Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics right fielder Brent Rooker catches a ball hit by Cleveland Guardians’ Josh Bell during the second inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Thu Jun 22, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland A’s left starter JP Sears had his best game of the year for the A’s. Sears gave the A’s seven innings and allowed four hits and two runs. It was certainly a quality start. Unfortunately for Sears, the A’s offense did not back the pitcher with enough of an attack to win the game.

The A’s offense produced three hits, all singles, as the A’s fell to the Cleveland Guardians 6-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The A’s only run came in the fifth inning, and it came without the benefit of a hit.

Sears retired the first 11 batters he faced on Thursday. The Guardians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez singled with two out in the fourth to break the spell. Ramirez was caught stealing to end the inning. In the top of the fifth, the A’s scored their only run in the game, and that happened without the benefit of a hit.

Here’s how it happened. A’s left Fielder Tony Kemp walked. Esteury Ruiz was at the plate. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had Kemp running on the pitch to Ruiz. Amed Rosario fielded Ruiz’s ground ball. Rosario’s throw to first nipped Ruiz for the out.

Kemp motored to third base on the play. Ryan Noda’s sacrifice fly drove in Kemp with the run. Cleveland answered with two runs in their half of the fifth. Sears retired DH Josh Naylor for the first out. First baseman Josh Bell blasted a 430-foot home out of the park to tie the game.

It was Bell’s seventh of the year and the 18th home run allowed by Sears. Sears leads baseball in that department. Serving up gopher balls has been a problem for Sears this year. Sears gave up the second run when Andres Gimenez singled. Gimenez stole second and scored on Myles Straw’s triple. The Guardians led 2-1 after five innings.

The Guardians scored four times in the bottom of the eighth. The A’s summoned Yacksel Rios from the bullpen to pitch. Rios was making his A’s debut. It was a performance that he would like to forget. Rios threw 44 pitches in the inning. He struggled to find the strike zone.

The Guardians scored four times. Rios gave up two hits, walked four, and threw two wild pitches. The Guardians led 6-1 after eight innings. Reliever Eli Morgan set the A’s down to end the game.

Game Notes- The A’s lost their eighth game in a row. Their record fell to 19-56. The Guardians swept the three-game series to improve to 36-38.

The line score for Oakland was one run, three hits, and no errors. Cleveland’s line was six runs, six hits, and no errors.
JP Sears’ line was seven innings pitched, four hits, two runs, eight strikeouts, one walk, and one home run allowed. Sears threw 106 pitches and 79 strikes. The Guardians’ starter Logan Allen went four innings and allowed two hits and no runs.

Kemp and Esteury Ruiz had their hitting streaks stopped Thursday afternoon.

The A’s finish the six-game road trip against the Toronto Blue Jays. The A’s starter will be James Kaprielian (2-6, 6.38 era). Former A’s starter Chris Bassitt will be on the hill for the Blue Jays. Bassitt is 7-5 with an ERA of 4.16. The game will start at 4:07 pm.

Oakland Athletics’ Esteury Ruiz steals second base as Cleveland Guardians shortstop Amed Rosario catches the throw during the fourth at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Wed Jun 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor slugged his first big league hit and then later scored an eighth inning run to put the Guardians on top 7-6 on an Oakland A’s throwing error.

#2 After winning seven straight games, the A’s have lost seven in a row, including the last four games, by a single run.

#3 Unfortunately for Oakland, the pen couldn’t keep the Guardians off the board. The Guardians’ big first baseman, Josh Naylor, blasted his ninth home run of the year to make it a one-run game, 6-5 in favor of the A’s after seven.

#4 The Guardians led 7-6 after eight. The Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase squirmed out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 22nd save of the year. With Tony Kemp at first and no out, Clase received a gift from the home plate umpire.

#5 The A’s finish the three-game series with Cleveland on Thursday. It will be a battle between two lefties. JP Sears (1-4 ERA 4.24) will go for Oakland, and Logan Allen (3-2 ERA 3.95) for Cleveland will oppose him. The game will start at 10:10 am.

Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Noda watches his three-run home run off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams during the third inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Wed Jun 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg.

The Oakland A’s (19-57) lost another one-run game to the Cleveland Guardians (35-38) Wednesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The final score was 7-6. After winning seven straight games, the A’s have lost seven in a row, including the last four games, by a single run.

The A’s gave starter Paul Blackburn a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. Cleveland scored three in their half of the inning. Cleveland tied the game in the fifth. The As’ went ahead 6-4 in the top of the seventh. The A’s needed the bullpen to stop the Cleveland offense in the seventh and eighth to secure the win.

Unfortunately for Oakland, the pen couldn’t keep the Guardians off the board. The Guardians’ big first baseman, Josh Naylor, blasted his ninth home run of the year to make it a one-run game, 6-5 in favor of the A’s after seven.

Naylor also drove in his 55th RBI with the homer. A’s skipper Mark Kotsay summoned Austin Pruitt from the bullpen to pitch the eighth. The Guardians found a way to put two more runs on the board. The rally began when Myles Straw singled with one out.

When he singled, Bo Naylor, Josh’s younger brother, recorded his first Major League hit, sending Straw to second. It was Bo Naylor’s first hit in Major League baseball. Pruitt now had to face the Guardians’ left-fielder Steven Kwan, the young man from Fremont doubled to drive in Straw with the Guardians’ sixth run of the night.

Ramon Laureano’s throw to second base went awry, and Naylor was able to score on the errant throw. The Guardians led 7-6 after eight. The Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase squirmed out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 22nd save of the year. With Tony Kemp at first and no out, Clase received a gift from the home plate umpire.

Aledmys Diaz was called out on strikes when charged with a time clock violation. Diaz stepped out of the batter’s box and nodded to the umpire for time. When Diaz stepped back into the box, the umpire called the violation, and Diaz was out.

Confusion reigned as Diaz and Kotsay argued for clarification. It was to no avail. Esteury Ruiz singled, sending Kemp to third. Ruiz stole second. It was Ruiz’s second steal of the game and 38th of the year. Clase struck out Ryan Noda for the second out and retired Seth Brown on a fly ball to center.

The A’s scored four in the third. Kemp and Tyler Wade singled to get the rally going for Oakland. Ruiz singled to drive in Kemp with the A’s first run Ryan Noda followed with his ninth big fly of the season to make it 4-0.

The Guardians scored three times in their half of the third. Catcher Bo Naylor walked to start the rally. Singles by Steven Kwan, Amed Rosario, Jose Ramirez, and Josh Naylor produced three runs. Cleveland sent eight men to the plate in the inning.

In the fifth, Jose Ramirez tripled to right field, leading off the inning. Josh Naylor’s infield single drove in Ramirez with Cleveland’s fourth run. The score remained tied until the top of the seventh. The A’s scored twice to take a 6-4 lead.

With one out, Tony Kemp singled. Aledmys Diaz, pinch-hitting for Tyler Wade, singled, sending Kemp to third. Terry Francona brought in setup reliever Trevor Stefan to pitch. Esteury Ruiz singled driving in Kemp. It was Ruiz’s second RBI of the game.

Stefan retired Ryan Noda for the second out. Seth Brown broke an 0-for-14 slump with a single to drive in Ruiz with the A’s sixth run. As mentioned above, Cleveland scored in the bottom of the seventh when Josh Naylor Homered. Cleveland added two more in the eighth to win 7-6.

Game Notes- With the loss, the A’s are 19-57. Cleveland improved to 35-38. The line score for Oakland was six runs, nine hits, and two errors. The line for Cleveland was seven runs, 13 hits, and no errors.
The Winning pitcher was Elijah Morgan. Austin Pruitt took the loss.

A’s starter Paul Blackburn went five innings and allowed nine hits and four runs. He struck out seven and walked one. Cleveland’s starter, rookie Gavin Williams went five and 2/3rds innings. He allowed four hits and four runs. Williams struck out four and walked three.

The A’s Esteury Ruiz had three hits, all singles, drove in two and stole two bases. Tony Kemp also had three hits. The hitting stars for Cleveland were Hosh Naylor and Jose Ramirez. Naylor had three singles and a home run. Ramirez had two singles and a triple.

The A’s finish the three-game series with Cleveland on Thursday. It will be a battle between two lefties. JP Sears will go for Oakland, and Logan Allen will oppose him. The game will start at 10:10 am.

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Luis Medina walks to the dugout after a groundout by Cleveland Guardians’ Will Brennan during the sixth inning at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Tue Jun 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (19-56) lost for the sixth straight game Tuesday night. The A’s lost 3-2 in ten innings. While the pitching has improved in the last two weeks, the A’s could not snap the five-game losing streak. They needed a key hit in the tenth, but they could not get the one they needed. The Cleveland Guardians(34-38) rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh to tie the game. Cleveland scored in the tenth to end it. The game summary follows below.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the third. Singles by Tony Kemp and Esteury Ruiz put men on at first and third with one out. A’s first baseman Ryan Noda’s ground out drove in Kemp with the run.

The A’s went ahead 2-0 in the seventh. Tony Kemp slugged his second home run of the year into the seats in right field. Cleveland tied the game in their half of the inning. Center fielder Myles Straw started the Guardians’ rally with a double.

With one out, A’s manager replaced Luis Medina with lefty Sam Moll. Moll retired Steven Kwan for the second out. Sam Moll gave up a single to Amed Rosario. Straw scored to make it 2-1. Jose Ramirez was the next hitter. Ramirez, a switch hitter and very dangerous in the clutch hit a line drive that got by a diving Seth Brown in left field. The ball rolled to the wall. Rosario scored on the play to tie the game.

Neither team scored in the eighth or the ninth. In the tenth, with Shea Langeliers as the ghost runner, Guardians’ reliever Enyel De Los Santos shut down the A’s offense. The Guardians scored in the tenth. Jose Ramirez was the ghost runner. The A’s issued a free pass to Josh Naylor.

Tyler Freeman laid down a sacrifice bunt. The A’s tried to nail Ramirez at third. The throw did not get there in time. The Guardians had the bases loaded with no out. All Cleveland needed was a sacrifice fly to win the game. The next hitter, Andres Gimenez, settled the affair with a single to right field to win the game for Cleveland. The A’s lost 3-2.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 19-56. The guardians improved to 34-38.

The line score for Oakland was two runs, six hits, and no errors.

Cleveland’s line was three runs, ten hits, and one error.

The A’s Ken Waldichuk started the game. He was the opener and went one and 2/3rd innings. Luis Medina replaced him, and he pitched 4.1 innings. He gave up four hits and one run. Sam Moll replaced Medina and allowed two hits and one run. 

The Guardians’ starter Aaron Civale gave his team a quality start. He went six and 2/3rd innings of work. Civale allowed five hits and two runs. 

Tony Kemp had a single and a home run to extend his hitting streak to five games. Esteury Ruiz singled in the third and has now hit in six straight games.

The hitting star for Cleveland was Amed Rosario. Rosario had two singles and a double.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Wednesday night. The A’s will send Paul Blackburn to the hill. Blackburn is 0-0, with a 3.48 ERA. The Guardians’ starter will be Gavin Williams. Williams will be making his Major League debut. A 4:10pm PT first pitch at Progressive Field in Cleveland.