Tag: mlb

Giants win marathon game over Marlins 6-3, but lose Longoria

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

Thursday afternoon’s game at Marlins Park looked eerily similar to the one played the day before.

The San Francisco Giants jumped out to an early lead, only to watch the Miami Marlins rally in the late innings and tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. This time, however, the Giants did not succumb , and as a result, they were able to salvage the final contest of a four-game series, outlasting the Marlins, 6-3, in 16 innings.

After the Marlins tied it up off closer Hunter Strickland, the Giants called on usual starter Ty Blach to come in and save the bullpen, and he more than held up his end of the bargain. He went 6 2/3 innings and kept Miami off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

He got the well-earned win when Pablo Sandoval singled in a pair of runs in the top of the 16th inning while Gorkys Hernandez threw in some insurance with a sac fly to give the Giants a 6-3 lead.

Sam Dyson was able to nail down the final out to earn his first save of the season.

For the second straight game, Andrew McCutchen launched a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead, this time off Marlins starter Dan Straily.

Mac Williamson added a solo homer in the second, but the Marlins, as was the case on Wednesday, were able to make their way back into the game and make things mighty interesting.

The Marlins chipped away at the lead, starting with a solo homer by J.T Riddle in the fifth. Bryan Holaday’s run scoring single in the seventh made it a one-run game, and lewis Brinson’s sac fly in the ninth tied it.

McCutchen had three hits for the Giants and boosted his batting average to .267 in the process, while Alen Hanson also had three hits. Henson took over at third for Even Longoria, who was hit on the left hand with a pitch in the fourth inning.

Longoria is reported to have fractured the fifth metacarpal of his left hand, the same injury that Madison Bumgarner suffered in spring training. A decision regarding possible surgery is expected within the next few days, but he is expected to miss considerable time, likely the same amount of time that Bumgarner did, in the neighborhood of six to eight weeks.

The Giants take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles for a three-game set that starts on Friday night at 7:10 pm PDT.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball–The Designated Hitter and the Shift

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Photo credit: mlb.com

By: Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Let’s face it.

Like it or not, the Designated Hitter is inevitably going to the National League. The DH began as an experiment that was going to be tested for three years, but it was permanently adopted by the American League and later by most amateurs and minor league teams.

As a matter of fact, the DH is used in most professional baseball leagues around the world today. Some exceptions include the NL and Little League’s rules.

The first time the DH rule was used was on April 6, 1973, on Opening Day when New York Yankees’ Ron Blomberg was inserted in the lineup as a DH, and hit for the pitcher. Since then, the DH has been used in the AL for the last 46 years.

Purists say that the DH takes away from the all-around performance of a big league player while some say a DH should never go into the Hall of Fame.  Others argue that it is not fair during postseason for an AL team playing at a NL park, since pitchers–who often are not good hitters–don’t even bat for a whole season in the AL, and they have to come to the plate.

From my memory, I recall these pitchers as decent hitters: Ken Brett, Mike Hampton, Carlos Zambrano, Fernando Valenzuela, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner and many others that pitched prior to 1973 when they had to hit on both leagues.

Overall, the ninth position has been reserved for the pitcher because is usually the weakest hitter in the lineup. Majority of pitchers on both leagues have a limit pitch count, bullpens have become essential for winning, part of the transformation of the game. The older you are, the more traditional you are when it comes to this topic.
Now that one generation of people have seen the DH, and because the game currently is much more about home runs than hit and run, steal and bunt–the brainwash has been fully executed.

But, again, the DH will sooner than later will be implemented in the NL.

The Shift
In 1941, Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams hit .406. Nobody has come near that since. The history books told us that the Shift was born when Cleveland Indians’ manager Lou Boudreau used it in July 1946. That was a more extreme version with six defenders stationed on the right side. 1946 was the first season for Ted Williams after serving the previous three years in World War II, and he ended that season hitting just .342.

Today, you do  not to be Ted Williams to see everybody on one side of the field. You can be a .240 hitter and see close to what “Teddy Ballgame” used to see. Some guys now are finally learning to go the other way, but not enough yet.

Maybe in a few years, the shift can be part of the past and in history could be considered an experiment like the DH was originally intended to be. Today’s batting averages are lower while home runs and strikeouts are higher.

If that continues, what good is the Shift if you either hit the ball over the fence or you strikeout?

I have to confess I do not care much for the Shift that we see today and I believe it will not last as long as the DH. That is only my opinion. I could be wrong, but I am not a dictator, so I will welcome and  respect your opinion.

Astros complete sweep over the A’s with 7-3 rout

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Houston Astros pounded the A’s 7-3 at the O.co Coliseum on Thursday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep.

The Astros were in complete control for the entire three games and showed everyone why they are one of the best teams in all of baseball. They have the best starting rotation in baseball, and their everyday lineup is loaded with hitters loaded with confidence. They won a World Championship last year, and they are intent on going back to the playoffs and trying to win the big prize for the second year in a row.

Justin Verlander started for Houston and the big righty cruised to his ninth win of the year. Oakland starter Frankie Montas was no match for the powerful Astros’ offense, and he absorbed his first loss of the season.

With two out in the first inning, the Astros put two runs on the board. Carlos Correa singled and scored on Yuli Guriel’s double off the wall in left field. Josh Reddick singled to drive in Guriel with the second run of the inning. Reddick was thrown out trying to go to second on the throw home.

In the bottom of the second, A’s designated hitter, Khris Davis, homered to make it a 2-1 game. For Davis, it was his 20th big fly of the year and his third–all solo jobs–in the last two games. Verlander settled down ,and retired the next three A’s hitters in order.

The Astros plated their run of the game in the third inning. With one out, Montas walked Jose Altuve. Atuve advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Carlos Correa’s second single of the game to put the ‘Stros up 3-1.

The Astros’ offense continued the onslaught in the fourth. Montas retired the notorious A’s killer, Evan Gattis, for the first out. He then walked Marwin Gonzalez. Astros’ catcher Brian McCann slammed his fifth home run of the year into the seats in right field. The Astros lead 5-1 in the middle of the fourth.

In the top of the sixth, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, who is a terrific fielder, had an inning that he would like to remove from his memory. Astros’ catcher Brian McCann hit a high pop up that Chappie lost in Oakland’s famous “high sky.” He couldn’t find the ball and when he did it bounced off his chest for an error. Tony Kemp followed with a smash that Chapman smothered but couldn’t make the play at first. The official scorer ruled it a hit. Alex Bregman hit a ground ball to Chapman Chapman stepped on third for the force out but his throw home sailed over Matt Olson’s glove. Kemp scored on the play and Bregman went to second. Chapman was charged with his second error of the inning. Jose Altuve doubled to drive in Bregman. A’s manager Bob Melvin walked to the mound and took the ball from Montas. Santiago Casilla retired the two Astros’ hitters necessary to end the inning. The score was 7-1 in favor of Houston.

Khris Davis led off the seventh with a high pop up that Astros’ first baseman Yuli Guriel could not find in the high sky. The ball dropped safely and Davis wound up on second base with a double. Matt Olson then took a Justin Verlander fastball into the right field bleacher for his 14th tater of the year and now trail the Astros 7-3.

The Astros’ manager A.J.Hinch used Chris Devenski in the 8th and Hector Rondon in the ninth as they shut down the A’s in order in each of the last two innings. Houston won 7-3.

Game Notes: With the win, the Astros improve to 45-25. The A’s are now one game under .500 with a mark of 34-35. Justin Verlander won his ninth game of the season while A’s starter Frankie Montas lost his first. Verlander went seven complete and allowed three runs and five hits. Montas pitched five and 1.3rd innings and was tagged for seven runs. Five were earned and two were unearned. Verlander is 9-2 and Montas is 3-1.

The Astros’ line score was seven runs on 13 hits and no errors. Brian McCann hit the Astros’ only home run.

All the A’s runs were the result of a home run. Khris Davis hit a solo job in the second and Matt Olson clobbered a two-run dinger in the seventh. The A’s scored three runs on five hits and they committed two errors on defense.

Thursday’s game with the Astros took two hours and 45 minutes.

13.009 fans were in attendance.

Up Next: The A’s finish the 10-game homestand with three games against the Los Angeles Angels.

The A’s Chris Bassitt (0-1, 1.29 ERA) will handle the pitching chores and he will be opposed by lefty Tyler Skaggs (5-4, 3.08 ERA).

Friday night’s game will start at 6:35 pm PDT.

There will be a fireworks show immediately after the game.

Opinion: Three people who should leave the A’s right now

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By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s appear to be working on their clock, and that’s probably not going to sit well with the Green and Gold fanbase. The A’s minority owner Billy Beane is arguably a baseball problem and not just a marketing mishap.

In the 2016 novel Beantown, author Frederik Backman wrote, “There are two things that are particularly good at reminding us how old we are: children and sports.”

That’s indeed a difficult statement for folks who are 50 years and older to dispute as their children and perhaps grandchildren have already established their own personalities in the workplace. Sports, however, is a bit of a tricky topic–its intriguing statistics and historical events have likely been engraved in our minds in our childhoods.

And, like any other baseball follower, I can recall box scores, no-hitters, and vice versa. That being said, there are some parts of MLB history that shouldn’t be continued for an extended period of time.

Without further ado, here are three people who should leave the A’s right now.

1. Billy Beanebilly beane

A’s minority owner Billy Beane has made some money-less trades in the past. The Moneyball tactics simply aren’t working. The A’s need to strength their rotation and pen their annual drafts, and Beane hasn’t been on top of things for quite a while. Also, Beane takes sure-fire chances on young guys with limited amounts of baseball experience. In addition, Oakland has had a high turnover rate with players in all positions, which isn’t going to contribute to their success on the field.

2. Bob Melvin as-manager-bob-melvin_1f7mvfmc7mlgf1o0mcalvibxhg

A’s manager Bob Melvin has been named “Manager of the Year” twice–once in 2007 and the other in 2012. But that doesn’t mean that Melvin deserves a spot in the A’s management team.

Melvin has been in Oakland for far too long. Melvin’s decisions on players have often been poor. For example, why call up Franklin Barreto if he wasn’t going to play him? Mark Canha and Dustin Fowler should’ve made the 2018 Opening Day roster instead of Barreto. Both Canha and Fowler are on the A’s roster now, but they had to be called up in order to be in Oakland.

Not only that, Melvin has mismanaged the bullpen this season. Melvin continues to put various pitchers on the mound who have shown us why they shouldn’t be out there to begin with.

3. Marcus Semien DCT160730034_Athletics_at_Indians

A’s shortstop Marcus Semien is supposed to be the lead-off hitter in Oakland, but he’s not. Semien puts up subpar numbers for a player who’s supposed to leading off. Semien has worsened the A’s defense with his countless amount of errors, so that should paint a mental picture of his incompetent defense.

There you have it. The three people who should leave the A’s right now. Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg and Amaury Pi Gonzalez: A’s struggle with pitching and inter-division games

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Photo credit: @JosephNPun

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry and Amaury:

The Oakland A’s are 10-22 against their own division opponents. They’re nine games back. They have to win games against teams like Houston to compete in the AL West. A’s manager Bob Melvin agrees that the AL West is a good division, but the A’s have to play better.

Houston are tough customers. They’ve won six straight games coming into game two of the series with Oakland and they own the A’s this year. The Astros will start Justin Verlander (8-2) and the A’s will start Frankie Montas (3-0) on Thursday afternoon.

Pitcher Trevor Cahill is out with an Achillies tendon and the A’s have called up Chris Bassitt in his place. Bassitt was at the Coliseum on Wednesday night.

Jerry Feitleberg does the A’s podcasts and Amaury does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsrsadioservice.com

A’s call up Jake Smolinski, but Astros win in yet another laugher 13-5

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Houston Astros continued their dominance over the Oakland A’s once again as they won in a laugher 13-5 at O.co Coliseum on Wednesday night.

The Astros are now 7-1 against the A’s this season and have won 26 of the last 34 games played between the two teams. Houston has won all five games played here in Oakland, and they must just salivate when they get on the plane to face the A’s.

The Astros changed the words of the late mayor of Boston, James Curley, who once said, “Vote often and early” to score often and early. They plated three runs in the first and seven in the second. Their designated hitter, Evan Gattis, homered twice and drove in five runs as he waged war on the A’s pitchers. Gattis has three homers and 10 RBIs in two games played thus far. The A’s are likely hoping that Gattis will be too tired to play on Thursday.

The Astros continued their onslaught on the A’s pitching staff in the very first inning of the game. George Springer and Jose Altuve singled to get Houston going. Blackburn walked Carlos Correa to load the bases with no out. The cleanup hitter, Yuli Guriel, who leads the league in batting average (.444) with RISP (Runners in Scoring Position) singled to put two runs on the board for the Astros. Correa went to third on the play and scored on an Evan Gattis sacrifice fly. The Astros led 3-0 with the A’s coming to bat. The A’s didn’t score in their half.

The Astros sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the second. They had six hits and scored seven runs. A’s manager Bob Melvin had to go to the bullpen as the Astros had their attack in full gear. The Astros scored three times and had two men on with one out when Melvin brought in Emilio Pagan to face Evan Gattis. Gattis, who drove in five runs on Tuesday, slammed his 12th bomb of the year to put the Astros ahead 9-0. Marwin Gonzalez, playing third base, followed with his fifth homer to put the Astros in the lead 10-0 in the middle of the second inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Oakland put three on the board. Khris Davis started the frame with a single. Gerrit Cole retired the next two hitters before walking Marcus Semien. A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty took Cole deep for his fourth home run of the year to make it a 10-3 game.

The A’s continued to chip away at the lead as Khris Davis led off the bottom of the sixth with his 18th tater of the season. Cole escaped with no further damage. The A’s still have a long way to go to get back into the game as they trail 10-4 after six complete.

Gattis continued to punish Oakland pitching. He hit his second home run of the night on the first pitch from lefty Daniel Coulombe to make it 11-4. Gattis has faced Coulombe three times and has homered twice.

Melvin brought in outfielder Jake Smolinski to pitch the ninth. Smolinski was making his  Major League debut as a pitcher. Things did not go well for him as he gave up a double to Max Stassi and Jake Marisnick homered to give Houston the lead 13-5. Smolinski retired the next three hitters. The A’s went down in order in the ninth to end the game. The Astros won 13-5.

Game Notes and Info: With the win, the Astros improve to 44-25 and remain just 1/2 game behind the Seattle Mariners in the race for first place in the AL West. The Mariners beat the LA Angels earlier in the day.

Gerrit Cole was the winning pitcher. Cole is 8-1 for Houston this season. He went six innings and gave up six hits and four runs.

Two of the A’s hits were home runs by Stephen Piscotty and Khris Davis.

A’s starter Paul Blackburn had a very rough outing. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He gave up eight hits and was charged with eight runs. Emilio Pagan relieved him in the second inning, and Pagan gave up back-to-back home runs to Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez. The hitting stars for Oakland were Khris Davis with two homers and Stephen Piscotty with a three-run blast. Blackburn’s record is now 1-1, and his ERA rocketed from 1.50 to 11.05.

There were just 9,164 fans in the park watching, and the game took three hours and five minutes to play.

Up Next: The two teams conclude the three-game series Thursday afternoon at 12:30 pm PDT.

Oakland will send Frankie Montas to the Hill. Montas has won all three of his starts since being recalled from Nashville, and he has a 1.25 ERA.

Justin Verlander (8-2, 1.45 ERA) will pitch for Houston.

Marlins’ walk-off sends Giants to third straight loss, 5-4

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

So much for that positive momentum to start off the month of June.

The San Francisco Giants got off to a great start to the month, even getting their record to above .500 at one point. However, that has momentarily disappeared in one week in South Florida.

The Miami Marlins have sent the Giants reeling, as they have now lost three straight games, the latest coming in a dramatic 5-4 loss at Marlins Park on Wednesday.

The Giants led for most of the game, but Miami kept hanging around and kept themselves in the game before eventually overtaking the visiting team in the bottom of the ninth, as Brian Anderson’s sac fly brought in the winning run.

Andrew McCutchen started things off with a two-run homer to straightaway center field, before the Marlins tied the game up in the fourth with a pair of run-scoring singles. From that point on, the two teams traded runs until Miami got the final say in the bottom of the ninth.

Andrew Suarez got the start for the Giants and had a solid performance. He went five innings and gave up a pair of runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three. It was an improvement from his last outing, when he gave up four runs over only 4 1/3 innings at Washington last Friday.

Meanwhile, Caleb Smith went 6 1/3 innings for Miami, surrendering three runs on eight hits, striking out four and not walking a single batter.

Neither pitcher factored in the decision.

McCutchen had two hits, including the opening-inning home run, while Buster Posey cranked out three hits and crossed the plate twice.

The Giants and Marlins will conclude their series on Thursday at 9:10 pm PDT.

MLB The Show podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Can Scherzer and Verlander win the Cy Young?; If Oak A’s and TB Rays don’t get new parks, will they leave town?

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Photo credit: @ESPNStatsInfo

On the MLB The Show podcast with Marko:

#1 The Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer and the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander are all up for the Cy Young Awards. What impresses you most about the season that they”re having?

#2 The Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays are in need of new ball parks and it seems that their having complications of achieving those goals, whether it’s money, environmental impact reports working against them to develop, or being rejected for proposed site locations.

#3 Taking those points into consideration, do you see it possible that the Rays and A’s ownership at some point will realize they are stuck where their at, won’t spend any money at their present locations and just might be forced to sell their ball teams?

#4 Several cities have expressed interest in getting MLB clubs in Portland and Montreal top that list. How much of a possibility is it that these two clubs could move and go to those towns if they can’t get anything going for new stadium in either Oakland or Tampa Bay?

#5 The Giants, after having such huge success with the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend, came into Miami and lost the first two games against the Marlins. Was it a matter of not knowing how to chart the Marlins, was it bad scouting or the Giants were just off balance when they encountered the Fish going into this series?

Marko Ukalovic covers San Francisco Giants baseball feeelance and does the MLB The Show podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Giants drop two straight to last place Marlins; Marlins staffed with lots of unknowns

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Miami Marlins pitcher Trevor Richards pitches during the second inning of a Major League Baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Marlins Park on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. David Santiago dsantiago@miamiherald.com

On the SF Giants podcast with Michael and Morris:

You could have predicted that the San Francisco Giants would have gone into Miami playing in front of nobody, playing a bunch of guys they’ve never faced before. It seems to be a characteristic of this franchise back to the days of former Giants pitcher Charlie Lea–guys who haven’t beat anybody manage to notch their first Major League wins against the Giants.

It happened with the Miami Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Richards, a 25-year-old right hander. The Marlins were 0-3 coming into the game. Richards walks the first two batters. Obviously, Richards is nervous if he walks the first two guys and gives up a run in the first inning without allowing a hit. Richards goes on to allowing just two hits, struck out three and walked two batters to win the ball game.

Morris and Michael do the SF Giants podcasts weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

World Series champion Astros beat the A’s 6-3

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Photo credit: @astros

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Houston Astros continued their mastery over the A’s as they defeated them 6-3 and improved to a 6-1 advantage this season.

Astros starter Lance McCullers worked seven innings and gave up just five hits and two runs. He gave up singles to the first two hitters and three doubles to Matt Chapman. None of the other A’s hitter could solve McCullers’ slants.

A’s starter Daniel Mengden, who was pounded in his last start against the Texas Rangers last week, couldn’t make it out the fifth inning Tuesday night.

The Astros’ Evan Gattis, who has killed the A’s in the past, was the hitting star for Houston with a home run and a double that drove in five of the Astros’ six runs.

In the bottom of the first, Oakland took an early 1-0 lead. Leadoff hitter Dustin Fowler singled to get things going. Marcus Semien reached on an infield single. Jed Lowrie hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Fowler advanced to third and scored when McCullers uncorked a wild pitch.

In the top of the second, the Astros vaunted offense came to life as they rocked Mengden for four runs on four hits, two of which went out of the park, and two walks. Astros’ shortstop Carlos Correa sent Mengden’s first pitch into the seats in left field to tie the game. Yuli Guriel doubled, and Mengden walked Josh Reddick to put men on at first and second with no one out. Designated hitter Evan Gattis, who has murdered A’s pitching in the past, hit his 11th of the year to put the Astros ahead 4-1. Mengden was able to get out of the inning without any further damage. The A’s put their second run of the night on the board in their half of the inning. The A’s third baseman Matt Chapman doubled to start the inning. He went to third on a groundout and scored on Stephen Piscotty’s sacrifice fly to center field. The A’s trailed 4-2 after two innings.

The Astros plated two more runs in the top of the fifth. With one out, Mengden walked Carlos Correa. He retired Yuli Guriel for the second out, but gave up a single to Josh Reddick and a double to Evan Gattis. Two runs scored on the play and A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Mengden from the game. Lefty Danny Coulombe retired Brian McCann for the final out of the inning.

Mengden’s pitching line was not very good. He allowed eight hits, six runs all earned, and was tagged for two home runs in just 4 2/3 innings of work.

The A’s plated their third run of the night, thanks to Collin McHugh’s wildness and an error by Carlos Correa. With one out, McHugh plunked Jed Lowrie with a pitch. Khris Davis reached on Correa’s error to put men on at first and second with one out. McHugh struck out Matt Olson for the second out. The next hitter Matt Chapman, who had three consecutive double, was hit on the wrist to load the bases. A’s manager Bob Melvin, and the trainer raced out to first base to see if Chapman was okay. After he was checked by the trainer, Chapman stayed in the game. Mark Canha followed with a single to drive in Lowrie. Houston brought in Brad Peacock to fave Stephen Piscotty. Peacock, the former athletic, struck out Piscotty for the third out. Houston has a 6-3 advantage after eight innings.

Astros’ closer Ken Giles gave up a single to Dustin Fowler, but was still able to record the three outs necessary to end the game and earn his 11th save of the year as Houston wins 6-3.

Game Notes: With the win, the Astros–who are in a battle for first place in the AL West with the Seattle Mariners–improved to 43-25.

The A’s dropped to 34-31. Oakland is now 10-22 against the AL West and 24-11 against the rest of the AL.

Lance McCullers was the winning pitcher and is now 8-3 for the season.

Daniel Mengden absorbed the loss, and his record dropped to 6-6.

Astros’ Ken Giles recorded his 11th save.

The line score for Houston was six runs, 11 hits, and one error.

The A’s line was three runs, seven hits, and no errors.

Time of the game was two hours and 57 minutes and 11,742 fans watched the A’s go down to a defeat.

Up Next: Game two of the three-game series will be played Wednesday night at the Coliseum. The A’s Paul Blackburn will make his second start of the year. Blackburn will be going against Gerrit Cole, who owns a 7-1 record and a sparkling 2.16 ERA.