Tag: A’s

A’s win a laugher beating the Padres 16-2.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s exploded for 16 runs and 20 hits to blast the San Diego Padres 16-2 Wednesday night at home in Oakland. Jesse Chavez, who has pitched well all season, finally had run support from his mates as he won his third game of the year against six losses. The A’s have now won four games in a row for the second time this season.  The Padres lost their fourth consecutive game.

The A’s put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Burns, leading off, smacked the first pitch he saw from Padres” starter Odrisamer Despaigne, into right field for a double. Burns went to third on a Marcus Semien single. With one out, Ben Zobrist singled to drive in Burns. Semien took third on the play. With two out, A’s DH, Billy Butler hit a 3-run homer to left-field to put the A’s ahead 4-0. For Butler, it was his fifth home run of the year.

Oakland added a run in the third. With one out, Ben Zobrist hit a line shot down the first base line that went into the rightfield corner for a triple. The next batter, Stephen Vogt flied out to left. Zobrist tagged up and scored easily to give the A’s a 5-0 lead after three innings of play.

The Padres scored in the top of the sixth. Padres’ shortstop Alexi Amarista smacked the first pitch from Chavez into the right-field seats for his second home run of the year. A’s still lead 5-1.

The A’s scored four more runs in the bottom of the 7th to take a 9-1 lead. Mark Canha singled to get thing rolling. The Padres replaced Despaigne with Frank Garces. Garces walked Sogard to put men on at first and second with no out. Billy Burns singled to load the bases. Canha scored on a Marcus Semien sacrifice fly.  Ben Zobrist doubled to right center driving in Sogard and Burns. Zobrist went to third on a throwing error by Matt Kemp. Zobrist scored on a single off the bat of Stephen Vogt.

Fernando Abad relieved Jesse Chavez in the eighth. The inning did not start well as Padres’ third baseman Will Middlebrooks deposited the baseball over the wall in centerfield to make it a 9-2 game. Abad retired the next three batters.

In the bottom of the eighth, the A’s sent 12 men to the plate. They scored seven runs on eight hits to make it a 16-2 game. Arnold Leon pitched the ninth to close out the win for Oakland.

Game Notes- The 16 runs and 20 hits were season highs for the A’s. The A’s have won 4 straight and six of the last eight.The A’s have outscored the opposition 304-266 so far. The A’s starting pitchers are 4-1 with a 1.46 ERAover the last six games. Jesse Chavez set a career-high with 11 strikeouts.

The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, who was 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Billy Butler had four hits including a home run and three singles, and 2 of the singles were if you can believe it, infield hits. Mark Canha had two hits and one RBI. Brett Lawrie was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. And Ben Zobrist had a single, double and a triple and drove in 3 runs.

The line score for San Diego was two runs on five hits and one error while Oakland had 16 runs on 20 hits, and the A’s were flawless in the field. Chavez’ record improved to 3-6, and the A’s are now 29-39. San Diego’s Odrisamer Despaigne took the loss, and his record is now 3-5 and the Padres drop to 32-36.

Time of game was 2 hours and 49 minutes, and the 20,625 people were in attendance.

Kendall Graveman will go for Oakland on Thursday, and the Ian Kennedy will pitch for the Padres. Game time will be at 12:35 PM PT at the O.co Coliseum.

A’s win third in a row, nip the San Diego Padres.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s surprised all their fans in San Diego Tuesday afternoon. How did they do it? They won a daytime game, and it was a one-run game, too. The A’s have performed miserably this year in both categories, i.e., one-run games and games played in the sunlight. The bullpen continued to make life difficult for A’s manager Bob Melvin as the blew the save giving up two runs to tie the game at five. The A’s, however, would not be denied. They scored a run in the top of the ninth and A’s closer Tyler Clippard entered the game and struck the side to save the day and preserve the win. The A’s triumph 6-5.

Lefty Scott Kazmir (3-4,2,96) started for Oakland, and he was opposed by the tall righty Andrew Cashner (2-8,4.45). The Padres struck first in the bottom of the third. The rookie catcher, 22-year-old Austin Hedges hit his first Major League home run. The ball went some 390 feet over the left-field wall for the score. The Padres added a run in the fourth. Justin Upton and Will Middlebrooks singled to put men on at first and third with one out. Clint Barmes bunted to first baseman Billy Butler. Butler fielded the ball, but Ben Zobrist did not cover first. Upton scored to make it 2-0.

The A’s took the lead in the top of the fifth. With one out, Max Muncy doubled to deep right field. Sam Fuld walked to put men on at first and third. Kazmir singled to drive in Muncy. Billy Burns then tripled to deep right center field to drive in Fuld and Kazmir. A’s lead 3-2. The Lead didn’t last long as San Diego tacked on another run without the benefit of a hit. Melvin Upton, Jr. reached first on a Scott Kazmir throwing error. Upton stole second and advanced to third on a ground out; Kazmir was called for a balk allowing Upton to come home with the run.

Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer to give a 5-3 lead in the sixth. Kazmir was done after five innings of work. Fernando Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz pitched the next two innings and kept San Diego off the board. The eight inning, however, was a different story. The bullpen has not been an asset for Oakland this year, and it failed again. Pomeranz was out for his second inning of work. Melvin Upton, Jr and Yonder Alonzo singled to get the rally going for San Diego. First and third with no out. Melvin took Pomeranz out and brought in Evan Scribner to pitch, Scribner got Justin Upton to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.His brother, Melvin, scored on the play. The net batter, Matt Kemp, homered on the first pitch from Scribner to tie the game.

The A’s untied the game in the top of the ninth.  The Padres brought in their closer, Craig Kimbrel, to shut the A’s down, but the A’s would not quit. With two out. Billy Burns walked and promptly stole second base. Eric Sogard singled to drive in Burns with the go-ahead run. A’s closer Tyler Clippard was brought in to pitch, and all he did was strike out the side to win the game for the A’s.

Game notes. With the win, the A’s own a modest 3-game win streak as they return home to play San Diego again Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. The A’s record improved to 28-39 and has a record of 17-21 on the road. San Diego falls to 32-25 and has a 16-19 record at Petco Field.

Game 3 of the series will be at O.co Coliseum at 7:05 PM PT

Walk-Off Wins Back In Vogue at the O.Co Coliseum

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – As a rain washed through the Bay Area, temporarily easing the minds of dried out Californians, 25 athletes found solace from a few droughts of their own. The Oakland A’s snapped their four-game losing streak, outlasting a dominant Yovani Gallardo start to walk off against the Rangers bullpen 5-4. The much maligned A’s bullpen pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, struggling Billy Butler contributed with a big hit and Oakland became the Walk-off Capital of the World for the first time in 2015.

“Things are starting to go our way right now,” said A’s starter Jesse Hahn. “Hopefully it’s a big momentum changer for us.”

After an eighth-inning rally tied the game for the A’s (24-37), a ninth-inning surge put Oakland back in the win column. Sam Fuld, struggling with a batting average below .200, singled to open the inning, then swiped second base. After a Billy Burns infield single, Josh Reddick stepped up to the plate with a chance to win the game. He laced a bouncer off losing pitcher Keone Kela (4-3, 2.42 ERA) to a drawn in second baseman Adam Rosales for the walk-off fielder’s choice and a shaving cream pie from Stephen Vogt.

“We used to specialize in those here for a while,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “It’s nice to come back from 4-2 and tie it, then come back and score another run.”

On Tuesday, the A’s struggled to score until the starter was long removed from the equation but Wednesday Oakland jumped on Gallardo early in a promising start. Billy Burns started the inning on second base after Joey Gallo’s throwing error, moved to third on Josh Reddick’s single then came home on Ben Zobrist’s fielder’s choice.

Staked to an early lead, Hahn found his way into the A’s history books for the wrong reasons Wednesday. The righty plunked 3 batters over a brief 3 2/3 innings, becoming the 9th Athletic to serve up a triple beanball performance. He was touched up for 4 runs, including a 3-run third inning where the Rangers batted around despite only collecting three hits in the frame. Hahn plunked two batters and issued a free pass in his struggling to retire the Rangers in the 3rd.

“I just didn’t have my stuff,” said Hahn. “It was one of those weird outings, no fastball command, no feel for the breaking ball. When you don’t have that it’s hard to pitch well at this level.”

In his previous four outings, Hahn had allowed only 8 earned runs over 27 1/3 innings. In his penultimate outing, the 25-year-old pitch a complete game shutout in Detroit. Tuesday marked the first time all season he failed to pitch a full 5 innings, a stretch spanning 10 starts.

“It’s frustrasting because I was confident going out there,” said Hahn. “I was confident I’d put up good numbers again. It happens. It’s one of the weird ones. I’ve already forgotten about it. I have to let it go and move on to the next one.”

Oakland cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 4th, with Stephen Vogt opening the inning with the first A’s hit since the first inning. Vogt doubled to open the inning, then moved over to third base on a wild pitch with one out. He came around to score on Brett Lawrie’s grounder to short to put Oakland back within a pair of runs at 4-2.

Gallardo settled down after that, giving the Rangers their second-straight six-plus inning, two-run start against the A’s. The 29-year-old righty fired seven innings, picking up a season-high 10 strikeouts. Of his 110 pitches, an astounding 73 went for strikes.

Over 12 starts this year, the hard-tossing Gallardo has yet to allow more than four runs. Despite his consistent performances, he’s currently tied for 5th in the American League with a Texas-leading 6 losses. While he wasn’t tagged with the loss, Gallardo had to settle for a no-decision after his bullpen squandered the two-run advantage.

Oakland scored two runs in an inning for the first time in 24 innings in the eight, the first inning of work for the Rangers bullpen. Josh Reddick singled off southpaw Sam Freeman with one out, then Zobrist welcomed Tanner Scheppers into the game with a base-hit to right field. With the throw coming to third to try to cut down Reddick, Zobrist advanced to second on the play. Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo overthrew the ball, allowing Reddick to score easily. Vogt walked, bringing DH Billy Butler to the plate.

Over his last 10 games, “Country Breakfast” was hitting at a slim .179 batting average with only 7 hits and 3 RBIs over 39 at-bats. The big man came through in the clutch Wednesday, connecting on the game-tying single to plate Zobrist.

“A lot of times it’s a hit like that that’ll get you going,” said Melvin. “It’ll loosen you up a little bit. He finally found a hole.”

Lawrie popped out for the second out and Max Muncy gave a Scheppers offering a ride, but right fielder Shin-Soo Choo pulled in the ball with his back against the fence.

The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without contributions from the bullpen. Pat Venditte (2 1/3 innings), Fernando Abad (1) and Evan Scribner (1) combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, while Tyler Clippard (1-3, 3.20) picked up his first win of the season after pitching a scoreless ninth.

“That’s probably the key to the game,” said Melvin. “What Venditte did was terrific. Fernando Abad coming in and contributing, having an easy inning. The whole bullpen was probably the key to the game.”

The A’s now have a chance to win the series with Scott Kazmir squaring off against rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez in Thursday’s finale. If they manage to win the series, it’ll be the first time in six series since the Rangers (31-28) were on the losing end.

Martinez Out-duels Gray, A’s Drop Fourth-Straight Game

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – The dark days have returned for the Oakland Athletics. Mired amongst the dredges of the American League cellar, the A’s find themselves fading once again after an 2-1 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers Tuesday night at O.Co Coliseum. Nick Martinez topped Sonny Gray, while Shawn Tolleson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 8th save of the season.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” said Melvin. “There’s a lot of things going. We lost a lot of one run games. It’s not uncommon to want to press because of it. When you don’t come through and you have opportunities, it’s frustrating.”

Oakland (23-37) has now dropped four-straight contests following a weekend sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. Prior to that series, the A’s were turning a corner. They swept long-time nemesis Detroit in convincing fashion before moving further East to Boston.

“We have to look at the big picture,” said A’s catcher Stephen Vogt. “We’re 9 of our last 15. We have to keep that perspective, that attitude. We played really well the last half of the home stand and in Detroit.”

If any could have put the A’s back on the winning track, it’d have been the pitcher on the hill Tuesday night. Sonny Gray (7-3, 1.74 ERA) grabbed the ball to open the three-game set, and despite a well-pitched effort, wound up the loser in tightly-contested pitching battle. The A’s stranded nine runners against the second-place Rangers (31-27).

“We had some opportunities,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “We didn’t get the one big hit when we needed to. That’s usually the case when you have close games like that.”

Despite Gray’s best efforts, the Rangers struck first in the third inning. Delino DeShields jetted his way to a one-out triple with a wall ball to right centerfield, but Shin-Soo Choo succumbed to Gray’s best offerings with a swinging strikeout. Prince Fielder bested the AL’s ERA leader in the next at-bat, blooping a flare between Marcus Semien and left fielder Ben Zobrist.

The A’s found themselves in a similar situation in the bottom of the fourth after Josh Reddick broke up Martinez’ no-hit bid. The A’s right fielder lead off the frame with a double then scooted to third on Ben Zobrist’s warning track pop-out.

With only one out and the heart of the order due up, Oakland looked sure to tie the contest up. Instead Stephen Vogt grounded out into a drawn-in infield, then Billy Butler followed suit with a slow bouncer up the middle to strand Reddick at third.

The A’s would load the bases with two outs the following inning despite collecting a single hit after Martinez hit Mark Canha, walked Semien and mishandled a Billy Burns squibber for an error. Reddick couldn’t cash in the run though, instead rolling out to second base.

Mitch Moreland punished the Athletics for not converting in the next half-inning, scorching a 2-1 Gray offering halfway up Mt. Davis to open up the top of the sixth. Moreland’s 7th dinger of the year, the 21st run batted in of the season, doubled the Rangers lead 2-0.

Gray would close out the sixth before turning the contest over to the bullpen. Gray threw 95 pitches in his six-inning outing, striking out six Texas batters while issuing a sole free pass but wound up the hard-luck loser due to a sputtering offense.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” said Melvin. “He gives up the bloop hit then Moreland scores the one run. You give up two runs and that’s a bad game? I’ll take that it any day.”

On many nights, Gray’s showing would be enough to top many a league’s ace. Not Tuesday though, as Martinez locked down on the bump. The 24-year-old threw a near flawless six innings, surrendering only one hit while walking one and hitting another batter.

“He cuts it, curveball, sinks it, late movement on the changeup,” said Melvin of the opposing starter. “He pitches backward when he has to. For the last year and a half or so he’s been one of the better pitchers in the American League.”

“He did a good job of keeping us off balance,” added Vogt. “He’s having a great year. He knows how to pitch. He’s an athlete.”

Once Martinez (5-2, 2.65) departed, the A’s saw an opening, winding up with runners on 2nd and 3rd against the Rangers bullpen with two down in the seventh. Again, A’s base runners would be denied the final 90 feet, as Rangers reliever Ross Detwiler coaxed a strikeout of pinch-hitter Josh Phegley after issuing three-straight balls to open the at-bat., b

“Phegley’s hitting .333 against lefties,” said Melvin. “It’s not often that I’ll hit for Reddick. You have to do what you the best you can in the situation. Phegley’s been swinging really goo

The A’s broke the shutout in the eighth after Zobrist, struggling to a .205 average this year while recently returning from injury, opened the inning with a liner to left field that DeShields misjudged into a double.  Another struggling hitter, Vogt, plated Zobrist on a single to center to put the A’s on the ledger.

On a night where the A’s struggled to score in general, even an easy RBI single turned into a struggle. The strong-armed Leonys Martin fielded Vogt’s liner and fired a rocket to home plate that skipped past the cutoff man right to catcher Robinson Chirinos. Zobrist was past Chironos, but didn’t slide, allowing the Rangers catcher to attempt a swipe tag. Zobrist was ruled safe, a hair ahead of the tag. Texas manager Jeff Banister challenged the play, but the call stood to cut the Rangers edge 2-1.

Oakland fans who chose to skip over game 3 of the NBA Finals had little to be excited for, but they were treated to a special moment. Switch pitcher Pat Venditte made his O.Co debut, warming up from both sides of the mound before firing off a 1-2-3 inning. He faced three righties, electing to pitch from the right side for all three.

“Like every inning we’ve seen from him, whether it’s here or in spring training, he’s focused,” said Melvin. “He’s confident. You know you’re going to get your match-up. He’s having a real good time, his first time in the Big Leagues. There can be some nerves involved but he’s showing it hasn’t bothered him. He’s having a great time and he’s pitching well on top of it.”

Oakland turns to another starter capable of turning in a gem, Jesse Hahn, for game 2 Wednesday night. He’ll be opposed by Yovani Gallardo, the Rangers offseason acquisition meant to be the complement to the now-injured Yu Darvish at the front of their rotation.

Oakland A’s – Texas Rangers preview

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s return home from a six-game road trip to resume play Tuesday night against the surprising Texas Rangers at the O.Co Coliseum. The A’s won the first three games sweeping the three-game set again the Detroit Tigers, but then they were swept three straight by the Boston Red Sox. The A’s looked good beating Detroit, but their shortcomings reappeared in the series against the Bosox. The A’s continue to have bullpen issues as well as poor fielding and not being able to get hits with men in scoring position. As a result, the A’s are in last place in the AL West with a record of 23-36.

One of the big surprises of the year has been the play of the Texas Rangers under the leadership of manager Jeff Bannister. They are currently in second place in the AL West with a record of 30-27 and are 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros. The Rangers have several of their top pitchers on the DL, but they brought up Chi-Chi Gonzales and he has two wins in two starts and has an ERA of 0.00.  Nick Martinez (4-2,2.89 ERA) has been solid. The Rangers added veteran Wandy Rodriguez to the staff to go along with Colby Lewis and Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo got off to a slow start, but he improved his record to 5-6 and sports an ERA of 3.54.

The Rangers’ offense is led by Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland, Adrian Beltre (currently on the 15 day DL),  rookie sensation Joey Gallo, Delino Deshields, Shin Soon-Choo, and Elvis Andrus. Josh Hamilton, recently acquired from the Angels, is also on the DL with a hamstring injury.

First-year manager, Jeff Bannister has done a terrific job as he has so many of his key players on the DL. Rangers ace, Yu Darvish, is on the shelf for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Matt Harrison, Nick Tepisch, Derek Holland are all on the 60-day DL and closer Neftali Perez is on the 15-day list.

Sonny Gray goes for the A’s Tuesday night, and the Rangers will have Nick Martinez on the hill. Let’s see if the A’s can get back on the winning track. Even with all the deficiencies the A’s have shown this year, it is not too late to climb back into respectability.

A’s close without really being close in a second-straight 4-2 loss to Boston

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Silence at Fenway

By Morris Phillips

If it’s close, don’t expect the game to go to the A’s.

In a season so rough the A’s have sunk to the bottom of the pile in the American League, they’re some things this club has shown that it just can’t do.

Can’t win a close game, can’t win in extra-innings and can’t win during the daytime.

On Saturday afternoon in Boston, it was more of the same in two of the three just mentioned categories as the A’s fell to the Red Sox, 4-2.

Hanley Ramirez got the Sox off to a flying start with a two-run homer in the first inning, and David Ortiz and Mike Napoli had RBI hits in the third to give Boston a 4-1 lead at that point.

The A’s response? One run scored after the third inning, and one hit after the fourth.

So if you want to categorize this one, it’s close without really being close.  The A’s fell to Boston for the second straight day by a score of 4-2, which leaves them 3-9 in games decided by two runs or less.  In one-run ballgames, the A’s are 3-15, and both records are the worst in big league baseball.

“We’re in so many games and however we get there, you get tired of tipping your cap,” manager Bob Melvin lamented.

The A’s came into Boston as winners of nine of 12, and showing signs of breaking out of their malaise, and escaping the AL West cellar.  But Boston’s been struggling too, and their desperation to improve their status has outpaced that of the A’s so far this weekend.  After Wade Miley shut down the A’s on Friday, tough luck Joe Kelly took care of Oakland on Saturday.

Kelly hadn’t won a start at Fenway Park since last season, and hadn’t won anywhere since April 11.  Afterwards, manager Joe Farrell was quick to say he liked what he saw from Kelly, who went six, allowing one run and four hits.

“Whether it’s the ability to reach back and get a little extra velocity, whether it’s making a key pitch as he’s done the last two starts in particular with men in scoring position, he’s got a way about him to keep a moment under control and still execute.”

The A’s truncated offense had just two highlights: Billy Burns tripled home a run in the third inning, and Mark Canha took reliever Alexi Ogando just over the Green Monster in the seventh.

Boston elected to sit former Giant Pablo Sandoval for a second straight day as the Panda’s struggles at the plate extended to the field with two errors on Thursday.  Farrell addressed the subject, saying the consecutive days off were needed to allow Sandoval to “clear his head” and he expects the rotund one will be back in the Red Sox’s lineup on Sunday.

Kendall Graveman gets the ball on Sunday in a matchup with Boston’s Clay Buchholz as the A’s try to avoid the sweep.  Graveman will attempt to win for the third time without a loss since his promotion from AAA Nashville.

UPDATE ON INJURED FAN, TONYA CARPENTER: The Red Sox fan who was struck by a splintered bat in the second inning of Friday’s game has been upgraded from critical condition after spending 24 hours at a local Boston hospital.

Carpenter was sitting in box seats on the third base side of the diamond when Brett Lawrie’s bat broke and was sent helicoptering toward the woman sitting with her husband and child.  Carpenter was struck in the head and her screams could be heard throughout the lower deck of Fenway Park.  Carpenter, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital with injuries considered “life threatening.”

Before Saturday’s game a moment of silence for Carpenter was observed by the sellout crowd (pictured above).  Players for both teams admitted to be shaken by the incident with Boston’s Ramirez saying he couldn’t sleep from dwelling on what had transpired.

The A’s defeat the Tigers again , Sweep the Series

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Baseball is such a crazy game. No matter how many years one follows the game, things occur that make fans literally go insane. Take the 2015 edition of the Oakland A’s, for example. They had such a horrible start to the season. Nothing went right for the for the first 44 games of the season. They could not buy a clutch hit. Their fielding was terrible as was the bullpen, They played a lot of one-run games but could not win. However, hopefully, the team may have turned around the season as they won in Detroit Thursday afternoon 7-5 to sweep the Tigers. It was a season-high fourth win in a row for Oakland and their ninth win in the last 12 games. They are not out of the hole yet as they are still ten games under .500 with a record of 23-33, but things are looking better. The A’s Jesse Hahn pitched well as he recorded his third win of the year and his record improved to 3-5. Drew Pomeranz, working out of the bullpen, pitched the eighth and shut down the Tigers. The only sour note in the game was the performance of Dan Otero. Otero is not having one of his best years. Some of the time, Otero is good and some of the time he is not-so-good. His outing Thursday was a not-so-good outing. He retired one hitter, the ever-dangerous Miguel Cabrera but gave up four runs on four hits as the Tigers made it a 2-run game. Bob Melvin went to his closer, Tyler Clippard, for the save and Clippard came through getting  Nick Castellanos  and James McCann on flyballs to the outfield to end the game.

The A’s scored three runs in the top of the second. Josh Reddick and Brett Lawrie singled to start the frame to put men on at 1st and 3rd with no out. Eric Sogard reached on a fielder’s choice when Tigers’ pitcher Shane Greene made an error on the throw to second trying to start a double play. Reddick scored on the error. Lawrie was safe at second and Sogard was safe at first. The next hitter Josh Phegley tripled to deep center field to drive in Lawrie and Sogard.

The A’s added a run in the fourth, two in the 5th and one more in the 7th. In the fourth, Stephen Vogt walked leading off the inning. Vogt scored on a Billy Butler double to left. In the 5th, Billy Burns walked and stole second. It was the 10th steal for Burns. The Tigers issued an intentional walk to Vogt. Billy Butler singled to left. Burns scored and when Tiger left-fielder Daniel Fields overran the ball, Vogt came home with the A’s 6th run of the game.

The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the 6th. With tow out, Anthony Gose and Jose Iglesias singled to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Miguel Cabrera singled to drive in Gose with the run. The A’s got the run back in the 7th of tiger pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. Gorzelanny walked Ben Zobrist and Stephen Vogt. With two in the inning, Brett Lawrie doubled to drive in Zobrist with the A’s 7th run.

Jesse Hahn was done after 7 innings and it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Oakland. Drew Pomeranz was brought in to pitch. It was Pomeranz’s first appearance since coming off the DL and he worked a scoreless 8th inning for Oakland.  Bob Melvin made the call to the bullpen. Dan Otero came in and retired the first batter he faced, Miguel Cabrera. That was they only hitter that Otero retired. Daniel Fields doubled. Ian Kinsler singer to drive in Field to make it a 7-2 game. J.D. Martinez singled. That was followed by a Tyler Collins’ home run. Detroit is back in the game trailing 7-5. Melvin brought in his closer, Tyler Clippard and Clippard retired Castellanos and McCann to end the game.

Game notes- The line for Jesse was 7 IP, 5 hits, and 1 run allowed. Hahm\n’s record in now 3-5 with a 3.51 ERA. Pomeranz went 1 inning with all zeros and Tyler Clippard earned his 9th save. Shane Greene took the loss for Detroit and his record in now 4-5. He went 4.1 innings and gave up 6 runs, but two were unearned.

The A’s move on to Boston for a three-game set at Fenway Park. It will be a battle of left-handers as Scott Kazmir will go for Oakland and Wade Miley will be on the hill for the Red Sox.

Game time will be at 4:05pm PT.

The A’s beat the Tigers again behind the strong pitching of Sonny Gray.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s are on the move. They beat the Tigers 6-1 to win their fifth game out of the last six and the eighth out of the last eleven. The  A’s ace, Sonny Gray, was dominant as he went eight innings allowing no runs and just two hits. He threw 108 pitches picking up his seventh win of the year. His record is now 7-2 and he owns an ERA of just 1.65. The Tigers’ Anibal Sanchez took the loss. Sanchez is now 3-7 with a 5.67 ERA for 2015. The A’s offense was led by Billy Burns, Josh Reddick, Brett Lawrie and Billy Butler.

The A’s scored three runs in the top of the third. Brett Lawrie doubled with one out to get things going. After Marcus Semien popped out, Sanchez walked Mark Canha and Eric Sogard to load the bases. The next hitter, Billy Burns, hit the first pitch from Sanchez for a triple that cleared the bases to put the A’s up 3-0. Josh Reddick hit a solo homer in the third to put Oakland ahead 4-0. The A’s added another run in the eighth and ninth. The Tigers scored their lone run in the bottom of the ninth.

Game notes- Fernando Rodriguez relieved Gray in the ninth and gave up one run on two hits. It was the fourth time in twelve starts that Sonny Gray did not allow a run. The A’s announced that Drew Pomeranz has been activated off the DL and will be working out of the bullpen. Arnold Leon was sent back to Nashville.

The Tigers have lost six games in a row for the first time since the 2011 season.

With the win, the A’s have won the series for the second consecutive time. The A’s meet the Tigers Thursday morning at 10:05 am PT. Jesse Hahn will go for Oakland and Shane Greene will pitch for Detroit.

Oakland Starts the Road Trip win a Comeback Win to Defeat the Detroit Tigers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

What’s going on with the A’s? They started off the six-game road trip with a 5-3 comeback win over the Tigers in Detroit night. The A’s are starting to look like the team that everyone hoped would compete for the top spot in the AL West. However, that did not happen  as the A’s got off to a terrible start, but the A’s have won four of the last five and seven of the last ten. In Tuesday’s game, the A’s had a quality start from Kendall Graveman and three innings of hitless relief. Evan Scribner kept the Tigers down in the 7th and 8th innings to set the stage for Tyler Clippard who closed out the win for Oakland with his eighth save of the year. The A’s played well defensively and did not make an error for the second straight game. The A’s also had a key hit in the 7th to put them ahead for good. Ben Zobrist hit a line drive over the right field fence for a grand slam. All the ingredients were in play. Hitting, pitching, bullpen, and defense. Let’s hope the Green and Gold can continue their winning ways.

The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes singled to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Graveman retired the next two batters but walked Tyler Collins to load the bases. Cabrera scored when Graveman uncorked a wild pitch. Nick Castellanos followed with a single to drive in Cespedes and Collins.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the 7th. Brett Lawrie led off with a single. Lawrie advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marcus Semien followed with an infield single to put runners at 1st and 3rd. The A’s caught a break on the next play. Eric Sogard hit a ground ball to Ian Kinsler. The Tiger second baseman threw home thinking that Lawrie was running on contact but Lawrie held at third at Sogard was safe at first on the fielder’s choice to load the bases. Billy Burns singled to center to drive in Lawrie with the A’s first run.  The Tigers brought in Angel Nesbitt to face Ben Zobrist. Zobrist, batting from the left side, hit a line drive that cleared the fence for a grand slam. The A’s have the lead for the first time in the game. There was no more scoring as the bullpen shut the Tigers down the final three innings to secure the win for Oakland.

Game notes.

Kendall Graveman improved his record to 3-2. He went six innings allowing eight hits and three runs. Scribner pitched two hitless innings to record his 6th hold for Oakland. Tyler Clippard earned his eighth save and he allowed no hits in his inning of work. Billy Burns had two more hits to raise his average to .330. Brett Lawrie also had two hits and the slam was the second home run of the year for Zobrist.

After the game, Ben Zobrist had this to say. “It’s big, because I feel like that’s happened to us more than it has us taking advantage of their mistakes this year,” said Zobrist. “It had to turn around. It’s been turning around gradually, and we’re fighting and battling to get back to the kind of team we know we are. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”

“Huge momentum for us there,” said Graveman. “It was one of those games where the pace was slow, and you just felt like something had to go our way. And you get a couple plays there that go our way in that inning that maybe hadn’t gone our way all year, that gave us a little confidence, a little boost, and once that went out, that was a really good feeling in the dugout there.”

The A’s ace, Sonny Gray will pitch Wednesday night and he will be opposed by Anibal Sanchez. Game time will be at 4:05 PT from Detroit.

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A’s hit the road to Play Detroit and Boston, Sneak Preview.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s have an off-day on Monday as they are travelling to the Motor City to face the Detroit Tigers for three games and then move on to Boston for a weekend series with the Red Sox. The Tigers were here last week and took two out of three from the A’s. The Tigers scored just four runs in the two wins over Oakland and, with a little luck and better fielding, the A’s could have won all three. The two losses were by one run as the Tigers won 1-0 and 3-2 after losing the opener to the A’s 4-0.

The Tigers are returning home after being swept four straight by the Los Angeles Angels  in Anaheim the past weekend and they have fallen to third place in the AL Central. The Tigers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are 28-24 for the season. The Tigers are led by their big first baseman, the All-Everything Miguel Cabrera. Tiger designated hitter Victor Martinez is on the DL with a sore knee and is not expected to play in the series. Cabrera and Martinez have combined to be a devastating force in the Tiger lineup but with Martinez out, the Tiger offense is not as potent as it has been in the past.

The Tigers will have Alfredo Simon(5-2, 2.67 ERA) on the mound and the A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman. Graveman won his second game of the year when the A’s were in Tampa and went 5 2/3rds inning against the Yankees Thursday night. Graveman left the game trailing 3-0 but the A’s rallied to beat New York and it was a no decision for Graveman. Wednesday’s game will feature Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez (3-6, 6.75 ERA) and the A’s will have their ace, Sonny Gray (6-2, 1.82 ERA) handling the pitching chores. The final game of the series will have Shane Greene (4-4, 5.19) going against Jesse Hahn (2-5,3.77). Hahn pitched a complete game against the Tigers on May 25th beating them 4-0. Greene took the loss.

The Tigers will be looking to regroup and get on the winning track while the A’s have shown improvement as they have won six out of the last ten games played. The A’s took three out of four from the Yankees and played very well. The A’s showed improvement in several areas. They stopped making errors. They still lead the Majors with 51 so far but they hired former Ranger manager Ron Washington to work with the infielders and, hopefully, the fielding will continue to improve. The bullpen showed signs of improvement, too. The A’s were hoping that Sean Doolittle would come back and resume his closer role once he increased the velocity on his pitches. Unfortunately, Doolittle made just one appearance. Doolittle pitched one inning  and only one of pitches reached the 90 miles per hour mark. Dooliotte’s best pitch is a 93 or 94 mile per hour special. Doolittle, however, experienced severe pain in the shoulder and it was back to the DL. No one knows how long he will be sidelined. Tyler Clippard has stepped in as closer and has seven saves so far for Oakland. Evan Scribner has done a good job, too. If the A’s are going to get better, they will need Abad, Dan Otero, Arnold Leon, Fernando Rodriguez, and Angel Castro to be able to come in and do the job.

The other area of improvement has been the return of timely, or if you will clutch, hitting. The A’s went through a stretch where they went 0-for 21 with runners in scoring position. They did better in that department over the weekend against New York. The A’s kick-starter, Coco Crisp, has been on the DL for almost the whole season. The A’s tried Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld, but neither player has done  much hitting for the club. One bright spot has been the speedster, Billy Burns. Burns had had four multi-hit games and has sparked the A’s offense. Burns is hitting .327 and in Sunday’s game against New York, stole two bases and scored on Stephen Vogt’s home run.Josh Reddick is hitting.302 with 7 homers and 31 RBI while catcher Stephen Vogt’s average is .322 with 11 Home runs and 38 RBIs. Another key factor for the A’s has been the return of Ben Zobrist. Zobrist can play multiple positions and that gives Bob Melvin a lot of flexibility when he making out the lineup cards.

After the Detroit series, the A’ play the Red Sox in Boston. The Sox won two out of the three games when they were here in Oakland. The Red Sox’ offense has not been there for them this year. Their big star, David Ortiz, is not having a good year. Hanley Ramirez was hot for a while in April, but he was injured and has not regained his hitting stroke and is a defensive liability in left field. Pablo Sandoval is hitting .249 and Mike Napoli is at .208. Mookie Betts and Rusny Castillo are still question marks in the outfield. Boston’s starting pitching has been mediocre, to say the least. The starting rotation of Buchholz, Miley, Porcello and Kelley will not strike fear into any opposing team. The A’s have a chance to sneak up on Detroit and Boston before they return home to face the Texas Rangers in Oakland and then fly to Anaheim to play the Angels before heading to San Diego for two with the Padres and return home for two more with San Diego and face the Angels again for three.