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”

We are now finishing up the first week of spring training and the A’s finish the week with a 2-5 record. Today’s loss came against the San Francisco Giants and the final score was 13-9. The good news is real baseball begins a month from today and that there is plenty of games for the A’s to play before then.

A lot of runs were allowed today, but ten of the thirteen were allowed by only two pitchers. Jerry Blevins pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed four hits, three runs (only two allowed) and struck out one. The error that caused the unearned run to score was committed by Jemile Weeks. Travis Blackley was hit the hardest today, allowing five hits (two singles, one double, one triple and a home run), seven earned runs and two walks over a third of an inning.

Despite the thirteen runs allowed, the pitching wasn’t all bad today. Jarrod Parker started today’s game and pitched two innings in his spring debut. Parker allowed one hit, no runs and struck out two while walking none. Ryan Cook also made his spring debut and pitched an inning while only allowing a walk. Sean Doolittle also pitched for the first time this spring and only allowed a hit over an inning of work.

The offense was not a problem today, as the team combined for nine runs on fourteen hits and four walks, while going 6-21 with runners in scoring position. Here are some of the lines from the team’s hitters today:

• Jemile Weeks started at second today and went 1-3 with an RBI. He is now 6-11 this spring with five RBI.
• Chris Young returned to the lineup today and started in center field. He went 2-3 with a strikeout.
• Jed Lowrie started at shortstop today and went 0-2 with a walk and run.
• Derek Norris started behind the plate and went 1-1 before he was replaced by John Jaso. Jaso finished the day going 0-2.
• Seth Smith started in right field today and went 1-2 with a triple, a walk and a run.
• Daric Barton was at first again today and went 1-2 with a RBI.
• Michael Choice continues to hit this spring, going 2-2 with an RBI. He is now 9-16 this spring with six RBI.

Tomorrow the A’s will face the Colorado Rockies and Tom Milone will be making his spring debut for the A’s.

You’ll have to forgive me, I am an hour behind from almost everyone else. I decided today that I would give up social media for the day and watch the game on TV (which was obviously an hour behind real life), so I am just now processing what I watched. The A’s beat the Angels with a final score of 7-5, securing their first Cactus League win of the season.

The offense came from multiple players today, combining as a team for 11 hits, 7 doubles and going 5-11 with runners in scoring position today. The umpires also helped with the win by calling a 2-run home run from Bill Hall a double, so a shout out to them too! Here’s some numbers from players that you should care about:

• Travis Blackley started today he went one inning, allowed three hits and struck out one.
• Daric Barton made his spring debut today starting at first and had a good day going 2-2 with a walk.
• Jed Lowrie also made his debut today at shortstop, he went 0-2 with a walk and committed his first error.
• Yoenis Cespedes also started his first game of spring, he also went 0-2 with a walk.
• Chris Young started in right field today and went 1-1 before he had to leave the game with a quad cramp. There is no word whether or not he will miss any time, but according to every single A’s beat writer he was just taking out for precautionary reasons. Michael Taylor replaced Young and went 0-4 with two strikeouts.
• Top prospect, Addison Russell, came in as the designated hitter in the sixth and he went 1-2 with a double. Prospect Michael Choice replaced Yoenis Cespedes in the 4th and he went 2-2 with a double and RBI.
• Pat Neshek was credited with the win today and he threw one inning, allowed one hit, one walk and no runs.

The A’s play their first home game of the spring tomorrow and will be facing off against the Cleveland Indians. Andrew Werner will be making his spring debut for the A’s and you can see the starting lineup here.

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: 12  Tigers: 4

The A’s avoided the sweep today by doing the exact opposite of what they had in their previous three games.  They hit with runners in scoring position and despite Tom Milone being pulled from the game in the fifth, the bullpen pitched well enough to keep Oakland in the game.

Tom Milone was less than sharp today, throwing 94 pitches through 4.2 innings.  He got Austin Jackson to strike out to start the bottom half of the first, but with only one out he loaded the bases with a double and two walks.  Delmon Young swung at the first pitch he saw, grounding out into a double play and ending the threat.

He was not so lucky in the second inning, allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and a sacrifice bunt that would move the runners over to second and third.  Then with two on and one out Gerald Laird hit an RBI single scoring the first run of the game.  He record the second out of the inning by getting Austin Jackson to fly out, but a second run scored on the sacrifice.  Omar Infante walked, but Miguel Cabrera flew out to end the inning.

The A’s cut the Tigers lead in half in the third, scoring on a throwing error by Omar Infante. The Tigers would stay quiet in the third and the fourth, allowing the A’s to tie it up in the fifth inning off of a solo home run by Seth Smith. The Tigers retook the lead in the fifth inning off of an RBI double by Prince Fielder.  Milone recorded the second out of the inning before being replaced by Pat Neshek who recorded the last out by getting Avilsail Garcia to pop out.

The sixth inning was huge for the A’s, who scored four runs off of an RBI double by Brandon Moss and a 3-run double by George Kottaras.  Jerry Blevins replaced Neshek in bottom half of the sixth and after allowing a lead off home run to Andy Dirks he got Gerald Laird to fly out.  Ryan Cook came in to replace Blevins, getting the last two batters to fly out. Cook pitched the seventh inning as well, setting down the batters in order and striking out two of the three he faced.  Sean Doolittle pitched a clean eighth inning, also striking out two of the three he faced.

The A’s needed insurance runs and that’s exactly what they got in the ninth, scoring six runs and putting them up by eight. Cliff Pennington and George Kottaras lead off the inning with two singles and Stephen Drew grounded out moving the runners to second and third.  The Tigers then intentionally walked Josh Reddick to get to Yoenis Cespedes, who hit a sacrafice fly.  Then with two outs and Kottaras and Reddick on first and third Brandon Moss was intentionally walked to get to Daric Barton.  Barton walked and Kottaras scored and the A’s were up by four. Seth Smith would follow with a bases clearing double and he scored after Josh Donaldson doubled him in.  George Kottaras, who lead off the inning with a single, grounded out to end the inning.

Evan Scribner pitched the ninth inning, he allowed a double to Omar Infante, but escaped the inning without allowing a run.

Along with good news comes bad news, the A’s have announced that Brett Anderson will miss the rest of the regular season with a right olique strain.  Anderson has expressed that he would like to be ready in the post season if the team makes it.  As I said yesterday, Travis Blackley is expected to take his spot in the rotation.  In 93.2 innings for the A’s this season, Blackley has a 3.65 ERA, a 3.62 FIP and .262 BABIP.

NOOOOOOOO…

Tigers:  6  Athletics:  2

A lot of things did not go right for the A’s tonight.  I guess if I had to chose the one thing that went right it was when Justin Verlander was done after 6 innings, but that did not make a big difference in the final score.

Brett Anderson looked strong through the first two innings, allowing only a walk.  In the third Andy Dirks and Gerald Laird both lead off with bunt (yes bunt) singles.  He got Austin Jackson to ground out moving the runners over to second and third, but a two run double by Omar Infante put the Tigers up 2-0.  Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked and then Prince Fielder was unintentionally walked to load the bases.  Then with Delmon Young at the plate Brett Anderson fell to the ground while making a delivery on the fourth pitch of the at bat.  Anderson had to be removed from the game after the fall and his injury was later described as a right oblique strain.

It’s not a sure thing that Anderson will miss time, but I think it’s safe to assume he will most likely be done for the rest of the season.  If he does have to miss any time Bob Melvin has named Travis Blackley to take his spot in the rotation.

The offense struggled again, going 2-10 with runners in scoring position.  They scored their only two runs in the ninth off two RBI singles from Cliff Pennington and Stephen Drew.

Orioles:  9  Athletics:  5

I want to be happy that the A’s took two out of three against the Orioles, but it’s hard to feel optimistic when today’s game was absolutely ugly.

I felt good about the A’s in the first, Dan Straily had an easy inning getting the first two batters to pop up and then striking out the final to end the inning.  Collin Cowgill lead off the bottom half of the inning with a double and two batters later Josh Reddick hit his 29th home run of the season putting the A’s up 2-0. Yoenis Cespedes then doubled, Chris Carter then walked, but both were stranded after Josh Donaldson hit into a double play.

The A’s lead was then cut in half after Straily allowed a solo home run to Matt Wieters in the second.  The Orioles then tied it in the third inning off of an RBI single from JJ Hardy.  The Orioles then took the lead in the fourth inning when Matt Wieters hit his second home run of the game to lead off the inning.  The A’s would never see the lead again after that.

Dan Straily was not good today, only lasting 4.2 innings while allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 home runs and walking 5.  Home runs have been one of his biggest issues in the majors, having allowed 8 over 28.1 innings since his call up.  His next scheduled start is in Yankee Stadium, so it will be interesting to see if his start is skipped or if he gets another shot in the home run friendly stadium.

Six pitchers came out of the bullpen today, Travis Blackley pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and no runs.  Evan Scribner replaced Blackley in the fifth, faced one batter, allowed a hit and then was replaced by Pedro Figueroa.  Figueroa threw one pitch, getting Chris Davis to pop up, before being replaced by Tyson Ross.  Ross struck the last batter out to end the inning.

Tyson Ross came out in the seventh and walked the first two batters before he coughed up an RBI double to Manny Machado and a two run single to Endy Chavez. Jim Miller then came in to replace Ross, allowed a single to Robert Andino, but then struck out the next three batters.  Miller then pitched a clean 8th inning, walking 1 and striking out 1.

The A’s scored two more runs in the eighth off of a 2-run home run by Stephen Drew, their first runs scored since the first inning.  Jesse Chavez came in to replace Jim Miller in the ninth and allowed back-to-back doubles and a run to start of the inning. He then recorded two outs, but allowed an RBI single to Chris Davis.

The A’s tried to make a come back in the ninth, but fell short.  With one out Brandon Moss walked and Seth Smith struck out swinging.  Josh Reddick singled and Brandon Moss scored.  Yoenis Cespedes then kept the rally going by also hitting a single.  Jim Johnson then came in and got Chris Carter to ground out to end the game.

The pitching was not great today, having combined for 13 hits, 9 earned runs and 9 walks.  Those 9 walks were the worst to me, there is no way you can win a game by allowing 9 walks.  The offense was just as poor as the pitching, although the combined for 11 hits and 5 runs, they also struck out 12 times and were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left 9 on.

Angels:  7  Athletics:  1

Yes, the A’s were swept by the Angels today, but a loss like this means very little when one of the players on the team gets hurt.

Brandon McCarthy left today’s game in the fourth inning after he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Erick Aybar.  I did not witness the incident, nor do I care to see it, but from what I understand it was pretty scary.  McCarthy dropped to the ground after the hit and after a couple of minutes he was able to stand up and walk off of the field on his own.

He did not lose consciousness at any point, which is good news, but was taken to the local hospital to be examined further.  There are no updates as of right now, but we should know more later on tonight.

Before he left the game McCarthy allowed 5 hits and 3 runs over 3.2 innings, he walked 1 and struck out 3.  Travis Blackley relieved him after he left the game and allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks over 3 innings while striking out 2.

The Angels opened it wide open in the ninth after Ryan Cook lead off the inning with a walk to Peter Bourjos, he then gave up a single to Erick Aybar and a fielding error by Derek Norris loaded the bases with no outs.  Grant Balfour came in to relieve Cook and almost immediately walked in a run.  He got Mike Trout to strike out, but then gave up a 2-run single to Torii Hunter.  Jim Miller then came in to replace Balfour, he struck out Albert Puljols and then the Angels decided to kick us while we were down and Maicer Izturis stole home to score their 7th run of the game.

The offense was pretty much non-existent today, they combined for only 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 13 times.  Their only run came in the third inning off of a RBI single by Seth Smith.

Like I said earlier, it’s hard to even be upset by this loss.  Of course I wanted them to win, but McCarthy’s health is much more important at this point.

Athletics:  8  Indians:  4

Well, it wasn’t a shutout, but it was another win.

Cleveland struck first tonight, ending their 30 inning scoreless streak against the A’s.  Jason Donald lead off the third with a home run and the following batter, Ezequiel Carrera, tripled and scored on an RBI ground out.  Those would be the only two runs allowed by Travis Blackley.

The A’s immediately took the lead in the fourth, when Josh Donaldson hit a 3-run home run scoring Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Carter and himself.  They scored again in the sixth inning on an RBI ground out by Derek Norris.  They scored two more in the seventh, after Coco Crisp lead off the inning with a double, Stephen Drew and Yoenis Cespedes both struck out swinging, but Seth Smith came through with a double, which scored Crisp.  Chris Carter would follow up with a single, scoring Smith and Josh Donaldson struck out to end the inning.

The Indians would scored two more runs of their own against Sean Doolittle, both unearned, in the eighth.  Doolittle walked Shin-Soo Choo to lead off the inning, then allowed a single to Lou Marson and a fielding error by Josh Donaldson would load the bases.  Brent Lillibridge hit a sacrifice fly to score Choo and Jerry Blevins came in to replace Doolittle.  Blevins got Casey Kotchman to ground out, but Marson scored on the play.  Ryan Cook then came in to replace Blevins and got Jason Donald to ground out to end the inning.

The A’s scored two more in the ninth inning after Stephen Drew lead off the inning with a double and Yoenis Cespedes singled him in.  After Seth Smith grounded out and Chris Carter hit a pop up, Josh Reddick doubled and scored Cespedes.  The inning ended with Josh Donaldson striking out.

Ryan Cook would finish the game and record his 13th save of the season, he allowed a lead off double to Ezequiel Carrera and then struck out Jason Kipnis and Jack Hannahan and got Shin-Soo Choo to ground out to end the game.

Lines of the Day:

• Josh Donaldson: 5 AB, 2 H, 3 RBI.  Donaldson had the biggest hit tonight for the A’s, giving the A’s the lead in the fourth.  He has been quite the productive hitter since his return to Oakland hitting .351/.403/.561 since his call up.
• Josh Reddick: 5 AB, 3 H, 1 RBI, 1 2B.  Reddick was back in the six spot tonight and although it’s a small sample size, he seems to be comfortable hitting in this spot.

A’s Extras:

• Yoenis Cespedes also had a good night, going 3-5 with a double and 1 RBI.
• Travis Blackley pitched 5.2 innings tonight, he allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, walked 2 and struck out 5.  This will most likely be his last start for now as AJ Griffin and Dan Straily will both be available to pitch for Oakland on Monday.
• The A’s combined for fifteen hits today and the only player to not collect a hit was Cliff Pennington, who went 0-4 with a strikeout.
• Graham Godfrey cleared waivers earlier today and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento.