Tag: Houston Astros

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: NL opponents always set for Dodgers; Astros hold onto first, everyone out for them too; plus more

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Photo credit: @ChicagoSports

On Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury, in the power rankings, everybody in the National League seems ready to chase the Dodgers as the team to beat every time they face the Dodgers.

#2 The Houston Astros the first place team in the AL West and have been giving their AL opponents some fits this season. Although they hit a rough patch, losing three of their last 10 games, they’ve been proving that opponents are going after them.

#3 The Milwaukee Brewers, who almost took out the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason last year, are another team who’s contending. They are just two games out of first place in the NL Central only trailing the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers are stocked with offense, including slugger Christian Yelich.

#4 Not too far in the distant future, the Tampa Bay Rays will be splitting their home games at Parc Olympic in Montreal. How much of a serious indication that their days in Tampa Bay are numbered?

#5 The Oakland City council are putting the Oakland A’s through the new stadium question test. Their main questions are paying for the new Howard Terminal location, and besides running a gondola from 12th Street BART to Howard Terminal, the council is looking for more answers to getting fans to the new stadium by other public transportation means.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play by play announcer heard on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s try to figure how to snap out of funk; Keuchel’s the hot commodity as free agent; plus more

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Photo credit: crawfishboxes.com

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 The A’s are in the middle of a five-game losing streak. They took Monday off and open up a road trip in Anaheim and Texas after getting swept by Houston. Is this a laundry list of things that manager Bob Melvin has to be concerned about?

#2 Frankie Montas will start on Tuesday night and has pretty much been the bright note in the A’s pitching rotation at 6-2, 2.81 ERA. Sometimes, it takes a spark to get things going again and Montas has had some games where he has been lights out.

#3 Free agent Dallas Keuchel is still up for grabs. He hasn’t pitched all season. Once signed, could he jump right in and help a ball club right away?

#4 Another free agent is the former Boston Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel, who can also help a club. He hasn’t thrown a pitch since the World Series. Could Kimbrel be ready once he’s called on.

#5 The Giants are playing on the road this past week against two last place clubs, including the Baltimore Orioles. What does getting a couple win off the Orioles mean for the Giants after struggling much of this season and opened up the series in New York with a 9-3 win over the Mets ?

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez this week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s try to end 5-game skid as they open 5-game road trip Tuesday

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Photo credit: theathletic.com

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The A’s are in the midst of a six-game skid. The Houston Astros will do that for a club after the A’s took a three-game sweep.

#2 The series with the Astros saw two ejections on Saturday as the A’s Marcus Seimen was thrown out for arguing that a ball he hit was fair, but ruled foul, then on Sunday, the A’s Stephen Piscotty took a third strike that he protested and was thrown out arguing balls and strikes.

#3 The A’s got through a 10-game win streak and now have gone the other way. What does manager Bob Melvin tell the club at this point?

#4  The A’s Matt Chapman said after Sunday’s game that the Astros have had the A’s number all season long.

#5 The A’s open up a road trip in Los Angeles and Texas for Tuesday night in Anaheim. The A’s will start Frankie Montas (6-2, 2.81 ERA) vs. the Angels Griffin Canning (2-1, 3.06 ERA).

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

HOU 2
Photo/Graphic: @Astros

By Charlie O. Mallonee

Coming home to the Oakland Coliseum has not been a good thing for the Oakland Athletics. After winning 11 consecutive games, the A’s have now lost four games in a row at home. They have also lost a second consecutive series at home.

The first-place Houston Astros downed the A’s 5-1 on Saturday night at the Coliseum behind the “lights out” pitching of Justin Verlander (9-2, 2.27 ERA). The perennial All-Star pitcher worked 8.0-innings allowing just one run (earned) off four hits. Verlander struck out eight Oakland hitters while walking just two.

The A’s only run of the game came in the second inning when Stephen Piscotty hit the first pitch from Verlander over the wall in right field for his seventh home run of the season.

Brett Anderson (6-4, 3.95 ERA) made the start for Oakland. He worked 5.1-innings giving up three runs (all earned) on eight hits. Anderson struck out two and walked two.

The A’s used two relief pitchers in the contest. Yusmeiro Petit pitched 2.2-innings of perfect baseball while striking out two Astros. Joakim Soria closed out the game pitching the ninth inning and giving up two runs off two hits (1 HR).

A’s Spotlight

HOU3
Marcus Semien ejected Photo: @Athletics
  • Anderson has allowed five home runs in his last four starts after he gave up just one homer in his previous eight starts.
  • Ramon Laureano recorded his sixth assist of the year on Saturday. The center fielder threw Robinson Chirinos out as he attempted to advance to second base in the fourth inning.
  • Speaking of Laureano, he extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games when he singled off Verlander in the fifth inning.
  • Marcus Semien was ejected in the fifth inning of the game. It was the first time Semien has been ejected from a game in his career.
  • Stephen Piscotty has possessed the hot bat for the A’s during this homestand. He went 2-for-4 on Saturday and he is batting .417 (10-for-24) with five runs, two doubles, two home runs, and four RBI in the eight games.

Houston Notes

HOU 4
Graphic: @Astros
  • Justin Verlander passed Cy Young for 21st on the all-time strikeout list (that’s impressive). Verlander is now for tied for the most wins in the Major Leagues with nine victories.
  • Josh Reddick is happy to back in the Coliseum. He has hit home runs in consecutive games for the first time since September 15 and 16, 2018. Reddick is hitting .412 (7-for-17) with three home runs and five RBI in four games in the Coliseum this season.
  • Michael Brantley now leads the MLB in multi-hit games after going 2-for-3 with a walk on Saturday. He has posted 27 multi-hit games. Brantley has recorded 72 hits already this season and is tied for first in the American League.

Up Next

The Astros and A’s will wrap up their series on Sunday at 1:07 PM PDT. Houston will send RHP Gerrit Cole (5-5, 4.04 ERA) to the mound to try and make it a sweep over Oakland. The A’s will counter with RHP Chris Bassitt (3-1, 3.27 ERA) in order to try and stop their losing streak.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s have dropped three straight, what changed between now and their 10-game win streak?

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photo from houstonchronicle.com: The Houston Astros’ Derek Fisher (21) crosses the plate past Oakland A’s catcher Josh Phegley (19) after Fisher’s eighth inning home run at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday night.

On the A’s podcast with Joey:

#1 The A’s lost again a tough one with A’s pitcher Mike Fiers going with a 2-0 lead, but the Astros touched him up in the top of the seventh for two runs to tie the game and he was then lifted for reliever Lou Trivino.

#2 The Houston Astros have a potent lineup and even with a two-run A’s lead, the Astros are very unpredictable when they could break out the bats.

#3 The A’s kept Astros hitter Michael Brantley ,who was hitting in three hole at bay. Brantley hit .329 and went 1-4 on Friday night.

#4 How tough is this third straight loss after the A’s had won 10 straight games?

#5 For Saturday night’s starters: Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander (8-2) vs. the A’s Brett Anderson (6-3)

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

A’s fall to Astros 3-2

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Photo credit: @sfnewsnow

By: Lewis Rubman

R | H | E
Houston: 3 | 8 | 0
Oakland: 2 | 6 | 1

OAKLAND — Both the division leading Houston Astros (37-20) and the second place Oakland Athletics (29-27) went into tonight’s contest facing problems that hadn’t existed a week ago. The Astros lost the services of Carlos Correa, the Rookie of the Year for 2015 and 2018 shortstop, when a massage therapist walked all over him, cracking his ribs. This came on the heels of José Altuve’s being placed on the injured list on May 11. The A’s saw their 11-game unbeated streak broken and initiated a two-game losing streak. In those games, the team showed an outstanding ability to overcome late inning deficits, but also experienced some distressing breakdowns in the back end of the their bullpen.

One of the unpleasant surprises of Wednesday’s 11-inning loss by the A’s to the Angels was a third inning error by the usually impeccable Gold and Platinum Glove winner, Matt Chapman. Tonight, the Astros mounted their first threat of the game in the top of the first when what would have been a double play ground ball by Robinson Chirinos went through Chapman’s legs, setting up a two men on, one man out situation. Fortunately for the hometown crew, starting pitcher Mike Fiers (4-3, 5.00 ERA) picked off an overeager Yuli Gurriel, who had advanced to second on the previous play, and then got Tyler White to fly out to Laureano in center.

It looked as if the A’s would get to Houston’s starter, Brad Peacock (5-2, 3.19 ERA) in the second, when Canha and Profar walked to open the inning. But Laureano hit into a 5-4-3 double play, and Phegley flew out to left.

An inning later, Chapman took the sting out of his error by blasting a home run, his 15th, into the left field bleachers, with Grossman on base to give Oakland the lead, 2-0.

One time A’s fan favorite Josh Reddick narrowed the gap with a one out solo homer to right off an 84 mph Fiers change up in the seventh. After a Chirinos ground out to third and a walk to White, Fiers gave way to Lou Trivino, who had a few demons from Wednesday’s debacle to exorcise. He didn’t manage to do that tonight. Kemp hit a double off the left field wall to drive in Mykes Straw, running for White, with the game-tying tally.

Laureano greeted Héctor Rondón, who relieved Peacock to start the bottom of the seventh, with a double down the left field line. Phegley moved him up with a sacrifice bunt. It looked as if Semien would bring in the speedy Laureano with a smash to the left side of the infield, but Jack Mayfield, who had just come into the game at short, made a diving catch of it and threw Semien out at first while Laureano had to remain at third. Grossman grounded out to second to end the threat.

Trivino’s troubles suddenly worsened as soon as the eighth inning began. Derek Fisher hit Trivino’s first pitch over the centerfield fence for his first round tripper of the year, and, all of a sudden, the A’s were behind, 3-2.

The pitching mound merry-go-round began to spin after Trivino put down the Astros in what was left of the eighth with a fly out and a ground out, interspersed by an infield single by Yuri Guerriel. Ryan Pressly relieved Rondón to open the eighth and put the A’s down 1, 2, 3. Joakim Soria relieved Trivino to open the ninth. He shut Houston down on a single, a called strike three, and a nifty double play, Olson unassisted to Semien to Olson. Then, Roberto Osuna came in to try to close out the win for the Astros.

He did. One. Two. Three. On 10 pitches.

The win went to Rondón, his third a against one loss. Osuna was credited with his 16th save. Trivino got the loss, which brought him to 2-2 with three blown saves.

Tomorrow night will see Brett Anderson (6-3, 3.86 ERA) duel against Justin Verlander (8-2, 2.38 ERA) in a battle of veterans. Game time will be 7:07 pm.

Preview of the A’s series with the Astros this weekend

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click2houston.com file photo: Carlos Correa #1 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2017 in Houston, Texas.

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Houston Astros will be in town to play three games against the A’s this weekend. The Astros are in first place in the AL West. The Astros have a record of 37-20 and have a comfortable 7 1/2 game lead on the second-place Oakland A’s who are 29-27. The A’s and Astros have played five times this year, and the Astros lead the series 4-1.

The Astros, who won the 2017 World Series, are loaded. They have several All-Stars on the team, but they have been bitten by the injury bug. Jose Altuve, who was the 2017 MVP, is on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. There are reports that he will be coming off the IL on Friday.

The strangest injury is to Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who said he fractured his rib while getting a massage at his home.

“I’m extremely disappointed about not being on the field with my teammates. I sustained the rib fracture during a massage at my home on Tuesday,” Correa said.

Correa added that getting the injury the way he did was strange and unusual.

“To sustain an injury in such an unusual way makes it even more frustrating. However, I will work hard to get back on the field as quickly as possible to help our team achieve our goal of winning another championship.”

Correa is expected to miss four to six weeks of action.

The shortstop, went on the IL yesterday with a broken rib. The injury occurred while he was getting a massage in his Houston home. He will be out for four to six weeks.

Centerfielder George Springer has a grade two left hamstring strain and will not play this weekend.

Aledmys Diaz, who was filling in for Altuve at second base, is also on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain.

Nevertheless, the Astros are still an excellent team. They have a solid rotation featuring Justin Verlander, a former Cy Young award winner and MVP, Gerrit Cole, Brad Peacock, and Wade Miley. Their bullpen is solid with Will Harris, Chris Devenski, and closer Roberto Osuna.

The Astros probably will move Alex Bregman from third to shortstop. Bregman is a power hitter and will be a candidate for MVP this year. First baseman Yuli Guriel will move from first to third. The Astros brought up Jack Mayfield to play second. Tyler White will fill-in at first.

The Astros signed Michael Brantley as a free agent. He is playing well in left field. Jake Marisnick will be in centerfield, and former A’s fan favorite, Josh Reddick will be on patrol in right field. Reddick is having a solid season for Houston and is one of the reasons the Astros are in first place.

The A’s will face Brad Peacock on Friday night. The former A’s pitcher found a home in Houston and has really improved. Peacock is 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA. He pitches well in night games as he has an ERA of just 1.38. Peacock is 3-0 since going to a full windup. Mike Fiers will go for the A’s. Fiers is 4-3 with a 5.00 ERA. Fiers is 1-2 with a 7.32 ERA in four career starts against Houston.

The A’s will have to be on the top of their game as they face Justin Verlander on Saturday and Gerrit Cole on Sunday. Lefty Brett Anderson (6-3, 3.86 ERA) has been consistent for Oakland this year and has gone six innings or more in four of his last five starts. Chris Bassitt (3-1, 3.27 ERA) starts on Sunday.

The A’s, who won 10 in a row before being beaten in the last two games by the LA Angels, would like to get back on the winning track against the Astros. It may be difficult, but the A’s have players that can do a lot of damage. Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Stephen Piscotty, Mark Canha, and Josh Phegley all can send the ball flying out of the park. The A’s DH Khris Davis may return soon.

The A’s have played solid defense this season, and the offense can be formidable. The starting rotation has been better of late. The bullpen has had its ups and downs, but it is still one of the better ones in the American League.

The A’s would like to take two out three from the Astros. The club would love to have the stand packed to see two good teams have a go at it.

A’s Thursday off day report: Preview of A’s-Mariners series starting Friday

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s return home after a successful 6-2 road trip. The A’s were beating the Tigers in one game that was suspended due to bad weather. That game will be completed when the Tigers play the A’s in September. The two losses on the trip happened when the A’s played the Mariners in Seattle.

The Mariners and A’s have met four times this season, and the M’s have won them all. The A’s lost the first two in Japan to open the season and the last two in Seattle on May 13th and 14th. The games in Seattle were close. The Mariners won on May 13th 6-5 even though the A’s hit five home runs in that game. They beat the A’s again on May 14th, 4-3. Since that time the A’s won three in Detroit and three in Cleveland.

The A’s have also moved up in the standings in the AL Central. Oakland ‘s record is 25-25, and they are in third place just 1/2 game behind the surprising Texas Rangers. Seattle, on the other hand, played well to start the season but have fallen on hard times. They currently reside in last place in the AL West with a record of 23-29. They have lost 3 in a row and are 3-7 in their previous 10 games.

The Mariners have placed several key players on the 10-day IL. They include second baseman Dee Gordon, first baseman Ryon Healy, pitcher King Felix Hernandez, and third baseman Kyle Seager.

The Mariners still have a potent lineup. First baseman Daniel Vogelbach, DH Edwin Encarnacion, outfielders Jay Bruce, Domingo Santana, and Mitch Haniger all have power, and all of them have hurt the A’s with their bats. Infielder Tim Beckham has also punished the A’s with his power.

The pitching matchups for the series will be the following. On Friday, Oakland will send Daniel Mengden (1-1 3.65 ERA) out to pitch. Mengden is 0-2 with an ERA of 5.89 in four career starts against the Mariners. The Mariners will counter with lefty Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc, in his last outing against the Minnesota Twins, went 2 and 1/3rd innings and gave up seven hits and seven runs. LeBlanc missed five weeks due to a strained oblique. In two starts against the A’s last year, LeBlanc held the A’s scoreless for eleven innings.

Saturdays’ game will feature Mike Fiers (3-3, 5.05 ERA) going for his fourth win of the year. Fiers has an ERA of 2.53 over his last five starts, and that includes the no-hitter that he had against the Cincinnati Reds. Fiers is 2-2 with an ERA of 6.36 in 10 starts against Seattle. Rookie Yusei Kikuchi (3-1, ERA 3.43) will go for the M’s. Kikuchi is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.03 in his last four starts.

On Sunday, The A’s will have lefty Brett Anderson on the mound. Anderson (5-3, ERA 4.14)is returning to action after he left the game last Monday in Cleveland with a cervical strain. Anderson is 8-5 and has an ERA of 2.38 in 20 games against the M’s. Mike Leake goes for Seattle. Leake is 3-5 for the year and has an ERA of 4.73. Leake is 2-2 against Oakland in nine career starts.

The A’s are playing better as the offense has come alive and the pitching has been better. The A’s have seen improvement from Chris Bassitt, Mike Fiers, and Frankie Montas. Anderson has pitched well, and Mengden is still a work in progress.

Following the three-game series with Seattle, the A’s will face the LA Angels and then host the first-place Houston Astros.

 

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Will Clippers come up with any more surprises in Game 3?; Giants get 4 runs in 9th, but still lose; plus more

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Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

On the Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 The Golden State Warriors tip off in Los Angeles Thursday night at Staples Center against the Clippers in a series that’s tied 1-1. The Warriors are coming off a loss in which the Clippers made a 31-point comeback. The Warriors are without an injured DeMarcus Cousins. Will the Warriors regroup, jell and win this one like going through butter or will the Clippers take advantage of the home floor and try to repeat a win like they did in Game 2?

#2 In Game 3 tonight, is there a possibility that the Clippers will take full advantage of the home floor and maybe have some inspiration from the Game 2 comeback? Also, it doesn’t seem like the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley is getting in the Warriors’ Kevin Durant’s head?

#3 The Giants lost a tough one on Wednesday night to the Washington Nationals 9-6 at Nationals Park on Wednesday night. The Giants got home run help from Steven Duggar and Geraldo Parra and tried to rally in ninth inning for four runs, but wound up short losing by three runs.

#4 For the first time in five games, the Oakland A’s finally got a win over the mighty Houston Astros. It was pitching that stopped the Astros’ lineup as A’s starter Frankie Montas went six and third, three hits on one earned run, and six strikeouts in the 2-1 win.

#5 The Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving scored 37 points to lead the Boston Celtics past the Indiana Pacers 99-91. Irving could end up as a free agent after the NBA Championship. Could Irving end up in Los Angeles and join former teammate LeBron James?

Tony does Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Streak Snappers: Montas, Chapman lead A’s past Astros

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By Morris Phillips

Whatever the A’s had cooked up for Wednesday’s series finale against the Astros, they knew this, it had to be good.

It may have been better than that.

The A’s avoided a fifth, consecutive loss to baseball’s hottest team by being near perfect: stopping the Astros’ red hot offense dead in its tracks while coming up with a pair of key hits and making them stand up in a 2-1 win.

The challenge of stopping Houston’s 10-game win streak initially fell on starting pitcher Frankie Montas. He delivered.

“They’ve beaten us four times in a row and we have to have somebody go out there and put up some zeroes. That’s exactly what he did,” manager Bob Melvin said. “In a game like that you have to count on your starter to lead the way and he definitely did that.”

Montas allowed three hits and a run in six plus innings of work. He picked up the win, and avenged his only loss a week ago in Houston. More impressive than his line was Montas’ methods including first pitch strikes to 17 of the 25 hitters he faced. The former reliever racked up 15 called strikes as hitters struggled to distinguish his splitter from his slider, and he established himself immediately.

Houston’s first three hitters: George Springer, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman saw just six pitches, four of those 96 mph plus. Springer struck out looking, Altuve popped out on the first pitch, and Bregman grounded to second base, but reached on Jurickson Profar’s poor throw. Montas wouldn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, and he tossed strikes on 58 of his 88 pitches.

While Montas’ new and improved splitter drew questions in the postgame as observers noticed it confused the Houston hitters, all of his pitches were effective, the sign that the pitcher’s career is on a high trajectory.

“The slider was pretty good, too,” Melvin said. “A mix of pitches like that, throwing strikes and getting ahead, he’s a tough guy to hit when he’s ahead in the count and feeling pretty good.”

“He really didn’t concede much of anything,” Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch. “His power, his fastball was good, his breaking ball was good, he threw a split — his stuff was overpowering tonight.”

Profar rebounded from his throwing error with an RBI double scoring Mark Canha in the second. The former Ranger had two of the A’s four hits as Houston starter Wade Miley dealt as well.

But unlike Montas, Miley blinked in a big spot. Facing Matt Chapman in the sixth, a hitter Miley had retired in eight of his nine at-bats, he tried to get cute with off-speed offerings. But when Miley offered a cutter that caught the plate, Chapman jumped on it. The ball exited at 110 mph landing 441 feet away in the center field bleachers.

The A’s stayed on the defending AL West champs in the late innings with Lou Trivino downright filthy in the eighth, and Blake Treinen good as advertised in the ninth.

The A’s moved above. 500 with the win and get a day of rest before facing the Blue Jays over the weekend. Toronto has dropped six of their nine road contests, and will start winless Marcus Stroman on Friday night. Aaron Brooks starts for Oakland, a big spot for Brooks with starter Marco Estrada placed on the injured list before Wednesday’s game.