Tag: Cleveland Guardians

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitlelberg: A’s can’t get out of tenth Guardians score twice in 6-4 win

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Oakland A’s Ryan Noda (49) gets a warm welcome in the A’s dugout after hitting his first home run of the season against the Cleveland Guardians in the bottom of the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Apr 5, 2023 (@Athletics photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, Cleveland Guardians pitcher Hunter Gaddis pitched six innings without giving up a run to the Oakland A’s surrendering only one hit and four strike outs leaving with the Guardians in front 2-0 at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 The A’s line up one through nine just struggled all game long to spray the ball outside of a Ryan Noda home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cleveland pitching for the most part had them off balance.

#3 It was a tough go for A’s starter Kyle Muller in the sixth who got charged with two runs when reliever Domingo Acevedo came in and gave up a two run single for Cleveland’s first two runs of the game.

#4 The A’s in the bottom of the eighth down 4-1 had two runners on and the tying run at the plate Jesus Aguilar took Guardians pitcher Jim Herrin deep to left field at the 362 mark to tie the game 4-4.

#5 Jerry tough top of the tenth inning for the A’s as the Guardians Steven Kwan singled to score Myles Straw and Will Brennan grounded to short allowing Andres Gimenez to score to put the Guardians in front by two runs 6-4 for the win.

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

A’s get the edge on Guardians to even series in 4-3 victory at Coliseum

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Oakland Athletics second baseman Tony Kemp, left, and center fielder Esteury Ruiz dive unsuccessfully for an RBI double by Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez during the top of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Tue, April 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cleveland. 000 210 000 – 3 8 0

Oakland. 002 001 001 – 4 6 1

Time: 2:41

Attendance: 3,407

Tue, April 4, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Monday night’s game was marred by the strong winds that whipped around the Coliseum during most of the contest. Those winds, as unwelcome as those over the late Candlestick Park and Cleveland Municipal Stadium, not only not only played havoc with the balls’ trajectory, but the chill factor they caused made gripping bats and balls painful and difficult.

Tonight, the winds were milder. And the results were more satisfying for the East Bay Faithful as the outhit home team pulled off a walk off 4-3 triumph over their guests from the middle west.

Cleveland’s see-saw extra innings victory over Oakland yesterday was exciting and, to A’s fans, disappointing. That disappointment wasn’t caused by the mere fact of the home team coming out on the short end of the stick, which was, in any case, an almost foregone conclusion.

The game was disappointing because it was sloppily played. Although only two errors showed up in the official records, there were plays that deserved that description that were charitably given other names. There were base running mistakes.

And one batter, Seth Brown, had a third strike called on him because of a time clock violation. I have no problem with the shorter, crisper games that the TCV rule achieves; I question where MLB is cutting the temporal fat. Does it make sense to fundamentally alter the relationship between pitching and hitting–arts of timing, both of them–to allow for two minutes of television advertisements at every half inning break and the singing of “God Bless America” along with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”? (To their credit, they don’t do that at every Coliseum game).

Southpaw JP Sears, Oakland’s starting pitcher was making his first appearance of the ’23 season. He came to the team from the Yankees last August 1 in the same deal that brought Ken Waldichuk, last night’s unfortunate starter, to the Athletics and sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx.

He had gone 3-0, 2.05 for the pinstriped Bombers and was 3-3, 4.69 with the green and gold for overall rookie year numbers of 6-3, 3.36. He has a good fast ball, change up, and slider, although their velocity isn’t particularly outstanding. They have plenty of zip to them, and he mixes them well.

Shane Bieber, his opposite number for the Guardians, already had one game under his belt this year. He started their season opener in Seattle, throwing six scoreless frame in a contest that the Ohians eventually lost, 3-0. Bieber has a distinguished resumé, having won the Cy Young award in the covid shrunken 2020 season. He toed the rubber with a lifetime record of 54-26, 3.15 and was 0–1,3.45 against the A’s in two starts.

Oakland drew first blood. Ryan Noda drew a lead off, full count walk and raced to third on a sinbgle to short center by Carlos Pérez. Esteuriy Ruíz followed with a double to left that drove in Noda with the game’s first run and enabled Pérez to motor to third. He scored on a sac fly (pretty much of a line drive) ro left by JacePeterson.

But the Athletics couldn’t hold that two run lead. Oscar González sent a fly ball that thudded against the centerfield fence for a one out triple in the Guardian fourth. An out later, Gabriel Arías drove an 81 mph sweeper into. deep center flied – 423 feet deep – to knot the score at 2-2.

Cleveland untied the knot in the next frame. With the speedy Myles Straw, who had drawn a leadoff wak, on first, José Ramírez lifted a can of corn to center. Brown and Ruíz collided beneath it, and the can of corn became a Texas League double that gave Cleveland and 2-1 lead and brought Zach Jackson in to replace Sears, who had pitched better than his numbers would indicate.

Those numbers were 4-2/3 innings pitched, in which the lefty allowed three runs, all earned, on eight hits, one of them out of the park, and a walk. Sears struck out five Gardoams and threw 98 pitches, 64 for strikes.

The A’s caught up with Cleveland in an improbable way. Kemp started the sixth with a single to left and stole second, advancing to third on a one out ground out to second by Díaz. When Brown swung and missed at a two out, third strike slider that Mike Zunino couldn’t capture, Kemp scored came home on the wild pitch.

So, when Dany Jiménez strolled to the mound to face the Guardians in the top of the second, he was pitching in a game tied at two.

That mean that Trevor Stephan, entering the fray after the cozy gathering of 3,407 had finished its rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” neither starter would be involved in the decision. Bieber had gone sixth innings of three hit ball, in which he allowed as many runs, all earned, and struck out seven opposing batters. 65 of his 89 offerings were strikes, and he reduced is ERA to 2.25.

Jiménez left after a successful 1-2/3 innings to allow southpaw Sam Moll to pitch to fellow lefty Josh Naylor with two down in the top of the eighth, He got him to ground out to short. Enyel de los Santos then took over for Cleveland to face the A’s in the bottom of the frame. He got through the A’s first two batters but surrendered a ringing double to right by Brown and a free pass to Jesús Aguilar before blowing a third strike past Laureano.

And then it was Trevor May, last night’s loser, on the mound for Oakland. He retired Cleveland, allowing only a base on balls.

The Guardians called on James Karinchak ro try to force another extra innings contest. He walked Noda to start the inning but struck out Pérez and retired Ruíz on a productive ground out to second, on which Giménez made a lovely play to prevent a hit. But no one could prevent Kemp’s solid walk off single to right that brought Noda home with the winning, walk off run.

Trevor May earned the win. He’s now 2-1, 3,00. Karinchalk was charged with the loss, leaving him with a record of 0-2, 12.00.

The series will resume and end tomorrow, the fifth. Game time is scheduled for 12:37. Righty Hunter Gaddis (0-0,9.82) will pitch for the visitors. and lefty Kyle Muller (0-0,1.80) will start for the Athletics.

Guardians top A’s 12-11 in back and forth 10 inning game

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Oakland Athletics’ Ramon Laureano hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at the Oakland Coliseum on Monday, April 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

Cleveland. 200 302 030 2 – 12 16. 1

Oakland. 150 020 009 1 – 11 14. 1. 10 innings

Time: 3:19

Attendance: 3,035

Mon April 3, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Without the magnet of Shohei Ohtani to attrack the paying customers, your Oakland Athletics, whose roots may be in The Town, but whose branches might soon cover Las Vegas, fought the Cleveland Guardians ten innings before succumbing 12-11 on this cool, clear, and very windy Monday night in front of an intimate gathering of 3,035 at the Oakland Coliseum.

The home team chose James Kaprielian as its starting pitcher. The 29 year old right hander, who came to the A’s as part of the deal that sent Sonny Gray to the Yankees in 2017, had a roller coaster of a season last year. He went 3-0, 1,89, with an opponents’ OPS of .612, in May and June.

But, if you count–as you must–the remaining four months of the season, his record was 5-9, 4.23, allowing his opponents an OPS of .735. He had a good spring, going 2-1, 2.81.

He began. the day with a lifetime mark of (0-1, 7.70) against Cleveland. He didn’t do that well tonight he lasted five frames and allowed as many runs, all of them earnbed. He surrendered seven. hits, including a home run, and a walk. He threw 89 pitches, 61 for strikes.

The visitors from Ohio, who arrived on the banks of the Nimitz with a 3-1 record, a half game out of the lead in the nascent AL Central Division season, went with Zach Plesac, like Karpielian making his his first start the mattered in 2023. He lasted 53 pitches, in. which he retired all of three Oakland batters. In his 1+ innnings of hard labor, Plessac surrendered six runs, all earned, on five hits, one of them for the distance, and a walk.

Cleveland almost fell victim to the Curse of the Lead Off Double Steven Kwan smacked the first pitch of the game into leftt for a two bagger. Kaprielian reovered to stroike strike out Amed Rosario and Josh Bell, but sandwiched betweenm them was a walk to José Ramírez. Josh Naylor singled to center, and Andrés Giménez gave the Guardians an early 2-0 advantage.

The A’s got one of those runs back in their half of the first on two out wind blown Texas League double by Seth Brown that would have plated Jace Peterson if he had been running full speed on what looked like the third out. Peterson scored on an infield single by the next batter, Conner Capper.

Oakland took the lead in the next frame.Ryan Noda led off with his first major league hit, a single to right. He moved on to third on Shea Langeliers’ line drive that rollled off short stop Rosario’s glove into left for a single. Moments later, Noda scored his first MLB run.

It came on a double to left by Estiuru Ruíz. After Kemp singled to right, Jace Peterson then rolled his first hit and first round tripper. in the show. It carried 401 feet into the right center field seats and put Oakland up 6-2. It also put Pleassc in the showers. He was replaced by Xzaviion Curry.

Naylor closed the gap a bit in the top of the fourth with a first pitch homer that took an 82 mph change up 406 feet into the right field seats, halving the A’s lead to 6-3. Then they almost closed the gap entirely. Jiménez lined one down the right field line that would have been a double if it hadn’t hit first base umpire Doug Eddings.

Will Brenman’s single to left moved Jiménez to second, and both came hone on a Myles Straw two bagger to left. All of a sudden, it was 6-5, with Oakland hanging on by the skin of its teeth.

The green and gold widened their lead to 8-5 in the home fifth thanks to a bunt singleo by Capel and a 408 foot homer to left center off Curry’s 85 mph slider.

Jeurys Familia took over mound duties for Oakland to start the sixth and was greeted by Zunino with a single to left. Brennan then sent a bouncing double play ball bouncing to second. A double play ball that Kemp bobbled. It was scored as a fielder’s choice and an error and opened the door for Straw’s sacrifice bunt to the mound, putting both runners in scoring posiition.

Both score; Zunino on Kwan’s sac fly to left and Brennan on Rosario’s single to center. When Ramírez followed those disaster with a singe to center, the A’s lead stood a 8-7. None of the runs scored on Familia was earned. He gave way to Sam Moll at the start of the seventh frame, and Tim Herrin replaced Curry for Cleveland in the bottom of the inning.

He almost gave up an unearned run on a two base error by his second baseman, but Brown, the beneficiary of Giménez’s misplay, was cut down at the plate trying to score on Laureano’s single to right, Brennan to Zunino.

Then it was the turn of Domingo Acevedo to try to hold off the Guardians in the top of the eighth. Straw led off with a single to left. With Kwan at bat, he stole second. The A’s challenged the call, but it was confirmed on video review.

Kwan then singled to right, driving in Straw with the tying tally; Rosario’s sac fly put Cleveland ahead, 9-8 Ramírez tripled to right in a play that had originally been scored as a single and. a two base error; and Bell’s sac fly to left brought Ramírez home with the Guardians’ tenth run.

After James Karnachak set Oakland down in order in the bottom of the eighth, Acevedo kept Cleveland off the board in spite of having plunked Straw, who then stole second.

Emmanuel Clase walked to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, looking for his second save of the season. Kemp greeted him with a single to second but was eliminated by a pitcher’s best friend, 4-6-3. Díaz wrangled a walk, took second on defensive indifference, and then trotted home on Brown’s majestic 432 foot improbable game tying home run to center, his first round tripper and RBI of the season. The hit it off a 97 mph cutter.

Trevor May pitched the tenth with Kwan as the zombie runner and Rosario at bat. His single to left brought Kwan 90 feet closer to home. He scored on a Ramírez single to center that allowed Rosario to make it to third.

Bell grounded out to second. Naylor was granted an intentional pass; Gabriel Arías pinch ran for him. May unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Rosario to score and the other runners to advance a base each. Giménez struck out and Zounino fouled out to Langiers to end the inning.

Eli Morgan took over pitching duties for Cleveland when the A’s came up for their last chance to stay alive. The speedy Laureano was the ghost runner; he went to third on Noda’s ground out to second and scored when. Ruíz doubled to right. But Kemp flew out to left, and the A’s had lost their third straight game, a game they could have won.

Clase got the win; he’s 1-0. May took the loss; he’s 1-1. Morgan got the save.

The two teams will square off tonight at 6:40 pm, with JP Sears scheduled to toe the rubber for the Athletics and Shane Bieber on the mound for the Guardians .That Tuesday contest will be the second of a three game series before the A’s hit the road for a seven games in seven days trip that will take them to Tampa Bay and Baltimore before they return to face the Mets on the 14th without even a day’s break for travel.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Do these A’s have enough to compete this season?

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Oakland A’s first baseman Jesus Aguilar takes a cut at the baseball is expected to be the regular first baseman this season (file photo by the San Francisco Chronicle)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, taking a look at the three game series the Oakland A’s completed with the Los Angeles Angels the A’s losing two of the three but winning that 2-1 Thursday opener has to be important last Thursday especially against Shohei Ohtani.

#2 Amaury, talk about Jesus Aguilar he went two for four Sunday and is hitting .300 the A’s are depending him to deliver at the plate and hold runners at first base.

#3 The Angels got plenty of help from the usual suspects Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani who both hit a homer in Sunday’s 6-0 win.

#4 Taking a look at the San Francisco Giants Monday they made up for the lack of hitting they had in New York after getting shutout twice by the New York Yankees. They came out bats exploding with four runs in the top of the fifth and five run in the top of the ninth against the Chicago White Sox.

#5 The White Sox are coming off a tough series against the Houston Astros losing two out of three and today they used five pitchers including former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman who actually pitched well in relief two innings no runs or hits.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice for the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco

Anderson and Angels throw shutout against A’s 6-0 at Coliseum; Halos win the rubber game

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Top of the fourth Los Angeles Angles catcher Logan O’Hoppe gets the home run Golden State Warriors hat in the Angels dugout after hitting a three run homer in the top of the fourth inning against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Apr 2, 2023 (@Angels photo)

Los Angeles. 003 300 000. – 6. 11. 0

Oakland. 000 000 000 – 0. 5. 1

Time: 2:32

Attendance: 14,638

Sun April 2, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–In three short days, the Oakland Athletics (1-2) have transformed themselves from gritty, come from behind, and victorious underdogs into just plain underdogs. The biggest disappointment in Saturday’s thrashing by the Los Angeles Angels (2-1) was Shintaro Fujinami, the once a week worker around whose schedule the A’s were willing to distort the rest of the rotation’s scheduled starts.

On the bright side, two of the relief pitchers Oakland used, Jeurys Familia and Sam Moll, were effective, and the other one, Adam Oller, was, came to come back from from a disastrous first two-thirds of an inning to reach an acceptable level of functioning. The bullpen also was the only ray of hope in Sunday’s 6-0 drubbing.

It was up to Ken Waldichuck, who had a pre-season record of 0-4, 10.54, with 12 walks and 13 strike outs. 0-4, 10.54, to hold the Angels off long enough to give the weak hitting Oakland bats and the possibly successful bullpen a chance of taking the rubber game of the season’s opening series. One cause for optimism was Waldichuck’s strong five start against Kansas City in one of the team’s last Arizona warm-ups on March 16.

He pitched four scoreless frames that afternoon before giving up two runs on a single and a home run in the remaining third of an inning of his start. Another positive factor is the one regular season game in which Waldichuck faced the Anaheim crew. Last October 5, he pitched seven scoreless frames against the Angels, holding them to three hits and a walk and getting credit for Oakland’s 3-2 victory.

This afternoon, the 25 year old southpaw from San Diego faced a couple of difficult situations in the early going, but he overcame them. With Mike Trout on second and one down in the top of the first, he retired Shohei Ohtani on a liner to center and Hunter Renfroe on a grounder to short. Two frames later, he fanned Ohtani runners on second and third and two men away.

The water the Oakland starter was in got hotter in the third. Hunter Renfroe led off with a squibbler in front of the plate, and Shea Langeliers’ throw almost hit him as Jesús Aguilar was jumping out of the way of the charging Renfroe. It went as a hit for Renfroe and a throwing error by Langeliers to allow him to advance. It looked as though Waldichuk then hit Luis Rengifo with a pitch. But Renfroe had advanced to third on what he thought was a wild pitch.

A video review showed he was right, so Rengifo returrned to the batter’s box,k and Renfoe remained 90 feet from home. Waldichuck proceeded to strike Gio Urshela out, but then Logan O’Hoppe jumped all over a 91 mph four s eamer and launched 391 feet into the left center field seats for his first career home run and 3-0 Halos lead. Those were hard luck runs, but they were earned.

Alternating on the mound with him was another portsider, Tyler Anderson, making his first regular season start for the Angels since coming to them from the team that correctly describes itself as being from Los Angeles. Before that, Anderson had labored for the Rockies, Giants,, Pirates, and Mariners.

The peripatetic pitcher was a valuable member of the Dodgers’ rotation last year, in which he was named to the NL All Star team. He led the team in innings pitched, with 178-2/3, which resulted in a record of 15-5, 2.57 started against the Padres in the fourth game of the NLDS and shut San Diego out on two hits over five innings.

He impressed his present employers by no hitting them for 8-1/3 frames on June 15, although a post game scorer’s decision changed an error committed in the seventh to an infield single. The 33 year old veteran’s arsenal consists, in descending order of frequency, of a four seam fast ball, which he throws 38% of the time, a change up (31.6%), a cutter, a sinker, and an occasional curve (1.2%). He came to Oakland a 2-0, 1.08 record against the Athletics.

Anderson held the Athletics at bay for six innings, although they had runners in scoring position in the first and fourth, the latter owing to Laureano’s two out leg double. In his stint on the mound, the lefty allowed four hits and struck out four. He issued a pair of passports and plunked one batter. He threw 93 pitches, 59 of them strikes. His successor was Andrew Wantz. Carlos Estevez handled the A’s in the ninth

Taylor Ward led off the fifth with a single to left center, and then Trout blasted his first rounder tripper of the year, a 434 foot shot to dead center, and Ohtani, not to be outdone, whacked Waldichuk’s next offering, an 80 mph sweeper, 447 feet into the second deck in right center field.

Bingo! In 6-0 in favor of Phil Nevin’s band of angels. Waldichuk lasted three batters into. the top of the sixth, David Fletcher’s two out fly to right was ruled, on review, to be a fair ball that resulted in a single. Zach Jackson came in to pitch and promptly gave up a single, a walk, and a wild pitch before getting Ohtani to swing and miss at an inning ending third strike.

Waldichuk had gone 5–2/3 innings and surrendered six runs, all earned, on nine hits, three of them out of the park, a walk, a wild pitch, and a hit batter. He had three Ks to hi credit. 59 of hiw 96 pitches went into the record as strikes.

Jackson didn’t come out for the visitors’ seventh; that job fell to Adrián Martínez, recently recalled from Las Vegas. He had looked good in the early innings of his few starts in the Coliseum last year but always managed to fall apart as the game progressed. Using him in middle relief seemed a good idea, and it was. The righty from Mexicali allowed just one hit in three innings and fielded his position well, with two assists and a put out.

The win went to Anderson; the loss, to Waldichuk. There was no save.

The Cleveland Guardians come to town tomorrow. Monday’s game is a 6:40 start with the A’s James Kaprielian scheduled to start against fellow righty Zach Plesac for the Guardians.

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Astros Alvarez beats M’s with one swing of the bat in walk homer; Yanks Cole and Rizzo provide help in 4-1 win over Cleveland; plus more

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The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez watches flight of his home run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Tue Oct 11, 2022 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica lets look at the MLB playoffs from Tuesday night. The Houston Astros took the first game of the ALDS getting by the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston 7-5. The Astros Yordan Alvarez crushed a three run walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth for the win.

#2 The New York Yankees got a 4-1 win past the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched 6.1 innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk, and eight strikeouts for the win. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run and had two RBIs in the win.

#3 The Philadelphia Phillies just got by the Atlanta Braves 7-6 at Truist Park in Cobb County. The Phils held onto to the win despite the Braves scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a last attempt to come back.

#4 The Los Angles Dodgers drew first blood in game one of the NLDS defeating the San Diego Padres 5-3 at Dodgers Stadium. The Dodgers scored early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and three runs in the bottom of third inning.

#5 Lastly Jessica the Guardians pitcher Nick Sandlin will miss the rest of the 2022 post season after going through an MRI that showed he has a major muscle injury in the right shoulder. How will Sandlin’s absence impact the Guardians pitching in the post season?

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports Wednesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: National Anthem standoff doesn’t quite workout as planned; Braves honored at White House

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From left, Braves President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos, manager Brian Snitker, President Joe Biden, and Braves President and CEO Terry McGuirk who were celebrating their 2021 Championship at the White House on Mon Sep 26, 2022 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Seattle Mariners Robbie Ray and the Kansas City Royals Luke Weaver both did a national anthem standoff and while after the anthem was played both Ray and Weaver stayed in front of their respective dugouts with their hats over their hearts until the umpire threw them both out of the game on Sunday.

#2 President Biden welcomed the World Champion Atlanta Braves to celebrated their World Series victory in 2021. Biden said that the Braves “unstoppable” the Braves presented Biden with a number 46 jersey for being the 46th president.

#3 The Cleveland Guardians made an unexpected finish finishing at the top of the AL Central to clinch the division with a win over the Texas Rangers. The Guardians are the youngest team in baseball as well.

#4 Amaury, Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly has announced that he will not manage the Marlins past this season. Mattingly had been with the Marlins since 2016 and did not option to seek a contract extension.

#5 The Marlins wore the Cuban Sugar Cane uniforms over the weekend. The Marlins wanted to honor the former Triple A team the Sugar Canes. The Sugar Canes were a minor league team from 1954-60.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The best division in baseball plus

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Copy of the New York Daily News announcing the New York Mets and New York Yankees in the Subway World Series in 2000 edition could the two cross city rivals meet again in this year’s fall classic? (photo by wikipedia)

The Best Division in Baseball, Plus

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–For the first time this 2022 season there will be a third wild card team on each league. No division in baseball is better than the American League East, with the New York Yankees walking-away with the best record in baseball and Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston poised for a tremendous race.

For the first time ever, a division could have three wild card teams going into the postseason and a total of four of the five teams in this division playing in October.

The American League East is the only division in baseball with four teams playing over .500. In the AL West, there is only one team to beat, Dusty Baker’s Houston Astros, they are the best team and will stay in first place.

The LA Angels are sputtering again, after a very nice start, they went into a funk lost 14 in a row, from May 25 to June 8,and Joe Maddon (one of the best managers in baseball) was sent packing.

Next managerial change could come from Seattle, where expectations were high for this team to win this year. Manager Scott Servais and General Manager Jerry DiPoto are in the hot seat. The Texas Rangers spend a fortune (close to half billion dollars) signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they are both starting to play the way everybody expected, but I do not believe they have the pitching to overtake their State rivals Houston Astros.

The Oakland A’s are what they are. All the other teams have more established talent, they are trying to compete with rookie manager Mark Kotsay, a good baseball man, but the best jockey in the world cannot win the race if the horse is limping.

In the Central Division, considered the weakest in all the major leagues, supposed to be an easy one for the Chicago White Sox, but the great Tony LaRussa is not having much fun so far, star closer Liam Hendriks just placed into the IL.

The Minnesota Twins will be in the playoffs, as of today leading that division and the Cleveland Guardians are playing good baseball, leading the way at third-base, José Ramirez an early candidate for MVP. Watch out for the Indians, sorry, the Guardians, they have a good team and a terrific manager in Terry Francona.

There are some 100 games left for each team this season. While in New York they are talking about a Subway Series, Mets vs Yankees. Most recently, in 2000 the New York teams faced each other with the Yankees winning in five games, a memorable series, which I happened to worked for the Latino Baseball Network.

In other cities there is lots of disappointment. In Los Angeles, the Dodgers, whose manager, Dave Roberts predicted a 2022 World Series win during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, when he said “We will win the World Series in 2022. We will win the World Series this year.”

The Dodgers have pitching problems, ace Walker Buehler recently went into the IL, Julio Urias is not going to win 20 games again this season (he was the only to win 20 last season) plus mixed with an inconsistent offense, the Dodgers have stuff to “figure out”, they do have the talent.

The San Diego Padres, at this time, even with the delayed return of superstar Fernando Tatis Jr, looks like the team that could win this division. Bob Melvin is doing a great job, which is nothing new for the three-time Manager of the Year.

The San Francisco Giants, while they are not going to win 107 games again, they find a way to win series, starter Jacob Junis went into the IL, veterans like Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt, can’t seem to stay healthy.

Giants lost some pieces in the off-season, perhaps the biggest one, starter Kevin Gausman who had his best year ever in 2021 with a 14-6 record, and 2.81 ERA, he left for a very lucrative contract in Toronto. Nobody expected the Giants to have a similar season as 2021, which was a dream season, when every player at the same time, had great years.

Trades: The new deadline this year is set for August 2. There will be many trades, some earlier than others, but the greatest commodities are starting pitchers. they are in high demand. Many of the teams with hopes of postseason play will reinforce themselves. In today’s game the old saying “you never have enough pitching” is new again.

Happy Fathers Day weekend.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of Oakland A’s baseball on the A’s Spanish radio network and on flagship station Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco and News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Warriors Thompson wants to win it badly; Giants surprise with weekend sweep of LA; plus more

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Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) says he wants to win the NBA Finals badly after being laid off the last two NBA seasons with injuries (file photo by USA Today)

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Tony, I know you have a lot to say about the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors in game 5 of the NBA Finals last night at Chase Center in San Francisco. Warriors series tied up at 2-2 the Warriors Andrew Wiggins who at one time contemplated taking a Covid 19 vaccine shot or stay off the team that was nine months ago Wiggins thought the better of it and where he is now? He led the Warriors with 26 points last night to go up 3-2 in the series.

#2 Game six is in Boston is on Thursday night the Warriors Klay Thompson was quoted as saying “I want to frigging win” remarking on his long three year wait after sitting out two straight seasons with an ACL and Achilles injuries.

#3 Tony have to ask you about the recent sweep of the San Francisco Giants over the Los Angeles Dodgers there are a lot of people in baseball who are shocked about three straight over a Dodger team like this.

#4 The Oakland A’s will try and pick up a win in Boston tonight. They won only one game on the current road trip which started in getting swept in two games in Atlanta and then getting losing three of four games in Cleveland needless to say it’s been tough sledding for Oakland as they open for three games tonight in Boston.

#5 Tony, Phil Mickelson met with the media on Monday at the US Open and he was needless to say very uneasy in the meeting. He was evasive, dodged some of the questions, he wasn’t nervous but it was obvious that he didn’t want to be at the podium and afraid of questions regarding his book in consideration about joining Saudi Super Golf League.

Join Tony for Headline Sports podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Preview Oakland A’s vs. Boston Red Sox: A’s hope to improve win record at Fenway Park as series starts Tuesday

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Oakland A’s starter Jared Koenig who lost his first game in his Major League debut on Wed Jun 8, 2022 at Truist Field in Cobb County against the Atlanta Braves will face the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s arrived in Boston Sunday night after finishing a four-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. The A’s managed to beat the Guardians on Saturday 10-5. The A’s have lost fourteen of their last 16 games.

They find themselves in the cellar in the AL West. Their record is a woeful 21-41. However, their bats showed signs of life as they bashed four home runs in the 10-5 win on Saturday. Their hitters slugger three solo dingers in the 6-3 loss to the Guardians on Sunday.

A’s first baseman, Christian Bethancourt, has started to hit. He raised his batting average to .269. His on-base percentage is a respectable .310. He has hit four homers and driven in 15.

In fourth place in the very tough AL East, the Red Sox went 8-2 on the completed 10-game road trip. The Sox are now 32-29 for the season. Injuries, however, are starting to affect the pitching.

Starters Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are on the 15-day IL. Chris Sale is still not available. The Red Sox still have a very potent lineup. Their All-Star candidates include third baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, second baseman Trevor Story, and DH J.D. Martinez.

The Red Sox cannot afford to take the A’s lightly. The A’s play better on the road. They are 14-18 away from the Oakland Coliseum. They are a woeful 7-23 at home.

The A’s showed they have some pop in their bats as they sent seven balls into the seats in the last two games of the Cleveland series. They hope to continue pounding the ball in the hitter-friendly confines of Boston’s Fenway Park.

The A’s will send lefty Jared Koenig to the hill Tuesday night. Koenig will be making his second start in his brief Major League career. In his first outing, he made it into the fourth inning. He absorbed the loss, and his ERA is 9.00. Nick Pivetta (5-5, 3.78 ERA) goes for Boston.

On Wednesday, James Kaprielian will handle the pitching chores for the A’s. James is 0-3, and his ERA is 5.73. He pitched better in his last outing but did not get the decision. The A’s feel James is rounding back into the form he showed last season.

The Red Sox have not announced their starting pitchers for Wednesday or Thursday. The A’s starter on Thursday will be Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is 5-2 with a very tidy era of 2.31. Blackburn went eight innings in his last outing against Cleveland.

He was ahead 2-0 when he left the game. The Guardians rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth as the A’s bullpen melted down again.

As baseball fans know, anything can happen in games played at Fenway Park. Fenway has been a hitter’s paradise for over 100 years.

The A’s would love to get back into the win column and take at least two out of three from the Sox in a series that starts on Friday night. Boston would love to sweep the A’s again. As always, it should be a fun series.

On Friday night the A’s return to the Oakland Coliseum to host the Kansas City Royals for a three game series.