Oakland A’s off day report: Athletics open 9 game road trip in Miami Friday night

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (12-46) are going to Miami to start a nine-game road trip. The A’s won two of three from the N.L. East division leader, the Atlanta Braves, in the three-game series that finished yesterday in Oakland. The A’s surprised the Braves by winning the series’ first two games. They lost a close game, 4-2, on Wednesday.

The A’s pitching held the Braves to just seven runs in the series. The Braves, World Champions in 2021, have players that know how to win. Their stars are Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and Austin Riley. The two wins over the Braves had to put a smile on manager Mark Kotsay’s face.

The A’s will face the N.L. East’s second-place team, the Miami Marlins. The Marlins are 29-28, tied with the New York Mets for second-best record in the East. Their manager is Skip Schumaker, who replaced Don Mattingly.

The Marlins have some hitters in their lineup. Miami acquired Luis Arreaz from the Minnesota Twins. Arreaz is a lifetime .300 hitter. This year with the Marlins, he is hitting a robust .381. Arreaz is the team’s second baseman. The Marlins platoon Garrett Cooper and Yuli Guriel at first base.

Guriel, a former Houston Astro, is hitting. 281. In his days with the Astros, Guriel loved to hit against the A’s pitchers. John Berti is the Marlins shorstop. Veteran infielder Jean Segura will be at third base. The Marlins outfielders are Jonathan Davis in centerfield, Bryan De La Cruz in left field, and Jesus Sanchez in right field.

Davis is a rookie and has played in seven games. De La Cruz is hitting .296 with seven homers and 23 RBIs. Sanchez owns a.310 batting average and has three dingers and 11 RBIs.
The DH is the veteran Jorge Soler. Soler is a power hitter. He hit 48 home runs in 2019 with the Kansas City Royals. This year, Soler has hit 17 big flies and has knocked in 35 runs.

The pitching matchups for the three-game series are lefty Hogan Harris (0-0 ERA 10.13) going for the A’s Friday night against Edward Cabrera (3-4 ERA 5.02) of the Marlins. Harris last pitched on May 27th against the Houston Astros. The young lefty, pitching in relief, went five innings and allowed one hit.

Luis Medina (0-4 ERA 6.83) will be on the hill for the A’s on Saturday. Eury Perez (2-1 ERA 2.84)will pitch for Miami. Paul Blackburn (0-0 ERA 2.25) will be making his second start of the year on Sunday. In his first outing, Blackburn, an All-Star in 2022, went four innings allowing four hits and one run.

Blackburn’s opponent will be Sandy Alcantara (2-5 ERA 4.93). Alcantara was the National League’s Cy Young Award winner in 2022. Things have yet to go his way this year. He is 20-5 and owns a 4.93 ERA.

The Marlins have two former A’s pitchers on their staff. Both are left-handed. Jesus Luzardo who is a starter but will not face his old team this weekend. Reliever A.J. Puk, who has been a closer for Miami, is available on June 4th.

Mark Kotsay hopes his team will continue to play as they did against the Braves. The A’s have the worst record in baseball. They are on track to break the New York Mets record of 120 losses in a season. Let’s hope the team gets off to a good start Friday night.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s can’t get sweep on Braves; Open 3 game set in Miami on Friday night

Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies, right, hits a two-run home run in front of Oakland Athletics catcher Carlos Perez, left, during the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 31, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, after taking the first two games against the NL East Atlanta Braves the Oakland A’s starter James Kaprielian had a great start shutting out the Braves for four inning but ran into trouble in the top of the fifth when the Braves picked up three runs.

#2 Kaprielian pitched 4.2 innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs and striking out four hitters. One thing about Kaprielian it was one of his better starts this season and James was hopeful that he could get that first sweep of the season against Atlanta.

#3 Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies hit his 11th home run of the season off Kaprielian to get the three run inning started. The Braves have an offense Albie provided some punch. Kaprielian’s record falls to 0-6 and is still looking for that first win of the season.

#4 In the bottom of the sixth the A’s Ramon Laureano singled to left to scored Brent Rooker and the A’s ended the shutout by Braves starter Jared Shuster who gave way to the sixth oldest player Jesse Chavez 30 years old who came into relieve. Carlos Perez hit a ground out to third scoring Ryan Noda from third cutting the lead to one 3-2.

#5 Ken Waldichuk in the top of the seventh pitching for Oakland facing the Braves Ronald Acuna Jr who singled to right and scored Orlando Arcia to put the Braves up by two runs 4-2 for the final.

#6 The A’s getaway after a day off Thursday to Miami to open a three game set with the Marlins on Friday night, Hogan Harris (0-0 ERA 10.13) gets the start for the A’s and Edward Cabrera (3-4 ERA 5.02) goes for the Marlins at LoanDepot Park first pitch at 3:40 pm PT.

Braves beat A’s 4-2 in three-game series finale

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher James Kaprielian, right, walks back to the mound as Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies, left, rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed May 31, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Atlanta Braves beat the A’s 4-2 on a cool Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s had won the first two games of the three-game series. A’s manager Mark Kotsay hoped his team could find a way to beat the Braves and record their first three-game winning streak of the season.

That did not happen. The A’s starter James Kaprielian pitched well for the first four innings on Wednesday. Kaprielian was seeking his first win of the 2023 campaign. The Braves put together a three-run rally in the fifth to end Kaprielian’s hope for a win. The game summary follows below.

A’s starter James Kaprielian pitched extremely well for the game’s first four and 1/3rd innings. Things went south very quickly. With one out, Eddie Rosario singled. It was just the second hit Kaprilian had allowed.

The Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies blasted his 11th home run of the season to put the Braves ahead 2-0. Shortstop Orlando Arcia singled. Kap[rielian struck out Michael Harris for the second out. Ronald Acuna doubled to left center. The ball bounced on one hop over the wall.

Arcia would have scored had the ball not been ruled a ground-rule double. The A’s intentionally walked former A’s slugger Matt Olson to load the bases. Kaprielian hit Ustin Riley with a pitch to force in Arcia with the Braves’ third run. A’s manager brought in lefty Richard Lovelady to pitch. Lovelady retired Travis D’Arnaud for the third out.

The A’s rallied to put two on the board in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Brent Rooker doubled. Braves’ starter Jared Shuster walked Ryan Noda to put two men on with one out. The A’s right-fielder Ramon Laureano singled to plate Rooker with the A’s third run.

Noda went to third on the play. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had Noda running on the next pitch. It was a smart move, as the Braves shortstop had one play. He had to get the runner at first. Noda scored on the play. The Braves lead 3-2 after six complete.

With lefty Ken Waldichuk on the hill for the A’s in the seventh, the Braves put together a single, walk, and another single to make it a 4-2 game. The Q’s failed to score in the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings. The Braves win 4-2.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s record falls to 12-46. The Braves improved to 33-23.

The A’s line was two runs, three hits, and no errors. Atlanta’s line was four runs, seven hits, and one error. 

The winning pitcher was Jared Shuster. Shuster improved to 2-2 for the year. Kapielian took the loss, and he is 0-6.

There was just one home run in Wednesday’s game. The Braves Ozzie Albies homered for the 11th time this year.  

The A’s are off on Thursday. They are headed east to play three games with the Miami Marlins, three with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and three with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Lefty Logan Harris (0-0 ERA 10.13) will pitch for Oakland Friday night against the Marlins. The Marlins will counter with righty Edward Cabrera (3-4 ERA 5.02).

The time of the game was very fast, 2:14. 6429 fans were on hand to watch the A’s lose their 46th game.

A’s edge out Braves 2-1 for second straight win at Coliseum

Oakland Athletics’ Nick Allen, left, douses Jonah Bride with iced water after the team’s 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, May 30, 2023. (AP News photo)

Atlanta (32-23).  001 000 000 –  1.  4. 1

Oakland (12-45)  000 010 001. – 2.  5. 0

Time: 2:19    

Attendance: 5,116

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–On this day in 1899, the Cleveland Spiders split a Memorial Day doubleheader with the Boston Beaneaters, losing the first game, 7-3, but winning the nightcap by the score of 6-3. In the process they raised their season’s record to 8-25, .242. The combined attendance for the two games played in The Hub was 8,500.

On this day in 1962, the New York Mets lost both ends of a double header at home in the Polo Grounds to the by then Los Angeles Dodgers, 13-6 and 6-5. Sandy Koufax was the winning pitcher in the first game. The twin setbacks dropped the Mets’ record to 12-29, .293.

Tuesday, the still Oakland Athletics, having snapped their 11 game losing streak, won their second straight game in a thrilling come from behind walk off error committed by Braves third baseman Austin Raley who couldn’t handle the line drive off the bat of A’s hitter Seth Brown 2-1. For Oakland’s win over the NL East leading Atlanta Braves.

Before the game began, the A’s announced that they had reinstated Paul Blackburn from the 15 day IL. He hasn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues since last August 4th and has gone 0-0, 7.50 in a half a dozen rehab starts for Stockton in the low class A California League and the AAA Las Vegas Aviators so far this year. They also recalled  infielder Jonah Bride from the Aviators. Remember that name.

Oakland also optioned Garrett Acton, whjo had been getting pretty lit up in relief for the parent team to their Vegas farm club and DFA’d veteran Jesús Aguilar.

Oakland’s starting pitcher, JP Sears brought an ugly 0-3, 4.70 season’s record to the mound, but those figures are somewhat misleading. He was 0-3, 5.97 on the road but 0-0, 2.86 at home. He pitched very well tonight, going six full innings before he was lifted for Austin Pruitt to start the seventh.

Sears held the Braves to four hits, including a home run that resulted in the only run scored against him; it was earned. He threw 90 pitches, 50 for strikes. He got a no decision but lowered his ERA to 4.37

Bryce Elder, Atlanta’s right handed pitcher was making his 11th start of the year and first ever against the green and gold. He came with a National League leading ERA of 2.01 and a 3-0 won-lost record.

He performed brilliantly tonight, going 7-1/3 innings and giving up  only five hits. He left having yielded one run, which was earned. He, like Sears, got a no decision. He threw 95 pitches, 63 for strikes and brought his already low ERA down to 1.92.

The Braves drew first blood, with Kevin Pillar taking Sears deep to lead off the third. His homer to left just eluded the glove of a leaping JJ  Bleday.

The Athletics drew even in the home fifth. Shea Langeliers smacked a strong single to left and made it around to third on Nick Allen’s single to center. Esteury Ruíz sent the A’s catcher home with another single, this one to center. Then Noda grounded into an inning ending 4-6-3 double play.

Pruitt retired the five batters he faced in the seventh and eighth before yielding to Sam Moll face Michael Harris II, Atlanta’s number nine batter and,  Moll, left handed. The tactic worked; Harris fanned, and we went to the bottom of the eighth with the score tied at one all.

Elder got Allen out on a pop up, but he walked Ruíz and was removed in favor of AJ Minter, the only southpaw in the Atlanta bullpen. He picked Ruíz off, a play that Oakland appealed but New York upheld.

Moll retired Ronald Acuña, Jr. and Matt Olson in the top of the seventh and then passed the ball to Shintaro Fujinami, who’s been reshaping  himself as a reliever. He got Austin Riley to foul out to Langeliers.

Atlanta turned to Raisel Iglesias to stave off the A’s in the bottom of the ninth. He walked Brown. Jace Peterson pinch hit for Díaz and went down swinging.  

Laureano walked on four pitches. Bleday walked to load the bases, bringing Bride, who had been 0 for 3, to the plate.  He hit a sharp grounder to third. Riley bobbled the ball and threw home … too late, and the A’s pulled off their second upset in a row.

Fujinami was the winning pitcher, improving his record to 2-5, 12.00.

The A’s will go for the – dare I say it? – a sweep tomorrow, Wednesday, afternoon at 12:37. James Kaprielian (0-5,8.45) is scheduled to go against Atlanta’s Jared Shuster (1-2, 5.33).

Seven Runs For Athletics Too Much For Braves; Oakland snaps 11 game skid in 7-2 win

Oakland Athletics’ Ryan Noda watches his three-run home run against the Atlanta Braves during the fifth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon May 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Troy Ewers

OAKLAND–In front of a majority Atlanta Braves crowd at the Oakland Coliseum, it was the Oakland A’s against the Atlanta Braves. The A’s snapped an 11 game losing streak with a five run 7-2 win.

The starters on the hill were making their 2023 season debuts, 2022 A.L. All Star Paul Blackburn for Oakland and Michael Soroka (hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2020) for Atlanta and in the first inning it didn’t take long for the Braves to get on the board.

Matt Olson, who got on base from a walk, was batted in from a Sean Murphy single. Blackburn got out the inning with just the one run and runners at the corners with back to back strikeouts. Soroka’s first inning was a quick three up three down and even received a standing ovation from the overwhelming amount of Atlanta fans in the Oakland Coliseum.

The duel between both pitchers made for a scoreless second, third, and fourth inning. Blackburn had six K’s by this point and Soroka had three K’s, both of these guys would leave the game with that number of strikeouts.

In the fifth inning for the A’s, they made a pitching change and brought in Lucas Erceg and he delivered a quick three out inning. In the bottom of the fifth, the A’s got on Soroka quickly.

Langeliers was hit by a pitch, Peterson got on base by fielder’s choice, Bride would get a single and advance Peterson. Esteury Ruiz’s double that was later called an E7, scored Peterson. Ryan Noda had the moment of the game with a three run bomb that scored Ruiz and Bride, 4-1 A’s.

The next two innings was a pitching duel, where both teams would go down quickly, but by the eighth inning we were right back to the scoring. Matt Olson hit a solo home run, but that would be the end for the Braves.

Oakland would score another three runs in a rally from Laureano, Langeliers, and Peterson, making the final score 7-2. Lucas Erceg would get the winning decision for the A’s and Michael Soroka would get the loss. Next game tomorrow will have JP Spears (0-3, 4.70) for the Oakland A’s and Bryce Elder (3-0, 2.01) for the Braves first pitch at the Coliseum 6:40pm PT.

No Mercy rule in baseball, Giants take out Bucs 14-4 at Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants’ Patrick Bailey, front right, celebrates after hitting a two-run home run that also scored Casey Schmitt (6) during the seventh inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon May 29, 2023 (AP News photo)

Pittsburgh (26-27). 001 000 201. – 4. 9. 2

San Francisco (28-26). 050 100 80x. – 14 18 0

Time: 2:20

Attendance: 39,323

Monday, May 29, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Giants now are a force to be reckoned with. Even after their 7-5 loss on Sunday afternoon to the Marlins, the home town team took the field at Oracle Park this afternoon 4-1/2 games out of first place in the NL West.

LaMonte Wade, Jr., is looking comfortable at first base (although he didn’t start today to avoid a lefty on lefty match up); Casey Schmitt is looking comfortable anywhere you put him. (And I’ve probably put a jinx on both of them by writing this).

Austin Slater came off the injured list today and went three for six with four RBI a the team massacred the stumbling Pirates, 14-4.

Their starting pitcher in this Memorial Day game, Anthony DeScalfani, isn’t one of the team’s glamorous members, but he gets the job done more of than not. He began the game at 3-4, 3.43 and went home the winning pitcher at 4-4, 3.48.

While on the mound, he hurled seven frames, allowing three runs, all earned, on eight hits, one of them yard, and no walks. He struck out two, and 48 of his 74 offerings were considered strikes.

The well travelled veteran of 19 big league seasons,Rich Hill who started this afternoon’s game for the stumbling Buccos no longer at the top of his game. But neither is he completely over the hill, although he clearly is on the downhill side.

He’s drawing a salary of $8,000,000 for 2023, so I’d say you could say he still is rich. He brought a lifetime record of 86-63, 3.86 (8-2,, 2.34 against the Giants) to the ballpark today. His season’s totals when he toed the rubber were 4-4, 4.27.

His most frequently thrown pitch is the curve, followed by the four seamer. Those two deliveries account for about 3/4 of his usage. The remaining arrows in his quiver are the cutter, sweeper, sinker, change of pace, and slider in that order of frequency.

Monday, he pitched six innings and gave up six runs, all earned, on nine hits, one of them a home run, and a walk. He threw 94 pitches, 61 for strikes, and was charged with the loss, making him 4-5, 4.75 on the year.

The game began with a textbook example of The Curse of the Leadoff Double. Tucupita Marcano smacked a first pitch double to right center. Bryan Reynolds lined the first pitch he saw to center for a the first out.

Then Andrew McCutchen broke his bat on a first pitch fly to center that Marcano was so sure would fall safely to the grass that he dashed for home and was doubled up at second when Bryce Johnson caught the ball and tossed it to Schmitt at second. The side was retired on three pitches.

San Francisco surged into the lead in the bottom of the second. Mitch Haniger led off with a single to center. Schmitt banged a double off the top of the SF Nothing Like It sign in left center, sending Haniger to third.

Patrick Bailey then lined a double down the right field foul line, plating Haniger and Schmitt. After a pause for David Villar to ground out to third, Brandon Crawford also doubled down the right field line, which drove in Bailey.

That set the scene for Austin Slater’s first home run of the year, over the Visa ad in center field. The ball landed 410 feet from home. The inning ended with the Giants up, 5-0.

The Pirates got one of runs back in their half of the third. Josh Palacios smacked a triple off the National Card Rental advertisement in left center and scored on Austin Hedges’ ground out to third.

The Giants relentlessly added a tally in the fourth, Bryce Johnson scoring from second, which he’d reached after forcing Crawford out and then pilfering the bag, on Davis’s single.

The score remained at 6-1 until Jack Suwinski led off the visitors’. seventh with a resounding home run to right, his tenth round tripper of the. season. Connor Joe followed that with a Texas League double to left center. Joe advanced to third on Ji Hwan Bae’s single to center and scored on Castro’s ground out to first. Joe just barely, but clearly, avoided Bailey’s tag at home. That made it 6-3, San Francisco at the seventh inning stretch.

During the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” Cody Bolton threw his on the mound warm ups, relieving Hill when action resumed. He was no more successful than his predecessor. Singles by Davis, Flores, and Schmitt, a double by Haniger, and a splash hit, Bailey’s second homer of the year, made it 11-3.

Two walks, followed by a double by Slater, and the Giants had batted around and were leading 13-3 when Rob Zastryzny replaced Bolton. After walking Davis, Zastryzny got Flores to hit a grounder to third.

Castro bobbled the ball and couldn’t get the force on Slater, but third base coach Mark Hallberg pushed Slater towards the base, which resulted in his being called out for coach’s interference. Skipping over less interesting details, I’ll just report that SF was ahead 14-3 when the order was restored and the inning ended.

That was when Taylor Rogers took over on the mound for the Giants and made the three Pirates he faced walk the plank.

Brett Wisely came into the game as second baseman, and Schmitt moved to short in the top or the eighth. Wisely ended up pitching the top of the ninth and, after allowing a lead off home run to McCovey Cove to Suwinski, got the side out in order.

The Giants will start John Brebbia (2-0 ERA 3.68) for Tuesday’s, 6:45 game. Pittsburgh intends to send righty Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.70) to the mound.

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: A’s hope to turn the page with Braves coming to Coliseum tonight

Oakland Athletics third baseman Jace Peterson (6) throws to first base on a single hit by Houston Astros’ Yainer Diaz during the fourth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun May 28, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 The Houston Astros (31-21) Yordan Alvarez belted two of the Astros two home runs against the Oakland A’s (10-45) on Sunday afternoon. Alvarez contributed to the Astros 10-1 win and one of the top hitters in MLB.

#2 Alvarez hit his first home run off A’s starter Ken Waldichuk and second one off A’s reliever Garrett Anderson in the ninth inning.

#3 The Astros Jose Altuve added more offense with three hits and one home run. Altuve who missed the first 43 games of the season came back and started swinging like he didn’t miss a step.

#4 Barbara, the A’s have now lost 11 straight games, the pitching had given up seven home runs the most by any opponent in a game in Coliseum history.

#5 The A’s hope to wipe the slate clean and snap the current 11 game skid with a win as they open a three game series against the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. The Braves (32-21) first place in the NL Central and have won five of their last ten games. Starter for Atlanta Mike Soroka (0-0 ERA 0.00) and for Oakland Paul Blackburn (0-0 ERA 0.00). Blackburn is making his 2023 debut for Oakland after spending the season in triple A Las Vegas.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB podcast with Charlie O: It just continues to get worse for A’s; It just keeps getting better for Rays

Tampa Bay Rays Randy Arozarena with folded arms is hitting .359 with two home runs and 11 RBIs one of the top hitters in the Rays line up (@RaysBaseball photo)

On the MLB podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie O, it’s the tale of two teams one team the Oakland A’s are predicted to have a even rougher and tougher season than their 102 loss season and it’s not getting off to a great start either with a loses starting to mount now sitting on a 2-8 start of 2023.

#2 The other team that’s already getting lots of props the Tampa Bay Rays who have won their first ten games defeating the Red Sox in their last game at Tropicana Field Monday night. The Rays have been getting both plenty of pitching and hitting defeating the A’s last Saturday and Sunday in landslide wins 11-0.

#3 Got to ask you have impressive it is for the Rays were in good company with the 1939 New York Yankees. The Rays had a nine game win streak scoring four or more runs going and needed four games to catch the 39 Yankees who have 13 straight wins scoring four or more runs it didn’t happen as the Rays topped the Sox by a run 1-0 on Monday for their tenth straight win.

#4 The Rays also got some top notch hitting Sunday from lead off hitter Brandon Lowe with four RBIs and two runs scored, Randy Arozarena who got two hits and an RBI. The Rays simply are the talk of baseball right now with their 10-0 record.

#5 Charlie, you’ve been around minor league baseball a time or two talk about the Los Angeles Angels affiliate on Sunday the Rocket City Trash Pandas who allowed a hit in a doubleheader and came away with a split. Three Panda pitchers combined for a seven inning no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds affiliate the Chattanooga Lookouts Sunday. The Pandas allowed seven runs in the top of the seventh, five walks, hit five batters, a run scoring wild pitch and a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded which would have been the final out.

#6 Atlanta catcher Travis D’Arnaud has been placed on the seven day injured list. D’Arnaud received a concussion after the San Diego Padres Rougned Odor collided with D’Arnaud at the plate in the Padres loss to the Braves 4-1 Saturday at Sun Trust Stadium in Cobb County. How much or how little did the Buster Posey rule play a part in this collision?

Charlie O does the MLB podcasts Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Have A’s really thrown in the towel by dealing Murphy?

Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy, left, tries to tag Chicago White Sox’s Adam Engel (15), who scored the tying run during the ninth inning at the Oakland Coliseum Sep 9, 2022 (AP file photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary:

#1 Amaury, the recently traded Sean Murphy heads from the Oakland A’s to the Atlanta Braves how much is this a reflection of the A’s pretty much throwing in the towel for the 2023 season?

#2 Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said that while it’s hard to trade players away this is a great opportunity to get some great defense in a catcher like Murphy.

#3 Amaury, The Milwaukee Brewers are getting All Star catcher William Contreras and the A’s are getting catcher Manny Piña and pitchers Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas who are prospects from Atlanta and from the Brewers outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz.

#4 Murphy was third ranked amongst catchers only trailing the Phillies J.T. Realmuto and the Baltimore Orioles Adley Rutschman. Murphy hit .250, 134 hits, 18 home runs, and 66 RBIs in 2022. Besides his bat the Braves main reason for Murphy’s acquisition is defensive prowess.

#5 Murphy’s resume is incredible coming to the Braves he won the 2021 Gold Glove Award and was fourth in voting for the AL Rookie of the Year in 2020. The A’s are going to miss Murphy behind the plate and in the clubhouse.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Manolo Hernandez Douen are the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play by play announcers on flagship station 1010 LeGrande KIQI San Francisco and Amaury does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Astros Alvarez beats M’s with one swing of the bat in walk homer; Yanks Cole and Rizzo provide help in 4-1 win over Cleveland; plus more

The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez watches flight of his home run in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Tue Oct 11, 2022 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica lets look at the MLB playoffs from Tuesday night. The Houston Astros took the first game of the ALDS getting by the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Field in Houston 7-5. The Astros Yordan Alvarez crushed a three run walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth for the win.

#2 The New York Yankees got a 4-1 win past the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched 6.1 innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk, and eight strikeouts for the win. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run and had two RBIs in the win.

#3 The Philadelphia Phillies just got by the Atlanta Braves 7-6 at Truist Park in Cobb County. The Phils held onto to the win despite the Braves scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a last attempt to come back.

#4 The Los Angles Dodgers drew first blood in game one of the NLDS defeating the San Diego Padres 5-3 at Dodgers Stadium. The Dodgers scored early with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and three runs in the bottom of third inning.

#5 Lastly Jessica the Guardians pitcher Nick Sandlin will miss the rest of the 2022 post season after going through an MRI that showed he has a major muscle injury in the right shoulder. How will Sandlin’s absence impact the Guardians pitching in the post season?

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports Wednesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com