Jemile Weeks and Cliff Pennington combined for three errors today

Athletics: 5  Cubs:  5

Down by three in the ninth, the A’s were able to come back and the tie the game after a 3-run rally, which started off with a solo home run from Jonny Gomes.  The A’s tried to win it again in the 10th, but fell short after Yoenis Cespedes hit into a game ending double play.

Lines of the Day:

• Kila Ka’aihue: 2 AB, 2 H, 1 Run, 2 RBI. Ka’aihue hit his second home run in three days today, he was also resposible for the game tying RBI, which came in the form of a double.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

• Brandon McCarthy: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R (2 earned), 3 BB and 1 strikeout.  McCarthy may have struggled due to a finger nail that was tearing off his middle finger, but he tells Joe Stighlich he’s not worried about it.
• Jemile Weeks: 4 AB, 0 Hit, 2 Errors.   Weeks was not the only player today to go O-fer, but he happened to be the only player today to have two errors in the game (his 3rd this Spring).

A’s Extras: 

• Bob Melvin announced earlier today that Grant Balfour will be A’s closer come opening day.  Balfour had a 5-2 record last season with a 2.47 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, 8.56 SO/9 and 2.90 BB/9 over 62 innings of relief.  Balfour also had 2 saves in 7 opportunities last season.
• The A’s also announced that Brad Peacock was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
• Following today’s game and throwing another clean inning for the A’s this Spring, Pedro Figueroa was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
• Along with Week’s 2 errors, Cliff Pennington tacked on his own in the 9th (5th this Spring), 2 of those 3 errors lead to 3  unearned runs.
• The A’s now have their 30-man roster set for Japan, which includes three non-roster invitees, Travis Schlichting, Evan Scribner and Wes Timmons.

Tomorrow the A’s face the Royals in what will be their final game of Spring Training.  Probable pitchers are (RHP) Graham Godfrey and (RHP) Luis Mendoza.

Today (RHP) Brandon McCarthy faces the Cubs.

Today’s lineup: Jemile Weeks 2B, Coco Crisp LF, Seth Smith DH, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Josh Reddick RF, Kurt Suzuki C, Daric Barton 1B, Josh Donaldson 3B and Cliff Pennington SS.

Today’s game can be heard on MLB.com

In case you missed it: I briefly mentioned yesterday that the A’s had optioned Jarrod Parker to Triple-A Sacramento after his shaky start, but here is some information about the send down.

Melvin hints that Parker still has a chance of making the rotation as a fifth starter, but just needs to work on some things.

Josh Reddick was one of three A's players to hit a home run today (Photo: aaronstrout/Flickr)

Athletics: 6  Diamondbacks: 5

The A’s tried to blow it in the ninth, but were unsuccessful, which eventually lead to them racking up another Spring Training win.

Lines of the Day:

• Collin Cowgill: 3 AB, 2 H, 2 R, HBP.  Cowgill is now hitting .436 this Spring in 39 at-bats.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R (2 earned), 7 BB.  I think it’s safe to say that those 7 walks probably decided Jarrod Parker’s fate, and it’s probably very unlikely that he will be part of the starting rotation on opening day.  The good news is, he only allowed 1 hit and was able to control the damage to only 2 runs (1 in the 3rd inning and one in the 4th). While I was writing this it was announced that Jarrod Parker has been sent down.

A’s Extras:

• 5 of the 6 A’s runs all came from home runs with Josh Reddick, Manny Ramirez and Brandon Allen all hitting their second of the Spring.
• Jordan Norberto threw 1.1 innings today, allowing no hits, runs or walks while striking out one.
• Brian Fuentes also threw one clean inning allowing no hits and striking out two.
• With no errors today, the A’s have now tied their Spring Training high errorless streak to two games.

Tomorrow the A’s take on the Chicago Cubs, in which will be their final Spring Training game at Phoenix Muni.  Probable pitchers are (RHP) Brandon McCarthy and (RHP) Rodrigo Lopez, the game starts at 1:05 PST.

Another good day for Cliff Pennington this Spring

Athletics:  4  Cubs: 3

I’ll start with the good news, the A’s beat the Cubs today!  It wasn’t a pretty win, but a win is a win.  They only had 6 hits, but scored 4 times.  There were also a few good defensive plays, which essentially won the game for them.

Lines of the Day:

• Cliff Pennington: 3 AB, 2 H, 1 R.  Pennington is now 15-31 this Spring (.484 AVG) with 6 runs, 3 RBI and 4 BB.
• Seth Smith: 3 AB, 3 H, 2 RBI.  After going 3-3 today, Seth Smith is now hitting .333 this Spring.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

• Yoenis Cespedes: 4 AB, 0 H, 2 Strikeouts.  Not a good day for Cespedes at the plate, who is now hitting .188 after going O-fer today.

Worth Mentioning:

• Travis Schlichting allowed 2 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 1 BB and 1 strikeout over 3 innings of work.
• Top prospect Sonny Gray threw 2.1 innings today, he allowed 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 2 BB.
• Two errors in today’s game, a Spring first for Sonny Gray and a first for Adam Rosales.

» Continue reading “A’s Play Two; Win One and Lose One”

Third baseman turned pitcher, Travis Schlichting. (Photo: mwlguide/Flickr)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  It’s A’s day so don’t forget to wear your green (and gold)!

Today (RHP) Travis Schlichting takes the mound at Phoenix Muni.

Today’s lineup against the Cubs: Jemile Weeks 2B, Cliff Pennington SS, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Manny Ramirez DH, Jonny Gomes LF, Seth Smith RF, Anthony Recker C, Brandon Allen 1B and Adam Rosales 3B.

Today’s game can be heard on 95.7 The Game.

Over at Scottsdale Stadium Tom Milone will face the Giants.

Today’s lineup against the Giants: Collin Cowgill LF, Eric Sogard SS, Coco Crisp CF, Josh Reddick RF, Kila Ka’aihue DH, Josh Donaldson 3B, Daric Barton 1B, Derek Norris C and Wes Timmons 2B.

This game can be heard on MLB.com

Athletics: 6  Mariners: 1

It wasn’t a comeback win today, but it was a win.  The A’s scored 4 runs in the first inning and eventually beat the Mariners 6-1.

Lines of the Day:

• Graham Godfrey: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 Run (1 earned), 1 BB, 5 Strikeouts. After allowing the first three runners to get on base, Godfrey went on to retire the last 11 batters he faced.
• A’s Bullpen: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 Runs, 0 BB.  The A’s bullpen (which consisted of Jerry Blevins, Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour and Jordan Norberto) was stellar today and most impressively, the A’s pitching staff did not allow one walk after the first inning.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

• No stand outs tonight, it was a nice, quick and clean game.

Worth Mentioning: 

• Eric Sogard had another hit today, after going 1-3 he now is hitting .382 this Spring.
• After pinch hitting today in the seventh and striking out, Daric Barton is now 0-8 this Spring with 3 BB and 2 strikeouts.
• Before lining out in the 6th, Collin Cowgill had reached base 11 consecutive times (8 H 3 BB).
• Errorless streak up to two games, matching their Spring Training high!

Tomorrow is a split squad for the A’s, they face the Chicago Cubs at Phoenix Muni it’s a 1:05 PST start, probable pitchers (RHP) Travis Schlichting and (LHP) Paul Maholm.   Also starting at 1:05 PST the A’s will face the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium,  probable pitchers for that game are (LHP) Tom Milone and (RHP) Tim Lincecum.

De Los Santos was the only A's pitcher to retire Albert Pujols

Angels: 9  Athletics: 1

The first 4 innings of this game were not pretty, but the second half of the game gives us some hope.  I guess.

Lines of the Day:

• Fautino De Los Santos:  1/3 IP, 0 H.  DLS makes the list for being the first pitcher to retire Albert Pujols.
• A’s bullpen (innings 5-9): After giving up 9 runs in the first four innings, the A’s bullpen (who consisted of Blake Treinen, Pedro Figueroa, Evan Scribner and Josh Bowman) threw 5 innings, they allowed 0 H, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts and 2 BB.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Brad Peacock: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 runs (4 earned), 1 BB.  Peacock got knocked around a bit in his first outing with the A’s, shortly after he was pulled he referred to the game as a learning experience.
• Grant Balfour: 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 Runs (2 earned), 3 BB.  It was another ugly outing for Balfour, who’s ERA is now up to 27.00 this Spring » Continue reading “The A’s win! Oh And They Lose Too…”

(Photo: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Today (RHP) Bartolo Colon takes the mound at Hohokam Stadium.

The A’s lineup against the Cubs is as follows: Eric Sogard SS, Collin Cowgill CF, Seth Smith LF, Jonny Gomes DH, Josh Reddick RF, Brandon Allen 1B, Wes Timmons 3B, Landon Powell C and Josh Horton 2B.

You can hear this game on MLB.com with subscription.

(RHP) Brad Peacock will start for the A’s in Phoenix Muni.

The A’s lineup against the Angels is as follows: Jemile Weeks 2B, Cliff Pennington SS, Coco Crisp CF, Manny Ramirez DH, Josh Donaldson 3B, Kurt Suzuki C, Kila Ka’aihue 1B, Michael Taylor RF and Jason Pridie LF.

This game can also be heard on MLB.com.

In case you missed it:  I really should have covered this yesterday in my post game wrap-up, but former top prospect and first baseman, Sean Doolittle, threw one perfect inning yesterday against the Cubs, he also had 2 strikeouts.

Seven RBI for this guy!

Athletics: 12  Cubs: 10

The A’s continued to hit well today, the pitching on the other hand…

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Allen:  5 AB, 2 H, 2 runs, 7 RBI.  Brandon Allen’s 7 RBI came off of a grandslam, a two-run double and a RBI ground out.
• Ken Korach:  “Good sliding catch out there by the guy whose name we don’t know”.  I’ve really missed baseball season.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Edgar Gonzalez: 1 IP, 5 H, 5 runs (5 earned), 1 BB.  I think the line speaks for itself.

Brandon McCarthy takes the mound today for the A’s.

Today’s lineup against the Cubs: Coco Crisp CF, Cliff Pennington SS, Josh Reddick RF, Chris Carter DH, Brandon Allen 1B, Kurt Suzuki C, Eric Sogard 2B, Collin Cowgill LF and Wes Timmons 3B.

Today’s game can be heard on 95.7 The Game.

In case you missed it: Yoenis Cespedes expects to be ready to play in Spring Training games in 5-6 days.