Tag: Oakland

A’s Offense Still on Break in 5-1 Loss to Giants

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Matthew Harrington

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s offense still thinks the All-Star break is ongoing. That’d be the only explanation for the A’s 5-1 loss to the Giants at home in round two of the Bay Bridge Series.

Rookie Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.72 ERA) stymied the A’s hitters to just one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, while home runs from fellow rookie Ryder Jones and Pablo Sandoval handed starter Edwin Jackson (1-2, 2.93) the loss. Mark Canha, the hero of Saturday’s tilt at AT&T Park, knocked in the lone run for the Green and Gold.

Two of the three A’s hits of Pudge’s kid came in the top of the second. Khris Davis hit a double and scored on Canha’s sacrifice and Dustin Fowler also singled in the inning. Rodriguez struck out five batters and walked none to tie the season series at two games apiece.

Jackson pitched well, and on most nights the potent A’s offense would back his outing. He held a 1-0 lead into the fourth, and was no-hitting the Giants before Andrew McCutchen broke up the no-no with a one-out double. After Brandon Crawford pushed McCutchen to third, Buster Posey singled him in for the two-out RBI and a tie game.

San Francisco took the lead in the next inning after Ryder Jones took a Jackson offering off the foul pole in right field for a solo homer. Sandoval tagged Jackson with another solo blast in the top of the seventh to send the righty to the showers down 3-1.

The Giants tacked a pair of runs off the A’s bullpen in the top of the eighth after former Giant Yusmeiro Petit allowed back-to-back singles to open the inning. He would the game with a runner on third, two out and a run in on a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. Ryan Butcher would yield an RBI single to Brandon Crawford to close the book on Petit with two earned runs. The bullpen struggles further stoke the fire of a rumored trade between the A’s and Mets for closer Jeurys Familia.

The Giants’ bullpen, minus a comeback liner that bounced off Mark Melancon’s foot, cruised with relatively little incident. Reyes Moronta, Melancon and Tony Watson combined for one hit on 2 2/3 innings of work to finish out the game.

The Bridge Trophy will now come down to the winner of Sunday’s game, thanks to a bizarre tie-breaking criterium. Both teams are tied at two wins apiece, meaning regardless of who wins Saturday’s contest, Sunday’s winner would take home the hardware. In the event of a series split, the winner of the final game gets the trophy.

Oakland feels confident for Saturday’s matchup, a showdown between Johnny Cueto and Sean Manaea, but may be trailing the series 3-2 with Saturday’s Madison Bumgarner and Brett Anderson match-up at 6:05 pm PDT.

Rodriguez helps Giants even Bay Bridge Series en route to 5-1 rout of A’s

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By Jeremy Kahn

OAKLAND — In his first ever appearance against the Oakland A’s, Dereck Rodriguez showed one of the hottest teams in baseball that he is for real.

Ryder Jones hit a solo home run off of Edwin Jackson leading off the top of the fifth inning, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Oakland A’s before a sellout crowd of 45,606 at the Coliseum on Friday night.

Jones, called up from Sacramento to take the place of Brandon Belt, who was placed on the paternity list, as his wife Haylee gave birth to their second child, a boy named August Kyle. It is the second boy, as Haylee gave birth to a baby boy during the 2014 World Series Championship season.

Andrew McCutchen came up huge for the Giants both offensively and defensively, as he broke up Jackson’s no-hit bid by doubling in the top of the fourth inning with one out. McCutchen then scored the tying run, as Buster Posey singled into shallow center field, two batters later.

McCutchen made two great catches in the outfield, as he robbed Matt Chapman of potential extra bases to end the fourth inning and did it again in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he robbed Jonathan Lucroy of an extra base hit.

Pablo Sandoval extended the Giants lead up to 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning as he took a Jackson offering and put it into the right field seats to extend the Giants lead.

Rodriguez pitched a great game for the Giants, as he went 6.1 innings, allowing one run, on three hits, walking no one and striking out five.

“It started with Rodríguez, what another nice job he did,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “A nice job pitching, got us into the seventh there and really had all of his pitches going again.”

After hitting his second batter of the night, Rodriguez was able to Matt Chapman to fly out to McCutchen in right field and that was the end of the night for Rodriguez.

Reyes Moronta came on to replace Rodriguez, and he got Mark Canha to pop out to Sandoval and then Dustin Fowler grounded out to Alen Hanson to end the inning and the threat.

“We know, it’s a group of guys that have been around for a while and we’ve got to get these guys some run support,” Posey said.

The bullpen trio of Moronta, Mark Melancon and Tony Watson allowed no runs, one hit, one walk and no strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.

The A’s got to Rodriguez in the bottom of the second inning, as Khris Davis doubled to lead off the inning, after Olson flew out for the first out of the inning to send Davis to third base, then Chapman was hit by a pitch. Canha then hit a sacrifice fly to Gorkys Hernandez in left field to score Davis with the A’s first run of the evening.

“After I signed with the Giants in the offseason, I felt like it was a fresh start and I wanted to make a good impression,” Rodríguez said.

Jackson also went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six.

McCutchen drove in the fourth run of the evening for the Giants, as he hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning off of former Giants reliever Yusmeiro Petit.

The Giants got the eighth inning rally started in the top of the inning, as Gorkys Hernandez led off the inning with a single, then Steven Duggar singled for the first time tonight, following a Alen Hanson sacrifice bunt back to Petit, McCutchen’s sacrifice fly to Fowler, easily scored Hernandez.

Brandon Crawford got in on the act, as he singled to right field to score Duggar from third base to put the game away.

Sandoval just missed his second home run in the top of the ninth inning, as he hit a double high off the wall in the left-center field.

NOTES: The two home runs by the Giants tonight bring their total for the month up to eight. It was the third home run of the month for Sandoval, two for Chase d’Arnaud, and for Hernandez, Hanson and Jones.

This was the A’s first sellout of the season, as they drew a season-high in the opener of the three-game series.

Evan Longoria began his rehab assignment with the Sacramento Rivercats, as they traveled to El Paso to face the Chihuahuas. Longoria went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI before being replaced by Myles Schroder at third base.

McCutchen ended the game with eight putouts, the most in a nine-inning game by a Giants right fielder since Randy Winn ended with eight on April 7, 2006 against the Atlanta Braves.

It was the sixth time in McCutchen’s career that he ended a game with eight-or-more putouts in the same game. McCutchen’s career high is nine, that he did twice with the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 19, 2014 versus the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park and on May 11, 2015 on the road versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

With his run-scoring single in the top of the third inning that scored McCutchen, Posey extended his hitting streak at the Coliseum up to seven games.

Jeff Samardzija, currently on the disabled list underwent an MRI on Monday and also received a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection on Monday as well.

“We’re just trying to avoid those flare ups that we’ve had all year,” Samardzija said. “I guess there’s good news and bad news and the bad news is that we’re back here where we’re at. But the good news is after doing this once or twice, we’ve got a really good plan moving forward.”

Samardzija is on the disabled list for the third time this season with inflammation in his pitching shoulder.

“This team has put me in the situation to have the ability to come back and wait until I’m 100 percent with how great the young kids have been pitching,” Samardzija said.

UP NEXT: The Giants and A’s will continue the Bay Bridge Series Saturday night at 6:05 pm PT.

Madison Bumgarner will make his ninth start of the season, on Saturday evening, as he looks for his fourth win of the season. Trevor Cahill will take the mound for the A’s, as he looks for his second win of the season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Joey Friedman: A’s Jackson tries to avenge from last week’s loss to Giants tonight

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On the Oakland A’s podcast with Joey:

The Oakland A’s open up a three-game series starting tonight at the Oakland Coliseum with A’s starter Edwin Jackson 1-1, who is on the upside of his career, when you compare it with San Francisco Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez, who is 4-1 and the son of former catcher and Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez.

Jackson, who’s on his 13th MLB team, has done a very nice job in the starting role for the A’s, and in his last start, he faced the Giants at AT&T Park last weekend in game one of the Bay Bridge Series before the All-Star Break.

Jackson pitched for six innings and gave up two runs and ended up losing that game to the Giants. Jackson looks to improve his performance against the Giants. Jackson doesn’t have the best numbers against the Giants, but it’ll be interesting to see what Jackson can do against the Giants to open the Bay Bridge Series at the Coliseum tonight.

Joey does the A’s podcasts each Friday 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.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Oakland A’s–What a Difference a Year Makes!

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Photo credit: nytimes.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

OAKLAND, Calif. — Part two of the Bay Bridge Series continues on Friday, July 20, at the Oakland Coliseum, as both Bay Area teams open the second half of their season. The last weekend prior to the All Star break, the A’s took two out of the three games against the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

On this date in 2017, the A’s did not play. However, the next day–the first game of the second half–on July 21, they had a record of 43-53 and were in fifth (last place) with 23 games behind the Houston Astros.

As the A’s open the second half of this season, their record is 55-42 and they’re in third place, eight games behind the first-place Houston Astros and three games behind the second-place Seattle Mariners for a Wild Card spot.  From 2017 to 2018 to date, that’s an improvement of 12 more games won and 11 less games lost.

Anywho, the Giants on July 20, 2017, were in last place in the National League West with a record of 37-61, 29 1/2 games out of first-place, which was held by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants ended in the cellar last year as they lost 98 games. In the second half of last season, the Giants had one of the worse second halves in their history, winning just 27 more games to to end the season with a 64-98 record. Because 2017 was such a pathetic season for the Orange and Black, they’re better this season. The Giants begin this series against the A’s in fourth place with 50-48 record, four games behind the first-place Dodgers and also four games behind a Wild Card berth.

Both teams are fighting to get into the postseason at this time, which is a totally different situation at this time last year when both teams finished in last place in their respective divisions. The big difference this season is that the A’s weren’t expected to contend. The Giants acquired two veteran players in Evan Longoria, who should return to the lineup soon, and Andrew McCutchen.

Both clubs have their fair share of injuries, especially to their pitching staffs, with the Giants suffering more than the A’s when it comes to position players. Two regulars, second baseman Joe Panik and third baseman Evan Longoria are still out.

Both teams, however, should be buyers. July 31 is the trade deadline, and after that day, players have to clear waivers and trades will become more complicated.

Notes: The A’s  released veteran Santiago Casilla. The 37-year-old pitched in 26 games in relief with a 3.16 earned run average. The Dominican began his career with the A’s in 2004, went to the Giants for the next six seasons, and came back home full circle to the A’s in 2017.

The A’s announced they’re opening Mount Davis, 8,190 seats behind center field this Saturday, and the game is at 6:05 pm PDT. On that day, the A’s will honor their 1989 World Champion team, who won the World Series against the Giants. Many A’s stars of the 1989 roster will be on hand.

The current total capacity of the Coliseum is 56,782. The record attendance for an A’s game at the Coliseum was established on June 26, 2004. Also, an A’s game against the Giants would’ve seen 55,989.

Bay Bridge series continues as the Giants visit the A’s this weekend

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Photo credit: @KPODFM

By Jeremy Harness

The Giants are in the thick of things in the National league playoff race, and that they have a good chance to make it back to the postseason for the first time in two years.

But they have two things immediately standing in their way.

The Oakland A’s will be waiting for them on Friday when the regular season resumes, and that just like the Giants, they are making a huge resurgence, and they also have a chance to make the playoffs, for the first time in four years.

Dereck Rodriguez will take the hill in Friday’s opener at the Oakland Coliseum, and the rookie has made a huge impression on the Giants’ brass and stands a great chance to be a fixture in the starting rotation for years to come.

Madison Bumgarner, who is still making his way back to his form after missing the first two months of the season with a fracture in his pitching hand.

Johnny Cueto, who has missed significant time with an injury to his pitching elbow, will take the ball Sunday afternoon. The A’s, on the other hand, have not announced their starters for this weekend’s series.

The Giants are four games back of the division lead at this point, while the A’s are eight games back of the American League West-leading Houston Astros and are three games behind the second-place Seattle Mariners.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Musberger huge figure in Vegas; Raiders look to feed off his talent; Raiders fans in Oakland shocked by the change with Papa and Flores out

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

Broadcast teams–they come together or they don’t come together. Play-by-play announcers like former Oakland Raiders announcer Greg Papa was and color announcer which Tom Flores was they added two different aspects, but they were able to blend together and work well together.

Brent Musberger is in replacing Papa and I’m sure there has to be some color analyst that Musberger thinks he could work well together with and that’s who’s going to be the color person for Musberger, former Raider Bill Romanowski, maybe?

This firing of Papa and Flores caught a lot of people by surprise. It didn’t look like the Raiders were going to fire Papa and Flores until maybe after the Raiders left Oakland. What you want to do is embrace your fans in Las Vegas and not alienate your fans in Oakland.

Greg Papa’s call of “Touchdown Rrrrrrrrrraiders” is iconic. I don’t know if the band-aid has been pulled off so much now or if season ticket holders in Oakland understand the business side and realize the Raiders are moving and these are business related moves.

Tony Renteria does the Raiders podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors notes: The good news keeps on coming

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By: Ana Kieu

The back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors have faced a few setbacks so far this offseason, like when their head trainer, Chelsea Lane, left Oakland for a reportedly better job with the Hawks in Atlanta. Lane was arguably one of the most important Warriors even though she wasn’t a player or coach, as she reportedly juggled multiple roles: psychologist, doctor, adviser, trainer, friend and even a part-time comedian.

Anyways, Golden State isn’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. They recently re-signed head coach Steve Kerr to a contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the agreement weren’t released.

Warriors president of basketball operations and general manager Bob Myers told NBA.com, “We’re excited to have Steve under contract and poised to lead our team for the next several years … Under his guidance, we’ve been fortunate enough to win three NBA titles in four years and his ability to thrive in all facets of his job is certainly a primary reason for our success. He’s a terrific coach, but more importantly an incredible human being.”

Despite the lack of details, Kerr is the right fit for the Warriors, who have won three championships in four seasons. Kerr also owns a playoff mark of 63-20 or .759, which is currently the highest winning percentage in NBA history amongst head coaches who have coached a minimum of 25 playoff games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Kerr is the 25th head coach in Warriors’ history and the 20th since the team moved to California in 1962. And, if things continue to work as planned, Kerr will continue to hold down a coaching gig in Oakland.

Also, Golden State appears to be on the right track when it comes to navigating the perplexing free agent market, as they’ve signed NBA star DeMarcus Cousins and Swedish big man Jonas Jerebko along with some other lesser known ballers.

In addition, ESPN reported that Warriors’ Kevin Durant won the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, given annually to an athlete whose leadership has created a positive impact on their community through sports. Durant started the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation, which aims to enrich the lives of at-risk youth from low-income backgrounds through educational, athletic and social programs. Durant also committed $10 million to a local chapter of College Track–a program that helps disadvantaged students attend college, in Suitland, Maryland, donated $1 million to tornado victims in Oklahoma in 2013, and built basketball courts around the world for low-income youth.

Anywho, many sources have speculated that the Warriors’ dynasty may come to an end in the near future, and while that could happen–as no team will continue to dominate forever–they’ve been having a pretty good summer and can possibly do some damage on other teams this coming season.

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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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

 

Jonas Jerebko reportedly makes an easy decision to join Warriors

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By: Ana Kieu

Not all NBA players are fortunate enough to make easy decisions to join other pro basketball teams, but Jonas Jerebko was apparently fortunate to do such a thing.

Jerebko, also known as “the Swedish Larry Bird,” is a Kinna, Sweden, native. The 31-year-old is far from a young rookie, but he’s a 36.3% 3-point shooter who shot 41.4% from beyond the arc with the Utah Jazz last season. Those aren’t exactly excellent numbers, but they’re not going to be labeled as draft bust type of numbers anytime soon…unless if he starts to fall behind for whatever reason it may be.

It’s obvious that Golden State isn’t wasting any time, as they signed Jerebko to a one-year, $4.2 million just days after Utah waived him. Jerebko spent the 2017-18 season with the Jazz. Jerebko also played for the Boston Celtics (2015-17) and Detroit Pistons (2009-15) in the NBA along with Angelico Biella (2007-09), Plannja (2006-07), and Boras (2005-06) in his native Europe.

Of course, Jerebko isn’t on the same level as a healthy DeMarcus Cousins, but the Swedish big man can bring some much-needed depth to the Warriors’ frontcourt. Jerebko has a pretty good ability to shoot the ball, which is going to be vital for a Warriors squad that has struggled to score at times.

According to The Mercury News, Jerebko is optimistic towards Cousins’ Achilles recovery While that’s a good thing, as no one would welcome an unfriendly teammate, only time will tell. Let’s see when Cousins’ target return date will be announced and if he can achieve it.

Jerebko added, “I want to show that its possible to come from Sweden and play for a team like Golden State.”

Jerebko is reportedly going to train in Michigan and return to the Bay Area by the start of the Warriors’ training camp in September.