We know our A’s will play one more game at least. Melvin seems to have woken up.
Crisp Dunn Donaldson Moss reddick lowrie Vogt Soto Sogard. FOr sonny gray.
Holland still out. Nick martinez pitching.
Thanks and Go A’s.
258 thoughts on “Game Gimme the damn ball”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I think I’d flip flop Reddick and Moss.
Me too. The only argument against it is that Reddick seems to perform better in lower-profile parts of the order. But Moss is in bad health and isn’t hitting the ball well at all.
Moss is 2 for his last 22 but with 7 walks, so I guess it makes sense to have someone who’s getting on in front of Reddick.
no reason for that. melvin mojp is back
I didn’t get enough sleep last night (not because of the A’s). But now I have all this nervous energy.
Might Be Relevant Dept.:
Tigers lead the Twins 1-0, but Price has thrown 84 pitches through 5. Detroit will need its shaky bullpen.
KC making noise in the 2nd.
and i smell vaguely like a quinceañera. but that’s what i get for shaking hands with someone on their way to misa.
wsox make it a new game in the 3rd. detroit still up by 1 in the 7th.
wsox now 4-2. and detroit 3-0 in 9th. looks like that race is run.
The second half is a tagline, for sure.
I would rather have Fuld in left than Moss at this point.
Bad measure, but over their personal last 10 games, Moss has gotten on at much higher clip than Fuld.
OBP since Sep 16: Moss = 364, Fuld = 250
OBP since Sep 1: Moss = 290, Fuld = 253
OBP since Aug 16: Moss = 306, Fuld = 269
OBP since Aug 1: Moss = 321, Fuld = 275
OBP since July 1: Moss = 308, Fuld = 341
Full season OBP: Moss = 334, Fuld = 275
So Fuld was really good in July, otherwise awful.
And he wasn’t playing for the A’s then.
WPA in September Moss: -0.61.
WPA in September Fuld: -0.11
I’m riding with Sam today.
Here is a pro-tip for all of you in survivor leagues, pick whoever is playing the Raiders.
Four games with post season implications on game 162, so of course TBS’s game of the week is the Yankees & Red Sox.
Betcha more people will watch Jeter.
Well sure. It’s the only nationally televised game.
A Game 163 against the Mariners would be at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Another reason to hope for the A’s to win.
The Wild Card play-in game will start at 5:07 Pacific time.
this comment makes no sense
Holland has migraines. Not ruled out of pitching in relief.
Coco still keeps popping things up.
Gray has to survive the dreaded first inning.
Phew. First inning done for Gray.
Moss, out to prove us wrong.
Reddick needs to advance him to third, at least.
Or get himself to third while driving in Moss. He’s hitting everything to straightaway center. Terrific hits.
mossy.
and dicky.
they’re all like, flip flop me?? flip flop YOU!!
and vogty.
This would be a nice time for Vogt to hit a medium-deep fly ball.
He went with medium-shallow.
That Vogt flare was just luck, but I’m not complaining.
You shouldnt, we have had a little bit of BABIP bad luck the last 2 months. Today was the start of us getting “lucky’ again to piss Fieri off from his home in IGotDumpedByTwoTeams, WI.
is the level on the field mic clipping or something? all the hits sound like broken bats.
They all sound like they’re hitting the barrel square for me.
ok, but a square barrel is just a box.
Ray just referred to Mike Maddux as Gred Maddux. Man, he’s in his prime.
More than once.
Coco seems to have a severe uppercut in his swing.
I’ve noticed it too. That really ought to be fixed. Even we can see it.
Coco, stop hitting lazy fly balls!
I’ll happily take two runs, just disappointed they couldn’t get more.
I have no idea what Soto is going to call in any count. That’s a very good thing.
I am pretty sure norris only has one finger
WRONG! this is the pre-emptive secondguessing to be proven incorrect by positive results thread. try again please.
Donaldson looks like Travis Bickle.
some day a real bringer of rain is gonna come
Tigers win.
What that means: If the A’s face the Tigers again this season, it will be in the American League Championship Series.
Also, the Vargas scenario is out.
How so? Vargas would have pitched tomorrow so he’d certainly be capable of pitching in the WC game.
They were going to use Shields tomorrow and Vargas Tuesday. But Vargas has pretty much sucked since he shut out the A’s. Sure, they could use him in relief, but their bullpen is deep enough I doubt they would.
The Royals pulled their entire starting lineup after the Tigers clinched.
If the A’s win this game, Felix will be removed about 10 seconds later.
Interesting. Samardzija said he knew right away he had “no fastball” yesterday. Tried to work around that. It really should have had Melvin going to the bullpen earlier. He’s thrown a lot of innings this year. I don’t know how often starters just lose their velocity and then come back with it the next start. Hopefully, that will be a relevant issue.
that was yesterday melvin. today is majick melvin
Gray has been terrific thus far. He will face the Rangers’ best hitters in the next inning. More runs would be very helpful.
More runs, please.
Also, please STFU, Ray.
the generic sounding burrito express on telegraph and 24th has the absolutely hottest sauce i’ve ever had from a salsa bar. that orange stuff will make your scalp sweat.
I look forward to the relative near future, when I can again afford to do fun stuff like day trips to Oakland for burritos and baseball.
I also want to get a diesel Mercedes… somewhere in the range of ’72-’84.
i highly recommend past mercedeses in the near future.
The Cardinals win the Central after the Pirates lost. Their reward is facing the Dodgers in a five-game series in which Kershaw can start two games.
dodgers are beatable
Seriously, how many people really want to tune into the Raiders post-game show?
Is Bed going to hit the Charlie Weis/Dennis Allen Daily Double today?
They’re 0-4 and still have 10 AFC West and NFC West games. Do they go 0-16?
They have the Bills, Chiefs, and I think the Rams at home still. My guess is they steal one of those games.
i bet a lot did. around the 3rd quarter.
vince: the sun is playing peekaboo with the clouds casting shadows on the field.
economy of words: it’s sunny gray.
Good inning for Gray. Through 4.
How about scoring some more fucking runs?
Well, see, you have to tip your cap to Nick Martinez.
Part of me wonders if in between the NFL commercial breaks, Shields flips over to this game, starts laughing, then flips back.
2 run HR for donaldson giving him a nice even 30/100
That would kick so much ass.
Leadoff trouble. Crap.
More bad news. Runners at the corners. No out. Holland warming up.
i see the family resemblance.
Yes!
Nice pitching Sonny!
SUCK ASS SAVES THE DAY
Thank you, Adam Rosales.
I’m so glad he’s on our team. He was worth a run plus there!
Bailed out by Suck-Ass!
ha ha, rosy.
Is it possible for the Royals to claim Rosales in between the end of this game and Tuesday?
Holland in.
Let the offensive explosion begin.
Thank God, they managed to get Martinez out of there.
Mariners score first. I’m not feeling all warm and fuzzy here.
Just win the game. I assume the Mariners will win today.
The job of an A’s starter, almost all of the time: Throw a shutout. Gray’s lucky. He can give up a run.
Top of the Rangers lineup coming up.
Dear Oakland Raiders,
Best wishes and Go A’s!
Wow, dude.
Are you done done?
I turned the game off early in the third quarter. I don’t recall ever doing that before. I had to go out for a walk just to burn off some energy. I’m embarrassed to be a Raiders fan at this point.
9
I approve of getting two outs on one pitch.
There you go! Six innings down. And Beltre can lead off the 7th.
Nice!
Glen doing his best to try to jinx this team.
Ok A’s I have to go out now. Pleeeeeeeaaaaase let me see that you’ve won when I get back.
Damn. Decent at-bat by Vogt, though.
Seriously? WTF are they doing GBA for the last game of the fucking season? Why at any time, but WTF now?
The games are long enough…how about we just drop the seventh inning stretch all together?
Someone needs to teach this generation the proper way of holding a microphone while singing.
Damn kids! Get off my lawn unless you hold the microphone properly!
Is it just me, or have the A’s had the worst luck on line drives the past few weeks?
I wonder what their BABIP looks like…
I’ll look that up for you…it’s been…uh…low?
.286 in the first half. .258 in August, .272 in September.
Thanks! Has the historically high usage of the shift this year affected BABIP numbers across the league?
Help me out here, does the decrease we have had in HRs make the lower BABIP even worse than it seems? I’m thinking it does but it’s Sunday and my religion prevents me from fooling around with math on Sunday.
well it means that the team was hitting basically .272 if you don’t count strickouts
Also, has anybody pointed out how Soto looks like he’s going to fall down every time he throws it back to the pitcher?
He’s the Jim Bouton of catchers.
That SuperKnuck back to the pitcher is going to be a real PITA.
It cost sonny gray a run in the game against the angels, aybar with the delayed steal
6
Please leave Punto out of this, Melvin…
I would be surprised if we don’t see him, as long as Holland stays in the game.
Well, I’m wrong, but that’s probably because Melvin wants him to bunt.
Nice easy inning. At this rate, Gray may be able to throw a complete game.
What kind of shit bunt was that.
Pretty shitty, Ray.
Coco looks gimpy. Is anyone on this team not injured or banged up in a significant way?
how dare you forget about callaspo, especially since we see him nearly every day!!
Um, Coco limping is not a good thing.
Hitting Sardinas, not good.
Son-ny. Son-ny. Son-ny.
How has Doolittle looked since returning from injury?
He’s been OK, but has lost a little velocity and is less trustworthy.
He makes me nervous when he pitches.
beard’s a little bushier but his haircut is still sharp.
I don’t know how these guy live with those beards. I’ve grown a couple of summer beards but nothing like those bad boys.
Amen to that. I often grow a winter beard but as soon as the ‘stach starts to get bushy it drives me up the wall.
It’s a tough 9th inning, with Rangers’ most dangerous hitters. Three of the first four are right handed.
Leave Gray in. Have Doolittle (and Gregerson, for that matter) ready.
I like rooting for Sonny Gray. It’s just more fun when he’s a guy who the team drafted. I hope to get to do this with a hitter someday…someday.
Tejada. Also, how did you (of all people) know we drafted Sonny?!?
How unlikely is that? A Beltre error on an easy grounder by Callaspo. Get him out of there! Burns time!
Add on, for the love of all that is Green and Gold.
i don’t care if lester’s the only guy on the bench. pinch runner. nao.
No f’ing way Gray should be taken out.
Beltre did that because of the competitive salary we once offered him. #readbetweenthelines
Have you been talking to Bed and his inside sources with the Rangers again?
Can Burns steal on this catcher?
That was a wasted PA.
I’m really sick of Gome fucking with his helmet.
LOL Suck-Ass
Bases loaded. Rosales is not having a good game. Reddick battled. C’mon, guys. Score!
ack! i just realized who gomes reminds me of.
We’d better score – 4-0 Seattle.
lol.
LOL!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Holy shit, thank you Rangers defense!
thank you ump.
Odor lost that ball in the shadows.
No, Odor just stunk.
Jesus Christ, Rangers.
The Rangers have been awful this inning. Finally, the A’s catch a break.
There is a bad Odor on the infield.
The Tacoma Aroma or the Bakersfield Brew?
No, it’s just the Rangers infield giving us two!
Bakersfield: Come for the manure aroma stay for the multiple Denny’s.
coalinga looks at its sole denny’s and wonders how bakersfield gets it done.
Why is Vogt hitting here?
Feeling pritty…pritty…pritty…good about our chances.
Hmm…is it possible the 49ers just aren’t good anymore?
Nevermind.
2
That’s one out.
1
One to go.
CHAMPIONSSSSSS!!!!!!1
(of the 2nd WC spot.)
Relief.
Ken’s tone in that last inning was definitely much more “sense of relief” than celebratory.
Lester, you’d better be prepared to outdo Gray’s performance.
sonny’s not nearly as cute without his hat on. great game though.
Cool
It’s fitting that the A’s clinched on a complete game shutout. Because that’s generally what they need to win.
It’s not easy to make the postseason 3 straight years in this league. Go A’s.
I was just thinking the same thing, lenscrafters. It wasn’t always pretty this year but it’s still a big accomplishment.
Major League Baseball has made it easier with the extra WC team and play-in game.
But if you’re the road team in the play-in game, you are playing with found money. Because until 2012, the A’s would have been eliminated.
bud selig is an A’s fan!!!
Well deserved my ass, Glen. This is a limp in with a win.
Woohoo! I’d like to thank the Academy. Myself. And most of all: The A’s. To all those I forgot. Well, I didn’t. Just think about it.
Sweet…congrats to the A’s and to all the die hard A’s fans who survived the last month of this season. Now, let’s go kick the Royals ass.
One thing should be obvious: Soto catches Lester on Tuesday.
He’d better be catching period. If Norris is in, it’s as a DH.
Particularly against the Royals, who lead the majors with 153 steals and had an 81% success rate while doing it.
Well and we know how close Lester will be holding them on.
i do believe there was a CS during his last start…
I think the solution is obvious: don’t let any runners on.
Not gonna lie, saw they donkey getting beer poured in him and the room get a bit dusty.
Excellent game thread title Ed/Sonny.
I just try to win every comment. Win every letter I type. win every refresh. Its just posting. same as every other day
A good friend of mine used to say, “This is a very simple game. You type the post, you read the post, you refresh the post. Sometimes you’re Pollyanna, sometimes you’re Eeyore, sometimes it rains.” Think about that for a while.
After giving it some thought. I don’t think you have any good friends.
Gray’s outing reminded me of Tim Hudson’s Game 162 way back when.
This.
Yup. The day after that huge blowout, to boot.
[Looks at score]
What a wonderful relief.
Clinched the run-differential title as well.
Bay Area
So Cal
Missouri
Beltway
Rust Belt
Kind of cool symmetry this year
Ordinarily I wouldn’t care much about the NL wild card game. Not the case this year.
How much I care will depend on what happens Tuesday.
I made that mistake in 2012. Never again
True. That sucked. But there’s no avoiding it, really.
I’m already irritated that the Pirates burned Cole yesterday. I will either be doubly irritated or too numb to care by Wednesday.
Two terrifying patterns in play this year: 1) mediocre Giants teams win in even years; 2) my 30th favorite team is the Giants, 29th Red Sox, 28th slegna….
Rooting interests for each team* for the playoffs in general, in order of preference and caring**: A’s win, Giants lose, Angels lose, Detroit lose, Pirates win, Cardinals lose, Nats win, Orioles win, Dodgers lose
*excluding KC, given that they’re playing the A’s this round
**subject to change, depending on how far the A’s get
I think that if it can’t be the A’s, I want the Dodgers to win it all. This is purely because it’s the result that would annoy Giant and Angel fans the most.
I’m mostly indifferent to them. I dislike their gigantic payroll and big market realities, but there is an enemy of my enemy thing going on too. I’m mostly sticking to a small market/lack of recent success/underdog angle to my rooting interests, but I could see myself rooting for the Dodgers at some point in the playoffs
mine are vastly simpler: A’s win. soccer.
A’s win. How many days until pitchers and catchers report?
“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
Rogers Hornsby
Without doing any research, the Giants seem like the worst of the five NL playoff teams by far. I expect them to win Wednesday because of the favorable pitching matchup, but that’s it.
They were the worse team in 4-6 of the playoff series they won.
FKing Dusty Baker and those choking Reds.
At least the Rangers were justly punished.
And they were better than a certain team in 2002
Our hitters stand a better chance against Shields than theirs do against Lester. Let’s start Soto and save Norris for when they bring in Vargas.
I worry a bit about their baserunners wreaking havoc, but with a little luck, there won’t be too many of those.
Even more why I want Soto. Perfect world I want Vogt back there, but Soto has been keeping runners mostly under control.
Soto has to catch the whole game, unless the A’s are behind and desperate for a home run.
Otherwise, the Royals will run wild. Lester isn’t much for holding runners to begin with. Besides, Soto is hitting well.
If by whole game, you mean all of the playoffs, then yes.
Reddick. LMAO.
i think he’s got a little bit of bubblegum stuck to his jockeys there.
Frankly I am more concerned about the joint
not for performance issues, but it could get him in trouble, no?
That’s no joint-i’ts the mouthguard making its triumphant return. My story and I’m sticking to it.
“Hey A’s fans you will want to get out here early next Saturday. When the A’s take on the Indians at 1:05 pm it will be Josh Reddick Bobble Crimson Scholng day at the park; where the first 15,000 fans 18 and over get this special Reddick Bobble’head’ figurine. Brought to you by Trojan and anti-monkey Butt fungal powder.”
I think we have discovered what’s making josh run so funny. Elephantiasis of the knee
Those t-shirts are so stupid. AL WEST DIVISION A’S POSTSEASON!
more power to you for being able to read white on yellow.
Stew has a big decision to make.
The weird thing about this whole play-in game is that the “postseason” could be over very quickly.
On the other hand, if the A’s are able to pull off a win in Kansas City, they will face the Angels and all those Angel wins will only be good for home field advantage.
And you can think about all sorts of ideas if we get there. So I would assume Shark and Sonny go game 1 & 2-they would be on normal rest. You could come back with Lester for game 3, Hammel for 4 (I dont care how well he pitched the other night I dont want Kaz anywhere near the slegnA). Or if we are in a good spot after 1 and 2 have Hammel go 3, Lester well rested 4. This is why the trades were made. At no point do I look at our options and say “well we hope to get to game x when we can have so and so pitch on short rest”.
Yup. This year Billy’s shit didn’t work in the regular season, ergo …
Nah, Lester would go in Game 3 no matter the situation. No sense in holding back your best pitcher, and it also keeps him on turn for Game 1 of the next series.
I agree.
Well and if he goes on game 3 you could possibly even do one of those “well he would have thrown today anyways” game 5 1 inning savior spots. But either way, there is no Dr Gil Heredia scenario.
Makes sense. Don’t want to let your foot off the clutch and all that if you’ve been stepping on it for the first two games
That transmission must be torn to shreds by now. We should look into an automatic.
If you’re consistent it will be just fine. Heck, look at Jeter.
That’s confidence you can set your clock to right there
ha! to all
I’ll try to avoid thinking about this too hard till after Tuesday, but Kazmir seems like a pretty good option to have out of the pen.
Maybe out of the pen, but man he has been awful against slegnA. I would prefer JCS and Pom Pom out of the pen.
I want Lester, Sonny, and Smirjdajolivianewtonjohnmazda to throw complete game shut outs.
If that happens after game 3 I will be in Xanadu.
Who knows? Maybe getting in the playoffs this way will work for some stupid reason. It doesn’t make sense but life isn’t always logical.
I haven’t been rosterbating lately but I can’t see JCS being on the postseason roster based on his September usage. He’d be one of the guys they would add in the event of an injury.
Yup. If he were needed we’d be royally screwed anyway. Besides, having an additional bench option or two would be very helpful. I think Burns makes the cut.
I don’t think JC makes the playoff roster. No need. Pom maybe.