Tag: Oakland A’s

Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears works against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum Sun Aug 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

Baltimore (77-47). 112 300 230. -12. 17. 0

Oakland (34-90) 000 000 100- 1. 4. 0

Time: 2:43

Attendance; 16,198

Sunday, August 20, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The bleary eyed Oakland A’s dragged themselves to the stately pleasure dome to take the field at this afternoon in hopes of salvaging one win out of their three game series with the American League East leading Baltimore Orioles. Those hopes were dashed by a crushing 12-1 defeat.

The A’s were mathematically eliminated Sunday. This is the earliest in the history of this storied franchise, a founding member of the American League since 1901.  122 Years of history, from Philadelphia to Kansas City, to Oakland. And in a few years, probably Las Vegas. With a 34-90 record #30 in MLB.

They chose JP Sears to make his team leading 25th start of the season. He’s the only member of the Athletics’ mound staff to be in the starting rotation since day one. His record is not impressive, 2-9, 4.27 at game time.

The 27 year old southpaw seems to pitch better as his starts progress, if his opponents’ steadily diminishing batting average over the first three times through the order is any indication. This hot Oakland afternoon, not propitious for a pitcher who had allowed 26 home runs when he toed the rubber at 1:08. When he had finished his afternoon’s work, he had tarnished his already unprepossessing statistical profile.

He had given up seven runs, all earned, on nine hits and two walks. Two of those hits were homes. He threw 68 pitches, 43 for strikes. He was charged with the loss, making his numbers 2-10, 4.61). Zach Neal replaced him to start the top of the fifth.

Kyle Bradish, Sears’ right handed opposing pitcher, has a five pitch repertoire,which consists of sliders (which had comprised 29.8% of his 2023 deliveries before today), fastballs (25.1%), sinkers (18.8%), curves (17.5%), and changeups (8.8%).

They had earned him a respectable 7-6. 3.18 record. He was brilliant this afternoon, holding Oakland scoreless on two hits, both singles, over six innings. He issued just one base on balls and struck out eight, all on 92 pitches, 60 of which went into the books as strikes. He got the win and now has a record of 8-6, 3.03.

The Orioles were the early bird in the scoring department. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with Ramón Urías at bat. He hit a hard grounder to Jordan Dîaz at third, who fired the ball to Zack Gelof at second. Gelof’s relay drew Seth Brown off the bag at first, allowing Adlley Rutschman,, who had led off the game with a single. to come home. The A’s challenged first base umpire Alex Tosi’s call, but the review crew in New York let it stand.

The Orioles feathered their nest with two outs in the second. Jorge Mateo slammed a change of pace off the State Farm advertisement in left center. He flew around the bases for an inside the park home run. They doubled that two run. margen in the next frame.

Back to back two baggers by Ryan Montcastle and Gunnar Henderson put two men in scoring position with none d0wn. Austin Hays hit a liner up the middle that Sears deflected into left field for a two RBI single and then was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.

Undeterred by their failure to score more runs in the third, Baltimore added another three in the fourth on Jordan Westburg’s lead off double, a walk to Rutschman, Montecastle second consecutive home run, and Henderson’s triple, which occasioned a crew chief’s review to determine exactly where it made contact with the right field wall. The visitors had a 7-0 lead, and we’d seen only 3-1/2 innings of one-sided baseball.

Oakland didn’t put a man on base until Gelof sent a line drive into right for a one out single in the home half of the fourth. He stayed there for the rest of the frame.

Neal blanked the O’s in the fifth and sixth. In the latter, he was the beneficiary of a beautiful unassisted double play by Brown, who grabbed Mateo’s scorching liner down the first base line and tumbled over the bag to double up Ryan McKenna, who had walked.

Neal wasn’t that successful in seventh. Henderson hit his 21st homer of the year, just inside the right field foul line, a one out shot that made it an 8-0 game. Back to back to back singles by Urías, Mullens, and Westburg made it 9-0.

Nick Vespi came in to relieve Bradish for the bottom of the seventh and immediately gave up a home run down the left field line to Rooker, the rookie’s 20th quadrilateral hit of the year. That was the Athletics’ third hit of the day and gave them their first run.

Mateo’s leadoff double against the Coca-Cola ad in right center in the eighth overcame The Curse when Rutschman singled to center, scoring Mateo, and Henderson doubled down the right field line to drive Rutschman home and Neal to the showers, replaced by Francisco Pérez. He surrendered a single to Urías that brought in Henderson to give Baltimore an even dozen runs. That was all he gave up in his 1-2/3 of work.

Shintaro Fujinami, who gave up the game tying round tripper to Aledmys Díaz last night, gave up a leadoff single but preserved the Orioles’ 12-1 victory

This afternoon’s defeat left the A;s with a mark of 34-90, .274. That’s pretty good, compared with the 1899 Cleveland Spiders’ August 20 record of 18-91, .165. They lost to the Chicago Orphans, 8-7, that afternoon. The 1962 New York Mets had an even worse August 20.

They dropped both games of a double header to the Pirates at Forbes Field, 2-0 and 6-3, which put their record at 30-94, .242.

Monday, the A’s will face the Kansas City Royals at 6:40pm PT. Paul Blackburn (3-4, 4.09) will be on the mound at the Coliseum. KC hasn’t yet announced who will pitch for them. Starting tomorrow with their night game at Oakland vs Royals, Athletics have 40 games left.

Former Oakland A’s pitcher now Baltimore Orioles reliever Shintaro Fujinami delivers against his former teammates in the bottom of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 19, 2023 (AP News photo)

Baltimore (76-47). 002 000 000 5 – 7-9-0

Oakland (34-89) 010 001 000 0- 2-6-1 (10 innings)

Time: 2:47

Attendance: 18,213

Saturday, August 19, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The team with the best won and lost record Baltimore Orioles (76-47) in the American League took 10 innings to crush the team with the worst won and lost record in the majors the Oakland A’s (34-89) 7-2 Saturday night at the Oakland Coliseum .

The game began as a pitchers’ duel between two southpaws. Cole Irvin 1-3. 4.92 at game time), the Athletics team leader in wins, starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts last year, and Oakland rookie Ken Waldichuk (2-7, 6.07 at game time), who has had an up and down season, often within the same game, this year were the antagonists.

Waldichuk had trouble with his control in the three innings, issuing a base on balls in each of them and unleashing a wild pitch in the second. On the other hand, he didn’t give up a hit over that stretch. At the end of his 5-2/3 inning shift, the Athletics’ starter had yielded two runs, both earned and both coming on home runs, on four hits, three walks, and two wild pitches.

He threw 81 pitches, 50 of them considered strikes. He wasn’t involved in the decision and went home with a record of 2-7, 5.91

Cole pitched well in his no decision. He allowed one run earned, on four hits, including a homer, and a walk He struck out three and hit two Oakland batters. He pitch count was 77, 54 going down as strikes. He preserve his 1-3 win-lost record and reduced his ERA to 4.06.

Aledmys Díaz put the A’s up 1-0 in the early going, sending a leadoff home run over the left center field State Farm advertisement in the bottom of the second. The blast travelled 400 feet, with an exit velocity of 102.6mph and came off a 91.4mph four seamer. It was the third rounder tripper and 18th RBI for the A’s left fielder this year.

Austin Hays broke Waldichuk’s 13 batter hitless streak in the top of the fourth with a one out home run to left, and James McCann followed that one out later with a dinger to left center. Before you knew it, the A’s down 2-0, Hays’ blast carried 356 feet and was his 12th of the season; McCann’s measured 403 feet and was his fourth.

Lucas Ercceg relieved Waldichuk with a runner on first and two outs in the top of the sixth and fanned James McCann to end the inning and held Baltimore at bay in the seventh . Kirby Snead replaced him for the eighth and preserved the tie.

The Orioles removed Cole at the start of the home half of the sixth but continued using ex Athletics aginst their erstwhile teammates. This time it was Shintaro Foujinami, who promptly surrender the lead on Aledmys’s second home run of the night, a 360 foot line drive over the left field fence. Vennnier Cano replaced Fujinami for the Oakland seventh,

Zack Gelof led off the Athletics’s eighth with a single to center. After Carlos Pérez sacrificed him to second, Cionel Pérez relieved Cano. Pérez kept the A’s off the board with an intentional walk and two strikeouts.

Hays greeted Trevor May, who was given the task of taking the A’s into the bottom of the ninth frame, with a single to shallow left center. Cedric Mullens lashed a sharp liner to left that Ruíz captured for the first out. Hays advanced to second on pinch hitter Ryan O’Hearn’s slow bouncer to shortstop Nick Allen, who made a spiffy play to nab him at first, and Adam Frazier, also pinch hitting, popped out to Allen in foul territory.

Félix Bautista was called on to keep the game alive in the home ninth. Another sixth frame pinch hitter, Seth Brown, went down swinging. Seth Langelieres lifted a high fly to the warning track in right center, just in front of the 362 foot marker that Mulllens hauled down for the second out, and Alllen grounded out to short to send us into extra innings.

Adrián Martínez faced Jorge Mateo with Frazier the zombie runner on second to open the overtime. He let Frazier take third on a wild pitch to Mateo, who then walked. Frazier scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s’s single to center through a drawn in infield while Mateo advanced to third.

It was all downhill for Oakland after that. A hit batter. Jordan Westburg’s sac fly to the center field warning track. A fielder’s choice cum throwing error by Allen, a stolen base, and a single, and the Athletics’ comeback had been transformed into a 7-2 Orioles lead.

Jacob Webb, closing for Baltimore in the tenth, hit Ruiz with a pitch and walked Gelof, which, combined with the inning opening placement of Lngeliers at second, loaded the bases for the A’s with no outs. Webb recovered by fanning pinch hitting Tony Kemp, Butler, and Aledmys Díaz.

The win went to Bautista, now 8-2, 1.54; the loss, to Martínez, who fell to 0-1, 5.

Kansas City has been falling behind (or is it ahead?) in the race for the bottom, so we’ll just run a quick check on how the 2023 A’s stack up with the all-time cellar dwellers, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, and their modern era companions in futility, the 1962 New York Mets.

The Spiders finished 1899 at 20-134, .130, 84 games behind the National League pennant winning Brooklyn Superbas. August 19th saw them split a twin bill with the Pirates at Pittsburgh. Cleveland’s win in the night cap brought its record up to 18-90, .167.

The Mets limped to a 40-120, 2.50 finish in ’62. They were at home at the Polo Grounds when they fell to the Cardinals, 10-5 on August 19. 30-92, also .250.

Tonight’s loss to the Os left the A’s 34-89,.238

The three game series will concludes Sunday, at 1:07. Right hander Kyle Bradish (7-6, 3.18) will pitch for the Birds. Southpaw JP Sears (2-9,4.27) will be the host team’s starter.

Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman follows through on an RBI single against the New York Yankees in the first inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore Sun Jul 30, 2023. Rutschman has been the key in the O’s line up as the Orioles face the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Aug 18, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 The A’s (34-87) will be starting Luis Medina to open the three game series against the Baltimore Orioles (74-47). Medina allowed 52 runs in 83 innings.

#2 Medina’s opponents have an .245 average, with a 11.5 walk average, Medina comes into the game with a 4.50 ERA. Can he get through the Orioles line up at least twice on Friday night.

#3 The A’s as a line up are struggling which they all have all season, they are the worst hitting team in the Majors with a .241, 19 home runs, they have 152 total bases. The A’s have got home run help from Shea Langeliers and Seth Brown combining 22 long balls.

#4 Jeremiah, talk about the job that Adley Rutschman. The Orioles have said he’s been the straw that’s been stirring the drink in Baltimore hitting .267, with 119 hits, 16 home runs and 58 RBIs he could give A’s pitching fits this weekend.

#5 The Orioles starter Kyle Gibson could have control on the A’s line up the A’s have been averaging 3.60 runs per game. Gibson has had command on opposing line ups going deep into a game and being able to hand the ball over the relievers to mop up.

Join Jeremiah Salmonson does the A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Athletics’ Tyler Soderstrom (37) is congratulated by teammate Lawrence Butler (22) after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Wed Aug 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s had an off day on Thursday as they return to the Oakland Coliseum to start a six-game homestand. The A’s did not fare well as they were swept by the Washington Nationals and lost two out of three to the St. Louis Cardinals on the six-game road trip.

The A’s did salvage a win as they played one of their best games of the season. A’s starter Paul Blackburn gave the A’s seven innings of outstanding pitching. Reliever Austin Pruitt held the Cardinal scoreless in the last two innings of the game.

The A’s offense came through with 14 hits. Rookie second baseman Zack Gelof had four hits, two of them were doubles, and the A’s defense did not commit an error. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had to be pleased with his team’s performance on Wednesday.

The A’s will be hosting the Baltimore Orioles this weekend. The Orioles are in first place in the tough American League East Division. Their record is 74-47, and they have a two-game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles, managed by Brandon Hyde, were picked by only a few of the pundits to have the best record in the American League. Hyde, who became skipper in 2019, inherited a team managed by Buck Showalter in 2018.

The Orioles record in 2018 was 47-115. A’s manager Mark Kotsay can relate to Hyde’s position as manager in 2019. The A’s are on track to have a similar record in 2023. The Orioles continued their losing ways in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The Orioles were 54-108 in 2019, 2020 was shortened due to Covid, but they still had a losing year; in 2021, Baltimore finished with a record of 52-110. They had over 100 losses in four years, from 2018 to 2021. What changed? In 2022, the Orioles brought up catcher Adley Rutschman from the minor leagues.

Rutschman was the first player picked in the 2019 Major League draft. Rutschman was a star at Oregon State University. He was the Pac-12’s player of the year. The Orioles added other players like Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, and Anthony Santander, and their fortunes began to change. In 2022, The Orioles finished fourth in the AL East with a record of 83-79.

Rutscman is the engine that drives the Orioles. Last season, Rutschman was named the Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Player. This season, Rutschman made the AL All_Star team. He is hitting .267 with 16 homers and 58 RBIs. His OPS is .787.

The Orioles have a lot of other good players. Right fielder Anthony Santander leads the club with 21 homers and 65 RBIs. The Orioles use two players at first base that are also solid. Ryan O’Hearn is hitting. 300 with 10 Homers and 40 RBIs. Ryan Mountcastle is at .271, with 16 homers and 55 RBIs.

Rookie Gunnar Henderson, who s 22 years old, had added to the Orioles offense. Henderson plays shortstop and third base for the team. His numbers are .238, 19 home runs, and 56 runs batted in. Austin Hays and Cedric Mullins also contribute to the O’s offense.

Hays is hitting. 279 with 11 dingers and 46 knocked in. Mullins is at .254 with ten big flies and 50 RBIs. The Orioles will use Mountcastle or Santander as the DH. Just looking at the Oriole lineup shows how the players have contributed to the team’s overall success. There are no easy outs in this lineup.

The Orioles bolstered their starting rotation with the addition of Jack Flaherty. Flaherty came to the Orioles from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline. The other starters in the rotation include Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Kyle Gibson, and Grayson Rodriguez. Gibson will start against the A’s Friday night. Bradish will pitch on Sunday.

Former A’s starter, lefty Cole Irvin, will face his old mates on Saturday. Irvin would love nothing better than sending the A’s down to defeat. The Orioles’ closer is Felix Bautista. Bautista is 7-2 with 32 saves. The setup man is Yennier Cano.

Cano is 1-2 with four saves. The only negative is Cano’s five-blown saves. Other pitchers in the bullpen include former A’s reliever Shintaro Fujinami, Michael Baumann, and Jacob Webb. The lefties in the ‘pen include Nick Vespi and Ciomel Perez.

The A’s are in the same situation as the Orioles were in 2019. 2023 will be the second season the A’s will lose over 100 games. A’s manager Mark Kotsay is trying to rebuild the team. There are bright spots on the A’s roster.

Rookie second baseman Zack Gelof looks like the real deal. Esteury Ruiz, acquired from Milwaukee in the deal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta, is leading the AL in steals and is second in all of baseball with 48. Ruiz is a clutch hitter, especially with men in scoring positions.

The A’s brought up Lawrence Butler to pay centerfield. Butler hit his first home run against the Cardinals Tuesday night. Let’s hope Butler can emulate Gelof’s performance. Jordan Diaz, 22 years old, found a home at third base. Diaz has played well and has some pop in his bat. Diaz and Gelof should help the A’s rebirth.

The A’s pitching staff, both starters and relievers, must improve. Paul Balckburn is a proven starter. Players like Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk, J.P.Sears, and Freddy Tarnok are learning on the job. If these four guys can improve as pitchers, the A’s, like the Orioles, can go from the outhouse to the penthouse.

The weekend series features the best team in the AL going against the worst team. The A’s would love to upset the O’s apple cart this weekend. Is it possible? Perhaps. No one knows what will happen on any given day in baseball.

Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn pitching in the bottom of the seventh inning kept the St Louis Cardinals off balance at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Wed Aug 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

What a difference a day makes. The A’s beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 Wednesday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The A’s snapped a five-game losing streak and a nine-game road losing streak. The A’s offense came alive, and Oakland’s starter Paul Blackburn pitched extremely well.

Blackburn, one of the few A’s starters to go seven innings, allowed six hits in no runs, winning his third game of the year. Blackburn, an All-Star pitcher in 2022, showed the form that got him that honor.

A’s rookie shortstop, Zack Gelof, paced the offense with four hits, including two doubles. The young man from Delaware continues to impress. A’s fans can only imagine an infield consisting of Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Zack Gelof, and Matt Olson. The fans would be filling the Coliseum to see these guys play. 

The A’s pounced on the Cardinals’ starter Matthew Liberatore in the first inning. In Tuesday’s game, the Cardinals scored four runs in the first. The A’s turned the tables on St. Louis on Wednesday. With one out, Gelof doubled. Zack then stole third.

In his second game since coming off the IL, A’s DH Carlos Perez singled to give the A’s an earl 1-0 lead. Aledmys Diaz singled, sending Perez to third. Third baseman Jordan Diaz doubled to deep right-centerfield to drive in Perez and Aledmys Diaz. Jonah Bride walked, and Shea Langeliers followed with a single to drive in Jordan Diaz with the A’s fourth run.

The A’s added a run in the fourth, a run in the fifth, and a run in the sixth to go ahead 7-0. In the fourth, Nick Allen singled. Esteury Ruiz doubled, but Allen was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Not to worry, Zack Gelof singled to drive in Ruiz with the A’s fifth run.

Cardinal’s right fielder Jordan Walker misplayed Brent Rooker’s fly ball in the fifth. The ball bounced off Walker’s glove. Walker was charged with a three-base error. With one out, Seth Brown’s sacrifice fly brought in Rooker with Oakland’s sixth run of the night.

The A’s added another run in the sixth. Esteury Ruiz helped manufacture a run. Cardinals’ Casey Lawrence walked Ruiz. Ruiz, second in baseball in steals, did not wait long to steal the base. Gelof followed with his second double of the night to make it 7-0 A’s

Oakland added one more run in the ninth. Tyler Soderstrom entered the game as the DH, replacing Carlos Perez. Soderstrom thanked A’s manager Mark Ktsay for the honor. Soderstrom hit a monster shot that traveled 454 feet. For Soderstrom, it was his second big-league dinger. The A’s won the game 8-0.

 Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 34-87. The Cardinals are 54-67. 

The line score for Oakland was eight runs, 14 hits, and no errors. Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. Blackburn went seven innings allowing six hits and no runs. He struck out eight and walked one.

The line for St. Louis was no runs, nine hits, and one error. Matthew Liberatore was the losing pitcher. Liberatore’s line was four and 1/3rd innings, ten hits, and six runs, five of which were earned. 

The hitting star for Oakland was Zack Gelof. Gelof had two doubles, two singles, and two runs batted in. 

The A’s are off on Thursday. The A’s will play three games against the Baltimore Orioles starting Friday night. The O’s are first in the very powerful American League East Division. The A’s have yet to announce their starters for the Series. Kyle Gibson (11-7 ERA 4.89) will pitch on Friday for Baltimore, former A’s starter Cole Irvin will go on Saturday, and Kyle Bradish will pitch on Sunday.