Tag: Oakland A’s

Oakland A’s Brent Rooker (25) heads back to the dugout after striking out against the Detroit Tigers in the bottom of the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Sep 8, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Detroit Tigers 9 (73-71)

Oakland Athletics 1 (62-82)

Win: Ty Madden (1-0)

Loss: J.T. Ginn (0-1)

Time: 3:01

Attendance: 11,250

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The game was close for the most part, but the Tigers smoked the A’s 9-1 thanks to a six-run top of the eighth inning in what was most likely Detroit’s final game at the Oakland Coliseum to take this three-game series 9-1 on Sunday.

These two storied franchises have a fair amount of history against each other at the Coliseum. The A’s and Tigers squared off in the 1972 American League Championship Series, and one of the more unusual brawls in Baseball History occurred in Game 2.

Tigers’ reliever Larren LaGrow hit Burt Campeneris on the left ankle, and in response Campeneris threw his bat at LaGrow, and the inevitable brawl ensued. Tigers Manager Billy Martin—a true scrappy fighter capable of real physical harm, and who would manage the A’s a decade later—had to be restrained from going after Campeneris. The A’s won the series three games to two.

The Tigers swept the A’s in the 2006 ALCS, and then the two teams would have more postseason memorable moments in 2012 and 2013.

The A’s fell behind two games to none to the Tigers in the 2012 American League Division Series. The A’s then won Game 3 at the Coliseum, but they trailed 3-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth in Game 4.

Tigers Hall-of-Fame Manager Jim Leyland brought in his dominant closer, Jose Valverde for the bottom of the ninth, but the A’s rallied to tie the game on a double by Seth Smith. With two outs, Coco Crisp hit a walk-off single to right field to win the game and send the series to a decisive Game 5.

However, the A’s ran into Justin Verlander in Game 5, and Verlander pitched a four-hit, 11-strikeout complete-game shutout to lead the Tigers to the ALCS.

A year later in 2013, the A’s led the ALDS two games to one. However, an incident between A’s fiery closer Grant Balfour and Tigers’ slugger Victor Martinez in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3 at Comerica Park in Detroit helped motivate the Tigers to come back and win the series.

Justin Verlander again shut out the A’s in Game 5, though this time, he pitched eight innings and struck out 10. Joaquin Benoit got the save.

Fast forward to 2024, as these two young and upcoming teams most likely match up for the final time at the Coliseum. After Seth Brown capped off a thrilling 13-inning with a walk-off base-hit on Friday, the Tigers evened the series with a 2-1 win yesterday.

Game recap: Sunday, the A’s had a chance to take the series on another beautiful day for Baseball at the Coliseum.

First, the A’s honored some more of their former players, including Eric Byrnes and Adam Rosales. J.T. Ginn then made his third big league start, as he took the ball for Oakland and threw a scoreless top of the first inning to get things started. Beau Brieske took the ball for Detroit as their opener, and although he walked a pair of guys, he pitched a scoreless inning as well.

Ginn threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the second, but he ran into trouble an inning later in the top of the third. Trey Sweeney led off the inning with a home run to right field. Ginn retired the next two he faced, but Jace Jung hit a ground-rule double to right, and Riley Greene was hit by a pitch. Kerry Carpenter then shot a base-hit out into right-center field, and Jung scored to make it 2-0.

The Tigers scored again in the top of the fourth when Sweeney knocked in Spencer Torkelson with a base-hit to left field with nobody out. Ginn ended up going five innings.

Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch had brought in Ty Madden in the bottom of the second. Madden pitched four-straight scoreless innings, but the A’s broke through against him in the bottom of the sixth. Shea Langeliers singled, and Brown doubled to put runners at second and third with one out.

Zack Gelof then lined an opposite-field base-hit to right, and Langeliers scored to put Oakland on the board. Runners were at the corners with one out, as the A’s had a chance to tie it, but Madden struck Tritian Gray and Max Schuemann both out swinging.

Still, Madden gave Hinch and the Tigers exactly what they needed. Over five innings, Madden gave up just a run on five hits, while walking just one and striking out seven.

Hogan Harris pitched through a pair of walks to pitch a scoreless top of the seventh for Oakland. Left-hander Scott Alexander then threw a one, two, three inning in the top of the eighth.

However, after Tyler Holton pitched a one, two, three bottom of the seventh for Detroit, the Tigers exploded for six runs against Ross Stripling in the top of the eighth to open up a 9-1 lead. All six runs scored on five-straight two-out hits.

Grant Holman finished the top of the eighth for Oakland, and Brandon Bielak, who was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas prior to the game, escaped a jam for a scoreless top of the ninth. The veteran right-hander, Kenda Maeda, pitched the final two innings for Detroit while giving up three hits but no runs, and the Tigers won it 9-1.

Ty Madden got his first major league win, and J.T. Ginn got his first major league loss. There’s something you don’t see everyday.

The A’s fall to 62-82, and they will now head on the road for a two-city, three-team nine-game road trip. First, they will play three against the Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston Tuesday through Thursday. Then, they will spend six days in Chicago, as they’ll first go to the South Side to play the White Sox for three next weekend before going north to Wrigley Field to take on the Cubs for three next Monday through Wednesday.

The A’s will have a day off in Houston Monday, and then they will begin their three-game series in which they’ll have a chance to be spoilers against the Astros on Tuesday. Osvaldo Bido (5-3, 3.41 ERA) will make the start for Oakland, and he will be opposed by right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (7-12, 4.82 ERA) of the Astros.

First pitch will be at 7:10 p.m. in Houston, 5:10 p.m. back home in Oakland.

A’s News and Notes:

To make room for Bielak, who was called up prior to the game, left-handed pitcher Brady Basso was sent back to Las Vegas after making a strong start in his major league debut Saturday.

Detroit Tigers Spencer Torkleson (20) scores one of the two Tigers runs going past Oakland A’s catcher Kyle McCann (52) in the top of the seventh inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Sep 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

OAKLAND–After a crazy 13 inning game Friday night, the Oakland A’s were looking to win game two of their series with the Tigers. Oakland took the first lead of the game in the fifth inning but there was not much more for the A’s for the rest of the game.

They had a sprinkling of hits for the rest of the game but it was the Tigers who took the game scoring twice in the seventh inning. The final was 2-1 in favor of the Tigers. Brady Basso was impressive on the mound going six innings.

Game recap: A’s starter Brady Basso had a nice start in this game in the opening inning allowing only one hit, a single and that would be it for the Tigers. The Tigers Hanifee also allowed a single but not much for Oakland to start. Basso went on to have a solid second inning three up and three down. Going into the third inning a pitcher’s duel had gotten underway.

Oakland would be first up on the board in a highly contested game. Kyle McCann singled Zach Gelof home in the fifth inning for the first score of the game 1-0. The Tigers would keep pace and then some, scoring twice in the seventh and taking a 2-1 lead.

Colt Keith scored to tie up the game when Dillon Dingler grounded into a fielder’s choice. The Tigers would extend their lead when Parker Meadows sacrificed and Spencer Torkelson scored giving Detroit a 2-1 lead.

Going into the ninth inning, Oakland had work to do and it all started with retiring the Tigers in order and get their offense on track. Osvaldo Bido took the mound in relief and took care of business. It was up to the A’s to get their offense going. With two outs and Daz Cameron on first, it would be up to Zach Gelof. Gelof struck out and that was the ball game 2-1 won in favor of the Tigers and this series is tied.

Basso had a terrific game going six innings allowing three hits, no runs, 1 walk and six strikeouts. It was an impressive outing.

Game notes: Neither A’s or Tigers were sleepwalking after Friday night’s marathon 13 inning game. The A’s came out on top in one crazy 13 inning contest beating the Tigers 7-6. While fatigue may have figured into Saturday’s game, the mere fact that Oakland won Friday goes miles in the confidence department but as it turned out the Tigers just got by the A’s for a one run win to tie the three series at 1-1 thus far.

Tigers starter Brenan Hanifee went two thirds of an inning allowing a hit, reliever and Tigers number two pitcher Brant Hurter who lasted the longest pitching 5.1 innings allowing four hits and the A’s only run. A’s starter LHP Brady Basso pitched well going six innings and allowing three hits and one run before he was lifted.

Game three will be played Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:07 PM. Right now the Tigers are undecided as to who will pitch but the A’s will send RHP J.T. Ginn (0-0, 4.30)

Oakland A’s Seth Brown shows his excitement after slugging a game winning RBI single in the bottom of the 13th inning against the visiting Detroit Tigers at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Sep 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

Detroit (71-71). 000 010 100 121 0. 6. 12. 0

Athletics (62-80). 000 011 000 121 1. 7. 15. 0. (13 innings)

Time: 3:45

Attendance: 14,669

Friday, September 6, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–After losing two straight games to Seattle, the wandering minstrels previously known as the Oakland Athletics this Friday evening found themselves facing Tarik Stubal, the ace of the Detroit Tigers staff. With the 16-4, 2.51 Stubal on the mound, a Detroit win looked like a sure thing.

But the Tigers’ hopes tanked when the A’s nearly broke a scoreless tie in the fourth frame and came back to erase a 1-0 Detroit lead in the fifth. After that, the game was up for grabs. When it was over, the battle had lasted an incredible 13 innings and scoreboard showed a 7-6 win for the upstart A’s.

Mitch Spence, starting for the Athletics, didn’t bring Stubal’s eye popping numbers with him. The 26 year old rookie was 0-3, 4.60 over his previous half dozen starts, arriving at the crumbling Coliseum with a 7-9, 4..50 mark for the season.

Nonetheless, with a little help from a nifty diving backhanded grab and throw to first of Kerry Carpenter’s two out, two on shot to end the top of the third, Spence held the Tigers at bay for 4-1/3 innings before the visitors pushed their first run across the plate.

Meanwhile, Skubal was in control until The A’s almost broke through in their half of the fourth. They would have succeeded if some inept baserunning hadn’t thwarted them. Butler led off with his second infield single of the game, making him the only Athletic to have reached base safely until then.

Brent Rooker moved him up 90 feet with a single to right. After Shea Langeliers flew out to center, JJ Bleday hit what looked like an RBI single to right, but Butler, after crossing third, returned to the bag, forcing Rooker to retreat to second, only to find that Bleday was waiting there. Rooker was put out. You don’t give away chances like that to a pitcher like Stubal and get away with it. Nevin went down swinging, and the A’s remained scoreless.

Detroit seized its opportunity to go ahead in the next frame with Riley Greene driving in Parker Meadows, who had singled, with a safety of his own. That left runners on first and second with one down and signaled the end of Spence’s mound tenure.

But, mirabile dictu, the Athletics knotted the score in the fifth. Zack Gelof smacked a one out double to left, and, with two down, rookie Jacob Wison drove him home with a triple to right. Then Butler, the man who had two infield hits in two at bats, nearly knocked the leather off the ball only to have Parker Meadows haul it down on the warning track in left center to end the inning.

Even more surprising was the bottom of the sixth, when the A’s drove Skubal from the box and took the lead on singles by Rooker, Langeliers, and Tyler Nevin.

The green and gold literally threw away that advantage in the top of the seventh. Hogan Harris, who replaced Spence in the sixth, allowed a two out double to Greene. Michel Otáñez came on to get the final out. Except he threw three wild pitches that allowed Detroit to tie the score before he got that out.

The bottom of that frame, featured some more of the twists and turns that by now had become commonplace. With Butler and Jacob Wilson on base, Jason Foley, now pitching for Detroit, Rooker was awarded first base after having been hit by a pitch.

Rooker took the base but then had to return to the plate when the Gabe Morales’ call was overturned on review. Rooker then grounded into a force out at second, and Langliers lined out to center.

The score remained tied after nine innings, and so we went into the extras. Mason Miller had struck out the three Tigers he faced in the top of the ninth, but Colt Keith touched him for a two out single that plated the zombie runner, Greene, to put Detroit up by one.

Nick Allen was inserted as a pinch zombie runner and tied the score on Rooker’s double to left. But the Athletics’ DH made the elementary mistake of trying to run on a ball hit in front of him and was tagged out on Langeliers’ grounder to short. Bleday then grounded out to third, and we went into the 11th frame.

The teams scored two runs apiece in the 11th and one apiece in the 12th. Grant Holman managed to shut the Tigers out in the top of the 13th, setting the stage for the A’s shocking victory. With Beau Brieske on the hill for Detroit and Bleday placed at second, Tristan Gray went down swinging. But Seth Brown came up swinging and smacked Brieske’s first offering, a 94mph four seamer into right field for the game winning double.

In all, each team used eight pitchers.

For the A’s, Spence went 4-1/3 innings and allowed a run, earned, on eight hits. He didn’t issue any walks and struck out half a dozen of the 21 batters he faced. 22 of his 70 deliveries were balls. TJ McFarand retired the two batters he faced in the fifth. Hogan Harris allowed a hit and a run, earned, in his 1-2/3.

Otáñez got a blown save charged to him for his horrendous third of an inning. Miller went two frames and allowed a hit. The run he allowed was unearned, which is the case whenever the ghost runner scores.

He walked one and struck out four of the seven Tigers he faced. Scott Alexander hurled a one hit, two run, one earned, innings, and Holman, who got the win and now is 1-1,4.00, went two frames and allowed a hit and an unearned run.

Skubal was lifted after 5-2/3 frames. He faced 24 batters and gave up nine hits. He struck out seven but didn’t issue a walk. His ERA rose to 2.53. Following him were Will Vest and Jason Foley (2/3 of an inning each), Sean Guenther (an inning), Tyler Holton (1-1/3 innings), Brennan Hannifee and Shelby Miller, each of whom was charged with a blow save), and the losing pitcher, Brieske.

Butler extended his hitting streak to 16 games. He went three for five.Brown, who has been on fire since his return from Las Vegas also had a multi-hit game, going two for two with a home run. His game winning single was his second walk off hit of the week.

This game was a tough act to follow, but Saturday afternoon at 1:07pm PT, the Tigers’ will start LHP Brant Hurter (3-1, 3.25) for the A’s LHP Brady Basso (0-0, 5.40).