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Semien, Venditte Play Heroes in Extras One Last Time in 2015

Published on October 4, 2015 by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The season is just about over for the Oakland Athletics with only one game remaining for the Green and Gold. That didn’t keep the A’s from milking every last moment of the 2015 season Saturday at Safeco Field where Oakland (68-93) topped the Seattle Mariners 7-5 in extra innings.

Marcus Semien launched a two-run shot in the top of the 13^th inning to give the A’s a two-run lead and lefty Felix Doubront notched his first save of the season. The A’s blew a 4-0 lead but received 7 innings of scoreless ball from the bullpen after Daniel Coulumbe blew the 4-run edge.

Midseason acquisition Danny Valencia continued to impress , launching his 18^th home run of the season off Roenis Elias in the top of the 1st inning. The homer also plated Brett Lawrie and Mark Canha for a 3-0 lead. The A’s added a run in the 3^rd inning on a fielder’s choice ground out by Stephen Vogt with the bases loaded.

The M’s (75-76) responded in the bottom half of the frame, touching A’s starter Sean Nolin up for a trio of runs on Robinson Cano’s 21^st homer of the season. The long ball came with a pair of runners on base and two outs in the inning.

The 6^th inning proved to be the fatal inning for the A’s, with reliever Coulombe looking to preserve the one-run lead. After Seattle loaded the bases, Coulombe managed to induce a double play off the bat of Jesus Sucre that scored one. Ketel Marte pick up the two-out base hit, plating Shawn O’Malley to give Seattle a 5-4 lead.

The Fernandos, Rodriguez and Abad respectively, pitched a perfect 7^th and 8^th inning to give the A’s a chance with the final three outs of the contest. Former Mariner close Tom Wilhemsen entered the game in dubious fashion, walking Billy Burns then plunking Mark Canha to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. A wild pitch moved the tying run within 90 feet, with Brett Lawrie cashing it in on a sacrifice fly to left field to knot the score at 5-5. Edward Mujica pitched a perfect ninth to force extra innings.

Switch pitcher Pat Venditte (2-2, 4.40 ERA) performed brilliantly in his relief stint. The ambidextrous reliever pitched three innings without surrendering a hit, punching out three Mariners. His outing earned him the win, setting Semien up for the clutch homer.

Stephen Vogt opened the 13^th inning with a single to right off reliever JC Ramirez. Semien then came up to the plate, working a 3-1 count before tagging Ramirez (1-2, 5.32) for the homer and the loss. Doubront pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning for his first save since 2011 and 4^th of his career.

Oakland and Seattle wrap up the regular season with a Sunday matinee, pitting the A’s Chris Bassit against Seattle’s Vidal Nuno.

The A’s are in Seattle for the last three games of the year.

Published on October 1, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s end their dismal season against the almost equal underperforming Seattle Mariners. The A’s made a lot of moves after the 2014 season. They added young pitching and received some position players in the trades with the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and the San Diego Padres. The A’s also made controversial trades during the 2014 season, too. They sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for Jon Lester. They sent prized shortstop prospect, Addison Russell, to the Chicago Cubs for Samarzidja and Hammels. The A’s barely made it to the playoff and were eliminated by the Kansas City Royals. The A’s hoped the moves would work. However, they had a terrible season. The A’s starting pitching rotation suffered a lot of injuries. Graveman, Hahn, Chavez, Bassitt all spent time on the disabled list Closer Sean Doolittle, a former All-Star, missed most of the season due to a shoulder injury. Evan Scribner and Drew Pomeranz are also on the Disabled list. The A’s used thirty pitchers in 2015, a new club record. The bullpen was a disaster.They blew a ton of saves and just couldn’t get anyone out.

The Mariners also had high hopes for the season. The Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik made some moves after the 2014 season to help the offense. The Mariners signed Nelson Cruz as a free agent from the Orioles. Cruz hit 40 homers in 2014 and has surpassed that total this year. Zduriencik increased the Mariners payroll. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager and Seth Smith add up to 80 million dollars. Many of the baseball “insiders” picked the Mariners to win the AL West. The Mariners felt they had a strong rotation with Hernandez, Tijuan Walker, James Paxton and Hisashi Iwakuma. Unfortunately for Seattle, Iwakuma and Paxton were both injured. Iwakuma made just nineteen starts. His record is 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA. The lefty Paxton is on the DL and posted a 3-4 win-loss record but had a decent 3.90 ERA. The Mariners bullpen also suffered injuries. Mike Montgomery had sixteen saves in sixteen opportunities, but he is on the DL. Reliever Danny Farquhar joined him on the DL. The closer’s role was handled by Carson Smith with thirteen saves and Tom Wilhelmsen, who appeared in 51 games and recorded twelve saves.

The Mariner offense was sluggish all year. Zduriencik made a trade with the Arizona D-Backs and brought in Mark Trumbo to help with the offense. The Mariners could not get it going all season. On August 28th, the Mariners relieved him of his duties and just announced the hiring of Jerry DiPoto as the new GM this past Monday.

The Mariners also announce that their ace, Felix Hernandez is done for the year. Hernandez’ record is 18-9 with a 3.53 ERA. The A’s are not unhappy about him not being available to pitch against them this weekend. Mariner manager Lloyd McClendon said this about Hernandez “Felix has given me his heart and soul this year, and I don’t want to stress him anymore than I have to. This is the right thing to do. Felix is, I’m sure, not happy about this.”

Let’s take a look at what’s at stake this weekend. For both the A’s and Mariners, the games are meaningless. The Mariners are going to finish in fourth place in the AL West and the A’s are will finish last. The players on both teams, however, will not go through the motions even with nothing on the line. The players want to show the manager, coaches and General Managers of the respective teams that they are valuable and should be included in the teams plans for 2016. The A’s have not done well against the Mariners this year as they have lost twelve of the sixteen games played. They would like to send a message to Seattle that they are not patsies and to be on the lookout for them in 2016.

However, with Billy Beane running the show in Oakland, no one on the roster is safe with the exception of Sonny Gray. On the other hand, Jerry DiPoto will be scrutinizing his 40 man roster and may be moving players, too.

The pitching matchups have been announced. For the Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma pitches Friday night, Vidal Nuno (1-5,3.80 ERA in nine starts) on Saturday and Roenis Elias(5-8 3.39 ERA) on Sunday. The A’s counter with Aaron Brooks(2-4) on Friday, left Sean Nolin on Saturday and a pitcher to be named later on Sunday. That’s it for 2015. Neither team will be in the playoffs and rebuilding appears to be in both teams immediate future. Stay tuned, fans.

The A’s rally, then hold on to beat the Angels

Published on September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s beat the Angels Wednesday night by a score of 8-7. The game had a lot of intrigues. First of all, Barry Zito started for Oakland in what was probably the final game of his career. Barry played seven seasons for the A’s and seven seasons for the San Francisco Giants. He won the Cy Young award in 2002 and won two championship rings with the Giants in 2010 and 2012. He was the epitome of a professional. Barry had a rough year in 2010 and was not included on the World Series roster that year. He never complained. Two years later, he came through big time for the Giants and helped them to their second title.Barry did not pitch in 2014 but in 2015 he attempted to join the A’s. The A’s rotation was set, and that meant that Barry would have to go to Nashville. Barry performed well, but he slowed down late in the season and thought his career was over. However, due to injuries to the A’s starters, he was called up to the Majors and started last Saturday against his old teammate and Friend Tim Hudson. Barry left after two innings of work. Again, he thought his pitching days were over but Bob Melvin informed him that he would be starting Wednesday against the Angels. Sonny Gray was supposed to start, but Gray’s season ended with an injury. Zito pitched well. He went four innings and allowed two runs and just four hits. He threw 76 pitches. He probably could have pitched another inning, but the A’s felt that he would not be effective as his arm strength had diminished since coming back from the injury.

The Angels entered the game just one-half game ahead of the Houston Astros in the race for the second Wild Card spot. If the Angels are to make the playoffs, they cannot afford to lose any games. Lots of pressure on them. They had won seven straight before Wednesday’s game, and the A’s were looking to upset the applecart. Garrett Richards was on the hill for the Angels, and the scoring follows below.

The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Centerfielder Mike Trout, last year’s Most Valuable Player in the American League, hit a solo home run to center. It was Trout’s forty-first dinger of the season.

In the top of the fourth the A’s scored three unearned runs to take a 3-1 lead. With one out, Josh Reddick singled. Danny Valencia reached on an error by Johnny Giavotelal. Stephen Vogt walked to load the bases. Brett Lawrie hit a grounder to third and Angels’ third baseman, David Freese, threw a strike to the catcher to get a force out on Reddick. Had the error not been made the Angels would have been out of the inning. However, Eric Sogard now had the opportunity to do damage. He came through with a line shot down the right field line that cleared the bases. A’s in the lead.

The Angels made it a 3-2 game in their half of the fourth. David Freese led off with a solo homer to left center. The Angels scored three times in the sixth. Catcher Carlos Perez reached on a single but was able to make it to third when Same Fuld misplayed the ball. Johnny Giavotella atoned for his error by hitting a home run. Erick Aybar followed with a single and scored on a double by Kole Calhoun. Angels lead 5-3 after six.

The A’s scored four times in the seventh. Sogard reached on an error. Coco Crisp, pinch-hitting for Jake Smolinski, singled. Billy Butler, pinched hit for Sam Fuld, drew a walk to load the bases. The Angels brought in pitcher Trevor Gott to face Mark Canha. Canha responded with a bloop single to center to drive in Sogard. Josh Reddick walked to force in the second run of the inning With the bases still loaded; Vogt singled to drive in two more runs and the A’s now lead 7-5.

The A’s added a run in the eighth when Marcus Semien tripled. The ball got by Trout as he lost the ball in the lights. Semien scored when Crisp’s sharp ground ball went through first baseman C.J.Cron’s leg for an error. The Angels’ Carlos Perez got the run back when he homered in the bottom of the eight. Angels trail 8-6 with one out. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Sean Doolittle to shut the Angels down. Doolittle retired the next two batters to finish the eighth.

In the ninth, the Angels had the big boys coming up to bat. Doolittle had to face Calhoun, Trout, and Pujols. Calhoun homered to make it a one-run deficit 8-7. Doolittle retired Pujols and Cron. David Freese singled to put men on at first and third with two out. Former Athletic Collin Cowgill then hit a sharp ground ball to A’s third baseman Danny Valencia. Valencia threw him out at first to end the ball game. A’s win 8-7.

Game Notes- There were some oddities in the game. The A’s scored seven unearned runs in the game. The Angels made four errors while the A’s made two. The Angels hit five home runs. Four were solo, and one was a two-run job. Each team used seven pitchers.

The A’ announced that catcher Carson Blair had successful left knee surgery and that he should be ready for spring training.. The A’s have the day off on Thursday and head to Seattle for the final three-game series of the season. The Angels are on their way to Arlington, Texas to face the Rangers and will have to sweep them if they are to win the AL West crown. Houston will either be a half-game ahead of the Angels or a half- game behind depending on the outcome of the game in Seattle.

The pitching matchups for Friday’s game with the Mariners will be Aaron Brook (2-4) going against Hisashi Iwakuma (9-6)

Attendance at Angel Stadium was 34,033, and the Angels drew over three million people this year.

The Angels walk-off in the ninth to defeat the A’s

Published on September 28, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s lost to the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 Monday night in Anaheim. The A’s lost for the eighth time in their last nine games and they continue to lose one-run games. The Angels entered the game trailing the Houston Astros by just 1/2game in the race for the second Wild Card spot. Oakland would like nothing better than to beat LA and derail those hopes.

The A’s took an early 1-0 in the top of the first. Angels’Lefty Hector Santiago gave up a single to Billy Burns. Santiago hot Mark Canha with a pitch to put men on at 1st and 2nd with no out. Brett Lawrie grounded out and Burns advanced to third on the play. Billy Butler flew out to center. Burns tagged, but Mike Trout’s throw from center appeared to nail him. Burns put on the brakes, but he couldn’t make it back to third safely. Two miscues by the Angels allowed Burns to score..

The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the third. Catcher Chris Iannetta walked to get the rally started. Johnny Giavotella doubled to center to drive in Iannetta. Burns was charged with an error as Giavotella reached third on the play. Shortstop Erick Aybar doubled to drive in Giavotella. Angels lead 2-1.

The A’s tied the game in the fourth. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien took Santiago deep for his fourteenth homer of the year. The Angels scored a run in their half of the fourth. 3-2 after four.

The A’s scored twice in the top of the sixth. Santiago hit Brett Lawrie with a pitch. Billy Butler doubled to put two men in scoring position.Jake Smolinski flew out to right driving in Lawrie with the tying run. Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia brought in Cory Rasmus for one batter then replaced him with lefty Jose Alvarez. Coco Crisp, batting right-handed, blooped a single to right to drive in Butler. The Angels tied the game in their half of the inning. Albert Pujols hit his thirty-eighth home run of the year and 558th of his career. Game tied at four.

The game ended in the bottom of the ninth. Edward Mujica took the loss. C.J.Cron singled. David Freese hit a “swinging” bunt. Mujica fielded the ball but threw it past first for an error. The A’s walked Shane Victorino to load the bases. Fernando Abad replaced Mujica. Pinch-hitter David Murphy singled to left to drive in the winning run. Angels win 5-4.

A’s fall 5-4 in Bay Bridge series finale, marking their team-record 33rd one-run loss

Published on September 28, 2015 by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

In their season home finale on Sunday, the A’s found themselves just short again, losing by one run to the Giants, 5-4, and setting a new team-record for one-run losses at 33 in the pain-staking process.

Unfortunately for the A’s, in the case, the numbers do add up.

Prior to the stretch drive of last season, the A’s dealt slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox to acquire pitcher Jon Lester, a performer they hoped would propel them to a World Series appearance. Then in the off-season, third baseman Josh Donaldson was shipped to Toronto. Both players have had MVP-quality seasons for their new clubs, combining for a whopping 76 home runs.

In addition, closer Sean Doolittle missed all but the final month of 2015 due to various injuries. In his place, six different relievers earned at least one save for the A’s, but they were no equal of what Doolittle provided, combing for a paltry total of 25 saves.

A team without a transcendent hitter in the middle of the lineup capable of turning around games with a single swing of the bat, and no closer to protect those narrow, late game leads will lose a lot of close ballgames. And therein lies the story of the 2015 A’s: Oakland won just 34 home games in 2015, one more than the number of one-run ballgames that they lost.

“If we win a little bit more, half, or more than half of those (one-run) games, we’d probably be right there in contention with this division,” Josh Reddick said.

“It’s indicative of our season,” Stephen Vogt said of the one-run buggaboo. “Also kind of indicative of our season is that we had the winning run at the plate (on Sunday).”

Against the Giants and pitcher Chris Heston, the A’s fell behind 5-0 on Sunday. But they battled back with a pair of runs scored in the fifth and then again in the sixth inning. But the A’s went quiet after that, failing to score in any of the final three frames, as Giants’ closer Santiago Casilla struck out Billy Burns with the tying run on base to end the ballgame.

The A’s didn’t need another reminder of what they were missing in 2015, but there Casilla stood shaking hands with his Giants’ teammates after the final out at the O.co Coliseum in 2015. Casilla pitched three full seasons in Oakland, totaling just four saves. In the following six seasons with the Giants, Casilla has racked up 91 saves and three World Series titles.

Did we mention that Donaldson is the presumptive AL MVP award winner with 122 RBI?

NOTES: The Giants won in Oakland for only the fourth time since the beginning of the 2010 season. San Francisco entered the Bay Bridge series just 2-11 in their previous 13 games at the O.co Coliseum. A’s starter Sean Nolin lasted just 2 1/3 innings on Sunday, allowing all five Giants’ runs in the process. The September callup allowed at least five hits in each of his five starts, and failed to pitch into the seventh inning of any of those appearances. Brett Lawrie committed his team-worst 24^th error in the third, allowing Brandon Crawford to reach on his errant throw. Crawford later scored in that inning to put the Giants up 4-0.

Danny Valencia left Sunday’s game after being hit by a pitch on the elbow. He will be further evaluated on Monday. Sonny Gray is not expected to pitch again this season, although manager Bob Melvin kept the possibility open pending another evaluation of Gray’s condition on Monday.

A’s Barry Zito and Tim Hudson find the juxtaposition of competition and adulation to be a difficult mix

Published on September 27, 2015 by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

As both a fan, and a honoree on Saturday, Mark Mulder had one wish: that his former teammates, Barry Zito and Tim Hudson, could really compete against each other, Zito pitching and Hudson batting.

“That would have been better because Huddy used to always brag about how he would have raked Zito,” Mulder recalled.

In an afternoon of nostalgia mixed with big-time competition, Zito versus Hudson also might have been an opportunity for the A’s starter to record a critical out early. Zito saw his afternoon on the mound end all to soon, after one batter in the third inning, having allowed six hits, including a home run, and the A’s trailing 4-3.

Hudson didn’t even make it that far as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift the 40-year old pitcher just one week away from his retirement from baseball in the second inning. Huddy never looked comfortable, walking three and being charged for all three runs scored by the Giants in the second.

“It’s hard to be a fan and also compete too,” Zito said in trying to explain the difficult juxtaposition both pitchers faced, needing to compete while absorbing the adulation of a sellout crowd. “It usually one or the other. So it was definitely great to be part of it and I enjoyed it walking out there and getting a warm reception from the fans. Seeing how they responded to Huddy was awesome. You got to keep a mindset too.”

Both managers certainly did, desperately wanting to win as usual. Bob Melvin saw his unpopular decision to lift Zito pay off when the A’s responded with five runs in the third to take an 8-4 lead. Melvin’s tolerance for anything other than recorded outs was obvious; he used eight pitchers in the ballgame, none lasted longer than the 2 2/3 innings pitched by Aaron Brooks. But the Giants had the bats working, scoring the final seven runs of the ballgame to win 14-10.

Jarrett Parker, the 26-year old September callup for the Giants, picked the wrong day to have all the attention fall on him. Parker homered three times to propel the Giants, including an impressive shot off Zito in the second, and a grand slam in the eighth that broke the 10-10 tie.

Billy Butler was among the offensive heroes for the A’s. His home run off Matt Cain in the sixth scored Danny Valencia and extended Oakland’s lead to 10-7. Valencia continued to impress, contributing three hits, a walk and two runs scored.

Reliever Ryan Dull took the loss for the A’s. Dull allowed Parker’s grand slam, the second home run in as many days allowed by Dull, who had acquitted himself pretty well in nine previous relief stints, all since September 1.

Hudson, no doubt wanting to best Zito and keep the Giants’ flickering post-season hopes alive, threw just 34 pitches before his balky hip flared up and Bochy removed him. The veteran with 222 career wins still hopes to make a final start of his career on Thursday against the Dodgers at AT&T Park. But after the game, it was difficult for him to thank the fans without his disappointment in his performance leaking in.

“It was a good day for me and Zito to pitch, the fans were awesome,” Hudson said.

The A’s and Giants conclude their series on Sunday with Sean Nolin facing the Giants’ Chris Heston. The Giants rookie has failed to win any of his nine previous starts, going 0-5.

The Rangers pound the A’s again, Sweep the series

Published on September 24, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Texas Rangers pounded the A’s again by a score of 8-1 and swept the three-game series. It was another dismal day for A’s pitchers as they were touched for eight runs and thirteen hits. The Rangers scored twenty-six runs in the series and they increased their lead in the AL West to 3 and 1/2 games over the Houston Astros.
Chris Bassitt pitched three innings for the A’s. Bassitt made his first start since August 26th when he was shut down with soreness in his shoulder. Bassitt was the losing pitcher and his record for 2015 is 1-7. The A’s used seven pitchers in the game. The Rangers ace, Cole Hamels went six innings, and all the A’s could manage was one run on four hits. The Rangers used three more pitchers to close out the game. Hamels is now 5-1 with Texas and 11-8 overall.

The Rangers scored twice in the first inning. Delino DeShields led off with a single. DeShields stole second and scored on a double by Shin-Soo Choo. Prince Fielder ground out and Choo went to third on the play. Adrian Beltre singled to drive in Choo with the second run of the game for Texas.
The Rangers added a run in the second. Rougned Odor led off with a single. Catcher Chris Gimenez singled to put two men on with one out. DeShields singled to drive in Odor with the run. A’s trail 3-0 in the middle of the third.

The Rangers scored three times in the top of the sixth. The Rangers put together three hits and two walks to add to their lead. A’s reliever Fernando Abad was ineffective as he pitched just 2/3rds of an inning allowing two hits and two walks and was charged with all three runs.

The Rangers continued to hit A’s pitching hard. Shin-Soo Choo led off with a single to start the eighth. Prince Fielder followed with a blast for his twenty-second homer of the year. A’s trail 8-1.

Game Notes – The A’s lost their fifth game in a row and are twenty-five games under the .500 mark. The A’s have clinched their worst record since going 65-7 in 1997, and they clinched the last place on the AL West. The A’s starters are 6-21 with a 6.39 ERA over the last 40 games going back to August 11th. The A’s made two more errors Thursday, and no have 117 for the season, which is tied with Pittsburgh for the most in the majors.
Billy Butler recorded his 1,400 major league hit when he doubled in the seventh inning. Marcus Semien hit safely in his eighth straight game.
The Rangers travel to Houston for a big series with the Astros starting Friday.
The A’s welcome the San Francisco Giants for a three-game series starting Friday. Sonny Gray will be on the mound for Oakland, and Mike Leake will pitch for the Giants. Saturday’s game will feature two members of the A’s Big Three pitching against each other. Barry Zito will make his first big league start since 2013 and his friend and former teammate, Tim Hudson will pitch for San Francisco. Both pitchers are expected to retire at the end of the year. The third member of the Big Three, Mark Mulder, will be here in Oakland over the weekend.
Time of game was three hours and twenty minutes, and 14,452 people watch the A’s go down to defeat.
Game time on Friday will be at 7:05 pm PT and the Saturday and Sunday contests will be day games starting at 1:05 pm.

The Texas Rangers stay hot, Pummel the A’s

Published on September 23, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Texas Rangers pounded the A’s Wednesday night in Oakland by a score of 10-3. A’s starter, Felix Doubront, went 4 and 2/3rds inning allowing 8 hits and seven runs all earned. Doubront allowed two Earl Weaver homers. Weaver managed the Baltimore Orioles many years ago and he believed in the three-run homer. Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre each had one. Colby Lewis continued his mastery of the A’s beating them for the eleventh time in his career. With the win, the Rangers increased their lead over the Houston Astros to three games. Houston lost to the Angels and are just one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins for the second Wild Card slot. The Rangers travel to Houston after Thursday’s game with the A’s.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third. Rangers’ pitcher, Colby Lewis, walked Brett Lawrie to start the inning. Eric Sogard singled to move Lawrie into scoring position. A’s rookie catcher, Carson Blair, singled to drive in Lawrie. The A’s loaded the bases, but Lewis struck out Danny Valencia to end the threat. 1-0 after three.
The lead didn’t last long as the Rangers scored four times in the top of the fourth. Three straight singles by Adrian Beltre, Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland tied the game at one. Ranger shortstop, Elvis Andrus, hit his seventh dinger of the year to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead in the middle of the fourth.

Texas added three more runs in the fifth. Delino DeShields led off the inning with a double to right and advanced to third when Josh Reddick could handle the ball cleanly. Doubront walked Shin-Soo Choo to put two men on with no out. Rangers’ third baseman and future member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, Adrian Beltre hit a monster shot that went halfway to the moon before landing on the left field steps as it came down from space in front of the Cache Creek sign. The A’s did not score in their half of the fifth. Texas out in front 7-1.

A’s right fielder, Josh Reddick, led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo blast to right. Reddick was attempting to atone for the two errors he committed earlier in the game. A’s trail 7-2 after six. The A’s scored another run in the bottom of the seventh. Eric Sogard hit his first home run of the year leading off. Sogard had 457 plate appearances since he last homered in 2014, and it was his first in 141 games. A’s trail 7-3 heading into the eighth.

Texas continued to clobber the A’s. Their second baseman, Rougned Odor, led off the ninth with a bomb down the right field line. Drew Stubbs walked and then scored all the way from first on a double by Will Venable. Shin-Soo Choo singled to drive in Venable with the tenth run of the game. The A’ lose 10-3.

Game Notes- The A’s have lost four in a row and have 88 losses that match the most by an A’s team in the last 18 years. The A’s are 6-9 over the last 15 games and 13-26 over the last 39 games. A’s starting pitchers are 6-20 with a 6.36 ERA over the last 39 games dating back to August 11th. Felix Doubront is 2-2 with an 8.33 ERA over his last five starts. Doubront took the loss and his record is now 3-3 for the year.

The Rangers have won three of the last four games and nine of the last twelve and are 43-34 on the road. Colby Lewis won his seventeenth game of the year and is now 11-4 lifetime against the A’s.

The A’s conclude the three-game set with Texas Thursday afternoon at 12:30 pm at the O.co Coliseum. Chris Bassitt(1-6, 2.82 ERA) will pitch for Oakland, and Texas will send their ace, Cole Hamels (4-1, 3.73 ERA) to face the Green and Gold.

Time of game was 2 hours and fifty-two minutes and 16,445 were on hand to watch the A’s lose.

The Texas Rangers come from behind to send the A’s down to defeat

Published on September 22, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Mitch Moreland

The Texas Rangers beat the A’s Tuesday night at the O.co Coliseum by a score of 8-6. The Rangers gained a game on the Houston Astros to increase their lead in the AL West to two games. Lefty Sean Nolin started for Oakland and he was opposed by lefty Martin Perez. Neither pitcher did well and neither was involved in the decision. Nolin pitched five-plus innings allowing 5 runs and giving up seven hits. Perez went four-plus and he was touched for four runs and six hits. The A’s had a 4-1 lead after three innings of but Texas kept coming back and took the lead in the sixth when they put three runs on the board. They scored two more in the eighth and held on as the A’s rally fell short in the ninth.

Texas took a 1-0 advantage in the first inning. Adrian Beltre singled to eight to drive in Delino DeShields from second. The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the second when they scored three times. Josh Reddick walked with one out. Jake Smolinski tripled to left center to drive in Reddick. Marcus Semien also tripled to drive in Smolinski. Semien was thrown out at home when Billy Burns tried to surprise the Rangers with a bunt. Mark Canha followed with a single to drive in Burns.

The A’s added a run in the fourth The A’s put together a walk, single and two ground outs to record their fourth run of the game. Texas came back in the top of the fifth scoring twice. Ranger catcher Chris Gimenez walked to start the frame. He went to third on a single by DeShields. Gimenez scored on a sac fly and DeShields tagged and took third on the throw. DeShields then scored on another sac fly to male it a 4-3 game.

The A’s got a run back in their half of the fifth. A single and two errors, one by Beltre and one by left fielder Mike Napoli, allowed Oakland to have the lead 5-3 after five. Texas scored three runs in the sixth. Mike Nolin gave up a big fly to Mitch Moreland with a man on that tied the game. A’s manager removed Nolin and Drew Pomeranz took over. Pomeranz gave up a single to Elvis Andrus. Rougned Odor laid down a bunt that first baseman Mark Canha couldn’t handle. The Rangers used another sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and Andrus scored on a sac fly to put them up 6-5.

The Rangers scored two more times in the eighth. Andrus doubled with one out. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Odor. Gimenez hit a ball to right that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double to put men on at second and third. Odor scored on a fly ball to second baseman Brett Lawrie. Lawrie made a sensational over the shoulder catch but Odor was ready and he tagged up and sprinted home with the score. The A’s rallied to score one in the ninth, but it was not enough as the fall to Texas.

Notes- The A’s tied a club record when they had two triples in the game to give the forty for the season. The record for triples was set in 1968, the first year the A’s played here in Oakland. Also, it was the first time since 1992 that the A’s had back-to back-triples in a game. The Rangers recorded four sacrifice flies in the game.

Chi Chi Gonzalez was the winning pitcher and Drew Pomeranz took the loss.

The line score for Texas was 8runs on 12 hits and two errors. The line for Oakland was six runs on nine hits and two errors.

Felix Doubront will go for Oakland and Colby Lewis will pitch for Texas. Lewis will be looking for his seventeenth win of the year.

Time of game was three hours and thirty-eight minutes and 16,524 people paid to see the game.

A short preview of the upcoming A’s- Rangers series starting Tuesday in Oakland

Published on September 21, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Well, folks, the A’s have just twelve games left to play this year. They arrive home after a 4-6 road trip to Texas, Chicago, and Houston. The A’s have six games left in Oakland and then end the season on the road. The next three home games will be against the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The A’s then go to Anaheim for three and Seattle for three more.

The A’s, while having a dismal season, still can play a spoiler role. While the A’s have a record of 64-86 overall, they are 10-6 against the Rangers. The Rangers are 80-69 and lead the Houston Astros by a game and 1/2 in the race for the AL West crown while the Astros hold down the second Wild Card slot leading the Angels and Twins by two and 1/2 games. The A’s would love nothing better than to sweep the Rangers and upset their plans. The A’s also play the Angels next week and beating them could possibly keep the Angels out of the playoffs.

The Rangers have overcome a ton of injuries to their pitching staff and have a potential Manager of the Year candidate, Jeff Bannister, running the club. The Rangers did not start the season well but have been playing much better since the return of Derek Holland and the acquisition of lefty hurler, Cole Hamels. Prince Fielder, who missed most of last year due to a neck injury, has been on fire while being used as the designated hitter.

The pitching matchups for Tuesday’s game will be Left Sean Nolin pitching for the A’s against lefty Martin Perez of the Rangers. Nolin has a 3.24 ERA in his three starts with Oakland while Perez is 3-4 with a 5.59ERA in his last seven games.

On Wednesday, Felix Doubront goes for the A’s and the Rangers will counter with righty Colby Lewis. Lewis has a record of 1608. The sixteen wins are the most that Lewis has ever had in a season.

The A’s, under Bob Melvin, always play hard and will not go through the motions. They play to win and the Rangers will have to figure out a way to keep the A’s from beating them. Should be a good three-game series.