Brandon McCarthy was good and Ryan Cook was great in his relief.Cook struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning, and backed by McCarthy's 6.2 innings of one-run ball, the Oakland A's beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 to win their three-game series at Fenway Park.McCarthy allowed five hits and three walks while striking out four. His 113 pitches were a season high as he kept the potent Red Sox lineup at bay long enough for Cook to enter. The Clovis native retired the Sox in order in the eighth, and Brian Fuentes pitched the ...
Anyone can predict how the Oakland Athletics will do before they set foot on the field, but after one month of baseball, more realistic grades can be doled out. On March 28, I gave my initial grades for the A's. Since then, the team collectively has surprised me. Individually, though, many players have underwhelmed. Oakland stands tied for second place in the AL West. Their 12-13 record puts them five-and-a-half games behind the Texas Rangers. Here are updated grades for each position after April.Begin Slideshow
As expected, the Oakland Athletics went into the season with a few glaring holes, primarily at the corner infield positions. Unfortunately for the A's, these issues aren't any closer to being resolved as they were when the year began.They recently signed Brandon Inge to a contract, but he hasn't hit over .250 in a season since 2006. If anything, that looks to just be a stopgap until a better player or situation comes along. Unless they get very lucky with Inge and his production dramatically increases, the A's will probably keep all options open regarding third base.Come July, expect the ...
The Oakland A's put runs on the board early and Jarrod Parker made them stand up. But it took Jordan Norberto to bail out scuffling Grant Balfour as the A's defeated Boston 5-3 tonight at Fenway Park.Parker went a solid 6 2/3 innings. He allowed a single run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. The key was getting ahead in the count and Parker threw 59 strikes in 98 pitches.Up 5-1 in the ninth, Balfour could only record one out before allowing a two-run, bases-loaded single to Boston shortstop Mike Aviles. Norberto entered and struck out ...
Highlighting a bad performance from the previous night in baseball might seem like a harsh way to start the morning. But look at it this way: If you had a rough night or bad day, here's someone who may have had it worse. There were several candidates for "Worst of the Night" honors from Monday's action in the majors.For instance, the Atlanta Braves' Mike Minor getting shelled for seven runs by a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that had scored the fewest runs in baseball—by far. Giving up a home run to Yamaico Navarro, who had all of one career homer before ...
For a moment, it appeared that the A's might pull off a comeback bigger than the New York Yankees' rally in Fenway Park on April 21st. But it was not to be.Even after loading the bases with no outs in the 8th, the A's could not score and would fall to the Red Sox 11-6.Tom Milone took the loss, getting pounded for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings. David Ortiz hit two home runs for the Sox who led 11-1 at one point. Josh Reddick was the offensive star for the A's, ...
This really isn't about about Chad Harbach's 2011 novel, though I highly recommend that book, especially to anyone who's ever attended a D-III college or played baseball. But, on a related tack...The Orioles trailed the Athletics yesterday 2-0 to begin the top of the ninth inning. Oakland starter Bartolo Colon had shut down the O's for eight innings, collecting four strikeouts through 28 batters faced and 95 pitches thrown. The seven Orioles in Sunday's batting order who had participated in the nine-run shelling of A's starter Tyson Ross on Saturday were, by my count, a combined 6-for-21 (.286) on the day, and nobody had ...
Tommy Milone. You’ve heard of him, right? That unassuming 25-year-old lefty on the Oakland Athletics. The dude with the 3-1 record and 2.00 ERA in four starts this season. Yes. That’s the guy I’m talking about. It’s been a very, very impressive month of April for Milone, who has helped the A’s reach a 3.11 team ERA, good for third in the American League. That certainly was not projected heading into spring training. Not after Oakland traded away four starters from last season’s rotation—Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso.Milone was one of the players received in the ...
What the hell happened to Bartolo Colon? Or maybe more importantly, what the hell is going in the A’s front office? That second question probably isn’t meant the way you think it is, because it’s a positive question. Somebody in the A’s front office—maybe Billy Beane, or David Forst, or some sharp-eyed old scout, who knows—has figured out how to find physically unimpressive veterans and turn them into competent pitchers again. Last season was the great comeback story of Brandon McCarthy, that tall drink of water. The Texas castoff was signed to take the fifth spot in the rotation, and ...
The rookie landscape took on a much different look this weekend, as two of baseball’s top prospects—Bryce Harper and Mike Trout—were recalled from the minor leagues and inserted into their respective team’s outfield. While it’s obviously too early to rule on how they've performed (or their seasonal outlook for that matter), there are a host of other rookies who have performed well in the first month of a season. So, before Major League Baseball announces their rookies of the month for March/April, I thought I’d poll the Prospect Pipeline readers about which player has been the most impressive thus far.After ...