Tag: Jed Lowrie

Back to back AL West Champions!

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By Emily Zahner

 

OAKLAND, CA—The Oakland Athletics (93-63) didn’t need 9 innings for a reason to celebrate, all it took was three. With their magic number down to one, Oakland needed to either defeat the Minnesota Twins (65-90) this afternoon, or see Texas lose. Halfway through the top of the third, cheers started to erupt throughout the stadium, and yet the out of town scoreboard still read the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals were locked in a 0-0 tie in the 10th. After Sonny Gray surrendered a 3-run homerun by Oswaldo Arcia, the A’s finally got out of the inning. That was when a replay was shown of KC’s Justin Maxwell, with two outs in the 10th, crushing a grand slam that instantly sent the A’s into the post season. Once again, at the expense of the Texas Rangers, the A’s would be crowned the American League West Champions.

Not that the A’s needed the Royals help anyway… Oakland erupted for six runs in the 2nd inning, and then added one more in each of the next five innings. The A’s celebrated their division title on the back of a four-game sweep by means of an 11-7 rout of the Twins. Oakland starter Sonny Gray became the youngest pitcher in A’s history to win a division clinching game at the young age of 23. Gray was elated, “this is the best baseball day of my life… today is a very exciting day.” Even though they all knew their fate in the third, Sonny was determined, saying he knew something had happened in the Texas game, but still had a game to win.  Gray did struggle a bit, giving up four earned runs on seven hits through five innings pitched, but with the offensive tear his team appears to be on lately, it didn’t even matter. Gray isn’t worried about where he will land on the post season roster, just as long as he is a part of the team.

After tonight’s game, the A’s finish off the regular season with a three game series in Anaheim, followed by a three game set in Seattle. From here on out, the A’s will be focused on the post season. A’s manager Bob Melvin is ready, saying “we’ve got some unfinished business going forward… we’re going to enjoy today and look forward to tomorrow”. He has extreme confidence in his squad, “this is an unselfish group that just wants to win.” The players themselves are ready, Australian closer Grant Balfour said “we know how to play and we know how to win”.

Not only did the A’s clinch the West today, but Coco Crisp made history as well. In the 6th inning, after Eric Sogard reached first on a single, Coco walked. The two initiated a double steal, and Coco became only the 10th player in Oakland history to have a 20 homerun-20 stolen base year. Players all through the lineup stepped up huge today. In the 7th spot, Daric Barton went 3-3 with a walk; just a triple short of the cycle. Homeruns were a plenty today, and Oakland saw bombs from Crisp, Barton, and Jed Lowrie. Barton has made a huge impact since being called up from Triple A Sacramento on August 24th, and Melvin is taking notice, “I don’t see how Barton could not be on the post season roster”.

This marks the second consecutive and 16th overall AL West Division title for the Oakland Athletics. If the standings hold, the A’s will most likely face the Detroit Tigers once again in the ALDS. With the way this team has been playing, they’re ready for anyone.

 

Game Notes: Josh Donaldson has reached base safely via hit or walk in 27 consecutive games. Oakland has reached a season high of 30 games over .500. Josh Reddick had two outfield assists today, doubling off Brian Dozier in the 7th and Oswaldo Arcia in the 9th.

A’s end regular season versus Texas with sweep

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September 15, 2013

By Pearl Allison Lo

With their biggest win margin of the series, Oakland engineered their first season sweep at Arlington in four years with a 4-1 finale.

The A’s magic number to clinch the American League West is now at seven games.

In this game, it was the big bats were the difference, producing four of the five runs. Josh Donaldson’s home run in the top of the first proved to be the game-
winner.

Oakland wasted no time getting runners on base as Coco Crisp and Chris Young got on
base before Jed Lowrie brought in the game’s first run with a double play. Donaldson followed suit with a home run to double the A’s lead and extend his
hitting streak to 11 games, a career-high.

Texas scored in the first inning as well, when A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-out single to bring in Elvis Andrus and slice the lead back down to one.

Chris Young re-doubled Oakland’s lead when he hit a two-out home run in the top of the third.

The Rangers’ best chance came in the bottom of the sixth with runners at the corner and one out. Texas used three pinch hitters in the inning, but only Jurickson Profar was successful.

The game stayed 3-1 from the third inning until Oakland tacked on two more runs
in the top of the ninth. Brandon Moss came in to pinch-hit and was walked and
Josh Reddick brought them both to home plate with a home run. Reddick went 2-
for-4.

Tommy Milone, who filled in after the A’s hot-pitching Jarrod Parker was scratched
from the game due to illness, pitched 5 innings, while Ranger’s starter Martin
Perez pitched 6.1 innings.

Game notes: Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes was also scratched from the game due to a sore shoulder. He would have been the designated hitter. It was a franchise first for Texas to go winless in their six-game homestand. The A’s will continue
Monday with a three-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels, who they face six times in the next 10 games.

A’s stay atop American League West

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by Phillip Torres

PhotoOAKLAND-The Oakland Athletics (82-60) entered the day a half game up on the Texas Rangers in the American League West, and remained on top after a 2-1 victory of the Houston Astros (47-95) on Saturday Afternoon at O.co Coliseum.

Oakland struck first when Yoenis Cespedes hit his 22nd homerun of the year on a 1-1 pitch to left field off of starter Brett Oberholtzer in fourth inning to give the A’s a 1-0 advantage.

The A’s got on the board again in the seventh inning with another long ball. On a 1-2 pitch, leadoff man Jed Lowrie cleared the Center Field wall to make it 2-0 Oakland.

After a Brett Wallace double in the eighth, with runners on second and third, Brandon Barnes grounded into a force out to knock him in. The Houston run cut the lead to 2-1. The Astros youth then showed on the series of plays. Barnes stole second base on the next pitch. But, Barnes got picked off trying to steal third after attempting to on the previous pitch that was negated by a Jonathan Villar foul ball. Oakland clearly noticed the attempted steal of third after the foul ball, but Barnes went for it again on the very next pitch and was picked off easily.

The base running mistake made it easy to see why the Astros only have 47 wins on the season.

Dan Straily earned the victory, his ninth of the season after tossing seven shutout innings. Grant Balfour picked up the save in the ninth inning.

There were 20,340 in attendance at the Coliseum. The A’s will finish off the series with Houston tomorrow afternoon.

Phillip Torres covers the A’s for SportsRadioService.com

A’s survive Astros’ assault, 7-5

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By George Devine, Sr.

Despite Oakland’s being in contention all season, and Houston’s doing the opposite, an A’s-Astros game is frequently hard-fought, and tonight’s was no exception. An announced attendance of just over 15,000 went to enjoy a balmy (80 degree) evening at O.co Coliseum and saw a competitive game that had the fourth inning beginning well after the hour-and-a-quarter mark.

The A’s scored first in the second inning when Yoenis Cespedes singled to center, reached second on Nate Freiman’s base hit past shortstop Jonathan Villar, and third on a fielder’s choice, scoring on Chris Young’s bunt back towards Houston pitcher Dallas Keuchel. In the third, the Astros’ first three batters – Villar, Jose Altuve and Trevor Crowe – all hit Oakland starter A.J. Griffin (with a double for Villar) and all scored, the latter two on Matt Dominguez’ single. That made it 3-1 for the visitors. But in the bottom of the frame, The Athletics’ first two batters – Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie – followed a similar pattern. both hitting doubles, to tie it at 3. In the next inning Villar bunted for a single and brought Brett Wallace home from third. Advantage Houston, 4-3. But the Oaks scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, on a hit by Lowrie and a groundout by Cespedes. Donaldson’s two-run homer to left in the sixth broke the game open.

Houston added a run in the ninth when Villar singled to short and Altuve to right, with Crowe reaching on a force attempt with an error by second baseman Eric Sogard; Villar scored.

Keuchel took the loss (5-9; 3.1 ip, 10 h, 5 er, 2 w, 3 k) and Oakland starter A.J. Griffin is the winner (13-9; 7 ip, 4 er, 1 w, 9 k). Grant Balfour got his 37th save.

The A’s are once again in the lead for the AL West. The two teams meet again at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday, September 7 with RHP Dan Straily (8-7, 4.38 ERA) opposing LHP Brett Oberholtzer (4-4, 5.91).

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.

Sonny Gray’s gem spoiled in A’s 7-4 loss to Seattle

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By Emily Zahner & Gabe Schapiro

On the mound for the Oakland Athletics in just his third Major League start, Sonny Gray (1-1, 1.00 ERA) shined bright and glowed with confidence. In the second of this three game series against the Mariners, Gray, facing off against Joe Saunders (10-12, 4.86 ERA), had the look of a veteran as the A’s were defeated by the Seattle Mariners 7-4 on Tuesday evening. The A’s fall to a record of 71-54, 1-½ games back of the first place Texas Rangers who picked up a victory tonight. The Mariners improve to 58-67, and remain in a distant third place.

The 23 year old from Smyrna, Tennessee lead off the game by shutting down the Mariners’ hitters 1-2-3. If run support was something he was worried about, the A’s offense took care of that in their half. Mariners starter Joe Saunders was hit hard early, as the A’s batted around and were a double away from hitting for the cycle against him in a 40-pitch first inning. Jed Lowrie, hitting lead-off for the fourth time this season, started off the game with a triple down the right field line. Homeruns by Josh Donaldson and Nate Frieman gave the A’s an early 4-0 lead in the first, giving Sonny some early run support. Gray cruised through two, then hit some trouble in the third. He started the inning with a four-pitch walk to Michael Saunders, and as lead-off walks so often do, it came back to bite him. Three batters later Nick Franklin got a hold of a change-up that was meant for the outside half and drifted in, sending it into the right field bleachers, making the score 4-2.

The A’s scattered a few hits through seven innings, but neither team was able to get on the board again through seven. Gray finished his night after seven strong innings, holding the Mariners to just two hits, two runs (both earned), and striking out seven on 94 pitches. Of his outing tonight, Manager Bob Melvin was pleased, saying “he was great… he’s got some presence out there, he certainly has the stuff and he continues to give us impressive outings.” In Sonny’s last outing, he fanned nine over eight innings. Gray is establishing himself as a competent and reliable started for the A’s, which with Bartolo Colon going to the DL and Brett Anderson still on rehab assignment, is arguably something Oakland needs the most. The A’s bullpen might be another topic of serious discussion.

The momentum drastically shifted to the Mariners in the eighth. Sean Doolittle was the first man out of the bullpen, and the Mariners bats, seemingly relieved to no longer be facing Gray, came alive again. Four consecutive hits later and the game was all tied at 4-4. Ryan Cook was summoned to stop the bleeding, but he couldn’t find his control and the runs kept on coming. After two wild pitches, two walks, and a fielders’ choice play at the plate that injured catcher Derek Norris, the Mariners had built up their first lead of the game, 7-4. Jesse Chavez, the third pitcher of the inning, stabilized the chaos and mercifully ended the inning. Bob Melvin later confirmed the Norris had fractured his left big toe.

The disastrous five-run eighth would prove to be too much to come back from, even for a never-say-die club like the Athletics. The back end of the Mariners bullpen kept the comeback kids at bay, closing down the ninth 1-2-3, clinching the 7-4 win. The A’s and Mariners complete their three game series tomorrow at 12:35pm.

A’s bounce back with unconventional lineup

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By Morris Phillips

PhotoSunday afternoon wasn’t like Saturday night for the Oakland A’s.

The A’s shed their recent struggles and produced a solid, all-around effort in beating the Indians, 7-3, to capture the weekend series and move closer to Texas in the AL West.

Tommy Milone returned from the minors and pitched effectively into the fifth inning and left with the game tied at 3. From that point, the Oakland offense and the bullpen handled the rest. Chris Young and Alberto Callaspo homered in the bottom of the fifth to break the tie and A’s relievers kept the Indians scoreless over the final 4 1/3 innings.

“That’s when we’re at our best, when we have equal parts and we can trust everybody up and down the lineup. That’s been our key offensively,” Jed Lowrie said of the fifth inning surge in which the A’s number six and eight hitters went yard.

The A’s left the Coliseum in a haze Saturday night having accumulated just three hits in a 7-1 loss that dropped them below .500 since the All Star break. The lack of offense stands as the biggest reason for the second half slump but on Sunday the A’s banged out 12 hits and saw good swinging bats up and down the lineup. Five A’s had multiple hits including Callaspo who was 3 for 4.

Manager Bob Melvin shook up his lineup for the series finale with Lowrie and Derek Norris at the top the lineup and Nate Freiman spelling Brandon Moss and hitting fifth. Unconventional? Absolutely, but it worked right down to the hits, the mid-game rally and in the absence of a big game from cleanup hitter Yoenis Cespedes who was 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.

Cespedes made his contribution defensively by throwing out Nick Swisher trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh. Young made a spectacular catch in the eighth that kept Michael Brantley from getting extra bases.

Scott Kazmir started for Cleveland after an eight-day break and struggled. Kazmir allowed 10 hits and five runs, including both homers in the fifth, and took the loss. Kazmir has resurrected his career in 2013 but the Coliseum brings out the worst in the former Rays’ ace. Kazmir allowed two home runs equaling his home runs allowed over his previous nine starts. On July 10, 2010 Kazmir allowed 11 hits and 13 earned runs in a not-so-memorable start for the Angels at the Coliseum.

The A’s are a half-game out of first place and a half-game behind Tampa Bay in the wild card hunt with 39 games to play. Oakland continues their home stand Monday with the Mariners visiting.