Category: Oakland Athletics

M’s Pollock and Saurez take A’s deep in 10 inning 7-2 win at Coliseum

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Seattle Mariners’ Eugenio Suárez hits a three-run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the 10th inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Seattle.        000 000 101    5.  –  7. 11. 0

Oakland.    000  002  000 0. –   2.  6.  1 10 innings

Time: 3:07 (66 min. rain delay)  

 Attendance: 2,685

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–What do you do if you have a 1-0 lead and your starter, who has thrown no hit baseball for seven innings, reaches 100 pitches and you have a bullpen that can charitably be described  as shaky? If you’re the 2023 Oakland for a while longer A’s, you pull your starter and lose the game, 2-1. What do you do if you have a rookie outfielder who’s hitting .258?

That’s not a great BA, but  it’s 33 percentage points higher than your team’s average, so the kid’s holding his own against big league pitching. That, however didn’t measure up to the Athletics’ exigent standards, so the team took a look at its farm system and found a guy they’d gotten in exchange for AJ Puk, who was expected to take his place beside Jesús Luzardo as the mainstay of their rotation.

That guy is JJ Bleday, who was hitting .316 in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. Here is what the A’s media guide says in its first bullet point under the heading of “2022 Highlights” for Bleday: “Made both his Triple-A and Major League debuts … was batting .228 … in 85 games with 

Jacksonville when he was selected on July 23  … hit .167 … with the Marlins.” 

We had a chance to see this new acquisition tonight; he was the Athletics’ starting left fielder and batted fifth in the lineup the 6-24 A’s used against the 13-16 Seattle Mariners. Bleday went 0 for 4 and threw out a runner trying to take an extra base.  The A’s lost  7-2 in 10 innings even though they led 2-1 after eight.

But first we had to sit through a one hour and six minutes rain delay.

The home team’s starting pitcher, JP Sears, has thrown a lot of pitches this year, surpassing the 100 pitch mark once but never approaching Mason Miller’s marvelous performance of the previous evening.

The best outing Sears had under his belt in what had been an 0-2, 6.23 season, came on April 23, when his 101 offerings produced 11 strike outs but also allowed the Texas Rangers to score four runs, all earned, in six innings. The A’s won that contest, 5-4, but Sears didn’t figure in the decision

Logan Gilbert, who showed up to work with a 1-1, 4.23 mark, has four arrows in his quiver. He throws four seamers about 45.7% of the time, at an average velocity of 94.7 mph. That makes him somewhat getatable; opponents are hitting at a .356 clip against him when he uses it. Gilbert goes to the slider 23.9% of the time and with an average velocity of 88.5 mph. His two other deliveries are the curve (17.1%, 82 mph) and the split fingered fast ball (13.3% and 84.9 mph).

Sears pitched himself out of a jam in the top of the fourth. Tony Kemp bobbled JP Crawford’s lead off grounder to second and advanced to third on José Caballero’s single to left, Caballero taking second on the throw. Two strike outs and a fly to right center, and the threat was over.

The A’s broke a scoreless tie in the home sixth. Noda led off with a walk. Nick Allen moved him up a notch with a sacrifice between the mound and the late.  Ruíz sent a double to left, where Taylor Trammell had replaced Jarred Kelenic, who had been ejected in the top  of the frame for arguing a strike call.

 That brought Noda home with the first tally of the game. Then Kemp lined a two bagger down the right filed line that plated Ruíz. Gilbert recovered to retire Rooker and Laureano. But Oakland was ahead, 2-0.

Sears didn’t come out to pitch the seventh; Domingo Acevedo did. The southpaw starter had held the M’s to four hits in his six scoreless innings on the mound. He walked two and struck out seven, throwing 97 pitches, 66 for strikes.  Acevedo, who has not been pitching effectively this year, gave up a one out double to AJ Pollock and an RBI single Caballero that cut the A’s lead in half.

Gilbert also exited after six frames. The two runs he’d allowed were earned and came on three hits and two walks. He had six strike outs to his credit and had thrown 89 pitches, 51 of them for strikes.

Gabe Speier relieved him and allowed a couple of two out hits before Penn Murfee came to his rescue by striking out the  pinch hitting Jesús Aguilar.

Sam Moll  gave up a lead off single in the top of the eighth and then got a force out at second that was called a double play and then had the out call at first reversed upon a crew chief review. He picked off the surviving base runner, pinch hitter Sam Heggerty, a play that also received a crew chief review. That call was upheld. Zach Jackson came in to fan Teoscar Hernández for the final out. 

The A’s fell victim to the Curse of the Lead Off Double in their half of the frame. Nick Allen hit the ill-omened two bagger and went to third on Ruíz’s sacrifice bunt. Matt Brash kept him there, retiring Kent and Rooker.

Jackson returned to the mound to face the Mariners’ ninth inning offensive. He wasn’t successful. Cal Raleigh tied up his second game in a row, this time with a towering  blast over the left center filed fence, landing 410 from the launching pad at home plate. It came on a hanging slider.

Lauriano led off the bottom of the ninth against Brash with a single to center. Bleday fanned.  And Langeliers bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

Overtime began with Adam Oller on the hill for Oakland and Caballero on second for the Mariners as the zombie runner. Rodríguez drew a walk.  France whiffed on a full count. Haggerty also went down swinging. And then Suárez delivered the coup du gace with towering home run to center that deflated the A’s hopes for the second consecutive night.

It came off a slider and travelled 410 feet. Various and sundry mishaps led to Seattle’s adding three runs to their total before Sam Long got the final out, leaving Oakland to enter its half of the 10th trailing 7-2.

Trevor Gott put a quick end to the game.

Brash  (3-2, 4:30) got the win. Oller (1-1, 10.07) took the loss.

Tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon at 12:37. George Kirby (2-2,2.93) will start for the Mariners. Drew Rucinski (0-1, 4.76) will try to save the A’s from complete ignominy.

Explosive tenth inning gets the Mariners a win over the A’s 7-2

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Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez. Ryan Noda has a discussion with home plate umpire Brain O’Nara.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

OAKLAND- On a rainy Thursday night the A’s and Mariners battled it out which saw another heroic AJ Pollock home run help get Seattle the victory 7-2.

This game would be delayed by a bit as instead of starting at 6:40 the game started at 7:45 due to a rain delay.

For the A’s LHP JP Sears started on the mound with a 0-2 record and 6.23 ERA while for the Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert got the start sporting a 1-1 record and 4.23 ERA.

JJ Bleday made his regular season debut with the A’s in LF taking over for Conner Capel who started last game.

In the early innings both teams bats started out cold as the Mariners only had three hits by the sixth inning. While on the other hand the A’s only had one.

The bottom of the sixth inning saw Oakland’s offense come alive as Ryan Noda started things off by getting walked. Following that up Esteury Ruiz knocked in Noda to get the first run of the game. While on base Ruiz stole second and then Tony Kemp doubled sending Ruiz home.

In the seventh inning both Gilbert and Sears were relieved as Seattle called on Gabe Speier and the A’s had Domingo Acevedo come in.

Acevedo had a less than favorable inning as Jose Caballero got an RBI on a single to center field that sent home AJ Pollock bringing the score to 2-1.

However, the A’s were able to hold on to their lead until the ninth inning when a familiar foe struck. Once again Pollock played hero for the Mariners tying the game with a solo HR 2-2.

In the tenth inning Adam Oller started and continued the trend of shaky relief pitching for the green-and-white. After a walk Eugenio Suarez sent one to right center field and over the wall homering and giving Seattle a 5-2 lead. The run party was not over though as J.P. Crawford singled to right field sending home two runners extending the score to 7-2.

The A’s were given one last chance with Trevor Gott dealing on the mound for the Mariners but, other than a Roman Laureano single there wasn’t much to mention. Oakland fell once again to the Mariners late 7-2.

Of note in this game was the Mariners bottom three hitters Pollock, Crawford, and Caballero who combined for seven hits, 3 RBI’s and a HR.

“Not the prettiest win but they don’t ask how you got there as long as you got there and we got there,” manager Scott Servais said after the game.

The A’s next game will be the final game of the series against the Mariners were they hope to not get swept. The game will be at 12:37 p.m.

That’ Amaury News and Commentary: Baseball Laboratory Coming Attractions

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Atlantic League team logos (atlanticleague.com image)

Baseball Laboratory Coming Attractions

That’ Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The Atlantic League might not be the Jerry Lewis Nutty Professor’s film of 1963, but this league keeps putting together new formulas, some that are currently ruling the game, like the pitch clock, and there is more to come. The Atlantic League is a partner league of MLB and where ideas and innovations are tested during their regular games and then (If approved) send to the major leagues. It is the Baseball Laboratory.

Here below are two experiments currently that they are working on during their games.

1-The DR. Not the Dominican Republic, but the Designated Runner. Each team will list a player who is not in the starting lineup as a Designated Pinch Runner. Such a player may be substituted at any point in the game as a base runner. Both, the player who is substituted, and the pinch-runner, may then return to the game without penalty.

2-For Pitchers. A single disengagement limit. Currently a pitcher under the clock restriction, ‘can step’ out of the mound on pickup attempts per plate appearance without penalty. But now on a third disengagement, the pitcher is charged with a balk, unless an out is recorded. This prevents pitchers to abuse the system and the timer is reset, Base runners can be more aggressive on the base paths taking bigger leads.

It is all about pitching. As I recently spoke with A’s television commentator Dallas Braden before a game at the Oakland Coliseum this year, we spoke about pitching. He agreed with me when I told him it was all about pitching. We were talking about this difficult start of the season for the Oakland A’s, where the offense has showed up in some of the games, but yet they have lost the majority of the games because their starting pitching earned run average in the stratosphere. Dallas pitched one of the 23 perfect games in history, during Mother’s Day at the Coliseum, on May 9, 2010, 4-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind you and start over again. That’s the way life is. with a new game, every day and that’s the way baseball is” -Bob Feller, Hall of Fame pitcher and WWII Veteran.

Oakland A’s play by play broadcaster Amaury Pi Gonzalez can be heard on the A’s Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s suffer heartbreak hotel to M’s at Coliseum 2-1; Both Millers pitch no hit bids but can’t finish

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Oakland Athletics’ Mason Miller pitches against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 2, 2023 (AP News photo)

Seattle. 000 000 020. – 2. 3. 0

Oakland 000. 001. 000 – 1. 3. 0

Time: 2:30

Attendance: 2,583

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Only 2,583 people paid to see the A’s fall 2-1 to the Seattle Mariners tonight. But those ticket holders got their money’s worth.

The visitors from the Puget Sound strode into the decrepit temporary home of the for the present Oakland Athletics in fourth place in the American League’s Western Division, sporting a record of 12-16, which would not have made them seem like a foreboding presence if it were for the their hosts’ pitiful mark of 6-23.

The Mariners’ starting pitcher, Bryce Miller, who throws from the starboard side, was making his major league debut. He’s highly ranked on just about everybody’s prospect list, and the M’s have indicated that tonight’s appearance isn’t a temporary call up.

In any case, it was a busy night for the 12th letter of the alphabet. The M’s put Miller on the mound, and the A’s went with Mason Miller (0-1, 6.48), another righty.

The Mariners’ Miller livedup to his advance billing. He threw 68 pitches over 5-1/3 innings, striking out 10, until Tony Kemp connected with his 69th offering, a 95.6 mph four seamer for a clean single to center to become Oakland’s first baserunner.

A wild pitch and a two bagger to left by Esteury Ruíz and the A’s were up, 1-0. Trevor Gott came out in place of the impressive newcomer to face the A’s in the bottom of the seventh. He walked Jace Petereson and gave up a single to Shea Langliers and then handed off the ball to Gabe Speier, who struck out Kevin Smith, Oakland’s Miller wasn’t having too shabby an outing either.

After seven innings, he’d thrown an even 100 pitches, and all Seattle had to show for it was four walks. The Athletics’ starter struck out a half a dozen Mariners.

He didn’t get a chance to finish up the job. Richard Lovelady got one out in the eighth. Then threw an 88.6 mph four seamer to AJ Pollock who sent it travelling at 107.1 mph 367 feet into the left field seats to tie the game at one on Seattle’s first hit. Lovelady had to pitch to his third batter, so José Caballero got the chance to double to left. Jeurys Familia came on, and he walked Ty France before allowing Jarred Keienic to double to right and put the Mariners ahead, 2-1.

Justin Topa set down the A’s in the eighth with only a base on balls to Kemp.

Shintaro Fujinami set the M’s down in order in the ninth, striking out two.

Paul Sewald was called on to. save the game for the Mariners. AL player of the week Brent Rooker went down swinging, as did Jace Peterson. Between those Ks, Laureano few out to left.

The win went to Gabe Speier, who had faced one batter, Kevin Smith, who struck out to end the seventh. Sewald got his eighth save, and Lovelady took the loss and a blown save.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6:47, JP Sears (0-2, 6.23) will start for the A’s, and George Kirby (2-2,2.93) will face him for the M’s.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Land negotiations fall through between Las Vegas hotel owner Ruffin and A’s; No love for MLB during regular ESPN programming; plus more news

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Former Las Vegas ballpark site for the Oakland A’s at Las Vegas and Sahara Boulevards that intersect at the Las Vegas Festival Fairgrounds was a location where a deal between A’s and casino owner Phil Ruffin fell through due to backstop taxes. The A’s have a binding agreement at Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive but are waiting for public funding approval in the neighborhood of $500 million. (Las Vegas Review Journal photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Land negotiations hit a snag between Las Vegas casino property owner Phil Ruffin and the Oakland A’s, the A’s had their eye on Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue on the Las Vegas strip. The site was a 37 acre location. Ruffin and the A’s could not reach a deal because the A’s wanted backstopping any tax revenue shortfall. Ruffin spokeswoman Alicia Capanna said Ruffin is supportive of the A’s coming to Las Vegas but the deal didn’t work out at the Las Vegas Festival Fairgrounds.

#2 The A’s have their focus on the location that A’s president David Kaval said was binding and at Tropicana Avenue and Dean Martin Drive. The latest on that is trying to work with the Nevada Legislature and getting the $500 million needed to go towards construction of the new stadium.

#3 Amaury, I have to ask you about ESPN during regular programming there is no MLB game highlights, no baseball features, and no interviews to be found. Maybe during the post season but nothing or very little regarding any news on Major League Baseball is that a given that the MLB is not an ESPN demographic during certain times during ESPN programming.

#4 How surprised are you that the New York Yankees are where they are in the standings dead last in the AL East at 15-15 and 8.5 games out of first place. The season is young but manager Aaron Boone certainly wants the team to get on track and not be over 15 games out by the end of this month.

#5 The San Francisco Giants have two big injuries with outfielder Mike Yastrzemski suffering from a left hamstring injury and shortstop Brandon Crawford said that an MRI showed he is suffering from a calf strain and is on the ten day IL. Both Crawford and Yastrzemski had to leave Saturday’s game in Mexico City.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KIQI Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The A’s off day report: Oakland opens up three game set against Seattle Tuesday at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s pitcher Mason Miller who pitched during the Chicago Cubs series at the Oakland Coliseum will match up against the Seattle Mariners Tue May 2, 2023 at the Oakland Coliseum for his second big league start. (photo by the San Francisco Chronicle)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s have an off day this Monday. The A’s host the Seattle Mariners for three games starting Tuesday. The Mariners come to town with a record of 12-16, not quite the start they hoped to have. The A’s won their sixth game of the year, beating the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 at the Coliseum on Sunday. The A’s own the worst record in baseball, 6-23.

The A’s have yet to win two consecutive games this season. The A’s pitching has been terrible. The team ERA for the starters is over eight. The bullpen ERA is not better. The pen’s ERA is over seven. It is challenging to win games with those high-earned run averages.

The Mariners will have two key players back in the lineup on Tuesday. First baseman Ty France and centerfielder Jose Rodriguez will be off the IL that day. The M’s lineup will have Cal Raleigh as their catcher. Raleigh killed the A’s last year. Raleigh has hit five homers this year and has 18 RBIs.

The other infielders are Kolton Wong at second base, J.P. Crawford is the shortstop, and Eugenio Suarez is the third baseman. France, Wong, Crawford, and Suarez have hit four dingers total for the team. The numbers improve when you look at the production of the outfielders.

Left Fielder Jarred Kelenic is hitting the cover off the ball. Kelenic, who struggled at the plate the last couple of years, adjusted his approach. Kelenic has a .306 batting average, seven homers, and 14 ribbies. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2022, will come off the IL on Tuesday.

Rodriguez is hitting .239 with five homers and 13 RBIs. Right Fielder Teoscar Hernandez, acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, has hit seven big flies and knocked in 16. A.J. Pollock is the DH. Tommy La Stella and Sam Haggerty are the utility infielder backups.

The A’s have announced their starters for the three-game Series. The A’s will send Mason Miller (0-1 ERA 6.48) to the hill on Tuesday. Miller is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher. He can throw the ball over 100 mph. Miller will be looking for his first win of his career. The M’s will counter with Logan Gilbert. Gilbert is 1-1 and has a 4.23 ERA. Gilbert was 13-6 last year.

On Wednesday, lefty J P Sear will go for Oakland Sears is 0-2 and has an ERA of 6.23. The A’s hope Sears can give them six or seven innings of work. The Mariners will send George Kirby out to pitch. Kirby is 2-2 and has an era of 2.93. On Thursday, Drew Rucinski will make his second start for the A’s. Luis Castillo will be the M’s starter,

The Mariners’ closer is Paul Sewald. Sewald has recorded seven saves this season. The setup guy is Matt Brash. Other pitchers in the bullpen are Justin Topa, Penn Murfee, Trevor Gott, Gabe Speier, Taylor Saucedo, and Chris Flexen.

There have been some bright spots for the A’s this season. While the team has floundered, several players have done well. The A’s have to be pleased with the play of Shea Langeliers. Langeliers has done the job as the catcher. He has six homers and 16 RBIs. A’s left fielder Brent Rooker, getting playing time after Seth Brown was injured, has paced the A’s offense with nine homers, 22 RBIs, and a sparkling .353 batting average.

Esteury Ruiz, who came to the A’s in the three-team trade that sent Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves, had the winning hit in Sunday’s game against the Reds. Ruiz is a good defensive outfielder. He is also a threat to steal anytime he is on base. The A’s are high on second baseman Jordan Diaz. Diaz looks like he is here to stay. Backup catcher Carlos Perez has hit well when he has been in the lineup.

The Mariners will abuse the A’s pitching staff for three days. A’s manager Mark Kotsay hopes his starters will get on track and get some wins. Not one A’s starter has received credit for a win in the first 29 games of the season. The pitchers have to do better. The A’s lost 102 games last year. They may lose more this year unless the pitching improves.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Memories of Oakland – The Athletics Last World Series Title

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October 17, 1989. The third game of the A’s vs Giants World Series. Amaury Pi-González and Evelio Areas Mendoza, at Candlestick Park, San Francisco minutes before the 6.9 Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the Bay Area and postponed it for 10 days. KNTA 1430AM Radio, Santa Clara.  (Photo APG Sports)

Memories of Oakland – The Athletics Last World Series Title

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Some things in life are truly unpredictable, like an earthquake during a World Series. And that was the story in 1989. The first and only time in history.

That year the Oakland A’s won 99 games and their division by seven games over the Kansas City Royals. The San Francisco Giants also won their division with 92 wins by three games over the San Diego Padres. In October they both had a date for the 1989 World Series.

Game One: October 14 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Dave Stewart threw a gem as he pitched a complete game blanking the Giants on 5 hits as the A’s won 5-0 in front of 49,385 fans. In 1989 Stew ended with a 21-9 record, a 3.32 ERA during his penultimate season of 4 years in a row of 20-plus wins.

Game 2 is back at the Coliseum. A’s won 5 to 1 and took a two games lead. Mike Moore “took his time” and dominated the Giants lineup for seven innings and the bullpen did its usual job the rest of the way. That year Moore ended with 19-11 and a 2.62 earned run average pitching 241 2/3 innings

Game Three: October 17 it was a very warm day with temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees around the Bay Area. A temperature of 81 was registered in downtown San Francisco, hours before the first pitch of the game, a very muggy day. What people call here in California “Earthquake Weather”. I left earlier than usual from Fremont, to Candlestick Park, about a 40 mile drive. Since it was the World Series between the two bay area teams, I knew there was going to be traffic and there was. An hour plus drive time.

As I arrived at Candlestick, I first went to check the A’s Spanish broadcast booth. It was an auxiliary booth just a few feet away under the roof of the stadium. My broadcast partner was Evelio Areas Mendoza, who lived near San Francisco. Our engineer Erwin Higueros was working our broadcast.

After checking our booth, I went down to the field to conduct “The Tony LaRussa Show”, a short three minute pregame show and then returned to my booth. In 1989 we needed broadcast lines, and a couple of telephones in case we went off the air, which little I knew at that time, were going to be the case a few minutes after 5 PM.

The hectic moment was about to happen. Our pregame show was usually 15 minutes, but because these were World Series games, we got 30 minutes of pregame air time. The General Manager at KNTA 1430AM in Santa Clara was Gene Hogan, one of the real good guys running radio stations those years, he loved sports. We played the Tony La Russa pregame segment, which this time was a little longer than the usual three minutes on regular season games.

I remember Evelio Medoza and yours truly were talking about the difference between A’s and Giants fans and other topics, like the history of both teams since their arrival in the Bay Area, and regular baseball stuff. At that same time, when we were on the air that little auxiliary booth shook like somebody had pushed us up to the roof, I honestly thought I was “buying the farm” we kept talking but we have lost the broadcast lines.

We were lucky the telephone line was still “alive” so we chatted for a few minutes and sent it back to the studios via the telephone. I was surprised the radio station never went off the air, although some others in the bay area did lose their signal.

The earthquake happened at 5:04 PM take or give a minute or so, and before the game was scheduled to start at 5:35 our time, 8:35 PM east coast time. Later as I went down to the regular press box, I watched KPIX CH 5 on a monitor as Ana Chávez, Anchor, was showing a video of the Bay Bridge, the tremors caused a portion of the Bay Bridge to collapse onto the lower deck, also ragging fires of various homes in the Marina District in San Francisco. It was a 6.9 Earthquake, called Loma Prieta Earthquake, and also acquired the name The World Series Earthquake.

A couple of hours later when it was quiet, I drove out of Candlestick Park parking lot, but the Bay Bridge was closed as well as other bridges and I had to drive all the way down south on Hwy 101, around the bay. I was taking Erwin back to his place in Oakland and later Evelio in San Francisco.

At a service station maybe a quarter mile from Candlestick Park, José Canseco wearing his A’s uniform at a gas station filling gasoline in his car. I also stopped to check on my mom. She was fine, however scared and shaken like many others. However there were others in the Bay Area were not that lucky.

That was one of the longest days of my life. I got home before midnight. The Fall Classic was postponed for 10 days, they played again on October 27, and the Athletics won the last two games and took the trophy via sweep. A’s #1 pitcher Dave Stewart won the MVP.

Because the game was at 5:00 PM, it has been attributed to saving lots of lives. Everybody was either home, watching the game, or left earlier to get to “The Stick” on time, for the game.

I recommend “Goodbye Oakland” a great book by Andy Dolich and Dave Newhouse. A fascinating tour of Oakland sports history and a look toward the future of professional sports in the East Bay. Oakland is a sports city like no other.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice for the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburgh and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s run in ninth edges Reds 5-4 to avoid sweep at Coliseum

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Oakland Athletics’ Esteury Ruiz hits the game-wining RBI single against the Cincinnati Reds during the ninth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Apr 30, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cincinnati 010 003 000 – 4 12 1

Oakland. 200 100 101- 5. 9. 1

Time: 2:48.

Attendance: 18,271

Sunday, April 30, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Las Vegas Athletics’ (6-23) farm team in Oakland went into today’s encounter with the Cincinnati Reds 12-16) with several dubious distinctions on the debit side of its balance sheet. They were tied for fourth place for the worst record after 28 games in major league history since 1901.

That includes the Federal League but not the Negro Leagues that have achieved posthumous big league status. They set the MLB record for most losses in April. Here the proviso is that opening day used to be April 15. The 226 runs their pitching staff had allowed were the most in major league history in a season’s first 28 games with the exception of the 1923 Philadelphia Phillies.

The Elias Sports Bureau reports that the A’s starting pitchers, with their 0-15, 8.68 records hold the record for longest winless streak to open a season in the history of the major leagues. The starters also had the highest ERA in the show, almost 2-1/2 runs higher than the Red Sox’ woeful rotation.

The bullpen’s ERA of 6.95 was a little better than the starters’ but still managed to be highest in the majors. The relievers are MLB’s worst in save percentage, is tied for least saves, and tied for second in blown saves. The Athletics also are tied for second worst in fielding percentage. Oh, and did I mention that Oakland’s team batting average is .227? It’s not at the very bottom of leader board, but it barely reaches mediocrity.

That’s why this afternoon’s 5-4 walk off win was such a surprise.

Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 7.82 at game time) represented this woeful crew on the mound. The 25 year old lefty, who came to the A’s last August in the deal that sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx, was opposed another southpaw, sophomore Nick Lodolo, 2-1, 6.31 this year and 6-8, 4.26 lifetime.

Oakland went ahead early. With two out and the bases empty, Brent Rocker, one of the few bright spots on the roster, singled to right and the up and down Jesús Aguilar brought him home with an authoritive 428 foot blast over the State Farm sign in left center field for his fifth home run of the season and a 2-0 Athletic lead.

In an all too familiar scenario, the Reds cut that advantage in half. Nick Senzel’s second round tripper of ’23 landed in the stairs separating the Coliseum proper from the seats at the base of Mt. Davis. It came off a hanging curve.

Rooker restored the A’s two run margin all by himself by leading off the hoe fourth with a 411 foot drive to left that just stayed fair. The curve he hit came in at 80.4 mph and left at 112 mph. It was his eighth home run and 21st RBI. Seeing number 25 trotting around third and heading towards home brought back memories.

Cincy threatened in the fifth. Matt Reynolds led off with a fly that dropped safely between Smith and Ruíz . José Barrero followed with a single to left that sent Fairchild to third, after which Barrero stole second. With two out, Waldichuk plunked Spencer Steer to clog the base paths. The A’s starter wiggled out of the jam by getting Fairchild to fly out to center.

The visitors surged ahead in their next turn at bat. With one away, Ramos singled to left and went to second on a similar hit by Senzel. Reynolds flew out to center for the second out, and that ended Waldichuk’s day’s work. Domingo Acevedo came on and yielded a particularly ugly single to TJ Friedl, pinch hitting for Barrero.

Fried smacked a liner up the middle that bounced off Acevedo, who unwisely decided to throw to first. The ball sailed into foul territory, and Ramos sailed all the way home, Senzel raced to third, and Friedl ended up at second on the error. Kevin Newman rubbed salt in Oakland’s wounds with an RBI single to right before Steer lined out to third. Cincinnati now lead, 4-3.

Waldichuk managed to escape with a no decision. In his 5-2/3 innings of work, he allowed three runs, all earned but one posthumous He walked one batter and hit another, struck out seven, and allowed six hits, one for the distance.

He threw 91 pitches, 59 for strikes. Acevedo, who followed Waldichuk was charged with a blown save. Adam Oller and Sam Moll kept Cincinnati off the board, and Zach Jackson pitched an heroic top of the ninth to get the win .

Lodolo also departed the scene early in the day. He lasted five frames and surrendered three tallies, all. earned. He gavee up five hits and hit one batter. Two of the hits he allowed left the park He struck out seven and, like Waldichuk, a no decision. 49 of his 70 offerings were considered strikes.

Rooker’s sac fly to left in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded reknotted the score. Peterson had led off with a ssafety to left center, been sacrificed to second by Kevin Smith and gone to second and then to third on Laureano’s infield hit.

The Reds almost won it in the top of the ninth. Newman led off the frame against Jackson with a single to left, and Steere’s double, also to left, put two men in scoring position with no outs and the heart of the order coming to bat. Two strike outs and a grounder to third, and the threat was gone.

The A’s pulled off their win in the bottom of the ninth. Peterson single to left. Smith dropped a bunt down the first base line. Reynolds, how playing first, also dropped the bunt. He picked it up and threw the ball away. The error gave Oakland two men in scoring position and the top of the order coming up.

Alexis Díaz came in to relieve Derek Law, who had relieved Buck Farmer, who had relieved Lucas Sims, who had relieved Lodolo. Díaz hit Ruíz with a pitch. Or so it seemed. But the Reds challenged the call, and New York reversed it. Ruíz had no other choice but to hit a walk off single to left.

The A’s will return to the Coliseum Tuesday evening to face the Seattle Mariners at 6:40pm. Logan Gilbert (1-1 ERA 4.23) will start for Seattle, and Mason Miller (0-1 ERA 6.48) will toe the rubber for the rebounding at denizens of the decrepit pleasure dome on the banks of the River Nimitz.

MLB podcast with Charlie O: Will A’s move to Vegas minor league park in 24 season?; What’s way up in Mexico City with Pads and Gigantes

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Fans in the stands on Fri Apr 28, 2023 game protested the A’s owners moving to Las Vegas proposal. Banners were hanging once again from the right field stands encouraging Oakland A’s owner John Fisher to sell the team at the Oakland Coliseum as the A’s maybe playing their final season in Oakland (AP News photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, you’ve spent many a decade cover the Oakland A’s going through the stands and pressbox speaking with the fans and reporters you can see it on their faces during this current homestand with the Cincinnati Reds ironically another team you covered back in your days in Ohio. Fans at the Oakland Coliseum are pushing for A’s owner John Fisher to sell the team.

#2 Charlie, how possible is it that the A’s will move into their minor league affiliate the Las Vegas Aviators park in 2024?

#3 The Aviators are fairly new tenants in that ballpark coming from old Cashman Field how excited or not excited do they have to be sharing a ballpark that most likely will have to change from grass to turf for some 150 plus games?

#4 Charlie, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres play game two in Mexico City today. The response to this series has been by the local fans. Do you see Mexico City having a shot at getting an expansion team?

#5 If you missed it on Friday San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler took the subway to get to Afredo Harp Helu Stadium for practice and ended up getting off one stop before the ballpark station because the station was under construction as passengers needed to use the bus to get to the next station. Kapler knew just enough Spanish to ask the driver to let him off at the freeway near the stadium and Kapler had to cross three lanes of highway to get to the ballpark saying he’ll take the team bus for the two game series.

Join Charlie O for the MLB podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s cough it up in ninth on Reds Fraley pinch double 3-2

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Cincinnati Reds’ Luke Maile runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning  at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Apr 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cincinnati. 001 000 002 – 3. 9. 1

Oakland. 020 000 000 – 2 7. 1

Time: 2:54

Attendance: 7,052

Saturday, April 29, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Every so often, the A’s find a promising young pitcher and hype him as a second coming of Cy Young. Tod Van Poppel, Tyson Ross, and AJ Puk have come and gone. But, then, so have Tim Hudson, Sonny Gray, and Barry Zito. This year’s candidate for greatness is Kyle Muller.

After the 2022 season, both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked him as the Braves’ top prospect. After he came to the A’s as part of a nine player in December, Baseball America listed him as the A’s #2 prospect, and MLB.com had him at #5 on their equivalent list.

The 25 year old lefty more or less lived up to his billings today. He threw five innings and gave up as many hits. They yielded one run, which came on a homer, and issued two walks while striking out three.Of his 80 pitches, only 33 were balls. Domingo Acevedo replaced him at the start of the sixth. Richard Lovelady took over for the seventh.

Muller’s opposite number for the Reds was another fireballer, Hunter Greene, making his 30th big league start. In the 29 that preceded it, he threw 34 or more pitches at more than 100 mph.

His average fast ball last year, his rookie season, was 98.9 mph. Like Muller, Greene lasted five innings this afternoon and surrendered an equal number of hits. None of them left the park, but they yielded two runs, both earned. Greene walked three Athletics and was guilty of one wild pitch. He struck out 10. His pitch count reach 112, 68 of them strikes.

Alex Young started the sixth to replace him and pitched an inning and a third, allowing only a down the line to left single to Peterson, the first batter he faced. Young handed the ball to Ian Gibaut with no one on and one down in the home half of the seventh,

Muller got into some trouble in the top of the second, thanks to some bad luck. Tyler Stephenson led off with a drive into left that went just under the glove of a diving Aledmys Díaz at short. Then Jace Peterson, who made two costly errors last night, made a beautiful stop of a hard shot to third by Henry Ramos, who beat out Peterson’s one bounce throw to first for a single that put runners on first and second with none down.

Then Ramón Laureano, restored from the injured list today, showed just how good an arm he has. He caught Newman’s foul fly near the home plate area of the visitors’ bullpen and fired a laser to third, nabbing Stephenson, who was trying to advance. That broke the back of a nascent Redleg rally.

The A’s, riding the momentum of Laureano’s throw, played heads up baseball to forge a 2-0 lead ion their half of the second. Carlos Pérez reached first on a throwing error by third baseman Senzel, a play that could just have as justifiably scored as a hit.

After Conner Capel struct out swinging, Laureano double to right, sending Pérez to third, where Kevin Smith replaced him as pinch runner. With Peterson, who eventual fanned, at bat, the A’s speedy right fielder stole third. Jordan Díaz sent a single into right that plated Laureano before Ruíz went down swinging for the third out.

Cincy got one of those two runs back in the top of the third on Luke Maille’s lead off 408 foot blast to right off a 93.9 mph slider. Maille’s homer, his first of the year, raised his batting average from .211 to .250.

The A’s still were leading, 2-1, after seven when Zach Jackson took over mound duties and held the visitors to an innocuous single.

Casey Legumina went to the hill for Cincinnati in the bottom of the eighth. He walked Peterson, but a strike out and a pitcher’s best friend kept Oakland at bay.

Jeurys Familia entered the fray in the top of the ninth looking for his third save in four opportunities. He fanned Stephenson for the first out. He went to a full count on Ramos before walking him, putting the potential tying run on base. Kevin Newman hit a grounder up the middle.

Smith went to his left to make a nice play, but Newman beat out his throw. Senzel drew a walk to load the bases. Barrero went down swinging. Jake Fraley, who had pinch hit for Maile in the eigth, doubled to right, drivving in Ramo and Newman, and, just like that, theA’s were looking up at the Reds, who led 3-2.

It now was Alexis Díaz who came in to pitch, looking for the save. Ruíz attempted a two strike but. It went foul for a strike out. Noda took a full swing for his K. And so did Rooker. A pleasant surprise for A’s fans had turned into a disappointing loss.

Legumina got the win, He’s now 1-0, 1.69. The save went to Díaz, his fourth. The loser was Familia, 0-1. It was his second blown save.

The A’s will try to salvage a little bit of this atroious home stand tomorrow, Sunday, afternoon, at 1:07. Two southpaws, Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 7.82) will toe the rubber for the green and gold. Nick Lodolo (2-1, 6.31) will do the honors for Cincinnati.