Tag: Baseball

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Jerry Feitelberg

What a difference a day makes. Monday night, the bullpen failed and the A’s lost the game, but the A’s defeated the Twins  2-1 Tuesday night in Minnesota behind the great pitching of Jesse Chavez and Tyler Clippard. Chavez was making his third start of the year and he was terrific. He went 7 and 1/3rd innings and allowed just four hits and one run and that run was unearned. Evan Scribner faced one hitter and he was replaced by Tyler Clippard who was able to get five outs to win the game for the A’s. Chavez came into the game with a record of 0-2 and an ERA of 2.55.  Trevor May (2-1, 4.43 ERA)  started for the Twins.

The A’s jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Leadoff hitter, Billy Burns singled to start the inning. He stole second to get into scoring position and was driven in when designated hitter, Billy Butler singled to right. 1-0 A’s

There was no more scoring until the top of the sixth as Mays and Chavez engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers duel. The A’s scored again when Stephen Vogt walked with two out. Ike Davis singled and Vogt scored on a single by Brett Lawrie. May went 5 &2/3rds innings giving up five hits and two runs.

The Twins were held scoreless until the bottom of the eighth. Jesse Chavez gave up a single to Jordan Schafer. With one out, Danny Salazar hit a rocket that was fielded by Ike Davis. Davis should have stepped on first for the force out, but he elected to throw to second in the hopes of starting a double play, but his throw went past Marcus Semien who was covering second on the play. Schafer went to third on the error. Bob Melvin brought in Evan Scribner to pitch to Brian Dozier. Dozier hit a soft line drive to center to drive in Schafer with the Twins’ first run. Melvin replaced Scribner with Tyler Clippard. Clippard had to face two dangerous Twins’ hitters, Torii Hunter, and Joe Maurer. He retired both of them to end the inning. Clippard retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the win for Chavez and the A’s. Final score 2-1 in favor of Oakland.

Game notes- Jesse Chavez and Tyler Clippard’s performances gave the A’s what they desperately needed. Solid starting pitching and a great performance from the bullpen was exactly the A’s needed and Chavez and Clippard came through in a big way. Chavez went deep into the game and Clippard shut the Twins down. Clippard earned his third save of the year and the A’s won their first one-run game of the season. The A’s are 3-2 on the road trip and 12-16 overall.

Game 3 of the series will be Wednesday night at Target Field in Minneapolis at 5:05pm. Scott Kazmir will pitch for Oakland.

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s started a four-game set in Minnesota with the Twins Monday night. The game was a battle of right-handed pitchers. Jesse Hahn was looking for his second win of the season and he was opposed by Phil Hughes. Hughes was 0-4 entering the game and looking for his first win. The A’s had a chance to chase Hughes in the first inning, but could not get the key hit they needed to break the game open.  The Twins, who are playing well, came from behind twice and were able to keep the A’s at bay as they won the game 8-7.

The A’s scored four times in the first. They loaded the bases for Stephen Vogt and Vogt put the ball into the right-field stands to give the A’s an early 4-0 lead. The A’s continued to hit Hughes well. Ike Davis singled and Brett Lawrie doubled to put men on at 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Hughes was able to get the next two hitters and get out of the jam.

The Twins came back in the bottom of the second and tied the score at 4. The bottom of the Twins order caused the A’s fits all night. The rally was started by the Twins’ designated hitter, Kennys Vargas, who singled to right/Left-fielder Eduardo Escobar also singled to put two on with no out. Jordan Schafer doubled to drive in Vargas. Shortstop Danny Santana reached on an infield hit driving in Escobar with the Twins’ second run of the inning. Leadoff hitter, Brian Dozier, doubled to drive in two more runs to tie the game.

The A’s took the lead again in the top of the sixth. Big Mark Canha hit a tape-measure home run into the second deck in left field to make it a 5-4 game. The Twins scored four times in their half of the sixth to take the lead for good. Jesse Hahn gave up two hits to start the sixth and A’s manager Bob Melvin decided that Hahn was done for the night and he replaced by R.J.Alvarez. Alvarez gave up a single to Schafer to tie the game, but he managed to get two out before he had to face the ever dangerous Torii Hunter. Hunter responded by turning on a fastball and hit a line shot down the leftfield line for a three-run homer. Twins lead 8-5 after six.

The A’s scored a run in the top of the eighth to make it a 2 run deficit and they scored a run in the ninth.The Twins had the closer, Glen Perkins on the mound to end the game, but the A’s did not go down easy. Josh Reddick singled and took second on defensive indifference. Reddick scored on a double by Vogt that just missed going out of the park. The A’s needed a hit to tie, but Perkins struck out Craig Gentry to win it for Minnesota.

Game notes- The A’s are now 2-2 on the 10 game road trip and their record for the year is 11-16. The Twins, on the other hand, are hot. They have won five in a row and are at 14-12 and in third place in the very tough central division just behind the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.

The A’s hitting stars were Stephen Vogt who went 3-for-5 with a home run, double and five Rbi, Billy Burns and Brett Lawrie with two hits each. Josh Reddick singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.  The Twins hitting stars were  Vargas, Escobar, Schafer, Santana and Hunter. Hunter had the big three-run homer and the other four hitters went 9-for14 in winning the game for the Twins.

Phil Hughes went six innings won his first game of the year. The A’s touched him for 5 runs and 9 hits but their starter, Jesse Hahn, did not have a good outing. Hahn went 5 plus innings allowing 6 runs on 10 hits and took the loss. His record for the year is 1-2. The A’s bullpen allowed 2 runs or more for the 12th time in the last 18 games. Part of the problem is that the starters, other than Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir, are not going deep into the game and the bullpen is becoming overworked and, perhaps, tired. The A’s need the starters to go six, seven and eight innings and allow the bullpen to regroup.  A’s closer, Sean Doolittle, will be back soon, but the other members of the ‘pen have to pitch better if the A’s want to make the playoffs.

Game 2  will be played at Target Field in Minneapolis on Tuesday at 5:05pm