Tag: Oakland A’s

A’s Win Game One of Angels Series 5-4

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Los Angeles Angel designated hitter Shohei Ohtani takes a few warm up swings on the on deck circle in preparation in facing Oakland A’s reliever Jake Diekman in the top of the seventh inning at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum in Oakland on Fri Sep 17, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After winning their series with the Kansas City Royals the Oakland A’s traveled to southern California to take on the Los Angeles Angels in a three game series.

Cole Irvin was on the mound for Oakland and Jhonathan Diaz started for the Angels. Irvin has a 3.97 ERA and Diaz comes in with a 10.80 ERA.

The A’s took the early lead 2-0 in the second inning and Los Angeles answered with four runs in the same inning leading 4-2. Suzuki had a solo home run in the second inning to start off the scoring for the Angels.

The A’s would score a run in the third inning to pull to within one 4-3. The A’s had the bases loaded in the fifth inning and came up empty. This was a great opportunity squandered by Oakland and is something that they have struggled with this season. Leaving runners stranded has been a sore spot for the team.

In the sixth inning the A’s would take the lead 5-4 and win it in this closely contested ballgame.

After going six innings Cole Irvin was relieved by Jake Diekman in the seventh inning. Oakland needed the bullpen to step up and protect the slim lead. It was a three up, three down for Diekman.

With two innings left in the game the A’s needed an insurance run or two to take this first game of the series.

The Angels threatened in the eighth inning but a brilliant throw from Starling Marte to Matt Chapman tagged Kean Kong out at third for the third out of the inning.

Sergio Romo would take the mound to try and close out this game for Oakland. The A’s would hang on for their 80th win of the season. It was a very nice outing for the Oakland bullpen. There were no long balls for the A’s in this one but some great defensive play which salvaged this game for the A’s Game Two is scheduled for 6:07.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Tony Kemp A’s Clemente Award winner; Royals tried to play spoiler during series in KC

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Oakland A’s second baseman Tony Kemp was recognized as the Roberto Clemente Award winner for 2021 for not only his hard work on the field but his community service off the field (file photo White Cleat Beat)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Roberto Clemente day has been designated annually every September 30th as all MLB players will wear #21 to honor the former Pittsburgh Pirate. Teams will be naming a player each season who best represents the attributes of Clemente on and off the field. The A’s have named Tony Kemp as that player whose kept up with fans on instagram discussing everything from race, and local issues in the greater Oakland community and what it’s like to compete with the A’s this season.

#2 Kemp said in writing and speaking with fans about issues is a work in progress he gets to hear some of the fans personnel issues whether it pertains to race issues, crime in neighborhoods, chaperone services for the elderly in Oakland Chinatown and concerns about working people who are just trying to make ends meet everyday. Kemp is certainly well respected amongst his teammates and truly appreciate him taking a key role in reaching out.

#3 The Kansas City Royals who are well out of the post season contention battled the A’s during the three game series this week and the Royals who are playing spoiler were not mailing it in. Even though the A’s took two of the three games from the Royals the A’s won by two runs in each of their wins and the Royals won the second game by 10-7. It just shows you teams are getting up for the A’s who are trying to survive with their post season hopes in their own right.

#4 A’s starter Chris Bassitt is making progress since his cheek surgery after getting hit in the face back on Aug 17th at Guarantee Rate Field in Chicago. Bassitt has been doing bullpen sessions in Kansas City and will face live hitter in Anaheim this weekend in a simulated game. A’s manager Bob Melvin says “looked like himself.”

#5 A’s open up a three game series in Anaheim tonight the A’s will be going with Cole Irvin (9-13 ERA 4.04) and the Angels have not announced a starter yet. First pitch is slated for 6:38 PM (PDT) at the Big A. The Angels are 14 games out and have won four of their last ten games.

Join Jeremiah Fridays for the Oakland A’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Take Game Three In Kansas City 7-2

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The Oakland A’s Mark Canha slide in safely in the third inning after scoring on a Chad Pinder single against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City (AP News photo)

A’s Take Game Three In Kansas City 7-2

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Kansas City Royals in game three of their series.

Paul Blackburn was on the mound for Oakland and the Royals started Daniel Lynch. It was a bumpy start for Blackburn but he settled down nicely. After giving up a two run home run by Perez in the first inning, he sailed through the mid-sixth inning.

He was relieved by Deolis Guerra who pitched through the seventh inning. Chafin got through the eighth inning and Sergio Romo took it home for Oakland with a three up three down in the the ninth inning.

After leading 2-0 in the first inning there would be nothing more for the Royals. The A’s tied up the game in the third inning. They went on in that same inning to tack on two more runs to lead 4-2.

There was not a lot of offense until the ninth inning. The A’s added some insurance in the ninth inning when Royals pitcher Brentz threw three wild pitches. Elvis Andrus scored on one of those pitches and Tony Kemp scored when Harrison doubled. The A’s added two more runs for the final score of 7-2.

This was a great win for the team and more importantly huge for the bullpen who has struggled for awhile now.

In the series the offense was certainly firing on all cylinders with 26 runs and 35 hits.

Oakland will now head back to California playing a three game series against the Angels. The latest news out of Los Angeles is that Shohei Otani will not pitch against the A’s tomorrow. There is a very good chance that he will not pitch again this season with right arm soreness. He will probably still serve as a designated hitter.

First pitch in Los Angeles is scheduled for 6:38. Cole Irvin will be on the mound for Oakland. If Ohtani does not pitch which seems unlikely the Angels starter is still TBD at the time of this story.

A’s Hang On To Win A Cliffhanger 12-10

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Oakland A’s hitter Mark Canha connects for an RBI single in the third inning at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City against the Kansas City Royals on Wed Sep 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Hang On To Win In A Cliffhanger 12-10

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday night the Oakland A’s took on the Kansas City Royals in game two of their series. Sean Manea was on the mound for Oakland and for Kansas City Carlos Hernandez got the nod. The ERA for Hernandez is currently 3.29 while Manea has a 3.79 ERA.

Last night’s game was a tough one for the A’s as they squandered another healthy lead. After five innings they led 7-4 but were unable to score again for the remainder of the game. The Royals scored four times in the sixth inning taking the lead and winning the game by a score of 10-7.

The team is desperate for a win as chances for a Wild Card are dwindling with each loss. Although the Rangers got on the board first taking an early 1-0 lead in this game, the A’s had a productive second, third and fourth inning which included a home run from Matt Olson, his 35th of the season. They scored five times taking a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.

It felt a bit like deja vu in this fourth inning. The Royals would score four times with Perez, Benintendi, and Mondesi all scoring. They had drastically cut the A’s lead to 5-4. Oakland badly needed some offense in the second half of this game. We all saw what happened in yesterday’s game. We knew going in that the Royals could be problematic

The A’s offense answered in the fifth inning scoring three runs, now leading 8-4. Kemp and Harrison both had singles. The Royals Perez had a solo home run in the fifth but that was it for Kansas City.

The seventh inning was huge for Oakland. By the end of the top of the inning the A’s were leading 12-5. They unleashed an offensive run and now the team had 17 hits in the game. The offense was on fire and the bullpen needed to protect the lead.

Sean Manea pitched five innings before Lou Trivino came in to relieve in the sixth inning. Trivino pitched the sixth and seventh innings giving up a single run.

Jake Diekman would take over on the mound in the eighth inning as the A’s closed in on their first win in this series. Just when it looked all so promising , Diekman loaded the bases and a familiar scenario came into play. Kansas City doubled and the Royals had scored three times in the inning. Oakland now clung onto a 12-9 lead as Andrew Chafin came in to try and close out the inning. Prior to the ninth inning Oakland had had 24 base runners in this game.

After Chafin got the team out of the eighth inning, Oakland was three outs away from a win. It would be up to Chafin to close this one out. Another nightmare for the green and gold as Chafin loaded the bases with no outs. He loaded the bases for a second time in the inning with two out.

Miraculously the A’s hung on to get the final out and the win 12-10. This was a wild game that went down to the wire.

The A’s will try to take the series tomorrow in game three. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10.


A’s Drop Game One to Royals 10-7; Oakland also drops 3.5 games back in AL Wild Card race

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Oakland A’s Seth Brown dives back into first base after a pick off move as Kansas City Royals first baseman Carlos Santa waits for the thrown ball at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City on Tue Sep 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

A’s Drop Game One to the Royals 10-7

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday afternoon the Oakland A’s took on the Royals in Kansas City in game one of their series. Frankie Montas was on the mound for Oakland and Jackson Kowar started for Kansas City.

The A’s got on the scoreboard early scoring two runs in the first inning. Josh Harrison walked and Starling Marte had a double in the inning. Matt Olson and Jed Lowrie both had a sacrifice that drove Harrison and Marte in for the 2-0 score.

The A’s kept their foot on the gas in the second inning scoring three times for a 5-0 lead. Harrison and Andrus both had singles. Kowar had walked three in two innings and it was at this point that Ervin Santana took over in the second inning for Kansas City.

Oakland continued to roll and added another run in the third inning when Mark Canha doubled and scored when Santana threw two wild pitches. Now leading 6-0 the A’s had scored in the first three innings of this game.

Kansas City got going in the third inning scoring three runs and cutting Oakland’s lead in half 6-3.

The Royals would add another run in the fourth inning, a homerun by Hunter Dozier and Kansas City was chipping away at the A’s lead. Frankie Montas would leave the game with Deolis Guerra taking over on the mound.

The A’s would add a badly needed run in the fifth inning. Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus both had doubles with Brown scoring. It was a three up, three down for the Royals in the fifth.

The sixth inning proved to be a disaster for Oakland as Salvador Perez hit a three run homer for his 43rd of the year. Kyle Isbel had scored earlier in the inning. The Royals had taken the lead 8-7.

The Royals continued to storm back extending their lead to a 10-7 score. Another homerun from the team that is at the bottom for homers in the American League. Kyle Isbel homered with a runner on base. This was the first homer of his career and this was the Royals third home run of the game.

Oakland couldn’t get a thing going after the fifth inning. After the great start; leading 6-0 after three innings, there wasn’t much for the A’s. Just another of many disappointing late season showings. So the struggles continue within the Bullpen and now the starters as well.

First pitch in game two is scheduled for another 5:10 start.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Raiders take advantage of Jackson’s fumble; How 49ers held off Lions; plus baseball news

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Baltimore Ravens quarterback LeMar Jackson (8) was stunned how things fell apart against the Las Vegas Raiders late on Monday Night Football at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Mon Sep 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 Las Vegas Raiders struggled against Baltimore Ravens all Monday Night Football but came out a winner in the end with a 33-27 victory. The Raiders Derek Carr threw for an amazing 435 yards and two touchdowns for the opening night win.

#2 The San Francisco 49ers on Sunday had control of their game against the Detroit Lions 31-10 at the half but the Lions attempted a come back in the second half scoring six points in the third quarter and another 13 in the fourth quarter and almost caught the 49ers as San Francisco gets by with a 41-33 win to open the season.

#3 Once again the Oakland A’s ran into a Texas Rangers club that gave them fits. The A’s who lost two out of three from the Rangers over the weekend are now three games back for a shot at the wild card. The loss on Sunday even tougher for Oakland losing to the Rangers 4-3.

#4 The San Francisco Giants would up clinching for a playoff birth the wild card at the very least but looks like they working to try and win the division a tight race in the NL West between the Giants who have just a 2.5 game lead either way Giants have played some exciting ball lately when they were in Chicago and Monday night against the San Diego Padres.

#5 Amaury, The Toronto Blue Jays maybe eight games behind the first place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East but the Jays are the hottest team in baseball winning eight of their last ten games and hold a half game lead in the AL Wild Card over the Boston Red Sox. As the A’s know from their trip to Toronto the Blue Jays offense poured it on and the A’s like other clubs know how difficult it is to play a team like the Blue Jays.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s play by play lead announcer on the A’s Spanish flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Matt Olson is the Oakland A’s 2021 MVP

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Matt Olson who won the 2021 A’s MVP Award hitting .276 Olson thus far this season has been the key to the A’s line up this season. (file photo from NBC Sports)

Matt Olson is the Oakland Athletics 2021 MVP

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

With the A’s still in the race for a postseason berth (more likely as one of the two wild card teams) their first baseman Matt Olson has been their most consistent player right out of Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona, earning his way to his first All Star Game selection in Denver, Colorado. Olson has shown more discipline at the plate and continues his stellar work with the glove at first base.

The two-time Gold Glove winner (2018-19) is on his sixth year with the A’s. 2019 was Olson’s best season at the plate, he hit for .267 with 36 home-runs and 91 runs batted in and struck out 138 times. During the Covid abbreviated 2020 season played in a team high 60 games that were scheduled, batted .195 with14 home runs and 42 RBI, also tops in the team.

During this 2021 season he enjoyed his best Spring Training and had a mission to be more selective at the plate. Olson has done that and then some. A’s are in Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals and then to Anaheim for three more against the Angels and a return to Oakland this September 20th for their last home stand. During the current season, Olson had significantly reduced his strikeouts, logically resulting in more contact, including a career high 32 doubles.

With 19 games left this season for the Athletics, Matt Olson has an excellent opportunity to end with his best overall numbers. He is just two home runs away from reaching his top of 36 in 2019 as well as two-RBIs shy of 100 for the first time in his career. And yes, Olson could win his third Gold Glove.

Matt Olson is humble, very quiet and unassuming player. During the pre-covid time when the media was allowed to go inside the dressing room prior to the game, you would not even noticed he was there. But once the game begins, he is the most consistent Oakland Athletics player on the field and their 2021 Most Valuable Player. There is no doubt about it.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish lead play by play announcer on flagship station 1010 KIQI Le Grande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s Down To The Wire In Their Next Series

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Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas will start against the Kansas City Royals Tue Sep 14, 2021 at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City for game 1 of the three game series. (file photo San Francisco Chronicle)

A’s Down To The Wire In Their Next series

By Barbara Mason

It’s been a long baseball season but it has seemed especially long for the Oakland A’s. They have had more ups and downs than a boardwalk roller coaster. If it’s not the starting pitchers, it’s the at bats or some crazy defensive play and for awhile now it has been the bullpen with a capital B.

There are six more series left in the season. Oakland will be facing the Kansas Royals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves and take a look at what is next up for the A’s

Tuesday night they will be taking on the Kansas City Royals in a three game series. The Royals are not a factor in the playoff picture but would like nothing more than to play spoiler. That’s just what teams do when there is no post season in their future.

On Tuesday the A’s probable starting pitcher will be Frankie Montas who with an 3.57 ERA and has been very good on the mound. Montas has had some of his best stuff lately and has been impressive. If he can go deep and into the game, even as far as eight innings there will be less pressure on the bullpen.

It’s no secret that the Oakland bullpen has been less than stellar for while for now so taking pressure off them to perform is a good thing. It’s a shame that it has come down to this but its is what it is.

For the Kansas City Royals they will more than likely send Jackson Kowar to the mound with a 9.53 ERA. The A’s will need the bats to come alive early in the game coupled with their usual solid defensive play. They should have a lot of success in this series. The A’s will need some cooperation from the bullpen and that’s a given.

The bottom line is that this team has the tools to make a run this year. Tuesday night will hopefully begin the journey on that run.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Bullpen issues for A’s as relievers can’t shut the door late

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Oakland A’s reliever Sergio Romo got rocked on Sat Sep 11, 2021 by the Texas Rangers allowing four runs in the eighth inning in another A’s blown save at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum (file photo mercurynews.com)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara you’ve seen a number of late inning melt downs from the Oakland A’s bullpen where the starters go deep but the relievers just can’t hold the lead.

#2 A’s pitcher Cole Irvin took the game on Saturday into the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers with 6-2 lead and had all his pitches working for him did he look good enough to complete the game although that wouldn’t happen today with the pitch count.

#3 Irvin has been supportive and relievers Andrew Chafin and Sergio Romo were touched up by the Rangers who scored five runs in the eighth inning. Irvin said that they put in a great effect but the Rangers just saw the ball well and hit them were they ain’t.

#4 Going into a home stretch of the season like this where every game counts as the A’s make their best bet bid for a wild card birth they’re really going to need to lean on their bullpen to make over the hump.

#5 Barbara, the A’s open a three game series in Kansas City Tuesday night the bullpen has blown eight saves in their last 19 games those eight games are critical if you look at how close the wild card race is.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Texas-Sized Problems: A’s bats go quiet at the wrong time in 4-3 loss to the Rangers

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–In a lot of ways, Sunday’s A’s game was lost on Saturday.

The agonizing 4-3 defeat to the Rangers at the Coliseum saw the A’s fall behind 4-0 through four innings, then rally to trail just 4-3 after six. But the final three innings were quiet ones; the A’s went hitless as they failed to even challenge Texas’ slim lead.

And if Sunday was bad, Saturday was worse, thus the conclusion that the struggling club lost whatever momentum it had in a brutal 8-6 loss in which the Rangers wiped out a four-run deficit in the final two frames as the bullpen again failed to hold a lead.

Instead of a potential five-game win streak to pull the A’s within a game of Boston for the second wild card spot, the A’s have lost 17 of 26 and can’t seem to get over the hump. Losing has a wearing effect, especially for a ballclub not blessed with a great deal of depth, and stuck in a rut with its pitching.

What’s clear is the A’s have been afforded opportunities, including this current stretch of nine games against three clubs with losing records. Along with that, the teams in front of them in the standings have flatlined with the Yankees winning just three of their last 10, and the Red Sox at .500 (5-5).

One issue is the Rangers, a team that stands 26 games below .500 after consecutive wins in Oakland, and has found a way–time and time again–to cool the A’s hitters. The season series between the A’s and Rangers concludes with the A’s holding a slim 10-9 advantage, and five of those nine Rangers’ wins have seen the A’s score three runs or less, including Sunday.

Not that the A’s didn’t do good things against the Rangers, most notably hit 34 homers in the 19 games between the clubs, just one home run off their franchise record for home runs against one club in one season. But often it was homer and little else. On Sunday, Yan Gomes homered in the fifth, and Matt Olson in the sixth, but the remainder of the Oakland output was three singles and a walk. A’s hitters in spots six through nine went hitless, drawing the only walk.

It didn’t help that Matt Chapman was unavailable after fouling a ball off his shin on Saturday, or that Mitch Moreland was in Alabama seeking a second opinion on his injured wrist that has sidelined him for two weeks.

James Kaprelian allowed all four Rangers’ runs, and fell to 7-5 on the season in the process. Kaprelian surrendered eight hits and a walk. He was lifted in the fourth by manager Bob Melvin, who probably couldn’t afford to be patient with the season on the line in these final 20 games.

Taylor Hearn went six innings for the Rangers, allowing the two home runs but little else. The reliever turned starter didn’t walk anybody, but gassed out after 80 pitches, a sign his transformation from reliever to starter isn’t yet complete.

The A’s hit the road for six ballgames starting Tuesday in Kansas City, then on to Anaheim for a weekend meeting with the Angels. Frankie Montas will be looking to pick up his 13th win of the season in the opener.