That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: Former Giant Bumgarner shows good command in D-Backs 8-3 win over Giants at Chase? White Sox cancel fireworks show over shooting that killed six; plus more news

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner walks to the dugout before their game before the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field in Phoenix on Mon Jul 4, 2022 (AP News photo)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Arizona Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner said that he was excited to pitch on July 4th and picked up a win going five innings, giving up three earned runs, five hits, three walks and four strikeouts defeating his former team the San Francisco Giants 8-3.

#2 The Diamondbacks did most of the damage in the later innings against the Giants scoring twice in the sixth and eighth innings. It was the Giants 11th loss in 14 games and fifth loss in row.

#3 In the Chicago suburb Highland a lone gunman shot and killed six and 31 wounded at a Fourth of July Parade. Many of the dead and injured were sitting in seats along the parade route. The White Sox canceled their fireworks show which was to conclude after their game against the game almost was canceled but after talking to MLB the game was played.

#4 The Chicago Cubs Wilson Contreras who slide into second base in the bottom of the seventh inning at Wrigley Field and sliced the thigh of Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts who required seven stitches when his cleats hit Bogaerts right outside thigh.

#5 The Los Angeles Angels promoted catcher’s coach Bill Haselman to interim interim manager. The Angels current manager is Phil Nevin and acting interim manager Ray Montgomery are serving ten and two game suspension respectively.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s salvage win to end nine-game road trip beat Red Sox 4-3

Tony Kemp (5) and Seth Brown (15) and Oakland A’s players celebrate their win over the Boston Red Sox to avoid getting swept at Fenway Park in Boston on Thu Jun 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s were able to finish off the disastrous nine-game road trip with a win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t easy, as the A’s know the Red Sox offense can erupt at any time, but they were able to hold on to beat Boston 4-3.

The A’s starter Paul Blackburn pitched very well for the A’s on Thursday. Blackburn went five and a third innings to win his sixth game. He allowed one run and eight hits. Blackburn walked two hitters and struck out four. He left the game with the A’s in the lead 4-1. The A’s bullpen did not cave when Boston scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Here’s how the game went. Oakland scored three runs in the top of the third. With one out, centerfielder Cristian Pache doubled when Boston’s second baseman Trevor Story misjudged the ball, and it fell in safely.

Chad Pinder singled to drive in Pache with the A’s first run. Ramon Laureano followed with a double to deep right-center-field. A’s catcher, Christian Bethancourt, who has been swinging a hot bat, singled to drive in both runners.

The A’s led 3-0 midway through the third inning. The Sox got one back in their half of the third. Rafael Devers walked to start the inning. J.D.Martinez singled. Devers went to third on an error and scored on Xander Bogaerts ground-out. The A’s lead 3-1 after three.

With two out in the top of the seventh, Seth Brown singled. Brown went to second on a passed ball. Brown scored on Devers’ fielding error. The A’s led 4-1.

The Red Sox scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth. The A’s had lefty Sam Moll on the hill to work the eighth. Rob Refsnyder, pinch-hitting for Franchy Cordero, singled. Christian Vasquez walked to give Boston two men on and no out.

Moll retired Jackie Bradley, Jr. for the first out. Bobby Dalbec was out on a fly ball to centerfield. Rafael Devers reached on third baseman Jonah Bride’s throwing error. Vasquez advanced to third on the play. A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in closer Dany Jiminez to pitch. J.D.Martinez drove in Vasquez with an infield hit. Jiminez got out of the jam by retiring Xander Bogaerts. The A’s led 4-3. 

Jimenez set the Red Sox down 1-2-3 in the ninth to preserve the win for the A’s. 

Game Notes: The A’s ended the road trip with two wins and even losses. They are 3-16 in their last 19 games. The A’s, for the season, are 22-43 and are in last place in the AL West. Boston drops to 34-30.

Blackburn threw 98 pitches, 61 for strikes. His record is now 6-2. Dany Jiminez earned his 11th save.

The line score for Oakland was four runs, eight hits, and two errors. Boston’s line was three runs, eleven hits, and one error. Boston won the season series with Oakland five games to one.

The A’s return home to face the Kansas City Royals for three games starting Friday night. The Royals have no announced a starter and Frankie Montas (3-6, 3.40) will go for Oakland.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: A’s scratch out a second win to end nine game road trip in Boston

Tony Kemp (5), Chad Pinder (10), and Elvis Andrus (17) all celebrate the Oakland A’s win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thu Jun 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Thursday night in Boston the Oakland A’s (22-43) picked up their second win to conclude their nine game road trip on Thursday night. The win marked the A’s second win in 15 games overall with a razor close 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox (34-30).

#2 The A’s got help from starting pitcher Paul Blackburn who pitched into the sixth inning and got some run support from Christian Bethancourt who slugged a two run RBI single.

#3 The A’s also got some offensive help from Chad Pinder who got an RBI single. The A’s had a three run top of the third inning that gave them some insurance going forward in the contest.

#4 In a recent interview with A’s general manager David Forst, Forst said some of the reasons for the A’s struggles were coming from the ball park issues and what is happening on the field. The A’s had dealt some of their key players and basically Forst said the club shouldn’t be expected to win like they had in previous years.

#5 The A’s open a three game series Friday night against the Kansas City Royals at the Oakland Coliseum starting pitchers for the Royals no starter announced yet the A’s will go with Frankie Montas (3-6 ERA 3.40) a 6:40 pm PDT first pitch at the Coliseum.

Join Jeremiah for the A’s podcasts heard Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s Kaprielian facing too much Red Sox hitting in 10-1 loss

Boston Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo gets congratulations from first base coach Ramon Vazquez (84) after going yard for a two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Oakland A’s (21-43) were crushed in a 10-1 laugher at Fenway Park in the third game of this four game series. Jonah Bride who was called up Tuesday got two hits on Wednesday and Matt Davidson had a pinch hit home in the sixth inning for the A’s.

#2 The Boston Red Sox (34-29) kept pouring it on and got lots of help from slugger Rafael Devers who hit for his fourth consecutive game home run.

#3 The A’s just couldn’t get any traction on this road trip and A’s manager Mark Kotsay said A’s starter James Kaprielian has had some good outings but in this loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday Kaprielian will just have to forget about this one and move on.

#4 Oakland A’s pinch hitter Matt Davidson hit a top of the sixth inning home run off Red Sox reliever and former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman which ended Boston’s shutout.

#5 The A’s conclude this ten game road trip starting with Paul Blackburn (5-2, 2.31) for the Red Sox Rich Hill (2-3, 4.38) a 10:38 AM PDT first pitch at Fenway Park.

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

Red Sox cruise to an easy 10-1 victory over A’s; Devers homers for 4th game in a row

The Boston Red Sox Rafael Devers hits a second inning two run home run as Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy can only watch at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

For the first four innings of the game Wednesday between the A’s and the Red Sox, it was deja vu once more. The Red Sox tallied six runs in the first four innings, just as they did Tuesday night. Last night, they failed to score after the fourth inning. They scored four more times tonight to trounce the hapless Oakland A’s 10-1. 

James Kaprielian started for the A’s. Kaprielian pitched well in his last outing, and the A’s hoped Kaprielian would continue to pitch well. James had trouble with his command. In his three and 2/3rds innings of work, he threw 94 pitches; 48 were strikes.

He walked six batters and gave up seven hits and six runs. Reliever Domingo Acevedo was tagged for a two-run dinger off the bat of Alex Verdugo in the sixth inning. Lou Trivino had another rough night, giving up four hits and two runs in the eighth.

Boston grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, Kaprielian walked Rafael Devers and J.D.Martinez. Xander Bogaerts singled to load the bases. Kaprielian retired Alex Verdugo on a ground to second.

Devers scored on the play. The Sox lead 1-0. The Red Sox increased the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second. With two out and a man at first, Devers sent a line drive into the bullpen in right field for his 16th home run. The exit velocity was a smoking-hot 113 miles-per-hour. It was the fourth game in a row that Devers had homered.

The Sox plated their fourth run in the bottom of the third. Bogaerts led off the inning with a fly ball that scraped the Green Monster in left field that was good for a double. Verdugo singled to drive Bogaerts in with the run. 

Kaprielian, normally a pitcher with good control, walked Jarren Duran and Devers to start the fourth inning. J.D.Martinez was retired on a fly ball to right field. Duran tagged and went to third. Bogaerts drove in Duran with a sacrifice fly to right.

Verdugo singled, sending Devers to third. Sox second baseman Trevor Story hit a swinging bun up the third baseline. Kaprielian fielded the ball, but his throw got by A’s first baseman Christian Bethancourt. Devers scored on the play. Boston owned a commanding 6-0 advantage after four innings of play.

The A’s scored their only run of the night in the sixth. Matt Davidson, pinch-hitting for Stephen Vogt, sent former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman’s pitch over the Green Monster onto Lansdowne Street. The Red Sox answered with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Alex Verdugo sent homered with a man on to make it an 8-1 lead for Boston.

The Sox added two more in the eighth. Lou Trivino retired the first man he faced. He then gave up back-to-back doubles to Martinez and Bogaerts for Boston’s ninth run. Two more singles produced the final run of the game. Boston wins 10-1.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 21-43. Boston improved to 34-29. 

The A’s have lost 16 of the last 18 games played. They play Boston Again Thursday afternoon. The Red Sox have won all five games between the teams this year.

Kaprielian took the loss and is 0-4. Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski notched his first win in Major League baseball. His record is 1-1.

The bright spots for Oakland were Matt Davidson’s monster home run and Jonah Bride’s first two hits in the Majors. 

Oakland’s line was one run, seven hits, and one error. Boston’s line was ten runs, thirteen hits, and no errors. 

The teams meet for the final time in 2022 at 10:35 am PT. The A’s will send Paul Blackburn out to pitch. The Red Sox will counter with former A’s hurler, lefty Rich Hill.

The time of the game was three hours and eight minutes. Thirty-one thousand eight hundred seventy-seven fans were on hand to see Boston romp to the lop-sided 10-1 victory.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The best division in baseball plus

Copy of the New York Daily News announcing the New York Mets and New York Yankees in the Subway World Series in 2000 edition could the two cross city rivals meet again in this year’s fall classic? (photo by wikipedia)

The Best Division in Baseball, Plus

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–For the first time this 2022 season there will be a third wild card team on each league. No division in baseball is better than the American League East, with the New York Yankees walking-away with the best record in baseball and Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston poised for a tremendous race.

For the first time ever, a division could have three wild card teams going into the postseason and a total of four of the five teams in this division playing in October.

The American League East is the only division in baseball with four teams playing over .500. In the AL West, there is only one team to beat, Dusty Baker’s Houston Astros, they are the best team and will stay in first place.

The LA Angels are sputtering again, after a very nice start, they went into a funk lost 14 in a row, from May 25 to June 8,and Joe Maddon (one of the best managers in baseball) was sent packing.

Next managerial change could come from Seattle, where expectations were high for this team to win this year. Manager Scott Servais and General Manager Jerry DiPoto are in the hot seat. The Texas Rangers spend a fortune (close to half billion dollars) signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they are both starting to play the way everybody expected, but I do not believe they have the pitching to overtake their State rivals Houston Astros.

The Oakland A’s are what they are. All the other teams have more established talent, they are trying to compete with rookie manager Mark Kotsay, a good baseball man, but the best jockey in the world cannot win the race if the horse is limping.

In the Central Division, considered the weakest in all the major leagues, supposed to be an easy one for the Chicago White Sox, but the great Tony LaRussa is not having much fun so far, star closer Liam Hendriks just placed into the IL.

The Minnesota Twins will be in the playoffs, as of today leading that division and the Cleveland Guardians are playing good baseball, leading the way at third-base, José Ramirez an early candidate for MVP. Watch out for the Indians, sorry, the Guardians, they have a good team and a terrific manager in Terry Francona.

There are some 100 games left for each team this season. While in New York they are talking about a Subway Series, Mets vs Yankees. Most recently, in 2000 the New York teams faced each other with the Yankees winning in five games, a memorable series, which I happened to worked for the Latino Baseball Network.

In other cities there is lots of disappointment. In Los Angeles, the Dodgers, whose manager, Dave Roberts predicted a 2022 World Series win during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, when he said “We will win the World Series in 2022. We will win the World Series this year.”

The Dodgers have pitching problems, ace Walker Buehler recently went into the IL, Julio Urias is not going to win 20 games again this season (he was the only to win 20 last season) plus mixed with an inconsistent offense, the Dodgers have stuff to “figure out”, they do have the talent.

The San Diego Padres, at this time, even with the delayed return of superstar Fernando Tatis Jr, looks like the team that could win this division. Bob Melvin is doing a great job, which is nothing new for the three-time Manager of the Year.

The San Francisco Giants, while they are not going to win 107 games again, they find a way to win series, starter Jacob Junis went into the IL, veterans like Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt, can’t seem to stay healthy.

Giants lost some pieces in the off-season, perhaps the biggest one, starter Kevin Gausman who had his best year ever in 2021 with a 14-6 record, and 2.81 ERA, he left for a very lucrative contract in Toronto. Nobody expected the Giants to have a similar season as 2021, which was a dream season, when every player at the same time, had great years.

Trades: The new deadline this year is set for August 2. There will be many trades, some earlier than others, but the greatest commodities are starting pitchers. they are in high demand. Many of the teams with hopes of postseason play will reinforce themselves. In today’s game the old saying “you never have enough pitching” is new again.

Happy Fathers Day weekend.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of Oakland A’s baseball on the A’s Spanish radio network and on flagship station Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco and News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Red Sox score often and early to beat A’s 6-1 at Fenway in series opener

Oakland Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson (14), left, talks with Jared Koenig (46) as catcher Sean Murphy (12) listens in during the second inning at Fenway Park in Boston in the first game of a three game series against the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 14, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (21-42) road woes continued as they fell to the Boston Red Sox (33-29) 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. The A’s sent rookie lefty Jared Koenig to the mound the face the potent Red Sox lineup.

After making his second big league start, Koenig had the misfortune of going against the World Champion Atlanta Braves last week. As baseball fans know, left-handed pitchers dread pitching in Fenway Park. Pitchers know they will succeed if they keep their pitches down and away from the powerful right-handed hitters in Boston’s lineup. 

The Red Sox scored runs in the first four innings of the game. In the first inning, with one out and Rafael Devers at first base, Koenig walked J.D.Martinez. Koening committed a balk, and the runners advanced to second and third. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a broken-bat single into short right-field. Devers scored to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.

The Sox plated their second run in the bottom of the second. With one out, Boston loaded the bases. Singles by Christian Vasquez and Bobby Dalbec were followed by Koenig hitting Franchy Cordero. Leadoff hitter Rob Ryfsnyder, filling in at center field for the injured Kike Hernandez, drove in Vazquez with a sacrifice fly. The score after two complete was 2-0 Boston on top.

Boston put their third run of the night on the board when slugger J.D. Martinez homered leading off the bottom of the third. It was Martinez’s eighth dinger of the year. 

Jared Koenig’s night ended in the fourth. Singles by Franchy Cordero and Rob Ryfsnyder put two men on with no out. Boston’s third baseman, Rafael Devers, one of the top hitters in the American League, blasted a 439-foot home run over the bullpen in right-center-field to give Boston a commanding 6-0 after four complete.

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta stymied the A’s offense. Pivetta’s only mistake was a gopher ball served up to A’s DH Stephen Vogt in the eighth inning. Pivetta’s line was eight innings of work, and he allowed one run and three hits to earn his sixth win of the year. The Red Sox win 6-1.

Game Notes: The A’s are now 21-42 for the season. They have lost 15 of the last 17 played and now own the worst record in the American League.

The A’s and the Cincinnati Reds are racing to the bottom of the barrel. The A’s are 1-6 on the nine-game road trip and have two more games with Boston before returning home to face the Kansas City Royals Friday night at the Coliseum.

The line score for Oakland was one run, four hits, and one error. Boston’s line was six runs, ten hits, and no errors. 

Pivetta was the winning pitcher. Koenig took the loss and is now 0-2.

 Adam Oller, Lou Trivino, and Austin Pruitt pitched well in relief. The bullpen held the Sox scoreless after the fourth inning. A’s manager Mark Kotsay had to be pleased with Trivino’s outing. Trivino worked an inning and stuck out two.

The A’s will send James Kaprielian (0-3, 5.73) out to face Boston Wednesday night. The Red Sox will start righthander Josh Winckowski (0-1, 12.00) . The game will start at 4:10 pm Pacific Time. 

The time of the game was 2:43 minutes. There were 32,617 fans in attendance

Preview Oakland A’s vs. Boston Red Sox: A’s hope to improve win record at Fenway Park as series starts Tuesday

Oakland A’s starter Jared Koenig who lost his first game in his Major League debut on Wed Jun 8, 2022 at Truist Field in Cobb County against the Atlanta Braves will face the Boston Red Sox on Tue Jun 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s arrived in Boston Sunday night after finishing a four-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. The A’s managed to beat the Guardians on Saturday 10-5. The A’s have lost fourteen of their last 16 games.

They find themselves in the cellar in the AL West. Their record is a woeful 21-41. However, their bats showed signs of life as they bashed four home runs in the 10-5 win on Saturday. Their hitters slugger three solo dingers in the 6-3 loss to the Guardians on Sunday.

A’s first baseman, Christian Bethancourt, has started to hit. He raised his batting average to .269. His on-base percentage is a respectable .310. He has hit four homers and driven in 15.

In fourth place in the very tough AL East, the Red Sox went 8-2 on the completed 10-game road trip. The Sox are now 32-29 for the season. Injuries, however, are starting to affect the pitching.

Starters Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock are on the 15-day IL. Chris Sale is still not available. The Red Sox still have a very potent lineup. Their All-Star candidates include third baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, second baseman Trevor Story, and DH J.D. Martinez.

The Red Sox cannot afford to take the A’s lightly. The A’s play better on the road. They are 14-18 away from the Oakland Coliseum. They are a woeful 7-23 at home.

The A’s showed they have some pop in their bats as they sent seven balls into the seats in the last two games of the Cleveland series. They hope to continue pounding the ball in the hitter-friendly confines of Boston’s Fenway Park.

The A’s will send lefty Jared Koenig to the hill Tuesday night. Koenig will be making his second start in his brief Major League career. In his first outing, he made it into the fourth inning. He absorbed the loss, and his ERA is 9.00. Nick Pivetta (5-5, 3.78 ERA) goes for Boston.

On Wednesday, James Kaprielian will handle the pitching chores for the A’s. James is 0-3, and his ERA is 5.73. He pitched better in his last outing but did not get the decision. The A’s feel James is rounding back into the form he showed last season.

The Red Sox have not announced their starting pitchers for Wednesday or Thursday. The A’s starter on Thursday will be Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is 5-2 with a very tidy era of 2.31. Blackburn went eight innings in his last outing against Cleveland.

He was ahead 2-0 when he left the game. The Guardians rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth as the A’s bullpen melted down again.

As baseball fans know, anything can happen in games played at Fenway Park. Fenway has been a hitter’s paradise for over 100 years.

The A’s would love to get back into the win column and take at least two out of three from the Sox in a series that starts on Friday night. Boston would love to sweep the A’s again. As always, it should be a fun series.

On Friday night the A’s return to the Oakland Coliseum to host the Kansas City Royals for a three game series.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Too much Pivetta for A’s; Oakland hopes to wake up bats Sunday against Sox

During Sat Jun 4, 2022’s contest in the bottom of the seventh inning Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy (12) expresses his truest feelings after striking out behind him Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez (7) (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Charlie O:

One of the reasons why the Oakland A’s had a hard team hitting against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday was it was too much Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta who pitched seven innings, two hits and seven strikeouts of shutout ball.

The A’s side of things they just simply aren’t hitting. They lost on Friday night to the Sox to open the three game series 7-2 and dropped Saturday’s affair 8-0. For A’s starter Paul Blackburn lost his second straight game and was touched up for four earned runs and seven hits in four innings.

The A’s could only muster four hits and with Pivetta pitching like he did it would be hard for a good hitting team. The A’s have been struggling to get hits and it’s adding to their loss column when the can’t score runs and finish games.

Join Charlie O for the A’s podcasts every other Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Red Sox take second straight game from A’s in 8-0 shutout by Pivetta and Sox bullpen

Boston Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta throws against the Oakland A’s line up in the bottom of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Jun 4, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–When the Boston Red Sox came calling sound that the Oakland A’s could only hear was the knock of the ball off their bats. The Red Sox in an 8-0 game also got great pitching from starter Nick Pivetta who shutout the A’s through seven innings giving up two hits.

The win for Pivetta who struck out seven A’s hitters kept the A’s line up off balance as Pivetta had only one Oakland runner to get past second base. Pivetta with A’s at the plate Seth Brown who lined out and Chad Pinder to fly out to get out of a jam.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Pivetta that Pivetta had to battle to get out of some innings of work, “It wasn’t as easy as it looked. It was 100 pitches and he had to grind, especially the last inning,” Cora said. “We had a feeling that he was going to have a good one. It’s a very comfortable place to pitch. He was able to attack.”

The Sox got some offense from Alex Verdugo who had three hits and two RBIs, Trevor Story made a great play with the glove in leftfield and hit doubles. Xander Bogaerts who set the record for a shortstop for most games at shortstop contributed with an infield single.

For the A’s Elvis Andrus and Ramon Laureano both doubled but it wasn’t enough as the A’s really need to pound Red Sox pitching if they were going to make a series of it. In the top of the eighth the Sox Verdurgo hit for a one run RBI double scoring Bogaerts and Franchy Codero chipped in with a two RBI single that contributed to the Red Sox four run inning.

The A’s and Red Sox return to the Coliseum for a Sunday afternoon match up at 1:05 pm PDT. Starting pitcher for the Red Sox Rich Hill (1-3, 4.83) for the A’s Frankie Montas (2-5, 3.20).