Tag: Coco Crisp

¡Vamos Los Athleticos!

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By Emily Zahner

Welcome to September baseball in Oakland, where unlikely players step up and prove they belong as the Oakland Athletics (83-60) push forward to the post season. In the finale of season series, the A’s defeated the Houston Astros (47-96) by a score of 7-2. Oakland took the season series 15-4, as the Astros stood no chance after in the beginning of the season the A’s had gone 10-0 against their new division rivals.

Bartolo Colon was on the mound for the A’s this afternoon, and looked like he didn’t have his best stuff. On first pitch, Colon instantly struggled, giving up a leadoff single, followed by an RBI double. Before Colon had thrown five pitches, the A’s were already down 1-0. He regained composure and quickly settled down after the initial shock and fanned the next two batters and got the final out on a ground out. Colon went on to have a great outing, pitching six innings and surrendering five hits and just one earned run with seven strike outs. Manager Bob Melvin was pleased, praising his starter saying “I thought he was really good. After the first two hitters, that got his attention in a hurry. He ramped it up, had really good movement, good location today. A lot of good things came out of Bartolo’s outing today.” Colon improves to 15-6 with his win today.

Rookie RHP Paul Clemens was scheduled to start today for Houston, but was scratched at the last minute due to a blister, so the Astros called upon relief pitcher Lucas Harrell to take the mound. Harrell sailed through the first two innings, surrendering one hit and one walk, but he fell apart at the seams when the third rolled around. Stephen Vogt was the first and last batter of the inning as the A’s batted around and scored seven runs. Brandon Moss had a huge two out two-run double, Yoenis Cespedes and Daric Barton each added runs with RBI singles, and then Seth Smith capped it off by crushing a huge 3-run homerun into the right field bleachers.   Smith would be pinch hit for his next at bat, but the skipper was pleased, “That was big for Smitty, it was a key blow in the game”.

Things seemed to be clicking for the A’s lineup today as they tallied 11 hits total. In the 7th spot, Daric Barton went 2-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored, highlighted by his two-out RBI single in the big third. Cespedes was swinging the bat well today as well, going 2-4 with a run scored. Melvin gave a lot of credit to his left fielder, saying “we have better energy when he is swinging the bat… he’s as important as everybody knows to us. If this is the time when he’s heating up, it’s certainly a good time for it.”

The A’s close out their second to last homestand going 8-2, a record they will gladly take. Melvin recounted, “It started out good and ended up good. We’ll take it”.

Oakland has an off day tomorrow before beginning a 6-game road trip, starting with a 3-game series against the Twins on Tuesday, a team they have yet to face this year. After Minnesota, the A’s travel to Arlington for an all too important 3-game series against their division rivals Texas Rangers, who defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim today by a score of 4-3. The A’s now hold a 1.5 game lead on the Rangers.

Game Notes—Brandon Moss went 3-for-4 this afternoon with two singles, a double, and two RBIs. The A’s top three hitters, (Coco Crisp, Eric Sogard, Jed Lowrie) combined for 1-14 today with two strike outs. Brett Anderson got the save, pitching three innings and surrendering three hits and one earned run. Anderson struck out three.

Rangers beat the A’s, back in first place

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s squared off against the Texas Rangers Tuesday night at the Coliseum in the battle for first place in the AL West division.  Bartolo Colon was on the hill for the A’s but he did not go past the fifth inning again as the A’s lost to the Rangers 5-1. Colon’s record drops to 14-6 and  he has not won since late July. The Rangers’ starter, left-handed pitcher Martin Perez went 7 innings allowed eight hits but just one run in winning his 9th game of the year. The Rangers are now in first place and the A’s are just a game behind.  The game summary follows.

The A’s took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Coco Crisp doubled and then scored on a single by Yoenis Cespedes. The Rangers tied the score in the third on a home run off the bat of Mitch Moreland.

The Rangers scored three unearned runs in the fifth to take a 4-1. Bartolo  Colon was charged with an error when he couldn’t handle a ball hit right back to him. The Rangers then put together a double and two singles to put the three runs on the board.

The Rangers’ Alex Rios hit his fourteenth home run of the year  to start the eighth inning. Rangers now lead 5-1.

The A’s could do nothing against the Rangers bullpen and the final score was 5-1 in favor of Texas.

Game notes- Josh Donaldson made the defensive play of the year that will be a web gem for sure.

He made a great backhand catch of a foul ball while falling behind the tarp on the third base side of the diamond.  Bob Melvin said “you won’t see a better play than that.” Melvin also commented that he took Colon out of the game after five inning as “he had thrown 80 plus pitches and took a ball off his hand.” He didn’t think Texas knocked Colon around but Colon hit 92 MPH on the radar game just once or twice. Most of his pitches were 87-89 MPH.

The A’s lost for just the third time in their last eleven games and snapped a four game winning streak.

Yoenis Cespedes was 2 for 4 and it was his third straight two hit game. Michael Choice recorded his first Major League hit.

The A’s play the Rangers again Wednesday at 12:35. Sonny Gray will be pitching for the A’s hoping to get his third win of the season and he will be opposed by the Rangers ace, Yu Darvish who has a record of 12-6.

The A’s recalled left handed pitcher Tommy Milone from Single-A Stockton and right-handed pitcher Evan Scribner from Triple-A Sacramento. The A’s also selected right-handed pitcher Pat Neshek from Sacramento. To make room on the 40 man roster, the A’s designated lefty Hideki Okajima for assignment. Luke Montz , who was designated for assignment on Sunday, was released.

 

Attendance was 16,133

The A’s win, back in first place

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s, just a game behind the Rangers, opened a three game series with the Division leaders starting on Labor Day. This is going to be a huge series. The A’s will need to win two out three to be even with Texas for the division lead. The last thing either team wants to be is a Wild Card Entry. The Rangers found that out last year when they lost a one game playoff to the Orioles and were eliminated.

The 23,495 people who were here in attendance were not disappointed as the A’s beat the Rangers 4-2 and  the A’s moved into a first place tie with the Rangers. Dan Straily started for the A’s and went five innings getting credit for his eighth win of the year. The Rangers’ starter, Derek Holland, took the loss. Both teams now have an identical record of 79-58 with 25 games left in the season.

The A’s took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo home run for his 21st home run of the year. Alberto Callaspo doubled and scored on a single by Chris Young.  The Rangers tied the game in the top of the fifth. Straily walked Mitch Moreland to start the inning and Moreland scored when David Murphy homered to tie the score.

The A’s came back to take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Michael Choice reached first on a throwing error by Rangers’ third baseman Adrian Beltre. Coco Crisp followed with a home run that barely made it over the left field wall and the umpires called it a home run but decided to review the play. After a minute or two, the umps came back and ruled in the A’s favor. A’s now lead 4-2.

There was no more scoring. Bob Melvin used four relievers to close out the Rangers. The Rangers did threaten a couple of times. Dan Otero worked out of a jam in the sixth and Grant Balfour had men on second and third with two outs in the ninth. Balfour got Beltre to ground out to end the game and earn his 36th save of the year.

Game notes- The A’s have won four straight and seven of the last eight and are in first place since August 9th. Dan Straily is 3-1 with in ERA of 2.63 during day games. Strailly when asked after the game if there was any extra pressure on him for this game replied “Not really, but you understand the magnitude of the situation.”  Coco Crisp hit his 17th home run of the year which is a career high. Crisp has homered 7 times in his last 12 games. Crisp left the game with when he hit a foul ball off his right shin. Bob Melvin said “it is a right shin contusion and we’ll see how he is tomorrow.”  Michael Choice made his Major League debut and walked his first time up and reached on an error. Melvin said Choice reaching on the error”was a huge play in the game.” Melvin used Brett Anderson in relief.  Melvin said that he would keep him there for a while as the starting rotation is ok. Grant Balfour picked up his 36th save of the year but it was not easy. However, Balfour worked out the jam and Melvin commented that “Balfour had to find a little extra will and would have to make a pitch and get out of the game.”

Game two of the three game series will be Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Game time will be 7pm.

Bartolo Colon(14-5) will start for the A’s and the Rangers’ will send  lefty Martin Perez(8-3) to the mound.

Game time 2 hours and 28 minutes.

A’s are ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ on the Sonny Gray express, beat Rays 2-0

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By Emily Zahner and Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND, CA—“Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes… some call it slums some call it nice. I want to take you through a wasteland I like to call my home… Welcome to Paradise.” Well, it may not be the most modern or high-tech stadium in the world, but many still call the O.Co home. Sure, our sewers back up on occasion, and we’ve tarped off the third deck, but hey, to A’s fans, this place is our own personal paradise. In front of a 35,067 sell-out crowd on Saturday evening, rookie Sonny Gray (2-2) with a little offensive help from Coco Crisp (3-4; 2 1B, HR), reminded us of just that. The crowds may have flocked to the coliseum to see Bay Area natives and Academy Award winning Green Day on their themed fireworks night, but they were treated to quite the show and reminded of the true passion this team exudes.

In their final game of August, the Oakland Athletics (77-58) and Tampa Bay Rays (75-59) engaged in a pitchers’ duel that saw a total of 2 runs scored on 12 hits. Sonny Gray had another spectacular outing, pitching 6 2/3 innings, only giving up five hits and striking out seven. After a tough outing his last time out in Baltimore, Gray returned to form and handed the Rays their sixth loss in seven days with a 2-0 dominating pitching performance. Gray appeared to be in control of every pitch and knew exactly where to place it. He started out strong to start the game as he struck out five batters in the first two innings. A’s manager Bob Melvin was impressed with his rookie starter. When asked about his performance, Melvin said he was “Great again, in a game like that, both guys are pitching pretty well and runs might be tough to come by and that was the case. And we got just enough and boy he did his job.”

Rays starter Alex Cobb was equally as impressive. Pitching a complete game loss, Cobb only gave up five hits, striking out seven in the process. Melvin knew what he was up against before the game even started, “Cobb has been tough on us. We did well then he started to settle down on us. He pitches backwards. He’ll get ahead of you and it’s hard to think ahead of him. He’s a tough guy to face.”

It wasn’t until the 6th inning that the A’s were able to solve Cobb. After a leadoff triple by Stephen Vogt, Coco Crisp singled up the middle for the first run of the game. Coco added another run to the tally when he homered off Cobb in the 8th to bring the lead to 2-0. Grant Balfour came in to pitch in the ninth, and made things a little interesting. The Rays tried to make a ball game when after a Myers double and walk off of Grant Balfour in the ninth, Desmond Jennings hit a single to center field that scored Myers but Balfour was able to calm down and get pinch hitting Kelly Johnson to ground out to first to end the game.

The A’s are feeling good after tonight’s win, Gray can feel the energy changing, “I feel like we’re playing great all around. Great defense, great hitting, this is a fun locker room to be in right now”.

Oakland looks to keep the good vibes going when they finish off the three game series with the Rays tomorrow afternoon before facing AL West leading Texas in a three game series starting Monday.

Pitchers’ duel becomes batters’ brawl; Suzuki blasts 3-run HR

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By George Devine, Sr.

August 30, 2013

The Athletics began a long homestand against Tampa Bay with an atmosphere suggestive of a postseason confrontation. Just over 15,000 came to O.co Coliseum – without the Bay Bridge in operation — on a balmy (69 degree) evening to see a pitchers’ duel between LHP David Price and RHP Jarrod Parker….that is, until the fifth inning. Up to that point, the Rays had scored the game’s only run, when in the second Desmond Jennings walked, stole second and came home on Yuniel Escobar’s grounder to center field. But in the fifth, Kurt Suzuki broke it open with a three-run homer. It came after Alberto Callaspo hit one of Price’s pitches in the direction of second baseman Ben Zobrist, who committed his firsr error after 81 games. Chris Young then walked and Suzuki took Price deep.

In the eighth, after Parker had thrown 100 pitches, the first two Rays reached base. Ryan Cook came in to relieve him, and gave up a single. Matt Joyce sacrificed to score a run, then James Loney doubled past Young in center to make it 3-3 In the bottom of the frame, with Joel Peralta in relief, Coco Crisp led off with a base hit and scored on Jed Lowrie’s double to make the score 4-3 in favor of the home team.

Cook got the win (6-3) and Price the loss (8-6). Grant Balfour notched his 34th save.

The win puts Oakland a half-game ahead of the Rays in the race for the first wild card spot, and two games behind Texas in the AL West.

The A’s and Tampa Bay face off again at 6:05 p .m. on Saturday, August 31 with Sonny Gray (1-2, 3.18 ERA) opposing Alex Cobb (8-2, 2.67) on a fireworks night.

On Tuesday, September 3, Oakland Athletics’ Owner Lew Wolff and family members, as well as Hitting Coach Chili Davis, will serve meals at Oakland’s St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County’s dining room and tour the facility’s community center which also houses administrative staff, some limited medical care, free drop-in help for families, a free clothing closet and both culinary and transitional employee training programs.

Three generations of the Wolff family—Mr. Wolff, daughter Kari Wolff and grandson Arthur Wolff—will join Davis, a former three-time Major League All-Star and three-time World Series champion, in serving lunch to SVDP’s clients from 10:45-11:30 a.m., before taking a tour of the facility. Wolff wants his daughter and grandson to experience the lives of people who are less fortunate and understand the value and obligation of giving back to your community. Also, the Wolff family and Mr. Davis wanted to stress to everyone that St. Vincent de Paul provides meals, clothing and services to more than 4,000 people each year, and that their financial and volunteer help is sorely needed throughout the year—not only during the holiday season.

Wolff last week donated $5,000 for much-needed backpacks for St. Vincent’s children, as they begin the new school year. In addition, the A’s owner is hand-delivering 100 tickets to the Oakland-Minnesota game on Thursday, Sept. 19, with a challenge to the Bay Area community to donate at least $50 to St. Vincent de Paul in exchange for two free tickets.

The Oakland A’s and St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County have forged a long-time relationship, with the team’s front office employees preparing and serving meals at the facility’s dining the holiday season and donating funding, food and other supplies to the area’s prime community center. In addition, Athletic players, coaches and managers have donated their time in servicing SVDP’s clients during the team’s season and off-season. This marks the 75th anniversary of service provided by St. Vincent de Paul to Alameda County.

Parker brings the funk to Oakland

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Saturday, August 03, 2013

O.Co Coliseum

By Emily Zahner

OAKLAND, CA—Saturday morning, Jarrod Parker tweeted to his fans that he would not be showering before the game today. Whether this was an act of superstition, or he just ran out of time, Parker definitely brought the funk to the mound this afternoon. Coincidentally, the A’s had a ticket promotion today, giving fans that purchased special tickets a pair of Oakland “Zubaz” pants, a funky zebra print with green and gold coloring. Whatever Parker’s reasoning might have been, it obviously worked, and Parker might not be showering before starts ever again.

In front of 28,304 Oakland faithful with some Texas red and blue sprinkled in, the A’s (64-46) defeated the Rangers (61-50) 4-2 on the back of Jarrod Parker. Parker threw 107 pitched through six innings, giving up just six hits and two earned runs. Texas newcomer Matt Garza pitched a complete game, throwing 114 pitches, surrendering eight hits and four runs, all earned. With the win this afternoon, the A’s snapped their three game losing streak, the Rangers snap their five game winning streak, and the gap between these two teams in the division increased to three and a half games.

Matt Garza, who normally performs tremendously against the A’s, was out of sorts. The A’s jumped on him quick in the first, becoming the only team to ever score a run against Garza in the first inning. After a smattering of hits by the A’s, Garza added a new pitch to his repertoire when he threw a temper tantrum after two consecutive bunts by A’s hitters in the 7th. Coco Crisp reached first on a bunt and Eric Sogard extended his hit streak to 11 games with a bunt single as well. Garza had some colorful words to say so Sogard, to which Sogard smiled and took it as being “in the heat of the moment”. A’s Manager Bob Melvin said sometimes you have to “create a little havoc… sometimes it’s the right thing to do”. Garza, from the dugout, also had some choice words to say about A’s relief pitcher Ryan Cook pausing the game to have the mound attended to. Melvin laughed, saying the mound took a beating today and he could see his pitchers struggling with it. Commenting on what needed to be attended to on the mound, Melvin explained “some pitchers are just more violent than others”.

Starting in his first game at second for the green and gold, Alberto Callaspo continued to hit the ball well. Although he has yet to put up any numbers, currently 0-for-13, Callaspo has been having great atbats and putting good wood on the ball. This afternoon, he went 0-2 with a walk and a run scored. Crisp and Brandon Moss each connected for two hits, and Yoenis Cespedes crushed his 17th homerun of the season.

Prior to today’s game, the A’s announced they had optioned LHP Tommy Milone to Sacramento, and recalled RHP Evan Scribner. Milone was told he was sent down because off upcoming off days and no need for a fifth starter; he hopes to work on location and keeping the ball down while down in AAA.

The A’s and Rangers complete their three game series tomorrow, Sunday August 4th at 1:05pm PST. Probable starters are AJ Griffin (10-7 3.90 ERA) and Derek Holland (8-6 3.18 ERA)

Game Notes:

Yoenis Cespedes hit his 17th Homerun of the season. Ian Kinsler hit his 10th, the first homerun that Parker has allowed in four games. During the game, the A’s announced the acquisition of RHP Fernando Nieve, whom their acquired from Cleveland for cash. The Venezuela native has a 9.0 ERA and a 0-1 record with 6 innings pitched. Eric Sogard extends his hit streak to 11 games.