Just when we all thought the A’s were never going to win another game this season, they prove us wrong, defeating the Mariners by a final scored of 4-3.  With this win, the A’s are now back at .500 and they avoided falling into third place.

The A’s scored three of their four runs on solo home runs; the first by Josh Donaldson in the second inning, the second by Daric Barton in the fourth and the third by Brandon Moss in the sixth.  The A’s also scored in the fifth inning when Seth Smith doubled and Jed Lowrie singled him in.

The offense was a bit deceiving today because of the three home runs, as they scored four runs on on eight hits and two walks, with Lowrie being responsible for three of those hits, going 3-4 today.  Josh Donaldson was the only other player to have a multi-hit day, going 2-4, which included his fifth home run of the season.

Jarrod Parker had a decent game, going 6.1 innings while only allowing three hits, three runs, striking out five and walking four. His biggest mistake was allowing a two-run home run to Kelly Shoppach in the fourth inning, which happened to also be the first hit of the game he allowed.  The seventh inning was where he seemed to run out of gas, allowing back-to-back singles with one out.  Sean Doolittle replaced Parker and allowed a single to the first batter he faced, which scored a run, but he retired the following two batters he faced.

Ryan Cook tried to make it interesting in the eighth inning, allowing a lead off single to Michael Saunders, but then striking out Kyle Seager.  He then allowed a single to Kendrys Morales, and followed with striking out Michael Morse. With two outs he loaded the bases by walking Justin Smoak, but ended the inning by getting Endy Chavez to srike out.

The ninth inning was not much easier than the eighth, Grant Balfour came in to close the game and struck out Dustin Ackley to lead off the inning. He then walked Kelly Shoppach and followed up by striking out Robert Andino. Michael Sanders singled, but Balfour recorded the last out by getting Kyle Seager to ground out.

(Photo: Dinur/Flickr)

I really can’t say much more than what has already been said by my fellow A’s bloggers, so I will make this quick.

I actually didn’t get to watch today’s game because of adult responsibilities and stuff, but I did keep a pretty close eye on it through my phone. I will admit I was pretty annoyed with the offense, yet again, going into the ninth inning. Unlike yesterday, the A’s did score three runs, but only had five hits and they had stranded five baserunners up that point. But, thanks to a botched call by umpire Angel Hernandez, I was able to direct my frustrations in an entirely different direction.

Yes, the A’s probably should have hit more or scored more and Adam Rosales should have not made a throwing error that caused 2 runs to score, and then maybe one bad call would have not been the difference maker in tonight’s game, but unfortunately it was.  There is plenty of evidence and screen shots to show that the so-called “double” was a home run, so why wasn’t the right called made by the “professionals”?  It’s absolutely asinine that the umpiring got it wrong, given that they have instant replay now and the equipment to make the right calls. I am not one to blame umpires for losses, especially over something like a poor strike zone, but this is all on Angel Hernandez tonight.

The A’s continued to rally, even after the call was made, with two outs and Rosales on second, Eric Sogard was hit by a pitch and John Jaso walked to load the bases. Seth Smith then came up to bat and grounded out to closer, Chris Perez, to end the game.

AJ Griffin wasn’t bad today, he allowed six hits, four runs (three earned), walked two and struck out four. Two of the four runs that scored were on solo home runs, one by Nick Swisher and one by Carlos Santana.  Sean Doolittle finished the sixth inning, getting the one batter he faced to line out. Ryan Cook pitched a clean eighth inning, retiring all three batters he faced, striking out two.

The three runs the A’s scored all came in the fourth inning, Brandon Moss singled in the first run and Daric Barton followed two batters later with a single of his own, which scored two more.  Speaking of Daric Barton, he made his 2013 debut by going 1-3 with a walk and two RBI.

Instead of looking for a possible split tomorrow, the A’s are just hoping to avoid a sweep. Bartolo Colon will take the mound for the A’s and let’s all hope the umpires aren’t in a rush to get home tomorrow.

There is not a lot to say about today’s loss against the Cleveland Indians. Seriously, not a lot happened today. The team combined for six hits and one walk over nine innings and not one baserunner made it past first base. John Jaso was the only player to collect multiple hits tonight, going 2-4. The team “threatened” in the ninth inning when Yoenis Cespedes singled with one out, but that was quickly erased when he was caught stealing while Brandon Moss was batting.

Tom Milone was the one bright spot in today’s game, lasting seven innings and allowing only five hits, one unearned run, no walks and striking out five. I was impressed with Milone today, who normally struggles on the road, so maybe this a sign of things to come? Or maybe I am looking too much into one game. Either way, Milone will next face the Mariners in Seattle and hopefully by then, the team will have located their bats.

The one run that scored in tonight’s game was on an error, actually two errors, Carlos Santana reached first on a fielding error by Brandon Moss, he then advanced to second on a throwing error by Eric Sogard. He then reached third on a one-out single by Mike Aviles and crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Yan Gomes.

Josh Reddick did not play in tonight’s game due to wrist soreness, which may or may not have to do with him crashing into the wall in Houston, way back in April. It is believed that Reddick will land on the DL and no word on who will replace him if he does need to miss an extensive amount of time. Reddick has performed pretty poorly this season, posting a .152/.266/.250 slash line with a .241 wOBA and 48 wRC+ over 109 plate appearances. It’s possible this wrist injury explains his struggles, but I think we can all agree we hope to see the old Reddick return if he does, indeed, land on the disabled list.

Update: Susan Slusser reports that the A’s will place Josh Reddick on the DL and will call up Daric Barton in his place. Barton has played in 28 games for the Sacramento Rivercats this season and over 125 plate appearances has posted a .296/.432/.480 slash line with a .411 wOBA and a 142 wRC+. I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think this is a terrible move for the team to make. I assume this means Brandon Moss moves to right field, while Barton covers first. Defensively, he is good, and offensively, he could match (if not exceed) Reddick’s numbers this season.

After watching the A’s take two out of three from the Yankees, in New York, I was feeling pretty good about the team and the upcoming series against the Indians.  Don’t get me wrong, I still feel good about the series in New York, I just didn’t enjoy today’s game as much as I expected to.

There is not a lot to say about Jarrod Parker today, except he was just not good.  He allowed four home runs today, but the good news is that they were only solo home runs.  Over five innings he allowed seven hits, four runs, walked two and struck out seven (which is also good news, if you’re still looking for it).  He threw 95 pitches, 56 for strikes and hit one batter in the first.  I am not a professional by any means, so I cannot say exactly what is going on with Parker, but I do know the A’s do not exactly have the depth to send Parker down to “work on things.”  He’s here to stay, at least until Brett Anderson returns from the disabled list.  Parker’s next start will be against the Mariners on Saturday, who he faced last month and over five innings he allowed five hits, four runs, walked three and struck out one.

Chris Resop replaced Parker in the sixth, pitching a clean inning by getting Ryan Rayburn to pop up and then striking out Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley.  In the seventh, he struck out Jason Kipnis to lead off the inning, and then followed with back-to-back walks.  He then got Mark Reynolds to ground out to record the second out of the inning, before intentionally walking Carlos Santana to load the bases for Jason Giambi, who singled in two runs.  Those two runs are what really sealed the loss.  Evan Scribner replaced Chris Resop, allowing a double to the first batter he faced and another run crossed the plate, putting the A’s down 7-2.  Drew Stubbs grounded out to record the final out of the inning.

Scribner pitched a “clean” eighth inning, allowing a lead off single to Michael Brantley who reached third on a wild pitch and a stolen base.  No damage was done, as Scribner was able to retire the next three batters he faced on a line out, strike out and a ground out.

The team went down pretty easily in the ninth, Adam Rosales hit a one-out double, but was stranded after Luke Montz grounded out and Seth Smith flew out to end the game.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss was the only player to have a multi-hit game tonight, going 2-4 with a double and one run scored.
• Yoenis Cespedes hit a home run tonight, and I like it when he hits home runs. It was his only hit of the night, going 1-3 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI.  He now has six home runs on the season, which leads the team and he is good at baseball. That’s my expert analysis.
• John Jaso was 0-1 today before he was replaced by Luke Montz, but he took two walks and that accounted for more than half the walks the A’s took today.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• The A’s offense was pretty offensive tonight (ha..ha.. get it?!), combining for only eight hits and three walks while striking out eleven times.  The team left eight on base and went 1-9 with runners in scoring position tonight.

• Chris Resop had another poor outing, allowing one hit, three earned runs, three walks over 1.1 inning.  He did strike out three, so that was nice.  If you follow me on Twitter you know that I was a big supporter of Resop coming into the season, no reason why, just thought he had the chance to be an effective righty coming out of the bullpen. So far he has proved me very wrong, allowing 19 hits, 10 earned runs and walking 10 over 14.2 innings this season.

Another day, and another win for the A’s. Tonight they defeated the Angels by a final score of 11-5. It was slightly less ugly than the night before, but it still didn’t come easy for the team…well, not until the sixth inning at least.

The A’s were the first to score again tonight, this time it was on an RBI ground out by Jed Lowrie in the first inning. The Angels immediately tied up the game in the bottom of the same inning on a Josh Hamilton sacrifice fly. The A’s took the lead again in the third inning, scoring three runs off of an RBI single by John Jaso and a 2-run triple by Brandon Moss.

Tom Milone was about as sharp as Jarrod Parker was the night before, he lasted through five innings, but struggled the entire time. He needed 106 pitches to get through five and allowed at least one base runner in every inning. His cleanest was in the fourth, when he walked Chris Iannetta to lead off the inning, but got Peter Bourjos to ground into a double play and struck out Mike Trout to end the inning. The last inning he would see, was also his ugliest. He walked Alberto Callaspo to start the inning, then Albert Pujols hit a ground-rule double, putting both runners on second and third with no outs. He then struck out the next two batters he faced, but allowed a single to Howard Kendrick, which scored both Callaspo and Pujols.

Only up by one in the sixth, the A’s rallied to score five in that inning. Eric Sogard led off the inning with a single and with one out, John Jaso also singled, putting runners at first and third. Jed Lowrie walked and with the bases loaded  Yoenis Cespedes walked and Eric Sogard scored. With the bases still loaded Brandon Moss walked, scoring Jaso. With two outs Seth Smith singled, scoring Lowrie and Cespedes and Josh Donaldson followed with a single of his own, driving in Moss.

Chris Resop relieved Milone in the sixth, he allowed one hit, but no runs. Jerry Blevins pitched the seventh and got into a bit of trouble, allowing runners on first and third with only one out, but recorded the last two outs by getting Howard Kendrick to strike out and Brendon Harris to ground out. Pat Neshek replaced Belvins in the eighth inning, and he had another shaky outing, allowing two hits, one run and a walk. Evan Scribner finished the game, he allowed two singles, but no runs.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss had another big day for the team, going 3-4 with a home run, a triple, two walks and five RBI.
• Seth Smith also went 3-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Smith is now 7-17 on the season with four doubles, five RBI and three walks.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Tom Milone made his second start of the season, and just like last year, he seemed to struggle outside the confines of the Coliseum. He lasted just five innings and allowed seven hits, four earned runs, three walks and struck out five.
• Every player had a hit tonight, but Chris Young was the only player to not reach base at least twice going 1-6 with two strike outs.

A’s Extras:

•  The team announced earlier that Scott Sizemore has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Andy Parrino was recalled from Sacramento and saw one at-bat today, in which he flew out to center in the ninth inning.
• Coco Crisp did not hit a home run today, but he did go 1-4 with two walks and a stolen base.

The A’s just won a game they probably shouldn’t have, defeating the Angels by a final score of 9-5. I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but this game was ugly. Not only did the starting pitcher only make it to the fourth inning, there were too many defensive mistakes, and it’s hard to believe the team actually came out on top. Don’t get me wrong, I love when the team wins, especially against the Angels, but I prefer the wins to be less painful.

The A’s were the first to get on board, with two outs in the first Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes both walked, Derek Norris followed with a single, which scored Jed Lowrie. Josh Donaldson then singled and loaded the bases for Brandon Moss, who also singled and scored both Cespedes and Norris. Nate Freiman then walked and Scott Sizemore ended the inning by hitting into a force out. They scored again in the second inning when Coco Crisp led the inning off with a home run, his fourth of the season and his fourth as in many games.

Jarrod Parker started today’s game and after his last start I think we were all hoping he would redeem himself, unfortunately that did not happen. Parker only lasted 3.1 innings today, throwing 74 pitches and only 40 for strikes. In the fourth, with one out, he loaded the bases after hitting Albert Pujols with a pitch and that would be the last batter he would face. Chris Resop replaced Parker and got Josh Hamilton to hit into an inning ending double-play. Resop returned for the fifth inning, allowed a lead off single, but retired the next three batters he faced, striking out the last two.

Pat Neshek replaced Chris Resop in the sixth and that’s really when things began to fall apart. Neshek allowed a lead off triple to Mike Trout, and what should have been a sacrifice fly to right field, turned into a dropped fly ball by Chris Young. The runner scored easily and the the batter, Brendan Harris, advanced to second on the error. Albert Pujols followed with a ground ball to short, and an error committed by Jed Lowrie allowed Harris to advance to third and Pujols was safe at first. Jerry Blevins relieved Neshek (who recorded no outs) and retired the first out of the inning, but at the cost of a sacrifice fly from Josh Hamilton. Ryan Cook then replaced Blevins and got Mark Trumbo to ground out into a force out, but Howard Kendrick followed with a triple and Trumbo scored. He then got Alberto Callaspo to strike out to end the inning.

In the very next inning, and down by one, the A’s came back. Coco Crisp led off the inning with an infield single, and two outs later, Yoenis Cespedes walked. John Jaso then took the lead back by hitting a 3-run home run to right. Josh Donaldson continued the rally with a single and Brandon Moss drove them both in with his first home run of the season. Nate Freiman then flew out to right field to end the inning, but by then the damage was done.

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, Ryan Cook returned in the bottom of the seventh and retired all three batters in order, striking out two of the three he faced. Doolittle pitched the eighth and also retired all three batters in order. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth inning, allowed a single and a walk, but did not allow any runs.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss had a big day going 3-4 with a home run and four RBI. He seems to be heating up after starting off slow, he is now 7-21 on the season with five RBI and three walks.
• Yoenis Cespedes has had a slow start to the season thus far, but he had a good night tonight, going 2-3, with two walks and scoring twice.
• It’s hard not to mention Coco Crisp in this category, he went 2-3 today with another home run and a stolen base. Pretty sure I am going to be disappointed if he doesn’t hit 158 home runs this season (I KID, I KID).
• Some of you won’t be surprised, but I am going to add Chris Resop to this, and not just because I’m biased. He got the A’s out of a tough situation in the fifth, and for that I think he deserves the nod. He pitched 1.2 innings today and allowed one hit, no walks and struck out three.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker had another poor outing, and I am trying not to be concerned yet. He lasted just 3.1 innings, allowed nine hits, two runs, three walks and struck out one. It’s going to be a big test for Parker this weekend, as his next start is scheduled against the Detroit Tigers.
• Chris Young not only had a poor night at the plate, going 0-5 and striking out twice, he also committed the error in the sixth.
• Turns out Jed Lowrie isn’t perfect. He finished the night going 0-4 with a walk and, he too, committed an error in the sixth. It was his second of the season.

Also worth mentioning that Scott Sizemore started at second today, but had to leave the game in the second after injuring his knee. The team has confirmed it’s a sprained knee and he will be leaving the team tomorrow for an MRI.

Bad news first: Josh Reddick had to be pulled from the game in the fifth inning after slamming his arm into the wall going after a foul ball. As of right now we don’t have any idea how serious the injury is, but thankfully, if he needs to be out for an extended period of time, there is plenty of outfield depth on the team.

Anyway, the A’s beat the Astros by a final score of 9-3. The good news of the game is that, they are beating a team they should be beating. More good news for the A’s; after taking a ball off of his hand in the second inning, Brett Anderson stayed in the game and pitched a pretty decent game. The only trouble Anderson really came across was in the sixth, when he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. He was able to get the first two outs via strikeout, but a throwing error by Jed Lowrie allowed two runs to cross the plate.  Pat Neshek relieved Anderson in the seventh and pitched one plus innings, allowing a triple and two walks while striking out two before being relieved by Jerry Blevins in the eighth. Jerry Blevins retired all three batters he faced, but allowed the runner at third to cross home on an RBI ground out. Evan Scribner pitched the ninth, also retiring all three batters he faced.

The A’s collected eleven hits today, and thanks to two doubles, three home runs and six walks, the A’s won this game easily. The biggest hit of the game was probably Chris Young’s 3-run home run in the fifth, which put the A’s up 8-0.  After seeing the first two games of the season, it’s nice to see the A’s bats come alive. The series against the Angels should be an interesting one and I am curious to see how the offense plays out this week.

Lines of the Day:

• Brett Anderson pitched six innings, allowed five hits, two unearned runs, walked two and struck out ten. This start was similar to his first start, just a couple less walks and a few more strikeouts. I don’t think we will be seeing many 10 plus strikeout games for Anderson this year, but I could be wrong.
• Jed Lowrie had another multi-hit game going 3-5 with a home run, a double and a single while driving in two runs. He now has three home runs on the season and five doubles.
• Coco Crisp also had another multi-hit day, going 2-4 with a home run, a double and a walk. He now has three home runs in his last three games and is 10-30 on the season with three walks.
• Brandon Moss quietly had a nice day going 2-3 with two walks and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Josh Donaldson went 0-4 today with one strikeout. He is now 3-25 on the season with one walk and four strikeouts.
• Eric Sogard was also hitless today, going 0-3 with a HBP. He has struggled a bit at the plate himself this season, starting off the first week going 3-19 with with one walk and three strikeouts.

With the first week of the season over, it’s still really too early to be worried about anyone. Well, besides Josh Reddick who may have a broken arm. I am not worried about Yoenis Cespedes not hitting because it’s April 7th. I am not worried about Josh Donaldson or Eric Sogard for the same reason.

Update: Per the team, Josh Reddick’s X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day with a sprained wrist. Big sigh of relief from everyone.

With today’s 6-3 win over the Astros, the A’s are now on a four game winning streak, two games over .500 and hold sole possession of first place in the American League West. I know, I know…it’s only the first week of the season, but it always feels good to say that.

I am not going to lie, this win came as a surprise to me. Outside of a solo home run by Coco Crisp in the fourth inning, the A’s really struggled against Bud Norris. It wasn’t until the lead off home run by Jed Lowrie in the sixth, that they really got the bats going. Following the home run, Josh Reddick reached on a fielding error by Ronny Cedeno and two outs later, Brandon Moss walked. With Josh Donaldson batting, Josh Reddick stole his third base of the season and Donaldson following with a single, which scored Reddick.  Derek Norris then followed up with a single of his own, scoring Brandon Moss. The last run scored on an RBI single by Eric Sogard. That inning was really the difference maker in the game.

Today was Bartolo Colon’s first Major League start since August 18th, and while he was wasn’t stellar, he was efficient. He pitched six innings, allowed eight hits, three earned runs, walked none and struck out two. (This is the first game this season that the Astros hadn’t struck out ten times or more by the way). He threw 83 pitches, 58 were for strikes and his one mistake was allowing a 3-run home run to Jason Castro. So like I said, not fantastic, but exactly what the A’s need him to do for the team.

The bullpen did their job; Sean Doolittle pitched a clean seventh, not allowing a base runner. Ryan Cook also pitched a clean inning in the eighth, he did not allow a base runner and struck out one. Grant Balfour collected his first save of the season, retiring all three batters he faced, while striking out one.

Lines of the Day:

• Jed Lowrie had another good day for the team, going 3-5 with a home run (his first of the season) and one RBI.  He is now 10-21 on the season with four RBI and four walks.
• Coco Crisp has continued to stay hot, going 2-5 with a home run, a double and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Josh Reddick had a 0-5 day, but did reach base in the sixth on an error. He did, however, hit into an inning ending double play in the ninth.
• Yoenis Cespedes continued to struggle at the plate today, going 0-4 and striking out three times.

The A’s won today’s game, splitting the series with the Seattle Mariners. I missed recapping the first three games, but I had a couple of quick things to say after watching the first four games of the season.

The Good:

• Jed Lowrie had a good series, starting at shortstop in all four games and going 6-13 with four doubles, a home run, three RBI and two walks. It’s a very small sample size, but it’s nice to see him hitting already.
• Yoenis Cespedes has three hits this season in sixteen at-bats, which isn’t necessarily “good”, but two of his three hits are home runs.
• Chris Resop, who did not allow a run over nine innings this spring, has made two relief appearances so far. He has pitched two innings, allowed one hit, no runs, no walks and has struck out three. Again, another small sample size, but I said in the offseason he could play a big role in the A’s bullpen and I still still stand by that statement.
• Three of the four starting pitchers had pretty decent outings in their first appearances. I was most impressed with Tom Milone (who was mostly successful at home last season), who went seven innings while only allowing four hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out four. Brett Anderson didn’t have a bad outing himself, despite taking the loss on Monday. Anderson only allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings, he struck out six, but walked four.
• Nate Freiman made his Major League debut yesterday and went 2-3 with an RBI. He also had one plate appearance today and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

The Bad:

• The first two games were hard to watch, as the team only combined for six hits, one run and four walks over eighteen innings. I guess it really doesn’t matter that much since the offense really picked up in the following two games, but it was definitely ugly.
• Jarrod Parker had a pretty poor first outing for the A’s, allowing five hits, four runs and three walks over five innings while only striking out one. It’s only one game and there is absolutely no reason to panic, but it definitely falls under the “bad” category.
• Ryan Cook’s pitching performance in game two was probably one of my least favorite parts of the series. In his first appearance of the season he allowed one hit, three walks and one earned run over two-thirds of an inning. He did, however, pitch one clean inning today and struck out the side.
• Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss have both only combined for two hits in twenty-four at-bats, they have three strike outs a piece and neither has taken a walk.

I’ve said it twice already and I will say it again, these are very small sample sizes so it’s hard for me to really get excited (or worried) about certain players yet. Overall though, I am pretty satisfied with how the season has gone so far. I would have liked to see the team do more against Hisashi Iwakuma, but splitting the series is much better than losing the series, or even worse, being swept.

THE A’S ARE BACK AT .500!!  It’s still spring training and the A’s are still playing games that don’t matter, but they do have a Cactus League Championship title to defend. This win comes against their division rival, Seattle Mariners, by a final score of 7-3.

Tom Milone started today’s game and went three innings, allowed three hits, no runs, one walk and struck out three. Milone has now pitched five innings this spring and has allowed zero runs on three hits and two walks and has struck out four. Hideki Okajima relieved Milone in the fourth and over one inning of work allowed a hit, a walk, no runs and struck out one. Sonny Gray was the only pitcher to allow runs in today’s game and he went two innings, allowed four hits, three runs (two earned), walked none and struck out one. Andrew Werner also pitched two innings today and only allowed two hits.

The offense was offense-y today, scoring seven runs on eleven hits and four walks. Hiro Nakajima had his first multi-hit game going 2-3 with a stolen base and RBI. He is now 6-20 this spring with an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. Jed Lowrie hit his first home run of spring today, he went 1-2 with a walk, scored two runs and drove in two. He is 5-16 with five RBI and four walks this spring.

• Coco Crisp started in center field this lovely afternoon and went 1-3 with a strikeout. He is 5-12 with a double this spring.
• Josh Reddick played in right field and went 1-2 with a walk and one RBI.
• Yoenis Cespedes was the team’s designated hitter today and he went 1-4 with two strikeouts.
• Brandon Moss played at first base and went 0-3. He is 5-20 this spring, with one home run, two RBI and one strikeout.
• Chris Young played in center field today and went 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Scott Sizemore returned to the lineup today and went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout. He is 3-14 with two RBI, four walks and five strikeouts this spring.

The A’s are going to face the Mariners again tomorrow, except only this time they get to face the “real” team. AJ Griffin will be making his third start of the spring.