How Does the A's Pitching Staff Deal With the Loss of Brandon McCarthy?

First and foremost all of our thoughts are with Brandon McCarthy and his family. Based on a statement released by Billy Beane and the Athletics, it appears McCarthy is in stable condition.

In the past thirty days the A's have lost their two most veteran pitchers on the staff. After losing Bartolo Colon, it was easy to say things were okay as Brett Anderson stepped up and took on the role as the ace of the staff. Now that McCarthy appears to be out as well, the big question is who will step up and provide the depth that McCarthy added to our staff?

The current staff looks like this:

- Brett Anderson
- Jarrod Parker
- Tommy Milone
- AJ Griffin

The easy choice is to convert Travis Blackley back to a starter and have him make four starts in September. Based on the current schedule, he is likely to face the Angels, Orioles, Yankees and Rangers, respectively.

While he's pitched well this year, I'm not thrilled on throwing him out against teams with extremely potent offenses.

One other possibility to fill the void is the "king of strikeouts", Dan Straily. People are clamoring over the fact they want to see him pitch, but we must realize that he is a rookie pitcher that will exceed his innings pitched in a season. The Dan Straily from three months ago might not be the Dan Straily of September.

In short, while the pitching staff has fallen on hard times there's enough viable replacements to make 4 starts in September and help carry the Oakland Athletics back to the playoffs.

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A's Win Streak Snapped at Nine with 8-3 Loss to Angels

It was a good run, but the A's could not have expected to win twenty in a row.

Behind CJ Wilson and a hot offense, the Angels snapped Oakland's win-streak at nine on Monday afternoon. Tommy Milone went just three innings, allowing five runs on ten hits.

The Angels had a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning, as Milone was getting hit hard. The A's would battle back to make it a 5-2 deficit, but Chris Iannetta spoiled any hopes of a comeback with a two run homer in the sixth. Iannetta would record three RBIs on the day, and was a triple shy of the cycle.

The Angels would tack on three more runs and take the first game of the series by the score of 8-3.

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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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Milone on the Mound as A's Take on Indians: Preview, Lineups

Tommy Milone will look to build on a strong start against the Twins last Wednesday, when he allowed just one run in eight innings. Before that, he had been 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA over his last four starts.

He will be opposed by Zach McAllister (5-4, 3.50 ERA) of the Indians, who are 1-9 in their last ten games.

Lineup

The A's lineup tonight has a bit of a different spin to it, with Stephen Drew leading off and Josh Reddick batting second. 

Drew SS
Reddick RF
Cespedes CF
Smith DH
Carter 1B
Moss LF
Donaldson 3B
Norris C
Rosales 2B

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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 Beat Twins Behind Milone's Solid Performance

Tommy Milone allowed just one run in eight innings, while the A's beat up on rookie starter Liam Hendriks on Wednesday afternoon.

The A's led 2-1 in the bottom of the third thanks to RBIs by Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes.

Coco Crisp then drove in the rest, with a double scoring Josh Donaldson in the fourth, and a solo home run in the seventh. Crisp would go 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

Meanwhile, Milone cruised through eight innings, giving up just the one run on two hits. He is the second Oakland pitcher to record double-digit wins this year at 10-9.

The first, coincidentally, was Bartolo Colon, who was suspended earlier today for 50 games for taking PEDs.

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A's Look to Take Series Against Twins: Preview, Lineups

Yes, Bartolo Colon was just suspended for using PEDs, but we still got a ball game to play.

There's nothing like a Wednesday matinee at the O.Co Coliseum, as the Oakland Athletics will try to take the series against the Minnesota Twins.

Tommy Milone (9-9, 4.03 ERA) will pitch for the A's. He has struggled as of late, with a 7.50 ERA over his last four games.

However, his opponent has been even worse. Liam Hendriks (0-5, 7.04 ERA) of the Twins makes Milone's numbers seem diminutive.

The A's are 56-46 and are still a half game back in the AL Wild Card chase.

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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 Fall To White Sox On Walk-Off Home Run

In late innings, the Oakland Athletics are almost unstoppable. However, Jordan Danks found a way to stop the A's.

Danks hit a home run to right with two outs in the ninth to propel the White Sox to a 4-3 win over the A's. Both teams are competing in the AL Wild Card race, so the loss is crucial for the A's, who received a solid outing from Brandon McCarthy in his return from the DL.

McCarthy allowed three earned runs in six-plus innings pitched, and the two teams were tied after seven innings. Both teams received solid efforts from the bullpen, but the White Sox triumphed at the end.

Dayan Viciedo, A.J Pierzynski and Alexi Ramirez also homered, all taking advantage of mistakes by McCarthy. McCarthy gave Ramirez a meatball in the fourth, and he hit it deep to left field. Viciedo and Pierzynski both hit outside pitches into the seats for the White Sox.

With the game tied at three, submariner Pat Neshek delivered a pitch. Catcher George Kottaras wanted it away, but Neshek threw the pitch too far inside. Danks capitalized, and he hit a no-doubter to give the White Sox a key win.

Brandon Moss hit his 12th homer of the year for the A's, a two-run shot that put Oakland up 3-0 in the second inning. The A's dominated White Sox starter Gavin Floyd early, but he settled down and pitched six strong innings.

Tommy Milone will start Saturday for the A's, while Francisco Liriano will get the ball for the White Sox.

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A's Fall to Blue Jays, Split Four Game Series

Ben Margot/AP

After winning the first two games to start their four games series against the Blue Jays, the A's lost the final two to earn a split.

Tommy Milone struggled yet again, allowing six runs in six innings, and now has a .500 record at 9-9.

It wasn't as if the A's didn't provide him with enough offense. Josh Reddick broke a 1-1 tie in the third with a monster three-run shot into right field, putting the A's up 4-1.

But Milone gave it up quickly. He promptly gave up a two run shot to Edwin Encarnacion in the fourth, and allowed three more runs to score on a series of hits with two outs in the fifth. Just like that, it was 6-4 Blue Jays.

The A's would battle back, and cut the lead to one after a Coco Crisp RBI double in the seventh, but that would be it. The Jays bullpen allowed just the one run in three innings, and the A's fell 6-5 to the Blue Jays.

With the loss, Oakland is now 58-50 and is still tied for the top wild card spot in the AL. They have a huge series coming up against the Angels, who are trailing them by just a half game.

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