Tag: St.Louis Cardinals

Adams hits a big home run; Cardinals beat Giants 5-3

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Photo credit: @Cardinals

By Jeremy Kahn

Matt Adams hit a big home run for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2014 National League Championship Series, and he came up with a big hit in the opener of their three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

Adams, who hit a home run off of Hunter Strickland in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 2 of the 2014 NLCS hit a two-run, pinch-hit double off of Tony Watson in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Cardinals defeated the Giants 5-3 at Busch Stadium.

Harrison Bader got the eighth inning rally started with a two-out walk off of Mark Melancon, then Yairo Munoz singled before Melancon was replaced by Watson, who gave up the two-run double to Adams.

Reliever John Brebbia struck out the side in the top of the eighth inning to pick up his fifth win of the season for the Cards, while Carlos Martinez, who was celebrating his 27th birthday notched his fourth save in as many opportunities.

Marcell Ozuna drove in the first run of the game for the Cardinals, as he singled to drive in Matt Carpenter in the bottom of the first inning.

Chris Shaw tied up the game in the top of the third inning, as he drew a walk against Cards starter John Gant to score Evan Longoria.

It was a big night for Longoria, who went 3-for-5 on the evening for the Giants, who have lost 14 out of their 18 games, including a season-long 11-game losing streak.

Gant did not get of the third inning, as he went just 2.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits, walking three and striking out three and threw 67 pitches in those 2.2 innings.

Kolten Wong gave the Cards the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he singled off of Madison Bumgarner to score Bader.

Wong came up with his second hit and second run batted in in as many innings, as he singled off of Bumgarner in the bottom of the sixth inning to score Jedd Gyorko.

Bumgarner pitched six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out five.

The Giants tied up the game in the top of the seventh inning, as Gregor Blanco singled to score Austin Slater and then Longoria tied up the game with a ground ball to first base that scored Alen Hanson.

NOTES: Brandon Belt is done for the season, as he underwent surgery to clean up his torn meniscus and cartilage damage in his right knee. This was the second surgery of the season for Belt, who underwent an emergency appendectomy on June 2 after he left the game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Belt should be ready when the team meets again in Scottsdale, Ariz. in February at their Spring Training Complex.

This season, Belt hit .253 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs for the Giants.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Cards continue their series with game two Saturday at 10:05 am PDT.

Dereck Rodriguez goes for his seventh win of the season, as he takes the mound against Adam Wainwright, who looks for his third win of the season for the Cards. Wainwright is 6-7 against the Giants in his career, while Rodriguez will face the Cards for the second time in his career. Rodriguez faced the Cards on July 6, where he did not fare in the decision of a 3-2 Giants victory.

Giants to face Cardinals; could play spoiler in St. Louis

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants are fresh off of taking two of three games from the San Diego Padres, but they have a new challenge on their hands as they head into the weekend.

They will now travel to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals, a series that starts Friday night at Busch Stadium.

Unlike the Giants, the Cards definitely have something to play for at this time of the year.

St. Louis currently holds an 84-69 record and currently hold the second wild card spot in the National League. If the playoffs started today, the Cards would travel to Milwaukee for a one-game elimination against the Brewers, who they trail by three games.

The National League Central crown is not completely out of the question, but chances become dimmer as the games go by. The division-leading Cubs are 5 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals and only 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Brewers.

However, the Cards’ playoff spot is far from guaranteed. In fact, they only sit a game and a half in front of the Colorado Rockies for the last playoff spot.

For the Cards, the mission to stay in the postseason race continues Friday night against the Giants. Madison Bumgarner (6-6, 3.14 ERA) will take the ball for the Giants on Friday against Cards righty John Gant (7-6, 3.53 ERA).

Gant has won four of his last six decisions, but he got shelled in his last outing. He surrendered six runs on six hits, including a pair of damaging home runs, in only 4 1/3 innings as the Cards were routed by the Dodgers, 17-4.

Giants rookie Dereck Rodriguez (6-4, 2.30 ERA) will go Saturday afternoon against Cards veteran righty Adam Wainwright (2-3, 3.72 ERA).

Giants’ Andrew Suarez (7-11, 4.24 ERA) will hope to start turning things around on Sunday as he takes the mound against Cards righty Miles Mikolas (16-4, 3.01 ERA), who has won five of his last six decisions, including each of his last three.

Samardzija looks good, despite Giants’ hard-fought 3-2 loss to Cardinals

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Photo credit: @mlbtraderumors

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — With the exception of one bad inning, it was a sufficient return for Jeff Samardzija to the San Francisco Giants’ starting rotation before game three versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

Carlos Martinez helped out his own cause, as he doubled in the top of the third inning, as the Cardinals defeated the Giants 3-2 before a crowd of 39,606 at AT&T Park on Saturday afternoon.

Martinez’s double scored Kolten Wong, who singled to lead-off the inning, went to second on a Francisco Pena ground out and then scored on the Martinez double.

With the loss, the Giants have lost five out of their last six following the sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks from June 29 to July 1.

During this six game stretch, the Giants are hitting .167, as they are 31-for-186 at the plate against the Colorado Rockies and the Cardinals.

The Cardinals added two runs in the top of the fourth inning, as Dexter Fowler hit a sacrifice fly that scored Marcell Ozuna. After the Ozuna singled with one out in the inning, Paul DeJong then singled Ozuna to third base.

Wong picked up his second hit in as many at-bats, and then Francisco Pena drove in DeJong with a sharp single of his own.

Through the first three games of the series, Wong has multi-hit games in all three games and is batting .500 (6-for-12) with a double, triple and two runs batted in.

Brandon Belt drove in the Giants’ lone run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he doubled off the right field wall to score Gorkys Hernandez, who led off the inning with a single.

Belt got back in on the act in the bottom of the eighth inning, as he singled off of Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks, who replaced Martinez in the bottom of the frame.

Alen Hanson singled with one out, went to second on a Hicks wild pitch and then scored on Belt’s third hit in four at-bats.

The 41 runs batted in by Belt lead the team, as he drove in both runs in the one-run loss.

Martinez went seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, while walking no one and striking out three, as he improved to 6-4 on the season.

Samardzija ended up going five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking just one and striking out three, as he fell to 1-5 on the season.

This was the first game all season that the Giants’ top three starters of Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Samardzija were active at the same time. Bumgarner missed 60 games, Cueto missed 70 games and Samardzija missed 53 games.

NOTES: Bumgarner will take the mound on Sunday, as the Giants look to salvage the finale and he attempts to raise his record to 2-3 on the season. The Cardinals will look to take the series, as they will send Jack Flaherty to the mound, as he looks to improve to 4-4 on the season.

As expected, Joe Panik was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain, and the contract of Chase d’Arnaud was purchased from Triple-A Sacramento.

To make room for d’Arnaud on the 40-man roster, Hunter Strickland was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

With Samardzija coming off the disabled list, Chris Stratton was optioned to Sacramento. Prior to being optioned to Sacramento, Stratton was 8-6 on the season with a 4.93 earned run average.

Since the 2017 season, the Giants have lost six out of their last eight games against the Cardinals, and have been outscored 48-23 during that stretch.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Cardinals conclude their four-game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT.

McCutchen comes through in the clutch; Giants edge Cardinals 3-2

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Photo credit: @MLBONFOX

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Two of the veterans came through when the San Francisco Giants needed it the most, in the late innings versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hunter Pence came through in the clutch with a pinch-hit to lead-off the bottom of the seventh inning, and after a Buster Posey intentional walk, Andrew McCutchen singled to right to score Pence to give the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals before a crowd of 37,996 at AT&T Park on Friday night.

Alen Hanson sent Pence to second with a sacrifice bunt, and then eventual losing pitcher John Brebbla intentionally walked Posey and McCutchen singled to score Pence from second.

The Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead off of Dereck Rodriguez in the top of the second inning, as Kolten Wong double in Paul DeJong. The inning could have been worse for the Giants, but the smart thinking of Brandon Crawford put a stop to that.

Jedd Gyorko hit a triple to right-center, but Rodriguez got DeJong to ground to Crawford, who home to Buster Posey, and who tagged Gyorko out.

The Giants tied up the game in the bottom of the second inning without the benefit of a hit, as both Brandon Crawford and Pablo Sandoval each walked. Joe Panik then lined out to right field that sent Crawford to third base, and with Gorkys Hernandez at the plate, Jon Gant unfurled a wild pitch that allowed Crawford to score the tying run.

Panik’s single snapped a 0-for-16 streak with that single in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Sandoval gave the Giants in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he launched a Gant pitch and put it into the left field bleachers for his seventh home run of the season.

The Cardinals tied up the game in the top of the seventh inning, as after Rodriguez retired the first two batters of the inning, he allowed a single to DeJong and then Wong tripled to right field to tie up the game.

That would be the last pitch that Rodriguez would throw, as Bruce Bochy replaced the rookie with Reyes Moronta, who promptly struck out Bader to end the Cardinals’ threat.

Rodriguez went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out one, but he did not fare in the decision.

Over his last three starts, Rodriguez has an earned run average of 1.35, as he has given up just three earned runs in 20 innings.

Gant went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out five for the Cardinals.

Moronta faced just one batter, as he struck out Bader to end the seventh inning and picked up his fifth win of the season.

Brebbla pitched one inning, allowing one run on three hits, walking one and striking out one, as his record fell to 1-2 on the season.

With his scoreless inning in the top of the eighth, Tony Watson became just the third Giants reliever in the San Francisco era to throw 19 or more scoreless at home in a single season.

Watson joins Gary Lavelle, who threw 21 scoreless innings in 1979, and Greg Minton, who threw 27 scoreless innings in 1980.

NOTES: Jeff Samardzija will make his return to the starting rotation on Saturday afternoon, and it will be his ninth start of the season. The Cardinals will send Carlos Martinez to the mound, as he will look for his sixth win of the season.

Panik was forced to leave the game with a strained left groin after he came up limping on a double by a Gorkys Hernandez in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The second baseman will undergo an MRI on Saturday, and it could result in Panik returning to the disabled list for the second time this season.

This is the second of 34 consecutive games for the Giants in the Pacific Time zone. The next game outside of the time zone will take place on August 17, when the Giants open a three-game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.

Outfielder Heliot Ramos (World) and Right-Handed Pitcher Shaun Anderson (United States) will represent the Giants in the Futures Game at Nationals Park on July 15 in Washington, D.C.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Cardinals face off again Saturday afternoon at 1:05 pm PDT.

Giants’ Johnny Cueto gets rude awakening from Cardinals, who won 11-2 in a laugher

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – Johnny Cueto had such a fantastic start to the 2018 season. The St. Louis Cardinals, however, made it look like it never happened.

Thursday marked starter Cueto’s return to the rotation after missing the previous two months with inflammation in his pitching elbow, and the Cardinals did not welcome him very kindly in a 11-2 drubbing of the Giants at AT&T Park on Thursday night.

It was clear from the outset that Cueto did not have his usual command, and the Cardinals capitalized. They loaded the bases off him in the first inning before they recorded an out. An RBI groundout later, Jedd Gyorko skied one the opposite way into the arcade in right field to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Although he got out of that inning with no further damage, the Cardinals weren’t done with him. That’s because in the second, Matt Carpenter drilled one into the stands in right-center – the deepest part of the ballpark – to extend the St. Louis lead to five.

“He got himself in trouble there, but after that, it just got better, and that’s encouraging,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “His stuff picked up, his command picked up.

“It got to a point where I thought he was comfortable out there, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” he added. “You have to be encouraged that he got better as he went. He should feel pretty good about this start. Sure, you’d like to take that first inning away, but that counts, too.”

Cueto lasted three more innings and ended up surrendering 10 hits and those five runs. It was a far cry from his performance earlier in the season, as he was 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA – the fourth-lowest ERA through five starts in Giants history – prior to going on the disabled list.

Ty Blach didn’t fare any better. He relieved Cueto in the sixth and was promptly hit with a four-spot. He recorded only two outs before being yanked in favor of Derek Holland, who was moved to the bullpen to make room for Cueto in the rotation.

Meanwhile, the Giants could not get anything going against Cardinals starter Luke Weaver at all. In fact, the Giants didn’t get a single baserunner on. The closest they came was with two out in the fifth inning, when Pablo Sandoval was initially issued a walk before the umpiring crew realized that it was still a full count.

The momentum was short-lived, as three pitches later, Weaver got Sandoval to chase a slider out of the strike zone to end the inning.

Gorkys Hernandez, who is making a serious case for being a National League All-Star, broke up Weaver’s no-hit bid in the sixth, when he legged out an infield single. Two batters later, Weaver made a rare mistake out over the plate, and Alen Hanson sent into the right-field arcade to give the Giants a little bit of life, 9-2.

Those would be the only two hits that the Giants would get from Weaver, who went eight innings and improved his record to 5-7 with a 4.92 ERA, in the best performance of his young career.

The Giants look to bounce back against the Cardinals on Friday night at 7:15 pm PDT.

Giants drop series finale to Cardinals 7-3

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner works against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Ana Kieu

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants lost 7-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the series finale at AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon.

Madison Bumgarner made his 14th start of the season after being scratched from his start on Thursday with flu-like symptoms.

The Giants broke through in the bottom of the third inning. Buster Posey hit a line-drive single to Joe Panik, who scored a run to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals hit back-to-back home runs to take their first lead of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Paul DeJong tied the ballgame 1-1 with a home run on a fly ball for his 21st of the season. Jose Martinez then smacked a home run on a fly ball to left center that gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

Bumgarner hit a solo home run for his third of the season, tying the game 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Cardinals poured in the runs in the sixth inning. Harrison Bader hit his second career home run and the Cardinals’ third of the game to put his team ahead 3-2. Martinez followed with an RBI double to make it a 4-2 game. Yadier Molina added another RBI double to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 5-2.

Bader expanded the Cardinals’ lead to 6-2 with a ground ball single that scored Alex Mejia in the top of the seventh inning. Shortly after, Bader scored on a ground rule double by Martinez to enlarge the Cardinals’ lead to 7-2.

Tim Federowicz hit his first home run as a Giant in the bottom of the eighth inning. As a result, San Francisco cut the Cardinals’ lead to 7-3.

The Giants lost to the Cardinals 7-3 in the series finale at home.

“I contribute a little bit more,” Giants center fielder Gorkys Hernandez said. “You have to finish hard. You have to prepare for next season.”

“This year is really tough,” Hernandez added. “Everyone wants to go to the playoffs.”

Notes
The Giants recalled infielder Orlando Calixte and outfielder Mac Williamson from triple-A Sacramento. San Francisco now has 31 active pitchers on their roster (16 pitchers, three catchers, six infielders and six outfielders).

Giants outfielder Austin Slater went 1-for-3 in his second rehab appearance with triple-A Sacramento last night, playing seven innings in left field. Slater has missed the last 50 games with a right groin strain.

Giants left handed pitcher Josh Osich turns 29 years old today.

Today’s attendance is 39,724.

Up Next
The Giants head to Coors Field to take on the Colorado Rockies for a three-game series that starts this Monday at 1:10 p.m. MST on NSBA, ATRM.

Giants Bullpen Collapses Again, Lose 3-2 Against St. Louis

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: A picture says a 1000 words in one game earlier this season San Francisco reliever Santiago Casilla was angry for being lifted but in this Saturday photo Santiago sympathizes with what his manager Bruce Bochy has to do and lifts Casilla from the game against the St Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO- Just as the team looked to have turned a corner on its second-half struggles, the Giants bullpen collapsed yet again to drop a tight game to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

St. Louis strung together two runs on two hits and a walk to steal a 3-2 lead from the Giants in the top of the ninth. And for a manager renowned for his ability to work his bullpen, a questionable decision at the game’s most crucial moment proved to be the Giants’ downfall.

Yet again, Bruce Bochy put his faith in former closer Santiago Casilla to close out a tight ballgame. And yet again, he was mistaken in doing so.

Clinging to a one-run lead, Casilla entered in the bottom of the ninth win a man on first. An ill-advised walk and a seeing-eye single later and Casilla had blown his ninth save attempt of the season.

After warming up Hunter Strickland, Bochy would elect to replace Casilla with Matt Reynolds, who would lose the lead on a sacrifice fly to his first batter of the night. San Francisco would threaten with two singles in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t complete the comeback attempt.

The collapse erased what what a magnificent pitching performance by starter Jeff Samardzija, who allowed just one run on seven hits across 6 2/3 innings. Perhaps even more damaging is the fact that both the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers won their games, hurting the team’s chances at a playoff birth.

After the game, Bochy talked about Samardzija’s dominant outing.

“He did a great job. He gave us all we needed and it’s a great start, a quality start,” said Bochy. “Leake, we couldn’t do a whole lot off of him but we found a way to get a couple runs, and we’re a couple out away from winning the ball game. That’s been part of our issue.”

After the game, Bochy said that his decision to pull Romo- who started the ninth inning- in favor of Casilla was an attempt to play the matchups based on history.

“We said if it got to Molina there, he’s had success off of Romo, and Casilla would be a better matchup,” said Bochy. “For some reason, Molina has seen the ball pretty good off of Sergio (Romo), and you go off history. That’s why the change was made there”

 

After suffering at the hands of yet another two-out-rally by the Giants last night, the Cardinals looked to flip the script on Samardzija, jumping out to an early lead when Brandon Moss parked an opposite field shot with two down in the first inning.

As they’ve done so often lately, the Giants’ bottom half of the order-anchored by the streaking Hunter Pence- kicked off the scoring for San Francisco on Saturday night. The Giants got on the board after a deep drive by Brandon Belt to the center field warning track would plate Pence, who singled before him.

The Giants threatened to put up another crooked number, but a spectacular diving play by Cardinals’ first baseman Matt Adams would end the inning by doubling up Eduardo Nunez at first.

San Francisco would look like the team of old in the bottom of the fifth frame, as third baseman Eduardo Nunez would use his speed to steal two straight bags off the Cardinals after leading off with a single. The pair of swipes would set up a sacrifice fly from Samardzija to plate the go-ahead run.

After issuing his fourth walk of the night with two outs in the seventh, Bochy would elect to use his bullpen to close the books on Samardzija’s impressive night. Lefty Will Smith would do just that, getting pinch hitter Jhonny Peralta to fly out to deep right field to end the threat.

Samardzija would walk away with an impressive line that saw him allow just one run on seven hits through a strong 6 2/3 innings.

But the Giants’ bullpen woes would rear their ugly head to erase his strong effort. After getting the leadoff batter, Sergio Romo would promptly give up a seeing-eye single to allow the tying run on board.

In a surprising move, Bochy would elect to trust the struggling Santiago Casilla in a tight spot. Like so many other times, this would prove to be an unwise decision by the skipper known for his bullpen management.

Casilla would start his night off with an ill-advised walk to his first batter, Yadier Molina, move the tying run into scoring position. Casilla’s night would be short, but costly, as Randal Grichuk would follow Yadier with a single past the outstretched glove of a diving Crawford to tie the game at 2-2.

Reliever Matt Reynolds would then retire his next two batters, but not before a sac-fly by Kolten Wong would give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.

San Francisco would threaten with a two-out rally after Eduardo Nunez and Denard Span would lace a pair of singles, but pinch hitter Connor Gillaspie would hit a routine pop-up on his first pitch to end the game.

 

 

 

 

Oakland A’s Sunday Game Wrap: A’s beat Cards 7-4 to win series 2-1 on the road

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

 

8-28-16by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics bats came alive on Sunday as they hit two home runs and three doubles to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4. The victory also gave the A’s the series win 2 games to one. To win a series from a potential playoff team on the road has to be very satisfying to an Oakland team that has struggled so much in the month of August.

The A’s offense was facing  left-hander Jamie Garcia who was seeking his 11th win of the season. The A’s served notice in the top of the first that they were not going to go down easy when Khris Davis hit a two-run home run (34) to right center field to give Oakland an early 2-0 lead.

The A’s never trailed in game as they scored seven runs on nine hits while leaving four runners on base. The A’s played error free baseball. The Cards scored four runs on eight hits and left three runners on base. St. Louis committed two errors in the contest.

The A’s are now 57-73 for the season and the Cardinals fall to 68-61 for the year.

In the Batter’s Box

Khris Davis continues to lead the way for the A’s by using his power to put runs up on the board. Davis hit his two-run home run with a 3-2 count, two out and Danny Valencia on at first. For Davis it was his 34th home run of the season and his 84th and 85th RBIs of the campaign.

Ryon Healy extended his major league leading hitting streak to 14 games as he went 2-for-3 on Sunday. Both of Healy’s hits were doubles off Garcia. He did score a run when he was driven home on Vogt’s home run in the third inning.

Speaking of Stephen Vogt, he had a 1-for-3 day by hitting his 11th home run of the year – a three-run shot and had a total of four RBIs in the game. Vogt has 40 RBIs for the season.

Danny Valencia was a real contributor on Sunday as he went 3-for-4 with the bat. He hit his 18th double, scored two runs and added an RBI. Valencia did all of that in seven innings as he was lifted in a double switch (inter-league game in a National League park).

Matt Carpenter was the man with bat for the Cardinals on Sunday. He had a 3-for-4 game that included a home run (17), two doubles (29), 3 runs scored and a RBI (58). Carpenter did all of that from the leadoff spot in the order.

On the Bump

Right-hander Andrew Triggs made his fifth start of the year for the A’s on Sunday and picked up his first win as a starter. He worked 6.0 innings giving up three runs (all earned) on four hits (one hit was the HR to Carpenter). Triggs struck out eight Cardinal batters and walked none. He threw 88 pitches (58 strikes) while facing 22 batters. Triggs should be very happy with his performance and the run support from his teammates.

Ryan Dull came on to relieve Triggs in the seventh inning. Dull gave up one run on two hits in his time on the hill. After allowing a single to Greg Garcia, Alberto Rosario hit a double to right field off Triggs. Eibner fielded the ball, threw it to Pinder -the cutoff man. Pinder decided to throw home. It was too late to put out Garcia who scored but catcher Stephen Vogt realized Rosario was heading for third. Vogt fired the ball to Healy who put the tag down and Rosario was the third out of the inning. For our Sabrmetrics readers, the play went 9-4-2-5. You will not see that scoring breakdown very often during the season.

Liam Hendriks worked an inning for the second game in a row. He allowed no runs on no hits while striking out one batter. It was his sixth hold of the year.

Ryan Madson came on in the bottom of the ninth because it was a save situation. The A’s closer did give up two hits in the inning but Madson kept things under control to close out the game and pick up his 27th save of the season.

Up Next

The A’s left St. Louis and traveled to Houston where they will begin a three-game series with the Astros on Monday night.

LHP Sean Manaea (5-8, 4.53) will be the starter for Oakland. Manaea’s last outing was a 7.0 inning performance versus the Cleveland Indians where he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out eight batters. He picked up his fifth win of the season in that game.

The Astros will counter with RHP Joe Musgrove (1-2, 5.20). Musgrove was called up from Triple-A Fresno on August 2nd. This will be his fifth start for Houston since being promoted. Musgrove has lost his last two starts. In his last start on Tuesday against Pittsburg, Musgrove lasted just 4.0 innings giving up five runs on eight hits. He was charged with the loss.

The A’s and Astros play a night game on Tuesday and wrap up the series with a day game on Wednesday.

The Cardinals left for Milwaukee where they will play a three-game set with the Brewers.

Oakland A’s Saturday Game Wrap: A’s win a close one in St. Louis 3-2

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Cards

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics ended up on the right side of a one-run game on Saturday night when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2. For a team that has been on the wrong end of so many close games this season, to win a one-run game on the road against a team that may well wind up in the playoffs has to be a confidence builder.

The game was decided in the top of the eighth inning. With Oakland (56-73) trailing 2-1 and one out, the A’s Khris Davis lined a single to center. Rookie Ryan Healy extended his major league leading hitting streak to 13 games when he hit a double to left field that moved Davis up to third.

The Cardinals (68-60) made a pitching change after Healy’s double sending reliever Matt Bowman to the showers and bringing in Seung Hwan Oh to pitch. Max Muncy hit a grounder to first baseman Brandon Moss who decided to throw home to try and throw out Davis who was attempting to score from third. Davis scored and Muncy was safe on a fielder’s choice while Healy moved up to third. It was one of those “hero or goat” decisions that did not go the way Moss wanted it to go.

Brett Eibner was the next A’s batter and he hit a fly ball to shallow center field. When the ball was caught, Healy was on the third base bag and he took off for home. The throw home bounced away from catcher Yadier Molina and Healy scored what would turn out to be the winning run of the game.

The series is tied at 1-1 with the rubber game of the match to be played on Sunday.

On the Bump

RHP Zach Neal made his fourth start of the year for the A’s on Saturday. He gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits in 6.0 innings of work. He struck out six hitters and walked none. He did give up a home run Randal Grichuk. Neal threw 91 pitches (61 strikes) while facing 24 Cardinal batters. Despite his strong outing, Neal did figure into the decision.

LHP reliever Daniel Coulombe took over for Oakland in the bottom of the seventh inning. Coulombe worked 1.1 innings allowing no runs, no hits and no walks to go with three strike outs. He was the pitcher of record when the A’s took the lead in the top of the eighth inning so Coulombe picked up his second win of season.

The A’s changed pitchers with one out in the top of the eighth inning and RHP Liam Hendriks entered the game. Hendriks faced two batters and struck both out to end the inning.

The bottom of the ninth was closer time. RHP Ryan Madson set the side down in order allowing no hits and no walks while striking out one. He recorded his 26th save of the year.

The big story of the game for St. Louis was the start by RHP Alex Reyes. Mike Leake was scheduled to pitch but has be diagnosed with shingles and may be on the sidelines for sometime.

Reyes – who had to deal with a 50-game suspension earlier this year – made his first start for the Cards. He pitched 4.2 innings giving up just one run (earned) on two hits while striking out four and walking four. Reyes was pulled in the top of the fifth inning primarily due to pitch count. He had thrown 89 pitches (51 strikes) and with two men on base St. Louis manager Mike Matheny decided it was time for a pitching change. Reyes did not figure into the final decision.

Right-hand reliever Matt Bowman (2-5) who was on the mound when Davis scored and was responsible for Healy because he gave up the hit to the A’s third baseman took the loss.

RHP Seung Hwan Oh who gave up the sacrifice fly to Eibner was charged with his third blown save of the season.

In the Batter’s Box

The A’s scored their three runs on just four hits. They also took advantage of the four walks that were issued to them.

The spotlight has to be on Ryon Healy extending his hitting streak to 13 games. His batting average now stands at .281 with 39 hits including eight doubles and six home runs in 139 at bats. Remember this is from a young man who played his first 36 games of the season at Double-A Midland in the Texas League.

Khris Davis had a timely hit in the top of the eighth inning and scored the tying run for the A’s. He picked up his 83rd RBI of the year when he walked in the top of the fifth inning and forced catcher Bruce Maxwell home to score the A’s first run of the game.

The A’s do not win the game if Brett Eibner does not do his job and put wood on the ball that would become the sacrifice fly – RBI in the eighth inning that would win the game for Oakland.

Cardinals leadoff man Greg Garcia did his best going 2-for-4 and scoring a run on Saturday night. Garcia hit his eighth double of year off Zach Neal.

Center fielder Randal Grichuk also had a big game for St. Louis. Grichuck hit his 18th home run of the season in the second inning off Neal. He went 2-for-3 in the game with a run scored and a RBI (47).

Up Next

The A’s and Cardinals close out the three-game series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 11:15 AM PDT. RHP Andrew Triggs (0-1, 4.38) will start for the A’s and will face the Cardinals LHP Jamie Garcia (10-9, 4.37) who is looking his 11th win of the season.

Oakland A’s Thursday day off report: The A’s meet the St.Louis Cardinals this weekend in St.Louis

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by Jerry Feitelberg

pinterest.com file photo: St Louis Cardinal manager Mike Matheny prepares his Red Birds for the Oakland A’s who come to Busch Stadium on Friday night

ST LOUIS–The Oakland A’s resume interleague play Friday evening as they meet the ever dangerous St.Louis Cardinals. The Cards, managed by Mike Matheny, are currently in second place in the NL Central Division. They trail the Chicago Cubs by thirteen and one-half games and with a record of 67-58. they find themselves just 1/2 game behind the San Francisco Giants in the race for the first Wild Card spot. They lead the Miami Marlin by one and one-half games for the second Wild Card.

The Cardinals, who always seem to be contenders for a playoff berth, have been hit hard by the injury bug. They have placed twelve players on the DL since July 1st. The list includes relievers, Trevor Rosenthal and Jordan Walden. Starting pitcher Michael Wacha is also on the list.  Aledmys Diaz, Matt Adams, and Matt Holliday are position players out with injury and not available. However, the Cards still have players that can make life miserable for the A’s this weekend. Matt Carpenter has been a solid performer for St. Louis for several years. He is hitting .284 and has an OBP of .400. His OPS is a  cool .933 . Other regulars are former Stanford product, outfielder Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, former Athletic, Brandon Moss, Yadier Molina, Jhonny Peralta and Gregg Garcia.

The pitching matchups this weekend will feature A’s lefty Ross Detwiler (1-2) vs. Luke Weaver (0-1). On Saturday, Zach Neal (2-3) will pitch for Oakland and the A’s will face Mike Leake(9-9). On Sunday, Andrew Triggs (0-1) will pitch and lefty Jaime Garcia (10-9) will pitch for St. Louis. Triggs, by the way, pitched very well last week against the Cleveland Indians and lost a heartbreaker 1-0.

It should be an interesting series this weekend. The Cardinals do not have a good home record. they are 29-34 and it appears that Busch Stadium hasn’t been to their advantage this year. The A’s would love to play spoilers. The A’s manager Bob Melvin will be using his young players. Ryon Healy, Jake Smolinski, Chad Pinder will all see significant playing time this weekend. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are playing for a playoff berth and can not afford to take the A’s lightly. The A’s took two out of three from the Indians and would love to do the same in St.Louis. Let the fun begin.