Tag: Seattle Mariners

James Kaprielian deals as the Oakland A’s starter allowing two hits in seven innings against the Seattle Mariners at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Sep 21, 2022 (@Athletics photo)

Seattle (81-67). 1. 4. 1

Oakland (55-94). 2. 6. 0

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–At game time, your (for the time being) Oakland Athletics had played 148 games this season. They needed to win nine of the 14 remaining contests to avoid losing 100 for the year. There is just a hint of a glimmer of hope that they might achieve this.

They’d gone 5-12 in September in spite of their wonderful victory over the apparently playoff bound Seattle Mariners last night.

The A’s managed to increase their slim chances of avoiding the infamy of triple digit loss column when they won a thriller, 2-1.

They sent right hander James Kaprielian to the mound with a record of 3-9, 4.70. Hidden in those doleful digits is his disappointing, to say the least, numbers for his last six starts, 0-4, 5.76 and an opponents’ batting average of .283, higher than the BA of any of the Athletics’ hitters with more than a handful of at bats.

After throwing the first pitch of the night at 6:42, Kaprielian showed that the past isn’t always a reliable indicator of future performance. After yielding a two out single to Haniger in the first and a base on balls to Cal Raleigh in the second, Oakland’s starter didn’t allow a Mariner to reach base safely until there were two away in the top of the sixth when Julio Rodríguez touched him for a clean single to center.

Kaprielian ended up hurling seven frames of two hit ball, striking out six and walking one. 62 of his 93 pitches were considered strikes. He earned the win and improved his numbers to 4-9, 4.43.

Toeing the rubber for the M’s was veteran southpaw Robbie Ray. The 30 year old portsilder came to work at 12-10, 3.72, which is consistent with his lifetime mark of 74-68, 3.96. Against the A’s, he was 1-1, 2.41 for ’22 and 2-1, 2.30 for his career.

Although Ray experienced some trouble with his control in the opening frame, he stymied the A’s offense for xx innings, allowing only three hits and an equal number of walks before being relieved by Erik Swanson . Ray threw 101 pitches, 63 of them qualifying as strikes. The game was a scoreless tie when he exited, so the M’s starter’s won-lost record remained 12-10, but his ERA dropped to. 3.60.

The two teams traded goose eggs for six and a half episodes. In the bottom of the seventh, Erik Swanson took over on the mound for the M’s and walked leadoff hitter Jordán Díaz. Vimael Machín pinch hit for Sheldon Neuse and whalloped a double to left that sent Díaz to third.

When the ball got away from Winker, Díaz scored on the error. Cristián Pache then singled to right, sending Machín to third and Swanson to the showers. His replacement, Andrés Múñoz fanned Allen but surrendered an RBI single to Kemp before retiring the side with the A’s ahead 2-0.

AJ Puk pitched the top of the eighth in relief of Kaprielian. Kemp, who had moved from left field to second base, made a tremendous catch in shallow right to capture pinch hitter Sam Haggerty pop fly for the second out of the inning, but Chad Pinder’s leap at the right field fence wasn’t enough to prevent Luis Torres’s pinch hit homer from going into the stands and close the gap between the teams to 2-1.

Diego Castillo put Oakland down to a conga beat in the eighth, and Domingo Acevedo came on for the A’s in the ninth to try to nail down what had become a reprise of last night’s cliff hanger.

Julio Rodríguez led off with a bouncer to the mound that got past Acevedo and died before Kemp could field it. That infield single was wiped out by the tailor made 6-4-3 double play that Acevedo induced from Ty France.

The count on Mitch Haniger went to 3–2 before Acevedo struck him out to give the Athletics their second straight win and keep alive their hopes for 99 or less loss season.

Swanson was charged with the loss, making his balance sheet for the season 2-1, 1.49. Acevedo earned his fourth save in seven opportunities and lowered his earned run average to 3:34.

Tomorrow afternoon at 12:37 the Mexicalense Adrián Martínez (4-5, 5.77) will try to complete the trifecta. His opponent will be George Kirby (7-4, 2.98).

Oakland A’s Tony Kemp (5) gives first base coach Eric Martins (3) a fist bump. Kemp in the bottom of the fifth inning connected for a three run home run that helped Oakland take the lead for good at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Sep 20, 2022 (@Athletics photo)

Seattle (81-66).      1.  1.  1

Oakland (54-94).   4. 7.  2

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND-Tonight’s game at the Coliseum was an important one . . .

for the visiting Seattle Mariners. They woke up this morning occupying the last American League wild card spot with a record of 81-65, a half a game behind the Tampa Bay Rays (none in the lost column) and five games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.

Tampa Bay was shut out by Western Division champion Houston tonight, and the O’s fell to the Tigers, so, after the Mariners had fallen to the Athletics, 4-1 in an improbable joint one hitter, the visitors from the Puget Sound still  trailed the Rays by a half a game and led the Orioles by five.

Before the game, Oakland announced that the team had promoted Conner Capel from the AAA Aviators and optioned Cody Thomas to them. Both players are outfielders, and the A’s had claimed Capel off waivers from the Cardinals on September 9. He was in tonight’s starting lineup, batting seventh and playing in right field.

In onfield  pregame activity, veteran utility man Tony Kemp received the Roberto Clemente Award for being the big leaguer who “best exemplifies […] baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.” 

JP Sears, Oakland’s starting pitcher tonight, looked good when he was with the Yankees and was impressive in his first three starts  for the A’s. The numbers tell a story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Sears was 3-0, 2.05 with the Bronx Bombers; he went into tonight’s game at 0-2, 5.13 for green and gold. In his last start, the southpaw gave up five runs, all of them earned, on seven hits, in four innings.

He threw 80 pitches in that no decision  against the Rangers in Arlington. He had trouble early in the game, due to a bad bounce and an error behind him, and gave up an unearned run in the second. That was the only run he allowed in his five inning stint on the mound. 

The single that resulted from that bad bounce was the only hit Sears allowed.  His pitch count was 86, of which 53 counted as strikes. He was tonight’s winning pitcher and now has a won-lost mark of 5-3 while his ERA fell to 3.58.

Seattle also sent a two-team hurler to the mound. Luis Castillo was 4-4, 2.86 with the Cincinnati Reds. Since coming to the Mariners, he was 3-1, 2.37 before tonight for an overall record of 7-5, 2.68. The 29 year old righty lasted 4- 2/3  innings tonight.

He started off strong but ran up against a wall with two away in the fifth. He allowed four runs on six hits, one of them for the distance, and two walks, striking out four. He threw 85 pitches, 33 of them in his unfinished fifth frame. He was charged with the loss and returned to his hotel with a record of 7-6, 2.85.

Seattle jumped ahead in the top of the second. Carlos Santana led off, sending a grounder to third that took a bad hop, causing Vimael Machín to back up and delay his throw to first, which arrived late and drew Dermís García off the bag.

The play was scored, correctly, as an infield hit. JP Crawford followed with a ground ball to second, tailor made for twin killing. But Jordán Díaz, who had been called up from Las Vegas and made his big league debut on Sunday, let it get past him for  an error that put runners on the corners with nobody out. Sears bore down and struck out Dylan Moore and Abraham Toro.

But he walked Curt Casali and Sam Hagerty to force in an unearned run before Julio Rodríguez sent Seth Brown to just in front of the warning track in center to haul down his fly ball for the third out. It was Sears’ 37th pitch of the inning and 51st of the game. (Díaz atoned for his error by making a lightning grab of Santana’s scorching line drive to end Seattle’s scoreless top of the third.

Castillo was impregnable for 4-2/3 innings until Clemente Award winning Kemp breached his defenses with a three run homer to left that brought in Díaz, who had reached base on a force out, and Nick Allen, the recipient of Castillo’s first base on balls.

Machín and Murphy followed that 371 foot blast with back to back doubles to left, and, just like that, Oakland was on top, 4-0. After walking Seth Brown, Castillo was taken out in favor of Matt Brash, who fanned Shea Langeliers, the only batter he faced,  to end the inning. It was Matt Festa who pitched the Oakland sixth and kept them off the board.

Sears was through after five innings. Joel Payamps retired the M’s in the sixth, allowing only one of them to reach base, and that on an error by Díaz, who made a brilliant play on a grounder by Haniger but drew García off first with his throw.  AJ Puk pitched a perfect  seventh.

Chris Flexen mounted the Mariners’ mound merry-go-round in the seventh, and Tyler Cyr replaced Puk in the top of the eighth. He had control problems, walking Jesse Winker, who pinch hit for Haggerty and Ty France on five. But, in between those free passes, the pitchers’ best friend came to his aid, he struck out Haniger to end his scoreless inning of work.

Domingo Acevedo set the Mariners down in order to gain his third save in six opportunities. Five, count ’em five, pitchers had combined to one hit the mighty M’s.

What new surprises are in store for us tomorrow, when at 6:40 the Athletics’ James Kaprielian (3-9, 4.70) will face off against the Mariners’ Robbie Ray (12-10, 3.72)?

Oakland A’s starter JP Sears gets the call on Tue Sep 20, 2022 at the Oakland Coliseum to open the first of a three game series against the Seattle Mariners. Here is Sears pitching against the New York Yankees on Fri Aug 26, 2022 (AP News file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s have 15 games left on the 2022 schedule. For Oakland, it has been a long and difficult year. The A’s will probably finish with their worst record since 1979 when they finished 54-108. The A’s are currently 53-94. They have lost seven of the last ten and have to play two teams that will probably make the playoffs.

The A’s last fifteen games include six with the Seattle Mariners, three with the New York Mets, and six with the Los Angeles Angels. They play the first six at home against the Mariners and Mets, then go on the road to Anaheim and Seattle. They will play the Angels in Oakland for the last three games.

Let’s take a look at the series with the Mariners. Seattle will be the third Wild Card team. They lead the Baltimore Orioles by four games in the race for that slot. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are in the first and second slots.

The Mariners will be looking to get some wins over the A’s. Seattle owns an 8-5 advantage over Oakland so far. The A’s would love to play spoiler. A’s manager Mark Kotsay will make sure his team will play hard in the series.

The players want to finish the season with a good run. It will not be easy, as Seattle has good starting pitching and an excellent bullpen. Seattle, however, is scuffling. The M’s are 4-6 in their last ten games. Teams want to finish the season with momentum on their side. The Atlanta Braves got hot near the end of the 2021 season, and that momentum carried them to a World Series crown.

The pitching matchups for the three-game series will see the A’s have lefty J.P.Sears on the mound. Sears is 5-2, with a 3.90 ERA. Sears has had a few rough outings lately, but he wants to show the A’s that he will be in their plans for 2023.

Seattle will counter with righty Luis Castillo. The M’s traded for Castillo at the trade deadline. In his time with Seattle, he is 3-1 and has an ERA of 2.37. James Kaprielian goes for the A’s on Wednesday, and Seattle will send lefty Robby Ray out to pitch. On Thursday’s day game, Adrian Martinez will be on the hill for Oakland. George Kirby will handle the pitching chores for Seattle.

The Mariners have owned the A’s the last two seasons. They have a lineup with several players that can cause damage. The M’s rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez is a candidate for Rookie of the year. Rodriguez is hitting .279 with 27 home runs and 73 RBIs. Other power hitters in the M’s lineup include Mitch Haniger, Ty France, Jesse Winker, Carlos Santana, J.P. Crawford, and catcher Cal Raleigh.

The M’s have one lefty in their bullpen, Matthew Boyd. All the other relievers are right-handed. The A’s will see these players come out of the bullpen: Chris Flexen, Matt Brash, Andres Munoz, Diego Castillo, Erik Swanson, and Penn Murfee.

The Mariners cannot afford to lose. The A’s have nothing to lose. It should be a very interesting series.

Seattle Mariners’ Adam Frazier, right, steals second base against Oakland Athletics shortstop Nick Allen during the second inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 20, 2022 (AP News photo)

Seattle (66-55). 3. 7. 1

Oakland (44-77). 4. 8. 0. 10 innings

Saturday, August 20, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics always find a new way to surprise you. After publishing their starting lineup the team announced a change. Skye Bolt had injured his knee and had to be scratched.

This had a domino effect that included moving Chad Pinder from left to Bolt’s spot in right, shifting Kemp from second base to left, and inserting Jonah Bride as the second baseman This called for some juggling of the batting order, with third baseman Vimael Machín moving up from the seventh to the sixth spot and Bride filling the resultant void.

Before the game, the A’s announced the acquisition on waivers of right handed reliever Joel Payamps from the Kansas City Royals, replacing Oakland’s lone representative on this year’s AL All Star game, Paul. Blackburn, whom they placed on the 60 day IL.

If the team hoped to surprise its followers with a win, following last night’s 10-2 humiliation at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, they sure as hell succeeded. They pulled off a come from behind 4-3 victory. The baseball sure takes funny bounces. Just ask Mariner first baseman Ty France.

James Kaprielian, the A’s starting pitcher, began the day’s work with a record of 3-7, 4.33. He hadn’t gone deeper than six innings in any of his 16 starts this year. In one of those six frame stints, he beat the Mariners, holding them to one run, which was earned, in a 3-1 Oakland win at T Mobile Park on July 1.

That was his only time he had faced the M’s this season. He threw five innings against them today, leaving the game with the A’s trailing 2-0. Both of those runs were earned; they came on three hits and four walks. Kaprielian struck out three, and 47 of his 78 offerings were counted as strikes. He got a no decision, ending his day with a record of 3-7, 4.29.

Kaprielian’s opposite number was Logan Gilbert, making his second appearance of 2022 against the A’s. He had beaten them the day before Kaprielian’s win in Seattle, but hadn’t exceeded the limits of mediocrity with four earned runs yielded on eight hits over six frames.

Gilbert’s season record entering today’s contest was 10-5, 3.51, too, was on the mound for five innings and allowed two earned runs. But he also surrendered an unearned one for a total of three. He yielded six hits without granting a free pass, and he notched four Ks. He threw 66 pitches; 20 were balls. Like Kaprielian, he wasn’t involved in the decision, leaving him 10-5 but raising his ERA a smidgen to 3.52 for the year.

Seattle avoided The Curse of the Leadoff Double when Julio Rodríguez led off with a towering triple that bounced off the wall in right center field. Ty Franco promptly drove him in with a sacrifice fly to left center.

The M’s hit another three bagger in their half of the fourth. With a man down, Eugenio Suárez lifted a high fly to deep right field, in front of the Budweiser Terrace. Pinder jumped for the ball at the fence, and the ball landed on the dirt to his right.

It had been clear all game that the fielders were having trouble with the bright sunlight, and this meteorological phenomenon cost the A’s a run when Adam Frazier sent Kent sprawling on the left field warning track dirt to catch his sacrifice fly. It now was 2-0 in favor of the visitors.

Murphy’s leadoff line drive in the bottom of that inning provided a scary moment. It banged off Gilbert’s leg, visibly shaking him up and, incidentally, went for a single. But Seattle’s starter shook off the pain and made a neat play on Voght’s comebacker that followed Murphy’s hit, converting it into a 1-5-3 double play, with third sacker Suárez taking the throw at second.

It was in the fifth that Oakland erupted. Machín led off with a grounder to second that Frazier couldn’t handle. Bride followed that with a single to left center. Allen then hit a fly to right that Jake Lamb lost in the sun.

That went as a single, unlike Frazier’s misplay, which was scored as an error. (Both scoring decisions were correct). Stevenson advanced the two runners with a sacrifice bunt to third, and Kemp’s single to center brought both of them home with the A’s second and third runs. They now were in front of Seattle, 3-2.

AJ Puk pitched a scoreless top of the sixth in relief of Kaprielian. Matthew Festa did as much for the M’s in the bottom of the frame.

Domingo Acevedo took over mound duties for the green and gold in the top of the seventh and, with a little help from a pitcher’s best friend, emerged unscathed.

Erik Swanson replaced Festa following “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and also kept Oakland off the board.

Zach Jackson had to face the heart of the Mariners’ order when he entered the fray in the visitors’ eighth. Cleanup hitter Mitch Haniger touched him for a one out single to center, and one out later, Oakland nemesis Eugenio Suárez drove him in with a game tying single to left.

Paul Sewald was on the hump to face the Athletics in their half of the frame. He walked Sheldon Neuse, pinch hitting for Vogt, and then retired Pinder on a pop up that second sacker caught while dashing into right field.

Machín took a called third strike before Bride sent Dylan Moore, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh, almost to the right field warning track to haul in his high and deep fly for the final out.

It fell to Dany Jiménez to attempt to preserve the tie through the top of the ninth. Raleigh went down swinging for the first out. Carlos Santana pinch hit for Moore. He lined a scorcher up the middle, but Allen, who was perfectly positioned in the shift, fielded the ball cleanly and shot it to first for the second out.

His diving backhand attempt to catch Rodrígiuez’s drive into left, however, wasn’t successful, and Ty France, batting .288 with 14 homers came to the plate with the potential leading run on first. Rodríguez swiped second, and potential tie breaker now was in scoring position. With the count a 2-1, France hit a hard line drive to left that Kemp corralled to end the threat.

Now it was the turn of Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz to pitch a pressure packed episode. He began by whiffing Allen on a 3-2 slider. Stevenson, who had gone two for two, also went down swinging. It now was Muñoz versus Kemp, mano a mano. Muñoz won, striking out the veteran on three pitches.

We went into extra innings with Jiménez. still on the hill for Oakland and France on second as the zombie runner. Winker lined out to first, bringing up Haniger. He hit a grounder to short. France unwisely tried to advance. Allen threw him out at third. The shift once more proved to be the right move for the A’s when Crawford hit a sharp line drive to Bride, stationed in shallow center field.

Diego Castillo came on for the bottom of the tenth and immediately granted an intentional walk to Brown with Kemp on second as the mandated runner. Murphy walked to load the bases. Then Neuse sent a little nubber to the right of the pitcher’s mound. France couldn’t handle it. The play went into the books as a fielder’s choice, and the Athletics had pulled off an improbable victory.

The rubber game of this series will start tomorrow at 1:07. Oakland’s JP Sears (4-0, 1.95) will go against Seattle’s Luis Castillo (1-0, 2.18). Who knows what surprises are in store for us?