The A’s blast four home runs to pummel the Tampa Bay Rays 13-2

By Jerry Feitelberg

On Monday night, the Oakland A’s began a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays opened the season with three straight wins over the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s went 1-2 against the Philadelphia Phillies to start the season. The Rays won 100 games last year. Their manager, Kevin Cash, was the AL Manager of the Year for the last two seasons. Under a new manager Mark Kotsay, the A’s were hoping to get a win to start the series.

Well, fans, the A’s did just that. They had their hitting shoes on as they put four runs on the board in the first and second innings and coasted to an easy 13-2 win over the Rays. The A’s hit four home runs in the game. They had two three-run dingers, a solo blast, and a grand slam. Shortstop Elvis Andrus had a single, double, and a three-run homer. Andrus needed a triple to complete the cycle. Right-fielder Seth Brown also hit a three-run blast. His big fly came in the first inning. Brown has seven RBIs in the first four games. Third baseman Sheldon Neuse (pronounced Noisy) hit his first home run of the year in the ninth. It was his first career grand slam. 

The A’s put four runs on the board in the first inning. With one out, Elvis Andrus doubled. Rays’ pitcher Luis Patino retired Billy McKinney for the first out. Unfortunately for Patino, he hurt his leg on the pitch and had to leave the game. He was replaced by Chris Mazza, a young man from Walnut Creek. Mazza hit Sean Murphy with a pitch to put two men on with two out. Seth Brown homered into the right-field seats to make it 3-0. Chad Pinder then homered to make it 4-0.

Things continued to go south for Chris Mazza. Neuse got things going with a single to start the rally. Rookie centerfielder, Cristian Pache, singled to put two men on with no out. Second baseman Tony Kemp’s grounder to Rays’ second baseman Taylor Walls was misplayed. Neuse scored to put the A’s ahead 5-0. Elvis Andrus homered to give the A’s a commanding 8-0 lead midway through the second inning. 

Oakland put another run on the board in the fourth. Pache reached on a fielding error by Rays’ shortstop Wander France. Singles by Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus loaded the bases for Oakland. Pache scored on Sean Murphy’s fielder’s choice. 

The A’s starter, Paul Blackburn, held the Rays scoreless in his five innings of work. He allowed three hits and no runs. Blackburn walked one a struck out a career-high seven batters. He threw 71 pitches.

The Rays scored a run in the sixth and a run in the eighth to make it 9-2. The Rays used outfielder Brett Phillips to pitch in the eighth and ninth innings of the game. In the ninth, Phillips walked Billy McKinney to start the frame. He retires the next two hitters. Chad Pinder doubles, sending McKinney to third. Phillips walked Stephen Vogt to load the bases. Phillips pitches were clocked at 49 miles an hour. Sheldon Neuse met the challenge and took a 49-mile-per-hour pitch on a journey into the left-field seats. The A’s won the game 13-2.

Game Notes: Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. Luis Patino took the loss for the Rays. The A’s evened their record at 2-2. The Rays are 3-1 for the season. 

Sean Murphy hit the first triple of his career when Kevin Kiermaier, a three-time Gold Glover, misplayed the ball.

The A’s used four pitchers. Blackburn went five, Zach Jackson pitched the sixth, A.J.Puk worked the seventh and eighth, and Jason Grimm pitched the ninth. The Rays used six pitchers. 

Game two of the four-game series will start at 3:40 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday evening. The A’s will send rookie Adam Oller to the hill, and Ray’s rookie Tommy Romero will oppose him. It will be the first time in MLB history that two pitchers will be making their MLB debut in the same game.

The time of the game was three hours exactly. Nine thousand one hundred thirty-nine fans watched as the A’s pounded the Rays 13-2.

The Clippers rout the Warriors 131-107

By Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- The Los Angeles Clipper, stunned by their loss to the Lakers last Sunday, pummeled the injury-riddled Golden State Warriors 131-107 Tuesday night at the Chase Center. The Warriors were without Steph Curry (seasonal flu), Draymond Green (knee), Kevon Looney (hip). The W’s also lost Juan Toscano-Anderson in the first few minutes of the game due to an ankle injury.

The Clippers, led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, sprinted out to an early lead and never let the W’s get back into the game. The Clippers overwhelmed the Dubs on both ends of the court. The W’s had no defense for the Clippers 3-point attack. They connected on 10 threes in the first half and 10 more in the second. The Clippers finished the first period with a 9-point advantage 35-26. They blew the game open in the second quarter when the outscored the W’s 41-22 to finish the first half with a 28-point lead 76-48.

The Clippers continued to put points on the board in the third quarter. The Clippers’ Patrick Beverly, Reggie Jackson, Landy Shamet, and Montrezl Harrell all made threes. The Warriors had no answers. The Clippers’ head coach Doc Rivers showed mercy as he pulled Leonard and George from the game. They did not play a minute in the fourth quarter. The Warriors continued to play hard, and they outscored the Clippers by 10 in the period. It was not enough. LA wins 131-107

Game Notes and stats- With the loss, the W’s drop to 15-50. The Clippers improved to 44-20. They moved into second place in the Western Conference one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets.

The leading scorer for Golden State was Dragan Bender. He finished with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and he connected on two threes. Andrew Wiggins had 21 points, and he made three threes. Marquese Chriss finished with a double-double. He had 10 points and 10 boards. Jordan Poole had 17, Eric Paschall 12, And Ky Bowman 11.

The Warriors shot 47% from the floor. The Clippers took 13 more shots than the W’s. The Clippers shot 50% from the floor and were 20 for 44 from downtown. They outrebounded the W’s 47-35.

The Clippers are 3-0 against the W’s this season. That has not happened since the 2005-2006 season. It was the 27th time this season that the Clippers have scored more than 120 points in a game.

The Warriors meet the Brooklyn Nets at the Chase Center Thursday night. The Nets beat the Lakers Tuesday night 104-102. The game will start at 7:30 pm.

The A’s end the road trip on a winning note but it wasn’t easy

Source: The A’s end the road trip on a winning note but it wasn’t easy

Preview of the A’s – Blue Jays Series in Toronto

The A’s are on their way to Toronto to play three games with the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays to start a seven-game road trip before returning home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays have won eight in a row and swept the AL East-leading Yankees over the weekend to move into second place in the division. The Jays trail the Yankees by just 1 1/2 games and play the Yankees again this weekend after facing the A’s.

Toronto has made significant moves the last couple of weeks to improve the team. On July 28th, the Jays acquired All-Star shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockies. They bolstered the pitching by trading for lefty David Price. Reliever LaTroy Hawkins came over from the Rockies in the Tulowitzki deal, and the Jays added another reliever, Mark Lowe from the Mariners. Outfielder Ben Revere came from the Phillies, and they added veteran utility man, former Athletic Cliff Pennington from the DiamondBacks.

The Jays were active in the off-season, too. The big trade was with the A’s. Toronto received third baseman Josh Donaldson and the A’s received four players including Brett Lawrie and pitcher Kendall Graveman. The Jays signed free agent catcher Russell Martin, too. The Jays have a dynamic offense as evidenced by the fact that they have scored 597 runs so far this year and a run differential of plus 129 which is the best in baseball. They have five righty hitters that have fifteen or more dingers so far this year. Their lineup is potent with Tulowitzki, Donaldson, Joey Batista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Russell Martin. Chris Colabello, Kevin Pilar, Ben Revere, Cliff Pennington and Dioner Navarro all contribute to Toronto’s success.

The Jays starting pitching has improved since the beginning of the season. Stats show the starters have a combined ERA over four, but that is misleading. Since the All-Star break, starters have an ERA of 2.69 which is the best in the American League. David Price has made two starts since coming over from Detroit and R.A.Dickey (0.99), Marco Estrada(2.35) and veteran lefty Mark Buehrle(3.38) have a combined 9-1 record in their last 22 games.

The A’s, to their credit, continue to play hard. Their is no quit in the team. They took three out of four from the Houston Astros over the weekend. Their starting pitching continues to do well. Sonny Gray is one of the best pitchers in baseball and will be in the running for the Cy Young award. Chris Bassitt has pitched extremely well for the A’s and is much better than his 1-4 record. The rest of the staff includes Jesse Chavez, Kendall Graveman and newly acquired Aaron Brooks. Brooks has made two starts since coming over to the A’s and has been impressive. The A’s bullpen continues to flounder. The bullpen has the most blown saves in the AL.

It should be a good series as the A’s will be hoping to derail the Jays. Third baseman Brett Lawrie will be making his first trip to Toronto since coming to Oakland in the Donaldson trade and will want to show the Jays’ brass that they made a mistake trading him. Also returning to Toronto will be Danny Valencia. The A’s picked up Valencia off waivers from the Jays last week, and he has had a terrific start with his new team. Valencia went 7-for-16 with two home runs in his debut with Oakland. He was used sparingly by Toronto appearing in just 58 games but was hitting .298 when they designated him for assignment. Coco Crisp has returned to the lineup after a lengthy stay on the DL. Josh Reddick has had a solid year for Oakland, too.

Tuesday night will feature Kendall Graveman(6-7) going against Drew Hutchison (10-2) and on Wednesday Aaron Brooks (1-0) will be facing lefty Mark Buehrle (12-5.

The A’s are on their way to Toronto to play three games with the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays to start a seven-game road trip before returning home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays have won eight in … Continue reading →

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Girls’ Softball Continued

Sports Radio Service

by Jerry Feitelberg

The girls have regrouped and are now playing the second game of the season. This may not be the Oakland A’s or the San Francisco Giants but for the girls and their friends and family, it is a great way to spend a Saturday morning. These kids may never make it to the big leagues but they love the game and they have a good time playing. The look on their faces when they get a hit or make a nice play in the field is just unbelievable and the progress that the kids made since the first game last month was something to behold.

The girls’ softball season continued for the Black Cats of the Branham softball league on Saturday. The Cats were the home team and they were taking on the powerful Blue Thunder.

The Thunder got off to a quick start scoring three runs…

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