Tag: Matt Olson

The A’s devour the Tigers 10-2 on Saturday night in Oakland

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Det 9-7
Graphic: @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee @Charlieo1320

Oakland — The Oakland Athletics (83-59) did exactly what they had to do on Saturday night – beat up on a lesser opponent. The “Rooted in Oakland” crew demolished the lowly Detroit Tigers (42-99) by the score of 10-2. The Tigers have the worst record in all of Major League Baseball and have been eliminated from any possibility of playing in postseason in 2019.

The A’s realistically are destined to play in the AL Wild Card game. They want desperately to be the home team in that game. To be the home team, the A’s need wins and wins should come easier over teams that have losing records. It is truly a “survival of the fittest” environment from now until the end of the regular season.

The A’s have only four games remaining to play against a team with a winning record. They begin a four-game series in Houston on Monday night with the Astros who are tied with the Yankees for the best record in the majors at 93-50. Their other 16 games are with Detroit (1), Texas (6), Kansas City (3), LAA (2) and Seattle (4). The A’s must devour the weak in order to come out on top.

Chris Bassitt worked hard to earn a win

Bassitt struggled in the first two innings of the game on Saturday night. After giving up two hits in the top of first, Bassitt was bailed out by a 6-1-4 double play that is detailed later in this story.

In the top of the second, the A’s starter faced seven Detroit hitters. He gave up two runs off three hits and he hit a batter. The Tigers left two runners on base. Despite having some difficulties, Bassitt struck out three batters and appeared to be starting to find himself.

Bassitt would go on to pitch 6.0-innings giving up just the two runs (both earned) off eight hits. He walked none but did hit one Detroit batter. Bassitt struck out 11 Tigers in 6.0-innings on the mound. That is a career high for Bassitt and the most for an A’s pitcher in a game this season.

After the game, Bob Melvin said, “Bassitt often gets better as he goes along in a game. He also gave our bullpen a break by going six innings.”

Bassitt is now 10-5 on the season with a 3.64 ERA. This is the first time Oakland has had three 10-game winners since 2013 when they had five.

Wild Card Standings

The A’s now have sole possession of the second Wild Card slot in the American League. They are one game back of Tampa Bay (85-59) who is in the number one spot and would host the one-game playoff if the season ended today.

The Indians are 1.5-games behind the A’s for the second spot in the Wild Card race at 82-61. Boston is 7.0-games back and has an elimination number of 14. It would take a miracle and a massive collapse by the Rays, A’s or Indians for the Red Sox to become a part of the race.

Focus on the A’s

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Olson gets congratulated Photo: @Athletics
  • Matt Olson went 4-for-4 in the game. He hit his 29th home run of the season in the fifth inning off Jordan Zimmerman on 1-2 pitch that sailed into the right-field seats. Olson also added three RBI to bring his total for the season to 73. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
  • Jurickson Profar matched his career high for home runs when he hit number 20 of the season in the second inning off Zimmerman. Profar is batting .340 over his last 15 games. He has also been very helpful to his team by being able to play both outfield and infield as needed.
  • Matt Chapman hit his 32nd home of the season in the eighth inning which ties Eric Chavez for the most in a season by an Athletics third baseman.
  • Oakland now has six players with 20-plus home runs which is a franchise record.
  • A’s pitchers combined for a total of 19 strike outs on Saturday night – a season high.

Spotlight on Detroit

  • Jordan Zimmerman allowed six earned runs for the first time since July 19. He previously had allowed a total of seven earned runs in four career starts against the A’s. Zimmerman is now 1-10 on the season.
  • Miguel Cabrera went 2-for-4 in the game which gave him a team-leading 38th multiple-hit game for 2019. It was also the 804th multiple-hit game of his career tying him with Ivan Rodriguez for 39th-most in MLB history.
  • Harold Castro had 4-for-4 game with the bat with two RBI for the Tigers. That tied his season high.
  • The Tigers have not had a winning record versus the AL West since 2014. They are 53-112 against the division since 2015.

Up next

LHP Sean Manaea (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the ball for the A’s and make his second start of the season to close out this three-game series with the Tigers. He had a no-decision in first start of the season last Sunday in New York against the Yankees. The Tigers will counter with LHP Daniel Norris (3-11, 4.76 ERA). He had a no-decision in his last start on Tuesday in Kansas City.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 PM at the Oakland Coliseum.

Shouldn’t the infield fly rule have been called?

In the top of the first inning with runners at first and second and one out, the Tigers Christin Stewart hit an infield fly into foul territory on the third-base side. The wind then pushed the ball back into the field of play. Matt Chapman attempted to catch the ball but was unable to do so. Marcus Semien picked the ball up and tossed it to Bassitt who was covering third. The pitcher stepped on the bag and Harold Castro – the runner at second was called out. Bassitt then alertly threw the ball to Profar who stepped on second base and Miguel Cabrera – the runner at first was called out on what scored as a 6-1-4 double play.

As a former amateur umpire, I was immediately looking for one of the four umpires to have his right arm up in the air to indicate that the infield fly rule was in effect. I was shocked when no call such call was being made. So was Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire who immediately came out to discuss the situation with the Homeplate umpire – Dan Bellino.

The umpires explained that the infield fly rule is to be called when the ball can be caught with “ordinary effort”. The “men in blue” said in their opinion Chapman would have needed to use extraordinary effort to have made the catch of Stewart’s fly ball, so the infield fly rule did not apply.

In this reporter’s opinion (and as a former umpire), the umpiring crew was caught off guard when an apparent foul ball came back into fair territory.

 

In A New York Minute: A’s go from winners to losers in game’s final, seven pitches, Yankees win 5-4

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By Morris Phillips

In New York, the subway is ever active, and a train is always coming. In the Bronx, that same certainty exists at Yankee Stadium: Murderers Row is now a nine-man cycle with a home run off a Yankees’ bat every 21 plate appearances.

Yes, a Yankees’ home run is always coming, and that’s how the A’s found themselves in the cross hairs on Sunday, clinging to a 4-3 lead in the ninth with the Yankees somehow 32 plate appearances into their muggy afternoon without a homer.

Liam Hendricks was tabbed by Bob Melvin to complete a five-out save, entering with the bases jammed and Gary Sanchez–the ring leader of the high-scoring New York attack–at the plate in the eighth. But after Sanchez popped out, Didi Gregorius lined a two-run single up the middle to trim the A’s lead to 4-3.

Now, in the ninth, Hendricks would face the bottom of the Yankees’ order, a welcome break with a caveat: in 2019, Murderers’ Row provides no breaks, and the A’s closer would see Brett Gardner first–the number seven hitter–more than capable with 18 home runs coming in.

Afterwards, Hendricks would complain that on this occasion he was a little off, missing several pitches off the plate. Ahead in the count, 2-1, Gardner would pounce, sending the next pitch into the right bleachers to tie it, 4-4.

“We believe in ourselves right down to the very end even if we’re down by a few runs,” said Gardner. “Our fans, I feel like, feel the same way. So we feel that, we feed off that.”

Manager Aaron Boone elected to lift Clint Frazier for pinch hitter Mike Ford with the game tied. Boone, awash in options with the September 1st roster expansion, chose a career minor leaguer who had hit 10 home runs in his first 36 major league games after receiving his first promotion at age 27, over Frazier, not a bad option with 11 home runs in 53 games this season.

Boone’s decision paid off when Ford smashed Hendricks’ offering on a 3-2 count, the ball landing in the bullpen beyond the right centerfield fence. Afterwards, Ford said the moment was a blur.

“I didn’t hear anything, which is crazy,” Ford said. “Just a whole rush of emotion.”

The Yankees became the first club to reach 90 wins on the season, and they found a response to the challenge put forth by the A’s, who won the first four contests in the season series.

The A’s get to erase the disappointment of consecutive, walk-off losses with a cross country flight home before facing the Rangers on Tuesday at the Coliseum.

Sean Manaea made his season debut in the contest, and pitched beautifully, shutting out the Bombers for five innings, allowing just one hit. Manaea gives the A’s tremendous flexibility as a sixth starter in the season’s final month.

Relievers Jake Diekman and Yusmeiro Petit also pitched effectively before Lou Trivino and Hendricks ran into trouble.

Sheldon Neuse’s first major league hit drove in a pair of runs in the seventh to break the scoreless stalemate. Neuse had 58 extra base-hits at Triple-A Las Vegas, forcing himself into the A’s crowded but underwhelming situation at second base. Ironically, Neuse’s double came off Ryan Dull, the former Athletic making his Yankees’ debut.

 

Yanks get four big flies–LeMahieu, Judge, and Sanchez (2), edge A’s 4-3 in 11

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photo from @Athletics

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK — The Oakland Athletics lost to the New York Yankees for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon, 4-3 in 11 innings, after DJ LeMahieu hit a home run on Lou Trivino’s first pitch in the 11th inning.

Trevino allowed no runs in two innings before throwing a fastball that LeMahieu hit right field out of the ballpark, his second walk-off hit of the season.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said he has seen signs of Trivino and pitcher Blake Treinen, who allowed no runs in the ninth inning, “pitching better recently” and “hopefully it’s a trend.”

The Yankees gained momentum in the first inning when Gary Sanchez hit a home run on a fly ball to left field for a 1-0 lead.

Oakland responded in the fourth inning when Matt Olson hit a homer on a fly ball to right center field, and Matt Chapman scored, putting the A’s up 2-1. But in the fifth inning, Sanchez hit another home run on a fly ball to right center field to tie the game at 2-2.

The A’s took a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning when Chapman doubled on a line drive to left field, allowing Robbie Grossman to score. New York evened the score at 3-3 in the eight inning when Aaron Judge hit a home run off Joakim Soriaon on a fly ball to right field, and the game went into extra innings. All of New York’s runs were solo home runs.

“That was kind of the theme of the game today—solo shots,” A’s starting pitcher Homer Bailey said.

Oakland left 15 players on base and was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. A’s manager Bob Melvin did not think (too bad).

“You leave 15 on, it comes back to bite you at some time,” Melvin said. “But you know what, we came back and the lead and were one pitch away from going into the ninth inning with it and Chappie’s ball, unless you have a 10-foot outfielder in right field, it probably goes out.”

Melvin concluded “it’s a game of inches today,” and, “sometimes they don’t come through, most times here recently, they do.”

A’s batter Mark Canha said the bullpen gave them opportunities and “we just couldn’t do it.”

“We just have to have some better at-bats tomorrow because I felt like we were just bon the cusp of breaking it open a few times,” Canha said. “We just needed that one hit and it didn’t work out unfortunately.”

The A’s beat the Yankees 3-0 in Oakland and won Friday night at Yankee Stadium. The A’s (78-57) and Yankees (89-48) play the last game of the series, tied at 1-1, Sunday with first pitch at 1:05 p.m. ET.

Giants crush A’s 10-5 in game three of the Bay Bridge Series 2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
bb1
Graphic: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The A’s literally snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory on Saturday night as they watched a 4-2 lead going into the top of the eighth inning be wiped out when the San Francisco exploded for eight runs on seven hits off five Oakland pitchers. It was simply a stunning rally that the A’s did not see coming.

For the Giants, it felt like they had pent up emotion and energy that just had to be released. Madison Bumgarner did his best to keep his team in the game to give them the chance to win. When the A’s pitching staff gave the Giants the slightest of openings, the men from across the Bay took the opportunity and did the most with it.

The Giants took game one (game 3 of 4 total) of the Bay Bridge Series in Oakland 10-5 on Saturday night before 56,367 fans who were treated their money’s worth for coming out to the ballpark. The Giants scored 10 runs off 13 hits and left six men on base. For the A’s, they put five runs up on the board on 10 hits while leaving 10 men on base and committing one error. The game took three hours and 50 minutes to complete.

The Giants record for the season improved to 64-65 with the victory while the A’s fell to 74-54 on the year. San Francisco is now 5.0 games out the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The A’s are 0.5 games behind the Rays for the second Wild Card slot in the American League.

In this type of game where 14 pitchers were used, determining the winning and losing pitcher is almost “voodoo” science. Sam Coonrod (3-0) gets credit for the win while Yusmeiro Petit(3-3) was tagged with the loss.

Neither starter figured into the final decision

Chris Bassitt pitched 5.2 innings for the A’s on Saturday night. The right-hander ran into some trouble as he started through the Giants order for the third time. He gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford on 0-1 pitch with two out in the top of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, Evan Longoria drove in Alex Dickerson from second base to tie the game at 2-2. That would be all for Bassitt as he was replaced on the mound by Jake Diekman.

Bassitt gave up two runs (both earned) off four hits (1 HR). He struck out five Giants and walked none. Bassitt threw 92 pitches (64 strikes).

Madison Bumgarner worked 5.0 innings for San Francisco in the contest. He also gave up two runs. The first run came off a leadoff home run by Mark Canha in the home half of the second inning that easily cleared the left-field fence. The A’s touched “Mad Bum” for another run in the bottom of the third inning.

Jurickson Profar walked to lead off the third for Oakland. Josh Phegley then singled to left field which moved Profar to second base. With one out, Matt Chapman hit a double to left that drove Profar in from second base to score the A’s second run of the game. The A’s took a temporary 2-0 at that point.

Bumgarner also gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits (1 HR). He struck five A’s and walked one. Bumgarner threw 97 pitches (64 strikes).

Did I just see a sacrifice?

Jurickson Profar was the leadoff hitter for the A’s in the bottom of the seventh, and he hit a double to right field. Catcher Josh Phegley then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the third-base side of the infield that moved Profar to third base (yes, everyone including the Giants was surprised). Marcus Semien followed up with an RBI single to left field. Matt Chapman singled to center sending Semien to third base. That would all for Giants reliever Jandel Gustave who would be replaced by Fernando Abad.

Matt Olson was the first Athletic to face Abad, and he hit a single to right that drove Semien home to score the fourth run of the game for Oakland. That would end the scoring for the A’s in the seventh inning and gave them a 4-2 lead, which proved to be not enough.

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That’s a lot of fans! Graphic: @Athletics

Focus on the A’s

  • Mark Canha hit his 20th home run of the year off Bumgarner in the second inning of the game. He also extended his hitting streak to eight games.
  • The A’s now have five players with 20-plus home runs on the season: Canha (20), Chapman (29), Laureano (21), Olson (26), and Semien (22).
  • Oakland has a record of 22-11 versus left-handed starters in 2019.

Spotlight on the Giants

  • Brandon Crawford hit his 10th home run of the season in the win on Saturday night and his first home since July 15 at Colorado.
  • Kevin Pillar has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games and is hitting .397 over that stretch.
  • Evan Longoria went 2-for-4 in the game, was hit-by-pitch and posted two RBI. He is hitting .347 since June 30.

Up next

The Bay Bridge Series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:07 PM at the Coliseum. The Giants will send rookie RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.80 era) to the hill to make his second start of the season. He made his major league debut last Saturday in Arizona picked up the win. Expect quite a few fans in the stands rooting for Webb who grew up in Rocklin just east of Sacramento.

The A’s will counter with LHP Brett Anderson (10-9, 4.06 era). Anderson has been having a rough go of things as he is 1-4 with a 5.02 ERA in his last five starts. Run support has been a big issue for Anderson. The A’s have provided three runs or fewer in 14 of his last 17 starts. Anderson was the losing pitcher in the game with the Giants in San Francisco on August 13.

Player’s Weekend Uni’s

The black and white themed uniforms created an interesting effect on the field Saturday night. It was really a throwback feel. In fact, I felt like I was watching the movie “Eight Men Out” at times.

I really liked the all-black uniforms the Giants wore as the visiting team. They were as the guy says in the SUV commercial — “sharp!”. The all-white worn by the A’s were had a very clean look, but the lettering and numerals were washed out. If they had outlined the lettering and numbers in black, the home uniforms would have been “sharp”.

The A’s pitchers did wear black hats because it was determined that the hitters were having trouble picking the baseball up against the all-white caps.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Pinder is doing it all, relieving 4 players during their IL

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Photo credit: sports.yahoo.com

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Oakland A’s outfielder Chad Pinder is turning into a designated utility guy with the A’s injuries piling up and in the middle of the wild card chase.

#2 Injuries on the club include, first baseman Matt Olson (hand), DH Khris Davis (oblique), right fielder Stephen Piscotty (knee), and center-fielder Ramon Laureano (shin).

#3 Pinder has picked up the slack filling in for Olson, Davis, Piscotty and Laureano which speaks to his talents and ability. A’s manager Bob Melvin said that he very significant to the team.

#4 Taking a look at the A’s series with the New York Yankees that opens up on Tuesday night. The Yankees will start Domingo German (16-2, 3.96 ERA), and for the A’s, Homer Bailey (10-8, 5.22 ERA).

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s make it three wins in a row over the Astros with a big 8-4 victory on Saturday

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
HOU 3
The scoreboard just kept showing happy news for A’s fans Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Oakland — A’s starting pitcher Chris Bassitt had to throw 31 pitches to get out of the top of the first against the Houston Astros on Saturday afternoon. That usually means two things:

  1. The chances of that starting pitcher being in the game after the fifth inning is almost nil. In fact, a starter who throws that many pitches in the first inning almost never lasts past the fourth inning.
  2. The other fact you can take the bank is that a pitcher who starts a game by throwing that many pitches will finish the game with a no-decision.

Someone forgot to tell Chris Bassitt that he needed to conform to the standards of baseball on Saturday. After that rough first inning, the A’s starter pulled things together in the second inning.

Bassitt was back in hot water in the top the third inning as the Astros scored two runs on three hits. When the inning ended, there were two Houston runners on base which means the inning could have been much worse.

Bassitt’s team members really picked him up in the home half of the third inning. The Athletics put five runs up on the scoreboard to stake their pitcher to a three-run lead. The amazing part of the third inning rally was the fact that the A’s scored those runs without hitting a home run.

Bassitt pitched a scoreless fourth inning and gave up one run to Houston in the fifth inning to make it a  5-3 game in favor of Oakland. The consensus in the press box was that we had seen the last of Bassitt for the day.

The Astros sent their starting pitcher – Rogelio Armenteros – to the showers and sent Chris Denvenski to the mound to face the A’s in the bottom of the fifth inning. Oakland took advantage of a walk, hit-by-pitch, two singles, and a sacrifice fly to put three more runs up on the board. That cleared the way for Bassitt to come back out for the sixth inning.

The first hitter to face Bassitt in the sixth inning was Yuli Gurriel who singled to left field and everyone thought that was going to be all for Bassitt, but Bob Melvin left the right-hander in the game. The next batter – catcher Martin Maldonado – hit a ball on the ground to shortstop Marcus Semien who fielded it and threw to Corban Joseph at second to erase Gurriel. Joseph turned and threw to first to get Maldonado for the double play. Bassitt was able to get Jake Marisnick to pop out to Joseph at second to end the inning.

Bassitt finished his six innings throwing a career-high 116 pitches. In his postgame comments, mangers Bob Melvin said that Bassitt had told him he was ready to go to 120 pitches to get the job done. That is just plain grit and determination.

With the help of his team on offense, the A’s won the game 8-4 and the winning pitcher was Chris Bassitt who now has a record of 9-5 for the season with a 3.61 ERA.

Focus on the A’s (71-52)

HOU 1
Treinen gets Bregman to fly out to end the seventh inning Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
  • Chris Bassitt has posted a 2.36 ERA (11 earned runs over 42.0 innings) since the All-Star Break. The win on Saturday was his first victory over the Astros since July 11, 2018.
  • The Astros cannot keep Matt Chapman off base. Chapman went 3-for-3 at the plate in the game and two of the hits were doubles (31). He also walked once and he reached base after being hit by a pitch. Chapman also recorded his 70th RBI when he walked with the bases loaded in the third inning.
  • Matt Olson had a 2-for-4 game with a walk and two RBI (60). The A’s are 56-31 since Olson came off the injury list on May 7.
  • Catcher Josh Phegley made his return to the field by having a 2-for-4 game for his team. He went on the injured list on July 31. Phegley is batting .329 in 31-day games and .205 in 52-night games.
  • Take note of this factoid: this was only the third Oakland victory of the season in which they did not hit a home run. Bob Melvin said after the game that it is important for his team to know they can win without hitting a long ball.

Checking on the Astros (78-46)

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Yordan Alvarez finishes his HR trot in the eighth inning Photo: Charlie O Mallonee
  • Houston’s designated hitter – 6-foot-5, 242 pound – Yordan Alvarez pounded two more home runs on Saturday. He now has 19 home runs and 55 RBI in his first 52 major league games. That is really scary given the rest of the Astros lineup.
  • Michael Brantley (every team wants a hitter like him) extended his hitting streak to 11 games by going 2-for-4 in the game. He has four consecutive multi-hit games and 50 for the season – the most in the American League.
  • Alex Bregman put his 80th RBI of the year in the book today. He joins Devers, Bogaerts, Kepler, and Rosario as players in the American League with 80-plus RBI.

Up next

Without trying to jinx the A’s, they will go for the four-game sweep of the Astros on Sunday 1:07 PM at the Coliseum in what should be an excellent pitching matchup. The Astros will send RHP Zack Greinke to the mound. Greinke is 12-4 on the season with a 2.91 ERA. He was a winner in his last start in Chicago versus the White Sox when he worked 6.0 innings and allowed only two runs in a Houston 6-2 victory.

The A’s will counter with LHP Brett Anderson who is 10-8 with a 3.95 ERA. This will be his 21st start of the season. Anderson was tagged with the loss in his last start on Tuesday in San Francisco against the Giants. He pitched 6.0 innings allowing two runs (earned) off six hits. He walked none and struck out four.

 

 

Bassitt, Giolito duel the highlight of A’s 2-0 shutout of the White Sox

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By Morris Phillips

Lucas Giolito was determined to rebound from a disastrous 2018 season, and realize his enornmous potential. Chris Bassitt wasn’t happy with how the Chicago White Sox lost faith in him, and traded him in 2014.

Those two motivational tales made for a whale of a pitcher’s duel on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. Giolito and Bassitt combined for 20 strikeouts while allowing just three walks over 13 innings of work, and just one mistake: Matt Olson’s home run off Giolito that stood as the difference in the A’s 2-0 getaway day win.

For Bassitt, Sunday’s seven innings of scoreless work may qualify as the apex of his major league career. After he landed in Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija trade, his career stalled. Bassitt went 1-8 in 2015, 0-2 in 2016 and didn’t pitch at all at the major league level in 2017 after Tommy John surgery in the off-season.

2018 wasn’t much better. Bassitt made just seven starts, compiling a 2-3 record.

But the A’s didn’t give up on the right-hander. Instead they promoted Bassitt in late April, and were finally rewarded. Bassitt has taken his turn in the rotation every fifth day since, compiling career-best numbers in wins, ERA (tied with 2015), innings pitched and strikeouts. Then on Sunday, Bassitt kept ascending, topping Giolito, the All-Star and White Sox staff ace in a tense, low-scoring affair.

“I think I’ve said this a couple times this season, ‘That might be the best game I’ve seen him pitch,’ but that one ranks right up there,” said manager Bob Melvin. “I know he was up for the challenge.”

Bassitt allowed Tim Anderson’s one-out double in the second inning, but quickly settled down, retiring Jose Abreu and James McCann on ground outs to quell the threat. Bassitt wasn’t stretched further, spreading the three singles and two walks he allowed across the other six innings he pitched.

He was facing the White Sox for the fourth time–going 1-1 in three, previous starts–but he hadn’t shown them this level of proficiency. Bassitt made it clear afterwards that it was point of emphasis.

“Every time I pitch against these guys for my career, I’m going to try to prove to them they made a mistake,” Bassitt said.

Giolito walked 90 batters and compiled a 6.18 ERA in 2018, numbers that were among the worst for AL starting pitchers. But some adjustments in the off-season–most importantly, refining and simplifying his delivery–have the Los Angeles native pitching at a level befitting his status as one of MLB’s top five prospects as a 21-year old in 2016. Now 24, Giolito opened the season with nine wins in his first 10 decisions, made the All-Star team, and came in to Sunday’s appearance rolling with four quality starts in his last five appearances.

Giolito had the A’s swinging and missing, striking out every batter in the A’s lineup with the exception of Jurickson Profar. But one pitch was his undoing, a fastball that nabbed too much of the middle of the plate against Olson, who parked it in the right field bleachers for his 23rd home run of the season.

The A’s ended their week in Chicago with a 3-3 record, not disappointing until the week of the streaking Tampa Bay Rays is factored in. The A’s return to the Bay Area for games against the Giants Tuesday and Wednesday trailing the Rays by a 1 1/2 games for the league’s second wild card spot.

The A’s schedule may be their biggest enemy down the stretch run. With 43 full games remaining (and the remainder of a suspended game with Detroit, in which they lead 5-3 after seven innings), the A’s have seven games with the Astros, six with the Yankees, and none against the Rays, Indians, Twins and Red Sox, their competitors for the wild card. Without the ability to affect the fortunes of the teams they’re competing against, they’ll need to hold their own with the division-leading Yankees and Astros while taking full advantage of the Royals, Mariners, Tigers in the 13 combined games they have against those clubs.

On Tuesday, Brett Anderson faces the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner at 6:45pm.

 

 

 

Olson homers in the 10th to give the A’s a 3-2 walk-off win over the Brewers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The A’s won a thriller as they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 in 10 innings at the Coliseum on Tuesday night. Matt Olson homered with one out in the 10th to send the A’s to their 61st win of the season.

Chris Bassitt started for Oakland and pitched exceptionally well. He gave the A’s six innings of work and allowed three hits and no runs. The Brewers’ starter Adrian Houser pitched five innings and allowed one run and three hits.

The A’s drew first blood in the bottom of the third. Brewers’ starter, Adrian Houser, walked the lead-off hitter, Jurickson Profar. Houser struck out Marcus Semien and Matt Chapman. Matt Olson then doubled to left-center to drive in Profar from first. The A’s lead 1-0 after three.

The Brewers plated a run in the top of the eighth. Brewers’ shortstop  Orlando Arcia singled to start the rally. Yusmeiro Petit, in relief of Chris Bassitt, retired the next two hitters. A’s manager brought in lefty Ryan Buchter to face the left-handed hitter Christian Yelich. Yelich singled to send Arcia to third. Melvin brought in Liam Hendriks to pitch to Yasmani Grandal. Grandal singled on the first pitch from Hendriks to tie the game. Hendriks struck out Mike Moustakas for the final out of the inning. The game is tied 1-1 midway through the eighth inning. The game didn’t stay tied for long. With two out in the bottom of the eighth, A’s DH Khris Davis lined a shot over the wall in left field to put the A’s ahead 2-1 for his 17th homer of the year. The A’s led 2-1 heading into the ninth.

With one out, Brewers’ first baseman Eric Thames blasted his 15th of the year to tie the game. Thames broke an 0-for-17 slump with the homer. Hendriks struck out the side but was rocked by the blast by Thames. The A’s failed to score in their half of the ninth. The game is now in extra innings.

The Brewers failed to score in the top of the tenth. The Brew Crew had their closer, lefty Josh Hader pitching. Hader struck out Matt Chapman for the first out. The next hitter, Matt Olson, sent the first pitch from Hader over the center-field wall to give the A’s a hard-earned 3-2 win.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s improve to 61-47. They remain in second place in the AL West. They are still 1/2 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the race for the second wild card slot. The Brewers fall to 56-52, and they trail the St. Louis Cardinals by two games in the race for the NL Central crown.

Khris Davis and Matt Olson each homered for Oakland. Davis hit his 17th and Olson his 22nd.

It was the eighth walk-off win for Oakland this year, and it ties them for the Major League lead.

Time of game was three hours and 16 minutes. 17,291 fans went home happy.

Up Next: Game two of the three-game series will be played Wednesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Lefty Brett Anderson will go for Oakland. Milwaukee has yet to announce their starting pitcher.

A’s score early and often in destroying the ChiSox 13-2 on Saturday

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Canha
Canha and Olson celebrate on a day when the A’s score 13 runs Photo: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Oakland — The A’s continued their winning ways on Saturday as they won for the eighth time in their last 10 games dominating the Chicago White Sox (42-46) 13-2. Oakland put seven runs up on the board in the first inning. That was the first time the Athletics had done that since 2014 against the Astros.

The A’s sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom of the first inning. The big highlight of that inning was when Franklin Barreto hit a 1-1 pitch from Ross Detwiler over the wall in left field with two runners on base for a 3-run home run. It was his second round-tripper of the year. Bob Melvin said it was a “huge” hit that really put the Athletics on the winning path.

Chicago starting pitcher Dylan Covey lasted just 0.2-innings as he gave up six runs (all earned off just four hits. Covey walked two batters and struck out one. He threw 32 (20 strikes) pitches to the eight batters he faced. And of course, Covey (1-5) was charged with the loss.

The A’s never let up in the game. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Oakland (52-41) hit five consecutive base hits that resulted in four runs. With the score at 11-0, you could sense the competitive spirit of the White Sox had left the building.

Focus on the Athletics

Bassitt
Photo/Graphic: @Athletics
  • Chris Bassitt picked up his sixth victory of the season as he worked six scoreless innings. Bassitt allowed just four hits while walking just two and striking out six of the 24 batters he faced. This was the first time Bassitt had worked that many innings since back on June 2nd versus Houston. He wound up with a no-decision in that contest. Bob Melvin was pleased with Bassitt because he worked hard with the big lead and did not lose his focus.
  • The top four men the Oakland batting order went 9-for-16 in the game. They scored seven runs and recorded three RBI. Marcus Semien went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Matt Chapman had a 3-for-4 day with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Matt Olson was 2-for-4 with the bat while scoring three runs and adding an RBI. DH Khris Davis had a 1-for-3 game scoring two runs and driving in one run. Skipper Bob Melvin acknowledged that his top four men in the batting order are the keys to his team’s offense.
  • Blake Treinen was able to get some work in as he pitched the seventh inning. He gave up two runs off two hits. Melvin was not concerned about Treinen’s performance as it was not in the type of “high pressure” situations the reliever normally works in during games.
  • Melvin was also pleased to get Lou Trivino into the game for an inning. Trivino had not seen any game action since July 4th. He worked one scoreless inning on Saturday.
  • The A’s scored 13 runs off 13 hits and recorded 13 RBI in the game on Saturday.
  • Oakland is now 6-2 in the month of July. The A’s have won three consecutive games. They have won all three series that they played in July.
  • The A’s record is now 28-20 at home and 24-21 on the road.
  • The team is 20-15 in day games.
Barreto
Franklin Barreto celebrates after A’s win Photo: @Athletics

Chicago White Sox Notes

  • Dylan Covey’s 0.2-innings was the shortest by a ChiSox pitcher since September 21, 2017, when Carson Fulmer left after just 0.1-inning pitched due to a blister.
  • White Sox catcher Zack Collins ended an 0-for-23 hitless streak when he singled in the seventh inning. Collins had not recorded a hit since hitting a home run in his first Major League at-bat. Chicago pitchers may not be thrilled to have Collins behind the dish when they are on the mound. They have a 6.50 ERA when Collins is catching.
  • Yoan Moncada ended his career-high 14-game hitting streak (23-for-57) by going 0-for-4 in the game. He was hitting .404 during the streak.
  • Outfielder Jon Jay had a 2-for-4 game with the bat and has now reached base safely in 11 of his 12 games with the Sox.

Interesting factoid of the game

Today’s announced attendance was 22,222. For a while, it felt like that might be the total number of runs that might be scored in the game.

Up Next

In the series finale on Sunday, the White Sox will send RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-8, 6.34) to the hill to face the Athletics LHP Brett Anderson (9-5, 3.86). Anderson was victorious in his last start in Seattle on July 5th – winning that game 5-2.

 

Back In Stride Again: A’s stay hot, head into All-Star break with 7-4 win over Seattle

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

Matt Chapman’s headed to the All-Star Game as a reserve, and as a last-minute addition to the Home Run Derby.

Not a bad choice. But the American League could probably do just as well with Matt Olson, Chapman’s Oakland teammate.

While Chapman enjoyed a well-deserved day of rest ahead of his flight to Cleveland, Olson showed off his All-Star worthiness with a first inning, three-run homer in the A’s 7-4 win over the Mariners. Olson’s shot was his sixth in his last 10 games, and his 19th of the season, all of them hit since May 12, five days after Olson’s delayed season debut due to a broken bone in his hand.

“You hear a lot about the hamate injury and the strength not coming back for a while,” manager Bob Melvin said of Olson. “But when you look at his home runs per at-bat, I can’t imagine it’s not right at the top of the league.”

While the A’s switched into blast-off mode in the first two innings of Sunday’s series finale, taking a 6-0 lead after Marcus Semien led off the second with a home run, the host Mariners were self-destructing, that according to manager Scott Servais.

After Olson’s blast, the next two A’s reached, then found their way around the basepaths when Dylan Moore inexplicably allowed Chad Pinder’s base hit to slide through his legs and go all the way to the wall. Chad Pinder and Ramon Laureano scored on Moore’s error.

“It was the walk. Somewhere in the middle there’s always a walk. You have to stay aggressive, and that led into the Olson three-run homer. We really couldn’t stop it after that,” Servais said.

Seattle’s response–single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, all of those four runs courtesy of Omar Narvaez–wasn’t enough to get the Mariners even, or knock A’s starter Daniel Mengden out of the winner’s circle. Still Narvaez’ outburst was impressive; he homered twice sandwiching a pair of run-scoring singles in a 4 for 4 performance.

Mengden’s been the perfect follow-up to Frankie Montas’ suspension, winning four of five decisions for the first time in his disjointed big-league career. On Sunday, he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks.

“When you come out of the game after the fifth inning with a lead, you’ve done your job. He’s done that,” Melvin said of Mengden.

The A’s recent ascension in the standings couldn’t be more reminiscent of what the club did in 2018. At 50-41, they’re only one game off their pace of last season, the precursor to the major’s best second half record that took them to 97 wins and a wild card playoff spot. But there are a couple of key differences.

Unlike last season, the A’s still have a realistic shot at winning the AL West. The Astros have a sizeable lead at 7 1/2 games, but they A’s still have 11 of the 19 games in the season series between the clubs to make up ground. Of course, the A’s will have to quickly reverse course in the rivalry, they’ve lost seven of the first eight to the Astros in 2019.

Also unlike 2018, the A’s haven’t found a couple of opponents to take advantage of like they did with the Tigers and Blue Jays (14-0 in 2018). Instead they’ve been dominated by the same Jays and Astros (1-13 in 2019). They could find some vulnerable opponents in the second half: the A’s have season series left with the improving White Sox, the downtrodden Royals and the dominant Yankees (seven games against each club).

Most importantly, unlike 2018, the wild card race is wide open. The A’s are right in the middle of a tight race with the Rays, Indians, Red Sox and Rangers with none of the five running away with the top spot as the Yankees did in 2018. That means the A’s have a realistic shot at hosting the game this time, and if they don’t finish on top, not having to play on the road against a clearly, superior club as the Yankees were last October.