Tag: Oakland A’s

A’s end road trip with short two-game series with Rangers in Arlington

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chicagotribune.com file photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea celebrates after pitching a no-hitter in May against the Boston Red Sox. He will get the call Tuesday night in Arlington against the Texas Rangers at the Ball Park.

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland Athletics meet the Texas Rangers in Arlington for two games starting Tuesday. The A’s and Rangers have played seven games this season, and the A’s have won four games and lost three. The A’s are currently in fourth place in the American League West with a record of 31-29. The A’s won two out of three from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The A’s are 15-15 at home and 16-14 on the road. The Rangers are 25-37 and trail the first-place Seattle Mariners by 12 1/2 games. They are seven games behind the A’s for the fourth spot in the division.

The A’s will send Sean Manaea to the mound Tuesday night. Manaea, who pitched a no-hitter against Boston in April and was the AL Pitcher of the Month, did not have a good month of May. His record has dropped to 5-6, and his ERA is currently at 3.60. The A’s are hoping the big lefty can get back to the form that he exhibited in April. He will be opposed by the Rangers’ left-hander Matt Moore. Moore, who had a terrible year in 2017 with the San Francisco Giants, is not doing well with Texas. Moore is 1-5 and has an ERA of 7.89. Moore came off the DL last Wednesday and allowed five runs in 5 1/3rd innings of work. Moore is 1-2 lifetime against Oakland in six career starts.

On Wednesday, Daniel Mengden will go for Oakland. Mengden has been pitching well. In his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Mengden went 8 plus innings and gave up six hits and three runs. The ageless veteran, Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.21 ERA), will be seeking his 243rd win to tie him with the great Juan Marichal for most wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic.

The A’s hitters have shown that they love to play on the road. The team has guys up and down the lineup that can hit the ball into the stands. Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Jed Lowrie, and Matt Olson will be in the infield positions. Lowrie leads the team in hitting, and Olson has found the stroke that got him 24 homers in 59 games last year. Olson had four homers in his last four games. Mark Canha, MattJoyce, Dustin Powell, and Stephen Piscotty play solid defense in the outfield, and all have produced.

The Rangers’ pitching has been less than stellar this season. Their ace, Cole Hamels, is 3-5 with an ERA of 3.63. Hamels wants out of Texas and wants to be traded to a contender. He’s hoping the Yankees will trade for him, but the Rangers may demand more than the Yankees want to give up. Colon, Matt Moore. Doug Fister and Mike Minor are not going to have opposing teams quaking in their boots.

The Rangers’ veteran third baseman, Adrian Beltre, has been on the DL a couple of times this season and he is hitting .304 but has just one home run and 13 RBIs. Big Joey Gallo hits a lot of home runs, but he also strikes out a lot and is hitting just .205. Shortstop Elvis Andrus is still on the DL with a fractured elbow, but he could return soon. Jurickson Profar and Rougned Odor fill in at short and second baseman. Odor is having an off-year, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will see time playing second base.

Shin-Soo Choo, Delino DeShields, and Nomar Mazara will be the outfielders.

After the two-game set with Texas the A’s return home to play four with the Kansas City Royals, three with Houston, and three with the LA Angels.

Olson provides the big blow in A’s 5-1 win over the Royals

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By Morris Phillips

The Royals had a guy who normally settles for singles, hit a long home run. The A’s had a guy who needs to prove that he can navigate big league hitters without allowing home runs, give up that long home run.

But late in the ballgame with the outcome in the balance, the A’s had another guy who’s being groomed to hit big home runs, hit one, and off they went to a 5-1 win on getaway day in Kansas City.

Matt Olson’s three-run shot highlighted an eighth inning rally and stood as the difference maker as the A’s captured a series on the road, after dropping their previous series against the Rays at home.

“3-0 any chance you get is one of the best fastball counts nowadays. He threw one over the plate and I was ready for it,” Olson said of reliever Burch Smith’s offering which traveled an estimated 454 feet off the A’s first baseman’s bat.

Olson’s home run was his fourth in the last four games, and proof that the A’s patience in the young slugger is paying off. Olson hit 24 home runs in an abbreviated 2017, and now he’s hit 12 this season, which ranks him behind only Khris Davis on the A’s. Despite a rough 20-game stretch beginning in April, and finishing in May, Olson is settling into his roles as a slugger and an everyday first baseman.

“You look at his numbers right now, he’s on a pretty good pace even though he might’ve got off to a little bit of a slower start than maybe he would’ve imagined,” manager Bob Melvin said of Olson.

While Jed Lowrie was credited with knocking in the game-winning run with his RBI single ahead of Olson’s blast, the first baseman drew all the attention. Like the team, Olson’s heating up.

The A’s scored 24 runs in three games in Kansas City, after they scored just 15 runs in the first nine games of the just completed home stand. Attribute the better play on the road to warmer weather, bigger crowds, increased focus, or none of the above, the A’s have won six of seven away from the Coliseum.

A’s starter Daniel Gossett went five innings, allowing two hits and a run. But after he exhibited some discomfort on the mound in the fifth, the decision was made to lift the right-handed due to elbow tightness. Gossett threw just 63 pitches, but that’s still an impressive outing for a guy who was 4-11 in 2017, and 0-3 this season.

The rail-thin Gossett allowed three, consecutive home runs in his previous start at the Coliseum against Tampa Bay. In his big league career now spanning 115 innings, he’s allowed 26 round-trippers while striking out just 84. So while Gossett can rush the ball to the plate at 92 mph on the average, he needs to prove that he can thrive in today’s MLB heavily weighted on limiting home runs and piling up strikeouts.

So how did Gossett do in that regard on Sunday?

Despite allowing just two hits, Kansas City’s John Jay took Gossett yard, the blast traveling 414 feet in the third to tie the game, 1-1. With that homer, Jay snapped a streak of 442 at-bats without a home run, the lengthiest such streak among all major leaguers who aren’t pitchers.

Not quite a good sign for Gossett. Or Jay. The former Cardinal leads the struggling Royals with a .305 batting average, and his 58 singles ranks second among major leaguers this season. But while Jay put up player-of the-month numbers in May, hitting .368 with 43 hits, the power was missing, and the Royals went 12-15.

So in regards to the newfangled, power game, Sunday was thumbs up for Olson, and thumbs down for Jay and Gossett. Funny how that works.

On Tuesday, the A’s resume their trip in Texas with Sean Manaea (1-4 in his last five starts) facing former Giant Matt Moore (1-5 in 10 appearances).

 

 

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Farquhar throws out first pitch recovering from aneurysm; Seahawks’ Russell wants to help move team to Portland; plus more

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photo from the nytimes.com: Chicago White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar (43) tosses out the first pitch Friday June 1st at Cellular One Field before their meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar throws out first pitch six weeks after suffering brain aneurysm

2 Seahawks quarterback and wife want to bring MLB to Portland, Ore.

3 Giants win third in a row, beat Phillies with three-hitter.

4 Royals bounce back to beat A’s Saturday after Friday’s 16-0 pounding by Oakland.

5 RIP Bruce Kison age 68 – winning pitcher in first nighttime World Series game in 1971.

Daniel Dullum on the MLB The Show podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Montas’ Masterpiece: A’s Blowout Royals 16-0

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Matthew Harrington

In the one full season the Oakland A’s have had Frankie Montas on the roster after a 2016 trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he had exclusively pitched from the bullpen. His days of relief look to be long over if his 2018 campaign is an indication of the type of player the A’s acquired after shipping Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to LA at the deadline.

Montas (2-0, 0.64 ERA) fired eight innings of shutout ball, picking up his second win in as many starts Friday night in Kansas City on a night when he didn’t have to be perfect. Overshadowing Montas’ seven-hit gem is the offensive outburst of 16 runs by the Green and Gold, good for an easy 16-0 win.

Matt Olson and Dustin Fowler each hit two home runs and plated nine RBIs. Stephen Piscotty knocked in two runs on a bases-loaded double and Khris Davis scored two on an RBI single. Chad Pinder and Jonathan Lucroy were the only A’s starters to not knock in a run, but Lucroy did go 3-for-5 on the night.

Olson took Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-6, 6.08 ERA) deep twice, blasting homers 10 and 11 of the year off the struggling starter. In total, Kennedy went three innings, allowing eight earned runs. Most of the damage off Kennedy came in the third after the A’s entered the inning up 1-0 then knocked him around for seven in the frame.

Scott Barlow stopped the bleeding, allowing just one run in his three innings of work, but relievers Brian Flynn (four runs) and Jason Adam (three runs) coughed up the Royals second seven-run inning of the game in the top of the ninth.

Reliever Emilio Pagan came in for Montas in the bottom of the ninth, yielding a hit but pucnhing out two to close out the game and hand Montas the official win assumed likely six innings ago. For Montas, it’s a second-straight win in as many starts after returning to the club after a sprained UCL kept him out of play since spring training. His first start was an absolute game, going six innings against the Diamondbacks, allowing three hits and a lone earned run while punching out seven.

His stuff wasn’t as hard to hit today, K’ing only two Royals. But what he lacked in electric stuff, he made up for in efficency. He needed just 99 pitches, 67 for strikes, to get through eight innings. If not for the recent shoulder injury, its likely manager Bob Melvin would have thrown him out for the recent shoulder injury. Not bad for a guy the A’s were using solely in long relief last season. Out of the pen, Montas went 1-1 with a 7.03 ERA.

Trevor Cahill takes the mound Saturday for the A’s facing his former team. Cahill played for the Royals last season after coming over in a July trade. He’ll be opposed by another pitcher facing his former team, with Jason Hammel taking the bump for Kansas City. Hammel pitched for Oakland in 2014 after coming over in the July 4th trade that also netted the A’s Jeff Samardzija.

A’s bats come alive to beat the Rays 7-3; Mengden wins sixth game of the year

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@Athletics photo: A’s starter Daniel Mengden, who pitched for eight innings gets the win on Thursday afternoon over the Tampa Bay Rays to avoid a sweep at the Oakland Coliseum

By Jerry Feitelberg

Oakland- Tha A’s salvaged the finale of the four-game series as they hit three home runs to help Daniel Mengden win his sixth game of the year. Mengden was brilliant for eight innings as he allowed no runs and just three hits. He stumbled a bit in the ninth, but the A’s bullpen quelled the Rays rally to win 7-3. The Rays’ Ryne Stanek, who, usually pitches out of the bullpen, was selected to continue Kevin Cash’s program of using relievers to start.

The Rays were hoping to sweep the A’s as their pitching had held the A’s to just three runs in the last three games. The A’s hitters were scuffling, but today, they snapped out of the hitting funk. The A’s Khris Davis, who was on the 10-day DL, was cleared to play and he helped get the team going when he doubled in his first at-bat. The A’s also hit three home runs to aid Mengden’s cause. The A’s had hit just 19 at home so far this year as compared to 47 on the road. The changed the numbers when the three Matts, Olson, Chapman, and Joyce all homered.

In the bottom of the second, the A’s exploded to score three times.  The A’s had scored just three runs in the 4-game series with the Rays had to be ecstatic as the bats came alive. Khris Davis, in his first at-bat after being on the 10-day DL, doubled to right-centerfield. Chad Pinder walked to give the A’s runners at first and second with one out. Bruce Maxwell struck out for the second out. Stephen Piscotty, who has been scuffling, doubled to the left-field corner to drive in Davis and Pinder. Mark Canha followed with a single to give the A’s the lead 2-0 after two complete.

The A’s scored two runs on two hits in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-0 lead. With one out, Matt Olson hit a solo home run to right. Two batters later, Matt Chapman sent a Ryan Yarbrough pitch into outer space for his ninth of the season.

Matt Joyce joined the homer parade in the eighth. Stephen Piscotty walked to put a man on first with one out. The Rays recorded the second out of the inning when Mark Canha popped out to the Rays’ first baseman Brad Miller in foul territory. Joyce then blasted his seventh big fly to put the A’s in the driver’s seat 7-0.

A’s manager let Mengden start the ninth. Mengden gave up a single to C.J.Cron and Joey Wendle to put men on first and second with no out. Rays’ catcher Wilson Ramos doubled to drive in Cron and Wendle. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Josh Lucas to pitch. Mengden received a standing ovation from the 12, 070 fans in attendance. Lucas struck out Daniel Robertson for the first out. He then walked Brad Miller. Lucas struck out Rob Refsnyder for the second out. He needed one more out to get the save, but he couldn’t retire Christian Arroyo. Aroyo slammed a double into left field to drive in Ramos. Miller stopped at third base. Melvin brought in closer Blake Treinen to end the game. Rays’ right fielder Josh Field hit a blooper that looked as if it was going to fall in for a hit. Chad Pinder made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch to end the game. It was not easy as the ball bounced off Pinder’s glove, but he somehow was able to grab the ball with his bare hand as he fell to the ground.  The A’s win 7-3

Game Notes: Mengden had his scoreless streak end at a career-high 25 innings. It was the longest streak by an A’s pitcher since Sean Doolittle in 2014 (26.1) and the longest by an A’s starter since Corey Lidle in 2002 (32.0). Mengden also pitched 16 consecutive innings without issuing a walk. He has won four consecutive games for the first time in his career. Blake Treinen recorded his 13th save of the year, and it was his 10th save in May tying him with Dennis Eckersley for the most saves in May in Oakland history.

The A’s seven runs ended a 14-game consecutive streak of 4 runs or less. They finished the month with a record of 15-14 which was the first winning record in May since 2014.

The line score for Oakland was 7 runs, 7 hits, and no errors. The Rays’ line was 3 runs, 7 hits, and 2 errors. The A’s improve to 29-28 while the Rays fall to 28-27.

Up Next: The A’s start a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals Friday night in Kansas City. They are off on Monday before going to Texas for two more with the Rangers. Frankie Montas, who pitched well in his last start, will handle the pitching chores for the Green and Gold and the Royal will start the veteran righty, Ian Kennedy. Kennedy is 1-5 and has an ERA of 5.15. Game time is at 5:15 pm PST.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Oakland 3-5 on current homestand so far; looking to have breakout offense against Rays

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Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

First of all let’s talk about Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nathan Eovaldi who was coming off his second Tommy John surgery and hadn’t pitched since August 10, 2016. Eovaldi pitched six innings reached his 70 pitch count and was throwing a no hitter and left the game for reliever Wilmer Font who was an A’s pitcher once upon a time until the A’s designated him for assignment and the Rays picked him up.

Font gave up the only hit in the ball game for the A’s when the A’s Jed Lowrie got a single that broke it up. If the Rays succeeded with the no hitter it would be the first time since 1991 that the A’s would have been no hit.

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

 

Beyond Quiet: A’s limited to one hit, commit four errors in 6-0 loss to Tampa Bay

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s avoided the no-no. They did not avoid the oh-no.

On a quiet night–emphasis on quiet–at the Coliseum, the A’s were shutout 6-0 (the third time the A’s have been shut out in their last eight games), limited to one hit, committed four errors, and did so in front of the smallest crowd of the season to date.

That’s the oh-no.

The momentum from sweeping the Blue Jays four straight in Toronto? Completely disappeared. The A’s have opened their home stand following the once in a decade achievement in Canada by losing four of six. And apparently, losing their offense in the process as well. The A’s have scored four runs or fewer in each of their last 14 home games, tying an Oakland A’s record for such unwatchable things.

Unwatchable? The announced crowd of 6,705 was the smallest in Oakland since 2003.

“We’re struggling,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re never as bad as it seems when it’s your worst, and you’re never at your best when things are going great. We’ve got to find a middle ground somewhere.”

Occupying the middle ground on Wednesday–and making sure the A’s weren’t welcome there–was Nathan Eovaldi, the oft-injured, flamethrower who started for the Rays in his first start in nearly two years after a second, Tommy John procedure, and a follow-up procedure on his elbow.

Simply, Eovaldi was so good it’s like where do we start. Well, with his first pitch, clocked at 98 mph. From there, Eovaldi dealt, retiring 18 batters and walking Matt Chapman on four pitches. He started 13 of the 19 batters he faced with a strike, but only struck out four. Quick outs, unhittable pitches, and then Eovaldi was gone after six. What other decision could Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash make?

“Every time he gets on the mound the velocity is there,” Cash said. “It’s kind of “wow factor” velocity, but you learn that’s him.”

“He did not look really crisp with the pitches (thrown in the first inning) and the command, and he did a nice job of taking a deep breath and getting back in the zone. And then he just went on cruise control after that.”

“I would have liked to stay out there until I gave up a hit, but I understand the situation as well,” Eovaldi said of his inevitable, early departure.

Reliever Wilmer Font, the former Athletic making his Tampa Bay debut, would allow a hit to Jed Lowrie in the seventh, breaking up the potential no-hitter. But Font rolled through the seventh and eighth, then Vidal Nuno pitched a flawless ninth in a non-save situation.

Instead of hits, the smattering of A’s fans were treated to errors, two from Chad Pinder, playing shortstop while Marcus Semien was off at the hospital awaiting the birth of his child.

While the errors elicited groans from the crowd, they did not contribute to the Rays’ four runs off Sean Manaea, who again was off his game. Manaea’s biggest mistake was a 3-1, fastball that Rob Refsnyder transformed into a three-run homer in the third.

Manaea’s win-loss record fell to 5-6, after he started the season 4-1 in April.

“I’m trying to figure out some things,” Manaea said. “It’s just not working right now.”

Khris Davis, the A’s leading home run hitter with 13, is expected to return to the lineup Thursday afternoon  for the series finale with Ray’s. Davis missed nine games with a groin strain.

A’s come up short in 4-3 loss to Rays

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Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Tampa Bay Rays edged the A’s 4-3 in the second game of the four-game series at Oakland Coliseum Tuesday night.

Rays’ starter, Blake Snell, improved his record to 7-3 as he baffled the A’s, allowing just one run, which was unearned, and two hits. He struck out seven.

A’s starter Daniel Gossett allowed three runs and eight hits. He was tagged with the loss. He gave up three consecutive home runs in the third inning.

The Rays scored three times in the third inning. Gossett struck out the first two hitters that he faced. The next three hitters, C.J. Cron (former A’s second baseman), Joey Wendle, and Rays’ catcher Wilson Ramos, all hit solo home runs.

It was the first time since August 1st, 2017 that the Rays hit back-to-back homers against the Houston Astros, and it was the first time since they hit three consecutive dingers in a game since September 21st, 2016 when they did it against the New York Yankees.

The A’s put one on the board in their half of the third. Catcher Bruce Maxwell reached on an error. Snell retired the next two hitters. Jed Lowrie, the designated hitter, doubled to left field to drive in Maxwell. The run was unearned. Rays lead 3-1 after three complete.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Rays’ pitcher Jamie Schultz made his Major League debut and had quite a debut as he struck out all the hitters he faced. Welcome to the Bigs, Rook!

The A’s had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rays’ reliever, righty Chaz Roe, walked Marcus Semien to start the inning. The next batter, Matt Chapman, had a broken bat blooper that fell in safely in right field. Semien made it third, and Chapman reached second on Carlos Gomez’ throwing error. Roe struck out Lowrie and Mark Canha and retired Chad Pinder on a routine ground ball out. The Rays still lead 3-1 as the teams head into the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Rays’ shortstop, former A’s farmhand, Daniel Robertson clobbered his sixth dinger of the year to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead. The A’s rallied to score twice. Sergio Romo, who was a closer for the San Francisco Giants, was Ray.s manager Kevin Cash’s choice to finish the game. Matt Olson singled off Romo to start the rally. Stephen Piscotty doubled down the left field line to drive in Olson. Piscotty went to third on a ground ball out and scored on Bruce Maxwell’s ground ball to first base. Romo dodged a bullet when Marcus Semien hit a long fly ball that had the distance for a home run, but the ball went foul. Romo then retired Semien for the final out of the game.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s drop to 28-27 and the Rays improve to 27-26.

The Rays’ line was four runs, 10 hits, and two errors. All four of the Rays’ runs were the result of solo homers.

The A’s line was three runs, five hits, and one error.

Time of game was two hours and 55 minutes.

A very sparse crowd of 7,521 fans were on hand to see the A’s lose.

Up Next: Wednesday night’s game will feature the A’s big lefty Sean Manaea (5-5, 3.34 ERA) pitching for Oakland and righty Nathan Eovaldi going for the Rays. Manaea has been scuffling lately, and he will be hoping to return to the form that he showed earlier in the season. Game time is set for 7:05 pm PST.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s getting good pitching, they just need some offense

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mlb.com photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden throwing a shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Saturday May 26, 2018 at the Oakland Coliseum

Charlie O on the A’s podcast:

1) The A’s took 2 of 3 from Arizona and then lost the first game of the Tampa Bay series in an 1-0 extra inning heartbreaker. In those 4 games they scored 4 runs, what’s happening at the plate?

2) what about the pitching? How the staff perform in these games?

3) you say the A’s have some good news coming this week.

4) I have noticed on our Twitter account you have been doing some fantasy betting on A’s games? Why? And how are you doing?

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

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Oakland and Tampa Bay have similar business model situations; Both teams in need of new stadiums

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Photo credit: @SFGate

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, who opened a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, started the series with the Rays at .500 on this current homestand. The A’s started the homestand against the Seattle Mariners, a very good team who is in second place followed by Arizona.

The M’s won two out of three from the slumping Minnesota Twins over the weekend. The A’s and Rays as far as front office organization situations are concerned are in the same boat. The attendance for both teams are low and their in two different divisions but similar at this time in history. Both teams are struggling in their current ball parks. They both are in need of getting new parks built. The A’s are looking to go to Jack London Square and build a waterfront park. The Rays want a waterfront park in Tampa Bay and want to get out of Tropicana Field in St Petersburg.

The A’s and Rays also speaking of sharing business models. It gets down to on the field and both teams also have bullpens on their home fields. They are two of three teams in MLB that have bullpens on the field, the Giants being the other. Bullpens on the field became an issue after the Giants outfielder Mac Williamson tripped on the AT&T bullpen mound and got a concussion in April.

I’m old-school. I like to see the bullpens on the field, baseball has changed. The fans still enjoy to see the bullpens and you like to see the pitchers warming up in the bullpens. When you broadcast a game, you can see whose loosening up. Some stadiums you don’t see whose warming up.

There’s more on That’s Amaury listen to Amaury’s podcast weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com