Category: Oakland Athletics

A’s get the edge on Guardians to even series in 4-3 victory at Coliseum

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Oakland Athletics second baseman Tony Kemp, left, and center fielder Esteury Ruiz dive unsuccessfully for an RBI double by Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez during the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Tue, April 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cleveland. 000 210 000 – 3 8 0

Oakland. 002 001 001 – 4 6 1

Time: 2:41

Attendance: 3,407

Tue, April 4, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Monday night’s game was marred by the strong winds that whipped around the Coliseum during most of the contest. Those winds, as unwelcome as those over the late Candlestick Park and Cleveland Municipal Stadium, not only not only played havoc with the balls’ trajectory, but the chill factor they caused made gripping bats and balls painful and difficult.

Tonight, the winds were milder. And the results were more satisfying for the East Bay Faithful as the outhit home team pulled off a walk off 4-3 triumph over their guests from the middle west.

Cleveland’s see-saw extra innings victory over Oakland yesterday was exciting and, to A’s fans, disappointing. That disappointment wasn’t caused by the mere fact of the home team coming out on the short end of the stick, which was, in any case, an almost foregone conclusion.

The game was disappointing because it was sloppily played. Although only two errors showed up in the official records, there were plays that deserved that description that were charitably given other names. There were base running mistakes.

And one batter, Seth Brown, had a third strike called on him because of a time clock violation. I have no problem with the shorter, crisper games that the TCV rule achieves; I question where MLB is cutting the temporal fat. Does it make sense to fundamentally alter the relationship between pitching and hitting–arts of timing, both of them–to allow for two minutes of television advertisements at every half inning break and the singing of “God Bless America” along with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”? (To their credit, they don’t do that at every Coliseum game).

Southpaw JP Sears, Oakland’s starting pitcher was making his first appearance of the ’23 season. He came to the team from the Yankees last August 1 in the same deal that brought Ken Waldichuk, last night’s unfortunate starter, to the Athletics and sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx.

He had gone 3-0, 2.05 for the pinstriped Bombers and was 3-3, 4.69 with the green and gold for overall rookie year numbers of 6-3, 3.36. He has a good fast ball, change up, and slider, although their velocity isn’t particularly outstanding. They have plenty of zip to them, and he mixes them well.

Shane Bieber, his opposite number for the Guardians, already had one game under his belt this year. He started their season opener in Seattle, throwing six scoreless frame in a contest that the Ohians eventually lost, 3-0. Bieber has a distinguished resumé, having won the Cy Young award in the covid shrunken 2020 season. He toed the rubber with a lifetime record of 54-26, 3.15 and was 0–1,3.45 against the A’s in two starts.

Oakland drew first blood. Ryan Noda drew a lead off, full count walk and raced to third on a sinbgle to short center by Carlos Pérez. Esteuriy Ruíz followed with a double to left that drove in Noda with the game’s first run and enabled Pérez to motor to third. He scored on a sac fly (pretty much of a line drive) ro left by JacePeterson.

But the Athletics couldn’t hold that two run lead. Oscar González sent a fly ball that thudded against the centerfield fence for a one out triple in the Guardian fourth. An out later, Gabriel Arías drove an 81 mph sweeper into. deep center flied – 423 feet deep – to knot the score at 2-2.

Cleveland untied the knot in the next frame. With the speedy Myles Straw, who had drawn a leadoff wak, on first, José Ramírez lifted a can of corn to center. Brown and Ruíz collided beneath it, and the can of corn became a Texas League double that gave Cleveland and 2-1 lead and brought Zach Jackson in to replace Sears, who had pitched better than his numbers would indicate.

Those numbers were 4-2/3 innings pitched, in which the lefty allowed three runs, all earned, on eight hits, one of them out of the park, and a walk. Sears struck out five Gardoams and threw 98 pitches, 64 for strikes.

The A’s caught up with Cleveland in an improbable way. Kemp started the sixth with a single to left and stole second, advancing to third on a one out ground out to second by Díaz. When Brown swung and missed at a two out, third strike slider that Mike Zunino couldn’t capture, Kemp scored came home on the wild pitch.

So, when Dany Jiménez strolled to the mound to face the Guardians in the top of the second, he was pitching in a game tied at two.

That mean that Trevor Stephan, entering the fray after the cozy gathering of 3,407 had finished its rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” neither starter would be involved in the decision. Bieber had gone sixth innings of three hit ball, in which he allowed as many runs, all earned, and struck out seven opposing batters. 65 of his 89 offerings were strikes, and he reduced is ERA to 2.25.

Jiménez left after a successful 1-2/3 innings to allow southpaw Sam Moll to pitch to fellow lefty Josh Naylor with two down in the top of the eighth, He got him to ground out to short. Enyel de los Santos then took over for Cleveland to face the A’s in the bottom of the frame. He got through the A’s first two batters but surrendered a ringing double to right by Brown and a free pass to Jesús Aguilar before blowing a third strike past Laureano.

And then it was Trevor May, last night’s loser, on the mound for Oakland. He retired Cleveland, allowing only a base on balls.

The Guardians called on James Karinchak ro try to force another extra innings contest. He walked Noda to start the inning but struck out Pérez and retired Ruíz on a productive ground out to second, on which Giménez made a lovely play to prevent a hit. But no one could prevent Kemp’s solid walk off single to right that brought Noda home with the winning, walk off run.

Trevor May earned the win. He’s now 2-1, 3,00. Karinchalk was charged with the loss, leaving him with a record of 0-2, 12.00.

The series will resume and end tomorrow, the fifth. Game time is scheduled for 12:37. Righty Hunter Gaddis (0-0,9.82) will pitch for the visitors. and lefty Kyle Muller (0-0,1.80) will start for the Athletics.

Guardians top A’s 12-11 in back and forth 10 inning game

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Oakland Athletics’ Ramon Laureano hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday, April 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cleveland. 200 302 030 2 – 12 16. 1

Oakland. 150 020 009 1 – 11 14. 1. 10 innings

Time: 3:19

Attendance: 3,035

Mon April 3, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Without the magnet of Shohei Ohtani to attrack the paying customers, your Oakland Athletics, whose roots may be in The Town, but whose branches might soon cover Las Vegas, fought the Cleveland Guardians ten innings before succumbing 12-11 on this cool, clear, and very windy Monday night in front of an intimate gathering of 3,035 at the Oakland Coliseum.

The home team chose James Kaprielian as its starting pitcher. The 29 year old right hander, who came to the A’s as part of the deal that sent Sonny Gray to the Yankees in 2017, had a roller coaster of a season last year. He went 3-0, 1,89, with an opponents’ OPS of .612, in May and June.

But, if you count–as you must–the remaining four months of the season, his record was 5-9, 4.23, allowing his opponents an OPS of .735. He had a good spring, going 2-1, 2.81.

He began. the day with a lifetime mark of (0-1, 7.70) against Cleveland. He didn’t do that well tonight he lasted five frames and allowed as many runs, all of them earnbed. He surrendered seven. hits, including a home run, and a walk. He threw 89 pitches, 61 for strikes.

The visitors from Ohio, who arrived on the banks of the Nimitz with a 3-1 record, a half game out of the lead in the nascent AL Central Division season, went with Zach Plesac, like Karpielian making his his first start the mattered in 2023. He lasted 53 pitches, in. which he retired all of three Oakland batters. In his 1+ innnings of hard labor, Plessac surrendered six runs, all earned, on five hits, one of them for the distance, and a walk.

Cleveland almost fell victim to the Curse of the Lead Off Double Steven Kwan smacked the first pitch of the game into leftt for a two bagger. Kaprielian reovered to stroike strike out Amed Rosario and Josh Bell, but sandwiched betweenm them was a walk to José Ramírez. Josh Naylor singled to center, and Andrés Giménez gave the Guardians an early 2-0 advantage.

The A’s got one of those runs back in their half of the first on two out wind blown Texas League double by Seth Brown that would have plated Jace Peterson if he had been running full speed on what looked like the third out. Peterson scored on an infield single by the next batter, Conner Capper.

Oakland took the lead in the next frame.Ryan Noda led off with his first major league hit, a single to right. He moved on to third on Shea Langeliers’ line drive that rollled off short stop Rosario’s glove into left for a single. Moments later, Noda scored his first MLB run.

It came on a double to left by Estiuru Ruíz. After Kemp singled to right, Jace Peterson then rolled his first hit and first round tripper. in the show. It carried 401 feet into the right center field seats and put Oakland up 6-2. It also put Pleassc in the showers. He was replaced by Xzaviion Curry.

Naylor closed the gap a bit in the top of the fourth with a first pitch homer that took an 82 mph change up 406 feet into the right field seats, halving the A’s lead to 6-3. Then they almost closed the gap entirely. Jiménez lined one down the right field line that would have been a double if it hadn’t hit first base umpire Doug Eddings.

Will Brenman’s single to left moved Jiménez to second, and both came hone on a Myles Straw two bagger to left. All of a sudden, it was 6-5, with Oakland hanging on by the skin of its teeth.

The green and gold widened their lead to 8-5 in the home fifth thanks to a bunt singleo by Capel and a 408 foot homer to left center off Curry’s 85 mph slider.

Jeurys Familia took over mound duties for Oakland to start the sixth and was greeted by Zunino with a single to left. Brennan then sent a bouncing double play ball bouncing to second. A double play ball that Kemp bobbled. It was scored as a fielder’s choice and an error and opened the door for Straw’s sacrifice bunt to the mound, putting both runners in scoring posiition.

Both score; Zunino on Kwan’s sac fly to left and Brennan on Rosario’s single to center. When Ramírez followed those disaster with a singe to center, the A’s lead stood a 8-7. None of the runs scored on Familia was earned. He gave way to Sam Moll at the start of the seventh frame, and Tim Herrin replaced Curry for Cleveland in the bottom of the inning.

He almost gave up an unearned run on a two base error by his second baseman, but Brown, the beneficiary of Giménez’s misplay, was cut down at the plate trying to score on Laureano’s single to right, Brennan to Zunino.

Then it was the turn of Domingo Acevedo to try to hold off the Guardians in the top of the eighth. Straw led off with a single to left. With Kwan at bat, he stole second. The A’s challenged the call, but it was confirmed on video review.

Kwan then singled to right, driving in Straw with the tying tally; Rosario’s sac fly put Cleveland ahead, 9-8 Ramírez tripled to right in a play that had originally been scored as a single and. a two base error; and Bell’s sac fly to left brought Ramírez home with the Guardians’ tenth run.

After James Karnachak set Oakland down in order in the bottom of the eighth, Acevedo kept Cleveland off the board in spite of having plunked Straw, who then stole second.

Emmanuel Clase walked to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, looking for his second save of the season. Kemp greeted him with a single to second but was eliminated by a pitcher’s best friend, 4-6-3. Díaz wrangled a walk, took second on defensive indifference, and then trotted home on Brown’s majestic 432 foot improbable game tying home run to center, his first round tripper and RBI of the season. The hit it off a 97 mph cutter.

Trevor May pitched the tenth with Kwan as the zombie runner and Rosario at bat. His single to left brought Kwan 90 feet closer to home. He scored on a Ramírez single to center that allowed Rosario to make it to third.

Bell grounded out to second. Naylor was granted an intentional pass; Gabriel Arías pinch ran for him. May unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Rosario to score and the other runners to advance a base each. Giménez struck out and Zounino fouled out to Langiers to end the inning.

Eli Morgan took over pitching duties for Cleveland when the A’s came up for their last chance to stay alive. The speedy Laureano was the ghost runner; he went to third on Noda’s ground out to second and scored when. Ruíz doubled to right. But Kemp flew out to left, and the A’s had lost their third straight game, a game they could have won.

Clase got the win; he’s 1-0. May took the loss; he’s 1-1. Morgan got the save.

The two teams will square off tonight at 6:40 pm, with JP Sears scheduled to toe the rubber for the Athletics and Shane Bieber on the mound for the Guardians .That Tuesday contest will be the second of a three game series before the A’s hit the road for a seven games in seven days trip that will take them to Tampa Bay and Baltimore before they return to face the Mets on the 14th without even a day’s break for travel.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Do these A’s have enough to compete this season?

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Oakland A’s first baseman Jesus Aguilar takes a cut at the baseball is expected to be the regular first baseman this season (file photo by the San Francisco Chronicle)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, taking a look at the three game series the Oakland A’s completed with the Los Angeles Angels the A’s losing two of the three but winning that 2-1 Thursday opener has to be important last Thursday especially against Shohei Ohtani.

#2 Amaury, talk about Jesus Aguilar he went two for four Sunday and is hitting .300 the A’s are depending him to deliver at the plate and hold runners at first base.

#3 The Angels got plenty of help from the usual suspects Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani who both hit a homer in Sunday’s 6-0 win.

#4 Taking a look at the San Francisco Giants Monday they made up for the lack of hitting they had in New York after getting shutout twice by the New York Yankees. They came out bats exploding with four runs in the top of the fifth and five run in the top of the ninth against the Chicago White Sox.

#5 The White Sox are coming off a tough series against the Houston Astros losing two out of three and today they used five pitchers including former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman who actually pitched well in relief two innings no runs or hits.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice for the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s is it Oakland or Las Vegas? The case for both sides

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Las Vegas Aviators Stadium at dusk, the Oakland A’s possibly could end up playing here while they wait for their new ballpark to be built if they come to an agreement with Vegas officials and if they don’t get an agreement in Oakland (file photo by the Las Vegas Review Journal)

A’s is it Oakland or Las Vegas? – The case for both cities

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The 2023 season just began and the clock is doing the job the Commissioner expected. Most games are way less than three hours. Last Sunday in Seattle the Guardians and the Mariners played a game in 2 hours and 3 minutes. 2023 is also the year to fish or cut bait for the Oakland A’s franchise. Do they leave Oakland after over half a century and four World Series titles in this city (that is one more than the Giants) or like the Sinatra standard “Come Fly With Me” they leave for Las Vegas?

The case for Oakland: The City of Oakland is not a huge metropolis with just over 400,000 residents inside their city limits, but it is the third largest city in the nine-county Bay Area, only San José and San Francisco have a larger population. It doesn’t matter because we have between 6 to 7 million people in this area and two major league teams. One (Giants) have played in San Francisco since 1958 and the A’s since 1968.

Yes, the A’s are rooted in Oakland, and common sense tells us this is where they should stay. They already have a planned ballpark, Howard Terminal. Oakland is not famous for keeping their pro teams; they lost the Raiders to Las Vegas and the Warriors to San Francisco.

The track record of keeping their teams in Oakland is not that good. Yet, it makes sense since they are already ahead with the plan with a designed new park ready to go. But then there are the problems with the funding for affordable housing at the Howard Terminal area a plan that would change Oakland forever, a $12 billion project.

As of today, the Mayor of Oakland Sheng Thao says it is all fine and that they are optimistic, but they do not even have a binding agreement and it might never happen because not everybody in the city council is in favor of Howard Terminal and some will say they want the team to stay in Oakland and build a new place at the same location. But the Commissioner says that is a “no go”.

The case for Las Vegas: Nevada is a desert, sometime in the future they could run out of water, the chance of running out of water, that is their biggest problem, but they have the room and they could have the will and the money if the State decide to use funds to help the construction of the A’s park.

Joe Lombardo, Governor of Nevada did not rule out public funding for the A’s. Team management has been traveling to Vegas and has looked at three different sites; with the Rio Casino Hotel might be the one preferred location. Sooner or later, Las Vegas is going to get a major league baseball franchise, maybe by expansion, but it is not that easy.

Expansion might take more than two or even three or more years to happen. The A’s seem to be hanging on a tree like a ripe mango to take. There are other cities like Portland and Nashville (ex-A’s great Dave Stewart is involved with Nashville trying to get an expansion team).

However, and very important is that the A’s know Nevada legislation will not meet in 2024, they have to get a deal done this year, 2023. If not, then what? Oakland/Bay Area is the 5th media market in the US, Las Vegas is 40th. Even Sacramento is a larger media market than Las Vegas, as the State Capital comes in as the 19th media market.

These three famous ex-players, the first two in the Hall of Fame, had said publicly that Las Vegas would be the place to the A’s to relocate, George Brett, Greg Maddux and Jason Giambi. This is what they said:

George Brett “They should come here,” he said. “I was talking to some guys earlier, and I said if I was in the Oakland organization, I’d rather play Triple A than in the big leagues.

Greg Maddux – Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux said he’s all for bringing an MLB team to Las Vegas, be it the Oakland Athletics or an expansion team. “Any team would be great as a fan,” said Maddux, a longtime Las Vegas resident.

Jason Giambi played for the A’s from1995 to 2001, then came back to play for the A’s in 2009 and on the 23rd of May hit a home run in Oakland against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was the 400 home run of this career.

I called it in Spanish for A’s radio and remember giving him a disc with the recording which he appreciated. This is what Giambi said “the affordability of living in this area compared with California will be a big draw for free agents”.

In conclusion: I want the A’s to stay in Oakland. I have been a resident of the Bay Area since 1969 and I have worked for both the A’s and Giants calling many of their games, with the Giants doing all 162 games home and away traveling with the team.

I am afraid Oakland is playing with fire as they might take it for granted (that they will stay), but I am not sure. The city of Oakland has big problems; crime, they’re short of cops, all you have to do is watch the news every day, homelessness is a tough problem to resolve.

They need to build more affordable housing and projections now show a growing potential current year deficit of $72M. This is one of the most serious financial challenges the City of Oakland has ever faced. Also, Oakland never got the $182 million grant they needed from the Federal Transportation Department’s Mega projects.

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

Open But Not Ready For Business: A’s go down quietly in 6-0 loss to the Angels

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–In 2022, the A’s were last in the American League in hits, and second to last in runs scored. If nothing else, rule changes instituted to perk up offenses throughout the industry figured to give the A’s a needed boost.

That boost hasn’t kicked in yet.

The A’s concluded an implosive, opening weekend by being shutout 6-0 by the Angels in which they managed just two occasions with runners in scoring position. In the three game series, the A’s lost twice, while compiling three runs, one homer three doubles while striking out 26 times.

Not good.

Four of the A’s five hits on Sunday were singles, and none of the four exited the infield at above 90 mph. Esteury Ruiz, the promising infielder with top-of-the-order potential, had a slow weekend with just one hit. Jesus Aquilar, who hit 35 home runs with Milwaukee in 2018, did a little more. But the total wasn’t enough, not with the pendulum swinging back towards offense.

“Offense is momentum, and we haven’t been able to put it together and string hits together,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We haven’t had a big inning yet this year.”

The A’s again looked for signs of improvement from starting pitcher Ken Waldichuk, who had a rough spring in which he struggled with his pitch command. On Sunday, Waldichuk produced three scoreless frames and then saw things unravel with three Angels’ homers over the next two innings.

As an illustration of how far the A’s must travel, Los Angeles superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout homered back-to-back in the fifth to put the visitors up 6-0. Both had gone homeless in the series before they connected against Waldichuk.

The Angels were clearly frustrated on Thursday after they squandered Ohtani’s pitching performance and fell 2-1 to the A’s. But the response was to score 19 of the remaining 20 runs in the series and win easily on Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re swinging at the right pitches,” Angels’ manager Phil Nevin said. “That’s the thing. I like the way we’re controlling the zone. Keep hitting balls on the barrel, and we’re gonna score a lot of runs. We’re deep and want to be relentless and keep coming at you.”

Adrian Martinez stood as the A’s bright spot. The A’s reliever threw the final three innings scoreless, allowing just one hit.

On Monday, the A’s get a second difficult opponent in the Guardians to begin the season. Cleveland’s Zach Plesac and Oakland’s James Kaprelian are the announced starters.

Anderson and Angels throw shutout against A’s 6-0 at Coliseum; Halos win the rubber game

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Top of the fourth Los Angeles Angles catcher Logan O’Hoppe gets the home run Golden State Warriors hat in the Angels dugout after hitting a three run homer in the top of the fourth inning against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Apr 2, 2023 (@Angels photo)

Los Angeles. 003 300 000. – 6. 11. 0

Oakland. 000 000 000 – 0. 5. 1

Time: 2:32

Attendance: 14,638

Sun April 2, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In three short days, the Oakland Athletics (1-2) have transformed themselves from gritty, come from behind, and victorious underdogs into just plain underdogs. The biggest disappointment in Saturday’s thrashing by the Los Angeles Angels (2-1) was Shintaro Fujinami, the once a week worker around whose schedule the A’s were willing to distort the rest of the rotation’s scheduled starts.

On the bright side, two of the relief pitchers Oakland used, Jeurys Familia and Sam Moll, were effective, and the other one, Adam Oller, was, came to come back from from a disastrous first two-thirds of an inning to reach an acceptable level of functioning. The bullpen also was the only ray of hope in Sunday’s 6-0 drubbing.

It was up to Ken Waldichuck, who had a pre-season record of 0-4, 10.54, with 12 walks and 13 strike outs. 0-4, 10.54, to hold the Angels off long enough to give the weak hitting Oakland bats and the possibly successful bullpen a chance of taking the rubber game of the season’s opening series. One cause for optimism was Waldichuck’s strong five start against Kansas City in one of the team’s last Arizona warm-ups on March 16.

He pitched four scoreless frames that afternoon before giving up two runs on a single and a home run in the remaining third of an inning of his start. Another positive factor is the one regular season game in which Waldichuck faced the Anaheim crew. Last October 5, he pitched seven scoreless frames against the Angels, holding them to three hits and a walk and getting credit for Oakland’s 3-2 victory.

This afternoon, the 25 year old southpaw from San Diego faced a couple of difficult situations in the early going, but he overcame them. With Mike Trout on second and one down in the top of the first, he retired Shohei Ohtani on a liner to center and Hunter Renfroe on a grounder to short. Two frames later, he fanned Ohtani runners on second and third and two men away.

The water the Oakland starter was in got hotter in the third. Hunter Renfroe led off with a squibbler in front of the plate, and Shea Langeliers’ throw almost hit him as Jesús Aguilar was jumping out of the way of the charging Renfroe. It went as a hit for Renfroe and a throwing error by Langeliers to allow him to advance. It looked as though Waldichuk then hit Luis Rengifo with a pitch. But Renfroe had advanced to third on what he thought was a wild pitch.

A video review showed he was right, so Rengifo returrned to the batter’s box,k and Renfoe remained 90 feet from home. Waldichuck proceeded to strike Gio Urshela out, but then Logan O’Hoppe jumped all over a 91 mph four s eamer and launched 391 feet into the left center field seats for his first career home run and 3-0 Halos lead. Those were hard luck runs, but they were earned.

Alternating on the mound with him was another portsider, Tyler Anderson, making his first regular season start for the Angels since coming to them from the team that correctly describes itself as being from Los Angeles. Before that, Anderson had labored for the Rockies, Giants,, Pirates, and Mariners.

The peripatetic pitcher was a valuable member of the Dodgers’ rotation last year, in which he was named to the NL All Star team. He led the team in innings pitched, with 178-2/3, which resulted in a record of 15-5, 2.57 started against the Padres in the fourth game of the NLDS and shut San Diego out on two hits over five innings.

He impressed his present employers by no hitting them for 8-1/3 frames on June 15, although a post game scorer’s decision changed an error committed in the seventh to an infield single. The 33 year old veteran’s arsenal consists, in descending order of frequency, of a four seam fast ball, which he throws 38% of the time, a change up (31.6%), a cutter, a sinker, and an occasional curve (1.2%). He came to Oakland a 2-0, 1.08 record against the Athletics.

Anderson held the Athletics at bay for six innings, although they had runners in scoring position in the first and fourth, the latter owing to Laureano’s two out leg double. In his stint on the mound, the lefty allowed four hits and struck out four. He issued a pair of passports and plunked one batter. He threw 93 pitches, 59 of them strikes. His successor was Andrew Wantz. Carlos Estevez handled the A’s in the ninth

Taylor Ward led off the fifth with a single to left center, and then Trout blasted his first rounder tripper of the year, a 434 foot shot to dead center, and Ohtani, not to be outdone, whacked Waldichuk’s next offering, an 80 mph sweeper, 447 feet into the second deck in right center field.

Bingo! In 6-0 in favor of Phil Nevin’s band of angels. Waldichuk lasted three batters into. the top of the sixth, David Fletcher’s two out fly to right was ruled, on review, to be a fair ball that resulted in a single. Zach Jackson came in to pitch and promptly gave up a single, a walk, and a wild pitch before getting Ohtani to swing and miss at an inning ending third strike.

Waldichuk had gone 5–2/3 innings and surrendered six runs, all earned, on nine hits, three of them out of the park, a walk, a wild pitch, and a hit batter. He had three Ks to hi credit. 59 of hiw 96 pitches went into the record as strikes.

Jackson didn’t come out for the visitors’ seventh; that job fell to Adrián Martínez, recently recalled from Las Vegas. He had looked good in the early innings of his few starts in the Coliseum last year but always managed to fall apart as the game progressed. Using him in middle relief seemed a good idea, and it was. The righty from Mexicali allowed just one hit in three innings and fielded his position well, with two assists and a put out.

The win went to Anderson; the loss, to Waldichuk. There was no save.

The Cleveland Guardians come to town tomorrow. Monday’s game is a 6:40 start with the A’s James Kaprielian scheduled to start against fellow righty Zach Plesac for the Guardians.

MLB podcast with Charlie O: A’s Howard Terminal chances improve as Appeals Court approve environmental report

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A look at Howard Terminal in downtown Oakland the site of the proposed Oakland A’s ballpark which would seat some 35,000 fans. The park would come with retail stores, residential units, commercial space, hotel rooms and public access open space. (photo by Noah Berger and the San Francisco Chronicle 2018)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 This week the First District Court of Appeals ruled that the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal project met sufficient standards in a City of Oakland review that said the A’s have met limits to water and pollution requirement at the downtown Jack London Square site as ruled by Judge Brad Seligman.

#2 The issue of off shore winds that wind hazards needs to be reduced as it effects the ball park according to the court ruling. The council voted with Judge Seligman 3-0 on the wind measure. The A’s and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao are working on a plan to reduce the wind hazards.

#3 The outcome of the Court of Appeals ruling sits favorably for the A’s and can be considered a big step towards building a new ball park at Howard Terminal. The Court rejected the claims by the plaintiffs saying that the A’s did not meet the standards on air quality, pollution controls, and traffic in regards to environmental standards. This is a similar type ruling that helped the NBA Sacramento Kings move in the direction to build Golden 1 Center.

#4 Mayor Thao who is on board with the project and said the city intends to upgrade the infrastructure and that the city and the A’s are one step closer to getting the project done after two previous court rulings in their favor. Further Thao plans to meet with the A’s regarding some of the other sticking points namely affordable housing and the court expects the A’s to get the wind hazards worked out.

#5 Charlie, we know San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer as in past discussions is opposed to the A’s moving to San Jose as the Giants claim that is their territory which put a huge road block in the way for the A’s to build in the South Bay. Fast forward how ironic would it be if the Howard Terminal project was approved and was able to move forward and front the Port of Oakland that could clearly be seen across the bay at Oracle Park?

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

A’s Fujinami gets lit up in two plus innings as Halos thrash Oakland 13-1

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Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates after hitting an RBI-single against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Oakland, Calif. First base coach Damon Mashore, left, looks on. (AP News photo)

Los Angeles 0. 0.11 0 0 1 o o-13 11 2

Oakland 0. 0. 0.0. 1.0 0 0-1. 5. 2

Time: 2:24

Attendance: 15,757

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–This afternoon’s contest between the Angels and the Athletics promised to be an interesting one. It end up being a no contest, with Oakland on the short end of a 13-1 score. The long awaited debut of Shintaro Fujinami turned out to be a dud.

Fujinami is no Shoei Ohtani–who is?– but he is, or at least was , in the same class as the Angels’ star. Four Japanese teams chose him as their first pick in the 2012 amateur draft, a draft that included Ohtani, who pitched a brilliant six innings of two hit shutout ball in Thursday night’s season opener against the A’s, a coda to his MVP performance in the World Baseball Classic and possibly a prelude to an historical season.

Although the 28 year old Fujinami technically is a rookie, he has 10 years’ experience in the Japanese major leagues, all of them with his hometown Harshen Tigers. In that span, he compiled a record of 57-54, 3.41. 154 of his 189 mound appearances was as a start for him. Lifetime, he issued an average of 4.15 free passes every nine innings. He is a strike out pitcher, averaging 9.15 Ks an inning, for a total of 1,001. His virtues were on display for two innings .

Fujinami’s counterpart on the Angels doesn’t have the cosmopolitan cache that Fujinami brings to the game. Patrick Sandoval is a native of Mission Viejo, a suburb of Anaheim, and he still lives in that town. That the Halos’ starter is a lefty puts an additional touch to the contrast. He had an excellent season in 2022, when his ERA of 2.91 gave the line to his won-lost record of 6-9.

He allowed less home runs per innings than any other AL hurler who worked 100 innings or more He has been especially effective against your Oakland A’s, again, in spite of an unprepossessing W-L of 2-3. His ERA, against the green and gold is a meager 1.84, and is 1-1, 0.87 at the crumbling pleasure dome on the Nimitz. He has a particularly nasty and effective change up.

The game began as a pitcher’s duel. The only man to reach base safely in the first two frames was Ramón Laureano, who got to first on a two out error by Rendon in the bottom of the second. The game opened up after that. Luis Rengifo led off the third with a full count walk and advanced to second on Gio Urshela’s single to center.

Number nine hitter Logan O’Hoppe followed up with a double to the base of the right field fence that scored Rengifo and moved Urshela to third. A walk to Trout loaded the bases with Ohtani coming to bat.

He sent a fly to left, near the foul line that fell for what looked like it would be a double, but the Angels played it conservatively, and the bases stayed full as O’Hoppe crossed the plate with their third run of he inning. Rendon then lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-0. Jake Lamb’s single to center with Ruíz’s error in fielding the hit made it 6-0 with runners on the corners. It also ended Fujinami’s work day.

Adam Oller took over and promptly walked Rengifo, throwing a wild pitch in the process. You don’t want to hear the rest, and I can barely stand writing it. Before the inning was over Taylor Ward had hit a 392 foot home run and the Angels held an 11-0 lead over Oakland

Fujinami’s debut consisted of 2-1/3 innings on the mound, in which he surrendered eight runs, every one of them earned, on five hits and three walks. He struck out four and threw 55 pitches, 33 for strikes. His MLB ERA stands at 30.86.

After his atrocious failure to limit the damage in the third, Oller stayed in the game, giving up a a run in the sixth and another, this one unearned, in the seventh, thanks to an error by Aguilar at first, an infield single, and an RBI single by Ward. That made it 13-1 Jeurys Familia relieved Oller to start the eighth. He set the Halos down in order. Sam Moll pitched a perfect ninth, with the help of some spiffy fielding by Kemp.

It was 13-1 because the A’s finally put a run on the board when Laureano led off the home fifth with his first hit of the year, a 396 foot drive over the left field wall off an 82 mph change of pace that, this time, was as devastating as it had been in the past. Oakland at that point trailed, 11-1

That was the last inning of the day for Sandoval. He had lasted five frames, enough to earn him the win. Laureano’s round tripper was one of the only two hits he allowed, along with a pair of free passes. He struck out two A’s and threw 86 pitches, 56 for strikes. Tucker Davidson replaced him on the mound.

The win went to Sandoval; the loss, to Fujinami. Davidson, because he pitched three innings or more (in this case, four) got the save.

The Angels Anthnoy Rendon who grabbed a fan by the shirt after last Thursday’s game at the Coliseum told reporters that he cannot talk about the incident. Rendon would not confirm or deny what took place.

The rubber gem of the series is slated for 1:07 Sunday afternoon. Oakland’s Ken Waldichuk will face the Angels Tyler Anderson in a battle of southpaws.

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: Angels Rendon grabs A’s fan and takes swing at him in post game confrontation

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Los Angeles Angels star Anthony Rendon was having none of it Thu Mar 31, 2023 following the Angels 2-1 loss to the Oakland A’s on opening night. Here Rendon grabs a fan by the shirt and accuses him of calling Rendon a bitch which the A’s fan denied. Oakland Police are reportedly investigating the incident. The fan has not been identified. Rendon plans to speak with the media before the game Saturday (photo stills from TMZ)

On the A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Following Thursday’s opening loss to the Oakland A’s Los Angeles Angels star Anthony Rendon held an A’s fan by the shirt pulling him down by the railing saying “you called me a bitch huh?” The fan said he didn’t. Rendon saying afterwards to the fan “yeah you did. Yeah, motherf*****.” Then released the fan and took a swing and a miss at the fan.

#2 According to reports the Oakland Police did not received any complaints regarding Rendon’s swinging on the fan however as of Friday they have seen the video and are conducting an investigation. The unknown fan has not filed a complaint and the Angels had no comment of the confrontation which took place at the Oakland Coliseum after Thursday’s game.

#3 Speaking of Thursday’s game it was a fine pitching duel between Angels starter Shohei Ohtani and A’s starter Kyle Muller. Muller went five innings, four hits, gave up the only run of the game, and struck out three batters. Ohtani six innings, two hits, no runs, three base on balls, and struck out ten hitters.

#4 Daniel the Angels and A’s could be competitors this season they have a good back up catcher in Logan O’Hoppe and reliable hitters with Mike Trout, Ohtani and Rendon. The A’s veterans in the line up Tony Kemp, Ramon Laureano and Seth Brown can provide help to the younger players and provide some punch in the line up.

#5 Daniel, the Angels will start Patrick Sandoval he’ll be opposed by the A’s Shintaro Fujinami talk about this match up and you know the Angels want to get in the win column after losing on Thursday but the A’s might be better than most people think this season and give the Angels a run for their money how do you see it?

Daniel does the A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: “The Clock Rules” A’s Win Opener in 2 Hours and 30 minutes

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After ten years in professional baseball Oakland A’s starter Shintaro Fujinami will be making his MLB debut pitching against the Los Angeles Angels on Sat Apr 1, 2023 at the Oakland Coliseum (file photo San Francisco Chronicle)

“The Clock Rules” A’s Win Opener in 2 Hours and 30 minutes —

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–In 2022 Top Gun “Maverick” officially was the #1 move worldwide in the box office, beating out Avatar. Maverick movie length was 2 hours and 11 minutes. On March 30, 2023, the Oakland Athletics Home Night Opener lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes as they beat the western rivals Los Angeles Angels by a 2 -1 score.

These two teams have played very long games through the years, I remember calling a game on April, 2013 in Oakland, which the A’s won in a 19-inning marathon, that lasted six and a half hours. Of course, there will be games that go into extra-innings, and those will always beat the clock.

The Oakland Athletics opened their 2023 season (their 56th in Oakland) in front of over 26,000 euphoric fans at the Oakland Coliseum. There was a large contingency of Angels Othani’s and Trout fans behind the Angels dugout who came to watch the A’s come from behind, scoring late, and won 2-1 over the much more talented-loaded, expensive salaried players like Mike Trout, Shohei Othani, and Anthony Rendon’s Angels.

However, a place that traditionally has held long, long games was done in just 2 hours and 30 minutes of play. Meanwhile, the other Bay Area team, 3,000 miles away in New York City, the Yankees opened their season blanking the San Francisco Giants 5-0, in all of 2 hours and 33 minutes. What is going on?

“Elementary my dear Watson” said Sherlock Holmes. And it is, elementary as the mundane clock. It is all about the clock now in major league baseball. A new era of baseball started when all 30 MLB teams played on the same day to open their season. This is the first time this has happened since the 1968 season.

This Saturday A’s rookie pitcher Shintaro Fujinami, will make his major league debut, after 10 years in the Japanese professional leagues. The Oakland Coliseum press box was inundated by Japanese reporters during the first Angels visit to Oakland and will also be there to witness their compatriot Fujinami.

The A’s have Shintaro “Fuji’ Fujinami pitching as a starter every six days, to accommodate his train of work like he was pitching in Japan. It would have been even a great spectacle if Fuji would have opened the season on Thursday against his compatriot Shohei Othani.

Fujinami and Ohtani share a history together that dates back to their days as high school phenoms. The two were both first-round selections in the 2012 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft, Ohtani signing with the Nippon-Ham Fighters and Fujinami landing with the Hanshin Tigers through a lottery process.

Saturday’s game at 1:07pm and then Sunday at the same time, prior to hosting the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game series beginning Monday.

Although the A’s are not expected to contend this year, or in the near future, game one of the season was a memorable as the A’s began the Clock era of Baseball. At least for one-day the Oakland A’s are in first place after that very exciting opener at the Coliseum.

Clock History: In 1954 the NBA adopted the 24 seconds clock, limit to score when a team has the ball. In 1976 the NFL introduced a 30-second play clock to speed up the game, later extended it to a 40 second clock. In 2023 Major League Baseball has adopted a clock.