Athletics vs. Red Sox, Series Recap: A's Cannot Elude .500 Mark

Like some kind of magnet, the first three weeks of the Oakland Athletics 2011 season has kept them bouncing around the .500 mark. The A’s came into their two game series with the Boston Red Sox at 8-8 and left the series at 9-9. Oakland remains a wildly inconsistent team on offense and it is keeping them from putting it all together. Their starting pitching is as good as anybody in the league, but they have such a small margin for error that an average night often will not be enough to get a win.

Gio Gonzalez struggled Wednesday afternoon, but the A’s were unable to take advantage of a variety of opportunities to help him out. Brett Anderson was dominant on Tuesday night, but until an eighth inning offensive burst it was pins and needles for the A’s. If they don’t get some consistent offense it seems like they’ll always be a step behind in the division.

A’s Pitcher of the Series: Brett Anderson – There’s no doubt that Anderson gets this award after his gem Tuesday night. Although he couldn’t finish off the complete game shutout, Anderson was absolutely dominant through seven innings. Even though he got into some trouble in the eighth inning, he was able to gut it out and get away unscathed. While the A’s are getting quality starting pitching across the board, Anderson has been consistently the best thus far.

A’s Hitter of the Series: Hideki Matsui – The A’s offense had a lot of bad moments in this series, but when things were going well, Hideki Matsui was able to get involved. He was 1 for 4 with two RBIs on Tuesday and 2 for 4 with a run scored on Wednesday. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but the A’s offense struggled enough that it was better than nothing. The A’s had several chances to make some noise on Wednesday, but they just could not get that timely hit. However, if Godzilla is starting to heat up it could be an excellent sign moving forward.

Upcoming Schedule: The A’s head on the road for a fairly important stretch of games, facing the Mariners four times followed by the Angels three times. Division races aren’t decided in April, but a strong showing on this road trip would go a long way towards giving the A’s the confidence to stick around the AL West playoff race in September. This first Mariners series will feature Tyson Ross making his first start of the season in place of Dallas Braden.

Series Results
Thursday: A’s 5 – Red Sox 0
WP: Brett Anderson (1-0)
LP: John Lackey (1-2)

Friday: Red Sox 5 – A’s 3
WP: Clay Buchholz (1-2)
LP: Gio Gonzalez (2-1)
Sv: Jonathan Papelbon (3)

Gio Gonzalez And The Athletics Drop Game To Red Sox Despite Coco Crisp Home Run

Gio Gonzalez, the surprising stud pitcher for the Oakland Athletics this season, went into Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Boston Red Sox with an MLB-leading 0.47 ERA. Six innings and one loss later, however, Gonzalez has a 1.80 ERA two homers in the A’s 5-3 loss in the rain.

Coco Crisp gave the A’s a one-run lead when he hit a pitch from Red Sox pitcher Clay Bucholz over the right field fence in the bottom of the first inning — his first of the season — but Boston answered by scoring five unanswered runs over the next six innings, four of them being charged to Gonzalez.

While Gonzalez’s outing wasn’t what the Oakland faithful had come to expect from him this season (despite striking out nine batters), the biggest problem for the Athletics was probably the fact that they left 15 runners on base and hit just 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

While the A’s are still a respectable 9-9, it marked just the first victory for the Red Sox away from Fenway to split the series.

Athletics vs. Red Sox, Starting Lineup Preview: Gio Gonzalez Looks To Dominate Another Starting Lineup

The Oakland Athletics look to win their fourth straight game as they wrap up their two game set with the Boston Red Sox at 12:35pm pacific on Tuesday. The A’s send out Gio Gonzalez who will be looking to improve upon his MLB-leading 0.47 ERA against Clay Buchholz. The game will be televised on CSN California, which has been a bit of a rarity on midweek day games in the A’s recent past.

The A’s give Ryan Sweeney a rare start as Josh Willingham gets the day off. Sweeney has had some key hits for the team in limited action after a strong spring training campaign. Additionally, the team continues to get Kurt Suzuki more rest than last year as they start Landon Powell in the day game following a night game. Manager Bob Geren has been a bit more cautious in his team’s workload as he’s worked to get everybody a little more rest each week.

The Red Sox give David Ortiz the day off and get J.D. Drew back in the lineup against the lefty Gonzalez. Over the first three weeks of the season Gonzalez has been able to keep runs off the scoreboard but he’s had some issues with walks. He walked six last game and has 12 walks in three starts overall. If he’s going to maintain his strong start, he’ll need to cut down on the walks.

Oakland A’s Lineup
1. Coco Crisp CF
2. Daric Barton 1B
3. David DeJesus RF
4. Hideki Matsui DH
5. Ryan Sweeney LF
6. Mark Ellis 2B
7. Landon Powell C
8. Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
9. Cliff Pennington SS

Red Sox Lineup
1. J.D. Drew RF
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis DH
5. Jed Lowrie 3B
6. Marco Scutaro SS
7. Carl Crawford LF
8. Jason Varitek C
9. Jacoby Ellsbury CF

Athletics vs. Red Sox: Brett Anderson, Late Offensive Burst Key A's 5-0 Victory

The Oakland Athletics finally managed to climb over the .500 mark on Tuesday, defeating the Boston Red Sox 5-0 for their third straight win. Brett Anderson spun a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning as he notched his first win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.63. He gave up three singles in the eighth, but a strike out- catcher interference double play and a key two out K were got him through the inning. The A’s bullpen locked things up in the ninth improving the A’s to 9-8.

The game was a tight battle for the first seven and a half innings as the A’s could only muster one run against a struggling John Lackey. Lackey struggled with his control and pitch count, but the A’s could not land the big blow through the first seven innings. While Lackey struggled, Anderson was dealing. After giving up a two-out single to Adrian Gonzalez in the first inning, Anderson set down 16 of the next 18 hitters, working around a walk and his own error over the course of those hitters.

In the bottom of the eighth, the A’s offense finally woke up. After Pennington doubled to center and stole third, Daric Barton notched a one-out RBI single. Josh Willingham worked a walk with two outs and Hideki Matsui followed that with an RBI double. Kurt Suzuki then singled to score pinch-runner Ryan Sweeney and the deficit was complete.

The A’s and Red Sox wrap up the short series Wednesday in a lunch time battle at 12:35pm on CSN California. Gio Gonzalez and his MLB-leading 0.47 ERA take on Clay Buchholz.

A's vs. Red Sox, Starting Lineup Preview: Lineups Set for Tonight's Matchup

The lineups are set for tonight’s matchup between the Oakland A’s and the struggling Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Coliseum. Brett Anderson (0-1 2.29 ERA) will be looking for his first win of the season and will take on John Lackey (1-1 15.58 ERA) who will be looking to lower his ridiculous ERA. This is the first of a two game set with Boston as the A’s will look to keep them from gaining momentum during their 5-10 start to the season.

Oakland A’s Lineup:

1. Coco Crisp CF
2. Daric Barton 1B
3. David DeJesus RF
4. Josh Willingham LF
5. Hideki Matsui DH
6. Kurt Suzuki C
7. Mark Ellis 2B
8. Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
9. Cliff Pennington SS

Red Sox Lineup:

1. Jed Lowrie SS
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B
5. David Ortiz DH
6. Mike Cameron RF
7. Carl Crawford LF
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
9. Darnell McDonald CF

First pitch is set for 7:15 tonight and can be seen on CSN California and heard on SportsRadio 95.7 FM.

Tyson Ross Replaces Injured Dallas Braden In Oakland Athletics Starting Rotation

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Oakland Athletics have made the expected move of inserting Tyson Ross into the starting rotation. Dallas Braden was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a stiff left shoulder, leaving him unavailable until at least May 1.

If Braden were only gone the minimum time, that would open up two starts. Ross can be expected to start Friday on the road against the Mariners and then a week from Wednesday on the road against the Angels. Braden was particularly concerned about the shoulder, so I would not expect him back when the 15 days is up.

A’s relievers Michael Wuertz and Andrew Bailey are both eligible to come off the DL, which means there will be roster moves to be made. Wuertz is making rehab appearances, while Bailey is still working on throwing off a mound in general. Bobby Cramer, Brad Ziegler and Jerry Blevins all have options available when Wuertz and Bailey are healthy. Recently acquired David Purcey is out of options.

MLB Standings 2011 Update: Oakland Athletics' .500 Record Keeps Them In AL West, Wild Card Mix

The Oakland Athletics enter the third week of the Major League Baseball season sitting at 8-8. They split their four game set with the Detroit Tigers and now face off against the Boston Red Sox for two games. While it's still incredibly early in the season, every win will be important in an AL West race that could very well go down to the wire. None of the top three teams in the division appears significantly better than anybody else, and each has a strength that should keep them in the race. Until the Seattle Mariners prove otherwise, they will remain out of the discussion.

The first place Texas Rangers lost Josh Hamilton for six to eight weeks but still bring an assortment of solid bats. The Hamilton injury opens up the race a bit more and the A's and Angels will need to take advantage of that while they can. The second place Los Angeles Angels bring a more balanced approach to the ballpark. They're getting some big numbers from their offense as well as some strong starting pitching at the top of their rotation. The third place Athletics are struggling on offense but their starting pitching is once again dominant, as is par for the course.

This could be an intriguing nine days of baseball coming up for the A's. They face the Red Sox for two games followed by four at Seattle and three at the Angels. This isn't exactly make or break time for the team, but if they could pull out a 6-3 record on this swing, that would be a huge confidence builder. 5-4 could also be enough, but why not hope for more?

Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox: A's Look To Get Over .500 Before End Of Homestand

The Oakland Athletics wrap up their brief six game home stand with an even more brief two game set with the Boston Red Sox. The A's were 5-4 against the Red Sox, winning four of six at home and one of three on the road. This season the A's and Red Sox square off eight times, with the final six taking place at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are currently sitting in the cellar of the AL West at 5-10. The Red Sox opened the season 0-6 and have slowly worked their way up from that ugliness. Although things have gotten better, Carl Crawford, one of their big offseason acquisitions, has struggled immensely with a line of .133/.175/.167. On the other hand, Jed Lowrie is tearing the cover off the ball to the tune of .516/.545/.774 in 31 at bats of spot starting at short stop. It would seem that he has likely surpassed former Athletics short stop Marco Scutaro on the depth chart.

The A's have been bouncing around to date and currently sit at 8-8 after splitting a four game series with the Tigers. The biggest advantage for the A's in this short series will be the starting pitching. Brett Anderson, starting Tuesday, has been solid through three starts in spite of getting little run support. Gio Gonzalez, starting Wednesday, is currently leading the majors in ERA at 0.47. He's pitched extremely well but has also benefitted from some weak lineups. He did face a tough Tigers lineup on Thursday but he also walked six batters, so we'll see how he fares against a tough Red Sox lineup.

Tuesday's game is at 7:05pm, while Wednesday's game is a lunchtime affair at 12:35pm. Both games will be broadcast by CSN California.