Tag: Oakland A’s

Texas Tops Oakland 8-6 to open series in Arlington

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The game wasn’t a laugher but Yohel Pozo of the Texas Rangers gets a laugh after taking Oakland A’s pitcher Sergio Romo deep in the the sixth inning for a three run homer at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Fri Aug 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

Texas Rangers Top Oakland 8-6

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night recap:The Oakland A’s are on a roll winning the past seven games in a row. In those seven games they swept a four game series with the Texas Rangers followed by sweeping a very good Cleveland Indian team.

Game Three against the Indians was a wild affair with the A’s winning by the score of 17-0. Everyone was hitting in that game and tonight they took on the Texas Rangers in another three game series looking to extend their winning streak.

When we look at the Rangers they are struggling mightily sitting in last place in the American League West with a record of 40-75 while the A’s have a record of 67-48, and only 1 1/2 games out of first place in the division.

This is a series that Oakland should comfortably win although in the first game of their last series it took extra innings to put the game away.

Friday night recap: The first inning in this game could not have started more miserably for the A’s. They fell behind 3-0 in the inning and were not able to score until the fifth inning. Oakland really put the pedal to the metal in not only the fifth but the sixth inning as well.

In the fifth inning, Seth Brown doubled and Marte singled giving Oakland a couple of runs but still trailing 3-2. The sixth saw the A’s take the lead 4-3. In the inning Moreland tripled and Chapman singled.

The Rangers came right back with a homerun by Yohel Pozo with two runners on base taking back the lead 6-4. In the seventh inning Matt Olson hit his 29th home run. With the score 6-5, although trailing, the A’s seemed to have things under control. We have seen those comebacks more often than not.

The Rangers really threw a wrench into the A’s planned comeback when DJ Peters hit the Rangers second home run of the game with a runner on base taking a 8-5 lead.

Seth Brown hit a double in the eighth inning allowing Matt Chapman to score and going into the ninth inning Oakland still trailed by the score of 8-6. Andrus would pop fly out, Marte strike out and Matt Olson thrown out at first base.

This was a disappointing loss for the Oakland A’s in a game that they should not have lost. The Rangers had two unearned runs in the first inning when the A’s had some costly errors. Sergio Romo had a disappointing outing which we have not seen in quite awhile and the offense was off after the display that we all saw last night.

It will be onto game two of the series with the A’s looking for their first win. There is no doubt that we will see a different team tomorrow with first pitch at 4:05 PM. Oakland will clean up those errors and James Kaprielian will be on the mound for the A’s looking to tie up the series.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: The hits keep on coming in A’s 17-0 laugher; A’s open up three game series in Texas tonight

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Oakland A’s pitcher Cole Irvin wipes his brow as he will be the starter tonight against the Texas Rangers in Arlington at Globe Life Field (file photo from White Cleat Beat)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The Oakland A’s (67-48) in the first four innings were able to score big on Cleveland (55-58) starting pitcher Eli Morgan scoring five earned runs on three hits. The A’s jumped to a 5-0 lead.

#2 The A’s got two home runs from Mitch Moreland and starting pitcher Chris Bassitt won his 12th game.

#3 Bassitt and four relivers combined for a 17-0 shutout of Cleveland on Thursday

#4 The Cleveland crowd in the ninth inning realizing it was all out of hand and knowing Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman needed one more walk to tie the MLB all time most walks in a game at six stood and cheered for Chapman to get a base on balls. But after going 0-2 Chapman knew it was over and struckout.

#5 Jeremiah, the A’s make another trip to Arlington tonight for a three game series against the Texas Rangers (40-75). Starting pitcher for the A’s Cole Irvin (8-10 ERA 3.45) and for the Rangers Dane Dunning (5-7 ERA 4.07) a 5:05 pm first pitch.

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

A’s rout Indians 17-0; Moreland belts two homers

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Oakland A’s Mike Moreland gets congratulations from teammates in the A’s dugout after belting a solo home run in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians on Thu Aug 12, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s completed a three-game sweep over the Cleveland Indians as they routed the Tribe 17-0. The A’s did not have to have late-inning rallies to win on Thursday as the Indians’ pitchers had trouble throwing strikes. Five Cleveland pitchers walked ten A’s hitters and hit three batters. Eight of the players that walked scored.

The A’s got the laugher going when they scored three runs in the second inning on just one hit. Indians’ starter, Eli Morgan, hit Mitch Moreland with a pitch. The next hitter, Josh Harrison, walked. A’s catcher Sean Murphy doubled to drive in Moreland And Harrison to take an early 2-0 lead.

Morgan walked Matt Chapman to put two men on with no out. Morgan then retired Seth Brown and Elvis Andrus. Morgan got Mark Canha to hit a ground ball to the shortstop Amed Rosario. Chapman, running on the pitch, beat Rosario’s throw to second to load the bases. Morgan hit Starling Marte with a pitch to force in Murphy with the A’s third run of the inning.

The A’s scored two more in the fourth. Morgan walked Chapman for the second time to start the fourth. With one out, Andrus single sent Chappie to third. Mark Canha’s ground out plated Chappie with the A’s fourth run of the game. Andrus was safe at second. He scored on Starling Marte’s double to left. The A’s lead 5-0 after four.

The onslaught continued in the fifth. Mitch Moreland led off the fifth with a solo blast into the seats in right field. The A’s put four more on the board to take a commanding 10-0 lead. Justin Garza was now pitching for the Indians. Garza faced three batters and walked all three. Indians skipper, DeMArlo, Hale, had seen enough. He brought in lefty Francisco Perez to pitch.

Perez was making his Major League debut. He retired Seth Brown for the first out. Perez walked Andrus to force in Tony Kemp with the A’s seventh run. Mark Canha’s fly ball to right was not deep enough to allow Murphy to tag and score. Starling Marte singled to drive in Chapman. Matt Olson singled to plate two more.

The A’s onslaught continued in the sixth as they scored twice. In the eighth, four hits produced four more runs. Mark Canha’s double scored two, and Stephen Piscotty’s single added two more. The final run of the game came in the ninth on Moreland’s second dinger of the game. The A’s win 17-0.

Game Notes and Stats: The A’s line was 17 runs, 14 hits, and one error. The A’s pitchers held the Indians to three hits and no runs. Chris Bassitt was the winning pitcher. He is now 12-3 for the year, and his ERA dropped to 3.06. He threw 81 pitches. A.J. Puk, Adolis Guerra, and Jake Diekman each pitched a scoreless inning for Oakland. Eli Morgan was the losing pitcher. He went four innings, allowed three hits and five runs.

Matt Chapman tied an Oakland record with five walks. Matt scored three times. Mark Canha hit one hit and three RBIs. Starling Marte had a single and double. He, too, had three ribbies. Mitch Moreland blasted two bombs, and he scored three times.

It was the fifteenth time in Moreland’s career with two or more homers in a game. Tony Kemp, who entered the game in the second inning, had three hits, two RBIs, and scored three times. Seam Murphy’s day included two hits, two RBIs, and three runs. It was quite a day for the Oakland offense.

It was the eleventh shutout of the year for the A’s pitching staff. It was the largest shutout ever in the A’s history.

The A’s are going to Arlington Texas, to face the Rangers for three games. Friday night’s pitching matchups will see Cole Irvin (8-10, 3.45 ERA) going for Oakland and Dane Dunning. (5-7,4.07 ERA) pitching for Texas. The game will start at 5:10 pm.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s showing great resilience in come back games

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Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt gets the starting call against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland Thu Aug 12, 2021 (file photo NBC Sports)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, On Tuesday the Oakland A’s (65-48) showed they have a lot of resilience with their extra inning come back against Cleveland (55-56) on Jed Lowrie RBI double. It shows you good teams win in late innings.

#2 The A’s since June and July have diagnosed their one problem they had in those two months and that was getting into a situation where they were one play short of turning a loss into a win that correction will go a long way in these last two dog day months of August and September.

#3 The A’s in Tuesday’s game trailed Cleveland 3-1 after two innings but came back in the eighth inning after tying up the game 3-3 and Lowrie got the go ahead RBI double which eventually won it for the A’s 4-3 in the top of the tenth inning.

#4 The A’s used seven pitchers last Tuesday for the win and Bob Melvin might have been reading the scouting reports on Cleveland very carefully because strategy certain played a key role in that come back win.

#5 For this morning’s matinee at Progressive Field the A’s will start RHP Chris Bassitt (11-3 ERA 3.19) vs. Cleveland right hand starter Eli Morgan (1-4 ERA 6.09).

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

Lowrie’s three-run blast powers A’s to 6-3 win over Cleveland

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Oakland A’s Jed Lowrie blasts three run homer in the top of the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Wed Aug 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (66-48) downed the Cleveland Indians (55-57) 6-3 Wednesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Rain delayed the start of a game by about an hour. The teams met for the fifth time this year. All of the games so far have been decided by one or two runs.

It was the same story for the first six innings. The A’s starter, Frankie Montas, had a rough start as he gave up two runs in the first inning. Montas gave up a single in the second, and from that point on until he exited after the sixth, he did not allow a hit and kept the Indians off the board.

Cleveland’s starter Cal Quantrill dazzled the A’s for the first six innings of the game. The A’s managed two hits and no runs. Things changed in the seventh. The offense woke up, and the A’s would win their sixth straight game 6-3.

The Indians grav=bbed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Bradley Zimmer got things going for Cleveland with a single. With one out, Montas walked Jose Ramirez to put men on at first and second. Jed Lowrie fielded Franmill Reyes’ grounder.

Lowrie stepped on second to retire Ramirez. His throw to first got past Matt Olson. Zimmer scored on the play. Reyes went to second. Harold Ramirez followed with a single to drive in Reyes to give Cleveland the lead 2-0.

Both pitchers were in control. Quantrill held the A’s scoreless for the first six innings. The A’s had two hits. Montas kept the Indians scoreless for his last five innings of work.

Things changed in the top of the seventh. Jed Lowrie walked to start the rally. Former Indians’ catcher, Yan Gomes, singled, sending Lowrie to third. Cleveland Skipper, DeMarlo Hale, brought in Bryan Shaw to pitch. A’s DH, Mitch Moreland, grounded out. Lowrie scored on the play.

Gomes advanced to second. Matt Chapman singled to drive in Gomes with the tying run. The score was 2-2 midway through the seventh.

Bob Melvin brought in lefty Jake Diekman to work the seventh. Jake retired the first two hitters he faced. The next hitter, Myles Straw, walked. Oscar Mercado doubled to drive in Straw with Cleveland’s third run of the night. 

Nick Sandlin was the new Indians’ pitcher for the eighth inning. A’s shortstop tied the game with his third big fly of the season. Sandlin hit the next batter, Mark Canha, with a pitch. Starling Marte singled to put two men on with no out. DeMarlo Hale brought in Trevor Stephan to pitch.

He stuck out Matt Olson for the first out. Jed Lowrie committed an error in the first inning that allowed a run to score atoned for his sin by blasting a three-run dinger to the right. The A’s regained the lead 6-3. 

A’s reliever Sergio Romo continued to weave his magic as he set the Indians down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth. A’s closer gave up a hit in the ninth but would secure the win for the A’s. The A’s win 6-3. It was Trivino’s 19th save of the year.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 69-45 for the year. Houston won on Wednesday night. That means the A’s remain two games behind the Astros in the race for first place in the AL West. 

Hitting starts for Oakland were Jed Lowrie, Starling Marte, Matt Chapman, and Elvis Andrus. Lowrie had one hit, that being a three-run blast. Marte was two-for-five and scored a run. Chappie had two hits. Andrus also had two hits, a single and a home run.

The A’s will be going for a sweep on Thursday. Chris Bassitt will go for Oakland. Zack Plesac pitched for Cleveland. The game will start at 10:10 am.

A’s grind out a win over Indians 4-3; Lowrie clouts 10th inning RBI double for gamer

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Oakland A’s Jed Lowrie smashes a tenth inning double at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Guardians on Tue Aug 10, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (65-48) and the Cleveland Indians (55-56) played another hard-fought game Tuesday night at Progressive Field. The teams played three competitive contests when the Indians were in Oakland last month. Two of the three games were decided by one run. Tuesday’s game was no exception as the A’s won 4-3 in ten innings.

The story of the game was the performance by the A’s bullpen. The A’s starter Sean Manaea had a tough time adjusting to the heat and humidity in Cleveland Tuesday night. Manaea seemed to be having trouble gripping the ball. Sean worked one and 2/3rds innings and gave up three runs, and allowed five hits. He threw 69 pitches. A’s manager Bob Melvin had to go to the bullpen. Burch Smith gave the A’s 3 and 1/3 rd innings and allowed one hit. The bullpen held the Indians hitless the rest of the way. The A’s came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the game 4-3 in ten innings.

The Indians put one on the board in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, shortstop Amed Rosario reached on an infield single. Manaea struck out Jose Ramirez for the second out. Designated hitter Franmill Reyes walked to send Rosario to second base. Left fielder Harold Ramirez singled to center to drive in Rosario with Cleveland’s first run of the night. 

The A’s tied the game in the top of the second. Back-to-back doubles by Josh Harrison and Sean Murphy knotted the score 1-1. The tie didn’t last long as Cleveland plated two runs in their half of the second. Owen Miller started the rally with a single. Manaea walked catcher Austin Hedges to put men on at first and second with no out. Manaea got second baseman Ernie Clement to hit into an unusual 6-4-5 double play. Elvis Andrus threw Clement’s hard-hit grounder to Josh Harrison for the first out. Harrison had no play at first but alertly threw to Matt Chapman, who tagged out Miller for the second out. Myles Straw, who gave the A’s fits when he played for the Houston Astros, doubled to left field. Mark Canha did not field the ball cleanly, and that allowed Clement to score from first. Canha was charged with an error. Bob Melvin decided it was time for a change. Burch Smith was the new A’s pitcher. Smith struck out Franmill Reyes for the third out. The Indians led 3-1 after two.

The A’s right-fielder, Seth Brown, took Indians’ starter Triston McKenzie deep in the top of the fourth to make it a 3-2 game. Brown’s home run traveled 413-feet over the wall in right-center-field.

The A’s tied the game in the eighth. With one out, Starling Marte singled to get the rally going. With Matt Olson at the plate, Marte stole second. It was his 30th steal of the year. Olson followed with a sharp single to right. Marte rounded third and was heading home when he realized the throw home would have mailed him. He slid in safely, just barely beating the throw from the catcher. Jed Lowrie’s ground out drove in Marte with the tying run. 

The A’s won the game in the 10th. With Elvis Andrus at second, and Matt Olson at the plate, the Indians gave Matt an intentional walk. Jed Lowrie, hitting about .360 with runners in scoring position, doubled to left to drive in Andrus with the A’s fourth run of the night. Lefty reliever, Andrew Chafin, earned his first save of the year, shutting down Cleveland in the bottom of the tenth. The A’s win 4-3.

Game Notes and Stats: The A’s won their fifth game in a row Tuesday night. They are 9-2 in their last 11 games and are now 65-48 for the season. The Indians are 55-56 for the year.

The story of the night was the bullpen. Burch Smith, A.J.Puk, Yusmeiro Petit, Sergio Romo, Lou Trivino, and Andrew Chafin allowed one hit after the second inning.

The A’s recalled A.J.Puk from Tripe-A Las Vegas. To make room for him on the roster, they designated for assignment J.B.Wendelken.

The game lasted three hours and forty-eight minutes. Thirteen thousand forty-one fans watched the A’s beat the Tribe.

Game two of the three-game series will be at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Wednesday. Frankie Montas will go for Oakland, and Cal Quantrill goes for Cleveland. The game will start at 4:10 pm.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Marte seeing the ball well since joining A’s; Sweet revenge for Pujols homered against old team Halos

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He can do it all hit, field, and run the bases the Oakland A’s outfielder Starling Marte steals second base under the Texas Rangers glove of second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the first inning of Sun Aug 8, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Starling Marte went 4 for 5 on Sunday in the Oakland A’s efforts to complete a four game sweep over the visiting Texas Rangers 6-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 In Marte’s nine games since joining the A’s on July 28th from Florida Marte has gone 17 for 40 (.425) and have won seven of those nine games.

#3 Teammate and A’s pitcher James Kaprielan said of Marte that he wouldn’t want to pitch to him and that Marte is an underrated player.

#4 How big was it for Los Angeles Dodger pinch hitter Albert Pujols to hit a two run homer against his old teammates the Los Angeles Angels last Sunday at Dodgers Stadium. Pujols threw away the bat and admired the shot before circling the bases.

#5 For Pujols who left the Angels under not the best of circumstances. The Angels said they were going to use Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter and Jered Walsh as their first baseman and Pujols would have an opportunity to play when the Angels needed to rest Ohtani or Walsh. That didn’t sit with Pujols too well who was rumored to have had a loud argument with Angels team president John Carpino and general manager Perry Manasian just before the trade. The home run for Pujols had to have some sweet revenge to it.

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s visit Cleveland for 3 game series Tuesday night

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Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea gets the call on Tue Aug 10, 2021 against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Here Manaea stands on the mound after surrendering an RBI single in the first inning against the San Diego Padres Jake Cronenworth on Tue Aug 3, 2021 (file photo from sfchronicle.com)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Oakland A’s open a three game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Tuesday night after having Monday off. The A’s are coming off a three game sweep over the Texas Rangers.

#2 The Rangers struggles might be the A’s thankfulness as the Boston Red Sox are flailing and the Toronto Blue Jays are emerging in the Wild Card race and with the A’s winning they gain ground in the Wild Card race as they hold first place.

#3 The A’s have won seven of their last nine games and the A’s at one time were behind the first place Houston Astros in the AL West by as much as 4.5 games have now cut the lead to just two games.

#4 For the first time since June 19 the A’s are some 16 games over .500 and what helps after the A’s acquired outfielder Starling Marte from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline especially after the 80 game suspension of outfielder Ramon Laureano for banned substance use.

#5 A’s travel to Cleveland Tuesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland for the first of three games, the A’s will be starting Sean Manaea (8-7 ERA 3.26) and for Cleveland Triston McKenzie (1-6 ERA 5.89) talk about this match and series.

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

A’s open up three game set in Cleveland Tuesday night at Progressive Field

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Starling Marte the Oakland A’s outfielder slugged four hits that help pave the way for an A’s win on Sun Aug 8, 2021 over the Texas Rangers is seen here gesturing to the A’s dugout in the bottom of the sixth inning after collecting his four hit of the game (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are going to Cleveland, Ohio, to start a ten-game road trip. The A’s, winners of eight of their last ten games, will begin with three against the Indians (54-55). The A’s will then play three against the Texas Rangers and finish the trip with four against the Chicago White Sox.

The A’s swept the Rangers over the weekend. The A’s improved to 64-48 for the year. They find themselves two games behind the Houston Astros in the race for the AL West crown. In addition, they are now 1/2 game ahead of the Boston Red Sox as the number one Wild Card team. If the season were to end today, The A’s would host the Wild Card game at the Coliseum.

The Indians, who will be known as the Guardians next season, are 54-55 for the year. Last month, the two teams met for three games at the Oakland Coliseum, just after the All-Star break. The Indians won the series two games to one. Two of the three games were decided by one run. The other game was won by Cleveland 4-2.

On Tuesday, The A’s will be sending lefty Sean Manaea to the hill to face the Indians. Manaea, in his last start, did not fare well against the San Diego Padres. Manaea’s pitched well in his two previous starts before the San Diego game.

A’s manager, Bob Melvin, hopes Manaea will get back on track. The Indians will counter with righty Triston McKenzie. McKenzie is 1-5 with an ERA of 5.89. On Wednesday, Frankie Montas will go for the A’s. Montas beat the Padres last week.

Montas is 9-8 for the year, and his ERA is 4.10. His opponent will be Cal Quantrill. Cal, the son of former Major League pitcher Paul Quantrill, his 3-1 and an ERA of 3.14. Thursday’s game will feature the A’s ace, Chris Bassitt (11-3, 3.19 ERA), going against Dan Plesac (6-4, 4.84.) Plesac is the nephew of Dan Plesac, who pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The A’s will be facing a team that is rebuilding. The Indians’ star shortstop, Francisco Lindor, signed a free-agent deal with the New York Mets. Their star pitcher, Shane Bieber, is on the 60-day Il. Their manager, Terry Francona, has stepped away from the team for the rest of the season. DeMarlo Hale is the interim manager. The team has a lot of new players that are not familiar to A’s fans. The Indians roster is made up of a lot of young players and a couple of older players.

A’s fans should keep an eye on third baseman Jose Ramirez. Ramirez is hitting .254 with 24 homers and 65 RBIs. Shortstop Amed Rosario is batting .270 to go along with six dingers and 32 ribbies. The other big bat is designated hitter Franmill Reyes. Reyes broke in with the San Diego Padres in 2018. The Padres traded him to Cleveland in 2019. Reyes’ line is .275/20 HR/52 RBIs.

The Indians’ bullpen has all right-handed pitchers. They are using James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase as the closers. Karinchak has 11 saves and Clase has 16. The veteran reliever, Bryan Shaw, has appeared in 55 games so far this season. Expect to see him pitch against the A’s this week. Hale will call Nick Wittgren, Trevor Stephan, Nick Sandin, Blake Parker, and Justin Garcia from the bullpen to shut down the A’s attack.

The A’s cannot afford to take the Indians lightly. They know the Indians can beat them. With the addition of Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, and Yan Gomes, the A’s offense has an entirely different look.

The A’s struggled to get clutch hits with men in scoring position before these three players arrived in Oakland. Marte had a walk-off home run against the Rangers Friday night. Yan Gomes, pinch-hitting in the ninth with two out and down to his last strike, came through with a single to tie the game. The A’s won that game in extra innings.

The A’s are playing well. Their starters have been pitching into the seventh innings. The bullpen has been outstanding—the A’s need to win the series against the Indians and the Rangers. They will have to be at their best when they play the White Sox. The Sox are in first place in the AL Central. They are cruising to the playoffs. The Sox will be gunning for revenge as the A’s eliminated them from the playoffs last year.

The A’s have momentum on their side right now. They know they are a good team. They know they can come back late in a game to win. They lead the AL in walk-off wins. Let’s hope they can have a successful road trip.

Texas Reduced to Size: A’s sweep, keep pace in AL Wild Card hunt

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–This may have been the worst Texas Rangers team to visit the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s treated them in the best way they know how… with little or no empathy.

The A’s completed a three-game sweep with a 6-3 win Sunday that extended the Rangers’ road losing streak to 14 games. A bad Rangers’ team might have been only part of Oakland’s motivation, the other part may have been a wild card race that’s heating up fast with the Red Sox flailing and the Blue Jays emerging. Whatever the reason the A’s are playing better–winners of seven of nine–manager Bob Melvin’s not divulging. He knows the final 50 games of a postseason push won’t be defined by any one stretch or a bad opponent.

“There’s a lot of baseball left,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The main thing you need to do is just focus on yourself. We’re playing better baseball right now.”

The A’s moved to 16 games above .500 for the first time since June 19, and they assumed the lead AL Wild Card position by percentage points over the Red Sox. The Yankees and Blue Jays are within three games of the leaders, and a race that wasn’t a few weeks back during the trade deadline, is now.

Starling Marte stepped into the playoff push right before the trade deadline and immediately made himself comfortable, hitting .425 in his first nine games with Oakland, including four hits on Sunday. Seth Brown, Sean Murphy and Jed Lowrie also drove in runs in a game the A’s took control of early with three runs in the first and a 5-1 lead in the fourth. Marte’s arrival and performance seem almost miracle-like given he’s basically replacing the dynamic Ramon Laureano, who was shelved by an 80-game suspension for use of performance enhancing drugs.

James Kaprelian returned from the injury list, and didn’t miss a beat, pitching six innings and allowing two earned runs to gain his sixth victory of the season. Meanwhile, Jordan Lyles, who was undefeated in his previous appearances at the Coliseum, fell to 0-4 since the All-Star break, allowing all six A’s runs and walking four batters in the process. At one point, Kaprelian retired 11 straight batters before walking Brock Holt in the fifth.

He gives us six innings, only three hits, gets swings and misses, real efficient,” Melvin said of Kaprelian. “After having a little bit of time off, he didn’t miss a beat. He pitched in the fashion that he basically has been all year.”

“I was pretty tough on myself,” Kaprelian said. “It’s the in-game stuff. The not getting ahead with the fastball, the not throwing enough strikes. The four straight balls to walk (Brock) Holt. Obviously the bats were going today and things were on our side. But, maybe in another situation if I do that, I might not be in the game anymore. So I need to clean that up and I was disappointed in myself for that.”

The A’s outscored Texas 22-7 in the three-game sweep, and they trailed for only two innings all weekend. The Rangers had a lot to do with the lopsided nature of the games, but they simply haven’t ever been in this poor of shape. They’ve lost six, consecutive games, and their road losing streak is only two away from the franchise record. If things continue to be this bad on the road, they could win as few as 22 road games this season, which is almost unheard of.

“We’ve been playing our best, but just trying too hard,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. “I think everybody realizes what’s at stake, and instead of seizing the opportunity, it’s almost like (we’re) scared to mess up because you know what could happen if you don’t start producing.”

The A’s have six games remaining with Texas, and Seattle and the Yankees will see the Rangers as well in the final month plus of the season. How unkind the contenders are to the struggling Rangers could be a key factor in the race for the postseason.

The A’s travel to Cleveland, where they open a series on Tuesday with Sean Manaea facing Triston McKenzie in the opener.