Tag: Oakland A’s

Dodgers cruise to easy 10-1 rout of A’s; Oakland needs win Thursday to prevent sweep

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Los Angeles Dodgers Freddie Freeman (5) congratulates Mookie Betts (51) after Betts hits his 29th home run in the bottom of the second inning against the Oakland A’s at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wed Aug 2, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Los Angeles Dodgers mauled the Oakland A’s Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium in the Southland. The Dodgers scored early and often in the first two innings to cruise to an easy win over the hapless A’s.

The A’s sent lefty Hogan Harris to the hill to face the potent Dodger offense. The A’s hoped Harris could find a way to dazzle the Dodger hitters. Guess what, fans? Harris ended up throwing batting practice. The Dodgers scored three in the first and four in the second to virtually end the contest.

The Dodger pitchers were confident they could stop the pathetic A’s offense, and the Dodger pitchers did that. They held the A’s to one run and six hits as they blasted Oakland 10-1.

The Dodgers put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Mookie Betts, a former AL MVP with Boston, doubled to get things going for LA. Freddie Freeman, a former NL MVP with the Atlanta Braves, singled to give LA an early 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers’ All-Star catcher Will Smith walked to put men on at first and second with no out. Harris retired Amed Rosario for the first out. Harris walked Max Muncy to load the bases. Chris Taylor reached on an infield single, and Freeman scored the second run. Redwood City’s gift to the Dodgers, James Outman, hit into a fielder’s choice. Will Smith crossed the plate with the game’s third run for LA.

The Dodgers hitters continued to punish Harris. Betts led off the second inning with his 29th home run of the year. Back-to-back-doubles by Freeman and Smith gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead. The Dodgers’ Rosario hit his first home run as a team member to give Los Angeles a comfortable lead 7-0 after two innings.

The A’s scored their only run of the game in the top of the third. Catcher Shea Langeliers blasted his 11th round-tripper of the season to make it 7-1. The Dodgers’ pitchers held the A’s scoreless the rest of the way.

LA scored one in the third when Miguel Rojas homered. It was Rojas’ first home run this year. LA added one more in the sixth when Jason Heyward homered. Heyward replaced Betts in the fourth inning. Dodger manager Dave Roberts saw Betts double and homer in three trips to the plate in the game’s first three innings. Roberts would replace Freeman shortly after that.

The Dodgers finished the scoring in the seventh. With one out, Outman doubled. Kike Hernandez singled to drive in Outman with LA’s 10th run of the game.

Game Notes: Will the loss, the A’s are now 30-79. The Dodgers improved to 61-45

The line score for Oakland was one run, six hits, and no errors. LA’s line was ten runs, 13 hits, and no errors. Tony Gonsolin was the winning pitcher. Harris took the loss. 

Freeman had three hits in the game. He hit his 37th and 38th double of the year. He leads all of baseball in that department. Freeman has hit safely in his last seven at-bats against the A’s. 

A’s pitcher James Kaprileian underwent arthroscopic surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles. Kaprielian will be out for the rest of the season.

The A’s will conclude the series with the Dodgers Thursday night in LA at 7:10pm PT. It will be a battle of lefties. For Oakland Sears is 2-7 and has a 4.09 ERA. Julio Urias (7-6, 4.98) goes for the Dodgers.

Headline Sports podcast with Bruce Magowan: MLB owners not happy about consequences of A’s relocation; Scherzer and Verlander moves; plus more news

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New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is reportedly one of the MLB owners who is not happy about the relocation of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas and some of the reasons behind it (AP file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Bruce Magowan:

#1 Bruce, it was reported this week by Sports Business Journal that there are number MLB clubs that are not happy about the Oakland A’s relocation to Las Vegas for various reasons, that their still going to be revenue sharing, going lose gate revenue moving from the sixth largest market to the 40th size market, and relocation fee waved so the next owner who wants to move doesn’t have to pay a relocation fee.

#2 Bad faith negotiating has been a complaint about how A’s owner John Fisher who was ten percent of the way towards deal with the City of Oakland but broke off the deal and said he had a binding deal in Vegas.

#3 Bruce, the New York Mets are big time sellers and before the trade deadline first David Robertson was deal to the Miami Marlins and then pitcher Max Scherzer wanted to meet with the Mets brass and got a deal out of New York to the Texas Rangers, then 48 hours later the Justin Verlander was traded to the Houston Astros. Is this a matter of the Mets trying to unload their humongous payroll or they just want to have a clean slate and rebuild the club again.

#4 Bruce, we talked about the San Francisco Giants and their chances of chasing the first place Los Angeles Dodgers, you mentioned they need the hitting, they’ve cooled off since their ten game win streak, they really will depend on Alex Cobb and Logan Webb for pretty much the rest of the way.

#5 Turning to football Bruce, the 49ers have four quarterbacks in camp with three jobs open. Brock Purdy pretty much looks like a lock for first string, but second string could be interesting with Trey Lance and Sam Darnold and the four quarterback in camp whose looked pretty good is former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen.

Bruce Magowan does Headline Sports for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Will “Sell the team” become a national rallying cry to save the A’s in MLB parks?; What a Mets rebuild would look like now; plus more news

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Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers fans stood up to in protest of the A’s relocation to Las Vegas in the top of the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Mon Aug 1, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the MLB podcast with Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Top story had to be last night’s game in Los Angeles between the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Dodgers when A’s and Dodgers fans alike stood up in the top of the fifth inning while the A’s were at bat and chanted “Sell the team” another message loud and clear to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the owners and A’s owner John Fisher expressing how opposed they are about the Oakland A’s relocation to Las Vegas. Will “Sell the team” become a national rallying cry at MLB parks?

#2 With the New York Mets it started with Max Scherzer expressing his discontent about the teammate and pitcher David Robertson being traded to the Miami Marlins and that he wanted a meeting with the Mets brass and Scherzer got traded to the Texas Rangers. Then Justin Verlander two days later was dealt to the Houston Astros. Are the Mets just trying to get rid of payroll or they know they can’t win even with such superstars on the payroll.

#3 More Astros news starter to the end Framber Valdez threw a no hitter last night against the Cleveland Guardians a pretty much respected offensive team giving up just one walk, one batter short of a perfect game. Valdez’ no hit bid is MLB’s third no hitter of the season.

#4 Can the Los Angeles Angels make the post season with Shohei Ohtani surviving the trade deadline and the Angels waiting for outfielder Mike Trout to return to action. Ohtani was on the trade rumor market for a time but owner Art Moreno but the kibosh on that as the Angels are destined to try and make post season with their superstars.

#5 The Angels also added infielder CJ Cron and outfielder Randal Grichuk two right handed hitters from the Colorado Rockies. Do you see this improving the Angels line up in the stretch drive?

Join Stephen for the MLB podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Memories of Oakland (No 9 in Series)   Glory Years  –1988,1989,1990 World Series

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Former Oakland A’s outfielder Jose Canseco seen throwing out the first ball in previous years ago game at the Oakland Coliseum was one of the key stars of the A’s World Series teams in the 80s (AP News photo)

By Amaury Pi-González

The Oakland Athletics won three consecutive American League pennants from 1988 to 1990 and made it to the World Series annually.

These three years were the pinnacle of success for the Oakland A’s during the Walter Haas ownership and Tony LaRussa as field manager, the best time since the Charlie O Finley Athletics won three consecutive World Series in 1972-73 and 1974.

The A’s did not win three World Series in a row this time, but these were some of the greatest baseball teams the A’s ever put on the field. The teams had power, speed, pitching, and everything, including very exciting players, but as we know, the World Series is genuinely unpredictable.

  • 1988 I considered the best of these three consecutive World Series teams. They won 104 games and finished 13 games over the Minnesota Twins in their division and then beat the Boston Red Sox in four games to win the American League Championship Series.
  • The World Series matched the A’s vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, only the second time that two California teams met in the October Classic. Previously was also the Oakland A’s in 1974 when they beat the Dodgers. This time the Dodgers took the Oakland A’s in five games, and pitching star Orel Hershiser won the series MVP. José Canseco won the MVP of the American League and the Silver Slugger Award. Dennis Eckersley won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, and in 1988 Tony LaRussa won the Manager of the Year. The first game of the World Series at Dodger Stadium culminated with a home run by pinch hitter Kirk Gibson (he could not take batting practice due to his physical condition), yet he surprised the world with that dramatic ninth-inning home run vs. Eckersley that landed in the right field seats. Eck threw “one slider too many.” Although it was just Game One, it had the feeling that this was a precursor of what was going to happen. Famous artist Leroy Neiman was present doing his paintings. The great Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo, who sang the National Anthem at the inaugural game at Dodger Stadium, came into our booth prior to game three at the Oakland Coliseum. He was very much curious about baseball and specially asked questions about José Canseco, who that season became the first 40-40 player in history.
  • 1989 Was not only Oakland A’s fourth World Championship title but the most historical as a powerful earthquake stopped it. As Evelio A.Mendoza and yours truly were doing the pre-game show Game 3, less than a half-hour before the game was to start, the quake hit, shaking Candlestick Park. I will never forget that October 17. The Loma Prieta earthquake was a strong 6.9 in magnitude. The series resumes ten days after the quake, which killed 67, injured more than 3,700, and caused billions of dollars in property damage. The Oakland A’s won games 1 and 2 at Oakland by scores of 5-0 and 5-1, then ten days after the earthquake, the series resumed in San Francisco, where they won game 3 by a 13-7 score and game four by a 9-6 score. Dave Stewart, who won games 1 and 3 was named the MVP. Nobody in Oakland history did what Stew accomplished from 1987 to 1990; he won 20 to 22 games in each season consecutively. The four World Series trophies for the Oakland A’s are the best for a Bay Area team. The 1989 World Series is historically unique and shows the leadership of the interim Commissioner Fay Vincent, who, after the earthquake, made the decision as he was sitting at his box at Candlestick Park and ordered the game to be postponed. According to Vincent, he had already made the decision to postpone Game 3 without telling anybody first. As a result, the umpires filed a formal protest of Vincent’s decision. However, the game had to be postponed due to trouble with gas lines and the power issue. Vincent made the right decision, and in the end, the World Series was played in its totality. Dave Stewart was more than the MVP for this World Series. Stewart was active working and helping first responders in the Cypress Freeway area of Oakland, which had collapsed during the quake, an area that caused many of the fatalities.
    1. The A’s played the Cincinnati Reds. The first two games were scheduled to be played at Cincinnati. There was a large contingency of Oakland A’s employees, their families, that followed the team east. The Mayor of Oakland Lionel Wilson and his wife were present among other Oakland leaders. All the rooms in Cincinnati hotels were sold out. My wife and I stayed in Kentucky along with the other staff people, including broadcasters. The bus ride was about hour from the stadium. Later when I was traveling with other teams, I discovered a friendly bridge that I would walk a few times across the Ohio River from Riverfront Stadium to Covington, Kentucky. Everything went the Red’s way as they won the two games in Cincinnati and the last two in Oakland; A’s were swept. As if often happens in baseball, a player that was young and ineffective during his career with the Oakland A’s from 1985 to 1987, Dominican pitcher José Rijo who was traded from Oakland three years before, was 3-0 in the postseason and 2-0 in the World Series came back to haunt his ex-team and won the MVP.

Years later (when he was not managing the A’s), I spoke with Tony LaRussa, who used to have a pregame segment before each of our A’s games in Spanish, and told him I believe the A’s should have won the three World Series, he agreed with me. But such is baseball.

1990 was the last time the A’s were in a World Series. Thirty-three years ago and counting,

Famous Quotes: “May God give you, for every storm, a rainbow; for every tear, a smile; for every care, a promise; and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life seems, a faithful friend to share; for every sigh, a sweet song, and an answer for each prayer”. -Vin Scully.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play voice for the Oakland Athletics Spanish radio network at 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Dodgers beat A’s 7-3; Lance Lynn gets first win as a Dodger

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn pitching in his first game as a Dodger against the Oakland A’s on Tue Aug 1, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

Having won two out of three from the Colorado Rockies, the Oakland A’s came to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. Lefty Ken Waldichuk was on the hill for Oakland. Lance Lynn would make his first start as a Dodger. Lynn did well, going seven innings and allowing three runs and five hits. The A’s just came up four runs short and were defeated by the Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium 7-3.

Three of the hits allowed were solo homers. Waldichuk did well for three innings. He struggled in the fourth and ended up being the losing pitcher. The game summary follows below.

Things went south for Waldichuk in the bottom of the fourth. Waldichuk kept the Dodgers hitless for the first three innings. Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman led off the fourth with a single. Waldichuk struck out Will Smith and Amed Rosario.

Suddenly, Waldichuk could not find the strike zone. He walked Max Muncy and Chris Taylor to load the bases. Waldichuk hit James Outman with a pitch to force in the Dodgers first run. A’s manager Mark Kotsay replaced Waldichuk with righty Tayler Scott. Kike Hernandez, recently acquired from Boston, doubled to clear the bases. The Dodgers lead 4-0 after four.

The A’s put a run on the board in the top of the sixth. With one out and no one on board, Zack Gelof blasted his fourth home run of the year into the left-field seats. For Lance Lynn, it was the 29th home run allowed, the most in baseball. The A’s trail 4-1 midway through the sixth.

The A’s hit two solo homers in the top of the seventh. Brent Rooker led off the inning with his 18th dinger of the season. Lynn retired Tyler Soderstrom for the first out. Jordan Diaz, playing third base for the A’s, hit an opposite-field home run to make it a 4-3 game.

It was an opposite-field dinger for the young man. Lynn has now allowed 31 gopher balls season. The Dodgers got two runs back in their half of the seventh. Mookie Betts blasted his 28th big fly of the year leading off the frame.

Freddie Freeman singled. Tarnol stuck out Will Smith for the first out. Amed Rosario walked to put men on at first and second. Lefty Sam Long was brought in to pitch. Long uncorked a wild pitch, Greeman and Rosario advanced a base. The A’s intentionally walked to Taylor to load the bases. Long walked James Outman to force in a run. The Dodgers lead 6-3 after seven.

The Dodgers tacked on a run in the eighth. With one out, Mookie Betts doubled. Freddie Freeman’s fourth hit of the night, a single to center, drove in Betts with the Dodgers’ seventh run. LA leads 7-3 after eight.

The A’s failed to score in the ninth.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 30-78. The Dodgers improved to 60-45. The Dodgers lead the San Francisco Giants by 2 1/2 games in the race for the NL West crown.

The Line score for Oakland was three runs, six hits, and no errors. Three of the hits were home runs.

The line score for LA was seven runs, seven hits, and no errors. The hitting stars for LA were Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Kike Hernandez. Betts had a double and a home run. Freeman had three singles and a double. Hernandez’ double drove in three runs in the fourth.

Lefty Hogan Harris will start for Oakland on Wednesday night. Tony Gonsolin will pitch for the Dodgers. The game will start at 7:10 pm.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jim on Bases: A’s get translucent ceiling idea from Raiders; Owners to sneak relocation vote in Nov after World Series

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The A’s are planning on installing a translucent roof at their new Tropicana ballpark in Las Vegas similar to what the Las Vegas Raiders are using for their roof at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (photo from Raiders.com)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jim on Bases:

#1 Jim, instead of a retractable roof a Las Vegas A’s team has decided on a translucent roof similar to the roof that the Las Vegas Raiders have at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

#2 The cost for the retractable roof would run an amazing $1.5 billion almost the cost of the ballpark itself.

#3 So the see through roof will fit the size of the Tropicana ballpark which will sit on nine acres of land and the A’s are hoping this answer their roof issues.

#4 The A’s are waiting for the renderings from architect Gensler whose based in Las Vegas and BIG who combining forces with HNTB. The contractor with the best rendering will be the one to do the official rendering for the Las Vegas ballpark.

#5 The relocation application is expected to be voted on in November after the renderings are submitted. Commissioner Rob Manfred and the MLB owners have scheduled all A’s relocation issues for after the World Series and after the topic of baseball is pretty much put to bed and not face the pressure of the fans.

Jim on Bases does the MLB or Oakland A’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Preview: A’s open three game series with Dodgers at Chavez Ravine Tuesday

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Ex Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Lance Lynn delivers a pitch the first inning against the Chicago Cubs on Wed Jul 26, 2023 in Chicago. Lynn was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers this week and will start Tue Aug 1, 2023 against the Oakland A’s at Dodgers Stadium (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s won two out of the three games against the Colorado Rockies this weekend. The A’s offense came to life on Friday and Saturday, putting 19 runs on the board and winning 8-5 and 11-3. The A’s offense went back to sleep on Sunday as they lost 2-0. The A’s record is now a woeful 30-77. Additionally, the A’s have the worst run differential (-255) in baseball. The A’s have scored 387 runs and have allowed a whopping 642.

The A’s finish the road trip in Los Angeles as they face the NL West Division leader, the Dodgers, for three games. The Dodgers are 59-45 and have a two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the race for first place in the division. The Giants would love to have the A’s commit mayhem by beating the Dodgers.

The Dodgers, favorites to win the pennant in the National League this year, have been hit hard by the injury jinx. The Dodgers’ two best-starting pitchers are not available for the series. Clayton Kershaw, a future Hall of Fame player, is out with a shoulder injury until at least August 10th. Walker Buehler has yet to throw a pitch this season.

Buehler had Tommy John surgery and hoped to return to action around September 1st. Reliever Blake Treinen, a former Oakland Athletic, had rotator cuff surgery and has been unable to perform this season. Treinen is expected back on August 15th. The Dodgers traded with the Chicago White Sox the other day to bolster their pitching.

The Dodgers acquired a starter, Lance Lynn, and a reliever Joe Kelly. Lynn is having a down year. His record is 6-9, and his ERA is a bloated 6.47. Kelly was with the Dodgers in 2018 when they played the Boston Red Sox in the World Series that year. Kelly left the Dodgers to play for Boston and Chicago.

The Dodgers lost shortstop Gavin Lux for the season with a leg injury. The Dodgers lost their star shortstop, Trea Turner, to free agency. Turner is now with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodger third baseman Justin Turner left to play with the Red Sox.

The Dodgers made up for the loss of Justin Turner by signing J.D. Martinez as their DH. Martinez had a down year with Boston and is proving Boston wrong for letting him go. Martinez is hitting. 260 with 25 home runs and 75 RBIs.

The Dodgers’ offense is quite potent. Former NL MVP Freddie Freeman and former AL MVP Mookie Betts lead the offense. Other offensive threats are third baseman Max Muncy and catcher Will Smith. Freeman is hitting .329 with 21 homers and 73 RBIs. Betts’ numbers are .227, 27 dingers, and 68 RBIs. Muncy has hit 27 home runs and driven in 70.

The shortstop position has been a problem for the Dodgers this year. The Dodgers have been using Miguel Rojas but acquired Amed Rosario to help improve the play at that position. The Dodgers traded with Boston to bring back the super-utility man, Kike Hernandez. Hernandez can play shortstop, second base, or centerfield.

His ability to play multiple positions gives Dodger manager Dave Roberts the ability to use Mookie Betts in the outfield. David Peralta, James Outman, and Jason Heyward are other players contributing to the Dodger offense. All three players can hit the ball out of the park. The A’s pitching staff will have their hands full trying to contain the potent Dodger offense.

The Dodgers have announced their starters for the series. On Tuesday, Lance Lynn will be making his first start as a Dodger. Lynn has not pitched well this year. He is hoping that Dodger Stadium will be a good place to get a win for his new team.

On Wednesday, Tony Gonsolin will be on the hill for LA. Gonsolin is 5-4 and has an ERA of 4.25. On Thursday, left Julio Urias will start. Urias is 7-6 with an ERA of 4.98. The A’s have yet to announce their starters. Lefties Ken Waldichuk and Hogan Harris may see action.

The A’s would love to get a win or two in the series. The Dodgers are salivating to play the A’s as they hope to get three wins and increase their lead over the Giants. If the Dodgers pitchers are at the top of their game, they could sweep the A’s.

Taking the A’s lightly would be a mistake. The A’s may not have the name players like the Dodgers, but guys like JJ Bleday, Ryan Noda, Zack Gelof, and Brent Rooker can send the ball out of the park, and the A’s can make life a wee bit more miserable for the Dodgers. A’s manager Mark Kotsay will have his team ready. The A’s players will give Kotsay a 100% effort. They may not win, but they will give the Dodgers a total effort.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Rockies manager Black says shutout on A’s was “pitching at it’s finest”; A’s will not have roof on new ballpark in Vegas

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Ken Waldichuk throws to a San Francisco Giants batter during the fourth inning at Oracle Park San Francisco on Tue Jul 25, 2023. Waldichuk is expected to get the start Tue Aug 1, 2023. (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 The Colorado Rockies (41-64) starting pitcher Ty Blach and four relievers put out the Oakland A’s (30-77) fire and avoided getting swept at Coors Field in Denver on Sunday with a 2-0 shutout.

#2 Rockies pitchers Matt Koch, Brent Suter, Daniel Bard, and Justin Lawrence relieved for Colorado and left the A’s scratching their heads on how to get on the scoreboard after having some landslide games in this series.

#3 Rockies manager Bub Black said that it was a game that the Rockies needed after getting defeated twice by the A’s who have the worst record in baseball twice at home and Black said it was pitching at it’s finest.

#4  The A’s Ramon Laureano got two hits and A’s pitcher Luis Medina threw for 5.1 innings giving up six hits and two runs. Two of the A’s players who got some decent production in Sunday’s loss.

#5 The A’s head to Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles to open up a three game series on Tuesday night Aug 1st at 7:10pm PT. The A’s have not announced a starter as of Sunday night and the Dodgers will start Lance Lynn (6-9 ERA 6.47).

#6 Just wanted to ask you about the relocation vote to Las Vegas for the A’s in November. The A’s will have the renderings ready before Thanksgiving. Does the timing of this vote strike you as a coincidence that the World Series will be over and interest in baseball would over for the winter and the owners can get the relocation vote in?

#7 Barbara the A’s are reconsidering putting a roof on the new Tropicana park in Vegas, fans do turn out in over 100 degree heat for the A’s minor league team the Las Vegas Aviators. Do you see the A’s taking that into account as a reason why they would drop the roof.

Barbara Mason does the A’s podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rockies Foil A’s Bid For Sweep; Oakland blanked by Colorado’s Five Man Rotation 2-0

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ty Blach works against the Oakland Athletics in the fifth inning at Coors Field in Denver on Sun Jul 30, 2023 (AP News photo)

Rockies Foil A’s Bid For the Sweep Oakland Falls Short 2-0

By Barbara Mason

Sunday afternoon the Oakland A’s (30-77) played the third and final game of their series with the Colorado Rockies (41-64). The A’s couldn’t seal the deal in picking up the sweep getting shut out by starter Ty Blach who pitched for five innings giving up three hits and striking out two. The A’s bats also fell silent against four relievers who followed Blach in the 2-0 loss at Coors Field.

This game did not go the way Oakland had envisioned. The game was scoreless through the first two innings. The Rockies tallied two runs scoring a run in each of the third and fifth innings. Ryan McMahon set up both runs. He singled in the third inning, driving in Austin Wynns and in the fifth he doubled in Ezequiel Tovar who crossed home plate giving Colorado a 2-0 lead.

The Rockies would take the 2-0 lead into the eighth inning. Colorado threatened to extend their lead in the ninth inning with runners on base but the A’s kept them off the scoreboard.

Oakland had the ninth inning to try to salvage this game. Seth Brown struck out, JJ Bleday struck out and Shea Langeliers flied out. That was the ball game and the Rockies had foiled the sweep for the A’s with five pitchers getting the shutout.

Oakland’s Luis Medina went 5.1 innings taking a bit of pressure off the A’s bullpen. He allowed the six hits that turned out to be the only Colorado strikes in the game. Medina also allowed the two runs with six strikeouts.

Oakland had a great opportunity in the seventh inning loading the bases. Nick Allen came to the plate and got a terrible call that ended the inning and any chance for the A’s to get on the scoreboard. Oakland only had five hits in the game.

A’s post game notes: Oakland won the first two games of the series, the second game was a bit of a blowout 11-3. The A’s have not seen many blowouts this season so this game was a beautiful thing. A win in Sunday’s game would have been a sweep for the A’s but they fell short. It also would have been their second sweep of the season.

Oakland will now head out west for a three game series with the NL West leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ken Waldichuk (2-6 ERA 6.38) will take the mound for the A’s. Lance Lynn (6-9 ERA 6.47)will start for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:10 PM PT.

Oakland lets loose on Colorado with five run second inning; A’s Pepper Rockies 11-3

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Oakland Athletics’ JJ Bleday, left, congratulates Zack Gelof for a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the second inning at Coors Field in Denver on Sat Jul 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

A’s Pepper Rockies 11-3

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (30-76) offense had flourished in game one but could they repeat that in game two? They did with a 11-3 whipping on the Colorado Rockies (40-64) at Coors Field in Denver Sunday.

The A’s got an early run in the first inning taking a 1-0 lead. Seth Brown sacrificed and Zach Gelof scored.

Oakland scored five runs in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead. Jace Peterson and Tyler Soderstrom both scored. The A’s then hit back to back home runs. Gelof hit a solo shot and Brent Rooker had a two run homer.

The Rockies got on the board in the second inning with a single run, Elias Diaz scored off a Michael Toglia single.

Colorado scored another run in the third inning trying to sneak back into this game. C.J. Cron singled bringing Ryan McMahon home. Oakland still had a nice lead 6-2.

Going into the sixth inning. The A’s. went on another crazy scoring sequence. They tacked on four more runs in the inning taking a 10-2 lead. Gelof, Brown, JJ Bleday and Ramon Laureano all crossed home plate. The A’s would add another run in the seventh inning enjoying a comfortable lead 11-2.

The Rockies would hit a homer in the eighth inning off the bat of Randal Grichuk. Trailing 11-3, the Rockies had a lot of work to do and little time to do it. Colorado had 12 hits in the game but left a lot of runners stranded. In contrast, Oakland had 13 hits and brought most of those base runners home.

Going into the ninth inning the A’s were three outs away from their 30th win of the season.

Paul Blackburn had a nice showing on the mound going six innings allowing nine hits and two runs in the win. The A’s pitching staff had no walks in this game; it was a solid game for them.

A’s post game notes: Friday night the A’s took a 7-1 lead over the Colorado Rockies going into the eighth inning. Colorado got a mini rally going scoring three runs in the eighth but Oakland was able to hold on winning the game 8-5. The A’s had 14 hits in that game and Saturday night got a second win in Colorado.

Oakland will be going for the sweep in Sunday’s game three. Luis Medina (3-7 ERA 5.50) will take the mound for Oakland and for the Rockies Ty Blach (0-0 ERA 5.51) will get the nod. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM.