Athletics Nation - Game Thread #19: A's vs. RangersAn SB Nation blog for Oakland Athletics fanshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47025/an-fave.png2014-04-21T23:12:06-07:00http://www.athleticsnation.com/rss/stream/54026492014-04-21T23:12:06-07:002014-04-21T23:12:06-07:00Game #19: A's come up short, lose 4-3 to Rangers
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<figcaption>Make your caption in the comments | Thearon W. Henderson</figcaption>
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<p>The A's can't capitalize on a swath of baserunners and lose the first of three against the Rangers.</p> <p>The good news is that the A's apparently still own Yu Darvish. The ace who had dominated in his previous three starts looked positively pedestrian against the A's bats. The A's tagged him for three runs in the second inning on a <span>Brandon Moss</span> solo shot and a base hit by <span>Coco Crisp</span> that scored <span>Josh Reddick</span> and <span>Eric Sogard</span>.</p>
<p>However, the A's were done in by their 1-10 with runners in scoring position and their 11 men left on base. They had 11 baserunners against Darvish in the first four innings but couldn't deliver the knockout blow.</p>
<p>Conversely, Kouz was Klutch for the <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rangers</a>. The erstwhile A's third baseman, only playing in the majors due to Adrian Beltre's injury, has been on fire. Fresh off being named the AL player of the week, Kouz went 2-4, had a key double and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.</p>
<p>The game started off ominously, with Shin Soo-Choo smacking a leadoff homer off the fifth straight fastball served by A's starter <span>Dan Straily</span>. With one out, Straily walked Alex Rios. Although it looked like Straily might unravel, Jaso bailed him out by nailing Rios trying to steal second, and Dan settled down. He struck out the side in the second inning, and the A's bats backed him up with the aforementioned three run second inning.</p>
<p>Straily, however, was unable to hold the two-run lead. In the top of the 4th, <span>Prince Fielder</span> doubled, and <span>Kevin Kouzmanoff</span> knocked him in (seriously this is getting ridiculous). In the bottom frame, the A's loaded the bases, but failed to score as Donaldson flew out to end the threat. That moment had the feeling of a missed opportunity that the A's would come to regret, and so it went.</p>
<p>Fielder knocked in another run in the 5th to tie it up 3-3. <span>Ryan Cook</span> pitched a scoreless sixth, <span>Fernando Abad</span> did the same in the seventh (aided by a beautiful running, leaping grab by Coco Crisp that probably saved a triple). Abad did have some great stuff again; how do you hit a 79 mph knuckle-curve that breaks over 13"? Nasty. He's proving to be a great find.</p>
<p>In the bottom of the seventh, Darvish was out of the game, and <span>Neal Cotts</span> was on the mound. With Josh Donaldson on first, Bob Melvin pinch hit for Brandon Moss with <span>Yoenis Cespedes</span>. Cespedes absolutely crushed a ball to centerfield. It looked like a home run off the bat. Unfortunately the Marine Layer killed the ball just enough, and <span>Leonys Martin</span> made the catch with his back against the wall to preserve the tie game. Sigh.</p>
<p>Doolittle gave up the go-ahead run to a former A, Donnie Murphy. Apparently the straight fastball catching too much of the plate is not a great pitch, because Kouzmanoff and Murphy were able to smack him around with that. He gave up a run and couldn't get through the inning.</p>
<p>In the top of the 9th, we were treated to an ugly play in all phases of the game. On a pitchout, <span>Elvis Andrus</span> took a wild swing (which seemed intentional, because there is no other explanation for it), and Jaso decided to launch the ball into centerfield while trying to catch <span>Michael Choice</span> heading to second. The play was not scored an error because Choice was apparently asleep at the wheel. Shockingly ugly baseball all around; you need to see this (thanks to Hit4TheCycle for the gif skills - click on the pic to view):</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4338527/pitchout_fail.gif"><img src="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/assets/4338527/pitchout_fail_medium.gif" class="photo" alt="Pitchout_fail_medium"></a> <br id="1398147115823"></p>
<p>Just mesmerizing.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite the missed opportunities, the ugly defense, the shaky bullpen, and everything else...the A's were still only down by one in the bottom of the 9th, with the 2-3-4 hitters coming up. Elvis Andrus gifted <span>Jed Lowrie</span> two bases on a throwing error and the A's had a runner in scoring position with just one out. Donaldson flew out, and it came down to <span>Joakim Soria</span> vs. Yoenis Cespedes for all the marbles. On his fifth pitch, Soria sent a hanging slider right down Broadway. It could not have been a better pitch to hit. Cespedes, though, got umm...a little excited. Like a little girl who just found out she got a pony for her birthday. Or the guy who finds out he won the powerball. Cespedes swung out of his shoes, mightily whiffed, and ended up about 20 feet away by the time his swing was done. Soria got him to fly out to end the game, and so it went. Tough loss, but this kind of thing happens over the course of the long season.</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2014/4/21/5638898/as-come-up-short-lose-4-3-to-rangersBilly Frijoles2014-04-21T21:59:09-07:002014-04-21T21:59:09-07:00Game Thread #19: A's vs. Rangers (4)
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<p>WHAT THE HELL KOUZ ?!?!?!? et tu, <span>Donnie Murphy</span>?</p>
<p>A's down 4-3, heading to the bottom of the 8th</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160315/animalhouse1.png"><img alt="Animalhouse1_medium" class="photo" src="http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160315/animalhouse1_medium.png"></a></p>
<p><b>IT'S OVER? NOTHING IS OVER UNTIL WE SAY IT IS!</b></p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2014/4/21/5638826/game-thread-19-as-vs-rangers-4Billy Frijoles2014-04-21T21:19:19-07:002014-04-21T21:19:19-07:00Game Thread #19: A's vs. Rangers (3)
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<p>From Nico's bag of bad puns...</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160195/irrelephant_2.jpg"><img src="http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160195/irrelephant_2_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Irrelephant_2_medium"></a></p>
<p>3-3 heading into the 7th</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2014/4/21/5638670/game-thread-19-as-vs-rangers-3Billy Frijoles2014-04-21T20:21:57-07:002014-04-21T20:21:57-07:00Game Thread #19: A's vs. Rangers (2)
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<p>The A's once again have Darvish's number. They have threatened in every inning, and come into the bottom of the 4th with a 3-2 lead and Yu at 65 pitches through 3 innings. Straily has been keeping the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> offense at bay, but Koooouz struck in the 4th to drive in a run. Damn you KOOOOUUUUZZ!!!!</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160045/8025521358_576ca0f1e9_b.jpg"><img alt="8025521358_576ca0f1e9_b_medium" class="photo" src="http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/2160045/8025521358_576ca0f1e9_b_medium.jpg"></a></p>
<p>via <a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8025521358_576ca0f1e9_b.jpg">farm9.staticflickr.com</a></p>
<p>Totes adorbz</p>
<p>Let's go A's!</p>
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https://www.athleticsnation.com/2014/4/21/5638614/game-thread-19-as-vs-rangers-2Billy Frijoles2014-04-21T18:45:01-07:002014-04-21T18:45:01-07:00Game Thread #19: A's vs. Rangers
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<figcaption>Donaldson looks to continue his hot streak | Thearon W. Henderson</figcaption>
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<p>The Rangers make their first visit in 2014 to O.Co.</p> <p>Welcome to another edition of A's baseball!</p>
<p>Tonight, the A's begin a series against the visiting <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Texas Rangers</a>. <span>Yu Darvish</span> takes the hill for Texas (1-0, 0.82 ERA) while <span>Dan Straily</span> (1-1, 5.40 ERA) attempts to re-create the magic from his start exactly 11 months ago, when he blanked the Rangers for seven innings in Arlington to give the A's the 1-0 win over Darvish.</p>
<p>Darvish is off to an incredible start. He sports a league-leading 1.53 FIP. He has only allowed a run in one inning this season (he allowed 2 runs in an inning against Seattle last week. However, when it comes to Yu, Texas has taken "lack of run support" to a whole new level. The Rangers haven't scored a run during Darvish's starts until he has left the game. That spans 22 innings now. Darvish got the win thanks to <span>Elvis Andrus</span> knocking in some runs after he left the game way back on April 6th. However, the Rangers have managed to eke out the win in his three starts.</p>
<p>Dan Straily only lasted 3 2/3 innings in his last start vs. Anaheim so he looks to right the ship in the friendly confines of the Coliseum. There have been rumblings about him losing velocity rapidly over the last couple of years, but per a comment by King Richard, part of that may just be the Coliseum's slow-ish radar gun. However, he was never a guy to blow it past hitters, so for him it's more about fastball location and movement on the secondary pitches.</p>
<p>The A's seem to have Darvish's number. In his first two MLB seasons, Darvish is only 1-6 with a 4.30 ERA in seven career starts versus Oakland. Last time when he was in the O.Co he suffered the ignominy of allowing a home run to <span>Daric Barton</span>. I was there, otherwise I wouldn't believe that it happened.</p>
<p>Oakland's approach to Darvish is be patient, drive up the pitch count, don't offer at anything off the plate, and punish the rare mistake. As a result, Darvish has given up 23 walks in career innings 44 vs. Oakland. They've also gone deep against him seven times. </p>
<p>Despite those stats, a large share of the blame for Darvish's lack of success against the A's goes to the Rangers' offense. Darvish actually had two 1-0 losses to the A's in 2013, so it may be going a step too far to say the A's "have his number." But they do "have a plan" and that may be enough to get the W.</p>
<p>A few hundred miles south, the Golden State Warriors, co-tenants of the Coliseum complex, will look to go up 2-0 in their first round playoff series against the L.A. Clippers. I'm sure many of us will be following along with that game as well, feel free to make this a dual thread, or stop by <a href="http://www.goldenstateofmind.com">Golden State of Mind</a> for some Warriors thread action.</p>
<p>Here are your lineups:</p>
<div class="pane sports_data_widget lineup clearfix sidebar"> <h3>Today's Lineups</h3> <div class="lineup"><table cellspacing="0" class="zebra"> <thead><tr> <th align="left">TEXAS RANGERS</th> <th align="left">OAKLAND ATHLETICS</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Shin-Soo Choo</span> - LF</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Coco Crisp</span> - CF</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name">Elvis Andrus - SS</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>John Jaso</span> - C</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Alex Rios</span> - RF</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Jed Lowrie</span> - SS</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Prince Fielder</span> - 1B</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Josh Donaldson</span> - 3B</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Kevin Kouzmanoff</span> - 3B</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Brandon Moss</span> - LF</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Mitch Moreland</span> - DH</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Alberto Callaspo</span> - DH</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Donnie Murphy</span> - 2B</td> <td class="td-first td-name">Josh Reddick - RF</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Leonys Martin</span> - CF</td> <td class="td-first td-name">Daric Barton - 1B</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"> <span>Robinson Chirinos</span> - C</td> <td class="td-first td-name"> <span>Eric Sogard</span> - 2B</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name"></td> <td class="td-first td-name"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="td-last td-name">Yu Darvish - RHP</td> <td class="td-first td-name">Dan Straily - RHP</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> </div>
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<p><span>Yoenis Cespedes</span> (3-14, .813 OPS vs. Darvish) is out with his bruised heel, but considering he has played the past couple of weeks with that issue I believe he should be available to pinch hit. Also, Prince Fielder has really sucked so far this season - .188/.325/.333/.659. Yeesh. If we were freaking out about <span>Josh Reddick's</span> struggles, I wonder what Rangers fans are doing about Prince Fielder? Hopefully he doesn't remember that he has an .851 career OPS at the Coliseum.</p>
<p><span>Craig Gentry</span> is not starting today against his former team, instead Brandon Moss gets the start in left and Daric Barton gets the nod at 1B (looks like BoMel remembers that jack as well).</p>
<p>Let's Go Warriors! Let's Go Oakland!</p>
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2014/4/21/5636028/game-thread-19-as-vs-rangersBilly Frijoles