That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s proving to be buyers, getting Kelly and Fiers; Halos’ Trout out day-to-day with wrist injury; Willie Mac takes the plunge at 80

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 The Oakland A’s are loading up proving that their buyers and they’re trying to seal the deal for the post season as they acquired pitchers from the Washington Nationals, Sean Kelly, and from the Detroit Tigers, Mike Fiers, this past week.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout is suffering from a right wrist contusion after an awkward slide last Wednesday to avoid a tag from the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Matt Duffy. Trout will be day-to-day, according to Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.

#3 Former San Francisco Giant first baseman and Hall of Fame legend Willie McCovey got married for the second time–his first marriage in the 1960s–with his longtime girlfriend Estela last week. McCovey had a great career and he was the other fence buster with his former teammate Willie Mays during the great ’60s.

#4 The Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez hit a curve ball in the sixth inning in Monday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals for his 25th home run of the season. Baez now has three home runs in his last four games.

#5 The Houston Astros are on pace to win 100 games as they came back in the top of the ninth down 1-0 and got a three-run home run from Marwin Gonzalez for the 3-1 win at AT&T Park over the San Francisco Giants. There are three teams in MLB on the 100-win pace: the Boston Red Sox (113 wins), the New York Yankees (100 wins), and the Astros (101 wins).

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play announcer, the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame, and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

One Bad Pitch: Giants come within one out of big win over World Champion Astros only to lose heartbreaker 3-1

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Big league baseball comes with the caveat that there can be some major league disappointments. The Giants, closer Will Smith and rookie starter Dereck Rodriguez suffered through an especially tough outcome on Monday night.

With the Giants and Rodriguez one out away from a wholely satisfying 1-0 victory, Smith surrendered a three-run home run to Houston’s Marwin Gonzalez that sent the Giants to a 3-1 loss. The Giants fell back to .500 (57-57) for the 21st time, and failed to close the gap between themselves and the division-leading Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

Rodriguez put the Giants in an advantageous spot, pitching seven innings of shutout baseball without the benefit of his best stuff. Backed by Brandon Crawford’s two-strike, two-out home run in the sixth, and Reyes Moronta’s perfect eighth inning, the Giants were in line for a fourth, 1-0 win of the season.

Rodriguez, the minor league free agent who signed with the Giants in November only to propel himself to be MLB’s top rookie starting pitcher this season, kept the Astros scoreless by relying heavily on his cutter and two-seam fastball in the absence of his good blazer, he said. Rodriguez threw seven innings, his second, consecutive start of that length, allowing three hits, no runs while striking out seven.

“When I’m out there it’s just me, Buster (Posey) and the hitter, whoever’s hitting, so I think that’s what’s helped me get to the point where I’m at, my concentration when I’m in the game,” he said.

But while Rodriguez cruised, the Giants’ hitters had their hands full with Charlie Morton, a pitcher with a decade of experience facing San Francisco hitters, and a trio of dominating performances, including two at AT&T Park.

Morton went seven innings, struck out eight, and was only dented by an off-speed pitch to Crawford that was off the plate, but waist high.

Morton controlled the rest of the Giants’ lineup, allowing harmless base hits to Evan Longoria and Joe Panik.

Smith fell into trouble prior to allowing the home run to Gonzalez, walking Alex Bregman, and Yuli Gurriel. There’s no security blanket for closers, and Smith probably needed one when facing Gonzalez.

“I felt fine,” Smith said. “Just lost control of the fastball tonight.”

Houston overcame the absence of sluggers Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer, and Brian McCann in the win. They welcomed Roberto Osuna, the flamethrower acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays despite his pending charges regarding domestic violence. Osuna pitched a perfect, eighth inning.

The Astros and Giants conclude their brief series Tuesday afternoon with Dallas Kuechel facing Madison Bumgarner at 12:45pm.

 

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Coming off a split with the Diamondbacks, the chase is on for first place as Giants open series with Astros at AT&T tonight

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photo by mercurynews.com: Giants third baseman Evan Longoria (10) gets a pat on the helmet from his teammates on Sunday at Chase Field after hitting the go ahead home run in the eventual win for San Francisco 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

The Giants come back tonight at AT&T Park after winning five out seven games. In Arizona, they got a split against the Arizona Diamondbacks, so keeping pace to climb in the standings continues in their chase to catch the two first place teams the D-backs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Big fly helps the Giants get the win in Arizona on Sunday as Giants’ third baseman Evan Longoria hit an eighth inning home run to break a 2-2 deadlock for the 3-2 win. The Giants’ first baseman Buster Posey returned after passing concussion tests and played at first on Sunday. Posey will be assuming his catching duties during this current homestand.

The Giants open against a tough customer, the Houston Astros, on Monday night. The Astros can hear the Oakland A’s footsteps as the A’s are now just four games behind the Astros in the AL West standings. So the Astros will be battling to keep pace as well as the Giants, who are in the hunt for first place.

Morris Phillips does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Preview for the upcoming 2-game series between the A’s and Dodgers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s host a two-game series with the Dodgers starting Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The teams met earlier in the season as they split a pair in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 10th and 11th.

The defending National League champion Dodgers are currently in a tie for first place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Colorado Rockies are two games back, and the San Francisco Giants are in fourth place.
The Dodgers acquired two players in July that they hope will propel the team to another NL West division crown. They made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles to get All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, and it appears that he will be nothing more than a two-month rental. Machado will be at shortstop for LA as Corey Seager is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery. The other key player is Brian Dozier, who is another former All-Star who still has a lot of pop in his bat.

Both games between the two clubs will feature battles of left-handed pitchers. Tuesday night, the Dodgers will send Rich Hill out to do the pitching. Hill, who was with the A’s in 2016, went to the Dodgers along with Josh Reddick for Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas, has a 4-4 record and a 3.63 ERA. Hill is on a roll as he has allowed only two earned runs in his last 20 innings of work. Anyways, the A’s will have their ace, Sean Manaea, toeing the rubber. Manaea has a 10-7 record, and he beat the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, allowing just one run and five hits. On Wednesday, the three-time NL Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw, will go for LA. Kershaw has a 5-5 record and has a 2.55 ERA. Kershaw has spent some time on the DL with back problems this year. The A’s will counter with Brett Anderson. Anderson has a 2-3 record and a 4.64 ERA. Anderson beat the Detroit Tigers last Friday, and he gave the A’s seven strong innings of work. The Dodgers’ closer was Kenley Jansen.

The Dodgers have a lot of power in their lineup. In addition to Machado and Dozier in the infield, Cody Bellinger will be playing first. Bellinger, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, is hitting .241 with 18 dingers and 50 RBI’s. Third base will be manned by Justin Turner. Turner spent a lot of the season on the DL. Nonetheless, Turner’s batting average is .259 and he has six homers and 22 RBIs. In case the Dodgers need someone to fill in on the infield, they can use Max Muncy or Chris Taylor. Muncy, a former Athletic, has found a home in LA. His average is .259, and he has crushed 24 home runs and knocked in 49. Taylor has 12 dingers and 50 ribbies to go along with a 2.55 batting average.

All four of the Dodger outfielders are in double-digits in the home run department. Kike Hernandez, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson all have hit 17 homers this year. Yasiel Puig has 14. Catching will be handled by Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes.

The A’s, winners of their last six games, are currently in second place in the AL West. They trail the first-place Houston Astros by just four games. In the race for the first Wild Card slot, they find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees. The first Wild Card team hosts the one-game playoff. The A’s, with a record of 67-46, have the fourth best record in baseball. Their win-loss record is better than any team in the National League. The A’ are 33-10 in their 43 games.

The A’s improved the bullpen with the acquisition of Shawn Kelly, and on Monday, they announced that the had made a trade with the Tigers for Mike Fiers. Fiers has a 7-6 record with a 3.48 ERA in 21 starts this year.

It should be a good series, and hopefully, the fans will pack the ballpark. There will be two contending teams with a lot on the line.

A’s In Overdrive: 6-0 shutout gives Oakland a clean sweep of the Tigers

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The 201st start of Trevor Cahill’s Major League career was quite simply his biggest to date, and from the beginning on Sunday, the 10-year veteran appeared intent on making it one of his best.

Cahill threw six innings of shutout ball, while striking out 10 batters, and the A’s cruised to a 6-0 win, sweeping their season series with the Tigers, seven straight. Cahill, who was signed to a second tour of duty with the A’s in the off-season, won his third consecutive start for the first time since 2012, when he was with Arizona. Cahill, along with Brett Anderson and Edwin Jackson, were supposed to serve as experienced stop gaps, but on the A’s month plus hot streak, the trio has provided much more.

“I feel confident when every one of our starters goes out there, I feel like we’re going to win,” Cahill said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

Cahill made his big league debut in 2009 and pitched for three mediocre A’s teams before he was dealt to Arizona prior to the 2012 season. In the desert, Cahill’s promise as a starter began to fade, and he finished the 2014 season working out of the bullpen. After brief stints with the Dodgers and Braves, Cahill signed with the Cubs and pitched out of the bullpen in their 2015 postseason run that ended in the NLCS versus the Mets. In 2016, Cahill made 49 appearances out of the bullpen, but was inactive in the postseason as the Cubs captured their elusive World Series title.

This spring, when Cahill reached terms to return to Oakland, he was joining his third team in less than two seasons, the embodiment of an aging–yet just 30-years old–pitcher, no longer a starter, or an effective reliever. Fast forward a couple of months, and Cahill appears to be another in a long list, like Dennis Eckersley, Frank Thomas, Josh Willingham and others who revived their careers at the Coliseum playing for the A’s.

Cahill took the mound on Sunday, in his first, late season start for a team in playoff contention in his career, and occupying a pivotal role for a club that appears to be set everywhere except in the starting rotation. While speculation persists that the A’s will add a starter or two through a waiver wire deal, Cahill has made his case, pitching better and better culminating with his appearance on Sunday.

In the first inning, Cahill allowed a leadoff single to Mike Gerber, then allowed the baserunner to advance when he threw wildly to second on a fielder’s choice play. But with the bases loaded and two outs, Cahill recovered, striking out Jim Aducci to end the inning.

From there, Cahill cruised, retiring James McCann to end the fourth inning, the only other time he faced a batter with a runner in scoring position. Afterwards, Cahill acknowledged that his job is much easier being on a club with two, obvious strengths in its bullpen and quick-strike offense.

“We know the bullpen is a strength,” Cahill said. “We know the guys can score, so it helps us out. Gives us confidence to go out there, trust our stuff. We have an offense that can pick us up if we do make a mistake. If we do get in a jam, our bullpen is really good, obviously.”

The A’s got all the offense they needed on solo shots from Khris Davis and Matt Chapman. Both sluggers also homered in Saturday’s game. But rookie callup Ramon Laureano racked up three hits and a RBI, proving that the A’s can put together offense without needing someone’s to hit the ball out of the park.

Oakland moved within four games of Houston in the AL West, and 2 1/2 games of the Yankees in the race for home field advantage in the AL Wild Card game as both teams lost one run ballgames on the road.

How hot are the A’s? Sizzling, as captured by their 43-game run in which they’ve now won 33 times. Besides sweeping Detroit and Toronto, home and away, the A’s won their sixth straight, the third time they’ve had a win streak of that length this season. And among the six, hottest clubs in MLB over the last 43 games, the A’s are the hottest, so hot, they’ve won eight more times than the Rockies and Indians, the fifth and sixth teams on that list.

On Tuesday, the A’s see the NL West-leading Dodgers in a two-game set that starts with Sean Manaea looking for his 11th win.

Aces drop their second straight game in 109-88 loss to Sun

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Photo credit: Las Vegas Aces

By Shawn McCullough

Head coach Bill Laimbeer knew that the All-Star Break layoff was a very important time for his team to remain focused on their playoff push, but what he feared is becoming reality.

The Aces have struggled losing their second straight game out of the break 109-88 to the Sun in Connecticut.

This is the second straight game that their opponent has scored over 100 points, a feat that no team has done against the Aces since May 31st when the Seattle Storm beat Las Vegas 101-74.

Rookie A’ja Wilson scored 24 points while point guard Kelsey Plum dropped 21, going 5 for 6 from three point range.

The Aces committed 14 turnovers while being out-rebounded 35-26.

With the loss, the Aces dropped to 12-15 on the season and are 1.5 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Aces will next play the Dream in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • The Aces took the lead early, but the Sun never trailed after 3:06 into the game.
  • A’ja Wilson scored in double figures (24) for the 27th straight game.
  • The 109 points given up by the Aces was the most in franchise history.
  • The WNBA announced that the 2019 All-Star Game will be held in Las Vegas.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 1 Tamera Young
C – 8 Carolyn Swords
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum

Longoria, bullpen lifts Giants past D-backs 3-2 to earn series split

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By Daniel Dullum

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Evan Longoria’s tie-breaking solo home run in the top of the eighth inning lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field Sunday, salvaging a split of the four-game weekend series.

While San Francisco remains five games back in the NL West race, Arizona fell into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place. The Colorado Rockies are in third place, two games behind.

The win gives the Giants a 4-2 road trip mark as they head home to host the Houston Astros in a two-game interleague series starting Monday.

“It was a well-pitched game by us,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “(Derek) Holland did a great job, the bullpen did a great job, and it made for a good road trip. It’s been a while for us to have some success on the road.”

Longoria was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double while extending his hitting streak to eight games. Andrew McCutchen was 1-for-2 with two walks.

“Cutch had a great series, Buster is swinging the bat well,” Bochy said. “That’s what it’s going to take. We scored enough runs, but (D-Backs starter Robbie Ray) was tough too. We found a way to get some runs.”

On Longoria’s recent success, Bochy said, “He seems more balanced up there. It looks like he’s seeing the ball well. … He’s a good hitter and it’s good to see him come back off the rehab and find his swing.”

The reconstituted bullpen got the job done for San Francisco. Ray Black (1-0) threw a 1-2-3 seventh and picked up the win. Tony Watson and Sam Dyson each logged a scoreless inning, and closer Will Smith struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the ninth to earn his seventh save.

“(The bullpen) all did a great job,” Bochy said. “Dyson came in with a tough situation and found a way to get out of it. Our pitching was there and we needed it.”

“We were sitting pretty good with the bullpen today. Those guys got some needed rest after getting worked pretty hard in that San Diego series. They were all fresh.

With one out in the eighth, Longoria sent a 2-ball, 2-strike delivery from Archie Bradley (3-3) over the left-center field fence near the 413-foot marker for his 12th home run of the season, breaking the 2-2 deadlock.

In the bottom of the eighth, the D-backs loaded the bases on a single by pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso, a walk to Paul Goldschmidt and Steven Souza was hit by Dyson pitch. With two out, Ketel Marte flied out to left, ending the D-Backs’ rally.

Steven Souza’s third home run of the season opened the scoring for Arizona in the second inning. San Francisco tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Andrew McCutchen singled with two out and scored on Evan Longoria’s single to center.

Arizona took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Eduardo Escobar hit a leadoff double and scored on Marte’s base hit. But the Giants tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth when Longoria doubled and scored when Nick Hundley tried to stretch a single and was thrown out at second.

Both starters went 5 1/3 innings. The Giants’ Derek Holland struck out six, walked two and gave up two earned runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Robbie Ray struck out eight and walked four while giving up seven hits.

“This is a tight race and we have to get things going,” Holland said. “It’s a great division and this is going to be a great race.

“But we really have to focus on ourselves. We’re playing great ball right now and keep playing our game every day from here on out.”

GIANTS JOTTINGS: The Athletic reports that the Astros will be without Jose Altuve, who will not be activated from the 10-day disabled list (sore right knee). … Attendance on Sunday was 27,884.

UP NEXT: The Giants will return home to host the Astros Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco will start right-hander Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.59) against Houston’s Charlie Morton (12-2, 2.90) on Monday, and left-hander Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.97) on Tuesday against Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel (9-9, 3.61).

Buzarnescu dominates to earn first career WTA title at Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic Final

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Photo credit: @MubadalaSVC

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was a moment Mihaela Buzarnescu has been waiting for a long time and now she can finally exhale. The 30-year old Romanian from Bucharest won the final of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in convincing fashion, only losing one game, over tournament darling Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-0 at the Spartan Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon. This is Buzarnescu’s first career WTA singles title.

Buzarnescu jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a dominating serve that had Sakkari running all over the court. There would be no third straight comeback from the Athens, Greece native Sakkari as Buzarnescu’s powerful returns were too much for Sakkari to handle. As the match wore out, Sakkari’s frustration showed as her unforced errors begin to pile up on her.

“I think she was extremely solid from the beginning of the match,” said Sakkari of Buzarnescu. “I felt like I didn’t have any solutions out there. My coach came on the court, told me to change my tactic. But I was not using my weapons, they were not there (for me) today.”

Buzarnescu dominated in all categories against Sakkari including first serve percentage, first and second serve points won and was perfect in break points saved.

Buzarnescu will climb to at least No. 21 in the WTA rankings when they’re released Monday, perhaps up to 20th. This marked her first championship victory in three tries after a runner-up showing this year in Prague, Czech Republic.

“I just didn’t give up,” said Buzarnescu, after recalling how knee injuries almost derailed her career early on. “I had my closest friends and my family that has supported me. They all trusted me and said I’m capable to come back and reach the top 100 (ranked players on the tour), which I never believed it would ever be possible. I think that was the key, that I didn’t give up.”

In the doubles final, the duo of Latisha Chan and Kveta Peschke cruised past the Ukrainian twin sister duo of Lyudmyla and Lidiia Kichenok by a final score of 6-4, 6-1 in a match that only took 68 minutes to complete.

For Chan, this was her 30th doubles title, and Peschke, her 26th doubles title on the WTA circuit. This was the first time the duo have played with each other.

“We know each other for quite some time,” said Peschke on how they came about to pair up for the tournament. “We both get a long very well. And it’s always easier if two people understand each other.

Tournament Notes: The tournament’s first time in San Jose, Calif. drew 20,105 total fans for the week, with the Serena Williams vs. Johanna Konta match on Tuesday night being the biggest individual draw of the tournament at 2,943.

Up Next: The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic returns next year for 2019 from July 29th to August 4th.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Giants’ injuries mounting, key players missing; Angels’ manager Scioscia to retire after 19 years; A’s win streak hits at 5 games

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Photo credit: @MLB

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:

1 Giants try to salvage final game of series vs. Diamondbacks. Buster Posey passes concussion test and was back in the Giants’ lineup on Sunday. Giants have mounting injuries to key players.

2 Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia will review stepping down after 19 years at the helm.

3 A’s rookie Ramon Laureano is the hero in Friday’s 13-inning win over Detroit. Swingin’ A’s keep rolling.

4 Astros’ All-Star Alex Bregman rips President Trump over LeBron James’ tweet.

5 Mets offers its fans free therapy to cope with team’s woes.

Daniel Dullum does it all–reporter covering Giants baseball in Arizona and does the MLB podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s win their fifth game in a row, downing the Tigers 2-1 on Saturday night

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Chappy HR
Chapman hit home run number 14 Photo @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND, Calif. — The announced attendance at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night was 33,668. They came to see the hometown Oakland Athletics, who started the game versus the Detroit Tigers in second place in the American League West and in the American League Wild Card playoff race. The big crowd also came to see a “Harry Potter” inspired fireworks show that would follow the contest.

The fans were treated to another A’s win as they beat the Tigers 2-1. It was the A’s fifth consecutive win as they have won every game of this current homestand. Oakland is now 20 games over .500 as they improved to 66-46 with 50 games left to play in the regular season.

The one question this reporter had after the game was – how many of the 33,668 paying customers really enjoyed the A’s win? It was a bit like taking a ride with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the Waybac Machine because it was not a typical 2018 MLB game. Strong pitching and good defense dominated the game with some hitting highlights thrown in for good measure.

Mr Peabody

It was my kind of game, but I am an “old guy.” I love a pitcher’s duel. I do not have to see a half dozen home runs to feel like I have been to a great game. I hope the veteran fans in the crowd on Saturday night helped the younger fans appreciate what they were seeing. It is a side of baseball I hope we never lose an appreciation for as fans.

There were home runs

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All of the A’s runs came via the long ball. Matt Chapman led off the third inning by hitting a 0-2 pitch from Jordan Zimmerman to straightaway center field for his 14th home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1. After Jed Lowrie lined out to center field, Khris Davis stepped into the batter’s box to face Zimmerman. Davis “crushed” his 30th home run of the year into the left field seats off the first pitch delivered to him. That gave the A’s a 2-1 lead which as it would turn out would be all they would need to win the game.

Davis became the sixth player in A’s history to hit 30-plus home runs in three straight seasons. The last Athletic to accomplish the feat was Miguel Tejada in 2000-02.

Pitching was very strong

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Edwin Jackson continues to be an amazing performer on the mound for the A’s. He worked 6.1 innings giving up one run (unearned) off five hits. Jackson struck out three Tigers and walked just one. He earned the victory which upped his record to 3-2 on the season with a 2.87 ERA. Not bad for a pitcher who started off in Triple-A while trying to get back to “the Bigs.”

Lou Trivino came on to relieve Jackson in the seventh inning and gave up just one hit and no runs in 1.2 innings on the mound. If you are an A’s opponent and are trailing late in the game, you watch Trivino work magic on the hill knowing that in the ninth inning the worst is yet to come.

And, the worst did enter the game in the ninth as Blake Treinen took the ball to close out the contest. It was not a perfect inning as he did allow one hit while striking out two batters. Treinen now has 28 saves for the year to go with his 0.95 ERA.

The Tigers’ Jordan Zimmerman lost his fourth decision in a row. He has not won a game since July 6 when he beat Texas. Zimmerman was 4-0 before the losing streak began.

Zimmerman threw 6.1 innings giving up two runs (both earned, both home runs) while striking out six and walking just three. Frankly, Zimmerman pitched well enough to win on almost any given night except this one.

Drew VerHagen pitched 1.2 innings of perfect relief for Detroit, but the Tigers could not produce any more runs.

Defense

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In a 2-1 game, there are many plays by the defense that should be talked about, but we are only going to mention two in this story.

The two plays that will be referred to were both made by rookie outfielder Ramon Laureano, who played in his second major league game on Saturday night. He was supposed to have the night off, but Mark Canha came down ill and Laureano was pressed into service.

In the top of the fifth inning with two out, the Tigers’ Mike Gerber hit a “flare” into left-center field. Laureano ran to his right, stretched out and put a glove on the ball but it popped out of his glove. Gerber saw the ball get away and immediately kept running for second base. Laureano jumped up and threw the ball to second baseman Jed Lowrie who put the tag down on Gerber who over-slid the bag in his haste to get the extra base. That was the third out of the inning and the crowd expressed their appreciation for the rookie in a very vocal manner.

Jeimer Candelario led off the top of the seventh inning for Detroit. He hit a 2-2 pitch from Jackson into right-center field that looked like it would fall in for a base hit. Laureano ran hard to his left then went into a controlled slide and made a great catch for the first out of the inning. Yes, the crowd went wild.

Quick notes for hardcore fans

  • Quick game – 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • A’s six hits – 10 strikeouts
  • Tigers’ seven hits – six strikeouts
  • Runners In Scoring Position

A’s 0-for-10 (Wow!)

Tigers 1-for-4

  • Team Left on Base

Oakland 7

Detroit 4

  • Errors

A’s 1

Tigers 1

Up Next
The A’s will go for the series sweep on Sunday when they will send RHP Trevor Cahill (3-2, 3.39 ERA) to the hill to face the Tigers’ LHP Francisco Liriano (3-5, 4.62 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM PST.