Tag: Baseball

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s look to improve on their road record; play in Detroit tonight

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Photo credit: @NBCSAthletics

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Oakland A’s enjoyed a rare Wednesday off and are ready to open a four-game series with the Detroit Tigers on Thursday at Comerica Park.

#2 The A’s are struggling on the road with a 5-15 record and the A’s were 1-8 on their last nine game trip.

#3 The A’s lost the first two games of this trip to Seattle by one-run games 6-5 and 4-3.

#4 A day gives a team a lot to think about. What are some of the things that the A’s need to consider in trying to make this a good road trip the rest of the way?

#5 The A’s will be starting Chris Bassitt (1-1, 2.55 ERA) for the Tigers Spencer Turnbull (2-2, 2.42 ERA). Talk a little about this match up and the job Bassitt has done for the A’s.

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

Preview of A’s four-game series with the Tigers

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nbcsports.com file photo: Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt gets ready to deliver as the A’s open up a four game series in Detroit on Thursday night at CoAmerica Park

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are having a very rare off-day on Wednesday as they travel to Detroit to face the Tigers for four games starting on Thursday.

The A’s, who are having trouble winning on the road, stumble into Motown with a 5-15 road record. The A’s were 1-8 on their last nine-game trip and have started this nine-game trip by losing the first two games to Seattle. The A’s overall are 19-24 for the season.

The A’s are currently residing in the basement in the AL West. Their starting rotation has not performed as well as A’s manager Bob Melvin had hoped. The A’s may have help coming in that department as pitchers Jharel Cotton and A.J. Puk are making their way back from Tommy John surgery and may be available soon.

Sean Manaea, who had shoulder surgery, is coming along and he may be back later this year. Manaea won 12 games and tossed a no-hitter last season before exiting with the shoulder problem. In the meantime, Bob Melvin will send Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Daniel Mengden, and Mike Fiers to face the Tigers this weekend.

Montas has been the most consistent starter the A’s have had this year. Fiers is 3-3, and he threw a no-hitter in Oakland against the Cincinnati Reds. Bassitt has made three or four starts since being recalled, and Mengden will b making his second start.

The A’s bullpen has not been as good as it was last year. Most of the relievers are back, but baseball people know that last year’s success is no guarantee that the pitchers will be as successful this year. The A’s lost Jed Lowrie to free agency. Lowrie was a consistent hitter, and he knocked in 99 ribbies last season. The A’s acquired Jurickson Profar to replace him, but Profar has been struggling both on offense and on defense.

The A’s will be facing a Detroit Tiger team that is in the midst of a rebuild. The Tigers are not the juggernaut of 2012 when the won the AL Pennant. Gone are pitchers Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Anibal Sanchez. Their starters are now lefties Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris.

Righty Tyson Ross is on the 10-day IL and Michael Fulmer is on the 60-day IL. Former SF Giant, Matt Moore is also on the 60-day IL. Spencer Turnbull, Victor Alcantara, Daniel Stumpf, and Buck Farmer will see action this weekend against the A’s. Their closer, Shane Greene, has recorded 15 saves and has a record of 0-1 and an ERA of 1.50. The Tigers are in fourth place in the AL Central with a record of 18-22.

The Tigers’ two best players are Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos. Cabrera is day-to-day with a knee issue. Cabrera missed most of 2018 with injuries, and his power has yet to return this year. His batting average is a respectable .282, and he has just one home run and 15 RBIs so far this year.

Castellanos, who will be a free agent at the end of next year, is on the trading block. The Tigers are paying him 10 million this season. In 37 games this season, Castellanos is hitting .270 with three homers and 12 RBIs. Last year he hit .298 and had 23 dingers.

The infielders for Detroit are Niko Goodrum at first, Josh Harrison, at second, Jeimer Candelario will play third, and Ronny Rodriguez will be the shortstop. Rodriguez has been productive, but the other three are just slightly below average.

The outfield will be manned by Christin Stewart in left, JaCoby Jones in center, and Castellanos in right. Cabrera will be the DH.

The series will be a battle between two teams hoping to improve. The A’s want to regain the form they had last season when they won 97 games. The Tigers, who lost 98 games in 2017 and 2018, are hoping to find a way back to respectability. They hope their young players will mature and improve. The A’s are hoping to end their road woes with a good series. Let’s see how this plays out in Detroit this weekend.

Giants’ top pitching prospect to make debut Wednesday against Blue Jays

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mercurynews.com photo: San Francisco Giants starter Shaun Anderson had quiet a Major League debut with two hits and fine start against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

By Ben Leonard

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ flurry of May roster moves has continued, but their most recent call-up may be the most significant yet.

After 35 May roster moves before Wednesday, struggling San Francisco (17-24) has called up its top pitching prospect, 24-year old right-hander Shaun Anderson, to make his major league debut against the Toronto Blue Jays (17-24) Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. at Oracle Park. Anderson will try to stabilize his slot in a Giants’ rotation that has struggled mightily outside of veterans Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija.

“He’s a guy that’s throwing as well as anybody” in Triple-A, manager Bruce Bochy said, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “So that’s why he’s here.”

Starter Tyler Beede was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move. Beede gave up 10 earned runs in his last three outings, lasting just 6.2 innings. Anderson will fill struggling starter Dereck Rodriguez’s slot in the rotation after he was also optioned to Sacramento May 11.

Anderson hails from the University of Florida, where he was a lockdown closer and then was drafted by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft. The Giants acquired Anderson in a 2017 trade deadline deal that sent infielder Eduardo Nunez to Boston.

Anderson isn’t by any means a blue-chip prospect, but he has pitched solidly in just over three years in the minor leagues.

Anderson posted a 3.45 ERA in Double-A Richmond for the Giants in 2018 before posting a 4.18 ERA to finish the season for Triple-A Sacramento. He has kept that up this year in Sacramento, posting a 4.11 ERA with a 3.55 FIP and striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings.

Anderson will face veteran right-hander Edwin Jackson, who will make his Blue Jays debut Wednesday. When he throws his first pitch for Toronto, Jackson will have pitched for a record 14 major league teams. Jackson was acquired from the Oakland Athletics for cash after posting a 3.33 ERA in 2019.

Rain is expected in the forecast Wednesday during and prior to the contest. Grounds crews covered the field with a tarp and worked on the field Wednesday morning. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic reported that the Giants say there is a window to play the game, with the heaviest rain set to come more than four hours after the scheduled first pitch. 

LINEUPS: 

BLUE JAYS:

Brandon Drury, 2B

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B

Rowdy Tellez, 1B

Randal Grichuk, CF

Freddy Galvis, SS

Teoscar Hernandez, LF

Billy McKinney, RF

Luke Maile, C

Edwin Jackson, SP

GIANTS:

Joe Panik, 2B

Steven Duggar, RF

Evan Longoria, 3B

Pablo Sandoval, 1B

Mac Williamson, LF

Brandon Crawford, SS

Kevin Pillar, CF

Aramis Garcia, C

Shaun Anderson, SP

Mariners nip the A’s 4-3 to sweep the 2-game series

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photo from yahoosports.com: Seattle Mariners closing pitcher Roenis Elias reacts as stadium lights flash after the team’s baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Seattle. Elias earned the save as the Mariners won 4-3.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland  A’s road woes continued as they fell to the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Seattle Tuesday night. The A’s, who were 1-8 on their last nine-game road trip, started this road trip 0-2. The A’s are off on Wednesday and will start a four-game set with the Tigers in Detroit before finishing the trip with three games with the Cleveland Indians.

Brett Anderson was on the mound for Oakland Tuesday night. Anderson gave the A’s six innings, and he allowed six hits and four runs. He was the losing pitcher, and his record dropped to 4-3. Mike Leake started for Seattle, and he picked up his third win of the year. Leake went 6 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and three runs (one earned).

The M’s put two on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Anderson gave up solo homers to Daniel Vogelbach and Tim Beckham.

The A’s tied the game in the top of the fifth. Leake walked Ramon Laureano and gave up a single to Robbie Grossman. Both runners advanced when Josh Phegley flew out to deep center field. Marcus Semien reached on Beckham’s throwing error, and that allowed Laureano and Grossman to score.

The game didn’t stay tied for long. With one out, Anderson walked J.P. Crawford. M’s centerfielder, Mitch Haniger, who loves to play against Oakland, hit his second home of the series to give the Mariners the lead 4-2.

The A’s scored a run in the top of the seventh. Stephen Piscotty led off with a double. Robbie Grossman singled to drive in Piscotty. The A’s trail 4-3.

The M’s brought in Roenis Elias to pitch with two-out in the seventh. Elias responded by getting the final seven outs of the game to preserve the win for Seattle.

The A’s drop to 19-24 while the M’s improve to 21-23.

Time of game was two hours and 37 minutes. 11,355 fans were in attendance.

Up Next: The A’s will have the day off on Wednesday before heading to Detroit and Comerica Park. Starting for the A’s on Thursday night Chris Bassitt (1-1, 2.55 ERA). The Tigers starter is yet to be determined.

Jerry Feitelberg is the Oakland A’s beat reporter for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Will Irving reunite with LeBron in L.A.?; Leonard’s 4-bouncer rim shot gets Raptors in the semi Finals; plus more

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Photo credit: @AFordTaurus

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury on That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 What about all the talk from ESPN radio that they can see a LeBron James and Kyrie Irving reunion at the Los Angeles Lakers especially if Jason Kidd had come on board as head coach but Frank Vogel got the job as Lakers head coach? Stephen A Smith says that not going to happen that his sources tell him that Irving is going to the Knicks and Brooklyn is trying to weigh in on Irving, but Irving is focused on going to the Knicks and Madison Square Garden.

#2 The Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard sunk a four-bouncer on the rim and got the Raptors into the next round defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 92-90 on a buzzer beater. Leonard had himself a game finishing with 41 points in a Game 7 elimination contest to advance to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

#3 The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lilliard will be all the rage as the Blazers are coming off a narrow 4-3 win past the Denver Nuggets. It took seven games for the Blazers to advance. Do the Blazers have enough to go deep with Golden State? In game one the Warriors rolled past Portland 116-94.

#4 In hockey, the San Jose Sharks and St Louis Blues played Game 2 Monday night in the best of seven in this third round of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final. The Sharks have been getting help from all around, but the Sharks’ Timo Meier has been on fire with two goals scored in Game 1. The Sharks had home ice in game for the first two games.

#5 The Oakland A’s opened up a two-game series in Seattle on Monday night the A’s got five homers but couldn’t win it in the end. The A’s and M’s are battling for that third place spot in the American League West and are two games out of second place but eight games behind Houston. The A’s and M’s have almost identical records in a short series that could prove to test the A’s on the road and the M’s against an A’s team who’s capable to break out the bats and get good pitching.

Barbara does That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary every Tuesday night and is a freelance writer for Area Grande Spanish papers at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Canha homers in first game back; Khrush Davis belts two homers for A’s

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Photo credit: nbcsports.com

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Was the decision to designate Kendrys Morales for assignment the right thing to do. Morales joined the A’s after Matt Olson broke a bone in his right hand, Morales but ended up hitting .204, one homer and seven RBIs.

#2 Pitcher Edwin Jackson has been on 14 different major league teams, and this week, the Oakland A’s dealt him to that 14th team, the Toronto Blue Jays. Jackson is expected to get a start this week and he’ll join the Jays in San Francisco as Toronto is in San Francisco for a two game series. Jackson is 6-3, 3.33 ERA.

#3 Ironically, Mark Canha has come full circle after Morales replaced him on the roster. Canha now replaces Morales. Canha homered in his first game with the A’s on Monday night and Charlie talks about what it means to have Canha back in the lineup again.

#4 It’s a while, but Khris Davis slugged two home runs at Safeco Field on Monday night for his 11th and 12th homers of the season. Davis looks like he’s got that old swing back again.

#5 Taking a look at Tuesday night’s pitchers at Safeco, the Oakland A’s will be starting with Brett Anderson (4-2, 4.19 ERA) for the Seattle Mariners Mike Leake (2-4, 4.37 ERA).

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Both Bay Area teams in bottom of standings; Nothing new on Western Front

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nbcsports.com file photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner gets ready to deliver, Bumgarner has been the talk of trade rumors which includes going to the Boston Red Sox.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Sometimes you can tell how a baseball season might end after one-quarter of the season already is in the books. That might very well be the case this 2019 season. Some teams are so bad, that you really do not need two to four months to evaluate (find out their identity) because you know they just do not have it. It is simple as that. In the A’s case, we knew their identity of this young team last year, and the question was can they duplicate that success? In the Giants’ case, we knew they were not going to be in the picture, and during Spring Training, the big interest was to trade Madison Bumgarner.

The Houston Astros are ruling the American League West and the Los Angeles Dodgers the National League West. These two teams have an excellent possibility of facing each other in the World Series. This is not a prediction, but a good possibility, and not because they are on top as of today, but because they have the players and depth. It didn’t matter that the Seattle Mariners had their best start for season since 1977 in their inaugural season or that the Diamondbacks, who are almost like the M’s, trade a lot of their key players in the off-season and nobody expected them to be playing this well.

Of course, let’s get to our two Bay Area teams.

The A’s who surprised the world and won 97 games last year and made it to the postseason, did not have a set rotation from the offset of Spring Training. Hopefully, their #1 starter Shawn Manaea will be back soon to anchor their hurting pitching staff. Some injuries have hurt the A’s, who basically had the same team as last year, with some exceptions like Jurickson Profar at second-base, taking the place of the reliable veteran All Star Jed Lowrie, who went to the Mets, but has not played yet and is recovering from an injury in Syracuse, N.Y.

For the Giants, the time is getting close for trading Bumgarner with a high probability of trade before the July 31 deadline. It is all a matter of whether they can get a couple of young prospects for the future — nothing more, nothing less — rebuilding is in the air at Oracle. But there is a chance the Giants roster might look very different soon. Although their problem is that they are stuck with older players with large contracts.

For the A’s, the most important news is not on the field, but that they have cleared the way to eventually build their new ballpark. What location remains the big question. The chances of the A’s making it to the postseason again are as good as ever inside a weak division. They look like a Wild Card team.

Outside baseball, the Sharks and Warriors are in the middle of their respective playoff series, and that is nothing new.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez writes That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary and Barbara Mason does That’s Amaury’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s hit five homers, but still lose 6-5 to Seattle in extra innings

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photo sfgate.com: In this multiple-exposure photo, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi throws against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 13, 2019, in Seattle.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were in Seattle to start a nine-game road trip. Mike Fiers, who pitched a no-hitter against Cincinnati last Tuesday, started for the A’s. The Seattle Mariners countered with lefty Yusei Kikuchi. Fiers lost his bid for a second no-hitter in the first inning when Mitch Haniger led off with a solo blast.

The A’s hitters hit four solo homers to give the A’s a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. The M’s tied the game in the 8th when they scored three runs. The A’s reclaimed the lead when Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run with two out in the top of the tenth. It was the A’s fifth dinger of the night. The M’s answered with two runs in their half of the tenth to win 6-5.

The A’s had home runs from Mark Canha in the second, Khris Davis in the sixth and in the eighth, Matt Olson in the seventh, and Laureano in the 10th.

The M’s scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game. Trivino walked Haniger to start the frame. Haniger was erased on a fielder’s choice. The next hitter, the ever-dangerous Edwin Encarnacion, walked on a 3-2 pitch.

The pitch was over the lower part of the plate and above the knees, but the home plate umpire called it a ball. A’s manager Bob Melvin was seen screaming at the umpire from the dugout. The next hitter, big Daniel Vogelbach, hit Trivino’s pitch over the 401-foot marker in center field to tie the game. Melvin went after the ump again and was tossed out of the game.

As mentioned above, Laureano homered with two out in the tenth to give Oakland the short-lived lead. Joakim Soria, who struck out the side in the ninth, issued a walk to Vogelbach with two out in the inning.

The Mariners had the speedy Dee Gordon run for Vogelbach. Gordon then stole second to get into scoring position. Domingo Santana doubled to left to drive in Gordon with the tying run. M’s catcher Omar Narvaez singled to end the game as the M’s won 6-5.

Game Notes: Mike Fiers went five innings and allowed just two hits and one run. Yusmeiro Petit did not allow a run in his two innings of work. Trevino allowed three runs, and Soria took the loss.

Up Next: The A’s conclude the two-game series Tuesday night in Seattle. Brett Anderson goes for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Seattle’s Mike Leake.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: How does Holland get in front of the media? It should’ve been kept in house

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dallasnews.com photo: Starting pitcher Derek Holland #45 of the San Francisco Giants throws in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on May 8, 2019 in Denver, Colorado.

On the Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Giants pitcher Derek Holland said he faked an injury, which the Giants countered by saying Holland had a left bruised index finger. The Giants say medical records back up the injury while Holland was listed as injured and demoted from a starter to the bullpen.

#2 Holland was listed with the injured bruised finger and sat last month, Holland has insisted he was not injured and the Giants general manager Farhan Zaidi said, “The guy gets hit by a truck, he can’t walk out on the field. That I guess an unequivocal injury, but there’s a lot of gray area beyond that.”

#3 Holland, no doubt, was disappointed that he was forced to sit for the April 29th injury, and said there was nothing wrong with him and he really wanted to pitch.

#4 Holland says the front office doesn’t know what their doing with the exception for Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Holland said, “I did fake an injury. I’m not happy about that. But at the end of the day I’m going to do whatever they ask me to do.”

#5 Morris has the Giants day off report tonight. On Tuesday, the Giants host the Toronto Blue Jays for two games. The Jays will start Trent Thornton (0-4, 5.06 ERA) and the Giants will start Tyler Beede (0-1,18.69 ERA). Both pitchers are looking for their first win of the season.

Morris does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s get that walkoff feeling as the comeback team in series with Cleveland

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photo from mercurynews.com: Oakland Athletics reliever Liam Hendriks (16) throws in the ninth inning of their MLB game against the Boston Red Sox at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, April 4, 2019.

On the A’s podcast with Joey:

#1 The Oakland A’s came away on Saturday with their second straight walkoff win over Cleveland in a narrow 2-1 win. In baseball, the critics once said signs of a good club is one that can come back from behind.

#2 The A’s have improved their home record to 14-9 at the Coliseum and have taken the first two games of this current series with Cleveland.

#3 The Oakland A’s Liam Hendricks, who started the ballgame as an opener, succeeded in striking out a batter, surrendering one hit and pitching one inning the opener concept in this one worked out.

#4 The A’s reliever Aaron Brooks came in the second inning and pitched four innings giving up four hits and striking out four and his game plan worked out in setting the Cleveland order down.

#5 The A’s and Cleveland conclude this three-game series at the Coliseum. Jefry Rodriguez (0-2, 2.41 ERA) he’ll counter against newly recalled Daniel Mengden (0-0, 0.00 ERA), who was just recalled from the A’s triple A affiliate Las Vegas.

Joey does the A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com