Hey what’s up A’s fans, this is Charles here with another series recap. This week the A’s faced the wrath of a poised Cleveland Indians team that did not allow an RBI in the entire series. The A’s went on to be swept in the “mistake by the lake,” as their bad play continued.

On Tuesday night, the A’s were shutout 4-0 by Paul Byrd who pitched 7 1/3 innings, while giving up five hits. Justin Duchscherer pitched 6 2/3 while surrendering four hits and one earned run. In the top of the first Travis Hafner hit an RBI single to score David Dellucci and gave the Indians a 1-0 lead. They would increase that lead to 4-0 after a three run home run by Ryan Garko.

Wednesday night provided another Cleveland shutout of the A’s, this time by a margin of 2-0. C.C. Sabathia started for Cleveland and threw a complete game shutout while striking out 11. For the A’s, Joe Blanton pitched 7 innings and gave up two earned runs. Mike Sweeney was the lone bright spot for the A’s with a modest 2-4 day at the plate. Cleveland scored their two runs on solo home runs by Grady Sizemore and Ryan Garko.

The A’s were again defeated 4-2 on Thursday afternoon as Cleveland completed the sweep. Aaron Laffey started for Cleveland and pitched seven innings while not surrendering an earned run and only five hits. Greg Smith started for the A’s and pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs. Jhonny Peralta hit a home run off of Santiago Casilla who was forced to leave the game with an arm injury. Ryan Garko, Travis Hafner and Ben Francisco each had an RBI. No A’s player had an RBI the entire series. The two runs scored in this game were the result of a throwing error by Laffey and a wild pitch in the 9th, as the A’s lost 4-2 and were swept. 

From here the A’s head to Atlanta to face the Braves in a three game series. On Friday night Dana Eveland will face Jair Jurrjens, and Saturday Rich harden will face off against Tim Hudson. On Sunday Justin Duchscherer will face Jo-Jo Reyes to conclude the three game series. 

Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great weekend and remember to live smooth.

Hello again A’s fans, it’s Jordan here with you again. The A’s began their road trip in Arlington, Texas, where they met the red-hot Texas rangers for the second time in the last week. Unfortunately for the A’s, they do not match up favorably with the Rangers, and it shows. They dropped two of three last week in Oakland and repeated that performance when they visited Arlington. The A’s are still in first place, but these divisional games are very important, and it hurts when you lose them.

In the series opener on Friday evening, Greg Smith took the mound for Oakland, and was opposed by Scott Feldman for Texas. The Rangers opened the score sheet with an RBI groundout for American League RBI leader Josh Hamilton in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Boggs doubled the Rangers advantage with his second homerun of the season off of Greg Smith. Scott Feldman was phenomenal for Texas, as he shut the A’s offense down for six innings, where they only managed two hits. In the bottom of that sixth inning, Brandon Boggs hurt Oakland again, with a two-run double into the left-center field gap, as he concluded his evening with a 3-4 performance and three RBI. The A’s did not fare much better against the Rangers’ bullpen, as they scratched out just two more hits the rest of the way, and were shutout. Jack Cust was the lone bright spot offensively for the A’s, as he had two of those hits. On a positive note from a pitching standpoint, Chad Gaudin embraced his new role out of the bullpen, and pitched two solid scoreless innings in relief. The A’s dropped this one 4-0.

On Saturday evening, the A’s tried to even up the series, but were outdone yet again by the Rangers. Texas won this one, 6-4. They jumped out in the first inning to take the lead for the second straight day, as former Athletic Milton Bradley continued to hurt the A’s, as he drove in the first run as he doubled in a run off of A’s starter Dana Eveland. Rangers’ starter Kevin Millwood was forced to leave the game after facing just two batters, and then entered Jason Rupe, who earned the win with three innings pitched, where he gave up two runs, one of which was earned. Oakland tied the game at one in the third inning, as Emil Brown, the RBI machine knocked in another with a single that scored Jack Cust. That tie did not last long, as Milton Bradley flexed his muscle again with a two-run blast to straightaway center field. Oakland pulled within one in the fourth as Ryan Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly, but they would get no closer. Texas gave themselves all the insurance they needed with a Josh Hamilton RBI single in the seventh inning, and two more two-out runs in the eighth, as German Duran and Ian Kinsler drove in runs off of A’s reliever Keith Foulke, who just returned from the disabled list. The A’s tried to rally in the ninth, as Frank Thomas drove in two runs on a two-out double, but four runs were all the A’s could get, and they dropped the series to Texas again. Dana Eveland had another quality start as he went six innings, allowing just three runs on six hits, and struck out five. Both Emil Brown and Bobby Crosby had two hits each.

In a wild series finale, that gave the scoreboard a workout, the A’s muscled their way to a 12-6 win. This marked the return of Rich Harden from the disabled list. He did struggle, however, as he gave up five earned runs on eight hits in just three and two-thirds innings, walking four and striking out five. Oakland jumped in front in the top of the first inning, as Frank Thomas singled in a run, and then Emil Brown crushed a three-run jack into the A’s bullpen to put the A’s comfortably ahead 4-0, or so they thought. Texas hipped away at the lead, by scoring one in the bottom of the first on a Milton Bradley RBI double, and then got another run in the second on an Ian Kinsler single. Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled in two more runs to tie the game in the third, and Josh Hamilton put Texas ahead with an RBI triple that scored Kinsler. In the top of the sixth, Oakland tied it up on a bases loaded walk to Jack Cust, and then took the lead back with a Frank Thomas sacrifice fly. In the bottom of that same inning, Texas tied it up yet again, on a Michael Young RBI single. In the seventh, with Mark Ellis at first and Bobby Crosby at third, Ellis broke for second. The Rangers’ pitcher tried to pick off Ellis, and that is when Crosby broke for the plate. He slid past Saltalamacchia to score what turned out to be the winning run on a stolen base, and Ellis took second. Ryan Sweeney provided some insurance with a sacrifice fly of his own. Emil Brown (2-5) drove in his fourth run of the game on a single in the eighth, and then Oakland scored three more times in the ninth. An error gave them their tenth run, and Daric Barton hit his second homer of the year into the right field porch in a pinch hit appearance. When all was said and done, the A’s won it 12-6, and pounded out thirteen hits. Mark Ellis went 3-5, Jack Hannahan was 2-2, and the win was credited to Santiago Casilla, who went one and a third inning of scoreless work.

It was nice to see the A’s get at least one here, after the tough start to the series, and they now travel to Cleveland to take on the Indians. Tuesday night, the A’s fell 4-0, but I will leave the recap to Charles on his next entry. Later today, Joe Blanton (2-5 3.82 ERA) takes on C.C. Sabathia (2-5, 6.55 ERA). The young man originally from the Oakland area, Sabathia has really struggled against the A’s, and Oakland hopes to continue to haunt C.C. The series wraps at 9:05 AM Pacific time on Thursday morning, as Greg Smith (2-2, 3.00 ERA) takes on Aaron Laffey (1-2, 1.83 ERA). The A’s offense has been inconsistent as of late, so we shall see what they can do. I expect them to win one of the next two, and if I had to guess, I would say it comes against Sabathia today.

I would like to reiterate that we love to hear your feelings, thoughts, opinions, or questions regarding the team and our show. We want this to be as interactive as possible, so we really encourage you to get in touch with us, and here are some ways how; you can reach us by email at hosts@athleticscast.com, by phone at 415-691-6185, by posting on our Myspace or Facebook, or by posting your comments below this blog entry. Thanks to everyone who does contact us and those who listen to our show, we really appreciate it. Take care everyone, and enjoy the rest of your week.

That’s How I See It…Let’s Go Oakland!!!

Hey what’s up A’s fans this is Charles here with another series recap. This week we saw Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon get married, Barack Obama strengthen his chances for the Democratic nomination, and the A’s sweep the O’s. The series provided many thrills with two extra inning wins, including Monday nights game. 

On Monday night, Dana Eveland got the start for the A’s going seven innings and giving up three hits and no earned runs. He was opposed by Garret Olson who pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up four hits and one earned run. The A’s took a 1-0 lead into the 9th inning thanks to an RBI single by Rajai Davis in the seventh inning. In the ninth, Huston Street came in and blew the save after allowing a leadoff double by Melvin Mora. Mora would later score in the inning on a Ramon Hernandez groundout. In the bottom of the tenth,  Mr. Clutch Emil Brown hit an RBI single to score Daric Barton and gave the A’s the 2-1 win.

Tuesday night the A’s kept up the winning with a 4-2 victory. Justin Duscherer pitched seven innings and gave up two earned runs to pace the A’s. Brian Burres started for the Orioles and lasted only 5 1/3 innings while surrendering eight hits and three earned runs. Emil Brown continued his stellar play by going 2-4 with an RBI. Bobby Crosby, Mark Ellis and Rajai Davis all added an RBI each for the A’s in their win. Santiago Casilla came in for the 9th to record the save, his first of the season.

In a wild game on Wednesday afternoon the A’s defeated the O’s 6-5 in extra innings. Joe Blanton got the start for the A’s and pitched 5 2/3 innings while giving up two earned runs. For Baltimore, Jeremy Guthrie pitched 5 2/3 innings while surrendering five hits and four earned runs. The A’s took a 4-2 lead into the eight inning thanks to a two run home run by Kurt Suzuki, and an RBI for both Jack Hannahan and Emil Brown. Andrew Brown had a tough outing lasting 2/3 of an innings and squandering 3 earned runs. The key play of the game came in the bottom of the eight when Jack Hannahan broke up a potential double play off the bat of Frank Thomas that allowed the tying run to score. Mark Ellis would later go on to send the hometown fans home with a win after he hit a walk off big boy in the 10th inning to complete the sweep of the O’s. With this series in hand the A’s now head to my “second state” of Texas, where the A’s will play a three game series in the Dallas area suburb of Arlington. 

On Friday night Greg Smith will oppose Scott Feldman at 5 pm pacific time. On Saturday night the A’s are scheduled to send Dana Eveland to face Kevin Millwood. The series will conclude on Sunday, and the A’s are scheduled to welcome Rich Harden back to the rotation to face Sidney Ponson. To make room in the rotation for Harden, Chad Gaudin will move back to the bullpen. Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great weekend and remember to live smooth.

Hello again A’s fans, It’s Jordan here a little later than I would like to have been, so I apologize for the tardiness on this entry. The A’s entertained the Texas Rangers this past weekend in Oakland, and came out on the wrong end of a two out of three series. These divisional games are obviously the most important of all the games, and if the A’s intend to remain in any sort of divisional race, they must win their home games against the teams of less quality.

Friday night, I was in attendance with our good friend Jack and sat a few rows behind the Texas dugout. It was a nice evening weather wise, but unfortunately the A’s struggled and could not make it a perfect night. The A’s dropped the series opener 4-3, thanks largely in part to some very poor defense. They made 4 errors, and Joe Blanton was tagged for four runs, as only two were earned. The A’s have the second most errors as a team this season, only behind the very same Rangers who were in town.

The visitors opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Ian Kinsler came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Michael Young. Kinsler, the leadoff man reached on an Emil Brown error, as he just flat out dropped a fly ball, and Kinsler made it all the way to third base. Former Athletic Milton Bradley returned to the Coliseum and had a great day going 3-4, and scored the second run after singling in the top of the fourth. He was driven home by a Brandon Boggs sacrifice fly. The A’s stormed back in the bottom half of that same inning by scoring three times. Jack Cust opened the Athletics’ scoring with a one-out solo blast to the left-center bleachers. After Texas committed an error of their own and Rob Bowen reached base, Bobby Crosby doubled home Emil Brown and Bowen. The 3-2 lead, however, did not last long. In the top of the fifth inning, Ian Kinsler tied it up with an RBI groundout. With one out in the inning and Ramon Vazquez on second, Michael Young grounded to third. Jack Hannahan briefly looked Vazquez back at second and threw across the diamond to get Young at first. Vazquez broke for third on the throw, and Daric Barton took a chance to try and peg him there. Unfortunately for Barton and the A’s, his throw was wide to the left field side of the bag, and Vazquez scored what turned out to be the game-winning run. The A’s threatened in the bottom of the sixth when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Donnie Murphy was uncharacteristically aggressive at the plate, swinging at a 2-0 fastball and grounding out to end the inning. Although it did not work out, I appreciate the fact that Donnie was aggressive. He looked for his pitch and just happened to miss it. With Daric Barton on first in the bottom of the seventh, Jack Cust hammered a ball into right-center which looked like a certain RBI double, but Josh Hamilton turned in the play of the day, making a running catch that took him into the wall, and then doubled off Barton at first. Vicente Padilla turned in a quality start for Texas, as he went five and two-thirds innings, allowing 3 runs, 1 of which was earned on 5 hits while striking out 6 A’s hitters. This was a frustrating loss, and again, Joe Blanton was on the wrong end of it. This marks the third time this season he has given up 2 earned runs and lost. He is now 2-5 with a pretty solid 3.88 ERA.

Saturday evening the A’s were in action again, trying to even their series. Unfortunately for them, they could not. They fell behind early and never recovered, losing 6-3. This marked the first series that the A’s have lost since April 17 against the Mariners. Chad Gaudin was on the hill against youngster A.J. Murray.

The Rangers jumped out again in the first inning, as David Murphy smoked a 1-2 fastball that stayed up for a three-run shot to right-center field. This blow came with two outs as well, so that was definitely a pitch that Chad wanted back. The A’s fell behind by even more in the top of the fifth, as Michael Young doubled home a run and then scored in the next at-bat on a Josh Hamilton single. Oakland pulled two back in the bottom half of that inning, as Mike Sweeney doubled a deep fly ball to right-center that scored both Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis. The A’s looked like they may be mounting a comeback as they scored once more in the following inning on a Bobby Crosby RBI single that plated Emil Brown. A.J. Murray stymied the Oakland hitters, as they mustered just the three runs, two of which were earned on a scattered six hits over five and one-thirds innings. The Texas bullpen shut the door on Oakland as they combined to no-hit the A’s the rest of the way, allowing just two base runners the last three and two-thirds innings. Texas added an insurance run in the ninth as well, on a Chris Shelton home run. This was his first hit of 2008, and I was surprised to be part of a Chris Shelton sighting. Gaudin had a rough outing, surrendering five earned runs on eight hits, and was saddled with the loss, his second on the young season. Mike Sweeney was the only Athletic with multiple hits, going 2-4 with his 2 RBI.

In the finale, a Sunday matinee, Oakland came out in front of 31, 673 and won 3-1 to avoid the sweep. It was Campy Campineras jersey giveaway day, and the Plaza Level seats were only $4 due to the 20 hit outburst Thursday night in Anaheim, so the fans came out in droves, which was nice to see for a change. The A’s wore those ‘68 jerseys which were really nice in my opinion, and wish they would wear them more often. Also, Texas participated in the throwback style of the Washington Senators. The weird thing was that they wore the same hats as the Washington nationals do, so I had to do a double take when watching the game.

Oakland fell behind first for the third consecutive day as German Duran homered in the top of the third off of Greg Smith. Smith, aside from this mistake was flawless. He unfortunately had a no-decision, but was great as he fanned ten over six innings, allowing just the one run on three hits. Another young pitcher, Scott Feldman of the Rangers pitched well also, allowing three runs over six and a third on six hits and striking out five. Oakland got those three runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Frank Thomas reached on a fly bal to center that was lost in the sun by Josh Hamilton, and was credited with a double. Jack Cust then followed with a two-run blast to left-center. This marked Jack Cust’s seventh consecutive game with at least one hit, which tied his career high, as he finished his day at 2-3. The Big Hurt also went 2-3 in this one. The A’s added a third run in the same inning, as Ryan Sweeney lined an RBI single into left-center that scored Bobby Crosby. Santiago Casilla came on for the seventh inning in relief of Greg Smith and earned the win with one perfect inning. Alan Embree logged his fifth hold of the year with a hitless, scoreless inning, and Huston Street earned his ninth save on the season with a scoreless ninth in which he had two strikeouts.

The A’s fought hard in this last game, and it was nice to see them salvage at least one in the series. This put the A’s at 19-14. Hats off to Jack Cust, who was named the American League Player of the Week, and he did a wonderful job with two home runs in the series. Word has also come in that Eric Chavez may not be ready for activation at the 60 day mark as originally expected, so that still hangs over the A’s at this point. On a more positive injury note, Rich Harden and Keith Foulke are each working their way back through their rehab starts.

The A’s opened up another home series last night, as they beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in ten innings, but I will save the details for our Wednesday show and Charles’ next blog entry. As for later tonight, the probable pitching match-up pits Justin Duchscherer (2-1 with a 2.40 ERA) against Brian Burres (3-2 with a 2.87 ERA). Wednesday, the A’s will send Joe Blanton (2-5 with a 3.88 ERA) to oppose Jeremy Guthrie (1-3 with a 4.06 ERA). The A’s have the better team here and should win at least one of the next two games, as I see them taking two of three overall. I do hope that Joe Blanton gets the win on Wednesday afternoon, as I feel he has earned it, with quality start after quality start.

Make sure you guys remain a key component to our show by making your voice heard. You can e-mail us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also get a hold of us by posting a comment or message on our Myspace or Facebook pages. We love to keep A’s fans involved and have our show and website be as interactive as possible. You can post on our website here right under this blog entry by clicking on add my comment. Share your thoughts or ideas on our latest episodes, share your ideas on what the A’s should do, submit topics for discussion, or just drop by to tell us why the A’s are your team of choice. Hopefully everyone has a great week, and we will be back with a new episode for Wednesday.

That’s How I See It…Let’s Go Oakland!!!

Hey what’s up A’s fans this is Charles here with another series recap. This time we will recap the first rivalry series between the A’s and the Angels. Let’s begin with game one on Monday night.

On Monday the A’s brought their big boy sticks as they annihilated the Angels 14-2 in Anaheim. Chad Gaudin started for the A’s and lasted six innings while surrendering five hits and only one earned run. For the Angels, Jon Garland pitched six innings while being brandished with seven earned runs. Daric Barton had a big day for the A’s as he went 2-6 with a three run big boy. The “Big Hurt” Frank Thomas had a perfect day going 3-3 with a single double and his first triple since 2002, he also had 2 RBI. Rajai Davis and Ryan Sweeney each tacked on 2 RBI, and Jack Hannahan and Emil Brown each hit home runs, Brown’s being a 3-run home run. 

Tuesday night the Angels shutout the A’s 2-0 as Joe Saunders dominated the A’s through 8 innings. A’s starter Greg Smith pitched well for 8 innings only giving up 2 earned runs, but took the loss in this game. A wild pitched proved to be enough as the Angels scored the first of two runs in the 3rd. Francisco Rodriguez picked up the save for the Angels. Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis, Mike Sweeney and Donnie Murphy were the only A’s to pick up hits in the loss.

On Wednesday the A’s were again defeated, this time by a score of 6-1. Ervin Santana set the pace for the Angels going 6 2/3 and surrendering no earned runs. For the A’s Dana Eveland outing lasted 5 1/3 innings and got tagged for 6 earned runs. Casey Kotchman started the scoring with a two run double in the second to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. In the third Torii Hunter added an RBI single, to increase the lead to 3-0. The A’s got their only run in the 5th with a Ryan Sweeney RBI single. Kotchman would finish with 3 RBI while Chone Figgins and Jeff Mathis each had an RBI.

On Thursday the A’s collected another lopsided win against the Angels with a 15-8 beat down. Justin Duscherer collected the win going 5 innings and giving up 1 earned run. For the Halos Nick Adenhart made his major league debut and struggle to find his command as he pitched 2 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. Jack Cust made himself look like an idiot in the field by botching an easy pop fly but finished the game 4-4 with a home run. Kurt Suzuki, Daric Barton, Frank Thomas, Ryan Sweeney and Bobby Crosby all had two RBI. Emil Brown and Jack Hannahan each had an RBI as the A’s picked up the series split.

This weekend the A’s return home to face the Texas Rangers. Vicente Padilla will start against Joe Blanton on friday night. AJ Murray is scheduled to face Chad Gauidn saturday night, and Scott Feldman will face off against Greg Smith to conclude the three game series.

Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great weekend and remember to live smooth.