A’s kickoff another series vs. Angels

The A’s kickoff a four game series against the Angels tonight, the last time we will see Anaheim this season.  It looks like Parker, Straily, Griffen, and (I imagine) Anderson will be the rotation for the series, going up against Haren, Williams, Santana, and Weaver – who looks to be returning for Thursday’s matinee game – respectively.  Let’s hope the A’s fare a bit better than last week’s terrible showing. 

The A’s made three call-ups today – Jemile Weeks, Daric Barton, and Jessie Chavez.  Weeks is a welcomed return even if Melvin has yet to commit to how or when he will be used.  Weeks also said that he used the demotion to work on his swing.  We’ll see how this goes, but I’m still more comfortable with Weeks vs. Pennington, even if the latter has been playing very well in September.  I trust that Melvin will find some more magic in pushing the right buttons at the right time.  Barton returns as a situational hitter and late game, defensive replacement.  I can’t imagine it goes much further than this plan.  Per CSN’s story, Chavez will be used sparingly from the bullpen, if at all. 

One last, quick update as Brandon McCarthy continues to make progress.  He walked a bit in the hospital today and may return home sooner rather than later.  Good luck Brandon!

With that said, let’s take care of the Angels tonight and over the next couple of days please!  Let’s go Oakland!  This won't be your player of the game ...

A’s are swept by the Angels

This was supposed to be a fun, short week.  The A’s have significantly dampened those spirits by being completely outplayed and out-managed by the Angels.  Labor Day came and went and the A’s were smoked by CJ Wilson in game 1.  Not even yesterday’s game day diary (see entry below) and gold jerseys could stop Zack Greinke’s dominant performance in game 2.  Today, A’s fans were subjected to more of the same, as Dan Haren and the Angels bullpen put up another stellar performance. 

In case you didn’t see it already, click here for the video clip from today’s game where McCarthy got hit.  That was downright frightening as the ball careened off of the side of McCarthy’s head and towards third base.  Based on early reports, McCarthy is “OK” and was taken to the hospital more as a precaution vs. anything else.  Hopefully that is the case and he’s able to recover and return next week.  That has to be the scariest thing in baseball. 

Frankly, the A’s looked terrible in this series.  Bob Melvin didn’t push a single, right button.  The lineups, substitutions, relief pitchers, etc. all failed in this series.  The A’s offense struck out approximately 257 times during the three game series.  Note to the skipper: Josh Reddick was on fire in the sixth slot of the lineup.  Let’s move him back, or at the very least, down to fifth.  Please. 

The A’s are now playing catch-up with the AL East teams for the top Wild Card slot and the team doesn’t play again until Friday night.  This might either be the perfect time for an off day to regroup and refresh or the worst time for one, where the team now has to think about the sweep for 48+ hours before hitting the field again.  One added wrinkle – the A’s are scheduled to face Felix Hernandez on Friday night, with AJ Griffin on the mound.  Oh boy. 

Please … Let’s go Oakland!

Game Day Diary – Angels @ Athletics, 9/4/12

Earlier today I realized that the game day diary has never experienced a loss for the A’s.  Given yesterday’s result, I figured it makes some sense to try to keep the good karma alive and get this back on track vs. the Angels. 

Some early scoreboard watching before MLB.TV starts the game has the Indians up on Tigers in the 9^th, the Yankees losing again to Tampa, the Twins up big over the White Sox, and the Royals up on the Rangers.  Three out of four isn’t bad, right?  Let’s hope that remains the case over the next hour or two.  I also keep forgetting that the Orioles are in this race and they are winning over Toronto. 

10:02pm US EST – We’re live from the Oakland Coliseum (I’m still calling it that) with Glen and Ray!  A’s still have the lead in the Wild Card.  Jarrod Parker is on the mound again tonight.  The A’s have won the game in his last three starts, with Parker getting two W’s.  However, he didn’t pitch too well in his last outing against Cleveland. 

10:07pm – Hey, the A’s must have heard me last night (…) and have gone with the gold jerseys for this evening.  Cespedes is back in LF and Moss is playing 1B tonight.  Seth Smith is the DH, which means Carter has the night off.  Finally, Kottaras is catching this evening, so Norris has the night off as well. 

10:10pm – Trout decides to give the A’s a break and watches two strikes, only one of which was called, to start the game with a K. 

10:13pm – Kottaras drops a foul tip that would have been strike three and on the next pitch Pujols hits the wall.   Given that he’s running with his shoelaces tied, a good throw from Cespedes would have nailed Pujols at second.  No avail, but as that last sentence was finished, Parker gets a ground out to end the inning. 

10:15pm – Scoreboard watching and the Twins put up a 10-spot in the 5^th inning against the White Sox.  So that game is over, but technically won’t be for another two hours.  Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tampa all won already. 

10:20pm – After two very quick outs, Reddick works a walk against Greinke, who I really feared would be the acquisition that would get the Angels into the playoffs.  That was likely around the same time I gave up on the A’s season for the 17^th time. 

10:23pm – Cespedes gets a blooper to drop and the A’s have 1^st and 3^rd for Moss! 

10:25pm – Small crowd is seen behind Moss on the first base side.  Hopefully that is just a post-Labor Day drain for one night and the fans are back out tomorrow.  As long as the fans in attendance are loud and into the game, I will limit my complaints. 

10:27pm – Moss strikes out to end the inning and the score remains 0-0.  Ugh!

10:33pm – Parker gets three groundouts to quickly get through the top of the 2^nd. 

10:40pm – Greinke matches Parker and sends the A’s down in order relatively quickly as well.  I’d like to see two things: 1. The A’s win tonight and 2. This game finishing in less than three hours.  Please and thank you. 

10:45pm – Cespedes makes a nice catch in the gap and then flips the ball to Coco to throw back into the infield.  I just had visions of Rickey Henderson in LF. 

10:47pm – After a Trout single, Glen throws the broadcast to a promo and it never happens.  However, Glen says, “Thanks…”  Consider me lost and/or very tired. 

10:52pm – Parker strikes out Hunter to end the inning.  The score remains 0-0. 

10:56pm – Coco comes up after a Pennington strike out and we get to hear the Bernie Lean in the background.  Thank you again for coming up with another reason to love the A’s.  Coco grounds out before I can even finish the hyperlink here. 

10:59pm – Seth Smith doubles off of Wells’ glove / the wall.  Come on Reddick!

11:00pm – Reddick fouls out to end the inning and we remain scoreless.  It isn’t worth complaining about given that Reddick fouled out on the next pitch, but the first pitch in the at bat was a terrible called strike.  Today’s home plate umpire is all over the place so far. 

11:08pm – Moss makes another nice play at 1B and Parker is dealing right now.  We’re heading to the bottom of the 4^th with no score.

11:10pm – Scoreboard alert, KC beats Texas and the A’s can get that game back from yesterday if they can pull this off tonight!

11:12pm – Moss strikes out again.  Is it too early to use Carter as a PH the next time around? 

11:15pm – After a Donaldson blooper for a hit, Drew grounds out to end the inning, with the score remaining 0-0. 

11:19pm – Watching Pennington try to track down a fly ball from his 2B position is a bit nerve-wracking. 

11:22pm – Trout drives in the first run of the game and the Angels go up 1-0.  Why is the bottom of their lineup doing so much damage?  Ugh. 

11:27pm – After striking out Hunter, Parker gets Pujols to fly out to end the inning.  Let’s start pitching around Trout please. 

11:32pm – CSN needs to do a better job of showing fans doing the Bernie Lean.  Coco quickly flies out to end the 5^th with the A’s down 1-0. 

11:36pm – Two quick hits from the Angels and Melvin needs to get the bullpen going and send someone to the mound to stall.  It doesn’t look like either is happening. 

11:38pm – Aybar lays down a beautiful bunt and the Angels have 2^nd and 3^rd.  On the next pitch, the Angels get a sacrifice fly to score another run and now lead 2-0. 

11:40pm – Wells grounds out to end the inning but the damage is done.  The A’s have to get something going here with the 2-3-4 hitters coming up. 

11:44pm – Trout leaps and makes a catch on a Reddick fly ball.  I’m really starting to dislike Trout as much as I do any other player on the Angels. 

11:46pm – Cespedes hits another ball hard but right at someone and the A’s go down in order again.  We’re looking at a bottom of the 9^th situation with Reddick and Cespedes coming up to bat, as the A’s have done about as little as possible to this point offensively. 

11:49pm – CSN shows us Hatteberg’s HR to get the team to 20 wins in a row and the last win of “The Streak”. 

11:53pm – Hunter strikes out again and we go to the 7^th inning stretch.  We’re winning the speed of the game battle but not the game itself.  This needs to work itself out. 

11:56pm – “That baby is gone” from Glen, thanks to Brandon Moss, who basically just told me to zip it.  The A’s are on the board and now trail 2-1!

12:05am – The A’s go relatively quietly after Moss’ HR and will have the top of the lineup coming up in the bottom of the 8^th, i.e. they will need to score at least a run or two then with Reddick and Cespedes (hopefully) coming to the plate. 

12:08am – Pujols welcomes Doolittle into the game with a line drive off his foot.  Thanks Albert. 

12:11am – The A’s turn a double play but don’t get credit for it.  I’m relatively positive this crew hates the city of Oakland as the last two games have left a lot to be desired. 

12:16am – Kottaras forgets what the signal is for an off-speed pitch and Aybar drives one off the wall off of Doolittle.  The Angels go up 3-1.  (What you don’t hear is me smacking the keys of the keyboard)

12:19am – 4-1 Angels with another hit off Doolittle.  We’re seeing the end of the game day diary win streak.  Melvin’s coming to the mound to bring in Scribner.

12:26am – Scribner ends the inning and the A’s are still down 4-1 with the top of the lineup coming up.  I really don’t have high hopes for this game at this point.  (Yes, that is the reverse jinx)

12:33am – Crisp ground out, PH Gomes strikes out on three pitches, and Reddick flies out to end the inning.  About that rally …

12:36am – Jim Miller is in to pitch the top of the 9^th for the A’s. 

12:38am – Miller walks the #9 hitter in the lineup to bring up Trout to start the inning.  Awesome.

12:45am – Blevins is coming in to replace Miller.  We’re getting too close to the 1am hour here on the East coast.  Let’s get to the bottom of the inning please. 

12:52am – Blevins gives up a shot into the gap and the Angels score two more times and now lead 6-1.  Melvin has lost the magic in this series thus far and that needs to be corrected immediately.  He’s been a few batters too late in making pitching changes and the lineup is not producing at all. 

12:53am – The next batter flies out and we go to the bottom of the 9^th, but this is more of a formality than anything else. 

1:00am – It is 1am here on the East coast and this seems like a perfect opportunity to get this game over with in exactly 3 hours.  Donaldson obliges and flies out to end the games.  This is not fun. 

The player of the game is, unfortunately, Zack Greinke.  The A’s absolutely have to win tomorrow to salvage a game in this series.  Let’s go Oakland!!