Tag: O.co Coliseum

Astros’ bats come alive in 16-2 hammering of A’s

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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Houston Astros, defending World Champions and losers of six of their last seven games, pounded the A’s with a vengeance. The New York Yankees swept a four-game series from the Astros in Houston and the lost two of three to Arizona in Phoenix. The Astros found themselves in second place in the AL West, and they came out swinging against A’s starter, lefty Brett Anderson. The Astros scored early and often, and the game was over by the middle of the fourth. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel won his second of the year, and the former Cy Young award winner pitched eight innings and allowed the A’s just one run and five hits. For the A’s and their fans, it was not a night to remember as the Astros won 16-2 at O.co Coliseum Monday night.

The Astros wasted no time as they took advantage of Brett Anderson’s wildness to score twice in the first inning. The Astros’ center fielder, George Springer, led off with a double. Anderson retired Jose Altuve for the first out. Springer advanced to third on a wild pitch. Anderson then issued a free pass to Carlos Correa. Yuli Guriel popped out to first baseman Matt Olson. Anderson walked Alex Bregman to load the bases. Marwin Gonzalez, playing left field, singled to drive in Springer and Correa. With Evan Gattis at bat Gonzalez was caught in a rundown trying to steal second. The A’s realized that Bregman could score before the out was recorded and the throw came home, and Bregman was tagged out as he attempted to score. The Astros led 2-0 after the first inning.

The Astros scored three times in the top of the second. Josh Reddick started the rally going with a single with one out. Max Stassi, another former Athletic, doubled to left-center. The next hitter, George Springer, who started the game with a double, hit a ball in his wheelhouse that was a no-doubt-about-it home run that went about 20 rows deep into the left-field seats. It was Springer’s eighth of the year. The A’s trailed 5-0 midway through the second inning.

The Astros didn’t score in the third inning but made up for in the top of the fourth as they scored six times on four hit. A’s first baseman Matt Olson made a throwing error that helped contribute to the Astros’ onslaught. The key hits were Max Stassi’s second double of the night, and Marwin Gonzalez’ home run that broke that broke the game wide open. The Astros have pounded the A’s for 11 runs and 12 hits in just four innings of play.

The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but they had a long way to go to get back in the game. The A’s trailed 11-1 after six innings.

Houston added two more runs in the eighth. Derek Fisher took A’s reliever Wilmer Font deep for his third big fly of the season. Ylui Guriel walked and then score on a double off the bat of Alex Bregman. The Astros lead 13-1 after eight complete. The Astros continued to punish the A’s pitching as they scored three more in the ninth.

The A’s, with two out in the night, scored their second run when Mark Canha and Johnathan Lucroy doubled. The Astros won 16-2.

Game Notes and Stats: Almost all of the hitting highlights belong to Houston. George Springer had a double, home run, and four singles as he was the 115th player in Major League history to have six hits in a nine-inning game. There have been more no-hitters (298) than six-hit games in nine innings.

Marwin Gonzalez had two hits, including a home run and Max Stassi, a Yuba City, California, native, also had two hits to pace the Astros’ attack. The line score for Houston was 16 runs, 20 hits, and two errors.

The A’s scored twice on eight hits, and they made one error.

Sean Manaea will pitch for Oakland Tuesday night, and he will be opposed by righty Lance McCullers.

The A’s had a moment of silence for Stephen Piscotty’s mother, Gretchen, who passed away Sunday from complications of ALS. The Sports Radio Service writers send our condolences to the Piscotty family.

Up Next: The A’s and Astros play Game 2 of the series Tuesday night at 7:05 pm PT.

Moreland’s Grand Slam Continues Graveman’s Not-So-Grand 2018, A’s Fall to Red-Hot Red Sox 7-3

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By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — Kendall Graveman’s woes continued Friday night at the Coliseum. The Oakland A’s opening day starter failed to record an out deeper than the fifth inning for the fifth time in as many 2018 starts. Graveman gave up six runs to the Majors’ best offense, the Boston Red Sox, in a 7-3 A’s loss. The Red Sox (17-2) continue to hold the best record in baseball.

The A’s (9-11) took a three-run lead off former Athletic Drew Pomeranz, who was making his 2018 debut in the first inning, but the Red Sox rode a three-run Jackie Bradley Jr. homer and a Mitch Moreland grand slam to continue an eight-game win streak. Jed Lowrie went 4-5, adding to his American League lead in RBIs with 22.

Graveman (0-4, 10.07 ERA) entered play with a 9.87 ERA, more than a run an inning, and somehow managed to see it rise to 10.07. He lasted longer Friday night than he had in his previous two starts. The sinkerballer went four innings in a 10-8 loss to the Mariners April 14th and lasted just 3 1/3 innings in a 6-1 defeat to the Angels on April 8th. He departed the game Friday with the bases loaded after coughing up four straight hits with no outs in the 6th after retiring 11 straight batters to enter the inning.

Manager Bob Melvin called for reliever Emilio Pagan with the score tied 3-3 and Graveman responsible for the three runners on base. It didn’t take long for Graveman to learn his fate on the night, with Pagan grooving an 83 miles per hour slider that Mitch Moreland crushed to the right field bleachers for a 7-3 Red Sox lead. The Red Sox lead the majors with five grand slams after hitting zero in 2017.

The Red Sox found it easy to string together hits off Graveman, using a trio of hits in consecutive bats to erase their early 3-0 deficit. After Graveman got Mitch Moreland out on strikes to open the second, Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez hit back-to-back singles. Bradley Jr. then squared up on a 2-2 cutter, taking the righty to right field for his second long ball of the year.

The A’s had Pomeranz on the ropes early, with the lefty looking like he wasn’t going to last more than an inning in his first start after returning from a mild flexor strain that sidelined him since mid-Spring Training. Stephen Piscotty scored on Jed Lowrie’s RBI double, Matt Chapman knocked in Lowrie with a single and Mark Canha singled home Chapman for a 3-0 lead.

Pomeranz returned to form too late to factor into the outcome, finishing the game with 3 2/3 innings in the books and seven strikeouts. He gave way to eventual winner Hector Velazquez (3-0, 2.70), the Red Sox starter turned long man. Oakland wouldn’t score again the rest of the game despite loading the bases in the seventh inning off the right hander from Mexico. Matt Barnes came in to the inning with two outs, striking out pinch-hitter Matt Joyce to end the threat. The A’s wouldn’t pose a threat the rest of the night.

Oakland’s best shot at taking a piece out of the league’s best team standings-wise comes Saturday night at the Coliseum. Lefty Sean Manaea takes the bump for the Green and Gold. The Throwin’ Samoan enters play with a scant 1.63 ERA after a brilliant start to the year and an early delivery on the promise that made him the center piece of the Ben Zobrist trade. He’ll draw up against early Cy Young contender Chris Sale. Sale has a 1-0 record and a 1.23 ERA.

A’s celebrate 50th anniversary with 10-2 blowout of White Sox

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Photo credit: @Athletics

Chicago White Sox: 2 | 8 | 0

Oakland Athletics: 10 | 13 | 0

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — At 7:46 in the evening of April 17, 1968, after the players on both teams had been introduced, Miss California had paraded onto the field, Governor Ronald Reagan had thrown out the first ball (and was booed when he asked the crowd if they’d paid their taxes), Lew Krausse did something no one else ever had done; he threw a pitch in a major league game in Oakland. Unfortunately for the A’s, the performance of Baltimore’s Dave McNally, Krause’s opposite number, was a better one. He held the A’s to two hits over nine innings, a solo home run to Rick Monday and a pinch hit single by Tony LaRussa, to defeat the home town team, 4-1. The paid attendance was 50,164.

There was no paid attendance tonight because the Oakland Athletics—four-time world champions, often bloodied, but still, 50 years later, unbowed—celebrated the golden anniversary of that inaugural contest by issuing free tickets to their game against the Chicago White Sox to as many guests as the now venerable Coliseum could hold. 46,028 showed up and watched Lew Krausse throw out the ceremonial first pitch, after which the A’s, resplendent in their 1968 uniforms took on the pale hose, dressed in natty blue 1968 unis.

Starting for the A’s was Trevor Cahill, who, like the Coliseum and the team that calls it home, has seen better days and hopes (a if concrete structure can hope) to see them return. The 30-year-old right handed hurler, pitched for Oakland in 2009-2011, going 18-8, 2.97. Since then, he’s plied his trade for the Diamondbacks, Braves, Cubs, Padres, and Royals. His lifetime major league record is 73-79, .411 (40-35, 3.1 with the A’s). He has been battling injuries for the last two seasons and was on the DL five times in the last two seasons, not counting tonight, his first start in an  Oakland uniform since September 27, 2011. If Cahill didn’t take us back to 1968, he at least took us back to 2010; he was magnificent.

He got off to a rocky beginning, walking Yoan Moncada to start the game, but closing out the frame by setting down the next three batters to keep the White Sox off the board.

The A’s gave Cahill a five-run cushion early on, scoring five runs in their half of the first on Jed Lowrie home run over the right field scoreboard,  Mark Canha’s bases loaded single, which drove in Khris Davis and Matt Olson, and Stephen Pescotti’s double to center, which plated Matt Chapman, who’d walked, and Canha.

With a lead like this to work with, Cahill had no trouble mowing down the Chicago line  up. Working effectively on the basis of two seam fast balls and knuckle curves, he pitched seven complete scoreless innings, allowing only five hits and no walks, while throwing 92 pitches. In only one inning, the third, did the A’s mounds man allow more than one base runner.

Throughout the game, the A’s just kept tacking on tallies. They followed their five-run first with a three-run fourth when Canha, who had hit an infield single, and Piscotty, who had driven a double to left through a drawn-in infield, scored on a single by Jonathan Lucroy, was was advanced to third on a double by Matt Joyce, and then scored on Semien’s sacrifice fly to right.

Lucroy’s single drove Chicago’s hapless starter, Miguel González from the box. He was followed by a parade of four relievers who managed to hold the Oaklanders to only two more runs in the remaining five innings of play. They scored those runs in the eight off Bruce Rendón, who walked Chapman, who advanced to third on Canha’s hooking double down the left field line, and scored on Pescotty’s sacrifice liner to right. Canha’s plated the A’s last run when Lucroy’s single to center, his third hit in four at bats, drove him in.

Melvin brought in Ryan Dull, just up from Nashville, to replace Cahill in the eighth. He surrendered Chicago’s only two runs on a blast into the right field seats by Moncada with Omar Narváez on base. Narváez had struck out and reached first because both he and Lucroy missed Dull’s pitch. Dull ended up striking out four White Sox batters in his one inning of work.

Right handed Lou Trevino made his major league debut in the ninth, pitching in and out of trouble, and emerging unscathed, or at least unscored upon.

Daniel Mengden’s performance last night and Cahill’s tonight as we are hopeful about signs that the A’s rotation, anchored by Sean Manaea, is becoming a force to be reckoned with. In spite of Dull’s four strike out inning and Trevino’s 98+ mph fastball (that’s a redundancy), the bullpen remains a source of uncertainty.

Still, the Athletics now own a record of 8-10, which is approaching respectability. They take on the Chisox at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon with Carson Fulmer (0-1,4.66) joining for the Chicagoans and Andrew Triggs (1-0,2.87), another bright light in the rotation, taking the mound for the hometown team.

A’s hammer Rangers 6-2 behind Sean Manaea’s dominant pitching

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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The A’s sent out their big lefty Sean Manaea to face the Texas Rangers Wednesday night at the O.co Coliseum. Manaea pitched well in the A’s second game of the season, but took the loss. However, he was dominant against the Rangers. He mixed up his pitches, and he allowed the Rangers just three singles. The A’s gave Manaea some run support as they led 5-0 after four and he was on cruise control.

The A’s scored the first run of the night in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Matt Chapman singled. Fister struck out Chad Pinder for the second out, but he could not get by Bruce Maxwell. Maxwell lined a double into the gap in left centerfield to drive in Chapman with the A’s first run.

The A’s sent eight men to the plate in the bottom of the fourth. The A’s scored four runs on two hits, and only one of the runs was earned. The A’s loaded the bases with no out. Chapman singled, Pinder was hit by a pitch, and Bruce Maxwell walked. Boog Powell hit a grounder to the first baseman, Joey Gallo. Gallo’s throw home appeared to nail Chapman, but catcher Robinson Chirinos could not handle the throw and the run scored, and the bases were still loaded. Marcus Semien hit a drive to centerfield that was caught at the base of the wall. Pinder scored, and Maxwell and Powell tagged up and advanced to third and second. Fister struck out Matt Joyce for the second out, but Jed Lowrie ended Fister’s night when he singled to drive two more runs. The A’s lead 5-0 after four complete innings.

The Rangers scored their first run of the game in the top of the fifth. Manaea gave up a single to Nomar Mazara and followed that by walking Chirinos. Jurickson Profar hit a long fly to the rightfield corner. Chad Pinder made a wonderful running catch for the first out, but Mazara was able to tag up and advance to third base. Ryan Rua then hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in Mazara. The A’s added a run in the bottom of the seventh when they loaded the bases with no out. Matt Olson singled to knock in the run, and the bases were still loaded, but they could do no more. The A’s lead 6-1 after seven innings.

Bob Melvin pulled his starter Sean Manaea after he finished the eighth inning. Yusmeiro Petit started the ninth for Oakland, and it did not go well as the Rangers’ DH hit a home run on the second pitch he saw from Petit. Petit settled down and retired the next three hitters to secure the win for Oakland.

Game Notes and Stats: Sean Manaea won his first game of the year as he went eight innings and allowed just one run and three hits. He dazzled the Texas hitters and kept them off balance all night. Manaea pitched well his last time out but did not get any run support and lost to the LA Angels.

The A’s offense came to life Wednesday night. The A’s did not hit any home runs, but they got key hits when they needed them. The hitting stars for Oakland were Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman. They each knocked in two runs to pace the A’s attack.

Manaea went eight innings and allowed just one and three hits. He threw 94 pitches. He probably wanted to finish the game, but A’s manager Bob Melvin saw things differently. Manaea is 1-1 and Texas starter, Doug Fister, lost his first of the year and is also 1-1.

It was another sparse crowd again. There were 7,908 fans in the seats on a fairly chilly night.

The good news was the time of the game. They played the game in two hours and 23 minutes and everyone gets to go home early.

Up Next: Game four of the four-game series will be Thursday afternoon at 12:30 pm. Daniel Mengden (0-1) will go for Oakland, and the Rangers will counter with lefty Martin Perez (0-0).

Cole Hamels leads Rangers to 4-1 win over A’s

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The Texas Rangers beat the A’s Tuesday night 4-1 behind the strong pitching by their ace, Cole Hamels. The veteran left recorded 11 strikeouts in five innings of work and held the A’s offense to just one run. The A’s starter Kendall Graveman ran into trouble in the second inning, and he struggled for the second game in a row. The Rangers scored two in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth to send the A’s down to defeat.

The Rangers got to Kendall Graveman in the second inning. He gave up 2 runs on four hits.  Adrian Beltre started the rally with a sharp single to center field. For Beltre, it was the 3,053rd hit of his illustrious career. The hit tied him with Rod Carew for most hits by a Latin player, and he ranks 25th all-time in that department. The next hitter Nomar Mazara doubled to right-center. Beltre stopped at third.  Robinson Chirinos grounded out to drive in Beltre with the Rangers’ first run. Second baseman Rougned Odor singled to drive in Mazara with the second run of the inning. A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy nailed Odor as he tried to steal second. Ryan Rua Singled and advanced to third when Graveman issued a walk to Drew Robinson. Rua attempted to steal third, but Lucroy gunned him down.

With one out in the top of the third, Rangers’ first baseman Joey Gallo took Graveman deep for his second dinger of the year and put the Rangers ahead 3-0. The A’s cut the deficit to two when Chad Pinder, playing in left, hit his first home run of the year. The A’s trail 3-1 after three complete.

Graveman could not shut down the Rangers in the top of the fourth. Nomar Mazara singled to start the frame. Graveman didn’t help his cause when he uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Mazara to advance into scoring position. Graveman got Robinson Chirinos to ground out, and Mazara was held at second. Rougned Odor then singled to drive in Mazara with the Rangers’ fourth run.

There was no more scoring the rest of the way. Both bullpens did their jobs after the starting pitchers exited the contest. The Rangers win 4-1 to even the series at one apiece.

Game Notes- Rangers starter Cole Hamels went five innings and allowed one run and just four hits while walking three and striking out eleven A’s hitters. Hamels threw 94 pitches in his five innings of work, and his record stands at 1-1. The A’s starter Kendall Graveman did not pitch well for the second game in a row, Graveman’s also went five innings, but he gave up four runs and 8 hits. He issued one free pass and struck out just one hitter.  He gave up a home run to Joey Gallo in the third inning. Graveman’s record is now 0-1.

A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy had an outstanding evening on defense. Lucroy threw out three men attempting to steal and tagged a runner out at home after he tried to score from first on a double to left. The A’s offense could not get anything going. They scored just one run, and they did not have an inning in which they had more than one hit. They had eight hits in the game, one in each inning except the sixth. Chad Pinder was the only A’s player that did anything against Hamels as he had a double and a home run.

The Rangers and A’s have an identical won-loss record as they both are now 2-4 for 2018. The Series is tied at one apiece. Game three Wednesday night will feature left Sean Manaea going for Oakland, and the veteran righty Doug Fister will hurl for Texas. Game time will be at 7:05 pm.

Time of game was two hours and fifty minutes. There were 9,157 fans at the ballpark Tuesday night. It was the second-lowest attendance since May 3rd, 2010. The lowest since that time was last night.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Cesar Chavez Day to be held on March 31st at the Coliseum

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

On Saturday March 31st, the Oakland Athletics will be celebrating a special day for César Chávez, the ex-UFW (United Farm Worker) leader. Over 200 members of his family, including his sister and son, will be there on the field for the ceremonial first pitch.

It is about time a Bay Area sports team chose to recognize such a great leader, which I happened to interview in the late 1970s in Salinas, for KOFY 1050 AM Radio Bay Area, during one of his famous marches.

Chávez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association. He was a very strong activist who defended the rights of legal migrant workers, who had to have a permit to come from Mexico and work on the fields back in the day. He was a man of great integrity and dignity. He passed in 1993, but members of his family will be honored on this special day at the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland A’s, who are celebrating their 50th Anniversary in Oakland.

As a Hispanic, I said: “about time this man gets the recognition he deserved” and I applaud the Oakland A’s for being the first professional MLB team to do so.

Saludos,
Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Oakland Athletics’ Spanish Announcer

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Oakland Coliseum Is Still in the Game

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND, Calif. — Discussions are starting this month by the City of Oakland in order to buy the Coliseum and the adjacent Oracle Arena.

This is what Karen Boyd spokeswoman for the City Oakland said: “The city of Oakland and Alameda County are aligned in the view that development of the Coliseum property would be simplified and streamlined with a single owner that controls all aspects of the future development process,” City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said in a statement to The SF Chronicle. “To that end, the city and county are engaging in discussions on the terms of an agreement that will be mutually beneficial. We will publicly discuss the outcome of these negotiations at the appropriate time.”

This is very significant because if the Athletics cannot build their new park at Howard Terminal, the current location of the Oakland Coliseum will be the one waiting on deck.

The Oakland Raiders are moving to Las Vegas in 2020. Their stadium is under construction.

The Golden State Warriors are moving in 2019 to Chase Center. Their stadium is also under construction in San Francisco. It’s within walking distance from the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park.

In September 2017, the Athletics officially announced that the Laney College location was their preferred location, but then in December, the A’s swung and missed strike one when the Peralta Community District Board of Trustees said no and added that they didn’t even want to start negotiating. Right now, the A’s management have their sights at the Howard Terminal, which BART doesn’t approve. but if they swing and miss strike two, they will have a count of 0-2 with one pitch remaining and that would be the place where they have been playing for over 60 years, the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.

Would the A’s even consider the rebuilding of the Coliseum to a much more baseball only, fan-friendly ballpark with a capacity of around 45.000? This will not be a face lift, but they will demolish the Coliseum, and rebuild a brand-new ballpark. If that materializes, the A’s will have to play their games in another park for the time being, while they build a new one at the current location. But that would be another show.

The saga of the new ballpark for the Oakland Athletics continues, which makes things look more like a Telemundo novela as the days go by.

It’s now or never for Raiders as Cowboys come to Oaktown for primetime battle in Week 15

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — The Oakland Raiders will host the Dallas Cowboys in a primetime game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Sunday night. This will mark the end of Oakland’s home schedule for 2017. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PST.

The game will be Oakland’s third appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. They’ve played the Washington Redskins in Week 3 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.

For those who are interested, the Raiders are 1-1 on Sunday Night Football so far this season.

A loss to the Cowboys would officially eliminate the Raiders (6-7) from any postseason consideration, which was not what Oakland was hoping for coming into this season after making the playoffs for the first time since 2002 last season with a 12-4 record.

In Week 14, the Raiders fell flat on their faces losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-15, at Arrowhead Stadium.

Starting quarterback Derek Carr was mediocre at best, throwing for 211 yards on 24-of-41 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions for a 60.1 quarterback rating. The Raiders offense was stuck in the mud for most of the game as Kansas City’s 30th ranked defense held Oakland scoreless through three quarters, while limiting the Silver and Black to just 268 yards of total offense.

On Oakland’s first five possessions of the game, the Silver and Black punted the football four times and Carr threw one interception. Starting running back Marshawn Lynch led the team in rushing, registering seven carries for 61 yards and one touchdown. Lynch rumbled for a 22-yard touchdown with 8:51 left in the game to break the scoring seal for Oakland, who were already trailing 26-0 at this point.

Shockingly, the Raiders ran the football just 11 times against Kansas City, who are terrible in stopping the run. Teams are averaging 124.8 rushing yards against the Chiefs this season.

Tight end Jared Cook was Oakland’s top receiver, leading the team with 75 yards on five receptions and one touchdown. Wide receiver Michael Crabtree had a team-leading seven receptions for 60 yards.

The Raiders’ defensive unit recorded three sacks for the second straight week, two registered by outside linebacker Bruce Irvin. In Oakland’s past two games, Irvin has recorded an NFL-high five sacks during that span and is second on the team behind defensive end Khalil Mack (8.5) with 7.5 sacks. Mack and middle linebacker NaVorro Bowman each recorded a sack.

Bowman also led the team in total tackles (11) and had one pass defensed, while safety Karl Joseph recorded his first interception of the season–just Oakland’s second interception of the season; Bowman has the other one–off Chiefs’ starting quarterback Alex Smith.

Dallas (7-6) defeated the New York Giants, 30-10, at MetLife Stadium in Week 14. Starting quarterback Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 332 yards on 20-of-30 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 137.1 quarterback rating.

Entering Sunday night’s game at Oakland, Dallas will have their first regular season visit since 2005. Prescott has thrown for 2,752 yards with 21 touchdowns and just nine interceptions for a 91.6 quarterback rating.

The second-year quarterback is on pace for his second-straight 3,000-plus yard passing season.

Wide receiver Dez Bryant is Prescott’s top receiver and could feast on Oakland’s weak secondary this week. Bryant leads Dallas in receptions (61), receiving yards (712) and receiving touchdowns (six). 10-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten remains a red zone threat, ranking second on the team with five receiving touchdowns for 457 yards on 52 receptions.

With stud running back Ezekiel Elliott serving a six-game suspension, the Cowboys are powered by backup running back Alfred Morris. The sixth-year pro has racked up 485 yards on 97 carries and one touchdown.

Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence is the big star of the defense, leads the Cowboys with 13.5 sacks this season. Lawrence has the ability to quickly get to the quarterback and with Oakland’s once stout offensive line giving up more sacks this season with 17 (after surrendering just 16 sacks all of last season), Carr must be on high alert for No. 90 on Sunday.

Defensive tackle David Irving is second on the team with 7.0 sacks this season, while safety Jeff Heath leads the Cowboys with 52 tackles. Eighth-year middle linebacker Sean Lee is second behind Heath with 51 tackles. Heath also leads the team with three interceptions.

Following Sunday’s game, Oakland will travel east for a Christmas Eve against the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday. Philadelphia (11-2) has clinched the NFC East Division and are looking to lock down the NFC’s top seed, but will have to do it without franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.

Wentz tore his ACL in Philadelphia’s 43-35 victory against the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 14 while diving into the end zone on a hit from Rams’ linebacker Mark Barron.

Palmer, Cardinals visits Oakland for Sunday encounter

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND, Calif — As one of the two winless teams remaining in the NFL (Jacksonville is 0-6), the 0-5 Oakland Raiders will try to breakthrough into the win column again as they take on the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum Sunday at 1:25 p.m. PDT.

The Silver and Black are coming off a hard-fought 31-28 loss to their AFC West rivals, the San Diego Chargers, at O.co Coliseum in Week 6 where the team played tough for all four quarters, but couldn’t give interim head coach Tony Sparano his first win after taking over for the fired Dennis Allen.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had his best game as a rookie, completing 16-of-25 passes for 282 yards, and four touchdowns, but it was his lone interception to Chargers rookie cornerback Jason  Verrett with 1:13 left to play that sealed Oakland’s 10th straight loss dating back to last season.

“He made a great play,” Carr said. “Brice [Butler] went up, he had it and the guy made a great play. Those things are going to happen. Yeah, it hurts. It hurts because that’s the way it ended.”

Defensively, Oakland got good games from linebacker Sio Moore, who led the team with seven tackles (three assisted), and strong safety Usama Young, who finished with six tackles.

“The goal is to win the game,”  linebacker Sio Moore said. “We didn’t do that. We didn’t execute in the last bit of plays when we needed to, how we needed to.

“It’s a very sick feeling because we let a team off the hook that’s not supposed to be let off the hook. They’re not what they’re acclaimed to be, whatever the situation is. I’m pretty pissed about it.”

Arizona (4-1), has gotten off to a hot start this season, sitting in first place in the ultra-competitive NFC West.

Former Raiders’ starting  quarterback Carson Palmer returns to the Black Hole to lead a Cardinals team that are coming off a 30-20 home victory against Washington in Week 6.

Palmer returned under center for Arizona last week after missing the previous five weeks with nerve issues in his throwing arm, and threw two touchdowns — one to Michael Floyd, the other to Larry Fitzgerald — to lead Arizona to victory.

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t nervous or wasn’t a little on edge,” Palmer said post game per the Associated Press, “just going into a game and really only have a quarter or maybe a half of a practice over the last five weeks.”

The Cardinals come in with some weapons that will pose some serious problems for the Raiders.

In addition to the emerging Floyd, and the Canton-bound Fitzgerald, Arizona has speedster in rookie wide receiver, John Brown. Brown leads the team with three touchdown catches.

Running back Andre Ellington has been a huge bright spot for the Cardinals this season. Ellington is a shifty runner who has a knack of ripping off big runs and with a Raiders team that is suspect against the run, Ellington is the wrong running back you want to face.

Cornerback Patrick Peterson and Jerraud Powers leads a Cardinal defense that ranks 32nd against the pass, giving up 309 yards per game this season.

Powers is tied for the league lead in interceptions with three.

Players to Watch:

Oakland: WR, Andre Holmes. Carr appeared to have found a connection with Holmes. Carr found Holmes for a 77-yard touchdown on the Raiders’ third play of the game against San Diego. Holmes finished the game with four catches, for a game-high 121 yards, and could be emerging as the Raiders’ No. 1 wide receiver.

Arizona: WR, Larry Fitzgerald . Did it really take  five games for the Cardinals’ franchise leader in receptions (846), receiving yards (11,367), and touchdowns (87), to have a his best game of the year? The answer, yes. Fitzgerald finished with six catches for 98 yards and a touchdown in the win against Washington, after not finding the endzone.

Coming into the game, Fitzgerald was averaging just three catches and 41 yards per game and no touchdowns.

Raiders begin Sparano era with San Diego coming to Oakland

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

ALAMEDA — Coming off a much needed bye where Oakland fired head coach Dennis Allen and named offensive line coach Tony Sparano interim head coach,  the Oakland Raiders look to get into the win column as they will host the San Diego Chargers Sunday at O.co Coliseum. Kickoff is at 1:05 p.m. PDT.

Oakland, (0-4), has been dreadful offensively through the first quarter of the season, ranking last in points scored per game (12.8), total yards per game (270), and rushing yards per game (61.5). Opponents have outscored the Raiders 103-51.

Quarterback Derek Carr, who suffered a sprained ankle and MCL during Oakland’s brutal loss to Miami 38-14 in London, should be a go on Sunday after the week off.

Carr is slowly developing into a quarterback in the NFL, completing 84-of-133 passes for 734 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions in his four starts this season. The Raiders signal caller maybe in for a tough day as he is set to face a stingy Chargers defense that ranks third in the NFL in total defense.

Running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden have been virtually non-existent this season. MJD and McFadden need to find a way to take some of the pressure off Carr and run the ball better than their 1.1 and 3.3 yards per carry average (respectively) have shown.

Defensively, the Raiders will be in trouble Sunday.

Oakland has just four sacks this season, one from the defensive line. Strong safety Tyvon Branch, who leads the team with 30 tackles, is done for the season after three games with a fractured foot.

The team just placed linebacker Nick Roach on season-ending injured reserve due to lingering concussion symptoms.Roach suffered a concussion against the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 22 during the exhibition season.

It would be nice to see Raiders defensive coordinator Jason Tarver get more pressure out of defensive end Justin Tuck, defensive tackle Antonio Smith, and linebacker LaMarr Woodley. These were the guys (along with cornerbacks Terrell Brown and Carlos Rogers), that were suppose to add some much needed punch to a pedestrian defense.

San Diego has been red hot, winners of four straight and sit atop the AFC West at 4-1; a big reason for the Chargers great start has been because of the play quarterback Philip Rivers.

Rivers is off to one of his best starts in his 11 years in the NFL, ranking near the top of the list among the game’s best quarterbacks in passing yards (1,443), touchdown-to-interception ratio (12/2), and passer rating (116.3).

Players to Watch:

Oakland – QB Derek Carr. It will be interesting to see how Carr will perform Sunday coming off the injury he sustained before the bye week. Carr will be working in another wide receiver to the mix, after the Raiders claimed former New England Patriots WR, Kenbrell Thompkins Monday.

San Diego – QB Philip Rivers. No question that Rivers has reestablish himself as a premier quarterback. Rivers is coming off back-to-back three touchdown passing performances and will be looking for his favorite target, TE Antonio Gates down the middle of the field where Oakland has been vulnerable all season.