Tag: Oakland A’s

Astros Tucker blasts 3 HRs puts game out of reach for A’s in 6-4 loss; Astros lead series 2-0

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Oakland A’s outfielders Tony Kemp (5) and JJ Bleday (33) watch the trajectory of the baseball as it sails over the fence hit by the Houston Astros Alex Bergman in the top of the third inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Jul 21, 2023 (AP News photo)

Houston (55-43). 102 020 100. – 6. 9. 0

Oakland (27-72) 001 030 000 – 4 7. 0

Time: 2:40

Attendance: 6,810

Friday, July 21, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Brent Rooker, the Oakland Athletic’s (27-73) nominal all star, was a late scratch from the starting lineup due to illness. This required a massive change in the batting order, but Seth Brown, batting eighth and in right field, was the only player added to the original list, giving the A’s one less right handed hitter and one more lefty to face Houston Astros (55-43) southpaw starter, Framber Valdéz (7-6, 2.76 at game time). There are no switch hitters on the A’s’ current active roster.

Valdéz, who left his previous start, on the 15th in Anaheim, with a cramp in his left calf, has been Houston’s opening day starter for the last two years and threw a complete game shutout against the A’s on May 21, wasn’t in shutout shape tonight.

Valdez pitched well enough for four frames, but fell apart in the fifth. In all, he went five innings and gave up four runs, all earned, on six hits and two walks, striking out four and walking two and hitting one batter. He got the win beating the A’s 6-4 and went back to the team’s hotel at 8-6, 2.94.

The A’s also sent a lefty to the mound, JP Sears (1-6, 3.99 as of the first pitch). Opposing right handed batters had been batting .199 with an OPS of .687 against him, while lefties had gone .193, .768. Yet Houston skipper Dusty Baker had put eight right handed batsmen in his starting lineup.

The lone lefty was Kyle Tucker. There weren’t any more because there’s only one other left handed position player on the team, and he joined it on June 23 and has hit .130 since then. Sears wasn’t sharp tonight, and Tucker led the attack against him.

But the lefty held on for 5-2/3 frames, in which he threw 95 pitches, 62 for strikes. He allowed five runs, all earned, and left a runner on first when he exited the game. He logged only one strikeout but issued only one walk. He took the loss; his balance sheet now reads 1-7, 4.19.

The Astros lost no time in taking the lead. Sears retired the first two batters he faced, needing only five pitches to do so. Then Tucker launched Sears’ sixth offering over the right center field fence, 406 feet deep, for his 15th home run and 65th RBI of the season It came off a 94.8 mph four seamer and left Tucker’s bat at 106.2 mph.

Tony Kemp, moved up from the number six slot in the lineup shakeup, led off the home first with a leg double to center, and The Curse of the Leadoff Double took its toll, with Kemp dying on third.

The much booed Alex Bregman ended an 1-1 pitch at bat in the top of the third with his 15th homer of ’23, a two run blast 392 feet to left center. It turned an 85.4 change up into a 3-0 lead for the visitors.

The green and gold narrowed that to 3-1 in the bottom of the third. With two down, Valdéz plunked Kemp, the only Athletic who had reached base safely at that point. Zach Gelof followed with a walk, and Jordán Díaz laced an RBI single to left.

Tucker struck again in the fifth. With one away and a man onboard, the Astros’ right fielder hit his second round tripper of the evening and 16th of the year, sending the spheroid 396 feet deep, this time to right center. The score now was 5-1, Astros, and Tucker had driven in three of Houston’s five runs.

The A’s offense came alive in the bottom of that inning. Nick Allen, Kemp, and Gelof got three straight singles to load the bases with no one out. Jordan Díaz drew an RBI walk, Aledmys Díaz hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated Kemp and advanced Gelof to third. Then Bleday’s 3-1 groundout brought Gelof home, and Oakland was back in the game, trailing by only one run, 5-4.

Taylor Scott relieved Sears after he’d walked David Hensley with two out in the top of the sixth. Scott struck Martín Maldonado looking to end the inning.

Phil Maton was on the mound for Houston when the bottom of the sixth began. Cody Thomas, pinch hitting for Bleday greeted him with a double to right. After Brown popped out, a wild pitch allowed Thomas to reach third. But, like Kemp in the first, he was stranded there. The Curse strikes again.

Tucker had the righty-lefty equation in his favor when he faced Scott in the top of the seventh and turned it to his advantage with his third dinger of the game and number 17 of the season, a two out solo shot to right that extended the Astros lead to 6-4.

Rafael Montero, who’s been struggling recently preserved that margin in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the side in order.

Austin Pruitt did the same to the ‘stros in the top of the eighth, in spite of a two out warning track shot to center by Corey Julks.

It was Héctor Neris’s turn to face the A’s in the bottom of the ninth. He walked Bleday and Langeliers to open the episode, but an infield fly to the catcher, Maldonado, and a pitcher’s best friend on Brown’s grounder to second put the threat to rest.

Pruitt had no trouble achieving a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

When Ryan Pressly went to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, he was looking for his 100th career save. He got it, his 23rd of the year

The loss lowered Oakland’s record to 27-73, .270. Kansas City lost to the Yankees, 5-4, in the Bronx this afternoon. The Royals now are 28-71, .283.

July 21, 1899 found the Cleveland Spiders in the Nation’s Capital, where they split a doubleheader with the Senators. Both games ended in a score of 5-3, and what was until this year the losingest team in major league baseball history escaped town with a record of 15-68, .217.

On this date in baseball infamy, the Cincinnati Reds stepped right up and beat the Mets, 5-3, in a day game at Crosley Field. The defeat left the dazed Amanzin’s at 24-68, .261

Saturday evening’s game between the A’s and the Astros is scheduled to start at 6:07 and will be the third of the current four game series between the two. Houston’s Christian Javier (7-1, 4.39) will face Oakland’s Paul Blackburn (1-2, 5.48) in a battle of right handers.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Astros take first two games of series from A’s

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Houston Astros starter JP France throws into the seventh inning against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jul 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Houston Astros rookie JP France struck out five hitters going into the bottom of the eighth inning for the first time this season at the Oakland Coliseum Thursday night and picked up his third win.

#2 The Oakland A’s who had a 1-0 lead couldn’t hold onto the lead as the Astros scored twice in the top of the sixth inning and never back from that point.

#3 The Astros Alex Bergman’s home run gave the Astros some insurance in the top of the ninth and a two run cushion as the A’s just didn’t have anything in the tank in trying to get anymore offense going.

#4 A’s starter Hogan Harris surrendered the two runs in the top of the six on when the Astros Mauricio Dubon and Jeremy Pena hit RBI doubles to knock in a run each. Hogan however pitched well going six inning giving up four hits striking out six in the cause.

#5 The Astros will be starting Framber Valdez (7-6 ERA 2.76) against the A’s JP Sears (1-6 ERA 3.99) for tonight’s second game of this four game series at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s after winning two in a row against Boston opened the series with the Astros with a loss and hope to get back in the win column tonight.

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

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s fans plan reverse boycott this time involves Giants fans in San Francisco May 25th

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Ruben Ortiz of Modesto holds up is “Stay in Oakland” sign before the last reverse boycott at the Oakland Coliseum on Jun 13, 2023. Oakland A’s fans are encouraging San Francisco Giants fans to join in the reverse boycott this Tue Jul 25, 2023 when the Oakland A’s play the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Daniel, tell us your thoughts as fans get ready for another reverse boycott this time at Oracle Park in San Francisco when Oakland A’s fans encourage San Francisco Giants to get on board with wearing black shirt with the word “Sell” in orange to join A’s fans in support of getting A’s owner John Fisher to sell the ball club to someone who’ll keep them in Oakland. The reverse boycott is scheduled for this coming Tue Jul 25th at Oracle Park.

#2 Daniel, the group called the Oakland 68’s named after the A’s first year in Oakland 1968 are part of the movement to fight to keep the A’s in Oakland. The 68’s in a statement from the their website said the A’s deserve a stadium at Howard Terminal. San Francisco Giants fans and A’s fans can be pretty vocal if both sets of fans come out to encourage Fisher to sell.

#3 The 68’s are hoping that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao continue her fight to help keep the A’s in Oakland. It’s hopeful the documents she delivered to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred might have some sway to the other owners to vote to keep the A’s in Oakland.

#4 The latest news is that the MLB owners vote could take place months from now as they wait for the A’s to deliver the relocation application. The A’s on the relocation application are trying to solve where to play while the park in under construction between 2025-2027, the renderings of the park need to be put together and the design of the retractable roof needs to be addressed and how it’ll fit on nine acres of Tropicana land space.

#5 Daniel, on the A’s side of the coin how confident do you see Fisher and team president David Kaval in getting the votes and getting the shovels in the ground in Vegas?

Daniel Dullum does the Oakland A’s podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s pitching coughs up two runs in 6th Astros win it 3-1; Noda out on 10 day IL with broken jaw

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Oakland A’s base runner Seth Brown (right) sets up at second base after hitting a double, the Houston Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon is to the left in the bottom of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jul 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

Houston (54-43) 000 002 001. – 3. 5. 0

Oakland (27-72). 100 000 000. – 1. 6. 0

Time: 2:12

Attendance: 4,757

Friday, July 20, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Ryan Noda played a prominent part in the first two games of the A’s 2-1 series victory of the Red Sox earlier this week. He got the only hit in Monday’s game. His ejection for arguing a called third strike in that game resulted in the ejection of Mark Kotsay.

That, of course, wasn’t crucial in Oakland’s crushing 7-0 defeat, but it was emblematic. His second inning solo homer was enough to defeat the Bosox in the A’s eventual 3-0 victory on Tuesday. He was listed to start on Wednesday but a bad hop in fielding practice hit him on the jaw and he was removed from the line up.

Today he finds himself on the 10 day injured list, although 10 days sounds like an optimistic forecast for his recovery. Jonah Bride was recalled from Las Vegas to replace him, and Seth Brown started at first base in this evening’s game against the high flying, but second place Houston Astros.

Brown went two for four and showed some nifty footwork at the initial sack, but that didn’t keep the Athletics from dropping a 3-1 thriller.

The Athletics’ starting pitcher, Hogan Harris toed the rubber with the unprepossessing record of 2-3, 6.51 but had pitched well in his one appearance against the Astros. He held them scoreless on one hit in his first major league start, which occurred in Minute Maid Park on May 27.

He was outstanding for the first 5-2/3 innings of this evening’s assignment, tonight, allowing Houston only one hit, a second inning single by Chas McCormick. But then Mauricio Dubón and Jeremy Peña sent back to back singles to right, and Kyle Tucker brought them home with a double to left center.

That was Harris’s last frame on the mound. He threw six full innings and yielded two runs, both earned, on four hits, while striking out six. 58 of his 74 offerings went for strikes. He took the tough loss and now is 2-4, although he lowered his ERA to 6.11.

The ‘stros countered with another rookie, the right hander JP France (4-3, 3.71 at game time). This was his first appearance against the Athletics, and a fine one it was. The youngster went 7+ innings and gave up only one run , earned, on six hits and a walk. He also threw a wild pitch and struck out five. His pitch count was 93, with 64 of them counting as strikes. France earned the win His slate for the year now reads (5-3, 3.13)

Brown gave the home team an early lead when he doubled off the left field wall with two out and Tony Kemp, who had walked to open the A’s half of the first and advanced to second on JJ Bleday’s one hop grounder to first, came home.

For a moment in the home fourth it looked like the A’s would double their lead, but Jake Meyers robbed Jordán Díaz of a homer with a leaping grab of his drive that almost cleared the right center field fence, 375 feet from home.

The A’s held on to that lead until Harris’s meltdown in the sixth. He didn’t come out for the seventh,; Freddiy Tarnok relieved him and pitched a scoreless inning, stranding McCormick , who had walked, stolen second, and advanced a base on Corey Julks line out to deep center, at third.

The spirits of the scattering of A’s fans in the stands were raised by rookie Zach Gelof’s two out double in the seventh. But Jace Peterson grounded out to dash those hopes.

Oakland gained a victory of sorts in the top of the eighth when home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled that Tarnok had hit Dubón with a pitch and the video review supported the Athletics’ challenge and turning the HBP into a foul ball.

Bryan Abreu relieved France after Cody Thomas led off the bottom of the eighth with a single to right. He got to second on Aledmys Díaz’s sacrifice, but there he stayed.

Alex Bregman put the game on ice for Houston in the top of the ninth with his 14th home run of the season, a towering 100.6 mph blast, 397 feet to left center with the bases empty. It came on a full count 94.7 mph four seamer.

Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly preserved the 3-1 lead to earn his 22nd save of 2023.

The Tigers beat Kansas City this afternoon, so the Royals now are 28-70 in the race to the bottom. Oakland’s defeat left them at 27-72, .273.

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who finished their season at 20-134, .130 were shut out, 4-0, by the Senators in Washington on July 20th. That put their record at 14-67, .173.

The New York Mets of 1962,who ended their inaugural season at 40-120, .250, fell 3-1 to Cincinnati at Crosley Field. Future Giants manager Roger Craig took the loss, which left the Mets at 24-67, .265.

Thursday’s contest at the Coliseum was the first of a four game series. Friday, evening the teams will return to do battle at 6:40pm PT. The ‘stos plan to send southpaw Framber Valdéz (7-6, 2.76) against the A’s, who will counter with another lefty, JP Sears (1-6, 3.99).

A’s pick up runs early to defeat Sox 6-5 win two out of three; A’s Fujinami dealt to Orioles for lefty Easton Lucas

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The Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong is prepared to put the tag on a diving Oakland A’s runner JJ Bleday in the bottom of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jul 19, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–Wednesday was a perfect day for baseball at the Oakland Coliseum. The temperature was 69 degrees at the start of the game. The A’s also had a nice crowd of slightly over 15,000 people. The fans made their presence known as they were making noise all game long. The A’s were coming off a 3-0 shutout over the Red Sox Tuesday night. Could they beat the Sox again?

The answer was yes. A’s skipper Mark Kotsay stacked his lineup with six left-handed hitters to square off against Boston’s best pitcher Brayan Bello. Bello’s record was 7-5 with an ERA of 3.14. The strategy worked as three A’s left-handed hitters each blasted a two-run home run to beat Boston.

The A’s beat the Red Sox 6-5 Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. The A’s, however, almost beat themselves as they committed four errors in Wednesday’s game. Ken Waldichuk and Lucas Erceg made a two-base throwing error trying to pick off a Boston baserunner at first base. Both errors led to two Boston runs.

The Red Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. A’s starter Waldichuk walked the leadoff hitter Rob Refnsyder to start the game. Waldichuk retired Masataka Yoshida on a flyball to center field. Red Sox first baseman, the veteran Justin Turner, sent Waldichuk’s pitch into the left-field seats. The A’s got the two runs back in a flash in their half of the first. Tony Kemp singled to start the rally. JJ Bleday blasted his seventh home run of the year to tie the game at two apiece.

With one out in the bottom of the second, the A’s added took the lead 4-2. Jace Peterson walked. Left-handed hitter Cody Thomas blasted his first Major League home run to put the A’s in the lead. The ball went just over the yellow stripe in right field. Thomas must have felt great after his first MLB dinger.

In the bottom of the fourth, the A’s continued to pound the baseball. Catcher Shea Langeliers led off the frame with a double. Peterson hit the A’s third two-run dinger of the game to make it 6-2. For Peterson, it was his sixth big fly this season.

The Red Sox rallied to put two runs on the board in the top of the fifth. Waldichuk issued a free pass to Sox catcher Connor Wong. Wong went to third when Waldichuk’s pickoff attempt went past first baseman Tyler Soderstrom. Rob Refsnyder singled to drive in Wong. Yoshida doubled, sending Refsnyder to third. Turner’s groundout drove in Refsnyder with Boston’s fourth run of the game. The Sox trailed 6-4 midway through the fifth.

The Red Sox added a run in the top of the sixth. The A’s made two errors in the inning to help the Sox put the run on the board. Adam Duval singled to start the inning. A’s reliever Lucas Erceg’s pickoff throw went into right field. Duvall motored to third base. Duvall scored on Petrerson’s throwing error. The A’s still lead 6-5

The A’s bullpen did the job. The Red Sox failed to score in the game’s last three innings. The A’s win 6-5

Game Notes- The A’s beat the Red Sox for the second game in a row. The A’s are now 27-71. The Red Sox dropped to 51-46. With the trade deadline on August 1st, many people speculate that the Red Sox will be buyers and the A’s sellers.

The line score for Oakland was six runs, ten hits, and four errors. Three of the hits were home runs. Tony Kemp had two hits, Bleday had a home run and a double, and Jordan Diaz had two singles. Waldichuk’s line was four and 1/3rd innings of work. Waldichuk allowed five hits and four runs. Reliever Angel Felipe received credit for the win. Trevor May recorded a save.

Brayan Bello was the losing pitcher. Justin Turner blasted his 15th of the year for Boston. Boston’s line was five runs, six hits, and no errors.

The A’s welcome the Houston Astros to the Coliseum for four games starting Thursday night. Lefty Hogan Harris (2-3, 6.51) will go for Oakland. Righty J.P. France(4-3, 3.31) is Astros’ manager Dusty Baker’s choice to pitch.
The game will start at 6:37 pm.

Concluding Wednesday’s game the A’s dealt reliever Shintaro Fujinami to the Baltimore Orioles for left hand pitcher Easton Lucas. Fujinami was under a one year deal with Oakland worth $3.25 million in a contract that was signed in January.

Fujinami compiled a 5-8 record with an ERA of 8.57, he appeared 34 times for the A’s and started seven games.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Owners could take months to vote on A’s relocation; Owners waiting on relocation app

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The Unite the Bay crewneck sweatshirt will most likely be sold by outside vendors at Oracle Park in San Francisco when Oakland A’s fans invite San Francisco Giants fans to join in the reverse boycott on Tue Jul 26, 2023 (photo by lavashirt and special kotton)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, I know you’ve said it time and time again that you won’t believe the A’s are gone until you see the shovels in the ground at the Tropicana.

#2 The A’s are in a similar situation that the San Francisco Giants were in in 1992 when they were about to move to Tampa Bay but in that case the league did tell the Giants to find someone to buy the team and keep them in San Francisco. In this situation it’s all dependent on the owners voting for the relocation. Do you see any chance that the owners will vote no. David Samson the former Miami Marlins president believes the A’s will end up staying in Oakland.

#3 The MLB owners may not vote for another few more months, why the delay on voting, is it because their haggling over the team relocation fee being waved, is it because relocating to the smallest MLB market does sit well with the owners, or playing in what will be the smallest MLB park?

#4 Some of the writers that cover the A’s have said that the owners are one group and they will vote to relocate the A’s. Politically if someone wanted something in the future after the vote each owner would have to cooperate or it could be the owners to vote down the relocation that would keep the A’s in Oakland.

#5 Bally’s which is under the umbrella of Diamond Sports Group which operates MLB’s broadcast streaming services has filed bankruptcy and forced the San Diego Padres to get help from MLB to broadcast their games is this the same Bally’s group managing that manages the Tropicana and Hotel resort.

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

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Memories of Oakland  (No.8 in Series)   Charlie O and MC Hammer

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Former Oakland A’s owner Charlie O Finley rides A’s mascot Charlie O the Mule a popular mascot with fans and kids of the A’s (Fountain City Frequency photo)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–During the 1970s, two special Oakland A’s stories developed under owner Charlie O Finley.

1-The famous team mascot Charlie O, is named after the stubborn owner. When the team moved to Oakland, Mr.Finley brought the mule from Kansas City; it was originally a gift he received in 1963. The mule was the state animal, and it was a gift from the Governor of the state of Missouri.

All kinds of animals were behind the old Kansas City Municipal Stadium outfield fence. At that time, the A’s shared the stadium with the NFL KC Chiefs, who also had an animal mascot, a horse called Warpaint, who would go on the field after every time the Chiefs scored.

Charlie O the Mule died in 1976 at the age of 20. Mr.Finley would travel the mule during the World Series years, especially to teams’ hotels on the road, getting a lot of publicity from the media. During the 1972-74 three A’s World Series dynasty years, Charlie O. would be present for parties after the World Series games at the former Hyatt House on Hegenberger Road, Oakland.

In 1976 The year the mule died, the A’s ended in second place in the West with a 87-74 record, two and a half games out of first place. Charlie O the Mule was so popular that a song was written and recorded about the mule. (Scroll down to listen to recording from You Tube)

2-MC Hammer, the famous rapper (his real name Stanley Kirk Burrell) was a young kid that owner Finley discovered playing music on his boom box at the Coliseum parking lot and as he met him, the colorful owner made him a bat-boy and later, his right hand.

As a young kid, I remember he would be in the Oakland A’s Press Box at the Coliseum bringing broadcasters coffee or anything we needed. My then broadcast partner Julio González, (no relation), we would get a kick out of Stanley, which is what we called him as a kid.

He would also pick up the phone with frequency during games at Oakland to let owner Finley in Chicago know how the A’s were doing during the game. Stanley would do the play-by-play of the game directly and exclusively on the telephone to Mr.Finley.

He did this for years as a young teen and then until he was 18. Years ago, when Stanley was mostly known as M.C. Hammer, and had recorded his big hit “You Can’t Touch This”, he made an appearance at the Coliseum. I remember he stepping out of a long white limousine; I called his name, and we spoke for a couple of minutes; he asked me if I was still doing Spanish for the A’s.

He was a full-grown man, very well sharply dressed and very personable, and still enjoying recognition from his fame as a pop music recording star. He had a great music career, unfortunately later filed for bankruptcy. He rebounded and now is an investor and consultant for various companies.

These memories of the Oakland As will forever be engraved in my memory. Nobody can take that away from me, even if they move to Las Vegas or anyplace else. There is little doubt these two stories, 1-Charlie O and 2-MC Hammer, are part of the story of the Athletics. The Athletics were Chartered members of the American League in the year 1901 as the Philadelphia As, later Kansas City As, and today the Oakland As.

Quote: “If a manager of mine ever said someone was indispensable, I’d fire him. Charlie Finley.

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

A’s three runs in second enough in 3-0 shutout over Red Sox; Oakland’s eight game losing streak comes to an end

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Oakland A’s Almedmys Diaz (left) and JJ Bleday (right) celebrate after Bleday’s second inning home run against the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Jul 18, 2023 (AP News photo)

Boston (51-45). 000 000 000. – 0 5. 3

Oakland (26-71) 030 000. 000 – 3 7. 0

Time: 2:15

Attendance: 10,115

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–I’ve started to think that “bullpen game” is a misnomer. Last night’s knockout performance against the A’s by Boston’s Nick Pivetta featured a reliever, a starter and second relief pitcher, who served as mop up man. Only the order of their appearance was changed; the pitcher on the roster as a starter replaced the opener, a reliever, in the third. It wasn’t the bullpen that defeated the A’s; it was a member of the rotation, coming out of the bullpen.

Tonight’s contest between the teams from the place that calls itself with false modesty The Town and the city that proudly bills itself as The Hub of the Universe, also was one of those that baseball’s new lexicon dubs as a bullpen game. In this case, Red Sox reliever Joe Jacques , a veteran of 10 big league games, none of which he had started, opened for them and gave up three runs, all of them earned in 2-2/3 innings.

Jacques was charged with the loss and now has a record of 1-1, 5.79. He was followed by another left handed reliever, Chris Murphy, who pitched 4-2/3 strong frames . Joely Rodríguez and Richard Bleier also performed well on the mound for Boston.

The Athletics went with Luis Medina, the only right handed starter besides last night’s losing pitcher, Paul Blackburn, on their active roster. The result was a surprise 3-0 win for the home team.

Medina lasted 5-2/3 impressive frames, holding the Bosox to scoreless, although he left with a runner on first. He allowed only three hits and a walk. His pitch count was 80, with 53 strikes. He also was called for a pitch clock violation in the first inning. Sam Long, Shintaro Fujinami, Sam Moll, and Trevor also pitched for the A’s. Medina earned the win, bettering his season’s totals to 3-7, 5.79.

The A’s started strong and fizzled out quickly. Tony Kemp led off the bottom of the first with what might have been the Curse of the leadoff doubles to end all curses of lead off doubles. His hit landed near the right field foul line and got away from Alex Verdugo. It originally was scored as a triple, but that ruling was revised to a double and an error. An inning later, the scoring was again revised. Kemp was credited once more with a triple.

Kemp wisely didn’t try to score on Zach Gelof’s fly to medium deep left but did try to advance when Jacques’ 2-0 pitch to Jordan Díaz got past catcher Jorge Alfaro, who raced back to home to tag Kemp out. Kemp jumped over Alfaro, but home plate umpire Adam Hamari called him out for running out of the base path and ejected manager Mark Kotsay for his vehement arguing of the call.

In spite of that inauspicious start, Oakland took the lead in the home half of the second. with a home run by Ryan Noda, the only Athletic to have gotten a hit in last night’s debacle. It was Noda’s 11th round tripper of the year and travelled 402 feet into right center field with an exit velocity of 105.3 mph. Aledmys Díaz followed with a single to short and went to second on Yu Chang’s errant throw.

The 90 feet Díaz advanced proved to be irrelevant because JJ Bleday parked a sinker 396 feet into left center. The pitch came in at 91.2 mph and left and at 105.1 mph. The A’s now led 3-0, and Chris Murphy relieved Jacques to walk Kemp and strike out Gelof and Jordan Díaz to put out the fire.

Sam Long relieved Medina after Justin Turner’s two out single brought up left handed hitting clean up hitter Yoshida Masataka. The A’s southpaw got him to ground out to third, preserving Oakland’s 3-0 lead.

Shintaro Fujinami pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, and Joey Rodríguez put the A’s down in order in the bottom half of the frame. Sam Moll, with the help of a nifty play by Gelof at second for the third out, hurled a perfect top of the eighth.

Richard Bleier, reinstated yesterday from Boston’s injured list, allowed a leadoff double to Jordan Díaz, but The Curse worked, and we went into the ninth inning with the A’s hanging on to their 3-0 lead.

Trevor May earned the save, his seventh by surrendering nothing more harmful than a walk in the Bosox’ last at bat.

Oakland now is 26-71, .268 IF OK L 25-72 .258. Kansas City’s 11-10 defeat of the Tigers left the Royals. at 28-68, .292

One July 18, 1899, the Cleveland Spiders, until this year the worst major league team ever, split a double header with the Senators in Washington, winning the first game 5-4 and being mauled in the second, finishing the day at 14-64, .179.

The New York Mets of 1962, up to now the model of baseball futility in the modern era, were idle on July 18, which enabled them to preserve their record of 24-64, .273.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Red Sox will send Brayan Bello (7-5, 3.14) to face the A’s and Ken Waldichuk (2-6, 6.66). First pitch 12:37 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Headline Sports podcast with Auggie Mussenburg: MLB owners A’s relocation vote delay; Golden Fields memories; plus more

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Golden Gate Fields is about to close permanently it opened in 1941 and is closing to merge their business model in the Southland leaving the Bay Area with no race tracks (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Auggie:

#1 MLB owners have not taken a vote on relocating the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas do you think there is haggling going on behind the scenes and the owners don’t like the idea of moving a team in the fifth largest market to what would be the smallest market in MLB.

#2 If a move is made how much will MLB owner be concerned about losing the gate in the smallest MLB Park and smallest media MLB market.

#3 Golden Gate Fields Race Track will close permanently after the ’23 Meet in December 2023. The historic track is the last of what were two race tracks the other being Bay Meadows. The Stronach Group will double business at the Santa Anita Race Track and train at San Luis Rey Downs and at San Luis Rey Downs in the Southland.

#4 The Boston Red Sox shutout the A’s in a laugher Monday night. The Sox Connor Wong drove in three runs and pitcher Nick Pivetta matched a career high striking out 13 batters in the Sox 7-0 shoutout of the A’s at the Coliseum.

#5 Frustrations for the A’s Ryan Noda who was called out on strikes drew a line by the plate and was ejected by plate umpire Emil Jimenez. A’s manager Mark Kotsay came out to discuss and he and Noda went back towards the dugout.

Auggie is reporter KWAI 1080 Honolulu and podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice

Doubles and brilliant relief stymie A’s 7-0; Red Sox throw combined 1 hitter at Oakland

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Oakland Athletics Ryan Noda flips the ball back to pitcher Paul Blackburn against the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Jul 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

Boston (51-44). 110 004 001. – 7. 10. 0

Oakland (25-71) 000.000 000. – 0. 1. 0

Time: 2:37

Attendance: 9,987

Monday, July 17, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Red Sox are having pitching trouble this season. Injuries have reduced their starting rotation to three, with two out of every five games featuring an opener. The team they fielded this evening had a respectable 50-44 won-lost record but nonetheless was in last place in the American League East, nine games behind the division leading Rays.

The Sox went the bullpen route again today, choosing as their opener Brennan Bernardino, who had shut out the A’s over two innings in his opener role ten days ago in Fenway. The young southpaw was followed by Nick Pivettta after Bernardino had completed his fourth consecutive scoreless frame against Oakland.

Pivetta was the real story of the night. He pitched six innings of no hit relief, walking two, and striking out 13 of the 20 batters he faced. He threw 87 pitches, 58 for strikes. He got credit for the Red Sox’ 7-0 win, his sixth against five defeats, and lowered his ERA to 4.44.

The A’s also started the evening in last place in their division, but east is east, and west is west. The former is the Lake Woebegone Division, where all teams are above average. The AL West, like the AL Central, is the dwelling place for a team that threatens to end the season with the lowest winning percentage in major league history, and that team is your for the nonce Oakland Athletics. The A’s often play bullpen games, but they’re usually not planned as such; they just occur as the natural outgrowth of poor starts by the regular rotation..

Blackburn, who didn’t come off the injured list until May 28 was 1-1, 4,86 at game time. He struggled in his first time through the lineup but rallied to hold Boston hitless in the third, fourth, and fifth innings before his troubles began resumed in the sixth. He ended up throwing 5-2/3 innings and allowing six runs, all earned, on nine hits, and two walks. He struck out two batters. 64 of his 97 deliveries counted as strikes. He took the loss, and now has a record of 1-2, 5.48)

The Bosox defied The Curse of the Leadoff (Leg) Double when Jarren Duran advanced to third on Alex Verdgo executed a productive ground out and Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly to Seth Brown in right to start the game.

They defied The Curse again in the second when Seth Brown couldn’t get to Adam Duvalls’ fly in left, perhaps because of the way the shadows were falling on the grass before the lights had taken any effect. Triston Casas drove him in with a clean single to left, and the bay starters had a 2-0 jump on their hosts.

Boston had to wait an out before hitting its third inning two bagger. Verdugo hit it and died on second. They got another to lead off the sixth. It came from Turner’s bat, and it overcame The Curse, putting Boston ahead and ending Blackburn’s work for the evening. Masataka Yoshida followed Turner’s blow with a single that moved him to third.

Adam Duvall’s sac fly to right brought him home. Triston Casas walked. Christian Arroyo walked, and Connor Wong singled, and Yu Cheng hit a run producing ground out to third. That’s when Sam Moll took over for Blackburn and got the final out with Duran’s fly to left..

Moll retired the side in order in the seventh and then yielded to Angel Felipe, who did the same in the eighth. Boston loaded the bases against him in the ninth on a single and two walks On one of them, the third ball hit home plate umpire Emil Jiménez, who earlier had ejected Noda. The injury caused a delay, but Jiménez stayed in the game, and Turner hit into a force out at third that upped the visitors’ advantage to 7-0.

Chris Martin closed the book on the A’s in the ninth, walking one and striking out three.

Kansas City lost to Detroit 3-2. The Royals now are 27-68, .284, still a few steps behind the A’s and their 23-71, .245 in the race to the historical bottom.

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders split their July 17 double header at Baltimore before a gathering of 1,561 fans and finished the day at 13-63., 1.71.

The 1962 Mets were idle on the 17th and treaded water at 29-64, .312.

The A’s and Red Sox will have another go at each other tomorrow, Tuesday, evening at 6:40. Bryan Bello (7-5, 3.14) will face Oakland’s Ken Waldichuk (2-6, 6.66).