Part deux of Giants and Mets: Rookie power shows flashes in SF’s 7-0 shutout over NYM

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By: Ana Kieu

This Friday night marked the start of part deux of the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets series. This time around, these two teams met inside AT&T Park instead of Citi Field.

In case you missed it, SF flew out of NYC with a 3-1 win to salvage a split of the four-game split. That wasn’t what the Giants wanted, but it’s better than getting swept on the road.

The Giants got things rolling with Andrew Suarez (5-9, 4.42 ERA) on the mound, and the Mets countered with Zack Wheeler (9-6, 3.46 ERA).

The Giants also got a good glimpse at the future of the franchise, as the Chris Shaw era began on Friday night, but it was Andrew Shaw who helped the Giants roll over the Mets 7-0 at AT&T Park.

After six scoreless innings, Shaw’s sacrifice fly to Austin Jackson allowed Brandon Belt to score to give the Giants a 1-0 lead at the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Giants continued to pour in the runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Aramis Garcia on a fly ball to left field for a 2-0 lead. Belt tripled on a sharp fly ball to Jay Bruce, which allowed Gregor Blanco and Evan Longoria to both score for a 4-0 lead. Austin Slater singled on a line drive to Bruce, which allowed Belt to score for a 5-0 lead. Gorkys Hernandez singled on a ground ball to Bruce, which allowed Slater to score for a 6-0 lead and moved Hunter Pence to third base. Garcia capped off the Giants’ scoring with a single on a fly ball to Jackson, which allowed Pence to score for a 7-0 lead and moved Hernandez to third base.

The Mets were unable to recuperate, and the Giants won 7-0 in a laugher.

Notes
Chris Shaw was called up to SF from the Sacramento River Cats.

Andrew McCutchen tweeted out a shoutout to the Giants and thanked them for the love and support they gave to him and his family. McCutchen also gave a shoutout to the fans and added that he got chills every time he saw his banner outside of AT&T Park.

Up Next
The Giants and Mets meet again Saturday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT. The matinee will feature a pitching matchup of SF’s Derek Holland (7-8, 3.65 ERA) and NY’s Steven Matz (5-11, 4.36 ERA).

Giants to host Mets for three-game series starting Friday night

Photo credit: goldstar.com

By: Ana Kieu

The Giants have been pretty darn good as of late. But let’s not forget that the Giants struggled in Flushing against the Mets in Citi Field and merely got out of the Big Apple with a 3-1 win to halt what could’ve been the Mets’ three-game sweep at home.

This weekend, San Francisco will host New York for a three-game series before embarking on a six-game road trip starting in Coors Field with the Rockies and then Miller Park with the Brewers. That’s quite a lot of airfare miles, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

The Giants, however, must avoid looking down on the Mets. Why’s that? The Mets are cellar-dwellers just like the Giants, so they can possibly play spoilers like they did with the Nationals and Phillies.

In other news, the Giants’ Twitter retweeted a tweet from Baseball Hall that announced an “On This Day in 1965” on Wednesday, writing that Willie Mays set a record with his 17th homer in the month of August in the Giants’ 8-3 win over the Mets. Coincidence, much?

The Giants’ Twitter also announced that on Tuesday that more than 50 volunteers from CarMax, the Giants and the American Red Cross put together 500 kits for aid in disaster relief efforts. Lou Seal and Chase d’Arnaud were also there. You can help by going on redcross.org/Giants.

And, if you have some extra bucks to spend, you can book your next three-day stay in San Francisco with Hilton–the official hotel partner of the Giants’ 60th anniversary season–and you’ll save 50% off on Sunday night stays.

The Giants host the Mets at AT&T Park for game one on Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT. You can watch the game on NSBA and SNY.

MadBum gets Giants out of New York with a split following 3-1 win over Mets

Photo credit: @MLB_News247

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants desperately needed to get a win to get out of town and capture some momentum, and Madison Bumgarner made sure they got that against the New York Mets.

The Giants’ big lefty took the ball Thursday afternoon and threw eight solid innings at the Mets, and as a result, the Giants came away from New York with a 3-1 win at Citi Field, and the two teams ended up splitting the four-game series.

Bumgarner surrendered a single run on five hits, striking out eight and not walking a single batter. Not only did Bumgarner get it done on the mound, but he also helped his own cause at the plate, as his double in the fourth inning gave the Giants a 2-0 lead and gave the team the momentum that they sorely needed and would not relinquish.

However, the double almost did not happen, and maybe it should not have happened, either. That’s because the batter before Bumgarner, catcher Nick Hundley, took a ball that looked like it should have been a third strike that would have ended the inning.

Hundley ended up coaxing a walk out of Mets starter Jacob DeGrom, who saw his record drop to 8-8 after giving up a pair of runs on four hits, walking four and striking out 10.

The Mets put some major heat on Bumgarner in the seventh inning, after Todd Frazier led off the inning with a solo homer, and then used a hit batsman and a single to put runners on first and second with nobody out.

However, Bumgarner got out of the jam flawlessly, as he forced Kevin Plawecki into a double play before striking out Michael Conforto to keep the Giants up one run.

The Giants got that run right back in the eighth, when Evan Longoria tattooed an inside fastball and sent into the left-field seats to increase the lead to 3-1.

The Giants return home to AT&T Park to host the Rangers for a three-game series starting Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Giants keep yucking it up on road trip as they lose to Mets 5-3

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants appear to be running out of gas at the wrong time. They were swept this past weekend in Cincinnati, and things are not looking very good against a team that they are clearly better than in the New York Mets. They committed a couple of costly errors and gave up more than their fair share of home runs in a 5-3 loss at Citi Field Wednesday night.

The Giants have dropped two of the first three of this four-game series to the Mets.

Starter Casey Kelly surrendered a pair of solo homers while closer Hunter Strickland gave up one of his own, and as a result, the Giants have slid all the way to 9 ½ games back of the National League West lead, as they now sport a 62-66 record.

The Mets got two of those longballs in the first inning to shoot out to a 3-0 lead, and the Giants could not recover from that.

Kelly gave up four runs–two of those earned because of the two errors the Giants made during the course of the game–on seven hits over six innings. He struck out four hitters while not walking anyone, but the two homers proved to be his undoing.

Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard was solid over six innings, as he gave up a pair of runs on five hits, striking out six while walking only one. In the process, he ran his season record to 9-3.

Austin Slater and Joe Panik each had a pair of hits for the Giants apiece, with Slater hitting a solo homer in the seventh to narrow the Mets’ lead to only a run.

Things seem to be getting worse for the Giants off the field as well. Catcher Buster Posey, who went 0-for-4 on Wednesday and now has a batting average of .284, is reportedly heading toward having hip surgery that would put an end to his season.

The Giants and Mets wrap up their four-game series Thursday at 10:10 am PDT.

Giants unable to hold lead; lose to Mets 6-3

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Kahn

Chris Stratton was cruising, but then the seventh inning came and the New York Mets tied up the game with the help from a former San Francisco Giants outfielder.

Michael Conforto hit a sacrifice fly to score Jeff McNeill, who went 4-for-4 on the night, and then Austin Jackson tied up the game with a single to score Wilmer Flores. The Mets then added four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to even up the four-game series with a 6-3 victory over the Giants at Citi Field on Tuesday night.

McNeil picked up his fourth hit of the night to score Jose Reyes to give the Mets the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth. Two batters later, Conforto launched a three-run home run to put the final runs on the board for the Mets.

Evan Longoria hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the Giants a 2-0 lead, and it looked like it would hold up until Stratton got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Stratton, who was recalled from Double-A Richmond earlier in the day, and Derek Law was optioned to Sacramento to make room for Stratton. In all, Stratton went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, not walking a batter and struck out four.

Tony Watson got into trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning, and was unable to keep the Mets off the board in the fateful frame, as he went one inning, allowing four runs on three hits, walking one and striking out one and fell to 4-5 on the season.

McNeill equaled his career-high with those four hits that included that double in the bottom of the eighth inning.

This was the second time since he was recalled that McNeill picked up four hits in the same game.

McNeill was not the only Mets player to have a big game, as Conforto hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs on the night.

The rookie picked up singles in his first three at-bats, and scored the Mets’ first run of the game on Conforto’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Longoria’s home run off of Steven Matz in the top of the first inning was the first home run by the Giants since Andrew McCutchen hit one on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

It looked like Matz was in line for a loss, but ended up with a no-decision, as he went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits in his second start since returning from a strained pitching forearm.

Hunter Pence made the defensive play of the night, as he made an over-the-shoulder basket catch with his back to the field, a la Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series not too far from Citi Field at the Polo Grounds, which happened to the Mets first home in their first two seasons of 1962-1963 before moving into Shea Stadium in 1964.

Austin Slater drove in the Giants final run of the evening, as he singled in the top of the ninth inning in the top of the ninth inning.

NOTES: Buster Posey sat out the game, and according to reports, Posey may hip surgery that would end his season. Dereck Rodriguez, who is currently on the 10-day disabled list with hamstring issues ran prior to the game, and will go through pitcher’s drill tomorrow. Rodriguez is set to be activated from the disabled list on Friday, and scheduled to start that night against the Texas Rangers in the opener of a three-game series at AT&T Park.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Mets will meet again Wednesday at 4:10 pm PDT.

Casey Kelly will make his second start of the season in the third game against the Mets in place of Rodriguez. Kelly went 4.1 innings on Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds, while the Mets will send Noah Syndergaard to the mound, who went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: 1962 Mets? Move Over, Here Comes the 2018 Orioles

Photo credit: @Orioles

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games during their inaugural season. That year the Mets started play in New York a few years after the Brooklyn Dodgers left for Los Angeles and the New York Giants left for San Francisco. With the 1962 Mets, the National League had a new team in town and they adopted the colors of Dodger blue and Met orange. The Mets’ manager was the very colorful Casey Stangel. They played 1962 at the old Giants park, the Polo Grounds, while they were building Shea Stadium in Queens.

With the worst record in history, the 1962 Mets ended their season in last place with a 40-120 record and 60 1/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants, who went on to the World Series and lost in seven games against the New York Yankees. Things were easier back then, as each league had 10 teams and after they won the pennant in a few days they went directly to the World Series.

Besides the 1962 Mets, other bad teams include the 1904 Washington Senators (38-113), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117), the 1932 Boston Red Sox (43-111), the 1935 Boston Braves (38-115), and most recently, the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who came within one game of tying the Mets, with a 40-119 record.

Right now, the 2018 Orioles are on a pace to lose around 128 games.On this day, the Orioles have a 28-73 record, and there are 61 games remaining, before their game tonight versus the Boston Red Sox in Baltimore, Maryland.

How they talk in New York, it could be, “Forget about it” for the 1962 Mets in a couple of months, which is not something that veteran skipper Buck Showalter is looking forward to, but something he likely is not be able to prevent.

Baseball is like horse racing, you can have the best jockey in the world, but if the horse is limping, you are never going to win the race.

Flores hits a walk-off home run to give the Mets a 6-5 win over the Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

mlb-oakland-athletics-at-new-york-mets-cdcdafd204790397 TWO

The Oakland Athletics have the worst road record (15-31) in the major leagues. It is one of the main reasons they are mired in last place in the American League West and are about to dismantle their team to begin a major rebuilding process.

On Saturday night after jumping out to a 5-0 lead over the New York Mets, the A’s allowed the Metropolitans to claw their way back into the game. The Mets tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lucas Duda hit a single off Daniel Coulombe that drove Travis d’Arnaud home from second base.

In the bottom of the ninth with two out and the bases empty, Wilmer Flores hit the 1-0 pitch from A’s reliever Simon Castro into the first row of seats in left field to give the Mets a 6-5 win. It was the ninth home run of the season for Flores and the second consecutive win for the Mets (45-50) over the Athletics (43-54).

In the batter’s box

Oakland

  • Matt Joyce put the A’s on the board in the first inning when he hit the 0-1 pitch from Zack Wheeler over the center field fence for his 13th home run of the year. Joyce now has 39 RBI for the season.
  • Matt Chapman showed off his power hitting by putting a Wheeler pitch into the second deck in left field for his third home run of the year. Chapman also had a sacrifice fly in the game to give him two RBI. He has seven RBI since joining the A’s.
  • Catcher Bruce Maxwell hit an RBI-double.
  • The A’s scored five runs on 10 hits and left nine runners on base. They were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

NYM

  • Flores — who is one of the Mets that does not appear to be on the trading block — went 2-for-5 including that game winning walk-off home run. Flores also hit his 13th double of the year in the game and scored two runs.
  • Jose Reyes hit his sixth triple of the season and also scored a run while going 2-for-4 for New York.
  • Jay Bruce hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning. It was his 25th home run and it raised his RBI total to 65. Bruce is one the Mets who is expected to be with another team by the July 31 trade deadline.
  • Travis d’Arnaud made it safely to base four times in the game. He went 3-for-3 with a walk. d’Arnaud scored a run and added an RBI.
  • The Mets scored six runs on 14 hits. They left eight men on base and were 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

On the hill

Athletics

  • Starter Sean Manaea pitched well through the first five innings but ran into some real problems in the sixth inning when he gave up four earned-runs. Manaea worked 5.2-innings giving up four runs (all earned) on 10 hits. He struck out two and walked one while allowing one home run. Manaea did not figure in the final decision.
  • The A’s relief corps was roughed up in the game. Hendriks gave up two runs, Coulombe was charged with a blown save and Simon Castro took the loss for giving up the game winning home run to Flores.
  • Newcomer Blake Treinen was credited with a hold.

Mets

  • Starter Zack Wheeler gave up five runs (all earned) on seven hits in 5.0-innings of work. He struck out six and walked four batters while giving up two home runs. He did not figure into the final decision.
  • The trio of Mets relievers — Smoker, Edgin and Robles — did not give up a run to the A’s in the final four innings of the game.
  • Hansel Robles (6-1) was the pitcher of record when Flores hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth and he was credited with the win.

Up next

The A’s and Mets will meet on Sunday for the third and final game of the series. Oakland will send RHP Daniel Gossett (1-5, 5.79 ERA) to the mound to face RHP Rafael Montero (1-6, 5.40 ERA) who will start for the Mets. Game time is 10:10 a.m. PDT.

A’s beat the Mets, Snap Losing Streak

by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s snapped their five game losing streak Tuesday night by beating the New York Mets 6-2. Scott

Kazmir went six innings allowing just one run and four in winning his career high fourteenth win of the year. Dillon Gee started for New York and took the loss.

The Mets took a 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning when Designated Hitter Travis d’Arnoud blasted his eleventh home run of the year to lead off the fourth. The ball was hit to deep righter field just to the right of the 388 foot marker. The A’s scored four times in their half of the fourth inning. With one out, Stephen Vogt singled to start the rally going. That was followed by a Derek Norris double and a walk to

Josh Reddick to load the bases. Alberto Callaspo flied out to deep right field driving in Vogt with the tying run. Norris tagged up and advanced to third on the play. Eric Sogard walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning and all three runners scored on a triple down the right field line off the bat of Coco Crisp. John Jaso popped up to end the inning but the A’s have a 4-1 lead after four innings of play.

The A’s brought in Ryan Cook to pitch in the top of the seventh. Mets’ shortstop Wilmer Flores greeted him by hitting a double. Former A’s catcher Anthony Recker doubled with one out to drive in Flores with the Mets’ second run of the game. Cook struck out the next batter and lefty Eric O’Flaherty was brought in to pitch to the very dangerous lefty handed hitter, Curtis Granderson. O’Flaherty struck hime out to end the inning.

The A’s scored two more in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Derek Norris walked and he came in to score when Josh Reddick hit his ninth home run of the on the first pitch he saw from Mets’ reliever Gonzalez Germen. A’s lead 6-2 after eight.

Notes Hitting starts for the A’s tonight were Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick. Crisp tripled to drive in three runs and Reddick hit a home run to put the game away for the A’s. Derek Norris and Stephen Vogt each had two hits in the A’s win. Jeff Samardzija goes for the A’s Wednesday and he will be opposed by the Mets’ Zack Wheeler.

The Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig was here at the Coliseum as he makes his farewell tour to all the stadiums in baseball. Selig retires in January 2015.

Oakland A’s Annual Community Fund Golf Classic

The 32nd annual A’s Community Fund Golf Classic, presented by Chevron and Grant Thornton LLP, is set

for Thursday, Aug. 21 at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo. Proceeds from the event will benefit the A’s Community Fund. In addition, the Chevron Eagles for Education®

program will donate $2,500 per eagle on

the 18th hole, for a maximum donation of $50,000 to be split between the A’s Community Fund and the NCGA Youth on Course program.

The A’s Community Fund Golf Classic was launched in 1982 to directly raise funds for the A’s Community

Fund, established in 1981. The annual event is the largest fundraiser for the A’s Community Fund, which supports charitable organizations in improving the quality of life for people throughout the Bay Area.

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 21

Participant Introductions, 11:05 a.m.

Shotgun Start, 11:30 a.m.

Awards Banquet and Silent Auction, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Round Hill Country Club

3169 Round Hill Road

Alamo, CA 94507

PARTICIPANTS: Current and former A’s players, coaches, front office personnel and fans

Current A’s players expected to appear include Josh Donaldson (introductions only), Derek Norris,

Stephen Vogt (banquet only), Ryan Cook, and Sam Fuld (banquet only). Coaches expected to participate

include manager Bob Melvin (introductions only), Chili Davis and Ariel Prieto. Former players expected to

play include Vida Blue, Ray Fosse, Billy North, John “Blue Moon” Odom, and Shooty Babitt. Other

participants include current A’s broadcasters Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo, former broadcaster Monte

Moore, assistant general manager/director of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, director of professional

scouting/baseball development Dan Feinstein, and equipment manager Steve Vucinich.

EAGLE CONTEST: Chevron Eagles for Education®

The 18th hole will be the Chevron Eagles for Education®

hole. For every ‘eagle’ scored on #18, Chevron will

donate $2,500 for a max donation of $50,000. The donation will be split 50/50, with $25,000 donated to the

A’s Community Fund and $25,000 to the NCGA Youth on Course program. Both organizations will use the

funds to support educational programs and/or internships.

AVAILABILITY: A’s players will be available to the media from 10:30-10:50 a.m. outside the check-in area. For TV crews that

would like to obtain on-course footage, golf carts can be reserved by contacting Adam Loberstein

advance.

NOTE: The event is closed to the public.

CONTACT: Adam Loberstein, 510-563-2248

A’s preview

by Jerry Feitelberg


The Oakland A’s have a day off Monday as they return home after a disastrous road trip to Kansas City and Atlanta. The A’s went 1-6 n the trip and have lost six in a row. Their new ace, Jon Lester, lost his first game as an Athletic and the rest of the starters also lost. The A’s need Scott Kazmir, Sonny Gray, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to get back in the groove and get some wins for the A’s. Hammel has not pitched well for the Green and Gold and he may be headed out of the rotation. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, and his staff will have to decide to let Hammel continue as a starter or replace him with either Jesse Chavez or Drew Pomeranz. Chavez started the season well but seemed to have cooled down as he pitched deeper into the season. Pomeranz was also performing well until he broke his non-throwing hand in a fit of youthful anger. Bet he won’t do that again.

In the meantime, the A’s have called up Andy Parrino from Sacramento to play shortstop as Jed Lowrie fractured his index finger on his throwing hand and is on the 15 day disabled list. One of the big problems for the A’s is that the hitting has stopped and they are not getting the same run production as they had earlier in the season. There are several factors for that. Many people will say that the trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston has caused the decline in hitting. The argument has some merit as the A’s were 65-35 with him in the lineup this year and 228-131 over the last 2 ½ years. Also, the A’s have gone 7-10 to drop into a virtual tie for first place with the Los Angeles Angeles for the AL West lead.

Others will say that the A’s have a solid enough team to win without Cespedes and they would have had to do that had Cespedes been injured. The A’s starting pitching and bullpen are strong. The five starters with the exception of Hammel are very good as has the bullpen with Ryan Cook, Luke Gregerson and closer Sean Doolittle. Fernando Abad and Dan Otero have also made great contributions all year long.

The A’s play the New York Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday at home in Oakland. The Mets have an overall record of 59-67 and are in fourth place in the NL East. The Mets have lost six out of their last ten but , in baseball, you never know what can happen and the Mets would love to put a wrench in the A’s plans. The A’s have a day off on Thursday but then begin an important three game series with the LA Angels starting Friday night at the O.co. The A’s then travel to Houston for three and the Astros are no longer pushovers. The last time the A’s went to Houston they lost two out of three and then from Houston it’s off to Anaheim for four more games with the Angels. These A’s have to get their act together and start winning in order to win the division. Keep in mind the Seattle Mariners are now starting to make a run and are now just 5 ½ games back. They have great pitching and are gelling at just the right time. The Mariners have won eight out of the last ten and picked up five games in the standings. The A’s face the Mariners six more times this year. They play them immediately after the Angel series at home and then travel to Seattle on September 12th for the final three games between the teams.

Yes, the A’s may be tired and they may not be hitting but it is gut-check time. If the want to win the division they will have to put the pedal to the metal. If the don’t win the division , they will have to play a one game playoff game with the second wild-card team and anything can happen. Let’s hope the A’s regroup and do what they have to do to win the division. People said the A’s were favorites to be in the World Series when they acquired Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. However, games aren’t won on paper. They are won on the field and the A’s better get that through their heads or they may end up on the outside looking in.

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938

One Dollar Buys A’s a Split in New York

By Matthew Harrington

In a reversal of fortunes from Tuesday’s 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the New York Mets, the Oakland Athletics shelled promising youngster Zack Wheeler early on Wednesday to split the a two-game series at Citi Field. Coco Crisp and Brandon Moss homered for Oakland in the 8-5 contest while Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a three-run double to give starter pitcher Brad Mills his first win with the green and gold despite a late comeback bid by the Metropolitans (36-42).

The A’s (48-30) scored twice in the first inning off Wheeler on Moss’ team-leading (along with Josh Donaldson) 18th long ball of the season that came with two outs and a runner on base. A four-run second, highlighted by Cespedes’ bases-loaded double, wrapped up the night for Wheeler (3-8, 4.45 ERA). The former San Francisco Giants draft pick, acquired by New York in the 2011 Carlos Beltran trade, went only two innings. He allowed a season-high six earned runs in his first start since going the distance in a 1-0 shutout over Miami on June 19th.

A Coco Crisp solo shot, his sixth round tripper of the campaign, off Dana Eveland put Oakland up 7-0 in the fourth while a Mills double play ball plated Josh Reddick from third base for the A’s eighth run and final run in the sixth frame.

While Wheeler scuffled, Mills thrived in his second start since replacing the injured Drew Pomeranz in the rotation. While he was tagged with a no decision in Oakland’s 4-2 win over the Red Sox last Thursday, Mills (1-0, 4.35) picked up his first win in the Big Leagues since 2012.

The man supposedly purchased for one dollar from the Milwaukee Brewers on June 17th went 6 1/3, allowing only three runs. All three tallies came on the first pitch of a pinch-hit at-bat for Lucas Duda which resulted in a three-run shot that chased him from the game.

Dan Otero finished off the seventh, but set-up man Luke Gregerson scuffled with his inning of work, allowing a two-run homer to former Athletic Chris Young, the chief culprit in Tuesday’s thrashing after mashing two dingers. Sean Doolittle struck out the side in the ninth to seal the 8-5 win for his 11th save of the season.

On Thursday, the A’s receive a second dose of respite this week after having a day off Monday to make the trek from Oakland to the East Coast. They’ll have a day off in Miami before opening a three-game weekend set against the Marlins Friday in Oakland’s first visit to Miami’s new ballpark which opened in 2012. Right-hander Jesse Chavez takes the hill for the Athletics while the Marlins counter with righty Anthony DeSclafani and his 7.59 ERA.