplishment against any club, but even more so against the Yankees, who as always have deep threats one through nine.  Still, Chavez has allowed just one home run to New York in 27 plus innings pitched.

According to Vogt, who was behind the plate for Chavez’ gem, the pitcher had all of his pitches working.  But with the game scoreless in the fifth, the catcher felt pressure to tip the scales for his pitcher on the scoreboard.  Vogt did so in the sixth with a two-run shot off New York’s Adam Warren that put the A’s ahead.

“That was the first thing I thought of as soon as I was fortunate enough to get the ball out of the yard is ‘all we have to do is get this guy some runs and he’s just going to run with it,” Vogt said.

Vogt backed his homer up with sacrifice fly in the eighth that chased home the speedy Billy Burns for a 3-0 A’s lead.

Tyler Clippard came on to pick up the save, pitching a scoreless ninth, allowing just one hit.

The A’s drew 25,457 for the finale of the homestand, a crowd that included the Warriors’ Klay Thompson, sitting above the A’s dugout.

For the record, that’s one Splash Brother down with the Giants (Stephen Curry attended Friday’s Giants’ game with his wife) and one Splash Brother (Thompson) down with the A’s.

Commentary: It’s time for MLB to help the A’s out of Oakland

Published on by Charlie O. Mallonee1 Comment

 


By Charlie O. Mallonee

Oakland: This commentary needs to be prefaced by a full disclosure. This writer is an Oakland Athletics fan. I was an A’s fan before I became involved in the sports broadcasting and writing realm. I attended my first Athletics’ game in 1971 (yes, I am old) at the Coliseum. It was easy to be an A’s fan back then. Heck, I even liked Charlie Finley!

I remained an A’s fan after the glory days of the team were over. I attended some games where you could learn  the names of everyone in the stadium. I was there for “Billy Ball” and the 1989 and 1990 World Series.

I have reported on A’s games since 1984. The Oakland A’s have been a major part of my life both professionally and as a committed fan of the game of baseball. So, when I ask when is Major League Baseball going to help the Oakland Athletics?, I ask it as sports reporter and a fan.

It will come as no surprise when I state that the Oakland Athletics need a new stadium. The once proud Coliseum is long in the tooth. The building lost its charm when “Mt. Davis” was built to accommodate the return of the Raiders. Even if the modifications had not been made to the facility, the building is old and tired. The A’s need their own Camden Yards, AT&T Park or Target Field.

The A’s first plan was to build a sports and entertainment complex in Fremont. That plan did not work out and the people of Oakland were angry that team was considering a move out of the city.

After the Fremont plan failed, the focus returned to Oakland. Jack London Square became the topic of discussion. The Jack London scenario sounded good but there were problems. Wind, lack of parking, no BART access and tight quarters. It became apparent very quickly that Jack London Square was going to be a difficult situation and the A’s ownership was not thrilled with the location.

The focus then turned to San Jose. It was a marriage made in heaven. San Jose wanted the A’s, and the A’s wanted San Jose.

A location near the SAP Center was identified as the location for the stadium. The plot is near the city center, light rail, Caltrain, Amtrak and two major freeways. It looked like the A’s had found a new home. But wait, there’s more.

Enter the San Francisco Giants.  The Giants said you cannot go to San Jose because that is our territory.

Indeed, MLB did grant the Giants territorial rights to San Clara County in 1990 when they were pursuing a new stadium in Santa Clara. The Athletics allowed the action because they did not see the Giants in Santa Clara as an “end of the world ” scenario.

When the Santa Clara stadium did not happen, the Giants turned back to San Francisco and AT&T was the result. After AT&T was built, the two teams once again shared the exact same borders … wrong! The Giants maintain that Santa Clara County/San Jose remains their exclusive territory. That is why fans from Oakland, Berkley, Walnut Creek, etc. cannot attend Giants games. Of course that is not true. If you live in the Bay Area, you can go see the Giants or the A’s whenever you want.

By the way, the territorial maps for the Yankees – Mets, the Cubs – White Sox and the Dodgers – Angels are exactly the same. Only the Giants and A’s have a divided territory in the same geographic location.

It is easy to understand why the Giants want the Athletics to stay out of Santa Clara County – better known as the Silicon Valley. It’s all about the bucks. The Giants are fearful that they may lose some “high tech dollars”.

It is true that the A’s in San Jose would siphon off some money, but the Giants are profitable, so profitable that they will rreportly pay off AT&T Park the end of the season. I am not suggesting that the Giants should limit their profits to accommodate the A’s. What I am suggesting is that the Giants are the number one baseball team in Northern California, and that fact would not change if the A’s moved to San Jose.

The situation is very similar to the other dual-team markets. The Yankees will always be more popular than the Mets. The Cubs are more popular than the White Sox. The Dodgers have more fans than the Angels. There is always a number one and a number two in the dual markets.

The Giants are the “alpha dog” in the Bay Area and Northern California. That will not change no matter where the A’s play.

It is also true that “high tech dollars” would flow to the A’s in San Jose, but it does not mean those dollars would stop flowing to the Giants. High tech companies will still want to be associated with the Giants, have boxes in the beautiful AT&T Park and have dinner on the Embaradero. The Giants are in San Francisco for heaven’s sake.

It’s time for Rob Manfred to bring the MLB, Giants and A’s together in order to settle this problem. To keep things as they are is bad for baseball and bad for the Bay Area.

A stadium in the city of Oakland is not an option. Oakland has too many pressing priorities to take care of before thinking about building stadiums. The Warriors are gone. The Raiders are as good as gone and the A’s cannot stay in the crumbling coliseum.

How can Major League Baseball solve this issue? This matter can be settled with money of course. Money will settle the matter because it’s all about the money. It is always about the money.

The commissioner needs to put together a “blue ribbon committee ” that would determine the value of the rights to Santa Clara County/ Silicon Valley. Then, MLB needs to work out a payment plan that would include money from the A’s and Major League Baseball (MLB created this problem; they should help pay to solve it).

There is a dollar figure that will satisfy the Giants. If that figure is not reasonable, then the MLB can vote to restore the Bay Area rights to the pre-1990 configuration. Yes, the Giants would sue. So? Businesses sue each other everyday. If the Giants take the MLB to court, it will ultimately result in a financial settlement. See, it is always about the money.

What is not acceptable is for the A’s to wind up in Montreal, Charlotte or New Orleans as a way to settle the issue. Oakland A’s fans have put millions of dollars in the pockets of Major League Baseball. It’s time for MLB to pay them back by settling this rights issue once and for all.

Rob Manfred – here is your chance to prove your leadership early in your tenure. It’s time for Major League Baseball to stand up and solve this problem … NOW! It’s time to help the A’s become the San Jose Athletics.

A’s start fast but shut down late in loss to the Yankees

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Attempting to beat the mighty Yankees for the third straight day, the A’s were plenty respectable on Saturday, but it wasn’t the night for merely credible performances.

Instead, New York’s Carlos Beltran drank from the fountain of youth, then muscled up a game-winning blast in the sixth, and rookie Ramon Flores traveled all day from the East coast and turned in a pair of spectacular defensive plays in his major league debut.

Flores’ gems kept the A’s from running away early, and Beltran knocked in the game’s final three runs in the Yankees 5-3, come-from-behind win over the A’s.

The loss prevented the A’s from extending their best stretch of play in an otherwise disastrous, first two months of the season, and the win allowed the Yankees to maintain first place in the AL East, despite entering the day’s play just one game above .500.

For Oakland, most of their frustration came in the form of 12 hits—none for extra bases—that produced only three runs.  With numerous opportunities to chase Yankees’ starter Nathan Eovaldi, the A’s couldn’t produce the big hit, then saw their 3-1 lead evaporate soon after it was built.

“Early on you look up there and I think we had seven hits and no runs, and that’s hard to do,” manager Bob Melvin said.  “One extra base hit breaks it open or a little bit more.”

While the A’s were chipping away at Eovaldi, their starter, Jesse Hahn was doing his best to control the New York lineup one sinker and one ground ball at a time, a pleasing follow-up to his first ever complete-game shutout in his last start versus Detroit.

But this time Hahn wasn’t perfect allowing three hits–including a Brian McCann RBI single–in the first inning.  After the A’s built their lead, Hahn saw his sinker flatten out in the zone, and Beltran deposited the mistake beyond the center field wall.  The 6’5” Hahn was had, another case of a veteran taking advantage of a youngster.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Melvin said of Hahn. “A little different in what he tried to do today.  I thought it was breaking ball and changeup were better, pitched in a little bit better, but really it ends up being one ball that’s a little bit up to Beltran.”

It was the 377th home run of Beltran’s 17-year, big league career, but only his fourth this season.  After a quiet April, the former Giant has been on his game, hitting .308 in May with all four round trippers since May 10.

“I’m just getting better results.  Sometimes I have been too passive at the plate, so my mentality is to hit,” Beltran said.

In the eighth, Beltran struck again with an RBI single scoring Mark Teixeira and providing a cushion.

Flores impressed the Yankees in spring training with his athleticism and batting stroke, and with utility man Slade Heathcott hobbled, the young Venezuelan got the call this morning.

Just that logistical issue of having to travel from AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre to Oakland—an all-day odyssey—and still be fresh for first pitch at 7:05pm.

Flores arrived more excited than travel weary and manager Joe Girardi plugged him into lineup batting seventh.

The rookie struck early, fielding Josh Reddick’s single in shallow left and throwing out Marcus Semien at the plate.  Flores’ throw was particularly accurate, but it arrived well before Semien allowing the catcher McCann to lunge back with the tag.

Then in the second, Flores was placed perfectly—shallow and near the line—when he broke on Eric Sogard’s foul pop and made a sliding catch through the A’s bullpen.

The Yankees bullpen shut the A’s down preventing any hope of a late, offensive surge.  Four relievers combined to allow just one hit while recording the final 13 outs of the ballgame.

On Sunday, the A’s look to capture their first series win in almost a month with Jesse Chavez facing New York’s Adam Warren at 1:05pm.

Gray Pitches 8 Strong As Oakland Beats New York 6-2

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment
Oakland Athletics' Sonny Gray works against the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 29, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Oakland Athletics’ Sonny Gray works against the New York Yankees in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 29, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sonny Gray pitched 8 innings, struck out five and only surrendered four hits as the A’s beat the Yankees 6 -2 for the second consecutive day. The Yankees are now 1-11 in their last 12 games at the Coliseum.

Sonny Gray  is now 3-2 with a 1.67 ERA in six starts in May after going 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in five starts in April.

“Sonny’s just so special, and what he did tonight was very impressive and exactly what we needed to continue on this path,” said Stephen Vogt. “We’ve been playing such good baseball, and to have a start like that from your ace is huge.”

Offensively Billy Burns had his tenth multiple hit game of the season which is tops amongst American League Rookies. Brett Lawrie launched a deep two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the eighth to bring the A’s runs to six. It’s the first time he’s homered in back to back games since June 5-6, 2014. Josh Phegley  went 3-for-4 and recorded his first three-hit game for the first time since 2013.

“We’re getting leads now, we’re holding them, we’re getting better at-bats, we’re getting breakthrough hits, cleaner games defensively for the most part,” said manager Bob Melvin. “A lot of things that have been our Achilles heel, we’re starting to get better at.”

Another amazing thing the A’s did tonight was not commit one error.

“Even through the rough stretch we went through, we always were trying to be positive around here,” said Sonny Gray. “We knew we were a lot better team than the way we’ve been playing.”

The A’s have now won five of their last seven games and hope to continue the upward swing as they face the Yankees again tomorrow and send Jesse Hahn (2-4, 3.69) against Nathan Eovaldi (4-1, 4.27), game time 7:05 pm.

 

Sports Reporter Ron Bergman of the Oakland Tribune

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Remembering Ron Bergman former Oakland A’s beat writer

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–Ron “Bergy” Bergman documented and coined the phrase the “Swingin’ A’s” during the 1970’s and the Oakland Athletics dynasty(1972-73-74)winning three consecutive World Series, they are the only team that has done that, winning three World Series in a row aside from the New York Yankees in Major League baseball history. The Yankees won five straight World Series the fifth one being in 1953. Bergman passed away at age 80.

Everybody that knew him called him “Bergy”.he was born in Philadelphia, January 1, 1935. Graduated from Washington High School in San Francisco was the sports editor for Cal-Berkeley of the Daily Californian from 1959-1960, previously served his country in the US Navy from 1955 to 1957. Worked for the Oroville Mercury Register, the Oakland Tribune, the Associated Press, and the San Jose Mercury News.

Today players and co-workers alike expressed their feelings in remembering “Bergy”, and these where some the words most used: skilled, witty, fair, honest, story-teller. Aside from the Oakland Athletics he also covered the Oakland Raiders and the Golden State Warriors. Ron Bergman also covered other stories, aside from sports, like the last Beatles concert which was held at Candlestick Park, San Francisco in 1966.

He was always curious searching for information and every time I spoke with him, in the press box at the Oakland Coliseum he would asked me stuff about Hispanic players and gave me his opinions on many issues, as we chatted and spoke mostly about baseball.

Ron passed this Thursday at Sunrise of Oakland Hills, Oakland, California, of complications from Parkinson’s disease; surviving children are Anne and Adam, his former wife Sally, his brother Jim and two grandchildren. This past March Nick Peters passed, followed in April,by Lon Simmons, they must be building a heck of a league in Heaven.

Rest in Peace Bergy.

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

###