Tag: Baseball

The Angels blast the A’s 14-1, even series

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

It was a rough, rough night for the Oakland Athletics as they were pulverized by the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 14-1. The A’s did not get good pitching and they committed three errors on defense while all the offense could muster was just one run and four hits. It was a duel of two left-handed pitchers. Drew Pomeranz for Oakland and Hector Santiago for the Angels.

Pomeranz struggled and was lifted in the sixth inning. Santiago went six complete and picked up the win. The A’s bullpen failed to put out the fire as they could not contain them and they gave up nine runs in the defeat.

The Angels scored four runs in the bottom of the second. With one out and Erick Aybar on first, C.J. Cron hit a slow roller to third. Brett Lawrie fielded the ball cleanly and threw to second trying to start a 5-4-3 double play. Eric Sogard made the force out and pivoted quickly and made a good throw to first to complete the double-play. The umpire ruled Cron out to end the inning. Angel manager, Mike Scioscia challenged the ruling and after a review the call was overturned. Angel catcher, Chris Iannetta walked to put two men on with two out. Angel second baseman, Johnny Giavotella, then connected for  his first home run of the year to give the Angels a 3-0 lead. Pomeranz was still not out of the woods. Leadoff hitter, Kole Calhoun singled and Pomerantz walked Mike Trout. The next batter, Albert Pujols lined a shot that A’s shortstop Marcus Semien let bounce off his glove for an error allowing Calhoun to score with the fourth run.

The A’s got on the board in the third when designated hitter, Billy Butler, hit a solo home run to deep left centerfield to make it a 4-1 game.

The Angels blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth when they scored six times. Drew Pomeranz started the inning but was lifted after a C.J.Cron doubled. Bob Melvin brought in R.J.Alvarez to pitch.

Johnny Giavotella singled to drive in Cron with the Angels fifth run of the game. The next batter, Kole Calhoun, was credited with a single when the ball hit the second base umpire and was ruled dead.

Alvarez uncorked a wild pitch allowing the runners to advance to second and third. The A’s issued an intentional walk to Mike Trout to load the bases. Alvarez uncorked another wild pitch allowing Giavotella to score and moving the other two runners to second and third.David Freese singled to drive in two more runs and Freese advanced to second when Craig Gentry fumbled the ball for an error.

Erick Aybar followed with a single to make it 9-1. Collin Cowgill, the only Angel up to this point in the game that did not reach base safely, singled. Aybar scored all the way from first when the throw from Semien went by third for an error and Cowgill ended up on third when the throw home was wild.

Angels lead after six 10-1.

The Angels scored four more in the 7th. Iannetta and Giavotella reached safely to start the inning. Bob Melvin went out to the mound and ended Alvarez’ night. Fernando Abad was brought in to pitch to the left-handed hitter, Kole Calhoun. Calhoun promptly deposited Abad’s offering over the fence in right centerfield to make the score 13-1. The Angels added another when Mike Trout scored on a sacrifice fly. 14-1 in favor of the Angels after seven full.

The A’s brought in position player, first baseman Ike Davis to pitch in the bottom of the eighth. It was the first position player to pitch for the A’s since the 2000 season. All Davis did was set the Angels down in order 1-2-3 on nine pitches. Great job, Ike.

Game three of the four-game set will be played in Anaheim at 7:05 pm Wednesday night and the game should be a dandy as Sonny Gray will go for Oakland while Jared Weaver will go for LA.

The A’s Win Game One against the Angels

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s stopped in Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels Monday night. The A’s beat the Angels 6-3 and are now 7-7 for 2015. This was the seventh game of a ten game road trip and the A’s are 4-3. Kendall Graveman made his third start of the year and it was a tough start for the young righty. Graveman went three-plus innings giving up three runs on seven hits.  Dan Otero was brought in to pitch in the fourth after Graveman allowed the first two hitters to reach. Otero threw four scoreless innings and was credited with the win. Evan Scribner and Tyler Clippard also kept the Angels off the board. The Angels’ starter, Matt Shoemaker also went three-plus innings. Shoemaker allowed seven hits and five runs and took the loss. Shoemaker is 2-1 for the year. The Angels’ season record drops to 5-8.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Super Sam Fuld walked to start the inning. Fuld stole second and went to third on a Billy Butler single. Fuld then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ike Davis. The lead didn’t last long as the Angels scored twice in their half of the first. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols singled to put men on at first and second. A’s first baseman, Ike Davis, made a sensational play getting the out on Matt Joyce but the runners advanced to second and third and they both scored on a David Freese single. Angels lead 2-1 after one.

The A’s regained the lead in the third. Sam Fuld doubled and Mark Canha reached on an infield singled to put two men on for Stephen Vogt. Vogt hit an off-speed pitch into the right field bleachers to put the A’s up 4-2. It was Vogt’s fourth home run of the year. The Angels cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third. Mike Trout singled and then stole second. Albert Pujols drove him in with a single to make it a 4-3 game. For Pujols, the  run batted in was the 1610th of his career moving the future Hall-of-Famer into 33rd place all-time.

There was no more scoring until the ninth. The A’s picked up insurance run to take a 6-3 lead. Eric Sogard doubled to lead off . Sogard took third on a long fly to right and then scored on a sacrifice fly. Final score 6-3 in favor of Oakland.

Notes- The Oakland bullpen of Otero, Scribner, and Clippard pitched six innings of scoreless ball allowing just one hit. Stephen Vogt has 4 home runs and 12 runs batted in to lead the A’s. LHP Drew Pomeranz will pitch for Oakland.

The A’s and Angels play game 2 of the 4 game series Tuesday evening in Anaheim at 7:05pm

The Astros avoid the sweep, Beat the A’s

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were hoping to sweep the three-game series against the Houston Astros Wednesday night in Houston. That, However, was not the case as the Astros, and Jed Lowrie, in particular, beat the A’s 6-1. The A’s had lefty Drew Pomeranz on the hill as he was trying to record his second win of the win. The Astros’ starter, Collin McHugh, had his game working for him and he kept the A’s hitters off-balance all night. Lowrie drove in three runs with a homer and a double to get a bit of revenge against his former mates. The A’s chose not to re-sign Lowrie after the 2014 season and he returned to Houston as a free agent where he played before coming to the A’s in 2013.

The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. All-Star second baseman, Jose Altuve led off the game with a booming double to left centerfield. Altuve stole third, but that turned out to not be necessary as Lowrie hit his third home run of the year into the left field seats. The A’s scored their only run of the night in the top of the second inning. Designated hitter Billy Butler singled up the middle. It was the tenth straight game that Butler has hit safely in and it is an Oakland A’s team record for a player in his first year with the A’s. Butler’s single was followed by an Ike Davis single and an Eric Sogard single to load the bases. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien beat out an infield hit to drive in Butler with the lone A’s run of the night.

In Houston’s half of the third, they scored again. George Springer singled with one out. That man, Jed Lowrie, did it again to his old mates as he sliced a pitch down the right field line driving in Springer all the way from first. It’s Lowrie three and A’s 1 after three.

The Astros added a run in the fifth. Center Fielder Jake Marisnick tripled and Jose Altuve singled to make it 4-1. Houston added a run in the seventh on a Luis Valbuena homer and Evan Gattis hit his first home run of the year in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-1. Former A’s reliever Luke Gregerson pitched the ninth and closed it out for Houston.

Game notes-Drew Pomeranz went 5 plus innings giving up six hits and four runs. He struck out five and walked one. Pomeranz’ record for 2015 in now 1-1. Houston’s Collin McHugh went 5 2/3rds innings also gave up six hits but allowed just one run and struck out eleven A’s hitters and did not issue a walk in recording the win. McHugh is now 9-0 in his last nine decisions going back to 2014. Josh Reddick made the defensive play of the night in right field making a diving and tumbling catch that will make the highlight reels on the sports channels.

The A’s have an off day on Thursday as they travel to Kansas City to meet the American League champions in a three-game set over the weekend. The A’s are now 5-5 while the Royals are blazing hot and were unbeaten until Wednesday when they lost their first game of the year to the Minnesota Twins. The A’s will be seeking a measure of revenge as the Royals ousted the A’s in the one-game playoff last year.

Game time is 5:10 pm at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Friday.

A’s win second in a row, Beat the Astros

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s beat the Houston Astros 4-0 behind a good pitching performance by Kendall Graveman. Graveman evened his record at 1-1 and rebounded after being beat by the Texas Rangers last Thursday in Oakland. Graveman needed to have his sinker working and it was as he induced at least eleven ground outs in picking up his first Major League victory. Graveman went 5 1/3rd innings and allowed no runs and just 4 hits. Graveman had a little trouble with location and walked four but struck out three before departing in the top of the sixth with one out. The A’s called on Eric O’Flaherty Dan Otero, Fernando Abad and Tyler Clippard to stop the Astros from scoring and they all did the job.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Center fielder Sam Fuld led off the game by hitting an opposite field double. The next batter, Mark Canha did a nice job of hitting as he ground out to second enabling Fuld to move to third. Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly and Fuld scored with the first run of the game. The Astros, in the bottom of the first, had two men on with one out, but Graveman got Evan Gattis to hit into a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Graveman and the Astros’ starter, former Athletic, Brad Peacock engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel until the A’s broke through and scored twice in the sixth.  Zobrist walked to start the frame. Designated hitter, “Country breakfast” Billy Butler slashed a double down the right field line driving in Zobrist all the way from first. Stephen Vogt singled driving in Butler. Graveman started the sixth. The Astros had men on base with no out. A’s pitching coach, Curt Young, Paid a visit to the mound and told Graveman that he would be out of the game after the next hitter, Astro slugger Chris Carter. Graveman retired Carter on strikes and lefty Eric O’Flaherty got the next hitter to hit into an inning-ending double play.

The A’s added a run in the ninth. Brett Lawrie walked and stole second. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Lawrie to put the A’s ahead 4-0. Tyler Clippard  pitched the ninth to win it for Oakland.

Game notes. The A’s won two in a row for the first time this season and they improve their record to 5-4. Houston. Brad Peacock took the loss for Houston. Graveman threw 96 pitches and lowered his ERA from 18.90 to 7.27. After the game, Graveman said, ” Curt Young did a great job last week to build my confidence.” Graveman said they stressed that he had to “pitch to contact” and he had “good feeling” out on the mound. He also said,” the defense played great behind me.”

The A’s will go for the sweep Wednesday night at 5:10 pm in Houston. Drew Pomeranz will pitch for Oakland.

The A’s Rout the Texas Rangers

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

To paraphrase the great Charles Dickens ” It was the best of times for one team and the worst of times for the other.” For the Oakland A’s, it was the best of times as they routed the visiting Texas Rangers by a score of 10-0. They had it all going for them Wednesday night as they had good hitting, good pitching and good defense. They pounded out 14 hits, scored 10 runs and third baseman Brett Lawrie made a tremendous defensive play at third base to stop a ball from going down the left field line for a double and first baseman Mark Canha made a nice pick when the throw from Lawrie was slightly offline. A’s starter and winning pitcher, Scott Kazmir was on his game as he went seven innings allowing just one hit while striking out ten. For the Texas Rangers, it was the worst of times. Their starter, Ross Detiler, making his first start since July, 2013 gave up 8 runs on 9 hits and was gone after 4 1/3rd innings of work. The Ranger defense did not help Detwiler one bit. The Rangers committed four errors and  a passed ball  that led to 3 unearned runs. Kazmir allowed just one hit and the other came in the ninth when Prince Fielder doubled off reliever R.J. Alvarez.

The only noise the A’s made in the first two innings was a two out double by Brett Lawrie. Lawrie had a tough night in Tuesday’s game as he struck out four times on 12 pitches but he hit a line shot to left center but was thrown out at third trying to stretch  it into a triple. In the bottom of the third, the A’s sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs on five hits. Marcus Semien singled with one out to get things going. That was followed by Tyler Ladendorf’s first Major League hit in his first at bat in the big leagues. It was a line shot to left center and with his speed, he made it to third easily. Craig Gentry was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Cody Ross, in his first at bat as an Athletic singled to drive in Ladendorf. A’s DH, Billy Butler walked to load the bases. First baseman, Mark Canha, blasted a shot to deep right centerfield that hit the top of the wall driving in all three runners.Canha stopped at second and A’s manager Bob Melvin asked the umpires to review the play . After the review, it was ruled a double, Canha just  missed a grand slam by about an inch and it was his first Major League hit. A’s lead 5-0 after three innings of play.

The AS’s scored one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one run each in the sixth and seventh innings. That was the end of the scoring for the night as the A’s win 10-0.

Game notes. Mark Canha led the attack with two doubles and a single while driving in four runs. Brett Lawrie had three hits, Billy Butler and Marcus  Semien each had two hits. Cody Ross, signed by the A’s on Wednesday after being released by the Arizona Diamondbacks had a single and two RBIs in his A’s debut.

The A’s have started the season 2-1 for the first time since 2010. The A’s tripled in the each of the first three games for the first time since at least 1914. Scott Kazmir recorded 10 strikeouts for the 23rd time in his career and is 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA in five starts in the last 2 years against the Rangers. Mark Canha was 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs. The only Athletic to do better was Ben Grieve in his debut in 1997 when he drove in five runs in his first Major League game. The only players from last year’s A’s team were Craig Gentry and Scott Kazmir. All the other players are in their first year with Oakland.

After the game, A’s manager, Bob Melvin, was all smiles as his team really played well. He was pleased with Kazmir’s performance and was extremely happy about Mark Canha’s performance.

The Rangers are 1-2 for the first time since 2010.They committed 4 errors since April 30th, 2014 when they committed 4, also against the A’s  Delino Deshields made his Major League debut for the Rangers and had his first Major League hit.

The fourth game of the series will be Thursday afternoon at 12:35pm at the O.Co Coliseum. Kendall Graveman will be making his A’s debut and he will be opposed by the Rangers’ Nick Martinez.

Game time was 2 hours and 55 minutes and was watched by 19,479 very happy A’s fans.

Opening Day

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Opening Day 2015 kicks off Monday as the new-look Oakland A’s meet the Texas Rangers. The A’s have made a multitude of changes and the home fans will be able to see the new players for he first time.

There is something special about the first game of the season. Every team starts off in first place 0-0 and it may be the only day that the team will reside in first place all season.  The players are always excited to get the show going. The adrenaline will be flowing as the park is sold out. The players on both teams will be introduced to the fans and there will be a color guard present when the National Anthem is sung and that is usually followed by jets from either the Air Force or the Navy.

Sonny Gray will be pitching for the A’s and it will be the second year in a row for the new ace of the staff. The A’s are hoping to snap a ten game losing streak on opening day. No one knows how the A’s will do this year. Many of the pundits are picking the A’s to finish third in the division. Texas hopes to rebound from last year’s dismal season as so many players were injured and their long-time manager, Ron Washington, resigned for personal reasons. Each team wants to get off to a good start, but it’s a long season. The A’s, last year, had the best record in baseball for four months, but the last two months were a nightmare and they barely made the playoffs and then blew a lead in the one game playoff with the Kansas City Royals.

General manager, Billy Beane, went back to the drawing board and decided to go in a new directions and made many moves that upset a lot of fans. Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss were fan favorites, but they are new playing for Toronto and Cleveland. All-Star Derek Norris now resides in San Diego. The team gave away power but got back players that are better defensively and young pitchers to strengthen both the starting rotation as well as the bullpen. It remains to be seen if Kendall Graveman and Jesse Hahn will succeed as starters. The A’s have depth and Jarrod Parker will soon be off the DL as well as A.J.Griffin. Both these men are proven starters, but they are coming off Tommy John surgery.

Winning the AL west will be a challenge for this young team. The Los Angeles Angels won the division last year but were  knocked out of the playoffs by the Royals. The Seattle Mariners finished just one game behind the A’s last year and have added a big bat signing free agent Nelson Cruz who had 40 homers for the Orioles last year. The Houston Astros had a better season last year and are also improving as they  will no longer be pushovers.

In 2012, many people thought the A’s would lose 100 games. They had a bunch of no names and cast-off and a young player from Cuba by the name of Yoenis Cespedes. They won the division on the last day of the year beating the Rangers. So, with a young team,  no one knows.  That’s why the play the games. See you at the park.

Lastly, this writer would be remiss not to mention the loss of Bay Area broadcast legend, Lon Simmons. Simmons passed away yesterday at the age of 91. He was a broadcaster for the Giants, A’s and San Franciso 49ers. He had a deep baritone voice and had a great sense of humor. People would tell me how terrific he was and it took a while for me to get his humor but once I did, I loved listening to him. One night while my wife and I were dining at a restaurant, I heard his voice. No need to turn around. I knew it was Lon. Rest in peace, Lon. You were an original and you will be missed by the Giants, A’s, 49ers and fans and most of all, by your family.

The A’s Head into the Home Stretch

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s head into the Home Stretch

The A’s played their 113th game of the season Wednesday afternoon at the O.co Coliseum. Things did not go well for the A’s as they lost the game. The A’s have forty-nine games left to play and they are scuffling at the moment. The A’s have split the last twelve games against the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays. The play the Minnesota Twins the next four days and , hopefully, they will beat them all four games. The A’s had an opportunity to pick up ground on their closest rival, the Los Angeles Angels, but failed to do so and if the Angels beat the LA Dodgers Wednesday night the A’s will be just one game ahead of the Angels in the race for the AL West division crown.

As mentioned earlier, the A’s hitters have been scuffling and the offense has gone south. This happens to all teams as the season is made up of peaks and valleys. When things are going well, the pitching, starters and relievers, the hitting and fielding are all in sync in the team can rack up wins. However, sometimes the pitching isn’t there but the team is getting hitting. Sometimes the hitting isn’t working but the pitching is good. That is the situation the A’s find themselves in right now as the season is moving quickly to the finish line. The A’s have four outstanding starters in Lester, Gray, Samardzija and Kazmir and the fifth starter, Hammel, got his act together for his first win as an Athletic. The hitting has not been there. Brandon Moss is in an 0 for 18 slump. Steven Vogt is at least 0 for 22 and can’t buy a hit.Coco Crisp has been out with a bad neck and is just now back in the lineup. Josh Donaldson’s production has also slowed down. The hot hitter is Josh Reddick. Reddick os hitting over .380 since coming off the DL but there is no consistency in the offense. Another factor may be the trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston. Many, many fans are unhappy with the trade but the A’s got knocked out of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers the last two years in the first round of the playoffs and General Manager Billy Beane felt it necessary to get a top of the line pitcher and in order to get Jon Lester from Boston he had to give up something and that something was Cespedes.

The A’s believe in the platoon system and the versatility of the players to be able to be utilized at different positions and be able to use left-handed hitters against righties and right-handed hitters against lefties and they have been successful all season long using that strategy.The A’s will be tested next week when they go on the road to Kansas City and Atlanta. The Royals took two out of three from the A’s here this week and they are in the hunt for a wild card spot. The A’s play four with the Royals and

they need to win at least two of the games. Then it’s Atlanta for three. The Braves have been playing poorly as of late but the A’s cannot take them lightly. The A’s return home for two with the Mets and then play the Angels seven times in a ten day stretch. The schedule after that is easier for the A’s but this is baseball and anything can happen. The A’s are going to find a way to get the hitting, pitching and fielding all working together or the A’s could fall out of first place in the west but still make the playoffs as a wild card but that would mean having to face the second wild card in a one game playoff and anything can happen. Stay tuned fans as it should be interesting from now until September 28th.

The A’s rally to defeat the Astros

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

A’S SNATCH VICTORY FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT

Holy Toledo!! That’s what the late great A’s broadcaster would say when a great play or a great win would occur on the field. Tuesday night in Houston, the A’s came back from a three run deficit trailing 4-1 in the top of the ninth and they were down to their last strike when they rallied for six runs and beat the Houston Astros 7-4. The Astros have played the A’s tough so far this year and the won the first game of the three game series on Monday night. Had the A’s lost , the team would have had a record of 2-3 on the five game trip to Texas and the best they could hope for was a 3-3 road trip. However, the never-say-die guys from Oakland came to life and stunned the Astros with their comeback.

The A’s sent Jeff Samardzija to the hill and he was opposed by the Astros’ Scott Feldman. The game didn’t start well for Samardzija as Marwin Gonzalez, the second batter Samardzija faced, hit a home run to give Houston an early 1-0 lead. The A’s tied the game in the top of the fifth when Josh Reddick blasted his sixth home run of the year to make it a 1-1 game. The Astros, however, came back and scored two in the bottom of the fifth. Robbie Grossman singled singled and then stole second. Enrique Hernandez followed with a triple and the American League leader in batting and hits, Jose Altuve singled to drive in the third run of the game for the Astros. The Astros scored another run in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 4-1 game and A’s manager Bob Melvin took Samardzija out of the game.

Samardzija went 6 2/3rds innings giving up six hits and four earned runs. He walked two and struck seven while throwing 104 pitches. The Astros Scott Feldman probably had the best game of his career against the A’s Tuesday night going seven inning allowing just five hits and one run. At this point in the game it looked like Feldman was going to pick up the win.

However, we are talking about the Oakland A’s and as Yogi Berra once said “it ain’t over till it’s over.”

It’s also the magic of baseball. A team can look lethargic and beaten for eight innings but then can rally in the ninth to come back and win the game. That is exactly what the A’s did to the Astros Tuesday night. The Astros brought in their closer, Chad Qualls, to pitch. With one out, A’s catcher Derek Norris reached base on an infield single. The next batter was Josh Reddick. Reddick, who had homered earlier in the game, doubled to left center field advancing Norris to third base. Alberto Callaspo, pinch hitting for Eric Sogard, slammed a double to right center and drove in Norris and Reddick making it a 4-3 game. The A’s replaced Callaspo with the very fleet footed Billy Burns. The next batter John Jaso ground into a fielder’s choice, Jaso reached second on a wild pitch and was now in scoring position to tie the game. Shortstop Jed Lowrie walked on a 3-2 pitch to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Quall had two strikes on Cespedes and needed one more strike to win the game but Yoenis Cespedes was able to hit a blooper to right field to drive in Jaso with the tying run. Astros’ manager Bo Porter had seen enough. He brought in left Tony Sipp to pitch to Brandon Moss. With the count at 3-2, Moss singled sharply to right field allowing Lowrie to score the go-ahead run. That was it for Sipp and he was replaced by Jose Veras. Donaldson swung and missed at the first pitch thrown by Veras but he didn’t miss the second one as he blasted a shot to deep center field that went way over the center fielder’s head and two more runs scored. 7-4 in favor of the A’s as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth. The A’s brought in closer Sean Doolittle and he set the Astros down 1-2-3 to secure the win and pick the save.

Winning pitcher was Evan Scribner who pitched the eighth inning for the A’s and Chad Qualls took the loss.

After the game Chad Qualls said “They make contact. They take a lot of pitches Two of the hits they got tonight weren’t hit really hard.-Norris’ to start everything off was a little nubber to third and the Cespedes that tied it was just a jam shot they got to the outfield. They found some holes when they needed to and hit the ball on the screws when they needed to. I just didn’t get it done.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said ‘That’s amazing. For a late-inning at bat, that’s as good as I’ve ever seen in a team.The 27th out, we don’t give that away. It’s an attribute. That’s the way this team is.”

Time for the A’s to make Hay

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

Time for the A’s to Make Hay

The A’s beat the lowly but pesky Houston Astros on Thurs and they upped their major league best record to 63-38. After the game the A’s embark on a six game road trip to Texas where they will face the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros again. The Rangers, if you can believe it, have a worse record than the Astros. The Rangers’ pitching staff has been decimated by injury and the team is just not very good right now. There is some speculation that Ranger Manager Ron Washington will be fired after the season. The Rangers’ top acquisition in the off season was Prince Fielder. The big lefty slugger is out for the season and the Ranger offense has been weakened.

The A’s will send Jason Hammel to pitch Friday night. Hammel is looking for his first win as an A since coming to Oakland in a trade with the Cubs. Sonny Gray (11-3, 2.72) will pitch game two and Scott Kazmir(11-3, 2.32) will go in the finale. The Rangers are sending out three pitchers with losing record. Jerome Williams(1-4, ERA over 6) will pitch Friday night. Nick Tepesch(1-2,4.75) goes on Saturday and Miles Mikolas (1-6,7.48) on Sunday. The A’s then travel to Houston to face a team that played them tough in the three game series that concluded on Thursday but the A’s took two out of three and clobbered them 13-1 in the finale. After that, the A’s come home to face the Kansas City Royals for three, the Tampa Bay Rays for three and four with the Minnesota Twins. The only team without a losing record is the Royals but they are at the .500 mark with a record of 50-50. The Rays are four games under .500 but have as of July 24th won seven in a row. The Rays had a lot of injuries earlier in the season but are playing well as those players are now healthy. The Twins are in last place in the AL Central with a 46-54 record.

The Angels, who are now 2 ½ games behind the A’s, start a four game series against the Detroit Tigers

Thursday and will have to face Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello. The Angels then o on a tough road trip as they travel to Baltimore to play the Orioles again. The Orioles took two out of three in Anaheim and are in first place in the AL East. The Angels then go to Tampa Bay to face the Rays and as noted above, the Rays are playing well and could be a problem for the Angels. The Angels road doesn’t get any easier as they return “home” to play a four game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first two games of the series will be in Los Angeles and the last two games will be in Anaheim. The Angels then have to face the Boston Red Sox for three. The Red Sox have been playing better as of late and would love to upset the Angels apple cart.

It will be up to A’s manager, Bob Melvin, to keep his troops focused. The A’s have to feast on these team and they could put a lot of distance between them and the Angels. The Angels have the second best record in the American League and know that they can’t afford to lose any of these series as they want to keep pace with the A’s. The season is about two thirds complete. The trade deadline happens a week from today and the stretch drive to the playoffs begins. Should be a lot of fun and, hopefully,

the fans will come out and support the best team in the American League, the Oakland Athletics.

Cespedes Powers the A’s to Victory

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

What an interesting game the A’s played Wednesday night against the lowly Houston Astros. The A’s won the game 9-7 as the A’s led 7-0 after four innings on the strength of two home runs off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes drove in five runs and he made it look like he was participating in a Home Run Derby. The A’s continued to have their way with former Athletic, Brad Peacock. Peacock gave up seven runs on seven hits in just 3 and 2/3rds innings of work. The A’s starter, Jesse Chavez, pitched well giving up two runs on four hits before he left the game in the top of the sixth with two outs. Ryan Cook relieved and Cook did not allow a hit or any runs in 1 and 1/3rd inning of work.

The A’s in the meantime, increased the lead and led 9-2 at the end of seven innings. Then came the fateful eighth inning. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, brought in Jim Johnson to pitch. The fans started to get nervous as Johnson has had a terrible year so far with Oakland. However, the bullpen needed some rest and the A’s had a big lead so what could go wrong. Well, it did not go well for Johnson. Jose Altuve, Houston’s great second baseman and All-Star, hit a ground ball to third. Josh Donaldson’s throw to first was offline and Brandon Moss tried to tag to tag Altuve but that tactic went awry. Moss did tag Altuve but Altuve, running hard, nearly took Moss’ left arm off. His glove was knocked off his hand and the ball dropped to the ground and Altuve was credited with a single. Did this unnerve Johnson? Probably. Johnson’s struggles are well known and he must have been thinking “here we go again. What will go wrong now?”

Big League players have to have confidence that they can do the job and relievers have to believe they are invincible. Someone once said baseball is 50% physical and 90% mental. In any case, Johnson proceeded to give up three more hits and could not get anyone out. The A’s brought in Dan Otero to pitch and he gave up 2 hits and one run. Johnson was charged with four runs on four hits and the Astros sent ten men to the plate in the inning scoring five runs and the game was suddenly a 9-7 contest.

Otero got one man out and the A’s brought in Luke Gregerson to restore order. Gregerson retired the two men he faced to end the inning and closer Sean Doolittle put the Astros down in order in the ninth to seal the win.

There were a lot of positives in the game. Yoenis Cespedes had a big night as did John Jaso who had three hits and a walk as well as a sacrifice fly. Right fielder Josh Reddick had two hits and really had good swings in his first game back from the DL. Jesse Chavez pitched well as he picked up his eighth win of the year. On the negative side, Cespedes injured himself while batting and suffered a sprain in his right thumb. Brandon Moss also was hurt and he may not play Thursday as he had a biceps stinger in his left arm. The biggest negative of the night was the pitching of Jim Johnson. Johnson had 100 saves over the last two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and the A’s brought him here to be their closer. He also was given a ten million dollar contract but he has not done enough to earn the money and he was bombarded with boos as he exited the game

The A’s conclude the Series Thursday afternoon at 12:30pm at the O.co Coliseum Jeff Samidzija will pitch for the A’s before they start a six game road trip against the Texas Rangers and three more with the very same Houston Astros.

The A’s improve their record to 62-38 and continue to lead the Los Angeles Angels by two games in the AL West.