Tag: Bob Melvin

A’s just trying to keep their heads up after a rough weekend in S.F.

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Ben Zobrist wasn’t thinking about how he would look in the uniform of a contender.  The A’s jack-of-all-trades was too busy Sunday turning double plays and squaring up Tim Hudson’s offerings to worry about what the upcoming trade deadline might bring.

Drew Pomeranz didn’t seem concerned about whether he would get a starting assignment on Wednesday with an important relief stint staring him in the face on Sunday.  The reliever/starter entered Sunday’s game in the sixth inning focused on getting outs, and that’s what he did, keeping the A’s within a run of the Giants in two innings of scoreless relief.

And Kendall Graveman might not know whether he’s coming or going, but he knows he’s got to get better.  The A’s starter on Sunday lasted less than two innings, allowing seven hits and a pair of walks.  Whether he’s in Oakland, or sent back to AAA Nashville, the 24-year old has to regain the form he showed in his six, impressive starts after a previous, minor-league demotion.  Fortunately, Graveman already knows the process.

“I’ve got to continue to work, work in my bullpens, talk to my catchers, talk to Curt (Young),” Graveman explained.  “What do we have to do to be better?”

No one can question that the A’s were all business during their working weekend in San Francisco, it’s just that they didn’t handle much business.  The A’s battled back on Sunday after Graveman’s short afternoon left them in a 4-1 hole, but still came up short in a 4-3 loss.  After being swept by the Giants, the A’s are back in the American League cellar, a place filled with enough frustration and uncertainty to drive somebody crazy if they let it.

“It’s been a crazy four days for us, thinking back to Kazmir’s (departure),” Stephen Vogt said.  “Obviously now there’s more looming and we know that.  Definitely dropping these three games made (things worse).  It’s baseball, it’s the business.  It’s the way it is.  We just have to try to keep our heads clear.”

Unlike last year when the A’s were among the best teams in baseball and heading to a near-certain post-season berth, the A’s are down and out in 2015, 12 games behind the Angels in the AL West with 62 to play.  That means changes are inevitable, starting with Kazmir’s trade to Houston and ending who knows where in the days leading to the trade deadline on Friday.  Zobrist appears likely to depart, and Vogt may be gone too if the price is right.

But for those that remain, the goal is unchanged: play better, and get Athletics baseball back on the right track.  If Oakland’s your home, make it the best home it can be.  Sunday’s winning pitcher Tim Hudson did that, and after a 16-year career that’s taken him on to Atlanta and now San Francisco, the memories remain.

“I spent a lot of fun years over there—a lot of great memories, a lot of great success,” Hudson said.  “The only familiar faces over there now is the front office and the medical staff.”

Due in great part to his own individual success, Hudson never experienced a season in Oakland like the A’s are enduring now.  In Hudson’s six seasons as an Athletic, the team finished first or second in the AL West every year, won fewer than 91 games only once (1999) and made four consecutive post-season appearances.

This season will halt a string of three consecutive post-season appearances for the A’s.   In less than a year, the team’s seen a whole lot of changes since they held the best record in baseball after 112 games last season.  But everyone currently in the Oakland clubhouse knows the history, and the likelihood that success will return.  They just have to survive the rollercoaster ride and be ready for the winning to return.

On Tuesday, the A’s visit Dodgers Stadium in a matchup with NL West-leading Los Angeles.  The A’s will have Sonny Gray on the mound in a matchup with familiar face, Brett Anderson at 7:05pm.

A’s Don’t “Look Like Idiots”, Wait Out Walk-off Win

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics hosted their 16th annual Root Beer Float day Wednesday night at the O.Co Coliseum, treating fans to a sweet treat before the game before Ike Davis served des the dessert during the game. After raising $34,709 for the Juvenile Diabetes Relief Fund, the A’s topped Felix Doubront and the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on a pinch-hit single.

Josh Phegley, Stephen Vogt and Jake Smolinski all knocked in runs as well, and starter Sonny Gray pitched seven innings of two-run ball to help Oakland (44-52) pass the Seattle Mariners to move a half-game out of the American League West cellar. The Blue Jays (48-48) fall back to .500 after winning the first game of the series.

The walk-off came in bizarre fashion in the bottom of the 10th, with the A’s not sure if they in fact were winners. Davis bounced a chopper that Jose Reyes dove for before tossing to first, allowing another late inning sub Josh Reddick to score on what first base umpire Marvin Hudson ruled a base hit in a bang-bang play.

“I didn’t think he was going to catch it,” said Davis. “As soon as I hit it I thought ‘that’s going to be a hit’. He made a good play and it was really close.”

Davis came off the bench to pinch hit against deposed Jays closer Roberto Osuna (1-4, 2.28 ERA) and quickly fell behind 0-2. He managed to fight off a fastball, trickling it to the opposite field for the hit.

“Ike was coming in cold,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “That’s a tough assignment. After the first couple pitches he was behind. He fouled some back, wasn’t trying to do too much. He wanted to put it in play on the other side of the diamond.”

“He blew it by me twice,” said Davis. “I knew I had to shorten up. I tried to hit the ball hard the first two times.”

It wasn’t without drama though. Amidst a brief A’s celebration, Toronto manager John Gibbons asked for, and was granted, a replay review. The A’s players gathered on the mound, awaiting their fate.

“It’s a tough position to be in,” said Reddick. “If they turn it over, we’re going to look like idiots.”

After a 2 minutes and 45 seconds of review, home plate ump Hunter Wendelstedt confirmed that the call on the field would stand, with there being inconclusive evidence to overturn the call.

“They stayed with what they were told to do,” said Melvin on the ruling. “If there’s no definitive proof to overturn, you stay with it. It was nerve-wracking waiting on the verdict, but we’ll take it.”

“It felt like the longest replay of the year,” noted Reddick.

The A’s very briefly celebrated before racing into the dugout.

“We had a lot of fun out there planning our exit,” said Davis on the pre-concocted curtain call.

The game could have gone entirely the other way though. With Oakland leading 3-2, Tyler Clippard took over in the ninth inning looking for save number 18. He opened the inning issuing a free pass to Danny Valencia then coughing up a double to Devon Travis. Jose Reyes walked to load the bases with former A’s slugger Josh Donaldson up to the dish.

Clippard managed to down Donaldson on strikes, but brought around the tying run after walking Jose Bautista. He managed to coax an Edwin Encarnacion strikeout and Dionner Navarro fly out to escape the jam tied. Fernando Rodriguez (1-1, 3.21) then pitched a scoreless tenth to pick up the win.

“That’s tough,” said Melvin on Clippard’s outing. “Now you’re in a no-win situation. All you can do is keep it tied. You have the middle of their order up, some tough customers to deal with.”

“To get back into the dugout a tie game allowed us to win that game later,” added Melvin.

For the second night in a row Josh Donaldson managed to sour his warm homecoming by driving in a run, plating the first run of the game on a single up the middle in the top of the third inning. He’d endear himself to A’s fans again an inning later, throwing a tricky grounder in the dirt to give Smolinski a two-base error. Smolinski moved over to third base on a Ben Zobrist single, then came around to score on Phegley’s liner up the middle, knotting the game 1-1.

With starter Sonny Gray not featuring his sharpest stuff the A’s offense supported its ace, tacking on a pair of runs in the fifth. Billy Burns reached on a single, then swiped second before being knocked in on Stephen Vogt’s base hit. Melvin wasn’t able to see the singling, getting ejected after arguing a strike call on a botched pitchout during Burns’ steal.

“There was a bit of a miscommunication,” said Melvin on the situation. “I was asking if it was a pitchout. I think (homeplate umpire Wendelstedt) thought I was continuing to argue.”

Zobrist would also single, forcing Doubront to issue the intentional walk to Billy Butler to create a force out. Smolinski hit a deep fly to center field, but center fielder Kevin Pillar managed to pull in the ball. Vogt scampered home to convert the sacrifice. Brett Lawrie appeared to crack the game open with a scorching liner up the middle, but second baseman Devon Travis was perfectly positioned to field the hot shot.

Gray gave the fans a scare in the sixth, taking an Edwin Encarnacion liner up the middle off his back foot. After a brief visit from the trainer and a smile from Gray, the ace continued on no worse for wear.

“I knew he broke his bat, I just didn’t know how fast it was coming,” said Gray. “I knew it hit me pretty solid.”

“I was telling Vogt and Phegley I was fine,” said Gray on why he was smiling during the trainer’s visit. “They told me to tell the dugout that, but the trainer was already out there.”

The A’s would need both runs after Danny Valencia opened the 7th inning with a first-pitch homer to straight-away center field. Gray would finish out the inning, sandwiching a Donaldson walk between a pair of outs. He’d depart the game after finishing the inning, having struck out three while walking two and allowing 9 hits for two earned runs but wound up with a no-decision.

“They really made him work for a while,” said Melvin. “He was throwing some good pitches and they weren’t trying to do too much with them. They were hitting the ball the other way, fouling some pitches off.”

“There are outings like that where you really have to work hard on it,” stated Melvin. “He ends up leaving with the lead. I thought he pitched really well.”

Edward Mujica relieved Gray in the 8th, opening the inning with a leadoff single to Encarnacion. Mujica would erase the baserunner, fielding a grounder from Chris Colabello to start the 1-4-3 double play. He would cough up a two-out single to Russell Martin, then hand second base to pinch runner Ezequiel Carrera on a wild pitch before mowing down Pillar on a ground out to shortstop Marcus Semien.

Doubront would have been the hardluck loser. The southpaw went just 4 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits and two earned runs to go with the unearned marker.

Donaldson and the Jays wrap up their first visit to the Coliseum this season with a matinee game Wednesday. Scott Kazmir takes the mound in what may be one of his last starts in the green and gold with the trade deadline approaching. He’ll be opposed by youngster Drew Hutchinson.

The Yankees hit Three Home Runs, beat the A’s to even the series.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Yankees edged the A’s Wednesday night by a score of 5-4. The hitting star was big Mark Teixeira. Teixeira hit two solo home runs off Evan Scribner to lead the way. Vallejo’s C.C. Sabathia was on the ropes early but recovered and pitched well until he left the game in the sixth inning. The A’s rallied in the ninth when Marcus Semien tagged Yankee closer Andrew Miller for a two-run dinger. Alas, it was too little, too late as Miller settled down and survived a throwing error that put Stephen Vogt in scoring position. Miller retired Ben Zobrist to end the game.

The A’s scored two runs in the top of the second. They touched Sabathia for four hits. Billy Butler led off with a ground-rule double to left-field. Butler advanced to third on Brett Lawrie’s infield single. Jake Smolinski hit into a fielder’s choice. Butler was running on contact, but caught in a rundown and tagged out. Singles by Josh Phegley and Mark Canha drove in Lawrie and Smolinski to give the A’s the lead. The Yankees scored an unearned run in their half of the second.  Chris Young reached on a throwing error by Brett Lawrie. He scored when shortstop Didi Gregorius doubled to deep right center field. Gregorius was thrown out at third trying to advance on the throw home.

In the fourth inning, A’s starter, Scott Kazmir, was not able to pitch as he experienced tightness in his left triceps muscle. Bob Melvin brought in righty Evan Scribner to pitch. Scribner, who pitched so well early in the season, has been struggling of late. His first batter that he faced was Mark Teixeira. Teixeira tied the game with one swing of the bat. His home run sailed into the seats in right field. The Yankees added another run. Chris Young walked. Yankee catcher John Ryan Murphy hit a rocket that Marcus Semien couldn’t handle. It was ruled a hit. Young stole third when Scribner forget to check him. Had Scribner checked him at second, Young would have been picked off. Murphy went to second on a passed ball.Jose Pirela flied out to right driving in Young. A’s trail 3-2 after four.

New York added a run in the sixth. Scribner was facing Teixeira for the second time, and Teixeira did it again. He hit his 22nd home run of the season to make it a 4-2 game. It was the 385th career home run for Teixeira. Eric O’Flaherty was called in from the bullpen. He retired two hitters to end the inning.

Edward Mujica pitched a scoreless seventh inning and retired one Yankee in the eighth. Melvin brought in Fernando Abad to pitch. Abad had not pitched for ten days, and he may have been a little rusty. Former A’s shortstop, Stephen Drew put the ball into the right field seats to give the Yanks an insurance run. 5-2 heading into the ninth.

The Yanks activated their closer, Andrew Miller, off the DL Wednesday. Dellin Betances, who took the loss Tuesday night, pitched a scoreless 8th inning. The A’s made it a 5-4 game when Marcus Semien hit a two-run blast into the left field seats.  Stephen Vogt reached second on an error, but Miller retired Zobrist to end the game.

Game Notes- the loss ended the A’s seven-game road winning streak. Scott Kazmir went three innings allowing two hits and one unearned run. Scribner took the loss, and his record is 2-2.  Scribner has given up eleven home runs in 44 innings of work. It is the most of any reliever in baseball.

The rubber game of the three-game series will be Thursday morning at 9:35 am PT. Jesse Chavez will go for the A’s, and Masahiro Tanaka will hurl for the Yanks.

Scott Kazmir is dominant, the A’s shut out the Mariners

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s beat the  Seattle Mariners in the first game of a four-game set by a score of 4-0. The game featured a matchup of two left-handed pitchers. Scott Kazmir  was on the hill for the A’s and he was opposed by the Mariners’ Roenis Elias. The A’s have had trouble against lefties so far this year as they have won just four games against fourteen losses. Kazmir made sure that the A’s did not lose as he was dominant. He retired thirteen men in a row before Franklin Gutierrez doubled off him in the fifth. Kazmir gave up one more hit and the man getting to him was Gutierrez. Kazmir went eight innings allowing two hits, no runs and seven strikeouts while throwing 105 pitches. Elias pitched well but not well enough.

The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the first. With two out, Mariners’ hurler, Roenis Elias, walked Ben Zobrist. The next hitter, Country breakfast Billy Butler doubled to put men on at second and third. A’s catcher Josh Phegley  followed with a double to drive in Zobrist and Butler. A’s lead 2-0 after one inning of play.

The A’s added a run in the bottom of the fifth. Mariners’ starter Roenis Elias had retired twelve men in a row after he gave up two runs in the first.Marcus Semien broke the spell when he drove one of Elias’ pitches over the left field wall.  Seventh home run of the year for Semien. A’s lead 3-0.

The A’s took a 4-0 lead in the seventh. With two out, A’s left fielder Mark Canha blasted a triple off the center-field wall to drive in Brett Lawrie with the run. Kazmir shut the Mariners down in the eighth and Edward Mujica  pitched a perfect ninth inning to secure the win for Oakland.

Game  Notes- The A’s have won three out of the last four and twelve of the last eighteen. They are 23-15 dating back to May 23rd. With the win, Kazmir evened his record at 5-5 and the A’s improved to 37-45while Seattle dropped to 36-43. After the game, A’s manager said this about Kazmir. This is the “best that we’ve seen him here.” Melvin said that he “thought about it” when asked why Kazmir didn’t go out to start the ninth inning.  When asked about trade rumors regarding Kazmir, he said that  he doesn’t know what will transpire but Kazmir ” likes it here” and that he is “a leader in the clubhouse.”  If the A’s get back into the race, Kazmir may not be moved.

The A’s meet the Mariners again Friday night at the O.co Coliseum at 7:05 pm ET. Right-hander Jesse Chavez will go for the Green and Gold while Seattle will send  out lefty J.A.Happ to handle the pitching chores.

Time of game was a swift two hours and seventeen minutes and 13,062 were on hand to watch Kazmir’s brilliant performance.

Oakland loses another close game, this time to the Rockies.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

It was a pitcher’s duel Tuesday night at the Coliseum Tuesday night by a score of 2-1. The A’s starter, Chris Bassitt was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to fill in for A’s ace, Sony Gray. Gray was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms  Monday night and was not able to take his turn in the rotation. Bassitt pitched extremely well. He went five innings and gave up just five hits and just one run. He threw 84 pitches as he was working on three days rest. The Rockies’ starter, Jorge De La Rosa, was magnificent as he had was in the zone all night and kept the A’s hitters off-balance as he varied the speeds on his pitches. De La Rosa’s line was seven innings pitched, four hits and no runs. De La Rosa’s record is now 5-3 and Bassitt is 0-1 for the season.

The Rockies scored the first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning. First baseman Ben Paulsen and catcher Michael McKenry singled to put men on at first and second with no out.  Bassitt retired the next two hitters but centerfielder Charlie Blackmon singled softly to center to drive in Paulsen. The inning ended when A’s catcher Josh Phegley threw out Blackmon as he attempted to steal second base. 1-0 in the middle of the fifth.

The A’s threatened to score in the bottom of the sixth. Billy Burns led off the inning with a single. Burns advanced to second on a passed ball and stole third when Stephen Vogt received a walk to put men on at first and third with no out. Ben Zobrist hit a rocket to third. Burns was running on the crack of the bat but that turned out to be a mistake as Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado threw to home. Burns was caught in a rundown. The play went 5-2-5-1 with the Vogt being the man tagged out as the A’s had two men standing on third. De La Rosa struck out Phegley for the second out. Brett Lawrie hit into a 5-4 force out to end the threat. The Rockies still lead 1-0 after six.

The Rockies added a run in the top of the seventh. Wilin Rosario led off the frame with a single. Rodriguez retired the next two batters but left fielder Brandon Barnes singled to send him to third. Rodriguez uncorked a pitch that went to the backstop that allowed Rosario to score. Barnes took second on the play. D.J. Lemahieu struck out to end the inning. A’s trail 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

The Rockies replaced De La Rosa with Tommy Kahnle in the bottom of the eighth. Kahnle retired the first two batter that he faced. Ben Zobrist, however, doubled to right centerfield to put a man in scoring position with two out. The designated hitter, Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler singled sharply to right to drive in Zobrist with the first run of the game for Oakland. Kahnle struck out Josh Phegley to end the inning. A’s trail 2-1.

The ageless wonder, LaTroy Hawkins, set the A’s down 1-2-3 to close out the game for Colorado. He earned his second save of the year. Rockies win 2-1.

Game Notes – The A’s are 4-14 when the opponents start a left-handed pitcher as compared to 31-31 when they start a righty. After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin replied that the A’s are “having a tougher time with lefties.”  Melvin also commented on Bassitt’s performance,” 85 pitches was the limit for him” and that he “couldn’t ask for more” from Bassitt. His pitches had good movement” and he “pitched well.” Melvin said that De La Rosa pitches “had lots of deception”and he threw “lots of splits and few fastballs.”

The A’s are 1-4 on the ten-game homestand and are ten games under .500 with a record of 35-45. Wednesday’s game will be game 81 of the season, the exact halfway point of the year.  The Rockies’ win was their first in interleague play this year, and they are now 1-7 against the American League.

The rubber game of the three-game series will be played Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. Game time will be at 12:35 pm PT.  Jesse Hahn will pitch for the A’s. Hahn will be trying to even his record at six. Chad Bettis will pitch for Colorado.

Time of game was 2 hours and fifty-six minutes and 19,206 fans were on hand to watch the game.

Walk-Off Wins Back In Vogue at the O.Co Coliseum

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – As a rain washed through the Bay Area, temporarily easing the minds of dried out Californians, 25 athletes found solace from a few droughts of their own. The Oakland A’s snapped their four-game losing streak, outlasting a dominant Yovani Gallardo start to walk off against the Rangers bullpen 5-4. The much maligned A’s bullpen pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, struggling Billy Butler contributed with a big hit and Oakland became the Walk-off Capital of the World for the first time in 2015.

“Things are starting to go our way right now,” said A’s starter Jesse Hahn. “Hopefully it’s a big momentum changer for us.”

After an eighth-inning rally tied the game for the A’s (24-37), a ninth-inning surge put Oakland back in the win column. Sam Fuld, struggling with a batting average below .200, singled to open the inning, then swiped second base. After a Billy Burns infield single, Josh Reddick stepped up to the plate with a chance to win the game. He laced a bouncer off losing pitcher Keone Kela (4-3, 2.42 ERA) to a drawn in second baseman Adam Rosales for the walk-off fielder’s choice and a shaving cream pie from Stephen Vogt.

“We used to specialize in those here for a while,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “It’s nice to come back from 4-2 and tie it, then come back and score another run.”

On Tuesday, the A’s struggled to score until the starter was long removed from the equation but Wednesday Oakland jumped on Gallardo early in a promising start. Billy Burns started the inning on second base after Joey Gallo’s throwing error, moved to third on Josh Reddick’s single then came home on Ben Zobrist’s fielder’s choice.

Staked to an early lead, Hahn found his way into the A’s history books for the wrong reasons Wednesday. The righty plunked 3 batters over a brief 3 2/3 innings, becoming the 9th Athletic to serve up a triple beanball performance. He was touched up for 4 runs, including a 3-run third inning where the Rangers batted around despite only collecting three hits in the frame. Hahn plunked two batters and issued a free pass in his struggling to retire the Rangers in the 3rd.

“I just didn’t have my stuff,” said Hahn. “It was one of those weird outings, no fastball command, no feel for the breaking ball. When you don’t have that it’s hard to pitch well at this level.”

In his previous four outings, Hahn had allowed only 8 earned runs over 27 1/3 innings. In his penultimate outing, the 25-year-old pitch a complete game shutout in Detroit. Tuesday marked the first time all season he failed to pitch a full 5 innings, a stretch spanning 10 starts.

“It’s frustrasting because I was confident going out there,” said Hahn. “I was confident I’d put up good numbers again. It happens. It’s one of the weird ones. I’ve already forgotten about it. I have to let it go and move on to the next one.”

Oakland cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 4th, with Stephen Vogt opening the inning with the first A’s hit since the first inning. Vogt doubled to open the inning, then moved over to third base on a wild pitch with one out. He came around to score on Brett Lawrie’s grounder to short to put Oakland back within a pair of runs at 4-2.

Gallardo settled down after that, giving the Rangers their second-straight six-plus inning, two-run start against the A’s. The 29-year-old righty fired seven innings, picking up a season-high 10 strikeouts. Of his 110 pitches, an astounding 73 went for strikes.

Over 12 starts this year, the hard-tossing Gallardo has yet to allow more than four runs. Despite his consistent performances, he’s currently tied for 5th in the American League with a Texas-leading 6 losses. While he wasn’t tagged with the loss, Gallardo had to settle for a no-decision after his bullpen squandered the two-run advantage.

Oakland scored two runs in an inning for the first time in 24 innings in the eight, the first inning of work for the Rangers bullpen. Josh Reddick singled off southpaw Sam Freeman with one out, then Zobrist welcomed Tanner Scheppers into the game with a base-hit to right field. With the throw coming to third to try to cut down Reddick, Zobrist advanced to second on the play. Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo overthrew the ball, allowing Reddick to score easily. Vogt walked, bringing DH Billy Butler to the plate.

Over his last 10 games, “Country Breakfast” was hitting at a slim .179 batting average with only 7 hits and 3 RBIs over 39 at-bats. The big man came through in the clutch Wednesday, connecting on the game-tying single to plate Zobrist.

“A lot of times it’s a hit like that that’ll get you going,” said Melvin. “It’ll loosen you up a little bit. He finally found a hole.”

Lawrie popped out for the second out and Max Muncy gave a Scheppers offering a ride, but right fielder Shin-Soo Choo pulled in the ball with his back against the fence.

The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without contributions from the bullpen. Pat Venditte (2 1/3 innings), Fernando Abad (1) and Evan Scribner (1) combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, while Tyler Clippard (1-3, 3.20) picked up his first win of the season after pitching a scoreless ninth.

“That’s probably the key to the game,” said Melvin. “What Venditte did was terrific. Fernando Abad coming in and contributing, having an easy inning. The whole bullpen was probably the key to the game.”

The A’s now have a chance to win the series with Scott Kazmir squaring off against rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez in Thursday’s finale. If they manage to win the series, it’ll be the first time in six series since the Rangers (31-28) were on the losing end.

A’s hit the road to Play Detroit and Boston, Sneak Preview.

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s have an off-day on Monday as they are travelling to the Motor City to face the Detroit Tigers for three games and then move on to Boston for a weekend series with the Red Sox. The Tigers were here last week and took two out of three from the A’s. The Tigers scored just four runs in the two wins over Oakland and, with a little luck and better fielding, the A’s could have won all three. The two losses were by one run as the Tigers won 1-0 and 3-2 after losing the opener to the A’s 4-0.

The Tigers are returning home after being swept four straight by the Los Angeles Angels  in Anaheim the past weekend and they have fallen to third place in the AL Central. The Tigers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are 28-24 for the season. The Tigers are led by their big first baseman, the All-Everything Miguel Cabrera. Tiger designated hitter Victor Martinez is on the DL with a sore knee and is not expected to play in the series. Cabrera and Martinez have combined to be a devastating force in the Tiger lineup but with Martinez out, the Tiger offense is not as potent as it has been in the past.

The Tigers will have Alfredo Simon(5-2, 2.67 ERA) on the mound and the A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman. Graveman won his second game of the year when the A’s were in Tampa and went 5 2/3rds inning against the Yankees Thursday night. Graveman left the game trailing 3-0 but the A’s rallied to beat New York and it was a no decision for Graveman. Wednesday’s game will feature Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez (3-6, 6.75 ERA) and the A’s will have their ace, Sonny Gray (6-2, 1.82 ERA) handling the pitching chores. The final game of the series will have Shane Greene (4-4, 5.19) going against Jesse Hahn (2-5,3.77). Hahn pitched a complete game against the Tigers on May 25th beating them 4-0. Greene took the loss.

The Tigers will be looking to regroup and get on the winning track while the A’s have shown improvement as they have won six out of the last ten games played. The A’s took three out of four from the Yankees and played very well. The A’s showed improvement in several areas. They stopped making errors. They still lead the Majors with 51 so far but they hired former Ranger manager Ron Washington to work with the infielders and, hopefully, the fielding will continue to improve. The bullpen showed signs of improvement, too. The A’s were hoping that Sean Doolittle would come back and resume his closer role once he increased the velocity on his pitches. Unfortunately, Doolittle made just one appearance. Doolittle pitched one inning  and only one of pitches reached the 90 miles per hour mark. Dooliotte’s best pitch is a 93 or 94 mile per hour special. Doolittle, however, experienced severe pain in the shoulder and it was back to the DL. No one knows how long he will be sidelined. Tyler Clippard has stepped in as closer and has seven saves so far for Oakland. Evan Scribner has done a good job, too. If the A’s are going to get better, they will need Abad, Dan Otero, Arnold Leon, Fernando Rodriguez, and Angel Castro to be able to come in and do the job.

The other area of improvement has been the return of timely, or if you will clutch, hitting. The A’s went through a stretch where they went 0-for 21 with runners in scoring position. They did better in that department over the weekend against New York. The A’s kick-starter, Coco Crisp, has been on the DL for almost the whole season. The A’s tried Craig Gentry and Sam Fuld, but neither player has done  much hitting for the club. One bright spot has been the speedster, Billy Burns. Burns had had four multi-hit games and has sparked the A’s offense. Burns is hitting .327 and in Sunday’s game against New York, stole two bases and scored on Stephen Vogt’s home run.Josh Reddick is hitting.302 with 7 homers and 31 RBI while catcher Stephen Vogt’s average is .322 with 11 Home runs and 38 RBIs. Another key factor for the A’s has been the return of Ben Zobrist. Zobrist can play multiple positions and that gives Bob Melvin a lot of flexibility when he making out the lineup cards.

After the Detroit series, the A’ play the Red Sox in Boston. The Sox won two out of the three games when they were here in Oakland. The Red Sox’ offense has not been there for them this year. Their big star, David Ortiz, is not having a good year. Hanley Ramirez was hot for a while in April, but he was injured and has not regained his hitting stroke and is a defensive liability in left field. Pablo Sandoval is hitting .249 and Mike Napoli is at .208. Mookie Betts and Rusny Castillo are still question marks in the outfield. Boston’s starting pitching has been mediocre, to say the least. The starting rotation of Buchholz, Miley, Porcello and Kelley will not strike fear into any opposing team. The A’s have a chance to sneak up on Detroit and Boston before they return home to face the Texas Rangers in Oakland and then fly to Anaheim to play the Angels before heading to San Diego for two with the Padres and return home for two more with San Diego and face the Angels again for three.

Another tough loss for the A’s, Twins beat them again. win the 4-game series 3-1

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg.

The A’s lost again to the Twins Thursday afternoon in Minnesota by a score of 6-5. The A’s manager Bob Melvin made a couple of changes in the lineup by having Brett Lawrie play second and Eric Sogard was moved to short. Lawrie and Sogard each committed an error that led to two unearned runs in the game. A’s starter, Drew Pomeranz, did not go deep into the game either. Pomeranz walked five hitters in just 4 1/3rd innings of work as he absorbed his third loss of the season Pomeranz gave up just three hits and allowed six runs, two of which were unearned but he caused his own downfall by allowing the five walks.

The A’s scored two runs in the top of the second. Billy Butler led off the inning with a double. Ike Davis walked and that was followed by a Brett Lawrie single to load the bases.  Max Muncy flied out to deep center field to drive in Butler with the first run. Davis and Lawrie tagged up and advanced to third and second on the out. Catcher Josh Phegley flied out to center to drive in Davis with the second run of the inning. The Twins scored three times in their half of the inning on just one hit. The Twins loaded the bases on a single and two walks with no out. Twins center fielder Shane Robinson grounded into a force out, shortstop Eric Sogard to Brett Lawrie. Vargas scored from third. Brett Lawrie threw the ball away trying to complete the double play allowing Escobar to score. Kurt Suzuki advanced to third and Robinson wound up on second base.  Pomeranz got Eddie Rosario to fly out to left, but it was deep enough to drive in Suzuki with the third run of the inning.

The A’s reclaimed the lead in the top of the third. Center fielder Billy Burns singled to get things going. Twins’ second baseman, Brian Dozier robbed Sam Fuld and Josh Reddick on the next two consecutive plays making fantastic plays on the line drives. Burns stole second and scored on a Billy Butler single and Butler came in to score on a double to left by Ike Davis. A’s lead 4-3. The Twins tied the game at four in the bottom of the fourth. With two out, Kurt Suzuki singled. Shane Robinson reached first on a fielding error by Eric Sogard. Suzuki advanced to second and scored on a single by Eduardo Escobar.

In the bottom of the fifth, Pomeranz walked Brian Dozier, then retired Torii Hunter, but walked Trevor Plouffe. Bob Melvin had seen enough and Pomeranz was done for the day. Dan Otero was now pitching for Oakland. Otero walked the first batter he faced loading the bases.  Eduardo Escobar, who torched A’s pitching in the four-game series, did it again. He hit a single to right driving in Dozier and Plouffe to put the Twins up 6-4.

The A’s made it a one-run game in the sixth. Big Ike Davis slammed his second home run of the year into right centerfield. That made the score 6-5 and there was no more scoring the rest of the way as the Twins won the game and took the series three games to one.

Notes-The A’s are now 3-4 on the 10-game road trip. They are on their way to meet the Mariners in Seattle for the next three games before returning home to Oakland to face the Boston Red Sox Monday night.

The A’s are not in sync at all. On a day when the bullpen improved and hitting was good, the defense failed them.They made two errors that led to two unearned runs. Fernando Rodriguez recalled from Nashville, pitched well as did Evan Scribner. They held the Twins scoreless the last three innings of the game.

The A’s announced that they designated Chad Smith for assignment. They have 10 days in which he can be claimed off waivers or be traded or released. The A’s closer, Sean Doolittle will face live hitters Friday night in Seattle as he continues to make progress from his shoulder injury. No date has been set for his return off the DL.

The A’s record falls to 12-18 while the Twins are now 16-13.

The A’s rally falls short, lose to the Angels again

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s squared off against the LA Angels Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of the three-game series.  The A’s Jesse Chavez was making his second start of the year and he was opposed by the Angels’ Garrett Richards who was coming back from a knee injury that put him on the DL for the last two months of 2014. It looked like it was going to be an easy win for the Angels as they were ahead 6-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The A’s scored twice in the seventh and three more times in the ninth and only a sensational catch in center field by Mike Trout prevented the A’s from a walk-off win and the Angels held on to win 6-5.

Chavez went five innings allowing four runs and seven hits and he was charged with the loss. The A’s bullpen problems continued. Eric O’Flaherty gave up a run in the sixth and Ryan Cook did the same in the seventh. Garrett Richards pitched extremely well going six-plus innings and allowing just four hits. Angels’manager, Mike Scioscia, took him out of the game after he gave up a hit to Josh Reddick to start the seventh inning. Garrett was replaced by Mike Morin who gave up a home run to Mark Canha that put the A’s on the board.

Joe Smith set the A’s down 1-2-3 in the eighth. The A’s, however, did not quit and they sent nine men to the plate in the ninth and had the bases loaded with two but Angels closer, Huston Street, who did not have his best stuff going for him Thursday, got Ike Davis to fly out to deep centerfield to end the game. The game summary follows below.

The Angels put a run on the board in the top of the third. Angel catcher Drew Butera singled to lead off the frame. Third base man, Taylor Featherston, put down a sacrifice bunt that moved Butera to second.

The next batter, Erick Aybar, ground out to the right side to advance Butera to third and Butera scored on a single off the bat of Angel second baseman, Johnny Gaviotella.

The Angels added three more runs in the top of the fifth. Taylor Featherston singled to leadoff the inning. It was Featherston’s first Major League hit. Aybar singled to put two men on. After a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners. the A’s elected to walk Mike Trout to load the bases and create the opportunity for a double play to end the inning. Kole Calhoun foiled the strategy with a single to drive in two runs.

Trout made it to  third on the play. David Freese hit a slow grounder to second. The A’s tried for the double play but Freese beat the throw and that allowed Trout to score the third run of the inning. Angels pitcher Garrett Richards kept the A’s off the board in their half of the fifth. 4-0 after five.

Bob Melvin ended Jesse Chavez’ day when he brought in Eric O’Flaherty in to start the sixth. The left-handed O’Flaherty retired the first two Angel hitters that he faced. He then walked Featherston and was tagged for a double by Erick Aybar that drove in Featherston to give the Angels a 5-0 lead. Melvin brought in Dan Otero to close out the inning. Ryan Cook came in to pitch the seventh and he gave up a double to Trout and a single to Freese to make it 6-0. The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when Mark Canha Sent a Mike Morin pitch into the seats in left field to make it a 6-2 game.

The A’s refused to quit and they came roaring back in the ninth. Billy Butler, mired in a one-for-twenty slump, walked after Angels’ first baseman, C.J.Cron failed to catch a popup in foul territory. Josh Reddick singled sending Butler to third and driving Angels reliever Vinnie Pestno to the showers. The Angels brought their closer, former Athletic Huston Street, in to finish off the A’s. Brett Lawrie greeted him with a single driving in Butler with the A’s third run of the game. Matk Canha singled to drive in Reddick. The Angels walked Stephen Vogt, who was pinch-hitting for Eric Sogard, to load the bases. Max Muncy, pinch-hitting for Josh Phegley, popped up to short. Sam singled to center driving in Lawrie with the fifth run of the game. Mike Trout made a terrific throw to third base that prevented Canha from scoring. The A’s still had two outs left but they could not get the key hit that would have won the game for them. Final score Angels win 6-5

Game Notes- Jesse Chavez took the loss and his record is now 0-2. The A’s record for the year is 9-14and they lost five of the games played on the homestand. Sam Fuld was o-for-18 before his single in the ninth inning. Mark Canha was the hitting star for the A’s witha home run and three RBI. The Angels’ Garrett Richard won his econd game of the year and the Angels improved to 11-11. Erick Aybar, Mike Trout, David Freese were the hitting stars for the Angels.

After the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin commented that the A’s had an “awful homestand’ and that we “have to do better than that.” and , while the team rallied late in the game, “it was still not a win.”

The A’s travel to Texas to start the second 10 game road trip of the young season. They play the Rangers for three this weekend then fly of to Minnesota for four with the Twins then off to Seattle for three with the Mariners before returning home. Scott Kazmir, Drew Pomeranz and Sonny Gray will

face the Rangers and they will be opposed by Colby Lewis, Nick Martinez and Yovani Gallardo.

Gray’s 12 K’s Not Enough For A’s Against LeBlanc, Halos

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – Despite a dominant rebound performance from starter Sonny Gray at the O.Co Coliseum Tuesday night, the Oakland Athletics once again found their efforts to string together three consecutive wins come up short.

After dropping game two of a three game series against the 2014 American League West Champion Los Angeles Angels 2-0, the Green and Gold (86-71) still seek their first uninterrupted trio of wins since August 7-9. Wade LeBlanc pitched 5 2/3 of shutout innings for the Halos, while former Athletic Houston Street nailed down his 40th save of the season after retiring the side in order.

The Athletics loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning with reliever Joe Smith on the mound and two men retired, but Stephen Vogt’s fly-out derailed the Oakland rally.

“I left a small village of runners in scoring position tonight,” said Vogt. “It’s really frustrating to not get them in.”

It marked only the second time all night the home team advanced a runner past second base. In total, the A’s left eight runners on base.

“That’s baseball in a nutshell,” said Vogt. “It’s frustrating, absolutely. But just because we didn’t have offense today doesn’t mean our offense isn’t good. I think we’re still playing good baseball right now, we just didn’t get any hits when we needed them tonight.”

An Oakland loss, paired with a Kansas City Royals win in Cleveland, knots the two squads up with identical records in the chase for the top Wild Card spot and home-field advantage in the one-game playoff. Despite the result Tuesday, the A’s magic number to clinch a playoff berth drops to three games by way of a Seattle Mariners lost. Just five regular season games remain.

Gray (13-10, 3.21 ERA) recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts, including three by potential AL Most Valuable Player Mike Trout, yielding only two runs in the losing effort.

“He came in the dugout with this look in his eye,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “He was going to get after it. Unfortunately we didn’t give him the support. Three hits and he struck out nine of the first 12 guys. Everything was working today.”

Gray’s ability to rack up strikeouts in a hurry wasn’t lost on his teammates.

“I looked up in the fifth and he had ten punch-outs,” said Vogt. “That was a remarkable thing. He threw the ball well. We had some opportunities to score runs and we just weren’t able to come through.”

The youthful right-hander picked up eight of his first nine outs on K’s and nine of his first 12 by way of the whiff. It was the one non-strikeout that made him the hard luck loser against Los Angeles (97-61).

With runners on first and third and one out in the second inning, Gray caught Hank Conger swinging at strike three. The runner at first, Efren Navarro, took off with the pitch, drawing a throw from catcher Geovany Soto.

“There was a miscommunication on that,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Aybar was coming down the line. We needed to stop the run there.”

With Erick Aybar crashing down the line from third base after the throw to second, Navarro froze between second and third base. Already dead to rights on the Soto throw, Navarro stalled long enough in a pickle for Aybar to cross the plate.

“He’s fast,” said Gray of the Angels shortstop. “He puts pressure on the defense, as you could see there. He’s a good player, he has good baseball instincts.”

The Angels added another run in the sixth inning after Gordon Beckham ripped a solo home to left field for the only earned run of the day. The long ball stood as the Angels first hit since the second inning as well as the third and final hit the visitors would collect on the evening.

Gray’s LA counterpart, starter Wade LeBlanc, managed to tame the A’s bats despite a repertoire of pitches that don’t break the 90 mph barrier. The Southpaw fired 5 2/3 innings, allowing only five hits to the Oakland hitters. The A’s didn’t manage a base runner to reach second base off LeBlanc until Josh Reddick’s doubled with one out in the fifth inning.

“He did a good job mixing his pitches,” said Vogt. “He didn’t really miss over the plate tonight. Typically, a guy like that, a junk baller, he knows how to pitch. That’s one thing about Wade LeBlanc, he knows how to pitch. He’s a really good pitcher. How you take advantage of those guys is when he makes mistakes over the plate, and he didn’t do that tonight.”

Of the five A’s hits off LeBlanc, four came counter to the lefty-vs-lefty pitcher’s advantage with Reddick (two hits), Sam Fuld and Eric Sogard all reaching base.

LeBlanc (1-1, 4.23) started the season in the minor leagues with the Angels, ultimately making his first Major League appearance at Oakland May 30th. LeBlanc pitched 6 1/3 innings of relief against the Athletics after starter Garret Richards exited with a season-ending knee injury, his longest outing to date this season.

Following his lone stint of game action, LeBlanc was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees on June 3rd. 12 days later, after only one inning of two run work against the A’s later, the Yankees granted the 30 year old free agency. The Lake Charles, La. native returned to the Angels roster on June 17th. Since then, he has made eight appearances, including two starts before his season-best Tuesday evening outing.

Manager Mike Scioscia tabs a third-straight left-hander to pitch Wednesday afternoon’s series finale. Hector Santiago takes the mound in the rubber match. Melvin counters with a lefty of his own, sending trade deadline acquisition Jon Lester to the hill. The winner of Wednesday’s contest takes the season series with each side claiming nine wins apiece in head-to-head play.