Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland loses sixth game in a row, Bullpen blows it again.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s and the Red Sox played a very entertaining game Monday night. The Red Sox won 5-4 in eleven innings sending the A’s down to their sixth straight loss. Scott Kazmir went six innings for Oakland and pitched well giving up just two runs and four hits. Red Sox starter, Rick Porcello went five innings and he was touched for 3 runs and nine hits. Neither pitcher figured in the decision.  Neither team would give and each team rallied to either tie the game or take the lead. The game was tied 4-4 after 9 innings and it took two more innings to decide the winner. The A’s bullpen failed the team once again. Evan Scribner gave up two runs to Boston and Pablo Sandoval took Angel Castro deep to win the game for the Sox. Final score 5-4 in favor of Boston.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. A’s leadoff hitter, Billy Burns, reached first on a two-strike bunt single. Former Giants’ third baseman, Pablo Sandoval, made a nice bare-handed play but Burns was too fast and he beat Sandoval’s throw to reach safely. Burns reached second on a wild pitch by Rick Porcello and scored on a single to right by A’s designated hitter, Billy Butler.

The Red Sox tied the game at one in the top of the fourth. Red Sox second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, walked with one out. David Ortiz singled to left center and Pedroia did not stop at third base, The A’s tried to nail him at home, but Stephen Vogt could not handle the throw from shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien was charged with an error on the throw. The game didn’t stay tied long. The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ike Davis led off with a double to right-center field. Davis appeared to have injured himself but stayed in the game.  Brett Lawrie singled to right, but Davis could not score on the play and was replaced by Max Muncy. Marcus Semien hit into a 6-4-3 double play allowing Muncy to score. There was no RBI on the play.

The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the fifth. With two out. Rookie catcher, Blake Swihart, doubled. Sox center fielder, Mookie Betts, singled to drive in Boston’s second run of the game. The Red Sox almost took the lead, but A’s left fielder, Coco Crisp, made a leaping catch at the left field wall to rob Dustin Pedroia of a hit to end the inning.

The A’s scored their third run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. With two out, Billy Butler doubled to deep right centerfield. A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt knocked but in with a booming double. For Vogt, it was his team-leading 27th RBI of the year.  A’s lead 3-2 after five complete.

The Red Sox rallied in the top of the seventh inning. A’s manager called on Evan Scribner to pitch. The A’s bullpen has been a disaster for the club so far this year and Scribner’s did nothing to change that perception. Scribner allowed three straight singles and the Sox scored twice to take a 4-3 lead. The A’s rallied to tie in the bottom of the seventh. Former Athletic, Craig Breslow was called in to do the pitching in the seventh. Josh Reddick greeted him by hitting a single to right. Billy Butler followed with a single and Reddick advanced to third and then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Stephen Vogt.

There was no more scoring in regulation and the game went to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Pablo Sandoval hit a line shot into right field to put the Red Sox ahead 5-4. The hit came off A’s reliever, Angel Castro. Matt Barnes, pitching his second inning of relief for Boston, set the A’s down in order to seal the win for the Red sox.

Game Notes- The A’s are 1 -11 in one-run games and 0-6 in extra inning games. They are now 12-22 for the year and are 10 games under .500 for the first time since ending the 2011 season when they were 14 games under .500.

The line score for Boston was 5 runs on 10 hits and no errors while Oakland score 4 runs on 13 hits and 1 error.

First baseman Ike Davis had a left quadriceps strain and looks like he will miss two or three games.  The two teams will meet again Tuesday night. Drew Pomeranz ( 1-3, 5.12 ) will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Boston’s Justin Masterson (2-1, 5.18). Game time was 3 hours and 57 minutes and 19,743 people were on hand to watch.

Game time will be at 7:05pm at theO.co Coliseum.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Could the A’s finish in last place this season?

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Yes they could. Today only the Houston Astros have a winning record among the five teams, and even teams like Texas can beat anybody on any given day, such is the nature of baseball. But this year the Astros might not win the division, but they are a most improved team, with a 40 year old manager and former A’s catcher A.J Hinch and a much better bullpen, at the end with Luke Gregerson who was with the A’s bullpen prior to this season, he is closing and doing the job.

After trading the heart of the lineup in the span of a few months, first Yoenis Cespedes on July 31, 2014 and then Josh Donaldson to Toronto this winter, Athletics baseball was a new team, a new entity. But this new entity is not necessarily better than the 2014 team that lost because Jon Lester could not the lead them on the wild card game against Kansas City.

In the Bay Area many people consider A’s general manager Billy Beane a “genius”, I am not in that crowd. He could be a genius if the consideration is that he saves money for the team, and has been able to compete with the big boys. But a real genius at least wins a couple of pennants, and even maybe a World Series or two. Its either that or we have lowered the standard of the word genius.

However, all good runs come to an end. There is a lot of season ahead in 2015, but the Athletics right now look like a team lost for transition, a team actually looking for that identity that they had. Who are the 2015 A’S?

That question may or may not be also be on the mind of the top brass of the team. We all know that for the A’s to have a good season at the gate, they mostly won early in the season, or the people(come July)would forget about them, pack up and go to the beach in Santa Cruz.

Anybody that has been in the Bay Area for a long period of time, and lived here for a long period of time (like yours truly who has lived in the Bay Area since 1969) realizes that the Bay Area has been Giants territory, many years before they moved into cozy AT&T and won three World Series in five years. Before the famous territorial rights announcement that they own San Jose and the A’s do not.

Anybody with any type of memory remembers that even when the A’s were winning their three consecutive World Series titles in 1972-73-74, the Giants who were not a winning then were still the darlings for the media and fans, and always got the headline above the A’s. Maybe is because the Giants arrived in the bay before the A’s, or for whatever reason, that has always been the case in Northern California.

The only time when the Athletics really came up to the front and became a very popular franchise even challenging the Giants, was during the Walter Haas ownership, when they built a strong team-organization and made it to three straight World Series in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The Haas ownership invested in the team and more important, invested in the community and it paid dividends. Former A’s players Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Jose Canseco, Bob Welch, Mark McGwire, Dennis Eckersley, they had real star power, which translated to the first team surpassing the two million in attendance in the Bay Area.

Today’s Athletics have a couple of months to find out who they are. If by mid summer they are still trying to find out, then it will be too late. They have plenty of time to correct their woes, but on the other hand they are in uncharted territory since in the previous seasons they have always excelled during the first part of the season. Today they are in last place, not a place where the Athletics have been used to occupying in recent memory.

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

That’s Amaury’s News, Commentary and Podcast: Panda in Oakland to face A’s; media expected to ask about his feelings towards ex-Giant teammates

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The last time Pablo Sandoval of the Boston Red Sox was in San Francisco was in downtown Civic Center for the City Hall celebration of the San Francisco Giants World Series championship on a rainy San Francisco afternoon. I was covering that event that day and it was a great moment for the Panda and the Giants that October day.

Pablo was a big part of that and there was no player more popular other than the Giants Tim Lincecum but Sandoval was as popular of a guy than that the Giants ever had and their going to miss him. The Giants brass of CEO Larry Baer, General Manager Bobby Evans, and manager Bruce Bochy presented the World Series ring on Sunday to Pablo at a S.F. hotel where the Red Sox are staying in preparation for their series in Oakland starting Monday night.

Sandoval is expected to get a lot of applause when he makes his appearance at the Coliseum on Monday night remember with all respect to the A’s when the Red Sox play in Oakland there’s more Red Sox fans who show up. It’s like when the Yankees play there. So you can expect Pablo to get a lot of applause and a couple of boos.

Sandoval was a very good player, he’s very popular, I knew this was going to happen, Pablo was never happy with the Giants they kept bringing up the weight problem and this was well discussed on radio and TV in Spanish and English. In spite of his weight you might remember when he hit two home runs as a Giant in the 2012 World Series against the Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander.

At that time nobody said anything about Pablo’s weight he hit three home runs in the World Series he’s in the company of Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson and those guys. The Giants didn’t want to meet his request to get him the same amount of money that teammate Hunter Pence was getting and it was because of his great finish towards the end of last season that he was given the $95 million offer by the Giants. The Sox ended up matching the offer and the rest is history.

Sandoval was part of the three titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014 and he only communicates with two Giants and that’s manager Bruce Bochy and Pence. That’s kind of unusual you would think he would be talking to guys like Buster Posey, Jeremy Affeldt, and Brandon Crawford who gets along with everybody. So there is that internal question that everyone is going to inquire about in this series. You can best believe the spotlight will be on Pablo all week long.

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

A’s are swept out of Seattle by King Felix

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Ted S. Warren/AP
Ted S. Warren/AP

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland A’s needed a win on Mother’s Day. Not just to win for Mom, they needed a win to stop their losing streak and keep from being swept by the Mariners.

The problem for Oakland was in order to record a victory they would have to beat pitcher King Felix Hernandez who came into the game with a perfect 5-0 record.

When the game was finished, the A’s had lost 4-3, been swept in the series 3-0 and King Felix was a perfect 6-0 for the season.

Hernandez pitched 7.0-innings on Sunday giving up two runs (both earned) on five hits. Both runs were scored off home runs. Hernandez struck out six batters and walked just one. His ERA now stands at just 1.85 for the season.

The A’s record fell to 12-21 – the second worst record in the American League. Oakland finished the 10-game road trip with a dismal 3-7 record.

In the Batter’s Box

The A’s actually out hit the Mariners on Sunday. The A’s posted six hits while Seattle managed to get just five hits off the three Oakland pitchers.

All of Oakland’s runs came via home runs. Marcus Semien hit two home runs in the game both off of Hernandez. Semien now has five home runs for the year.

The A’s third run came in the top of the ninth inning when Stephen Vogt hit his eighth homer of the season off Seattle reliever Fernando Rodney.

Semien and Vogt recorded all six hits by the A’s in the game.

The big problem for the A’s was the lack of runners on base. Oakland never put a man in scoring position during the entire game. It is very tough to win a game without putting runners on second or third.

Seattle went two for seven with Runners In Scoring Position. They hit no home runs but had three doubles in the game. Dustin Ackley hit one of those doubles and recorded two RBI.

On the Bump

RHP Jesse Chavez (1-3) started the game for Oakland. Chavez worked 6.2-innings giving up four runs (all earned) on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two. His ERA stands at a respectable 2.56.

Fernando Rodriguez worked 0.1-inning and walked two batters before inducing Nelson Cruz to hit into a force out to end the seventh inning.

Evan Scribner set Seattle down in order in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the Field

The A’s posted another error on Sunday. In the bottom of the second inning Marcus Semien committed an error when he mishandled a ground-ball off the bat of Logan Morrison. The error was Semien’s ninth of the year.

Up Next

The A’s headed back to Oakland after the game. They will kick-off a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

The Red Sox come in with a record of 14-17 on the season. Boston is 3-7 in their last 10 games.

LHP Scott Kazmir (2-1, 2.75) will start for Oakland while RHP Rick Porcello (3-2, 4.38) will take the mound for the Red Sox.

Relief is coming

RHP Edward Mujica will be with the A’s as they start the series with Boston on Monday. Mujica was obtained from the Red Sox via a trade for a Player to be Named Later.

Mujica is 31-years old and has had a career that has spanned 10 seasons. He has a 4.61 ERA in 11 appearances for Boston. His career ERA is 3.79.

When he appears for Oakland, Mujica will be the 14th reliever used by the A’s this season. The A’s relief corps has the highest ERA in the majors at 5.14.

A’s in last place after a rough, error-filled loss to the Mariners

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Mariners

By Morris Phillips

Thirteen strikeouts, 12 baserunners stranded, a five-run deficit, four damaging errors, and one depressing injury added up to a very sobering night at the ballpark for the Oakland A’s.

In a 7-2 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field, the A’s looked like a team pressing with a bunch of statistical numbers to back the claim.

Of their four errors, three came on errant throws, ten of their 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position came up empty and then there were the 13 strikeouts.  Six walks were issued by Seattle pitching, but that just illustrated how much difficulty the Oakland hitters had in simply putting the ball in play.

Not coincidentally, the A’s have dropped four straight, seen a once promising road trip grow dark, and they’ve fallen into the cellar in the AL West.  They lead the majors in errors with 32, and no baseball statistic is more closely aligned to losing than committing errors.

“It’s the consistency of it,” manager Bob Melvin said.  “We play a really good game when we’ll make some great plays and then we’ll play another game where we make four errors and you’re not going to win any game making four errors.”

The underlying subtext to Oakland’s poor play is the manner in which the club is run where talented players are given an opportunity but often limited by a short leash if they falter.  While the philosophy has undeniably produced success, in times when the club is struggling as whole, individual players who don’t have a foothold in the big leagues often end up pressing, desperate not to be moved or demoted by GM Billy Beane.

Saturday—with the backdrop of the trade for Edward Mujica to boost a struggling A’s bullpen—it seemed if 25 guys were fighting to avoid a demotion to AAA as opposed to fighting to win a ballgame.

In addition, starting pitcher Jarrod Parker–whose impending promotion was thought to give the current group of starters extra motivation to get it done now or be replaced by Parker—was lost indefinitely when he suffered a broken bone in his surgically repaired elbow during a rehab start in Nashville.

Also, former starter A.J. Griffin is having issues as well.  Griffin couldn’t finish three innings of a simulated game when shoulder soreness cropped up.  He will be re-evaluated after a couple of days of inactivity, but it would appear he also won’t be a boost for the Oakland rotation in the near future.

Saturday, the A’s fell behind in the first inning when starter Jesse Hahn created a situation by allowing a wild pitch and a pair of hits, plating the first Mariners’ run.  But then Marcus Semien booted an inning-ending ground ball, recovered, but then threw wildly to the plate in an attempt to cut down Nelson Cruz.  That allowed both remaining baserunners to advance, and earned Semien the unwanted two errors on the same play.

The Mariners added a run in the second, two more in the fifth and one in the sixth and Hahn’s evening was done.  The right hander acquired by trade from San Diego allowed eight hits and three walks, and contributed to his misfortune with a throwing error of his own.  The A’s have dropped all but one of the six games Hahn has started this season.

On Sunday, the A’s attempt to avoid the sweep by having some success against Felix Hernandez, who is 5-0 despite the Mariners being four games under .500 at 13-17.  Hernandez will be opposed by Oakland’s Jesse Chavez.

Athletics Bullpen Fails Again, lose to Mariners 4-3

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Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt, left, and relief pitcher Evan Scribner talk on the mound after the Seattle Mariners scored in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, May 8, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt, left, and relief pitcher Evan Scribner talk on the mound after the Seattle Mariners scored in the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, May 8, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

By Kahlil Najar

This has got to be taxing season already for the Oakland fan base. With tonight’s lose to Seattle the A’s are now 12-19 with 9 of those loses charged to the bullpen. The A’s now have their worst record to start a season since 2001 when they started 11-20.

It appeared that the A’s had everything in control going into the bottom of the seventh with a 3-1 lead and Evan Scribner coming in to take over for Sonny Gray. Scribner had not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances.

However it wasn’t as it seemed.

Scribner gave up two hits in the inning including a single to Dustin Ackley and a double to Brad Miller that scored Ackley to make it a 3-2 game. Head Coach Bob Melvin had seen enough and brought Fernando Abad to try and get the last out of the inning. Unfortunately for Oakland, Robinson Cano hit his 11th double of the year to score Miller and tie the game 3.

Then in the top of the 11th, Logan Morrison tattooed a hanging slider from Dan Otero into the Seattle seats and gave the Mariners a 4-3 victory.

“We’re obviously a lot better than we’ve been playing. I really believe that,” said Sonny Gray on the A’s performance tonight. Even with the team loss, Gray solidified himself as the ace of the A’s staff. He went six full innings, struck out 9 and only gave up one run.

Dan Otero is now 2-2 and possibly has a target on his back as the Oakland management has shown that they are not afraid of sending people down to Nashville and bringing up fresh blood.

“Otero is having a tough year but he isn’t the only one,” said Melvin. The A’s still lead the league in errors with 27 and have one of the worst bullpens in the league.

“You go out there and score runs for your guy and Sonny goes out and gives an A-plus effort. We just got to have someone step up,” said Josh Reddick.

The A’s hope to try to turn this road trip around as they send RHP Jesse Hahn (1-2) to the mound against LHP J.A. Happ (2-1).

Another tough loss for the A’s, Twins beat them again. win the 4-game series 3-1

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by Jerry Feitelberg.

The A’s lost again to the Twins Thursday afternoon in Minnesota by a score of 6-5. The A’s manager Bob Melvin made a couple of changes in the lineup by having Brett Lawrie play second and Eric Sogard was moved to short. Lawrie and Sogard each committed an error that led to two unearned runs in the game. A’s starter, Drew Pomeranz, did not go deep into the game either. Pomeranz walked five hitters in just 4 1/3rd innings of work as he absorbed his third loss of the season Pomeranz gave up just three hits and allowed six runs, two of which were unearned but he caused his own downfall by allowing the five walks.

The A’s scored two runs in the top of the second. Billy Butler led off the inning with a double. Ike Davis walked and that was followed by a Brett Lawrie single to load the bases.  Max Muncy flied out to deep center field to drive in Butler with the first run. Davis and Lawrie tagged up and advanced to third and second on the out. Catcher Josh Phegley flied out to center to drive in Davis with the second run of the inning. The Twins scored three times in their half of the inning on just one hit. The Twins loaded the bases on a single and two walks with no out. Twins center fielder Shane Robinson grounded into a force out, shortstop Eric Sogard to Brett Lawrie. Vargas scored from third. Brett Lawrie threw the ball away trying to complete the double play allowing Escobar to score. Kurt Suzuki advanced to third and Robinson wound up on second base.  Pomeranz got Eddie Rosario to fly out to left, but it was deep enough to drive in Suzuki with the third run of the inning.

The A’s reclaimed the lead in the top of the third. Center fielder Billy Burns singled to get things going. Twins’ second baseman, Brian Dozier robbed Sam Fuld and Josh Reddick on the next two consecutive plays making fantastic plays on the line drives. Burns stole second and scored on a Billy Butler single and Butler came in to score on a double to left by Ike Davis. A’s lead 4-3. The Twins tied the game at four in the bottom of the fourth. With two out, Kurt Suzuki singled. Shane Robinson reached first on a fielding error by Eric Sogard. Suzuki advanced to second and scored on a single by Eduardo Escobar.

In the bottom of the fifth, Pomeranz walked Brian Dozier, then retired Torii Hunter, but walked Trevor Plouffe. Bob Melvin had seen enough and Pomeranz was done for the day. Dan Otero was now pitching for Oakland. Otero walked the first batter he faced loading the bases.  Eduardo Escobar, who torched A’s pitching in the four-game series, did it again. He hit a single to right driving in Dozier and Plouffe to put the Twins up 6-4.

The A’s made it a one-run game in the sixth. Big Ike Davis slammed his second home run of the year into right centerfield. That made the score 6-5 and there was no more scoring the rest of the way as the Twins won the game and took the series three games to one.

Notes-The A’s are now 3-4 on the 10-game road trip. They are on their way to meet the Mariners in Seattle for the next three games before returning home to Oakland to face the Boston Red Sox Monday night.

The A’s are not in sync at all. On a day when the bullpen improved and hitting was good, the defense failed them.They made two errors that led to two unearned runs. Fernando Rodriguez recalled from Nashville, pitched well as did Evan Scribner. They held the Twins scoreless the last three innings of the game.

The A’s announced that they designated Chad Smith for assignment. They have 10 days in which he can be claimed off waivers or be traded or released. The A’s closer, Sean Doolittle will face live hitters Friday night in Seattle as he continues to make progress from his shoulder injury. No date has been set for his return off the DL.

The A’s record falls to 12-18 while the Twins are now 16-13.

The Twins trounce the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s played a very ugly, ugly game Wednesday night in Minnesota as they took it on the chin by a score of 13-0. The A’s were hoping to get some momentum going since they won Tuesday and were hoping to get back to back wins since early April and they had one of their best pitchers, Scott Kazmir on the hill. Kazmir came into the game with a 2-0 won-loss record and a sparkling ERA of just 1.62.  Kazmir didn’t have anything working and he was rocked for six runs and seven hits in six innings of work. The A’s bullpen did not perform well either. Chad Smith, in just 1/3rd of an inning of work, gave up four runs on three hits and he hit a batter and had one walk. The Twins scored three more in the eighth off R.J. Alvarez. The A’s offense didn’t do well against Twins’ starter, Kyle Gibson. Gibson went six innings giving up just four hits and no runs and the Twins bullpen kept the A’s scoreless the rest of the way. The A’s had a couple of scoring chances but could not come up with the hits when needed.

The game started to unravel for Kazmir in the bottom of the third. The Twins’ Eddie Rosario, making his Major League Debut, hit Kazmir’s pitch on his first Major League swing into the left field seats for a solo homer. The next hitter, Danny Santana tripled down the right field line. Kazmir walked Brian Dozier to put men on at first and third with no out. Torii Hunter singled driving in Santana. Trevor Plouffe also singled to drive in Dozier. Hunter stopped at second. Kazmir threw a pitch in the dirt and Hunter advanced to third on the wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly.  Twins led 4-0 after three.

The Twins made it a 6-0 game in the bottom of the sixth when Eduardo Escobar hit a home run with a man aboard. Kazmir finished the inning, but he was done for the night. Kazmir gave up six runs on seven hits.

The Twins scored four more runs in the 7th and three in the eighth as they pounded the A’s for thirteen runs on twelve hits.Final score 13-0 in favor of Minnesota.

Game notes- Not too many bright spots for Oakland in the game. Coco Crisp returned to the lineup after being on the DL since opening day. Coco went 0-for-4. Brett Lawry had two hits and has a 10-game hit streak going. Marcus Semien also had two hits in the game. After the game A’s manager Bob Melvin said ” it was very frustrating not winning back to back games. We just couldn’t put together a good game. ”

The hitting star for Minnesota was Eduardo Escobar who had three hits including a double and a home run and had 5 RBI.

The Twins are now 15-13 for the season and Oakland drops to 12-17. Game four of the series will be Thursday morning at 10am in Minnesota. Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 4.61 ERA) goes for Oakland and he will be opposed by Ricky Nolasco ( 1-1, 10.18 ERA .)

San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s podcast: Will there be opposition to Giants planned development in lot A; A’s Josh Reddick is hitting em where they ain’t

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–There is almost no way that the Giants will lose on property development if they go forward with the plan to build condos and affordable housing in parking lot A at AT&T Park. This will also help further the Giants ambition to further improve the ball park and the neighborhood. There is certainly a lot of benefit to having housing out in the Giants parking lot.

The Giants would like to develop some space that would fan user friendly where fans can play catch before ball games and simulate a diamond in part of that space and that would be kind of a center piece for development in that area. This would replace the parking garage and it would a little problematic taking out a seven story building full of cars and making it a flat parking lot.

There have been skeptics regarding this project proposal by the Giants and there are people who will make things up to make sure you don’t like the things that they don’t like. As best as I can tell the initiative that was proposed the voters in San Francisco would have to approve anything that exceeds the maximum height limits at the waterfront.The Giants in essence would be limited to whatever the voters approve. The Giants would like to get the initiative on the ballot in time for November’s election.

Oakland A’s update: It’s going to be interesting to see what winds up happening just because the A’s Josh Reddick is hitting well and that certainly occupies one outfield spot. A’s outfielder Cocco Crisp will be back any day in fact he might be back against the Twins Wednesday. That creates an issue because Burns is not going to move to the DH role. There needs to be a place for Crisp to play.

Reddick who became the American League player of the week last week co-shared the honors with the Houston Astros Jose Altuve is in good company because he’s an awesome player wrapped in a very small package. Reddick has really come out of the gate fast after his injury kept him out of the line up early in the season. Once he got off the D.L. Reddick has been playing very well. He has had a few defensive lapses that are uncharacteristic for him but he certainly hasn’t carried that into the batters box.

A’s pitcher Sonny Gray who’s 4-0 and has an ERA of 1.67, Gray doesn’t mess around on the mound. He doesn’t waste pitches I rarely understand guys who nibble to get their pitch count up early. They show that they give everything they got and some of them can’t stay in games. Gray doesn’t do any of those things. He goes out there and says here’s the pitch see what you can do with it.

Michael Duca does Giants and A’s commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

Oakland A’s podcast commentary with Charlie O: A’s take game two to even series; Billy Burns helps out with .357 avg

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by Charlie O Mallonee

The Oakland A’s beat the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on and Tuesday was Cinco Demayo so they can celebrate the 2-1 win on Tuesday night. The A’s can say that evens this series up at 1-1. This being a four game series what your really trying to do is come out with a 2-2 split. The worse case scenario is get swept which won’t happen now and the worst that can happen is they could come out with one win and three loses.

The A’s have positioned themselves quite well going up against the Twins. The good news tonight is the starting pitching stayed strong starter Jesse Chavez pitched 7.1 innings and gave up four hits and gave up one run and that was not earned. He struck out seven and he won. Reliever Evan Scribner came on in relief and faced one batter and gave up a hit.

Manager Bob Melvin said “we got to get somebody else to pitch” and Tyler Clippard came in and worked 1.2 innings and with zeros across except for two strikeouts. So that’s good news for the A’s whose relief pitching has really been in question. That is something they really can hang their hats on having Clippard come through.

On the offense tonight Billy Burns whose just been tearing it up came into tonight’s game 5-14 at the plate. Burns has a three game hitting streak which now is a four game hitting streak going 2-5 tonight and raised his batting average to .357. Unfortunately Josh Reddick wore the collar tonight he went 0-4. However Billy Butler got back on track, Butler had been struggling and he went 2-4 tonight.

Notes: Coco Crisp is going to rejoin the team Coco tweeted out on his own twitter page that he was ready to go. He played a couple of games in Stockton over the weekend. The right elbow looks like it’s healed and is ready to go and they brought him back to Oakland to check in with the medical staff. The plan is for Crisp to be with the team on Wednesday in Minnesota.

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