Tag: St.Louis Cardinals

Giants Pecked and Beaten by the Cardinals 6-1 in the Final game of the season; lose series (2-1), finish two games below  .500 in contest #162

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San Francisco Giants starter Hayden Birdsong was dealing early in the game keeping the St Louis Cardinals off balance striking out 11 hitters. Things fell apart in the top of the fifth when Birdsong had left and gave up three unearned runs. (AP News photo)

By Michael Roberson

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The San Francisco Giants (80-82) finished the 2024 season on a sour note, by losing the last game 6-1 and series (2-1) of the year to the St. Louis Cardinals (83-79) in front of 32, 248 disappointed fans, Sunday Afternoon by the Bay at Oracle Park.

On a Noon start time and a pleasant 62 degrees in the City. the Giants were aiming to win the series and achieve the safe .500 status. However, the 6-1 loss put their record to two games below .500. at 80-82, instead of 81-81.

“Regardless of what our record was, it would have been disappointing, based on what we felt the team was all about at the beginning of the season.” Stated Giants Manager Bob Melvin about not reaching .500. “Either if it were 81-81 or 80-82 it still was not going to feel much better, regardless.”

The game itself got off to a slow start, as no one scored until the third inning. Unfortunately that happened to be the road team from the Midwest. The Cardinals went up 1-0 off the bat of second baseman Brendan Donovan, as he belted a solo home run to right field, near McCovey Cove.

Two innings later, Donovan was at it again as a run producer. This at bat he hit an RBI single, scoring shortstop Thomas Saggese. The Cardinals temporarily led 2-0. Then left fielder Alec Burleson duplicated the previous feat with his own RBI single. He plated Pedro Peges, putting them up 3-0 after 5 innings of play.

In the top of the sixth stanza, St. Louis decided to double their score, while still simultaneously shutting out the Giants. Third baseman Jose Fermin continued the RBI single barrage by knocking in outfielder Michael Siani, expanding the lead to four.

Burleson repeated his last plate appearance with–you guessed it–another RBI single; however, this line drive scored two runners (Jordan Walker & Fermin). The Birds from the LOU were up a whopping 6-0 at that juncture of the game.

The Giants did show enough pride to prevent an embarrassing shutout at the Oracle Park Finale in the bottom of the seventh inning, second baseman Brett Wisely was on the other end of the ever so common RBI single. His hit brought in infielder Casey Schmitt, eliminating the Goose Egg the Giants were facing as season’s end.

After seven innings, San Francisco was finally on the scoreboard and had two innings to mount a dramatic final comeback. That did not come to fruition, so the Giants had to settle for a 6-1 loss, and the distinction of finishing the season below the magic .550 line. This imaginary line delineates a winning or non-winning season in all sports.

That’s a WRAP for the 2024 MLB season for the two Bay Area teams. In the 2025 season, the Giants will have the nine county region all to themselves, as the the now former cross-Bay neighboring Oakland Athletics, will be relocating to the State Capital city of Sacramento, with the final destination being in Las Vegas in 2028 with their former roommate, the Raiders.

Giants fight through seesaw battle to beat Cardinals 6-5 for 80th win

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San Francisco Giants Tyler Fitzgerald scores from first base as St Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages waits for the throw in the bottom of the eighth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Sep 28, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

St. Louis Cardinals 5 (82-79)

San Francisco Giants 6 (80-81)

Win: Ryan Walker (10-4)

Loss: Matthew Liberatore (3-4)

Save: Spencer Bivens (1)

Time: 2:51

Attendance: 36,328

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants fought through a seesaw battle, and eventually got lucky to take the lead on almost the exact same error that won them Game 3 of 2014 NLCS, as they beat the Cardinals 6-5 to win their 80th game Saturday.

With the Cardinals’ 6-3 win in the series opener Friday night, the Giants have failed to finish over .500 for the seventh time in the last eight years. However, they still had a chance to finish at .500 for the second time in the last three years if they could win their final two games.

Blake Snell was originally set to go Saturday, and he said he would have gone had the Giants been playing a team in playoff contention, but Tristan Beck took the ball instead. The reason Snell was scratched Saturday is unknown, and this writer can only speculate, but considering that Scott Boras is his agent, that could explain a lot of things.

The Cardinals got on the board in the top of the first inning off Beck. With runners at second and third and nobody out, longtime Giant killer Paul Goldschmidt knocked in Masyn Winn with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Andrew Pallante took the ball for the Cards, and the Giants’ offense woke back up and was ready to go. Mark Canha doubled to center, and he got to third on an infield hit by Heliot Ramos. LaMonte Wade then lined a base-hit the other way to left, and Canha scored to tie the game. Jerar Encarnacion followed that up with an infield hit, and Ramos scored to give the Giants the lead.

Beck settled down after his rough tough of the first, and he ended up going four innings.

The Giants scored two more runs off Pallante in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to 4-1. With one out, Patrick Bailey singled in 2024 Willie Mac Award winner Matt Chapman, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Bailey then stole second, and he scored on a double by Casey Schmitt.

The Cardinals got their second run of the day in the top of the fifth against Sean Hjelle. It could have been more, as the Cards had runners at the corners with one out, but Hjelle was able to retire the final two to limit the damage to just one run.

Pallante ended his day with a one, two, three bottom of the fifth, and Camilo Doval pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the sixth. Matt Chapman led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off Chris Roycroft, and he scored two batters later on a sac fly by Patrick Bailey to make it 5-2.

Left-handed flamethrower Erik Miller has had a solid rookie season for the Giants. Miller made his major league debut all the way back on Opening Day on March 28 in San Diego with a one, two, three inning, and has been a reliable arm in the Giants’ bullpen all season.

However, Miller was unable to record a single out in the top of the seventh. Miller faced four batters, and the Cardinals had two runs in with the tying run standing at second.

Tyler Rogers then came in, and the Cardinals tied the game on a base-hit by Jordan Walker. The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out, but Rogers being the gamer that he is, retired the next two to keep the game tied.

Kyle Leahy, who finished the bottom of the sixth for Roycroft, threw a one, two, three inning in the bottom of the seventh. Bob Melvin then brought in his closer, Ryan Walker, for the top of the eighth. Walker ran into trouble, but he got out of it and kept the game tied going to the bottom of the eighth.

Left-hander Matthew Liberatore was then summoned for St. Louis in the bottom of the eighth. Liberatore set down the first two hitters he faced, but Tyler Fitzgerald reached on a ground ball back to the mound.

Brett Wisely then came up, and Melvin put on the bunt, which would set almost an exact replica of the end to Game 3 of the 2014 NLCS in motion. The Giants won that game when Gregor Blanco laid down a bunt in between the mound and home plate, a little bit on the third base side, that Cardinals’ left-hander Randy Choate winged down the right field line.

Wisely bunted the ball to almost the exact same place, though a bit closer to home plate, and like Choate, Liberatore threw it down the right field line. Fitzgerald scored all the way from first, and the Giants retook the lead. The only difference on the throws was that Choate’s throw was to the left of the first-baseman, and Liberatore’s throw was to the right of the first-baseman.

If you’re wondering why Melvin brought in Walker for the eighth, it was so that Spencer Bivens, who has had a solid rookie season following a long journey to the big leagues, could get his first major league save. Thomas Saggese lined a base-hit to center to lead off the top of the ninth, but Bivens settled down to retire the side in order, and indeed he got his first big league save.

Ryan Walker got the win in this bullpen version of musical chairs; Matthew Liberatore got the loss; and as you just saw, Spencer Bivens got his first-career major league save.

The Giants indeed got their 80th win, as they improve to 80-81. In 2022, the Giants finished right at .500 for the first time in their 140th year of existence. With a win Sunday, the Giants can finish at .500 for the second time in the last three years.

It’s kinda like how the Giants won the World Series for the first time in 56 years in 2010, and won it all again two years later in 2012, though nowhere near as cool or special. This would be more meh, but still interesting.

Hayden Birdsong (5-5, 4.66 ERA) will look to finish his up-and-down rookie season on a high note, as he will take the ball for the Giants in the season finale Sunday. Rookie Michael McGreevy (2-0, 2.40 ERA) will make the start for the Cardinals.

As has been the custom since 2015, every game in Baseball on the final day of the regular season starts at the same time, though anywhere between five and 20 minutes past the top of the hour. First pitch for the Giants and Red Birds Sunday will be at 12:05 p.m PDT.

Cards 4 runs in fifth is all the damage needed to defeat Giants 6-3 at Oracle Park

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San Francisco Giants starter Landen Roupp (65) is removed in the top of the four inning by Giants manager Bob Melvin (left) against the St Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri Sep 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

St. Louis (82-78). 101 400 000. 6. 13. 0

San Francisco (79-81). 030 030 000. 3. 9. 1

Time: 2:46

Attendance: 35,101

September 27, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–Although neither team in this Friday night’s game between the playoff eliminated St. Louis Cardinals and your equally frustrated San Francisco Giants had any much to win or lose, one of them, of necessity, had to win or lose. It turned out to be the Giants had to lose, by a score of 6-3.

Before the action began, the Giants announced that they had reinstated right handed reliever Randy Rodríguez from the paternity list. He entered the game in the top of the sixth as San Francisco’s third pitcher and threw a perfect inning. Fellow starboard hurler Mason Black was optioned to the River Cats to make room for him.

The Giants also presented Matt Chapman with the Willie Mac Award for being the team’s most inspirational player. He was the 44th recipient of the award named for number 44, Willie McCovey. It would be hard to find significance in that coincidence. Maybe if he’d have made a splash hit into the cove, it would have been less of a stretch.

Although little was at stake for the teams as a whole, the contest presented a chance for several players to position themselves for 2025. One of those was the Giants’ starting pitcher, Landen Loupp, who needed to show he was sturdy enough and less reliant on his curveball, to join next year’s rotation.

He wasn’t successful. In his 3-2/3 innings on the mound he allowed all six St. Louis runs. All were earned, but one of them was posthumous, coming on a triple to left center by Lars Nootbarr off Taylor Rogers that drove in Nolan Arenado, who had smacked a double into the left field corner.

Those six runs were the only ones St. Louis could muster all night. After Rodríguez finished his work, Camilo Doval and Austin Warren continued to stymie the Cardinals, although the latter allowed them three hits in his two innings of work.

How did some of the other Giants whose proximate future was in doubt stack up against the Cards tonight? Tyler Fitzgerald, playing shortstop, let a ground ball bounce off his chest for an error in the top of the fifth.

Two innings later, there was no shock and awe fanfare for Camilo Doval when he followed Rodríguez to the hill, but he retired all three Cardinals he faced before the crowd sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Héliot Ramos, who has been suffering from the Jinx of the Rookie All-Star. at least as far as his hitting is concerned, went 0-5 with two strikeouts, lowering his batting average to .270..

Miles Mikolas, a 37 year old veteran control specialist of six MLB seasons and three more with the Yomiuri Giants started for the Cardinals and earned his tenth win of the season, against 11 losses. He surrendered three runs, all earned, on seven hits, one a 430 foot home run to center with Michael Conforto on base that put the Giants up 2-1 in the second.

Mike Yastrzemski’s two bagger to right with Brett Wisley, who had singled, increased their lead to 3-1. It would be the last time a Giant batter crossed the plate. In at least one way, Mikolas’s performance was typical of him. His earned run average remained unchanged at 5.35.

The visitors from the Gateway City sent four more pitchers to the mound, each for an inning. They were, in order, John King, Andrew Kitteridge, Matthew Liberatore, and Ryan Helsely. The last two were the only ones to allow a hit (one apiece). Kitteridge and Liberatore each struck out one batter, and Helsely, two.

The Giants now are 2-10 at Oracle Park in September.

Home plate umpire Jacob Metz threw St. Louis DH Matt Carpenter out of the game in the top of the ninth for arguing a ball-strike call. The Cards had another setback when they appealed Michael Siani’s having been called out on Ramos’s throw to Chapman while trying to advance on Brandon Donovan’s hit to left. Replay confirmed the call.

The Giants will try to even this three game series Saturday, the 28th at 1:05. They’ll throw Blake Snell (5-3, 3.12) against the Cardinals, who will entrust their fate to André Pallante (8-8, 3.71).

The Stars hold on for a 6-5 win over the Sea Lions at Rickwood Field on Thursday

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St Louis Cardinals Brendan Donovan rounds the bases after his two-run homer off the San Francisco Giants’ Keaton Winn in the first inning at Rickwood Field in Birmingham during the Negro League Tribute game on Thursday, June 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

BIRMINGHAM—Flashy, throwback television tricks and a whole bunch of baseball history highlighted the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night at Rickwood Field.

Yeah, that part. The Stars beat the Sea Lions. Amongst the extremely-crowded group of nine NL contenders who have losing records, St. Louis got the leg up. The Giants dropped their third straight, and second consecutive game by an identical 6-5 score. The Giants have a rare Friday evening off before finishing their disjointed three-game set with the Cardinals in St. Louis.

“You look around and kind of can feel what transpired here a long time ago and the players that played on the field,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It’d be nice to win the game, but it was a pretty cool experience.”

The Stars built a 3-0 lead with Nolan Gorman’s run scoring sacrifice fly in the first inning and Brendan Donovan’s two-run home run in the second. Both surges were off starter Keaton Winn, who was lifted in the third inning, the conclusion of an outing in which he allowed five runs on five hits with only two strikeouts.

Randy Rodriguez relieved Winn and his wild pitch while facing Matt Carpenter gave the Cardinals an early 5-3 lead.

The Giants were able to get even briefly when Heliot Ramos connected for a three-run shot off Andre Pallante in the third. Pallante steadied and picked up the win. He allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out five.

Matt Chapman was 1 for 5, and Michael Conforto 0 for 4 in the middle of the Sea Lions lineup constructed by Melvin. Along with Winn’s poor outing, Rodriguez’ wild pitch and the inability to grab a lead at any point, the Giants weren’t all-around good enough to break their losing ways at 114-year old Rickwood. The TV lights, the tiny crowd, and even the fear that there could be a security breach didn’t change the visitor’s poor habits. Wearing snazzy home throwback uniforms didn’t help either.

LaMonte Wade and Cardinal legend Willie McGee weren’t honorary captains, but the pair did escort 99-year old Negro League legend Bill Greason on to the field before the game. Wade’s attempt to play in the game was aborted. His rehab from a hamstring injury continues. Melvin wanted Wade to at least have an opportunity to pinch hit in the game but that fell short when the recovery process didn’t progress quickly enough.

The Giants conclude their road trip over the weekend before a quick turnaround at Oracle Park for games against the Cubs on Monday through Wednesday.

Rickwood Field is on the air….

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The San Francisco Sea Lions’ Heliot Ramos watches the flight of his three-run homer against the St. Louis Stars in the third inning at Rickwood Field in Birmingham the Negro Leagues and Willie Mays Tribute on Thursday June 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

BIRMINGHAM–Nobody got a day off. And nobody got to see all the different bounces in the outfield area either. Well, third base coach Matt Williams did try to show his outfielders what to expect by peppering batting practice balls in off the showy, TV friendly fences. He did that.

Rickwood Field is television. And television is Rickwood Field.

And baseball, for one day, is only slightly more important than spectacle. Forget for a minute that the Giants as well as the Cardinals are fighting for their lives in a crowded, flailing group of National League underachievers.

“Today it feels like it’s a little bit more than baseball,” said Masyn Winn of the Cardinals.

The Giants needed a win, but the Giants organization needed to grieve. Willie Mays has died. It makes for a tough balance, even with a dream-like setting, a national audience, and more in-house historians than you can shake a stick at. Juneteenth, summer solstice and locals beaming with pride round out a very dense mix.

The baseball history in Birmingham begins with Rickwood Field in 1910. The players came soon after. They were black ballplayers with skill and showmanship. Black Birmingham adored those players. Blacks had to envelop those players because white Birmingham wanted to harm them and get them to disappear.

Reggie Jackson came the year after Bull Connor left. He hated the attitudes in the Magic City. He admitted with brutal honesty on FOX’s pre-game show that his temper could have gotten him strung up.

“The nigger can’t stay here. The nigger can’t eat here,” an angry Jackson said of the typical reception he would receive. At the end of his rant about the blatant racism in 1964, Jackson had hto be consoled by Alex Rodriguez on air.

An hour later, Jackson was good again, talking to FOX’s John Smoltz and Joe Davis, and remembering Mays.

“I was honored that he wanted to know who I was.”

Yes, Birmingham is uplifting. It’s also frustrating. And at night, Birmingham is dangerous. Young people here don’t necessarily fall into savory occupations and lifestyles. This keeps things on the edge in 2024.

“Our people are apathetic,” Jeff Drew said.

No Fortune 500 businesses, the prevalence of drugs, a below average school district, and the percentage of single parent homes are all problems for Birmingham.

Businessman Jeff Drew is trying to maintain hope for the future of his town. His family maintained a storefront office in the downtown district beginning in 1950. They had as many as six employees there. But Drew went years without interviewing any black men for a job. And when a particularly callous couple used colorful language around Drew he was disturbed. Soon after, he closed his office and began working from home.

Drew already had issues. Martin Luther King picked Birmingham to give his movement its biggest showdown. Essentially, Martin against Bull Connor and his boys. There were water hoses, embarrassment and pain. Black people suffered and they learned. Drew learned. Martin learned too when he was thrown in jail for “parading without a permit.”

What Drew learned was Martin’s non-peaceful, peaceful ways. When Martin told the Kennedy brothers, “We think you support Bull Connor and segregation,” a line was drawn across the South. Martin would then hang up the phone on the Kennedys. President Kennedy changed his tune after Martin hung up, and provided his full support to the movement.

“He couldn’t beat us,” Drew said of JFK. “He had to join us.”

Great baseball teams did the same in Birmingham. They joined, and people, fans, joined too to support these teams and players. Willie Mays joined the Barons as a teenager. He wasn’t the only name on the marquee. Mays was just getting started, but he already knew who he was.

Tuesday’s minor league game and Thursday’s big league game between the St. Louis Stars and the San Francisco Sea Lions were reminders. They also brought hope that MLB will return soon. Maybe next year.

“I think there should be a three-game series with an off-day,” said Sea Lion Mike Yastrzemski, a visionary for future events at Rickwood Field.

And third base coach Williams just wanted his Sea Lions outfielders prepared. Hitting baseballs pre-game off the colorful, outfield panels displayed the bounces, the nuances.

“I was prepared,” Yastrzemski said.

Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O: A’s barnstorming idea might not sit well with State of Nevada; Dodgers Yamamoto dealing against Yankees; plus more news

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches to the New York Yankees in the bottom of the first inning at Yankee Stadium in New York on Fri Jun 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Oakland A’s plans to play at least eight games away from the Tropicana ballpark starting in 2028 for the sake of branding the game in neutral site games. The move could impact the team’s financial projections plus the A’s need to sell out every home game to keep up with costs of the construction and payments of the park. Their departure for eight to ten games will impact their ability to meet their budget schedule.

#2 Anytime the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers face each other something will leap out of the headlines and Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is no exception he pitched seven innings, two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts to get by the Yankees 2-1 at Yankee Stadium on Friday.

#3 The Yankees are relieved about learning that Juan Soto had forearm inflammation as opposed to structural damage damage that could have put him out for the season.

#4 Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager who suffered a hamstring injury and was not in Friday’s line up against the San Francisco Giants. Seager could miss multiple games and because of tightness in his left hamstring. Seager came out of Wednesday’s game reaching for his hamstring after hitting an RBI single. He did appear on the field before Friday’s game but had to leave and sit out the game.

#5 It’s been a huge month for the Negro Leagues Museum and Museum president Bob Kendrick saying the Negro Leagues is trending and he looks forward to hosting the Rickwood Field game on June 20th in Birmingham a game that is a tribute to the Negro Leagues that will feature the St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.

Join Charlie O for the Headlines podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

#1

Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O: Giants wins of 3 straight on road from 4 run deficits a first since 1932 Cardinals; Jackie Robinson statue replacement almost ready; plus more news

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The San Francisco Giants Patrick Bailey watches the flight of his grand slam against the New York Mets in the top of the eighth inning at Citi Park in New York on Fri May 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O:

#1 It hasn’t been done since the 1932 St Louis Cardinals did it coming back from a four run deficit on the road in three consecutive games but the 2024 San Francisco Giants pulled it off with three straight come back wins on the road they did it against in Pittsburgh Wed 22 and Thu 23, then in New York Fri 24.

#2 A replacement for the sawed off Jackie Robinson statue in Wichita Kansas at McAdams Park. The statue of the first black Major League Player in the history of the game was sawed off from the ankles for it’s bronze value. Wichita Firefighters found the statue in a trash can about 7 miles from the park. One of the suspects has pleaded guilty to the vandalism and it as later found out the purpose was not for racist hate but for the bronze scrap metal. The good news is a replacement statue is nearly finished from the Art Castings Studio in Loveland Colorado.

#3 Charlie, in his first game back in San Diego former San Diego Padre Juan Soto returned as a New York Yankee after being traded in the off season. Soto belted his 14th home run of the season off Padres pitcher Yu Darvish a 423 blast over the center right field fence. The Yankees added two more home runs from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the 8-0 victory for New York to open the series.

#4 Charlie simply put is the Dodgers Shohei Ohtani too good of a hitter to ever pitch again. So far this season Ohtani has 69 hits, 13 home runs, and hitting .340. Shohei is on the shelf for the rest of the season from pitching due to off season surgery. There is the discussion that the two way act might have seen better days and Ohtani will stick to just being the DH.

#5 Charlie, the Oakland Coliseum home of the Oakland A’s at least till the end of this season has been sold to the group African American Sports and Entertainment at 50% of the property whose goal is to build retail, housing, host pro soccer, and get an NFL expansion team. Meanwhile the A’s who own the other half of the Coliseum proper are reportedly willing to talk to AASEG about selling their half as the A’s will be leaving for Sacramento and later Las Vegas.

Join Charlie O for Headlines Sports podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Look who’s back: Ruiz returns belts homer A’s beat Cardinals 6-3

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Oakland A’s Esteury Ruiz slugged a two run homer in the bottom of the third inning against the St Louis Cardinals to help pace Oakland to a three run 6-3 victory over the Cardinals at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Apr 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The A’s beat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 on getaway day. The A’s sent Paul Blackburn to the hill Wednesday afternoon. Blackburn had not allowed a run in 19 and 1/3rd innings to start the season. Blackburn added three more innings to his record, holding the Cardinals scoreless for the first three innings.

The Cardinals plated three runs in the fourth to snap his streak. The A’s rallied in the fifth to regain the lead. The A’s bullpen did not allow a hit or a walk after taking over for Blackburn with two out in the sixth. The A’s won the game 6-3.

The A’s drew first blood in the bottom of the third. The Cardinals’ starter, lefty Steven Matz, walked rookie Max Schuemann to start the inning. A’s centerfielder, Esteury Ruiz, lined a shot over the left field wall to give the A’s an early 2-0 lead. It was Ruiz’s second big fly of the young season.

The Cardinal offense ignited in the top of the fourth, setting the stage for an exciting comeback. Lars Nootbaar led the charge with a single, followed by a single from Nolan Arenado, sending Nootbar to third. Cardinals’ DH Willson Contreras doubled, driving in Nootbar, and Arenado stopped at third. Blackburn struck out Nolan Gorman for the first out. Catcher Ivan Herrera added a single to drive in Arenado and Contreras to the excitement. The Cardinals surged ahead, leading 3-2 midway through the third inning.

The A’s demonstrated their resilience and strategic play in the bottom of the fifth, reclaiming the lead. Singles by Tyler Nevin and Zack Gelof set the stage, putting men on first and second with no outs. A’s catcher Shea Langeliers showcased his strategic thinking with a ground-rule double to drive in Nevin. Gelof would have scored, but the ball got stuck under the wall in center field.

Gelof had to go back to third. Abraham Toro’s ground out allowed Gelof to score, and Langeliers scored on a sacrifice fly, solidifying the A’s lead at 5-3 in favor of Oakland.

The A’s added another run in the bottom of the sixth. With two out, Ruiz reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. A’s right fielder Tyler Nevin singled to drive in Ruiz with the sixth run of the game. The A’s led 6-3 after six.

The A’s bullpen did not allow a hit after starter Paul Blackburn exited in the sixth inning. The A’s win 6-3.

“The job our bullpen did again today [is] a reflection of the season so far,” said Manager Mark Kotsay. “Overall, [it] was a really solid day for our pitching staff.”

Game notes: With the win, the A’s are 8-11. The A’s are 7-4 after a 1-7 start. The Cardinals fall to 9-10.

Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. He is now 2-0 for the year. His line was five and 2/3rds innings, allowing three runs and six hits. Cardinals starter Steven Matz was the losing pitcher. His record is 1-1.

“It was kinda one of those days where [I] didn’t really have anything, I felt like,” said Blackburn. “[However], I kept the boys in it, the offense came through, and we were able to get a win. Anytime you get a win, it’s a good outing.”

“Overall, he managed the game as Paul does,” said Kotsay. “Ultimately, he gave us a chance to win, like he’s done all season. He grinded it in that last inning to get through it.”

The Line score for Oakland was six runs, ten hits, and no errors. The Line score for St. Louis was three runs, six hits, and no errors.

Oakland’s hitting stars were Ruiz, Nevin, and Langeliers. Ruiz blasted a 412-foot home run in the third to give the A’s a 2-0 lead. Nevin had a double and two singles. Langeliers’ double helped the A’s score three runs in the fifth.

The A’s used four relievers: T.J. McFarland, Austin Adams, Lucas Erceg, and Mason Miller. Miller earned his fourth save of the season.

The time of the game was two hours and 30 minutes, and 9,551 fans watched the Green and Gold pick up their eighth win.

“We’re playing great baseball right now,” said Blackburn. “The energy has been I think at [an] all-time high right now for us. It’s not just coming from guys [playing every day]. It’s coming guys that are on the bench…..it’s coming from everyone. It’s definitely a group effort right now, and it shows. The come-from-behind wins that we’ve had this year, it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. [When] we do get down, it’s not like we don’t have a chance. We’re fighting out every at-bat, we’ve thrown the ball well, we[‘ve] hit the ball well and [we’ve played] good defense. We’re playing some really good baseball right now.” 

“I haven’t been here too long, but [there] doesn’t seem to be any egos,” said Nevin. 

The A’s are off on Thursday as they are on their way to play the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland for three games starting Friday night. Joe Boyle (1-2, 5.68) will pitch for Oakland. Triston, McKemzie (1-2, 6.23) will be on the mound for Cleveland. The game will start at 4:10 pm.

A’s bow to Cardinals 3-2 in front of season’s smallest crowd 3,296; Whitey Herzog honored before game

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Oakland A’s second baseman Zack Gelof left tags out St Louis Cardinals runner Brendan Donavon (right) trying to steal second in the top of the seventh at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Apr 16, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

St. Louis (8-9). 001 002 000. 3. 4. 1

Athletics (7-11). 010 010 000. 2. 5. 1

Time: 2:29

Attendance: 3,296

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Forget about the 5.17 earned run average that JP Sears brought with him to tonight’s bout with the St. Louis Cardinals and instead focus on how brilliantly he had performed in his previous start, 6-1/3 one hit innings against the Rangers in Arlington five day ago.

Tuesday night the 28 year old lefty with a little over a year’s seniority in the show wasn’t quite as sharp, but he was damned good. He went five innings and allowed one run, earned, on two hits and three walks, while striking out a couple of Cards. He threw 82 pitches, 51 for strikes, and left with a no decision and a record of 1-1, 4.35.

The Cards sent starboarder Lance Lynn, a veteran of over a dozen years of the major league wars, against the A’s promising southpaw. The journeyman brought an 0-0, 2.63 mark to the game with him and was in vintage form tonight.

He lasted seven full frames and held the Athletics to two runs, only one of which was earned. He yielded five hits, one of which left the park, and a walk., He also notched a K. 65 of his 101 pitches were counted as strikes. He reduced his ERA to 2.18 and finally broke into the win column; he’s now 1-0. Athletic speed combined with sloppy Redbird fielding put the A’s ahead, 1-0, in the second.

Tyler Nevin beat out a single to short and advanced to second on Maysn Winn’s errant throw. He scored on Kyle McCann’s single to center. All the outs in that frame came on fly balls to the warning track. Two of them were corralled at the wall.

The Cards evened things up in their next turn at the plate. Sears walked Masyn Winn, who promptly stole second. Jordan Walker lived up to his name. Both of them advanced 90 feet on Michael Siani’s sacrifice to third. Brendan Donovan’s grounder to third brought Winn home with the tying tally.

McCann unknotted the score with a lead off four bagger on a full count four seamer, a 385 foot blast over the auxiliary scoreboard in right center field, in the bottom of the fourth, his first major league home run.

Dany Jiménez relieved Sears for the visitors’ sixth, and his turn on the mound was a disaster, mostly his fault but aggravated by a throw to nowhere by JJ Bleday. Arenado led off with a clean single to left. Jiménez walked Iván Herrera and Lars Nootbaar.

Winn then lifted a sacrifice fly to Bleday in center. That brought Arenado home while the two others held their base. That is, until Bleday heaved a slovenly throw to a spot in the infield that was nowhere near any possible cutoff man.

So now there were two runners in scoring position, and Walker’s fly to right became a sacrifice fly that brought Herrera across the plate with the leading run. TJ McFarland took over and retired Michael Siani out, so when Mitch Spence, who was the A’s’ last pitcher of the game, strolled to the mound to open the top of the seventh, the A’s were looking up at a 3-2 St. Louis lead.

Jolo Romero retired the hosts 1,2,3 in the eighth, and Ryan Helsley came through with an equally clean bottom of the ninth to earn his seventh save and second in two days.

This afternoon the Oakland City Council, Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency, and the Geologic Abatement Board met to discuss the Ballers’ proposal to make $1.6 million of improvements to Raimondi Park. As of this writing, I haven’t heard the outcome of that meeting.

Former St Louis Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog passed away on Tuesday at 92 years old and was honored on the Oakland Coliseum scoreboard before the game. Herzog managed the Cardinals from 1980-1990.

The A’s and the Cardinals will meet again tomorrow, Wednesday, afternoon at 12:37. Paul Blackburn will take his immaculate record of 1-0, 0.00 against Steven Matz’s 1-0, 1.80).

Cards Gray haunts A’s in 3-1 win at Coliseum on Monday night

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Oakland A’s rightfielder Lawrence Butler (4) makes a dive to catch the baseball in the top of the fourth inning St Louis Cardinals Jordan Walker’s fly ball at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Apr 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Monday, April 15, 2024

St. Louis (8-9). 100 002 000. 3. 8. 0

Athletics (7-10). 000 000 010. 1. 5. 0

Time: 2:19

Attendance: 5,508

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–A cursory glance at the roster of Monday night’s visitors, the St. Louis Cardinals, reminds you of the historical connection between baseball in the Gateway City and the game in city and town by the Golden Gate. The Cardinals got good pitching and two runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Oakland A’s 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Sonny Gray, starting for the Redbirds, threw his first big league pitch on July 10, 2013, for the Oakland Athletics, who had chosen him in the first round of the 2011 draft. Exactly one month later, he chalked up his first win in the show. 2014 was his first full season.

That year he logged 183 strikeouts, was named American League pitcher of the month in April and again in July, and threw a complete game shutout of the Rangers to clinch a playoff spot for the A’s. In the season’s opener the next year, Gray picked up where he had left off, holding the Rangers scoreless with only one hit and a walk over eight innings, in which he threw an economical 98 pitches.

A year and a half laer, at the 2017 trade deadline, Oakland sent him to the Bronx and some international bonus slot cash considerations. In return, the Athletics received Dustin Foster, James Kaprielian, and Jorge Mateo.

It was the first trading deadline deal that Oakland consummated under the presidency of David Kaval. Gray’s entry in the Cardinals’ media guide occupies five pages. Another Bay Area favorite in that publication, Brandon Crawford gets six pages. It almost seems as if the two metropolitan regions had a sister cities exchange program. Think of Tony LaRussa. Think of Dave Duncan. Think of Mark McGuire.

Ross Strippling, the Athletics’ starter, has been a travelling man. The A’s are the fourth major league team he’s pitched for in his 7+ years in the show. He took the mound with a 1-3, 5.48 record against St. Louis, and was 0-3, 5.50 in his three previous starts this season.

Monday night, he lasted 5-2/3 innings, in which he gave up three runs, all of which were earned, although one of them was posthumous, allowing half a dozen hits and a pair of free passes. He struck out three, and 67 of his 101 offerings went into the book as strikes . He was the losing pitcher and now has a slate of 0-4, 5.32).

Shortly before play began, the A’s announced that JD Davis had been placed on the 10 day injured list and that the speedy Esteury Ruíz, whose recent demotion had been strongly criticized, had been recalled from their triple A Las Vegas affiliate. His brief appearance in the eighth was your A’s highlight for tonight.

St. Louis and the team from a city to be determined later began the evening with identical records of 7-9. This was unremarkable for the Cards, since they had finished 2023 at 71-90, it signified that the A’s were on a roll. For one thing, after last year’s horrendous 50-112 anything would be an improvement.

For another, the A’s had won six of their previous eight encounters. That’s impressive, even if the last two of those victories came over the lowly Washington Nationals. The green and gold’s performance on the field probably will afford their fans plenty of aggravation this year, but the 2024 version of the squad is no joke. Tonight, they were outplayed, or better, outpitched, but they performed respectably.

A base on balls to Paul Goldschidt, Lars Nootbaar’s sacrifice to the mound, and a single to left by Nolan Arenado got the Cardinals off to a jump start in the first. Things stayed that way until the top of the sixth. Nootbaar defied The Curse of the Leadoff Double by scoring on a one out double to left by Wilson Contreras. A ground out and walk later, Michael Kelly relieved Stripling, and Jordan Walker singled to put the Cards up, 3-0.

Gray turned in another shutout inning in the sixth and then retired for the evening, giving way to Andrew Kittridge. The veteran had needed only 72 pitches (50 for strikes) to complete those six innings, in which the total damage the A’s inflicted on him came to four hits. He earned the win and now can boast of a perfect 2-0, 0.00 record until his next start.

Kittredge pitched a perfect seventh and was succeeded by Jojo Romero for the eighth. The newly recalled Ruíz pinch hit for Lawrence Butler, took a slider for a strike and then took an 85mph change of pace 405 feet deep, into the left centerfield seats for his first dinger of the year. The Athletics now trailed, 3-1. The game was in reach.

Austin Adams kept the Cards off the board in the top of the ninth in spite of a single, a sacrifice, and a passed ball that put a runner on third with two down.

The Redbirds’ Ryan Helsley earned his sixth save of the year with a 1,2,3 bottom of the ninth. That’s 75% of his team’s wins that the righty reliever has saved.

Monday was Jackie Robinson Day, and everyone wore number 42. This is supposed to be a tribute to a courageous and complex man, to whom all of us owe a great debt. But the idea that Monday—or any other day—we’re all Jackie Robinsons diminishes his stature, It also makes it hard to tell who is doing what to whom on the field, but it’s good for the corporate image of the baseball cartel.

Tuesday, at 6:40 Lance Lynn (0-0, 2.63) will toe the rubber against the Athletics, who will send JP Sears (1-1.5.17)