(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: 4  Rangers: 3

I’ll have to make this short because I am now just getting home from Oakland and it’s almost 2 AM.

For the first time since 2006 the A’s have clinched a playoff spot and With a win tomorrow the A’s have a chance to tie the Rangers for first place.

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.

Rangers:  5  Athletics:  4

Another day, another walk-off.  From a fan’s point of view, this has been extremely frustrating trip for the team.  We knew it wasn’t going to come easy, but I don’t think we expected this.

Dan Straily pitched a great game tonight in Arlington, over 6.2 innings he allowed 5 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) walked two and struck out a career high of 8.  His only real mistake was a one out home run to Josh Hamilton in the fifth inning. The fifth was really the only inning he struggled in, after allowing a home run to Hamilton he allowed a double to Adrian Beltre, but he was picked off by Derek Norris when he tried to moved to third on a ball that dropped a foot in front of Norris.  He then allowed a double to Nelson Cruz, but the threat ended when he got Michael Young to pop up.

The A’s scored first tonight off of a 2-run home run from Josh Donaldson in the second inning.  They scored again in the third inning off of a solo home run by Yoenis Cespedes.  Their final run scored was in the sixth off of a two out RBI single by Cliff Pennington.

They knocked Derek Holland out of the game after only 3 innings, they only collected 4 hits off of him, but two of those hits were home runs.  He also walked 2 and struck out 4. The A’s could not do much against the Rangers bullpen after Holland was pulled, only combining for 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run over the next 6 innings of the game.

When Dan Straily left the game in the seventh inning he left with the bases empty and was in line for the win.  Jerry Blevins came in to record the final out of the inning, but walked Josh Hamilton.  Pat Neshek came in to relieve Blevins, he did record the last out, but not before giving up a 2-run home run to Adrian Beltre.

The A’s did not do much in the eighth or the ninth.  Josh Reddick walked in the eighth, but was stranded and Stephen Drew walked with 1 out in the 9th, but was stranded after he was caught stealing to end the inning.

Ryan Cook came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, he was able to retire all three batters he faced.  Unfortunately, Tyson Ross, who came in to pitch in the ninth, did not have the same success.  Ross allowed two singles to Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler to lead off the inning.  Elvis Andrus then sacrificed both runners over to second and third with a bunt.  Ross then intentionally walked Josh Hamilton.  With the bases loaded Adrian Beltre (yes, again) came up to the plate and smacked a single up the middle and the ballgame was over.

It’s easy to put the blame on one individual, but, in my opinion, it was another group effort.  You could say that it was poor management of the bullpen, but there was another costly error in the second inning which lead to an unearned run.  The team struggled again offensively, only going 2-8 tonight with runners in scoring position and leaving 7 on.

Is it panic time for the A’s?  Probably so.  I have tried to remain optimistic through this entire road trip, but they are now only 2-4 over their last six games with 3 left to play in Texas before heading home.  They have 9 games left, 6 of which are against the Rangers.  They are now 5 games out of first place, 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the first wild card and only hold a 2 game lead over the Angels for the second wild card.  I don’t necessarily think it’s time to give up on them, but they are going to have to make a tremendous turnaround if they want to hold onto the second wildcard spot.

Athletics:  4  Rangers:  3

The A’s offense was pretty quiet today until the bottom of the 7th inning.  Colby Lewis held them to 1 run on 3 hits through the first 5 innings, his only mistake was allowing a solo home run to Brandon Inge in the 5th.

Going into the 7th the Rangers were up 3-1, but a 2-run double by Josh Reddick tied the game.  The bottom of the ninth Brandon Hicks, who came in the game to substitute for Cliff Pennington, lead off the ninth, and on a 1-1 count hit his first major league home run and won the game for the A’s.

Lines of the Day:

• Josh Reddick: 4 AB, 2 H, 2 RBI.  Reddick was one of the 2 players to have a multi-hit game for the A’s today.  He had a single in the 4th inning and the game tying double in the 7th.
• Brandon Inge:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 RBI.  Inge had a productive day, his two hits coming in the form as a solo home run and a double.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• A’s offense: 31 AB, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 SO.  There has definitely been worse days as far as the offense is concerned, but the A’s were 1-10 today with runners and scoring position and they left 8 runners on.

A’s Extras:

• Travis Blackey pitched in his first game today since July 1st, he went 5.1 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.
• Ryan Cook was credited with today’s win.  He pitched a clean inning in the 9th, he allowed a hit and a walk and struck out 1.
• Coco Crisp returned to the lineup today, he went 1-3 with 1 walk and 2 stolen bases.
• Yoenis Cespedes returned to the outfield today after DH’ing in the previous 4 games.  He went 1-3 today.
• Brandon McCarthy threw a 25 pitch bullpen session today with no problems.  There is still no timetable for his return.
• Today’s walk-off makes 9 for the A’s this season, which leads the majors.

For more on the Texas Rangers, visit Big Game Claws.

Athletics:  3  Rangers:  1

It took Blackley almost 8 years to get his second win of his career, this time it took him a little over 2 weeks to get his 3rd.  With a little bit of help, or a lot of help from the A’s defense tonight, the A’s and Blackley were able to defeat Texas in the finale of the 4-game series.

The A’s were able to hand Yu Darvish his first loss of the season in Arlington by scoring 3 runs off of the right-hander over 7 innings.  Darvish did what Darvish did best, holding the A’s to 5 hits and striking out 11 batters, but it wasn’t enough for him tonight.

Lines of the Day:

• Travis Blackley:  7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 SO, 0 BB.  Blackley wasn’t dominant by any means, but he was able to hold the Rangers to 1 run over 7 innings in Arlington, which is a pretty impressive feat.  Blackley also picked off 2 batters, Elvis Andrus in the first inning and Yorvit Torrealba in the third.
• A’s Bullpen:  2 IP, 1 H, 0 R.  The A’s bullpen (consisting of Grant Balfour, Jerry Blevins and Ryan Cook) had 2 clean innings of work today.  It was really nice of them to let us win today.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Cliff Pennington:  3 AB, 0 H, 1 SO.  Pennington was one of the 2 players who did not reach base today.
• Jemile Weeks: 4 AB, 0 H, 1 SO.  Weeks was the other one.

A’s Extras:

• Brandon Moss hit his 8th home run of the season today, he went 1-4 in today’s game.
• Bartolo Colon is expected to return from the DL on Tuesday, if he does return his first start will be against the Red Sox.
• Brett Anderson threw 40 pitches today off the mound, including a few breaking balls and everything went well.

 For more on the Texas Rangers, visit Big Game Claws.

Thanks, guys!

Rangers: 4  Athletics:  3

Hand another loss to the A’s bullpen!

A.J Griffin was impressive tonight against the best offensive team in baseball, only allowing 2 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings while striking out 4.

It’s unfortunate that our bullpen could not hold it together for Griffin to get him his first big league win.  It’s also unfortunate this is a reoccurring theme week after week.

Who’s really to blame for this loss?  Grant Balfour for loading up the bases on a single and 2 walks (and then walking in a run) or Ryan Cook for not being able to record the last out before giving up a bases clearing triple?  Either way, it’s frustrating to see how shaky the back end of the pen has been all season long.

In non-depressing news, former prospect Chris Carter was called up from Sacramento and started in tonight’s game.  He went 1-3 with a walk and a HR.  He was called up after Tyson Ross was optioned to Sacramento earlier today.

For more on the Texas Rangers, visit Big Game Claws.

Rangers:  7  Athletics:  6

Well, the good news the A’s found a way to score runs.  The bad news is, not surprisingly, Tyson Ross has still not figured out how to stop the opponent from scoring runs.

The A’s took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 4th and that’s when it all went bad.  Ross lead the inning off by allowing a walk, 2 singles and a run before he was pulled from the game.  Jim Miller came in to replace Ross, he then walked two (including walking in the tying run), got a pop up from Michael Young and struck out Adrian Beltre before allowing a 2-run single to David Murphy.  The inning would eventually end, but the damage was already done by then.  The A’s managed to score 2 runs in the 7th, but were shut down in the 8th and the 9th.

Like I said, it’s a nice change from the previous 3 games in Seattle, but frustrating to see them lose a game they normally would win.

Lines of the Day:

• Yoenis Cespedes: 4 AB, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 RBI.  After seeing him going 5 for 25 in his last 7 games it was encouraging to see Cespedes collect 3 hits today.
• Derek Norris:  3 AB, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 RBI.  Norris hit his 2nd home run of the season in the 3rd, he also took his first walk of the season in the 8th.  I do feel the need to also mention as good as he was at the plate today, he wasn’t so good behind, allowing 4 players to steal off of him.
• Honorable mention to Coco Crisp who went 3-4 today with 2 runs and a stolen base.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Tyson Ross:  4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 SO.  Ross has struggled all season long, especially on the road and today was no exception.  He did enter the 5th inning, but was unable to record an out before he was taken out of the game.  As much as I would like to see him make his way back to Sacramento, I don’t believe there is another pitcher in the A’s organization that can replace him right now.
• Jemile Weeks:  5 AB, 0 H.  Not a pretty line today for Weeks, who has not recorded a hit in his last 13 AB.

A’s Extras:

• Josh Reddick recorded his 18th home run of the season in the 3rd.  He went 1-3 today with 2 runs, 1 RBI and 2 walks.
• Sean Doolittle pitched 1.2 innings today, he allowed 3 hits, no runs, no walks and struck out 1.
• Cliff Pennington also hit a home run today in the 3rd inning, it was his 3rd of the season.  Pennington also committed his 7th error of the season in the 6th inning.
• Bartolo Colon threw a bullpen session today and everything went well for the right-hander.  It is still unknown whether or not he will be able to return to the team before the All Star break.

For more on the Texas Rangers, visit Big Game Claws.

The A’s are off to face the toughest team in their division, and possibly the toughest team in all of baseball.  The Texas Rangers (47-29) not only have the best record in all of baseball, but they are 14-6 over their last 20 games.

The last time the A’s faced the Rangers was earlier this month and not a lot has chanced since then, they are still the scariest best offensive team in baseball.  The Rangers lead the entire league in runs scored (395), OBP (.344) and in SLG% (.458).

Thursday 5:05 PM PST: (RHP) Tyson Ross (2-7) Vs (RHP) Scott Feldman (1-6)

• Tyson Ross has replaced the injured Bartolo Colon and in his last start only lasted 5.1 innings against the San Francisco Giants, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3.  Ross has not faced the Rangers this season yet, but has a 1-3 record on the road over 6 games this season with a 7.12 ERA and a .381 BABIP.
• Scott Feldman collected his first win of the season in his last start which was against the San Diego Padres, over 6 innings he allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and no walks while striking out 5.  Feldman has faced the A’s once this season, he allowed 8 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk over 1.2 innings of work.

Friday 5:05 PM PST: (RHP) A.J. Griffin (0-0) Vs (LHP) Matt Harrison (10-3)

• A.J. Griffin made his MLB debut last Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, he lasted 6 innings, allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and struck out 4 while his only mistake being a 2-run home run to Buster Posey in the first inning.
• Matt Harrison collected his 10th win of the season in his last start against the Colorado Rockies.  Over 5 innings he allowed 5 hits, 0 runs, walked 2 and struck out 3.  Harrison has faced the A’s once this season, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks and striking out 3.

Saturday 3:15 PM PST: (LHP) Tom Milone (8-5) Vs (RHP) Justin Grimm (1-1)

• Tom Milone is coming off of his best road start of the season, shutting out the Mariners over 7 innings while allowing 7 hits, no walks and striking out 5.  Milone has faced the Rangers once this season (in Arlington) allowed 4 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks over 7 innings of work.
• Justin Grimm will be making his 3rd start of the season on Saturday.  In his last start he faced the Detroit Tigers and only lasted 1 plus inning while allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk.

Sunday 3:05 PM PST: (RHP) Travis Blackley (1-2) Vs (RHP) Yu Darvish (10-4)

• It was another strong start for Travis Blackey and another no decision in his last outing.  Blackley held the Seattle Mariners to 2 runs over 7 innings while only allowing 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3.  He has faced the Rangers once this season (at home) and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks over 4.2 innings.
• Yu Darvish struck out 10 in his last start, he lasted 7 innings against the Detroit Tigers while allowing 4 hits, 4 runs and walking 1 to collect his 10th win of the season.  Darvish has faced the A’s twice this season, he fared much better the first time at home when he held them to 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 7.

Keys to success:

If the A’s bats continue to be as quiet as they were the previous 3 games, the pitching is going to have to be near perfect if the A’s want to salvage a game or 2 this weekend.  Facing Texas is never easy and facing them in Arlington is even harder.

I am trying to remain optimistic, but just hoping for a series split, or better yet how about they don’t get swept?

Keep an eye out on A.J. Griffin this weekend to see how he handles the pressure of pitching away from the O.co and facing a big league lineup.