Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s shut out at home, but get help from slumping Royals and Mariners

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By Morris Phillips

As hard as it’s been to watch–believe the worn look on Bob Melvin’s face–it’s been even harder to be in uniform and personally experience the A’s two-month slide that has them on the brink of missing the playoffs.

Melvin spoke incredulously when trying to digest the oddball accomplishment of the Phillies’ Jerome Williams who shut down the A’s on Saturday to become the first player since 1900 to beat a team three times in one season while playing for a different team in each win.

“We’ve been struggling for a while, and this was a guy we had really good numbers off of. Most of our guys had really good numbers off him,” Melvin said.

Williams was the pitcher of record on April 26 when the Astros broke open a tie game with four runs in the eighth inning. The former Giant picked up the win in that one even as he gave back three runs in the A’s furious, ninth-inning rally that came up just short.

Then on July 25, Williams belied his 5.52 ERA at the time and shut down the A’s as a starter for Texas in the Rangers’ 4-1 win in Arlington. The journeyman was released by the Astros only to sign a minor league deal with Texas, which would then become the Williams’ sixth major league team.

But on Saturday, Williams was a member of the Phillies, and he admitted that he had anticipated his matchup with Oakland with knowledge of the historical opportunity that awaited him.

“Obviously I was with the AL West, so I knew I was going to face them, but coming over to the Phillies in interleague play, you didn’t think you were going to face the team again,” Williams said. “It’s a good feat.”

Interleague feats against Oakland are nothing new to Williams. He picked up the first two wins of his big league career against the A’s as a Giant in 2003. Now, he’s 32, and still possessing a viable, big league arm, but he’s never really stuck anywhere, having played bits and pieces of eight seasons at the major league level.

On Saturday, Williams shut down the A’s for seven innings with the help of a couple of timely double play balls. The offensively woeful A’s were shut out for the sixth time in their last 47 games. Needing to win desperately to maintain their spot as the lead wild card team, Oakland fell to 1-4 on their final home stand of the season.

“One thing we do well is, when we think we’ve hit rock bottom, we’ve come back with a vengeance. We control our own destiny. I think, if we play the good baseball that we know how to play, we’re going to be there at the end,” catcher Derek Norris said.

Of course, the A’s did have help on Saturday. The Royals lost in Detroit, and the Mariners fell to Houston to keep Oakland on top of the heap, and in line to host a one-game playoff a week from Tuesday.

On Sunday, Scott Kazmir takes the mound at the O.co Coliseum in a matchup with 18-game loser A.J. Burnett at 1:05pm.

A’s and Giants Commentary: A’s need to take the Phillies in this series to stay on top; Romo adjusting to set up role

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by Michael Duca

Oakland A’s update: The Philadelphia Phillies starter David Buchanan on Friday gave up several seeing eye hits to A’s hitters and the A’s parlayed that into three runs and the A’s managed to make that into a 3-1 victory to open the series last night at the Oakland Coliseum which they desperately needed. The A’s during the Rangers series looked like they lost track of how many outs there were.

The A’s used to be able to beat up on the Rangers they were the worst team in baseball and you got to remember their former manager Ron Washington who resigned about 10-12 days ago. So the Rangers have a new manager Tim Bogar in there and the players will try to figure him out as well as Bogar trying to figure out the players and try to get guys some playing time before this season winds down, you never know what motivates the team.

On Friday night with Josh Reddick out of the line up they had to juggle the line up putting Sam Fuld in rightfield and it worked out as the A’s rallied in the second inning with three runs to put some runs up. The A’s left a runner on third who got thrown out and they had a couple of opportunities to score more runs and failed to do so.

San Francisco Giants update: For the Giants seven of their final ten games are against the Padres and no matter where the Padres play they always play the Giants straight up and very well. The biggest concern for Giants starter Tim Hudson it was his third consecutive game where he struggled this time in a 5-0 loss at Petco Park on Friday night.

Hudson has had hip problems from what he gets periodically and throughout his career and if Hudson is not available to go to the playoffs that might put a real serious threat to the Giants possibilities going forward. They don’t have Matt Cain and they don’t have Tim Lincecum in the starting rotation. If they don’t have Hudson there’s not a lot of depenable starters that have that post game experience on the staff.

Sergio Romo who is now the set up man and no longer the closer and he understands his new role. Romo is a team guy, he’s well loved in that clubhouse and he’s an important cog in that wheel in the Giants drive for number three. Santiago Casilla is closing now and manager Bruce Bochy made the decision to switch roles around for Romo and Casilla, “You have to look at the job Casilla is doing and the job Romo is doing, Romo, to his credit, set aside his ego. He’s done what we’ve asked. That’s the only way it’ll work. I compliment him for that. The eighth inning is a huge inning.” said Bochy.

Michael Duca does A’s and Giants commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Castillo and Cespedes compliment each other in Boston

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–Rusney Castillo, the most recent Cuban import made his debut with the Red Sox a few days ago, now Yoenis Cespedes who had an interpreter in Oakland, has a buddy playing together with him from his homeland, Cuba in Boston. Some teams seem to win only when they hit home runs, because they can’t generate enough offense with good speed. Castillo brings that other dimension to the Red Sox. Castillo is well known for his speed and excitement type of game, and in Boston where fans are “all in” every year, finish first and winning the World Series or finish last, that is something that Luis Tiant appreciates; “es buenisimo” “is very good”.

Cuban players are in vogue today, it has become the fashionable thing for teams to sign Cuban players. Of the new wave of Cuban players of recent years, only one, Yoenis Cespedes has been traded. Aroldis Chapman has become a fixture in the Reds bullpen in Cincinnati with his 103 miles per hour fastball, and he can close games with the best of them, has saved 33 games on a team 3 games away from the cellar.

Yasiel Puig is a sensation in Hollywood with the Dodgers, with more experience he should be a great player, he is already and he has not completed two seasons yet. In the American League playing first base for the Chicago White Sox, Jose Abreu is in the Top Five in the league in home runs and runs batted in; his style reminds me a lot of his compatriot and former Cincinnati Red Hall of Famer Tony Perez, they both can hit long deep home runs, a lot of those up-the-middle to center field. There are two sure things in the American League this season, Mike Trout of the LA Angels is the MVP and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is the Rookie of the Year. The Red Sox are re-loading (there is no “rebuilding”in Beantown) for 2015 in that very fluid American League East, they will be a force again.

Expect the Red Sox to be back competing in 2015, and with Castillo and Cespedes, and the ageless Big Papi David Ortiz, plus a couple of trades in the off-season, there should be enough excitement for the Red Sox Nation in the near future.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for Los Angeles Angels baseball and does News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Regain Lead In Wild Card Race With Win Over Phillies 3-1

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OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 19: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates with Brandon Moss #37 and Coco Crisp after an interleague game against the Philadelphia Phillies at O.co Coliseum on September 19, 2014 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 19: Jed Lowrie #8 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates with Brandon Moss #37 and Coco Crisp after an interleague game against the Philadelphia Phillies at O.co Coliseum on September 19, 2014 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

 

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – The nervousness was palpable in the stands tonight as the A’s were trying to stop their three game skid and win their first game in their last home series of the year.

The A’s scored three times in the second inning and Jon Lester (16-10) went seven innings and struck out seven to lead the A’s (84-69) to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies (70-84).

With the win and a Kansas City loss, the A’s are now back on top of the Wild Card race in the American League.

On the win tonight, Head Coach Bob Melvin said, “We’re at the point right now where a win right now makes you feel good and another loss doesn’t. Hopefully we’re in a good mood tomorrow and score some more runs.”

The A’s crammed all three runs in the second inning on back-to-back-to-back singles by Derek Norris, Eric Sogard and Coco Crisp.

Adam Dunn started off the second by hitting the ball off of Phillies starting pitcher David Buchanan (6-8) and it careened into center field. After a Brandon Moss fly out, a Stephen Vogt walk and a Jed Lowrie strike out the A’s started their singles barrage. The three singles brought in Dunn, Vogt and Norris to give the A’s the 3-0 lead.

“It’s nice to throw a crooked number up there – score more than one run in a inning,” said Melvin on the three run inning. The last time the A’s scored more than three runs in an inning was way back on September 9th in Chicago when they put a 5 spot on the board in the top of the ninth against the White Sox.

Lester had his 18th quality start in a row who over that span has a 1.68 ERA and brought his overall ERA down to 2.42 which is good enough for third best in the American League.

“He’s been terrific. Fortunately you feel like you don’t have to score that many runs for him because he’s going to do his job. Every time out there he’s deep in the game, 110-plus pitches and comes out with the lead. That’s all you can ask from him,” said Melvin.

Closer Sean Doolittle added, “The fire that he has on the mound … he pitches with a lot of emotion, and I think guys pick up on that, feed off that. They want to make the play behind him. They see how committed to his job he is out there.”

Doolittle who came in tonight for his 22nd save of the year was coming off one of his worst performances the other day when he gave up 5 runs in the top of ninth to the Rangers.

“We all know how good Doo is, and we’re all human, we’re all going to have bad outings, bad innings, bad at-bats, and what happened the other day is obviously an anomaly, and for him to go out there tonight and do what he did was him getting back to being him,” said Jon Lester on the A’s closer.

In the top of the eighth there was a critical play when the Phillies had a runner on third and the ball got bounced to Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was able to corral the ball and launch it to home to get Freddy Galvis out at the plate and keep the score 3-1.

“It was a big play. He had to make sure he could get him and he’s got great instincts. It’s a shot in the arm when that run doesn’t score because the difference between a one run lead and a two run lead is one swing of the bat,” beamed Melvin on his third baseman’s play.

Donaldson summed it up best with this; “Every win right now is big for this team. Every win is important. It gets the momentum going on the right track, and hopefully we can build on this thing tomorrow and the rest of the year.”

The A’s look to build on tonight’s win when they head back it tomorrow afternoon when the Phillies send Jerome Williams (3-2, 2.84 ERA) against Drew Pomeranz (5-4, 2.53 ERA), game time 1:05pm PST.

Rangers complete sweep of fading A’s

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Oakland Athletics' Sonny Gray, left, is visited by pitching coach Curt Young, center, and catcher Derek Norris in the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Oakland Athletics’ Sonny Gray, left, is visited by pitching coach Curt Young, center, and catcher Derek Norris in the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Daniel Dullum

Now that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have clinched the American League West Division crown, all that’s left for the Oakland Athletics to play for is a shot at the AL Wild Card play-in game.

Even that hope is slipping away.

On Thursday, Texas defeated the Athletics 7-2 before 17,574 at the Coliseum, giving the Rangers – the fourth-place team in the AL West with MLB’s worst record (60-92) – a three-game sweep. The loss dropped Oakland one-half game behind Kansas City for the first Wild Card berth.

As recently as August 15, the Athletics had the best record in Major League Baseball. Now, the A’s have lost six of their last eight starts while the Rangers are on a six-game winning streak.

A’s starter Sonny Gray (13-9) gave up four Texas runs in the first inning, and his winless streak for starters extended to five games. Winning pitcher Nick Martinez (4-11) gave up two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Texas collected 15 hits, including an RBI double by Leonys Martin. Two-out RBI hits by Jake Smolinski, Tomas Telis and Ryan Rue capped the Rangers’ four-run first inning.

Smolinski collected four hits, as the Texas rookies went 9-for-22 on the day.

Oakland picked up its two runs on a triple by Sam Fuld in the third inning.

This weekend, the Athletics try to hang on to their hopes of at least playing in the Wild Card game as Philadelphia visits the Coliseum for a three-game series. Lefthander Jon Lester (15-10) takes the mound on Friday for Oakland.

A’s MOVE TRIPLE-A OUTPOST TO MUSIC CITY
Earlier on Thursday, the Athletics announced that Nashville, Tennessee, is the new home for the club’s Triple-A affiliate for 2015, replacing Sacramento after 15 years with the River Cats.

Oakland will be the seventh Major League team to use the Nashville Sounds as their top minor league affiliate.

The A’s and Sounds have agreed on a four-year player development contract. The Sounds will play in new First Tennessee Park, and signed a 30-year lease with the City of Nashville, which owns the new ballpark.

First Tennessee Park will have a seating capacity of 10,000, and is built on the site of old Sulphur Dell Park, where Negro League and minor league teams played from the 19th century until 1963.

Sacramento River Cats say good-bye to the A’s and hello to the Giants

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river cats

By Charlie O. Mallonee

After 15 seasons of being the Triple-A affiliate for the Oakland Athletics, the Sacramento River Cats will become the Triple-A home for the San Francisco Giants. The Sacramento Bee reports that the official announcement of the Giants and River Cats affiliation will be made on Friday.

The River Cats filed paperwork to be able to change team affiliation earlier this week.

The Oakland Athletics announced today that they have reached agreement with the Nashville Sounds to be their new Triple-A affiliate beginning in 2015. It is a four-year agreement that runs through the 2018 season.

The Sounds will open the 2015 season in a brand new 10,000 seat stadium that was built by the City of Nashville. The Sounds have entered into a 30-year lease with the city for use of the stadium.

There had been speculation that Oakland and San Francisco might trade affiliates with the A’s going to Fresno and the Giants moving to Sacramento. However, the A’s appear to have been very impressed with the Nashville organization and its new stadium despite the added distance from the parent club.

Fresno is now the odd-man out in this situation. The Grizzlies will now have to find a new Major League organization to play in Fresno. According to the Fresno Bee, the Grizzlies will become the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.

This is not the first time the Giants have jilted the city of Fresno. Fresno was the long time home of the Giants Class A farm team until the affiliation was moved to San Jose in the late 80’s. The city was without a minor league team until the Triple-A Grizzlies began play 18 years ago.Now the Giants have left Fresno for Sacramento.

Reportedly the River Cats believe that the Player Development Agreement with San Francisco will be more lucrative because of the large Giants fan base in the Sacramento area.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Best in the West; After waiting an hour Angels take the champagne challenge

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–The Los Angeles Angels won the West last night for the first time since 2009. After C.J Wilson pitched a marvelous game against the Seattle Mariners, winning 5-0, they went inside their dressing room, and watched the last inning of the A’s vs Rangers game at Oakland.

With the Athletics leading 1-0, (and the Angels magic #1)the top of the ninth inning provided enough drama to also keep thousands of Angels fans in the park watching the A’s game from Oakland on the big screens. When J.P. Arencibia hit that homerun in the top of the ninth giving the Rangers the lead, Howie Kendrick almost opened the first bottle of champagne, but was contained by a couple of teammates. After the Rangers scored 6 times and won it 6-1, the party was just getting started, inside the dressing room and outside on the field. Players came out to celebrate with the fans in the stands.

The first division title for the Angels since 2009 and their 95th win of the season. With ten games remaining on their schedule (starting tonight with the last of a 4 game set vs Mariners at Angels Stadium) the Angels would have to go 5-5 to win 100 games. Angels are 50-22 since since July 1, 37-20 in second half and 27-8 in last 35 games and 12-4 this month.

The Angels will close this homestand (their last of the year) this Sunday with the third of three against the Rangers, then they travel to Oakland for three against the A’s and fly up north for three more against the Mariners, then close the regular season September 28 in Seattle.

With 95-57 they have the best record in baseball; at home 51-26 at home, also best in the majors. “This is what we play for”said a smiling and excited Mike Trout, who told me in Spanish “tranquilo” which means “quiet” just minutes before opening the bubbly inside the Angels dressing room. There is little doubt that he will win his first MVP.

Last time the Angels won the World Series was 2002, when they beat the San Francisco Giants. I remember that year very very well, I was doing the play by play for the Giants back then, and still have in my mind the image of Giants catcher Benito Santiago wandering in the lobby of the Anaheim Hilton late that night after the lost.

Down here in the Southland, there still the hope of a Freeway World Series, but the Dodgers only have a two game lead over the Giants, and they will meet for the last time this season next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at sellout Dodger Stadium.

The LA Angels will also go over the 3 million in attendance this weekend.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV Voice for Angels baseball and does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

It Just Keeps Getting Worse for the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Just when you think things can’t get any worse for the A’s, they do. The downward spiral continues as they waste a tremendous pitching performance from Jeff Samardzija and lose to the Texas Rangers 6-1.

Samardizija and Rangers’ starter Derek Holland hooked up in a old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. Both pitchers were in total control until the A’s took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. The A’s could have broken the game wide open in the bottom of the eighth when they had the bases loaded with no out but they failed to score. In the top of the ninth, the Rangers sent twelve men to the plate and scored six times with the key blow off the bat of J.P.Arencibia. This loss has to be one of the toughest to take all year. If the slide continues, the A’s may miss the playoffs entirely. I hope the players do not lose their confidence but the have to be thinking “what’s going to go wrong today?’

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Former Ranger Geovany Soto doubled with one out. Second baseman Nick Punto reached on an infield single and Soto advanced to third on the play. Coco Crisp struck out but right fielder Sam Fuld, the only left handed hitter in the lineup, singled to right to drive in Soto. After five complete, the A’s are ahead 1-0.

Jeff Samardzija kept Texas scoreless through eight innings of work. He was brilliant allowing just four hits and struck out ten. The A’s had a chance to break the game open in the bottom of the eighth as they loaded the bases with no out but no one could come through with a clutch hit and they failed to score.

The A’s brought in their closer, Sean Doolittle, to finish off the Rangers but everything that could go, went wrong. Doolittle retired the first batter but then the roof caved in. Elvis Andrus singled and then scored on a double by Rougned Odor. The A’s walked Adrian Beltre but that move failed a J.P.Arenciabia, hitting about .169, slammed a three run homer to give them a 4-1 lead. The Rangers didn’t stop there as they scored two more times sending twelve men to the plate in the ninth inning.

The A’s went down meekly in the bottom of the ninth and took the loss.

Game notes- With the loss the A’s are now tied with the Kansas City Royals for the first Wild Card slot

In addition, the loss gave the AL West division crown to the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s and Royals

are two games ahead of the Mariners for the Wild Card slots.

The A’s have lost five of the last seven games and are 5-14 since August 28th and are 17-38 in their last 55 games. A’s manager Bob Melvin said the A’s have to regroup and hope to get it going again on Thursday.

Jeff Samardzija has thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings, which is a career high. He also struck out 10 batters for the eighth time in his career and three times this year with the A’s.

The A’s finish the series with Texas Thursday afternoon at 12:30pm. Sonny Gray will try to right the ship for the A’s as he goes for his 14th win of the year and his opponent will be Nick Martinez.

A’s lose to the lowly Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s played a game Tuesday night that was extremely ugly and not typical of a team trying to make the playoffs. The A’s were terrible on defense as they committed two costly errors and their pitchers threw 3 wild pitches in the game. They looked like they were sleepwalking through the game and it resulted in a 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have the worst record in baseball but they looked like world beaters defeating the A’s. Scott Kazmir started for the A’s and he was not sharp at all and took his ninth loss of the year. The Rangers’ starter, Nick Tepesch, came into the game with a 4-10 record, picked up his fifth win of the year. The Rangers, with nothing to lose, played well and took advantage of the A’s miscues and ran the bases relentlessly.

Texas drew first blood in the top of the fourth inning. Ryan Rua led off the inning with a single.

With one out, the Rangers’ Designated Hitter, Jake Smolinski, sent the ball over the left center field fence to give the Rangers the lead. For Smolinski, it was his first home run of the year. The Rangers

added another run after Rougned Odor beat out an infield single then scored when Daniel Robertson

hit a high chopper that went over Brandon Moss’ glove for a single. Reddick throw out Robertson at second trying to stretch the hit into a double but that allowed Odor to score from third base on the play.

Rangers are ahead 3-0 in the middle of the fourth inning. The A’s got back into the game when the scored twice to trail 3-2. Adam Dunn doubled with one out to get things going. Walks to Brandon Moss and Jed Lowrie loaded the bases. Josh Reddick hit a ball to deep center that allowed Dunn to score.

Derek Norris singled to drive in Moss and when the Ranger shortstop threw the ball past the first baseman Lowrie and Norris advanced to third and second but Eric Sogard ground out to end the inning.

The Rangers scored two unearned runs in fifth inning. With one out, Adrian Beltre doubled down the

left field line. Ryan Rua hit a sharp ground ball to A’s shortstop Jed Lowrie. Lowrie’s throw sailed way over the head of first baseman Brandon Moss . The play was ruled a single and an error. Beltre scored and Rua went to second on the play. Ranger catcher Robinson Chirinos singled to drive in Rua. A’s manager Bob Melvin took Kazmir out of the game and replaced him with Ryan Cook. Rua advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Odor. Texas leads a 6-2 as the A’s bat in the bottom of the fifth.

In the bottom of the sixth, Brandon Moss hit a solo home run to deep right field that was absolutely crushed. A’s trail 6-3 after six complete. There was no more scoring in the game and the A’s fall to the Rangers 6-3.

Game notes: The A’s are 7-14 for their last 21 games and 10-21 in their last 31. The A’s were fortunate as the Kansas City Royals also lost so they maintain their one game lead over the Royal for the first Wild Card spot. Seattle beat the Angels and they are just one game behind the Royals for the second Wild Card. There were a few highlights for the A’s tonight. Josh Donaldson was 2 for 4 with a double

and Brandon Moss hit his 25th home run of the year. The last A’s player to have two consecutive 25 homers in a year was Jack Cust. Josh Reddick was 1 for 3 with a triple.

The Rangers won their fourth game in a row and it was the first time they did it since April 15 to April 19th this year.

A’s manager Bob Melvin was not a happy camper with the play of his team Tuesday night. He thought they would be ready as they had won two games in a row at Seattle. Melvin said that while he was disappointed with the way the A’s played, he would come to the park Wednesday and be optimistic about the team’s chances of getting back on the winning track.

In other news, Jed Lowrie has been named the A’s nominee for the 2014 Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet. Beginning Wednesday, Fans can vote on ChevyBaseball.com for the National recipient and register for a chance to win a trip to the 2014 World Series.

Game two of the three game series will be Wednesday night at 7:05pm. Jeff Samardzija will pitch for Oakland while Derek Holland will go for the Rangers.

Attendance was 19,835

A’s and Giants commentary: Giants in laughers and skids but maintain tie for wild card; A’s in need of some big offense in Ranger series

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–In the San Francisco-Los Angeles series there was a laugher on both sides with the Giants taking the first game on Friday night 9-0 and L.A. with their laugher 17-0 on Saturday. The first game was everything that the Giants could have asked for as the team that leads baseball in runs scored, they lead baseball in batting average and with runners in scoring position since the All-Star break.

The Giants also went out and extended their home winning streak to ten games, all was right with the world it was happy everything looked glorious, they were getting ready to come back on Saturday and watch the Giants catch the Dodgers instead the Giants apparently caught Ebola getting blasted 17-0.

In the case of the win-loss laughers for the Giants like I told my wife “some days your the mosquito and some day your the windshield” and the Giants were the windshield on Friday and showed up as a mosquito on Saturday. That was just as bad as you could lose a game the good news is, 1-0, 17-0, it all counts as a loss and you just move onto the next day.

The next day was a pretty good game a 4-2 , no blow out here and Giant pitcher Yusmeiro Petit is the fifth starter in the rotation and has the major league record in consecutive innings pitched without a run by a pitcher. Regarding the 17-0 whipping the Giants got on Saturday it illustrates a lot of things about baseball, the Dodgers lost the night before 9-0 and it didn’t seem to put them in a terrible funk and the Dodgers came out and racked up 17 runs.

The Giants have now lost three straight and have two more left with Arizona and are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for first in the N.L. wild card.

Oakland A’s update: Until last Saturday it was looking pretty grim for the Oakland A’s since they won back to back games and it’s been almost 40 games since Brandon Moss hit a home run. Look how rapidly things changed they always do well against Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez they usually lose against him they did well against Hernandez. Saturday the A’s did well and they won 3-2 and you could imagine what kind of effect that had in the A’s clubhouse.

They came out and pitched well on Sunday and wound up taking that series as they got the rubber game shutting out the M’s 4-0. The back to back wins solidified themselves in the wild card as the A’s are with the Kansas City Royals. If the A’s lose that series there’s a good chance the A’s don’t make the playoffs.

It was looking that ugly and until Sunday the A’s won back to back games and they hadn’t done that in more than three weeks. You can’t limp along to the finish line win one, lose one, win one, lose two, that’s not going to get you there. The M’s have been closing ground rapidly on the A’s. Their in a situation where either Detroit or Kansas City is going to be one of the wild cards and if the A’s are going to be one of the other wild cards they have to hold off the Mariners.

It’s been Josh Donaldson and the seven dwarfs for the last few weeks and the role of Snow White doesn’t fit him that well. The A’s are in need of some help in that line up so getting contribution from Moss and Adam Dunn certainly don’t hurt but the truth is as Coco (Crisp) goes so goes the A’s.

Michael Duca does A’s and Giants commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com