Jonny Gomes was hitless in his last 34 pinch-hit appearances. He got over that in a big way, crushing a go ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning as the A's rallied to win their fifth straight, 6-4 over the San Diego Padres.Gomes' home run capped a three-run rally as the A's recaptured a lead they lost in the top of the inning. Sean Doolittle got his first major league victory in spite of allowing two runs in the seventh inning, and Ryan Cook converted his third save with a perfect ninth inning.Tyson Ross was brilliant in a spot ...
Manny who? About an hour after the news of Manny Ramirez's release was made public, the A's bats busted out in the bottom of the first inning for five runs and they never looked back, beating the San Diego Padres 10-2 in the opener of their three game series. Brandon Moss hit a two run blast to conclude the scoring as the A's bounced back from an early 1-0 deficit to grab a lead they would never relinquish.Along with Moss, Josh Reddick and Cliff Pennington both drove in two runs with Reddick's two run triple giving the A's the lead ...
Fifth-round pick Juron Criner has been turning heads in OTAs, but another rookie receiver for the Oakland Raiders got the call when starter Denarius Moore went down with a hamstring injury this week. Vittorio Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that former Temple wide receiver Rod Streater replaced Moore with the first team on Wednesday.This doesn't necessarily suggest that Streater is ahead of Criner, as Criner has been learning Darrius Heyward-Bey's position, while Streater has been backing up Moore.Tafur reports that head coach Dennis Allen said Streater earned the reps with his hands, route-running, ability to get open and ...
Terrelle Pryor was never expected to start right away when the Oakland Raiders drafted him in last year's supplemental draft. But will he ever?The 22-year-old currently finds himself third on the Raiders depth chart, behind a pair of California-bred signal-callers in Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. That order of things seems natural, perhaps since these two found themselves in an identical 1-2 pecking order in 2002, when both were playing together at USC.Each competed for national championships. Each was was a top-10 pick in the NFL draft.But their careers after their stints as Men of Troy could not have been ...
Like fellow A's staff member Tom Milone, Jarrod Parker has pitched much better in Oakland than on the road.But, unlike Milone, Parker was fabulous against the Rockies in Colorado. Keeping Rockies hitters off balance over seven shutout innings, Parker struck out six and Brandon Moss' two-run double keyed the A's' 8-2 victory and their first three-game sweep of 2012. Moss also hit a solo homer in the ninth to finish the series 6 for 13 with four home runs and eight RBI as he makes a serious case for the full-time first base position.Josh Reddick added a solo home run in ...
The Oakland Raiders still haven't given Terrelle Pryor the shot his resume deserves, but rather, treated him as the third-round Supplemental Draft pick he is. As the Raiders enter the 2012 season, though, it's imperative Pryor gets a shot at starting—if not for the present, then at least for the future.After dealing with the lockout-shortened 2011 offseason, and a five-game suspension to start the season, now seems the ideal time to evaluate Pryor against incumbent starter Carson Palmer.Pryor, who was a two-sport, all-state athlete in high school, was heavily recruited for both basketball and football before deciding on quarterback at Ohio ...
If there's one thing that we've learned over the years, it's do not count anything out of the ordinary to happen with the Oakland Raiders—and that very well could happen this season.Entering 2012, Oakland's depth chart at quarterback follows like so: Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Terrelle Pryor and Kyle Newhall-Caballero. There's no question that there's talent in the team's quarterback corps, but the biggest concern is consistency—and Palmer most certainly lacked that during his first year with the Raiders. In 2011, after being traded from the Cincinnati Bengals to Oakland, Palmer appeared in 10 games while starting nine of them. In those 10 ...
For the second time in two nights, the Oakland A's put up a crooked number to take a lead they would not relinquish at Coors Field. Tonight though, the rally came in the ninth inning, as the A's scored three times to defeat the Rockies 10-8. The big hit was Brandon Inge's two run double that plated Seth Smith and pinch-hitter Josh Reddick. Ryan Cook pitched the ninth for his second save in two games.Early on, it was similar to the opener, as Seth Smith blasted a two run home run in the first, only for Colorado to respond with ...
In a quarterback-friendly league, it would seem nearly impossible for a running back to win NFL MVP honors.Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees lead the way—you can probably even throw Matt Stafford into that mix. These stars are elite, and many are first ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks.And I haven't forgotten Arian Foster, Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson and a multitude of other talented running backs, either.But the NFL is in for a surprise. Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden is ready to have a huge year after an injury-shortened 2011 season.Get ready. With a little luck (in ...
There has been a lot of changeover for Oakland both on and off the field as of late.That said, this is a team loaded with potential. They have a nice blend of young guys and veterans, who, if they can mesh, could make a serious run at a playoff berth this season.Here are five Raiders who could be critical pieces to a potential silver and black playoff run.Begin Slideshow