Athletics:  4  Dodgers:  1

This game was actually pretty uneventful until the 9th inning.  Both starting pitchers were impressive, Travis Blackley held the Dodgers to 1 run over 8 innings, while Clayton Kershaw did the same to the A’s.  Each pitcher only allowed 3 hits, Kershaw struck out 7 A’s players, Blackley struck out 6 Dodgers.

Josh Lindblom came in to replace Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the ninth, Coco Crisp walked to lead off the inning and moved over to 2nd on a wild pitch.  Jemile Weeks then tried to sacrifice him over to 3rd, but reached first on a bunt single.  With players on 1st and 3rd Yoenis Cespedes came in and hit an 0-1 pitch for a line drive home run to left field to win the game for the A’s.

The A’s managed to hold the Dodgers to 11 hits and 2 runs over the 3-game series.  The A’s didn’t score a ton in the series, but outscored the Dodgers 11-2.

Lines of the Day:

• Travis Blackley:  8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 SO.  It took Blackley only 87 pitches to get through 8 innings and 67 were for strikes.  It was his longest outing of the season and the first time he did not issue a walk over his first 5 starts.
• Yoenis Cespedes:  4 AB, 1 H, 1 R, 3 RBI.  Cespedes only had 1 hit today, but his 1 hit won the game for the A’s.  It was his 7th home run of the season and now has a .279/.338/.507 slash line and .845 OPS.

A’s Extras:

• Derek Norris made his MLB debut today for Oakland (Josh Donaldson was optioned down to Triple-A to make room for him).  He went 0-3 with a double play, but threw out Dee Gordon trying to steal 2nd in the 9th.  According to Bob Melvin, Norris will not be a backup to Kurt Suzuki, he plans on splitting playing time between the two catchers.
• Jordan Norberto was activated from the DL today, Pedro Figueroa was optioned to Sacramento to make room for the left-hander.
• Ryan Cook was credited with the win today, he allowed 1 walk and struck out 1 over 1 clean inning of work.

For more on the Los Angeles Dodgers, vist Foul Territory.

Athletics:  4  Dodgers:  1

Thanks to a stellar performance by Tom Milone, the A’s have won their second straight game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Milone threw his first career complete game, he was also the first A’s pitcher this season to throw a complete game.  The A’s have now held the Dodgers to 5 hits and 1 run over the last 18 innings.

Lines of the Day:

• Tom Milone:  9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO.  Tom Milone threw 112 pitches tonight and 73 were for strikes.  When pitching at home he has not allowed more than 2 runs per game.
• Yoenis Cespedes:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI.  Cespedes returned to the A’s lineup tonight as the DH, it was the first time he has played a game since June 13th.  Cespedes doubled in an RBI in the 5th and was about 10 inches short of hitting his 7th home run of the season in the 8th.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Josh Reddick:  4 AB, 0 H, 1 SO.  It was another 0-4 night for Josh Reddick, who is now 0-19 in his last 19 ABs.
• Kurt Suzuki:  3 AB,  0 H.  Suzuki was the only player besides Reddick to not reach base tonight, he is now 0-14 in his last 14 ABs.

A’s Extras:

• Brandon Moss hit his 7th home run of the season in the 8th inning.  He now has 7 home runs in his first 13 games with Oakland.
• The A’s announced today that Tyson Ross will be recalled from Sacramento on Saturday to start in place of Bartolo Colon.  In his last start against the Padres he allowed 2 ER over 6 innings, only allowed 1 hit, but walked 4.

For more on the Dodgers, visit Foul Territory.

Athletics:  3  Dodgers:  0

The A’s did not hit a lot today, in fact their walk total doubled their hit total, but thanks to Brandon McCarthy’s strong start the A’s were able to defeat the Dodgers by only scoring 3 runs on 5 hits.

The A’s have won 6 of their last 7 games and are now 7-5 in interleague play this season.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon McCarthy: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO.  Brandon McCarthy only needed 81 pitches to get through 7 innings (56 were for strikes).  McCarthy has now won 5 of his last 6 starts.
• Coco Crisp: 3 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 SB.  Not only was Coco the only player to have a multi-hit night, he also had an impressive 3 stolen bases (13 total on the season).

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Cliff Pennington and Brandon Inge:  The 2 combined for 8 AB, 0 H and 3 SO.  Inge and Pennington were the only 2 players to not take a walk today, they are also the only 2 to not reach base.
• Josh Reddick: 4 AB, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 SO.  Josh Reddick reached base once on a walk, but ended up wearing the golden sombrero.

A’s Extras:  

• Ryan Cook recorded his 4th save of the season today.  Andre Either reached on an error by Coco Crisp, he then walked Bobby Abreu, but was able to get James Loney to ground into a double play to end the game.
• Grant Balfour threw 1 clean inning today, he walked 1 and struck out 1.  He has not allowed a run in his last 7 appearances.
• Bob Melvin believes that Bartolo Colon will be placed on the DL, it is unknown who will replace him in the rotation.
• Jarrod Parker’s start was moved to Friday because the club is trying to limit his innings.  Travis Blackley will replace him on Thursday.

For more on the Los Angeles Dodgers, visit Foul Territory. 

The real Los Angeles team is coming to Oakland for a 3-game series, it will be the the first time since 2006 the Dodgers have played in the Coliseum.  The Los Angeles Dodgers (42-25) are currently are 6-4 in their last 10 games and are 3-3 against our division rivals this season so far.   The Dodgers have put together a nice season for themselves, they have the best record in baseball right now and are 2nd in the league in team ERA, quality starts and BAA.

The last time the A’s faced the Dodgers was in 2009, they lost 2 of 3 in Dodgers Stadium.

Tuesday 7:05 PM PST: (RHP) Aaron Harang (5-3) Vs Brandon McCarthy (5-3)

• Aaron Harang is coming off a decent start against the Philadelphia Phillies, over 7 innings he allowed 2 unearned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5.  This will be the first time the former A’s pitcher has faced Oakland in his 11 year career.
• Brandon McCarthy was scratched from his last scheduled start due to a shoulder ailment that has been bothering him all season. The last time McCarthy started was on June 7th against the Texas Rangers, he pitched 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 3 hits while walked none and striking out 5.

Wednesday 7:05 PM PST: (RHP) Nathan Eovaldi (0-2) Vs (LHP) Tom Milone (6-5)

• Nathan Eovaldi will be making his 5th start for the Dodgers on Wednesday night.  Despite only allowing 1 earned run over 6 innings in his last start he was handed a no decision against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Eovaldi has a 1.82 ERA over 24.2 innings on the season with a 0.7 HR/9 and 6.6 SO/9 rate.
• Tom Milone’s struggles on the road continued in his last start against the Colorado Rockies.  Milone only lasted 4 innings, allowed 7 hits, 8 runs and walked 4, but thanks to the A’s offense, was credited with a no decision.

Thursday 12:35 PM PST: (LHP) Clayton Kershaw (5-3) Vs (RHP) Jarrod Parker (3-3)

• The reigning NL Cy Young award winner will face the A’s for the second time in his career.  He lasted 6 innings in his last start, which was against the Chicago White Sox, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.
• Jarrod Parker was stellar in his last start.  He did not allow a run through 7 innings at hitter friendly Coors field, while also only allowing 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6.  Parker made his MLB debut against the Dodgers, he did not allow a run through 5.2 innings.

Keys to Success: 

The A’s offense has picked up a lot in the month of June, however the Dodgers have one of the strongest pitching staffs in baseball right now, so they really need to keep finding ways to score early and to score often.

The good news for the A’s is Matt Kemp will be missing this series as he is still on the DL with a hamstring injury.  The bad news is there is still no news on Yoenis Cespedes’s return who has not played in a game since June 13th, also because of  a hamstring injury.

Dodgers: 7  Athletics: 2

The A’s that everyone has been expecting showed up today, they only had 5 hits over 9 innings, they struck out 10 times and went 0-7 with runners in scoring position.

Lines of the Day:

• Jordan Noberto: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 strikeouts.  Norberto wins by default for striking out the side.
• Wes Timmons, Cliff Pennington, Adam Rosales, Jonny Gomes and Collin Cowgill for being the only five A’s players to record a hit today.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 runs (2 earned), 3 BB, 1 strikeout.  Parker was not as sharp as his first outing with the A’s, he really struggled with command in the first inning.  He didn’t allow a run in the second inning, but it started off with a hit batter and a single.  He did strike out Matt Kemp to end the inning with two runners on, so there’s a bit a good news coming from him today.
• Joey Devine: 2/3 IP, 1 H, 4 runs (4 earned), 3 BB, 1 strikeout.  Normally I wouldn’t be concerned about a pitcher in Spring Training, but Devine was sent down to Sacramento last season to work on his control issues and today he walked 3 batters.

Worth Mentioning: 

• Another day, another error, this time committed by Wes Timmons in the seventh inning.

Tomorrow the A’s will face the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields, the game will begin at 12:10 PST.  Probable pitchers are (RHP) Brandon McCarthy Vs. (RHP) Juan Nicasio.

(RHP) Jarrod Parker takes the mound today against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch.

Today’s lineup: Jemile Weeks 2B, Cliff Pennington SS, Seth Smith LF, Chris Carter 1B, Jonny Gomes DH, Josh Donaldson 3B, Collin Cowgill RF, Michael Choice CF and Anthony Recker C.

Today’s game can be heard on MLB.com or you can hear the game (for free) today on MLB.tv.

In case you missed it: Yoenis Cespedes played in a simulated game yesterday, he had 4 hits in 6 at-bats including a home run.  He is also expected to make his season debut this weekend.

Daric Barton is expected to swing the bat today and may play in Spring Training games as early as tomorrow.

(Photo: Dinur/Flickr)

Athletics: 3  Dodgers: 3

Lines of the Day:

• Tyson Ross: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1BB, 2 strikeouts.  This outing went a lot smoother than the last time and he was able to throw more strikes.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

• Cliff Pennington: 3 AB, 1 H, 1 Error.  Pennington wins the ugly line of the day for committing his 3rd error in 4 games.
• A’s Offense:  They weren’t shut out, but they only had 8 hits in 35 at bats, they also struck out 6 times and left 21 players on base.

(RHP) Tyson Ross will take the mound today at Phoenix Muni against the Dodgers.

Today’s lineup: Coco Crisp CF, Eric Sogard 3B, Kurt Suzuki C, Manny Ramirez DH, Brandon Allen 1B, Cliff Pennington SS, Michael Taylor RF, Brandon Moss LF and Wes Timmons 2B.

Today’s game can be heard on MLB.com.

In case you missed it: Two of the A’s starting pitchers from last season made their debuts for their new teams yesterday:

Gio Gonzalez pitched 3 impressive innings for the Washington Nationals, he allowed 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 BB and 2 strikeouts.

Guillermo Moscoso pitched 2 innings for the Colorado Rockies, he allowed 5 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 2 BB and 1 strikeout.

For those of you who are interested, Trevor Cahill will make his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks today and the game can be seen on MLB Network at 12:00 PST.

Athletics: 6  Brewers: 0

The pitching was superb today for the A’s, the entire pitching combined only allowed 2 hits (one in the second inning and one in the ninth), they allowed two walks and had 8 strikeouts.

Lines of the Day:

• Tom Milone: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 runs, 1 BB, 3 Strikeouts.  I said before that I thought Milone would be one of the pitchers who make the rotation coming out of Spring Training, and he has made a great case for himself so far.  I know it’s only Spring Training, but it’s hard not to get excited about him.
• Ryan Cook: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 runs, 0 H, 2 strikeouts.  The way Cook has been pitching so far, it’s hard not to see him making the bullpen on opening day.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

Lucky for everyone, no one really stood out as being “ugly” today.  There were a couple O-Fers but, all in all, everyone had a pretty good day.

Worth Mentioning: 

• Finally, a game with no errors!
• Seth Smith has 5 hits in 10 ABs in 4 Spring Training games, he also has 3 runs.
• Jemile Weeks, Wes Timmons and Chris Carter also had a multiple-hit game.

Tomorrow (RHP) Tyson Ross takes on the Dodgers at 12:05 PST, he will face off against (RHP) Aaron Harang.