Athletics baseball returns after nearly a week off.
F: Luzardo vs. Zach Davies
Sa: Manaea vs. Chris Paddack
Su: Fiers vs. Garrett Richards
Semien is still out so La Machin gets the start at SS. La Stella in at 2B again.
The Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and a bunch of guys for whom they just traded. Also, old acquaintance Jurickson Profar has heated up, raising his OPS 100 points in the last week or so. Some of that was Coors Field. If Tatis beats us, I’ll tip my cap. If Machado beats us, I’ll fume a bit. If Profar beats us, I might punch something.
Yay baseball! This was a longer All Star break than I remember.
Luzardo sucked off unexpectedly shorter rest (in SF), so I assume he’ll be extra awesome with unexpectedly extra rest.
McCullers Jr didn’t record a single out before he was pulled after giving up 3 runs in the 1st. Our old friend Barreto eventually made the first out.
Edit: Actually it was the second out after a sac fly.
Barreto is playing LF so they can get him and Rengifo in the lineup.
I won’t mind if profar beats the A’s. He was a bad major league baseball player but a delightful individual
Also he may be the physical embodiment of the classic 70s Friars logo. Delightful.
I amend my comment. I’ll be mad, but happy for him
I don’t know, maybe he cures cancer in his spare time or something, I still hate him.
I like the “don’t swing at change ups” policy
The Vegas goalie just made one of the best saves I’ve ever seen. No score in 2nd period.
I don’t think this strategy of wasting every leadoff baserunner is a winner.
Depressed about that double play? What this, it’s cute
That is cute. Also Oly is hitting rightie.
Oh, wow. didn’t notice.
Chapman needs to not swing at a pitch for a game or 2
taps the sign
ahem
so, anyone have bob’s number?
This is starting to get ridiculous.
two of the pitches to him were strikes this time
Ugh
strike two was a good take
STOP SWINGING!!!
It looks like he might be coming out of the game.
I keep going back to that HBP where he got hit in the head and also that belly flop he did trying to catch that popup about couple weeks ago. Something’s not right.
Thanks for the lawn dart, SD second baseman.
out.
olson thinks he is faster than he is. every time
Once again he has a close play at home (upheld as safe thankfully) which even a medium speed guy would have beaten easily.
Not the best slide by Olson.
Fosse saying he kept his foot down, but he didn’t. Might have gotten it back down before the tag though.
Nope. Out. And that is the right call.
I dunno, if called out initially then upheld I would not complain. Replay umps need to go to school on what constitutes “indisputable” evidence. Maybe Olsen’s foot hopped of and got back in time, maybe it didn’t, none of those replays were clear/overwhelming/indisputable or whatever the actual standard is.
This continues to be my problem. Replay was always supposed to be for correcting obvious errors. This isnt it.
OK, now I’m pissed because if they reverse that one to go against us, they have to reverse today’s in our favor.
Exactly-there is 0 consistency.
Bullshit. They have no fucking standard at all.
Indeed.
I can’t tell what’s more frustrating, the fact that we never seem to get the benefit of the doubt on reviews like this or that no one on this fking team can slide properly (except for Kemp).
Goddamnit.
Crap on a cracker.
naturally
Last year Profar hits into a DP and the inning is over.
Hitting that kid was just up from A ball is the really fucking stupid part of this whole sequence.
yup. but the 6th wasn’t going to go well if he did
Not a Good Friday.
This has a very 2016 feel to this game
Well I guess let it all fall apart at once.
falls aparter
Sigh, the A’s are putting me in the unenviable position of being deeply invested in the slegnA’s success this weekend. At least FB’s at bats have been entertaining.
Their bullpen is trying to blow a 3 run lead in the 8th.
never in doubt
It’s starting again in the 9th…
Tie game, FK the slegnA.
too bad barreto was already pulled
atta boy scioscia, bunt the runner over so you can get Pujols in the game to pop out
Astros successfully got trout 4th in 10th. Unfortunately fletcher is now broken and lastella was traded
That was the most painful, agonizingly difficult win a team could possibly manage after knocking out the opposing starter in the first inning.
I don’t have much hopes for them the next two games since they already started their one good starter today so if we have any kind of lead heading into our series Monday with the *, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The error virus appears to be spreading wildly.
Bad pitches and fielding suck, but if we cant atart hitting it doesn’t matter.
Minor is only hitting 90 mph on his fastball with predictable results. May want to rethink him starting one of the DHs.
Happy Derby Day everybody!
Is it still decadent and depraved this year?
Probably not in the fun way. More in the tragic way.
Tiz the Law’s trainer has weighed in, with just the kind of take one would expect from an 80-year-old rural white guy.
I was surprised by how much coverage NBC was giving to the protests in their broadcast.
It’s worth remembering that the opening scene in Decadent and Depraved is HST credibly trolling a good ole boy with made up threats about a Black Panther invasion of Churchill Downs.
No matter what happens Tiz the Law (17) is not going to get the acclaim he deserves. The other top three year olds dropped out along the road (Nadal, Charlatan, Art Collector), and the traditional Triple Crown schedule of three races in five weeks culminating in a 1.5 mile Belmont marathon is all upside down now. And that’s too bad because Tiz the Law is an amazing horse, so much the best of this field that he’s likely to go off as the shortest priced favorite in 30 or 40 years.
I’ve been profitably on the Tiz the Law bandwagon all year and I’m not getting off now. To make money despite the short price I’m focused on exotics with him alone on top: $2 exactas over Max Player (2), Sole Volante (12), NY Traffic (15), and Honor A.P. (16), and $1 trifectas 17/15,16/2,12,15,16.
I like Honor A.P. a lot, he’s finished first or second in all five lifetime races, he’s one of only three in this field with a Grade 1 stakes win, and his jockey Mike Smith is the same age as me (hella old). So I’ll add $5 to Place (finish 2nd or better) on Honor A.P., and I’ll also bet $10 to win using a bet return promo (my bet is refunded* if he runs 2nd or 3rd).
I strongly considered Max Player and NY Traffic as well, but as of this writing (almost two hours until post time) I’m going to hold off. If I add anything late it will likely feature them. My ticket for now:
$2 Exacta 17/2,12,15,16 = $8
$1 Trifecta 17/15,16/2,12,15,16 = $6
$5 Place 16
$10 Win* 16
I’ll add a what the hell $1 Super High Five 17/16/15/2/12.
You failed to take into account Bob Baffert’s deal with the devil.
Indeed. TTL had every chance to win that, perfect trip, then didn’t have that dominant stretch drive which was so impressive his last four times out. I didn’t think Authentic had the 10 furlongs in him. That’s probably where Lucifer stepped in.
manaea 95?
Paddack has quite a mullet.
bingocard question: who had, most hilarious letter of the week will be published in foreign policy?
“With much feigned regards and go A’s!”
Heim RBI!
And keep hitting the ball to Myers.
the weakest way to load the bases
With two on, no outs in front of Tatis, Machado, Hosmer, that could have been much much worse.
Who tf thought that trying to get a hitter to talk during the middle of an at bat is a good idea.
A whale of a game for Jonah.
Biblical Sports Puns for $200.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this great Padres lineup but Jorge Mateo “DH” seems incongruent with that.
they have mitch moreland
Heh, Hosmer getting ejected meant that Moreland couldn’t bat for Mateo there.
What’s the matter with Chappeh.
Well Chapman has been a Platinum player the last 2 years…
And exhale…
i though a moreland hr was coming for sure
One of these things is not like the other.
Why am I subjecting myself to the Angels bullpen?
I endured it last night, and have no desire to repeat the experience.
That was quite a seven innings of baseball.
Scioscia’s lineup construction is fun. I am glad he is not my manager
Barreto got a hit.
He’ll get playing time in detroit next year and figure it out
I really hope the A’s aren’t like the angels. the angels are not pretending its a home game for the astros like the a’s did last year for detroit and every team so far this year has done
Adel is really bad in the outfield. SO is upton. Upton gave the angels a run early and adel is threatening to give them a run after the angels just ties the game. Bottom 5 of 7 (houston home)
Franklin is not having a good day
Now the angels retook the lead. 3 outs to go
This is making me even more annoyed that we didn’t get a chance against the * bullpen the last doubleheader.
And we have 7 inning games on tuesday
It’s a thousand degrees hot and the air is a hazy soup of particles. Go A’s!
In fact, at 94° it’s the hottest game time temp in Oakland history.
Good thing it’s not Bassitt’s turn today.
two of the next five is ok
Ah, Profar’s winning smile as he botches another play.
Best play he’s ever made for us on defense.
It’s really hard to keep a genuine smile while you face plant, but Jurickson is special that way.
Richards needs to opt for dark brown unis with that 70s moustache
I would not want to wear dark brown today. Or the dark green Oakland is wearing.
Clothes are for suckers and losers.
The Ace’s place is close to becoming a nudist colony. They said it is supposed to start cooling tonight-it damn well better.
Do you guys know where to get batting splits vs velocity? I’m curious to see if that trend of the A’s being relatively worse against high velocity pitchers still holds true.
LOL Djokovic. Just as you thought his 2020 Stupidity Tour was over…
Seriously, right? Men’s field is now pretty wide open for the first time since almost ever.
Looked safe to me in real time.
Very similar to the Olson play but his foot was actually on the plate this time.
he was so very very safe
still safe
I think MLB umps have taken notes from NFL refs on pass interference calls on selectively enforcing the “standard” needed to overturn calls. It’s their way of protesting against the system.
this is a very god point. It’s in their interest to uphold or not “inconclusive” most calls
I would be OK with that if they were consistent in not reversing those kind of calls. But I don’t see how they can say Friday’s was conclusive and today’s was not.
Revisiting this comment, it looks like MLB replay overturns are at an all time low percentage of about 41% this year (generally it’s around 47-48% overall).
Only the Pirates have a worse success rate than the A’s in terms of getting overturns.
should be a tie game
4-2 after moreland
Fiers is awful
Cowboy Joe tossed Mike Rizzo for not wearing a mask in his suite. West didnt have his mask covering his nose while he did it.
That tatis guy is pretty good
<tips cap>
Would have been nice to get another inning out of Manaea when he was under 70 pitches so Petit would be fresh today. Alas.
Yeah, I really don’t get why they insisted on burning through the top half of the bullpen yesterday.
Well here’s hoping that the slegnA somehow finish off the 4 game sweep.
trout has the day off
Oh man.
he got a hit
had he not gotten injured, we would have trout here with no outs and the bases loaded
I just noticed Braden’s on-brand face mask.
Say what you will about the Donaldson trade. Getting Wendelken for Lawrie was pretty nice.
Uh, if you’re going to PH Kemp why not for Machin instead of Murphy? We need a HR here.
makes little sense
Yeah, I would rather gamble on Murphy getting ahold of one than the Kemp/La Stella/Laureano parlay.
Kemp got all of that one and it was still about 10 feet from the track. Even Heim for Murphy would’ve made more sense.
If only Khris Davis were still alive.
The Padres appear to be pretty good.
I am satisfied with this series. sure the first game sucked, but I think luzardo is still a little raw, seems to have blasted through the minors with his stuff. He is just a little bit of control away from dominating. Still OK.
Manaea looked good, trustworthy. the offense wasn’t as horrible as it it had gotten in some screeches. A healthy chapman and semien, and there is a lot more punch.
with the assist the “we gave up and now can’t be beaten” angels it could have been much worse.
Assuming the Angels close this out, only getting swept in 5 games would make us leave the upcoming series out of 1st. If we sweep or go 4-1, it’s pretty much over and Chapman can take as long as he needs to get ready for the playoffs.
And now the * are closer to the Mariners than us.
Same record as the Yankees, who currently hold the last playoff spot.
This Astros bullpen!
Just going to hope for Semien and Chapman healthy in the playoffs.
buttrey 3 days in a row. bold move scioscia
That was a pretty disgusting series for the *s.
I still don’t understand it. Angels were running out a lineup that was 2/3 sub-replacement-level hitters every game, they even gave Trout a day off on top of that, and put up 32 runs in 4 games.
Scott Ostler writes this morning that “The A’s are in a simple, garden-variety death spiral” and asks “Are the Giants a better team than the A’s right now?”
In additional foolishness, he writes of Tatis: “If you can make a Padres uni look cool, you’re doing something.” Those Padres unis are cool as hell. Jurickson Profar makes them look cool for pete’s sake.
There is a very real chance that the Giants make the playoffs at something like 28-32, and then go farther than the A’s. (But no, they are not a better team.)
I remember when Scott Ostler was funny and interesting as an LA Times sportswriter, and in his early years with the Chron. For the last 10 years or more though he’s just been a caricature of himself, writing formula “humor” that retells the same tired jokes over and over, with nothing new or important to say. I rarely read him any more (and I even usually read Bruce Jenkins).
Now this is funny.
when burners stop coming over to ocean beach?
The Padres had the 29th best uniforms in the league for the past 10-15 years, this year they are probably top 5.
Underrated excellent campaign story is the smaller boats of regular Trump fans getting swamped and sinking from the wakes of the expensive rich people boats.
Just did a zoom meet and greet with my kid’s physics teacher, who was rocking an A’s cap and a Phish T-shirt.
Dee Stange-Gordon and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa had a talk just now while strange-gordon was on base. Probably about how much further down the back their names could go
When I was in college I had a conversation where I opined that giving children hyphenated last names was stupid, because it didn’t scale. Would the next generation have last names with four components?
I friend responded that data storage capacities were growing much faster than that, so it would not be a problem.
SLF’s name was hyphenated at birth, despite her mom dying when SLF was 19, she dropped her mom’s name on most everything about 15 years ago.
It’s a huge pain in the ass, even when you don’t have to fill out forms.
Gonna create a gender-reveal incendiary device that explodes once for every hyphen in the kid’s name.
Chapman likely out for whole Astros series but no IL, yet. No Semien tonight, maybe back tomorrow. Says Bob.
didn’t follow the link but puk also shut down
Per D. Feldman it’s first time in 280 games both Semien and Chapman are out.
In this not-quite-real season I am on board with treating Puk delicately but running Chapman back out there reasonably soon.
Oh, I’m gonna be sick.
Oh my god. didn’t we say yesterday that the bottom is endless? this is god awful.
Struck out the side!
I’m sorry to see that the Cyclones got beat by Louisiana-Lafayette, doctorK.