Tag: Oakland Athletics

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s waste no time to jump on Texas; Cards’ Poncedeleon 5th pitcher in MLB to debut with no-hitter into the 7th inning; plus more

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photo from theintelligencer.com: Oakland Athletics’ Jonathan Lucroy is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (4) after hitting a grand slam against the Texas Rangers during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, July 23, 2018, in Arlington, Texas

On That’s Amaury podcast:

#1 The Oakland A’s wasted no time taking the first game of this current four-game series in Arlington with a 15-3 win on Monday night.

#2 A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy belted a second inning grand slam to get the offense started. Lucroy gets his second home run of the season.

#3 The St. Louis Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon threw no hit ball for seven innings and is MLB’s fifth pitcher to debut to go that far. Poncedeleon was lifted after the seventh due to the pitch count. He hit 116 pitches.

#4 The San Francisco Giants, who lost two three-game series to the Oakland A’s, will be in Seattle starting tonight. The Mariners are going red-hot second place in the AL West and have been tough customers in the first half of the season.

#5 He might not be able to pitch, but the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani went deep, hitting a 435-foot shot to center for his eighth home run on Monday night.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish play-by-play talent and does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Part 2 of the Battle of the Bay continues Friday night

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Battle of the Bay continues Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum as the Oakland A’s host the San Francisco Giants for three games. The two teams met last weekend in San Francisco, and the A’s won two out of three.

Both teams welcomed back their two All-Star players from Washington D.C. while the other 23 players on each team had a nice four-day vacation.

The A’s, playing their best baseball since the 2014 season, find themselves in the race for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. They are just three games back of the Seattle Mariners for the slot. They play the M’s 10 more times this season.

The A’s are getting solid play from the position players and their DH Khris Davis. The bullpen has been one of the strengths of the team. The starting rotation has been a work in progress. Six pitchers that have started have been on the DL this year.

The A’s, if they were to make the playoffs, need another starting pitcher. The big caveat is this: Will they be able to do it without giving any key players? Do they have enough prospects to make the trade? Rumors are swirling that the A’s are looking at Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer.

The Giants are also in the thick of the race in the NL West. They are in fourth place four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. They trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by 3.5 games and are two games behind the Colorado Rockies for third place.

If the Giants are to make the playoffs, they probably will have to win the division. The Dodgers traded for All-Star shortstop Manny Machado, who will give them another potent bat. Corey Seager is on the DL for the year, and the Dodgers have missed him.

The Giants’ starting rotation has seen their share of injuries, too. Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samardzija have all missed significant playing time this tear. Samardzija is back on the 10-day DL.

The Giants own a record of 50-48 and are much improved over last season. They have brought up Steven Duggar and Austin Slater. They released veteran outfielder Austin Jackson. Hunter Pence has been relegated to a reserve role. Evan Longoria is on the DL, but Pablo Sandoval has been filling in quite nicely as his replacement. Buster Posey has been hobbled by a hip injury, but he should be able to play in Oakland as DH Nick Hundley will handle the catching chores,

The pitching matchups for the series shapes up this way. On Friday night, the A’s will send the veteran Edwin Jackson to the hill. Jackson is 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA. Jackson, whom the A’s called up in late June, has been a pleasant surprise, allowing two earned runs or fewer in each of his four starts and showing no signs of age. The veteran journeyman will get the ball for the A’s to kick off the second half. He will be opposed by Dereck Rodriguez, who is the son of Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez, is 4-1 and has a 2.89 ERA. Rodriguez has been a welcoming addition to the Giants’ staff.  On Saturday, the game will start at 6:05 pm PDT.

The A’s are honoring the 1989 World Series Champions, many of whom will be on hand. Trevor Cahill will go for Oakland. Cahill is 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA. Cahill was on the DL with a strained Achilles tendon. In his return on July 12th, he lasted just 3 2/3 innings and gave up three runs and three hits. The A’s need him to pitch better in the second half. Lefty Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants. MadBum is 3-3, and has a 2.90 ERA. The Giants feel that he is not in top form yet as he is allowing 3.1 walks per nine innings of work.

Sunday’s game will feature Seam Manaea (9-6-3.42 ERA) going for his 10th win of the year. Manaea started strong and slumped a bit, but in his last eight starts, has given up three or fewer runs. He will be opposed by Johnny Cueto, who is 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA, and has missed most of the season. Cueto has a history of starting well in the first half and them stumbling in the second half. Since he has been sidelined for most of the season, it will be interesting to see if he can return to form.

After the three-game homestand, the A’s go back on the road for four games against the Texas Rangers and three games against the the Colorado Rockies.

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum for Jerry Feitelberg: Can A’s stay MLB’s hottest team as they host Giants Friday?

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel:

The Oakland A’s start their second half of the season against the San Francisco Giants Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum after taking two out of three from the Giants last weekend in San Francisco. Daniel talks about the A’s starting rotation for the second half–Sean Manaea, Trevor Hill, Brett Anderson, and Edwin Jackson.

Will the A’s be sellers before the trade deadline? Will the A’s hold onto Jed Lowrie, Khris Davis, and Jonathan Lucroy? How impressive was the A’s hitting during the series in San Francisco last week? After the Bay Bridge Series, the A’s are in Texas for four games and in Colorado for three the weekend after next week.

Daniel is filling in for Jerry who does the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: All-Star break gives needed rest to pitching staff’s arms; What representing the A’s at the All-Star Game means for Lowrie and Treinen

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

#1 How important was the break for everyone, considering all the arm and pitching injuries the club had endured in the first half?

#2 A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie and pitcher Blake Treinen both represented the A’s Tuesday night at the All-Star game. No doubt, that had to be a very special honor for both players.

#3 The A’s finished the first half the hottest team in baseball. They struggled in April and part of May, but really turned it on in June with the lineup they have. Can you see them keeping it going?

#4 There’s been talk that if this keeps up, A’s manager Bob Melvin could be voted the A.L. Manager of the Year.

#5 The A’s open the second half of the season this Friday against the San Francisco Giants after what happened in the City, the Giants are going to look to at least win the series in Oakland.

Charlie O has the A’s podcast each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

MLB 2018 All-Star Game podcast with Morris Phillips: Crawford to represent Giants; Lowrie and Treinen to represent A’s

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Photo credit: hashsports.com

On the 2018 MLB All-Star Game podcast with Morris:

The San Francisco Giants had three players who were favorites to make this year’s MLB All-Star game: Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, and Brandon Belt. Posey and Belt didn’t make it this year, Belt lacked the votes, Posey is resting a sore hip and got a cortisone shot on Sunday. Crawford will be the lone Giants representative.

Crawford has 94 hits, 39 RBIs, 10 home runs, .289 and a Gold Glove kind of first half. Crawford is looking forward to an exciting second half, but first, Morris talks about what kind of an All-Star game Crawford will be looking forward to having.

For the Oakland A’s, they’ll be represented by second baseman Jed Lowrie, who has 103 hits, 62 RBIs, 16 home runs, and a .263 average for the first half. For reliever and closer Blake Treinen, 5-2, 0.96 ERA, and 24 saves.

Morris has covered his fair share of MLB All-Star games and will take a look where this year’s mid summer classic in Washington D.C. rates with the ones in the past.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show with Matt Harrington: Is A’s Lowrie injury enough to keep him out of All-Star game?; Red Sox win streak ends at 10; plus more MLB news

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sfgate.com photo: Oakland A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie (8) collides with rightfielder Stephen Piscotty (25) which resulted in Lowrie getting a leg contusion. Lowrie is questionable for the All Star game this Tuesday it would have been his first All Star game of his career.

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

The Oakland A’s announced that second baseman Jed Lowrie has a leg contusion after colliding with the rightfielder Stephen Piscotty, Matt talks about Lowrie and if he can make it to the All Star game on Tuesday in Washington.

The Boston Red Sox 10-game win streak ended on Friday night after the Toronto Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar got four hits and Justin Smoak three hits, which included two homers.

With the A’s loss on Friday, they couldn’t gain any ground on the Seattle Mariners, who also lost to the Colorado Rockies 10-7. The A’s remain nine games out of first place and five games behind second place Seattle.

The A’s will be hosting the Giants next Friday at the Oakland Coliseum next weekend for the Bay Bridge Series. Will the A’s security do what they did the last time the Giants played in Oakland during the preseason Bay Bridge Series last March and charge Giants fans $50 to park and reduce it to $30 if the Giants fans say “Go A’s” or throw their Giants cap in a garbage can?

Cleveland continues to roll picking up a win over the New York Yankees 6-5. Cleveland got great pitching from Shane Beiber for eight innings. The Yankees scored a run in the top of the eighth and ninth, but couldn’t close the gap as Cleveland came away with a one-run win.

Matt Harrington does the MLB The Show podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s are coming off a near sweep of Astros, can they win series against Giants?

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mercurynews.com file photo: Oakland A’s Jed Lowrie takes congratulations in the A’s dugout which he has more than several times this season as he makes his first All Star appearance of his career

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The A’s scored six unanswered runs on Thursday to come back from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-4 and get a near sweep in Houston, taking three out of four games. The A’s got key hitting in the contest with Matt Chapman, who hit a game-tying double and Mark Canha with a two-run single for extra runs.

The A’s Khris Davis has a 14-game hitting streak going into the series with the San Francisco Giants. Davis got another hit on Thursday against Astros pitcher Chris Devenski to keep it going.

The A’s second baseman Jed Lowrie will be replacing Gleyber Torres the Yankees rookie it’s Lowrie’s first All-Star appearance in his career. Lowrie has 103 hits, 62 RBIs, 16 home runs, while hitting .290.

The A’s, the hottest team in baseball, have won 19 of their last 24 games and are coming of that three out four game series win in Houston. Joey takes a look how these two teams match up for the Bay Bridge series.

Joey Friedman does the Oakland A’s podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

A’s, behind Montas and Piscotty, take down Astros 2-0 at Minute Maid Park

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sbnation file photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Frankie Montas delivered a 2-0 shutout against one of the toughest line ups in the American League the Houston Astros at Minute Field on Monday night

By Jerry Feitelberg

The name of the game in baseball is pitching and A’s starter Frankie Montas turned in a terrific performance as he was the winning pitcher as the A’s snapped the Astro’s eight-game winning streak over Oakland. The A’s won the game 2-0 as Lou Trivino pitched two scoreless innings and closer Blake Treinen earned his 20th consecutive save and 23rd of the year.

Astros’ starter, Gerrit Cole, was also on the top of his game. The Houston ace went six innings and allowed no runs, three hits, walked three, and struck out 11. Cole threw 108 pitches.

The game was scoreless until the top of the seventh. Houston Manager A.J.Hinch brought in former Athletic Brad Peacock to face his former mates. The face first hitter he faced was Stephen Piscotty. Piscotty sent Peacock’s hanging breaking ball into the left-field seats to give the A’s a 1-0 lead. For Piscotty, it was his 10th big fly of the season, and it was the third consecutive game in which he homered.

The A’s added an insurance run in the top of the eighth. With two out, Khris Davis singled. Will Harris walked Matt Olson to advance Davis into scoring position. Hinch brought in Joe Smith to face Piscotty. Piscotty did it again as he singled to drive in Davis.

The A’s led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Trivino, as mentioned earlier, was brilliant as he retired the side in order in the eighth. Bob Melvin brought in Treinen to face the top of the Houston order in the ninth. Treinen gave up a leadoff single to George Springer.

Springer retired Alex Bregman for the first out and struck out reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve for the second. Josh Reddick continued to haunt his ex-teammates with a single to put the tying runs on base with two out. Treinen now had to face Evan Gattis. All Gattis has done this year is to salivate when facing A’s pitching. Gattis has pulverized the A’s, and it was nail-biting time. Had Gattis homered, it would have been a walk-off win for Houston. That did not happen as Treinen struck out Gattis to end the game.

Game Notes: The A’s are now 51-40 for the year and are 11 games over the .500 mark. Houston is now 61-32.

Frankie Montas’ line was six innings of work. He allowed no runs, three hits, walked two and struck out two and his record is now 5-2.

The A’s are now 35-0 when leading after seven and 42-0 when leading after 8. The Astros are 4-24 when trailing after 8.

The A’s have now hit 80 homers in 46 road games to lead the AL in that department.

Time of game was 2:51 and 28,301 fans were on hand to watch the A’s beat the Astros.

Up Next: The A’s play game two of the series Tuesday at 5:10 pm PDT in Minute Maid Park.  Sean Manaea will go for the A’s, and Houston’s Justin Verlander will handle the Astros’ pitching chores.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: MLB Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame, Mural at the Oakland Coliseum

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Photo by Amaury Pi Gonzalez, Vice President of MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum: Mural for the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum at the Oakland Coliseum

Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame, Mural at the Oakland Coliseum

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By: Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND — At the Club Entrance of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame has a mural for all fans to enjoy. The mural celebrates the 20th anniversary of the founding of the museum. In 1998 Mr. Gabriel “Tito” Avila Jr. founded the museum as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and since then, it has been traveling all across the country with exhibits at museums, Fanfest, All-Star Games and all kinds of baseball celebrations, including inductions in Major League parks of Hispanic players of all 30 teams.

“The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame thanks Mr.Dave Kaval, President of the Oakland Athletics, for welcoming us and giving us access so this Mural can be enjoyed by thousands of baseball fans” said Avila Jr.

The colorful mural is at the Club Level entrance of the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics, inside the park. The concept of the mural was captured and put into Dagoberto Blanco “Campy” Campaneris, who is arguably the best shortstop in A’s history. One of the stars during the three of the four World Series championships of the A’s in 1972, 1973 and 1974. He is one of those players the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame has honored and inducted.

The museum’s main goal is to have its permanent location here in the Bay Area, one of most culturally diverse areas in the country. As of 2018, Latino/Hispanic players in the MLB make up around 30% of all players. The main baseball countries in Latin America are Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, México, Panamá, Nicaragua, Colombia, Curazao,and there are also players from Brazil, like Yan Gomes of the Cleveland Indians.

The popularity of baseball has grown in the past decades to the point that Major League games have been played in México and Puerto Rico, Japan. Next year, the Yankees and Red Sox will play in London, England. For the first time, MLB games will be played in Europe. Baseball has become much more international and the museum specially honors the contribution of Hispanic players to the game. The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame wants to thank Mauricio Segura, owner of Golden Bay Magazine, for bringing our concept of this mural to life. The first 20 years the museum became well-known and received recognition from commissioner Bud Selig, and the current commissioner Rob Manfred.

The A’s and the Mariners will open the 2019 season in Japan.

http://www.hispanicheritagebaseballmuseum.org/about/

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum, the play by play radio talent for the Oakland A’s, and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s shuttling players back and forth from Nashville; A’s have an offense that can be improved

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Photo credit: @athletics_fanly

On the A’s podcast with Jerry:

How do the A’s find ways to continue to replace injured players going to Nashville and back to Oakland again and still win games? They were down six runs and came back to beat the Detroit Tigers 9-7 on Tuesday night.

Jed Lowrie was key in the win with a bloop single in the ninth inning, which Lowrie would steal a base then come in and score to win it for the A’s. Lowrie’s had some great at-bats this season. The question is will the A’s trade Lowrie and get some value for him before the trade deadline in July?

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