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By Morris Phillips

A wild pitch, a huge win and mild celebration: for the 2014 A’s, the rhythm of things doesn’t change even after the biggest win of the season to date.

The A’s received a gift in Joe Smith’s wild pitch that allowed Coco Crisp to score the winning run in a 2-1 win over the Angels. A pair of wins to start this series between the teams with the best records in baseball has erased the sour taste of last week’s 1-6 road trip and allowed the A’s to regain a share of first place in the AL West.

But for the resurgent home team—looking for the sweep on Sunday—and closer Sean Doolittle, it’s no time to get giddy or sidetracked.

“I think we did a good job of that today: not coming in too high off of last night’s win and getting right back down to business and winning a hard fought ballgame,” Doolittle said. “And that’s going to be key for us tomorrow—as corny and cliché as that sounds—that’s what we’re going to have to do is not look at the big picture. Obviously we’ve got that goal but we’re going to have to take it step-by-step in order to accomplish anything.”

Jon Lester got the start for the A’s and was as advertised, according to manager Bob Melvin, in pitching seven innings and allowing just one, game-tying run in the seventh.

“He brings a lot of tenacity and guys behind him can feel it,” Melvin said.

Lester kept the Angels in control by retiring the leadoff hitter in five of the seven innings and working quickly to benefit the defense behind him. Lester’s night almost ended perfectly but Erick Aybar was able to send the former Red Sox’s offering into center field. Aybar’s hit scored Howie Kendrick and allowed the Angels to tie the game.

But the A’s responded in the eighth, by getting base runners aboard and putting themselves in position to take advantage Smith’s blunder—a fastball that sailed over catcher Chris Ianetta’s glove.  Coco Crisp’s seeing-eye single up the middle started the rally, and he was at third courtesy of a couple of ground outs when Smith uncorked his wild pitch.

The A’s made it stick in the ninth when Doolittle finished the Angels off, allowing only a single to Howie Kendrick in gaining his 20^th save.

The A’s look for the sweep on ESPN’s Sunday Night broadcast with Scott Kazmir facing Jered Weaver of the Angels.

By Jeremy Harness

While the night before was good all the way around, Thursday was more of a mixed bag.

While they were more than thankful for the opportunity to finish the game from Tuesday that was halted by rain, to go along with a grounds-crew gaffe, the Giants could not make it all the way back in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

That game was finished off late Thursday afternoon, and they had only had about 40 minutes to bounce back for the rubber match. That did not turn out to be a problem at all.

Madison Bumgarner took the ball Thursday night and, even though he had to endure a three-run first inning from the Cubs, held on and did not allow a single run for the next six innings that he was on the mound.

In all, he gave up seven hits in seven innings while striking out 12 hitters. Meanwhile, his offense got hot around him and gave him plenty of run support, making it much easier to digest that rough initial frame.

In particular was catcher Buster Posey, who went 4-for-4 and smacked his 14th homer of the season to pace the Giants’ offense and allowed the team to take the three-game series from the Cubs.

It came at a great time, too. The Dodgers did not give up any ground in the National League West, as they rallied part the San Diego Padres to keep their division lead to three games.

Injury-wise, though, the Giants are struggling to stay afloat, and the news got worse on Thursday. According to reports, infielder Ehire Adrianza’s recovery from a strained groin has been very slow, and it is expected to sideline him until the end of September and is likely out for the season.

Meanwhile, catch Hector Sanchez suffered his second concussion of the season in a minor-league game, and there is no timeline on when he is expected to return.

However, there is a little more optimism concerning first baseman Brandon Belt and his return from a concussion, as he is reportedly expected to return in time for the stretch run.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, August 21, 2014

Going into this weekend, the surging Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have supplanted the Oakland Athletics atop the American League West Division, going 8-2 in their last 10 games, including a 2-0 win Thursday at Boston.

It’s getting interesting in the home stretch in the AL West, as the Athletics are now two games out of first after maintaining a season-long lead. While the Angels have been hot, the A’s are not. Oakland is 2-8 in its last 10, in part allowing Los Angeles to catch up.

This all matters because, with the one-game playoff, it’s paramount to win the division and avoid baseball’s version of Russian Roulette if possible. Oakland leads the Wild Card standings by 5.5 games over Detroit, with Seattle six back.

As the Tigers continue to fade, look for the Mariners to move up to that second Wild Card spot. Also look for newfound intensity to win the division and avoid facing Seattle (and Felix Hernandez) in a nine-inning showdown.

This scenario will help fuel a critical weekend series between the Angels and Athletics at the Coliseum. Sonny Gray will try to snap a personal four-start losing streak on Friday, with Jon Lester and Scott Kasmir the probables for Saturday and Sunday. The Angels will counter with Hector Santiago on Friday, C.J. Wilson on Saturday and Jered Weaver on Sunday.

The Angels’ rotation is suddenly in disarray after starter Garrett Richards suffered a season-ending injury (torn left patellar tendon on Thursday, when his knee gave out while trying to second base in a win over Boston.

Sunday’s game will be the ESPN Sunday Night selection.

During the Saturday A’s-Angels games, the Chevron Stem Zone, an interactive exhibit that explores the scientific concepts of baseball, will be on display behind sections 201 and 217. A fireworks show follows the game. The Stem Zone display is free with a game ticket.

By Jeremy Harness

Oh, how quickly things can turn around.

The night before, the Giants must have felt that the baseball gods were working against them, but less than 24 hours later, they were feeling the exact opposite.

They filed a protest with Major League Baseball following the incident on Tuesday night, which saw a 20-minute rain storm turn into a four-hour rain delay due to the fact that the grounds crew at Chicago’s Wrigley Field could not get the tarp down in nearly enough time.

As a result, the game was called, which was ruled a 2-0 win for the Cubs after only four-and-a-half innings of play. The odds were stacked against them, since the last time a team had won a game protest was way back in 1986.

However, moments before first pitch Wednesday, the Giants got word that they had won their protest. As a result, the loss has come off the record for now, and that the two teams will play the remainder of that game on Thursday before their regularly-scheduled contest.

The Giants used that positive momentum by going out Wednesday and burying the Cubs, 8-3, as starter Jake Peavy continued to pitch very well and now has a two-game winning streak.

Unlike the better part of his Giants tenure, the Giants’ offense gave Peavy plenty of support. They pounded starter Edwin Jackson for seven runs on eight hits in only 2 2/3 innings.

Peavy took it from there. He went seven solid innings and, although he surrendered 10 hits, he minimized the damage very effectively and gave up only two runs while striking out eight hitters and not walking a single batter.

Joe Panik, who is quickly establishing himself as the team’s possible long-term solution at second base, had three hits to increase his batting average to .295. Meanwhile, Travis Iskikawa, long considered to be a 4-A player (too good for Triple-A but not quite good enough for the big leagues), also collected three hits while driving in three runs.

To make things even better, the Dodgers fell to the San Diego Padres Wednesday night, which narrowed the Dodgers’ lead in the National league West to three games.

BY PAUL GACKLE

OAKLAND — The Jon Lester trade drew immediate skepticism and criticism of the Jeff Samardzija deal is sure to gain momentum in the wake of the A’s 8-5 loss to the New York Mets at the O.co Coliseum on Wednesday.

Samardzija surrendered seven earned runs to the Mets over 3 2/3 innings as the A’s dropped their sixth game in seven outings.

Despite the trades for Lester and Samardzija, the A’s trailed the Los Angeles Angels by a full game as their AL West rivals took the field in Boston on Wednesday night.

“It was a big game today and I didn’t do my part, so it stings,” Samardzija said.

The A’s struggles at the plate minus Cespedes have been well documented, but now the team’s starting pitching is struggling, too. The rotation is 2-7 with a 5.54 ERA over its last nine starts.

The rotation’s woes are concerning because the A’s gave up Cespedes and top prospect, Addison Russell, in hopes of boasting the most potent staff in baseball.

But Jason Hammel, acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Russell deal, is 1-5 with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts with the A’s while Samardzija is 3-3 with a 4.34 ERA in nine starts with the club.

Samardzija pitched well in his first month with the team, becoming the first A’s pitcher since Jesse Flores in 1943 to toss seven or more innings in each of his first four starts with the club. In recent weeks, though, he’s struggled, surrendering 18 earned runs over his last five starts.

Despite his recent struggles, Manager Bob Melvin said the A’s are confident in Samardzija’s ability.

“He’s pitched some really good games for us,” Melvin said. “Today was really the one tough game that he’s had overall as far as his numbers go, so it’s kind of a short sample what he’s done for us. But he’s a killer. He wants to be out there, he wants the ball and we’re confident when he takes the mound.

After retiring the first six batters, Samardzija gave up five earned runs in the third — a solo home run to Eric Campbell and then four two out runs, including a three-run shot to Lucas Duda.

The trouble started when Curtis Granderson poked a two out single to left field with the shift on and Daniel Murphy reached base with a single of his own. After David Wright walked, Granderson scored on a wild pitch from Samardzija and Duda supplied the fireworks with a three-run shot to center.

The A’s battled back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Mets tagged Samardzija for two more runs in the top of the fourth, regaining a five-run lead.

With the Angels coming to town for a three-game set over the weekend, Melvin said the A’s need to move past the loss.

“We have an off day tomorrow to clear our heads and we know it will be an exciting series and a big series,” he said.

By Jeremy Kahn

In one of the strangest games of the season, the San Francisco Giants saw their brief two-game winning streak come to an embarrassing end.

After a four hour 34 minute delay, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Giants 2-0 in a game that was called after four and a half innings.

The game was called due to a malfunction with the tarp at the 100-year ballpark on the North Side of Chicago.

Ryan Vogelsong pitched an outstanding game despite the fact that he took the loss on this mist bizarre night at Wrigley Field.

Vogelsong gave up a two-run home run to Anthony Rizzo in the bottom of the first inning, a home run that scored accounted for all the runs needed.

On the evening, Vogelsong went four innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking two and striking out four.

Tsuyoshi Wada pitched five innings to get the win, as he did not allow a run on six hits, nit walking a batter and striking out three.

It was the 29th home run of the season for Rizzo, who drove in Javier Baez, who walked just prior to Rizzo’s home run off of Vogelsong.

By:Phllip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers will look to earn their first win of the preseason on Sunday as they will host the San Diego Chargers in the second preseason home game at Levi’s Stadium.

The 49ers were defeated by Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos 34-0 yesterday in the preseason home opener at Levis. San Francisco’s first team offense moved the ball but were unable to put any points on the board because of two missed field goals by kicker Phil Dawson.

Coach Jim Harbaugh said that he was not worried about his offense putting up only 3 points in their first two preseason games. Harbaugh commented on the upcoming week in preparation for the Chargers.

“It’s going to be a big week, we need to make decisions on who we are going with. We cant keep experimenting,” said Harbaugh.

The Chargers will be the third prrseason game, and the third gane of the exhibition season typically results in the increase of playing rime for starters for most teams.

The new stadium brought a lot of excitement to the game, but quarterback Colin Kaepernick said it did not make much of a difference on the field.

“When you’re on the field a field is a field. It didnt make too much of a difference. I think here we’ll get more noise in our favor, but thats about it,” said the dual threat quarterback.

The 49ers will host the Chargers this Sunday at 1 pm before wrapping up the preseason in Houston with the Texans the following week.

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics lost to the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Sunday night. The win completed the Braves’ sweep of the A’s in the three game series. The loss was the A’s fifth in a row and it kept them from retaking the lead in the AL West from the Angels.

The loss was also John Lester’s first defeat as member of the Oakland A’s. Lester (13-8) worked 6.0 innings giving up four runs (3 earned) on six hits. Lester’s downfall on Sunday night was the long ball. He gave up two home runs that accounted for the three earned runs. Lester’s cut fastball was not fooling the Braves’ hitters.

Mike Minor (5-8) had a quality start for the Braves. He threw 7.0 innings giving up two runs (both earned) on four hits. Minor struck out seven and walked two hitters. He issued two home runs.

Craig Kimbrel entered to close out the game for Atlanta. He threw 99-100 mph fastballs and 88 mph breaking balls. Kimbrel struck out two on his was to his 37th save of the season.

Nate Freiman put the Athletics on the board first with a no doubt about it 459-foot home run to straight-away center off Mike Minor in the top of the second inning. It was Freiman’s third home run of the season.

The Braves came back to the tie the game in the bottom of the second inning. Justin Upton hit a lead-off single to center off Jon Lester. Chris Johnson then hit a sharp liner to the third baseman Josh Donaldson. Donaldson threw to first base in an attempt to double-up Upton. The ball hit Upton and rolled into the Braves dugout. That caused Upton to be placed at third base. Evan Gattis hit a single to right field that allowed Upton to score the tying run. The score was tied 1-1 after two innings of play.

The Braves took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Phil Gosselin led off the inning with a single to right field. With one out, Justin Upton came to the plate with a runner on at first. Upton took a 0-2 cut fastball from Lester over the left field wall for a two run home run (23). The Braves led the A’s 3-1 after four innings.

The A’s made it a one run game in the top of the seventh inning when Nate Freiman took a slider from Minor over the left field fence for his second home run of the night. The A’s trailed the Braves 3-2 after six and one-half innings.

The Braves struck back in the home half of the seventh inning. Chris Johnson led off the inning by taking a 2-1 Lester cutter over the fence in left field giving the Braves a 4-2 lead. When Evan Gattis followed up with a single and that was the end of Lester’s night on the mound. Dan Otero came on in relief and closed out the inning. After seven complete innings, the Braves led the A’s 4-2.

Sam Fuld was brought in as a pinch hitter for Otero to lead off the top of the eighth inning. Fuld hit a 2-2 changeup from reliever Anthony Varvaro into center field. B.J. Upton misplayed the ball and Fuld moved to third on the double and an error. Coco Crisp hit a sacrifice fly to left that allowed Fuld to score. James Russell replaced Varvaro. Josh Donaldson singled off Russell but was stranded at first base. The A’s trailed the Braves 4-3 after the top of the eighth.

Kimbrel came out of the bullpen to record the save and to preserve the Braves’ victory.

The A’s have Monday off and then have a two game series with the Mets in Oakland that will be followed by a three series with the Los Angeles Angels at the Coliseum.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-There is one player that will be disappointed the San Francisco Giants will be going on the road and that is Michael Morse.

During the five game home stand, Morse went 9-for-14, including a 3-for-3 day and the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 before a crowd of 41,851, the 310th consecutive sellout at AT&TPark.

Morse singled in all three at-bats, as the Giants won back-to-back games for the first game since August 3 and 4, when they won two straight against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

This was the first time that the Giants back-to-back game at home since winning five in a row from May 27 thru June 8.

Tim Lincecum went five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out two, as he won for the first time since defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 11.

Chase Utley gave the Phillies the lead in the first inning, as he tripled in Jimmy Rollins, who walked with one out.

The Giants took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, as Brandon Crawford singled in Morse and Andrew Susac, who each singled prior to Crawford and on a throwing error by Marlon Byrd, Crawford advanced all the way to third base.

After the Giants took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, the Phillies tied it right back in the top of the third inning, as Cody Asche walked with the bases loaded to score Byrd with the tying run.

Lost in all this was the pitching performance by Phillies starter David Buchanan, who went six and two-third innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on nine hits, walking one and striking out four.

Javier Lopez came into the game to replace Lincecum in the top of the sixth inning, and allowed just one hit, while striking out three before giving way to Jean Machi, who struck out the only batter he faced.

Sergio Romo came in the eighth inning, allowing one hit and striking out three, before giving way to Santiago Casilla, who retired the Phillies in order to notch his 10th save of the season.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-After falling behind the Philadelphia Phillies early in the game, the San Francisco Giants made a dramatic comeback.

Gregor Blanco capped that comeback, as he singled in Joe Panik in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Giants came back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat the Phillies 6-5 at AT&T Park.

Michael Morse picked up three hits, as he doubled twice and tripled, as the Giants won for the second time in the last three games after losing five in a row.

Jeremy Affeldt pitched one and one-third innings to pickup his third win of the season, while Sergio Romo came on to get the final two outs for his 23rd save of the season.

Things looked bleak for the Giants in the early going, as the Phillies took a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning after they scored three runs to chase Giants starter Tim Hudson, who lasted just four innings, allowing five runs and eight hits.

Ryan Howard picked up three hits and drove in three runs for the Phillies, while leadoff man Ben Revere went four-for-five in the heartbreaking defeat.

After picking up three more hits versus Hudson, Howard raised his career batting average against up to .343 (24-for-70).

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick lasted five innings, giving up four runs and allowing eight hits.

Panik led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a triple, and then Blanco singled in the eventual winning run.

Five Giants relievers combined to not allow a run over the final five innings.

The Giants began their rally in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Buster Posey to get the rally started, then Pablo Sandoval singled and then a morse doubled in Posey and Adam Duvall walked.

After the Duvall walk, Panik and Blanco both singled in runs and then Angel Pagan tied up the game with a sacrifice fly to score Duvall.