Tag: Oakland A’s

Twins snap A’s win streak with 6-3 victory

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Photo credit: @morsecode

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s began their seven-game road trip to Minnesota and Houston on a down note Thursday night. The AL Central leaders hit three-home runs to come from a 3-1 deficit to win 6-3 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

The A’s Mike Fiers pitched well again. The A’s putative ace went 6 1/3 innings and allowed six hits and three runs. Fiers was responsible for two runners in the seventh, and when the Twins’ Eddie Rosario homered on the first pitch from Yusmeiro Petit, any chance that Fiers would get a win went down the drain.

The Twins’ Kyle Gibson went seven innings and allowed six hits and three runs and received credit for his ninth win of the year against four losses.

The Twins put the first run of the game on the board in the third inning. Fiers walked big Miguel Sano to start the frame. Jake Cave singled to advance Sano to second. Both runners advanced a base on a sacrifice base. Fiers didn’t help his cause when he uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Sano to score.

The A’s tied the game in the top of the fourth. Ramon Laureano singled and scored on a double by Khris Davis. In the sixth, Laureano singled and scored on Jurickson Profar’s 14th big fly of the season to put the A’s ahead.

Fiers started the seventh by striking out C.J.Cron for the first out. Luis Arreaz doubled, and Sano walked again. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Yusmeiro Petit to pitch. The Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli made a counter-move by bringing in left-handed hitter Eddie Rosario to pinch hit for Jake Cave. Rosario hit the first pitch from Petit into the seats in right-center-field to give the Twins a 4-3 advantage after seven innings of play

The Twins hit two more solo jobs in the eighth. Lou Trivino was now pitching for the A’s, but he gave up homers to Mitch Garver and Cron. Twins lefty reliever, Taylor Rogers, pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the save and preserve the win for Gibson

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s drop to 54-42. They trail the Cleveland Indians by one game for the first wild card spot. They are tied for the second spot with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays lost twice to the Yankees, and Tampa is now in a virtual tie with Oakland.

The hitting stars for the A’s were Ramon Laureano with three singles and two runs scored and Jurickson Profar with his 14th home run of the year that gave the A’s  3-1 lead,

The A’s line was three runs, six hits, and no errors. The Twins’ line was six runs, nine hits, and two errors.

Time of game was three hours and 18 minutes.

Up Next: The A’s and Twins play their second game Friday at 5:10 pm PT.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O for Jerry Feitelberg: 6 home runs for A’s, but is the ball really juiced?; Bailey makes debut

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Photo credit sfgate.com: Oakland Athletics’ Mark Canha, right, is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (4) after hitting a home run off Seattle Mariners’ Tommy Milone in the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in Oakland, Calif

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O for Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Is the ball juiced? There were six home runs hit during the A’s-Mariners game in Oakland on Wednesday afternoon.

#2 A’s hit six home runs Wednesday from Jurickson Profar 12th and 13th, Mark Canha 14th and 15th, Chad Pinder 8th, and Ramon Laureano 19th. In this lineup, you just never know who is going to get a base knock, but on Wednesday, it was everybody.

#3 A’s starter Homer Bailey debuted for Oakland pitching six innings, two earned runs and six strikeouts. He might be what the doctor ordered for the A’s rotation.

#4 The Mariners have had a rough trip so far in Anaheim. They got no hit on Tyler Skaggs night. the odds were not with them that night, then in Oakland, the Mariners getting swept in a two-game series by a hot A’s club. Most likely will be sellers at the trade deadline.

#5 A’s head to Minnesota for a four-game series starting on Thursday night at Target Field. For the A’s, Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.61 ERA), and for the Twins, Kyle Gibson (8-4, 4.03 ERA).

Catch the A’s podcast with Charlie O for Jerry Feitelberg Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Quakes tie Real Valladolid in friendly 1-1; A’s and Giants keep rolling; plus more

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 The San Jose Earthquakes are on a roll and picked up a huge win in Los Angeles against the Galaxy on a two-goal win 3-1. Jackson Yueill, Danny Hoesen, and Valeri Qazaishvili scored a goal each to help the Quakes to the win.

#2 London tells us how the success of the club and their turnaround has made this season one for the books. At 9-4-7, the team is in fifth and can very well make the climb in the standing if they can keep this up.

#3 How much of an impact has Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda made on this club, the Quakes? The Quakes had such a good friendly on Tuesday night against Real Villadolid, which ended up in a 1-1 draw.

#4 Turning to the red-hot Oakland A’s, there’s no mercy rule as the A’s keep pounding opponents by hitting as Matt Chapman got five RBIs and homered in the A’s win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night 9-2 and Wednesday the A’s pounded out six home runs and Chad Pinder and Jurickson Profar both hit two home runs each to beat Seattle 10-2.

#5 The Giants, on Tuesday night, went into the 10th inning tied at 4-4 and rallied for four runs when Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Alex Dickerson, and Brandon Crawford scored runs for the 8-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. The Giants came right back on Wednesday’s matinee and clubbed the Rockies again 11-8 to sweep the series.

London does Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s blow out the Mariners 10-2

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners played the second game of a two-game set at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon.

The A’s starting lineup featured starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who made his debut as an Oakland Athletic, as well as Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Mark Canha, Ramon Laureano, Khris Davis, Jurickson Profar, Chad Pinder and Josh Phegley.

After a scoreless first inning, the Mariners opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Dylan Moore tripled to Mark Canha and Tim Beckham scored on the play. Shortly after, the M’s made it 2-0 on a Dee Gordon single that scored Dylan Moore.

But the A’s tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Jurickson Profar hit a game-tying home run that scored Ramon Laureano.

The A’s announced that Matt Chapman left the game in the top of the third inning with left ankle soreness. After that, the A’s went ahead 3-2 on a Mark Canha home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Mark Canha resurfaced in the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run. The A’s took a 4-2 lead.

The crowd cheered when Chad Pinder hit a three-run home run that scored Ramon Laureano and Jurickson Profar in the bottom of the sixth inning. The A’s were up 7-2.

Ramon Laureano hit a home run to give the A’s a 8-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Moments later, Jurickson Profar hit his second home run of the game and his 13th of the season to help the A’s to a double-digit 10-2 lead.

After two hours and 49 minutes of play, the A’s blew out the Mariners by a final score of 10-2.

Today’s attendance was 19,161.

The A’s head to Target Field to take on the Minnesota Twins for a four-game series. Game one will be played on Thursday at 5:10 pm PT.

A’s continue to roll as they down the Mariners 9-2

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The A’s continued their winning ways as they won their fifth in a row to down the Seattle Mariners 9-2 at the Oakland Coliseum on Tuesday night.

This was the 14th game of the season between the two teams. Even though the Mariners entered the game with a record of 39-58, they held a 7-6 advantage over the A’s. The M’s sent lefty Marco Gonzalez to the hill to stop the A’s. Gonzalez had beaten the A’s three times this year and was hoping to win his fourth. The A’s Daniel Mengden was given the task of slowing down the Seattle offense.

Seattle took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when catcher Omar Narvaez led off the inning with a solo homer. It was his 15th of the year and the third in his last two games against the A’s. Narvaez has taken over as the guy that loves to kill the A’s. Mitch Haniger had that role, but he is on the injured list.

The A’s plated two runs in the bottom of the third. With one out, Josh Phegley singled. Marcus Semien doubled to put men on at second and third. Matt Chapman singled to drive them in to put the A’s ahead 2-1.

The A’s put three on the board in the fifth. Gonzalez retired the first two A’s hitters he faced. With a 3-2 count on Marcus Semien, Gonzalez threw a pitch that appeared to be strike three. Home plate umpire Brian O’Nora took a step back and looked as if he was going to call Semien out on strikes. He didn’t, and Semien had a free pass. The Matts, Chapman, and Olson, went back-to-back to put the A’s ahead 5-1. For Chapman, it was his 22nd of the year. For Olson, it was his 20th.

The A’s scored one on the sixth. Ramon Laureano doubled with one out. Laureano took off for third. Gonzalez threw behind him to second baseman Dee Gordon. Gordon’s throw to Kyle Seager was not on the mark and sailed past Seager. That miscue allowed Laureano to score. The error was the 96th of the year for the M’s They have committed more errors than any other team in baseball this year.

In the seventh, Semien doubled when his blooper to right field fell in safely as three Mariners had a chance to make the putout. Chappie doubled to drive in Semien. Chappie has five RBIs in the game. The onslaught continued as Oakland scored two more in the eighth. Singles by Laureano and Pinder put men on at first and second. The runners advanced on a wild pitch, and both scored on Phegley’s single.

With two out in the ninth and Blake Treinen pitching, Omar Narvaez continued his hot-hitting against the A’s when he homered again. Treinen retired the next batter to end the game.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s improve to 54-41. They have won five in a row, 13 out of the last 16, and 18 out of the previous 23. The A’s are tied with Cleveland for the second Wild Card slot and trail the Tampa Bay Rays by one game for the first slot. They also gained a game on the AL West leader Houston Astros and now trail them by 4 1/2 games.

Daniel Mengden won his fourth game in a row and is now 5-1 for the year. Mengden has not walked a batter in his last three starts.

Asked what his secret to success was, Mengden replied: “Keep them off balance and go from there.”

Mengden threw strikes on the first pitch to 16 of the 25 hitters he faced. He went 7 innings and allowed four hits and one run. The only mistake he made was the gopher ball that he served to Omar Narvaez. Gonzalez went six innings and allowed seven hits and six runs. He is 10-8 for the year.

Matt Chapman hit his 22nd dinger and has knocked in 59 so far. Matt Olson hit his 20th and has an 11-game hitting streak going.

Umpire Brian O’Nura left the game after the end of the fifth inning. He had been complaining of blurred vision to the trainers, and after missing the call, he went to the trainer’s room for treatment. Jame Hoye took over calling balls and strikes.

Time of game was two hours and 44 minutes and 18,718 fans watched the A’s win again.

Up Next: The A’s sent J.B. Wendelken to Las Vegas to make room for Homer Bailey who was acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Bailey will make his A’s debut Wednesday afternoon against the Mariners at 12:37 pm.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O : A’s on 4-game win streak and 1 1/2 games back for a wild card

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The A’s are on a tear. They are winners of their last seven of eight games and on a four-game win streak.

#2 The A’s are getting some key and timely hitting to name of few of the key hitters of late in the lineup like Marcus Semien .272, Matt Chapman .274, Matt Olson .254, returning back from the IL Khris Davis .235, and Mark Canha .254.

#3 The A’s are just a 1 1/2 out of first place behind the Tampa Bay Rays and tied with Cleveland for second place in the AL Wild Card chase.

#4 The A’s even capitalized on an error to win Sunday’s game at the Coliseum on a ground ball and Chad Pinder running at first for the A’s. The White Sox Shortstop Jose Rondon fielded the ball, but threw past second baseman Yolmer Sanchez to allow Pinder to score all the way from first base.

#5 The A’s open a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Coliseum against the Seattle Mariners. Starting for the M’s, Marco Gonzalez (10-7, 4.24 ERA), and for the A’s, Daniel Mengden (4-1, 4.73 ERA).

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

Preview of the A’s series with the Mariners

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The A’s, winners of four in a row, and eight of their last ten resume play Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are languishing in last place in the AL West with a record of 39-58. The A’s are in second place in the AL West and trail the first-place Houston Astros by six games.

The Mariners have been a tough team for the A’s to subdue. They have played the A’s fairly even this year even though they are not playing well. The A’s started slowly this season, but have turned the season around as they are now 12 games over the .500 mark with a record of 53-41. They have won eight of the last ten and four in a row. They swept all three games from the Chicago White Sox over the weekend.

The Mariners have announced that lefty Marco Gonzalez will pitch Tuesday night. Gonzalez is 10-7 for the year and has an ERA of 4.24. Gonzalez is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.89 in his last starts. He is 3-0 against Oakland and in his previous outing against the A’s he went eight innings, and the M’s beat the A’s 6-3. Daniel Mengden (4-1, 4.73 ERA) will pitch for Oakland. Mengden beat the M’s on July 7th at Seattle. He went 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs. Mengden is 1-2 lifetime versus the Mariners.

On Wednesday, Homer Bailey will make his debut for the A’s. The A’s obtained Bailey from the Kansa City Royals on Sunday. Bailey has an ERA of 3.49 over his last seven starts with the Royals and is 7-6 overall for the year, and is 1-1 against the M’s in two career starts. The M’s have not announced their pitcher for Wednesday’s game.

The A’s pitchers still will have to face several Mariners’ players that can do damage. M’s catcher Omar Narvaez hit two home runs against the A’s on July 7th. Narvaez is hitting .290 and has 14 homers and 36 RBI’s for the year. M’s first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, who also will DH, made the All-Star team and he comes in hitting .239 with 21 dingers and 51 ribbies. The A’s know that Dee Gordon, J.P.Crawford, Kyle Seager, Domingo Santana, Mallex Smith, and former SF Giant Mac Williamson are players that can do damage and the A’s pitchers will have to be careful facing them.

Mitch Haniger and Ryon Healy are two Mariners that are still on the IL. Haniger loves to hit against the A’s and Healy, who was traded to Seattle last year, would like nothing better than beating his old team. Healy may be available, but Haniger will not come off the IL until late July.

The A’s know that they have to beat teams that are not doing well. They would like to sweep the two-game series with the Mariners as they go on a seven-day road trip to the AL central leader, the Minnesota Twins for four, and the AL West leader, the Houston Astros for three. The A’s took two out of three from the Twins in early July. The Astros, on the other hand, have handled the A’s so far this season.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the A’s when they return home. They will play four with the Texas Rangers after the Astro series. The Rangers, one of the big surprises in baseball this season, and trailing the A’s by two games in the race for second place in the AL West, will be a big test for the A’s. After the series with the Rangers, the A’s will face two teams from the NL Central that are fighting for spots in the playoffs. They will play three against the Milwaukee Brewers and two against the St. Louis Cardinals. The A’s have been playing well.

They have the ingredients for success. Their starting pitching has been solid, and with the addition of Bailey, should get better. Liam Hendriks has stepped out and done the job as the team’s closer. Blake Treinen’s problems with control have taken him out of the closer’s role for the time being. The A’s are working to get him back to the form that he had in 2018. Lou Trivino also needs to get back to his 2018 form.

The rest of the bullpen has done the job.

The A’s offense has come to life, and there are no easy outs in the lineup. The A’s shine on defense, They have a Gold Glover at third and one at first. Marcus Semien has improved so much at shortstop. He is also a candidate for a Gold Glove. Ramon Laureano in centerfield has an incredible arm and Robbie Grossman, Mark Canha, and Chad Pinder are more than adequate on defense. Stephen Piscotty in on the 10-day IL with a sprained right knee.

The A’s won 97 games last season. They know that they are in a race for the second wild card slot right now. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 1 1/2 games for the first wild card slot. The Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox are all teams that have a chance to make the playoffs. The A’s will not play the Indians or Red Sox again this year. They will face the White Sox back in Chicago in August and have seven with the lowly Kansas City Royals. They have eleven games left with the Astros and six with the New York Yankees.

The A’s are playing with confidence. A’s manager Bob Melvin has been punching all the right buttons. The message is clear. Take them one at a time and go out there and win.

1,000 Ways To Thrive: A’s nip the White Sox, acquire starter Homer Bailey from the Royals

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–When it comes to post All-Star break success, the A’s have no peer. With Bob Melvin pulling the strings, the Billy Beane-led front office making the deals, not to mention the baseballs flying over the fence, the A’s know how to put the finishing touches on a 162-game season.

On Sunday at the Coliseum, the A’s laid the foundation for the 2019 version of the climb up the American League standings with a 3-2, walkoff win over the White Sox.

Baserunner Chad Pinder, looking to take second base on Ramon Laureano’s ground ball in the hole, instead raced home with the winning run when shortstop Jose Rondon’s throw sailed past second and into foul ground as the alert Pinder crossed the plate.

“I was just trying to beat the throw, and as I’m sliding, I saw the second baseman lunge a bit,” Pinder recounted. “And from there, I was trying to get ahold of Matt (the third base coach) and see what he sees. He sent me, so I went home.”

After the Sox were basically no-shows on Friday and Saturday, losing both days by a combined score of 18-3, starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez set the tone by limiting the A’s to three hits with seven strikeouts through six innings.

Lopez had allowed at least one home run in ten consecutive starts, while the A’s had homered in 14 straight games, but that intersection was bypassed when Lopez exited with a 2-1 lead.

A’s starter Brett Anderson stepped on a bat in foul territory, allowed a tie breaking homer to Eloy Jimenez, and exited in the seventh after a Yolmer Sanchez double. But other than those unfortunate moments, Anderson was steady in pursuit of his tenth win of the season.

Once Lopez departed, the home run ball appeared. Laureano got the A’s even leading off the seventh with his career-best 18th off reliever Evan Marshall.

“We felt like he had a chance to be a 30-homer guy,” Melvin said. “Maybe he’s on pace a little sooner than we expected.”

The A’s have won 12 of 15, and surpassed Cleveland, Texas and Boston in the ever-changing wild card race. The A’s are within striking range of the Astros in the AL West as well.

Given that, the Sunday morning’s timing of the deal with the Royals to acquire starting pitcher Homer Bailey was brilliant. Bailey was scratched during warmups in Kansas City, and will be available on Wednesday afternoon for his first start with the A’s.

The deal for the 33-year old former Red who pitched a no-hitter against the Giants came at the cost of 2017 compensatory pick Kevin Merrell, an infielder with speed currently at AA-Midland.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary Q &A: Mid-season Chat with the Athletics President

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photo from TK Sports and sportsblogs.com: Oakland A’s president David Kaval is Amaury Pi Gonzalez’ guest for this week’s That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

Mid-season Chat with the Athletics President

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–The All-Star Game has come and gone. The American League continues to show its superiority over the National League. It doesn’t matter if the games counts or are only exhibitions, the American League keeps winning, extending their winning streak to seven-in-a-row. Talking about winning, the Oakland Athletics are on a roll again, with almost the same record as they had last season at this time of the year when they took-off with a sensational second half, advancing to the postseason.

There is nobody more enthusiastic about the A’s success that Mr. Dave Kaval, their President, and why not. There is great news all overcoming from this organization as we entered the second half of this season. I had basically two questions in mind for Mr. Kaval.

APG: How do you feel about the 1st half of the season for the A’s?

DK: “How can you not love this team?! Fiers’ lights-out no-hitter; Ramon Laureano’s laser arm in centerfield; Josh Phegley’s emergence at the plate and the amazing defense of Matt Chapman and Matt Olson at the corners. They’re an exciting”

APG. What is the latest on the proposal for the stadium at Howard Terminal?

DK: “We’ve had a very busy few months working on our plans for a waterfront ballpark at Jack London Square. In May, the Board of Port Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve a term sheet between the Port of Oakland and the Oakland Athletics”

A big test for the club is coming, as they embark on a road trip that takes the young A’s to Minnesota and Houston, two first-place teams. The Minnesota Twins are one of the great surprises this season as they have owned the Central Division (once dominated by the Cleveland Indians) during the first half of the season. They will play a four-game series at Minnesota 18th to the 21st, the next day they are in Texas, against the Houston Astros for a three-game series.

While a lot of discussions is focused on the Wild Card already, the A’s have a total of 11 games left against Houston, seven at Houston and four at Oakland. Not to overlook Minnesota, but Houston is getting healthier and they are a formidable team when they have Springer, Altuve, Bregman, and Company, plus a very good pitching staff headed by All-Star Justin Verlander. It should be fun, because the A’S are not afraid of anybody these days, and they also had their share of injuries.

We thank Dave Kaval, as we share his enthusiasm, with the largest minority in the Bay Area, that of Latinos (around 2 million people) many more during the next Census and, many who have been supporting the Athletics for many years, are also excited about the possibility of a new ballpark.

Amaury Pi-González is a pioneer in establishing Spanish baseball radio play by play in the Bay Area that dates back to 1970s.The Spanish broadcast for 72 games are heard on KIQI 1010A/990AM with studios in San Francisco, serving also the Sacramento/Stockton market.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: No stopping the Swinging A’s now Oakland wins 8 out 10 games

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sfgate photo: Oakland Athletics’ Franklin Barreto swings for a three-run home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Ross Detwiler in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, July 13, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The A’s crushed the Chicago White Sox 13-2 as the A’s got plenty of offense on Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum.

#2 The A’s Franklin Baretto got things going in the bottom of the first crushing a 1-1 pitch for a three run homer .

#3 The A’s in the first inning sent ten hitters to the plate and scored seven runs it was game over.

#4 The A’s continued their hitting derby with five consecutive hits in the fourth inning

#5 Joey takes a look at Sunday’s pitchers for the Chicago White Sox Reynaldo Lopez (4-8 ERA 6.34) and for the A’s Brett Anderson (9-5 ERA 3.86)

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