Tag: Oakland

A’s late come back falls short, lose to the Mariners 7-5

Published on by gabeschapiroLeave a comment

By Gabe Schapiro

This Saturday afternoon contest between the Oakland Athletics (95-66) and Seattle Mariners (71-90) quickly turned into a Mariners slugfest. Oakland made it interesting late, but couldn’t quite complete the come back, losing 7-5. Jarrod Parker, who has been fantastic for much of this season, simply didn’t have his best stuff today, getting hit early and often. Parker falls to 12-8 on the year. Opposing starter Brandon Maurer wasn’t great, but he got the job done.

Parker had an easy first inning, but he consistently struggled from there. Seattle started hammering away in the second inning. Raul Ibanez, a notorious headache for the A’s, reached on a walk, and Justin Smoak followed with a home run that just got over the right field wall, giving them a 2-0 lead.

A Coco Crips sacrifice fly got one of the runs back, but the Mariners bats immediately went back to work. Nick Franklin hit a line drive into the right field corner, but the arm of Josh Reddick managed to limit the damage, throwing him out at third trying for a triple. Unfortunately there was little time to appreciate the play, as the very next hitter, Brad Miller, launched Seattle’s second home run in as many innings, recapturing a two-run lead, 3-1.

Two innings later Miller flashed his power again, this time breaking the game wide open with a no-doubt-about-it grand slam, chasing Parker from the game with Oakland down 7-1.

The A’s bullpen managed to restore some order, and stifled the Seattle offense over the final few innings. At the same time, the Oakland bats started to come alive and the Mariners pen started to stumble.

Oakland added a run in the sixth, and then in the seventh back-to-back home runs from Brandon Moss and Alberto Callaspo, Moss’s 30th on the year, brought the A’s to within just two. They loaded the bases in the eighth, but failed to come up with the big clutch hit.

The comeback attempt fizzled out from there, as Oakland went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning.

With today’s results, it is official that the A’s will get a chance at revenge when they take on the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs, a rematch of last seasons ALDS. The dates and times are still to-be-determined.

Tomorrow marks the final day of the regular season, as the Oakland and Seattle wrap up this three game series at 1:10 PM.

Game Notes: Jared Lowrie hit his 45th double of the season, two behind Jason Giambi for the single season Oakland record… Moss is the first A’s player with 30+ home runs in a season since Reddick last season, and Jack Cust in 2008….with the A’s loss and a Red Sox win today, Boston has clinched home field advantage through the postseason. Oakland had already clinched home field for at least the ALDS.

Quarterback uncertainty with Washington coming to Oakland Sunday

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

Terrelle Pryor

By. Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Oakland Raiders starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been medically cleared for full contact, but it’s still uncertain if Pryor or backup Matt Flynn will be under center when the Silver and Black take the field against the down-trodden Washington Redskins Sunday at O.co Coliseum.

According to CSNCalifornia.com Raiders’ insider Scott Bair, Oakland will not announce a starter before Sunday’s game, partially for competitive reasons.

This is the first meeting between the two teams since 2009.

Pryor, who sustained a concussion after taking a helmet-to-chin hit from Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard Monday night during Oakland’s 37-21 loss in Denver, was listed as questionable on the team’s injury report, but saw an increased workload after participating in practice Thursday and Friday.

Against the aggressive Denver defense, Pryor had a career-best quarterback rating of 112.4, completing 19 of 28 passes for 281 yards and, including a 73-yard touchdown catch and run by speedster Denarius Moore.

Whichever quarterback starts for Oakland (1-2), the game plan should feature a heavy dose of running back Darren McFadden. Washington is surrendering a league-worst 155 yards per game on the ground and has given up at least 130 yards rushing in two of their three losses on the season.

McFadden arguably had his worst game of his career Monday night, rushing for just 9 yards on 12 carries (0.8 yards per attempt). McFadden did have two touchdowns, one on a 1-yard run and the other, a 16-yard pass to fullback Marcel Reese, but he should be the Raiders’ workhorse come Sunday.

Washington (0-3) is off to a rough start to the season, to say the least.

Starting quarterback Robert Griffin III is coming off a third-straight 300-yard passing game, but Washington couldn’t overcome two critical fumbles in the fourth quarter and dropped a backbreaker to the Detroit Lions, 27-20 at home.

Running back Alfred Morris finished with 15 carries for 73 yards and  a touchdown.

The game is expected to be a sell out and will be seen locally on FOX/KTVU Ch. 2 at 1:25 p.m. PDT.

Players to Watch for Washington:

  • No. 10) Robert Griffin III (QB) – After not playing a single second during the preseason while recovering from offseason knee surgery to repair his ACL, Griffin is still shaking off the rust but appears to be playing better. The second-year quarter from Baylor is sixth in the league among quarterbacks with five touchdown passes.
  • No. 46) Alfred Morris (RB) – Outside of Griffin, Morris is Washington’s next best offensive weapon. Morris finished second to Adrian Peterson in  both rushing yards (1,613), touchdowns (13), and third in rushes (335) in 2012. Morris has rushed for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 40 carries so far in 2013.
  • No. 91) Ryan Kerrigan (OLB) – Kerrigan, along with teammate Perry Riley, Washington has significant punch in the pass rushing department and Oakland has a leaky offensive line. Kerrigan leads Washington with three sacks this season and five quarterback pressures, while Riley leads Washington in tackles with 29.

Players to Watch for Oakland:

  • No. 17) Denarius Moore (WR) – Sure I said that Oakland needs to feed the ball to McFadden earlier, but Moore is starting to be the dependable wide receiver that Oakland is drastically looking for. Moore had six receptions of 124 receiving yards and a touchdown Monday night. Look for Washington’s veteran cornerback DeAngelo Hall to shadow Moore.
  • No. 94) Kevin Burnett (MLB) – Burnett was very active in Denver, finishing with a game-high 10 tackles. Burnett will have his hands full keeping an eye on Morris.
  • No. 79) Tony Pashos (OT) – The veteran Pashos will draw the assignment of trying to block Kerrigan one-on-one. If Pashos is able to prevent Kerrigan from having a big day, Oakland has a great chance of keeping its quarterback upright.

Over/Under (for entertainment purposes only) 42 – Washington (-3) vs. Oakland according to vegasinsider.com

 

The A’s keep on winning

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

628x471by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s keep on winning

The Oakland A’s won their fifth straight game downing the Los Angeles Angels 10-5 Monday night in Anaheim. The A’s clinched the AL West crown Sunday but are not content being the second seed in the AL. They are now just one game behind the Red Sox and if the Sox falter , the A’s can claim the top seed and the A’s and not the Red Sox would face the Wild Card. If that should happen, Detroit would play Boston in the ALDS.

Tommy Milone started for Oakland and he pitched well. Milone went 5 1/3rd innings giving up 5 hits

and four runs. Two of the runs were unearned. Milone struck out eight and walked just one and picked up his twelfth win of the year. The A’a scored two in the first and in the third Jed Lowrie who blasted a three run homer to give the A’s a 5-1 lead. The Angels came back with three in their half of the third. Howie Kendrick doubled with the bases loaded and all three runners scored.

The A’s scored two more in the fifth. Lowrie walked and scored ahead of Brandon Moss who hit a towering home run to right field. The A’s made it 8-4 in the sixth when Chris Young doubled to start the inning and he came home on an Eric Sogard single. The Angels scored their fifth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth. Josh Hamilton tripled and then scored on a sacrifice fly.

The A’s put the game out of reach when they scored two more runs in the top of the ninth. The A’s called on Grant Balfour to close the door on the Angels. It wasn’t easy as the Angels had two men on with one out but Balfour struck out the last to batters to secure the win.

Game Notes- The A’s have now won five in a row, eleven of the last thirteen and are 17-5 for September. Their record of the year is 94-63. Josh Donaldson had two hits in the game and was his 56th multi-hit game of the season and needs one more multi-hit game to tie the A’s team record.

Jed Lowrie hit his fifteenth home run of the year and when asked about the team’s success he said we’ve “done a great job the last couple of weeks.” When asked about his ability to hit home runs, Lowrie replied “ doubles are a power stroke and homers are doubles that go out.”

The A’s have five games left in the season. The play the Angels Tuesday night in Anaheim. A.J.Griffin will go for Oakland and Jason Vargas will be on the hill for the Halos.

Back to back AL West Champions!

Published on by ZahnDotComLeave a comment

By Emily Zahner

 

OAKLAND, CA—The Oakland Athletics (93-63) didn’t need 9 innings for a reason to celebrate, all it took was three. With their magic number down to one, Oakland needed to either defeat the Minnesota Twins (65-90) this afternoon, or see Texas lose. Halfway through the top of the third, cheers started to erupt throughout the stadium, and yet the out of town scoreboard still read the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals were locked in a 0-0 tie in the 10th. After Sonny Gray surrendered a 3-run homerun by Oswaldo Arcia, the A’s finally got out of the inning. That was when a replay was shown of KC’s Justin Maxwell, with two outs in the 10th, crushing a grand slam that instantly sent the A’s into the post season. Once again, at the expense of the Texas Rangers, the A’s would be crowned the American League West Champions.

Not that the A’s needed the Royals help anyway… Oakland erupted for six runs in the 2nd inning, and then added one more in each of the next five innings. The A’s celebrated their division title on the back of a four-game sweep by means of an 11-7 rout of the Twins. Oakland starter Sonny Gray became the youngest pitcher in A’s history to win a division clinching game at the young age of 23. Gray was elated, “this is the best baseball day of my life… today is a very exciting day.” Even though they all knew their fate in the third, Sonny was determined, saying he knew something had happened in the Texas game, but still had a game to win.  Gray did struggle a bit, giving up four earned runs on seven hits through five innings pitched, but with the offensive tear his team appears to be on lately, it didn’t even matter. Gray isn’t worried about where he will land on the post season roster, just as long as he is a part of the team.

After tonight’s game, the A’s finish off the regular season with a three game series in Anaheim, followed by a three game set in Seattle. From here on out, the A’s will be focused on the post season. A’s manager Bob Melvin is ready, saying “we’ve got some unfinished business going forward… we’re going to enjoy today and look forward to tomorrow”. He has extreme confidence in his squad, “this is an unselfish group that just wants to win.” The players themselves are ready, Australian closer Grant Balfour said “we know how to play and we know how to win”.

Not only did the A’s clinch the West today, but Coco Crisp made history as well. In the 6th inning, after Eric Sogard reached first on a single, Coco walked. The two initiated a double steal, and Coco became only the 10th player in Oakland history to have a 20 homerun-20 stolen base year. Players all through the lineup stepped up huge today. In the 7th spot, Daric Barton went 3-3 with a walk; just a triple short of the cycle. Homeruns were a plenty today, and Oakland saw bombs from Crisp, Barton, and Jed Lowrie. Barton has made a huge impact since being called up from Triple A Sacramento on August 24th, and Melvin is taking notice, “I don’t see how Barton could not be on the post season roster”.

This marks the second consecutive and 16th overall AL West Division title for the Oakland Athletics. If the standings hold, the A’s will most likely face the Detroit Tigers once again in the ALDS. With the way this team has been playing, they’re ready for anyone.

 

Game Notes: Josh Donaldson has reached base safely via hit or walk in 27 consecutive games. Oakland has reached a season high of 30 games over .500. Josh Reddick had two outfield assists today, doubling off Brian Dozier in the 7th and Oswaldo Arcia in the 9th.

Raiders face tough test in Denver

Published on by jhawkes51Leave a comment

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Looking to build off the 19-9 victory in their home opener Sunday over the pathetic Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders head into Denver to face the Broncos on ESPN’s Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 3 in the NFL. Oakland picked up their first win of the season behind a stellar rushing attack, racking up 226 yards.

Running back Darren McFadden was a monster, rushing for 129 yards, including three runs of 20-or-more yards. Terrelle Pryor added in 50 rushing yards, while finishing 15-of-24 for 126 yards passing. Fullback Marcel Reese scored Oakland’s (1-1) only touchdown, on a 11-yard run in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

What does that say?

Oakland will need more from Pryor and Co. but if Oakland has any chance of winning Monday night, it’s fifth-ranked defense will have to answer the bell against Denver’s third-ranked offense. Oakland leads the NFL with nine sacks on the season after sacking Jaguars quarterback, Chad Henne five times Sunday.  With the news of stellar Broncos’ All-Pro left tackle Ryan Clady being lost for the season with a Lis-franc sprain, Oakland’s defensive line could be the difference.

Manning and the Broncos (2-0) return home after beating the New York Giants 41-23 at MetLife Stadium Sunday. After passing for a career-high seven touchdowns in Week 1, Manning was virtually flawless completing 30-of-43 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns in the road win. Denver’s offense totaled 416 yards.

Believe me after seeing that performance, Oakland will have it’s hands full against one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL, but Raiders head coach welcomes the challenge.

“This will be the best team we’ve faced and they’re very talented,” Allen said Monday, “so we’re going to have to do a good job of changing things up and mixing some things up, mixing up some looks and be able to play a good, team game.”

Players to Watch for Oakland:

  • No. 2) Terrelle Pryor (QB) — Pryor picked up his first home win (and first win of his career) against Jacksonville and will look to pick up his first road win of his career on national television Monday night. Pryor leads all quarterbacks with 162 rushing yards.
  • No. 24) Charles Woodson (FS) — The Raiders’ veteran starting free safety will be the one who will have to get Oakland’s secondary in place to defend a bevy of Broncos pass-catchers. Woodson finished with six tackles against Jacksonville Sunday.
  • No. 25) D.J. Hayden (CB) — Manning loves testing rookies and Hayden will see a lot of Broncos’ sensational wide receiver, Demaryius Thomas. Good luck.

Players to Watch for Denver:

  • No. 83) Wes Welker (WR) — You think that Tom Brady wishes he had the reliable Welker now?
  • No. 80) Julian Thomas (TE) — Looks like a younger version of San Diego Chargers standout, Antonio Gates. Thomas played power forward at Portland St. In his first start, Thomas recorded five catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
  • No. 11) Trindon Holliday (KR) — The reigning AFC Player of the Week  was a blur on his 81-yard punt return for a touchdown that put the final dagger in the Giants’ hearts. The return highlighted Holliday’s day, where he saw four punts and returning them for a 30.3 yards per return. Through two weeks, Holliday is averaging a league-high 19.6 yards per return.

    ← Back

    Thank you for your response. ✨

¡Vamos Los Athleticos!

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Emily Zahner

Welcome to September baseball in Oakland, where unlikely players step up and prove they belong as the Oakland Athletics (83-60) push forward to the post season. In the finale of season series, the A’s defeated the Houston Astros (47-96) by a score of 7-2. Oakland took the season series 15-4, as the Astros stood no chance after in the beginning of the season the A’s had gone 10-0 against their new division rivals.

Bartolo Colon was on the mound for the A’s this afternoon, and looked like he didn’t have his best stuff. On first pitch, Colon instantly struggled, giving up a leadoff single, followed by an RBI double. Before Colon had thrown five pitches, the A’s were already down 1-0. He regained composure and quickly settled down after the initial shock and fanned the next two batters and got the final out on a ground out. Colon went on to have a great outing, pitching six innings and surrendering five hits and just one earned run with seven strike outs. Manager Bob Melvin was pleased, praising his starter saying “I thought he was really good. After the first two hitters, that got his attention in a hurry. He ramped it up, had really good movement, good location today. A lot of good things came out of Bartolo’s outing today.” Colon improves to 15-6 with his win today.

Rookie RHP Paul Clemens was scheduled to start today for Houston, but was scratched at the last minute due to a blister, so the Astros called upon relief pitcher Lucas Harrell to take the mound. Harrell sailed through the first two innings, surrendering one hit and one walk, but he fell apart at the seams when the third rolled around. Stephen Vogt was the first and last batter of the inning as the A’s batted around and scored seven runs. Brandon Moss had a huge two out two-run double, Yoenis Cespedes and Daric Barton each added runs with RBI singles, and then Seth Smith capped it off by crushing a huge 3-run homerun into the right field bleachers.   Smith would be pinch hit for his next at bat, but the skipper was pleased, “That was big for Smitty, it was a key blow in the game”.

Things seemed to be clicking for the A’s lineup today as they tallied 11 hits total. In the 7th spot, Daric Barton went 2-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored, highlighted by his two-out RBI single in the big third. Cespedes was swinging the bat well today as well, going 2-4 with a run scored. Melvin gave a lot of credit to his left fielder, saying “we have better energy when he is swinging the bat… he’s as important as everybody knows to us. If this is the time when he’s heating up, it’s certainly a good time for it.”

The A’s close out their second to last homestand going 8-2, a record they will gladly take. Melvin recounted, “It started out good and ended up good. We’ll take it”.

Oakland has an off day tomorrow before beginning a 6-game road trip, starting with a 3-game series against the Twins on Tuesday, a team they have yet to face this year. After Minnesota, the A’s travel to Arlington for an all too important 3-game series against their division rivals Texas Rangers, who defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim today by a score of 4-3. The A’s now hold a 1.5 game lead on the Rangers.

Game Notes—Brandon Moss went 3-for-4 this afternoon with two singles, a double, and two RBIs. The A’s top three hitters, (Coco Crisp, Eric Sogard, Jed Lowrie) combined for 1-14 today with two strike outs. Brett Anderson got the save, pitching three innings and surrendering three hits and one earned run. Anderson struck out three.

A’s stay atop American League West

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Phillip Torres

PhotoOAKLAND-The Oakland Athletics (82-60) entered the day a half game up on the Texas Rangers in the American League West, and remained on top after a 2-1 victory of the Houston Astros (47-95) on Saturday Afternoon at O.co Coliseum.

Oakland struck first when Yoenis Cespedes hit his 22nd homerun of the year on a 1-1 pitch to left field off of starter Brett Oberholtzer in fourth inning to give the A’s a 1-0 advantage.

The A’s got on the board again in the seventh inning with another long ball. On a 1-2 pitch, leadoff man Jed Lowrie cleared the Center Field wall to make it 2-0 Oakland.

After a Brett Wallace double in the eighth, with runners on second and third, Brandon Barnes grounded into a force out to knock him in. The Houston run cut the lead to 2-1. The Astros youth then showed on the series of plays. Barnes stole second base on the next pitch. But, Barnes got picked off trying to steal third after attempting to on the previous pitch that was negated by a Jonathan Villar foul ball. Oakland clearly noticed the attempted steal of third after the foul ball, but Barnes went for it again on the very next pitch and was picked off easily.

The base running mistake made it easy to see why the Astros only have 47 wins on the season.

Dan Straily earned the victory, his ninth of the season after tossing seven shutout innings. Grant Balfour picked up the save in the ninth inning.

There were 20,340 in attendance at the Coliseum. The A’s will finish off the series with Houston tomorrow afternoon.

Phillip Torres covers the A’s for SportsRadioService.com

Where did the fans go?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Jerry Feitelberg

Ever since 1968 when the A’s arrived I Oakland, they have always been the “second team.” The Giants landed in San Francisco ten years earlier and have “owned” the Bay Area ever since. Never mind the fact that the A’s won six American League pennants and four World Series. There was no question that the fans preferred the Giants over the A’s even when the Giants played at Candlestick Park. There is no question that attendance has been terrific at the Giants new facility, AT&T Park, at Third and King in the city. The Giants, of course, have had great success on the field since the park opened. The Giants had Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent and they won the NL crown in 2002 but lost the World Series to the Anaheim Angels that year. They sold out the park and while attendance slowed up a bit prior to the 2010 season, they have done very well. The Giants, as everyone knows, won the World Series in 2010 and 2012.

The A’s, on the other hand, had some bad season afters they made the playoffs and their attendance was pretty pathetic. Their owners, Lew Wolff and John Fisher, have wanted to move the team to San Jose but the Giants,who have “territorial rights” to San Jose have indicated that they have no intention of relinquishing those rights.

So, the A’s play in an outdated facility but they have an outstanding team that is trying to win the AL West and make it to the playoffs for the second straight year. One would think that the Coliseum would be packed. Not so. The A’s played the Texas Rangers the last three days here in Oakland. How was attendance ? Pretty bad. The A’s drew 24,000 on Labor day and 16,000 plus Tuesday and Wednesday and the Attendance for Thursday’s night game with the Houston Astros appears to be the smallest crowd of the year with less than 10,000 fans. If you were a player, would you not wonder what the hell is going on. The Giants who are in a battle for last place in the NL West and playing at home against Arizona will pack the joint and the A’s will be playing in front of a sparse crowd. Hard to believe but if the fans want the A’s to stay in Oakland it would be wise for them to show up and support their team rather than moaning and groaning about the possible departure of the club to San Jose.

Pitchers’ duel becomes batters’ brawl; Suzuki blasts 3-run HR

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By George Devine, Sr.

August 30, 2013

The Athletics began a long homestand against Tampa Bay with an atmosphere suggestive of a postseason confrontation. Just over 15,000 came to O.co Coliseum – without the Bay Bridge in operation — on a balmy (69 degree) evening to see a pitchers’ duel between LHP David Price and RHP Jarrod Parker….that is, until the fifth inning. Up to that point, the Rays had scored the game’s only run, when in the second Desmond Jennings walked, stole second and came home on Yuniel Escobar’s grounder to center field. But in the fifth, Kurt Suzuki broke it open with a three-run homer. It came after Alberto Callaspo hit one of Price’s pitches in the direction of second baseman Ben Zobrist, who committed his firsr error after 81 games. Chris Young then walked and Suzuki took Price deep.

In the eighth, after Parker had thrown 100 pitches, the first two Rays reached base. Ryan Cook came in to relieve him, and gave up a single. Matt Joyce sacrificed to score a run, then James Loney doubled past Young in center to make it 3-3 In the bottom of the frame, with Joel Peralta in relief, Coco Crisp led off with a base hit and scored on Jed Lowrie’s double to make the score 4-3 in favor of the home team.

Cook got the win (6-3) and Price the loss (8-6). Grant Balfour notched his 34th save.

The win puts Oakland a half-game ahead of the Rays in the race for the first wild card spot, and two games behind Texas in the AL West.

The A’s and Tampa Bay face off again at 6:05 p .m. on Saturday, August 31 with Sonny Gray (1-2, 3.18 ERA) opposing Alex Cobb (8-2, 2.67) on a fireworks night.

On Tuesday, September 3, Oakland Athletics’ Owner Lew Wolff and family members, as well as Hitting Coach Chili Davis, will serve meals at Oakland’s St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County’s dining room and tour the facility’s community center which also houses administrative staff, some limited medical care, free drop-in help for families, a free clothing closet and both culinary and transitional employee training programs.

Three generations of the Wolff family—Mr. Wolff, daughter Kari Wolff and grandson Arthur Wolff—will join Davis, a former three-time Major League All-Star and three-time World Series champion, in serving lunch to SVDP’s clients from 10:45-11:30 a.m., before taking a tour of the facility. Wolff wants his daughter and grandson to experience the lives of people who are less fortunate and understand the value and obligation of giving back to your community. Also, the Wolff family and Mr. Davis wanted to stress to everyone that St. Vincent de Paul provides meals, clothing and services to more than 4,000 people each year, and that their financial and volunteer help is sorely needed throughout the year—not only during the holiday season.

Wolff last week donated $5,000 for much-needed backpacks for St. Vincent’s children, as they begin the new school year. In addition, the A’s owner is hand-delivering 100 tickets to the Oakland-Minnesota game on Thursday, Sept. 19, with a challenge to the Bay Area community to donate at least $50 to St. Vincent de Paul in exchange for two free tickets.

The Oakland A’s and St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County have forged a long-time relationship, with the team’s front office employees preparing and serving meals at the facility’s dining the holiday season and donating funding, food and other supplies to the area’s prime community center. In addition, Athletic players, coaches and managers have donated their time in servicing SVDP’s clients during the team’s season and off-season. This marks the 75th anniversary of service provided by St. Vincent de Paul to Alameda County.

Sonny Gray’s gem spoiled in A’s 7-4 loss to Seattle

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Emily Zahner & Gabe Schapiro

On the mound for the Oakland Athletics in just his third Major League start, Sonny Gray (1-1, 1.00 ERA) shined bright and glowed with confidence. In the second of this three game series against the Mariners, Gray, facing off against Joe Saunders (10-12, 4.86 ERA), had the look of a veteran as the A’s were defeated by the Seattle Mariners 7-4 on Tuesday evening. The A’s fall to a record of 71-54, 1-½ games back of the first place Texas Rangers who picked up a victory tonight. The Mariners improve to 58-67, and remain in a distant third place.

The 23 year old from Smyrna, Tennessee lead off the game by shutting down the Mariners’ hitters 1-2-3. If run support was something he was worried about, the A’s offense took care of that in their half. Mariners starter Joe Saunders was hit hard early, as the A’s batted around and were a double away from hitting for the cycle against him in a 40-pitch first inning. Jed Lowrie, hitting lead-off for the fourth time this season, started off the game with a triple down the right field line. Homeruns by Josh Donaldson and Nate Frieman gave the A’s an early 4-0 lead in the first, giving Sonny some early run support. Gray cruised through two, then hit some trouble in the third. He started the inning with a four-pitch walk to Michael Saunders, and as lead-off walks so often do, it came back to bite him. Three batters later Nick Franklin got a hold of a change-up that was meant for the outside half and drifted in, sending it into the right field bleachers, making the score 4-2.

The A’s scattered a few hits through seven innings, but neither team was able to get on the board again through seven. Gray finished his night after seven strong innings, holding the Mariners to just two hits, two runs (both earned), and striking out seven on 94 pitches. Of his outing tonight, Manager Bob Melvin was pleased, saying “he was great… he’s got some presence out there, he certainly has the stuff and he continues to give us impressive outings.” In Sonny’s last outing, he fanned nine over eight innings. Gray is establishing himself as a competent and reliable started for the A’s, which with Bartolo Colon going to the DL and Brett Anderson still on rehab assignment, is arguably something Oakland needs the most. The A’s bullpen might be another topic of serious discussion.

The momentum drastically shifted to the Mariners in the eighth. Sean Doolittle was the first man out of the bullpen, and the Mariners bats, seemingly relieved to no longer be facing Gray, came alive again. Four consecutive hits later and the game was all tied at 4-4. Ryan Cook was summoned to stop the bleeding, but he couldn’t find his control and the runs kept on coming. After two wild pitches, two walks, and a fielders’ choice play at the plate that injured catcher Derek Norris, the Mariners had built up their first lead of the game, 7-4. Jesse Chavez, the third pitcher of the inning, stabilized the chaos and mercifully ended the inning. Bob Melvin later confirmed the Norris had fractured his left big toe.

The disastrous five-run eighth would prove to be too much to come back from, even for a never-say-die club like the Athletics. The back end of the Mariners bullpen kept the comeback kids at bay, closing down the ninth 1-2-3, clinching the 7-4 win. The A’s and Mariners complete their three game series tomorrow at 12:35pm.