Tag: Oakland A’s

A’s off to a great start in the second half, rout the White Sox 5-1

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Lewis Rubman

Chicago White Sox: 1 | 10 | 1
Oakland Athletics: 5 |13 | 0

OAKLAND — For the third time this year, Mike Fiers took the mound for the A’s to open a segment of the season. He was trounced by Seattle in Tokyo in the season opener but came back eight days later to get the win against the Angels in Oakland’s first game of the campaign on American soil, although his performance on that occassion didn’t even rate as a quality start. His pitching picked up in May, including a no-hitter on the seventh, and, when Frankie Montás was suspended on June 21 for violating MLB’s drug policies, Fiers became the undisputed ace of the A’s pitching staff, a distinction he in any case deserved by dint of his own efforts. The A’s starter went into tonight’s contest with an ERA of 2.87 in May, 2.30 in June, and 1.50 for his one start in July. He faced the task of getting the third portion of the season, the long haul between the All=Star Game and the final stretch drive, off to a successful start.

Facing him for the White Sox was Iván Nova, a right-hander much given to throwing sinker balls and having a 4-7, 5.88 ERA record to show for it.

The A’s opened the scoring in the top of the first, when, with one out, Matt Chapman’s line drive ate up Leury García at short and ended up as a single to left. Matt Olson promptly moved Chapman to third with a single to right. The A’s third baseman then scored on Khris Davis’s clean single to center. Nova escaped further damage by inducing Mark Canha to hit into an inning ending double play, short to second to first.

Ramón Laureano extended the A’s lead by blasting a 2-2 pitch into the second deck left field seats for his seventeenth home run of the season. Not to be outdone, Jurickson Profar, batting left-handed, the switch-hitting second sacker’s weak side, followed with a homer, his eleventh, into the Budweiser seats in right, putting the home team in front by a score of 3-0.

The Pale Hose threatened in the top of the third when Ryan Cordell and García, the number nine and one hitters, laced back to back one out singles. But Oakland’s Fiers put out the Chicago fire, striking out Yoán Moncada and José Abreu, both of them swinging.

Fiers kept on shutting out the Sox, and Nova settled down, not allowing the A’s any more runs until with one down in the bottom of the sixth Canha shot his 13th round tripper of the season over the center field fence, just to the right of the 400 foot sign. On the next pitch, Robbie Grossman lined a double off the left center field wall. But Nova got Laureano to ground out to third and Profar to first to keep the A’s from posting a crooked number.

But Nova had thrown 104 pitches, and that finished his work for the night. Josh Phegley greeeted his replacement, Juan Minaya, by hitting a solid single to left on his first offering in the home half of the seventh. Three pitches later, Semien plated Phegley with a triple to left center. Minaya got two quick outs on Chapman and Olson but then issued back-to-back walks to Davis and Canha to load the bases. Rick Rentería sent lefty Josh Osich in to face Grossman, who would have batted from his weak, right, side if Bob Melvin hadn’t sent Chad Pinder in to hit for him. Osich got his man on a called third strike. But, by now, the A’s held a 5-0 advantage over Chicago.

When Fiers walked John McCann with two down and a man on base in the top the eighth, the A’s starter had thrown 111 pitches over seven and two-thirds, innings, more pitches over more innings than in any game since his early season no-hitter. Oh, yes, his replacement, Yusmeiro Petit, retired the side by getting John Jay to ground out to Profar at second.

Joakim Soria came in to mop up in the ninth. He wasn’t quite up to the job. García’s two-out single on a 3-2 count brought in Eloy Jiménez who had led off the frame with a single to spoil the shutout. Oakland’s all star closer, Liam Hendricks, the Pride of Perth, came in and struck out Moncada on three pitches.

The win went to Fiers; the loss to Nova. Hendrick got the save, his sixth in eight opportunities.

Oakland’s win puts them at 51-41, a half a game behind Cleveland for the second wild card spot.

Tomorrow afternoon’s contest will feature righty Chris Bassitt (5-4, 4.29 ERA) on the bump for the A’s. His opposing number is as yet unnamed, making it likely that he will be an opener.

Preview of the A’s series with the White Sox

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Photo credit: lookoutlanding.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s start the second half of the season by hosting the visiting Chicago White Sox for three games starting Friday night at the Coliseum. The White Sox, under second-year skipper Rick Renteria, have surprised a lot of people as they finished the first half of the season with a record of 42-44. They are currently in third place in the AL Central trailing the Minnesota Twins by 12 1/2 games.

The White Sox have several players on the team that have contributed to their success. Their veteran first baseman, Jose Abreu, is having another excellent season. Abreu is hitting .278 and has hit 21 dingers and driven in 66. Other players to watch include Eloy Jiminez, third baseman Yoan Moncado, Catcher James McCann, and pitcher Lucas Giolito. The White Sox obtained Moncado from the Red Sox in the trade for pitcher Chris Sale. Moncado appears to be reaching his potential as he is hitting .308 and has hit 16 homers and knocked in 48. Giolito is 11-3 and has an ERA of 3.15.

Giolito and McCann were named to the AL All-Star team this year.

Other players to keep an eye on are center fielder Leury Garcia, second baseman Yolmer Sanchez, and veteran right fielder Jon Jay.

The White Sox have several critical decisions to make before the July 31st trade deadline. Will they be buyers or sellers? It does appear that they can overtake the Rays, Indians, A’s, Rangers, or Red Sox in the race for the two Wild Card spots. If they decide to be buyers, they would have to give up prospects to get the players they would need to make a playoff run. If they are sellers, who would go? They have several players that they could move even though they have another year of team control. Perhaps their most valuable asset is closer Alex Colome. The 30-year reliever has converted 20 save opportunities in 21 tries this season. Colome could bring the White Sox some highly rated prospects from teams looking for a reliable closer. The Red Sox might be interested, but their farm system has been depleted. Other players that might be on the move include James McCann, Leury Garcia, John Jay, pitchers Ivan Nova and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer. Jose Abreu is also mentioned as a player that might be going elsewhere.

The A’s have not announced the starters for the series with the White Sox. Mike Fiers, Brett Anderson, and Chris Bassitt probably will pitch this weekend, but that could change. The White Sox will send Ivan Nova to the hill Friday night. Nova is 4-7 with an ERA of 5.58. Reynaldo Lopez will go for Chicago on Sunday. His ERA is 6.34, and he has a won-lost record of 4-8. Lopez’ ERA is the worst of any starting pitcher in baseball.

The A’s would like to sweep the series this weekend. That may not happen, but taking two out of three would be a reasonable goal for the A’s. The A’s are off on Monday. They play two against the Seattle Mariners next Tues and Wednesday before heading off to play four against the Minnesota Twins and three in Houston against the Astros. The schedule brings the A’s home to play the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers.

The A’s are a good second-half team. They know that every game is essential and no opponent can be taken lightly. They are in a race with the Indians, Red Sox, and Rangers for the second Wild Card spot. The A’s are a good team and fun to watch.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s rolling good enough to catch Houston in second half

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Photo credit: bleacherreport.com

On the A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Jerry, the A’s are opening the second half of the season with a record of 50-41. They for a good part of the first half were a team in last place in the A.L. West. What were some of the factors that lifted them out of the cellar to second place and just seven games out of first place?

#2 The A’s have been getting some great offensive help, but it’s looking up and down that lineup with some of the key bats and key support that they’ve got that have helped the along the way.

#3 Going into the second half, the A’s will continue to try and figure their nemesis, the Houston Astros. The Astros are chalked with talent up and down their lineup, the A’s face the Astros in a couple of weeks, and when that time comes, the Astros will be an important series.

#4 The A’s are in need to get some starting pitching they won’t get Jharel Cotton is reportedly developing well on his come back while Daniel Mengden, who made a comeback, threw an outstanding game on his return to the A’s.

#5 Second half of the season getting ready to get started the A’s are opening things up hosting the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. For the Sox, Ivan Nova (4-7, 5.58 ERA), and for Oakland, Mike Fiers (8-3, 3.87 ERA).

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

A’s start the race to the playoffs on Friday

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By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- The A’s start the second half of the season with a record of 50-41. The A’s have played 91 and have 71 games left to play. As fans know, it’s not how you start, it’s where you finish.

The A’s won 97 games last year with a so-so starting rotation, but, had a bullpen that was lights out. They lost second baseman Jed Lowrie to free agency. Lowry had a career-high 99 RBIs last year, and the team had to fill the hole. They traded for Jurickson Profar, and the young man has yet to show that he can play every day. The A’s have brought up Franklin Barreto to see if he can do the job, and the jury is still out on him.

The A’s starting rotation has surprised the pundits so far this year. Mike Fiers started slowly, but he has pitched well since May. Brett Anderson is healthy, and he has done the job. Chris Bassitt has thrown well, and Daniel Mengden has won a couple of games since being recalled. The fifth starter is a work in progress. Tanner Anderson is 0-3 and has yet to show that he can stay in the rotation. The A’s are hoping that Sean Manaea will be back in the rotation in early August. The A’s relievers Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen have not performed as well as they did last year. Trivino started well but has been rocked lately. Treinen has not had his control. He does have 16 saves, but he has walked too many hitters when he comes in to close. Yusmeiro Petit and Joakim Soria have pitched well all year. The big surprise is Liam Hendriks. Hendriks was designated for assignment last year. No one signed him, and he went back to Triple-A. This year, things have turned completely around. Hendriks was named to the AL All-Star squad, and he has done the job when called upon.

The A’s offense has power hitters all through the lineup. Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Khris Davis, Stephen Piscotty, Ramon Laureano, Marcus Semien, and Profar all can send the ball into the seats. Catchers Josh Phegley, Chris Herrman, and Nick Hundley can also blast a baseball into the stands. The A’s defense has been superb.

The A’s have put together a team that could possibly go deep into the playoffs. They need to improve the starting rotation. Will the A’s make a trade for a starter? No one knows what Billy Beane or David Forst will do. They have not hesitated to pull the trigger on a deal if they think that it will improve the team. They don’t want to give up any of their key players as Beane or Forst remember what happened in 2014 when they sent Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for John Lester. The team went into a spiral and barely made the playoffs that year. The A’s may feel that the players coming off the Il will be sufficient to get them there. Manaea and Jharel Cotton should be back soon.

The A’s lost starting pitcher Frankie Montas for 80 games due to using of an illegal substance. Montas may make it back in late September, but he is not eligible to play in the postseason.

The ingredients are there. They have pitching, offense, and defense. They start the second half at home with three against the Chicago White Sox, and two against the Seattle Mariners. Following that, they go on the road for four with the Minnesota Twins and three with the Houston Astros. The A’s took two out of three from the Twins last week in Oakland. The Twins, in first place in the AL Central, played well against the A’s and they will give the A’s a tussle when they meet next week. The A’s then have to play the Astros in Houston. The Astros have one of the best teams in baseball. The Astros won the World Series two years ago and want to win another. They also have a potent lineup. They have two terrific starters, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. The A’s have not had success against Houston so far this year.

The A’s will have quite a race to the finish line. The Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox are teams that will be competing for the second Wild Card slot in the American League. It should be fun.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: All-Star Game? A’s Hendriks and Giants’ Smith both give up the home run ball in relief; A’s Chapman scores on DP ball

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 After all the talk about the home run ball and plenty of them, the All-Star Game in Cleveland was a low scoring affair before the American League scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-1. Earlier, the American League scored a single run in the second and fifth innings and the American League got two runs in the top of the sixth. The National League tried to make a come back with two runs in the top of the eight but just couldn’t pass the AL in the 4-3 one run AL win.

#2 Representing the San Francisco Giants at the All-Star Game was reliever Will Smith, who got his 23rd save on Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres, which translate to a great first half, despite the Giants struggling in last place in the NL West. At the All-Star Game, Smith gave up a home run in the seventh.

#3 Representing the Oakland A’s were A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, who hit .265, 90 RBIs and 21 home runs, and relief pitcher Liam Hendriks, who is 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA.

#4 For Hendriks, he has saved 23 straight games without a blown save. The A’s are in the hunt for a wild card and are just seven games behind first place Houston and Hendriks closing games will be crucial in the home stretch. Hendriks — in the All-Star Game — gave up a home run for an earned run and struck out three batters.

#5 Meanwhile, the A’s Matt Chapman had some better luck scoring a run from third when the Boston Red Sox Xander Bogaerts grounded into a double play.

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

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: MLB Hispanic Museum honoring players at All-Star Game; Guerrero sets Home Run Derby record; plus more

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Photo credit: @Ron_Clements

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury talks about the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum being in Cleveland. This has got to be a special being able to show the fans what’s the Museum is all about.

#2 The Museum will be honoring former Cleveland second baseman Robby Alomar, Alomar had quite a career in Cleveland and looked forward to the honor by the museum.

#3 The Toronto Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero Jr. went deep enough times in the first round to set a Home Run Derby record for first round home runs.

#4 Fans are waiting for the All-Star Break to end and to get the second half started. Amaury talks about what to look forward to in the second half.

#5 In the second half of the season, the Oakland A’s have shown that they can put it together from the first half. What is to be expected from the A’s in the second half?

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum, the Spanish play-by-play announcer for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Hendriks and Chapman thrilled to be at All-Star Game in Cleveland

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Photo credit: @hyphen18

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 How thrilled must A’s pitcher Liam Hendriks and A’s third baseman Matt Chapman have to be about being selected for the 2019 All-Star Game?

#2 Hendriks has put up some great numbers in the first half of the season with 23 straight saves.

#3 It’s got to be monumental that Hendriks has pitched that long without a blown save.

#4 Chapman is hitting .265, with 90 hits and 21 home runs. He had a great offensive first half.

#5 A lot is on the line to win the derby; $1 million to win it at the All-Star Game.

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Hendriks and Chapman represent A’s at the All-Star game; Each player thrilled to be there

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Photo credit: @nypost

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 The Oakland A’s Liam Hendriks gets the call to represent the Oakland A’s after the Tampa Bay Rays’ Charlie Morton is a scratch. Morton, who pitched on Sunday, was not available for the All-Star game because he only got a day’s rest.

#2 Hendriks posted a 3-0 record (1.27 ERA). Hendriks is fourth in strike outs (58) and fifth in innings pitched (46.2).

#3 The Oakland A’s third baseman Matt Chapman took Sunday off to rest up to play in the All-Star game in Cleveland. Chapman hit .265, 21 home runs, 52 RBIs, 59 runs scored.

#4 Chapman will participate in the Home Run Derby. He has been hitting quite a few of them during the season and should be a great challenger on Monday night.

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

Back In Stride Again: A’s stay hot, head into All-Star break with 7-4 win over Seattle

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By Morris Phillips

Matt Chapman’s headed to the All-Star Game as a reserve, and as a last-minute addition to the Home Run Derby.

Not a bad choice. But the American League could probably do just as well with Matt Olson, Chapman’s Oakland teammate.

While Chapman enjoyed a well-deserved day of rest ahead of his flight to Cleveland, Olson showed off his All-Star worthiness with a first inning, three-run homer in the A’s 7-4 win over the Mariners. Olson’s shot was his sixth in his last 10 games, and his 19th of the season, all of them hit since May 12, five days after Olson’s delayed season debut due to a broken bone in his hand.

“You hear a lot about the hamate injury and the strength not coming back for a while,” manager Bob Melvin said of Olson. “But when you look at his home runs per at-bat, I can’t imagine it’s not right at the top of the league.”

While the A’s switched into blast-off mode in the first two innings of Sunday’s series finale, taking a 6-0 lead after Marcus Semien led off the second with a home run, the host Mariners were self-destructing, that according to manager Scott Servais.

After Olson’s blast, the next two A’s reached, then found their way around the basepaths when Dylan Moore inexplicably allowed Chad Pinder’s base hit to slide through his legs and go all the way to the wall. Chad Pinder and Ramon Laureano scored on Moore’s error.

“It was the walk. Somewhere in the middle there’s always a walk. You have to stay aggressive, and that led into the Olson three-run homer. We really couldn’t stop it after that,” Servais said.

Seattle’s response–single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, all of those four runs courtesy of Omar Narvaez–wasn’t enough to get the Mariners even, or knock A’s starter Daniel Mengden out of the winner’s circle. Still Narvaez’ outburst was impressive; he homered twice sandwiching a pair of run-scoring singles in a 4 for 4 performance.

Mengden’s been the perfect follow-up to Frankie Montas’ suspension, winning four of five decisions for the first time in his disjointed big-league career. On Sunday, he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks.

“When you come out of the game after the fifth inning with a lead, you’ve done your job. He’s done that,” Melvin said of Mengden.

The A’s recent ascension in the standings couldn’t be more reminiscent of what the club did in 2018. At 50-41, they’re only one game off their pace of last season, the precursor to the major’s best second half record that took them to 97 wins and a wild card playoff spot. But there are a couple of key differences.

Unlike last season, the A’s still have a realistic shot at winning the AL West. The Astros have a sizeable lead at 7 1/2 games, but they A’s still have 11 of the 19 games in the season series between the clubs to make up ground. Of course, the A’s will have to quickly reverse course in the rivalry, they’ve lost seven of the first eight to the Astros in 2019.

Also unlike 2018, the A’s haven’t found a couple of opponents to take advantage of like they did with the Tigers and Blue Jays (14-0 in 2018). Instead they’ve been dominated by the same Jays and Astros (1-13 in 2019). They could find some vulnerable opponents in the second half: the A’s have season series left with the improving White Sox, the downtrodden Royals and the dominant Yankees (seven games against each club).

Most importantly, unlike 2018, the wild card race is wide open. The A’s are right in the middle of a tight race with the Rays, Indians, Red Sox and Rangers with none of the five running away with the top spot as the Yankees did in 2018. That means the A’s have a realistic shot at hosting the game this time, and if they don’t finish on top, not having to play on the road against a clearly, superior club as the Yankees were last October.

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s chipping away at Astros first place lead in AL West

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Khris Davis and the A’s came into Seattle for their series with the Mariners on a roll. (AP)

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey F:

#1 Joey tells us about A’s catcher Chris Herrmann’s big day on 4th of July last Thursday a grand slam, four hits and a run scored it was the last time Herrmann was in the line up but he made the best of it.

#2 The A’s are going well right now winning four of their last seven games. They’ve won two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels, A’s won two out of three from the Minnesota Twins, and on their trip to Seattle the A’s took the first game 5-2 and lost the second game on Saturday 6-3.

#3 The A’s have been getting pitching even in the loss on Saturday they got some substance from their starter Tanner Anderson who went 4.2 innings, nine hits, one earned run with two walks and three strikeouts.

#4 You can never tell what can happen on any given day in baseball the Mariners are a last place team but they battled A’s on Saturday and scored run in the middle innings but the A’s on the other hand are chipping away at the Houston Astros seven game lead in the AL West.

#5 A’s and Mariners conclude their three game series on Sunday the A’s will start Daniel Mengden (3-1 ERA 4.67) the Mariners starter Matt Carasiti (0-0 ERA 1.80). This will be the last game ending the first half of the season before the All Star game in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

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