Tag: Chicago White Sox

Manaea goes seven strikes out nine as A’s win 3-1

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Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea walks to the A’s dugout in the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at the Ring Central Oakland Coliseum on Thu Sep 9, 2021 (AP News photo)

Chicago 1- 7-1

Oakland 3 -6 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

Thursday September 9, 2021

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s (76-64) these days are about as changeable as a baby’s bottom. They’ve lost five of their last seven contests even though they broke their four game losing streak with last night’s triumph over the White Sox (80-60).

This afternoon, they came out of the chutel full of piss and vinegar against Chicago’s Reynaldo López with singles by their first two batters, trade deadline additions Josh Harrison and Sterling Marte.

But Harrison got picked off at second, and, although Marte advanced to second on the ensuing rundown, that put the kibosh on Oakland´s first inning threat.

In spite of this dispiriting beginning, the Athletics pulled off a 3-1 win over the South Side Sox behind the very solid pitching of Sean Manaea and a key error by the Sox’s second string catcher. The victory pulled the A’s to within 5-1/2 of Houston for the division lead and a game and a half behind the Yankees for the second wild card spot.

The process started just an inning after the opening frame debacle. Jed Lowrie led off with a double to center, and, after Mark Canha was called out on strikes, scored easily on TonyKemp’s slicing opposite field triple to left. Nonetheless, Kemp died at third, following ground outs from the bats of Sean Murphy and Elvis Andrus.

After a rocky first inning, the A’s Sean Manaea settled down to strike out all three Chicago batsmen he faced in the second, only to cough up Oakland’s lead in the top of the third, when César Hernández doubled off the left field wall and José Abreu brought him home with a single that almost got by a diving Marte in center.

In home third, Chicago catcher Seby Zavala tried to duplicate López´s first inning feat of picking a runner off second. The runner was Marte, who had just pilferred the bag (on a play in which he originally was called out before he was ruled safe after a video review).

It was his big league leading 44th steal of the year. Zebala’s throw went into center field, allowing Marte to score and Olson, who had walked following Marte’s steal of second, to advance to third. Olson lscored on Chapman’s sacrifice foul fly to left, and the two. unearned runs put Oakland up 3-1.

López began gave signs of tiring in the fifth, which he finished having thrown 90 pitches, 59 of which went for strikes. He had given up three runs, of which only one was earned. He’d walked three and struck out two Athletics, and brought his pre-game ERA of 2.08 down to 2.05. Ryan Burr replaced him on the mound to start off the bottom of the sixth. He set the A’s down in order. Aaron Bummer replaced him for the home seventh and did the same.

Manea, too, began to tire in his last frame, the seventh, at about 95 pitch mark, when, with two out, Billy Hamilton walloped a triple to left center. Manea recovered to retire Danny Mendick on a fly to Marte in right center on his 100th and final pitch of the afternoon.

It was the first time since July 22nd that the A’s lefty had completed seven full frames. He allowed only one run on five hits and a walk. Only 40 of his offerings were called balls. Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth.

Sergio Romo, back in his role as set-up man, pitched the eighth. He allowed a two out single to Luis Robert, which allowed José Abreu, who, with 103 RBI, was second in the majors in that category, to come to the plate representing the potential tying run. Abreu worked a 3-2 count before grounding out, Chapman to Olson.

Andrew Chafin, fresh from pitching two innings in last night’s game against the Sox, came in to try to close things up in the visitor’s ninth. Things got dicey when Romy González smacked a two out double off the left centerfield wall. But Chafin came through and earned his third save of the year by inducing Billy Hamilton to pop up to Olson in foul territory.

The win went to Manaea. He’s now 9-9, 3.79. López got charged with the tough loss, his second against three wins this year.

Paul Blackburn (0-2, 4.12) will face Glenn Otto (0-0, 1.86) of the Rangers at 6:40 Friday night to start a three game weekend series with Texas.

A’s snap four game loss streak win 5-1; A’s pitcher Diekman break in attempt at family home wife and daughter threatened

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Oakland A’s Matt Chapman (right) gets the force on the Chicago White Sox Yasmani Grandal (24) sliding into second and throws to first base to complete a double play in the top of the fourth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Sep 8, 2021 (AP News photo)

Chicago 1 – 8 – 0

Oakland 5 – 10-1

By Lewis Rubman

Wednesday September 8, 2021

OAKLAND-Tonight’s 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox snapped the Oakland A’s four game losing streak and kept the their pennant hopes alive for another day. When the game ended, Oakland, at 75-64, trailed Houston by six games in the divisional race and were three games behind the Yankees for the second wild card berth.

The late surging Matt Chapman opened the scoring with his 25th home run of the season, a mighty solo blast on a 80 mph change up off of Chicago’s veteran starter Dallas Keuchel that travelled 402 feet into the left field stands.

Oakland put another run on the board in the fourth when, with one down, Mark Canha ripped a double to left and scored on Yan Gomes’s sharp single to center.

Chicago threatened in the top of the fifth when Leury García led off with an opposite field double on a sharp grounder to left and moved up to third on Brian Goodwin’s line drive single to right. He didn’t score, thanks to a diving attempt by Harrison to snare Goodwin’s liner that prevented García from running full steam ahead to third. Montás got Vaughn out on a caught two strike foul tip, but the Sox made good on their threat with César Hernández´s grounder to first that Olson short-hopped and threw to Gomes at home.

But García beat the throw,which went wildly behind Gomes for a rare E3 that allowed both Goodwin and Hernández to move up a base. Nonetheless, Montás rose to the occasion and retired Luis Robert on a grounder back to the mound and Moncada on a fly to Marte in center. The A’s still led, 2-1.

They added another run in the fifth but ran themselves out of it, which has not recently been an unusual occurence for the green and gold. Andrus led off with a walk and advanced to second on Harrison’s single to left.

After Marte was retired on an infield fly to first, Olson plated Andrus and advanced Harrison to the third. The A’s first baseman got greedy and tried to advance to seond on the throw back to the infield but was put out 7-5-4-3, Vaughn to Moncada to Hernández to Abreu. Chapman struck out to end the inning.

Montás pitched himself out of a pickle of his own making in the top of the six. Abreu reached first on a lead off single to right. Montás then struck out Grandal, but he did it on a wild pitch that allowed Abreu to reach second. The A’s starter responded by striking out Sheets and García to preserve Oakland’s 3-1 advantage.

The Athletics stretched their lead further in the sixth. After a one out single to center by Gomes, Davis flew out to deep center, and Chad Pinder dropped an opposite field triple deep to right, just inside the foul line. That was the end of the line for Keuchel. José Ruiz, his replacement, gave up a single to left by Andrus that drove Pinder home. Pinder´s run closed the book on Keuchel for the night.

His line was 5-2/3 innings pitched, during which he allowed five runs, all of them earned, on eight hits and a walk. Of his 94 offerings, 63 were strikes. Then Ruiz retired Harrison on a fly to warning track in left.

Having thrown 94 pitches, Montás still came out to face Chicago in the seventh. He set the Chisox down to a conga beat, that is, one, two, three, which is what Ruiz did to the A’s in the seventh.

It would be up to the A’s bullpen to keep Montás´s valiant start from going to waste. The 28 year old righty had hurled seven frames and allowed but a single run, earned but just barely, on six hits, two walks, and wild pitch. He struck out seven of the Pale Hose and throwns 105 pitches, 67 for strikes.

Left hander Andrew Chafin replaced him to open the Chicago eighth and kept the conga line moving with another 1-2-3 inning, although Moncada’s fly to left for the second out took Canha well into the warning track.

It was Mike Wright, Jr, who toed the rubber for Chicago in the home eighth, and that was the end of the conga line, thanks to Canha’s lead off single to center. But nothing came of that.

The A’s brain trust elected to stick with Chafin to finish off the Chisox in the ninth. Although they got to him with a pair of singles, Chafin came through, keeping the Chicagoans off the board.

The well-deserved win went to Montás, whose record now is 12-9, 3.57. Keuchel, now 8-9, 5,33 took the loss. There was no save.

Thursday afternoon at 12:37, Chicago righty Reynaldo López (3-1, 2.08) will match his talents against the A’s batters and their left handed probable starter, Sean Manaea (8-9, 3.91) in the series finale.

Break in attempt at Diekman home: A’s pitcher Jake Diekman had a break in attempt as his family was threatened by a 23 year man who threatened to shoot Diekman’s wife Amanda and two year old daughter. Diekman was not home at the time. Diekman and his wife have filed a restraining order against the man who turned out to be a neighbor of Diekman’s.

Diekman was told that the man had a history of mental issues and that the authorities could not hold him and that an order to arrest him could not be served as he has right under being a mental patient. Diekman said that the justice system is not there to protect him and his family and others in his neighborhood.

Diekman is in touch with MLB security and that something is in the works to have security protect the family at the home from his neighbor as authorities say there is not much they can do to protect the Diekman family.

Diekman this year for the A’s is 3-2 ERA 3.29 in 57 games.

A’s lose fourth game in a row 6-3; Sox continue to roll

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The Chicago White Sox Eloy Jimenez slides in for a run as Oakland A’s catcher Yan Gomes puts the tag on too late in the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Sep 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

Chicago 6 – 15 – 2

Oakland 3 – 6 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

Tuesday September 7, 2021

OAKLAND–The September ’21 Oakland Athletics returned to the Coliseum this evening, singing the words of a W.S. Gilbert song, “A wandering minstrel I / A thing of shreds and patches,” not to mention a non-functioning bullpen and a penchant for leaving runners on base.

Of course, this wasn’t their public position. As Steve Berman reported in Monday’s The Athletic, the team is singing “The Best is Yet to Come.” To which I reply, again appropriating Gilbert’s lyrics from The Mikado,

But as one month you have to live as fellow citizen, This toast with three times three we’ll give: “Long life, Long life to you — Long life to you — Long life to you — till then!”

To put this song book in numerical terms, the A’s awoke this morning with fifteen games left in the regular season. If they were to tie Houston for the division title, they’d need to overcome the Astros’ six game lead. The two teams have exactly six games left on their schedules against each other, three in Oakland, the 24th-26th, and another three in Houston, set for the last three days of the season.

The ‘stros have been slumping recently, but not as badly as the A’s, so there is hope on that front, although Seattle has a slightly better shot than Oakland at the western division gonfalon; they trail Houston by five and a half games with fourteen to go.

The other way the Athletics could make it to post season action would be by qualifying for the wild card crap shoot. They went into today three and a half games behind the Red Sox for the second wild card position and would have to pass both Toronto and Seattle, to attain even that minimal opportunity to reach the division series.

Tonight’s game with the White Sox, who, arriving in Oakland with a record 79-58, have the Central Divisional race all but locked up, further lessened the green and gold’s chances for life after October 3. With their definitive 6-3 loss to Chicago,, Oakland was left singing the blues

James Kaprielian (7-4, 3.87 at game time), who has seen his monthly ERA cllimb steadily from 2.95 in May to 5.06 in August, opened the game in horrendous fashion, surrendering a single to lead off hitter Luis Robert and a double to Yoán Moncada before loading the bases with nobody out by hitting José Abreu on the knee.

He nonetheless managed to escape an early disaster and limited the Chisox to a single tally by striking out Eloy Jiménez and Gavin Sheets. The run came on a walk to Yasmani Grandal, and the last out was the result of Leury Garcíá’s hard line drive that Matt Chapman snared at third.

The A’s recovered quickly in their half of the first and tied it up against Chicago’s Jimmy Lambert (0-1, 9.00), who spent most of last season on the injured list. They did it on a lead off double down the left field line by Josh Harrington, who moved on to third on Starling Marte’s fly to deep center and scored on Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly to right.

Kaprielian was was in and out of trouble during his four inning stint on the mound, gamely preventing any more Chicago scoring , but his 30 pitch first inning did him in. He ended up throwing 92 pitches, 63 for strikes, and allowing just that one run in the first. He also allowed five hits and two walks and hit two opposition batters. He brought his ERA down to 3.81 and left with a no decision.

AJ Puk replaced him on the mound for the top of the fifth, and eight pitches later the A’s were down, 2-1 on singles by Jiménez, Grandal, and Sheets. Leury García’s safety loaded the bases, and still none were out. Puk struck out Andrew Vaughn to put one away.

But César Hernández took Puk´s 3-2 offering to right for a two run single that sent García to third, Puk to the showers, and Daulton Jefferies to the mound. It took Puk all of 23 pitches and a third of an inning to surrender three earned runs.

Jefferies retired the side with the help of a pitcher´s best friend on three pitches. He ended up throwing 54 pitches over 3-2/3 innings before tiring and giving up a double to Moncada after a nine pitch at bat and following that with a walk to Abreu with two out in the eighth.

Jake Diekman wild pitched the runners up a base, and both scored on Brian Goodwin’s broken bat Texas League single to right. The runs were charged to Jeffries. Diekman then struck out Grandal to end the inning, the A’s trailing 6-1.

Garrett Crochet took over for Lambert after Chicago’s starter had gone five frames, throwing 47 strikes out of 70 pitches and holding the A’s to one run on three hits. He was credited with his first major league win, bringing his record for the season to 1-1, 6.23. Crochet set Oakland down in order before giving way to Ryan Tepera, who put the A’s down with a walk, a strike out, and a nifty Abreu, unassisted, to García 3-6 twin killing.

Chicago’s next pitcher was Ryan Burr, who gave up an infield single to Gomes, who scored when centerfielder Luis Robert misplayed Andrus’s single. Andrus advanced to second on the error. After retiring Chad Pinder, who pinch hit for Harrison, Burr was replaced by Craig Kimbrel.

Marte greeted him with a run producing single to center and followed that up with a steal of second that landed him on third when Grandal’s throw wound up in center field. But Khris Davis, who had replaced Lowrie as DH in the sixth, struck out swinging, and we entered the ninth with Chicago leading 6-3 and Deolis Guerra on the mound for Oakland.

It wasn’t pretty, involving two singles (one of the infield variety) and. stolen bases, but Guerra brought the Athletics to the bottom of the ninth, still trailing Chicago by only three runs.

In their last chance frame, Oakland had to contend with their ace closer of 2020, Liam Hendricks. He got his 33rd save by setting the A’s down 1-2-3.

The two teams will face each other Wedneday evening at 6:40, with Frankie Montás (11-9, 3.68) going against Dallas Keuchel (8-8, 5,22).

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s prepare for White Sox tonight battle to stay in the hunt; Dave Stewart, Black investors looking to buy half of Coliseum

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Oakland A’s pitcher James Kaprielian gets the start against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum to open a three game series (file photo San Francisco Chronicle)

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Two Black groups have thrown their hats in the ring in bid to buy the other half of the Oakland Coliseum complex the Oakland A’s have bought the other half. Dave Stewart who is leading one group with MLB player agent Lonnie Murray and the other group African American Sports are bidding for the Coliseum property to develop for Sports Entertainment and promoting community projects for East Oakland a neighborhood whose long suffered economically. Stewart said he would like to see that part of the development of the Coliseum help out East Oakland residents.

#2 The Oakland A’s (74-63) are coming off a rough three game road trip against the Toronto Blue Jays (73-62) over last weekend getting swept and the pitching was shelled giving up a total of 21 runs.

#3 The A’s bullpen struggled to keep the Blue Jays off the bases and from hitting home runs. The Jays lead all of the Majors in home runs with 210 and the A’s who were a second place now a third place team in the AL West just couldn’t do anything all series long and didn’t even come close to catching the Blue Jays.

#4 In other A’s news A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt is progressing “the way you would want it to” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. Bassitt recovering cheek surgery has not thrown a baseball yet but Bassitt’s spirits are high he’s excited about getting back in the rotation and that’s pretty good considering what happened to Bassitt.

#5 Oakland A’s traveling secretary Mickey Morabito and the A’s had a customs and immigration snafu when told they could not go through the usual procedure of going through customs at Pearson Airport in Toronto because of reduced services and that they would have to go though customs in Columbus. Morabito wanted to go through customs in Oakland but the carrier was not able to secure ground handling services. Amaury you’ve traveled quite a bit for the professional sports this had to be a very unusual experience for Morabito and the A’s.

#6 The Chicago White Sox open a three game series against the Oakland A’s Tuesday night. The White Sox have not announced a starter and the A’s are going with James Kaprielian (7-4 ERA 3.87) a 6:40 pm first pitch at the Oakland Coliseum.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead Spanish play by play announcer for the Oakland A’s on flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Preview: A’s host Tony Russa and White Sox Tuesday; A’s need all the wins they can get to stay in race

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Former Oakland A’s manager Tony LaRussa returns to the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Sep 7, 2021 to face his former team for the first of a three game series (file photo from Redbird Rants)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Well, here we are. The Oakland A’s (74-63) meet the Chicago White Sox (79-58) for three games starting Tuesday night. The A’s returned home after finishing a road trip with a 2-4 record. Things did not go well for the Green and Gold on the trip. Yes, the A’s hitting was much better.

They took two out of three from Detroit. That was the good news. The Tigers hit nine home runs in the series, and they scored 17 runs. The A’s went to Toronto for a three game series against the Blue Jays. They scored 18 runs in the series and lost all three games. The A’s starters and bullpen were pounded by the relentless Blue Jay offensive juggernaut. The A’s lost by scores of 11-10, 10-8, and 8-0. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, must be wondering what happened to his pitchers.

The A’s chances of making the playoffs are getting slimmer by the day. They remain five and 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros. The Seattle Mariners have slipped past the A’s into second place in the AL West. The A’s are now four games behind the Boston Red Sox for the second Wild Card spot.

The Mariners trail Boston by three games. The schedule does not look favorable for Oakland as they head down the homestretch. The A’s play the Chicago White Sox for three games starting Tuesday night. The White Sox won three of the four games played in Chicago.

The White Sox will be in the playoffs as they will be the AL Central division champs. After the White Sox leave, the A’s face the pesky Texas Rangers. The Rangers own the worst record in the AL West. The A’s are 9-7 against them. The Rangers have not rolled over for Oakland. The A’s go on the road to play the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels before the final 13 games of the year.

If the A’s will make the playoffs, the schedule has allowed them to go after the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. The A’s have seven left with Seattle and six with Houston. It won’t be easy. The Mariners are playing well and have improved in the second half of the season.

The Astros are 9-4 against Oakland and have had their way against the Green and Gold all season long. To this observer, it is highly doubtful the A’s will catch either team. The A’s have not played well since the All-Star break. They had a stretch when their hitting was suspect.

The front office helped by acquiring Starling Marte, Yan Gomes, and Josh Harrison. Matt Chapman’s power returned, and he is doing better. The injury to the A’s ace, Chris Bassitt, puy a monkey wrench in the A’s rotation. Frankie Montas is pitching well in the second half of the year. The same cannot be said for Sean Manaea, Cole Irvin, James Kaprielian, and Paul Blackburn.

So, the A’s have twenty-five games to right the ship. They face the powerful Chicago White Sox. Their lineup includes Tim Anderson, MVP Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert. A very tough lineup. The A’s will face lefty Dallas Keuchel on Wednesday and Reynaldo Lopez on Thursday.

The Sox have not announced their starter for the Tuesday opener. The A’s pitchers will be Kaprielian on Tuesday, Montas on Wednesday, and Manaea on Thursday. The A’s hope that the bullpen gets back on track after the shellacking they took on the road trip. Oakland needs to get hot. Let’s hope they can do it.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s need this homestand to get back in the post season race

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Oakland A’s pitcher James Kaprielian will start Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox who have not announced a starter yet (file photo from Athletics Nation)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara, the A’s have just concluded three games with Toronto and before that three games in Detroit. The A’s are still chasing the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card trailing by four games and in the AL West they trail the Houston Astros by 4.5 games lots of work ahead of Oakland to try and get back in post season contention.

#2 Barbara, things don’t get easier the A’s take on the first place Chicago White Sox who are hot right now winning seven of their last ten games they’ll face the Sox on Tuesday night at the Coliseum for three games.

#3 Barbara, during the Blue Jays series the A’s bullpen struggled on Friday’s game starter Sean Manaea surrendered two runs and the three relievers Lou Trivino, Yusmerio Petit, and closer Sergio Romo were all rocked for a combined nine runs.

#4 On Saturday the A’s pitching staff gave up ten runs starter Paul Blackburn gave up nine hits and four runs, relievers Daulton Jefferies, Jake Diekman, Lou Trivino, and Burch Smith were tagged for a combined six hits and six runs. Manager Bob Melvin has to be concerned with the pitching staff when trying to make post season and they got swept 8-0 on Sunday by the Blue Jays.

#5 The A’s host ex-manager Tony LaRussa and the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at the Ring Central Time Oakland Coliseum the White Sox have not announced a starter yet and the A’s will go with James Kaprielian (7-4 ERA 3.97) a 6:40pm first pitch PDT.

Barbara does the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitleberg: Bassitt to have cheek surgery no eye damage; Could be back by post season

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Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt could be back from cheek and jaw surgery as early as October in time for the post season (file photo from the mercurynews.com)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

# 1 Jerry, A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt will have surgery once the swelling on his face goes down. Bassitt suffered a broken cheek bone and broken jaw. Bassitt did not suffer any eye injury as originally mentioned.

#2 Bassitt could be out for the rest of the season with a possibility of returning to the post season in October. There will be a lot of rehabilitation for this kind of injury Jerry what kind of rehab will entail after coming out of cheek surgery?

#3 The A’s no doubt were shaken up after Tuesday night’s injury to Bassitt so much so they just fell flat at the plate getting shutout 9-0. It was if the A’s were just going through the motions to get the game over. Frankly you can’t blame them.

#4 You’ve had the chance to work with former A’s manager and current White Sox manager Tony LaRussa who was managing against his former team Tuesday night said that it was one of the scariest things he ever saw in his playing or managing career. Tony has been at this since 1963.

#5 The A’s conclude the four game series with the Chicago White Sox this morning and will start Cole Irvin (8-11 ERA 3.52) and for the ChiSox Dylan Cease (9-6 ERA 4.04) first pitch 11:05 AM (PDT)

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

A’s Drop Fourth In A Row 3-2 lose in Chicago’s South Side

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A’s Drop Fourth In A Row 3-2

By Barbara Mason

The Chicago White Sox Luis Robert hits a for an RBI single in the fourth inning against Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago on Wed Aug 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

Wednesday night the Oakland A’s took on the Chicago White Sox in Game Three of their series. The team was still reeling after the horrible accident that Chris Bassitt suffered last night in Game Two.

The good news today for Bassitt was that there was no further head injuries, no concussion and no damage to his vision. He did suffer some nasty lacerations that required stitches and will reguire surgery for a displaced tripod cheek fracture. More than likely a six week or beyond layoff. It was such a shame for the all-star pitcher who was having one heck of a season.

There was a sigh of relief for all involved with the news. This hit looked so very serious and it was a surprise that he did not suffer more damage. The loss of blood alone was hard to watch as team mates gathered around him. Just a terrible moment for Oakland. The 9-0 loss was not a surprise after what had happened in the second inning of that game.

The A’s were back for Game Three on Wednesday and hoping for a bounce back after losing the first two games of the series.

The A’s started hitting from the first inning. They actually had runners on first and third with no outs and came away empty. In the third inning they had the bases loaded with no outs and not a single run. They cannot do this especially against a team the caliber of the White Sox, Chicago took the lead in the first inning 1-0 and in the fourth inning Seth Brown homered to tie up the game 1-1.

The tie did not last very long and Chicago took back the lead 2-1 in the fourth inning off a Luis Robert single which drove in Yoan Moncada.

Going into the sixth inning the score remained 2-1. The White Sox would extend their lead in the sixth 3-1 when again Robert singled and Moncada scored.

Oakland continued to threaten the Chicago lead in the seventh inning. Marte hit a sacrifice bringing Elvis Andrus home: the White Sox still leading 3-2.

Again in the eighth inning the A’s had two runners on base with one out and came up empty. This was three innings that Oakland had some great scoring opportunities and failed to take advantage of them.

The A’s could not do anything in the ninth inning and fell to the White Sox 3-2. They have now lost four in a row and tomorrow they hope to salvage one game in the series and avoid the sweep.

The loss today was an offensive loss. You cannot have the bases loaded and come away empty. Oakland had runners on first and third with no outs in the first inning and again nothing. This is not winning baseball and the A’s have to figure out a way to get these runners home.

Oakland starting pitcher Paul Blackburn had a nice game on the mound for Oakland He went 6 innings and had a pretty good day. With some production on the offensive side Blackburn might have come away with a win in this series.

Tomorrow the A’s will play Game Four in the series. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 AM. Cole Irvin will be on the mound for Oakland and Dylan Cease will start for Chicago.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: A’s Lose their Best pitcher rest of the Season

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Chris Bassitt Oakland A’s starter will be out for the rest of the regular season and could be back as early for the post season in October (@C_Bass419 photo)

A’s Lose their Best pitcher rest of the Season

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Chris Bassitt Medical Update

Chris was released from Rush University Medical Center last night. He received stitches for two facial lacerations and was diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek that will require surgery. An exam of his right eye was normal for vision and no other damage is currently noted in the eye or the orbital bone. In addition, a head CT scan revealed no further injury. We are grateful to the White Sox, their medical staff, and the doctors and nurses at Rush for their excellent care. We’ll have more information on Chris as it becomes available. (Statement from the Oakland A’s)

Last night In Chicago, Chris Bassitt, Athletics All Star pitcher and ace of the staff was pitching in the second inning during the second game of a four-game series against the White Sox, when Eloy Jiménez and Yoán Moncada hit consecutive singles, then Brian Goodwin lined a 1-1 pitch back to the mound hitting Bassitt on the face.

The ball that hit Bassitt was at a speed of 100.1 mph, according to Statcast. Bassitt remained down and after getting help from trainers of both teams, was carted out of the park. He left with a towel covering his face. Bob Melvin, manager of the team said Bassitt remained conscious and aware and was taken to the local hospital. After the game, a 9-0 win by the Chicago White Sox, manager Tony LaRussa and players like Jake Lamb (who was a teammate of Bassitt at Oakland) sent their best wishes to the pitcher.

Before starting the game Bassitt was 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA, ranked sixth in the league in strikeouts. The All Star pitcher led the Athletics in innings pitched with 151. His strike out rate is the highest of his career with a 24.3 percent and his walk rate lowest of his career, 5.8 percent. With over a month left in the regular season, the A’s ace was among the contenders for the coveted Cy Young Award.

Chris Bassitt was pitching against the Chicago White Sox, the team that originally drafted him in 2011 and made his major league debut with them in 2014. He has been a starter for the A’s since 2015 and his seven year record in the major leagues is 31-25 with a 3.22 ERA in all 25 games, all as a starter.

We here at Sports Radio Service also wish Chris Bassitt a speedy recovery.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio lead announcer on the A’s flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Chris Bassitt’s injury overshadows A’s loss to White Sox 9-0

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Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt follows through on his first inning delivery against the Chicago White Sox on Tue Aug 17, 2021 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. Bassitt later would be hit in the head by a line drive by Brian Goodwin. The latest word is Bassitt is conscious and x-rays performed will determined if there were fractures from the line drive. (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s had their ace, Chris Bassitt, on the mound as they tried to even the series with the White Sox at one apiece Tuesday night in Chicago. Bassitt, leading the American League in wins, ran into a little bit of a jam in the second inning.

He gave up singles to the first two batters he faced. The third hitter, Brian Goodwin, sent Bassitt’s pitch right back at him. The ball was traveling at 100 miles per hour. Bassitt tried to defend himself, but the ball hit him in the face. He dropped to the ground in obvious pain. The team trainer ran out and gave him a towel to stop the bleeding.

Bassitt was placed on a cart and taken to the hospital. The A’s announced that Bassitt was conscious and aware. The most important thing on everyone’s mind is his health. Former A’s manager and current White Sox skipper, Tony La Russa, said, “I hope he caught a break and is OK.” A’s manager Bob Melvin in a very brief press conference, said this: “we don’t think the eye is the problem. We will know about potential fractures tomorrow.”

In all the years that this writer has been following baseball, I have witnessed three other pitchers being hit in the head by a line drive. In 1957, lefty Herb Score was hit by a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald. Score recovered but was never returned to the pitcher he was.

The A’s Brandon McCarthy was hit in the 2012 season. McCarthy suffered a skull fracture, and the injury was life-threatening. Fortunately, McCarthy recovered and resumed his career. In the 2012 World Series, Detroit Tigers pitcher Doug Fister was hit by a line drive. Fister stayed in the game and was lucky not to have had a serious injury.

The A’s still had to play a baseball game. Everyone knew their hearts were with Bassitt. It’s very hard to concentrate on playing a game when your teammate has suffered such a serious injury.

The summary of the game will be brief. The Sox scored five times in the second. Former A’s third baseman, Jake Lamb, hit a three-run blast off Burch Smith, who took over from Bassitt. The Sox led 5-0 after two. Jose Abreu hit a three-run homer in the fourth to make it 8-0. The Sox added a run in the sixth to finish with a 9-0 run.

Wednesday night A’s will battle the White Sox in game three of this four game series with the A’s starting Cole Irvin (8-11 ERA 3.52) for the Sox Lance Lynn (10-3 ERA 2.26) first pitch 5:10 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

There will be no game notes or stats. The staff of Sports Radio Service and all of baseball are hoping and praying for Chris.