Tag: mlb

San Francisco Giants podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After running into brick wall Astros, Giants hope to win series with Bucs

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On the Giants podcast with Marko:

The San Francisco Giants know after winning two out of four in Arizona. They’d have their work cut out for them with the Astros dropping in and the Giants got swept in a two-game series losing 2-1 on Tuesday. The Giants’ reliever Will Smith on Monday night gave up a three-run homer to Marwin Gonzalez and Giants reliever Ray Black gave up a home run to the Astros their back to give the Astros a one-run lead.

The Astros own the Giants the sweep on Monday and Tuesday makes it four in a row as Houston beat San Francisco back in May at Minute Maid Park. The Giants’ Chase d’Arnaud got the Giants only run with a single in the second inning to score Brandon Crawford.

The Giants open a four game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Starting pitchers for Thursday night at AT&T Park for the Pirates Ivan Nova (6-6) and for the Giants Andrew Saurez (4-7).

Marko Ukalovic does the Giants podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Dodgers snap A’s win streak with 4-2 victory

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers for a brief two-game set at the Oakland Coliseum starting Tuesday night. The A’s sent their best pitcher, Sean Manaea, out to face the powerful Dodger hitters.

The Dodgers had seven players in the lineup that are in double-digits in home runs hit this season. Rich Hill, who was with the A’s in 2016, went for the Dodgers. The Dodgers sent Manaea to an early shower in the third inning and went on to beat the A’s 4-2. The win for LA was important as it broke a virtual tie for first-place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs lost and the Dodgers reclaimed the lead with the win.The A’s lost ground to the New York Yankees in the race for the first Wild Card slot in the AL. The first Wild Card hosts the one-game all or nothing contest in October. The A’s, on the other hand, did not lose ground to the Seattle Mariners as the M’s lost.

The Dodgers scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. Second baseman Brian Dozier led off with a single to left. Dozier was erased at second on a nice fielding play by Jed Lowrie. Machado was safe at first on the play. Third baseman Justin Turner doubled to deep right-center to put men on at second and third. Machado scored when Kike Hernandez grounded out. Manaea struck out Matt Kemp for the final out of the first.

LA added a run in the second. Manaea walked Chris Taylor to start the inning. Manaea retired Cody Bellinger for the first out. Right fielder Yasiel Puig singled to send Taylor to third.  Catcher Austin Barnes laid down a bunt that scored Taylor. Manaea threw Barnes out at first on the play. Puig stole third, but Manaea was able to retire Manny Machado for the final out of the inning. The Dodgers led 2-0 after two innings of play.

In the top of third, the Dodgers knocked Manaea out of the box as they plated their third run of the game. Justin Turner started the rally with a single to left. Hernanez fouled out. Matt Kemp walked to put men on at first and second. Manaea retired Taylor for the second out. Bellinger singled to center to drive in Turner. A’s manager Bob Melvin finished Manaea’s night when he walked to the mound to bring in Emilio Pagan to pitch. The A’s have not been able to do anything against Hill and they trailed 3-0.

The A’s put two runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Matt Chapman led off with a double. Hill struck out Lowrie for the first out. The next hitter, Khris Davis, crushed an 88-MPH four-seam fastball to bring the A’s within one run of tying the game. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts removed Hill from the game. The Dodgers used two pitchers to get the last two outs of the inning.

In the top of the seventh, the Dodgers had Joc Pederson pinch-hit for Kike Hernandez. Pederson doubled off the wall in left-center field. The ball missed going out of the park by just a few inches. Kemp then singled to drive in Pederson with the Dodgers’ fourth run of the game. A’s pitcher Yusmeiro Petit walked Bellinger to put men on at first and second with one out, Petit then got Puig to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. The Dodgers led 4-2 halfway through the seventh. The Dodger bullpen shut the A’s down the last three innings of the game to preserve the win for LA and Hill.

Game Notes: With the win, the Dodgers improved to 63-51 and regained the lead in the NL West. Roberts used five pitchers and Jansen recorded his 32nd save of the season. Hill’s record improved to 5-4.

Manaea took the loss and his record dropped to 10-8. It was Manaea’s shortest outing since August 12, 2017. He pitched just 2 2/3 innings and gave up three runs, six hits and walked three batters.

Davis was the hitting star for the A’s. Davis blasted his 32nd home run of the season with Matt Chapman aboard in the bottom of the sixth. Davis now has 88 ribbies for the year. It was the third game in a row that Davis has homered.

The Dodgers’ line score was four runs, nine hits, and no errors.

The A’s line was two runs, four hits, and no errors.

Time of game was three hours and 21 minutes and 33,654 fans watched the two teams play a very entertaining game.

Up Next: The finale of the two-game series will be played on Wednesday night at 7:05 pm PDT.

The Dodgers will send their ace, three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw, to the mound.

The A’s will counter with righty Mike Fiers. Fiers came to Oakland on Monday when the A’s made a trade for his service from the Tigers.

Giants experience another close finish in 2-1 loss to Astros

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — It seems that the San Francisco Giants starters have been snake bitten over the past two games versus the Houston Astros at AT&T Park.

Giants’ closer Will Smith was unable to hold on to a 1-0 lead on Monday night, and then Ray Black did the same in the series finale.

Black gave up his first hit since July 8 to Monday’s hero Marwin Gonzalez and then after striking out Yuli Gurriel, Tyler White hit a Black pitch into the left field seats and the Astros came back for the second straight day to defeat the Giants 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 41,613 at AT&T Park on Tuesday.

The win by the Astros gave them the season sweep four games to zero, as they also swept the Giants in May at Minute Maid Park.

This was the seventh loss in the last eight home games for the Giants, who are now 32-24 at AT&T Park this season.

One pitch prior to the White home run, Black threw a 96-mph high and tight, but then White hit the next pitch clocked at 99-mph into the seats.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out seven.

Chase d’Arnaud supplied the only offense that Bumgarner would get, as he lashed an opposite field single to right field to score Brandon Crawford from second base in the bottom of the second inning. Crawford led off the inning with a long double, and was able to score the early run, as he made a great headfirst slide around Astros catcher Max Stassi.

The day did not end well for d’Arnaud, as he was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he took a foul ball off the knee. d’Arnaud attempted to stay in the game, but the pain in his left leg was too painful, and Alen Hanson came to bat for d’Arnaud and struck out; however, the at-bat was charged to d’Arnaud instead of Hanson.

d’Arnaud suffered a left knee contusion on the foul ball, and Hanson eventually replaced d’Arnaud at second base.

Dallas Keuchel went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walked two and struck out five, as he did not fare in the decision.

The defensive plays of the game came in the top of the sixth inning, as White tripled to lead off the inning, but then on a ground ball hit by Josh Reddick down to Buster Posey at first base, Posey threw home to get White at the plate for the first out of the inning.

With Max Stassi at the plate, Reddick went to second on a Bumgarner wild pitch and then stole third base and then the bigger play than the force out at home came when Bumgarner’s pitch got away from Nick Hundley, but he was able to regroup and throw to Bumgarner, who tagged Reddick for the third out of the inning.

NOTES: Despite the fact that the Giants are one game under the .500 mark, they have spent 67 days either one game below .500, even at .500, or one game over .500, the most by any team in the major leagues this season. This is the third most days by the team since they moved to San Francisco in 1958, this according to STATS, LLC., and it is the most by the team since they spent 81 days hovering around that mark in 2006.

White’s home run was the 106th allowed by Giants’ pitchers, the second fewest of any team this season, with 44 coming at AT&T Park. The Cardinals’ pitching staff have allowed the fewest with 102 home runs.

The Giants’ first-round pick in the 2018 Amateur Draft, Joey Bart was named the Northwest League Player of the Month for July, as he hit .333 and led the NWL with nine home runs and 24 RBIs. Bart also picked up 18 extra base hits, 65 total bases, a slugging percentage of .747, an on-base percentage of 1.126 and also added a 10-game hitting streak from July 8-19.

This was the first time that the Giants lost consecutive games to the Astros since May 14 and 15, 2008.

Bumgarner allowed two triples for the first time in his career. Josh Reddick was the first left-handed batter to get a triple off of Bumgarner since Ender Inciarte of the Atlanta Braves on August 28, 2016.

UP NEXT: After a much-needed day off on Wednesday, the Giants begin a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, as Giants’ Andrew Suarez will take the mound in the opener and the Pirates will send Ivan Nova to the hill. Game one is set for Thursday at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Game one of the preseason kicks off Thursday with Cowboys; Dallas’ Prescott will be asked about his anthem remarks

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Photo credit: @wfaa

On the 49ers podcast with David Zizmor:

Game one of the preseason kicks off this Thursday for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott has been a central focus this last week on NFL talk shows. Prescott spoke out against players taking a knee during the national anthem and has got a lot of national flak for his comments, saying “it takes away from the joy and the love that football brings to a lot of people.”

Will the statements of Prescott bring divisiveness to the Cowboys’ dressing room? Will there be resentment for what Prescott said? Will there be even more players taking a knee on the Cowboys? Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he has warned his players against taking a knee and Prescott could have fueled the players to take a knee even more. Ironically, if some of the Cowboys players take a knee on Thursday night, it will be in the stadium where it all got started–Levi’s Stadium, where former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick founded the movement.

David Zizmor who does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday and Joe is the 49ers beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s proving to be buyers, getting Kelly and Fiers; Halos’ Trout out day-to-day with wrist injury; Willie Mac takes the plunge at 80

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 The Oakland A’s are loading up proving that their buyers and they’re trying to seal the deal for the post season as they acquired pitchers from the Washington Nationals, Sean Kelly, and from the Detroit Tigers, Mike Fiers, this past week.

#2 The Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout is suffering from a right wrist contusion after an awkward slide last Wednesday to avoid a tag from the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Matt Duffy. Trout will be day-to-day, according to Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.

#3 Former San Francisco Giant first baseman and Hall of Fame legend Willie McCovey got married for the second time–his first marriage in the 1960s–with his longtime girlfriend Estela last week. McCovey had a great career and he was the other fence buster with his former teammate Willie Mays during the great ’60s.

#4 The Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez hit a curve ball in the sixth inning in Monday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals for his 25th home run of the season. Baez now has three home runs in his last four games.

#5 The Houston Astros are on pace to win 100 games as they came back in the top of the ninth down 1-0 and got a three-run home run from Marwin Gonzalez for the 3-1 win at AT&T Park over the San Francisco Giants. There are three teams in MLB on the 100-win pace: the Boston Red Sox (113 wins), the New York Yankees (100 wins), and the Astros (101 wins).

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play announcer, the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum Hall of Fame, and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Coming off a split with the Diamondbacks, the chase is on for first place as Giants open series with Astros at AT&T tonight

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photo by mercurynews.com: Giants third baseman Evan Longoria (10) gets a pat on the helmet from his teammates on Sunday at Chase Field after hitting the go ahead home run in the eventual win for San Francisco 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris:

The Giants come back tonight at AT&T Park after winning five out seven games. In Arizona, they got a split against the Arizona Diamondbacks, so keeping pace to climb in the standings continues in their chase to catch the two first place teams the D-backs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Big fly helps the Giants get the win in Arizona on Sunday as Giants’ third baseman Evan Longoria hit an eighth inning home run to break a 2-2 deadlock for the 3-2 win. The Giants’ first baseman Buster Posey returned after passing concussion tests and played at first on Sunday. Posey will be assuming his catching duties during this current homestand.

The Giants open against a tough customer, the Houston Astros, on Monday night. The Astros can hear the Oakland A’s footsteps as the A’s are now just four games behind the Astros in the AL West standings. So the Astros will be battling to keep pace as well as the Giants, who are in the hunt for first place.

Morris Phillips does the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Preview for the upcoming 2-game series between the A’s and Dodgers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s host a two-game series with the Dodgers starting Tuesday night at the Coliseum. The teams met earlier in the season as they split a pair in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 10th and 11th.

The defending National League champion Dodgers are currently in a tie for first place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Colorado Rockies are two games back, and the San Francisco Giants are in fourth place.
The Dodgers acquired two players in July that they hope will propel the team to another NL West division crown. They made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles to get All-Star third baseman Manny Machado, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, and it appears that he will be nothing more than a two-month rental. Machado will be at shortstop for LA as Corey Seager is out for the season after having Tommy John surgery. The other key player is Brian Dozier, who is another former All-Star who still has a lot of pop in his bat.

Both games between the two clubs will feature battles of left-handed pitchers. Tuesday night, the Dodgers will send Rich Hill out to do the pitching. Hill, who was with the A’s in 2016, went to the Dodgers along with Josh Reddick for Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas, has a 4-4 record and a 3.63 ERA. Hill is on a roll as he has allowed only two earned runs in his last 20 innings of work. Anyways, the A’s will have their ace, Sean Manaea, toeing the rubber. Manaea has a 10-7 record, and he beat the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, allowing just one run and five hits. On Wednesday, the three-time NL Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw, will go for LA. Kershaw has a 5-5 record and has a 2.55 ERA. Kershaw has spent some time on the DL with back problems this year. The A’s will counter with Brett Anderson. Anderson has a 2-3 record and a 4.64 ERA. Anderson beat the Detroit Tigers last Friday, and he gave the A’s seven strong innings of work. The Dodgers’ closer was Kenley Jansen.

The Dodgers have a lot of power in their lineup. In addition to Machado and Dozier in the infield, Cody Bellinger will be playing first. Bellinger, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, is hitting .241 with 18 dingers and 50 RBI’s. Third base will be manned by Justin Turner. Turner spent a lot of the season on the DL. Nonetheless, Turner’s batting average is .259 and he has six homers and 22 RBIs. In case the Dodgers need someone to fill in on the infield, they can use Max Muncy or Chris Taylor. Muncy, a former Athletic, has found a home in LA. His average is .259, and he has crushed 24 home runs and knocked in 49. Taylor has 12 dingers and 50 ribbies to go along with a 2.55 batting average.

All four of the Dodger outfielders are in double-digits in the home run department. Kike Hernandez, Matt Kemp, and Joc Pederson all have hit 17 homers this year. Yasiel Puig has 14. Catching will be handled by Yasmani Grandal and Austin Barnes.

The A’s, winners of their last six games, are currently in second place in the AL West. They trail the first-place Houston Astros by just four games. In the race for the first Wild Card slot, they find themselves 2 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees. The first Wild Card team hosts the one-game playoff. The A’s, with a record of 67-46, have the fourth best record in baseball. Their win-loss record is better than any team in the National League. The A’ are 33-10 in their 43 games.

The A’s improved the bullpen with the acquisition of Shawn Kelly, and on Monday, they announced that the had made a trade with the Tigers for Mike Fiers. Fiers has a 7-6 record with a 3.48 ERA in 21 starts this year.

It should be a good series, and hopefully, the fans will pack the ballpark. There will be two contending teams with a lot on the line.

Longoria, bullpen lifts Giants past D-backs 3-2 to earn series split

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By Daniel Dullum

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Evan Longoria’s tie-breaking solo home run in the top of the eighth inning lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field Sunday, salvaging a split of the four-game weekend series.

While San Francisco remains five games back in the NL West race, Arizona fell into a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place. The Colorado Rockies are in third place, two games behind.

The win gives the Giants a 4-2 road trip mark as they head home to host the Houston Astros in a two-game interleague series starting Monday.

“It was a well-pitched game by us,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “(Derek) Holland did a great job, the bullpen did a great job, and it made for a good road trip. It’s been a while for us to have some success on the road.”

Longoria was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double while extending his hitting streak to eight games. Andrew McCutchen was 1-for-2 with two walks.

“Cutch had a great series, Buster is swinging the bat well,” Bochy said. “That’s what it’s going to take. We scored enough runs, but (D-Backs starter Robbie Ray) was tough too. We found a way to get some runs.”

On Longoria’s recent success, Bochy said, “He seems more balanced up there. It looks like he’s seeing the ball well. … He’s a good hitter and it’s good to see him come back off the rehab and find his swing.”

The reconstituted bullpen got the job done for San Francisco. Ray Black (1-0) threw a 1-2-3 seventh and picked up the win. Tony Watson and Sam Dyson each logged a scoreless inning, and closer Will Smith struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the ninth to earn his seventh save.

“(The bullpen) all did a great job,” Bochy said. “Dyson came in with a tough situation and found a way to get out of it. Our pitching was there and we needed it.”

“We were sitting pretty good with the bullpen today. Those guys got some needed rest after getting worked pretty hard in that San Diego series. They were all fresh.

With one out in the eighth, Longoria sent a 2-ball, 2-strike delivery from Archie Bradley (3-3) over the left-center field fence near the 413-foot marker for his 12th home run of the season, breaking the 2-2 deadlock.

In the bottom of the eighth, the D-backs loaded the bases on a single by pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso, a walk to Paul Goldschmidt and Steven Souza was hit by Dyson pitch. With two out, Ketel Marte flied out to left, ending the D-Backs’ rally.

Steven Souza’s third home run of the season opened the scoring for Arizona in the second inning. San Francisco tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Andrew McCutchen singled with two out and scored on Evan Longoria’s single to center.

Arizona took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Eduardo Escobar hit a leadoff double and scored on Marte’s base hit. But the Giants tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth when Longoria doubled and scored when Nick Hundley tried to stretch a single and was thrown out at second.

Both starters went 5 1/3 innings. The Giants’ Derek Holland struck out six, walked two and gave up two earned runs on three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Robbie Ray struck out eight and walked four while giving up seven hits.

“This is a tight race and we have to get things going,” Holland said. “It’s a great division and this is going to be a great race.

“But we really have to focus on ourselves. We’re playing great ball right now and keep playing our game every day from here on out.”

GIANTS JOTTINGS: The Athletic reports that the Astros will be without Jose Altuve, who will not be activated from the 10-day disabled list (sore right knee). … Attendance on Sunday was 27,884.

UP NEXT: The Giants will return home to host the Astros Monday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

San Francisco will start right-hander Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.59) against Houston’s Charlie Morton (12-2, 2.90) on Monday, and left-hander Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.97) on Tuesday against Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel (9-9, 3.61).

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Giants’ injuries mounting, key players missing; Angels’ manager Scioscia to retire after 19 years; A’s win streak hits at 5 games

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Photo credit: @MLB

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel:

1 Giants try to salvage final game of series vs. Diamondbacks. Buster Posey passes concussion test and was back in the Giants’ lineup on Sunday. Giants have mounting injuries to key players.

2 Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia will review stepping down after 19 years at the helm.

3 A’s rookie Ramon Laureano is the hero in Friday’s 13-inning win over Detroit. Swingin’ A’s keep rolling.

4 Astros’ All-Star Alex Bregman rips President Trump over LeBron James’ tweet.

5 Mets offers its fans free therapy to cope with team’s woes.

Daniel Dullum does it all–reporter covering Giants baseball in Arizona and does the MLB podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s win their fifth game in a row, downing the Tigers 2-1 on Saturday night

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Chappy HR
Chapman hit home run number 14 Photo @Athletics

By Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND, Calif. — The announced attendance at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night was 33,668. They came to see the hometown Oakland Athletics, who started the game versus the Detroit Tigers in second place in the American League West and in the American League Wild Card playoff race. The big crowd also came to see a “Harry Potter” inspired fireworks show that would follow the contest.

The fans were treated to another A’s win as they beat the Tigers 2-1. It was the A’s fifth consecutive win as they have won every game of this current homestand. Oakland is now 20 games over .500 as they improved to 66-46 with 50 games left to play in the regular season.

The one question this reporter had after the game was – how many of the 33,668 paying customers really enjoyed the A’s win? It was a bit like taking a ride with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the Waybac Machine because it was not a typical 2018 MLB game. Strong pitching and good defense dominated the game with some hitting highlights thrown in for good measure.

Mr Peabody

It was my kind of game, but I am an “old guy.” I love a pitcher’s duel. I do not have to see a half dozen home runs to feel like I have been to a great game. I hope the veteran fans in the crowd on Saturday night helped the younger fans appreciate what they were seeing. It is a side of baseball I hope we never lose an appreciation for as fans.

There were home runs

IMG_0519

All of the A’s runs came via the long ball. Matt Chapman led off the third inning by hitting a 0-2 pitch from Jordan Zimmerman to straightaway center field for his 14th home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1. After Jed Lowrie lined out to center field, Khris Davis stepped into the batter’s box to face Zimmerman. Davis “crushed” his 30th home run of the year into the left field seats off the first pitch delivered to him. That gave the A’s a 2-1 lead which as it would turn out would be all they would need to win the game.

Davis became the sixth player in A’s history to hit 30-plus home runs in three straight seasons. The last Athletic to accomplish the feat was Miguel Tejada in 2000-02.

Pitching was very strong

IMG_0520

Edwin Jackson continues to be an amazing performer on the mound for the A’s. He worked 6.1 innings giving up one run (unearned) off five hits. Jackson struck out three Tigers and walked just one. He earned the victory which upped his record to 3-2 on the season with a 2.87 ERA. Not bad for a pitcher who started off in Triple-A while trying to get back to “the Bigs.”

Lou Trivino came on to relieve Jackson in the seventh inning and gave up just one hit and no runs in 1.2 innings on the mound. If you are an A’s opponent and are trailing late in the game, you watch Trivino work magic on the hill knowing that in the ninth inning the worst is yet to come.

And, the worst did enter the game in the ninth as Blake Treinen took the ball to close out the contest. It was not a perfect inning as he did allow one hit while striking out two batters. Treinen now has 28 saves for the year to go with his 0.95 ERA.

The Tigers’ Jordan Zimmerman lost his fourth decision in a row. He has not won a game since July 6 when he beat Texas. Zimmerman was 4-0 before the losing streak began.

Zimmerman threw 6.1 innings giving up two runs (both earned, both home runs) while striking out six and walking just three. Frankly, Zimmerman pitched well enough to win on almost any given night except this one.

Drew VerHagen pitched 1.2 innings of perfect relief for Detroit, but the Tigers could not produce any more runs.

Defense

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In a 2-1 game, there are many plays by the defense that should be talked about, but we are only going to mention two in this story.

The two plays that will be referred to were both made by rookie outfielder Ramon Laureano, who played in his second major league game on Saturday night. He was supposed to have the night off, but Mark Canha came down ill and Laureano was pressed into service.

In the top of the fifth inning with two out, the Tigers’ Mike Gerber hit a “flare” into left-center field. Laureano ran to his right, stretched out and put a glove on the ball but it popped out of his glove. Gerber saw the ball get away and immediately kept running for second base. Laureano jumped up and threw the ball to second baseman Jed Lowrie who put the tag down on Gerber who over-slid the bag in his haste to get the extra base. That was the third out of the inning and the crowd expressed their appreciation for the rookie in a very vocal manner.

Jeimer Candelario led off the top of the seventh inning for Detroit. He hit a 2-2 pitch from Jackson into right-center field that looked like it would fall in for a base hit. Laureano ran hard to his left then went into a controlled slide and made a great catch for the first out of the inning. Yes, the crowd went wild.

Quick notes for hardcore fans

  • Quick game – 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • A’s six hits – 10 strikeouts
  • Tigers’ seven hits – six strikeouts
  • Runners In Scoring Position

A’s 0-for-10 (Wow!)

Tigers 1-for-4

  • Team Left on Base

Oakland 7

Detroit 4

  • Errors

A’s 1

Tigers 1

Up Next
The A’s will go for the series sweep on Sunday when they will send RHP Trevor Cahill (3-2, 3.39 ERA) to the hill to face the Tigers’ LHP Francisco Liriano (3-5, 4.62 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM PST.