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.

I will get the bad news over with first: the A’s lost a game today. Along with everyone else in the Cactus League, the A’s were not able to beat the Kansas City Royals. The Royals scored four runs in the first inning, which turned out enough to defeat the A’s, who only score two runs over nine innings. The final score of the game was 8-2.

Bartolo Colon did not impress in his second spring outing. He allowed seven hits and five runs over only two innings. He threw forty-eight pitches, thirty-two for strikes, did not walk a batter and struck out two. In two appearances this spring he has allowed twelve hits and eight runs over four innings while walking none and striking out six. I still think it’s entirely too early to be in any sort of panic mode with these players, but he has definitely not been enjoyable to watch so far.  Right-handed pitcher, Evan Scribner, also pitched in today’s game and went one inning while allowing two hits, no runs or walks and struck out one. Travis Blackley also pitched two innings; he did not allow a hit or a walk and struck out one. James Simmons was the only other pitcher to allow runs in today’s game, he pitched one inning and allowed four hits and three runs.

The offense wasn’t really there today, as the team only combined for two runs on nine hits and two walks. Grant Green was the only true stand-out player of the game, going 2-4 with two doubles.

• Daric Barton started at first base in this game and went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Chris Young started in center field today and went 0-4. He is now 4-16 this spring with no walks and four strikeouts.
• Josh Donaldson played third and went 0-3 with a walk.
• Hiro Nakajima collected another hit today, going 1-3 with a double and strikeout. He is 4-17 with 9 strikeouts this spring.
• Michael Choice played right field and went 1-4 with a strikeout.
• Shane Peterson was in left field and went 2-4 with a strikeout.

» Continue reading “A’s Spring Training Games 11 & 11 1/2: One Loss, One Win”

We are now finishing up the first week of spring training and the A’s finish the week with a 2-5 record. Today’s loss came against the San Francisco Giants and the final score was 13-9. The good news is real baseball begins a month from today and that there is plenty of games for the A’s to play before then.

A lot of runs were allowed today, but ten of the thirteen were allowed by only two pitchers. Jerry Blevins pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed four hits, three runs (only two allowed) and struck out one. The error that caused the unearned run to score was committed by Jemile Weeks. Travis Blackley was hit the hardest today, allowing five hits (two singles, one double, one triple and a home run), seven earned runs and two walks over a third of an inning.

Despite the thirteen runs allowed, the pitching wasn’t all bad today. Jarrod Parker started today’s game and pitched two innings in his spring debut. Parker allowed one hit, no runs and struck out two while walking none. Ryan Cook also made his spring debut and pitched an inning while only allowing a walk. Sean Doolittle also pitched for the first time this spring and only allowed a hit over an inning of work.

The offense was not a problem today, as the team combined for nine runs on fourteen hits and four walks, while going 6-21 with runners in scoring position. Here are some of the lines from the team’s hitters today:

• Jemile Weeks started at second today and went 1-3 with an RBI. He is now 6-11 this spring with five RBI.
• Chris Young returned to the lineup today and started in center field. He went 2-3 with a strikeout.
• Jed Lowrie started at shortstop today and went 0-2 with a walk and run.
• Derek Norris started behind the plate and went 1-1 before he was replaced by John Jaso. Jaso finished the day going 0-2.
• Seth Smith started in right field today and went 1-2 with a triple, a walk and a run.
• Daric Barton was at first again today and went 1-2 with a RBI.
• Michael Choice continues to hit this spring, going 2-2 with an RBI. He is now 9-16 this spring with six RBI.

Tomorrow the A’s will face the Colorado Rockies and Tom Milone will be making his spring debut for the A’s.

The A’s announced earlier that they have reached a one-year deal with catcher George Kottaras. Details of the contract have yet to be released.

Kottaras was acquired from the Brewers in July of last season and played in 27 games for the A’s. Over 93 plate appearances he had a .212/.280/.471 slash line with a .322 wOBA and 105 wRC+. He also hit 6 home runs for the A’s and took 8 walks. The 29-year old has a career .220/.320/.412 slash line with a career .322 wOBA.

Kottaras will likely continue to be back up to catcher Derek Norris, who started in 53 games for the A’s last season. The team still has three remaining arbitration eligible players; Brandon Moss, Seth Smith and Jerry Blevins.

In other A’s related news, the team also reached a two-year extension with manager Bob Melvin, which will last through 2016. Melvin won the AL Manager of the Year award after he led the team to a 94-68 record and brought them to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

(Photo Courtesy of Francine)

Athletics:  12  Rangers: 5

It seems like just yesterday we were all up at 2 AM watching game two of the season.  The A’s won that game behind three home runs, tying the Mariners for first place of the AL West. The A’s would never see sole possession of first place until today, the last game of the season and the day when it really mattered.

I can lie to you and tell you I knew this was going to happen back on March 29, but if you have been reading my blog since then you know that I never saw this coming.  I have not been the most optimistic fan at times, I can’t count how many times I have hit the panic button and I know I have said over and over again that their run would eventually come to an end.  This team has indeed, “shocked the world”.

The A’s found themselves in a really tough position after the top of the third inning. The A’s took the lead in the first off of an RBI double by Brandon Moss, but they would soon find themselves in a four run deficit after A.J. Griffin allowed five runs to the Rangers in the third. He allowed a single to lead off the inning, recorded an out on a ground out by Elvis Andrus, but then gave up back-to-back singles allowing the Rangers to tie it up at 1-1. Nelson Cruz then hit into a force out, but Michael Young followed with an RBI single. David Murphy then singled and Cruz and Young scored. Mike Napoli reached on a fielding error by George Kottaras and Geovany Soto followed up with a single, which scored Murphy. That was it for Griffin, who allowed seven hits, five runs (four earned), and two walks over 2.2 innings.  Evan Scribner would come in and record the last out of that nightmarish inning.

The A’s would fight their way back into the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, leading the inning off with a walk by Brandon Moss and an RBI double by Josh Reddick. Josh Donaldson then singled and Seth Smith followed with an RBI single. Derek Holland came in to replace Ryan Dempster and he immediately recorded the first two outs of the inning, but then Coco Crisp doubled and Donaldson and Smith scored tying the game up 5-5.  Stephen Drew then drew a walk and Yoenis Cespedes hit, what should have been the final out of the inning, a fly ball that Josh Hamilton missed and both Crisp and Drew were able to score. The A’s scored six runs total in the inning, giving them their final lead of the game.

» Continue reading “A’s Sweep Rangers, Win The West”

Athletics: 3   Rangers: 1

It only took 161 games (okay maybe not that many), but the A’s have finally tied the Rangers for first place of the AL West. A team that was “supposed” to lose 90 plus games is playing a relevant game in the very last game of the regular season.  It might not be as interesting as the 2011 Cardinals and Rays, but this game is the most important of the season. The A’s are not only playing for a sweep tomorrow, but they’re also playing for a division win.

Tonight’s game was another close one for Oakland and Texas.  The Rangers were the first to score tonight, with two outs and one on Josh Hamilton doubled and Ian Kinsler scored.  That was the only run Travis Blackley would allow.  Blackley lasted six innings tonight and gave up only three hits, the one run, walked two and struck out four.  It was a nice comeback from his previous two starts.

The A’s scored their first runs in the fifth inning.  Josh Donaldson lead the inning off with a single and Brandon Moss followed with a double. Then with two on and no outs Derek Norris singled and scored Donaldson, Moss then scored on a fielding error by Nelson Cruz. The A’s scored their final run of the game in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Jonny Gomes.

Sean Doolittle pitched a clean seventh inning, he allowed a single with one out, but the runner was eliminated when he got Mike Napoli to ground out into a double play to end the inning. Ryan Cook pitched in the eighth, he allowed a lead off single who moved over to third on two ground outs, but he got out of the inning unharmed by getting Elvis Andrus to ground out to record the third out of the inning.

Grant Balfour, who had pitched in the previous three games, came in to close the game in the ninth.  Balfour got Josh Hamilton to ground out to record the first out of the game, struck out Adrian Beltre and then struck out Nelson Cruz to record his 24th save of the year.

Athletics:  9  Rangers:  3

Maybe it’s not the history a team would be proud of, but tonight the A’s set an American League record in strikeouts on a season with 1,333. (The previous record was held by the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays who had 1,324).  With the 11 strikeouts, came 16 hits and 9 runs.

The A’s came out swinging right away, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning.  Stephen Drew lead off the game with a double, but Jonny Gomes followed with a line out.  Yoenis Cespedes then tripled in Drew and Chris Carter singled and Cespedes scored. Brandon Moss singled, Josh Donaldson singled and both Carter and Moss scored on an error by Josh Hamilton. Josh Reddick struck out to record the second out of the inning.  Derek Norris then tripled, scoring Donaldson and Martin Perez was pulled out of the game after that.  Roy Oswalt came in to replace Perez and he got Cliff Pennington to ground out to end the rally.

Jarrod Parker also struggled early, walking Ian Kinsler to start the bottom half of the first.  He then coughed up a double to Elvis Andrus to put the Rangers on the board.  He then retired the next three batters to end the first.

In the second inning he loaded the bases (with no outs) by allowing back-to-back singles and a walk.  He then got Mitch Moreland to ground out to record the first out of the inning, but a run scored on the ground out.  He walked Ian Kinsler to load the bases again.  Elvis Andrus flew out and the Rangers scored their third and final run of the game on the sacrifice. Josh Hamilton struck out to end the inning.

The A’s loaded the bases (with only one out) with three walks in the third inning and Stephen Drew singled and both Donaldson and Reddick scored putting the A’s up 7-3.  They scored their eighth run of the game in the fourth off of an RBI single by Derek Norris.  The A’s scored their final run of the game in the ninth after Derek Norris hit a sacrifice fly to score Brandon Moss.

After having trouble in the first two innings of the game, Parker was able to collect himself and throw four strong innings. He pitched six innings tonight, allowing only five hits and three runs while walking three and striking out eight.  Jerry Blevins and Evan Scribner closed out the game, neither allowed a hit, but Blevins walked one and Scribner walked two.  Blevins pitched 1.2 innings and struck out 1, while Scribner pitched 1.1 and struck out three.

Stephen Drew had a big night tonight, going 4-5 with a double, one run and two RBI.  Derek Norris also had a good night, going 2-4 with three RBI.  Josh Reddick snapped his 0-30 streak in the seventh inning when he singled to lead off the inning. He went 2-4 today (also singling in the ninth inning) with a walk.

Athletics:  5  Orioles:  2

Tonight’s game can be described in one word and that’s “unbelievable”.  I know I have said it one-hundred times (or maybe more), but this team continues to surprise me every day.  Today’s win secures a series win for the A’s and they go into tomorrow looking to sweep their wildcard rivals.

The Orioles were the first to score again tonight.  Adam Jones lead off the second inning with a single and two batters later Mark Reynolds hit a double, scoring Jones.  The Orioles scored again in the third off of a solo home run by Nate McLouth.

The A’s fought back in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs total.  Stephen Drew lead off the inning with a home run.  Then with one out Coco Crisp walked, Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch and Josh Reddick singled and Crisp scored.  Yoenis Cespedes singled, scoring Gomes. Chris Carter then doubled scoring both Reddick and Cespedes.  Josh Donaldson then walked, but the inning ended after a fly out by Derek Norris and a strike out by Stephen Drew.

Most of the offense came in the third for the A’s.  They had a total of five hits tonight, four of those coming in the third.  Their last hit was a double in the seventh by Josh Reddick.  They had more walks than hits tonight, taking 7 and went 3-9 with runners in scoring position.

Jarrod Parker allowed 7 hits through 7 innings, also allowing 2 runs and 1 walk while striking out 5.  The A’s defense helped Parker out tonight, with the biggest out coming from a relay throw from Cespedes and Donaldson to gun Adam Jones out at home.

Sean Doolittle pitched a clean eighth, he did not allow a baserunner and stuck out 1.  Grant Balfour made it interesting in the ninth inning, allowing a one out single to Chris Davis and then walking Mark Reynolds.  With two runners on and one out he got Manny Machado to fly out and Endy Chavez to ground out to end the inning.

Athletics:  4  Angels:  1

For the first time since 2006 the Oakland A’s will finish the season with a winning record.  This is a big step for the A’s, who were once thought to be a 90 game (or more) losing team.

Last night’s win against the Angels marked their 12th win in a row on the road, tying a franchise record for consecutive road wins.

A.J. Griffin was the story of the night, throwing 8 shutout innings against the Angels.  He allowed only 6 hits, walked none and struck out 6 and improved his record to 6-0.  In last night’s game, Griffin became the first pitcher, since at least 1918, to allow 3 runs or less and walk 2 or less over his first 11 starts.

The A’s scored in the first inning off of an Erick Aybar error, scoring Josh Reddick, who reached base off a double.  They would not score again until the sixth inning, when Yoenis Cespedes lead off the inning with a home run, it was his second in two days.  After blowing their chance to extend their lead in the seventh, they would go on to score 2 more in the eighth.  Josh Donaldson lead off the inning with a double and scored after a double by Derek Norris. Norris would score off of an RBI single by Coco Crisp.

Sean Doolittle came in to replace A.J. Griffin in the ninth inning and the shut out was immediately broken by a lead off home run from Albert Pujols.  He then got Kendrys Morales and Howard Kendrick to ground out, but was replaced by Ryan Cook after he gave up a double to Erick Aybar.  Ryan Cook recorded the last out by getting Vernon Wells to ground out, officially making the A’s a winning team.

Angels:  7  Athletics:  1

Yes, the A’s were swept by the Angels today, but a loss like this means very little when one of the players on the team gets hurt.

Brandon McCarthy left today’s game in the fourth inning after he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Erick Aybar.  I did not witness the incident, nor do I care to see it, but from what I understand it was pretty scary.  McCarthy dropped to the ground after the hit and after a couple of minutes he was able to stand up and walk off of the field on his own.

He did not lose consciousness at any point, which is good news, but was taken to the local hospital to be examined further.  There are no updates as of right now, but we should know more later on tonight.

Before he left the game McCarthy allowed 5 hits and 3 runs over 3.2 innings, he walked 1 and struck out 3.  Travis Blackley relieved him after he left the game and allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks over 3 innings while striking out 2.

The Angels opened it wide open in the ninth after Ryan Cook lead off the inning with a walk to Peter Bourjos, he then gave up a single to Erick Aybar and a fielding error by Derek Norris loaded the bases with no outs.  Grant Balfour came in to relieve Cook and almost immediately walked in a run.  He got Mike Trout to strike out, but then gave up a 2-run single to Torii Hunter.  Jim Miller then came in to replace Balfour, he struck out Albert Puljols and then the Angels decided to kick us while we were down and Maicer Izturis stole home to score their 7th run of the game.

The offense was pretty much non-existent today, they combined for only 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 13 times.  Their only run came in the third inning off of a RBI single by Seth Smith.

Like I said earlier, it’s hard to even be upset by this loss.  Of course I wanted them to win, but McCarthy’s health is much more important at this point.