Tag: Baseball

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s continue their two-city six-game road trip Friday night in Phoenix when they face the Arizona DiamondBacks in interleague play. Since the A’s will be in a National League park, the designated hitter will not be used and the pitcher will have to hit. The A’s have one more series in interleague play and that will occur when the San Francisco Giants cross the bay to face the A’s for three games on September 25th, 26th and 27th. It will also be the last three home games of the season for the A’s.

The D-Backs finished 2014 with a won-loss record of 64-98. Over the winter, the D-Backs hired former A’s manager and a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, Tony La Russa as their Chief Baseball Officer. They named former A’s pitching great, Dave Stewart, as their Senior Vice-President and General Manager. They also hired former A’s bench coach, Chip Hale to be the club’s manager. Hale was Bob Melvin’s bench coach the last three seasons but will be starting his eleventh year working for Arizona. The team has several other former A’s on their coaching staff. Mike Fetters, who was with the club in 1998, is the club’s Quality Assurance Coach. Don’t ask me what that means but it sounds like a good job. Mike Harkey, who is the pitching coach, played for Oakland during the 1995 season. Dave McKay is the first base coach and he held that position when La Russa managed the A’s from 1986 to 1995. Ariel Prieto, who was a translator here when the A’s employed Yoenis Cespedes and Bartolo Colon, is the  D-Backs coach/interpreter

The D-Backs have improved their won-loss record so far this year. They have a record of 62-64 and will play one more game before starting the series with the A’s Friday night. They have lost three in a row but are 5-5 in the last ten games. Arizona will send Chase Anderson to the mound to pitch Friday night. Other starters include Robby Ray, Jhoulys Chacin, Patrick Corbin and Rubby De La Rosa. Corbin pitched Wednesday night and De La Rosa is scheduled to pitch Thursday.  The bullpen is manned by Daniel Hudson, David Hernandez, Andrew Chafin, Addison Reed, Randall Delgado, Josh Collmenter and their closer is Brad Ziegler. Ziegler is a former A and has twenty-three saves to his credit in 2015.

The D-Backs offense is led by Paul Goldschmidt. Goldy is hitting .331 and is third  in the National League in that department. He has hit 25 homers and knocked in 94. The other big bats in the lineup are right fielder David Perata, center fielder A.J.Pollock, and right fielder Ender Inciarte. Peralta is batting .303 with thirteen home runs and sixty-seven RBIs. Pollock checks in with a .321 average with thirteen dingers and 54 RBIs. Inciarte is at .295, four homers, and 34 RBIs. In addition, Yasmany Tomas, in his first season in the Majors, playing forty-nine games in right and thirty-one at third base is at .292, eight home runs and forty-three runs batted in in just ninety-eight games.

Jake Lamb plays most of the game at third, Chris Owings is at second and shortstop is manned by Nick Ahmed.The veteran, Aaron Hill fills in as a utility player. Catching is handled by Wellington Castillo and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The A’s, in the meantime, will be looking to break a modest two-game losing streak. The A’s won the first game of the road trip but lost the last two games to the Mariners in Seattle. At this point in the season, the A’s will be looking at their players and will be evaluating them for 2016. For example, Mark Canha is playing every day at first base. Ike Davis is on the DL for the rest of the year and Canha, hopefully, will take advantage of the opportunity and show that he does not have to be platooned. The A’s will also be making decisions on second baseman Eric Sogard. Sogard can also play short and is relatively inexpensive. The A’s may want to keep him around. The A’s have moved Brett Lawrie over to second to give Danny Valencia playing time at third base. Lawrie is fun to watch. He is just twenty-five years old and has played well all year. Valencia, in the short time that he has been an A, probably will return next year as the A’s third baseman. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien has been a work in progress. Semien can hit and has some pop in his bat. His big problem has been fielding. While his error rate slowed down since the start of the season, he still has committed thirty-two so far and is just two shy of the record of thirty-four held by Burt Campaneris in 1968.The big question for the A’s in the outfield will be left field. Coco Crisp is not having a good year. Crisp has been slowed by injuries the last two years and he has not been able to get it going this year.  Coco is hitting just .152. He has been so important to this team since 2010 and the A’s hope that he can return to his high level of play. Burns in center and Reddick in right should be back.

The big reclamation project over the winter should be the bullpen. The A’s need a closer. Last year’s closer, Sean Doolittle, has been on the DL most of the season. His last two appearances were not great. Doolittle has lost velocity and command. He will need to get stronger over the winter if he is to return to that role. The bullpen, at times, has been the arson, squad. Evan Scribner started well but has given up too many home runs. Fernando Rodriguez, Fernando Abad, Drew Pomeranz, Edward Mujica, Pat Venditte, and Dan Otero have all been inconsistent. The A’s have the most blown saves in baseball and they have lost the most one-run games, too.

The A’s vs the D-Backs for three in Phoenix. Should be a good series. Opportunity for the A’s to evaluate their players and opportunity for the D-Backs to continue to improve.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners, behind a stout pitching performance by King Felix Hernandez, defeated the Oakland A’s 8-2 Wednesday afternoon in Seattle. The Mariners took the three-game series two games to one. The A’s were hoping that their starter, Chris Bassitt, would be on the top of his game. The A’s were facing their nemesis, Hernandez, and they knew that it could be a rough afternoon. Indeed, it was. Hernandez was dominant. He made two mistakes in the game. The first mistake was a leadoff home run to Billy Burns to start the game. The second mistake came in the seventh when Brett Lawrie led off with his thirteenth homer of the year. The A’s had just three hits total in the game. Hernandez went eight innings allowing three hits and two runs and those runs came on the two homers. Bassitt, on the other hand, was roughed up for four runs ans six hits in the first inning.

The A’s took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Billy Burns hit the first pitch of the game over the wall for his third home run of the season. The lead didn’t last long as the Mariners stormed back in their half of the first inning. They  sent ten men to the plate and scored four runs and had six hits. Rookie shortstop Ketel Marte led off the frame with a single. He advanced to second on a ground out. Mariner right fielder, Nelson Cruz who is a candidate for MVP honors, singled to drive in Marte with the tying run. Robinson Cano followed with a single. Former Athletic, Seth Smith, doubled down the left-field line to put the Mariners ahead 2-1. Mark Trumbo singled to plate Cano. Smith scored on a single off the bat of Logan Morrison. Mariners lead 4-1 after one inning of play.

The Mariners added a run in the bottom of the sixth. Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte was now on the hill for the A’s. Ketel Marte led off the inning with a double. He advanced to third on a ground out and then scored on a single by Nelson Cruz. The A’s scored their second run of the game when Brett Lawrie homered leading off the seventh. The Mariners got the run back in their half of the seventh. Sean Doolittle pitched the seventh and appeared that he was struggling with his command as he had top throw thirty-three pitches in the inning. 6-2 after seven.

The Mariners added two more runs in the eighth inning. Fernando Abad was in the game for Oakland. Kyle Seager took him deep. Nelson Cruz followed that with his thirty-ninth home run of the year to make it an 8-2 game.

The A’s have an off-day on Thursday as they travel to Phoenix to meet the Arizona DiamondBacks for three games over the weekend.  Sonny Gray will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by Chase Anderson.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Mariners scored six unanswered runs to come from behind to defeat the A’s 6-5 Tuesday night in Seattle. The Mariners scored three in the fourth and three in the fifth, and they drove A’s starter Jesse Chavez out of the game in the fifth and sent him to his thirteenth loss of the year. Mariners starter Mike Montgomery lasted just an inning  and a third as the A’s scored all five runs off him. The big story of the night was the Mariner bullpen. Edgar Olmos, Logan Kensing, Carson Smith and Tom Wilhelmsen kept the A’s at bay and secured the win for Seattle.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. Billy Burns, swinging on the first pitch, lined a single to center. Montgomery retired Mrk Canha and Brett Lawrie. However, he walked third baseman Danny Valencia to advance Burns into scoring position. A’s catcher Josh Phegley came through with a single to drive in Burns. 1-0 in the middle of the first.

The A’s scored four times on five hits in the second. Billy Butler led off the inning with a double to left. Josh Reddick then doubled down the right-field line to drive in Butler. Reddick advanced to third on a wild pitch. Shortstop Marcus Semien, back in the lineup after a two days on the bench, put a Mike Montgomery pitch into the left field seats.  Billy Burns singled for his second hit of the night. Montgomery retired Canha for the first out of the inning. Lawrie followed with a single to move Burns over to third. Mariners’ manager Lloyd McClendon decided that it was time to take Montgomery out of the game. The Mariners brought in lefty Edgar Olmos to face Danny Valencia. Valencia hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Burns with the fourth run of the inning and the fifth of the game for Oakland.  A’s lead 5-0 in the middle of the second inning.

The Mariners scored three times in the bottom of the fourth with his 38th home run of the year. Chavez retired the next two Mariner hitters. Austin Jackson doubled to deep center and then scored when first baseman Logan Morrison lined a shot down the right-field line that landed in the seats for his 13th homer of the season. Chavez retired Brad Miller for the third out.Mariners trail 5-3 after four.

The Mariners put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Mike Zunino singled to get the rally going. He advanced to second on a ground out to first. Zunino tagged and went to third on a long out to center. Nelson Cruz walked to put men on at first and third with two out. Robinson Cano hit a ball that glanced off Chavez’s glove that went for an infield hit. Had the ball not been deflected, Brett Lawrie probably would have retired Cano. Zunino scored on the play. Seth Smith walked to load the bases, and Austin Jackson singled up the middle to drive in two to take the lead.

The A’s had a chance to tie the game in the ninth. Sam Fuld reached second on a ground-rule double with two out. Josh Reddick flied out to right to end the threat.

Game Notes- A’s shortstop Marcus Semien hit his eleventh home run of the year in the second inning. Four of Semien’s homers have come against the Mariners. The two Seattle home runs off Jesse Chavez marked the sixth straight game that he has allowed a home run. The Mariners’ Robinson Cano hit his thirtieth double of the year. For Cano, it was the eleventh straight year with thirty doubles. Only Honus Wagner and Stan Musial in Major League have more consecutive years with thirty or more doubles.

The rubber match of the three-game series will start Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 in Seattle. Chris Bassitt (1-5,2.48) will pitch for Oakland, and King Felix Hernandez (14-8,3.74) will toil for Seattle.

Time of game was three hours and five minutes ans 17,498 were in the house.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s stormed back from a five-run deficit and scored eleven unanswered runs to pound the Seattle Mariners 11-5 Monday night in Seattle. The win ended the A’s eight-game road losing streak. Lefty Felix Doubront made his second start for Oakland. Doubront was injured in the first inning when a line drive hit his right foot. Doubront finished the first and second innings, but he limped off the mound at the end of the second. The A’s had to go to the bullpen early in the game. Evan Scribner pitched the third and Seattle torched him for five runs. Melvin let Scribner pitch another inning. Edward Mujica retired all six hitters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. Switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte, also retired all six hitters in order in the seventh and eight. Melvin brought in Drew Pomeranz to pitch the ninth and he, too, retired the Mariners in order to close out the game.  In all, the A’s relievers retired sixteen Mariners in a row to secure the win.

The A’s had just one hit off Mariners’ starter Hisaki Iwakuma in the first four innings of play. The A’s scored seven runs with two out to drive Iwakuma from the game. In fact, the A’s scored ten of their eleven runs after two were in both the fifth and ninth innings.

Evan Scribner had a rough outing as he allowed five runs in the third inning. Rookie shortstop, twenty-one-year-old Ketel Marte, led off the third with a double to right centerfield. Marte then stole third. Scribner hit Nelson Cruz with a pitch to put men on at first and third with one out. Robinson Cano singled to drive in Marte with Seattle’s first run, Franklin Gutierrez followed with a blast to center to put the Mariners up 4-0. Scribner retired the next hitter, but big Mark Trumbo hit a hanging curve into the left field seats for the fifth run of the frame. 5-0 after three. Scribner has given up fourteen home runs in just 57 innings of work this year.

Things turned around in the top of the fifth for the A’s. They sent eleven men to the plate and scored seven runs in the inning. All the runs came with two out. Stephen Vogt led off the inning with a double. Looked like he would be stranded there, but Billy Butler walked and Eric Sogard singled to load the bases. Billy Burns Doubled to drive in two. Mark Canha doubled to drive in two more to make it a 5-4 game. Josh Reddick reached on a single to Mariner first baseman Jesus Montero. Montero fielded the ball and failed to flip it to Iwakuma who was running to cover the bag. Montero lost the foot race to first. Reddick was ruled safe and Montero failed to check on Canha. Canha running at full speed scored from second to tie the game.  A’s third baseman, Danny Valencia put an Iwakuma slider over the fence in left to put the A’s in the lead 7-5.

The A’s added a run in the seventh. Mark Canha singled to left and advanced to second on a throwing error by Mark Trumbo. Trumbo was charged with the error, but it was sloppy play by the Mariner infield that allowed Canha to take the extra base. Reddick singled to drive in Canha.

The A’s weren’t done. They scored three more runs in the ninth. All the runs scored with two out. Josh Reddick homered to right. It was the fifteenth dinger of the year for Josh. Valencia and Vogt singled and Brett Lawrie doubled down the right field line to drive in two more for Oakland. 11-5 final in favor of the Green and Gold.

Game Notes- Stephen Vogt had two extra base hits (doubles) in the fifth inning. He became the seventh A’s player to have two extra-base hits in an inning. It was also the second game in a row that Vogt had two hits in an inning.  It was the first time since 1975 that the A’s have scored seven runs in an inning in two consecutive games

The A’s bullpen, with the exception of Scribner, retired sixteen hitters in a row,

Earlier in the day, the A’s announce they placed Kendall Graveman on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique muscle. The A’s recalled infielder Max Muncy from Nashville to take his place on the roster. It marks the third time that Muncy has been with the A’s this year.

The A’s also announced that third base coach Mike Gallego has been relieved of his duties and Ron Washington has been named third base coach for the remainder of the season. Washington returned to the A’s on May 21st after managing the Texas Rangers for nearly eight seasons.  He compiled a 664-611 record and guided the Rangers to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.  Washington has more wins than any other manager in Texas/Washington history.

Jesse Chavez will pitch for Oakland Tuesday night and he will be opposed by Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.

Time of game was three hours and nine minutes and 19,907 were on hand to watch.

The line score for Oakland 11 runs fifteen hits and no errors Line for Seattle five runs nine hits and one error.

by Jerry Feitelberg

During the A’s game with the Dodgers Wednesday, the Dodgers announced that they acquired second baseman Chase Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies for two minor league prospects. In addition, the Dodgers will assume two million dollars of salary for Utley for the remainder of the season.

The A’s announced that they placed Ike Davis on the 15 day DL and recalled outfielder Jake Smolinski from Triple A Nashville.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 to sweep the two-game series Wednesday afternoon at the O.co Coliseum. The story of the game was the pitching of Jesse Chavez. Chavez probably had his best game of the year as he went eight innings allowing just two hits. His only mistake was a pitch to Jimmy Rollins in the third inning. The A’s rallied for two runs in the sixth and again in the eight to get Chavez his seventh win of the year. Lefty Alex Wood acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline absorbed his eighth loss of the season against eight wins.

The A’s jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Billy Burns led off with a single. Burns advanced to third on a Mark Canha single to put men on at first and third with no out.  Danny Valencia hit into a fielder’s choice, and that allowed Burns to score the first run of the game. 1-0 after one.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. With one out, Chavez walked Dodger center fielder, Joc Pederson. Chavez retired Kike Hernandez for the second out, but Jimmy Rollins took one of his pitches into the right field seats. Rollins, a graduate of Encinal High School in Alameda, now has twelve dingers this year.

The A’s rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Eric Sogard led off the inning with a single. Billy Burns drilled a ball to the gap in left-centerfield to drive in Sogard with the A’s second run of the game. Mark Canha singled to right to advance Burns to third. Danny Valencia grounded into a 6-4-3 double play allowing Burns to score. The A’s lead3-2 after six complete.

The A’s added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead. Eric Sogard, as he did in the sixth inning, led off with a single. Billy Burns laid down a bunt that went for a base hit to put men on at first and second with no out. Mark Canha walked to load the bases.  Former A’s reliever, Jim Johnson, struck out Valencia for the first out of the inning. Dodger manager Don Mattingly brought in lefty Luis Avilan to pitch to Stephen Vogt. Vogt, pinch-hitting for Josh Phegley, Flew out to right driving in Sogard with the A’s fourth run. Righty Pedro Baez was now on the hill for LA to pitch to Jake Smolinski. Smolinski came through with a double to drive in Burns with the fifth and final run of the game for the A’s. Drew Pomeranz set the Dodgers down in order in the ninth to secure the win for the A’s. Final score 5-2 in favor of Oakland.

Game Notes- Jesse Chavez line was 8 IP, two hits, two runs, two walks and six strikeouts while throwing 116 pitches. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, who had three hits including two singles and a double. Mark Canha had two more hits and has had six hits in his last seven at-bats. Second Baseman Eric Sogard had two hits and scored each time he reached base.

After the game, Bob Melvin said that it was about time the A’s “gave him run support. He gave us eight innings, and it was one of his best games of the year. He also commented that a lot of people felt that Chavez faded down the stretch last year and that Chavez ” was on a mission to prove that wrong.” Melvin pointed out that Billy Burns was in the “middle of a lot” and that when he is”on base, he creates havoc.”

The A’s have an off-day Thursday and will resume play Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. RHP Chris Bassitt (1-4, 2.60) will go for the A’s, and  LHP Drew Smyly (0-2,4.35) will pitch for the Rays.

Time of game was 2 hours and thirty-four minutes and 26,122 paid to see the A’s win.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s ended their seven-game losing streak Tuesday night as they beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4. It was a very entertaining game. A’s starter, lefty Felix Doubront pitched six strong innings for Oakland. He gave up just one hit and one run. The run was unearned. Doubront walked six batters. A.J.Ellis and Joc Pederson received four of them. The Dodgers’ ace, Clayton Kershaw was not as sharp as usual, but he was still very impressive. Kershaw went seven innings, and he allowed just one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out seven. The switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte, pitched a strong seventh for Oakland and retired the first two batters in the eighth. The A’s brought in Fernando Rodriguez to finish the inning, but he couldn’t get anyone out. The Dodgers scored three times to take a 4-1 lead and it looked like Kershaw was in line for the win. The A’s, however, came back in their half of the eighth, and they scored three times to tie the game. The A’s then won it in the tenth. Much maligned designated hitter, Billy Butler won it for the A’s by hitting a double to drive in Canha with the winning run.Butler got the traditional pie in the face and the Gatorade dousing.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Mark Canha, playing first base tonight, singled sharply to left field. Designated hitter Billy Butler walked to put men on at first and second with no out. A’s right fielder, Josh Reddick, laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Marcus Semien drove in Canha when he ground out to the second baseman. A’s lead 1-0 after two complete.

The Dodgers tied the game in the top of the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Doubront walked A.J.Ellis and Joc Pederson to start the inning. Ellis and Pederson walked to start the third, but Doubront escaped unscathed in that frame. Ellis and Pederson advanced on a passed ball. Dodger shortstop Jimmy Rollins ground out 4-3 driving in Ellis with the run. The official scorer ruled the run was unearned. The game is tied 1-1 in the middle of the fifth.

The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead in the top of the eighth. With two out, A’s manager Bob Melvin replaced switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. Fernando Rodriguez was brought in, and he could not get anyone out. Yasiel Puig singled; Andre Ethier also singled. Dodger catcher A.J.Ellis, who had walked three times in the game, drilled Rodriguez’s pitch into the left-field bleachers for his third home run of the year.

The A’s refused to quit. Kershaw was out of the game and the A’s attacked reliever Pedro Baez. Danny Valencia singled; Josh Phegley doubled to put men on at second and third with no out. Mark Canh, the hitting star of the night for Oakland, lined a double into the right field gap to drive in Valencia and Phegley. The Dodgers brought in lefty J.P. Howell to face Josh Reddick. Reddick reached on an infield single. The next hitter, Marcus Semien, singled to drive in Canha with the tying run. Howell retired Sogard for the second out. Don Mattingly brought in former A’s reliever Jim Johnson to face Billy Burns. Johnson entered the game with an ERA of 20.25, but he retired Burns to end the inning. Game tied at four heading to the ninth inning.

Neither team scored in the ninth, and the game went to extra innings. The A’s kept the Dodgers off the board in the top of the tenth. Yimi Garcia was on the mound for LA, and the A’s ended the game in dramatic fashion. Mark Canha led off the tenth with a double. Ir was the first four-hit game in Canha’s career. “country breakfast” Billy Butler won the game for Oakland with a double to right as the A’s won in a walk-off. Final score 5-4 in favor of the Green and Gold.

Game Notes- Mark Canha was the hitting star for the A’s. Canha had his first career four-hit game and his fifteenth multiple hit game of the year. Josh Reddick was 2-for-2. Danny Valencia was 2-for-5 and has three doubles and four home runs and nine RBIs in eleven games with the A’s.

Game two of the two-game series will be played Wednesday afternoon at 12:35 at the O.Co Coliseum.

Jesse Chavez will toil for Oakland, and Alex Wood will go for LA.

Time of game was 3 hours and 45 minutes, and there were 35,067 on hand to watch.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Monday night’s game in Baltimore was the last game of a seven-game road trip. The A’s had lost all six games in a row before the start of play and were hoping to get a win before heading home to Oakland. The A’s, however, played another sloppy game and they lost 4-2 to the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles completed a four-game sweep and, to make matters worse, the A’s have a long flight home and probably will be very tired when they face the Los Angeles Dodgers at the O.co Coliseum Tuesday night. The A’s sent their ace, Sonny Gray, out to pitch and they were hoping that Sonny could stop the losing streak. Gray, without a doubt, is one of the best pitchers in the American League.  The A’s took an early 1-0 lead on a Danny Valencia home run but the defense let Gray down in the fourth inning, Orioles first baseman, Chris Davis, reached on an error by Eric Sogard. Sogard knocked the ball down but couldn’t find it until it was too late and Davis reached first safely. The next batter, second baseman Johnathan Schoop singled and that was followed by a blast off the bat of Designated hitter Steve Clevenger to put the Orioles ahead 3-0. Marcus Semien made a throwing error in the inning, but it did not cost the A’s.

The A’s got a run back in the top of the sixth. Left fielder Mark Canha took a Chris Tillman pitch to right for a solo home run. The Orioles got the run back in their half of the inning. Shortstop J.J.Hardy singled and that was followed by a double by catcher Caleb Joseph. Gray walked Manny Machado and that was it for him. Drew Pomeranz finished the inning.

The A’s were done for the evening.  Tillman went seven innings in recording his ninth win of the year. Darren O’Day pitched a scoreless eighth for the Birds and Zach Britton pitched the ninth and picked up his 29th save of the season.

Game notes- Not too many highlights for the A’s Monday night as they lost for the seventh straight time. It is the longest losing streak of the year for Oakland. The A’s defense made three errors in the game to have a total of 99 in 2015 so far. A’s designated hitter, Billy Butler, grounded into two more rally-killing double plays. Butler’s average is below .240 and he seems to be in a fog at the plate.

Stats for the road trip are as follows. 0-7 record. Runs scored per game 2.9. Runs allowed per game 7.4. Team batting average was .240 and the pitchers had an abysmal ERA of 6.93.

The A’s manager Bob Melvin and center fielder Sam Fuld were ejected from the game in the fifth inning on a very rare batter interference call. Fuld laid down a bunt that went about two feet in front of home plate. Fuld, running hard, all the way down the baseline, appeared to interfere with Chris Davis’ attempt to catch the ball. The ball dropped to the ground, but home plate umpire Brian Knight called Fuld out. Melvin came rushing out of the dugout and was tossed after protesting the call vehemently. Fuld continued to argue with Knight even though Knight put up his hand as if to tell Fuld to stop. Fuld didn’t stop and he was tossed, too.

The A’s had just three hits in the game. Danny Valencia had a solo homer in the second inning to go along with Canha’s blast in the sixth.

Sonny Gray went 5 2/3rds innings allowing 7 hits and four runs. Only one of the runs was earned. His record is now 12-5 and his ERA actually dropped slightly.

The A’s are now eighteen games under .500 with a record of 51-69. Baltimore improved to 61-56 and would be the second Wild Card in the AL if the playoffs were to start.

The A’s face the Dodgers at 7:05 Tuesday night at the O.co. Clayton Kershaw, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, and NL MVP will pitch for LA. The A’s will have their hands full.

by Jerry Feitelberg

It was another tough day in Toronto for the A’s as the Jays beat them 4-2 to sweep the three-game series. Jesse Chavez pitched well but not well enough to win. He had one bad inning, the second. The Jays, for the third game in a row, scored enough runs to put the game away. Chavez went six innings allowing four runs on six hits. Chavez struck out nine but still came away with a loss. Jays’ starter, Mark Buehrle won his thirteenth game of the season. He went seven-plus innings, allowing seven hits and two runs.

The A’s had a chance to do damage in the first inning. They loaded the bases with no out, but could not score. Buehrle got out of the jam by getting Danny Valencia to hit into a 1-2-3 double play. He then retired Josh Phegley for the third out.

In the fateful second inning, Jays’ catcher Dioner Navarro singled with one out. He went to third on a long single to right off the bat of Justin Smoak. Kevin Pillar followed with the third hit in a row to drive in Navarro with the first run of the game. The next batter, Shortstop Ryan Goins, made Chavez and the A’s pay as he put a Chavez mistake into the right field seats for a three-run homer. Jays lead 4-0 after two.

Chavez settled down and kept the Jays off the board for the rest of the time he was in the game. He went six innings giving up just six hits and four runs. It was his twelfth loss of the year.

Buehrle was cruising until the top of the eighth. Marcus Semien led off with a single. He scored all the way from first when Billy Burns’ line drive got by Kevin Pillar for a triple. The Jays brought in Aaron Sanchez to pitch. He got A’s first baseman Mark Canha to ground out. Burns scored on the play, and that was all the A’s could do. Roberto Osuna closed out the game for Toronto. Jays win 4-2.

Game Notes- The red-hot Blue Jays won their eleventh game in a row and fourteenth of the last fifteen played and picked up 1/2 game on the New York Yankees. The Yankees play Cleveland later in the day.

The A’s announced that Sonny Gray was scratched from Thursday’s game due to back spasms, and he will not pitch Friday night in Baltimore. The A’s start a four-game series with the Orioles Friday night. Ubaldo Jiminez will pitch for the Orioles. Game time will be 4:05 pm.

Time of game was two hours and twenty-five minutes. 46,902 were in attendance.