What is wrong with Cook?

Blue Jays:  3  Athletics:  1

You could say that the two teams on the field in Oakland today looked like two teams who played a 15-inning game the night before.  The offense wasn’t there today, for either teams, but it was the Jays who won in extras this time around.

After last night’s marathon the A’s needed A.J. Griffin to go out and pitch into the game as long as humanly possible, but an injury, which was soon described as shoulder tightness, took him out of the game after just 1.2 innings.  It was up to the tired bullpen to keep the A’s in the game today, which they did, shutting out the Blue Jays for the next 5.1 innings.

For the third consecutive game Ryan Cook came into the game in the 9th to save the game.  He was able to get the first batter to pop up to first base, but allowed a home run to to the very next batter and soon the game was tied.  He then was able to record the next 2 outs, but by then the damage was already done.

The A’s could not win it in the 9th, nor in the 10th when they had the bases loaded with 2 outs and Josh Reddick struck out looking to end the threat.

Jerry Blevins entered the 11th inning, having pitched in the 10th as well, and immediately gave up a single to Edwin Encarnacion, but then got David Cooper to line out to record the first out of the inning. Encarnacion then stole 2nd, but it didn’t really matter because Blevins then walked Rajai Davis.  Jeff Mathis then struck out swinging, and instead of turning a strike em out, throw em out double play, George Kottaras over threw the ball to Brandon Inge and Encarnacion scored on the error.  The following batter, Moises Sierra doubled and Rajai Davis scored, putting the Jays up 3-1.

The A’s went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, and lost in extras for the first time since May 23rd.

The loss can be blamed on many things, Ryan Cook blowing his second game in a row, Bob Melvin for going with Cook, Jerry Blevins for giving up runs in the 11th or George Kottaras for the error that caused the Jays to score the winning run.  For me, it was the offense that lost the game today for the A’s.  You simply cannot expect the team to win when they only score 1 run.  The team combined for 4 hits today over 11 innings, they did walk 7 times, but were 1-6 with runners in scoring position.

» Continue reading “A’s Game Recap: Bad News Turns To Good News, Turns To Bad News”

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:  4  Blue Jays:  1

Everyone can now breathe, with tonight’s win, the A’s losing streak ends at 2 games.

It was the pitching that essentially won the game tonight for the A’s tonight.  The team did struggle a bit offensively again, going 3-13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 players on base, but the 4 runs they scored were enough to bring them their 57th win of the season.

With an A’s win and an Angels loss, Oakland is now back in second place in the division and currently hold rights to the first wild card.

Lines of the Day:

• Bartolo Colon: 8 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 SO.  Colon threw a nice game today, only needing 96 pitches to make it through 8 innings (68 for strikes).
• Josh Reddick: 4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR.  Reddick broke his 0-21 slump in his first at-bat when he singled to right field.  In his following at-bat he hit a 2-run home run to right field.
• Eric Sogard: 4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 2B.  Besides Josh Reddick, Eric Sogard was the only other player to have a multi-hit night.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Coco Crisp: 5 AB, 0 H.  The good news for Crisp is he returned to the lineup tonight after missing 5 games with hamstring tightness.  The bad news is he went 0-5 and left 4 on base.

A’s Extras:

• After being recalled from Sacramento today, Adam Rosales started at shortstop today and went 0-3 with 1 walk.
• Yoenis Cespedes went 0-1 today with 3 walks.  The 3 walks are a good sign for Cespedes who sometimes struggles being patient at the plate.
• Seth Smith left today’s game with a strained hamstring.   It is not known how serious the issue is right now, but he plans on having an MRI in the morning.
• Ryan Cook collected his 11th save of the season today.  Sean Doolittle started the inning with a 4-0 lead, he immediately allowed back-to-back singles, but got Yan Gomes to strike out before he was replaced by Cook.  The lone run that scored in the inning was on an RBI ground out.

The A’s will face off against the Toronto Blue Jays (51-52) again, this time at home for a 4-game series.  The last time the two faced off, about a week ago, the A’s took 2 out of 3 from them.

Thursday 7:05 PM PST: (RHP) Henderson Alvarez (7-7) Vs (RHP) Bartolo Colon (7-8)

• Henderson Alvarez did very well in his last start against the Detroit Tigers, lasting 7 innings and only allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.  Alvarez has 2 career starts against the A’s and has a 0-1 record with a 3.09 ERA over 11.2 innings with 7 strikeouts.
• Bartolo Colon’s last outing was against the Baltimore Orioles, he only lasted 5.1 innings, allowed 7 hits, but no runs while walking 1 and striking out 5.  Colon has yet to face the Blue Jays this season, but has a career 4-5 record against them with a 4.35 ERA and 124 strikeouts over 147 innings (23 starts).

Friday 7:05 PM PST: (LHP) Brett Cecil (2-4) Vs (LHP) Travis Blackley (3-3)

• Brett Cecil lasted 6.2 innings in his last start against the Detroit Tigers, he allowed 4 hits, 3 runs, walked 4 and struck out 7.  Cecil has faced the A’s once this season, lasting 6 innings and only allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8.
• Travis Blackley was shakey in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 1 over 5 innings.  Blackley has faced the Blue Jays once this season, he allowed 5 hits, 1 run, walked 1 and struck out 8 over 7 innings of work.

Saturday 1:05 PM PST: (LHP) Ricky Romero (8-8) Vs (RHP) A.J. Griffin (3-0)

• In his last start against the Seattle Mariners, Ricky Romero allowed 8 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), walked 2 and struck out 7 over 6 innings of work.  Romero faced the A’s the last time the 2 teams met, allowing 8 runs on 4 hits and while walking 6 and striking out 1 over 1.1 innings.
• Having lasted 7 innings in his last outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, A.J. Griffin is coming off of his longest outing of the season so far.  He allowed 5 hits, 3 runs, walked 2 and struck out 6.  Griffin faced the Blue Jays once this season and allowed 3 hits, no runs, walked 2 and struck out 6 over 7 innings.

Sunday 1:05 PM PST: (LHP) Aaron Laffey (2-2) Vs (LHP) Tom Milone (9-8)

• Aaron Laffey was rocked by the Seattle Mariners in his last start, allowing 9 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks and striking out none over 4.2 innings of work.  Laffey has faced the A’s once this season, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 over 5.2 innings.
• Despite dominating at home, Tom Milone had a very poor outing against the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start.  He lasted 6 innings, allowed 7 hits, 5 runs, walked 1 and struck out 4.  Milone’s one start against the Jays was not great either, lasting 7 innings, but allowing 8 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), walking none and striking out 7.

Keys to Success:

After their last series against the Tampa Bay Rays, I think the obvious answer would be start hitting and scoring runs.  The A’s really struggled in the offensive department in their 4 previous games so hopefully they can find their bats in this series.

Blue Jays:  10  Athletics:  4

The A’s 7-game winning streak has come to an end after the Blue Jays knocked around the pitching staff this afternoon.  Tom Milone looked like his normal road self, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits, including 2 home runs, with no walks and striking out 7.

The A’s took an early 3-0 lead on a solo home run by Josh Reddick (his 22nd of the season) and a 2-run shot by Brandon Inge (his 11th of the season).  That lead was soon erased in the bottom of the 4th when Milone allowed a 3-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion.

The A’s regained the lead again the following inning on an RBI ground out by Josh Reddick, but that would be the last run they would score in the game.  Milone lost the lead in the 6th inning when Travis Snider laid down a safety squeeze bunt, allowing Colby Rasmus to score from third and a throwing error by Milone himself allowed for the 2nd run to score.  Milone’s last run allowed was a solo home run by Kelly Johnson in the 7th.

A’s Extras:

• The A’s only had 5 hits today, they also had 3 walks and struck out 9 times.  Not one player in the lineup had a multi-hit day.
• Sean Doolittle did not have a good day, allowing 3 hits and 4 runs over 2/3 of an inning.
• The A’s released (RHP) Chris Ray earlier today after he requested his release.  He pitched in 6 games for the Rivercats he allowed 7 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings.

Athletics:  16  Blue Jays:  0

It was all A’s tonight in Toronto.  The A’s scored a season high 16 runs and have extended their winning streak to 7 games, which is also a season high for them.

The A’s scored their first run in the first inning when Yoenis Cespedes doubled in Jonny Gomes.  They then went on to score 8 more runs in the following inning, knocking Ricky Romero out of the game after only 1.1 innings.  They would score 8 runs total off of the left-hander, who also allowed 4 hits and 6 walks.

Lines of the Day:

• A.J. Griffin:  6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 SO.  Behind the offensive explosion tonight was Griffin’s gem.  He struck out a career high of 9 and threw 104 pitches, 67 for strikes.
• Coco Crisp: 6 AB, 3 H, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI.  It was a good day for Crisp at the plate, who hit his 4th and 5th home runs tonight.
• Yoenis Cespedes:  4 AB, 2 H, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI.  Cespedes now has a .302/.361/.533 slash line with an .894 OPS on the season with 15 2B.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jemile Weeks: 4 AB, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 R.  It’s hard to pick an “ugly” line of the day since everyone contributed, but Weeks was the only player in the starting line up tonight to not collect a hit.  He did however, take a walk after seeing an 11 pitch at bat and eventually scored on a Gomes single.

A’s Extras:

• Derek Norris started tonight for the second day in a row, he went 2-4 with a double, 2 runs, 1 RBI and 1 walk.
• Jonny Gomes started in left field tonight, he went 2-3 with with 2 walks, 2 runs and 1 RBI.
• Chris Carter hit his 6th home run of the season tonight, he was 1-3 with 2 walks (including a bases loaded RBI), 2 runs and 3 RBI.
• Brandon McCarthy threw a 42-pitch simulated game today and according to Bob Melvin, everything went fine.  There is still no time table for her return.

Athletics:  7  Blue Jays:  2

The A’s begin their 6-game road trip with a win.  They have now won 6 straight, making it this their longest winning streak this season.

The A’s scored first when Derek Norris launched a 2-run home run in the second, it was his 3rd home run of the season.  The A’s bats were pretty silent until the 7th inning, when they scored 5 runs with 2 outs.  The rally began with Jemile Weeks hitting a triple that scored Brandon Hicks from second.  Coco Crisp then doubled in Weeks and put the A’s up 4-1.  Next Jonny Gomes and Josh Reddick would both walk and Yoenis Cespedes added 3 more runs when he cleared the bases with a single.

Lines of the Day:

• Travis Blackey: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO.  The one run Blackley allowed was a lead off home run by Travis Snider in the 3rd.  It took him only 97 pitches to get through 7 innings and he struck out a season high of 8.
• Jemile Weeks:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI.  Weeks was moved down to the 9th spot today and it paid off.  He was the only player in today’s lineup to collect 2 hits, one of which was a triple.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Chris Carter:  3 AB, 0 H, 1 BB.  Chris Carter was the only player in the A’s lineup to not record a hit tonight, but he did reach base in the 4th when he walked.

A’s Extras:

• Evan Scribner and Jim Miller each threw an inning of relief tonight, Scribner allowed a hit and struck out two while Miller allowed 2 hits, including a solo home run and struck out 1.
• A’s top prospect, Michael Choice, has been shut down for the season due to a broken hand.  He had .287/.356/.423 slash line in Double-A Midland over 91 games with 10 HR.

(Photo: The West End/Flickr)

The A’s begin their “all birds” road trip by facing the Toronto Blue Jays (48-47) in a 3-game series.  The A’s have faced the Blue Jays once this season, back in May, when they split a 2-game series with them.

Tuesday 4:07 PM PST: (RHP) Travis Blackley (2-2) Vs (LHP) Brett Cecil (2-2)

• Travis Blackley lasted 5.1 innings in his last outing against the Texas Rangers.  He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.  Blackley has faced the Blue Jays once in his career, he allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks and struck out 5 over 5 innings.
• Brett Cecil made his last start against the New York Yankees and lasted 6 innings while allowing 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and striking out 5.  Cecil has not faced the A’s this season, but has 4 career starts against them.  Over those starts he has a 2-2 record a 2.79 ERA and a 5.6 SO/9 rate.

Wednesday 4:05 PM PST: (RHP) A.J. Griffin (2-0) Vs (LHP) Ricky Romero (8-6)

• A.J. Griffin last faced the New York Yankees, he allowed 7 hits, 2 runs, walked none and struck out 4 over 6 innings.  This will be his first career start against the Blue Jays.
• Ricky Romero was knocked around in his last outing against the Yankees.  Over 6 innings he allowed 12 hits, 6 runs, walked 2 and struck out 2.  He faced the A’s earlier this season and allowed 2 runs over 6 innings on 5 hits and 5 walks while striking out 7.

Thursday 9:37 AM PST: (LHP) Tom Milone (9-6) Vs (LHP) Aaron Laffey (2-1)

• Tom Milone was outstanding in his last outing against the Yankees, allowing just 6 hits and no walks over 7 innings and struck out a career high of 10.  This will be Milone’s first career start against the Blue Jays.
• Aaron Laffey will be making his 6th start for the Blue Jays on Thursday.  In his last start against the Boston Red Sox he lasted 7 innings and allowed 8 hits, no walks and struck out 4.  Laffey has not faced the A’s this season, but has faced them 6 times in his career (5 relief appearances and 1 start).

Keys to Success:

The A’s have not fared well against left-handed pitching this season, so this series won’t be easy for them.  It looks like it’s going to be another series that requires near perfect pitching.

(Photo: ucumari/flickr)

Jays:  5  Athletics:  2

What is there to say?  The A’s left 20 on base today and when you leave that many players on base, there’s probably a decent chance you are going to lose the game.

This game was pretty frustrating from start to end. Tyson Ross wasn’t as bad as his last 2 games, but he wasn’t great either.  He pitched 5.2 innings, allowed 5 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 3 and struck out 3.    He threw 88 pitches, 55 were for strikes, but was pulled from the game after he allowed a run in the 6th.   Normally, you would expect your starting pitchers to go a bit deeper in the game, but at least it wasn’t the Tyson Ross who allowed 16 earned runs in his last 2 starts.

The A’s struck out 14 times today, each player collected a strikeout and Daric Barton lead the pack by striking out 3 times alone.

There were a couple of bright spots in this game, Jemile Weeks had another multi-hit game, he went 2-5 and stole his 6th base of the season.   Jonny Gomes and Josh Reddick continue to be the A’s offense, each going 1-4 and each collecting a RBI.

A’s Extras:

• Yoenis Cespedes did not play today, but after the game it was announced that he has a sprain on the back of his hand and is listed as day-to-day.  He will take swings tomorrow and if he is feeling better he will be in the lineup tomorrow night.
• Brandon McCarthy played catch today and had no problems.  He will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and is still expected to pitch on Saturday if that goes well.

The A’s are back home, but that doesn’t get any easier for them.  Tomorrow the A’s will start a short 2-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (16-13), who are 6-4 in their 10 games and who rank 7th in runs scored in the league.

Tuesday 7:05 PM PST: (LHP) Ricky Romero (4-0) Vs (RHP) Brandon McCarthy (2-3)

• Despite allowing 5 ER in 8 innings in his last start, Ricky Romero was credited with his 4th win of the season which came against the Texas Rangers.  He also allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out 6.  In his first 6 games of the season he has not taken a loss.
• In his last start Brandon McCarthy lasted 6.2 innings against the Boston Red Sox, he only allowed 1 ER, allowed 5 hits, 3 walks and struck out 4.

Wednesday 12:35 PM PST: (RHP) Brandon Morrow (3-1) Vs (RHP) Jarrod Parker (1-0)

• Northern California native, Brandon Morrow, was stellar in his last start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Over 9 shut out innings, he only allowed 3 hits, struck out 8 and walked none.  Morrow has only walked 1 batter in his last 3 games.
• Jarrod Parker collected his first major league win in his last start against the Boston Red Sox.  He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 ER, walked 2 and struck out 4.

Keys to Success: 

Not to state the obvious here, but the A’s are going to have to pitch well and they are going to have to score runs to beat this team.  The problem with facing a team like the Jays is they have both the pitching and the hitting that it takes to wins games.   There’s little room for error in this series, but the A’s find ways to win and I am hoping at least for a split.