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Oakland A’s Tuesday game wrap:The White Sox beat the A’s again, win second one-run game to start the season

Published on April 5, 2016April 6, 2016 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

photo credit San Francisco Chronicle: The Chicago White Sox Jimmy Rollins crosses home plate after hitting a ninth inning homer off A’s reliever Sean Doolittle

OAKLAND–The A’s were hoping to even the series with the Chicago White Sox at one-apiece Tuesday night. The A’s found themselves down by two runs late in the game but rallied in the eighth to tie the game. The White Sox behind a home run by Jimmy Rollins in the ninth defeated the A’s 5-4 to win their second one-run game in a row. The A’s were led by Jed Lowrie’s two clutch hits that drove in two runs and by Yonder Alonso’s key hit, with two out in the eighth to drive in two and tie the game. A’s closer Sean Doolittle gave up the home run to Rollins. After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin said that Doolittle had his pitches working, but Rollins just beat him. The game summary follows below.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third. A’s catcher, Josh Phegley, beat the shift by hitting the ball into right field for a single. Phegley advanced to second on a ball in the dirt. Shortstop Marcus Semien singled sharply to center, and Phegley had to stop at third. After Coco Crisp struck out, Jed Lowrie singled on the first pitch from Quintana to drive in Phegley with the run.

The White Sox scored three runs on two hits in the top of the fifth. Chisox right fielder Adam Eaton singled with one out. The next hitter, Jimmy Rollins, hit a slow ground ball to second. Jed Lowrie attempted to get Eaton at second, but Eaton beat the throw and Rollins reached on a fielder’s choice. Bassitt struck out Jose Abreu for the second out. Bassitt had Todd Frazier in a 0-2 count, but Frazier sent his next pitch over the left-field wall for his first home run of the year and first as a member of the White Sox. Sox have a 3-1 lead in the middle of the fifth. The A’s rallied as they picked up a run on three hits to narrow the gap to just one run. Josh Phegley led off the inning with a double. Marcus Semien had an infield single, but Phegley could not advance. Coco Crisp flew out to right field. Phegley tagged and advanced to third. Jed Lowrie singled to drive in Phegley with the A’s second run of the night. Chisox in the lead 3-2 after five innings.

The White Sox regained the two-run margin in the top of the sixth. With one out, former Athletic, Brett Lawrie singled to get it going for Chicago. Alex Avila singled to advance Lawrie to third. Lawrie scored on an Austin Jackson single. Adam Eaton singled to load the bases. Liam Hendricks, the third pitcher of the inning, got Jimmy Rollins to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. A’s trail the White Sox 4-2.

The A’s rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game. Josh Reddick led off with a single. Danny Valencia hit a line shot but right to the center fielder for the out. Khris Davis was hit by a pitch. Billy Butler also hit a sharp line drive, but it was, again, right at the center fielder. The A’s loaded the bases when Vogt was hit by a pitch. A’s first baseman, Yonder Alonso, singled for his first hit as a member of the A’s to drive in Reddick and Davis. Tie score after eight.

In the top of the ninth, Chisox shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, sent a Sean Doolittle pitch over the left field wall to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead in the middle of the ninth. For Rollins, it was his first home run of the year and his first in the American League. Whites Sox closer, David Robertson, retired the A’s in order in the ninth to secure the win for Chicago. White Sox win 5-4.

Game Notes- The A’s start the season 0-2 for the fourth time in the last ten years. Sean Doolittle took the loss and White Sox reliever Nate Jones picked up the win.

Game three of the four-game series will be played Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum A’s ace, Sonny Gray, will make his first start of the year and Carlos Rodon will handle the chores for Chicago. Game time is at 7:05 pm PT

Attendance for Tuesday night’s game was 10,478 and time of game was 3 hours and twenty-eight minutes.

The Oakland A’s lose the season opener to the Chicago White Sox

Published on April 4, 2016April 5, 2016 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The White Sox Chris Sale takes aim at the Oakland A’s pitching seven innings and getting the win Monday night

There is nothing better than opening night to start the baseball season. It would be better if the home team would win. That, however, did not happen as the Chicago White Sox beat the A’s 4-3. As usual, the game was sold out, and the 35,067 were hoping the A’s would rally to win the game.

All the scoring came in the third inning. The White Sox sent nine men to the plate and scored four times in their half, and the A’s came back in the bottom of the inning, sent eight men to the plate and scored three times. The game summary follows below.

The White Sox sent nine men to the plate in the top of the third. They scored four runs on four hits and the A’s committed two errors to help the Sox score the runs. Left Rich Hill pitched well for the first two innings, but the roof caved in on him in the third. After he struck out Dioner Navarro, He walked Austin Jackson. Hill, attempting to keep Jackson close, at first, threw the ball into foul territory down the right field line. Jackson advanced to third on the play. Adam Eaton tripled to drive in Jackson with the first run of the game. Jimmy Rollins singled to drive in Eaton. Jose Abreu doubled to put men on at second and third with one out. Hill struck out the pride of Toms River, New Jersey, Todd Frazier for the second out. Melky Cabrera then hit a grounder up the middle that was fielded by Marcus Semien. Semien threw to first but A’s first baseman, Mark Canha, dropped the ball for an error. Rollins and Abreu scored on the play. White Sox lead 4-0 in the middle of the third. The A’s scored three times in their half of the third. Catcher Stephen Vogt got the rally rolling as he beat out a hit to second. Chris Sale walked Marcus Semien to put men on at first and second with one out. Billy Burns grounded to advance the runners. Jed Lowrie singled to right to drive in Vogt and Semien. Josh Reddick singled up the middle to drive in Lowrie with the third run. A’s trail 4-3 after three.

There was no more scoring after the third inning. Chris Sale went seven innings and picked up his first win of the year. The White Sox used four pitchers to shut down the A’s in the eighth and ninth innings. The A’s used five relievers. They included Fernando Rodriguez, Ryan Dull, John Axford Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. The bullpen did their job going six innings and held the White Sox from scoring. The A’s had a couple of men in scoring position after the third but couldn’t get the key hit needed to get the run in to tie the game. Chicago wins 4-3.

Game Notes- Joe Stiglich of CSNBA report this about A’s pitcher Felix Doubront. Doubront left the exhibition game Saturday after the first inning with pain in his pitching arm.

‘The news doesn’t appear good for the fifth starter Felix Doubront. After leaving Saturday’s exhibition with what was described as forearm tightness, Paparesta said an MRI showed Doubront has some“fibrous tearing” in his ulnar collateral ligament along with a muscle strain. Doubront is headed to Cincinnati next Monday for a second opinion, but any damage to the ligament indicates that Tommy John surgery is a possibility.”

A’s ace Sonny Gray was supposed to start Monday night but was ill due to food poisoning. Gray may pitch Tuesday if he is feeling better.

Before the start of the game, it should be noted that the Opening game ceremonies honored the memories of Dave Henderson and Tony Phillips. Both men played on the 1989 World Championship team, and both were in their 50s at the time of their passing. The ceremonies included the introduction of the players, coaches, manager, trainers and other members of the staff of both teams. Following the singing of the National Anthem, the fans enjoyed the flyover by a military plane.

The A’s have lost 11 of their last 12 Opening Day games. Rich Hill made his first Opening Day start.

The A’s meet the White Sox Tuesday night at 7:05 PM. Lefty Jose Quintana will pitch for the Sox and he will be opposed by a pitcher to be named later.

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

Published on October 1, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published on September 28, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published on September 24, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

The Texas Rangers stay hot, Pummel the A’s

Published on September 23, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published on September 22, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Mitch Moreland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published on September 21, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oakland scores three in the ninth to beat the White Sox

Published on September 17, 2015September 17, 2015 by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s scored three times in the top of the ninth to rally from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Whites Sox 4-2 Thursday in Chicago. It was a warm and breezy day in the Windy City but after three games of high scores, it turned out to be a pitcher’s duel. Lefty Sean Nolin went for Oakland and he pitched very well. He went 5 innings and allowed just two runs on five hits. The White Sox lefty, Jose Quintana was up to the task and he restricted the A’s to just one run and four hits in seven innings of work.

The A’s put one run on the board in the top of the third. Catcher Josh Phegley doubled to left field leading off the inning. Phegley scored on a single to right by Marcus Semien. The White Sox tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Third baseman Mike Olt blasted a monster shot to deep left center. Olt has homered in his last two games against the A’s. Olt is the only player in Major League history to homer for both the Cubs and White Sox in the same season.

The White Sox added another run in the fifth. Nolin walked Micah Johnson and Alexi Ramirez to start the inning. Left fielder Melky Cabrera singled to drive in Johnson to give the Chisox a 2-1 lead.
Fernando Rodriguez pitched two scoreless innings for the A’s and Sean Doolittle came through big time as he shut the White Sox down in the eighth and ninth innings. Chicago’s Matt Albers pitched a strong eighth inning to keep Oakland from getting even. The turning point came in the ninth inning. White Sox closer David Robertson was now pitching. Robertson, still in shock from his disastrous ninth inning Monday night, had another rough outing. A’s second baseman Brett Lawrie led off the ninth with a double to left. With one out, third baseman Danny Valencia singled to left. Lawrie made sure the ball went for a hit and was not able to score. Third base coach, Ron Washington, wisely put up the stop sign. Runners are at third and first with just one out. The designated hitter, Billy Butler, hit a long fly to right field. Chicago right fielder Avasail Garcia leaped high for the ball and appeared to have made the catch but coming down his wrist hit the top of the fence and the ball dropped out of glove for a home run. Oakland is in front 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth. As mentioned earlier Doolittle pitched the ninth inning. A’s manager Bob Melvin decided to let Doolittle pitch as he threw just fifteen pitches in the eighth. Doolittle did the job and
retired the side to secure the win.

Notes- The A’s split the four-game series with the White Sox. The A’s are on their way to Houston to play the Astros. Houston is now longer in first place in the AL West and trails the Texas Rangers by 1 and 1/2 games. The Astros are now the second Wild Card team and lead the Minnesota Twins by a game and a half.

Felix Doubront will pitch for Oakland on Friday and Mike Fiers will fo for Houston. On Saturday, it will be Sonny Gray going against his good friend Scott Kazmir. Gray beat the Astros and Kazmir last week when the Astros were in town. Game time will be at 5:10 pm PT.