In Claiming Francis Off Waivers, Athletics Seek Another Successful Salvaging of a Southpaw

By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland Athletics hope lightning strikes three times this season after claiming reliever Jeff Francis off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds Sunday afternoon while option reliever Joe Savory back to Sacramento. In claiming Francis, general manager Billy Beane takes on his third southpaw reclamation project of the season after signing former All-star hurler Scott Kazmir in the offseason and trading for once highly-touted prospect Drew Pomeranz during the winter.

Francis, a former first round pick (ninth overall) of the Colorado Rockies in the 2002 draft appeared bound for Super Stardom in the Mile High City after his first full season in 2005. That year he finished with the sixth-fewest hits allowed in the National League at the ripe age of 24 years old.

He blossomed into a dominant pitcher in 2007, finishing ninth in the NL Cy Young voting despite a hitter-friendly Coors-field aided earned run average of 4.30. The Vancouver, British Columbia native took the ball 34 times that season with only five other qualifying NL starters allowing fewer hits. As the staff ace, Francis led Colorado to the franchises’ lone World Series appearance. While he played a large role in getting the Rockies to the Fall Classic, Francis was shelled to the tune of six runs in four innings of game one of what ultimately became four-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox.

From there, Francis’ narrative is all too familiar. The fireballing stud becomes a lame-duck dud after arm injuries limited him to 24 starts in 2008. Francis missed all of 2009 after going under the knife to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. In 2010, he returned to piece together a respectable but unremarkable 5.00 ERA over 20 games (19 starts) before heading to Kansas city. With the Royals, Francis appeared to be a cobble together a bounce-back year, producing a 4.82 ERA over 31 starts. The Reds liked what they saw in Francis, signed him to a contract but released him in June without reaching the majors, setting up a reunion with the Rockies. The move saw his runs against rise just like his new home park’s elevation. By 2013 he eventually lost his role in the rotation and finished with a career-worst 6.27 ERA earning a ticket out of the Centennial State.

The Reds again took a flier on Francis this winter with a minor league deal then called him up to the big club after a strong showing at Class AAA Louisville where he allowed 18 earned runs over eight starts and 48.2 innings. He made his MLB season debut on May 15^th against the Padres, allowing three earned runs a loss and a demotion back to AAA after five innings. The A’s, in need of an emergency starter, claimed him off waivers and returned him to the relief role he occupied last season with the Rockies.

If Francis needs a muse, he need only look at a former teammate, the man whose promotion created his opportunity in a long relief. Drew Pomeranz, a former first round pick himself, came to Oakland in a trade with Colorado for Brett Anderson in the offseason, making the A’s his third team already before reaching the age of 25. With the expectations of excellence met by the actuality of average performance coming into the season, Pomeranz found himself a longshot to make the A’s roster coming into Spring Training. With injuries sidelining the one-two punch of starters Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, Pomeranz leveraged a strong spring into a bullpen spot as the long man in Oakland. From there, the former All-American impressed, allowing a scant three runs over 13 and 2/3 innings, giving way to an impromptu audition for a rotation role with Dan Straily and Tommy Milone struggling at the backend.

Pomeranz’s appearance on the line-up card as starter of game two of a make-up double header against Seattle on May 7^th came as an initial surprise, but how he delivered in his spot start sparked the real headlines. Pomeranz fired a two-hit five inning performance without yielding a run to the M’s. Once is an anomaly, but twice is a trend. With that in mind, Pomeranz backed up his first look with a worthy encore, baffling the Chicago White Sox his next time out to three hits and no runs, again going five strong. Suddenly Pomeranz again resembles the former Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year at the University of Mississippi, a can’t-miss prospect generating buzz after notching 13 punch-outs over his ten innings as a rotation member.

If Pomeranz scuffles, Francis can look to the rock-steady performance of another rebound role model, Scott Kazmir. Kazmir came to Oakland after his early All-World stock with Tampa Bay plummeted with injuries. After All-star seasons in 2006 and 2008 capped by a trip to the World Series with the Rays, the lefty bounced around with the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland before hitting the open market this past offseason. Beane and co. opened the pocket book in hopes of finding an ace-in-waiting, inking the southpaw to a cool $7 million in 2014 with another $11 million on the books next season. So far, Kazmir has proven a wise investment, appearing on his way to a Mid-Summer Classic six years removed from his last All-Star appearance. Kazmir boasts a 2.39 ERA and a 5-1 mark over his first nine starts.

While it’s unknown what Francis can bring to the A’s, it’s clear he’s in good hands with manager Bob Melvin, pitching coach Curt Young and staff. So far, they’re two-for-two in redemption stories. Even if they swing and miss with Francis, a .667 batting average isn’t bad in baseball. At the very least, the game plan to success has clearly been laid out for Francis.

A’s On Wrong Side in Extra Innings for First Time in 2014

By Matthew Harrington

For the first time in 2014, the Oakland Athletics ended up on the wrong side of an extra innings affair. The A’s suffered a walk-off loss 5-4 against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium Wednesday night in their fourth game requiring more than nine innings this season. Despite a 4-1 lead on a three-run home run from right fielder Brandon Moss and a two earned run performance over six-plus innings from starter Tommy Milone, the A’s bullpen failed to hang on to the lead. The Angels comeback, capped by Chris Iannetta’s game-winning blast off Drew Pomeranz in the bottom of the 12^th inning, rallied the Halos (7-8)to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Athletics.

Oakland (10-5) appeared to have the game wrapped up after taking a 4-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning on Moss’ second long ball of the season. The left-hander’s no-doubter to right  off Angels starter Tyler Skaggs plated Alberto Callaspo and Derek Norris with two outs in the inning. For Moss, who hit out of the eighth spot against the lefty Skaggs instead of his usual spot in the heart of the order, the dinger marked RBI’s number 13, 14 and 15 of the season, tops on the Athletics and the best mark in the American League. Moss matches fellow AL-er Chris Colabello of the Twins for third place in the major leagues.

Earlier in the top of the fourth inning, Callaspo doubled home Josh Donaldson for a one-out, game-tying double. Callaspo finished the night 1-for-4 after entering play flirting with a .400 batting average, good for the second best mark in the American League behind Chicago’s Alexei Ramirez.

In the previous half inning, the Angels opened the scoring after Erick Aybar lead off the inning with a single to center then scored on Mike Trout’s double with one out.

Milone opened the seventh inning by hitting Iannetta with a pitch that bounced in the dirt before skimming the LA backstop’s toe. After A’s manager Bob Melvin challenged the play, replay evidence proved inconclusive with crew chief Chris Segal rewarding Iannetta first base. The next batter, Collin Cowgill, singled on the first delivery from Millone, prompting Melvin to lift the left-hander in favor of reliever Dan Otero. Milone finished the night with only one strikeout and two free passes in six-plus innings of work.

Otero coaxed Aybar to ground into a fielder’s choice with second baseman Eric Sogard electing to force Cowgill out at second. J.B. Shuck reached base on an error by Callaspo, making just his second career appearance at first base, allowing Iannetta to cross the plate for a 4-2 A’s lead. Otero downed Trout on a full-count swing-and-miss but Albert Pujols wrapped a single up the middle to cut the A’s advantage to one run at 4-3 after Aybar came around to score. Pujols’ base knock was the only Angels base hit in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position Wednesday evening.

After the A’s went down in order in the top half of the eighth, Otero, Fernando Abad and Ryan Cook combined to pitch a scoreless bottom half. Angels reliever Fernando Salas pitched his first of two scoreless innings to keep the home team down by one entering the ninth.

Luke Gregerson, Melvin’s top candidate in the closer-by-committee approach adopted by the A’s amidst deposed closer Jim Johnson’s struggles, entered the ninth seeking his third save in four opportunities. Instead, the righty blew his second save of the season, allowing back-to-back singles to Trout and Pujols. Gregerson then yielded a run-scoring force out on a failed game-ending double play chance after Howie Kendrick beat out Eric Sogard’s pivot to first to knot the game at four runs apiece.

Angels relief arms Michael Kohn and Yoslan Herrera held Oakland scoreless in an inning each to set up Joe Smith as the winning pitcher in the 12th. Smith (1-0, 5.14 Era) struck out Gentry to open the inning, then plunked shortstop Jed Lowrie with a wild pitch to put the go-ahead run on first. Donaldson, the hero in Tuesday night’s 11 inning A’s win, advanced Lowrie into scoring position but clean-up hitter Yoenis Cespedes struck out to end the inning and the scoring threat. The left fielder went 0-for-6 on the night to join Nick Punto and Sogard as the only members of the A’s starting line-up to be held hitless.

With the A’s bullpen pitching 7 1/3 innings in Tuesday’s barn burner, Melvin used Gregerson to pitch the tenth as well before handing the ball over to lefty Drew Pomeranz in the 11^th. Pomeranz (1-1, 2.16 ERA), a starter-turned-reliever, pitched 2 and 2/3 innings Tuesday night before taking the hill in Wednesday’s game. Pomeranz allowed a Pujols single in an otherwise uneventful 11^th inning then stayed in the game looking to hold the Halos off the board in the 12th.

Pomeranz started the 12^th on strong footing, inducing a David Freese ground out and a Raul Ibanez pop out to retire the first two men to the plate on only eight pitches in the inning. Iannetta ended Pomeranz’s run on the first pitch he saw, rocketing a 91 mph fastball at the belt to center field just right of the 396-foot marker. Center fielder Craig Gentry leapt at the wall to try to pull the game-winning shot back in from the brink, but the ball grazed off the glove’s tip and into the grass at the base of the rock pile in beyond the fence.

For the Angels, Wednesday’s win helped to skew the numbers in their favor at their home turf. In the last 22 meetings at Angel Stadium, the A’s have been victorious a lop-sided 15 times. Oakland wrapped up a nine-game road trip, going 7-2 after sweeping Minnesota and taking two-of-three from Seattle and Los Angeles.

Oakland gets an off-day Thursday to travel home before opening a weekend series at the O.Co Coliseum against the Houston Astros who, after a hot start, once again find themselves in the American League’s basement in the standings. They’ll counter A’s Ace Sonny Gray with Zach Cosart in Friday’s series-opener.