A.J. Griffin Sensational in A's 7-1 Series Win Vs. Boston

Well, for a team that was written off before the season even started, the Athletics are doing a tremendous job in breaking expectations and continuing to win games, in commanding fashion.  Tonight, they won 7-1 behind a strong starter, and an offense that just continues to click.

The city of Oakland continues to celebrate.  The A’s are on an offensive tear, scoring 27 runs in their last two games, 20 of them alone coming from last night’s series opener against Boston.  They took the series, and added on to their winning streak, now at 8. 

Rookie sensation A.J. Griffin was very impressive in his first start since missing most of August with a shoulder injury, actually taking a perfect game into the last two outs of the 5th inning, when he gave up a fast-rolling bunt towards third base from Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who would be stranded to end the inning).  Things started to turn around in the top of the 6th, however, as some lucky breaks on the base-paths for Boston and a controversial call at home plate ended up being the only run Griffin would give up.   3 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, and 5 strikeouts later, Griffin would go 7 strong innings to earn his 4th victory of the season, still without a loss.

It was the bottom of the first inning, and Coco Crisp wasted no time in getting Oakland on the board, blasting a solo shot to left field.

In the bottom 3rd, Red Sox starter Felix Dubront would get hit hard to allow 4 earned runs:  After getting the first two outs with two men on, Yoenis Cespedes got it going with a single to left scoring Jonny Gomes, 2-0 Oakland.  Cespedes would then steal second, and third, and eventually be driven in with Chris Carter off a double to deep right from newly activated Brandon Inge.  4-0 Oakland.  It wouldn’t stop there, as catcher Derek Norris slices a single into center field to score Inge, making it 5-0.  Still Oakland.

The A’s were threatening to score in the 4th, after new pitcher Alfredo Aceves made a terrible decision to back-up his catcher and 1st baseman by dropping the ball after running into them.  Luckily for him, he would get out of the inning with no runs scoring.

In the bottom of the 5th, a single and a steal later, Cliff Pennington get’s driven in by Norris, making it 6-0 Oakland.

Jump ahead to the bottom 7th, 1st baseman Chris Carter leads off the inning by blasting a solo homer into left center field.  7-1 Oakland.  Cliff Pennington then gets his second hit of the night to follow the leadoff homerun, but would be left stranded.

Pat Neshek came in in the 8th, and pitched the rest of the game to an Oakland victory, no save necessary.

Brandon Inge left the game in the top 4th with a shoulder injury.  Hopefully it is nothing serious, but according to skipper Bob Melvin, Inge has re-aggravated the injury.  

Let’s see who did what tonight:
Coco Crisp: 3-for-4 with an RBI, a homerun, a walk, and two stolen bases.  He was a triple shy of the cycle.

Derek Norris: 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Brandon Inge: 1-for-2 with 2 RBI and a run scored.

Chris Carter: 1-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored (one from a leadoff homerun in the 7th).

Yoenis Cespedes: 1-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base.

Cliff Pennington: 2-for-2 with a run scored, and 2 stolen bases.

The Athletics are now only 3 and a half games back in their division, and 1 and a half games up in the AL Wild Card standings.  Needless to say, it’s been an exciting time for Oakland fans, and September will surely continue to fire up the A’s in their drive for the post-season.

Tomorrow, Brett Anderson (2-0 with a 0.64 ERA) will make his 3rd start of the season, and look to sweep an utterly floundering Boston team.  Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3 with a 5.10 ERA), who was dominant in his last start, will take the hill for his Red Sox at 1:05 PM in Oakland.

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A's Continue Winning Ways, Shutout Indians Again

The Oakland A's are a streaky team. Luckily for their fans, winning streaks have been more common than losing streaks.

Tommy Milone pitched six solid innings, Chris Carter homered among his three hits and the A's beat the Indians 7-0 on Tuesday night. Zach McAllister became the latest Indian starter to get dominated by the A's offense.

Brandon Moss also drove in three runs and had two hits (including a home run), adding to Oakland's offensive attack. Carter drove a nice pitch the other way to give the A's a 5-0 lead in the fifth, and Moss blasted a 3-2 pitch into center field for a home run.

The A's are now 71-57 and currently riding a four-game winning streak. Corey Kluber (0-2) will pitch for Cleveland tomorrow, while Travis Blackley (4-3) gets the ball for the A's.

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A's Continue Their Winning Ways With 3-0 Win Over Indians

The Oakland A's have been a streaky team. And, after losing two in a row, they're honoring the 2002 team with yet another winning streak.

Oakland dominated Cleveland 3-0 as Brett Anderson took a perfect game into the fifth inning. Anderson is now 2-0 with an 0.64 ERA since returning from Tommy John surgery, and in this game, he allowed just two hits (in seven innings).

The A's supported Anderson from the get-go. Seth Smith hit a sacrifice fly in the first, Josh Reddick homered in the second and Chris Carter hit an RBI single in the third. Indians' starter Roberto Hernandez left in the third with an ankle injury and allowed three earned runs in two and one-thirds innings.

In addition to the ball he golfed into the right-field seats, Reddick made a diving catch in the fourth inning. He and Yoenis Cespedes had multi-hit games for the A's, who are now 70-57 and tied with the Rays for first place in the Wild Card race.

Grant Balfour continued to dominate the ninth, as he blew fastballs by hitters to record his 15th save in 17 chances. Ryan Cook worked a perfect eighth to back up Anderson, who forced a lot of weak contact and had hitters off-balance all night.

Zach McAllister (5-4) will pitch for Cleveland tomorrow, while Tommy Milone (10-9) takes the ball for the A's.

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A's Gain Ground In Wild Card Race With Huge 4-2 Win Over Rays

The Oakland A's were in need of a huge win on Saturday. Luckily, Brandon McCarthy, Chris Carter and Seth Smith delivered.

Carter and Smith homered, McCarthy pitched seven solid innings and the A's beat the Rays 4-2.

Smith and Carter's jacks helped the A's salvage the series against the Rays, who still also currently own a Wild Card spot. Oakland is just a half-game back of the Rays for the first Wild Card spot, but they own the second Wild Card spot.

In the first inning, Jeremy Hellickson left a pitch that was supposed to be on the outside corner right down the middle, and Carter smashed the ball down the line for a line-drive home run. In the third, Smith hit a pitch up and outside just over the right field wall to give Oakland a 4-1 lead.

In additon to McCarthy's great start, Grant Balfour was great in the ninth inning, picking up his 14th save of the year and closing out a crucial game. Sean Doolittle got the hold by pitching a perfect eighth and striking out two Rays.

Roberto Hernandez (0-2, 6.75 ERA) takes the hill for the Cleveland Indians on Monday, while Brett Anderson (1-0, 1.29 ERA) pitches for Oakland.

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A's Come Back From 4-0 Deficit to Beat the Indians

With a sharp groundout to the shortstop via Jack Hannahan,  the Athletics got to start off this series against Cleveland with a much needed win, as they had dropped 2 out of 3 games to Kansas City in their previous match-up. 

And, as it turns out, it was the 10 year anniversary of Scott Hatteberg’s walk-off homer to clinch the A’s 20th consecutive win in the 2002 regular season.

It wasn’t a bad outing for Tommy Milone, who gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits and a walk to go along with 6 K’s, as Indians starter Zach McAllister went only one more inning (6.0) and gave up the same amount of runs in the 4th.  Unfortunately for Cleveland, the A’s bullpen was solid for 4 innings, and gave their team an opportunity to go ahead and take what was virtually a coin toss up until the 8th inning.  Bases were loaded for Josh Donaldson, and with a single to left field, Adam Rosales came in to score the go ahead run.

Josh Donaldson was no doubt the hero, going 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

1st baseman Chris Carter got things started in 4th after Cleveland had scored 4 times at the top of the inning.

Brandon Moss went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored to add on to the A‘s 8th inning rally, Cespedes, and Pennington also contributed much to the club’s victory, as the A’s went on to win the game 6-4.

The hope for October baseball in Oakland is still just as alive as ever, as the A's are only half a game behind the tied for 1st place Detroit-Tampa-Bay-Baltimore teams in the American League Wild Card standing, and are only 5 games behind an oddly struggling Texas Rangers.

Bartolo Colon, who has allowed only 5 runs (all against his most previous match-up in Chicago) in his last 4 starts, will take the hill for Oakland tomorrow, looking to keep the righting of this A's ship going, and earn his 10th win of the season. 

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A's Beat White Sox 9-7 In Slugfest

Travis Blackley continued to struggle. However, the Athletics' offense continued to produce.

The result? Another wild victory for the Oakland Athletics.

Jonny Gomes homered, Chris Carter had three hits and the A's beat the White Sox 9-7 in a slugfest. Grant Balfour kicked off the "closer by committee" era by recording his eighth save of the season, as he  got A.J Pierzynski to line out to end the game.

Gomes, Carter and Derek Norris all knocked in two runs for Oakland, and Brandon Inge plated the go-ahead run for Oakland. Inge ripped an outside fastball down the right field line to plate Yoenis Cespedes and give Oakland the lead.

In the third inning, Norris hit a low fastball from Francisco Liriano down the left field line for a ground-rule double. Two runs scored, and the A's took a 4-2 lead. Earlier in the inning, Carter ripped a 93 mph fastball into left field for a two-run single.

Oakland led 6-2 in the fourth, but the White Sox battled back. Kevin Youkilis and Tyler Flowers each homered, and after the 7th inning, Chicago led 7-6. However, setup man Matt Thornton came in, and he failed to stop Oakland's offense.

Thornton gave Gomes a curveball right down the middle, and he crushed it into the left-field bleachers. The game was tied, and Oakland wasn't done. They scored on Inge's single and on another hit from Gomes in the ninth, and the A's led 9-7 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Balfour came on for the save, and he did a nice job after hitting Kevin Youkilis. Balfour didn't give Adam Dunn a good pitch to hit, and he got Dunn to fly out to left. Alex Rios struck out on a great pitch to get another out, and Pierzynski lined out to end the game.

With the win, the A's are now tied with three other teams for first place in the AL Wild Card standings. The White Sox are a half-game ahead of the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL Central.

Tomorrow, Chris Sale (13-3, 2.59 ERA) will take the hill for the White Sox, while Bartolo Colon (9-8, 3.38 ERA) will pitch for Oakland.

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