Tag: Oakland A’s

A’s to meet the Mariners in Seattle for a three-game series

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Photo credit: seattletimes.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners will host the Oakland A’s for a three-game series starting Tuesday night in the Emerald City. The A’s and Mariners met earlier this year on Mid-April, and the Mariners won two of the three games. The A’s only win came when Sean Manaea pitched. Manaea beat the M’s and their ace Felix Hernandez by a score of 2-1.

The Mariners’ record so far is 16-11, and they are in second place in the AL West two games behind the first place Houston Astros. The Los Angels Angels fell into third place as they were swept at home by the rampaging New York Yankees who have now won nine straight games. The Mariners had a good weekend, too, as they won three out of four from the Cleveland Indians. The A’s are in fourth place in the division with a record of 14-14. The A’s are 3-3 on the current road trip and return home to play the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros.

The Mariners will send Felix Hernandez to the mound Tuesday night. Hernandez lost his last start against the A’s but is 25-10 lifetime against Oakland. Andrew Triggs will pitch for the Green and Gold. Triggs is 2-0 and has an ERA of 4.70. He allowed just one run and four hits in six innings of work in his last start against the Rangers. Triggs has not allowed no more than two runs in four of his five starts. On Wednesday, left James Paxton will pitch for Seattle. Paxton is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.71. Paxton has been so-so this season but he has had success against the A’s, and his  MLB career record is 31-21 and an ERA of 3.41. The A’s have not announced their starting pitcher for Wednesday due to the demotion of Kendall Graveman to Nashville. There is speculation that the A’s will recall lefty Brett Anderson from Nashville to make a start. Daniel Gossett may also be recalled. On Thursday, Erasmo Ramirez will go fo Seattle. Ramirez is 0-7 lifetime against Oakland. A’s manager Bob Melvin has not named a starter for Thursday, either. Sean Manaea would be likely as he pitched last Friday against Houston.

Whatever pitcher faces the Mariners will have to be on the top of his game as the Mariners are loaded. Dee Gordon, who came to Seattle from Miami over the winter, is filling the bill as the leadoff hitter. Gordon is hitting .309 and has an OBP of .339. Shortstop Jean Segura has been steady, and he is hitting .298. Hopefully, the A’s pitchers can keep these rabbits of the bases as they will have to face the big boppers who are Robison Cano, Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Haniger, and Ryon Healy. Cano has been an All-Star for most of his career, and he is off to a good start again. Cano is hitting .313 and has 3 homers and 14 RBIs. Cruz is getting warmed up, and he has done a lot of damage against Oakland over the years. Cruz has 5 dingers and 11 RBIs but he cannot and must not be taken lightly. The same goes for the veteran third baseman Kyle Seager. The leading power hitter in the Mariner lineup is right fielder Mitch Haniger. Haniger has sent 10 balls over the fences and has 27 RBIs to his credit. Haniger dealt the A’s some pain last season. The next fearsome power hitter will be former Athletic Ryon Healy. Healy was traded to Seattle for pitcher Emilio Pagan. Healy missed almost three weeks of the season due to a sprained ankle. He returned to action last Saturday and hit a home run in that game and two more on Sunday as the M’s beat the Indians 10-4. Ichiro Suzuki will be in left field as he fills in for Ben Gamel. Ichiro, who is his 40s, is no longer the hitter that he was when he started his career with Seattle in 2001, is still dangerous. The catching chores will be handled by Mike Zunino and David Freitas.

The Mariners’ bullpen is staffed by Juan Nicasio, Nick Vincent, Dan Altavilla, Marc Rzepczynski, James Pazos, Chason Bradford, Wade LeBlanc, and the closer Edwin Diaz.

The A’s will respond with an offense that has been quite productive. They have two players will an OPS(on-base percentage plus slugging) over 800 and three players with an OPS of over 950. Khris Davis leads the team with 7 homers. Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie are second with six each. Mark Canha, Matt Olson, Chad Pinder, and Marcus Semien each have three. The A’s have been hitting well, and they have been getting excellent starting pitching from Manaea, Triggs, Trevor Cahill, and Daniel Mengden.

The A’s have made some adjustments to the bullpen. The A’s moved Chris Hatcher down from being the eighth-inning setup man. Hatcher has been struggling, and that role may go either Ryan Dull or rookie Lou Trivino or possible veterans Yusmeiro Petit or Santiago Casilla. Pett and Casilla have done well recently and have earned the confidence of manager Bob Melvin. The A’s have just one lefty, Daniel Coloumbe, in the bullpen and his performance this season has been shaky. Coloumbe was sent down to Nashville, but he was recalled due to the injury to Ryan Buchter. Blake Treinen remains the closer and Treinen has recorded three saves, the last coming on April 15th.

The A’s would like to win two of the three in Seattle and finish the road trip with a winning record. The Mariners have other thoughts as they know the Yankees are playing the Astros and will be able to gain ground if the Yankees take the series in Houston.

A’s survive Gerrit Cole, but get done in by seventh inning miscues in 8-4 loss to Astros

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Photo credit: @astros

By Morris Phillips

Make no mistake, there simply isn’t room for mistakes when facing the World Champion Astros.

The A’s got an idea of what it will take to compete against arguably the best team in the majors over the weekend, and errors aren’t a part of the winning equation. In a tie game in the seventh inning on Sunday, and with a chance to capture the three-game series, the A’s started booting the ball around.

A leadoff walk, followed by three Oakland errors propelled Houston’s three-run rally, in their 8-4 win over the A’s that gave them the initial series of the season between the AL West foes. Afterwards, the A’s had no one to blame but themselves.

“Defensively, we just gave it up,” Jonathan Lucroy admitted. “We gave them too many free bags, and you give guys free bags, you’re going to get hurt, especially against a team like that. We got to be better on the defensive side.”

Until the pivotal frame, the A’s seemed to have a grasp on the monumental task at hand. Tied 3-3 after 6 1/2 innings, the A’s had given as good as they got, and were in position to capture the game, and the series. That despite getting shutout 11-0 on Saturday, and suffering through the entirety of Gerrit Cole’s 12-strikeout performance.

By striking out 12 A’s, Cole set an Astros franchise record for strikeouts in the month of April with 61. That number allowed Cole–the Astros’ key off-season trade acquisition from the Pirates–to join and surpass Randy Johnson, Mike Scott and J.R. Richard, as good a trio of strikeout pitchers to come out of any MLB organization.

But in and around all the strikeouts, the A’s scratched together single runs in the third, sixth and seventh to tie.  The A’s were in position to steal one, only to rob themselves.

The A’s get a much-needed day off Monday before heading to Safeco Field, where they’ll open a three-game series against the Mariners Tuesday at 7:10 pm PT.

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Panda keeps Dodgers off balance in relief for SF; Twins’ Buxton out; Bryant adds more padding to his helmet

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(Photo: Lance Iversen, USA TODAY Sports) San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval became the first position player since Greg Litton (1991) to come in and pitch last Saturday night at AT&T Park in the first game of a doubleheader

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Panda works an inning in relief for the Giants/Giants second baseman is on the 10 day DL and might need surgery for his thumb and is expected to be out ten days

2 Injury-prone Twins OF Byron Buxton on the shelf again; Cubs’ Kris Bryant adding more protection to his batting helmet

3 Diamondbacks beat Washington on bases-loaded walk

4 Yanks skipper Aaron Boone – in uniform – asked for his credentials by security in Anaheim

5 Reds’ Joey Votto has his own ideas about the MLB schedule

Daniel does the MLB The Show podcast each weekend at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

What just happened? Astros blowout the A’s on Saturday night 11-0

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Altuve
Astros celebrate Photo: @astros

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics ran headlong into reality at 100 mph as the World Champion Houston Astros reminded the “Green and Gold” who they were playing as they were humbled on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. The Astros shutout the Athletics 11-0 before a delighted sellout crowd who came to see their champs crush the young upstarts.

Lance McCullers Jr. dominated the A’s. In fact, he held them hitless through the first five innings. Mark Canha broke up the potential no-hitter in the top of the sixth inning when he hit a single to center. Stephen Piscotty then singled to right moving Canha up to second and A’s fans began to have hope that their team had solved McCullers’ pitches and were about to break open the game. Bruce Maxwell promptly hit into a double play and Matt Joyce flied out to left field to end the inning. That would prove to be the only two hits that McCullers would allow in his 7.0-innings of work.

The A’s would have only two additional baserunners in the contest as they managed to get a base hit and a base-on-balls off Astros reliever Hector Rondon in the eighth inning. Tony Sipp came in to mop it up for Houston in the top of the ninth to preserve the win.

Oakland used six pitchers who gave up 11 runs (10 earned) off 13 hits which included four home runs. A’s pitchers walked six Astros and struck out six.

On the Hill

This game was really all about pitching. For Houston, it was about pitching to perfection. For Oakland, it was about pitching breakdowns.

Houston

McCullers
Lance McCullers Jr. was in command on the mound Photo: @astros
  • Lance McCullers Jr.: he picks up his third win of the season to raise his record to 3-1 in five starts. He pitched 7.0-innings giving up no runs off just two hits. He walked none and struck out seven A’s batters. He threw 100 pitches (65 strikes).
  • Hector Rondon: he had the rockiest inning of the night for the Astros giving up a hit and a base-on-balls in his 1.0-inning on the bump. He threw 21 pitches (11 strikes).
  • Tony Sipp was brought in to work the top of the ninth and he did his job very well. Sipp gave up no runs, no hits, allowed no baserunners and struck out one.

Oakland

  • Daniel Mengden: Mengden would not want to use this as an excuse but he did bury his grandfather in Austin on Friday. He worked just 2.1-innings giving up five runs (4 earned) off six hits. He walked one and struck out one. Mengden was not sharp on Saturday and took the loss as his record drops to 2-3 on the young season.
  • The A’s used five relief pitchers in the contest.
  • Oakland has to be concerned about the performance of Wilmer Font who they just picked up from the Dodgers. Oakland hoped that Font would be able to work long relief and possibly spot start. On Saturday night, he gave up three runs (all earned) off three hits which were all home runs. That is not the way any pitcher wants to start out with a new team. It may be time to go back to the drawing board on that decision.

At the Plate

Astros

  • Jose Altuve: “The little big man” showed why is worth the “big bucks” by going 4-for-5 in the game scoring two runs and picking up two RBI. He hit his second home run of the year off Font and picked up his fifth double the season off Mengden. The man is a monster.
  • Alex Bregman had a big game for the ‘Stros. He went 2-for-3 at bat picking up two RBI. He also walked twice. Bregman now has 12 RBI for the young season.
  • George Springer hit his fifth HR of the season. He upped his RBI total to 17.

Athletics

  • They had three hits: Chapman, Canha, and Piscotty. All singles.

Up Next

Because the A’s had the big win on Friday night, Sunday becomes “the rubber game” of the match. Yes, the Athletics have the opportunity to win the series on the road in Houston if they can beat the Astros on Sunday afternoon.

Houston is going to send RHP Gerrit Cole to the hill on Sunday. Cole is 2-1 on the year in five starts. He has struck out 49 batters and walked just eight. Cole has allowed just three home runs. He has a WHIP of 0.77.

The A’s will counter with Trevor Cahill who is 1-0 on the season in two starts. He has an ERA of 2.25 in 12 innings pitched. Cahill has struck out 14 hitters and walked just four. He has a WHIP of 1.08.

This game has the potential of being a real pitchers duel. Game time 11:10 PDT.

The Season of Sean Manaea Continues; A’s Handcuff Astros in 8-1 Win

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

Sean Manaea is a Cy Young front-runner. Oakland A’s fans are happy to hear those words uttered, not from overly optimistic fanboys but uttered from the mouths of the nation’s finest sports writers. Six starts into the 2018 season, the Throwin’ Samoan has given the A’s something they didn’t expect when mapping out the 2018 season: a bonafide ace.

Manaea (4-2, 1.03 ERA) held the Houston Astros (17-10) reigning World Champions and one of the hottest teams on the planet, to just one run at home Friday night, with the A’s (14-12) throttling Houston 8-1. Manaea followed up his masterpiece no-hitter over Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox Saturday by emphatically outdueling another team’s ace, Dallas Keuchel, Friday. Manaea fired seven innings, allowing four hits while striking out seven. He now leads the American League with four wins, holds the AL’s lowest ERA at 1.03 and leads the Majors with a 0.62 WHIP. To put it simply, he’s the best.

The only run Manaea gave up Friday the Astros had to scrap for. George Springer reached base in the bottom of the fourth after Marcus Semien’s throwing error, moved to second base on a sacrifice fly then came home on Carlos Correa’s RBI single. When all was said and done, Manaea’s line would read one run, unearned. He also allowed just the one walk, throwing 65 of 95 pitches for strikes.

The A’s spotted Manaea a run in the top of the fifth to tie the game on Matt Chapman’s sixth homer of the season, then Pinder tagged Keuchel (1-4, 4.00) with a two-run shot for a 3-1 lead in the top of the 6th. Matt Olson would single home a run in the seventh, but Mark Canha’s fourth homer in the inning off Keuchel would be the backbreaker and a 6-1 lead.

For how well Manaea was pitching,  a 6-1 lead felt like a 500-run lead, not a five-run lead. The A’s made the mountain all the more insurmountable when Jed Lowrie tripled home two runs for an 8-1 lead. Ryan Dull and Santiago Casilla pitched scoreless innings to give Oakland the win.

Manaea’s performance moves Oakland just 2.5 games back of the lead in the AL West leaders Los Angeles & Houston. If Manaea continues to pitch up to the potential that made him the centerpiece of the Ben Zobrist trade in 2015, they could make some noise in division. They’ll look to continue their quest for legitimacy Saturday when Daniel Mengden opposes the Astros’ Lance McCullers in Game 2 of the series.

Preview: Weekend series in Houston between A’s and Astros

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Photo credit: @OddsShark

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, following the blueprint developed by the Houston Astros, will meet the Astros for the first time this season for three games starting Friday night. The Astros, who were terrible and lost over 100 games for three straight years, are now the defending World Champion Astros who are at top of the baseball world. The Astros did not get to the top by signing expensive free agents. They did a fantastic job of scouting young players and mixing in a few veterans in order to become successful.

The Astros built the club around Jose Altuve. Altuve is 5-foot-6 and plays as if he was 6-foot-6. Altuve is a terrific hitter, and he became the American League’s Most Valuable Player last season. The Astros signed shortstop Carlo Correa, a Puerto Rico native, and he was Rookie of the Year in his first season. Other standouts on the Astros roster are center fielder George Springer, who played baseball at the University of Connecticut, second-year third baseman Alex Bregman, and Cuban refugee Yulieski Gurriel. Marwyn Gonzalez is a super-sub as he can play in the infield as well as the outfield. Derek Fisher plays in left field and former Athletic, Josh Reddick, plays in right. The catching chores are handled by Brian McCann. Evan Gattis, who can also catch, is the designated hitter.

The Astros bolstered their starting rotation when they acquired Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers last season. Verlander was instrumental in Houston win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. Over the winter the Astros made another move as they made a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the services of right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole. The rest of the rotation includes former Cy Young award winner Lance McCullers Jr., and the veteran hurler Charlie Morton.  Their long reliever is the former starter, Collin McHugh. Joe Smith, Will Harris, and Brad Peacock are the setup guys, and the Astros will use Ken Giles and Chris Devenski as their closers.

The A’s come into the series having won eight of the last 10 games played. They swept the White Sox and took two out three from the Red Sox and Texas Rangers. The A’s lineup can be and is formidable. They have guys with a lot of pop in their bats up and down the lineup. Marcus Semien, Chad Pinder, Mark Canha, Matt Chapman, and Khris Davis are all threats to hit the ball out of the park at any time during the game. Jonathan Lucroy and Stephen Piscotty are also making contributions to the A’s offense. Matt Olson and Matt Joyce are the A’s power hitters from the left side of the plate. The hottest hitter of all the A’s players is the switch-hitter Jed Lowrie. Lowrie is hitting about .360 and has six homers and 24 RBIs. He has been very consistent and has come through with several clutch hits.

Sean Manaea is the ace of the A’s staff. He has gone over seven innings in all five of his starts, and he pitched a no-hitter last Saturday night against the Boston Red Sox. Manaea has been very consistent and is now brimming with confidence. He will have his work cut out for him as he faces the very formidable Houston Astro lineup. He will be opposed by Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel is 1-3 with an ERA of 3.10. He won his first game of the season last week defeating the Chicago White Sox.

On Saturday, Daniel Mengden (2-2, 3.86 ERA) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Lance McCullers Jr. Mengden beat the Red Sox last Sunday and gave up just one run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. McCullers is 3-1 with an ERA of 4.67. McCullers won his last two starts against Seattle and Chicago.

Sunday’s game will feature Trevor Cahill (1-0, 2.25 ERA) going against Gerrit Cole (2-1, 1.29 ERA). Cahill will be making his third start of the season. In his last start against Texas, Cahill went five innings and allowed three runs and four hits including a home run. Cole is the second pitcher in Astro history to throw at least seven innings while allowing two runs or less in his first five starts of the season.

The series should be a good one as the Astros want to show the A’s that they are the top dogs and the A’s want to show the Astros that they are on the way up and can not be taken lightly any longer.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s winning ways get them just three games out of first place

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Photo credit: @BleacherReport

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Oakland A’s, who swept the Chicago White Sox, took two of three from the Red Sox and won the first two games in Arlington from the Texas Rangers. They’re now only just three games out of first place.

#2 The A’s are getting the hitting now from Marcus Semien .269, Chad Pinder .281, Jed Lowrie .363, and Khris Davis .258.

#3 They just got by the Rangers on Tuesday night with a one-run 3-2 win and it took some good pitching this time to win that one from Andrew Triggs (2-0), going six innings, four hits, and one run.

#4 Looking ahead after this series, the A’s head to Minute Maid Field and face the Houston Astros, who are in first place in the AL West–ahead of the Los Angeles Angels.

#5 The A’s send out starter Sean Manaea (3-2) he’ll face the Astros Dallas Keuchel (1-3) on Friday night. With the A’s going strong right now, how do you see them matching up with Houston and after Manaea’s last start throwing a no-hitter last Saturday night against the Boston Red Sox?

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

 

Rangers snap A’s four-game win streak with 4-2 victory

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

There was good news and bad news in the loss the A’s suffered Wednesday night at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

The good news was that A’s starter Kendall Graveman went six innings, threw 112 pitches, struck out seven and allowed just three earned runs on six hits. The bad news was that it wasn’t good enough to get his first win of the year. Graveman took the loss and is now 0-5, but his ERA improved to 8.89.

Doug Fister made his first start since April 9 and didn’t make it out of the fifth inning. The A’s had chances to score early in the game but couldn’t get a needed hit to put runs on the board. Fister threw 105 pitches in 4 2/3 inning of work and left the game trailing 2-1.

The A’s put two runs on the board in the top of the third. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien singled with one out. Fister retired the hot-hitting Jed Lowrie, but could not get by A’s DH Khris Davis. Khrush sent a Fister pitch over the fence in right center field to give the A’s the lead. Texas scored a run in the bottom of the fourth. Joey Gallo started the rally with a single to right. Ranger first baseman Ronald Guzman singled to send Gallo to third. Catcher Juan Centeno hit a ground ball to Jed Lowrie, who got the force out at second, but Centeno beat the relay to first. The A’s challenged the call, but the call was upheld and the run was scored. The A’s lead 2-1 after four.

In the bottom of the fifth, Graveman retired the first two hitters he faced. Jurickson Profar doubled and scored on a single by Nomar Mazara, who went to second on the throw home. Graveman walked Joey Gallo to put men on at first and second. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, playing third base in place of the injured Andre Beltre, singled to drive in Mazara to put the Rangers ahead 3-2.

The Rangers added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. The big hit was a triple by Guzman to drive in the Rangers’ fourth run.

The A’s could do nothing in the ninth, and their four-game winning streak was over.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s record is now 13-12. The Rangers improve to 9-17

The line score for Oakland was two runs, four hits, and two errors. Texas improves to 9-17. Their line was four runs, eight hits, and one error.

Khris Davis’ home run was the seventh of the season and the 19th in 44 games against Texas.

Reliever Ryan Buchter left the game in the seventh inning after facing one hitter. Buchter complained about shoulder stiffness.

Up Next: The A’s are off Thursday, and they head to Houston to face the World Champion Houston Astros for a three-game series. Friday night’s game will be a battle of two excellent pitchers. The A’s Sean Manaea will be making his first start since he threw a no-hitter last Saturday night against Boston. Manaea is 3-2 and has an ERA of just 1.23. The A’s will face Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel is a former Cy Young award winner and is 1-3 for the year, but he has a respectable ERA of 3.10. Game time will be at 5:05 pm PT.

A’s win fourth in a row as they escape with a 3-2 victory over the Rangers

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

By Jerry Feitelberg

It was an old-fashioned pitching duel for the first five innings of the Tuesday night game between the Oakland A’s and the Texas Rangers. Andrew Triggs, who did not have a good outing last week against the White Sox last week, was on the top of his game as he and the Rangers’ Cole Hamels each shut down their opponents’ offense for the first five innings.

Things changed in the sixth. Hamels retired the first two hitters he faced. Mark Canha, who has played well since his recall from Nashville, hit a flyball to deep right field. Rangers’ right fielder, Nomar Mazara, appeared to have made the catch but his wrist hit the wall, and the ball dropped out of his glove, and the A’s had the lead 1-0. For Canha, it was his third big fly of the season. The Rangers tied the game in their half of the sixth. Delino DeShields reached safely when he laid down a rarely seen push bunt. The ball was placed between first baseman Matt Olson and Triggs. Olson fielded the bunt but no one covered first, and DeShields was safe. Triggs nailed Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch to put men on at first and second with no out. With Mazara at-bat, Triggs and A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy got mixed up on what pitch was coming, and the ball got past Lucroy to advance the runners. Lucroy was charged with a passed ball. Triggs walked Mazara to load the bases. Rangers’ veteran third baseman hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in DeShields with the tying run.

The A’s regained the lead in the top of the seventh. Lucroy doubled to start the inning but was thrown out at third. Marcus Semien followed with a double and that hit ended Hamels’ night. Matt Bush walked Matt Joyce who was pinch-hitting for Chad Pinder. The next hitter, Jed Lowrie doubled to drive in Semien with the A’s second run. With Khris Davis hitting, Rangers’ catcher Robinson Chirinos saw Joyce a little too far off third base and nailed him with a throw to Beltre for the second out of the frame. Davis then grounded out to end the threat.

The A’s scored another run in the eightth when Matt Olson doubled to drive in Matt Chapman from first base. The Rangers got a run back in the bottom of the eighth. Blake Treinen relieved Ryan Dull with one out. Rangers’ DH Shin-Soo Choo lined a shot of Treinen’s leg for a single. Treinen had to leave the game, and there was no word on the extent of the injury. Bob Melvin brought in Lou Trivino to pitch. Trivino struck out Mazara for the second out, but Adrian Beltre singled to deep right-center field to drive in Shoo. Beltre pulled up limping as he injured a hamstring and had to leave the game.

The A’s called on the veteran Santiago Casilla to close out the game. Casilla retired the side to preserve the win for Oakland. The A’s win 3-2.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the A’s improve to 13-11, and the Rangers fall to 8-17. Andrew Triggs improved to 2-0, and his ERA lowered to 4.70. Cole Hamels took the loss for Texas and is now 1-4 with an ERA of 4.41. Casilla picked his first save of the season.

Up Next: Game 3 of the three-game series will feature Kendall Graveman (0-4, 10.07 ERA) will be looking for his first win, and he will be opposed by the tall righty Doug Fister who will be making his first start since April 9th. Fister is 1-2 with an 3.59 ERA. Game time will be at 5:05 pm PT.

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: A’s continue roll; go 7 out of 8 to start road trip

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Photo credit: @lonestarball

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 The A’s have got red-hot, winning seven of their last eight games with a win to start the nine-game road trip over the Texas Rangers on Monday night 9-4 in Arlington last night.

#2 The A’s, if they aren’t getting great pitching, they’re getting great hitting and last night they got contributions from Marcus Semien, two runs and two hits, Stephen Piscotty scored a run, Jed Lowrie two hits a run scored, Khris Davis, two RBIs and a run scored.

#3 MLB records: MLB baseball had a record 32,884 strikeouts in 2008. In 2018, baseball will surpass that record on a pace of 43,163 if the swinging for the fence hitters keep this up.

#4 The LA Angels’ Shohei Ohtani pitched two innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday night, but had to leave due to a blister on his throwing hand.

#5 The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to their best start since 1992. Third place in the central only a game and a half out of first just behind St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio talent, is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum, and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com