Tag: Oakland A’s

Pillar and Vogt come up huge in eighth to give Giants 10-5 win

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photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Stephen Vogt, right, celebrates with Buster Posey (28) after hitting a three-run home run off Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Buchter during the eighth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — Kevin Pillar was a new addition to the San Francisco Giants earlier this season, and time and time, he comes with the biggest hit of the game.

Well, Pillar did it again, as he lashed a two-run double down the right field line in the top of the eighth inning, helping the Giants to a 10-5 victory over the Oakland As before a crowd of 53,367 at the Coliseum.

Stephen Vogt returned to the Coliseum, and put the game out of reach, as he smashed a three-run home run over the out-of-town scoreboard in left field.

In all, in that eighth inning, the Giants scored eight runs, sent 11 batters to the plate off of five different As relievers.

This was the first time that the Giants scored eight runs or more in an inning came on August 28, 2016 against the Atlanta Braves at what was then called AT&T Park, and it was the first time since August 17 ,2012 against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park that they did it on the road.

The win by the Giants, stopped their four-game losing streak and they are 4-4 on their current nine-game road trip that ends on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the As saw their modest three-game winning streak come to a crashing halt at the hands of their Bay Area rivals.

Things did not start out well, as Mark Canha led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run into the left field bleachers to give the As a 1-0 lead.

Matt Chapman gave the As a 2-0 cushion in the bottom of the third inning, as his double went off the left field wall to score Jurickson Profar, who walked to lead off the inning. Following the Profar walk, Phegley singled and Semien flew out for the first out of the inning, then Chapman put the As on top with the double.

Chris Bassitt pitched a great game, as he went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on scattering four hits, walking no one and striking out five.

His counterpart on the mound, Madison Bumgarner went five innings, allowing two runs, while giving up four hits, walking one and striking out five.

Both Bassitt and Bumgarner did not factor into the decision in the game.

Brandon Crawford got the Giants on the board in the top of the fifth, as his laser to left field cleared the wall for his 10th home run of the season.

Evan Longoria tied up the game in the game in the top of the sixth inning, as he singled to left field that scored Alex Dickerson from second base. Dickerson doubled to left field to setup the Longoria at-bat.

Overall, since June 30, Longoria is hitting .347 (34-for-98) with 21 runs scored, nine home runs and 27 runs batted in.

Longoria went 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch and a RBI on the night.

The game was not tied for long, as Marcus Semien singled to left field off of Jandel Gustave that gave the As 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Jurickson Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for the time being.

Profar doubled to lead off the inning against Gustave, then advanced an additional 90 feet when Josh Phegley dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt and then Semien came through his second hit of the night that gave the As the lead for good.

Matt Olson gave the As a two-run lead, as he smoked a single to right field that scored Semien with what looked like the decisive fourth run; however, that eight-run inning put an end to that.

Profar reached base again in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he walked with two outs and then Phegley doubled in Profar. Reyes Moronta came on to face Semien, but he was unable to get that final out and Semien walked; however, Moronta was able to get Chapman to pop up to Longoria to end the inning.

Shaun Anderson came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, and gave up a walk to Chad Pinder; however, he was able to Khris Davis to ground into a double play.

Despite the fact that it was a save situation, Will Smith came into the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the first game pitched for Smith since August 16 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

NOTES: Pablo Sandoval was evaluated by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday, and he recommends that Sandoval UCL (Tommy John) reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. Sandoval will have the operation during the first week of September.

Anderson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list, as his rehab stint in Sacramento came to a close. To make room for Anderson on the roster, Andrew Suarez was optioned to Sacramento.

Both the Giants wore their players weekend jersey, as the Giants wore all black jerseys and the As wore all white jerseys and caps. Bassitt wore a black cap on the mound instead of the white caps like the rest of his teammates.

UP NEXT: Logan Webb makes his second career start on Sunday afternoon for the Giants, while veteran Brett Anderson will take the mound for the As.

State of the A’s

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By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND — After winning three out of four games against the AL West-leading Astros and sweeping a three game series against the AL East-leading Yankees, the A’s still trail Houston by seven games. The Astros seem pretty much of a lock for the division title, having a magic number of 28 with 33 games left to play. Oakland, meanwhile, has 35 games to go, including the suspended contest of May 19, in which they were leading Detroit 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. That game will be resumed on September 6 as a prelude to the full game the two teams will play at the Coliseum. That means that if Houston were play .500 ball for the rest of the season, the A’s would have to go 25-10 to tie them at the season’s end. 25-10 is a winning percentage of .714, the mark of the 1927 Murderers’ Row Yankees. That’s why Fangraphs’ granting the A’s only a 0.8% chance of winning the division makes a lot of sense.

But the huge disparities like this between the numbers one and two teams in a division is one of the reasons the wild card system was devised. The A’s outlook is a lot brighter there. Fangraphs give them a 59.3% chance of a wild card birth and a 60.1% making it to the ALDS. And (dare we even think about it?) Fangraphs’ calculations put the A’s chances of winning the World Series at 1.8%, with 10 teams ahead of them on the list.

So let’s take a look at the A’s opponents in their remaining regular season games, concentrating on what seem to be the toughest ones.

Tomorrow and Sunday, the A’s wind up the Bay Bridge Series with two afternoon games against San Francisco at the Coliseum. The Giants may have peaked on August 17, when their 11-6 win over Arizona put them first in the NL West wild card chase with a record of 63-61. Since then, they’ve lost four straight games and trail St. Louis by six games for a wild card berth. That doesn’t make them look like candidates for the toughest foes group, but it would be unwise to underestimate the power of an intense rivalry like the one between the two local teams.

San Francisco will pit two contrasting starters against the A’s. The left handed face of the franchise, veteran Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.72) will take the mound on Saturday, followed on Sunday by Logan Webb, the right-hander who won the August 17 game in his first and only major league appearance, when he held the Diamondbacks to one earned run in five innings. The A’s will go with Chris Bassit, who recently has been dealing a hot hand, and Brett Anderson, respectively.

Anderson has been reliably strong in the early innings but has tended to weaken notably in the middle frames. I suspect that he could best be used in stretch drive as an opener, but not if he’s used the way most openers are, throwing an inning or two, but for one or two times through the batting order, to be followed by a middle inning reliever. The name of A.J. Puk, who was electric but wild in his big league debut against the Yankees on Wednesday, comes to mind. So does that of good old reliable Yasmeiro Petit.

Ramón Laureano has been progressing in his recovery from the right shin stress reaction that has kept him on the IL since July 31, and there is talk that he could see action this week end, when the A’s California League affiliate Stockton Ports play against the San José Giants. If all goes well, Laureano could be with the A’s soon after their series with San José’s parent team has ended. This could alleviate the difficulties the A’s are experiencing from Khris Davis’ painfully slow return to the form he was displaying before his injury playing left field in Pittsburgh back on May 5. That relief would be obtained by freeing up Chad Pinder, Mark Canha, or a combination of the two for DH duty. Laureano also is a possible designated hitter, especially if Bomel wants to rest the youngster’s legs.

The A’s will fly to Kansas City following Sunday’s tilt against the Giants for a four-game set against the Royals before heading further east for three games against the Yankees, starting on August 30. Don’t bet on a repeat of this week’s sweep.

It’s too soon to know who the Bombers will send to the mound, but if everybody pitches on turn, it would be the same trio that opened the three games in Oakland, Domingo Germán, J.A. Happ, and Masahiro Tanaka. The strongest of that group would seem to be Germán. But, for all of his league leading sixteen wins, his ERA is a pretty non-intimidating 4.15 ERA. The ERA of the 5-5 Happ sits at 5.58, and the once formidable and still difficult Tanaka has the mediocre record of 9-7, 4.58 ERA. Assuming that the A’s rotation also will remain unaltered, Anderson, Bailey, and Fiers would be pitching for the Green and Gold. I’ve already mentioned my reservations about Anderson and how they might be resolved. Bailey’s ERA since coming to Oakland is one-tenth of a run higher than Happ’s season record, but if you discount his disastrous two-inning stint against the Astros on July 22, it comes out as a 3.75 ERA. Fiers probably is the ace of the A’s mound corps.

The A’s have a day off for travel after the Yankee series before returning to the Coliseum to face the Angels and Tigers, then it’s on to Houston.

Oakland will have gone to New York with a 3-0 record against the Yankees. That’s too small a sample to have much predictive value, but it’s nice to know. The same can’t be said about the team’s record against the Astros as they go into the four-game series that starts in Space City on September 9. In spite of Oakland’s triumphs at home last week, their hosts for the the upcoming series hold a 10-5 advantage over the course of the season. The bright side is that the A’s have won four of the six games they’ve played against the Astros since the 11-1 drubbing they received in the fatidic fray of July 22, the day that bulked up Bailey’s ERA.

While it was reasonable to anticipate the pitching matchups of the Stadium series, September 9 is too far down the road to make an informed guess at who will be pitching against whom in Houston. It’s possible that the Astros will have sewn up the division championship by then and that their principal aims will be staying in shape, avoiding injuries, and gaining home field advantage for the post season. That last is a not unimportant goal, especially considering the quirky contours of Minute Maid Park. Similarly, the A’s position vis-à-vis the other wild card contenders, not to mention the health of Jesús Luzardo, will exert a heavy influence on Oakland’s mound choices. With all these unknowns and more, it would be unwise to try to forecast the outcome of the four-game set in Houston, but it would be downright foolhearty to expect anything better for the A’s than a split.

I’ve haven’t talked in this column about games the A’s are scheduled to play against the Royals, Angels, Rangers, or Mariners. Although all of these teams are out of contention, none should be taken for granted. Indeed, the cliché about any given team on any given day is a cliché precisely true. Besides, also fans relish the role of spoilers. Still, taking into account the possibility of a surprise is a corrective for overconfidence, but it’s not particularly helpful in making even tentative predictions.

I’ve alluded to, but not discussed, what the A’s major competition for the wild card will be doing in the rest of the season. It’s tough enough to gauge the A’s hopes based on what they can control; it’s fruitless to speculate at this point about games of which they’re nothing but scoreboard watchers. Nonetheless, based on the team’s performance so far this season, and especially in the last week, I’d say that there’s reason for guarded optimism about seeing October baseball in the Coliseum.

How’s that for going out on a limb?

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Could the A’s Win Their Fifth World Series?

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By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

This Saturday, the Oakland Athletics will conclude their crucial nine-game homestand hosting the San Francisco Giants for the last two games this year against their Bay Area rivals. The A’s won three of four against the Astros and swept the Yankees in three games. Those are the best two teams in the American League this season. So, with the thought in mind, could the A’s shock the baseball world and win the World Series?

Beginning tomorrow against the Giants, the A’s have 35 games left this season — 15 at home and 20 on the road.

Included in those 15 at the Coliseum, they still have to play a game suspended in May while at Comerica Park in Detroit, which began at the bottom of the seventh inning with the A’s ahead 5-3. It will be resumed when the Tigers visits Oakland on September 6, prior to that night’s scheduled game at 7:07 p.m.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The A’s have to play these teams during the remaining of their schedule:

The Good
Yankees and Astros

The Bad
Giants, Angels and Rangers

The Ugly
Tigers, Royals and Mariners

The beauty of this game is that at any given moment a last place team at anytime at the end of the season can beat a good team like the A’s. Some of these teams with no chance are like the house party with one guy you invited that spoils the whole thing. Therefore, do not trash Detroit, Kansas City or Seattle, but keep in mind those three teams combined are on their way to losing more than 250 games.

The wild card situation looks good for the A’s, and as of now, Tampa Bay and Cleveland are the competitors. The A’s are a good bet to make it as a wild card, but after that, all bets are off. Last year, the A’s won 97 games and lost the whole season in 3.25 hours on October 3 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. There is a chance if they win the wild card game this October, they will have to play the Yanks again, but in the best of five divisional series. The way they have played the Yanks would not be bad, but there is one exception: Playoff baseball is a total different animal that regular season.

The A’s last World Series title was 30 years ago. That was one of the best A’s teams ever during a stretch of three consecutive trips to the October Classic. One of my favorite quotes about the World Series comes from Bay Area native Dennis Eckersley after the A’s defeated the Giants in 1989.

“But more important than personal awards is winning the World Series. That’s the max that anyone could ask for. Let alone to have the ball in your in your glove for the final out of the World Series. That was the ultimate.” — Dennis Eckersley

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants get swept by Cubs, head to Oakland for two-game weekend series

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On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The Giants were swept in three games in Chicago two of them were loses by just one run. Do you view the Giants as a formidable opponent in their wild card chances seeing how they played against a competitive team like the Cubs? Dropping 14 of their last 17 games at Wrigley.

#2 Thursday’s game at Wrigley proved to be one for the books. Despite the loss, the Giants and Cubs played to a 1-0 final and former Cub starter Jeff Samardjiza went seven innings with two hits and one run.

#3 For Samardjiza, was this an advantage pitching in a park where he played part of career and that he was familiar with?

#4 The Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks got the call as the starter and didn’t disappoint going seven innings pitching a three hit shutout. He had good movement on his pitches on Thursday.

#5 The Giants have a rare Friday off before playing at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Going for the Giants, Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.72 ERA), and for the A’s, Chris Bassitt (9-5, 3.61 ERA).

Michael does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s beat Yankees 5-3, earn three-game sweep

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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s beat the New York Yankees Thursday night 5-3 to sweep the three-game series. The A’s have now won seven of the last nine games. They took three out of four from the Astros and split the two-game series in San Francisco with the Giants.

A’s starter Tanner Roark won his eighth game of the year. Roark is now 2-1 with the A’s since coming here at the trade deadline. He went 6 1/3 innings allowing two runs and seven hits. Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka took the loss. Tanaka’s record drops to 9-7. His line was six innings pitched, eight hits, and five runs.

The A’s put three on the board in the bottom of the first. Marcus Semien led off with a double to right to start the rally. Tanaka walked Robbie Grossman and Matt Chapman to load the bases with no out. A’s first baseman Matt Olson reached on a fielder’s choice. Semien scored on the play, and Grossman advanced to third. Olson went to second on a wild pitch. Mark Canha singled to drive in Grossman and Olson to give the A’s a 3-0 lead.

Robbie Grossman led off the third with a triple to left field. He scored on Matt Chapman’s single. Chapman went to second on Matt Olson’s single. Canha reached on a fielder’s choice. Chapman went to third. Olson was out at second. Stephen Piscotty reached on a fielder’s choice. Chapman scored to give the A’s a 5-0 lead.

The Yankees scored their first run of the game in the fifth. With one out, Gleyber Torres doubled. He scored on Mike Tauchman’s single. Roark retired the next two hitters. The A’s lead 5-1 midway through the fifth.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Yankees’ second baseman Gleyber Torres hit a 400-foot home run over the wall in left center field. It was Torres’ 30th of the year. A’s manager Bob Melvin removed Roark from the game. Jake Diekman was the new A’s pitcher, and he retired both hitters he faced to end the inning. The A’s led 5-2 halfway through the seventh.

The Yankees got their third run of the game in the top of the ninth. Joakim Soria was in to close out the game for Oakland. He retired the first two hitters. The next hitter, Gleyber Torres, blasted his second home run of the night to make it 5-3. It was Torres’ 31st homer of the year. Soria struck out Mike Tauchman to end the game. The A’s swept the Yankees.

Game Notes: The A’s used four pitchers to subdue the Yankees. Jake Diekman, Lou Trivino, and Joakim Soria followed Roark to the mound Thursday night. In four starts with the A’s Roark has struck out 7+ hitters twice, He threw a wild pitch in the second inning. It was his first wild pitch in 129.0 innings. The last one occurred on July 3rd, 2018, against Boston.

The A’s won their fourth game of the year in which they did not hit a home run. Mark Canha led the A’s offense with two hits and two runs batted in.  Canha extended his hitting streak to seven games. He is hitting .354 (23-for-65) with two home runs, 12 RBI, and eight walks in 17 games in August.  He is hitting .429 (12-for-28) during his hitting streak and .458 (11-for-24) this homestand. Robbie Grossman also had two hits for Oakland.

The Yankees’ attack was led by Gleyber Torres. Torres had four hits. He had a single, double, and two home runs. The A’s held the other Yankee hitters under control.

The A’s improve to 74-53. They are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the first Wild Card. The Indians lost again to the New York Mets, and they trail both teams by 1/2 game.

Time of game was two hours and 51 minutes. 24,750 fans were on hand to watch the A’s complete the sweep.

Up Next: The A’s are off on Friday. They host the San Francisco Giants on Saturday and Sunday. Chris Bassitt (9-5, 3.61 ERA) will pitch for Oakland. The Giants will send Madison Bumgarner (8-8, 3.72 ERA) to the hill. Bumgarner beat the A’s last week in San Francisco.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s go for it tonight as there’s a chance to sweep Yanks at Coliseum

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On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 With the Oakland Raiders playing just one preseason game in the Oakland Coliseum surface, the outfield always gets scuffed up. How much of a role does that play in the A’s injuries?

#2 The A’s have three players that were out due to injuries that are back in the lineup: First baseman Matt Olson (hand), DH Khris Davis (oblique), right fielder Stephen Piscotty (knee), and center-fielder Ramon Laureano (shin). Laureano was not in the lineup on Wednesday night against the New York Yankees.

#3 The A’s starting pitcher from Wednesday night Mike Fiers has one of the best records in the American League and pitched against the Yankees. Tell us about how Fiers does it all season long.

#4 We’ve talked about Chad Pinder has just about done it all covering for open positions and has pulled it off. Talk about how valuable Pinder has been for Oakland.

#5 The starters for Thursday for the Yankees Masahiro Tanaka (9-6, 4.56 ERA) for the Oakland A’s Tanner Roark (7-8, 4.01 ERA) to conclude the series in Oakland.

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

A’s win a thriller vs. Yankees 6-4

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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s won a thriller Wednesday night as they beat the New York Yankees for the second night in a row by a score of 6-4.

The Yankees, with a lineup of power hitters, made a run late in the game. The A’s have power hitters, too and Khris Davis, Marcus Semien, and Stephen Piscotty all went deep. The A’s bullpen met the challenge as they did the job and recorded the win for the A’s.

Mike Fiers started for Oakland, Fiers went 5 1/3 innings and allowed six hits and two runs. He was credited with the win, and he is now 12-3 for the year. The Yankees left, J.A. Happ, took the loss and he is now 10-8.

The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Yanks shortstop Didi Gregorius led off with a double. Fiers retired Gleyber Torres for the first out. Mike Tauchman, player center-field for the Yanks, singled to drive in Gregorius. Fiers retired the next two hitters to end the threat. The A’s, as they did Tuesday night, scored twice in their half of the second. Stephen Piscotty led off with a single. A’s DH Khris Davis, who has been mired in a horrible slump, hit his 18th of the year over the fence in right field to give the A’s a 2-1 advantage.

The A’s put two more on the board in the third. Josh Phegley walked to start the inning. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien blasted his 22nd home run of the year to put the A’s up 4-1 after three complete.

The A’s sent Happ to the showers in the fifth. Jurickson Profar led off with a double. Happ hit Phegley with a pitch to put two men on with no out. Happ walked Semien to load the bases. Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone decided to make a pitching change. He brought in righty Chad Green to pitch. Green got Matt Chapman and Matt Olson to foul out. Mark Canha reached on an infield single to drive in Profar with the fifth run of the game for Oakland. Green retired Chad Pinder on a ground out to short.

The Yankees added a run in the sixth. Fiers struck out the first hitter, Gary Sanchez. The next three hitters Gio Urshela, Didi Gregorius, and Gleyber Torres all singled to load the bases. A’s manager Bob Melvin went to his bullpen and brought in lefty Jake Diekman to face the left-handed hitter Mike Tauchman. Diekman got Tauchman to fly out to left. Urshela scored on the play. Melvin removed Diekman, and Yusmeiro Petit was brought in to face Cameron Maybin. Petit struck out Maybin for the final out. The A’s upped the lead to four in their half of the sixth. Stephen Piscotty led off with an opposite field solo homer that barely made it over the wall in right field. It was Piscotty’s 13 th big fly of the season. The A’s lead 6-2 after six.

Yankees DH Mike Ford led off the seventh with his 5th round-tripper of the year to make it 6-3. The Yanks plated another run to make it 6-4. With two out, Gary Sanchez singled. He went to third on Urshela’s single to right. Didi Gregorius doubled to drive in Sanchez. Blake Treinen was able to get Gleyber Torres to ground out for the final out.

The Yankees threatened in the top of the eighth. Bob Melvin brought in rookie A.J.Puk to make his major league debut. Puk, who can hit 100 miles per hour on the speed gun, walked Mike Tauchman to start the inning. Jurickson Profar made a sensational catch on a bloop hit off Cameron Maybin’s bat for the first out. Puk, facing lefty Mike Ford, gave up a single. Tauchman went to third when right fielder Chad Pinder misplayed the ball. Melvin brought in his closer Liam Hendriks to get the A’s out of the jam. Hendriks did his job as he struck out DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge to end the threat. Hendriks retired the Yankees in order in the ninth to preserve the win for Oakland. The A’s won 6-4.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s improve to 73-53. They remain tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. They did, however, pick up a game on the Cleveland Indians in the race for the first Wild Card.  The Indians lost to the New York Mets for the second night in a row. The Rays and A’s are both just 1/2 game behind the Indians.

The A’s A.J. Puk made his Major League debut in the eighth inning. The fans gave him a tremendous ovation as he entered from the bullpen. Puk went 1/3 of an inning and gave up a walk and a hit.

A’s manager Bob Melvin hit a new milestone in his managerial career. With the win. Melvin recorded his 1200th win as a big league manager. Quite an achievement.

Liam Hendriks was credited with his 15th save of the year. Hendriks retired all five hitters he faced.

The A’s line score was six, runs, six hits and one error. The A’s left three on base.

The Yankees’ line was four runs, 11 hits and no errors. 10 men were stranded on base.

Time of game was three hours and two minutes. Most of the 22,017 people in the stands were A’s fans who went home happy. Meanwhile, the Yankee fans went home wondering what hit them.

Up Next: Game three of the series will be played Thursday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s will have Tann Roark doing the pitching. Roark is 7-8 with an ERA of 4.01. He will be opposed by the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka is 9-6, and his ERA is 4.56. Game time will be at 6:07 pm.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Major traffic worries clog Warriors’ new SF arena in Dogpatch neighborhood

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On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:

#1 San Francisco Mayor London Breed said with a lot of events scheduled at Chase Center in San Francisco, how are people going to get in and out of Dog Patch especially with USCF Hospital next door on game nights at Golden State?

#2 The A’s almost had a shot at sweeping the Houston Astros in a four-game series taking three out of four. Every game is important now when the A’s face the Astros next series at Minute Maid Field in Houston.

#3 The A’s opened a three game series at the Coliseum on Tuesday against the New York Yankees all games at this stage of the season are huge with the A’s being 1.5 games back in the AL wild card.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Spanish play-by-play voice for the Oakland A’s on 1010 KIQI San Francisco, also is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s take game 1 vs. Yankees 6-2

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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s, behind the pitching of Homer Bailey, beat the New York Yankees 6-2 Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The Yankees came to town with the best record in the American League. They were 40 games over the .500 mark with a record of 83-43. The A’s were unfazed. They had won three out of four from the Houston Astros, and they felt that they can compete with the best. They did just that as Bailey and three relievers (Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Sori, and Liam Hendriks) held the vaunted Yankee juggernaut to only two runs.

The Yankees grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. With two out, Yankees’ DH Gary Sanchez blasted his 29th of the year. The ball left the park as if shot from a cannon. The exit velocity was 112 mph as it went over the 388-foot mark in left-center-field. Gio Urshela and Didi Gregorius singled, but Bailey retired Gleyber Torres for the third out. The lead didn’t last long as the A’s put a three-spot on the board in their half of the first. With one out Robbie Grossman worked German for a free pass. Matt Chapman then struck out. A’s first baseman swung at German’s first pitch and sent it into the stands in right field to give the A’s the lead 2-1. Mark Canha increased the advantage to 3-1 when he hit an opposite field home run. It was the 11th time this year that the A’s hit back-to-back home runs. For Olson, it was his 26th of the year, and for Canha, it was his 19th.

The A’s plated a run in the bottom of the second. With two out, A’s catcher Chris Herrmann singled. Marcus Semien blasted a double down the left-field line that allowed Herrmann to score all the way from first. Semien was caught in a rundown as he tried to advance to third on the throw home. A’s lead 4-1 after two.

The A’s put two more on the board in the sixth. Matt Olson led off with a single. He went to third on a double by Mark Canha. German struck out Khris Davis for the first out. Stephen Piscotty’s single drove in Olson with the A’s fifth run. Canha scored when Yankees’ left-fielder Cameron Maybin committed a fielding error. The A’s now led 6-1.

The Yankees’ Aaron Judge sent Joakim Soria’s first pitch 467 feet into the seats in left-field. The exit velocity was an astounding 116 mph. Soria gave up a single but struck out three Yankees to retire the side. The A’s failed to score in the bottom of the eighth. They led 6-2 heading into the ninth.

The A’s closer Liam Hendriks gave up a two-out double to Mike Tauchaman in the ninth. Hendriks retired DJ LeMahahieu for the final out to secure the win for Oakland. The A’s won 6-2.

Game Notes: Homer Bailey improved to 11-8 for the year with the win. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed seven hits and one run. Bailey struck out a season-high eight batters. Yankees starter Domingo German’s record dropped to 16-3.

The A’s offense was paced by Matt Olson and Mark Canha. Olson had a two-run homer and a single in the game. Canha had a homer and a double. A’s DH Khris Davis had another tough night. Davis earned a “Golden Sombrero” as he struck out four times. Davis has hit just one home run since being injured in Pittsburgh.

The Yankees’ Gary Sanchez now has 99 career home runs. Gio Urshela was 2-for-4. Urshela has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games and is hitting .437  with 23 runs, 12 doubles, nine home runs, and 21 RBIs over that stretch. The Yankees have hit a Major League-high 49 home runs this month and have hit multiple home runs in 14 of their last 19 games.

The A’s line score was six runs, nine hits, and no errors. The Yankees’ line was two runs, 11 hits, and one error. The error allowed Canha to score an unearned run in the sixth inning.

The A’s improved to 72-53. They picked up a game on the Tampa Bay Rays, and they are now tied for the second Wild Card. The Cleveland Indians lost to the New York Mets Tuesday night and the A’s trail them by just 1 1/2 games for the first Wild Card. If the A’s were to be the first Wild Card, the one-game playoff between the two Wild Cards would be played in Oakland.

Time of game was two hours and 49 minutes. 21,471 fans were on hand to see the A’s take the opener of the three-game set.

Up Next: Game two of the three-game series will be played Wednesday night in Oakland. The A’s Mike Fiers (11-3, 3.46 ERA) will be on the hill, and he will be opposed by the Yankees’ lefty J.A. Happ (10-7, 5.40 ERA). The game will start at 7:07 pm.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Pinder is doing it all, relieving 4 players during their IL

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On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Oakland A’s outfielder Chad Pinder is turning into a designated utility guy with the A’s injuries piling up and in the middle of the wild card chase.

#2 Injuries on the club include, first baseman Matt Olson (hand), DH Khris Davis (oblique), right fielder Stephen Piscotty (knee), and center-fielder Ramon Laureano (shin).

#3 Pinder has picked up the slack filling in for Olson, Davis, Piscotty and Laureano which speaks to his talents and ability. A’s manager Bob Melvin said that he very significant to the team.

#4 Taking a look at the A’s series with the New York Yankees that opens up on Tuesday night. The Yankees will start Domingo German (16-2, 3.96 ERA), and for the A’s, Homer Bailey (10-8, 5.22 ERA).

Charlie O does the A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com