Oakland Athletics

Joe Nicholson – USA Today Sports Images Coming into the 2013 MLB season, the Oakland Athletics needed a solid season from Tommy Milone at the top of their starting rotation if they were going to be successful. Through the A’s first 44 games of the season, the A’s have been decent, but not special, while posting an even 22-22 record. Similarly, Milone has been inconsistent and decent as well. Through nine starts, Milone currently leads Oakland starters in ERA at 3.47 and also has a solid 1.19 WHIP. He’s pitched 57 total inning so far this year, meaning he’s been averaging a little more than six innings per game,w hich isn’t bad at all. Given his solid numbers, it’s hard to believe that Milone holds just a 4-5 record to start the year. Milone and the Athletics came out of the gate hot, with Milone winning his first three starts. Over that time he had a decent 3.86 ERA, but wasn’t exactly pitching his best stuff. He was, however, getting solid run support. Milone then went onto lose his next five starts. However, the A’s offense slowed dramatically while he actually lowered his ERA to 3.71 over that time. He was inconsistent, allowing no earned runs in two starts, but four or more in three of those starts, but he wasn’t awful at all. Milone and the A’s were able get a victory on Saturday, though, snapping Milone’s five game losing streak. Milone went six innings, allowed five hits and three walks, while allowing just one earned run. He looked solid, like he has many times before in this young season. The A’s don’t have a pitcher in Milone that’s in the mold of a Justin Verlander or anything. However, Milone is a solid starter that can likely maintain a solid record and sub-4.00 ERA if he can get run-support behind him. Milone may have just ended a five-game losing streak, but that is more luck than anything and shouldn’t be read too much into. Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.

Trying for their first sweep outside of the AL West, the A's send A.J. Griffin to the mound against RHP Luis Mendoza. Oakland has won each of the first two games of this series by 2-1 scores. Griffin was sensational his last time out, baffling the Texas Rangers by incorporating a cutter that was closer to a slider than what we've seen in the past. For the second game in a row, Bob Melvin is going with the "platoon-based" up the middle combo of Jed Lowrie at SS and Eric Sogard at 2B, so perhaps Rosales' start at SS Friday night was an outlier rather than a new trend. Mendoza's numbers so far this season have not impressed. In 30 IP, he has allowed 28 hits and 20 ER, with 13 BBs and 22 Ks. Coco Crisp gets a "partial rest" today by way of DHing, and while I don't know if Griffin's first pitch today will be low, I do know that it will be to Lough: 1. David Lough (L) CF 2. Alcides Escobar (R) SS 3. Alex Gordon (L) LF 4. Billy Butler (R) DH 5. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B 6. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B 7. Jeff Francoeur (R) RF 8. George Kottaras (L) C 9. Chris Getz (L) 2B 1. Coco Crisp (S) DH 2. Jed Lowrie (S) SS 3. Yoenis Cespedes (R) LF 4. Brandon Moss (L) 1B 5. Josh "Teh Awesome" Donaldson (R) 3B 6. Seth Smith (L) RF 7. Chris Young (R) CF 8. Derek Norris (R) C 9. Eric "W2 form" Sogard (L) 2B

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

Now the A's made a switch Friday night, however temporary or permanent -- time will tell -- putting Adam Rosales at SS, Lowrie at 2B and leaving Eric Sogard in a role he is better suited to playing: Utility accountant and part-time elf. With any luck, this switch will coincide with an A's surge. Texas shows signs of vulnerability, with Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando currently on the DL to create a rotation that is 3/5 Tepesch, Grimm, and We'll See. The switch gives the A's solid defense at the most important defensive position, puts Lowrie in a better defensive position for him, and while it could make Rosales an every day player for now it at least utilizes him in the best possible way: solidifying the middle infield defense. Given the A's current roster, I like this switch and think it should be employed more often until such time as the A's can bring a better MIF option onto the roster. Some other insights I hope the A's will come to as we pass the 1/4 mark and fast approach the 1/3 benchmark... - When choosing between Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle for the 7th & 8th innings, go with Cook for the bottom part of the order and Doolittle for the heart of the order, whichever order that means pitching them. Left/Right be damned: Cook can overpower a team's 6-9 while Doolittle can overpower even a team's 3-5. Line them up that way and I think the A's will have fewer "blown holds" such as the key one they suffered last Tuesday against the Rangers. (Update: I am pleased to note that Bob Melvin apparently hacked into AN, read this post while it was still only a draft scheduled to be published, and had Cook face the bottom of the Royals order on Saturday night with Doolittle going through the heart of the order in the 8th.) - Move towards Derek Norris being the clear #1 catcher, with John Jaso getting most of his PAs out of the DH spot. Teams can run ragged on Jaso, and I'm also not convinced that his game-calling is very effective -- though in fairness to Jaso, that could reflect his abilities or it could just reflect his relative unfamiliarity with the A's pitchers. Norris has also made great strides blocking balls in the dirt and continues to sport a very solid OBP (.364 entering Friday night's game). Jaso's bat is good, but Norris is the more complete catcher and I think the A's need him behind the plate about 5 days/week going forward. If Yoenis Cespedes gets hot, I think the A's can hit with Texas. I like the A's bullpen overall, especially with Hideki Okajima in the mix. I like the back of the A's rotation better than Texas'. The big difference, right now, between the two teams is that the Rangers have Yu Darvish and the A's don't even have Brett Anderson. That's huge, but it's also only a factor every 5 days. Hopefully the A's can make hay the other 4 and close the gap on Texas -- talent-wise, I don't think the two teams are very far apart (though as long as Anderson is out I have to officially give Texas the edge). Your thoughts on all this? Chime in, and then see you at 1:05pm for A's-Royals game 3: A.J. Griffin against Luis Mendoza.

The bacon hangovers are all but worn off, and it was back to baseball Saturday as the A’s took on the Royals in game 2 of this weekend series.  Much like Friday night’s battle, the A’s struggled to make anything happen versus Ervin Santana and the Royals throught the early going.  A well placed pop up by Billy Butler got the Royals on the board in the top of the 1st against Tommy Milone, and it was up to Milone to keep that damage to a minimum as the A’s struggled against their former division foe Santana. Apr 26, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Tommy Milone (57) pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at O.Co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports Milone had to work extremely hard tonight to make it through his 6 innings to nail down the victory.  The top of the 2nd inning was the most adventurous, and could have sent the game in an entirely different direction had Milone broken rather than just bent.  Another well placed pop up put the lead off man aboard, a couple of uncharacteristic walks by Milone would load the bases with nobody out.  A first pitch pop up by Elliot Johnson, and strikeouts of Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar would enable Milone to escape the inning unscathed.  The two arduous innings though would drive up Milone’s pitch count at an early stage.  Jesse Chavez was warming up in the bullpen during the 2nd when Milone was on the ropes.  Had the Royals been able to come up with a big hit Milone’s night may have been much shorter. Milone overcame the high early pitch count and worked his way through 6 solid innings while allowing just the 1 run in the 1st.  Milone allowed 5 hits, 1 ER, with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts to snap his 5 start losing streak.  He got just enough support tonight, and it came just in time to get him the W. The A’s offense woke up from their slumber in the bottom of the 6th inning as Eric Sogard led off with a double.  Coco Crisp walked as the lineup turned over, and a wild pitch moved Sogard to 3rd in the process.  Jed Lowrie‘s sacrifice fly tied the game up at 1 as Sogard easily beat Lorenzo Cain’s throw from center.  Brandon Moss would give the A’s the 2-1 lead with an RBI triple just to the left of straight away center field.  That would be all the offense the A’s would get, and it ended up being all they would need. Ryan Cook and Seann Doolittle would work nice clean innings in the 7th and the 8th, with 2 strikeouts from Cook.  Grant Balfour worked a scoreless 9th for his 8th save of the season, he walked the lead off batter but retired the side in order quickly after that. The A’s are now back to the .500 mark that very well could have started to slip away from them.  At 22-22, the A’s can now start to rebuild the good feelings the team had in the early stages of the season.  With Coco Crisp and Chris Young back in the fold, the team will start to function as a unit once again. The A’s go for the sweep tomorrow as A.J. Griffin (4-3, 3.48 ERA) takes on Luis Mendoza (1-2, 6.00 ERA).  A sweep here will send the A’s off to Arlington for the first time in much better shape and ready for their first two city Texas road trip of the season versus the Rangers and Astros.

As Kansas City and Oakland wrap up a three-game series Sunday, neither team has been working with a successful formula lately. The Royals' Luis Mendoza faces the A's A.J. Griffin as both teams try to end the series on a high note.

If you were anywhere near the Coliseum Saturday night, chances are good you spent the post-game of the A’s 2-1 win over Kansas City watching the fireworks show. If you were Oakland first baseman Brandon Moss, you were one of the few that did not. Instead Moss and his almost 5-year-old son Jayden marched up [...]

Jed Lowrie hit a sacrifice fly, Brandon Moss tripled in a run and the Oakland Athletics followed a familiar script to beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1, on Saturday night.

Why hello there, Miss .500. Don't you look particularly fetching tonight. We certainly have missed you. It wasn't as pretty and flashy as last night's start, but Tommy Milone's gritty, gutsy and ultimately wildly successful six innings helped lead the A's to their second consecutive victory, and their first two-game win streak in the month of May. Believe it or not, it's the first time the A's have won back-to-back games scoring two runs or fewer since May 14-15, 1993. Milone had runners all over the bases tonight, including the bases-loaded, no outs jam in the second inning, but he managed to scatter his five hits and three walks in a most opportune fashion. The only run Milone allowed today was in the very first inning. After a two-out rocket double by Alex Gordon, Billy Butler dropped the softest of fly balls into the outfield to score the run. The A's, like last night, didn't rally until the late innings. Josh Donaldson doubled with one out in the second inning, and Eric Sogard made a bid for a one-out double of his own in the third, but was thrown out at second base. Aside from those hits and a walk in the fifth inning, the A's had no success against Ervin Santana until the sixth. Meanwhile, the Royals were having tons of success against Milone with putting runners on base, but little success in scoring them. After the single run scored in the first, Milone loaded the bases in the second with a single and two walks. Everyone braced for the big inning, but thanks to a pop-up and two strikeouts (one looking, one swinging), it never materialized. Milone was well over 60 pitches after the first two innings, and he walked the first batter in the third, but got a double-play to record two quick outs. Things didn't get easier in the fourth, as he gave up a leadoff double, but after a flyout, Milone would record two more strikeouts to end the inning and keep the Royals off the scoreboard. Milone would allow only a single the rest of the way, and thanks to the A's timely offense in the sixth, would end up with the win. Eric Sogard doubled for real to start the sixth inning for the A's, and during Coco Crisp's at-bat, moved to third on a wild pitch. After Crisp walked, Jed Lowrie connected on the game-tying sacrifice fly, and with two-outs, Brandon Moss tripled in Crisp to give the A's what would be the game-winning run. Taking a page right out of the bullpen script, Cook, Doolittle and Balfour each pitched their own inning in relief to secure the win for the A's. Cook and Doolittle were perfect, and Balfour was wild, including walking the lead-off batter, but ultimately effective. So the A's win, and keep pace with Texas, but most importantly, get back to .500 on the season. They have won this weekend's series against the Royals and will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:05. Mendoza vs. Griffin; Nico will be your host.

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports Jed Lowrie has been everything that the Oakland Athletics could want and more from a shortstop or infielder. The trade that brought him in from the Houston Astros was a stroke of easy genius and Lowrie is paying dividends regularly with his play both offensively and defensively. The official site for the A’s has a push going to get Lowrie noticed for selection to the all-star team of the American League and he should make the team. But he won’t. I honestly hope Lowrie makes the team. I think he deserves to be on the team but the problem is that so do many other shortstops in the AL. Honestly he isn’t far behind stat wise but I think he is far enough behind that the ones in front of him like J.J. Hardy and Asdrubal Cabrera will likely get the votes. It is possible that if Lowrie gets some more stats going in his direction that he might climb in front of those guys but in all honestly the stats aren’t the problem. Lowrie  doesn’t make the news a lot. He doesn’t get special articles on MLB official or on the other big sites. There are no one on one’s about how well he is performing because it is solid but it isn’t sensational. He does all they could want of him but he isn’t flashy. That should not matter in the game of baseball but it does matter to the people voting for the all-star game. Unfortunately there will be someone voted onto the team that isn’t in the top five of any stat category. That’s just the way it is. Even if Lowrie doesn’t make it, he should. That is at least one thing to go on I guess. David Miller is a Senior Writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.