Tag: Baseball

by Jerry Feitelberg

It wasn’t pretty nor was it a very exciting game but the A’s ground out a 4-1 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies. Jessie Hahn wasn’t at his best but he was good enough to pick up his sixth win of the year against six losses. The Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis took the loss and his record dropped to 4-3. Drew Pomeranz and Tyler Clippard were quite effective out of the bullpen to preserve the win for Oakland.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. A’s designated hitter Billy Butler lined a shot of the wall in deep left. Rockies’ left fielder Rafael Ynoa hit the wall and crumpled to the ground in pain. Butler made it to third with his first triple since 2012. Ynoa was able to get to his feet and after he was checked by the Rockies’ trainer, he resumed his position in left. Eric Sogard hit a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Butler with the run.

The A’s added a run in the third inning. Billy Burns lined a ball down the right field line that went for a triple. Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis retired Vogt and Zobrist. He did not get out of the inning unscathed as Josh Reddick drilled a single to right field to drive in Burns with the run. Reddick has driven in 32 when hitting with two out in an inning. 2-0 after three.

The Rockies scored a run in the fourth. With two out, back-to-back doubles by Ben Paulsen and Nick Hundley made it a one-run game. A’s still lead 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

The A’s had a chance to blow the game open in the fifth. They, however, had to settle for just one run. Billy Burns slashed a double down the left field line with one out. After, Stephen Vogt fllew out to left, Bettis walked Zobrist and Reddick to load the bases. Butler singled to right to drive in Burns but the ball was fielded quickly by Carlos Gonzalez and his throw home was on the mark. Ike Davis had an opportunity but he ground out to end the threat. 3-1 at the end of five in favor of the A’s.

The A’s put another run on the board in the seventh. Ben Zobrist singled to left and advanced to second when Ynoa overran the ball for an error. Reddick ground out with Zobrist taking third on the play. The Rockies issued Butler and intentional walk to set up a double play.. Mark Canha, batting for Ike Davis, lofted a bloop fly to center that Charlie Blackmon dropped. The play was ruled a fielder’s choice as Butler was out at second 8-6. Zobrist scored on the play. The run was ruled unearned. 4-1 after seven.

The A’s called on Tyler Clippard to get the last four outs of the game. Drew Pomeranz went 1.2 innings and allowed just one hit. Clippard retired the last four Rockies’ hitters in order to record his 14th save of the year. Final score A’s win 4-1.

Game Notes- The A’s took two out of three from the Rockies to win the series but are just 2-4 on the ten-game home stand. However, Oakland has won eleven of the last seventeen games and are 5-2 in inter league play.  The A’s starters are 19-11 with a 2.42 ERA over the last 37 games ( beginning May 23rd) and have allowed one run or fewer 19 times over that stretch.The A’s have committed 18 errors in their last 17 games and have 77 for the season.

Billy Burns had a double and triple Wednesday and has hit safely in 30 of his last 32 games.He recorded his 22nd multiple hit game of the year. Billy  Butler was 2-for-3 and hit his first triple since August, 9th, 2012 at Baltimore.  Butler is 14-for-40 over his last 13 games. Ben Zobrist was also 2-for-3 today.

Jesse Hahn is 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA over his last eight starts. His season record is now 6-6. After the game A’s manager had this to say about Hahn “he pitched well to beat a team like that. He was up in the zone but figured it out in later innings.” Melvin also said that Hahn had “more weapons against lefties and he had a better mix of pitches.”

Melvin, when asked about Josh Reddick’s performance this year said ” it’s All-Star status for a middle of the order guy.” Melvin said that A’s ace , Sonny Gray, is out of the hospital and at home. Melvin said that they do not know when Gray will return to the rotation.

Home plate umpire Tom Hallion was hit by a foul ball of his mask and was forced to leave the game in the first inning. Alfonso Marquez took over as home plate umpire and the game was played with just three umpires.

The Seattle Mariners arrive Thursday for a four-game series with the A’s. Lefty Scott Kazmir will go for Oakland.Seattle counters with lefty Roenis Elias (4-5, 4.25 ERA).

Time of game was 3 hours and 14 minutes and there were 17,655 people in the house watching the game.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s snapped their three-game losing streak by defeating the visiting Colorado Rockies 7-1 before 12,125 fans, the smallest crowd of the season. The story of the game was the pitching of Kendall Graveman. Graveman did not start the season well and was sent down to Nashville to get back in the groove. He did just that. With the win his record improved to 5-4 and he has now gone seven innings in each of his last five starts. Josh Reddick, Ike Davis and Billy Butler homered for the A’s and it was the eighth time this season that the A’s have had three home runs in a game.

The A’s used the long ball to score four times in the bottom of the first. Stephen Vogt singled to left with one out. After Ben Zobrist struck out swinging, Josh Reddick put the first pitch from Rockies’s pitcher, David Hale, over the right field wall to put the A’s up 2-0. For Reddick, it was his thirteenth home run of the season. The A’s weren’t finished. Designated hitter Billy Butler followed with a solid single to center. Ike Davis hit a long, long drive to deep right field that went about ten or twelve rows into the stands. Oakland has a 4-0 lead after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of Billy Butler’s seventh home run of the year. 5-0 after four.

The Rockies scored a run in the top of the eighth. Kendall Graveman was no longer in the game. He went seven innings allowing just five hits and no runs. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Evan Scribner to pitch. Scribner gave up a home run to Charlie Blackmon on a 2-1 pitch leading off the inning.  Scribner retired two but gave up a single to Troy Tulowitzki. Lefty Drew Pomeranz came in to face the left-handed hitter, Carlos Gonzalez. Pomeranz did his job and struck out Cargo for the third out of the inning.

The A’s added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Josh Reddick walked. Billy Butler doubled to left to drive in Reddick all the way from first. Tulowitzki’s throw home got by the catcher and Butler reached third on the play. Butler scored on a triple to right off the bat of Brett Lawrie.

Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth to close out the win for the A’s.

Game Notes- The A’s starting pitchers are 18-10 with a 2.46 ERA over the last 35 games. The A’s are now 35-44 and are 15-11 so far in the month of June.

Billy Burns had his sixteen game hitting streak snapped as he went 0-for-4. Billy Butler had three hits and was a triple shy of the cycle.  Ike Davis was 2-for-4 and hit his first home run since May 7th at Minnesota. Stephen Vogt went 2-for-4 and is 21-for-50 in his last thirteen games.

Ben Zobrist’s wife Julianna sang the National Anthem.

Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05pm in Oakland. A’s ace Sonny Gray will pitch for the A’s. Gray will be seeking his tenth win of the year and will be opposed by Jorge De La Rosa.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are definitely on a roll. Must be something in the water. Maybe it’s the pixie dust from being near the Golden State Warriors but the A’s have seemingly started to turn the season around as they won for the fifth time in a row by coming from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 Thursday afternoon. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray was not at his best but was still good enough to beat the Rangers and A’s nemesis, Colby Lewis. Gray went six innings allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out seven to notch his ninth win. Gray was the pitcher of record when the A’s scored three times in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. The much-maligned bullpen performed well again as Drew Pomeranz, and Edward Mujica combined to pitch two scoreless innings. Closer Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his thirteenth save of the year.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer to center field that traveled some 412 feet. Joey Gallo doubled, and came home on a Robinson Chirinos single to left field. The A’s came back in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Rangers’ starter Colby Lewis may have been affected by the heat as he walked Ben Zobrist, Brent Lawrie, and Ike Davis to load the bases with one out. After Marcus Semien had lined out to short, Sam Fuld singled to center to drive in Zobrist and Lawrie.

The lead didn’t last long. The Rangers scored their third run of the game to take a 3-2 lead in their half of the inning. Prince Fielder reached on a double and scored on a Mitch Moreland single.

The A’s took the lead for good in the seventh. Lewis was done after six innings and was replaced by Keone Kela. Kela retired the first two batters that he faced. Billy Burns started the rally going by hitting a single to left. Eric Sogard and Stephen Vogt singled to load the bases. Lefty Sam Freeman was now pitching for Texas, and he walked Ben Zobrist to force in a run and the bases remained loaded. Josh Reddick singled off  Freeman to drive in Sogard and Vogt. Pomeranz, Mejica, and Clippard kept the Rangers off the board to win the game for Oakland.

Game Notes – The A’s have won five games in a row, the longest winning streak of the year and have won nine of the last eleven games played.The A’s are now 34-41 and are in fourth place in the AL West. After the game Josh Reddick commented on the three-game sweep of the Rangers “this is the kind of run we need to stay on, we’ve gotten to the point where we’re clicking on all cylinders.” Billy Burns’ hit in the seventh extended his hitting streak to fifteen games.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said he got no argument from Sonny Gray when he took him out of the game. “He knew it was the right thing. He battles himself sometimes. He can be as tough on himself as opposed to battling the opponent, and there are periods during the season when you just don’t feel completely locked in, which is odd to hear about him.”The A’s return to Oakland to start a ten game homestand against the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, and the Seattle Mariners and will play fifteen of the next eighteen at home.

The A’s series with the Royals should be interesting. There was a lot of bad blood between the teams when the A’s played in Kansas City earlier in the season. Melvin said, “water under the bridge, Just baseball, that’s the way I look at it.”

Jesse Hahn (5-5, 3.40ERA ) will pitch for the Green and Gold Friday night. Hahn has been very effective as he is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.25 in his last six starts.

Game time will be 7:05 at the O.co Coliseum.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s scored early and often to defeat the Texas Rangers 8-2. The win was the fourth in a row for the A’s and the eighth win in the last ten games. The Rangers have lost four in a row. Kendall Graveman started for the A’s, and he had a 5-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Graveman went seven-plus innings allowing eight hits and just two runs. With the win, Graveman evened his record at 4-4. The veteran left-hander, Wandy Rodriguez did not have a good outing as the A’s rocked him for eight runs in the first two innings. Rodriguez was done after just four innings of work and he lost for the third time this season.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter, Billy Burns, got things going when he doubled on the second pitch of the game. The hit extended Burns’ hitting streak to a career-high fourteen games. Mark Canha ground out to the right side moving Burns to third. Stephen Vogt, who did not play last night, doubled to drive in Burns wit the first run of the game. Zobrist grounded out and Vogt advanced to third on the play. Rodriguez walked Josh Phegley and Billy Butler on 8 consecutive balls to load the bases. The next batter, Brett Lawrie hit the first pitch, a hanging curveball, over the left-center wall for a grand slam. A’s lead 5-0 before the Rangers came to bat. It was Lawries’s seventh home run of the year and his third career grand slam.

The A’s started the second inning the same way they started the first. Billy Burns doubled, advanced to third on a long fly ball off to right center and scored on a Stephen Vogt single. Vogt now leads the American League with 52 RBI. Josh Phegley followed with a home run over the centerfield wall to give the A’s an 8-0 lead.

The Rangers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus singled to put men on first and second with one out.  Leonys Martin flied to center for the second out of the inning. Catcher Carlos Corporan, hitting just .198, lined a double down the right field line to drive in both Gallo and Andrus. Rougned Odor walked to put men on at first and second again. The next hitter, Ryan Rua ground into a force out to end the inning. The Rangers challenged the call but fter review, the umpires upheld the call, and the A’s caught an enormous break as the Rangers would have had the bases loaded and their slugger, Prince Fielder, was the next batter.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers put men on at first and second with no out. A’s manager took Graveman out of the game and replaced him with Edward Mujica. Mujica worked out of the jam, and Fernando Abad closed out the game in the ninth for the A’s.

Game Notes- Graveman has been pitching very well since the A’s recalled him from  Triple-A Nashville. His ERA in his last four starts is 1.86. The hitting stars for the A’s were Billy Burns, Josh Phegley, Stephen Vogt and Brett Lawrie. Burns had two doubles and a single. Phegley had two hits including a two-run home run. Stephen Vogt had a double and two singles. The star of the night was Brett Lawrie. Lawrie had three hits and the biggest hit of the evening- a grand slam in the first inning. The line score for the A’s was eight runs, fourteen hits, and no errors while the line score for the Rangers was two runs on nine hits and two errors.

The A’s play game three of the three-game series Thursday. Game time will be at 11:05 AM PT.Sonny Gray will pitch for the Green and Gold and he will be opposed by Colby Lewis. Lewis, a former Athletic, has given the A’s fits over the years. Hopefully, the A’s will be able to turn the tables.

Game time temperature tonight was 92 degrees with a breeze. 34,216 paid to watch the game.

by Jerry Feitelberg

Kendall Graveman

The A’s and Padres concluded the four-game home and home series on Thursday at the O.co Coliseum. The game was played in the sunshine, and it was a close game but, as you know, the A’s have a losing record in games that are played in the daytime and are close. Today’s game was no exception as Oakland lost by a final score of 3-1. The Padres snapped their four-game losing streak and ended the A’s modest four-game winning streak

A’s starter Kendall Graveman pitched well, but he made two mistakes and took the loss. He gave up a solo home run to Matt Kemp in the fourth and former A’s catcher, Derek Norris, homered to lead off in the sixth to give San Diego enough runs to win the game. The A’s could not solve Ian Kennedy at all. The only mistake Kennedy made was a solo home run to A’s catcher Josh Phegley in the bottom of the sixth. The Padres added a run in the eighth after Billy Burns and Josh Reddick collided in deep right centerfield on a Melvin Upton, Jr flyball. The ball dropped allowing Upton to reach third for a triple. Reddick fell to the ground after the collision and lay motionless for about a minute or two. Bob Melvin and a trainer rushed out to see if Reddick was OK and after a few minutes he got to his feet and returned to action with no damage done. Nonetheless, it was a scary few moments. Upton scored on a foul out to first baseman Stephen Vogt. Vogt caught the ball over his shoulder, spun around and threw home trying to nail Upton at the plate but the throw was offline, and the Padres added the insurance run to take a 3-1 advantage. The A’s went down in order in the eighth. Vogt doubled with two out in the ninth, but Padres’ closer Craig Kimbrel struck out Billy Butler to end the game.

Game Notes- Kendall Graveman took the loss and is now 3-4 for the year. Graveman is 2-2 with an ERA of 2.27 in six starts since his return from Nashville on May 23rd. His line for the day was 7 IP, five hits and two runs. He lost his last start 1-0 to the LA Angels.

Billy  Burns was 1-for-4 and has hit safely in each of his last nine games. Josh Phegley hit his third home run of the year and the first one against a right-hander.  Stephen Vogt has now reached base safely in all 30 of his home games, which is the second longest season-opening streak in Oakland history. The record is held by Rickey Henderson, who had 33 in 1993.

The line score for San Diego was three runs, seven hits, and no errors while Oakland’s was one run on five hits and two errors.

The A’s continue the homestand against the Los Angeles Angels Friday night at 6 pm. There will be fireworks after the game. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray (8-3, 1.60 ERA) will go for Oakland, and Matt Shoemaker(4-5, 4.85) will pitch for the Halos.

Game time was two hours and thirty-nine minutes, and there were 16,643 people watching.

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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