Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s fall Behind Quickly and Lose Series Finale to Angels

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By Jeff Hall

OAKLAND — The Angels salvaged the final game of the series and regained 1st place with a 9-4 win over the A’s at the Coliseum.

A’s starter Scott Kazmir retired the side in order in the first on just 6 pitches and looked like he was on his game, however Kazmir faltered in the 2nd losing command of his pitches in the inning allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks.

Things did not improve for Kazmir in the 3rd, Albert Pujols doubled to lead off the inning and Josh Hamilton followed with his 10th Home run of the season. Kazmir would give up 2 more hits in the inning to David Freese and Erick Aybar before getting out of the inning.

In the 4th, Kazmir again ran into trouble facing the top of the order to start the inning Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout singled , Pujols followed with a run scoring single to make it a 5-0 game and drove Kazmir out of the game .

Kazmir (14-7) suffered his worst loss of the season allowing a season high tying 7 runs and a season high tying 10 hits in just 3 innings. Afterwards Kazmir owned up to his performance, “I’d throw two strikes and get ahead of the guy and then throw the ball right down the middle, I felt like I just wasn’t aggressive at all.”

Jesse Chavez who relieved Kazmir in the fourth gave up a Sacrifice fly to Hamilton and a single to Howie Kendrick allowing all of the inherited runners to score.

Mike Trout led off the sixth with his 29th homer of the season, off of Chavez, making the score 9-0

Angels Starter Jered Weaver (14-7) got the win after pitching six strong innings and striking out 8 before running into trouble in the 7th  when the  A’s were able to knock Weaver out of the game with 3 runs on 4 hits including a 2 run shot by Alberto Callaspo, his 4th homer of the season. One out later Andy Parrino hit a solo shot in to right. It was Parrino’s 1st home run as an Athletic.

Sogard added the A’s final run in the bottom of the 9th with a Sacrifice fly to make it 9-4.

It was a big series with the A’s taking the first 2 games. “Every game matters, going forward with less than 35 games remaining.”, said Manager Bob Melvin after the game.

The A’s went 5-2 on the  homestand. Up next, the A’s will head to Houston to face the Astros. RHP Jeff Samardzija (3-3, 4.07) vs. RHP Scott Feldman (7-9, 4.37). Gametime is 5:10pm

Notes: Before the game, the A’s announced that Sean Doolittle (Intercostal) and John Jaso (concussion symptoms) would be placed on the DL. Josh Donaldson, who missed tonight’s game with a knee and hip injury, had an MRI and according to A’s Manager Bob Melvin, the results showed there was no structural damage and depending on how he is feeling Donaldson may be in the line-up Monday against Houston.

Injury Bug strikes the Athletics

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By Jeff Hall

OAKLAND —The wear and tear of a long season is beginning to impact A’s players as the injury bug strikes  Sean Doolittle and Josh Donaldson will undergo MRIs. Doolittle sustained an intercostal injury. Donaldson has been hampered by both a knee and a hip injury. Doolittle will likely be placed on the DL. According to A’s manager Bob Melvin, Donaldson lobbied to play in Sunday’s finale against the Angels.

John Jaso will head to the DL with severe concussion symptoms suffered a few weeks ago. Jaso has had concussion issues in the past.

The A’s announced today that they acquired 31-year old right-handed hitter Geovany Soto from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations along with minor league catcher Bryan Anderson from the Cincinnati Reds. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster the A’s transferred first baseman Kyle Blanks to the 60-day disabled list. Soto, a career .248 hitter will join the A’s in Houston for the start of the 3 game series on Monday.

A’s and Giants commentary: Gentry making great comeback after broken hand injury;Castillo was the Cuban player too expensive for Giant’s taste

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by Michael Duca

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s 5-3 victory over the L.A. Angels on Friday night was a great game and it got a little too exciting there, there was one out and A’s pitcher Sonny Gray had left a man on base and it’s the ninth inning and Sean Doolittle came in to relieve Gray. It took 30 pitches for Doolittle to get two outs and win the ball game. Doolittle might be limited on when he can relieve next it’s questionable if he’s going to have to come out in all three game of this series against the Angels if needed.

Craig Gentry has returned as of Friday and he’s rehabbed well over the last few weeks and went one for three and that’s pretty impressive coming off a broken hand injury. That was a good opportunity for Gentry and that gives you an opportunity for you to get in the game and be yourself. He’s recovering the hand and unless he starts walking on the hand he should heal just fine and once Gentry gets on base he’s a disturbing subject for the opposing pitcher to keep an eye on.

San Francisco Giants update: Joe Panik has had himself a week he’s had multi hit games the last several days. He’s gone 15-27 during that time period and he’s close to .600 hitting. He’s another in a line of Giants infielders whose picked up former Giant Rich Aurillia’s mantle pretty well. He’s done pretty well defensively and now he’s been quite a distributor on offense.

They say the best trades are the ones that you don’t make sometimes and there’s no doubt about it in this case the Giants probably got the best second baseman available in the Major Leagues. They got him before the trade deadline and they got him out of their own organization.

The Giants were looking at getting Cuban player 27 year old Rusney Castillo but that winning bid went to the Boston Red Sox who got him for $72.5 million for seven years. The Giants how serious they were on the deal is in question but the were alledgedly in on the deal supposedly he was going to play centerfield and another thing is with Cuban players your not really sure how old they really are.

Castillo is a solid centerfielder and a lead off hitter and the Giants already have that in Jose Pagan. Castillo could have ended up being a development player and would have been playing out of positon and the next position for him to play is shortstop. The Giants are tied up at the position too, what they might have done next is make someone like him a corner outfielder.

I’m not sure if I believe this notion that Castillo is too expensive for the Giants $72.5 million for seven years for the Giants to compete for a potential impact player. Then there is the contract of Pablo Sandoval whose seeking Hunter Pence type money so will the Giants be able to free up some money and bring back the Panda for next season?

When they sell out every single night when the streak is close to 400 games you have to consider these things when big name players come out on the market. It’s a little bit surprising that people would say the reason why they didn’t go after Castillo was he’s too expensive. It’s hard for me the imagine the Giants management group not willing.

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

Super Sam’s Triple Seals The Deal, Oakland Defeats Anaheim 5-3

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OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

by Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sam Fuld hit a deep line shot to right center field in the bottom of the sixth that hit the wall that scored Alberto Callaspo from first to give the A’s their first lead of the game and proved to be the game winning run of the night. Fuld went 1 for 4 on the night with one RBI and one run and Alberto Callaspo went 2 for 4 with a run and of his own. Coco Crisp hit his second lead off homer of the year to contribute to the A’s scoring who are now 4-0 against the Angels at home this year.

On the offense coming through, especially Coco Crisp, head coach Bob Mevin said, “They hit a home run. Then Coco answers. That was big. That was huge. That was like alright we’re fine. You can’t put too much pressure on him but when we play our best he’s playing well.”

The bottom of the A’s batting order had 6 hits and three runs tonight.

“That’s what we need. We need to have a deep line up sometimes and that really is the strength of our line up and why offensively we’ve got the numbers we put up this year,” beamed Melvin.

Sonny Gray also had a gem of a game tonight. Gray (13-7) went 8 and 1/3 innings and gave up six hits, including a pair of homers but only allowed those two solo shots. Gray also struck out five and was backed up by some great defense by Josh Donaldson who started a nice double play in the top of the sixth. Gray is now 9-1 against all teams in the AL West.

“Mixing in all three of his pitches. Fastball had good life, curve ball backdoor to lefties, away from righties, enough change ups to keep you off balance. It was pretty impressive,” said Melvin on Gray.

Gray started off shaky in the first when after getting the Angels lead off batter to ground out, he threw an 81 mph curve ball that Mike Trout got a hold of and went over the left center field wall for his eighth home run of the year and give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Coco Crisp wasted no time to respond as he hit his 15th career lead off home run to the exact same spot and tied the game up at one a piece.

After the Trout home run, Gray was able to put out the next nine batters until Josh Hamilton ripped a curve ball into the right field stands to give the Angels the lead again 2-1.

The A’s tied it up in the bottom of the fifth when after a Crisp double and a Gentry walk, Josh Donaldson smacked a line drive to Angels pitcher Santiago who was able to get a hand on it and deflected the ball into the second baseman’s glove to get Gentry out at second but on a throwing error by shortstop Erick Aybar, Donaldson was able to advance to second and Crisp was able to cross the plate.

In the sixth, Sam Fuld came up and smacked his third triple of the year into right center to score Callaspo and give the A’s a 3-2 lead. Andy Parrino then followed with a sac fly to bring in Fuld and make it a 4-2 Oakland lead.

The A’s received an insurance run in the eighth when Stephen Vogt hit his ninth homer of the year to make it a 5-2 game. The Angels tried to make it interesting in the ninth as they put up a run against Sean Doolittle and got the bases loaded but he settled down and got Chris Ianetta to strike out and end the game 5-3.

Tomorrow the Angels send up their ace C.J. Wilson (10-8, 4.59) against the A’s ace Jon Lester (13-8, 2.58). Game time 6:05 pm.

 

A’s Reinstate OF Gentry from the DL; Option RHP Otero to Sacramento

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OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s reinstated outfielder Craig Gentry from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Dan Otero to Triple-A Sacramento, the club announced today. Gentry was placed on the 15-day dis abled list July 28 with a broken right hand. He began a two-game rehab assignment with Sacramento on Monday against Oklahoma City and went 0 for 7 with a RBI and three strikeouts in starts at designated hitter and in right field. Gentry was 4 for 29 (.138) over his final 12 games with the A’s before the injury and is batting .264 with 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts in 80 games overall.

Otero has spent the entire season with the A’s and is 7-1 with a save and a 2.28 ERA in 56 relief appearances. He has allowed a .250 opponents batting average and has issued just nine walks, an average of 1.14 per nine innings. Otero leads American League relievers in wins, ranks second in innings pitched (71.0) and is fourth in fewest walks per nine innings.

*Official Oakland Athletics Press Release

It’s Crunch Time for The A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s continue to flounder. They lost to the New York Mets on wednesday and have now lost eight of the last 10 game played to fall 1 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Angeles in the AL West. The road doesn’t get any easier for the A’s as they meet the Angels for three this weekend in Oakland then go to Houston for three and then four more with the Angels. The A’s must take five out of seven from the Angels in order to gain ground. If they go 3-4 or 4-3 they will still be in second place in the division.

The other factor will be the rapidly improving Houston Astros. Last time the A’s went to Houston they lost the series 2 games to one . The Astros as mentioned are improving and will not be a pushover for the A’s.

In the meantime, the Angels were dealt a blow when pitcher Garrett Richards went down with a knee injury and may be out for the season. The Angels have the edge over the A’s when it comes to hitting. Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, David Freese , Kohl Calhoun and even the slumping Josh Hamilton present a formidable lineup. The Angels’ starting pitching took a blow with the loss of Richards but Jered Weaver, C.J.Wilson, Matt Shoemaker, Hector Santiago and Michael Roth may not look as strong as the A’s rotation but they are getting the job done. The Angels’ bullpen was bolstered by the arrival of Jason Grilli from Pittsburgh and Huston Street from San Diego.

The A’s pitching has to right the ship. Sonny Gray is in a slump right now. Jon Lester won his first three starts for the A’s but lost his time out. Jeff Samardzija was bombed by the Mets Wednesday. Scott Kazmir won his last outing and Jason Hammel has not pitched well at all. The A’s were able to bump Hammel out of a start due to two off days this week. It will be up to Gray, Lester and Kazmir to stop the Angels this weekend and will have to do it again next week in Anaheim.

Lastley, the A’s have a five game lead as the first wild card team but guess who would be the second wild card if the season ended today? That’s right-the Detroit Tigers and the A’s woul

A’s beat the Mets, Snap Losing Streak

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s snapped their five game losing streak Tuesday night by beating the New York Mets 6-2. Scott

Kazmir went six innings allowing just one run and four in winning his career high fourteenth win of the year. Dillon Gee started for New York and took the loss.

The Mets took a 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning when Designated Hitter Travis d’Arnoud blasted his eleventh home run of the year to lead off the fourth. The ball was hit to deep righter field just to the right of the 388 foot marker. The A’s scored four times in their half of the fourth inning. With one out, Stephen Vogt singled to start the rally going. That was followed by a Derek Norris double and a walk to

Josh Reddick to load the bases. Alberto Callaspo flied out to deep right field driving in Vogt with the tying run. Norris tagged up and advanced to third on the play. Eric Sogard walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning and all three runners scored on a triple down the right field line off the bat of Coco Crisp. John Jaso popped up to end the inning but the A’s have a 4-1 lead after four innings of play.

The A’s brought in Ryan Cook to pitch in the top of the seventh. Mets’ shortstop Wilmer Flores greeted him by hitting a double. Former A’s catcher Anthony Recker doubled with one out to drive in Flores with the Mets’ second run of the game. Cook struck out the next batter and lefty Eric O’Flaherty was brought in to pitch to the very dangerous lefty handed hitter, Curtis Granderson. O’Flaherty struck hime out to end the inning.

The A’s scored two more in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Derek Norris walked and he came in to score when Josh Reddick hit his ninth home run of the on the first pitch he saw from Mets’ reliever Gonzalez Germen. A’s lead 6-2 after eight.

Notes Hitting starts for the A’s tonight were Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick. Crisp tripled to drive in three runs and Reddick hit a home run to put the game away for the A’s. Derek Norris and Stephen Vogt each had two hits in the A’s win. Jeff Samardzija goes for the A’s Wednesday and he will be opposed by the Mets’ Zack Wheeler.

The Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig was here at the Coliseum as he makes his farewell tour to all the stadiums in baseball. Selig retires in January 2015.

Oakland A’s Annual Community Fund Golf Classic

The 32nd annual A’s Community Fund Golf Classic, presented by Chevron and Grant Thornton LLP, is set

for Thursday, Aug. 21 at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo. Proceeds from the event will benefit the A’s Community Fund. In addition, the Chevron Eagles for Education®

program will donate $2,500 per eagle on

the 18th hole, for a maximum donation of $50,000 to be split between the A’s Community Fund and the NCGA Youth on Course program.

The A’s Community Fund Golf Classic was launched in 1982 to directly raise funds for the A’s Community

Fund, established in 1981. The annual event is the largest fundraiser for the A’s Community Fund, which supports charitable organizations in improving the quality of life for people throughout the Bay Area.

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 21

Participant Introductions, 11:05 a.m.

Shotgun Start, 11:30 a.m.

Awards Banquet and Silent Auction, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Round Hill Country Club

3169 Round Hill Road

Alamo, CA 94507

PARTICIPANTS: Current and former A’s players, coaches, front office personnel and fans

Current A’s players expected to appear include Josh Donaldson (introductions only), Derek Norris,

Stephen Vogt (banquet only), Ryan Cook, and Sam Fuld (banquet only). Coaches expected to participate

include manager Bob Melvin (introductions only), Chili Davis and Ariel Prieto. Former players expected to

play include Vida Blue, Ray Fosse, Billy North, John “Blue Moon” Odom, and Shooty Babitt. Other

participants include current A’s broadcasters Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo, former broadcaster Monte

Moore, assistant general manager/director of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, director of professional

scouting/baseball development Dan Feinstein, and equipment manager Steve Vucinich.

EAGLE CONTEST: Chevron Eagles for Education®

The 18th hole will be the Chevron Eagles for Education®

hole. For every ‘eagle’ scored on #18, Chevron will

donate $2,500 for a max donation of $50,000. The donation will be split 50/50, with $25,000 donated to the

A’s Community Fund and $25,000 to the NCGA Youth on Course program. Both organizations will use the

funds to support educational programs and/or internships.

AVAILABILITY: A’s players will be available to the media from 10:30-10:50 a.m. outside the check-in area. For TV crews that

would like to obtain on-course footage, golf carts can be reserved by contacting Adam Loberstein

advance.

NOTE: The event is closed to the public.

CONTACT: Adam Loberstein, 510-563-2248

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Donations hope to dump an ice bucket on ALS Lou Gehrig’s disease

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–There is hope in finding the cure for ALS Lou Gehrig’s disease since the former Yankee great past away in 1942 and as you know the medical profession has been fighting cancer and heart desease for decades. So it’s hope the campaign to get donations to find a cure works, there is one thing that Major League Baseball does a great job with and that’s getting it’s players, community, and charity organizations together for a drive of this magnitude and raising funds for these deseases and it’s a good idea.

ALS is a terrible desease it’s a debilitating of the muscles and effects the motor skills of a person, it effects you mechanics and how you move. It starts in the brain, I hope they can do something about this and MLB is involved in doing these fund raisers. As recently as Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander had a ice water bucket dumped on him for the donation drive and Verlander is a good spokesman so the league is in good hands.

Lou Gehrig played in a era where their was no use of helmets required in the 1920s and 1930s, it was said that Gerhig had been hit in the head by pitches and other concussion related incidents which led to his getting ALS. The Giants Brandon Belt who is out with a concussion and had to drop out of a series in Milwaukee when he struck out four times after previously getting hit in the head during fielding practice.

You never know what the results are going to be when you get hit in the head especially by a thrown or hit ball, if you are a catcher like former Giant Mike Matheny he had to retire from playing after getting hit in the head by foul tips in the helmet. He’s now managing in St.Louis. He would have continued to play but the concussion forced him out.

I’ve seen a lot of teams do the ice bucket campaign and it’s caught on and it’s been successful, people have suffered with this disease long enough and now it’s time to find a cure. This is a very rich country and folks can donate $1 to $1,000 it would be worth while.

A’s sharing a roughed up field with Raiders: The A’s have ten games left in the month of August and majority of those game are here at the Coliseum starting this weekend. The Angels are here for three games and the Halos are in first place by a half game over Oakland. It could be a race to the end and it could come down to the last game of the season.

It’s a shame that the A’s have to share the same stadium as the Oakland Raiders but that’s the way it is until the two teams can get their stadium issues resolved. Centerfield is not looking too bad yet but wait until the end of next month then it’ll be tough as the Raiders would have had two months worth of football on the field. There is going to be baseball here no matter what so this could go onto October. The A’s will make post season the only question is are they going to win the division or are they going to be the wild card winner.

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

A’s Outfielder Gentry Cleared to Begin Rehab

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By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland Athletics received a bit of good news in a weekend that saw the Green and Gold swept by the Braves in Atlanta. According to the A’s, Craig Gentry took batting practice with the Oakland Class AAA affiliate Sacramento. After evaluating Gentry’s injured hand, the A’s felt comfortable clearing Gentry to being a minor league rehabilitation stint.

Craig Gentry opened his rehab going 0-for-4 with the Sacramento River Cats, striking out twice in a 7-0 loss to the Oklahoma City RedHawks Monday night. The right-handed hitting Gentry is currently batting .264 with 18 steals and 10 runs batted in with the parent club over 80 games in 2014. Gentry, shelved after breaking his hand on a bunt attempt in late July, began the season on the disabled list with a back injury.

Since Gentry went on the disabled list July 28th, the A’s have gone 8-12. They welcome the New York Mets to O.Co Coliseum having lost seven of their last eight contests and find themselves a half-game back of the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.

The return of Gentry adds to the glut of players with outfield experience on the Athletics roster. Oakland currently has Brandon Moss, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, Stephen Vogt, Jonny Gomes and Sam Fuld on the active roster. The speedy Gentry provides a late-inning option both on the base paths and defensively for Oakland.

No time table has been set on Gentry’s return, but with so many outfield options, the A’s staff can be cautious with their offseason acquisition from Texas. One option could be to wait until rosters expand in September, allowing the A’s to keep the current roster without having to designate a player for assignment. Once the postseason rolls around though, general manager Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin will have a challenge on their hands thinning out the outfield depth.

A’s preview

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by Jerry Feitelberg

—

The Oakland A’s have a day off Monday as they return home after a disastrous road trip to Kansas City and Atlanta. The A’s went 1-6 n the trip and have lost six in a row. Their new ace, Jon Lester, lost his first game as an Athletic and the rest of the starters also lost. The A’s need Scott Kazmir, Sonny Gray, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to get back in the groove and get some wins for the A’s. Hammel has not pitched well for the Green and Gold and he may be headed out of the rotation. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, and his staff will have to decide to let Hammel continue as a starter or replace him with either Jesse Chavez or Drew Pomeranz. Chavez started the season well but seemed to have cooled down as he pitched deeper into the season. Pomeranz was also performing well until he broke his non-throwing hand in a fit of youthful anger. Bet he won’t do that again.

In the meantime, the A’s have called up Andy Parrino from Sacramento to play shortstop as Jed Lowrie fractured his index finger on his throwing hand and is on the 15 day disabled list. One of the big problems for the A’s is that the hitting has stopped and they are not getting the same run production as they had earlier in the season. There are several factors for that. Many people will say that the trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston has caused the decline in hitting. The argument has some merit as the A’s were 65-35 with him in the lineup this year and 228-131 over the last 2 ½ years. Also, the A’s have gone 7-10 to drop into a virtual tie for first place with the Los Angeles Angeles for the AL West lead.

Others will say that the A’s have a solid enough team to win without Cespedes and they would have had to do that had Cespedes been injured. The A’s starting pitching and bullpen are strong. The five starters with the exception of Hammel are very good as has the bullpen with Ryan Cook, Luke Gregerson and closer Sean Doolittle. Fernando Abad and Dan Otero have also made great contributions all year long.

The A’s play the New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday at home in Oakland. The Mets have an overall record of 59-67 and are in fourth place in the NL East. The Mets have lost six out of their last ten but , in baseball, you never know what can happen and the Mets would love to put a wrench in the A’s plans. The A’s have a day off on Thursday but then begin an important three game series with the LA Angels starting Friday night at the O.co. The A’s then travel to Houston for three and the Astros are no longer pushovers. The last time the A’s went to Houston they lost two out of three and then from Houston it’s off to Anaheim for four more games with the Angels. These A’s have to get their act together and start winning in order to win the division. Keep in mind the Seattle Mariners are now starting to make a run and are now just 5 ½ games back. They have great pitching and are gelling at just the right time. The Mariners have won eight out of the last ten and picked up five games in the standings. The A’s face the Mariners six more times this year. They play them immediately after the Angel series at home and then travel to Seattle on September 12th for the final three games between the teams.

Yes, the A’s may be tired and they may not be hitting but it is gut-check time. If the want to win the division they will have to put the pedal to the metal. If the don’t win the division , they will have to play a one game playoff game with the second wild-card team and anything can happen. Let’s hope the A’s regroup and do what they have to do to win the division. People said the A’s were favorites to be in the World Series when they acquired Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. However, games aren’t won on paper. They are won on the field and the A’s better get that through their heads or they may end up on the outside looking in.

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938