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.

Yankees:  10   Athletics:  9

I never enjoy when the A’s lose, in fact if it were up to me I would have them win every game of the season, but today has had to be the biggest heartbreaking loss of the season.  This is a game the A’s should have won.  There were many missed opportunities for the team today, three costly errors, a bad call by the second plate umpire and a four run lead that could not be held onto.

It started off good for the A’s, the lead off the game with back-to-back-to-back doubles, immediately putting themselves up 2-0.  Then with Cespedes on third and only one out, Chris Carter struck out swinging and Josh Reddick flew out to end the inning.  Travis Blackley, who was in to replace Brett Anderson, struggled in the bottom of the inning, after getting Derek Jeter to fly out he allowed a solo home run to Ichiro Suzuki and then walked Alex Rodriguez.  With Robinson Cano batting he was able to pick off Rodriguez at first, but the umpire called the pick off a balk (which it wasn’t) and Rodriguez moved over to second.  Cano then hit a double, scoring Rodriguez and the game was tied 2-2.  Nick Swisher then walked, Casey McGehee struck out and a routine ground ball to Josh Donaldson, which would have been the third out of the game, turned into an error and the bases were loaded.  With the bases loaded Andruw Jones walked and the Yankees took the 3-2 lead.  Blackley was able to collect the final out of the inning by getting Chris Stewart to ground out.

The Yankees scored another run in the second inning, an unearned run, this time coming off of an error by Cliff Pennington.  It was the last inning Blackley saw, only lasting two innings, allowing 4 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), walking 3 and striking out only 1.  Blackley needed 59 pitches to get through the first 2 innings of the game and only threw 30 strikes.  The A’s scored two runs, one in the third and one in the fourth, tying the game up to 4-4.  The Yankees retook the lead in the fifth off of a solo home run by Raul Ibanez and the A’s tied it up again in the seventh off of a sacrifice fly from Chris Carter.

» Continue reading “A’s Blow 4-Run Lead in 13th Inning, Lose In 14″

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.

Tom Milone forgot he was pitching in Oakland today.

Angels: 8  Athletics:  3

Well, the A’s winning streak has ended at nine.  Today was not pretty, but if you’re going to lose, might as well lose big.

Tom Milone was not good today.  He allowed 10 hits, 2 of which were home runs, and 5 runs over 3 plus innings.  He threw 67 pitches today, and if you’re looking for any positives in this performance, he did not walk a batter.

The bullpen did most of the work today, Pat Neshek relieved Milone and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings while only allowing a double and striking out 1.  Pedro Figeroa pitched 2/3 innings and allowed 1 hit, 2 walks and 3 runs (2 earned).  Most impressively was Tyson Ross, who was called up today, he pitched 2.2 innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 3. Evan Scribner pitched a clean ninth, allowed a hit and struck out 1.

The A’s scored their first run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Josh Reddick, they scored again in the fifth when Josh Donaldson lead off the inning with a solo home run and their final run came from a solo home run by Chris Carter in the eighth.

The A’s combined for only 8 hits and 3 walks and were 1-5 with runners in scoring position today.  Josh Donaldson was the stand out today, going 2-4 with a home run and a double.  Jonny Gomes also had a multi-hit day, going 2-3 with a walk and a double.

Athletics:  5  Rays:  4

After watching the first three innings of this game, one might have thought that the A’s were about to get shut out by the Rays for the second day in a row.

The A’s broke through in the fourth inning when Yoenis Cespedes tripled with only one out.  Jonny Gomes then struck out, but Josh Donaldson, who has been red hot since his return from Sacramento, singled in Cespedes.  Derek Norris then reached base by getting hit by a pitch and Brandon Moss came up to bat and singled in Donaldson.  The inning ended when Josh Donaldson tried to steal home and was tagged out by Matt Moore.

The Rays tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth after Ben Zobrist tripled and Jeff Keppinger brought him home with a sacrifice fly.  They took the lead in the fifth inning when BJ Upton hit a double to score Jose Molina, who had also reached base on a double.

The A’s tied up the game in the seventh after Josh Donaldson lead off the inning with a double and Derek Norris singled and scored him.  The A’s took their second and final lead of the game in the eighth after Jonny Gomes hit a 2-run home run, his fifteenth of the season, which scored him and Cespedes.

Although Grant Balfour recorded his thirteenth save of the season, it was not pretty.  Ryan Roberts lead off the inning with a walk and the following batter, Luke Scott, hit a double to score him.  He then got the following three batters to ground out to end the threat and the game.

Lines of the Day:

• Josh Donaldson: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 RBI.  It’s not clear what is going to happen when Brandon Inge comes back, but it would be hard to take Donaldson out of the lineup right now.  He is batting 411/.455/.634 with 6 doubles over 11 games since being recalled from Sacramento.
• Ryan Cook: 1.2 IP, 1 BB, 4 SO.  It was nice to see Cook have a solid relief appearance after his previous struggles.  Since being moved out of the closer role he has pitched 5 innings and allowed 5 hits, no runs, walked 1 and struck out 9.

A’s Extras:

• Jarrod Parker wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t great either.  He allowed 7 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings while walking 2 and striking out 7.  He threw 103 pitches today and only 59 were for strikes.
• After going 2-3 yesterday with a double and a walk, Stephen Drew collect another hit today over 4 at-bats.
• Josh Reddick was not in the lineup today and per Bob Melvin it was just a routine day off.  He has been slumping as of late, only hitting .175/.221/.300 with a .521 OPS for the month of August.

White Sox: 7  Athletics: 3

There is not a lot to say about this afternoon’s game except it was ugly.

Bartolo Colon was strong through the first five innings, only allowing one unearned run off of a bad throw by Cliff Pennington.  Jonny Gomes tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth when he hit his fourteenth home run of the season.

Colon retired the first batter in the sixth, but allowed a single to Alex Rios and the following batter, A.J. Pierzynski, hit a 2-run home run off of him and the White Sox regained the lead.  He then got Alexei Ramirez to ground out, but with two outs the White Sox rallied to score 3 more runs off of Colon.  The last time Bartolo Colon allowed five runs or more was June 12th against the Colorado Rockies.  This is also the first time he has allowed an earned run since July 22nd against the New York Yankees.

The A’s would go on to score two more runs in the game, both off of solo home runs, but it wasn’t enough to rally back and win.

There were three errors committed in today’s game, two by Cliff Pennington and one by Yoenis Cespedes, but technically, only one of of those errors cost the A’s a run.

Line of the Day:

• Adam Rosales: 4 AB, 2 H, 1 RBI, 1 HR.  Adam Rosales was one of the two players who had a multi-hit game, one of those hits was a home run (his second of the season).

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Bartolo Colon: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R (5 Earned), 2 BB, 2 SO.  Colon has been good for the A’s this season, so it’s hard to be mad about today’s game.  A pitcher is bound to have a bad day eventually, today was his.
• A’s Offense: 35 AB, 8 H, 3 RBI, 13 SO.  The only three runs that the A’s scored were off of solo home runs.  To be fair, Chris Sale is one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game right now, so again, hard to be mad.

A’s Extras:

• Derek Norris hit his fifth home run of the season in the ninth.
• After having a big day yesterday, Chris Carter went 0-4 today with two strikeouts.
• Brandon Inge was not in the lineup today after dislocating his shoulder in last night’s game.  The injury is more serious than originally thought and he will head to Oakland tomorrow for a MRI and a DL trip is possible.

 For more on the Chicago White Sox, visit South Side Hit Girl. 

I can even play with a dislocated shoulder!

Athletics:  9  White Sox: 7

This was not a pretty game by any means, but a win is a win and I’ll take it.

After struggling twice against Francisco Lirano earlier this season, the A’s finally found a way to score runs off of the left-hander.  The first inning did not look good for the Green and Gold as the first three batters that faced Lirano struck out.  In the second he struck out two more Athletics.

The third inning was much different.  Jemile Weeks lead off the inning with a fly out, Coco Crisp then singled and then Jonny Gomes walked.  Josh Reddick then grounded out into a force out and Jonny Gomes was thrown out at second.  Yoenis Cespedes was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Chris Carter, who singled and drove in two runs.  Brandon Inge then walked and with the bases loaded and two outs Derek Norris hit a ground-rule double and both Cespedes and Carter scored.  Adam Rosales then singled in the final run before Jemile Weeks flew out, again, to end the inning.

Travis Blackley, having allowed two runs the previous inning, now had a 5-2 lead.  The A’s would add on another run in the fouth when Josh Reddick singled in Coco Crisp.  Blackley saw his lead shrink when he allowed a RBI single to Tyler Flowers in the 4th and then a 2-run home run to Kevin Youkilis in the fifth.

Jordan Norberto replaced Blackley in the sixth inning and after retiring the first two batters on strikeouts he gave up a home run to Tyler Flowers and the game was tied.  Norberto would start the seventh inning as well, allowing a lead off single to Kevin Youkilis and striking out Adam Dunn before Ryan Cook came in to replace him.

Bob Melvin had announced earlier in the day that Ryan Cook was being removed from the closer spot for a couple of days and will only be put into games with less high-pressure situations.  So I question why Ryan Cook was placed into a tied game in the seventh.  That being said, Ryan Cook immediately allowed back-to-back singles to Alex Rios and A.J. Pierzynsky and the White Sox took the lead.  He then got Alexei Ramirez to ground out into a double play to end the inning.

» Continue reading “A’s Fight Hard to Even Up Series”

Athletics:  10  Angels:  4

After being shut out by Jered Weaver yesterday, the A’s came back with vengeance tonight.  They were able to knock C.J. “Lawyerball” Wilson out of the game after only 5 innings, scoring 6 runs (3 earned) off the left hander.

The A’s had the longball going again tonight with Jonny Gomes, Derek Norris, Adam Rosales and Josh Reddick each hitting one a piece.  (Derek Norris and Adam Rosales went back-to-back in the sixth).  Along with the 4 home runs, every player in the starting lineup collected a hit and they were able to take 5 walks against Wilson.

Lines of the Day:

• Bartolo Colon: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 5 SO.  It was another strong outing for Colon tonight.  He did see his scoreless streak come to an end at 22.1 innings, which is a career high for him, but the one run he allowed was unearned.
• Chris Carter: 4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB.  Chris Carter had a nice day at the plate, collecting 2 hits, including a double and walking once.  It was his first multi-hit game since July 27th.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Travis Blackley: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 2 SO.  Blackley only allowed 3 home runs in his previous 71 innings, tonight he allowed 2 (a solo to Mike Trout in the 8th and a 2-run shot to Erick Aybar in the 9th).  He would have allowed 3 had Coco not made an excellent catch to rob Kendrys Morales.

Athletics:  5  Jays:  4

First off I would like to apologize for my short recap, I have just returned from a 15-inning baseball game and it’s 2:30 in the morning.

Tonight…errr today… the A’s hit their 13th walk-off of the season and for the second time this week it was done over 15 innings.  To make this easier I will just highlight the important things from the game.

• Dan Straily made his debut tonight and pitched 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and struck out 5.  He threw 102 pitches tonight and 70 were for strikes.
• Jonny Gomes hit his 11th home run of the season in the 3rd, Chris Carter his his 9th in the 4th.
• Yoenis Cespedes went 2-3 today with 1 run and a stolen base, but exited the game in the 8th inning with what is being described as a wrist sprain and is considered day-to-day.
• Ryan Cook entered the game in the ninth with the A’s ahead 4-1, but coughed up the lead when he allowed a 3-run home run to Jeff Mathis.
• Pat Neshek, who was claimed off of waivers from the Orioles earlier today, made a relief appearance for the A’s tonight and pitched 1.1 innings and struck out 3.
• The A’s won in the 15th after Jemile Weeks lead off the inning with a triple and in the very next at bat Coco Crisp hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home.
• Seth Smith was placed on the DL with a left hamstring strain, Michael Taylor was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to replace him.  Taylor had one plate appearance today when he pinch hit for Yoenis Cespedes and he struck out looking.
• Because Seth Smith was placed in the DL, Derek Norris was able to be recalled from Sacramento to replace Kurt Suzuki and was in the lineup tonight.  Norris was 1-6 with 2 strikeouts today.

Athletics:  14  Orioles:  9

There was a pitcher’s duel tonight in Baltimore.  That was sarcasm for those of you who didn’t catch it.

The A’s struck first when Josh Reddick tripled in Jonny Gomes in the first inning.  They would then go on to score 3 more runs in the same inning, when Yoenis Cepedes scored on a wild pitch and Chris Carter hit a 2-run home run.  Brandon Hicks hit a solo home run in the second and put the A’s up 5-0.

The Orioles scored their first run in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Chris Davis.  They then went on to score in the 3rd on a double by J.J. Hardy when score 2 more runs.  They then took the lead in the 5th after Adam Jones hit a 3-run home run that put them up 6-5.

The A’s regained their lead in the sixth when Seth Smith hit a bases clearing double, scoring Brandon Hicks, Jemile Weeks and Coco Crisp.

The game was pretty quite until the bottom of the eighth inning, Sean Doolittle lead off the inning with a walk to Mark Reynolds, recorded two outs, but then allowed a single to Nick Markakis.  Ryan Cook came into the game to record a 4 out save, but immediately allowed a single to J.J. Hardy which scored the first run in the inning.  He then allowed another single to Jim Thome and the game was tied 8-8.  After hitting Adam Jones with a pitch, Cook allowed a single to Chris Davis which scored J.J. Hardy and the Orioles had the lead back.

Up 9-8 in the ninth, Jim Johnson came in to close the game.  Yoenis Cespedes led the inning off with a ground out, but then Chris Carter and Brandon Inge both singled.  With 2 on and 1 out, Derek Norris singled and tied the game.  Brandon Moss then walked and with the bases loaded Jemile Weeks hit a single that scored Brandon Inge and the A’s had the lead back.  Coco Crisp then followed with a single of his own and the A’s scored 2 more runs.  Seth Smith then doubled and 2 more runs scored and the A’s were up by 5.

Jerry Blevins pitched the bottom of the ninth, he did allow 2 singles, but no runs scored.

» Continue reading “A’s Win Wild One In Baltimore”