photo from sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics’ Matt Chapman, right, is congratulated by Robbie Grossman (8) after hitting a two-run home run off Seattle Mariners pitcher Mike Leake in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 26, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.
On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:
#1 How annoying in the A’s win streak was that game that was canceled on the count of no rain in Detroit two Sundays ago that very well could have been win number 4 and the A’s could have 11 straight on Monday?
#2 During the Mariners series in Oakland, there was little doubt that the struggle they had with them in Seattle to start the road trip last week was on their minds.
#3 The A’s got off to a shaky start after opening up their season in Tokyo. To go from a regular season line up with a 15-hour time difference and then revert to the preseason. Was that all part of their rough start?
#4 Charlie O, you said this was going to be a good A’s team at sometime this season with all the talent they have here with Canha, Semien, Chapman, Olson, Profar, Laureano, and Phegley, that they were eventually were go to break out the bats.
#5 Mariners manager Scott Servais got tossed for arguing a challenge call in the bottom of the seventh inning that saw Canha slide into second that he felt was an out. Later, the A’s got two runs on M’s shortstop Roenis Elias’ error and Profar later hit a groundout RBI. A’s manager Bob Melvin said he would have argued the umpiring crew waited to long to make a decision on the play.
Every analyst and reporter that covers the Oakland Athletics kept telling fans that their team was going to wake up and start playing up to their potential any day now. They (including this reporter) kept reminding you that the A’s started slowly last season but found their legs in June.
After a while, it began to feel like the front office, team, media, and the fans were all in the same sports bar after a game trying to convince each other that the turnaround was going to happen.
Now, the great turnaround of 2019 is underway. The A’s have won eight consecutive games. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games. Oakland has won five of their last six series. The A’s swept the series in Detroit and Cincinnati.
This is how the A’s turned their season upside down in 2018 by winning series after series at home and on the road. The 2019 A’s may be on the verge of unlocking the secret to repeating that accomplishment.
Oakland is two-hundredths of a percentage point out of second place in the AL West. Both Texas and the A’s trail the Astros by 7.5 games. The A’s are in a virtual tie for the second Wild Card spot in the American League (don’t laugh — it’s never too early to look at the Wild Card when Houston is in your division).
Fiers first home start since the no-hitter
Mike Fiers took the mound for the A’s on Saturday and did not throw a no-hitter, but he did keep his team in the game. The veteran worked six innings giving up three runs (all earned) off five hits. Fiers struck out three Mariners and walked two. He also earned the win which upped his record to 4-3.
Fiers faced 23 batters and gave up just two extra-base hits. Domingo Santana hit his 10th home run of the year off Fiers in the fourth inning and Mitch Haniger hit his 13th round-tripper off the starter in the fifth. Jay Bruce hit his ninth double of the season off the starter. Fiers threw 89 pitches (66 strikes). He has pitched at least five innings in each of his last six starts, which dates back to April 26 in Toronto.
The A’s scored first
Chapman celebrates the 50th HR of his career Photo: @athletics
The A’s are 18-9 when they score first this season.
Matt Chapman put the A’s first run up on the board when he hit his 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning off Seattle starter LHP Yusel Kikuchi with two out and the bases empty. Chapman is hitting just .229 versus left-handed pitching, but he has six home runs in 48 at-bats against southpaws.
Ramon Laureano went 2-for-3 on Saturday with a double and an RBI. Laureano extended his hitting streak to eight games (12-for-31) which is also a new career high. His double in the fifth inning tied an Oakland record. It was the fifth consecutive game in which Laureano had hit a double tying a record that has been done five times in A’s history. The last to do it before Saturday was Miguel Tejada back in 2003.
Treinen gets the save
Blake Treinen picked up his 62nd save as an Athletic (10th of 2019). The save did not come without some excitement. Treinen gave up two runs (earned) on three hits, including a home run, but he held on to get the save.
Seattle
The M’s have now lost five consecutive games and are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Seattle currently is in sole possession of last place in AL West 5.0 games back of the A’s and 12.5 games behind the division-leading Astros.
Starter Yusel Kikuchi lasted just 3.1 innings, his shortest start of the season since April 26. Kikuchi gave up five runs (4 earned) off 10 hits including one home run. He struck out one and walked one batter. Kikuchi was tagged with the loss and his record now stands at 3-2.
Kyle Seager made his first appearance of 2019 since coming off the injured list — it was his first ever trip to the IL. Seager hit his 250th career double in the ninth inning of the game on Saturday.
Domingo Santana had quite a game. He went 2-for-4 on the day with both his hits being home runs. He has touched them all 11 times this season. It was his first multi-home run game of the year.
Mitch Haniger loves to face the A’s. He is batting .296 (45-for-152) including 11 home runs versus Oakland in his career. Haniger went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI on Saturday.
Seattle is now 0-18 when their opponent scores first this season. The Mariners have scored 147 of their 278 runs (52.9-percent) via the home run.
Up Next
The A’s and M’s will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 1:07 PM. Seattle will go with RHP Mike Leake (3-5, 4.73 ERA) while the Oakland will counter with LHP Brett Anderson (5-3, 4.14 ERA).
OAKLAND — Don’t look now but the Oakland Athletics are on a roll. After beating the Cleveland Indians 3-2 on Saturday, the A’s have now won two consecutive games. They are 4-1 on this homestand versus teams from Ohio — Cleveland and Cincinnati. The A’s record at the Coliseum has improved to 14-9 for 2019.
This fact may come as a surprise to A’s fans — their team has a 5-4 record in the month of May to date. In what has seemed to be an atmosphere of gloom and doom for the A’s recently, in reality, things have actually have been going fairly well. Oakland is no longer in the cellar in the AL West and are just a 1/2 game out of third place.
The “opener” is back
Aaron Brooks works against Cleveland Photo: @Athletics
The A’s used Liam Hendricks as an “opener” on Saturday against the Indians. Hendricks pitched one scoreless inning allowing just one hit and striking out one batter. This was the first time Oakland used an “opener” in 2019 while they employed the concept nine times in 2018.
Aaron Brooks took over in the second inning and worked four innings for the A’s. He gave up one run (earned) off four hits. Brooks struck out four Cleveland hitters and walked three. He also allowed one home in the fifth inning to Leonys Martin (6).
Cleveland used just two hurlers
Trevor Bauer made the start for Cleveland and lasted for seven innings. He threw 122 pitches and struck out 10 Oakland batters. Bauer allowed two runs, but neither run was earned. Bauer did not figure into the final decision.
A.J. Cole worked the final 1.1-innings and took the loss.
Cleveland tied it up in the top of the ninth
The A’s held a 2-1 lead as Cleveland came to bat in the top of the ninth inning. Blake Treinen was summoned from the bullpen to close out the game. Well, that is not how things would go for Oakland.
Jordan Luplow led off the inning with a single to left. Mike Freeman laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Luplow up to second base. Carlos Gonzalez came in as a pinch hitter and struck out swinging. Leonys Martin then hit a single through the hole on the left side of the infield that allowed Luplow to come home and score the tying run.
The A’s walk it off again
With the score tied 2-2, the A’s had the opportunity to end the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With A.J. Cole on the hill, Matt Olson led off the inning with a walk. Kendrys Morales then singled to center moving Olson up to second base. Stephen Piscotty laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Olson to third and Morales to second. Ramon Laureano then singled to right field that drove Olson home to score the winning for Oakland.
The A’s are 1-14 when going homerless in a game
Oakland entered the game 0-14 when not hitting a home run a game. The A’s broke that streak today as they beat Cleveland without the aid of a round-tripper. Houston and Seattle have not won a game without hitting a home run.
Chapman loves playing Cleveland
Matt Chapman has reached base safely in his eight career games versus Cleveland. He is batting .483 (14-for-29) with nine runs, five doubles, a triple, three home runs, four RBI, and four walks versus the Northern Ohio team.
Up Next
The three-game series will conclude on Sunday when Cleveland will send Jefry Rodriguez (0-2, 2.41 ERA) to the mound in search of a win. The A’s will call on Daniel Mengden for the first time this season. The righthanded mustached pitcher has been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas after making six starts in the minors. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM.
OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics walked off 4-3 against the Cleveland Indians, thanks to Matt Chapman’s first career walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning at the Coliseum on Friday night.
The game was back-and-forth with both the A’s and Indians trading leads. Joakim Soria (1-2, 4.66 ERA) picked up the win after pitching two lights-out innings with three strikeouts while Brad Hand (2-2, 1.62 ERA) wound up the loser after the first batter he faced, Chapman, took him deep over the left field wall.
Until Chapman came to the plate to start the bottom of the 12th inning, neither team had so much as a baserunner in extras. Chapman worked a 2-0 count against Hand, but the Indians closer pumped two strikes over the plate that Chapman looked at. Hand missed badly with the 2-2 slider, then delivered a slider over the heart of the plate that Chapman bounced on for the walkoff and a double-digit (10) season homer total.
Frankie Montas was scheduled to pick up the win, pitching six innings with seven strikeouts to only one walk with the A’s ahead 3-2. He gave up two runs, an RBI double for Jake Bauers and a fielder’s choice in the top of the second, but Lou Trivino blew the save to tie the game 3-3 on Francisco Lindor’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh.
The A’s scored two runs off opener Cody Anderson, plating a run in the bottom of the first on a wild pitch, then tying the game in the bottom of the second on a Josh Phegley single. Ramon Laureano took a low and away slider from Neil Ramirez out of the park in the bottom of the sixth, his fourth homer of the season to give the A’s a 3-2 lead at the time and allow Montas to come out of the game ahead at the time.
The Oakland Athletics shot out of the gate quickly on Saturday night in Pittsburgh, hanging three runs up on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Khris Davis singled to right to drive Matt Chapman home to score. Kendrys Morales hit his first triple of the year to drive Davis home to score, and Morales would score the third Oakland run of the inning on a Stephen Piscotty single to left field. That was a very promising start for the green and gold.
The Pirates put their first run up on the board in the home-half of the second inning when Josh Bell hit a Chris Bassitt 84 mph cutter over the right field wall.
Bell came back to haunt the A’s again in the bottom of the third inning with two out and Starling Marte on at first. Bell hit his eighth home run of the season over the center field wall off a 93 mph sinker that tied the game at 3-3.
The A’s retook the lead in the fifth inning when Khris Davis hit a single to center field that drove Matt Chapman home to score the fourth run of the contest for Oakland.
Pittsburgh broke this game open in the bottom of the seventh inning when they scored three runs. Kevin Newman hit his first triple of the season off Wendelken that drove in two runners on base to score and gave the Pirates a 5-4 lead. Francisco Cervelli then hit a 2-2 change up from Wendelken into left field that allowed Newman to score easily from third base. After seven complete innings, the Pirates held a 6-4 lead.
Pirates (15-15) focus
Josh Bell hits one of his two home runs Photo: @Pirates
Josh Bell was the star of the game for Pittsburgh. He hit two home runs, picked up three RBI and scored two runs. Bell is batting .291 for the Pirates.
Gregory Polanco went 2-for-5 for Pittsburgh on Saturday. He hit a double and scored a run for his team in the win.
Outfielder Bryan Reynolds had a good night for his team, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Reynolds also scored a run.
Michael Feliz picked up his first win of the season working in relief.
Felipe Vazquez recorded his ninth save of the year preserving the win for his team.
A’s (15-20) spotlight
Skye Bolt gets his first major league hit Photo: @NBCS
Matt Chapman had a 2-for-4 game scoring two runs. He hit a double and a triple in the game.
Khris Davis picked up two RBI and scored a run in his 2-for-4 night for Oakland. Davis played left field in the game because there is no designated hitter because this is a National League ballpark.
The A’s are hoping that this was a breakout game for Kendrys Morales who went 2-for-4 with the bat scoring a run and adding an RBI.
Skye Bolt, who was just called up to the majors, picked up his first major league hit in the game.
Starting pitcher Chris Bassitt did not figure into the final decision. The loss was charged to J.B. Wendelken (0-1) who pitched 1.0 innings giving up three runs (all earned) off four hits. He walked one and struck out one.
Up next
The third and final game of the series will be played on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM Bay Area time. Frankie Montas (4-2, 2.97 ERA) will take the hill for Oakland. The Pirates will counter with Jordan Lyles (2-1, 2.42 ERA).
The Oakland Athletics have played five games against the Toronto Blue Jays over the past nine days. The Blue Jays have defeated the A’s in all five of those games. They did it again on Saturday afternoon in Toronto by downing Oakland 7-1.
This is just the complete flipside of what happened between the teams in 2018. Last season the A’s won all seven games they played with the Blue Jays.
One of the biggest problems for the A’s on Saturday was Blue Jays starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez who is a right-hander. The Oakland lineup is loaded with right-handed batters, and they have struggled versus right-handed pitching. The Athletics are 6-12 versus right-handed starting pitchers so far this season. They are 8-3 when facing left-handed starters.
Aaron Sanchez Photo: @TSN
Aaron Sanchez made the start for Toronto and worked 5.0 innings in recording his third win of the year. He gave up one run (unearned) on just two hits. Sanchez walked four and struck out four. With his strong performance against the A’s, Sanchez lowered his ERA to 2.32.
Toronto Focus
Former Oakland Athletic Eric Sogard scored the first run of the game after he doubled to lead off the game. Sogard has hit safely in all nine of the games he has played for the Blue Jays this season. He is currently batting .400 with three doubles, two home runs, and eight RBI.
Brandon Drury went 3-for-3 on Saturday just as he did last Saturday in Oakland. He hit two singles, a double, walked, and scored a run.
Randal Grichuk hit two singles, doubled, and drove in two runs as he went 3-for-5 on Saturday afternoon.
Catcher Danny Jansen doubled and added an RBI on a Sacrifice Fly.
Athletics Spotlight
Brett Anderson Photo: @Athletics
Starting pitcher Brett Anderson allowed six runs (all earned) on 10 hits in his 4.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out two Blue Jays.
Ramon Laureano had his sixth multi-hit game of the season. He singled and doubled against Toronto on Saturday.
Matt Chapman hit a double in the eighth inning of the game. Chapman entered the game tied for 10th in the American League with 13 extra-base hits.
Up Next
The Oakland A’s will try to keep the Blue Jays from completing the season sweep on Sunday by sending RHP Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.00) to the mound to face RHP Trent Thornton (0-3, 5.79). First pitch is scheduled for 10:07 PDT.
Chris Bassitt made his 2019 season debut on the mound for the Oakland Athletics on Monday night and everything went Bassitt’s way. Bassitt worked five scoreless innings giving up just two hits while striking out seven Texas batters and walking four. That was good enough for him to earn his first win of the season.
Bassitt got some help from his friends in the Oakland bullpen. Ryan Dull who was just called up from Triple-A Las Vegas struck out two batters and allowed just one run in 1.1 innings of work in relief.
J.B. Wendelken, Joakim Soria, and Fernando Rodney combined to work 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to close out the game for Oakland to ensure the win for Bassitt.
The A’s scored first
Oakland put the first run up on the board when Stephen Piscotty hit his fourth home run of the season over the centerfield wall in the second inning.
Matt Chapman gave the A’s a 2-0 lead when he drove Josh Phegley home with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning.
The A’s added two more runs in the home half of the sixth and eighth innings to raise their final total to six runs.
The Rangers scored their only run in the top of the seventh inning.
In the spotlight
A’s (12-13)
Rodney in appearance #907 Photo: @Athletics
Stephen Piscotty had a 2-for-3 game that included a home run and three RBI. He extended his hitting streak against the Rangers to 15 games.
Chad Pinder went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the game. Pinder is batting .354 (17-for-48) in 17 games in the month of April.
Fernando Rodney passed Cy Young for 24th on the all-time list of pitching appearances by taking the mound for the 907th time in his career.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the A’s.
Texas (12-9)
Shin-Soo Chin has reached base safely in the first inning of the last 10 games he has been the Texas leadoff hitter.
Danny Santana has a hit in six of his first eight games with the Rangers since being called up from Triple-A on April 13.
Mike Minor (2-2) took the loss working six innings giving up four runs (all earned) off four hits including one home run. He struck out four and walked three.
Up Next
Tuesday night the Rangers will send RHP Lance Lynn (2-1, 4.44) to the hill to face off against Frankie Montas (3-1, 2.70). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 PM.
#1 It was Oakland A’s Matt Chapman bobblehead day alright, and the A’s did just that on Saturday, bobbled the game away to the Toronto Blue Jays 10-1 in a no mercy rule game.
#2 The Jays’ first baseman Rowdy Tellez hit for his fourth homer and got a double as part of the Jays offense was hitting .191.
#3 The Jays’ Brandon Drury hitting .147 went 3-4 and hit for two RBIs and two runs scored.
#4 The A’s rough day continued after using six relievers they called on their first baseman Kendrys Morales as a closer in the ninth inning.
#5 The A’s and Jays conclude the series today at the Coliseum with the Jays Aaron Sanchez (2-1, 2.86 ERA) and the A’s Brett Anderson (3-0, 2.63 ERA).
OAKLAND — Saturday was supposed to be all about Matt Chapman. The Gold Glove-winning third baseman was honored by having his image immortalized as a bobblehead and given away to eager fans who love to collect limited edition pieces. 33 members of Chapman’s family traveled from Southern California to attend the game. However, instead of a day of celebration, the game became just a very ugly 10-1 lost to the surging Toronto Blue Jays.
The player who really had the opportunity to celebrate on Saturday grew up about 90 miles away from the Oakland Coliseum and had a large contingent of family and friends in the stands. Rowdy Tellez plays first base for the Blue Jays. Tellez came into the game struggling with just a .191 batting average. When the game ended, the big man from Elk Grove had picked up his fourth home run of the season to go with a double, two runs scored and three RBI.
Tellez had a partner in crime that helped defeat the A’s in Brandon Drury. Drury also started the day hitting below the “Mendoza Line” at .147. Drury went 3-for-4 in the game with two RBI and two runs scored.
The A’s used six pitchers in the contest. The final player to take the mound for Oakland was first baseman Kendrys Morales. Yes, the A’s were waving the white flag at the point in the top of the ninth inning.
Oakland did manage to manufacture one run in the bottom of the ninth to prevent the game from being a shutout.
The A’s have fallen under .500 with this loss. Their record now stands at 11-12.
Oakland has lost four of their last five games. They are 1-3 on this eight-game homestand.
This will be the first home series loss for the A’s since being swept by the Astros in June of 2018.
Mike Fiers was charged with the loss and falls to 2-2 for the season. He worked just 3.1 innings allowing six runs (all earned) off nine hits (2 HR). Fiers struck out four batters and walked none.
The A;s used a total of six pitchers who gave up 10 runs (all earned) on 15 hits to the Jays. A’s pitchers struck out 12 batters and walked just three. They did allow three home runs.
The A’s scattered six hits in the contest. Matt Chapman and Steven Piscotty both collected two hits off Toronto pitching.
The only extra base hit for the A’s came in the ninth inning. Robbie Grossman hit a double and eventually came home to score the only run for the green and gold.
The A’s left six men on base and were 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Fernando Rodney pitched a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning for Oakland. It was his 906th career pitching appearance tying him with Cy Young for 24th on the all-time list. That is pretty “heady” company.
Fernando Rodney makes 906th appearance Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have now won five of their six games on this seven-game road trip.
They will win both series on the road.
The Jays’ record has improved to 10-12 for 2019.
Sam Gaviglio (2-0) gets credit for the win.
Matt Shoemaker made the start for Toronto and was pitching a fine game when he had to exit due to injury. The pitcher became involved in a rundown play of Matt Chapman between first and second in the bottom of the third inning. Shoemaker put the tag on Chapman and then fell to the ground. He left the field under his own power, but the club reported later that he was being evaluated for a left knee injury.
The Jays left nine men on base and went 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Toronto hit three doubles and three home runs off A’s pitching.
It was a day for the Blue Jays where they could do no wrong.
There was something in the air
There were two separate incidents of fans jumping out of the stands and on to the field of play on Saturday. One occurred in the sixth inning and was ended fairly quickly.
The second incident happened in the ninth inning and the man spent a considerable amount of time running around on the infield. The trespasser thought he was about to elude security again when second base umpire and crew chief Bill Nelson grabbed him by the waist. Nelson threw the unruly fan to the ground and security took care of the rest. The big crowd of 31,140 gave Nelson a roar of approval.
The easy answer is to say it was 4/20 day, but that is too easy. The most import thing is that no player, umpire or employee was injured.
Up Next
The three-game series with Toronto wraps up on Easter Sunday. The Blue Jays will send RHP Aaron Sanchez (2-1, 2.86 ERA) to the mound while the A’s will counter with the undefeated LHP Brett Anderson (3-0, 2.63 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM.
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.
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