A’s get edge on Sox in ten innings 7-6 at Coliseum

Oakland A’s Tyler Wade (left) slides ahead of the tag from Chicago White Sox catcher Carlos Perez (36) at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Jul 1, 2023 (AP News Photo)

Chicago (36-49). 012 000 030. 0. – 6 10 2

Oakland (23-62). 100 011 200 1. – 7. 11.0.

10 innings

Time: 3:20

Attendance: 9,235

Saturday, July 1, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–On Friday, James Kaprielian was the A’s announced starting pitcher for this Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Yesterday, James Kaprielian also was placed on the 15 day injured list.

That’s at least partially why Kyle Muller took the mound for the at least current home team on this hot and hazy afternoon, during which the Athletics squeaked past the visitors, 7-6, in 10 innings. The haze burned off, but the heat remained. If the double play is a pitcher’s best friend, heat in the Coliseum is a pitcher’s nightmare.

Muller, the Atlanta Braves’ second round draft choice in 2016, was the A’s opening day pitcher this season and after three starts could boast a record of 0-0, 2.53 over 15-2/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.18. It was all downhill after that, and on May 23rd the A’s optioned Muller to Las Vegas in the batter friendly PCL, where he went 1-2, 6.59 before the A’s called up the 25 year old southpaw to start for them this afternoon.

Two double plays in five innings showed that Muller’s best friend didn’t desert him, but his stint on the mound, if not a nightmare, wasn’t a pleasant dream. He wasn’t sharp and allowed three runs, all earned, on six hits, one a homer, and four walks. He threw 86 pitches, 54 for strikes, and left trailing, 3-2. He escaped with a no decision and lowered his ERA to 7.79.

For their part, the Chisox went with 27 year old righty Dylan Crease, who came into today with a 3-3, 4.04 mark. In his last nine starts, however, he had gone 1-1, 2.82, with an opponents’ BA of .203. This, with a team that had a season record of 36-48. He toed the rubber hoping to notch his 40th career victory.

He failed in that attempt, leaving with the score tied and a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth. In 5-1/3 innings, he allowed three run, all earned, on six hits and three bases on balls. He struck out five batters. His pitch count reached 87, 54 of which were considered strikes. Like Muller, he got a no decision. His record now stands at 3-3, 4.10.

The green and gold got off to an early lead. Tony Kemp sent a lead off liner that bounced once before hitting the right center field wall between the Coca Cola ad and the line under the State Farm sign that separates balls in play from home runs. JJ Bleday’s sac fly to deep center brought him home.

The South Siders lost no time in erasing that deficit. Eloy Jiménez led off by lifting a 3-1, 88.9mph slider way back into left field, landing 433 feet from home. It was his 11th home run and 35th RBI of the year. Chicago sent seven men to the plate before that frame ended with the score tied at one.

They didn’t stop there. Tim Andersson’s lead off single to left center in the top of the third set the stage for two additional tallies when he and Luis Robert, Jr., who had followed. him with a single to right, were driven in by a single by Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn’s force out, respectively. The Pale Hose now were ahead, 3-1.

The A’s didn’t get another hit after Kemp’s lead off triple until Jordan Díaz and Tyler Wade opened the home half of the fifth with a pair of infield singles. Esteury Ruíz tried to sacrifice them up a base each, but Crease’s throw beat Díaz to third for a force out. Kemp flew out to center, advancing Wade to third.

JJ Bleday hit a hard liner that Zach Remillard made a great dive for but couldn’t hold on to, and Ward scored from third. We went into the sixth with the Chisox ahead, 3-2 and Austin Pruitt on the mound for the Athletics. He set the Chicagoans down in order, as did Lucas Erceg in the seventh.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Jace Peterson doubled to right center and scored on Noda’s two bagger to left center, tying the score at three and sending Crease to the showers, replaced by Gregory Santos. The reliever walked Díaz and surrendered a single to Wade that loaded the bases. Ruíz took. a called third strike for the second out. Then Kemp grounded out to second, ending the threat

Keynan Middleton retired the first two batters he faced in the home half of the seventh, but Seth Brown deposited a slider over the 367 foot sign in right, a shot that travelled 383 feet and Brown’s seventh homer and 20th RBI. Oh, yes, it also put the A’s up, 4-3.

But nothing’s easy in this vale of tears called the Oakland Coliseum. In the top of the eighth with Erceg back on the mound Robert smacked leadoff double to right center, and Jiménez walked. Vaughn was hit by a pitch while swinging at it for strike three and was ruled out after a lengthy rules check. Jake Burger went down swinging the normal way. Carlos Pérez pinch hit for Seby Zavala and line a double down the left field line that scored Frazier and sent Grandal to third.

That brought Sam Long to the mound for Oakland. He granted an intentional walk to Remillard to load the bases and an unintentional one to Benintendi that plated Grandal. Anderson hit a drive into the left field seats that had him circling the bases, but the play was reviewed, and the shot was called foul. Anderson then flew out to right, and the inning ended with the score 6-4, Chicago..

Joe Kelly was the pale hose pitcher in the home eighth. He walked Noda before fanning Díaz and Wade. Ruíz then dropped a double into just fair territory in right; Noda stopped his advance at third. He scored on a balk with Kemp aa the plate. Kemp’s single to first drove in Ruíz, who also had moved up on the balk. Bleday then hit a grounder that Remillard couldn’t handle at second. Pinch hitting Conner Capel flew out to end the inning in what now was a 6-6 tie.

Trevor May was called on to halt the White Sox in the top of the ninth. Robert singled to left. Jiménez popped out. Vaughn was hit by a pitch. Robert was caught trying to steal second, May to Kemp to Peterson. Chicago challenged the call, but it was confirmed. May struck Burger out to preserve the tie.

Reynaldo López was assigned the task of preservation for Chicago in the Oakland ninth. Although he allowed a walk and a single he succeeded.

Shitaro Fujinami faced Grandal with Burger the zombie runner at second as we went into extra innings. He retired Grandal and the Sox’ Carlos Pérez before plunking Remillard. Then Benintendi whiffed, and the A’s gained the enormous advantage of starting their half of the 10th with Wade at second and needing only one run to. win.

Kendall Graveman was on the mound. He struck out Ruíz on a foul bunt with two strikes. Kemp flew out to left; Wade held second. Remillard bobbled Bleday’s grounder to second and threw errantly to first. Díaz flew around to home. Both calls were confirmed on review. The crowd went wild … on chants of “Sell the team!”

Fujinami got the win. He’s now 4-7, 9.57. Graveman, now 4-1, 300, was the losing pitcher.

Sunday, the two rivals will face each other in the final game of this three set series. Paul Blackman (1-0, 3,77) will be Oakland’s starting pitcher. Michael Kopech (3-7, 4.08) will play that role for Chicago. Game time is set for 1:07.

A’s Score Seven Runs Beat White Sox 7-4 at Coliseum Friday; Oakland wins third game in last seven

The Oakland A’s Esteuery Ruiz (1) steals second base while Chicago White Sox Elivis Andrus (1) waits for the late throw at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Jun 30, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

OAKLAND–On a Friday in front of 14,181 fans. The Oakland A’s (22-62) played the Chicago White Sox (36-48) and Luis Medina of the A’s faced off against Tanner Banks of the White Sox and Medina put on a stellar performance in his five innings.

Even though the Sox got a run on Medina in the first inning, the rest of his outing was a shutout where even when Chicago would load the bases, Medina would escape the inning and still have the calmness and confidence to keep going.

On the other side of the coin for the A’s, five innings resulted in five runs. In the second inning Oakland put up four of those five runs. It started with Shea Langeliers hitting an RBI single that scored JJ Bleday to tie the game, 1-1.

Jace Peterson hit a sac fly to left field and Aledmys Diaz scored off that to take the lead, 2-1. A Tony Kemp triple would then score Langeliers, 3-1 and then finally Esteury Ruiz hit a sac fly that scored Kemp, 4-1. Also Ruiz got his 41st stolen base in the first inning making him a MLB leader in stolen bases.

The fifth run was a Carlos Perez solo home run and this was his fifth home run of the season, 5-1 A’s. It was a bullpen game for the A’s from the sixth inning to the end and they held the White Sox off, but Chicago tried to make it interesting with three runs, including a solo home run by Luis Robert Jr.

The threat of a comeback for Chicago never phased the A’s, because they got two insurance runs in the eighth inning and the game ended with a score of 7-3, Oakland A’s win!!!

Saturday’s game is the second of the series and on the hill is Dylan Cease of the White Sox (3-3, 4.04) and it’s unknown at the time who’s pitching for Oakland. First pitch 1:07pm PT.

Yanks route A’s 10-4 win rubber game of three-game series at Coliseum

Oakland A’s Tony Kemp (5) considers rounding second base as the New York Yankees infielder Anthony Volpe (11) looks for the possible throw at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jun 29, 2023 (@Athletics photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s met the New York Yankees in a day game on Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum. Both teams, the A’s and the Yankees, wanted to win the rubber game of the three-game series. The A’s had to rebound from having been the recipients of Domingo German’s perfect game Wednesday night. The Yankees beat the A’s 11-0 and wanted to continue putting runs on the board.

Well, the Yankees found their offense again on Thursday as they erupted in the sixth inning to score eight times to break open the game and coast to an easy 10-4 win over the hapless A’s.

The A’s starter, lefty Hogan Harris, was pitching relatively well heading into the sixth. Harris had held the Yankees to just two runs in his first five innings. The A’s scored one in the first, two in the third, and led 3-2 heading into the fateful sixth inning. The Yankees sent 13 men to the plate in the sixth, scoring eight times. The game summary follows.

The A’s jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Tony Kemp led off the inning with a single. Kemp stole second and went to third on an errant throw from Yankees’ catcher Jose Ramirez. JJ Bleday’s sacrifice fly to left drove in Kemp for the score.

The Yankees tied the game with a run in the top of the second. Yankees left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa sent one of Harris’ pitches over the wall in center field. Esteury Ruiz tried to make a leaping catch. Ruiz had the ball in his glove, but his momentum crashing into the fence caused the ball and his glove to drop on the other side. 

The A’s plated two runs in the third to lead 3-1. Yankees’ starter Clarke Schmidt walked Ryan Noda and JJ Bleday to start the inning. Seth Brown singled to deep right field to drive in Noda, and Bleday went to third on the play. Carlos Perez’ Sacrifice fly drove in Bleday with the A’s third run.

The Yankees put their second run of the game on the board in the fourth. Harrison Baded doubled to get things going. Josh Donaldson’s ground out sent Bader to third base. Kiner-Falefa drove in BAder with a sacrifice fly. The A’s led 3-2 after four complete.

The Yankees had a huge inning in the sixth. The New Yorkers sent 13 men to the plate and scored eight runs. They had seven hits, one walk, and two batters hit by a pitch. Harrison Bader singled to get the rally started.

Third baseman Josh Donaldson, much maligned by Yankee fans for his poor showing this year, crushed a pitch that went 472 feet off the facing of the second deck in left field. Donaldson’s blast was the eighth-longest home run hit by any player in baseball this season.

Harris retired Kiner-Falefa for the first out. Anthony Volpe singled. A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in Lucas Erceg to pitch. Erceg hit Jose Trevino with a pitch. DJ LeMAhieu walked to load the bases. Glyber Torres singled to drive in Volpe and Trevino to make it a 6-3 Yankee lead.

The onslaught continued. Erceg hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch. Giancarlo Stanton doubled to drive in two more. Bader’s single drove in Rizzo with the Yankees’ ninth run and the seventh of the inning. The A’s brought in lefty Ken Waldichuk to pitch. Kiner-Falefa drove in his third run with a single to make it 10-3. The Yankees blew the game open.

The Yankees did not score after the sixth. The A’s scored a meaningless run in the eighth. The Yankees won 10-4 and won the series two games to one.

Game notes: The A’s have lost 12 of the last 14 games played. Their record is now a dismal 21-62. The Yankees improved to 45-36.

Hogan Harris was the losing pitcher. His record is 2-2. Hogan’s line was five and 1/3rd innings pitched. He allowed nine hits, five runs, four earned, walked two, struck out two, and gave up two home runs. Reliever Lucas Erceg did not record an out. He allowed three hits and four runs. 

The line score for Oakland was four runs, eight hits, and one error.

The Line score for New York was ten runs, 13 hits, and one error. 

When a pitch hit Anthony Rizzo in the sixth inning, it was the 212th time he was hit in his career. Only seven other players in all of baseball history have been hit more times.

Seth Brown’s three singles were the only bright spot for the A’s. 

The A’s welcome the Chicago White Sox to the Coliseum for three games starting Friday night. The A’s will send Luis Medina (1-7, 6.84) to the hill Friday night. The White Sox have yet to announce their starter. The game will start at 6:40 pm.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants ten game road win streak comes to an end in Toronto

San Francisco Giants Logan Webb gave up eight hits on five runs in the loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Wed Jun 28, 2023 (@SFGiants photo)

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 Toronto Blue Jays George Springer first of four Blue Jays doubles against the San Francisco Giants in a five run first inning.

#2 The Blue Jays put a stop on the Giants ten game road win streak but what a streak it was for the Giants.

#3 The Giants injury bug is piling up Michael Conforto left with a left hamstring pull in the first inning do you see him being day to day and returning to line up soon.

#4 Talk about Logan Webb’s performance going five innings, eight hits and five earned runs was it a matter of Webb being off with his pitches or the Blue Jays just saw the ball well on Wednesday night.

#5 Starters for Thursday night’s conclusion of this series for San Francisco starter to be announced by manager Gabe Kapler most likely a opener game and for the Blue Jays Chris Bassitt (7-5 ERA 4.32) a 4:07PM PT first pitch.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s and Yankees conclude 3 game series today at Coliseum; A’s just couldn’t figure out Herman Wed night

New York Yankees pitcher Herman Domingo holds up the winner’s belt after throwing a perfect game no hitter at the Oakland Coliseum against the Oakland A’s on Wed Jun 28, 2023 (@Yankees photo)

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 He’ll be the talk of baseball for the rest of this season the New York Yankees pitcher Herman Domingo who threw a perfect no hit game against the Oakland A’s.

#2 The A’s have struggled up and down the line up how bad does it get for their confidence after having a no hit perfect game thrown against them?

#3 Watching Herman Jerry talk about his command and control against the A’s line up on Wednesday night.

#4 You can’t forget also the Yankees who hit everything that was thrown up at the plate for them they got 11 runs on 11 hits.

#5 The Yankees will start right hander Clarke Schmidt (2-6 ERA 4.32) who will be opposed by the A’s Hogan Harris (2-1 ERA 4.91) for a 12:37pm PT first pitch at the Oakland Coliseum to conclude the three game series.

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

Yankee’s Right-Hander German Throws a Perfect Game, and His Bronx Bombers Hammer the A’s 11-0

New York Yankee Domingo German deals the last pitch of the game for ground out to third for a no hit perfect game at the Oakland Coliseum against the Oakland A’s on Thu Jun 29, 2023 (photo by Mauricio Segura)

By Michael Roberson

OAKLAND, Calif. — New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German is the 24th pitcher in Major League history to toss a Perfect Game, in an 11-0 shutout victory over the Oakland Athletics in the Coliseum.

Both teams were actually hitless and scoreless the first three innings of play, but that changed in the Top of the fourth.

Yankees right fielder Giancarlo Stanton belted a homer to left field, putting the visitors on the scoreboard, 1-0 NYY.  Eventually the game-winning run.

The fifth inning turned into an explosion for the Bronx County Batters.  They tallied a whopping 6 runs in a variety of ways, including two more rbi’s for Stanton on a single to left.  After five, 7-0 Yankees.

While this offensive onslaught was going on, New York’s pitcher was keeping Oakland at Bay.

The Yankees managed to add four more runs to their advantage, but that wasn’t the compelling story in the latter innings; could Domingo do it?

German not only Did It, but completed the mission in a very efficient fashion.  He threw 99 pitches, 72 strikes and executed nine strikeouts.

Postgame he acknowledged that Oakland just became one of his favorite US cities after his historic performance, and it will always be synonymous with his best game ever.

The same two combatants will battle Thursday Afternoon (12:37 Pacific) in the rubber game (1-1) of three-game series.

Domingo Dandy: Yanks Herman Pitches Perfect No Hit Game Against A’s At Coliseum In 11-0 Blow Out

New York Yankees starter Domingo Herman pitches a perfect no hitter against the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 28, 2023 (@Yankees image)

New York (AL) (44-36). 000 016 103. – 11. 11. 0

Oakland (21-61). 000 000 000 – 0. 0. 3

Time: 2:30

Attendance: 12,479

Wednesday, June 28 Oakland

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–JP Sears, whom the A’s acquired in the deal that sent Frankie Montás to New York, started the day at 1-5, 4.10. He went seven innings in each of his last two starts but lost both of them, allowing 16 earned runs in 14 innings.

That comes to an ERA of 3.82. Tonight, he was lights out for 3-2/3 inning and got lit up after that. He ended up pitching 4+ frames and allowing seven runs, six earned and three posthumous.He walked three and struck out five, allowing five hits, including a home run. He threw 92 pitches, 55 for strikes. He took the loss, leaving him with a record of 1-6, 4.43.

The Bronx Bombers entrusted mound duties to Domingo Germán, who brought a 4-5, 5.10 record with him. The 30 year old righty needed two strikeouts to reach 500, a milestone he reached in the bottom of the first and passed when caught Jonah Bride looking at a third strike to end the second.

But that was nothing to what was to come. He threw a perfect game. Nine innings. 99 pitches. 72 for strikes. No hits. No walks. No nothing. He ended the day at 5-5, 4.54.

Neither pitcher allowed a hit until the top of the fourth, when Giancarlo Stanton slammed a two out 422 foot shot into the left center field seats, his seventh round tripper of the year. Harrison Badere followed that with a double against the 367 foot sign in left, but Sears recovered to fan Josh Donaldson and hold the damage down to one run.

The damage increased by six runs in the next frame. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a walk. Kyle Higashioka drove. him in with a two bagger to left. Anthony Volpe laid down a bunt and beat it out for a single. Sears had fielded the ball and then threw it past Noda at first for an error that allowed Volpe to reach second and Higashioka to score.

DJ LeMahieu singled Volpe home, and Gleyber Torres walked. It was Noda’s turn to make an error at first. He failed to handle Rizzo’s ground ball, loading the bases and sending Sears to the showers. His replacement was Shintaro Fujinami, who promptly gave up a two run single to Stanton. That and Kiner-Falefa’s two out single brought the score to 7-0.

The recently acquired and promoted Yacksel Ríos opened the top of the seventh, threw three balls to Stanton, and left with an as yet undisclosed injury, and left the game. Austin Pruitt replaced him and delivered the fourth ball to the Yankees’ right fielder. Josh Donaldson’s sac fly to center plated Stanton. The run was charged to Ríos.

The story had long since ceased to be about offense, much less who would win the game. The question was if the Athletics would manage to get a man on base.

San Long. pitched the top of the ninth and gave up three runs, but that was just a footnote to the main story.

Germán had thrown 93 pitches over eight innings, and the closest an A’s batter had come to reaching first was when Germán threw ball three to Jonah Bride before he grounded out to third to end the inning.

Kemp grounded out to short. Noda flew out to right. Rooker grounded out to third. The Yankees’ number 0 had thrown a perfect game.

The series winds up tomorrow, Thursday, with a rubber game that is likely to be anticlimactic, starting at 12:37. The Yanks will send Clarke Schmidt (2-6, 4.32) against an as yet to be announced Athletics’ hurler.

Major league baseball is important to Oakland and the rest of the East Bay, but it’s not the only baseball game in town, and it still won’t be even if the crew that lost a perfect game by the lopsided score of 11-0 today camps out in the back yard of Las Vegas’s Tropicana casino.

We still will have the college, high school, youth leagues, little leagues, and sand lots (not to mention the independent Pecos League) that are the seedbeds of the big leaguers and fans of the future. One of the unsung heroes of that organic infrastructure of the sport is Lou Profumo (1938-2021), one time Red Sox farm hand and longtime youth and women’s baseball and softball coach.

I received word today that, after a two year delay, a playing field in the area he loved will be dedicated to him. The ceremony will take place on Friday morning, July 7, at 10:00 o’clock. The location is the San Leandro Ballpark, Teagarden and Fairway Streets, in that city.

It can be reached from the Marina Boulevard exit of I-880. If baseball is to survive, it will be thanks to the selfless efforts of the Lou Profumos of this world and not because of the nefarious scheming of the corporate entities looking to line their pockets as they cry poverty all the way to the bank.

Cal Bears Football podcast with Michael Roberson: Caminog, coaches excited about quarterback coming to Cal

EJ Caminog will be joining the Cal Bears for a 2024 Commitment he and the coaching staff hit it off during off season workouts (CBS Sports file photo)

On the Cal Bears football podcast with Michael R:

#1 The Cal Bears introduced their starting quarterback for the 2024 season EJ Caminog who comes from Garfield High School in Seattle. Caminog became the first Cal committed player since Fernando Mendoza who was selected in 2022 when they didn’t land 2023 quarterback.

#2 Cal has selected running back Jamal Wiley is Cal’s seventh committed player in the 2024 class. Wiley is the fourth committed player from Texas to come Cal.

#3 Michael, your relationship with the coaching staff really plays a big role and going back to Cominog he had worked hard this summer and the Bears coaching staff got to like his work ethic and working with him on plays.

#4 Caminog said that he liked bonding with the coaching staff and that he also likes the education and connections at Cal what the University has to offer in academics and athletics.

#5 The coaches, head coach Justin Wilcox, offensive coordinator Jack Spavital, director of recruiting Cherrington, Terrance Brown, Benji Palu made Caminog feel at home adding that his family was grateful and excited about Caminog coming to Cal.

Michael Roberson covers NCAA Football for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Auggie Musenburg: MLB Commissioner declines San Jose Mayors request to drop Giants territorial rights; Could litigation be next?

 Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. during a press conference at the 2023 London Series Workout Day in London Stadium on Friday, June 23, 2023 in London, England. Manfred declined a letter from the Mayor of San Jose Matt Mahan and four former San Jose Mayors to drop the San Francisco Giants territorial rights to San Jose on Tue Jun 28, 2023 (Getty Images photo)

On the MLB The Show with Auggie Musenburg:

#1 Auggie, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred declined the request by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and five other mayors to drop the San Francisco Giants territorial rights so that San Jose could get an expansion team.

#2 Do you think the real reason behind the Commissioner protecting the Giants territorial rights is that the goal is for San Francisco to have the entire Northern California region Sacramento, Oakland and San Jose to themselves.

#3 Senator Barbara Lee (D) California and Representative Alex Padilla (D) California had sent letters to Major League Baseball and Manfred informing them that moving the A’s out of Oakland will have a huge economic impact on the East Bay but the Commissioner never addressed the letter and is still full speed ahead on the A’s moving out of Oakland once the owners take a vote to move the team.

#4 The Commissioner said once the A’s have moved into their new park in Las Vegas then he said he would be open to ideas of expansion cities but not before then.

#5 Turning to the Giants they have won eight out their last ten games and got a 3-0 shutout against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Alex Wood the second pitcher for San Francisco threw five innings, five hits and gave up seven strikeouts in his contribution towards the shutout.

#6 The Giants Thairo Estrada slugged a two run double and and scored a run which contributed towards the run production getting three runs. Auggie talk about Estrada and how he’s contributed to the Giants offense?

Auggie Musenburg is a reporter for KWAI 1080 Honolulu and covers the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants and podcasts on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Blackburn holds off Yankees for 2-1 A’s win to open series

The Oakland A’s Tyler Wade contributed big with the bat and glove at the Oakland Coliseum against the New York Yankees on Tue Jun 27, 2023 (@Athletics image)

New York (AL) (43-36). 000 010 000 000 – 1. 7. 0

Oakland (21-60). 001 100 000 000 – 2. 5 0

Time: 2:36

Attendance: 13,050

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKALND–If you race to the bottom of this dispatch, you’ll find an attachment titled “Race to the Bottom.” That’s where you can keep up to date with the A’s dreary race to have the worst winning percentage in the history of major league baseball. Spoiler alert: it isn’t even close.

The Yankees historically have been a big draw here on the banks of the River Nimitz. It often was cheaper for New Yorkers to hop a flight to OAK, buy some pretty decent seats, get good, cheap food, and return to Gotham for less than it cost to spend an afternoon or evening in The House That Ruth Built.

Tonight’s game drew all of 13,050. people to the Coliseum, who watched the A’s defeat the Yanks, 2-1, in a nail biter. Most of the cheers before the ninth inning seemed to be for the Yankees.

The moribund Athletics sent hard luck hurler Paul Blackburn to the mound with an 0-0, 4.21 record. He pitched well tonight, lasting 5-1/3 innings and leaving with a runner on first. He allowed a single run, which was earned and came on a home run.

He surrendered three other hits and a walk, striking out five Bronx Bombers, 55 of his 90 offerings counted as strikes. Blackburn’s efforts earned him his first win of the year and brought his ERA down to 3.77.

The Bronx Bombers entrusted their pitching to rookie right hander Jhonny Brito, who came to work this evening with a record of 4-3, 4.89. Brito’s last appearance had been on June 21 at The Stadium, where held the Mariners scoreless on two hits over 5-2/3 innings, He earned the win for that performance.

He went 5-2/3 innings again tonight but yielded two runs, both of them earned. He surrendered four hits, one for four bases and struck out an equal number of opponents, two. He threw 81 pitches, 52 for strikes. He took the tough loss and now has a record of 4-4, 4.70.

The starters traded goose eggs until Tyler Wade sent a one out triple into the right flied corner and scored on Esteury Ruíz’s ensuing single to left put the A’s ahead, 1-0. Seth Brown’s towering fly over the right field auxiliary scoreboard in the fourth extended the lead to 2-0.

Old Oakland fan favorite Josh Donaldson cut the advantage in half with a lead off blast that travelled 423 feet into left field for his seventh home run of what has been a disappointing year at the plate for the Yankee’s third baseman. His four bagger came off a 91 mph four seam fast ball.

Lucas Erceg relieved Blackburn after the starter had issued a one out walk to Anthony Rizzo in the sixth. A force out and a strike out later the one run lead still stood.

Southpaw Nick Ramírez took over for Brito with one on and two down in the bottom of the sixth, walked Brown and retired Brett Rooker to close out the frame. Right handed Tommy Kahn replaced him for the home seventh and put the A’s away, 1-2-3.

It was Trevor May who was pitching for Oakland in the top of the eighth after Langeliers had thrown out Volpe trying to steal second. The Yanks challenged the call, but after review, it stood. May walked a couple of Yanks and almost walked the bases full but still escaped without any damage.

After Ruíz opened the home eighth with a Texas League single to right center, Wandy Peralta took Kahn’s place on the pitching rubber and shut the A’s down.

Sam Moll earned the save in the top of the ninth. Gleyber Torres led off with a pinch hit single to left. Moll bore down and got Donaldson on a called third strike.

Billy McKinney lined out to right. Two down. Volpe beat out a slow grounder too short. Oakland challenged the call. It stood. Kyle Higshioka, who had replaced IsiahKiner-Falefa, who had pinch run in the top of the inning, to 1-2, and … went down swinging.

The three game series resumes tomorrow at 6:40. Recovering New Yorkers like me can recall the Ballantine Blasts and White Owl Wallops of yesteryear while Domingo Germán (4-5, 5.10) of the pinstripers duels the A’s JP Sears (1-5, 4.10)