nytimes.com file photo: Carlos Beltran being introduced as the New York Mets manager will not manage one ball game for the Mets as he stepped down today as Mets manager over the Sign Stealing scandal
Sign-Stealing Scandal: Carlos Beltrán Steps Out as Mets Manager
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
Amaury Pi-González
Major League Baseball continues reeling from the current sign-stealing scandal. Truly unprecedented. Seriously jeopardizing his possible induction into the Hall of Fame after a brilliant 20 years major league career, Carlos Beltrás who was named manager of the New York Mets on November 1,2019, will not manage with the Mets this season.
Beltrán is 42 years old born in Manatí,Puerto Rico. After what has been happening, especially with the Houston Astros,Carlos Beltrán today decided to step down as manager of the New York Mets. This is makes the Mets management who picked Beltrán look very bad,overall nobody is looking good at this time in the game. Beltrán will not manage a single game in Spring Training which is just over two weeks away.
Beltrán played for 20 seasons in major league baseball compiling Hall of Fame worthy numbers, 2,586 games, hit .270 with 435 home runs and 1,587 runs batted in. Began his career in 1998 and ended in 2018, he played for: Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees,Texas Rangers and Houston Astros (again) during the 2017 season when the Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Jessica Mendoza,ESPN Baseball Analyst and who also works for the NY Mets blasted Mike Fiers,now pitching with the A’s, and ex-Astros for blowing the whistle on this current scandal.
Personally, I cannot blame a pitcher for blowing the whistle on hitters stealing signs. This goes to the essence of the game of baseball, where the pitchers objective is to get the hitter out. Hitters today have the definite advantage,with all the videos and stuff on film and social media,now.
There will always be the gamesmanship in some situations like when a runner at second base can relay a signal to the hitter, and that will always belong in the game, but methodically establishing a system to steal signs should never be allowed.
Follow us with this very fluid story, in my lifetime (including the steroids era) this is the worst scandal.
See you in Arizona, in Spring Training. But I am afraid this story is still in the top of the 7th.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish play by play talent at the Oakland A’s on 1010 KIQI La Grande and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Chad Pinder celebrates his second HR of the night Photo: Jordan Chapin Sports Radio Service
by Charlie O. Mallonee and Jordan Chapin
The Oakland Athletics had not swept both ends of a doubleheader since September 22, 1998 when they did it against the Detroit Tigers. The A’s ended that drought on Saturday as they swept the doubleheader from first-place Houston Astros (86-56).
Oakland won the second game 11-4 after having won the first game 11-1. You are not reading a typographical error. The last-place Oakland Athletics (62-80) just outscored the Houston Astros — the team with best record in the American League — 22 to 5 in a doubleheader.
The two victories also mean that the Athletics have won the opening three games of this four-game series with the Astros. No matter what happens on Sunday, the A’s have won this series with Houston.
The Athletics are now 41-33 at home for 2017 season. That means they have matched the Astros home win total for the season. Only Baltimore and Boston have more wins at home in the American League than do the Oakland A’s.
The big problem for the Athletics is they are 21-47 on the road which is the worst road record in the Major Leagues.
Game Two
Daniel Mengden took the mound for the A’s in the nightcap. After being with the big club briefly early in the year, Mengden spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Nashville. The A’s have always had big hopes for Mengden but things have not worked out the way either party would have liked things to go.
Saturday Mengden worked six innings giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits. He struck out four Astros, walked two and gave up one home run. Manager Bob Melvin was pleased with his starter’s performance.
The outing was also Mengden’s longest of the year in the majors. He went just 3.1 and 4.2 innings in his two previous starts at the beginning of the season.
On the hill
Oakland
The game got very shaky for the A’s when the bullpen took over in the seventh inning. Sam Moll faced two batters and gave up a double to Carlos Beltran followed by a single to Brian McCann that moved Beltran to third. That was all for Moll who would be charged with an earned run after Beltran scored on a sacrifice fly.
Chris Hatcher 1-1) took over for Moll and ultimately picked up the win in the game. He not only shut down the scoring in the seventh, but he pitched a scoreless eighth inning as well. Managers love relievers who can post “Goose Eggs” in the score book.
Santiago Casilla worked the ninth inning and also put up a “Goose Egg” (zero runs) on no hits with one strike out and one walk.
Houston
Brad Peacock (10-2, 3.05) made the start for the Astros and had the game under control until the sixth inning when the A’s figured him out. Peacock went 5.0-innings giving up two runs (both earned) on five hits while striking out nine. Matt Olson’s two-run home run in the sixth chased Peacock from the game. He did not figure in the final decision.
The Astros used four relief pitchers and they all broke the rule of the “Goose Egg”. Each reliever gave up at least one run. Michael Feliz gave up four. It was a bloodbath.
Chris Devenski (8-4) took the loss. For those of you who are still into antiquated stats, he was also charged with blown save number six of the season.
In the batter’s box
Franklin Barreto scores go ahead run in the seventh inning Photo: Jordan Chapin Sports Radio Service
Athletics
So many stories — so little time.
Boog Powell went 2-for-4 with three Rbi and a run scored
Chad Pinder hit two home runs in the game (13,14). One home run tied the game and the other just “Wowed” the crowd.
Matt Olson went 2-for-4 with a home run, run scored and two Rbi.
Franklin Barreto was 2-for-4 with a triple, Rbi and two runs scored.
Oakland scored 11 runs on 14 hits. They were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The A’s left just four runners on base.
Boog Powell rounds the bases after his home run Photo: Jordan Chapin Sports Radio Service
Astros
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored.
Josh Reddick (1-for-3) extended his hitting streak to eight games.
Jose Altuve hit his 10th career home run against the A’s in the sixth inning. He was 1-for-4 with two runs and an Rbi in game two.
Star of the doubleheader has to go to the Athletics Matt Olson
The rookie first baseman went 4-for-7 in the two games with a home run (16), a double, two Rbi and two walks. Olson is one of the big reasons the A’s feel their future is very bright.
AP photo: Rougned Odor gets in a headlock from Texas Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos, Elvis Andrus left, AJ Griffin center right, and Nomar Mazara right celebrate the walk off hit by thrown by the Oakland A’s reliever Marc Rzepczynski in the tenth inning that hit Odor with the bases loaded at the Ball Park in Arlington on Tuesday night
Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the tenth when A’s reliever Marc Rzepczynski hit Rangers’ second baseman, Rougned Odor, with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the winning run. The final score was 5-4. There is a saying in sports that says bad teams will find a way to lose and good teams will find a way to win. The A’s had their chances to put the game in the win column, but they couldn’t capitalize when necessary. The Rangers should have lost the game but the A’s bullpen failed them in the bottom of the tenth, and they gave the game to the Rangers.
The A’s scored first in the top of the second. With the bases loaded, Rangers’ starter Lucas Harrell walked Danny Valencia to force in a run. Harrell had to leave the game after the inning as he suffered a right groin strain. Andrew Triggs started for Oakland, and he pitched very well. Triggs went 5 2/3 innings and allowed just one run and two hits. He threw just seventy-five pitches in the contest. Triggs left with Robinson Chirinos in scoring position. Bob Melvin brought in Ryan Dull to face the very dangerous Carlos Beltran. Beltran greeted him with a single to tie the game. In the seventh, the Rangers scored their second run of the night to take a 2-1 lead. Rougned Odor walked to start the rally. He went to third on a Mitch Moreland single off the glove of Yonder Alonso. Elvis Andrus hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Odor.
The Rangers Alex Claudio pitched four shutout innings in relief of Harrell. Claudio had three speeds- slow, slower and slowest. He confused the A’s hitters with pitches that registered just sixty-five miles an hour on the speed gone. His fastball, when he threw one, came in at 85 mph. The Rangers closer, Sam Dyson, could not get the job done in the ninth. The A’s tied the game at two. Max Muncy singled. The A’s had Tyler Ladendorf pinch run for him. Ladendorf stole second when Coco Crisp struck out and then scored on a single by Danny Valencia. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth and the game went into extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, the A’s scored twice, and it looked like a win for the Green and Gold. BoMel gave the nod to John Axford to finish the game. Guess what? It did not happen. Axford walked Chirinos, Jonathan Lucroy, and Ian Desmond. That set the stage for Carlos Beltran. Beltran did not disappoint the Ranger fans as he singled to drive in two and tie the game. Melvin replaced Axford with lefty Marc Rzepczynski. Rzepczynski issued an intentional walk to Adrian Beltre to load the bases for the second time in the game. The next batter was Rougned Odor. Odor has been a thorn in the side of the A’s for a couple of seasons and Rzepczynski wanted to be very careful with him. That did not happen as Rzepczynski nailed him with a pitch to force in a run and the Rangers celebrated a walk-off victory. Final score 5-4 for Texas.
Game notes – The Rangers won their thirty-eighth come-from-behind game this season and improved to 71-50 and are in first place in the AL West and have the best record in the American League. The A’s drop to 52-68 and are sixteen games under .500.
Carlos Beltran was the hitting star for the Rangers Tuesday night. The Rangers acquired Beltran from the Yankees at the trade deadline. The thirty-nine-year-old Beltran, who has over 2500 hits and more than 400 homers on his resume, had four hits and three ribbies in the game.
The Rangers and A’s will conclude the three-game series at 5:05 pm Wednesday night at the Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The A’s Sean Manaea will be on the hill, and Yu Darvish will pitch for the Rangers. The Rangers will be going for a sweep.
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher John Axford Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
By Charlie O. Mallonee
OAKLAND–The New York Yankees downed the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Sunday at the Coliseum in Oakland. It was a painful loss on three fronts.
First, the loss gave the Yankees a four-game sweep over the A’s in the series. The last time the Athletics were swept in a four-game series at home was in April of 1999. After sweeping the Texas Rangers in three games to begin the home stand, the A’s could have never imagined closing it out 0-4 against a team they swept in New York earlier in the season.
Second, the A’s are not being able to take advantage of their home field environment. Oakland’s record is now just 8-15 at home while they are 11-11 on the road. That is really quite extraordinary as most teams fare much better in home stadiums before fan friendly crowds. For some unknown reason that is not happening for the Athletics at this point in time.
Third, it was another one-run loss. All losses are frustrating, but the one-run loss games just seem to come back to haunt a team because they are contests that could have been won if one thing had gone differently in the game. The A’s are 6-7 in one-run games this season.
On Sunday, the A’s took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Billy Burns was able to steal second and third base and then score on a Stephen Vogt ground out. It looked like things might be going to go the A’s way in the game.
The Yankees scored single runs in the second and third innings off solo home runs from Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury. The crowd became nervous as New York took the 2-1 lead.
Oakland came back to score to two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Stephen Vogt hit a double to left field that scored Jake Smolinski and Billy Burns. The crowd came to life with the A’s back in the lead 3-2.
The Yankees served notice that they were not going to go down easily by putting together a four-hit two-run inning in the top of the sixth to retake the lead 4-3.
The Yankees put the dagger into the A’s in the top of the seventh inning. With two and runner at first, Carlos Beltran hit a double down the left field line that allowed the Aaron Hicks to score from first giving New York a 5-3 lead.
The A’s did make it interesting by scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but it ultimately was too little too late and the Yankees won the game 5-4.
In the batter’s box
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4, scored a run, had a double and a RBI for the Yankees. He has now hit safely in five straight games (10-for-22, .455).
Jacoby Ellsbury had a 1-for-4 day that featured a home run. He is hitting .310 over his last 24 games.
Mark Teixeira snapped an 0-for-19 hitless streak with an RBI single in the sixth inning
Billy Burns had a big day for the A’s scoring three runs to go with two stolen bases. He went 2-for-4 for the game.
Coco Crisp hit a double and that extends his hitting streak to six games.
Stephen Vogt had a big day going just 1-for-4 but he had three RBI in the game. Two of those RBI came off a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth.
On the hill
The Yankees put together a strong pitching performance on Sunday against the A’s. Starter Michael Pineda (2-5) picked up his second win of the season working six strong innings. Pineda gave up three runs (all earned) on six hits while striking out six batters and walking just one.
Pineda working six innings allowed the Yankees to then go to their three-headed bullpen monster of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. Miller did give up a run but it was unearned as it was created by an error. Chapman picked up his sixth save of the season and threw a number of pitches in excess of 100 mph.
Jesse Hahn did not have a bad start for the A’s. He went 5.2 innings giving up four runs (all earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked none, but he did give up two home runs.
John Axford was asked to come in and get Hahn out of trouble in the sixth was not able to make it happen. The bullpen cannot save the day every time.
Daniel Coulombe who was just called up from Nashville worked the final two innings of the game. He did not give up a hit or a run. Coulombe struck out two and walked none.
The Disabled List continues to grow
The Athletics announced on Sunday that Sonny Gray has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right trapezius. The A’s now have 13 players on the DL which is the most in the Major Leagues.
Gray had been struggling through a very tough beginning to his 2016 season. His record stands at 3-5 with a 6.19 ERA in nine starts.
This is the first time Gray has been on the disabled list in his career.
Left-hander Daniel Coulombe was brought up from Triple-A Nashville to replace Gray on the Major League roster.
This is Coulombe’s second time up with the big club this season. He faced the Red Sox on May 10 giving up three runs (all earned) in two innings of work. Coulombe had a 0.56 ERA in 13 appearances for Nashville.
Up next
The A’s travel to Seattle for a three-game series with the Mariners. The Mariners are coming off a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds and have won four games in a row. Seattle has sole possession of first place in the American League West.
The pitching probables are:
Mon 5/23 LHP Rich Hill (6-3, 2.54) vs RHP Taijuan Walker (2-3, 2.95)
Regardless of who wins the series with the next two games on Wednesday and Thursday games five and six should be sensational games. This has been a series that has been dominating by pitching and it has been terrific the Cardinals starter on Wednesday Michael Wacha the rookie who took to the mound in game six and he’s 4-0 22 year old and the Cards have seven rookies on that roster.
The Cards have Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal to name a few who are just rookies and their doing a great job and here’s another thing about the Cardinals of the 25 man roster 20 players are home grown there is no other team in baseball that I have found that has 20 players who are home grown. Let me explain homegrown to those who think I’m joking there are players they have signed through their own farm system and they made it to the big leagues.
Of those 20 seven are rookies, that’s incredible you have a team that basically that’s home grown except Carlos Beltran who came from other teams, Matt Holliday is the other non rookie, most of these players are Cardinal discoveries. That by itself show tremendous organization by the Cards.
Goodell wants NFL team in London: It’s a lot of travel to go from the mainland to fly to London but it’s intriguing here’s Major League Baseball who as we know that opened their season there’s a difference they have opened the season in Mexico City, the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks are going to open the MLB season in Australia but that’s just opening a game there in the regular season.
To have a team in another country what is the flight time for the 49ers and the Raiders to travel all the way to London. This is serious, I don’t know if the NFL can accomplish this this year or next or the next 20 years but I’ll tell you what the NFL is rich monetarily economically and fiscally sound professional sports league in the world. So if anybody can do it it’s the NFL.
That will be a tremendous undertaking to have a team down in London, I can see them doing it in Canada, Mexico, but to leave the continent and to go across the Atlantic to the other side of the world and consider this we are here in California that would be quite a stress for the teams to get there. They would have to fly three or four days in advance and three or four changes of time zones. It’s going to be tough but they might be able to do it.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio
Sports Radio Service 