Tag: A’s

Oakland grinds out a win, defeat the Rockies 4-1.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

It wasn’t pretty nor was it a very exciting game but the A’s ground out a 4-1 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies. Jessie Hahn wasn’t at his best but he was good enough to pick up his sixth win of the year against six losses. The Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis took the loss and his record dropped to 4-3. Drew Pomeranz and Tyler Clippard were quite effective out of the bullpen to preserve the win for Oakland.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. A’s designated hitter Billy Butler lined a shot of the wall in deep left. Rockies’ left fielder Rafael Ynoa hit the wall and crumpled to the ground in pain. Butler made it to third with his first triple since 2012. Ynoa was able to get to his feet and after he was checked by the Rockies’ trainer, he resumed his position in left. Eric Sogard hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Butler with the run.

The A’s added a run in the third inning. Billy Burns lined a ball down the right field line that went for a triple. Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis retired Vogt and Zobrist. He did not get out of the inning unscathed as Josh Reddick drilled a single to right field to drive in Burns with the run. Reddick has driven in 32 when hitting with two out in an inning. 2-0 after three.

The Rockies scored a run in the fourth. With two out, back-to-back doubles by Ben Paulsen and Nick Hundley made it a one-run game. A’s still lead 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

The A’s had a chance to blow the game open in the fifth. They, however, had to settle for just one run. Billy Burns slashed a double down the left field line with one out. After, Stephen Vogt fllew out to left, Bettis walked Zobrist and Reddick to load the bases. Butler singled to right to drive in Burns but the ball was fielded quickly by Carlos Gonzalez and his throw home was on the mark. Ike Davis had an opportunity but he ground out to end the threat. 3-1 at the end of five in favor of the A’s.

The A’s put another run on the board in the seventh. Ben Zobrist singled to left and advanced to second when Ynoa overran the ball for an error. Reddick ground out with Zobrist taking third on the play. The Rockies issued Butler and intentional walk to set up a double play.. Mark Canha, batting for Ike Davis, lofted a bloop fly to center that Charlie Blackmon dropped. The play was ruled a fielder’s choice as Butler was out at second 8-6. Zobrist scored on the play. The run was ruled unearned. 4-1 after seven.

The A’s called on Tyler Clippard to get the last four outs of the game. Drew Pomeranz went 1.2 innings and allowed just one hit. Clippard retired the last four Rockies’ hitters in order to record his 14th save of the year. Final score A’s win 4-1.

Game Notes- The A’s took two out of three from the Rockies to win the series but are just 2-4 on the ten-game home stand. However, Oakland has won eleven of the last seventeen games and are 5-2 in inter league play.  The A’s starters are 19-11 with a 2.42 ERA over the last 37 games ( beginning May 23rd) and have allowed one run or fewer 19 times over that stretch.The A’s have committed 18 errors in their last 17 games and have 77 for the season.

Billy Burns had a double and triple Wednesday and has hit safely in 30 of his last 32 games.He recorded his 22nd multiple hit game of the year. Billy  Butler was 2-for-3 and hit his first triple since August, 9th, 2012 at Baltimore.  Butler is 14-for-40 over his last 13 games. Ben Zobrist was also 2-for-3 today.

Jesse Hahn is 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA over his last eight starts. His season record is now 6-6. After the game A’s manager had this to say about Hahn “he pitched well to beat a team like that. He was up in the zone but figured it out in later innings.” Melvin also said that Hahn had “more weapons against lefties and he had a better mix of pitches.”

Melvin, when asked about Josh Reddick’s performance this year said ” it’s All-Star status for a middle of the order guy.” Melvin said that A’s ace , Sonny Gray, is out of the hospital and at home. Melvin said that they do not know when Gray will return to the rotation.

Home plate umpire Tom Hallion was hit by a foul ball of his mask and was forced to leave the game in the first inning. Alfonso Marquez took over as home plate umpire and the game was played with just three umpires.

The Seattle Mariners arrive Thursday for a four-game series with the A’s. Lefty Scott Kazmir will go for Oakland.Seattle counters with lefty Roenis Elias (4-5, 4.25 ERA).

Time of game was 3 hours and 14 minutes and there were 17,655 people in the house watching the game.

The A’s snap their losing streak, beat the Rockies 7-1.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s snapped their three-game losing streak by defeating the visiting Colorado Rockies 7-1 before 12,125 fans, the smallest crowd of the season. The story of the game was the pitching of Kendall Graveman. Graveman did not start the season well and was sent down to Nashville to get back in the groove. He did just that. With the win his record improved to 5-4 and he has now gone seven innings in each of his last five starts. Josh Reddick, Ike Davis and Billy Butler homered for the A’s and it was the eighth time this season that the A’s have had three home runs in a game.

The A’s used the long ball to score four times in the bottom of the first. Stephen Vogt singled to left with one out. After Ben Zobrist struck out swinging, Josh Reddick put the first pitch from Rockies’s pitcher, David Hale, over the right field wall to put the A’s up 2-0. For Reddick, it was his thirteenth home run of the season. The A’s weren’t finished. Designated hitter Billy Butler followed with a solid single to center. Ike Davis hit a long, long drive to deep right field that went about ten or twelve rows into the stands. Oakland has a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of Billy Butler’s seventh home run of the year. 5-0 after four.

The Rockies scored a run in the top of the eighth. Kendall Graveman was no longer in the game. He went seven innings allowing just five hits and no runs. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Evan Scribner to pitch. Scribner gave up a home run to Charlie Blackmon on a 2-1 pitch leading off the inning.  Scribner retired two but gave up a single to Troy Tulowitzki. Lefty Drew Pomeranz came in to face the left-handed hitter, Carlos Gonzalez. Pomeranz did his job and struck out Cargo for the third out of the inning.

The A’s added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Josh Reddick walked. Billy Butler doubled to left to drive in Reddick all the way from first. Tulowitzki’s throw home got by the catcher and Butler reached third on the play. Butler scored on a triple to right off the bat of Brett Lawrie.

Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth to close out the win for the A’s.

Game Notes- The A’s starting pitchers are 18-10 with a 2.46 ERA over the last 35 games. The A’s are now 35-44 and are 15-11 so far in the month of June.

Billy Burns had his sixteen game hitting streak snapped as he went 0-for-4. Billy Butler had three hits and was a triple shy of the cycle.  Ike Davis was 2-for-4 and hit his first home run since May 7th at Minnesota. Stephen Vogt went 2-for-4 and is 21-for-50 in his last thirteen games.

Ben Zobrist’s wife Julianna sang the National Anthem.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05pm in Oakland. A’s ace Sonny Gray will pitch for the A’s. Gray will be seeking his tenth win of the year and will be opposed by Jorge De La Rosa.

One step forward, two steps back: A’s offense absent again as Royals sweep

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errant throw

By Morris Phillips

After scoring seven runs all weekend and getting swept by the Royals, the A’s were in a matter-of-fact mood after Sunday’s 5-3 loss. The five-game win streak they carried into the weekend was a distant memory, and they’ve still got a bunch of work to do to rejoin the best teams in the league. And that process didn’t get a jumpstart this weekend.

“We just don’t all of a sudden after five games lose our intensity and our focus,” manager Bob Melvin said when asked what caused his A’s to lose the momentum of the win streak. “We just got beat. They played better than we did.”

“That’s a pretty good team over there and they came through when they needed to and we gave them extra opportunities when we shouldn’t have,” Stephen Vogt said as a piggy back to Melvin’s thoughts.

One thing’s abudantly clear: when the best and arguably hottest team in the American League comes to town, you need to be on top of your game, and the A’s cleary were not.

Start with the lack of offense, but quickly detour to the lack of quality mid-game pitching where the A’s saw their starter falter or the first reliever in the ballgame give it up. In the three games after the fifth inning, the Royals scored eight of their 13 runs. On Sunday, Jesse Chavez was cruising, leading 2-0, when the Royals struck for a three-spot. Max Muncey’s errant throw home allowed Mike Moustakas to score the initial Kansas City run, as well allowing two other baserunners advance.

Muncey’s error opened the door, but the Royals took it from there with Alex Rios’ run-scoring, sacrifice fly and Omar Infante’s RBI single. Just like that, the A’s were trailing 3-2.

After that, the A’s offensive struggles once again ran square into the Royals’ red-hot bullpen, and the results were predictable. The A’s did manage two hits and a run off Kelvin Hererra in the eighth, but closer Wade Davis closed the door in the ninth, befitting his microscopic 0.27 ERA.

The Oakland bullpen had a much rougher ride as Edward Mujica pitched the eighth only to allow Salvador Perez’s two-run homer that gave Kansas City a 5-2 lead and stood as the difference in the game. The A’s have dropped 30 of the 40 games they’ve been in decided by two runs or less.

The A’s went without the key hit for almost the entirety of the three-game series. Oakland batters were 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

Billy Burns returned to the A’s lineup and hit in his 16th consecutive game. Burns had a pair of hits as did Vogt and Ben Zobrist, but that along with the A’s 11-hit total didn’t add up to much without the big hit.

Royals’ starter Jeremy Guthrie created a few situations for the A’s but he found his way out, allowing just one walk while striking out seven. Guthrie struck out Ike Davis in the second inning to give him 1,000 K’s in his big league career.

Kendall Graveman gets the start on Monday at the Coliseum when the Rockies visit for a three-game set. David Hale is scheduled to get the start for Colorado for the 7:15 start.

The A’s stay hot, sweep the Rangers.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for sonny gray

The Oakland A’s are definitely on a roll. Must be something in the water. Maybe it’s the pixie dust from being near the Golden State Warriors but the A’s have seemingly started to turn the season around as they won for the fifth time in a row by coming from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 Thursday afternoon. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray was not at his best but was still good enough to beat the Rangers and A’s nemesis, Colby Lewis. Gray went six innings allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out seven to notch his ninth win. Gray was the pitcher of record when the A’s scored three times in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. The much-maligned bullpen performed well again as Drew Pomeranz, and Edward Mujica combined to pitch two scoreless innings. Closer Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his thirteenth save of the year.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer to center field that traveled some 412 feet. Joey Gallo doubled, and came home on a Robinson Chirinos single to left field. The A’s came back in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Rangers’ starter Colby Lewis may have been affected by the heat as he walked Ben Zobrist, Brent Lawrie, and Ike Davis to load the bases with one out. After Marcus Semien had lined out to short, Sam Fuld singled to center to drive in Zobrist and Lawrie.

The lead didn’t last long. The Rangers scored their third run of the game to take a 3-2 lead in their half of the inning. Prince Fielder reached on a double and scored on a Mitch Moreland single.

The A’s took the lead for good in the seventh. Lewis was done after six innings and was replaced by Keone Kela. Kela retired the first two batters that he faced. Billy Burns started the rally going by hitting a single to left. Eric Sogard and Stephen Vogt singled to load the bases. Lefty Sam Freeman was now pitching for Texas, and he walked Ben Zobrist to force in a run and the bases remained loaded. Josh Reddick singled off  Freeman to drive in Sogard and Vogt. Pomeranz, Mejica, and Clippard kept the Rangers off the board to win the game for Oakland.

Game Notes – The A’s have won five games in a row, the longest winning streak of the year and have won nine of the last eleven games played.The A’s are now 34-41 and are in fourth place in the AL West. After the game Josh Reddick commented on the three-game sweep of the Rangers “this is the kind of run we need to stay on, we’ve gotten to the point where we’re clicking on all cylinders.” Billy Burns’ hit in the seventh extended his hitting streak to fifteen games.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said he got no argument from Sonny Gray when he took him out of the game. “He knew it was the right thing. He battles himself sometimes. He can be as tough on himself as opposed to battling the opponent, and there are periods during the season when you just don’t feel completely locked in, which is odd to hear about him.”The A’s return to Oakland to start a ten game homestand against the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, and the Seattle Mariners and will play fifteen of the next eighteen at home.

The A’s series with the Royals should be interesting. There was a lot of bad blood between the teams when the A’s played in Kansas City earlier in the season. Melvin said, “water under the bridge, Just baseball, that’s the way I look at it.”

Jesse Hahn (5-5, 3.40ERA ) will pitch for the Green and Gold Friday night. Hahn has been very effective as he is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.25 in his last six starts.

Game time will be 7:05 at the O.co Coliseum.

Brett Lawrie’s Grand Slam Leads the A’s to Victory over the Texas Rangers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for brett lawrie athletics

The Oakland A’s scored early and often to defeat the Texas Rangers 8-2. The win was the fourth in a row for the A’s and the eighth win in the last ten games. The Rangers have lost four in a row. Kendall Graveman started for the A’s, and he had a 5-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Graveman went seven-plus innings allowing eight hits and just two runs. With the win, Graveman evened his record at 4-4. The veteran left-hander, Wandy Rodriguez did not have a good outing as the A’s rocked him for eight runs in the first two innings. Rodriguez was done after just four innings of work and he lost for the third time this season.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter, Billy Burns, got things going when he doubled on the second pitch of the game. The hit extended Burns’ hitting streak to a career-high fourteen games. Mark Canha ground out to the right side moving Burns to third. Stephen Vogt, who did not play last night, doubled to drive in Burns wit the first run of the game. Zobrist grounded out and Vogt advanced to third on the play. Rodriguez walked Josh Phegley and Billy Butler on 8 consecutive balls to load the bases. The next batter, Brett Lawrie hit the first pitch, a hanging curveball, over the left-center wall for a grand slam. A’s lead 5-0 before the Rangers came to bat. It was Lawries’s seventh home run of the year and his third career grand slam.

The A’s started the second inning the same way they started the first. Billy Burns doubled, advanced to third on a long fly ball off to right center and scored on a Stephen Vogt single. Vogt now leads the American League with 52 RBI. Josh Phegley followed with a home run over the centerfield wall to give the A’s an 8-0 lead.

The Rangers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus singled to put men on first and second with one out.  Leonys Martin flied to center for the second out of the inning. Catcher Carlos Corporan, hitting just .198, lined a double down the right field line to drive in both Gallo and Andrus. Rougned Odor walked to put men on at first and second again. The next hitter, Ryan Rua ground into a force out to end the inning. The Rangers challenged the call but fter review, the umpires upheld the call, and the A’s caught an enormous break as the Rangers would have had the bases loaded and their slugger, Prince Fielder, was the next batter.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers put men on at first and second with no out. A’s manager took Graveman out of the game and replaced him with Edward Mujica. Mujica worked out of the jam, and Fernando Abad closed out the game in the ninth for the A’s.

Game Notes- Graveman has been pitching very well since the A’s recalled him from  Triple-A Nashville. His ERA in his last four starts is 1.86. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, Josh Phegley, Stephen Vogt and Brett Lawrie. Burns had two doubles and a single. Phegley had two hits including a two-run home run. Stephen Vogt had a double and two singles. The star of the night was Brett Lawrie. Lawrie had three hits and the biggest hit of the evening- a grand slam in the first inning. The line score for the A’s was eight runs, fourteen hits, and no errors while the line score for the Rangers was two runs on nine hits and two errors.

The A’s play game three of the three-game series Thursday. Game time will be at 11:05 AM PT.Sonny Gray will pitch for the Green and Gold and he will be opposed by Colby Lewis. Lewis, a former Athletic, has given the A’s fits over the years. Hopefully, the A’s will be able to turn the tables.

Game time temperature tonight was 92 degrees with a breeze. 34,216 paid to watch the game.

The A’s rally to start the road trip with a win over the Texas Rangers.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Baseball is a game that defies description. There are nights that pitchers perform well but end up taking a loss. Bloop singles can beat you while balls hit right on the nose end up in an outfielder’s glove for an out. The A’s starter, Jesse Chavez, has pitched  well this season. However, he entered the game with a record of 3-6. Chavez did his job, but the A’s offense failed to give him any run support. Tuesday night Jesse did not pitch well. He went five innings, allowed eight hits and was touched for five runs. Did he take the loss? No, he did not, he won. The A’s rallied in the top of the sixth from a three-run deficit to score four times to take the lead. The A’s bullpen shut the Rangers down as they recorded the last twelve outs of the game, and Oakland won 8-6. Chavez, since he was the pitcher of record when the A’s rallied to take the lead, won his fourth game of the year.

Chi Chi Rodriguez started for Texas, and Chavez was on the hill for the A’s. It was a matchup of a good-looking rookie pitcher going against a very good veteran. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the second. Ranger shortstop Elvis Andrus doubled to start the inning. He advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball. A’s catcher Josh Phegley may have had a  chance to nail Andrus at home but Chavez forgot to  cover the plate. The A’s tied the game in the top of the third. Eric Sogard singled to drive in Marcus Semien with the run.

The A’s took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth when Phegley blasted his fourth home run of the year over the centerfield wall. The lead didn’t last long as the Rangers scored four times in the bottom of the fifth. With a man on first, Rangers’ second baseman Rougned Odor hit his second home run of the year into the right-field seats to give Texas a 3-2 lead. At this point in the game, Chavez was struggling with his location. The next batter, Joey Gallo, doubled. Prince Fielder also doubled but Gallo held up waiting to see if the ball was caught, and he had to stop at third. Adrian Beltre, in his first game back from the DL, hit a sacrifice fly allowing Gallo to score, and Fielder took third on the throw home. Andrus singled to drive in Fielder with the Rangers fifth run of the night. A’s trail 5-2 after five. Chavez pitch count reached 97 and his night was over.

This is where the game gets interesting. The A’s scored four times in the sixth to put them ahead 6-5 and since Chavez was the pitcher of record was in line to get credit for the win even though he left the game trailing 5-2. Ben Zobrist led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second when Billy Butler was hit by a pitch. Ike Davis doubled to right-center to drive in Zobrist and Josh Phegley followed with a double over the head of Ranger center fielder Leonys Martin to drive in Butler and Davis to tie the game at five. Ranger manager Jeff Bannister went to his bullpen and replaced Rodriguez with Keone Kela. Marcus Semien greeted him with a double to put the A’s ahead 6-5.

The A’s scored two more runs in the seventh. Eric Sogard walked and came home on Zobrist’s fifth home run of the year. The Rangers scored a run in their half of the inning. With two out Beltre reached on a Brett Lawrie throwing  Mitch Moreland singled to put men on at first and third. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in righty Fernando Rodriguez to face Elvis Andrus. Andrus doubled driving in Beltre, but Moreland could not score as he was not running well and had to stop at third.Rodriguez retired the next hitter to end the inning.

Rodriguez started the eight and walked Chirinos with one out. Melvin brought in Drew Pomeranz to pitch. Pomeranz walked Odor to put runners on at first and second. Pomeranz struck out Joy Gallo for the second out and got Prince Fielder to ground out to end the inning. Pomeranz came out to pitch the ninth as A’s closer, Tyler Clippard, was no available. Beltre singled to start the frame but was erased when Pomeranz induced Moreland to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Pomeranz struck out Elvis Andrus to end the game. Final score 8-6 in favor of Oakland.

Game Notes- The A’s have  won three straight and seven of their last nine. The A’s are now 32-41 for the year, and Texas falls to 37-34. Josh Phegley was the hitting star for the A’s with a home run, double and three RBI. Billy Burns had a hit in the game and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games in a row.  Stephen Vogt did not play as he has a strained flexor tendon in his elbow. Vogt was available for pinch-hitting duties Tuesday and is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday.

The A’s resume the three-game series Wednesday night at the Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas at 5:05 PM PT.

Kendall Graveman will be on the hill for Oakland, and he will be opposed by the veteran lefty, Wandy Rodriguez.

Preview of A’s vs Rangers Series

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s have  been playing a little better lately. They won series against the San Diego Padres and the LA Angels and five of the last seven games played. The starting pitching continues to be excellent. The starters,  Scott Kazmir, Jesse Hahn, Jesse Chavez, Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray have all pitched well. The bullpen has not. There are exceptions, but everyone has to hold their breath when A’s manager Bob Melvin goes out to the mound to bring in a reliever. A’s closer Tyler Clippard recorded two saves over the weekend and has recorded eleven for the year. The A’s are still committing too many errors, but shortstop Marcus Semien seems to be improving.  Former A’s coach and Rangers’ skipper, Ron Washington is on board as a special assistant to help him with his fielding and throwing.

So, the A’s are off to Texas to play a three-game series with the Rangers before returning home to face the Kansas City Royals and the Colorado Rockies. The Rangers are currently in second place in the AL West with a record of 37-33 and are 3.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros. The Rangers are playing well despite the fact that so many of their key players are on the disabled list.Yu Darvish is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. Derek Holland is on the 60-day DL, and closer Neftali Feliz is on the 15-day DL. Matt Harrison, who was on the 60-day DL, is slated to come off in late June. Other players on the DL include Adrian Beltre, Delino DeShields and Josh Hamilton. Hamilton played in just seven games after coming back to Texas. Prince Fielder leads the Texas offense. Fielder sports a .340 batting average with eleven home runs and 47 RBI and has an OPS of .929.  Other key performers for Texas are Mitch Moreland, Shin-Soo Choo, and rookie Joey Gallo. Gallo was brought up to replace the injured Adrian Beltre. Gallo started well but has trailed off a bit. Gallo is hitting .222 with five home runs and ten RBI in his first eighteen games in the show.

Rangers’ starters include Yovani Gallardo ( 6-6, 2.98 era), the 23-year-old sensation, Chi Chi Gonzalez ( 2-1,0.90 ERA), veteran Colby Lewis, Nick Martinez (5-3,2.77 ERA) and Wandy Rodriguez ( 3-2,3.20). The bullpen consists of Ross Detwiler, Tanner Scheppers, Shawn Tolleson and Keone Kela.

The A’s and Rangers have played ten times so far this year and the A’s hold a 6-4 advantage. The Rangers can be beaten in Arlington as their record there is just 15-16. The A’s are a sub .500 road team in 2015. They are just 17-21 away from Oakland.

It should be a terrific series between the two division rivals. The A’s won the AL West crown in 2012 and 2013 much to the dismay of the Rangers. Last year the Rangers floundered as so many of their star hurlers were injured, and it is amazing how well they are playing under the leadership of their first-year skipper, Jeff Bannister. The Rangers may be buyers as they are in contention for the AL West lead. The A’s, are ten games under the .500 mark and need to start climbing out of the basement. When Oakland wins, the team looks great but they looked awful more often than great and the A’s will have to make decisions on players like Kazmir, Clippard and Ben Zobrist. These three players will be free agents at the end of the season. If the A’s are in contention, the team will probably keep them. If not, the A’s will probably try to rebuild the team again, and Billy Beane is probably on the telephone trying to find new homes for them.

Note- Just a word about the sad news that former Texas Ranger and San Francisco Giant outfielder, Daryl Hamilton, was found murdered in his suburban home near Houston. Hamilton was in the big leagues for 13 seasons and was well liked by his fellow teammates. He was very personable and was an analyst on the MLB Network. Very sad day for baseball to lose one of its own, but bad things happen to good people. Daryl tragic death saddened all of us at SportsRadioService, and we extend our sympathies to his family, friends, former teammates, and colleagues. RIP, Daryl.

A’s buck the odds and win a close one over the Angels, 3-2

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Clipped by Clippard

By Morris Phillips

Tyler Clippard, be careful what you ask for. In fact, had Clippard or manager Bob Melvin given deeper thought to allowing the A’s closer to go back out and pitch the ninth inning on Sunday, they probably would have mutually agreed to go with someone else.

But Clippard said he wanted the ball in what had been narrowed to a one-run ball game, and Melvin went along with it.

“It’s hard to ask a guy to do that two days in a row,” Melvin said. “And originally I just had him for that inning. I just wanted to go through the heart of the order with him and if it’s 3-0 then we try to do something different. When he came off the mound, he talked me into going back out there.”

For Clippard and Melvin’s sake, it all worked out. The 30-year old fireballer survived a scare off Johnny Giavotella’s bat with two outs, and the A’s squeaked out a 3-2 win over the Angels that—if you’ve been following the numbers—went against most the precedents the A’s have set for themselves in 2015.

Most confounding are the facts that the A’s are 10 games below .500, currently have the worst record in the American League, but statistically they’re far better than that, having scored 35 more runs than they’ve allowed in the 72 games they’ve played to date.

Quite simply, the A’s have had a bunch of agonizing, narrow defeats, many of them due to defensive issues and a depleted bullpen that expected to have All-Star Sean Doolittle anchoring things, not Clippard.

Of course, Clippard doesn’t see himself as a second fiddle. Just like Doolittle, Clippard was an All-Star last season, making 75 appearances for the Nationals with an excellent ERA of 2.13. Over the last five seasons, Clippard has pitched in more ballgames (397) than any other big league hurler. But outside of 2012, Clippard has been used primarily as a set-up guy, which is far less glamorous or noticeable a role than the guy that’s asked to get the final outs.

Two other statistics should have figured into Melvin’s decision to bring Clippard back out besides the fact that he would be attempting a rare, five-out save, one day after the reliever registered a four-out save against the same team. First, Clippard is a dramatically better pitcher at night than he is in the daytime. This season, the reliever has allowed just one run in appearances at night, compared to eight runs allowed in a similar number of innings pitched during the daytime.

And there’s that little issue Clippard has regarding home runs. The reliever has allowed 60 homers in his big league career, including one to red hot Albert Pujols in the eight inning on Sunday, which wiped out starter Scott Kazmir’s potential shutout and narrowed the A’s 3-0 lead to 3-2. The frequent home runs allowed are probably the main reason Clippard’s been utilized as a set-up guy and not a closer. On Sunday, the four batters Clippard would face in the ninth inning had combined for just nine homers on the season, but make no mistake, that group of Angels’ hitters was looking for a tenth.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that with Clippard needing only to get the last out, mighty mite  Giavotella stepped to the plate with a runner aboard and launched one towards the left field wall. It goes without saying that the principal character’s minds begin to race.

“I thought it was gone,” Clippard recalled. “I wasn’t happy with the execution for sure.”

Catcher Stephen Vogt had a different vantage point, but the similar bad thoughts, saying “off the bat my mind did not go to good places.”

Only Melvin was calm throughout, saying later that “I thought it was off the end of the bat.”

But the ending turned out to be a good one. Left fielder Sam Fuld retreated to the wall, then turned and took a step in and made the catch to end the ballgame.

Kazmir pickup up the win, and it was well-deserved. The veteran was on top of his game Sunday, throwing his entire repetoire for strikes, and controlling the inside of the plate on critical pitches. The former Angel hadn’t had much success against his ex-teammates, but that changed on Sunday.

“It being my old team and knowing some of the guys on that team, it felt good,” Kazmir said. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.”

Brett Lawrie had a full day, first attempting to catch the defense napping and steal third base in the second inning. The bang-bang play inspired a five-minute review which went against Lawrie and the A’s. In the fourth, the third baseman made a highlight catch on the bullpen mound in foul territory as he was falling down. Then Lawrie gave the A’s a 2-0 lead in the sixth with an RBI single.

The A’s have Monday off before opening a series in Arlington against the Rangers. Jesse Chavez will be pitted against 23-year old Chi Chi Gonzalez in the opener.

Short memories and extra-base hits aid A’s in bounce back win against the Angels

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

Clippard

By Morris Phillips

Momentum is today’s starting pitcher, especially when reliving the previous day’s loss is too painful an exercise.

The A’s gave up eight runs in the seventh inning Friday, allowing the Angels to rally for a 12-7 win after trailing 7-2, and the consensus was the team had suffered it’s worst loss of the season to date.   Nobody wanted to talk about what transpired Friday, including the team’s broadcasters at the beginning of the telecast. The A’s allowing 10 runs in the final three innings, and contributing three errors to the Angels’ rally obviously led to that frustrated response.

But professional baseball players have fewer than 24 hours to turn the page, and that’s where starting pitcher Jesse Hahn came into the story. Hahn was magnificient, pitching into the eighth inning, allowing one run in the A’s 4-1 bounce back win on Saturday at the O.co Coliseum.  Hahn has won four of his last five decisions and the A’s are 4-0 in the rookie’s June starts.

“The other night in San Diego he mixed all four of his pitches up which he hadn’t really done to this point and it looked like today he was using all four of them again,” Stephen Vogt said of his teammate. “And anytime you keep that lineup to one run, it doesn’t matter how he did it, it’s an outstanding job because that lineup over there is one of the best in the league.”

Hahn has turned the corner in his first major league season by expanding his repetoire to include a fastball, curve, sinker and change after he faltered early with only his fastball and sinker being reliable. The extra weapons were key on Saturday as Hahn escaped jams in the second and third innings with the game still scoreless. In the third, Hahn induced red hot Albert Pujols to fly out to end the inning with two runners in scoring position.

“That was huge,” Hahn said. “I just tried to get groundballs with my sinker and the defense played great behind me.”

The A’s led 1-0 until the sixth when Eric Aybar’s RBI single tied the score. But the A’s used the Angels’ rally as smelling salts, responding with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Josh Reddick, Brett Lawrie and Josh Phegley had RBI doubles in the outburst.

“For the offense to come through for him and get him an early run, and right after he gives up one, we come right back with three,” Vogt said. “That’s always huge for your pitcher.”

Hahn pitched a shut down inning in the seventh, and retired two batters in the eighth before Tyler Clippard came on for the four-out save. Jared Weaver allowed the first three of Oakland’s four RBI doubles and took the loss. Vogt’s RBI double in the first inning gave him 51 runs batted in on the season, tied for the lead in the American League.

The Red Sox and White Sox also won on Saturday, keeping the A’s as the team with the worst record in the American League for at least one more day.   The Astros lost, moving Oakland within 10 ½ games of the top spot in the AL West.

On Sunday, the A’s look to capture the series’ rubber game with Scott Kazmir on the mound in a matchup with Garrett Richards. Kazmir has yet to allow a home run at the Coliseum in any of his six starts this season.

A’s Win Streaked snapped, lose to the Padres 3-1.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Kendall Graveman

The A’s and Padres concluded the four-game home and home series on Thursday at the O.co Coliseum. The game was played in the sunshine, and it was a close game but, as you know, the A’s have a losing record in games that are played in the daytime and are close. Today’s game was no exception as Oakland lost by a final score of 3-1. The Padres snapped their four-game losing streak and ended the A’s modest four-game winning streak

A’s starter Kendall Graveman pitched well, but he made two mistakes and took the loss. He gave up a solo home run to Matt Kemp in the fourth and former A’s catcher, Derek Norris, homered to lead off in the sixth to give San Diego enough runs to win the game. The A’s could not solve Ian Kennedy at all. The only mistake Kennedy made was a solo home run to A’s catcher Josh Phegley in the bottom of the sixth. The Padres added a run in the eighth after Billy Burns and Josh Reddick collided in deep right centerfield on a Melvin Upton, Jr flyball. The ball dropped allowing Upton to reach third for a triple. Reddick fell to the ground after the collision and lay motionless for about a minute or two. Bob Melvin and a trainer rushed out to see if Reddick was OK and after a few minutes he got to his feet and returned to action with no damage done. Nonetheless, it was a scary few moments. Upton scored on a foul out to first baseman Stephen Vogt. Vogt caught the ball over his shoulder, spun around and threw home trying to nail Upton at the plate but the throw was offline, and the Padres added the insurance run to take a 3-1 advantage. The A’s went down in order in the eighth. Vogt doubled with two out in the ninth, but Padres’ closer Craig Kimbrel struck out Billy Butler to end the game.

Game Notes- Kendall Graveman took the loss and is now 3-4 for the year. Graveman is 2-2 with an ERA of 2.27 in six starts since his return from Nashville on May 23rd. His line for the day was 7 IP, five hits and two runs. He lost his last start 1-0 to the LA Angels.

Billy  Burns was 1-for-4 and has hit safely in each of his last nine games. Josh Phegley hit his third home run of the year and the first one against a right-hander.  Stephen Vogt has now reached base safely in all 30 of his home games, which is the second longest season-opening streak in Oakland history. The record is held by Rickey Henderson, who had 33 in 1993.

The line score for San Diego was three runs, seven hits, and no errors while Oakland’s was one run on five hits and two errors.

The A’s continue the homestand against the Los Angeles Angels Friday night at 6 pm. There will be fireworks after the game. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray (8-3, 1.60 ERA) will go for Oakland, and Matt Shoemaker(4-5, 4.85) will pitch for the Halos.

Game time was two hours and thirty-nine minutes, and there were 16,643 people watching.