Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s snap losing streak, Beat the Angels

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s and the Angels had their aces going for them tonight. The A’s Sonny Gray was looking to pick up his third win of the year and the Angels’ Jered Weaver was hoping to get his first. Gray got the win as the A’s rocked Weaver for five runs in the first and went on to beat the Angels 6-2 and snap a four-game losing streak. Gray did not get off to a good start either as he gave up two runs in the first and was nailed for five hits in the first two innings. Gray settled down after the second and retired 18 out of the last 19 hitters he faced allowing just one single in the seventh. Weaver also settled down and he retired 13 in a row before giving up a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth and a solo home run to Josh Reddick in the sixth.

The Angels scored two runs in the top of the first. A’s ace, Sonny Gray walked the leadoff batter, Kole Calhoun, to start the game. Kole advanced to third on a seeing-eye single off the bat of Albert Pujols. Pujols reached second on a wild pitch. David Freese singled to center driving in Calhoun and Pujols. Freese was thrown out trying to reach second but A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt, alertly cut off the throw and nailed Fresse sliding into second. The A’s came roaring back in their half of the first as they scored five runs on four hits. Marcus Semien singled with one out to get the rally going. He went to third on a single by Stephen Vogt. Angels’ starter, Jered Weaver,  hit Billy Butler with a pitch to load the bases. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Semien and Vogt to tie the game. Brett Lawrie  took Weaver’s first pitch and sent it into the left field bleachers for a three-run homer to give the A’s a 5-2 lead.

There was no more scoring until the bottom of the sixth. Both Sonny Gray and Jered Weaver pitched well as each pitcher found his mojo and the hitters just couldn’t get to them until A’s Right Fielder, Josh Reddick, sent a Weaver pitch into the seats in right field to give the A’s a 6-2 lead after six.

Gray went eight innings and the A’s brought in Evan Scribner to pitch in the ninth. Scribner struck out the Angels three top hitters, Trout, Pujols and Freese to put an end to the game.

Game notes- The A’s won for the first time when the opponent scored first and have outscored the opposition 68-8 in their nine wins. Gray is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in the starts against the AL West and is 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA in seven career appearances, including six starts, against the Angels. Brett Lawrie hit a three-run homer in the first inning and has six RBI in the last two games. Josh Reddick was 2 for 4 and now has a 6 game hitting streak.

The A’s meet the Angels on Wednesday night at 7:05pm. Jesse Chavez will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Garrett Richards.

The A’s released the following information regarding Sean Doolittle and Coco Crisp.

Doolittle is expected to throw more bullpens before eventually facing hitters and getting into game situations. The A’s bullpen has been struggling in his absence, posting a 4.43 ERA as a unit, which ranked 25th in the league entering Tuesday’s game against the Angels.

Crisp, who underwent right elbow surgery April 3 to remove bone chips, sounds very close to game action. He is hoping to play for Class A Advanced Stockton at some point during their upcoming homestand, which runs Friday through May 7.

The veteran outfielder said it will be an adjustment since it’s the first time he was sidelined for Spring Training in his career. Not to mention he’s making the move from center field to left.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Crisp said. “I don’t know how many games I’ll need down there or if I’ll feel good right away, as far as my timing and my body.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said injured utility man Ben Zobrist underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday afternoon to repair a meniscus tear, but that he didn’t have any information about Zobrist’s expected recovery time.

Attendance was 17,674 and time of game was an astounding 2 hours and six minutes. 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baltimore under curfew due to riots Orioles will play to empty stadium on Wed

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–For the second night in a row the Baltimore Orioles have canceled their game. Tonight, their game against the Chicago White Sox has been officially canceled because of the riots. However, the third game of the series on Wednesday will be played as per schedule. The Orioles announced today the stadium will be closed Wednesday, but they will play. In other words they will play in an empty Camden Yards.

The game will begin at 2:05 p.m. ET. The team additionally moved a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, which is set to take place May 1-3, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Orioles will retain the benefits of the home team during that series.

A sad state of affairs for the Orioles, but the curfew in that city and the tense situation that still prevails, with demonstrators, and criminals looting and burning stores caused the unprecedented situation for the American League team. This surely will impact the city of Baltimore economically, as the Orioles are one of the businesses that employ more people in the city during the summer.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Josh Hamilton to Texas not a surprise

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–I covered Josh Hamilton since he first put the Los Angeles Angels uniform on, and signed a $125 million contract for 5 years. There was no secret Arturo Moreno the Angels owners was more than disappointed by Hamilton’s behavior, that of re-lapsing into the use of recreational drugs. Hamilton is now back with the team he enjoyed his most success, the team which he won an MVP, the team which he played in two World Series. The city of Arlington and the fans he likes.

The Josh Hamilton situation goes further than baseball and hitting or not hitting. In 2014 Hamilton hit all his ten home runs with the Angels and 28 of his total of 44 runs batted in, on the road, not at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. He never was the “real” Josh Hamilton with the Los Angeles Angels.

Hamilton never really enjoyed any affinity with the Angels fans. Angels pitcher C.J Wilson was one of his best friends with the Angels, and said, that “this would not have happened if Josh would have performed with the Angels”. That could be true, but the truth is that Hamilton is an addict, he is now going through a divorce, his home in Newport Beach is on the market for sale for $13 million.

Sometimes baseball is the best therapy for somebody with Josh Hamilton’s off the field problems, but some other times that is not enough and the end could not very very pretty. Hamilton turned himself in, last time he used drugs, that means he is crying for help. A reasonable person would think a man of Hamilton’s economic resources could easily walk into a drug rehabilitation center and try to cure himself.
There is one person that could help Josh Hamilton, and that is Josh Hamilton.

The Oakland Athletics host the Angels starting tonight for a three game series at Oakland. Last week the two western division rivals split the four game series. Now playing left field for the Angels, (the position that Hamilton played)is Matt Joyce, who was acquired by the Angels in the off season from the Tampa Bay Rays.

When the Angels face a left handed pitcher, Mike Scioscia then uses Collin Cowgill. A healthy of ‘mind and soul’ Josh Hamilton is no comparison to those two players. So the Angels will not turn the page and try to concentrate on the field with the team they are going to have the rest of the season.

It was really a fantasy when the Angels signed Hamilton. And that fantasy was a line-up of Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, three MVP’S batting in the middle of that lineup, but that never materialized and Angels fans could only dream, about those three hot at the plate at the same time.
Good luck Josh Hamilton, I hope your life in the future consist more of peace with yourself,and finding a cure for your addiction, than just hitting home runs and driving runs.

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

Preview of the Angels-A’s series

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Bob Melvin

The Oakland A’s have a day off on Monday as they will try to regroup and, hopefully, get their act together as they face the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game series starting Tuesday night at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland. The A’s split a four-game series with the Angels last week in Anaheim. The A’s lost the last game to the Angels and then returned home to face the Houston Astros for three and the A’s lost all three and are now mired in a four-game loosing-streak.

The Angels, in the meantime, have played better ball and are just one game under the .550 mark with a record of 9-10. The Angels have also removed the drama surrounding the saga of Josh Hamilton by trading him to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Hamilton, signed as a free agent by the Angels before the start of the 2013 season, did not play well in Anaheim. The former AL MVP signed a huge contract with the Angels but performed as if he were a utility player rather than a superstar. Hamilton admitted earlier this year that he had relapsed and was using drugs and alcohol again. The league did not suspend him but Angel owner, Arte Moreno, was so fed up with Hamilton that he attempted to negate his contract. It became apparent to all that Hamilton would never play for the Angels again. The situation was remedied earlier on Monday when the announcement came that Hamilton was heading back to the Texas Rangers where he had great success earlier in his career.

The A’s in the meantime, have been struggling. A’s starters, Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir have performed well, but Kendall Graveman did not do well and has been sent down to Nashville. Jesse Hahn had one good game and one not so good game and he injured his finger in his third start and will return to the rotation either on Wednesday or Friday. Jesse Chavez, who pitched well as a starter last year, did well in his start against the Angels last week. He lost the game but gave up just one hit, but that hit was a two-run homer that gave LA the win. The A’s fifth starter, Drew Pomeranz is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA and, hopefully, he will do better as the season progresses. The A’s bullpen has not performed up to snuff yet this year.  The bullpen has been tagged for six losses this year and has only one victory so far this year. Eric O’Flaherty is 0-2 with an 11.37 ERA. Dan Otero and Fernando Abad both have lost games for the A’s and Tyler Clippard, who is the closer until Sean Doolittle returns, is 0-2. Ryan Cook was called up from Nashville and pitched well in the game against Houston on Sunday. Doolittle should be back soon, but no date has been set for his return. The A’s have four hitters over the .300 mark at the moment. Josh Reddick, Ike Davis, Stephen Vogt and Billy Butler are all hitting over .325. The A’s have scored runs, but they have not been able to win games that are close. Their record is 8-12 so far. While it is still early in the season, the A’s have to be careful of not falling too far behind. After the three-game set with LA, they head out to Texas, Minnesota and Seattle playing their second 10-game road trip of the year before returning home to face Boston and the Chicago White Sox. The A’s, also, are not fielding well. They have committed 20 errors, the most in the American League. In order to win, teams, these days, must have good starting pitching, a good bullpen, timely hitting and a strong defense. These ingredients improve the A’s chances of winning as they prevent other teams from scoring. Teams cannot win when they give opponents an extra out in an inning.

Tuesday’s game against the Angels will feature a rematch between the A’s Sonny Gray and the Angels’ Jered Weaver. Gray had a terrific outing against the Angels as he went seven innings and allowed 2 hits while picking up the victory. Gray is 2-0 this year with an ERA of 1.91. Weaver, an 18-game winner last  year is 0-2 with an ERA of 5.24. Weaver is 13-9 against the A’s in 31 starts lifetime and has won 4 of his last 6 starts at Oakland. Should be an interesting game as each team is trying to find an identity. The Angels, pre-season picks to win the AL West, want to right the ship and start surging. They have good starting pitching, but the bullpen is so-so. The A’s are trying to find consistency. Some days they have too many hits, some days they can’t buy a hit. Same thing for the pitching and the fielding. The only consistent thing about the A’s this year is their inconsistency. These are the things that drive a manager to lose his cool (see picture).

Game time is at 7:05pm.

A’s a strike away from a win, instead are swept by the Astros

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Cantholdme!

By Morris Phillips

Unlike Saturday’s effort, the A’s were present and accounted for on Sunday, battling the Astros with an early lead, rallying to tie when they fell behind, and then taking the lead in the middle innings, leaving them needing only a couple key outs in the ninth to close to the deal.

Along the way, the passion was evident from the players, manager Bob Melvin–who was tossed by home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott–as well as the fans, who found little to boo–as they did Saturday–and a whole lot to cheer.

But in the end, the result—a fourth consecutive loss, 7-6, when Houston’s Evan Gattis delivered a game-winning, two run single in the ninth—was the same.

Could this be the enduring story of the 2015 A’s: possessing the will, but not the means to win?

After all the upheaval in the off-season, and now the mounting toll on the injury front, it sure looks like it.  A much calmer, but tight-lipped Melvin spoke after the game, and he seemed to be saying as much.

“We did a lot of good things right today,” Melvin said.  “We’re doing just enough to lose games right now depending on which facet of the game.  Again, we had another error that cost us.  We had some big hits today.  We had some good plays, we had some good bullpen contributions today.  We were just literally one pitch away today.”

“We’re just a little short.  It’s been that way for a bit here now.”

The A’s struck early, pushing across a pair of runs in the second off Astros’ starter Asher Wojciehowski.  But the good feeling didn’t last: Wolcott’s interpretations of some pitches were head scratchers, and A’s starter Drew Pomeranz saw things go south once he was hit by a batted ball on his hip.

Accordingly, the A’s lead evaporated in the third and fourth innings, and Melvin was tossed, having had enough of Wolcott’s missed calls.

“Some other guys were saying something, I think on both sides, but maybe (Wolcott) thought I was a little more demonstrative than anybody else.  He’s thrown me out before for that,” Melvin said, referencing a previous Wolcott ejection last season.

For a while after the ejection, demonstrative was good.  Melvin’s good old-fashioned show seemed to fire up his team.  The A’s rallied right back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game, 5-5.  Then in the seventh, Marcus Semien came up with a big hit, and the A’s had the lead again.

But in the ninth, the A’s depleted bullpen—minus injured closer Sean Doolittle—and leaky defense gave it all away.

Adding frustration to the loss was Gattis’ awkward, tomahawk swing on Tyler Clippard’s 1-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth that produced the game-winning runs.  Clippard’s pitch was well above the strike zone and should have garnered a game-ending swing and miss, or a pop-up, but Gattis went with it, and sent it deep to center field.  Gattis’ swing probably fooled centerfielder Sam Fuld, who initially broke in, only to see the ball one hop the wall behind him.

“Most of us are taught not to hit those pitches, but it’s a weakness of mine,” Gattis said.

The Astros earned the three-game sweep on Sunday, and lead the AL West with an 11-7 record, four games better than the A’s.  So things aren’t dire for Oakland—it is still April–but the numbers are hard to swallow.

The A’s still haven’t won a day game this season (0-8).  They also haven’t won a game decided by two runs or less, and in the same vein, the bullpen leads the major leagues with six losses already.

And just before Gattis’ hit gave the Astros’ the lead, third baseman Brett Lawrie committed the A’s major-league leading, 20th error when he not-so-smartly attempted to throw out the lead runner at second base on a chopper that robbed his throw of any momentum as he had to rush towards home plate to field.

Bad decisions, poor execution and another loss.  How about a day to regroup, Bob Melvin?

“There some other teams I think have had three days off already,” Melvin said.  “We need a day off.”

The A’s next take the field at the Coliseum on Tuesday when the Angels visit and Jered Weaver gets the ball for Anaheim at 7:05pm.

A’s desultory play against Houston just part of the story on a rough Saturday afternoon

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Oops!

By Morris Phillips

The A’s aren’t a bad team.  But they were one on Saturday.

First off, Kendall Graveman struggled again, his shortcomings contributing to an 8-0 deficit in the seventh inning, prompting questions about his role going forward in the starting rotation.  Throw in poor defense, quiet bats, bad news on the health front and mix in a little bit of booing from the fans at the Coliseum, and a not so pretty picture emerges.

The A’s sit in the middle of a muddled AL West race at 8-11, three games back of the Astros.  But after losing to Houston for the second straight day, 9-3, the A’s have lost four of five and don’t seem particularly close to developing a winning identity.

“We’re not playing very well here in the last five games or so,” manager Bob Melvin said.  “At this point, we’re not doing anything to terribly right.”

Make no mistake, the visiting Astros have made a sizeable contribution to what ails the Athletics.  Winners of six of seven, Houston is the AL’s early surprise club, sporting a winning record thus far against each of their four division rivals.  The Astros have seen a serious uptick in their starting pitching just as the A’s have seen theirs take a step back.

Familiar face Scott Feldman pitched into the seventh inning, allowing five hits and three runs while the Astros hitters handled the rest.   Jose Altuve and George Springer homered, the highlights of the Astros 11-hit attack that knocked Graveman out of the game in the fifth.

As for Graveman, he needs to turn it around in short order after another subpar start.  The signs of improvement in the rookie’s deliveries were missing almost immediately.  Former Athletic Jed Lowrie doubled home a run in the first, and Altuve followed one inning later with a three-run jack that put Houston up 4-0.  Seemingly everyone with a uniform and a pulse noticed right away that Graveman was struggling to hit his spots.

“He’s a command guy that usually isn’t in the middle of the plate,” Melvin said.  “He’s usually on the corners with subtle movement and having a tough time finding that in the fashion that we saw in spring training.”

Graveman’s ERA sits at 8.27 after four starts, following an eye-opening spring that saw him sport an ERA of 0.36.  Melvin declined to speculate on the rookie’s spot in the rotation but the A’s have options with Jesse Hahn ready to resume his spot after a blister issue and Jesse Chavez capable to start as well.

The A’s failed to push anything across in the first six innings, one day after they went a full nine innings scoreless before a burst of offense in the tenth and eleventh.  The day started with the news that Ben Zobrist will miss a much as a month to recover from knee surgery.  Max Muncy was recalled from AAA Nashville and made his big league debut at third base, while Marcus Semien assumed Zobrist’s third spot in the batting order.  But Muncy looked nervous, and Semien went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts if anyone was doubting the A’s would miss their veteran jack of all trades.

In the seventh, things got dicey defensively as well.  Normally sure-handed Josh Reddick went casual and a catchable fly ball off the bat of Luis Valbuena glanced off his glove for a two-base error.  Two batters later, left fielder Cody Ross aggressively called off Semien on a fly ball between the two but failed to make the catch.  That gaffe loaded the bases for the Astros and they then pushed across two more runs to make 8-0.  A’s fans, having exceeded their daily limit for patience, responded with a round of boos.

Oakland has committed a major-league worst 19 errors after Ross and Reddick’s contributions on Saturday.

The A’s did push across three runs in the bottom of the seventh–highlighted by Muncy’s aggressive slide into second base that prevented the Astros from turning a double play—but did little else.

On Sunday, Oakland will look to avoid a sweep with Drew Pomeranz pitted against the Astros’ Asher Wojciehowski.

A’s Rally Falls Short In Extras, fall to Astros 5-4

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Houston Astros catcher Hank Conger, left, tags out Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick in the tenth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 24, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Houston Astros catcher Hank Conger, left, tags out Oakland Athletics’ Josh Reddick in the tenth inning of a baseball game Friday, April 24, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Oakland rallied in the bottom of the tenth to tie the game at two but fell short on their second rally in the eleventh and lost to the Houston Astros 5-4. Eric O’Flaherty  suffered his second loss of the year and the A’s relievers are now a MLB worse 1-5 with an era over 4. Former Athletic Luke Gregerson earned his first win of the year even though he gave up two runs in the bottom of the 10th.

Both offenses were put on hold through the first nine innings. Scott Kazmir threw seven solid innings with zero earned runs and seven strike outs and Houston’s Dallas Keuchel lasted all nine innings and struck out four.

Dan Otero opened extra innings with an Altuve fly out and Valbuena strike out. Then came George Springer to the plate. After battling for five pitches, Springer smacked his third double of the season into right field. With red hot Jed Lowrie coming up next, the A’s walked him to get to Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez made the A’s pay as he also hit a double into center field and scored Springer and Lowrie to make it a 2-0 Houston lead.

In the bottom of the 10th, Bob Melvin brought out three pinch hitters to try and spark some offense in the lineup. It worked like a charm as Sam Fuld and Steven Vogt both grabbed a hit and landed themselves at first and second with Josh Reddick who was subbed in for Craig Gentry. Reddick hit a line drive double into center field and scored Fuld and Vogt to tie the game at two. After an errant throw from Houston passed Houston’s catcher Hank Conger Reddick tried to score from third but was tagged out to end the inning.

“Once I see the ball get by, I figure, why not try?” Reddick said. “The ball was soaking wet rolling in the outfield grass. You’ve got to make a perfect throw to get me. I’m trying to win the ballgame. We haven’t been scoring many runs the past two games. I don’t see a problem with trying.”

In the top of the 11th Eric O’Flaherty came into the game and gave up back to back walks to Chris Carter and Colby Rasmus. Conger then laid down a sac bunt and moved both runners over. Robbie Grossman then his a shart single to left field and scored both Carter and Rasmus and made it a 4-2 game. Fernando Abad came in to releive O’Flaherty but then gave up a single to Springer and he scored Grossman to make it a 5-2 game going into the bottom of the 11th.

In the 11th, Marcus Semien hit his third homer of the year with Eric Sogard aboard to make it a 5-4 game. However with Ike Davis standing at second after a single and a wild pitch and no out, the A’s were unable to drive him home and ended the night on a deep fly ball out by Brett Lawrie to center field and put this game to bed.

“It went from a starting pitcher duel to a little bit of a slugfest later,”said head coach Bob Melvin. “You gotta look at the positives in it. We continue to fight every pitch of the game even though it looked bleak a couple times.”

On O’Flaherty’s outing Melvin said, “He’s getting pretty good movement. He’s just not harnessing it. He’s not throwing it over the plate. Just right now, the last few times have been a bit of a struggle for him.”

The A’s try to turn it around tomorrow when they send Kendall Gravemen (1-1. 6.94 ERA) up against Scott Feldman (1-2, 5.09 ERA). Game time 1:05am.

Notes: BART this weekend will shut down train service and carry passengers on buses between the Coliseum and Fruitvale stations.  The weekend work will continue from 7 p.m. Saturday through 4 a.m. Monday.  The free bus link between the two stations will run continuously, making the 2.5-mile trip between stations in 10 to12 minutes. Riders should allow an extra 30 to 60 minutes for trips, or make alternate travel plans.

The Angels get one hit, beat the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were shut out for the first time this year as they suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Angels 2-0 Thursday afternoon in Anaheim. The A’s continue to have a game when everyone is hitting and they score lots of runs and the next game when hits are hard to come by and they can barely put any runs on the board. This was one of the games when they couldn’t get the hits and they couldn’t score.The A’s did have a couple of chances in the seventh and eighth innings,  but they could not get the clutch hit that would have put some runs on the board.

The game featured two pitchers being used as spot starters by their managers. Jesse Chavez made his first start of the year filling in for Jesse Hahn. Chavez pitched well enough to win as he went six innings allowing just one hit. That hit, however, was a home run by Kole Calhoun with a man aboard that gave the Angels the win. The Angels’Nick Tropeano also made his first start of the year. Tropeano went six innings allowing no runs and just five hits to earn his first win of the year.

The Angels scored two runs in the bottom of the third. Angel catcher Drew Butera reached on a throwing error by Brett Lawrie.Chavez, pitching out of the stretch, threw one right down the middle of the plate and Kole Calhoun made him pay as the ball went flying out of the park into the right field seats. That was all the scoring in the game. Angels win 2-0.

Game notes- the A’s used three pitchers, Chavez for six, Dan Otero in the 7th and Tyler Clippard in the 8th and all the Angels could muster was one hit but that hit was the difference in the game. The Angels used four pitchers, Tropeano, Fernando Salas, Joe Smith and Huston Street.

The A’s split the four game series with the Angels and were 5-5 on the ten game road trip. The A’s return home Friday night to face the Houston Astros for three games. The Friday night game will feature Scott Kazmir(2-0,1.33 ERA) going for Oakland and he will be opposed by the Astros’ ace, Dallas Keuchel (2-0, 0.90 ERA)

Game time will be Friday night at 7:05 at the O.Co Coliseum.

The A’s take it to the Angels,

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by Jerry Feitelberg

In a dramatic reversal of fortune, the Oakland A’s rebounded from a pummeling at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels last night, to trounce the Angels 9-2  Wednesday night in Anaheim and even their record at 8-8. The Angels’ record drops to 6-9.

It was a battle of the aces Wednesday night. The A’s Sonny Gray seeking his second win of the year entered the game with an ERA of 2.11 and he was opposed by the Angels’ Jered Weaver. Weaver’s record this year is 0-2 with an ERA of 6.61 before the start of the game. Weaver won 18 games last year for the Angels, but the team was concerned about the drop in velocity as his fastball barely went beyond 82 or 83 miles per hour. It was, however, a terrific pitching duel between Gray and Weaver. Weaver went six innings, allowing 8 hits with 3 strikeouts and no walks. Sonny Gray simply outpitched as he went 7 innings giving up just one run and two hits. Gray struck out 7 and walked 2 but retired the last 14 Angel batters that he faced. Gray received credit for the win.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Sam Fuld singled and stole second. The Angels challenged the call on the steal, but the call was not reversed. Stephen Vogt singled and Fuld took third. Billy Butler hit a slow roller to third and the only play Angel third baseman David Freese could make was at first. Fuld scored on the play.

The Angels tied the game in the bottom of the second. David Freese doubled to lead off the inning. Gray threw a wild pitch that allowed Freese to make it to third. Erick Aybar ground out to first and Freese scored the tying run.

There was no more scoring by either team until the seventh inning. Weaver was done after six innings and Angels’manager, Mike Scioscia brought in Fernando Salas to pitch the seventh. Eric Sogard, leading off, singled and stole second to get things going for Oakland. Marcus Semien laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Sogie over to third. Sam Fuld drew an intentional walk. Mark Canha struck out for the second out of the inning. Lefty Cesar Ramos was brought in to pitch to Stephen Vogt. Vogt came through with a big hit to drive in Sogard with the A’s second run of the game. Vinnie Pestano was now on the mound for LA. Pestano’s first pitch went way past Chris Iannetta allowing Fuld to cross the plate to make it a 3-1 game. Vogt took second on the play and he came in to score ahead of Billy Butler who hit his third home run of the season that went to dead centerfield. Ike Davis singled for his third hit of the night and that was followed by Josh Reddick’s double to put men on at 2nd and 3rd. Both scored on Brett Lawrie’s single. A’s lead 6-1.

Sonny Gray retired the Angels 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Gray retired the last14 batters he faced in order.

The A’s added three more runs in the 8th. The A’s loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. Vogt drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Butler singled driving in his fourth run of the night. Mark Canha scored the ninth run of the night on a fielder’s choice. Evan Scribner set the Angels down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th.

The Angels added a run in the bottom of the 9th. Arnold Leon made his Major League Debut pitching for the A’s. He had been recalled from Nashville earlier in the day. The 26 year old Leon retired the first batter he faced, but the Angels loaded the bases on a single, double and walk. A high chopper drove in Pujols with the run but Leon was able to get the last hitter to secure the win for the A’s

Game notes- Relief pitcher, R.J.Alvarez, was sent down to Nashville Wednesday. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Butler who went 2 fo 5 with a home run and 4 runs batted in. Sam Fuld, Ike Davis and Josh Reddick each had three hits in the game for Oakland. Stephen Vogt had two hits and two runs batted in.

The line score for the A’s 9 runs, 18 hits and no errors while the Angels were 2 runs on 4 hits and no errors.

The A’s conclude the four-game series and the ten game road trip Thursday afternoon in Anaheim. Game time will  be at 4:05pm

San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s podcast with Michael Duca: Are the Royals just an over sensitive club?;Giants get some confidence back in L.A. win

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–The Kansas City Royals pitchers Yordano Ventura who was fined for hitting A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie on the elbow on Saturday and Kelvin Herrera threw a 100 MPH fastball behind Lawrie on Sunday and was suspended five games and Herrera is appealing the suspension. That suspension is expected to be served for less than five games and probably will be dropped from four to three.

The real reason their appealing it is because Greg Holland is on the 15 day DL and if you take two players out of that bullpen you really change the dynamic of the Royals pitching staff. It’s a funny thing about all this you have to almost wonder if the umpires are too quick in issuing the warnings the first time around.

Herrera he throws hard and there is really no excuse for throwing up around the head and you can’t defend that any way shape or form. Ballplayers think a certain way and I don’t think their clever enough or fast enough to come in after an inning after they’ve thrown at somebody and tell somebody “think about what your doing” like Herrera did on Sunday. Herrera will more than likely serve the five game suspension at a later date but the appeals process is on for now.

San Francisco Giants update: After losing nine of their last ten games the Giants were glad to get Monday off before the Dodgers series. It was very important. The one guy that didn’t have Monday off was Giants manager Bruce Bochy he ended up handing out over 40 World Series rings to members of the Giants front office.

On Tuesday the key play was shortstop Brandon Crawford at the plate who dragged bunt to move a runner up and it finally gave the Giants what they had in almost two weeks executing the bunt to advance the runner. That was key in a game where they only got four runs off Dodgers starter Brett Anderson and at one point they had two runs off him with nine hits.

So once again the Giants were in one of those situations with a lot of people on base with not a lot of people scoring at the same time you don’t want to have anybody overlook what’s going on. Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt was in relief on Tuesday and he wasn’t in their trying to blow people away he went an inning in relief and walked only a batter. The Giants got the Dodgers to hit into four double plays in the game and that was part of their success in the 6-4 victory.

Michael Duca is a talk show host and talks Giants and A’s each week listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com