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 barely the sixth inning and here I am, giving in to the fact that the A’s are getting swept by the Cleveland Indians, and by the time you read this they will be swept by the Indians over four games.  I didn’t really expect this, to be honest, I thought that Justin Masterson could have been tough, but I thought the other three games could be up for grabs and as it turns out, the Masterson game was the only game they came close to winning.

Today’s game was just plain ugly.  By the second inning, when the A’s were down 5-0, you knew it was over.  Normally I am one of those, “The A’s have six more innings to play catch up” kind of people, but with the way the A’s have been hitting in this series, I knew there was no way they the team was digging themselves out of that hole.

Bartolo Colon was bad today.  He only lasted four innings, allowing eight hits, six runs, two home runs and striking out four.  He did, however, manage to stay consistent in the strike zone, throwing 57 of his 83 pitches for strikes and he did not issue a walk.  Evan Scribner did his part in the fifth, by allowing three hits and three runs, including a two-run home run. He did pitch a clean sixth and seventh inning, only walking one of the seven batters he faced.  Pat Neshek pitched a clean eighth inning, allowing just a single to Drew Stubbs.

The offense was about the same it has been the entire series. The A’s could not do a whole lot against Scott Kazmir, scoring just one run on five hits, while taking zero walks and striking out ten times. The only run he allowed was on a solo home run by Josh Donaldson. The A’s “threatened” in the eighth; Adam Rosales led the inning off with a walk, Jed Lowrie followed with a single and Eric Sogard singled in the second run for the A’s. Josh Donaldson then drew a walk to load the bases, and with no outs the next three batters were retired in order and not another run scored. The A’s finished today’s game by going 1-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine on base.

I can take away a few things from this series, starting with the fact that the injuries could really be hurting the team. I honestly don’t know how much of an impact it would have made having both Coco Crisp and Chris Young in the lineup these past four games, but you have to think missing the two of them is not helping this anemic offense. Seeing Evan Scribner pitch in today’s game is another reminder that the team does not have a “true” long reliever, but I am not sure there is much they can do about that. And lastly, when a pitcher performs poorly the fans are always going to call for the player to be “cut” or “sent down”. Cutting Bartolo Colon would be, for the lack of a better term, stupid, and the team simply can’t afford to lose another starting pitcher.

I am going to close with some good news; the A’s are off to Seattle and they have fared well against the AL West this season, so it’s quite possible they won’t get swept in the next series. The A’s also do not have to face Felix Hernandez this time, so more good news! Josh Donaldson is still hitting pretty well, going 4-13 in this series with a home run, two RBI and taking two walks. And the most important piece of good news… this series is finally over.

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.

Hey, the A’s won again! And it was a drama-free win! I like it when the the A’s win and when they win easily. It was also nice to see them hand Jason Vargas a loss, which they never seem to do.

It was the A’s who struck first again, scoring their first run in the third after Andy Parrino doubled and Jed Lowrie drove him in with a single. Their biggest inning was in the sixth, when they scored four runs, sealing the fate of the series. With one out Derek Norris doubled, Josh Donaldson followed with a home run and put the A’s up 3-1. Seth Smith doubled and Jason Vargas intentionally walked Coco Crisp to get to Chris Young. Vargas was then replaced by Kevin Jepsen, who coughed up a double to Young, which scored Crisp.

The offense was nice, but AJ Griffin was the true hero of the night. Griffin lasted eight innings tonight, the longest for any of the starting pitchers this season, and only allowed one run. The only trouble he really had was in the fourth inning, when he allowed back-to-back singles with one out to both Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo. Howard Kendrick followed up with a double, scoring Hamilton and with runners on second and third with only one out, he struck out Chris Iannetta and got Peter Bourjos to ground out to third base to end the inning.

After the first two nights of the series, this game was pretty uneventful for the team, besides the monster home run Yoenis Cespedes hit to center field to lead off the seventh inning. The A’s scored their final two runs in the ninth of off a two-run double by Seth Smith. Evan Scribner finished the game, retiring all three batters he faced on two fly outs and a pop up to to second base.

Lines of the Day:

• The team really needed AJ Griffin to go deep into this game and that’s what he did, he pitched eight innings, allowed five hits, one run, walked one and stuck out two.
• Seth Smith had another big night for the team, going 4-5 with two more doubles and an RBI.
• Josh Donaldson, who has struggled a bit at the plate this year, had a 2-4 night with a walk,  he also hit his first home run of the season and drove in two runs.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• It was a clean win and every player collected at least one hit tonight, so I will spare the players an “ugly line” tonight.

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.

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”

Photo: Keith Allison

With today’s 13-5 win over the Los Angels Angels of Anaheim the A’s are sitting on a 5-5 record this spring. This is the first time since game two that the A’s are at .500 and they have also won three in a row for the first time in ten games. These numbers don’t really mean a lot until the real season starts, but a win is always nice even when it’s “only” spring training.

The five runs scored by the Angels today were only allowed by two pitchers; with Dan Straily allowing two and Ryan Cook allowing the other three. Straily started today’s game and went 2.1 innings while allowing four hits, two earned runs, no walks and striking out two. Over 3.2 innings this spring he has allowed six hits, four runs, one walk and struck out three. Chris Resop relieved Straily in the third and struck out both batters he faced. Sean Doolittle pitched a clean fourth inning while striking out the side. Ryan Cook allowed his three runs in one inning, allowing four hits and a walk while also striking out one. Jordan Norberto also pitched in today’s game and allowed only a hit.

The offense was what really won the game for the team today. They combined for fifteen hits, five walks, four doubles and two triples while going 9-14 with runners in scoring position. The biggest hit came from John Jaso in the fourth when he hit a bases clearing triple. He finished the game going 1-2 with a walk and three RBI.

• Adam Rosales started at second base today and went 0-2 with a walk. He is 4-11 this spring with four walks and two RBI.
• Josh Reddick started in right field today and went 1-3 with a double and an RBI.
• Yoenis Cespedes collected his first hit of the spring today and finished the day going 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Jed Lowrie was the starting shortstop today and went 1-3 with an RBI. He is now 4-14 with three walks and three RBI this spring.
• Josh Donaldson was the starting third baseman in today’s game and he went 0-2 with a walk. This spring he is 1-17 with four walks.
• Michael Choice stated in center today and went 0-2 with a strikeout. Shane Peterson replaced him in the sixth and he went 1-2 with a triple and an RBI.

Tomorrow is the first split-squad for the team; Bartolo Colon will face the undefeated Kansas City Royals while Brett Anderson takes on team Italy.

Yesterday I said that the A’s had an off day today and that their next scheduled day wasn’t until Sunday. It turns out that today IS Sunday so a game was played (Imagine how surprised I was when I woke up this morning and saw the lineup card posted on Twitter for today’s game). For the second day in a row the A’s defeated the Colorado Rockies, today’s final score was 7-2.

AJ Griffin started today’s game and went three innings, allowed three hits, one run (on a solo home run from Nolan Arenado), walked none and struck out one. Griffin has allowed four hits over five innings this spring, while allowing one run, no walks and striking out four.  Pat Neshek relieved Griffin in the fourth inning and pitched one clean inning, striking out one. Lefties Pedro Figueroa and Hideki Okajima both pitched an inning a piece; Figueroa allowed a hit and struck out one, while Okajima did not allow a baserunner and struck out one. The other run allowed was off of Justin Thomas, who pitched two innings today, allowed three hits and struck out one.

Most of the runs scored today did not come off of hits, the first run scored was off of a bases loaded hit by pitch in the first inning. The second run scored in the third after Daric Barton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded,  then two batters later, Adam Rosales walked with the bases loaded to score the third run of the game and Scott Sizemore followed up with a bases loaded hit by pitch to score the fourth run. That’s five batters hit by pitches in the last two innings for those counting.

• Scott Sizemore did start at second base today, but had to be pulled for precautionary reasons in the fifth because of a bruised hand due to the hit by pitch. Before he left the game he was 2-2 with an RBI. He is now 3-12 this spring with three walks and two RBI. Grant Green replaced Scott Sizemore and went 2-2 with a run scored.
• Chris Young started in center field today and went 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts.
• Josh Donaldson was the starting third baseman for the team today and he went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Michael Choice started in right field today (he replaced Chris Young in center in the sixth) he went 1-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a HBP.
• Hiro Nakajima started at shortstop today and went 1-3 with a run scored and a strikeout. He is now 3-14 this spring with eight strikeouts.
• Daric Barton started at first base today and went 0-1 with a HBP and walk.
• Addison Russell was the designated hitter today and he went 1-5 with an RBI and a strikeout. In four games this spring Russell is 4-11 with two RBI and one walk.

The A’s WILL play a game tomorrow against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Dan Straily will be making his second start for team.