MathewFinger

subota, 23.04.2011.

Mariners top A's; consecutive shutout 1st since '08

So far, in the battle of two of the league's worst offenses, Oakland is outdoing the punchless Mariners when it comes to utter futility.

The A's ran their string of innings without a run to 18 on Friday at Safeco Field in a 4-0 loss to the Mariners. Making his fourth big-league start, Michael Pineda worked six scoreless innings for Seattle, which had shut out the A's 1-0 the night before behind Felix Hernandez.

The last time the A's were blanked in consecutive games was May 13-14, 2008, at Cleveland. The A's have lost three in a row, a season high.

Kevin Kouzmanoff missed home plate on the A's only real scoring opportunity, in the fifth, and was tagged out by catcher Miguel Olivo. Then the A's had the bases loaded in the ninth - something of an accomplishment in itself of late - but Brandon League got pinch hitter Conor Jackson to ground into a game-ending double play.

The A's are batting .236, the last-place Mariners .224. The A's 66 runs are second-fewest in the league, after the Twins, who are tied with the A's for the fewest homers, eight.

"You can't pout," Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis said. "No one feels sorry for you. But you know we're going to come out of it. Everyone in here can hit a little bit, and sooner or later we will. But it's not fun wasting a lot of good starts, games you could be winning. You hope that doesn't hurt you down the road."

Tyson Ross, who turned 24 Friday, made his first start of the season, pitching in place of Dallas Braden, who is on the disabled list with left shoulder stiffness. Despite some control issues, Ross allowed only one run through the first four innings, but things started to unravel in the fifth when he gave up a leadoff single to Jack Wilson, then a one-out walk.

Jerry Blevins took over and walked two more, including ex-A's designated hitter Jack Cust with the bases loaded, and Adam Kennedy slapped a two-run single to center. The total damage charged to Ross: four hits, four walks and three runs in 4 1/3 innings.

"The fastball command wasn't close to where it was in the spring or really close to where it needs to be," A's manager Bob Geren said.

Ross said he'll work between starts on staying on top of the ball, but, he said, he needs to get better at adjusting during the game when he starts getting on the side of the ball too much, the reason he felt he wasn't in the zone enough.

Pineda, 22, held Oakland down for the most part, even though at this point, it's hard to tell if it's the opposing pitching or the A's anemic attack that is more responsible for the string of zeros. Oakland had been shut out the previous night by reigning Cy Young winner Hernandez, and sometimes there's a carryover effect.

"That's a tough 1-2 combo," Ellis said. "And any time you face a guy for the first time, it's more difficult. He's really got a great arm."

Brad Ziegler got two strikeouts to end the fifth; he worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings and is unscored upon in all seven of his appearances this year.
- 09:56 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

petak, 01.04.2011.

Torii Hunter leads Angels to 4-2 victory over Kansas City

Torii Hunter stood before his locker in a corner of the Angels clubhouse Thursday afternoon and joked about getting some T-shirts made.

"They're going to say OG on them," he said, drawing a line across his chest with an index finger. "That's supposed to stand for Original Gangster. But mine are going to stand for Old Goat."

A couple of hours later Hunter showed that, old or not, this goat is not ready to be put out to pasture just yet, collecting two hits, including a long fourth-inning home run to start the Angels on their way to a 4-2 season-opening win over the Kansas City Royals.


While Jered Weaver set the mood on the mound, holding the Royals to two singles by Melky Cabrera through 61/3 innings, it was Hunter who led the way everywhere else. Not only did his fourth-inning home run give them a lead that they never relinquished, but he also stifled a potential Royals rally in the sixth with a spectacular diving catch of a Mike Aviles' fly ball just inside the right-field line.

"My whole career, that's what I always wanted to be," he said. "That guy, that table-setter. That guy that sets the tone and makes everything go."

Last summer's move to right field led some to whisper that Hunter had lost a step, that his game was in decline. It's a quiet criticism that Hunter now uses as motivation — even after driving a full-count pitch to the base of the scoreboard in center field more than 440 feet away.

"I still go out and play and I play hard. I've still got it," spat Hunter, who at 35 is the Angels' second-oldest regular. "No matter if I have a bad day or not, I'm going to push that other guy to have some fun and play the game. Maybe he'll help us win."

Two innings after Hunter got the Angels started, Jeff Mathis followed with a solo homer of his own, his first since July. And with Mathis turning 28 on Thursday, it made him just the third player in history to hit an opening-day home run on his birthday.

That also helped give Weaver a 4-0 lead to work with. But when the right-hander surpassed 100 pitches an inning later, he was lifted with one out in the seventh — and that's when the fun began.

Last season no American League bullpen walked more batters than the shaky Angels', and the team's relievers proved to be in midseason form Thursday, starting with Hisanori Takahashi, who gave up a home run and two singles in the span of four batters in the seventh.

Kevin Jepsen gave up another home run, two walks and a wild pitch to start the eighth before yielding to Michael Kohn, who walked his first batter to load the bases before wiggling out of the jam.

Fernando Rodney then survived an equally shaky ninth, putting the tying run on base in the ninth before striking out Alex Gordon on a foul tip to end the game.

Weaver, watching from the safety of the clubhouse, said he couldn't help but grow nervous.

"We made it interesting a little bit," he said. "But those guys made pitches when they needed to. So that was a good way to start the season."
- 05:04 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

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