Tag: Athletics

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

A’s use pitching & power to beat the Rays 7-2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Vogt tags out Souza at home Photo: TampaBay.com
Vogt tags out Souza at home
Photo: TampaBay.com

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics used the Sonny Gray’s strong pitching and three home runs to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 in the final game of the four-game series. It was the A’s second consecutive victory which gave them their first back-to-back wins since April 13-14.

The win also gave the A’s a 2-2 series split versus the first place team in the American League East. Oakland (16-30) finished the seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record. They will be satisfied with that record as they had to face two division leading teams in Houston and Tampa Bay (24-21).

The Athletics may have just found the momentum that has been missing throughout most of this season.

On the Bump

The A’s are always confident when they have their best pitcher – Sonny Gray – on the mound, and he did not disappoint on Sunday.

Gray (5-2) had great control of his fastball and slider on Sunday. He worked 5.0 innings giving up just four hits, no runs while striking out four batters and walking none. Gray threw 69 pitches (47 strikes).

Gray would have worked more innings had he not taken a James Loney line drive off his right ankle in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gray stayed in the game and pitched the fourth and fifth innings. With Oakland up 5-0 after five and one-half innings, Gray was pulled from the game to have the ankle evaluated.

The team announced after the game that the x-rays of the ankle were negative. Gray will have four days off to rest the ankle before facing the New York Yankees next Friday in Oakland.

Oh What a Relief It Is

The Athletics’ bullpen came on in the bottom of the sixth inning to take over for Gray. Dan Otero threw two scoreless innings giving up just three hits.

Fernando Rodriguez came in for the eighth inning and had a shaky outing. After striking out Kevin Kiermaier, Rodriguez gave up a double to Joey Butler and walked Longoria. He then gave up a base hit to James Longey to load the bases. Logan Forsythe singled to center driving home Butler and Longoria. Rodriguez was lifted for Evan Scribner.

Scribner was able to get the final two outs of the inning.

Arnold Leon took the mound in ninth for the A’s. Leon worked a perfect final inning including posting two strike outs.

The bullpen worked four innings giving up two runs (both earned) on two hits.

The victory went to Gray who broke a string of two consecutive losses.

In the Batters Box

The A’s had a good day at the plate scoring seven runs on eight hits. The eight hits included three home runs.

Billy Burns got the scoring started by hitting his first major league home run on the first pitch of the game. The RBI was just the second of Burns’ young career.

Burns scored the second run of the game for Oakland in the third inning when he came home on a Stephen Vogt sacrifice fly to center field.

In the sixth inning, Stephen Vogt picked up a lead-off walk. Billy Burns was then hit-by-pitch. Max Muncy flied out to left for the first out of the inning. First baseman Mark Canha came to the plate and hit a Erasmo Ramirez pitch over the left field wall for a three-run home run. That gave the A’s a 5-0 lead.

The A’s scored again in the seventh inning. Josh Reddick hit two-out home run to right center field to make it a 6-0 game.

The A’s scored their final run in the top of the ninth. With two men on base, Stephen Vogt hit his second sacrifice fly of the day allowing Billy Burns to score his third run of the game. That made it a 7-2 game which is how it would end.

It’s All About the Defense

The A’s played their second consecutive game without making an error. They also did not give up any unearned runs.

In the bottom of the first with a runner at first, James Loney hit a hard grounder down the third base line into the corner. The runner – Steven Souza – decided to attempt to score. Sam Fuld hit the cut off man Marcus Semien who fired home to Vogt who was standing in front of the plate. Souza knocked Vogt down as he made the tag and the catcher was able to hold on to the ball. It was a beautiful 7-6-2 put-out that kept a run from scoring.

Up Next

The A’s open up a seven-game homestand on Monday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers. It will be the Tigers in for three games followed by the New York Yankees in for a four game set.

RHP Jesse Hahn (1-4, 4.43) is scheduled to face the Tigers’ RHP Shane Greene (4-2, 4.05).

There will be no television for the Memorial Day afternoon game.

The Astro snap the A’s winning streak at one.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were trying to get a two-game winning streak going against the Houston Astros Tuesday night in Houston. The A’s had their ace, Sonny Gray, on the hill while the Astros gave the ball to Roberto Hernandez. It was the first time in his career that Gray has pitched in Minute Maid Park and it did not go well for him or the A’s as they lost 6-4. Gray absorbed his second loss of the season. Gray went five innings and allowed three runs and seven hits. The A’s relieved failed again as the Astros scored three runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Fernando Rodriguez went 2 1/3rd innings in relief allowing just one hit but was charged with an earned run after he was relieved by Fernando Abad. Abad has not been effective this year and he was ineffective again as gave up home runs to Colby Rasmus and Jason Castro.

There were two bright spots in the game for the A’s. Max Muncy hit his second home run of the year and, lo and behold, the defense did not commit an error. Be still my heart!!! The lowlights were the bullpen and the A’s ran themselves out of the game with baserunning blunders. Hope Bob Melvin keeps his cool.

Jesse Hahn will pitch for Oakland on Wednesday and Houston will counter with their ace, Dallas Keuchel. Game time is 11:10 am PT.

The A’s released the following information regarding the surgery performed on Jarrod Parker Tuesday.– Oakland A’s right-handed pitcher Jarrod Parker underwent successful right elbow surgery, the club announced today. The surgery was performed this afternoon by Dr. James Andrews at the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Fla.  Parker’s previous revised ulnar collateral ligament did not need repairing and the avulsed medial  epicondyle fracture was cleaned up andrepaired.  Parker is currently resting comfortably.  Parker underwent “Tommy John”surgery for the second time in his career March 24, 2014.  He began a rehab assignment with Single-A Stockton April 23 and made two starts with the Ports and two at Triple-A Nashville before injuring his elbow with the Sounds May 8 against Round Rock.  Parker combined for  2-1 record and a 5.79 ERA in his four rehab starts.

Preview of the series between the A’s and the Chicago White Sox

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s will host the Chicago White Sox this weekend at the O.co Coliseum. The White Sox come to town with a record of 14-17 and their manager, Robin Ventura, is under fire for his team’s poor performance so far this year. Ventura is in his fourth season as skipper of the Sox. White Sox general manager, Rick Hahn, made several moves in the off-season to improve the team. The White Sox won 73 games and lost 89 and Hahn decided to improve the pitching by trading for Jeff Samardzija and signing former Yankee closer David Robertson and setup man Zach Duke. Hahn nabbed first baseman Adam Laroche from the Washington Nationals and outfielder Melky Cabrera from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox also signed utility man Emilio Boniface.

The White Sox pitching staff is led by lefty Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. The White Sox also have hitting star Jose Abreu who was the AL Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in the balloting for MVP. The rest of the Sox rotation in 2015 will be John Danks, Hector Noesi and Carlos Rodon. Danks’ record is 1-3 with a 5.12 ERA while Noesi sports an 0-3 record with an ERA at 5.94. These are not good numbers and may be  the reason the White Sox are floundering.  Rodon’s record is 1-0 and his ERA is 2.92 since being called up by Chicago. The bullpen was a disaster last year, but Robertson is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.20 and has saved 7 games in 8 opportunities. Zach Duke has appeared in 15 games and Jake Petricka and Zach Putnam serve as setup men for the Sox.

The offense is led by right fielder Avasail Garcia whose   batting average is a robust.322 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI. Big Jose Abreu is hitting .288 with 6 homers and 20 RBI. Melky Cabrera is hitting a lowly .248 and Adam LaRoche is at .235 and shortstop Alexi Ramirez is at .241. Adam Eaton, who had a terrific year in 2014, is hitting a lowly .218.

The White Sox won their series with the Milwaukee Brewers before heading to Oakland. The Sox have won their last three series and the offense is now starting to come alive.

The A’s, on the other hand, are ten games under the .500 mark with a record of 13-23. The A’s are losing close games and need to make improvements in several areas of the game that are necessary for them to get out of the doldrums. Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir have been stalwarts in the A’s rotation. Gray lost his first game yesterday to Boston, but he pitched well enough to win. Giving up one run and three hits in seven innings of work usually results in a win, but it did not happen as the A’s failed repeatedly to get the clutch hit that would have given Gray the victory. Kazmir has been solid all year except for one game. The rest of the starters have not shown that they can pitch well consistently.  Jesse Hahn, Jesse Chavez, and Drew Pomeranz all have records under .500 and have high ERAs. The bullpen has been a disaster all season and has a record of  two wins and ten losses. A’s closer Sean Doolittle is still on the DL and is at Stockton for rehab. Tyler Clippard, who was acquired to be a setup man, has filled in at closer and has been good for the most part. Evan Scribner has also been reliable but had a bad inning a couple of games ago and was victimized by the A’s defense on Wednesday. Lefty Eric O’Flaherty had bad outings and is now on the DL. Fernando Abad is also not pitching well. Abad had a good year for Oakland in 2014 but has not been the same in 2015. The A’s have added Angel Castro and Fernando Rodriguez in the hopes that they will strengthen the ‘pen, but it’s too early to tell.

There is a huge problem that Oakland has to address as soon as possible. Simply stated, the A’s defense is terrible. The A’s have the worst fielding percentage in all of baseball and have committed 36 errors in 36 games. Shortstop Marcus Semien, acquired from the White Sox in the Samardzija trade, has made 11 and several of them have been throwing errors. Semien did not play at shortstop for the White Sox and is really getting on-the-job training at short this year. The A’s offense, if one is looking at numbers only, looks formidable. Yes, the A’s have scored runs.Yes, Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick are among the top ten hitters in the AL and Vogt leads the AL with 30 RBI. They have not won a single extra inning game this year and are 1-11 in one-run games. This indicates that they cannot get clutch hits when needed. They need a walk-off win or a win when they come back from a deficit to win.  If the went 6-6 in the one run games, their record would be 18-18. The season can be saved. They are not a terrible team, but they need to get their act together and start winning series. The time is now.

Oakland loses sixth game in a row, Bullpen blows it again.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s and the Red Sox played a very entertaining game Monday night. The Red Sox won 5-4 in eleven innings sending the A’s down to their sixth straight loss. Scott Kazmir went six innings for Oakland and pitched well giving up just two runs and four hits. Red Sox starter, Rick Porcello went five innings and he was touched for 3 runs and nine hits. Neither pitcher figured in the decision.  Neither team would give and each team rallied to either tie the game or take the lead. The game was tied 4-4 after 9 innings and it took two more innings to decide the winner. The A’s bullpen failed the team once again. Evan Scribner gave up two runs to Boston and Pablo Sandoval took Angel Castro deep to win the game for the Sox. Final score 5-4 in favor of Boston.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. A’s leadoff hitter, Billy Burns, reached first on a two-strike bunt single. Former Giants’ third baseman, Pablo Sandoval, made a nice bare-handed play but Burns was too fast and he beat Sandoval’s throw to reach safely. Burns reached second on a wild pitch by Rick Porcello and scored on a single to right by A’s designated hitter, Billy Butler.

The Red Sox tied the game at one in the top of the fourth. Red Sox second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, walked with one out. David Ortiz singled to left center and Pedroia did not stop at third base, The A’s tried to nail him at home, but Stephen Vogt could not handle the throw from shortstop Marcus Semien. Semien was charged with an error on the throw. The game didn’t stay tied long. The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ike Davis led off with a double to right-center field. Davis appeared to have injured himself but stayed in the game.  Brett Lawrie singled to right, but Davis could not score on the play and was replaced by Max Muncy. Marcus Semien hit into a 6-4-3 double play allowing Muncy to score. There was no RBI on the play.

The Red Sox tied the game in the top of the fifth. With two out. Rookie catcher, Blake Swihart, doubled. Sox center fielder, Mookie Betts, singled to drive in Boston’s second run of the game. The Red Sox almost took the lead, but A’s left fielder, Coco Crisp, made a leaping catch at the left field wall to rob Dustin Pedroia of a hit to end the inning.

The A’s scored their third run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. With two out, Billy Butler doubled to deep right centerfield. A’s catcher, Stephen Vogt knocked but in with a booming double. For Vogt, it was his team-leading 27th RBI of the year.  A’s lead 3-2 after five complete.

The Red Sox rallied in the top of the seventh inning. A’s manager called on Evan Scribner to pitch. The A’s bullpen has been a disaster for the club so far this year and Scribner’s did nothing to change that perception. Scribner allowed three straight singles and the Sox scored twice to take a 4-3 lead. The A’s rallied to tie in the bottom of the seventh. Former Athletic, Craig Breslow was called in to do the pitching in the seventh. Josh Reddick greeted him by hitting a single to right. Billy Butler followed with a single and Reddick advanced to third and then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Stephen Vogt.

There was no more scoring in regulation and the game went to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Pablo Sandoval hit a line shot into right field to put the Red Sox ahead 5-4. The hit came off A’s reliever, Angel Castro. Matt Barnes, pitching his second inning of relief for Boston, set the A’s down in order to seal the win for the Red sox.

Game Notes- The A’s are 1 -11 in one-run games and 0-6 in extra inning games. They are now 12-22 for the year and are 10 games under .500 for the first time since ending the 2011 season when they were 14 games under .500.

The line score for Boston was 5 runs on 10 hits and no errors while Oakland score 4 runs on 13 hits and 1 error.

First baseman Ike Davis had a left quadriceps strain and looks like he will miss two or three games.  The two teams will meet again Tuesday night. Drew Pomeranz ( 1-3, 5.12 ) will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Boston’s Justin Masterson (2-1, 5.18). Game time was 3 hours and 57 minutes and 19,743 people were on hand to watch.

Game time will be at 7:05pm at theO.co Coliseum.

Another tough loss for the A’s, Twins beat them again. win the 4-game series 3-1

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by Jerry Feitelberg.

The A’s lost again to the Twins Thursday afternoon in Minnesota by a score of 6-5. The A’s manager Bob Melvin made a couple of changes in the lineup by having Brett Lawrie play second and Eric Sogard was moved to short. Lawrie and Sogard each committed an error that led to two unearned runs in the game. A’s starter, Drew Pomeranz, did not go deep into the game either. Pomeranz walked five hitters in just 4 1/3rd innings of work as he absorbed his third loss of the season Pomeranz gave up just three hits and allowed six runs, two of which were unearned but he caused his own downfall by allowing the five walks.

The A’s scored two runs in the top of the second. Billy Butler led off the inning with a double. Ike Davis walked and that was followed by a Brett Lawrie single to load the bases.  Max Muncy flied out to deep center field to drive in Butler with the first run. Davis and Lawrie tagged up and advanced to third and second on the out. Catcher Josh Phegley flied out to center to drive in Davis with the second run of the inning. The Twins scored three times in their half of the inning on just one hit. The Twins loaded the bases on a single and two walks with no out. Twins center fielder Shane Robinson grounded into a force out, shortstop Eric Sogard to Brett Lawrie. Vargas scored from third. Brett Lawrie threw the ball away trying to complete the double play allowing Escobar to score. Kurt Suzuki advanced to third and Robinson wound up on second base.  Pomeranz got Eddie Rosario to fly out to left, but it was deep enough to drive in Suzuki with the third run of the inning.

The A’s reclaimed the lead in the top of the third. Center fielder Billy Burns singled to get things going. Twins’ second baseman, Brian Dozier robbed Sam Fuld and Josh Reddick on the next two consecutive plays making fantastic plays on the line drives. Burns stole second and scored on a Billy Butler single and Butler came in to score on a double to left by Ike Davis. A’s lead 4-3. The Twins tied the game at four in the bottom of the fourth. With two out, Kurt Suzuki singled. Shane Robinson reached first on a fielding error by Eric Sogard. Suzuki advanced to second and scored on a single by Eduardo Escobar.

In the bottom of the fifth, Pomeranz walked Brian Dozier, then retired Torii Hunter, but walked Trevor Plouffe. Bob Melvin had seen enough and Pomeranz was done for the day. Dan Otero was now pitching for Oakland. Otero walked the first batter he faced loading the bases.  Eduardo Escobar, who torched A’s pitching in the four-game series, did it again. He hit a single to right driving in Dozier and Plouffe to put the Twins up 6-4.

The A’s made it a one-run game in the sixth. Big Ike Davis slammed his second home run of the year into right centerfield. That made the score 6-5 and there was no more scoring the rest of the way as the Twins won the game and took the series three games to one.

Notes-The A’s are now 3-4 on the 10-game road trip. They are on their way to meet the Mariners in Seattle for the next three games before returning home to Oakland to face the Boston Red Sox Monday night.

The A’s are not in sync at all. On a day when the bullpen improved and hitting was good, the defense failed them.They made two errors that led to two unearned runs. Fernando Rodriguez recalled from Nashville, pitched well as did Evan Scribner. They held the Twins scoreless the last three innings of the game.

The A’s announced that they designated Chad Smith for assignment. They have 10 days in which he can be claimed off waivers or be traded or released. The A’s closer, Sean Doolittle will face live hitters Friday night in Seattle as he continues to make progress from his shoulder injury. No date has been set for his return off the DL.

The A’s record falls to 12-18 while the Twins are now 16-13.

The Twins trounce the A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s played a very ugly, ugly game Wednesday night in Minnesota as they took it on the chin by a score of 13-0. The A’s were hoping to get some momentum going since they won Tuesday and were hoping to get back to back wins since early April and they had one of their best pitchers, Scott Kazmir on the hill. Kazmir came into the game with a 2-0 won-loss record and a sparkling ERA of just 1.62.  Kazmir didn’t have anything working and he was rocked for six runs and seven hits in six innings of work. The A’s bullpen did not perform well either. Chad Smith, in just 1/3rd of an inning of work, gave up four runs on three hits and he hit a batter and had one walk. The Twins scored three more in the eighth off R.J. Alvarez. The A’s offense didn’t do well against Twins’ starter, Kyle Gibson. Gibson went six innings giving up just four hits and no runs and the Twins bullpen kept the A’s scoreless the rest of the way. The A’s had a couple of scoring chances but could not come up with the hits when needed.

The game started to unravel for Kazmir in the bottom of the third. The Twins’ Eddie Rosario, making his Major League Debut, hit Kazmir’s pitch on his first Major League swing into the left field seats for a solo homer. The next hitter, Danny Santana tripled down the right field line. Kazmir walked Brian Dozier to put men on at first and third with no out. Torii Hunter singled driving in Santana. Trevor Plouffe also singled to drive in Dozier. Hunter stopped at second. Kazmir threw a pitch in the dirt and Hunter advanced to third on the wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly.  Twins led 4-0 after three.

The Twins made it a 6-0 game in the bottom of the sixth when Eduardo Escobar hit a home run with a man aboard. Kazmir finished the inning, but he was done for the night. Kazmir gave up six runs on seven hits.

The Twins scored four more runs in the 7th and three in the eighth as they pounded the A’s for thirteen runs on twelve hits.Final score 13-0 in favor of Minnesota.

Game notes- Not too many bright spots for Oakland in the game. Coco Crisp returned to the lineup after being on the DL since opening day. Coco went 0-for-4. Brett Lawry had two hits and has a 10-game hit streak going. Marcus Semien also had two hits in the game. After the game A’s manager Bob Melvin said ” it was very frustrating not winning back to back games. We just couldn’t put together a good game. ”

The hitting star for Minnesota was Eduardo Escobar who had three hits including a double and a home run and had 5 RBI.

The Twins are now 15-13 for the season and Oakland drops to 12-17. Game four of the series will be Thursday morning at 10am in Minnesota. Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 4.61 ERA) goes for Oakland and he will be opposed by Ricky Nolasco ( 1-1, 10.18 ERA .)