The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Oakland Athletics – INSIDE PITCH
MIAMI — Oakland A’s left-hander Sean Doolittle is making his case for the All-Star Game.
The reliever pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in Friday’s 9-5 win over the Marlins, continuing an amazing run.
He has a scoreless streak of 26 1/3 innings, the longest active run in the majors and the best in Oakland history. He has also retired each of the past 23 batters he has faced and 40 of the past 41.
His ERA is down to 1.89 this season, which would represent a career best for the third-year MLB pitcher.
According to Elias, he is the first pitcher since 1900 to strike out 45 batters prior to issuing his second walk. To date, he has 55 strikeouts and one walk.
He is first in the majors in opponents’ on-base percentage this season (.159) and is first in the majors in career inherited runners to score — just 9.5 percent.
Doolittle, 27, was the 41st pick overall in the 2007 MLB draft, coming out of the University of Virginia. And he is certainly living up to that draft status.
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MLB Team Report – Oakland Athletics – NOTES, QUOTES
RECORD: 49-30
STREAK: Won two
NEXT: A’s (RHP Sonny Gray, 7-3, 2.91 ERA) at Marlins (RHP Nathan Eovaldi, 5-3, 3.52 ERA)
PLAYER NOTES:
–RHP Sonny Gray will make his first appearance against the Marlins on Saturday. It also figures to be his first plate appearance as a professional. On the mound, though, is where Gray excels. He ranks 10th in the American League in ERA (2.91), seventh in opponents’ batting average (.227) and fourth in opponents’ slugging percentage (.320). He is also excellent on the road with a 3-1 record, a 2.18 ERA and a .166 opponents batting average.
–RHP Jesse Chavez was cruising along on Friday, tossing five shutout innings. But he imploded in the sixth inning, when he gave up a four-run lead. His totals for the night: five-plus innings, six hits, three walks and four runs. Chavez, though, escaped with a no-decision.
–LF Yoenis Cespedes extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Friday. He went 2-for-4 with three runs scored on Friday and is hitting .372 with 13 RBIs during his hit streak. Also on Friday, he threw a runner out at the plate. Cespedes, who won the Home Run Derby at last year’s All-Star Game, said he wants to defend his title. The A’s are wary because Cespedes injured his wrist during last year’s event. But they apparently will not forbid him to compete if that is his wish.
–C Derek Norris has had some tough luck of late. Friday was his first game since Sunday, when he was hit in the head with a backswing. But then in the sixth inning on Friday, it was announced that he had left the game due to lower-back tightness. Up until the injuries, Norris had been having a career year. He is batting .304 with a .406 on-base and a .509 slugging percentage.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “They (the Marlins) clawed back — credit them. But we did a great job as well coming back.” — C Derek Norris, after Oakland jumped out to a 4-0 lead then lost it before CF Coco Crisp scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning.
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MLB Team Report – Oakland Athletics – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–C Derek Norris (left forearm contusion/head) left the June 20 game after being hit by a foul ball. After missing the June 21 game, he returned to the lineup June 22 but left in the top of the 10th inning after being hit in the head on a hitter’s backswing. He showed no signs of a concussion after the game, according to manager Bob Melvin, but he underwent a CT scan June 22. It came back clean. He was available to play June 24 but did not enter the game. He came on June 25 as a defensive replacement. He left the June 27 game due to lower-back tightness. It was his first game since June 22, when he was hit in the head with a backswing.
–OF Craig Gentry (sore left knee) did not play June 24 after receiving a cortisone shot June 23. He pinch-hit June 25.
–1B Kyle Blanks (left calf strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 23. The Athletics hope Blanks can return as soon as he is eligible.
–LHP Eric O’Flaherty (Tommy John surgery in May 2013) went on the 60-day disabled list Feb. 17. He threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session April 22. He threw a 30-pitch bullpen session May 6 and threw to hitters May 10 and May 13. He pitched to hitters again May 20. He threw 15 pitches in a simulated inning in Arizona on May 24. He pitched a simulated game May 29 and pitched an inning June 2 in a game at extended spring training in Arizona. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Stockton on June 6, then moved his rehab to Triple-A Sacramento on June 11.
–RHP A.J. Griffin (right flexor tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 4. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery April 30.
–RHP Jarrod Parker (torn right ulnar collateral ligament) went on the 60-day disabled list March 20. He had a second Tommy John surgery March 24, and he will miss the entire season.
ROTATION:
RHP Sonny Gray
LHP Scott Kazmir
RHP Jesse Chavez
LHP Tommy Milone
LHP Brad Mills
BULLPEN:
LHP Sean Doolittle (closer)
RHP Ryan Cook
RHP Luke Gregerson
RHP Jim Johnson
RHP Dan Otero
LHP Fernando Abad
LHP Jeff Francis
CATCHERS:
John Jaso
Derek Norris
Stephen Vogt
INFIELDERS:
1B Brandon Moss
2B Eric Sogard
SS Jed Lowrie
3B Josh Donaldson
INF Nick Punto
INF Alberto Callaspo
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Yoenis Cespedes
CF Coco Crisp
RF Josh Reddick
OF Craig Gentry
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