Sports Radio Service

Oakland Athletics’ Khris Davis is greeted at the plate during a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Seattle- The Oakland A’s won their third straight game as they downed the Seattle Mariner 7-4 Thursday night. Rookie Paul Blackburn, making his second start of the season, pitched deep into the game to win his first game as a member of the A’s. Blackburn went seven and two-thirds innings and allowed eight hits and just one run. A’s manager Bob Melvin had to be thrilled with Blackburn’s performance. The A’s also welcomed back Marcus Semien from the 60-day DL. Semien last played on April 14th and was out of action due to a broken bone in his wrist. To make room for Semien, the A’s placed Jharel Cotton on the 10-day DL.

The A’s got off to a good start in the first inning as they scored three times off Mariners starter Sam Gaviglio. With two men on, Yonder Alonso doubled to right to drive in Joyce with the A’s first run. Marcus Semien advanced to third on the play. Jed Lowrie, who is having a terrific season so far this year, stroked his 27th double of the year to deep right field to drive in two more runs.

The A’s scored four more in the top of the fifth. Khris “Krush” Davis, with two men aboard, unloaded his 24th homer of the year to make it 6-0. A’s catcher, Bruce Maxwell hit a solo homer to up the lead to 7-0, and that sent Gaviglio to the showers. The Mariners got a run on the board in their half of the fifth when Max Haniger hit his seventh of the year with no one on to cut the lead to 7-1.

The A’s were done scoring for the night, but Seattle rallied in the bottom of the ninth when their first baseman, former Athletic Danny Valencia and the man the A’s traded to Seattle for Blackburn, hit a three-run homer off lefty Daniel Coulombe. Melvin brought in his closer, Santiago Casilla, to finish the game and Casilla retired the last two Mariners to secure the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- The A’s Announced that Chris Smith will pitch in Cotton’s spot in the rotation. They also announced that Andrew Triggs has been placed on the 60-day DL as he struggles to recover from hip issues.

Game two of the four-game series will feature a battle between two left-handed pitchers. Sean Manaea (7-4, 3.75 ERA) will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by James Paxton ( 6-3, 3,27 ERA) The game will be played at Safeco Field in Seattle and game time will be at 7:05 pm.

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sonny Gray throws to the Chicago White Sox during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

On A’s podcast with Jerry:

The A’s got two victories in a row on Tuesday with a walk off homer from Franklin Baretto and on Wednesday the A’s got some timely hitting for a 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. The offense gave starter Sonny Gray some support and Gray pitched  very well on Wednesday. On Thursday the A’s opened up a three game series with Seattle the A’s wasted no time getting on the scoreboard scoring three times in the first to take a 3-0 lead on the Mariners.

Gray gave up two home runs one them to Sox rookie Matt Davidson who was designated hitter Wednesday and was hitting .250 and he hit his 18th home run of the year. The Sox have pop in the middle of their line up with Jose Abreau, Melky Cabrera, Todd Fraiser, Fraiser doesn’t hit for average but he did hit for a homer as the Sox wound up falling short by three runs losing 7-4.

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Oakland Athletics’ Yonder Alonso, left, is high-fived by teammates after scoring on a double from Bruce Maxwell during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND– Cuba is only 90 miles away from Florida, but it might as well be 9,000 miles away. Two totally different cultures, two totally different systems of government. For Cubans since the early 1960’s coming to the United States was the dream of a people looking for freedom, the freedom they are still denied in the largest island in the Caribbean. In Cuba the 1950’s American model cars are an attraction to tourist, not because the Cubans collect those cars, but because they had to keep those cars and fix them so they can survive. Such has been life for over half century in a country with a state-run economy, with no freedom and total centralized government control.Opposition in Cuba is simply not allowed by the government. It is as simple as that. I have friends that have visited Cuba recently and they tell me they have never seen any demonstrations in the street.

For those born here in the US, who take freedom for granted a trip to Cuba as a tourist might be nice, but I do not see anybody moving from this country to live in Cuba.

Yonder Alonso was 10 years old when his parents brought him and his sister Yainee to live in Miami. Alonso’s father was once a player in Cuba for the Havana Industriales, and later a coach, when an arm injury ended his career.

Yonder Alonso came to the Oakland Athletics in 2016, he began his career in Cincinnati in 2010-2011, then San Diego 2012-2015

This 2017 Spring Training I sat with Yonder Alonso in Mesa, Arizona, and talked with him about baseball and his second year he was about to begin with the Oakland Athletics. He told me he was working on a “new hitting approach”. Well, that new approach obviously has helped him to his best season to date in his eight years in the major leagues.

He found his power stroke and is on a pace to hit close to 40 homers and drive 90 or more runs. He told me in Spring Training how much he likes the role of teaching to the young A’s players, although he noted “tambien tenemos otros veteranos aqui como Matt Joyce y Jed Lowrie” -trans: “we also have other veterans here, like Matt Joyce and Jed Lowrie”. One of Yonder Alonso’s first public appearance as an Athletic, was during the 2016 A’s Fanfest, held at the Oakland Coliseum. He sat with me signing autographs for A’s fans at The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame table/exhibit.

Alonso is unassuming, quiet but a hard worker, and in many ways one of the veteran leaders inside a club house with young aspiring and talented rookies like Franklin Barreto (21), Matt Chapman (24), Matt Olson and others. They listen to Alonso when he talks baseball with them.

Yonder Alonso, born in La Habana, Cuba in 1987, took a trip to his homeland this past winter. He is as connected to baseball as any player today. Not only his father was a player in Cuba, but his brother-in-law is Orioles star third baseman Manny Machado, who in 2014 married Yonder’s sister Yainee. They are good friends, often seen at music concerts.

Next week Yonder will be one of the happiest baseball players in the world, he doesn’t have to hit a homerun, because this will be one of his lifelong dreams. Playing at the All Star Game in Miami, where he has lived since he was a small children, with his family and his Cuban roots.

Felicidades Yonder!

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the TV Spanish talent for the Angels, the radio Spanish talent for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oakland Athletics’ Rajai Davis, right, steals second base as Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson waits for the throw from home plate during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND- The Oakland A’s ended their six-game homestand with a win over the visiting Chicago White Sox by a score of 7-4. Sonny Gray, who pitched very well against Atlanta last week but lost the game, was very sharp Wednesday afternoon. Gray allowed the Sox just two hits and no runs in the first four innings of the game. He faltered a bit in the fifth when walked Todd Frazier to start the fifth.

Sox rookie Matt Davidson took Sonny deep, and the Sox were on the board with their first two runs of the game. Sonny settled down and pitched a scoreless sixth inning but his pitch count neared 100, and he was done for the day. Liam Hendriks pitched a solid seventh as he struck out the side and Ryan Madson retired the Chisox 1-2-3 in the eighth. Sean Doolittle was called upon to close out the game in the ninth. He struck out Melky Cabrera for out number one. Jose Abreu singled. Doolittle struck out Avasail Garcia for the second out. He had two strikes on Todd Frazier, but Frazier won the battle as he hit his 15th of the year to keep Chicago’s hopes alive. Doolittle reached back and struck out Matt Davidson to end the game and preserve the win for Oakland.

The A’s tallied the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Matt Joyce, playing right field, led off with a double to heft-center.  Jed Lowrie beat out the hit as he singled to left. Joyce advanced to third base on the play. Khris Davis grounded into a 4-3 double play that allowed Joyce to score. Yonder Alonso struck out to end the inning.

The A’s plated two more runs in the bottom of the third. With one out, Jed Lowrie singled. Pelfrey retired Khris Davis on a fly to right. He then walked Yonder Alonso to put men on at first and second with two out. A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell doubled to left-center. Lowrie scored from second, and Alonso made it home all the way from first. Pelfrey struck out Franklin Barreto to end the inning.

The A’s scored three more runs on three hits in the fourth. Center fielder, Jaycob Brugman broke a 0-for-13 slump when he hit a big fly that landed over the 400-foot mark in center field for his second homer of the year.  Chisox managervRick Renteria had seen enough, and he removed Pelfrey from the game. The first hitter to face the new pitcher, Gregory Infante, was Rajai Davis. Davis singled to continue the rally. Davis then lit up the crowd as he stole second and third Matt Joyce walked to put runners on first and third with one out. Joyce running on a 2-2 pitch stole second. Jed Lowrie singled to drive in Davis and Joyce. It was Lowrie’s third hit of the game. Khris Davis hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. The A’s lead 6-0 after four complete.

The White Sox put two runs on the board in the top of the fifth. Sonny Gray, cruising along as e allowed no runs and two hits in the first four innings of the game, had a little hiccup in the fifth. He walked Sox’ third baseman, Todd Frazier, to start the frame. Rookie Matt Davidson hammered his eighteenth dinger of the year that went way over the wall in center field. Sonny brushed it off, and he was ablet to retire the next three hitters to end the inning.

The A’s didn’t score in the bottom of the sixth, but Rajai Davis electrified the crowd with two more stolen bases. With two out, Davis singled to right. For the second time in the game, he stole second and third. The last time he had four steals in a game was July 28th, 2013 against the Houston Astros.

The A’s scored another run in the eighth. Bruce Maxwell walked and advanced to third on a Brugman single. Maxwell scored on a wild pitch to give the A’s the lead 7-2. Sean Doolittle is in to pitch the ninth. The White Sox rallied to score two runs. With one out, Jose Abreu singled. Doolittle struck out Avasail Garcia for the second out, but Todd Frazier rocked him for a home run to deep left field to make it a 7-4 game. Doolittle struck out Matt Davidson looking to end the game.

Game notes- The A’s had their running game going Wednesday afternoon. In addition to Rajai Davis’ four steals, Franklin Barreto and Matt Joyce each had one for a total of six swipes in the game. The A’s offense was also solid. Jed Lowrie led the A’s attack with three hits and two RBIs. Rajai Davis contributed two hits and four steals. Jaycob Brugman also had two hits, one of which was his second homer of the season.  Catcher Bruce Maxwell had a RBI double in the third inning, and he said that it was great that he had to “deliver for the team.” He also said that he “felt more locked in.”

Sonny Gray evened his record at 4-4 while the Sox’ starter Mike Pelfrey dropped to 3-7. Pelfrey struggled right from the start as he went just 3 and third innings and allowed five hits and four runs. In his three-plus innings of work, Pelfrey threw an astounding ninety-nine pitches.  After the game, Sonny said that “it was nice to have a six-run lead early in the game.  After he had given up the two runs in the fifth, Gray remarked that he was “able to shut it down and hand it over to the guys in the bullpen.”The A’s used four pitchers and Chisox manager Rick Renteria got a lot of exercise as he used five pitchers in the loss to the A’s.

Josh Phegley was not on the roster as the A’s granted him time off for paternity leave. His spot on the roster was taken by Ryan Lavarnway. Ryon Healy missed his third consecutive game due to back spasms. Healy should be ready for the Seattle series. Shortstop Marcus Semien is on track to come off the DL and will join the A’s in Seattle.

The A’s are on their way to the Emerald City of Seattle in the Great Northwest for a four-game series starting Thursday night. Bob Melvin has selected rookie Pul Blackburn to pitch the opener. Seattle’s talented lefty, James Paxton will go for the Mariners. Jharel Cotton will pitch for Oakland on Friday, and the Mariners are sending Andrew Moore to the hill. Moore is 1-1 with an ERA of 3.00. Cotton is 5-8, and his ERA is 5.17.

Time of game Wednesday was three hours and twenty-four minutes. There were 13,813 people in the stands to watch the A’s prevail.