Tag: Bob Melvin

A’s power their way past the Angels 6-4 on Saturday to end the losing streak

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Semien HR
Semien hits his sixth HR in the top of the sixth inning Photo: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics can cross two things off of their to-do list after beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6-4 on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum. First, they needed desperately needed end a four-game losing streak that began last Tuesday. Task completed.

Secondly, the A’s needed to get a win versus an AL West division opponent. They had lost six straight games to AL West teams and 12 of their last 13 games versus the West. The win on Saturday allows the team to check that off their list as well.

The A’s cannot let down after this victory, but it should prove to them that they are very capable of playing and winning in the Western Division.

Manaea looked unstoppable for four innings

Manaea vs LAA
Manaea looked unstoppable for the first four innings Photo: @Athletics

Sean Manaea made the start for the A’s and his slider was really working for him. The lefty set the Angels down in order for the first four innings. He looked unbeatable especially after Chad Pinder hit a home run to stake Manaea to a 1-0 lead.

Then came the top of the fifth inning. Albert Pujols led off the inning with a single. Martin Maldonado followed up with a single to right field. With runners at first and second, that brought Chris Young to bat. Young was the last minute replacement for Justin Upton who was scratched due to a stiff lower back.

Young HR
Young crushes a HR off Manaea Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Young hit a no doubt about it home run to over the left field wall to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Manaea was able to work his way out of trouble to end the inning, but the mood of the team and fans had definitely changed.

The sixth inning was the Angels’ downfall
The Angels had to use LHP John Lamb — who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake — to make the start. Lamb gave up a home run to Pinder in the fourth inning and then, Marcus Semien hit his sixth round-tripper of the season off Lamb to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. That would be all for Lamb, who exited the game with a 3-2 lead.

Reliever Noe Ramirez entered the game and hit the first batter he faced — Chad Pinder. Jed Lowrie flied out to center for the first out of the inning. DH Khris Davis walked. Rameriez then hit Matt Olson for his second hit-batsmen of the inning. With the bases loaded, Stephen Piscotty hit a blistering single up the middle that drove Davis and Olson home to score. When the inning ended, the A’s led the game 5-3.

Oakland would add one more run in the seventh inning on a Jed Lowrie RBI single.

The top of the ninth inning got a little exciting
Blake Treinen was brought in to close out the game in the top of the ninth. It was his first time on the mound in six games and he looked a little rusty.

The A’s closer gave up a run (earned) on one hit while walking two and striking out one Angels hitter. The situation did not become desperate, but it was not as clean of a close as the team would have liked it to have been.

Bob Melvin’s postgame comments

In the Batter’s Box
Oakland (35-36)

  • Chad Pinder had a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate for the A’s. He was just a double short of posting a cycle on Saturday. Pinder’s home run was his sixth of the season and he recorded his 14th RBI. Pinder hit his first triple of the year in the game.
  • Marcus Semiem hit his sixth HR to pick up his 27th RBI of the year.
  • Stephen Piscotty raised his RBI total to 29.
  • Jed Lowrie now has 43 RBI which is keeping close to the leaders in the majors
  • The A’s scored six runs off six hits and recorded six RBI. Their batters struck out eight times.
  • The A’s left six men on base while going 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Los Angeles of Anaheim (38-33)

  • No batter for the Angels had a multi-hit game.
  • Chris Young picked up the big hit with his 3-run home run in the fifth inning. That upped his RBI total to 10.
  • Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each recorded a hit.
  • The Angels scored four runs on six hits while striking out six times.
  • The Angels left four men on base and went 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

On the Hill
A’s (Streak: Lost 1 game; 4-6 in last 10)

  • The win went to starting pitcher Sean Manaea, who is now 6-5 on the season. It was his first win since back in May. Manaea worked 6.0-innings giving up three runs (all earned) off four hits. He walked one and struck out four. He did give up one home run.
  • Treinen earned the save (15) but struggled to get there.
  • Petit and Trivino each worked an inning of scorless relief.

Angels (Streak: Lost 1 game; 5-5 in last 10)

  • John Lamb who made the start did not figure into the decision.
  • Noe’ Rameriez (2-3) was charged with the loss.
  • Jake Jewell was used for one inning of relief by the Angels and it was his Major League debut.

Up Next

The Angels and A’s will close out  this three-game series with the “rubber game” of the match on Sunday at 1:05 pm PDT. The Angels will start LHP Andrew Heaney (3-5, 3.68) -who will the third lefthander to start for LA in this series. The A’s will counter with RHP Daniel Mengden (6-6, 3.90).

big foul
Foul territory is tough to cover at the Coliseum Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

MLB The Show podcast with Charlie O: From Oak to Ok–A’s Murray will rejoin A’s next year; Giants looking to get tracked with road win tonight

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photo from normantranscript.com: The Oakland A’s Kyler Murrray joined the A’s for workouts on Saturday at the Coliseum. Murray signed with the A’s to play on the club next season as he will join the Oklahoma Sooners as quarterback in August for the 2018 NCAA season

On the MLB The Show podcast with Charlie O:

Today’s opponent for the Oakland A’s, the Los Angeles Angels, came in Friday night with a five-game losing streak, which they ended and the A’s extended their four-game losing streak to four in the loss to the Angels.

The A’s will try and reboot and get game two of this home three game series today at the Coliseum today. The A’s got a little pick me up when Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray was selected and worked out with the team over the weekend. Murray said he would quarterback at Oklahoma and after football season Murray will be back swinging the bats for the A’s for spring training in February.

Murray has a deal worth over $4 million with Oakland and his contract allows him to play football and go to school at Oklahoma which would be during August through early January.

San Francisco Giants update: The San Francisco Giants’ road problems continue after they dropped the opener of their three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night 3-2 at Dodger Stadium. The Giants are suffering on offense and couldn’t rally on Friday night.

The Dodgers are fighting to get into first place and they know the Giants are in a world of pain, losing four of their last five games, and are out their All-Star caliber players: pitcher Johnny Cueto and third baseman Evan Longoria with injuries.

The Giants were missing Brandon Belt due to an appendix surgery. Belt is scheduled to be suited up at Dodgers Stadium tonight and he was on a roll before he had to have the surgery. Belt made a fast recovery and is anxious to start swinging the bats.

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts weekly and is filling in for Matt Harrington on the MLB podcast today at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Angels crush A’s 8-4 in game one of weekend series

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Kinsler home run
Kinsler crosses the plate after hitting a home run the fourth inning Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Where did the “Big Mo” go? You remember “Big Mo” – a.k.a momentum. Right now, it feels like the Oakland Athletics have lost all of the momentum that they had been building up earlier in the season.

The A’s are 5-8 in the month of June which is not good, but what makes that record even more devastating is the fact that six of those eight losses have come at the hands of American League West teams. The A’s cannot be losing that many games inside the division and hold on to any hopes of making the playoffs even as a Wild Card team.

What hurts, even more, is the Angels came into the game riding a five-game losing streak of their own. They are a team that had great expectations for 2018 and have now been beset by injuries.

The Angels are the team that the A’s must pass first if they are going to move up in the Western Division and make a run at the Mariners and Astros.

This game did not start well
Chris Bassitt was back on the mound making his second start in a week for Trevor Cahill, who is now on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained right achilles. Bassitt pitched well last Saturday against the Royals, despite taking the loss. Things did not go well Friday night.

After inducing Angels leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler to ground out, Bassitt gave up a single to Mike Trout. He then issued a walk to Justin Upton. Albert Pujols reached base safely when Bassitt fielded a ground ball and his throw to first base sailed into foul territory. Trout and Upton were able to scramble home to score while Pujols ended up at second. When the top of the first was over, the Angels lead 2-0 with both runs being unearned.

Bassitt no mystery
Bassitt was no mystery to the Angels batters Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

The third inning brought more bad news for Bassitt and the A’s. Trout singled to open the inning. Upton followed immediately with a single of his own. With Trout at second and Upton at first, Pujols reached first on Chad Pinder’s throwing error that allowed Trout to score and Upton to advance to third.

The Angels went on to score two more runs in the top of the third inning and held a 5-0 lead as the A’s prepared to come to bat in the bottom of the third.

Los Angeles went scored again in the fourth inning — which would be the final inning of work for starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. The Angels would go on to score two more runs off Oakland reliever Carlos Ramiez in the top of the fifth.

The A’s finally put runs up on the board in the home half of the fifth inning. Mark Canha led off the inning and reached base on a throwing error charged to the LA shortstop. Piscotty and Smolinski both struck out. Catcher Josh Phegley hit an RBI double to center field that drove Canha home to score. Marcus Semien then hit an RBI double of his own that allowed Phegley to score the second run of the game for the A’s. After five full innings, the Angels held an 8-2 lead.

The A’s added one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Chad Pinder ran home from third on a wild pitch by Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian to make it an 8-3 game.

The A’s never quit trying. In the ninth inning, Stephen Piscotty picked up a one-out single off LA reliever Justin Anderson. Pinch-hitter Dustin Fowler hit a hard grounder to second that Kinsler had trouble fielding and he legged it out for a single while Piscotty advanced to third. With Semien at-bat, Fowler moved up to second on defensive indifference. Semien walked to load the bases.

Anderson threw a wild pitch to Chad Pinder and Piscotty was able to score from third base to make it an 8-4 contest. Pinder struck out to end the game.

The Angels beat the A’s 8-4 in game one of the three-game series.

Tyler Scaggs picked up the win for the Angels and upped his record to 6-4, 2.81 ERA. The A’s Chris Bassitt is hung with the loss as his record drops to 0-2, 2.45 ERA. There was no save awarded for the game.

Major postgame news
In his postgame news conference, manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Matt Chapman will be going on the disabled list beginning Saturday due to a hand injury. Franklin Barreto was lifted from the Nashville Sounds game in El Paso before its conclusion so he could travel to Oakland for Saturday.

Chad Pinder will most likely be the primary replacement at third base but do not be surprised to see Lowrie spend time at the “hot corner” while Barreto fills in at second base.

Melvin’s postgame comments

In the batter’s box
Angels (38-32, 3rd place AL West)

  • Mike Trout (the best player in baseball? If not, tell me who is better!) collected three hits in the game. That was hit his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
  • Ian Kinsler hit his ninth home run of the year in the fourth inning off of Bassitt. He is batting (21-for-66) with five doubles, seven home runs, and 12 RBI in his last 16 games.
  • Catcher Jose Briceno broke an 0-for-8 hittless streak with a 3-for-4 game at the plate on Friday night.

A’s (34-36, 4th place AL West)

  • Jed Lowrie got back on track by ending an 0-for-8 hitless streak by picking up three hits in four trips to the plate on Friday night.
  • Josh Phegley had his first multi-hit game of season. One of those hits was an RBI-double.
  • Marcus Semien is being very productive with runners in scoring position. He is batting .359 when he has runners on base with a chance to score.

On the hill
Los Angeles of Anaheim

  • This was Tyler Skaggs third consecutive win, which is the longest winning streak of his career.
  • Skaggs struck out eight A’s batters, walked only one and allowed seven hits. He gave up two runs (none earned).
  • The three Angels pitchers allowed a combinded 10 hits while they struck out 11 Oakland batters.

Oakland

  • Starter Chris Bassitt is still looking for his first win since August 4, 2015. Of course, Bassitt missed almost two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery. He is actually 0-8 since his last win in 2015.
  • The A’s used five pitchers in game on Friday night.
  • A’s pitchers gave up eight runs off just nine hits in the game.

Up next

Coming on Saturday, the Angels and A’s will meet again at 1:05 pm PDT at the Coliseum. Los Angeles will start RHP Nick Tropeano (3-4, 4.83 ERA). The A’s will send LHP Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.49 ERA) to the hill.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: Without Angels’ Ohtani, can A’s win this series starting tonight at the Coliseum?

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@OnionSports photo: Shohei Ohtani is expected to have Tommy John surgery and could miss a year and half of baseball returning in the 2020 season

On the A’s podcast with Joey:

The A’s are coming off a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros in a 7-3 loss on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum. Can they stop the bleeding starting tonight as they face the Los Angeles Angels? The Astros’ starting pitcher Justin Verlander notched up win number nine against two loses and had command of the A’s line up.

A’s starter Frankie Montas got touched up by the Astros’ offense. The Astros and some of their power hitting got things started right away in the first inning with two runs. The A’s who were no match for Houston this week and now host the Angels tonight. The Angels, without Shohei Ohtani, can feel a difference in the clubhouse, fans in the stands, through the lineup and pitching rotation without Ohtani in the lineup.

Joey Friedman does the Oakland A’s podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Opinion: Three people who should leave the A’s right now

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By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s appear to be working on their clock, and that’s probably not going to sit well with the Green and Gold fanbase. The A’s minority owner Billy Beane is arguably a baseball problem and not just a marketing mishap.

In the 2016 novel Beantown, author Frederik Backman wrote, “There are two things that are particularly good at reminding us how old we are: children and sports.”

That’s indeed a difficult statement for folks who are 50 years and older to dispute as their children and perhaps grandchildren have already established their own personalities in the workplace. Sports, however, is a bit of a tricky topic–its intriguing statistics and historical events have likely been engraved in our minds in our childhoods.

And, like any other baseball follower, I can recall box scores, no-hitters, and vice versa. That being said, there are some parts of MLB history that shouldn’t be continued for an extended period of time.

Without further ado, here are three people who should leave the A’s right now.

1. Billy Beanebilly beane

A’s minority owner Billy Beane has made some money-less trades in the past. The Moneyball tactics simply aren’t working. The A’s need to strength their rotation and pen their annual drafts, and Beane hasn’t been on top of things for quite a while. Also, Beane takes sure-fire chances on young guys with limited amounts of baseball experience. In addition, Oakland has had a high turnover rate with players in all positions, which isn’t going to contribute to their success on the field.

2. Bob Melvin as-manager-bob-melvin_1f7mvfmc7mlgf1o0mcalvibxhg

A’s manager Bob Melvin has been named “Manager of the Year” twice–once in 2007 and the other in 2012. But that doesn’t mean that Melvin deserves a spot in the A’s management team.

Melvin has been in Oakland for far too long. Melvin’s decisions on players have often been poor. For example, why call up Franklin Barreto if he wasn’t going to play him? Mark Canha and Dustin Fowler should’ve made the 2018 Opening Day roster instead of Barreto. Both Canha and Fowler are on the A’s roster now, but they had to be called up in order to be in Oakland.

Not only that, Melvin has mismanaged the bullpen this season. Melvin continues to put various pitchers on the mound who have shown us why they shouldn’t be out there to begin with.

3. Marcus Semien DCT160730034_Athletics_at_Indians

A’s shortstop Marcus Semien is supposed to be the lead-off hitter in Oakland, but he’s not. Semien puts up subpar numbers for a player who’s supposed to leading off. Semien has worsened the A’s defense with his countless amount of errors, so that should paint a mental picture of his incompetent defense.

There you have it. The three people who should leave the A’s right now. Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg and Amaury Pi Gonzalez: A’s struggle with pitching and inter-division games

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Photo credit: @JosephNPun

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry and Amaury:

The Oakland A’s are 10-22 against their own division opponents. They’re nine games back. They have to win games against teams like Houston to compete in the AL West. A’s manager Bob Melvin agrees that the AL West is a good division, but the A’s have to play better.

Houston are tough customers. They’ve won six straight games coming into game two of the series with Oakland and they own the A’s this year. The Astros will start Justin Verlander (8-2) and the A’s will start Frankie Montas (3-0) on Thursday afternoon.

Pitcher Trevor Cahill is out with an Achillies tendon and the A’s have called up Chris Bassitt in his place. Bassitt was at the Coliseum on Wednesday night.

Jerry Feitleberg does the A’s podcasts and Amaury does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsrsadioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Tommy John talks about surgery named after him; Montas looks to be a big plus on A’s pitching staff; plus more news

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O:

1) Let’s talk Tommy John — the surgery and the pitcher!

2) Since we’re talking pitching, let’s talk Frankie Montas and what he’s doing for the A’s.

3) Speaking of Tommy John surgery, let’s talk about the A’s Chris Bassitt.

4) What’s coming up for the A’s?

Charlie O does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Royals shutout A’s 2-0 on Saturday for their first win of the series

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Bassitt welcomed to dugout
Bassitt congratulated after 7.0-innings of great pitching Photo: SportsRadioService.com

By Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The Kansas City Royals snapped a six-game losing streak on Saturday when they shutout the Oakland Athletics 2-0 to win their first game of the four-game series between the two clubs. The A’s beat the Royals on Thursday and Friday.

This game was all about pitching. For the Royals, their starter — LHP Danny Duffy — pitched well above his record for the season on Saturday. Duffy came into the contest with a record of 2-6 with a 5.81 ERA in 13 starts. He was coming off a loss on Monday to the Angels in Los Angeles where he lasted only 5.0 innings.

On Saturday versus Oakland, Duffy pitched 7.0 innings, giving up no runs off just three hits. Duffy walked three and while striking out 10 batters. The 10 strikeouts were his most in a game since May 18, 2017.

Even though Oakland lost the game, they had quite a pitching story of their own. RHP Chris Bassitt made the start for the Athletics which was his first major league start since May 6, 2016. Bassitt had to undergo the dreaded UCL reconstruction surgery — better known as “Tommy John Surgery.” The rehabilitation from that procedure is long and arduous. Bassitt surprised everyone by pitching seven strong innings today against the Royals even though he was saddled with the loss.

On the Hill

Kansas City (22-33)

Duffy fially faces some pressure
Duffy finally faced some pressure from the A’s in the seventh inning Photo: SRS
  • Danny Duffy picked up the win and is now 3-6 for the year. He lowered his ERA from 5.81 to 5.28 in his shutout victory.
  • Duffy threw 98 pitches — 63 strikes
  • Kevin McCarthy worked the eighth inning for the Royals. It was a perfect three up – three down inning with one strikeout.
  • Kelvin Herrera came in to close out the game in the ninth. He did allow one base hit but retired the side and picked up his 14th save of the season. Herrera has appeared in 18 of the Royals’ 22 wins this year.

Oakland (33-32)

Chris Bassitt
Bassitt pitched seven strong innings in his return to the majors Photo: Charlie O Mallonee
  • Chris Bassitt threw 93 pitches (63 strikes) in his seven innings on the hill. He posted six strikeouts and walked just one batter. The only run he gave up was earned. Bassitt’s record stands at 0-1.
  • Danny Coulombe pitched the eighth inning for Oakland. It was a 1, 2, 3 inning that included a strikeout for the reliever.
  • Yusmeiro Petit was tapped to work the ninth inning for the Athletics. With one out, Alex Gordon hit a home run to right field to give the Royals a 2-0 cushion. Petit walked the next batter but then induced the following two hitters to fly out to end the inning.

In the Batter’s Box

Royals (5th place AL Central)

  • Alex Gordon’s ninth-inning home run snapped 14-game homerless streak dating back to May 22 versus St. Louis.
  • Call Hunter Dozier “the Road King”. He has reached base in each of his last nine road games. On Saturday, he did it via a base-on-balls.
  • Paul Orlando hit a single in the second inning which ended 0-for-14 hitless streak for him.
  • Mike Moustakas became the 13th player to play 900 career games with the Royals with his appearance on Saturday.

Athletics (4th place AL West)

Chapman singles
Chapman singled to left in the seventh inning Photo: SportsRadioService.com
  • Matt Chapman had a three-hit game which was his third of the season and sixth of his career.
  • Jed Lowrie is now 0-for-13 after going 0-for-4 on Saturday.
  • Oakland was shutout for the sixth time this year which matches their total from last season.
  • The A’s were 0-for-7 with Runners In Scoring Position.
  • The Athletics left seven runners on base.

Hits vs Strikeouts watch

KC

On Saturday, the Royals collected four hits and struck out seven times.

Oakland

Your A’s also posted four hits while striking out a total of 13 times.

Up Next

The four-game series and the season-series between the Royals and the A’s will come to an end on Sunday at 1:05 P.M. at the Oakland Coliseum. The Royals will send RHP Brad Keller (1-2, 2.12 ERA) to mound to face the A’s LHP Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.59). Keller lost his last outing in Los Angeles to the Angels on Tuesday night 1-0. Manaea had a no-decision in his last start in Texas on Tuesday night. The A’s eventually lost that game 7-4.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Don’t Mess with Texas as Colon gets most wins by a Dominican pitcher, tying Marichal

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Photo credit: @BR_MLB

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 Since pitching a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea has struggled. He had a 7.18 ERA in his last six starts and in the six starts before that, he had an 1.03 ERA.

#2 Manaea went 5.1 innings with four hits, two runs, four walks and two strikeouts, against Texas in Tuesday night’s 7-4 loss.

#3 The A’s faced the Texas Rangers on Wednesday and got crushed 8-2. The Rangers starter Bartolo Colon got his 243rd win, tying Juan Marichal’s record for wins the most by a Dominican pitcher.

#4 Colon went five innings, six hits, and gave up two runs. The Rangers’ bullpen held the A’s to no runs for the rest of the ball game and the A’s continued to struggle at the plate.

#5 The A’s are back home Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals to open a four-game series at the Oakland Coliseum after coming off Texas’ two-game sweep. The A’s are looking for their luck to change.

Jerry Feitelberg does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Murray most likely to pass up A’s offer to quarterback at Oklahoma

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@OU Baseball photo: Oklahoma Sooner centerfielder Kyler Murray who can do it all will turn down the Oakland A’s offer to be their number one draft pick to quarterback the Sooners in football next fall

Let’s talk the A’s MLB Draft with Charlie O!

1) Charlie, you told me you’re not to happy about the Athletics’ first-round pick Kyler Murray. What’s your objection?

2) You pointed out an interesting pattern in the first 10 draft picks.

3) Charlie, it took the A’s a while before the grabbed a pitcher in the draft. Does that surprise you?

4) What happens next with the draft?

5) How’s the big club doing and what’s coming up for Oakland?

Charlie O does the Oakland A’s podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com