Tag: Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners’ Mitch Haniger (17) does the forearm bash with Jake Bauers, center, after Haniger hit a two-run home run to score Bauers in the fifth inning on Sat Jul 24, 2021 at T Mobile in Seattle (AP News photo)

A’s Drop Another Game to the Mariners 5-4

By Barbara Mason

After splitting the first two games of the series the Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners met Saturday night in Game Three at T-Mobile Park.

Oakland had a very good game until the seventh inning of yesterday’s game. A horrible relief appearance by Jake Diekman throwing back to back wild pitches resulting in the winning run was the low light for Oakland. In the game there were 5 wild pitches thrown and three of them belonged to Diekman. The A’s had fallen behind in this game 3-0 but tied up the game. It was the seventh inning that spelled the difference.

In Game Three the A’s had their ace Chris Bassitt on the mound and Seattle called upon Logan Gilbert. Seattle took the early lead in the first inning when Mitch Haniger scored.

Oakland started stringing together hits in the third inning. Andrus, Kemp, Lowry and Laureano all had singles in the inning taking a 3-1 lead. There was a pitching change for Seattle in the latter part of the inning with JT Chargois taking over and getting the Mariners out of the inning. In the bottom of the third Mitch Haniger unleashed a 402 feet home run cutting the A’s lead to 3-2.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Seattle’s Mitch Haniger struck again hitting his second home run of the game giving Seattle the lead 4-3. In the seventh inning Aramis Garcis would tie up the game with a 336ft home run.

The score remained 4-4 into the bottom of the ninth inning. Lou Trivino loaded the bases in the inning. He walked two and allowed one hit and again a wild pitch allowed the winning run to score the walk off for the Mariners.

It was more trouble for the bullpen. Another loss for Oakland when relief pitching let the team down.

Tomorrow the A’s play their fourth and final game of this series attempting to tie up the series. They will need improved play from the bullpen to pull this off.

First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 1:10 PT. We will see Cole Irvin on the mound for Oakland and for Seattle Marco Gonzales will get the call.

Seattle Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, right, gets a forearm bash by Luis Torrens (22) as Raleigh comes home to score after hitting a two run homer against the Oakland A’s in the second inning at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Fri Jul 23, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Loses Game Two To Seatle 4-3

By Barbara Mason

Friday evening the Oakland A’s (56-43) and the Seattle Mariners (52-46) clashed in Game Two of the series. Thursday’s game saw a slow start for both teams offensively but Oakland’s Sean Manaea had a spectacular game on the mound with a record 13 strikeouts in seven innings. This was probably his best outing this season which is saying a lot. He has been very good this season.

Ramon Laureano drove in two runs in the 4-1 win against the Mariners. For awhile it looked as if the A’s would win the game without a single home run but in the seventh inning Sean Murphy hit one out of the park. Mark Canha had a couple of hits after the long layoff due to injury. He got back on task in record time.

Friday night the teams were back at it with Oakland looking for another win. On the mound for Oakland was Frankie Montas and for Seattle Yusei Kikuchi.

It was a rough second inning for Montas. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh homered with a runner on base to take an early 2-0 lead. The very next at bat was Luis Torrens who sent one out of the park and just like that the Mariners were cruising with a 3-0 lead. The next three batters struck out swinging to end a very costly inning for the A’s as the M’s made it stand up for a 4-3 win at T Mobile Field in Seattle.

Oakland has been very good on the road and this visit to Seattle was no exception. In the third inning Matt Chapman homered and not to be outdone Matt Olson homered in the fourth inning. Mark Canha continued his offensive excellence hitting a double in the fifth inning to score Wilson and the A’s had tied up this game 3-3.

Oakland had a great opportunity in the seventh inning when they loaded the bases but Elvis Andrus struck out to put an end to taking the lead in this game for the moment. The A’s are leaving the bases loaded and coming up empty far to often this season.

Diekman came in to relieve Montas in the seventh inning. It was an absolute disaster. Two stolen bases and two wild pitches by Diekman resulted in a run for Seattle by Dylan Moore who easily scored on one of those pitches. Seattle had taken back the lead 4-3. Diekman threw a third wild pitch in the inning. The A’s finally got out of the seventh but had some work to do if they wanted to win this game. The Astros had won earlier and Oakland needed this win to keep pace with Houston.

Seattle really put on the pressure in the eighth inning with runners on first and second and only one out. Petit had come in to relieve Diekman. Another wild pitch and a tough night for Sean Murphy. There were five wild pitches in this game for the A’s. Oakland got out of the eighth inning unscathed and had one more shot in the ninth inning.

An uneventful ninth inning for the A’s resulted in a Seattle win 4-3. Murphy flied out, Chapman walked, Brown struck out and Kemp also struck out. Game over.

So the loaded bases in the seventh inning came back to bite Oakland big time and coupled with the horrific seventh inning this game was one to forget.

Oakland will try to put this behind them and get back on track in Game Three. First pitch will again be at 7:10.

Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea shown here throwing against the Houston Astros in the first inning at Minute Maid Field on Wed Jul 7, 2021will be the starting pitcher of record tonight against the Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s are en route to Seattle to start a four-game series against the Mariners starting Thursday night. The A’s, 55-42 for the season and 6-4 in their last ten games, are in second place in the AL West, trailing the Houston Astros by three and 1/2 games. The Mariners are in third place with a record of 41-44 and are three games behind the A’s in the race for the second AL Wild Card.

The A’s have played the M’s six times so far this year. The teams have each won three games. The teams last met on June 4th, and the A’s won the contest 9-5 that day.

The A’s will send lefty Sean Manaea to the hill Thursday night. Manaea is 6-6 with an ERA of 3.28. Righty Chris Flexon, 9-3 ERA 3.35, will go for Seattle. Frankie Montas, 8-8 era 4.33, goes for Oakland on Friday. Seattle will counter with lefty Yusei Kikuchi.

His record is 6-5, ERA 3.92. The A’s will have Chris Bassitt going on Saturday against the M’s Logan Gilbert. Bassitt is 10-3 with a 3.31 ERA. Gilbert is 4-2 and has a 3.5 ERA. On Sunday, lefty Cole Irvin goes for Oakland. Irvin is 7-8 with a 3.42 ERA. Lefty Marco Gonzalez goes for Seattle. Gonzalez is 1-5 for the year. The M’s are hoping Gonzalez regains his form and can handle the A’s.

The A’s have been struggling at the plate this year. As a team, they are hitting .233. They have a team on-base percentage of .311 and an OPS of .716. The M’s team batting average is .219. Their on-base percentage is. 295. They have a team OPS of .712.

The A’s swept the last two games played against the LA Angels. The A’s welcomed back leadoff hitter, Mark Canha, from the 10-day IL. A’s Designated Hitter Mitch Moreland also returned to action from a stint on the IL. Moreland has not been as productive as the A’s had hoped. Rumors are swirling that the As’ are looking to trade for the 41-year -old slugger Nelson Cruz, currently with the Minnesota Twins. .

The Mariners, despite their lowly team batting average, have been winning. They have a solid starting rotation. Their closer is former A’s starter, Kendall Graveman. Graveman is 2-0 and has a sparkling 0.90 ERA. He has recorded nine saves so far. Rafael Montero and Kenyon Middleton have 11 saves between them, closing out games for Seattle.

The M’s Mitch Haniger will be in the lineup for the series. Haniger has been productive against Oakland in the years he has been with Seattle. Haniger is hitting .265 with 22 homers and 58 RBIs. Other players to keep an eye on are first baseman Ty France, third baseman Kyle Seager, shortstop J.P.Crawford, and catcher Tom Murphy.

The A’s have played 97 games so far this year. They had a rough stretch where they went 9-15 and fell out of first place in the West. They need to have everyone contribute if they hope to gain ground on the Astros. The starting rotation has been good all year.

Lou Trivino has found a home as the A’s closer. Yusmeiro Petit has been solid all year. A’s first baseman Matt Olson leads the team with 25 home runs. The A’s need Moreland and other players to step up to keep opposing pitchers from pitching around Olson.

The A’s do not want to make the playoffs as a Wild Card. They would be the road team if the playoffs were to start today. They have not fared well in the past in that position. The trade deadline is nine days away. Will they make a deal for Nelson Cruz? Will they trade for Joey Gallo? Will they make a deal to strengthen the bullpen? The A’s have made deals in the past at the trade deadline. I suspect they will be active before the deadline passes on July 30th.

Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea in the process of throwing a four hit complete game shutout against the Seattle Mariners is seen here pitching in the fifth inning on Wed Jun 2, 2021 at T Mobile Center in Seattle (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, Sean Manaea has had some tough outings his last few times out but that all seemed to change on Wednesday night when he threw a complete game four hit shutout.

#2 Manaea struck out eight hitters and kept the Mariners off balance all night.

#3 Previous to Tuesday night’s game which the A’s won the A’s had lost four of five games to the Mariners and they knew they had to come back and they have showed some improvement over these last two games.

#4 Like Tuesday night when the A’s rallied for six runs in the seventh inning on Wednesday night the A’s rallied in the top of the third inning getting five runs and getting solid pitching from Manaea the A’s capped off the three game series taking two out of three from the Mariners in Seattle.

#5 The A’s open up a three game series against the Colorado Rockies starting on Friday night the A’s pitcher Frankie Montas gets the start (5-5 ERA 4.45) will be matched up against the Rockies Jon Gray (4-5 ERA 3.71)

#6 Lastly the Oakland A’s minor league system says that the food served to the players have been an embarrassment and it was widely reported on Wednesday that the A’s have served the players either a slice of cheese with a slice of tomato between two slices of white bread or a tortilla with a little chicken and bell pepper. A’s president Dave Kaval apologized for the fare that was photographed and made the rounds on social media and said we have to do better and put the blame on the caterer saying they will redouble their efforts at serving better options.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer and podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Thursday

Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea throws to the Seattle Mariners line up in the fifth inning at T Mobile Park in Seattle on Wed Jun 2, 2021 in Seattle (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (33-25) met the Seattle Mariners (28-29) at the T-Mobile Park in Seattle Wednesday night. It was the inaugural Lou Gehrig Day. MLB had the day to recognize efforts to combat ALS. The A’s sent lefty Sean Manaea to the hill, hoping to get the win. The Mariners’ starter, Chris Flexen, an East Bay kid from Newark, Ca entered the game with a 5-2. Manaea wound up pitching a gem going the distance for a 6-0 victory over the Mariners.

The A’s had not given Manaea a lot of run support this year. The A’s scored three runs in Manaea’s last three starts. A’s manager Bob Melvin wanted Sean to cut down on his pitch count so that he could go deep into the game.

Manaea came through with one of his best performances ever as an Oakland Athletic. Manaea pitched a complete game. He allowed four hits and no runs. The Mariners loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Manaea got the M’s shortstop, J.P.Crawford to end the inning by hitting into a ground out.

Chris Flexen retired the first six A’s hitters. Things went south for him in the top of the third as the A’s put five runs on the board. Matt Chapman walked to start the rally. Flexen retired Tony Kemp for the first out. The A’s shortstop, Elvis Andrus, lined a double down the left-field line, sending Chapman to third.

Mark Canha followed with a single to drive in Chapman and Andrus. A’s third-base coach, Mark Kotsay, threw up the stop sign, but Andrus ran through it and scored on the play. Flexen retired Jed Lowrie for the second out. Matt Olson singled and scored ahead of Mitch Moreland, who blasted a monster 444-foot blast to centerfield. It was Moreland’s fifth of the year.

The A’s added a run in the top of the ninth to win 6-0.

Game Notes and Stats- With the win, the A’s are 33-25 for the year. They remain 1/2 game ahead of the Houston Astros. Houston beat Boston for the third night in a row. The Mariners are 28-29.

Manaea improved to 4-2 for the season. His line was nine innings pitched, four hits, and no runs. He threw 111 pitches, walking two and striking out eight. The A’s line was six runs, ten hits, and one error.
Chris Flexen took the loss, and his record is now 5-3.

Matt Olson had three hits. Matt Chapman, still struggling at the plate, had a couple of hits. Hopefully, Matt will get his bat going again.

Olson made an unusual double play in the bottom of the eighth. With Jack Mayfield on first, Jake Fraley was thrown out 4-3. Olson noticed Mayfield round second and went a bit too far. Olson threw a strike to Matt Chapman that nailed Mayfield as he scrambled back to the base.

A’s manager Bob Melvin recorded his 800th win since taking over the helm in 2011.
The A’s have a day off Thursday. They went 17 days without a break. They meet the Colorado Rockies in Denver for three games starting Friday night. The game will start at 5:40 pm.

Oakland A’s Matt Olson makes contact for a two run RBI single in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at T Mobile Field in Seattle on Tue Jun 1, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s downed the Seattle Mariners 12-6 Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. The way the game went for the first six innings seemed to be a replay of Monday afternoon’s game. Seattle won that game 6-5 in ten innings.

The A’s drew first blood when Matt Olson connected on his 14th big fly of the season to put the A’s ahead 1-0 in the third. Seattle rocked A’s starter Chris Bassitt for three runs in the third and one in the fourth. In the bottom of the third, with two out, M’s shortstop, J.P. Crawford singled. Doubles by Mitch Haniger, Kyle Seager, and Ty France put the three runs on the board for Seattle. In the fourth, left fielder Taylor Trammell took Bassitt deep to give the M’s the lead 4-1 after four.

The A’s inched closer as they scored their second run of the night in the fifth. With one out, Elvis Andrus walked. Second baseman Tony Kemp doubled to drive in Andrus. The A’s trailed 4-2 after five complete.

The A’s put the game away as they scored six runs in the seventh, two in the eight, and two in the night. In the seventh, the A’s sent ten men to the plate. They put together three singles, two doubles, two walks, and a sacrifice fly to put the runs across the plate.

Tony Kemp blasted a two-run dinger in the eighth to make it 10-6. The Mariners catcher, Tom Murphy, homered off lefty reliever Jake Diekman to close within four 10-6. The A’s responded with two more in the ninth to put the game out of reach. Oakland wins 12-6.

Game notes and stats- With the win, the A’s are 32-25 for the year. They remain 1/2 game ahead of the Houston Astros, who beat the Boston Red Sox for the second night in a row.

The Mariners are now 28-28.
Bob Melvin passed former A’s manager Tony LaRussa for most wins as an Oakland A’s skipper. Melvin recorded his 799th win. The Most wins by any A’s manager is Connie Mack, who managed the club for 50 years in Philadelphia.

Tony Kemp was the A’s hitting star Tuesday night. Kemp hit his second homer of the year and tied a career-high with five RBIs. Matt Olson hit his 14th of the season and had three RBIs. Sean Murphy knocked in two with a double in the seventh. Mariners’ first baseman, Ty France, had two doubles and a single. Their catcher, Joe Murphy, homered off Diekman to drive in two.

A’s starter, Chris Bassitt, worked four innings. He was charged with four runs and six hits. He walked one and struck out six. Lefty Jesus Luzardo, coming off the 10-day IL, pitched well in his three innings of work. He allowed two hits and no runs.

He struck out six and allowed one walk. Luzardo received credit for the win. The Mariners’ starter, Marco Gonzales, out since April 27th, went four innings and left the game after reaching his limit of fifty pitches. He gave up one run and two hits.

The A’s line was 12 runs, 13 hits, and no errors. Seattle’s line was six runs, 11 hits, and no errors.

The A’s and the M’s will play the rubber match Wednesday night at T-Mobile park in Seattle. The game will start at 7:10 pm. Seam Manaea will go for Oakland, and the A’s will face the M’s Chris Flexen.