Tag: Oakland A’s

That’s Amaury’s Sports and Commentary: The Making of a Closer A’s Great History with Closers

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Hall of Fame reliever Dennis Eckersley during his Oakland A’s pitching days (Baseball Wikipedia file photo)

The Making of a Closer: A’s Great History with Closers

That’s Amaury Sports and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–On Cinco de Mayo 2021 the Oakland Athletics were on their way to their 20th win and maybe extending their 2-game lead over the surprising Seattle Mariners in second place. With a 3 -2 lead into the eight-inning manager Bob Melvin called for Lou Trivino in relief.

Trivino was a perfect five for five in saves opportunities, and the A’s were the only team in baseball this early season with seven saves in seven opportunities and no blown saves. Trivino gave up fve earned runs, the A’s lost their first game this year to the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4 and they had their first blown save of the season.

The closing position is a relatively new position in baseball, from the 1990’s. The A’s signed Trevor Rosenthal during the off season to take over as closer for the team after they lost the most coveted free-agent closer, Liam Hendricks who was signed by the Chicago White Sox. Rosenthal is out after surgery and is not expected to be back until maybe August at the earliest.

Manager Bob Melvin has successfully used Lou Trivino to take over the 9th inning, although this May 5, used him in the eight, nothing wrong with that. The other closer has been lefty Jake Diekman who himself is 3 for 3 in closing situations. So with those two, the Athletics so far this year has handled the last part of the game with much success.

The Oakland Athletics have a great history with closers. Two of their closers are in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, a claim that most teams cannot make. Rollie Fingers, who used to throw, will relieve for an average of three innings and then later with Dennis Ecksersley, who began the general practice of a closer to enter the game to pitch the ninth inning when the team was ahead by three-runs or fewer. Fingers ended his career with 314 games saved and 114 wins usually throwing more than one inning, “He is the master” said fellow reliever Dan Quisenberry. Eckersley saved 390 games.

I once asked Eck what keeps him with that edge in the ninth-inning, and he told me “the fear of failure is what drives me”. He was a competitor like all these guys who made a career in the last inning of the game and are credited with a game saved. I am not one that likes to give players nicknames, but I did called Eck “La Cuchilla” trans: “The Knife”, he was a surgeon with that slider and he got most hitters out. There was one exception, Tigers second-baseman Lou Whitaker he enjoyed great success over Eckerseley.

Dennis Eckersley had his great success as he came to Oakland in 1987 with an extensive resume he was a starter. He was a 20 game winner with Cleveland in 1978 and with other reams compiled a record of 197-171, starting 361 games, completed 100 games in 1,071 games he pitched, 2,401 strike outs and a 3.50 ERA. I remember when Eck came to Oakland; he never envisioned being a closer in his life, yet under the great system of Manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan. He became one of the greatest closers.

Necessity is the mother of invention, when the need for something becomes imperative; you are forced to find ways of getting the results you want, maybe even achieving it. When kids start playing baseball, from T-Ball all the way up to High School their dreams are of pitching, playing the infield, maybe the outfield, some kids have the calling for catching, but you will never see a kid saying: “when I make it, I want to be a closer.”

This is because such position in the game is something that evolves and developes by many circumstances. It is only early May and the closing situation still developing with the Athletics. We are witnessing maybe the making of another closer inside the Oakland Athletics organization with Lee Trivino, or maybe not. Nobody really knows.

The King of Closers? Panamanian-born Mariano Rivera, “Mo”, in 2019 was the first player unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame, his sensational career with the New York Yankees spanned for 19 years and a total of 652 saves. Perhaps the next Mariano has not been born yet.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s hoping to take series/ Jays hoping for a split today

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Oakland A’s starter Mike Fiers who took a loss in this last start will try for his first win of the season today at the Oakland Coliseum against the Toronto Blue Jays as the four game series concludes this afternoon. (Athletics Nation photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Oakland A’s pitcher Lou Trivino who pitched one third in relief on Wednesday night got tattooed by the Toronto Blue Jays at the Oakland Coliseum giving up three runs and five hits in relief.

#2 The relief core surrendered five runs in the top of the eighth inning to the Jays and the A’s wound up losing by as many runs 9-4.

#3 Reliever Adam Kolarek came in to relieve Trivino and threw a wild pitch to move runners to second and third and was lifted for Jordan Weems who wound up giving up a hit and two runs for the five run eighth and the damage was done for a 7-4 lead.

#4 The Jays added two more runs in the ninth inning for a nine run evening tally. The key thing for A’s victories has been the bullpen to hold them for wins but on Wednesday night the pen struggle to keep runners off the bases.

#5 The Jays and A’s conclude this four game series at 12:37pm this afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Starting pitchers for this afternoon for the Blue Jays Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2 ERA 2.60) and for the A’s Mike Fiers (0-1 ERA 4.60) struggled in his first outing for a loss.

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

Jays turn hats inside out rally for five runs in 8th for 9-4 win over A’s

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The Toronto Blue Jays Teoscar Hernandez connects for an RBI single in the first inning against Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

Toronto 9 -10 – 0

Oakland 4 – 7 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

May 5, 2021

OAKLAND–This morning, the Blue Jays announced that on June 1 they will fly away home. The A’s opponents du jour, who have been playing their home games in their spring training facilities in Dundin, FL, will not be returning all the way to Canada but to neighboring Buffalo.

The upgrade of Salhen Field, the home park of their Triple AAA affiliate in upstate New York, is expected to have been completed by then. Ironically, the first team to visit the Jays in their northern home away from home will be the Miami Marlins. Just before game time, Toronto also announced that they had put George Springer on the IL and promoted Jonathan Davis.

The A’s also announced a move, one on a much lower scale. Aramis García, the catcher acquired along with Elvis Andrus in the Khris Davis deal, has been placed on the Injured List with viral enteritis. He was replaced by fellow backstop Austin Allen, who had been on the taxi squad and batted ninth tonight and catching.

He threw out Randal Grichuk trying to steal second in the top of the sixth, ending the inning. He ended the top of the seventh as well, this time with a nifty 2-3 put out of Joe Panik on a dribbler in front of the plate.

Seven year veteran Robbie Ray (1-1, 2.78) started for the Blue Jays. His best pitch is his fastball, which has been averaging 95 mph this season. Reasonably enough, it’s his most frequent offering, followed, in descending order, by the slider, curve, and occasional change up.

Although at game time he owned a mediocre lifetime record of 50-52, 4.22, he was tied for third place among pitchers with more than 100 innings of MLB experience for strike outs per nine innings at 11.03. Tonight was the first time he faced the A’s.

Oakland entrusted its fortunes to Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.93). Those figures in parenthesis aren’t reassuring, but behind them are reasons to give the Athletics and their fans some confidence. Bassitt’s two loses were in his first two starts, against the Astros and Dodgers, in that order.

After his second defeat, his record stood at 0-2, 5.56 with an opponents’ batting average of .289. Between then and game time, it was 2-0, 3.13, and .221. He was 0-1, 5.25 lifetime in his meager two starts against Toronto. He pitched tonight on five days’ rest.

Toronto jumped all over him in the first inning, but the damage they inflicted on Oakland wasn’t insurmountable. That would come later.

After Marcus Semien went down swinging to open the game, Bo Bichette rapped a single to left and moved on to second when Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., sent a line drive up the middle into center for another base hit. Teoscar Hernández banged a single to right, driving Bichette across home for Toronto’s first tally. Guerrero scored their second on Randal Grichuk’s single to center. Then Bassitt settled down to get the two outs he needed to get out of the inning.

Ramón Laureano reduced the gap by blasting one of Ray’s 95 mph fast balls an estimated 395 feet, leaving the park over the State Farm sign in right center, with one out in the home first. That made it seven home runs and 15 RBI for the A’s centerfielder.

Matt Chapman, who seems well on the way to putting his hitting woes behind him, closed the gap completely in the bottom of the fourth. His 396 foot smash to left came on an 87 mph slider Ray threw on a 1-2 count . The brought his totals to five dingers and fourteen runs driven in. Not bad for a guy who’d just crawled over the Mendoza line.

The A’s pulled ahead in their half of the sixth. Laureano doubled to deep left center to lead off. He moved up 90 feet on Olson’s ground out to short into the shift and scored on DH Sean Murphy’s pop fly single to center over a drawn in infield. Jed Lowrie’s fly that Grichuk corralled at the right center wall looked like it might widen the margin, but, of course, it didn’t.

That was the last out that Ray would record. In his six innings on the mound, he threw 95 pitches, 68 for strikes. The three runs he yielded were earned and came on six hits, two of which went the distance. He didn’t walk anybody and, running true to form, struck out nine.. Jordan Romano, his replacement, amused the crowd with his habit of squatting between each pitch, but still managed to set down the bottom of the Athletics’ order in order.

Bob Melvin also called on a reliever, Lou Trivino, to open the next inning. Bassitt left after throwing 90 pitches (63 strikes) over seven innings. The two earned runs he allowed in the first were the only ones scord against hm. Four of the six hits gave up also came in the initial frame. Like Ray, he gave up no free transportation. He struck out seven Blue Jays.

Lou Trivino, however, wasn’t as effective and Romano. He walked the number nine hitter, McGwire, who promptly was replaced by the newly arrived pinch runner Jonathan Davis, and the wheels came off. Semien singled Davis to second.

Bichette forced Semien out at second but beat Andrus’s relay to first, putting runners on the corners with one out. Trivino unleached a wild pitch to Guerrero, allowing Davis to score the tying run and Bichette to take second. He then stole third.

Trivino gave an intentional pass to Junior. Hernández singled to left, scoring Bichette and moving Junior to second. Grichuk´s single to left plated Guerrero and moved Hernández to third and Trivino to the showers. Adam Kolarek, now pitching, fielded Biggio’s bunt to the mound and threw late to home. Credit Biggio with a sacrifice and an RBI, and charge another run to Trivino.

Kolarek heaved a wild pitch that moved both runners up a base. Gurriel grounded out to Andrus, Grichuk scored, and Biggio moved to third. Santiago Espinal, hitting for Reese McGuir lined out to Laureano to end the inning. Toronto now led 7-3.

With David Phelps pitching in the bottom of the eighth, the A’s managed to sneak a little closer on a walk to Olson and an RBI double by Murphy.

Toronto punished that meek uprising with a two run double by Guerrero in the top of the ninth that ended the scoring for both teams, leaving the A’s looking up at a 9-4 defeat.

The responsiblity for Oakland’s loss can be hinted at by the numbers of their relief pitchers.

Pitcher. IP. H. R. ER. BB. K PC (strikes)

Trivino. 1/3. 3. 5. 5. 2. 0. 19 (9) Kolarek. 2/3. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 9 (7) Weems. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 1. 27 (13)

WP: Trivino, Kolarek

Toronto used a total of five moundsmen, Ray, Romano, Phelps, Tyler Chatwood, and Ryan Borucki. Romano got the win. The loss, and concommitant blown save, went to Lou Trivino, who now is 1-1, 4:15.

Tomorrow afternoon’s game is scheduled for 12:37. Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2, 2.60) will start for the Jays and Mike Fiers (0-1, 4.50) will toe the rubber for the Athletics.

Irvin’s pitching and A’s four runs in second hold up 4-1 win over Jays

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Oakland A’s starter Cole Irvin throws against the Toronto Blue Jays line up at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 4, 2021 (@Athletics photo)

Toronto 1 – 3 – 0

Oakland 4 – 6- 0

By Lewis Rubman

May 4, 2021

OAKLAND–As the daytime weather begins to warm up (never mind the chilly nights), Bay Area baseball is beginning to seem real. So it might be a good time to take a glimpse, however cursory, at the standings, just to get an idea of what the A’s position is at the moment, no matter how fleeting that moment may be.

This morning, the Athletics, in spite of their recent stumbles in Baltimore and St. Petersburg, stood at the top of the AL West, two games ahead of Houston and Seattle, who were locked in a virtual tie for second. Oakland’s starting pitcher for tonight, lefty Cole Irvin, has been an important element in getting the team past its early season debacle (to which he also contributed) and achieving its current, very tentative, hold on the league lead. He entered the game with an over all mark of 2-3, 3.67, but had been 2-1, 1.56 over his last three appearances.

Anthony Kay, Irvin’s opposite number for Toronto, who entered the day trailing the Red Sox by two games in the AL East, brought an 0-1,10.80 record into the game. He features a four seam fast ball, change up, and curve. He’s been known to have thrown in an occasional slider or cutter just often enough to keep batters uncertain about his intentions.

Kay was the Mets’ first round draft pick in 2016. He sat out the 2016 and ‘17 seasons recovering from Tommy Johnson surgery, pitched in the minors in 2018 and ‘19 and was traded with Simeon Woods Richardson to Toronto in July of the latter year for Marcus Stroman and cash considerations. He made his major league debut a little less than two months later.

The clubs traded zeroes for an inning and a half, and then the A’s bats came alive. Sean Murphy beat out a broken bat roller to second to open the frame. Matt Chapman followed with a liner up the middle to put runners on first and second.

Jed Lowrie went to the opposite field and planted a two run double in the right field corner. His sojourn at second was a short one. Mitch Moreland ddrove a 94 mph four seamer that Kay offered on a 2-1 count 345 feet into the left field seats, his fourth round tripper of the season. Just like that, Oakland was up, 4-0. That was the only frame in which an Oakland A would cross the plate.

Kay stayed in the game through the end of the fourth without allowing another hit, although he did hit one batter and walk a couple more. All four of the runs he gave up were earned, and 41 of his 71 offerings were strikes. His total for hits allowed was four, and that was how many strikeouts he notched up.

His performance actually lowered his ERA to 9.82. He suffered the loss, his second in as many outings. Right hander Trent Thorton took his place on the rubber for the Jays and pitched effectively, striking out three and holding Oakland to one hit and a walk until Ty Tice relieved him with two out in the bottom of the seventh. He, too, closed the door on the A’s.

Marcus Semien put the visitors on the board with a 3-2 two out double with two down in the top of the sixth. His hard liner to the base of the left center field wall plated Santiago Espinal, whose single two batters earlier was only the second safety Toronto had managed to hit all evening.

102 pitches (71 strikes) over eight innings were enough to ensure Irvin’s third victory of the season, He yielded only one (earned) run on three hits and a walk. Yusmeiro Petit earned his first save since 2017 by retiring the top of the Blue Jays line up in order in the ninth.

Tomorrow, the A’s opponents’ starting pitcher will be, for the fifth straight game, a southpaw, when Robbie Ray (1-1, 2.78) takes the mound against Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.93) at 6:40. That will be followed by a 12:37 day game to close out the Toronto series before the pesky Tampa Bay Rays open a three game set at the Coliseum.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Laureano’s glove and bat helps out A’s; plus much more

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Oakland A’s center fielder Ramon Laureano reaches up with the glove hand and makes a snow cone catch up against the padded wall at the Oakland Coliseum of a batted ball hit by the Baltimore Orioles DJ Stewart in the top of the eighth inning on Sun May 2, 2021 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano saved the series with a spectacular catch and and a two run home run in Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.

#2 Freak injury reported when Oakland A’s pitcher Jesus Luzardo in his excitement hit his hand against a coffee table and fractured his pinkie his length of absence was not known.

#3 Amaury in basketball another strange injury the Golden State Warriors Juan Toscano-Anderson flew out of bounds to try and save an out of bounds basketball but flew over a scorers table while playing the Boston Celtics and suffered a head gash and concussion talk about going all out.

#4 Amaury, in football talk about how competitive it could be once the San Francisco 49ers training camp gets underway when starting Jimmy Garoppolo and back up quarterback Trey Lance start showing their skills to get ready for the season. Lance quarterbacked last year in college at North Dakota State without throwing an interception while Garoppolo was battling a season ending injury.

#5 In San Jose Sharks hockey back on March 2019 one year before the pandemic the Sharks had announced that they would stream all the rest of that season’s game on Tico Sports with play by play announcer Ambrosio Rico, the Sharks had been hosting Hispanic Heritage nights and had given out Los Tiburones jerseys during those nights. Fast forward 2021 whatever became of the Spanish broadcast idea for Sharks hockey and where did it go?

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

A’s edge Blue Jays 5-4; Laureano homers again; Jay’s Semien makes first appearance at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s left fielder and later second baseman Tony Kemp seen during batting practice at the Oakland Coliseum contributed with a run scored and a walk on Mon May 3, 2021 against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays (@Athletics photo)

Toronto 4 – 9 – 0

Oakland 5 – 9 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

May 3, 2021

OAKLAND–On Sunday, the A’s announced that they had put Jesús Luzardo on the Injured List for a fracture of the little finger on his pitching hand and recalled Adam Kolarek from their alternate site. Luzardo’s record was a disappointing 1-3, 5.79 over 28 innings, with 30 strikeouts and 12 walks. He had three no decisions, and opposing batters hit a shudder inducing .289 against him. How did the A’s promising and struggling youngster injure his hand? Apparently, he bumped his pinkie against the desk at which he was sitting while playing a video game before his last, disastrous outing.

Oakland also placed J.B. Wendelken on the IL. The cause was a strained left oblique muscle; they chose Jordan Weems to take his spot on the roster. Wendelken was leading the league in pitching appearances with 15 at the time of the move. Although he was 0-0, 4.38, with an and an opponents’ batting average of .283, his season’s statistics are misleading. Over his first 13 games, his ERA had been 2.61, and opposing batters had hit for only .220 against him, which makes it likely that his bloated numbers were the result of the injury.

Luzardo’s self-inflicted injury was unusual, but the A’s in recent years haven’t been strangers to injuries, including serious ones that have hurt the team. A quick glance at their Injured Lists over the last few years shows, among others, Khris Davis, who never recovered from running into a wall while playing left field in an interleague game; A.J. Puk, who, along with Luzardo, has for the past few years been seen as a future ace; Chad Pinder, a top notch utility man who still is recovering from a strained right knee; and Matt Chapman, who recently began to overcome the damage caused by a torn hip labrum and his attempts to play through the pain it caused him.

Not to mention Matt Olson, whose black eye didn’t put him on the IL, but did keep him out of action until his marvelous return yesterday, when he went three for five, including a double and a homer and bringing his OPS to 1.003.

Frankie Montás, who started for Oakland, has experienced the consequences of self-destructive, or at least careless, behavior. Last year, he spent June 21 through September 24 on the restricted list for violations of MLB’s drug protocol.

Luzardo is only 23 years old. He’s young. Montás is 28, still young but old enough to be entering his prime. His opponent on the mound for Toronto, Steve Matz, is just one year older and already is a seasoned, if not a particularly accomplished veteran.

He has a more responsible off field record than Luzardo or Montás, but that hasn’t prevented him from suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. A second round pick in the 2009 draft, he was unable to pitch the following two seasons, thanks to Tommy John surgery, and he’s been on the disabled or injured lists seven times with different types of arm trouble since the beginning of his professional career in 2012.. He pitched for the Mets from 2015 through the end of last season, during which time his ERA was below 4.00 only twice, 2.27 over 36-2/3 innings in ’15 and 3.97 during his 5-11 2018 season.

Last year he went 0-5, 9.68 in 30-2 /3 innings of arduous labor. The Mets thought enough of him in 2015 to have him start one game each of the NLDS, NLCS, and World Series in his rookie year. He performed well in two of the three starts (the Championship and World Series), but didn’t last more than five innings in any of them. He was the Mets’ choice for the Roberto Clemente Award three times, most recently last year. He came to the Jays this past January in exchange for three right handed pitchers, Yennsy Díaz, Sean Reid-Foley, and Josh Winckowski.

Tonight’s contest afforded us a chance to see the resurgent Matts try to put Matz to the mat (and vice versa). That is, with a little help from their friends.

Those friends of Matz included a couple of Bay Area favorites. Marcus Semien played … second base, and Joe Panik played … third. (The former A’s short stop received a warm ovation when he first came to the plate). Playing out of position, the two infielders are a microcosm of the Toronto team, which played its 2020 h0me games in Buffalo and this year will play them, at least through late this month, in their spring training facility in Dundin, FL.

It was Matt Chapman who first reached scoring position for either team. He took a 2-2 sinker from Matz in the bottom of the second frame and drove it on a line into the left field corner for a double. Moments later he scored on Jed Lowries’ double off the fence in right field, just to the right of the Southwest Airlines purple advertisement. Stephen Piscotty, up next, made it 3-0 with his third home run of the season, a 391 foot blast to left on an 85 mph change up.

The A’s advantage was short lived. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., led off the third with a single to left and was forced out at second on a ground ball by Danny Jensen that, if Lowrie hadn’t bobbled it, would have resulted in a double play. In short order, BoBiggio singled to left, moving Jansen up a base; Vlad Guerrero, Jr., singled to right, loading the bases because Jansen held up at third when Piscotty unleased a strong throw home; and Teoscar Hernández doubled to left, driving in Biggio and Bichette. Montás retired Randal Grichuk and his old teammate Semien to escape further damage.

Oakland almost took back the lead in the fourth. With Lowrie on first and one out, Piscotty hit a drive that landed at the base of the right field wall. Lowrie motored to third, but Piscotty was cut down at second on a beautiful throw by Biggio to Bichette. Then Elvis Andrus hit a nubber in front of the plate, and catcher Jansen’s throw to first hit him in the back. But home plate umpire Bill Miller ruled that Andrus had been running out of the lane and called him out to end the inning.

The Athletics were not to be denied in the fifth. Tony Kemp began it with a walk and advanced to second on Canha’s grounder to third. Then Laureano, like Piscotty before him, took a mid-80s change up deep, driving this one 432 feet to left center and putting Oakland up, 5-3.

That was the last inning that Matz would pitch. In his six innings of toil, he surrended five runs, all of them earned. He gave up seven hits, including four round trippers, and a walk as well as hitting one batter. He threw 92 pitches, 62 for strikes. His succesor in the sixth was Travis Bergen.

After Bergen had retired the A’s in the sixth, Sergio Romo relieved Montás, who, with three runs in six innings had achieved what is considered a quality start. Those three talllies, all earned, had come on seven hits and a walk. 62 of his 88 pitches were counted as strkes. His replacement, Sergio Ramos, set the Jays down. 1,2,3, with two strike outs.

Toronto used their third straight southpaw hurler when they brought Tim Mayza to face Matt Olson with Laureano on first and two down in the bottom of the seventh.

Lou Trivino was Bob Melvin’s choice to face the Blue Jays in the eighth. Guerrero greeted him rudely with a lead off double to right. One strike out later, Grichuk moved him to third on a broken bat single to right. Then, on a 2-2 count to Semien, Trivino uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Guerrero to score and Grichuk to get to second.

All of a sudden, it was a one run game with a dangerous batter at the plate and a runner in scoring position. But Trivino got Semien to swing and miss on a 96 mph four seam fast ball for the second out, and Panik flew out to center, which preserved the home team’s razor thin margin.

Jake Diekman was called on to continue preserving it in the ninth. He did, earning his third save in as many opportunities.

Montás was the winning pitcher. He’s now 3-2, 5.87. Matz was tagged with the loss. His record stands at 4-2, 4.78)

Tomorrow’s 6:40 game will feature Cole Irvin (2-3, 3.67) pitching for Oakland and Anthony Kay (0-1,10.80) on the mound for Toronto,

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: From big 13 game ride to 5 game out of 8 loss slide

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The Oakland A’s (17-11) Matt Chapman takes a run in this Feb 22, 2021 photo in Spring Training at Mesa AZ photo has improved his hitting from .152 and now has improved his hitting to .194 (AP News file photo)

#1 Barbara since the A’s snapped their amazing 13 game winning streak on Sun Apr 25 the team has lost five of their last seven games.

#2 The A’s just aren’t getting the hitting and they really need Matt Chapman’s bat right now his average has improved from hitting .152 now hitting .194.

#3 The A’s certainly are glad their series with the Baltimore is over the Orioles who ended the A’s 13 game winning streak have lost three of their last six games with the Orioles.

#4 On Saturday the A’s pitching struggled Jesus Luzardo is trying get on track he got shelled for five runs in three innings of work and they really need Luzardo to get some wins.

#5 The Toronto Blue Jays (14-12) second place in the American League East and have won six of their last ten games. The A’s and Jays will meet for a four game series starting Monday night. Starting pitcher for the Jays and A’s have not been announced.

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

Ramon To The Rescue: Laureano takes control late, A’s rally to beat the Orioles, 7-5

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The second Ramon Laureano fist pump came about six minutes after the first. And in Oakland A’s parlance, that’s the definition of winning time as the centerfielder hand-delivered a 7-5 win over the Orioles at the Coliseum.

Laureano’s first act was a leaping catch of D.J. Stewart’s drive to the centerfield wall that would have broken a 5-5 tie and given the Orioles an eighth-inning lead. Instead, Stewart stood motionless at the plate staring at Laureano with the ball snow-coned in his glove. The great catch picked up reliever Yusmeiro Petit–who responded with a fist pump of his own–and left Ryan Mountcastle stranded at second base.

Then with two outs in the bottom of the inning, and Mark Canha on board with a single, Laureano delivered a go-ahead two-run homer off Travis Lakins, who hadn’t allowed a run and only two hits in his previous nine appearances this season.

“He’s unbelievable out there in center,” starting pitcher Sean Manaea said of Laureano. “Each time it just impresses you a little bit more than it already has, which is insane because the bar is already crazy high. It’s awesome.”

“That’s just taking over a game,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s taking away two and giving you two. That’s pretty dramatic stuff.”

The win eased the frustration of dropping three straight to Baltimore and kept the A’s ahead of the pack in the AL West, a game in front of the Mariners, and a game-and-a-half ahead of the Astros.

The A’s came in a week removed from their 13-game win streak, a stark reminder in itself that the team had won just three of 15 outside the streak, including eight losses at home. Getting swept by the Orioles, along with producing baseball’s most bizarre story of the weekend–Jesus Luzardo breaking his finger while playing video games–wasn’t the team’s preference for sure.

But the improving O’s gave the A’s all they could handle, tying the game, 2-2 in the third, 4-4 in the fifth, then briefly leading 5-4 in the seventh.

It was at that point the A’s took control and the Orioles’ two bullpen standouts–Lakins and Paul Fry–uncharacteristically allowed runs to score. That Laureano was in the middle of it all wasn’t a surprise, the defensive standout has developed a reputation for lifting his team in high-leverage situations.

The A’s welcome back Marcus Semien on Monday, as the Blue Jays arrive for a four-game set with Frankie Montas and Steven Matz battling in the opener.

A’s drop four out of last five games; Lose to O’s 8-4

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The Baltimore Orioles line up for the hive five post game congratulations following their win over the Oakland A’s Sat May 1, 2021 game at the Oakland Coliseum (photo from USA Today)

Baltimore 8 -10 – 0

Oakland 4 – 8. – 2

By Lewis Rubman

May 1, 2021

OAKLAND–The A’s started the season by losing seven straight games. They followed their first win by losing one more game and then going another 13 without a single defeat, giving them a record of 14-8. They ended the month at 16-11, a winning percentage of .593.

This represents an almost exact regression to the norm, since their totals for the last three seasons, including the truncated 2020 campaign, were 230-157, which comes to .594. So it would be reasonable to anticipate that we’ll see a season of ups and downs like those of the month we’ve just endured, although the swings might not be as dramatic as what we’ve seen so far. In other words, fasten your seat belts, folks, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

In this afternoon’s contest, Oakland didn’t have to contend with an opponent on the mound as intimidating as John Means, who almost completely mastered them last night. Instead they faced the veteran right hander Matt Harvey, making the 150th start of a big league career that has had its ups and downs. Recently, it’s taken a modest upturn.

His penultimate start resulted in his first win since July 13, 2019, when he still toiled for the LA Angels. His most recent start, one earned run in six innings against the Yankees, was, as the Orioles’ game notes point out, his first quality start since April 28, 2019 and marked the first time since July 13, 2018 that he’d notched consecutive wins.

Oakland countered with Jesús Luzardo, who, at 1-2, 5.40, has been tantalizing A’s fans with occasional displays of his undoubted, but inconsistently displayed, talent.

Both pitchers got through their first two frames with little difficulty. Then disaster struck the home town crew.

The top of the third was a travesty. The Orioles did a little bit to help their cause, but most of their runs were gifts from the A’s. Here’s a brief summary of the action:

D.J. Steward hit a bouncing ball wide of first that bounced off Seth Brown’s glove for an error.

Ramón Urías’s single sent Stewart to third.

Luzardo walked Cedric Mullins to load the bases with nobody out.

Austin Hayes singled to left, plating Steward and Urías. Hays advanced to second on the hit and to third on Matt Chapman’s (of all people!) errant relay throw to third.

Trey Mancini got a Texas League single that Elvis Andrus couldn’t catch up with in short left field, driving in Hays.

Maikel Franco singled to left, moving Mancini up a base.

Mancini and Franco moved up another notch on a wild pitch.

Pedro Severino fouled out to the catcher, Aramis García.

Mancini scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s sac fly to right. Franco moved on to third.

Franco scoredon another wild pitch.

Finally, Freddy Galvis flew out to center.

That was all Luzardo would pitch. The line for his three inning stint was six runs, evenly divided between earned and unearned, on five hits, two walks, and two wild pitches. He struck out two, and, of the 64 pitches he threw, 34 were strikes. He eventually was charged with the loss, his third against a lone win,. His ERA now stands at 5.79.

Luzardo was replaced by Deolis Guerra, who pitched two innings, allowing nothing but one walk before J.B. Windelken took his place to pitch the sixth.

Windelken wasn’t as effective as his predecesor. J.B. allowed a single to Freddy Galvis, after which D.J. Stewart deposited an 84 mph change up over the right field fence, 341 feet from home plate.

Down 8-0 with two out in the sixth, Oakland made a comeback of sorts, led by the two players who had committed costly errors in the fatidic third. Chapman singled to right and scored on Brown’s double to the same field, After Cole Sulser relived Harvey, Tony Kemp brought Brown home with the A’s second tally.

Harvey’s line ended up at two runs, both earned, on four hits and a walk in 5-2/3 innings of work. He delivered 90 pitches, 54 for strikes. He ended up getting the win, making him 3-1, 4.06 for the season.

Mark Canha continued the comeback, leading off the home seventh with his fourth home run of the season, this one off a 92 mph four seamer that he drove into the left field seats, just to the right of the foul pole. After Sulser walked Jeff Lowrie and struck out Laureano for the first out, the southpaw Tanner Scott was brought in to face Oakland’s DH, fellow lefty Mitch Moreland. Scott got both Moreland and Chapman out to preserve Baltimore’s 8-3 lead. Sulser’s 2/3 of an inning, in which he gave up a walk, a hit, and a run on 21 pitches, still left him with an enviable ERA of 1.08.

Oakland used two other relievers. Reymin Guduan and Sergio Romo threw a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, with Romo retiring the side in order. Guduan required a pitcher’s best friend after giving up a lead off single.

Laureano gave the A’s a last hurrah by blasting a 420 foot two out homer to left center in the bottom of the ninth, Too little, too late, but nice any way, and it made the final score look almost respectable.

The A’s will try to salvage a win out of this series when they send Sean Manaea (3-1, 2.83) against the Orioles and Bruce Zimmermann (1-3, 5.33) in a 1:07 battle of left handers.

Not enough offense in late innings does in A’s edged by O’s 3-2

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The Oakland A’s starter Mike Fiers lasted six innings giving up all three Baltimore Orioles runs at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Apr 30, 2021 (@athleticsnation photo)

Baltimore 3 – 8 – 0

Oakland 2 – 5 – 0

By Lewis Rubman

Apr 30, 2021 Friday

OAKLAND–The 16-10 A’s escaped from the House of Horrors-a half an hour’s stroll from that celebration of surrealism, the Salvador Dalí Museum, in St. Petersburg-with a split in their hard fought four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, né Devil Rays.

To achieve this, they had to overcome Tampa Bay’s outstanding starting rotation and none too shabby bulllpen, their own mistakes, and the inexplicable calls of umpires Chad Fairchild and Brian Gorman, not to mention the abrasive imitatation grass that complements the overhead maze of rings and catwalks that make trying to catch fly balls at Tropicana field not just difficult but hazzardous, the incarnation of Dalí’s worst nightmares.

For al ofl that, Oakland went 4-3 on their working tour of the Chesapeake and Tampa Bays, returning to the shores of San Francisco Bay with a lead of two and a half games over the surprising Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West.

It wasn’t any of the obvious menaces of the Trop’s architecture that inflicted the worst physical damage suffered by the Athletics in St. Pete. Hidden in the bowels of that excreciable edifice are batting cages. Before the final game of the series, Matt Olson, practicing the swing that had improved his offense to a team-leading BA of .296 and home run total of six, slammed a ball off the side of one of those cages.

The spheroid bounced back and hit him in the left eye. No bones were broken, but the A’s slick fielding slugger, who also is tied with Jed Lowrie for the team lead in RBI at 17, will be out of action for a while. Mitch Moreland started at first base in Olson’s stead tonight. Lowrie filled the DH spot for Moreland, and Tony Kemp took Lowrie’s usual place at second.

While the team was in Florida, the A’s announced Mike Fiers’ return to the active roster and, at least for the time being, the rotation. The mainstay of the Athletics’ starting mound core since he joined the team in 2018 toed the rubber to open tonight’s contest against the Orioles, the only team besides the Rays to have defeated the green and gold since April 8.

Starting for Baltimore was their ace, John Means, making his first appearance since he held the A’s to one run over 6-1/3 innings last Sunday in the game that snapped Oakland’s 13 game winning streak. That gave him a record of 2-0, 1.50 for the young season.

It wasn’t long before the A’s got another run off him. Sean Murphy, whose heroics behind and at the plate were instrumenetal in gaining the split in St. Petersburg, led off the home second with a wallop that landed in the right field seats, a few feet to the left of the foul line. That was home run number four and RBI number nine for the Oakland catcher.

Cedric Mullins got that back in the top of the third with a two out fly that also fell into the rilght field stands a few feet to the left of the foul pole for his fourth round tripper of the season. Austin Hays followed them with his third, a no doubter that landed between the left field foul line and the stairway over the Ring Central sign. The Birds tacked on another run.

In the fifth after number eight batter Chance Sisco’s lead off single to right was followed by Ramón Urías’s double to left. The top of the Baltimore batting order was able to push only Sisco home, on a grounder to second by Mullins, giving him his second RBI of the night.

Baltimore threatened to take command of the game with a lead off walk to D.J. Stewart, followed by a single to Ryan Montcastle. But the pitcher’s best friend came to Fiers’ aid when Río Ruíz hit a grounder up the middle that was fielded by Andrus in the shift and converted into a U6-3 DP. Pat Valaika ended the frame by flying out to Piscotty in short right field.

Means, all the while, was mowing down Oakland’s batters. Following Murphy’s homer, none of them reached base until Laureano dropped a single into center with two down in the sixth. He was stranded at first when Lowrie grounded out to second.

Six innings were enough work for Fiers. He threw 83 pitches (54 strikes), surrended six hits, two of which left the park, and two walks. He struck out three, and all three of his runs were earned. Deolis Guerra, who had pitched poorly in Baltimore but well in Tampa Bay, took over in the seventh and retired the side in order, striking out two in the process.

It was in the seventh that MItch Moreland broke the spell. With two outs and the bases empty (natch!), he blasted a 92 mph four seamer 406 feet over the fence, slighty to the right of dead center field.

Sergio Romo, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth, kept it a 3-2 game, although Laureano had to race to the warning track to capture Stewart’s drive that followed strike outs to Hays and Mancini.

Means didn’t come out for the eighth, having thrown 93 pitches, of which 63 were strikes. He gave up only two runs, both earned, three hits, two of which were round trippers, and a walk. He struck out nine. HIs replacement, Paul Fry, started off well, getting Andrus out with a bounder back to the mound, but then he walked Kemp, who stole second and then, one pitch later, advanced to third on a passed ball.

Fry struck Canha out, perhaps because the A’s left fielder had taken a strike to allow Kemp to swipe second. In any case, Fry was yanked, replaced by Travis Lakins, Sr., who walked Laureano but got Lowrie out on a fly to medium deep center. The score remained 3-2.

The top of the ninth provided a combination that brought a smile to the faces of the face-masked name freaks in the press box (or at least to one of us). Yusmeiro Petit was brought in to pitch, and calling the balls and strikes behind the plate was umpire Will Little.

It also provided an exciting example of Ramón Laureano’s extraordinary arm. Ryan Mounetcastle reached first on a broken bat Texas League single to right center. After Ruíz flew out to left, Pat Valaika laced a single to right. Mountcasttle tried to advance to third, and Laureano cut him down with a perfect strike to Chapman.

Murphy greeted César Valdéz, who came in to close the game in the bottom of the ninth, with a single to left. Vimael Machín came in to run for him and advanced to second on Chapman’s single to right. This brought Moreland, whose homer in his previous at bat had pulled the A’s to within a run, to the plate with the tying run in scoring position and the potential winning run on first with none out.

Moreland smacked a vicious line drive that was speared at third by Ruíz, who rifled a throw to shortstop Urías, covering second in the shift. Umpire Junior Valentine called Machín out for a rallly-killing double play. But a replay showed that the A’s pinch runner had gotten back in time, and so Oakland’s hopes remained alive. Seth Brown pinch hit for PIscotty and flew out to Mullins in right center, allowing Machín to move up to third. Valdéz and Andrus went to 3-2 before the A’s hopes died in Mullins glove in center field.

The win went to Means, who now is 3-0, 1.70. The loss was charged to Fiers, who stands and 0-1, 4.50. Valdéz got the save, his sixth out of seven opportunities.

The two teams will face off tomorrow afternoon at 1:07. The Birds will send right hander Matt Harvey (1-2,4.26) to the mound while the White Elephants will entrust their fate to lefty Jesús Luzardo (1-2, 5.40).