Ten-game roadie through three of the toughest venues the American League has to offer, seven wins, at least one home run hit in every game, a signature moment in Chad Pinder’s eighth inning, grand slam on Saturday, an aggressive approach to every at-bat that brought definition to the Oakland A’s offense, and one, significant injury that will be of concern going forward.
With all that happening and more, starter Daniel Mengden could have struggled to carve out his own niche of notoriety, but his pitching performance Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre was too good for that.
Mengden went seven innings, allowing two hits as the A’s romped, capping a rare, four-game road sweep with a 9-2 spanking of the Blue Jays.
“We went right after it the first couple times through and then started pitching backwards,” Mengden explained. “We just tried to pitch unpredictable as much as we could, and the defense was extraordinary behind us.”
Sunday’s stellar performance marked yet another breakthrough for the former Texas A&M starter who needed 13 starts to win at the Coliseum in Oakland for the first time. Now, Mengden can say he’s the prince of daytime baseball, having won a day start for the first time in 2018 after coming up short on four occasions.
As for the A’s, they came into their own on the completed 7-3 road trip: the starting pitching continued its steady, incremental improvement after a rough start over the first 15 games of the season. Meanwhile, the bullpen was needed early and often over the duration of the trip, and delivered consistently. The offense was carried by the long ball, with Marcus Semien’s fifth inning blast on Sunday the 19th of the trip through New York, Boston and Toronto. And as Mengden mentioned, on Sunday, while he dealt, the A’s defense ran circles in support.
Chad Pinder’s first career Grand Slam Photo: @OaklandAthletics
by Charlie O. Mallonee
The Oakland Athletics won their third game in a row over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday by beating the home team 5-4. The A’s won for just the third time this season when trailing after the seventh inning. They did improve to 8-2 in one-run games and now own the best winning percentage in one-run games (.800) in the Major Leagues.
The A’s trailed the Jays 4-0 as they came to the plate in the top of the eighth inning. John Axford replaced Seunghwan Oh on the mound for Toronto. Matt Chapman led off the inning with a walk – never a good thing for a relief pitcher. Khris Davis singled to right moving Chapman up to third. Matt Olson went down on strikes for the first out of the inning. Stephen Piscotty then singled to right driving Chapman home and allowing Davis to advance to third. Piscottly was able to advance to second on a throwing error.
That brought a pitching change as Axford was sent to the showers and Tyler Clippard was sent to the hill to stop the A’s rally.
The first hitter Clippard faced was Dustin Fowler and he hit a fly ball for an out. Jed Lowrie then pinch hit for Jonathan Lucroy and drew a base-on-balls to load the bases. Chad Pinder then stepped into the batter’s box and hit a 1-1 pitch over the right-center field wall for a grand slam home run to give the Athletics a 5-4 lead.
That would be the end of the scoring in the contest and the Athletics would win 5-4.
The win means the A’s have won the series and they will be going for the sweep on Sunday. Oakland is now 6-3 on this road trip facing the best of the East and is 13-13 on the road this season.
In the batter’s box
Athletics
Chad Pinder hit his first career grand slam home run that proved to be the game-winning hit versus the Blue Jays on Saturday. This was his fourth home run of the season. Pinder is now hitting .271 with three home runs and nine RBI since coming off the 10-day Disabled List on April 17,
Stephen Piscotty drove in the first run of the day for Oakland and went 2-for-4 in the game making it his eighth multi-hit game of the season. Piscotty is batting .311 in day games and .215 in night contests.
Khris Davis went 2-for-4 in the game and hit his ninth double. 12 of Davis’ last 22 hits have gone for extra bases.
Shortstop Marcus Semien posted his 15th multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with a double on Saturday.
Blue Jays
Justin Smoak tries to lead the Jays past the A’s Photo: @BlueJays
Gio Urshela hit his first home run as a Blue Jay – a two-run shot in the fifth inning. It was also his first career home run to the opposite field.
Yangervis Solarte doubled twice and posted an RBI. This was his third multi-extra base hit game this season. He leads the Jays with 27 RBI.
Justin Smoak went 2-for-3 off Sean Manaea. He is now hitting .333 (19-for-57) versus lefties. Smoak picked up two walks in the game and is now tied for fifth in the American League in walks with 26.
Kevin Pillar recorded his 20th RBI with a Sacrifice Fly in the fifth inning in his 46th game of the season. He did not record his 20th RBI in 2017 until game 80.
On the hill
Oakland
Starter Sean Manaea allowed four runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in his 5.0-innings of work on Saturday. It matched his shortest outing of the year. Manaea has given up four runs in each of his of last four starts.
Emilio Pagan worked 2.0-innings of relief and earned his first win of the season.
Blake Treinen closed out the game for Oakland and earned his 10th save of the season for A’s.
Toronto
Tyler Clippard had a very, very bad day. He was charged with his first blown save of the year and picked up his first loss of the season as well.
The Jays used five pitchers who gave up five runs on 10 hits while allowing four walks and striking out 10.
Note: The roof at the Rogers Centre was closed.
Up Next
The final game of the series will get underway at 10:07 AM PDT with RHP Daniel Mengden (3-4, 3.75) on the mound for Oakland facing the Blue Jays RHP Joe Biagini (0-2, 7.98).
The Oakland A’s were forced to turn to their bullpen earlier than anticipated Friday night North of the Border, but the result wound up a surprise for the Green and Gold. Despite having starter Brett Anderson exit the game after just one inning with an apparent leg injury, the Oakland bullpen fired eight innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays to put the A’s one game over .500. Dustin Fowler had a big night at the plate, hitting his first career homerun and adding a game-winning RBI double. Josh Phegley also knocked in a run off Toronto starter Marco Estrada to give the A’s (23-22) wins in back-to-back games in Toronto.
Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, but exited the game after taking his warm-up tosses to open the second inning. Relieve Josh Lucas came on, firing 3 2/3 innings. He would exit the game with a no-decision though.
Despite Fowler’s first career big fly, a solo homer in the top of the 3rd of starter Marco Estrada, Lucas exited the game with Oakland tied 1-1. Lucas gave up a one-out double to catcher Luke Maile and a two-out single by Gio Urshela tied the game. Manager Bob Melvin then tabbed Danny Coulombe to finish out the inning, which he did by striking out the resurgent Curtis Granderson. Coulombe (1-1, 4.96 ERA) fired a perfect sixth inning as well, putting him in line for the win after the A’s rally in the 7th inning.
With Estrada getting two quick outs in the inning, the Jays appeared safe. Chad Pinder doubled, then Fowler and Phegley each hit two-baggers to give Oakland a 3-1 lead and knock Estrada (2-4, 5.15 ERA) out of the game. In total, three of the A’s seven hits off Estrada came in the inning.
Chris Hatcher pitched a scoreless seventh, but Yusmeiro Petit couldn’t quite get the third out when it was his turn in the eighth. Blake Treinen came in with runners on second and first, striking out Kevin Pillar to end the inning. He then went 1-2-3 in the ninth, closing the game out with back-to-back punch outs of Maile and Dwight Smith Jr. for his ninth save of the year.
Oakland can push itself further above .500 and take the weekend series Saturday with a win from ace Sean Manaea. He’ll be opposed by righty Sam Gaviglio who will be making his first start of the season. Gaviglio has appeared in two games in relief, firing 4 1/3 innings.
The A’s continued to send baseball flying out of the park as they hit three home runs to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 in the first of four games at the Rogers Centre. The A’s have not had great success in Toronto as they had lost 12 of the last 13 games played in Canada. They rectified the situation with a resounding win Thursday night.
Andrew Triggs started for Oakland. Triggs’ record was 3-1, but he was hammered by the Yankees in New York last Saturday. Triggs left the game in the third inning when he complained about tightness in his right forearm. Aaron Sanchez toed the rubber for Toronto, and he did not make it out of the fifth inning and was charged with his fourth loss.
The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Jays’ center fielder Kevin Pillar led off with his 18th double of the season to get the ball rolling for Toronto. Pillar advanced to third on a long flyout to center field. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales grounded out to drive in Pillar. The Jays lead 1-0.
The A’s scored three times in the top of the third. With one out, Matt Joyce singled. Jed Lowrie, one of the hottest hitters in baseball, doubled to drive in Joyce. Khris Davis then hit his 13th dinger of the year. Davis now has 38 RBIs to his credit and is tied with Manny Machado for the most RBIs in the league. The A’s are ahead 3-1
Aaron Sanchez walked Jed Lowrie to start the fifth inning. Toronto’s skipper, John Gibbons, replaced Sanchez with Seung-hwan Oh. Davis singles, sending Lowrie to third. The next hitter, Matt Olson, took Oh deep for his seventh big fly and the A’s upped the lead to 6-1. The A’s weren’t done scoring as third baseman Matt Chapman double. Dustin Fowler singled to knock in Chapman with the As’ fourth run of the inning, and they owned a 7-1 lead halfway through the fifth inning. The Blue Jays showed some life in their half of the fifth as they put three runs on the board to cut the lead to 7-4.
The A’s responded by scoring two more runs in the sixth. Former A’s reliever John Axford was brought in to pitch. He hit Khris Davis with a pitch, and Matt Chapman homered to make it a 9-4 game.
Toronto scored a run in the eighth, and the A’s added another run in the ninth to win 10-5.
Game Notes and Stats: The A’s have played seven games so far on the 10-game road trip and have homered in every game. The A’s season record improved to 22-22 while the Blue Jays’ record dropped to 22-22.
Khris Davis was 4-for-4, scored three times, and was on base five times. The line score for Oakland was 10 runs, 14 hits, and one error.
The line score for Toronto was five runs, seven hits, and no errors. Yusmeiro Petit was the winner, and Aaron Sanchez took the loss.
Bob Melvin used Triggs, Santiago Casillo, Yusmeiro Petit, Ryan Dull, and Lou Trivino.
The A’s announced that catcher Bruce Maxwell has been placed on the restricted list and he was not able to travel with the club to Canada. The A’s brought up Josh Phegley from Nashville to take his place.
Up Next: Game two of the series will be in Toronto at 4:10 pm PST. Brett Anderson will go for Oakland. Anderson is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.16. Anderson last pitched against the Yankees last week and was tagged for four runs in just five innings of work. Anderson will need to show improvement if he is to remain with the club. He will be opposed by the Jays’ Marco Estrada. Estrada is 2-3 and has aN ERA of 5.32. Estrada continues to have problems keeping the baseball from flying out of the park. He has allowed 10 big flys this season and gave up a career-high 31 last year.
Marcus Semien hits his 20th home run of the season. Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
By Charlie O. Mallonee
The Oakland Athletics lost the final game of the three-game series to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 on Sunday afternoon, but the A’s still won the series two games to one.
The Sunday game had “weird” painted all over it right from the beginning. Rich Hill started the game for Oakland and the speculation was that it would be his final start as an Athletic because of his trade value. Hill threw five pitches and called the trainer to the mound. A piece of skin came off where he had a blister that caused him to miss a start, and that was it for Hill. His day was over.
The A’s would use seven pitchers in the game but the real surprise was the appearance of starting pitcher Sean Manaea in the second inning of the game. The rookie left-hander was scheduled to start the game on Tuesday versus the Astros. After it was determined that reliever Andrew Triggs could not continue after being hit in the calf with a batted ball, manager Bob Melvin called on Manaea.
Melvin talked about how tough it was to ask Manaea to respond so quickly. “It’s tough to ask the kid to do something like that too. We were going to limit his pitches but we just didn’t have enough bullpen wise to get through the game if we didn’t use him. He responded really well. I’m sure he didn’t come to the ballpark thinking I might pitch today.”
Manaea worked five innings giving up two runs (both earned) on three hits. He struck out four Blue Jay hitters. Manaea did give up a two-run home run to Troy Tulowitzki in the top of the fourth inning. Tulowitzki hit his 16th home run of the season over the center field wall. Manaea did not figure in on the decision in Sunday’s game.
The Tulowitzki home run gave Toronto a 3-0 lead. The Jays scored a run in the that wild and confusing top of the first inning.
The A’s were having to battle the strong pitching of J.A. Happ who entered the game with a 12-3 record. Happ held the A’s hitless through the first three innings.
The A’s broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning when they sent nine men to the plate and scored three runs on four hits to tie the game at 3-3. Marcus Semien started the scoring for the A’s by hitting his 20th home run of the year.
The game remained tied until the top of the ninth when the Blue Jays put runners on base by virtue of back-to-back base hits. With two outs, former Athletic Josh Donaldson stepped in and hit a double to left field that drove in two runs giving Toronto a 5-3 lead. The A’s were unable to respond in the bottom of the ninth and the final score was Toronto 5 Oakland 3.
On the bump
Rich Hill showed reporters his finger and the skin that had come off that finger. It does not look like an injury that is going to heal quickly. Bob Melvin was clear in postgame press conference that Hill was not a candidate to start on Tuesday against Houston.
Andrew Triggs who was hit by a ball on his left calf has a serious contusion. Melvin said they will evaluate Triggs situation again on Monday.
Marc Rzepczynski worked 0.2 of an inning and struck out two batters. Liam Hendricks pitched 1.1 innings and walked one hitter while giving up no runs in relief.
John Axford (3-3) took the loss going 0.2 innings giving up two runs (earned) on three hits. He walked two and struck out one.
Patrick Schuster worked 0.1 inning to close out the game.
Happ worked 5.2 innings giving up 3 runs (all earned) on five hits for Toronto. He struck out five and walked one. Happ did not figure in on the decision.
Jason Grilli (3-1) was credited with the win. Grilli worked 1.0 inning giving up no runs and no hits in his time on the mound.
The save went to Roberto Osuna. It is his 19th save of the season.
In the batter’s box
Marcus Semien went 1-for-4 with a run scored, a home run and a RBI. He now has 20 home runs and 48 RBI both of which are career highs.
Danny Valencia had a 2-for-4 day that included scoring a run. Valencia is now hitting .307 in the 56 games since he came off the disabled list May 6th. There have to be some contending teams that want his bat in their lineup and are willing to part with prospects to get it.
Jed Lowrie went 2-for-4 on Sunday. Lowrie is 6-for-16 (.375) in his four starts as the leadoff batter this season.
Yonder Alonso came into the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and went 1-for-2 hitting a double that was good for two RBI.
Josh Donaldson has reached base safely in 22 straight games and is hitting .388 over that period. He went 2-for-5 on Sunday.
Russell Martin went 2-for-3 on Sunday and scored a run. He is hitting .324 over the last 10 games.
Edwin Encarnacion had a 1-for-4 day but is .394 over his last 20 games.
Notes:
The Athletics were involved in a minor transaction on Sunday as they acquired left-handed pitcher Ross Detwiler from the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations. Detwiler was pitching for Triple-A Columbus and will be assigned to Triple-A Nashville for the A’s. He will not be on the 40-man roster.
This move was made to shore up the pitching staff in Nashville which has seen so many changes as pitchers have been promoted to Oakland and others have been designated for assignment.
Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak signed a two-year contract extension worth $8.25 million on Saturday. The contract includes an option year that would pay Smoak $6 million if exercised.
“We love Toronto, me and my family, and we wanted to stay here as long as we can,” Smoak said. “So we just wanted to get something done.”
Smoak is currently a role player for the Blue Jays. His signing is seen as protection at first base in case free agent Edwin Encarnacion signs elsewhere.
Up next
Three-game series in Oakland with Houston:
Mon – RHP Kendall Graveman (5-6,4.37) vs. RHP Mike Fiers (6-3,4.35) 7:05 PM
Tue – To be announced vs. LHP Dallas Keuchel (6-9,4.90) 7:05 PM
Wed – RHP Daniel Mengden (1-4,5.54) vs. RHP Doug Fister (9-6,3.64) 12:35 PM
Toronto heads to Phoenix for two games with the Diamondbacks
Toronto Blue Jays’ Troy Tulowitzki slides safely into home plate to score against San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey during the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
by Jerry Feitelberg
OAKLAND–The second half of the 2016 baseball season resumes Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum. The Toronto Blue Jays, currently residing in a second place tie in the AL East with the Boston Red Sox, are just two games behind the Baltimore Orioles. The Jays have been surging as they have won eighteen of the last twenty-five and are 51-40 overall. The Jays have a strong offense, starting rotation and bullpen. Josh Donaldson, the reigning MVP, and former Oakland Athletic is having another strong year and could repeat as MVP. Donaldson is hitting .304 and has 23 homers and 64 RBIs. Donaldson, facing the A’s in Oakland, is five-for thirteen with a home run, two doubles, and five RBI. Many fans still rue the day that Oakland traded Donaldson to Toronto and view that move as one of the factors that have taken the A’s down to lower depths of the AL West. Michael Saunders, an All-Star this year, is having a career year for Toronto. Edwin Encarnacion leads the AL with eighty RBIs and has twenty-three dingers to his credit. Catcher Russell Martin started slowly but has been performing better lately. Other key offensive threats are shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and center fielder Kevin Pillar. Right fielder Joey Bautista will not play this weekend as he is on the DL with a turf toe. As you can see, the Blue Jays are loaded, and the A’s pitchers will have to be sharp to contain the Toronto Offense.
The Blue Jays’ starters are Marcus Strom, Aaron Sanchez, R.A.Dickey, and J.A. Happ Stroman (7-4, 4.89 ERA) will pitch Friday night for Toronto. Sanchez (9-1 2.97 ERA) is pitching well and made the AL All-Star squad this year. Happ is 12-3. Jesse Chavez, another former Athletic, Drew Storen, Jason Grilli Brett Cecil and Roberto Osuna headline the bullpen. Osuna has eighteen saves in twenty chances so far this year.
The A’s will send Daniel Mengden to the hill Friday night. Mengden is 1-4 with an ERA of 4.54. Mengden has pitched well enough to have a better record, but the A’s offense has not given him enough run support. Hopefully, that will change Friday night. The A’s, since May 1st, are 25-39 and are 37-51 overall. There is a lot of speculation regarding players that might be traded before the July 31st deadline. Contending teams are looking at Rich Hill and Sonny Gray as well as Josh Reddick, Danny Valencia, and Stephen Vogt. The A’s are not going anywhere this year. The front office will be making decisions soon about the future of these players. What do the A’s have to do to become contenders? Do they trade away their assets for prospects? How many times will the A’s rebuild the team? The phone lines are ringing in the A’s offices now. Hopefully, the trades the A’s make will get them back on the road to respectability.
The Oakland A’s finished an unusual four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays by beating them 5-1 on Monday in Toronto. The series was unusual due to the fact that the fourth game of the series wrapped around the weekend and was played on Monday. Getaway games are not usually played on a Monday but there is a first for everything, I suppose.
The A’s came into the game having won two out of three from the Blue Jays. The A’s lost the second game of the series by just one run but winning three out of four on the road is not a bad thing. The A’s had Dan Straily on the hill and he was opposed by J.A.Happ. Happ was making his second start since coming off the disabled list. Straily,who had not completed five innings in each of his last three starts, was terrific as he went 7 1/3rd innings allowing just six hits and one run. Happ was just as good as he went seven innings allowing just three hits and one run. The game was to be decided by the bullpens as neither pitcher got a decision. The game summary follow below.
The A’s got off to a great start as Chris Young, hitting leadoff, blasted his tenth home run of the year to get it going for the A’s in the first inning.
Toronto tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. Straily retired the first batter in the eighth but Jose Reyes and Maicer Izturis singled to put men on at first and second. A’s Manager Bob Melvin brought in Ryan Cook to pitch. Cook was facing the always dangerous Jose Bautista. Bautista hit a ball that got by Alberto Callapso, playing third base, allowing Jose Ryes to score. The ball was originally ruled a hit by the official scorer but it was changed to an error later. Cook then retired the next to batters to end the inning. Game tied at one after eight innings.
They A’s broke it open in the ninth. The Jays brought their closer, Casey Janssen, in to pitch the ninth. The A’s roughed him up for four runs. Josh Donaldson singled to get things going in the ninth. Yoenis Cespedes the fouled out. Brandon Moss pinch hit for Nate Freiman and drilled a double down the right field line. The Jays walked Josh Reddick to load the bases. That brought up Callaspo. Callaspo atoned for his error as hit lined a double to right field that scored two runners. Catcher Stephen Vogt singled to drive in the third run of the inning. Eric Sogard then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in run number four of the inning. Sean Doolittle was brought in to close out the game. Doolittle Gave up a single with one out but retired the last two batter to secure the win for the A’s.
Ryan Cook got credit for the win while Casey Janssen took the loss for the Jays.
The A’s remain one game back of the Texas Rangers. The Rangers beat Houston Monday afternoon 2-1. The Astros travel to Oakland for a three game set starting Tuesday night at the O.Co Coliseum.
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