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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Anderson Stellar, Athletics Trample Twins 4-1

A’s fans, rejoice.  Brett Anderson is back.

What an encouraging outing for the twenty-four year old lefty, who made his season debut on Tuesday night, and was able to cap it off with a  win thanks to his hard-hitting teammates.

Things looked shaky at first for Anderson, allowing a lead-off infield hit to Ben Revere that would eventually come back to haunt him, as Revere was able to score thanks to a Joe Mauer groundout and a  Brett Anderson wild pitch. 

Later in the inning, outfielder Seth Smith would score off a double to deep left field thanks to new and improved third baseman Josh Donaldson.

After that, he settled down nicely until he hit the 5th inning, where he allowed two straight singles to Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit.  All would be well, however, as Twins Trevor Plouffe would help him out and ground into what was an astonishing 5-4-3 triple play.

Twins starter Cole De Vries also pitched very well, throwing five innings of one-run ball until Oakland was finally able to get him out of the ballgame in the 6th, with Derek Norris driving Seth Smith in for the go ahead run.  That’s all they would get in the inning, as Adam Rosales would ground out to third to leave Donaldson stranded.

The very next inning was a different story, as the A’s blew the game open putting up two runs off of Minnesota relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak to make it a 4-1 lead.

Grant Balfour would come in to close things out in the top of the 9th, striking out Ben Revere to end the game.

Anderson went seven strong inning, issuing no walks and allowing only one earned run with six punch-outs.  He needed only 86 pitches to get through the outing, throwing 62 of which for strikes.

The A’s will look to take the series tomorrow behind Tommy Milone (9-9 with a 4.03 ERA) who is 0-3 in his last four starts,  allowing an un-earthly twenty earned runs, so he will be watched closely.

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A's vs. Jays Preview, Recap of Roster Moves

Kelly L Cox/US Presswire

It was busy day for the A's in terms of roster movement, so before we get to the preview of tonight's game, let's recap the moves that they made today.


Trades
Kurt Suzuki was dealt to the Washington Nationals for minor league catcher David Freitas. Read more about it here. 
The A's also acquired reliever Pat Neshek for cash from the Baltimore Orioles today, and he has been added to the roster.


Sent to DL
Seth Smith was sent to the DL with a left hamstring strain which he injured in last night's game while running to first base.


Sent Down
Relievers Evan Scribner and Jim Miller were optioned to Triple A Sacramento. 


Called Up
Outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Derek Norris were called up today to fill the spots left by Scribner and Miller. 


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Ok, now for the game itself, which begins in about two hours from the O.Co Coliseum. 


Dan Straily will make his first career start for the A's as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays tonight. Straily is 5-2 with a 1.36 ERA in eight starts with the Sacramento Rivercats this season, and is regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. It should be exciting to see him kick off his major league career.


Here is the lineup for the A's tonight. 


Crisp CF
Gomes DH
Reddick RF
Cespedes LF
Carter 1B
Inge 3B
Norris C,
Rosales SS,
Weeks 2B

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A's Take Game One Against Blue Jays Behind Bartolo Colon

Ben Margot/AP

Despite being outhit by the Blue Jays 10-7, the A's managed to eek out a 4-1 win on the scoreboard, and that was all that mattered on Thursday night.

The dependable Bartolo Colon pitched eight solid innings, scattering seven hits and allowing no runs. As always, he was consistently around the strike zone, challenging hitters to swing the bat. The Jays helped him out by swinging at a lot of pitches early in the count, allowing Colon to have a long outing.

The A's put up a crooked number in the third. Seth Smith knocked in Erik Sogard with a sharp single into right field, then Josh Reddick cranked a two-run shot to put the A's ahead 3-0.

They would tack on an insurance run in the seventh when Brandon Inge singled with the bases loaded, forcing in a run.

The ninth inning got quite interesting, as the Jays scored a run and brought the tying run to the plate in Colby Rasmus, who has 19 home runs. But All-Star closer Ryan Cook got him to ground out, ending the game and sending everyone home happy.

With their win, Oakland is now 57-48 and owns the top wild card spot in the AL.

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