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Sports Radio Service Visits with Northern California Prospect Max Stassi

Published on by Jeff HallLeave a comment

By Jeff Hall

OAKLAND, CA —Sports Radio Service caught up with Northern California product Max Stassi during the Astros series in Oakland

Stassi, 23, is a graduate of Yuba City High School and was called up to the Astros earlier this week. Stassi was drafted by the A’s in the 4th round in 2009 and was traded to the Astros along with Chris Carter and Brad Peacock for Jed Lowrie.

Max just completed his first full season in Triple A with Oklahoma City. “It was great, I learned a lot.” Said Stassi. “It was a great experience, and I’m looking forward to advancing from there .”, Stassi added.

Stassi is no doubt highly touted by the Astros. He is ranked by MLB.com as the Astros top catching prospect, and ranked as the Astros 19th overall prospect.

Stassi batted .247 with 9 homers, 20 doubles and 45 RBIs with Oklahoma City.

Not a bad season overall and he was selected to the Triple A All-Star team. “It was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”, said Stassi, about the opportunity to play in the game in Durham, North Carolina. “ I got to see my old buddy Andrew Susac, who also made the team, it was fun.”, said Stassi. (Susac is currently on the Giants Roster)

Life on the Road in the minors can be long. “Basically I say goodbye to my family in February”, Stassi said.  Max discussed the rare opportunities playing games near his home, both in Sacramento and in Oakland. “It’s something special, you don’t take it for granted playing close to home, it was really cool coming back home, almost kind of surreal.”

Stassi continues to stay connected to his hometown and for the past 6 years he hosts an annual charity event in Yuba City called Homers for the Homeless. “Its A home-run derby of sorts”, says Stassi. The event has raised nearly $100,000 since it started.

Click below to hear the interview!

Super Sam’s Triple Seals The Deal, Oakland Defeats Anaheim 5-3

Published on by kahlilnajar7Leave a comment
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – AUGUST 22: Sam Fuld #23 of the Oakland Athletics is congratulated by teammates after he scored against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the bottom of the six inning at O.co Coliseum on August 22, 2014 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

by Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – Sam Fuld hit a deep line shot to right center field in the bottom of the sixth that hit the wall that scored Alberto Callaspo from first to give the A’s their first lead of the game and proved to be the game winning run of the night. Fuld went 1 for 4 on the night with one RBI and one run and Alberto Callaspo went 2 for 4 with a run and of his own. Coco Crisp hit his second lead off homer of the year to contribute to the A’s scoring who are now 4-0 against the Angels at home this year.

On the offense coming through, especially Coco Crisp, head coach Bob Mevin said, “They hit a home run. Then Coco answers. That was big. That was huge. That was like alright we’re fine. You can’t put too much pressure on him but when we play our best he’s playing well.”

The bottom of the A’s batting order had 6 hits and three runs tonight.

“That’s what we need. We need to have a deep line up sometimes and that really is the strength of our line up and why offensively we’ve got the numbers we put up this year,” beamed Melvin.

Sonny Gray also had a gem of a game tonight. Gray (13-7) went 8 and 1/3 innings and gave up six hits, including a pair of homers but only allowed those two solo shots. Gray also struck out five and was backed up by some great defense by Josh Donaldson who started a nice double play in the top of the sixth. Gray is now 9-1 against all teams in the AL West.

“Mixing in all three of his pitches. Fastball had good life, curve ball backdoor to lefties, away from righties, enough change ups to keep you off balance. It was pretty impressive,” said Melvin on Gray.

Gray started off shaky in the first when after getting the Angels lead off batter to ground out, he threw an 81 mph curve ball that Mike Trout got a hold of and went over the left center field wall for his eighth home run of the year and give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Coco Crisp wasted no time to respond as he hit his 15th career lead off home run to the exact same spot and tied the game up at one a piece.

After the Trout home run, Gray was able to put out the next nine batters until Josh Hamilton ripped a curve ball into the right field stands to give the Angels the lead again 2-1.

The A’s tied it up in the bottom of the fifth when after a Crisp double and a Gentry walk, Josh Donaldson smacked a line drive to Angels pitcher Santiago who was able to get a hand on it and deflected the ball into the second baseman’s glove to get Gentry out at second but on a throwing error by shortstop Erick Aybar, Donaldson was able to advance to second and Crisp was able to cross the plate.

In the sixth, Sam Fuld came up and smacked his third triple of the year into right center to score Callaspo and give the A’s a 3-2 lead. Andy Parrino then followed with a sac fly to bring in Fuld and make it a 4-2 Oakland lead.

The A’s received an insurance run in the eighth when Stephen Vogt hit his ninth homer of the year to make it a 5-2 game. The Angels tried to make it interesting in the ninth as they put up a run against Sean Doolittle and got the bases loaded but he settled down and got Chris Ianetta to strike out and end the game 5-3.

Tomorrow the Angels send up their ace C.J. Wilson (10-8, 4.59) against the A’s ace Jon Lester (13-8, 2.58). Game time 6:05 pm.

 

The 2014 All-Star game

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Today, July 15th 2014 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota the American League All-Stars will face off against the National League All-Stars for the 85th time. The stakes are high as the league that wins will provide home field advantage for its representative in the 2014 World Series.

The All-Star game was the brainchild of Arch Ward who was a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune and it was to coincide with the celebration of Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. We don’t know if the All-Star game was to be a one time event or whether it was to become an annual event when it was created. Fortunately for baseball it has become an annual event and has been going strong for the past eighty-one years. There was only one exception and that happened in 1945 during World War II.

As John S. Bowman and Joel Zoss stated in the Pictorial History of Baseball”as part of the fabric of American culture, baseball is the common social ground between strangers, a world of possibilities and of chance, where “ its never over till it’s over.” It is a American tradition rich in legends, folklore and history, a never-ending story where every game is a new nine-inning chapter and every player has the chance to be the hero. Through the years every franchise has had its share of superstar players that stand out above the rest. These are the ones that bring the fans out to the ballpark and one one game brings them all together at once , the All-Star game.

The game this year will be no different. The great Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, will be playing his final All-Star game as he is retiring at the end of the season. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could hit a home run just as the Orioles Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken, Jr., did in his final All-Star game. Other great moments in All-Star games include Ted Williams’ home run in the 1941 game in Detroit. Johnny Callison’s walk-off home run in the 1964 game. Which player will win the MVP award as the A’s Terry Steinbach did in 1986.

The American League starters will have at least two future Hall of Fame inductees. Derek Jeter from the Yankees and Miguel Cabrera from the Detroit Tigers. There are other great players from both leagues but it may be a little too early to predict who will make it to the hall.

Just for informational purposes only- The Oakland A’s have six players on the AL Squad. Only one, third baseman, Josh Donaldson, is a starter but Catcher Derek Norris, inf/of Brandon Moss, Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are backups and are making the All-Star team for the first time. Pitchers Scott Kazmir and Sean Doolittle are also on the team. For Kazmir, it’s his third trip to the Midsummer classic Recently acquired pitcher Jeff Samardzija made the team as a representative for the Nation League but since he switched leagues cannot play. The San Francisco Giants are represented by star outfielder Hunter Pence and pitcher Tim Hudson.

For all the local players and everyone else around both leagues, it has to be a thrill to elected or selected to play in a game with the best of the best. In many ways it’s the culmination of a dream that a player has when starting out playing baseball as a kid. Each step along the way. Making the high school team, the college team, A ball the Double-A, Triple-A and the call up to the “show”. Each step along the way is great but being recognized as being one of the best of the best has to give a player the chills.

Who among them will be the next great superstar like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron , Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez ?

Have fun guys and remember that you can tell your kids and grandkids your exploits of the 2014 All-Star game when you became the MVP of the game.

“Contagious” Starting Pitching Keys A’s to Win in Bay Bridge Series Opener

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. – A bug is rapidly sweeping the Oakland Athletics clubhouse and every starting pitcher seems to have come down with it. It isn’t a case of the flu, but an epidemic of quality starts, with the latest “victim” to succumb being Jesse Chavez.

“It’s contagious,” said Chavez. “Yesterday, watching Jeff Samardzija pitch, I just wanted to feed off that. As a team, we feed off that. We’re playing good baseball. We’re happy to be home.”

The A’s right-hander matched a career-high in strikeouts (nine) over six shut-out innings in a 5-0 win against the San Francisco Giants at O.Co Coliseum Monday night. The win in the opener of the 2014 Bay Bridge Series marks the fifth-straight win for the A’s (56-33), who swept one of the American League’s best in the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game set over the weekend. A’s starters allowed three runs over 27 innings of work in the quartet of outings.

“I just want to hold down this spot for what happened earlier in the year,” said Chavez. “Whatever role they ask of me, I’ll do it. I’m just looking forward to being a part of this team.”

The decision for Chavez (7-5, 3.06 ERA) also marks a swing towards the early-season progress that had the reliever-turned-starter in the running for American League pitcher of the month in April. Chavez was 2-4 with a 4.08 ERA over his last eight starts coming in to Monday night, including a five-inning, five-run loss at Detroit in his most recent start last Wednesday.

“The last two starts, with two strikes I was over the plate a little bit,” assessed Chavez on his recent struggles. “My main focus was finishing the at-bat if I got ahead.”

Fernando Abad pitched 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief; Dan Otero did his part with 1 and 1/3 frames without a run. Ryan Cook fired off a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning to wrap up the game. In total, A’s pitchers scattered only five hits to the San Francisco offense. The Giants left seven runners on base, while Oakland stranded nine.

Craig Gentry represented the first A’s run of the night on a John Jaso ground-out in the fifth inning to snap Giants Starter Ryan Vogelsong’s 18 and 2/3 innings scoreless streak in interleague play. An inning later, Alberto Callaspo provided the crushing blow, greeting newly-inserted reliever Juan Gutierrez with a one-out, two-run double. Callaspo took the first offering from Gutierrez, a 92 mile-per-hour fastball, into the gap in right-center to plate Josh Donaldson from third base and Jed Lowrie from first. Vogelsong (5-6, 3.92) was charged with all three runs, and ultimately, the loss after his five and 1/3 innings of work.

Lowrie chased Vogelsong earlier in the inning, singling on a first-pitch delivery to put runners on the corners after Donaldson was controversially hit by a pitch to open the inning. Replay showed that the ball hit Donaldson’s fingers near the knob of the bat, sparking debate from Bruce Bochy. The Giants manager already burned his challenge when officials upheld a hit-by-pitch of Craig Gentry in the bottom of the fifth.

“It was originally called a foul ball,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “Once (home plate umpire Paul Nauert) saw his hand, he changed the call around.”

“It hit the small pinky, the pinky knuckle,” said Donaldson. “He did the right thing. I have to give him some credit. When I heard it, it sounded like it hit the bat, but obviously I felt my hand hurting. I knew it hit my hand. He did the right thing, looked at my hand, saw it was swelling. He asked if I swung. I told him I felt like I didn’t.”

A couple of seventh-inning errors from Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford put Jaso and Yoenis Cespedes on second and third with no outs, setting up a Brandon Moss sacrifice fly off Gutierrez for a 4-0 lead. Donaldson, the starting AL all-star third baseman by way of fan vote, knocked Gutierrez out of the game on a laser up the middle to score Cespedes for the A’s fifth and final run of the night.

The sold-out crowd of 36,067 saw Oakland continue its dominance of San Francisco in the East Bay. Oakland has taken 10 of the last 12 games against their Northern California foes at the Coliseum.

“It’s always fun,” said Chavez of playing in the friendly rivalry. “It’s good baseball. It’s two good teams going at it. I think that’s good baseball.”

While the A’s continue to trend upward to the best record in the Major Leagues, the Giants have scuffled to one of the worst margins of victory in the league. Over the last 26 games, San Francisco (49-40) has gone 7-19 after winning 42 of the first 63 games of the season.

The black and orange send All-Star starter Madison Bumgarner to the mound Tuesday looking to split the two-game series in Oakland before the interleague rivalry series shifts to AT&T Park for a pair starting Wednesday. Oakland hands the ball off to its ace, Sonny Gray to sweep the first half of the home-and-home.

Tigers Stun Athletics in Grand Fashion

Published on by Matthew Harrington1 Comment

By Matthew Harrington

The Detroit Tigers may not always beat the Oakland Athletics, but the motor city kitties tend to find the most excruciating ways to do it. After bouncing Swingin’ A’s from the postseason in the last two campaigns, the American League Central leaders added another chapter of success against their West Coast foes Monday night at Comerica Park, converting a 4-1 deficit in the ninth inning into a walk-off grand slam for Rajai Davis and the Tigers (45-34).

With a decent lead in the ninth, Oakland A’s Manager Bob Melvin tabbed bullpen backend stalwart Sean Doolittle (1-3, 2.97) to sit the Tigers down for three final outs. Instead the A’s bench boss saw a surefire victory turned into a stunning defeat. Detroit came to the plate in attack mode against Doolittle, with Nick Castellanos and Alex Avila reaching base with no outs three pitches in to the left-hander’s night.

Doolittle found his footing, striking out Eugenio Suarez but failed to put Austin Jackson away on a full-count pitch. Instead Doolittle nibbled outside the strike zone to bring former Athletic Rajai Davis to the plate representing the winning run. Davis patiently took the first-pitch delivery from Doolittle for a ball, then crushed a belt-high breaking ball deep to left field about ten feet from foul pole for his sixth home run of the season. Davis made reliever Blaine Hardy (101, 2.89 ERA) the winner, handing the 27-year-old his first Major League win

Doolittle saw his scoreless inning streak snapped at 26 1/3 innings Saturday in Miami, blowing his second save of the season after allowing a Casey McGehee single to tie the game at 6-6. With a second blown save Monday night, he now has failed to shut the door in two-straight games after going the first 38 games of the season with only one missed opportunity. Since taking over the closer’s role for a struggling Jim Johnson, the first baseman-turned-reliever has collected 11 saves in 2014.

The A’s (51-31) looked securely en route to their fifth-straight win after taking a commanding 4-1 lead in the eighth inning. Oakland and Detroit entered the inning tied 1-1 after strong performances from A’s starter Scott Kazmir and his counterpart Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez opened the frame getting Yoenis Cespedes to bounce a grounder to short, but Suarez threw the ball away on the play. Brandon Moss made Detroit pay for the mistake by lacing an RBI double to left, chasing Sanchez from the game with no outs in the seventh. The 2013 ERA leader allowed the two earned runs on eight hits with only a pair of strikeouts (including the 1,000th of his career) but exited in line for the loss.

Joba Chamberlain fared far worse in relief of Sanchez, allowing the first two batters he faced to reach base, walking Josh Donaldson before yielding a single to Stephen Vogt to load the bases. A visit to the mound by Tigers Pitching coach Jeff Jones proved only a brief respite for Chamberlain, as Lowrie took the fifth pitch of the next at-bat to left for a two-run single to stake the A’s to a commanding 4-1 lead.

Lowrie knocked in the A’s first run of the game on an RBI single of Sanchez in the top of the sixth, but 2012 Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera responded in the home half of the inning by ripping a solo home run off Kazmir to left field, the 14th long ball of the season for the back-to-back American League Most Valuable Player.

Kazmir would then walk J.D. Martinez before exiting the game two pitches in to the next batter. Kazmir appeared to suffer tightness in his lead leg after bouncing the first pitch to Nick Castellanos well in front of the plate. After a brief visit from Melvin and trainer, the southpaw stayed in the game for one last pitch. After seeing his pitcher grimace on the pitch, Melvin instantly jumped up to pull his ace from the game.

After the game, Melvin stated that Kazmir was fine and the quick trigger was precautionary. Kazmir also departed his last start against the New York Mets on Tuesday earlier than expected, surrendering seven earned runs over three innings of a 10-1 shelling in Flushing Meadows. Aside from the one blip, Kazmir has been rock solid as the anchor of the A’s rotation, potentially in line to make this season’s All-Star team after going 9-3 with a 2.66 ERA in his first 16 starts for the green and gold.

The A’s won’t have an easy road bouncing back, as they’ll face the Tigers’ surpise of 2014 Rick Porcello (10-4, 3.41) in the second game of the three-game series. Oakland sends lefty Brad Mills to the mound in his first start since getting his first win since 2012, outdueling Zack Wheeler and the Mets last Wednesday.

One Dollar Buys A’s a Split in New York

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

In a reversal of fortunes from Tuesday’s 10-1 drubbing at the hands of the New York Mets, the Oakland Athletics shelled promising youngster Zack Wheeler early on Wednesday to split the a two-game series at Citi Field. Coco Crisp and Brandon Moss homered for Oakland in the 8-5 contest while Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a three-run double to give starter pitcher Brad Mills his first win with the green and gold despite a late comeback bid by the Metropolitans (36-42).

The A’s (48-30) scored twice in the first inning off Wheeler on Moss’ team-leading (along with Josh Donaldson) 18th long ball of the season that came with two outs and a runner on base. A four-run second, highlighted by Cespedes’ bases-loaded double, wrapped up the night for Wheeler (3-8, 4.45 ERA). The former San Francisco Giants draft pick, acquired by New York in the 2011 Carlos Beltran trade, went only two innings. He allowed a season-high six earned runs in his first start since going the distance in a 1-0 shutout over Miami on June 19th.

A Coco Crisp solo shot, his sixth round tripper of the campaign, off Dana Eveland put Oakland up 7-0 in the fourth while a Mills double play ball plated Josh Reddick from third base for the A’s eighth run and final run in the sixth frame.

While Wheeler scuffled, Mills thrived in his second start since replacing the injured Drew Pomeranz in the rotation. While he was tagged with a no decision in Oakland’s 4-2 win over the Red Sox last Thursday, Mills (1-0, 4.35) picked up his first win in the Big Leagues since 2012.

The man supposedly purchased for one dollar from the Milwaukee Brewers on June 17th went 6 1/3, allowing only three runs. All three tallies came on the first pitch of a pinch-hit at-bat for Lucas Duda which resulted in a three-run shot that chased him from the game.

Dan Otero finished off the seventh, but set-up man Luke Gregerson scuffled with his inning of work, allowing a two-run homer to former Athletic Chris Young, the chief culprit in Tuesday’s thrashing after mashing two dingers. Sean Doolittle struck out the side in the ninth to seal the 8-5 win for his 11th save of the season.

On Thursday, the A’s receive a second dose of respite this week after having a day off Monday to make the trek from Oakland to the East Coast. They’ll have a day off in Miami before opening a three-game weekend set against the Marlins Friday in Oakland’s first visit to Miami’s new ballpark which opened in 2012. Right-hander Jesse Chavez takes the hill for the Athletics while the Marlins counter with righty Anthony DeSclafani and his 7.59 ERA.

No Guarantees for Scuffling Reddick in Return to Roster

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

In 2012, Josh Reddick’s career took a gigantic leap, evolving from fifth outfielder with the Boston Red Sox to a 32 home run masher with the Oakland Athletics. The Savannah, Georgia native went from spare part to key cog in an offense, notching 85 runs batted in while providing Gold Glove-winning defense in right field. 2013 brought a regression, a return to the average with a .226 clip at the plate and diminished power (12 home runs). Again, 2014 proves more the latter than the former for the left-handed hitting outfielder who is scuffling to stay above the Mendoza line (.214 batting average in 50 games) while struggling to stay healthy enough to stay on the field.

Reddick last manned right field on May 31s but exited the game against the Los Angeles Angels after two at-bats nursing a hyperextended right knee. Just like in 2013, a season that ended in a second-straight American League West title for Oakland, the A’s rolled on without Reddick’s contributions required. They currently boast the best win percentage in the Major Leagues (.618) and are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the most wins in the big leagues (47). Over the last 10 games, all sans Reddick, the A’s have gone 7-3.

Reddick appears poised to wrap up a rehab stint with the Sacramento River Cats in time to join the team for a trip to New York to face the Mets starting Tuesday. While he may be ready to rejoin the team, the Swingin’ A’s might not have a clear role for him. When Reddick first went down to end May on a down note, general manager Billy Beane called upon third-string catcher Stephen Vogt to fill the roster vacancy. The idea heading in was that Vogt would provide some depth at catcher as well as the corner infield and outfield spots where he had a scattering of experience at the minor league level.

Instead, the 29-year-old backstop stole the starting right fielder spot from other candidates like Brandon Moss and Craig Gentry, producing an eye-popping .346 batting average to go with 11 RBIs in only 17 games. While no one will confuse Vogt for a Gold Glove outfielder, his defense afield has certainly passed the eye test. For a catcher, he certainly doesn’t look out of place roaming right field.

One thing Melvin has displayed in his tenure with Oakland is a loyalty his veterans, evidenced by Daric Barton’s ability to work his way into the line-up 30 times this season despite only nine hits. Reddick will receive every opportunity to regain his role as a starter, likely seeing the majority of starts in the coming days. Melvin, however, shouldn’t feel obligated to continue to pencil no.16 onto his lineup card every day if his offensive woes continue.

If Reddick still looks lost at the plate over the next few series, the best course of action may be another stint at Sacramento. Reddick still has a minor league option left, leaving the best course of action to be riding out Vogt’s hot streak for as long as it will last. By then, perhaps Reddick will rediscover his long ball stroke and return to Oakland with past woes behind him.

Pinch Hitting Norris Propels A’s Victory Over Rangers 10-6

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Oakland Athletics' Josh Donaldson, left, congratulates Derek Norris, right, after Norris hit a three-run home run off off Texas Rangers' Shawn Tolleson in the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 17, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Oakland Athletics’ Josh Donaldson, left, congratulates Derek Norris, right, after Norris hit a three-run home run off off Texas Rangers’ Shawn Tolleson in the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 17, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Kahlil Najar

OAKLAND – If the baseball world didn’t know that the A’s have a deep bench at the catcher position, they do now.

Derek Norris, Stephen Vogt and John Jaso went a combined 7 for 8 with 7 RBI and 7 hits to help propel the A’s (43-2) to a 10-6 victory over the Texas Rangers (35-36).

“It’s pretty amazing. It’s quiet a luxury. We have three guys that can start in a number of places,” said Melvin on the three catchers.

Norris, who came in for Jaso in the bottom of the sixth got his night started right when he launched a three run home run to left field off of Rangers pitcher Shawn Tolleson. Then in the eighth with Donaldson and Crisp aboard he hit a double that scored two more runs. Norris ended the night with two hits and five RBI off the bench.

Melvin praised Norris by saying, “He’s done it before coming off the bench. He has a knack. He’s ready for the situation. He knows how to pinch hit. You don’t play for a majority of the game and you end up with 5 RBI means you’re taking advantage of your opportunities.”

Texas pitch Yu Darvish (7-3) suffered his third loss of the year and is now 1-8 against the A’s lifetime.

“His stuff is so good and on top of that he has seven different pitches. We’ve been really fortunate, we’ve made him work and a few guys square him up and have some good numbers off of him. But he’s about as good as you get,” said Melvin.

Vogt, who went 3 for 3 off of Darvish said, “I saw him pretty well today, fortunately saw three pitches to hit and hit all three of them. He’s such a good pitcher and we’ve been fortunate enough to have success against him. I don’t have anything to explain that.”

On his night, Norris said “I’ve worked pretty hard on making my swing more consistent, just more level of a bat path, but ultimately trying to stay in the zone as long as I can with the bat. The longer you’re in the zone, the more chances you have of barreling the ball. So that’s my main goal, and I’ve worked hard on it. It’s paying off.”

Tommy Milone (5-3) who started the game for the A’s had a decent night as he went 5 2/3 innings with three strike outs and three runs. Milone’s nemesis has been the first inning this year and today was no different as he gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead off of a single from Adrian Beltre.

However in the bottom of the second the A’s had three runs cross the plate with two runs coming because of a single by Alberto Callaspo and single from Vogt. In the fourth, the A’s added to their lead when after two stolen bases by Eric Sogard, Coco Crisp was able to hit a sac fly to bring Sogard home and make it a 4-1 Oakland lead.

In the top of the fifth, the Rangers Rougned Odor hit his third homer of the year and brought the score to 4-2. The A’s responded in the bottom of the inning with another RBI from Vogt to make bring the lead back to three and a 5-2 score.

The Rangers added a run in the top of the sixth and bring the lead back to two but then in the bottom of the sixth is when Norris came in. Norris knocked his pinch hit homer  and made it a 8-3 game.

The Rangers tried to make it interesting as they added three runs in the top of the 7th but in the bottom of the 8th, Norris came up to the plate and hit his eleventh double of the year to make it a 10-6 final.

“D-No is such a good baseball player,” said Vogt. “He’s having an All-Star caliber year, and I hope that gets recognized. What he’s done off the bench, just what I’ve been fortunate enough to witness, it’s incredible the way he comes in, he doesn’t get big, he doesn’t try to do too much and comes through all the time.”

The A’s and Rangers close out the series tomorrow when Sonny Gray (6-3) goes against Nick Tepsch (2-2), game time 12:35 pm PST.

Rangers Derail A’s Comeback, Rout Athletics 14-8

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By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — When the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers last met at O.Co Coliseum for a three-game set April 21-23, the visitors scored 12 runs total en route to a sweep. The series marked a tightly-pitched affair after Rangers hurlers stifled the potent A’s offense to just seven runs and three-straight losses. The A’s welcomed Texas back to Alameda County Monday night in a game no one would confuse for a pitchers’ duel. Texas tallied 14 runs while the A’s scored eight runs, both surpassing the team totals from the April set at the Coliseum.

Rangers first baseman Donnie Murphy picked up three RBIs on a pair of home runs, his fourth career multi-homer game while Yoenis Cespedes went 1 for 3 with four runs batted in for the A’s. Brandon Moss also homered for Oakland, but four Texas long balls lifted the Rangers (35-35) passed the Green and Gold 14-8. The loss matches the second-largest margin of defeat the A’s (42-28) have suffered all season, with only last Friday’s 7-0 shutout at the hands of the Yankees marking a worse run differential.

Neither starting pitcher hurled a memorable game but Rangers righty Colby Lewis (5-4, 5.97 ERA) threw well enough to pick up the win. He went 5 1/3 innings allowing fives runs. Pomeranz (5-4, 2.91) struggled to complete 3 2/3 innings, serving up eight Texas runs (seven earned) on eight hits on start removed from a seven inning, one-run performance against the Los Angeles Angels.

“I wasn’t as sharp in the beginning,” said Pomeranz. “I actually felt really good up there. They were patient at the plate. I didn’t make some pitches, they just waited for some mistakes.”
The A’s bullpen yielded six runs, with Ryan Cook , Jeff Francis and Fernando Abad all guilty of surrendering two runs apiece. The A’s committed three errors.

After Pomeranz held the Rangers in check to open the first inning, Coco Crisp had the A’s running right out of the gate. Crisp ripped a 2-2 pitch to left-center for a double, then came around to score on John Jaso’s flare to shallow center. Jaso, one of three catchers in A’s manager Bob Melvin’s line-up, advanced to second base on the throw to the plate. Lewis gifted Jaso third base after bouncing a wild pitch to backstop Robinson Chirinos. The free base allowed Jaso to score easily after Cespedes lofted the 2-1 delivery to left fielder Michael Choice for the sacrifice fly.

“We had some opportunities early,” said Melvin. “We went ahead 2-0. We had some opportunities in the next inning and we didn’t come through. We didn’t play a great game after that. Even though in the later innings we came back and made a game of it, it was just not far enough.”

Adrian Beltre and Alex Rios reached base to open the second, then advanced into scoring position on a Donnie Murphy sacrifice bunt. Chirinos then wrapped a two-run base hit to tie the ballgame after battling Pomeranz in a full count.

Former A’s utility man Donnie Murphy provided the tie-shattering blast in the fourth inning, depositing a no-out, two-run home run over the wall in deep left center. The first basemen entered play amidst a 0-for-14 cold snap at the plate before emphatically turning around his fortunes. The Rangers tacked on four more runs in the inning, highlighted by a two-out, two-run double off the bat of former American League All-star Beltre for a comfortable 8-2 advantage.

Michael Choice, the Rangers haul for shipping Craig Gentry to Oakland in the offseason, burned his former parent club with a two-run shot of his own. The dinger snapped 16 at-bats without a hit for the right-hander, placing Choice amongst Chirinos (3), Beltre (3) and Murphy (3) for Rangers with two RBIs or more Monday night. Chirinos and Murphy would later hit back-to-back homers off Fernando Abad in the ninth inning, the first two extra-base hits the southpaw has allowed this season.

A’s clean-up hitter Brandon Moss lifted his 17th home run of the season to bring Oakland within seven runs. Moss now has 31 big flys since the 2013 All-Star Break, tied with Edwin Encarnacion for the second most in the Major Leagues during that time. The Lone Star sluggers answered back, scoring on a rare sacrifice fly to third base for their 11th run.

Oakland scratched out a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning after back-to-back doubles from Alberto Callaspo and Coco Crisp to chase Lewis after four runs. Callaspo, returning from paternity leave Monday night, went 4 for 5 while sporting a new uniform number. The A’s second basemen donned a “7” between his shoulder blades Monday night.

Cespedes added three runs on a towering shot later in the inning, his 13th homer of the season, to cut the deficit to 11-7. Callaspo chipped in a run-scoring base hit in the eighth.

Kyle Blanks, who entered the game as a pinch hitter for John Jaso in the sixth, came up to the plate in the eighth representing the tying run with Callaspo at second and Vogt at first. He worked a full count off Neal Cotts but froze on a fastball right at the knees for strike three. In total, the A’s stranded 12 runners.
The Rangers added three more runs over the final two innings while holding the A’s in check despite a two-hit ninth inning rally.

“We scored some runs tonight,” said Melvin. “We’re a club that leads the league in pitching. We’re used to holding teams under four runs. The last couple games we haven’t been able to do that.”

Submariner Ben Rowen finished off the win, coaxing a ground ball out from Blanks to wrap up game one of the series. Tuesday’s match-up won’t be any easier for the A’s, with Texas sending Yu Darvish and his 2.11 ERA to the mound to face Tommy Milone.

The Cespedes Runs-and-Guns Show Snaps Angels Streak at Five

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland Athletics emphatically avoided a sweep at the hands of their Southern California rivals by thumping the Los Angeles Angels 7-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes nabbed a pair of runs batted in along with an outfield assist Wednesday night and catcher Stephen Vogt continued his torrid stretch since a call-up from Triple A Sacramento earlier this month.

Vogt launched a two-run home run into the bleachers in right field with one out to chase Halos ace Jered Weaver (7-5, 3.51 ERA) with the A’s leading 4-1. Oakland (40-26) also scored three runs in the ninth inning to firmly secure the victory for starter Tommy Milone while tagging Weaver with the loss. Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp also picked up RBIs in the contest.

Milone (4-3, 3.47) went 6 2/3 against the Halos, yielding the lone run on an RBI double off the bat of Josh Hamilton with the A’s up 1-0. Other than that he proved perfect in the stopper’s role, striking out four Angels while only walking two. Ryan Cook pitched a scoreless third of an inning and Luke Gregerson and Jim Johnson fired a shutout frame each to close out the win and snap a five-game winning streak for LA.

Third-string catcher Vogt, a Visalia, Calif. native, had the pleasure of hitting his first homer of the season in front of a crowd of friends and family. The real highlight of the night, however, came in the sixth inning after Albert Pujols ripped what appeared to be a surefire double into the corner in left field. Cespedes bobbled the ball when fielding it to allow Pujols to attempt to advance to third base. Cespedes, however, threw a bullet reminiscent of his webgem throw to home plate Tuesday night to gun down the Angels first baseman for his second assist in the three-game set.

Also adding to his defensive highlight reel was Crisp, who robbed Josh Hamilton of a second-inning homer after scaling the wall in the left-center. After a premature fireworks display exploded out of the rock pile in center, Crisp gave a discerning finger wag.

The A’s managed to wrap the series up with a 3.5 game lead over Anaheim (36-29) in the American League West standings after narrowly seeing it creep down below two games. Oakland takes an off-day Thursday before returning to O.Co Coliseum to face David Phelps and the Yankees. Sonny Gray gets the ball for the green and gold in game one.