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.

The A’s just won a game they probably shouldn’t have, defeating the Angels by a final score of 9-5. I know that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but this game was ugly. Not only did the starting pitcher only make it to the fourth inning, there were too many defensive mistakes, and it’s hard to believe the team actually came out on top. Don’t get me wrong, I love when the team wins, especially against the Angels, but I prefer the wins to be less painful.

The A’s were the first to get on board, with two outs in the first Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes both walked, Derek Norris followed with a single, which scored Jed Lowrie. Josh Donaldson then singled and loaded the bases for Brandon Moss, who also singled and scored both Cespedes and Norris. Nate Freiman then walked and Scott Sizemore ended the inning by hitting into a force out. They scored again in the second inning when Coco Crisp led the inning off with a home run, his fourth of the season and his fourth as in many games.

Jarrod Parker started today’s game and after his last start I think we were all hoping he would redeem himself, unfortunately that did not happen. Parker only lasted 3.1 innings today, throwing 74 pitches and only 40 for strikes. In the fourth, with one out, he loaded the bases after hitting Albert Pujols with a pitch and that would be the last batter he would face. Chris Resop replaced Parker and got Josh Hamilton to hit into an inning ending double-play. Resop returned for the fifth inning, allowed a lead off single, but retired the next three batters he faced, striking out the last two.

Pat Neshek replaced Chris Resop in the sixth and that’s really when things began to fall apart. Neshek allowed a lead off triple to Mike Trout, and what should have been a sacrifice fly to right field, turned into a dropped fly ball by Chris Young. The runner scored easily and the the batter, Brendan Harris, advanced to second on the error. Albert Pujols followed with a ground ball to short, and an error committed by Jed Lowrie allowed Harris to advance to third and Pujols was safe at first. Jerry Blevins relieved Neshek (who recorded no outs) and retired the first out of the inning, but at the cost of a sacrifice fly from Josh Hamilton. Ryan Cook then replaced Blevins and got Mark Trumbo to ground out into a force out, but Howard Kendrick followed with a triple and Trumbo scored. He then got Alberto Callaspo to strike out to end the inning.

In the very next inning, and down by one, the A’s came back. Coco Crisp led off the inning with an infield single, and two outs later, Yoenis Cespedes walked. John Jaso then took the lead back by hitting a 3-run home run to right. Josh Donaldson continued the rally with a single and Brandon Moss drove them both in with his first home run of the season. Nate Freiman then flew out to right field to end the inning, but by then the damage was done.

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, Ryan Cook returned in the bottom of the seventh and retired all three batters in order, striking out two of the three he faced. Doolittle pitched the eighth and also retired all three batters in order. Grant Balfour pitched the ninth inning, allowed a single and a walk, but did not allow any runs.

Lines of the Day:

• Brandon Moss had a big day going 3-4 with a home run and four RBI. He seems to be heating up after starting off slow, he is now 7-21 on the season with five RBI and three walks.
• Yoenis Cespedes has had a slow start to the season thus far, but he had a good night tonight, going 2-3, with two walks and scoring twice.
• It’s hard not to mention Coco Crisp in this category, he went 2-3 today with another home run and a stolen base. Pretty sure I am going to be disappointed if he doesn’t hit 158 home runs this season (I KID, I KID).
• Some of you won’t be surprised, but I am going to add Chris Resop to this, and not just because I’m biased. He got the A’s out of a tough situation in the fifth, and for that I think he deserves the nod. He pitched 1.2 innings today and allowed one hit, no walks and struck out three.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker had another poor outing, and I am trying not to be concerned yet. He lasted just 3.1 innings, allowed nine hits, two runs, three walks and struck out one. It’s going to be a big test for Parker this weekend, as his next start is scheduled against the Detroit Tigers.
• Chris Young not only had a poor night at the plate, going 0-5 and striking out twice, he also committed the error in the sixth.
• Turns out Jed Lowrie isn’t perfect. He finished the night going 0-4 with a walk and, he too, committed an error in the sixth. It was his second of the season.

Also worth mentioning that Scott Sizemore started at second today, but had to leave the game in the second after injuring his knee. The team has confirmed it’s a sprained knee and he will be leaving the team tomorrow for an MRI.

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.

Dan Straily made his season debut tonight, facing the Houston Astros for the first time in his Major League career. This was the first time the A’s have faced the Houston Astros since they joined the AL West (obviously) and they walk away with the win by a final score of 8-3. Straily pitched 6.2 innings tonight, allowed five hits, two earned runs, walked none and struck out a career high of eleven.

Pat Neshek came in the seventh to relieve Straily, but struggled to get the last batter out. He allowed two hits, a walk and a run (charged to Straily) before he was relieved by Chris Resop, who recorded the final out by getting Brett Wallace to fly out to center with the bases loaded. Evan Scribner pitched the final two innings of the game, allowing two hits, a double, one run, no walks and struck out one.

Coco Crisp lead the game off with home run, but the bats stayed pretty quiet after that until the fifth inning. The A’s scored seven runs in the fifth on four hits (two doubles), four walks, one error and one hit by pitch. The only player to not reach base in that inning was Nate Freiman. In fact, Nate Freiman was the only player to not reach base the entire night.

Lines of the Day:

• Dan Straily was probably the hero in tonight’s game, striking out eleven and only allowing those two runs. Although I hear it’s easy to strike out Astros’ hitters this season, it was still fun to watch him. Unfortunately for Straily, Bartolo Colon returns from his suspension tomorrow and will be making his first start, which means Straily will be on his way to Sacramento.
• Coco Crisp had a big night going 3-5 with two doubles, a home run, one walk and three RBI.
• Also having a good night was John Jaso, who went 2-3 with a walk and one RBI.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• There really wasn’t a lot of bad tonight, but there were a few players that stood out to me. Yoenis Cespedes looked a little lost at the plate tonight he went 0-5 with an RBI and two strikeouts. He did reach base on an error in the seventh inning.
• Nate Freiman also went 0-5 tonight, but to be fair, there were two balls he hit that could have dropped for hits, especially when Rick Ankiel made a nice play to rob him from a hit.
• Pat Neshek seemed to be all over the place tonight, I don’t really need to repeat his numbers, but he just didn’t have it.

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.

A year ago today I did my first Fantasy Baseball post and I recommended that you draft six A’s players for your team. I actually did pretty well, I think, as 4.5 of the players I told you to draft fared pretty well last season.  What I am trying to say here, is if you want to win, you’ll listen to me. (I kid).

If you’re anything like me you probably won’t draft an A’s player in fear of jinxing them (ahem… Jemile Weeks last season), but I know many of you like to get that one (or several) homer pick. This is strictly my personal opinion, and if you listen to me and I tank your season, I’m truly sorry.

Just like last season I am going off of standard leagues and using the following stats: BA, Runs, HR, RBI and SB for offensive categories and Wins, ERA, WHIP, Saves and SO for pitching categories. This is my once a year post where I pretend like batting average is an important stat, so enjoy it while you can:

Yoenis Cespedes: Last season he was a sleeper pick, this season I feel pretty confident about telling you to draft him. He had a .292/.356/.505 slash line and had 23 HR, 82 RBI and stole 16 bases. ZiPS projects a .273/.338/.452 slash line with 23 HR and 84 RBI. I tend to agree that Cespedes will not be a .300 hitter, but I do think if healthy, he could be a 30 HR player.

• What he’s good for: HR, RBI, a few SB

Coco Crisp: I hesitate to put him on here, but for deep leagues he might be worth picking up. Last season Crisp had a .259/.325/.418 slash line with 11 HR, 68 Runs and 39 SB. ZiPS projects a .263/.325/.400 slash line with 8 HR, 63 Runs and 32 SB. He has a history of injuries, so it’s hard to really gauge how his numbers will be, but like I said, he would not be a bad bench player for deep leagues.

• What he’s good for: Runs, SB, the occasional HR

» Continue reading “A’s Baseball: Fantasy Edition II”

THE A’S ARE BACK AT .500!!  It’s still spring training and the A’s are still playing games that don’t matter, but they do have a Cactus League Championship title to defend. This win comes against their division rival, Seattle Mariners, by a final score of 7-3.

Tom Milone started today’s game and went three innings, allowed three hits, no runs, one walk and struck out three. Milone has now pitched five innings this spring and has allowed zero runs on three hits and two walks and has struck out four. Hideki Okajima relieved Milone in the fourth and over one inning of work allowed a hit, a walk, no runs and struck out one. Sonny Gray was the only pitcher to allow runs in today’s game and he went two innings, allowed four hits, three runs (two earned), walked none and struck out one. Andrew Werner also pitched two innings today and only allowed two hits.

The offense was offense-y today, scoring seven runs on eleven hits and four walks. Hiro Nakajima had his first multi-hit game going 2-3 with a stolen base and RBI. He is now 6-20 this spring with an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. Jed Lowrie hit his first home run of spring today, he went 1-2 with a walk, scored two runs and drove in two. He is 5-16 with five RBI and four walks this spring.

• Coco Crisp started in center field this lovely afternoon and went 1-3 with a strikeout. He is 5-12 with a double this spring.
• Josh Reddick played in right field and went 1-2 with a walk and one RBI.
• Yoenis Cespedes was the team’s designated hitter today and he went 1-4 with two strikeouts.
• Brandon Moss played at first base and went 0-3. He is 5-20 this spring, with one home run, two RBI and one strikeout.
• Chris Young played in center field today and went 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Scott Sizemore returned to the lineup today and went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout. He is 3-14 with two RBI, four walks and five strikeouts this spring.

The A’s are going to face the Mariners again tomorrow, except only this time they get to face the “real” team. AJ Griffin will be making his third start of the spring.

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.