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.

It’s a new season, but the A’s still remember how to hit a walk-off!

Max Scherzer held the A’s to only five hits and two runs over six innings, while striking out eleven. Luckily for the A’s, they got to face the bullpen “early”, which wasn’t much easier for the team as they only were able to muster three hits and two runs over 5.1 innings. Thankfully, those two runs not only tied the game, but also brought the team to their ninth win of the season.

The A’s scored their first run in the third inning, Eric Sogard doubled to lead off the inning and with one out he stole third and scored on a throwing error by Max Scherzer. They scored their second run in the sixth, when Jed Lowrie led off the inning with a double and Josh Reddick followed with a single to drive him in. They tied it in the seventh when Josh Donaldson hit a one out double and Coco Crisp singled him in with two outs. Their most important run of the game was in the twelfth inning, when Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run with one out to win the game for the team.

Bartolo Colon had another effective start, again I can’t say he was stellar tonight, but he kept the A’s in the game. Colon lasted seven innings tonight, allowing eight hits, three runs, while walking none and striking out five. He threw 86 pitches tonight, 60 of which were for strikes. Just like his last game, his only mistake was allowing a three-run home run, this time to Prince Fielder, in the third inning. Sean Doolittle took over for Colon in the eighth inning and retired all three batters he faced. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth, allowed a hit and struck out one.

Ryan Cook pitched the tenth inning, he allowed one hit, but allowed nothing more. Jerry Blevins pitched the eleventh inning, allowed a single to Prince Fielder, but got Victor Martinez to ground out into a double-play and recorded the last out by getting Alex Avila to strike out. Blevins also pitched in the twelfth inning, he recorded the first two outs of the inning before allowing a triple to Ramon Santiago. Blevins was then replaced by Chris Resop who got Austin Jackson to fly out to end the inning.

Unfortunately, it was not all great for the team tonight, both Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes left the game with injuries and it is unclear when either player will return to the lineup. The team announced that Coco Crisp had strained his groin and is now listed as day-to-day. Yoenis Cespedes seemed to have injured his hand while trying to steal in the eighth, and according to the team his X-rays came out negative.  The good news is, Josh Reddick did return to the lineup tonight, he finished the night going 1-4 with an RBI, a walk and two strikeouts. If both players were to miss a significant amount of time, it could really hurt the team.

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.

A year ago today I did my first Fantasy Baseball post and I recommended that you draft six A’s players for your team. I actually did pretty well, I think, as 4.5 of the players I told you to draft fared pretty well last season.  What I am trying to say here, is if you want to win, you’ll listen to me. (I kid).

If you’re anything like me you probably won’t draft an A’s player in fear of jinxing them (ahem… Jemile Weeks last season), but I know many of you like to get that one (or several) homer pick. This is strictly my personal opinion, and if you listen to me and I tank your season, I’m truly sorry.

Just like last season I am going off of standard leagues and using the following stats: BA, Runs, HR, RBI and SB for offensive categories and Wins, ERA, WHIP, Saves and SO for pitching categories. This is my once a year post where I pretend like batting average is an important stat, so enjoy it while you can:

Yoenis Cespedes: Last season he was a sleeper pick, this season I feel pretty confident about telling you to draft him. He had a .292/.356/.505 slash line and had 23 HR, 82 RBI and stole 16 bases. ZiPS projects a .273/.338/.452 slash line with 23 HR and 84 RBI. I tend to agree that Cespedes will not be a .300 hitter, but I do think if healthy, he could be a 30 HR player.

• What he’s good for: HR, RBI, a few SB

Coco Crisp: I hesitate to put him on here, but for deep leagues he might be worth picking up. Last season Crisp had a .259/.325/.418 slash line with 11 HR, 68 Runs and 39 SB. ZiPS projects a .263/.325/.400 slash line with 8 HR, 63 Runs and 32 SB. He has a history of injuries, so it’s hard to really gauge how his numbers will be, but like I said, he would not be a bad bench player for deep leagues.

• What he’s good for: Runs, SB, the occasional HR

» Continue reading “A’s Baseball: Fantasy Edition II”

According to the team, the A’s have exercised Grant Balfour’s $4.5 million option for the 2013 season.  Grant Balfour pitched in 75 games this season and over 74.2 innings of relief he had a 2.53 ERA, a .201 BABIP and 3.03 FIP. Balfour saved 24 games for the Athletics this season and posted a 8.68 SO/9 and 3.38 BB/9 rate (2.57 SO/BB ratio).

The A’s have also declined shortstop Stephen Drew’s $10 million mutual option for the 2013 season, but according to Susan Slusser, the team is looking to sign him at a lower cost and possibly on a multi-year deal.  If the A’s fail to reach a deal with Drew, the team could look elsewhere for a shortstop either through free agency or trade.

Stephen Drew played in 39 games for the A’s this season and over 175 plate appearances he had a .250/.326/.382 slash line with a .310 wOBA and 97 wRC+.  I honestly have no idea what it would cost to bring Drew back to Oakland (I am guessing somewhere around $20 million for 3 years), but as someone who has an opinion on the whole thing, that would be my first choice.

In other news, the A’s have signed right-handed pitcher Mike Ekstrom to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Ekstrom pitched in 15 games for the Colorado Rockies last season and over 15.2 innings of relief he had a 6.32 ERA, a .333 BABIP and 3.16 FIP. He pitched 43 games for the Rockies Triple-A affiliate and over 57 innings posted a 2.53 ERA, a .298 BABIP and a 2.31 FIP. He had a 9.00 SO/9 and a 2.84 BB/9 rate, he also did not allow a home run.

Athletics:  2  Tigers:  0

The last time Brett Anderson took the mound for the A’s was on September 19, also against the Tigers.  Tonight Anderson did not look like a pitcher who hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in almost 3 weeks.  He only needed eight pitches in the first inning, striking out Austin Jackson and Omar Infante and then getting Miguel Cabrera to ground out on just one pitch. He allowed only two hits over six innings, both coming in the second inning.  It would have been three hits, but thanks to a play by Coco Crisp, he was able to rob Prince Fielder of a home run to lead off the inning. He also matched his hits with two walks and struck out six. He was a little erratic today, throwing 80 pitches and only 45 for strikes.

The A’s offense was almost as equally as quiet as the Tigers, but the two runs they scored was more than enough for a win. They looked like they might do a lot against Anabel Sanchez in the first inning, Coco Crisp singled to lead off the inning, Stephen Drew walked and Yoenis Cespedes singled, scoring Crisp.  Brandon Moss struck out looking to record the first out of the inning and Josh Reddick grounded out into a double play to end the inning. The only other run the A’s scored was in the fifth, off of a solo home run by Seth Smith.

The team combined for only five hits and two runs, all coming off of Anibal Sanchez.  They walked three times and struck out only four times.

Ryan Cook came in relief for Anderson in the seventh inning, he allowed a two out single, but got Andy Dirks to fly out to end the inning.  Sean Doolittle came in to pitch the eighth, striking out all three batters he faced (Avisail Garcia, Gerald Laird and Austin Jackson).  Grant Balfour closed the game, recording his first save of the post season, he lead off the inning striking out Omar Infante, allowed a single to Miguel Cabrera, but then on a 1-2 pitch he got Prince Fielder to ground out in to a double play to end the game.

Tomorrow the A’s look to A.J. Griffin to keep their playoff hopes alive, he faced the Tigers once this season and allowed eight hits, five runs over 4.2 innings, walked one and struck out three.

Tigers: 5  Athletics:  4

This loss hurts a little bit more, okay a lot more, than yesterday’s. Not only are the A’s down by two games, with the Tigers one game away from eliminating them, but this is a game that they could have (probably should have) won.

Tom Milone had a great outing for the A’s, going six innings and only allowing five hits and one run while striking out six and walking one.  The score stood at 1-1 until the seventh inning, when the A’s took the lead on an RBI single by Cliff Pennington.

Sean Doolittle came in for relief in the seventh, he recorded the first two outs of the inning before allowing back-to-back singles to Austin Jackson and Omar Infante.  He then got Miguel Cabrera to pop up to Coco Crisp, who dropped the ball and both runners scored on the error.

In the top of the eighth the A’s fought back. Yoenis Cespedes singled to lead off the inning and with one out and Josh Reddick up to bat he stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch by Joaquin Benoit. Josh Reddick then hit a home run, putting them back up 4-3.

In the bottom of the eighth Ryan Cook came in to relieve Sean Doolittle, allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the inning.  Andy Dirks hit a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners over to second and third and with that Ryan Cook recorded the first out of the inning.  Cook then struck out Quintin Berry, but with Alex Avila batting, he threw a wild pitch, allowing the runner on third to score.  Alex Avila struck out looking to end the inning.

The A’s threatened again in the ninth, but with two runners on and two outs, Yoenis Cespedes grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Grant Balfour came in to pitch the ninth.  He lead off the inning by getting Austin Jackson to strike out, but then gave up back-to-back singles to Omar Infante and Miguel Cabrera. With two on and one out Balfour intentionally walked Prince Fielder to load the bases.  Don Kelly hit a fly ball to Josh Reddick and just like that; ball game over.

You can really blame anything you want on today’s game, the dropped fly ball, the wild pitch, Grant Balfour, home field “advantage”, but the one thing that went right was the managing of the game.  Bob Melvin did what was right,  he went to the right guys at the right time, the three guys who normally would have shut down the last three innings of the game.

The A’s have an off day tomorrow before they begin the last three games of the series at home.  It’s a sweep or nothing at this point for the Green and Gold and, as we know, anything is possible with this team.

(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:  5  Mariners:  2

This game was very similar to yesterday’s game, just without the walk-off part.  The A’s struggled against starting pitcher Erasmo Ramirez, only collecting three hits over 6.2 innings, they did take four walks, but struck out six times.  The two runs they scored off of Ramirez came in the first inning, Stephen Drew took a one out walk and Yoenis Cespedes tripled and Drew scored from first. Yoenis Cespedes then scored off of a sacrifice fly by Brandon Moss.

In his last start of the season, Tom Milone had his troubles.  He allowed a lead off double to Franklin Gutierrez, but he was stranded after he retired the following three batters.  In the second inning he allowed three singles, but again, escaped the inning unharmed.  In the third inning he was not so lucky.  Milone allowed another lead off double to Gutierrez, Casper Wells singled and Kyle Seager singled, scoring Gutierrez. He then got Jesus Montero to ground out into a double play, but a two out single by Justin Smoak scored Wells.

Milone pitched a clean fourth, but allowed a one out triple to Casper Wells in the fifth.  He was able to strike out Kyle Seager before Pat Neshek came in to replace him. Neshek faced one batter, Jesus Montero, who he walked, before he was replaced by Jerry Blevins.  Blevins got Justin Smoak to ground out to end the inning. Tom Milone’s final totals on the day were nine hits, two runs, no walks and three strikeouts over 4.2 innings.  He threw 85 pitches and 51 were for strikes.

Jerry Blevins pitched a clean sixth inning, recording two fly outs and one ground out.  Ryan Cook pitched in the seventh inning, allowing a double and a single to lead off the inning.  Then with runners on first and third he struck out the next three batters, stranding both runners.  Sean Doolittle pitched the eighth inning and he did not allow a baserunner and also struck out one.

After six scoreless innings, the A’s bats found life in the eighth inning. Stephen Drew flew out to lead off the inning, but with one out Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo home run breaking up the tie. Brandon Moss singled and Josh Reddick followed up with a home run of his own, putting the A’s up 5-2. Grant Balfour came in to close the game, retiring all three batters he faced and recording his 22nd save of the season.

With today’s win and tonight’s Angels loss the A’s are now one win away from clinching a playoff spot. The A’s will face the Texas Rangers for the final three games of the season, giving them a chance to overtake the division with a sweep.