Category: Oakland Athletics

The Astros avoid the sweep, Beat the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were hoping to sweep the three-game series against the Houston Astros Wednesday night in Houston. That, However, was not the case as the Astros, and Jed Lowrie, in particular, beat the A’s 6-1. The A’s had lefty Drew Pomeranz on the hill as he was trying to record his second win of the win. The Astros’ starter, Collin McHugh, had his game working for him and he kept the A’s hitters off-balance all night. Lowrie drove in three runs with a homer and a double to get a bit of revenge against his former mates. The A’s chose not to re-sign Lowrie after the 2014 season and he returned to Houston as a free agent where he played before coming to the A’s in 2013.

The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. All-Star second baseman, Jose Altuve led off the game with a booming double to left centerfield. Altuve stole third, but that turned out to not be necessary as Lowrie hit his third home run of the year into the left field seats. The A’s scored their only run of the night in the top of the second inning. Designated hitter Billy Butler singled up the middle. It was the tenth straight game that Butler has hit safely in and it is an Oakland A’s team record for a player in his first year with the A’s. Butler’s single was followed by an Ike Davis single and an Eric Sogard single to load the bases. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien beat out an infield hit to drive in Butler with the lone A’s run of the night.

In Houston’s half of the third, they scored again. George Springer singled with one out. That man, Jed Lowrie, did it again to his old mates as he sliced a pitch down the right field line driving in Springer all the way from first. It’s Lowrie three and A’s 1 after three.

The Astros added a run in the fifth. Center Fielder Jake Marisnick tripled and Jose Altuve singled to make it 4-1. Houston added a run in the seventh on a Luis Valbuena homer and Evan Gattis hit his first home run of the year in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-1. Former A’s reliever Luke Gregerson pitched the ninth and closed it out for Houston.

Game notes-Drew Pomeranz went 5 plus innings giving up six hits and four runs. He struck out five and walked one. Pomeranz’ record for 2015 in now 1-1. Houston’s Collin McHugh went 5 2/3rds innings also gave up six hits but allowed just one run and struck out eleven A’s hitters and did not issue a walk in recording the win. McHugh is now 9-0 in his last nine decisions going back to 2014. Josh Reddick made the defensive play of the night in right field making a diving and tumbling catch that will make the highlight reels on the sports channels.

The A’s have an off day on Thursday as they travel to Kansas City to meet the American League champions in a three-game set over the weekend. The A’s are now 5-5 while the Royals are blazing hot and were unbeaten until Wednesday when they lost their first game of the year to the Minnesota Twins. The A’s will be seeking a measure of revenge as the Royals ousted the A’s in the one-game playoff last year.

Game time is 5:10 pm at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Friday.

A’s win second in a row, Beat the Astros

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s beat the Houston Astros 4-0 behind a good pitching performance by Kendall Graveman. Graveman evened his record at 1-1 and rebounded after being beat by the Texas Rangers last Thursday in Oakland. Graveman needed to have his sinker working and it was as he induced at least eleven ground outs in picking up his first Major League victory. Graveman went 5 1/3rd innings and allowed no runs and just 4 hits. Graveman had a little trouble with location and walked four but struck out three before departing in the top of the sixth with one out. The A’s called on Eric O’Flaherty Dan Otero, Fernando Abad and Tyler Clippard to stop the Astros from scoring and they all did the job.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Center fielder Sam Fuld led off the game by hitting an opposite field double. The next batter, Mark Canha did a nice job of hitting as he ground out to second enabling Fuld to move to third. Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly and Fuld scored with the first run of the game. The Astros, in the bottom of the first, had two men on with one out, but Graveman got Evan Gattis to hit into a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Graveman and the Astros’ starter, former Athletic, Brad Peacock engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel until the A’s broke through and scored twice in the sixth.  Zobrist walked to start the frame. Designated hitter, “Country breakfast” Billy Butler slashed a double down the right field line driving in Zobrist all the way from first. Stephen Vogt singled driving in Butler. Graveman started the sixth. The Astros had men on base with no out. A’s pitching coach, Curt Young, Paid a visit to the mound and told Graveman that he would be out of the game after the next hitter, Astro slugger Chris Carter. Graveman retired Carter on strikes and lefty Eric O’Flaherty got the next hitter to hit into an inning-ending double play.

The A’s added a run in the ninth. Brett Lawrie walked and stole second. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Lawrie to put the A’s ahead 4-0. Tyler Clippard  pitched the ninth to win it for Oakland.

Game notes. The A’s won two in a row for the first time this season and they improve their record to 5-4. Houston. Brad Peacock took the loss for Houston. Graveman threw 96 pitches and lowered his ERA from 18.90 to 7.27. After the game, Graveman said, ” Curt Young did a great job last week to build my confidence.” Graveman said they stressed that he had to “pitch to contact” and he had “good feeling” out on the mound. He also said,” the defense played great behind me.”

The A’s will go for the sweep Wednesday night at 5:10 pm in Houston. Drew Pomeranz will pitch for Oakland.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: After Obama-Castro meetings look for more players out of Cuba

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by Amaury Pi Gonzsalez

OAKLAND–At last count officially there were up to 20 teams with Rusney Castillo who was sent to the minors and Yasmany Tomas from the Arizona Diamondbacks to join the ranks of Cubans in the Major Leagues. At the beginning of this season there were 20 players born in Cuba among the 30 Major League Baseball teams according to the Associated Press report.

The Dominican players lead the foreign players with 83 and Venezuela with 65 and Cuba is up there. My point is even without relations between the U.S. and Cuba for some reason which I don’t understand it’s very tough to escape Cuba Kendrys Morales who plays for Kansas City and I had a chance to speak with him in Anaheim with the red hot Royals (7-0).

It took Morales nine times to escape Cuba because there was no relations like it is now, nine times and he finally made it on the tenth try. It’s not easy but recently a lot of Cuba players have been leaving. There is former relations there, Cuba was a pioneer and this is documented in history the first player for Latin America ever to play baseball organized baseball was a man called Steve Ballan who played in the U.S. from 1868-70 with the Detroit Haymakers of the American Association.

The AA became the National League in 1876 as we know it today, so Cuban players have always been pioneers. Because of the last 50 years with no relations with Cuba and the U.S. and now the relations have come back this year and of course people will be able to travel in and out of the island freely and I hope so.

Amnesty International is a big human rights non partisan organization that just reports what they see and Cuba is still one of the biggest human rights violators. In other words you can not demonstrate in Cuba, you can not say anything in the streets in Cuba about Castro they’ll put you in jail. There is no freedom in Cuba, so people have to be careful. There’s a lot of stuff happening between Cuba and the U.S in trying to patch up things from over the decades.

It’s just not like going to open two Hilton Hotels and saying were going to open two Hiltons in Havana, you have to get things settled with the U.S. Embassy, then relations, then political maneuvers that Cuba has to promise to the U.S. that human rights will not be violated. As of now a lot of Cuban players are leaving the Island of Cuba.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and is a member of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

The A’s Start the Road Trip with a Win

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s had their hitting shoes on Monday night to start the road show with a win bu beating the young and improved Houston Astros 8-1. The A’s evened their record tp 4-4 for 2015 and were coming off two hard to take extra innings losses to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday and Sunday. The A’s starter, Scott Kazmir, pitched six strong innings allowing just three hits and one run as his record went to 2-0. The Astro’s pitcher, Scott Feldman went five innings giving up 8 hits and seven runs. Feldman is 0-2 to start the year.

The A’s got going right off the bat. Sam Fuld reached on an error leading off the game. Fuld scored on a double off the bat of big Mark Canha. Canha has hit safely in all six games he has started for the A’s. Canha made it to third on an error and scored on a Ben Zobrist double. Ike Davis singled to put the A’s up 3-0
in the top of the first.

The A’s made it 4-0 in the second. Brett Lawrie hit his first home run as an Athletic leading off. Houston made it a 4-1 game when their All-World second baseman, Jose Altuve, put one in the seats to cut the lead to three.

The A’s put the game out of reach in the fifth when they scored four times to make it 8-1. Marcus Semien hits his first home run of the year and Designated hitter Billy Butler hit a three-run dinger to extend the lead. It was Butler’s first as an A and Butler has an eight-game hitting streak to start the year.

There was no more scoring and the A’s win 8-1.

Game notes- Ben Zobrist was 3 for 5 while Mark Canha went 2 for 5, Lawrie, Semien and Butler all hit their first home run as a member of the A’s.
The Line score for Oakland 8 runs, 12 hits and no errors. Houston’s line was 1 run on 5 hits and they committed 2 errors.

Game two of the three-game series continues Tuesday night in Houston at 5:10pm

Kendall Graveman will make his second start for Oakland and he will be opposed by Houston’s Brad Peacock.

Not cool: A’s rally late only to lose in extras for the second straight day

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Cruz-in

By Morris Phillips

An encouraging spring training plus a mostly healthy roster led to this general consensus for the A’s entering 2015: significantly less offense and starting pitching, slightly better defense and a bullpen similar to what they had last season, but in no way could they hope for the same, lofty production from this group that they got from last year’s group.

After a rollercoaster of a first week in which the A’s mixed in three dominating wins with four disappointing losses, the picture is a little clearer.  The A’s offense—currently the second most productive in baseball with 43 runs scored—hasn’t lost a step, and the starting pitching—with three new faces in the rotation—has been just as impressive.

That leaves manager Bob Melvin needing his bullpen and defense to pick it up or games like Sunday’s 8-7 loss to the Mariners in 10 innings could take more from the club than just a game in the loss column.

“We still feel like we have the right pieces down there,” Melvin said after Tyler Clippard allowed a game-winning home run to Nelson Cruz, right after the A’s rallied from four runs down in the ninth.  “When your closer is out, and you have to move everybody back, it’s a different compliment.  We did give up some runs, we’re better than that.”

If the season-opening home stand was a ride than Sunday’s game was the dramatic finish, with both teams seizing control only to lose it.  First the A’s got the best of King Felix Hernandez in what may have been his rockiest outing in Oakland in the last seven seasons, only to see the Mariners disturb Jesse Hahn’s solid pitching performance in the middle innings.  When the A’s rallied off closer Fernando Rodney in the ninth, they appeared to be in the driver’s seat only to see Cruz get the last laugh.

With a similar rally and win on Saturday, also featuring Cruz, the Mariners gained significant momentum in what appears to be a wide-open AL West race.  And that momentum was gained courtesy of the A’s shortcomings, squandering two, terrific late-game rallies.

“It’s awfully demoralizing to come all the way back and lose the game, but that attribute needs to be there all the time.  And it is,” Melvin said.

The A’s dented Hernandez with three hits in the second inning, only to see the rally fizzle.  But in the fourth, they were on the Seattle ace again, this time with four hits and three runs.  Billy Butler started it with a double—one of his three hits—and Josh Reddick, making his season debut, finished the rally with a RBI single that scored Stephen Vogt.

Hernandez would pitch one more inning, then depart for precautionary reasons due to a tight quad muscle.  At that point, the A’s were looking good and in line to hand Hernandez his first loss at the Coliseum since 2009.

But Oakland starter Jesse Hahn, after opening by retiring the first 12 hitters he faced, fell into trouble in the sixth.   Had Reddick come up with a catch of Robinson Cano’s liner, Hahn could have escaped allowing just one run.  But Reddick didn’t make the catch, and Hahn was done two batters later, all of sudden trailing 4-3.

Marcus Semien also committed a throwing error in the fifth, giving the A’s nine errors in seven games.

NOTES: Butler failed to hit at least 15 home runs in a season for the first time in six seasons, which hastened his departure from Kansas City even as the Royals blossomed despite him, becoming league champions for the first time since 1985.  But Butler appears to be fashioning a bounce back season with the A’s hitting .407 in the season’s first week guaranteeing his moniker, “Country Breakfast” will soon be common A’s fan’s knowledge.  One issue could be the big man’s base running as he was thrown out at the plate trying to score the A’s initial run in the second inning.

A’s suffer first, narrow loss of the season, Gray’s big start squandered

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By Morris Phillips

The level of disappointment in the A’s post-game clubhouse was obvious.  Despite all the new faces, the missing, injured pieces, this is a team that wants to win now.  And that wasn’t result on Saturday as the A’s toiled for more than 3 ½ hours only to lose 5-4 to the Mariners in 11 innings.

“It’s no fun losing a close game,” manager Bob Melvin admitted.  “Both teams fought real hard, both teams had opportunities.  They had one more, big hit than we did.”

The A’s have split six consecutive home games to start the season, with all three wins impressive routs—but each followed by a loss.  With King Felix Hernandez on the mound for Seattle on Sunday, the prospects of finishing the week with more losses than wins simply won’t sit well.

On Saturday, a couple of pitches didn’t end up where the A’s needed them, and a couple of advantageous situations weren’t fully realized and the Mariners escaped with a win.  It couldn’t be discounted that the A’s grew used to winning games like this in 2014 on their way to all too abrupt playoff appearance.

Sonny Gray was sharp, pitching into the eighth inning with the lead, only to depart and see reliever Dan Otero miss location on a pitch to Nelson Cruz, who deposited it over the left field fence for a Mariners 4-2 lead.  The A’s would answer right back and send the game into extras, but among other things, Gray’s seemingly big opening week lost some steam.

In a pair of starts, Gray threw 15 plus innings, allowing just one earned run, but with Cruz’s pyrotechnics, the A’s youthful ace has just one win to show for all his efforts.  Not surprisingly, Gray battled despite some physical issues not to mention the presence of Seattle lineup that was beefed up in the off-season.

“There’s so many things that didn’t go our way and we still had a chance,” Gray said.

Pomeranz and Canha Lead Oakland To A 12-0 Victory Over Seattle

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Oakland Athletics' Sam Fuld, left, congratulates Mark Canha after Canha hit a two-run home run off Seattle Mariners' Taijuan Walker during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, April 10, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Oakland Athletics’ Sam Fuld, left, congratulates Mark Canha after Canha hit a two-run home run off Seattle Mariners’ Taijuan Walker during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, April 10, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND- Drew Pomeranz threw seven scoreless innings and only gave up two hits to earn his first victory of the year. Abad and Alvarez helped complete the shutout and close the door on one of the A’s biggest rivals from last year.

The Oakland offense was able to have what looked like batting practice in the fourth inning and ended the night with 12 runs off of 16 hits. The Oakland 1 thru five hitters when a combined 13 for 23 with 10 hits, 11 runs and nine RBI. In the three spot was rookie standout Mark Canha who went 3 for 5 with two RBI including his first ever Major League home run.

Speaking on Canha, Head Coach Bob Melvin said, “It’s pretty unbelievable. He’s never played in the big league before. What he’s done in the first few games has been special. He’s earned his time. No doubt.”

In addition to Canha a handful of other players contributed tonight. Ike Davis went 3 for 5 with two doubles and four RBI, Sam Fuld had three hits, Ben Zorbist also had three hits and three runs and Marcus Semien had two hits and two RBI.

With all the players contributing tonight, Melvin had this to say, “That makes it a lot easier when most of the guys are doing well. We’re seeing some good things but for a team that has a team with a lot of guys that haven’t played together for a while we’re seeing some great things.”

Oakland started off strong in the bottom of the first inning when they roughed up starting Seattle pitcher Taijuan Walker for 37 pitches.

“It’s paramount (to get to the other teams bullpen early). We have the ability to do it and even if youre not getting hits youre taking pitches and try to get into their bullpen,” Melvin said on attacking the Mariners pitching staff.

After the 3 run first inning, Mark Canha hit his first home run of his major league career to deep left center field with Fuld on base to make it a 5-0 Oakland lead.

In the fourth, the A’s poured on six runs to seal the victory. Semien started off the inning with his second double of the year and after a Sogard ground out Sam Fuld singled to center field to make it a 6-0 lead. Canha then singled and Zobrist was intentionally walked to load the bases for the A’s. Billy Butler came up to the plate and hit a sharp single to Willie Bloomquist who wasn’t able to get anyone out and allowed Fuld to score to make it 7-0. Ike Davis then followed up with his first double of the year and scored two more runners to make it 9-0.

Brett Lawrie popped out to first for the second out of the inning but Steven Vogt drew an intentional walk to load the bases again for Oakland. Semien came up to the plate for the second time in the inning and smacked a single to score Butler and Davis to make it a 11-0 Oakland lead.

Oakland added another run in the bottom of the 8th when Davis hit his second double of the season and of the night to score Ladendorf who was substituted in for Zobrist and made it a final 12-0 score.

Pomeranz is now 3-0 lifetime versus Seattle with an ERA under 1. This was also the third time in his career that Pomeranz was able to go seven innings.

“It was big for him (to go seven). It’s tough to do especially since we’re going 10 in a row and that’s awfully tough to deal with. Especially when you’re trying to keep your starters under 100 (pitches). It was key that he could give us seven innings tonight.”

Oakland and Seattle head back at it tomorrow at the Coliseum when the A’s send Sonny Gray (1-0, 0.00) up against J.A. Happ (0-0). Game time 1:05 pm.

The Rangers turn the tables, Rout the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Texas Rangers turned the tables on the Oakland A’s Thursday afternoon at the O.Co Coliseum. One night after being routed by the A’s, the Rangers pounded A’s pitching for ten runs, elevens hits, four of which were home runs and beat Oakland by a score od 10-1 to split the four-game series at two apiece.

The Rangers scored three times in the first taking advantage of two Oakland errors. One was committed by Kendall Graveman, making his first start of the year and his A’s debut, and one by catcher Stephen Vogt who dropped a throw while attempting to tag a runner at the plate.
Graveman settled down and got through the second, but Texas got to him for two more runs. The big blow in the third was a Mitch Moreland home run with a man aboard to put Texas ahead 5-0. Graveman’s day came to an end in the fourth when Shin-Soo Choo blasted a ball into right field that went over the yellow line for a home run. There were two men on at the time of the blast and Texas blew the game wide open leading 8-0 in the fourth Evan Scribner was brought in to pitch for the A’s

Texas scored two more times on solo home runs. Adrian Beltre hit one in the seventh and Ranger second baseman Rougned Odor put one over the fence in the eighth. The A’s scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the eighth when Eric Sogard singled and he scored on a double by Marcus Semien. Final score 10-1 in favor of Texas.

Game notes. The A’s started the season 2-2 for the third consecutive year. Kendall Graveman took the loss. The Rangers’ Nick Martinez pitched well allowing just four hits and no runs in seven innings of work. The line score for Texas was 10 runs, 11 hits, and no errors while the line for Oakland was one 1 run, 6 hits and 3 errors. Evan Scribner went 3 and 2/3rds innings of work and allowed one run and three hits.

The A’s continue the homestand as the Seattle Mariners will be here for three games. Lefty Drew Pomeranz will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by righty Tijuan Walker.
Game time is 7:05 Friday night at the O.Co Coliseum

Thursday’s game time was a speedy 2 hours and 32 minutes and 16,045 watched the A’s get drubbed.

The A’s Rout the Texas Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

To paraphrase the great Charles Dickens ” It was the best of times for one team and the worst of times for the other.” For the Oakland A’s, it was the best of times as they routed the visiting Texas Rangers by a score of 10-0. They had it all going for them Wednesday night as they had good hitting, good pitching and good defense. They pounded out 14 hits, scored 10 runs and third baseman Brett Lawrie made a tremendous defensive play at third base to stop a ball from going down the left field line for a double and first baseman Mark Canha made a nice pick when the throw from Lawrie was slightly offline. A’s starter and winning pitcher, Scott Kazmir was on his game as he went seven innings allowing just one hit while striking out ten. For the Texas Rangers, it was the worst of times. Their starter, Ross Detiler, making his first start since July, 2013 gave up 8 runs on 9 hits and was gone after 4 1/3rd innings of work. The Ranger defense did not help Detwiler one bit. The Rangers committed four errors and  a passed ball  that led to 3 unearned runs. Kazmir allowed just one hit and the other came in the ninth when Prince Fielder doubled off reliever R.J. Alvarez.

The only noise the A’s made in the first two innings was a two out double by Brett Lawrie. Lawrie had a tough night in Tuesday’s game as he struck out four times on 12 pitches but he hit a line shot to left center but was thrown out at third trying to stretch  it into a triple. In the bottom of the third, the A’s sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs on five hits. Marcus Semien singled with one out to get things going. That was followed by Tyler Ladendorf’s first Major League hit in his first at bat in the big leagues. It was a line shot to left center and with his speed, he made it to third easily. Craig Gentry was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Cody Ross, in his first at bat as an Athletic singled to drive in Ladendorf. A’s DH, Billy Butler walked to load the bases. First baseman, Mark Canha, blasted a shot to deep right centerfield that hit the top of the wall driving in all three runners.Canha stopped at second and A’s manager Bob Melvin asked the umpires to review the play . After the review, it was ruled a double, Canha just  missed a grand slam by about an inch and it was his first Major League hit. A’s lead 5-0 after three innings of play.

The AS’s scored one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one run each in the sixth and seventh innings. That was the end of the scoring for the night as the A’s win 10-0.

Game notes. Mark Canha led the attack with two doubles and a single while driving in four runs. Brett Lawrie had three hits, Billy Butler and Marcus  Semien each had two hits. Cody Ross, signed by the A’s on Wednesday after being released by the Arizona Diamondbacks had a single and two RBIs in his A’s debut.

The A’s have started the season 2-1 for the first time since 2010. The A’s tripled in the each of the first three games for the first time since at least 1914. Scott Kazmir recorded 10 strikeouts for the 23rd time in his career and is 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA in five starts in the last 2 years against the Rangers. Mark Canha was 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs. The only Athletic to do better was Ben Grieve in his debut in 1997 when he drove in five runs in his first Major League game. The only players from last year’s A’s team were Craig Gentry and Scott Kazmir. All the other players are in their first year with Oakland.

After the game, A’s manager, Bob Melvin, was all smiles as his team really played well. He was pleased with Kazmir’s performance and was extremely happy about Mark Canha’s performance.

The Rangers are 1-2 for the first time since 2010.They committed 4 errors since April 30th, 2014 when they committed 4, also against the A’s  Delino Deshields made his Major League debut for the Rangers and had his first Major League hit.

The fourth game of the series will be Thursday afternoon at 12:35pm at the O.Co Coliseum. Kendall Graveman will be making his A’s debut and he will be opposed by the Rangers’ Nick Martinez.

Game time was 2 hours and 55 minutes and was watched by 19,479 very happy A’s fans.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: With California water drought could A’s really install artificial turf?

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–A source said that after California Governor Jerry Brown’s mandatory 25 percent rationing on water that the Oakland Coliseum might consider using artificial turf. This might be the trend in California where the state had the majority of it’s rain in the month of December but since then just a few days of rain resulting in the push for water rationing.

If the Coliseum installs artificial turf it would be ironic because A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie said he was happy to leave Toronto since the Skydome only uses artificial turf and the Coliseum natural. At this rate the state is expected to run out of water by the end of 2016. This would not be a good idea for the A’s players to install artificial turf. A lot of players might by pass playing in California to play elsewhere where there is no drought.

The big push by MLB and teams in California on public service announcements that fans conserve water and the A’s might have to set that trend by saving on watering the natural grass at the Coliseum and turning to artificial turf. This drought is real it’s not a rumor and desperate measures will not be only be instituted by local government on water conservation but also MLB teams in California will have to take a pro active approach to the drought.

The pitching looking good: The A’s can count on starter Sonny Gray who nearly tossed a no hitter on Monday night’s opener his only hit he surrendered was to Rangers leftfielder Ryan Rua. Gray is a terrific pitcher the question is when he becomes a great pitcher he won’t be in Oakland too long if you know Oakland’s reputation they’ll start shopping him because his market value will go up.The average A’s player plays in Oakland maybe between three or four years. Four years in an Oakland uniform that’s a long career.

Also A’s general manager Billy Beane has a great eye for good talent in the pitching department the A’s will start Kendall Graveman on Thursday who has good stuff too. Graveman is not a household name but he pitched well against the Giants last Friday and he’s a young pitcher he’s a strong pitcher. Everybody has to look what happened to Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander his arm is bad out with a triceps strain, the Rangers Yu Darvish is out with Tommy John, the Giants Matt Cain is out he had elbow surgery to remove bone chips in the off season and is not expected back for two to three weeks.

Beane always finds a way to a solution to the A’s pitching, a few years ago pitcher Bartolo Colon came aboard was the number one pitcher at 40 years old and had success in Oakland. He’s still pitching with the New York Mets he won a couple of nights ago at the age of 42 but that’s the exception. A lot of young pitchers now about 57 percent have the Tommy John surgery which is really ridiculous and that’s why most guys can’t complete a game.

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