A's News Clips, Friday, September 2, 2011 Oakland A's End Slide
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A’s News Clips, Friday, September 2, 2011 Oakland A's end slide with 7-0 win over Cleveland Indians By Branson Wright, Oakland Tribune CLEVELAND -- Gio Gonzalez's dominant pitching against the Cleveland Indians was the cure the A's needed to turn around their recent plunge. Gonzalez's strong start, combined with timely hitting by the A's, led to a 7-0 victory Thursday at Progressive Field, snapping a five-game losing streak. After leaving 27 runners on base in the first three games of the series, the A's finally took advantage of their scoring opportunities. Oakland produced 12 hits, with shortstop Cliff Pennington leading the way by going 4 for 5 with three RBIs. It was the third four-hit game of his career. But this game belonged to Gonzalez (12-11), who had seven strikeouts, allowed four hits and walked four in seven innings. He has shut out the Indians for 272/3 consecutive innings, and raised his record to 5-0 with an 0.72 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland. "It's just great calling by the catchers," Gonzalez said. "Those guys did a great job. Our offense was there. It's definitely fun to go out there and watch these guys try to keep me in the game, and at the same time I do the same thing and try to keep them in the game. "All I try to do is pound the strike zone. That's it." Gonzalez worked out of three jams with two runners on base. On two occasions, he got Indians All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to pop to right for the final out. "Gio was tough on us again," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He's got an overpowering fastball and one of the best breaking balls in the league. He always cruises against us, and he did it again." Gonzalez gave up only two singles through the first five innings. But when Carlos Santana led off the Indians' sixth with a walk, Gonzalez called catcher Anthony Recker to the mound. "I told him to let me get a quick breather and let's go back to work," Gonzalez said. Gonzalez responded by getting out of the inning on three consecutive outs, including a strikeout. A's manager Bob Melvin, who used eight pitchers in Wednesday's 16-inning loss, was thankful Gonzalez pitched deep into the game. "That was big for us," Melvin said. "It was hot out there. It looked like he was tiring a little at the end, but we really needed him to give us seven." Craig Breslow pitched the last two innings and allowed only one hit. The A's broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Pennington drove in a run with a single. Oakland then pressed the action with a double steal, and Coco Crisp's single to shallow right made it 2-0. Recker led off the seventh with a shot down the third-base line for a double. Eric Sogard's bunt, which dropped in front of the plate, froze the Indians' infield and resulted in a single, putting runners at first and third. Two sacrifice flies, by Jemile Weeks and Hideki Matsui, made it 4-0. The A's extended their lead with three runs in the eighth, as Pennington hit a two-run single and Crisp followed with an RBI single. Discussing the A's 4-6 trip that included stops at Yankee Stadium and Boston in addition to the four games in Cleveland, Melvin said: "You always try to finish .500 on the road. The way we came out of New York and Boston, we felt like we had a chance to do it." Pitcher Jason Rice, who was acquired by the A's in a trade with Boston, arrived at the ballpark in the early innings from Triple-A Pawtucket. The A's acquired Rice in a deal for outfielder/first baseman Conor Jackson. Rice said he can't believe he's in the majors. "I'm in a dream right now," said Rice, 25, who is in his seventh season of pro ball. "I'm glad to be here. I'm blessed to be here. I'm ready to compete." The Indians said 216 baseballs were used in Wednesday's game, which featured 14 pitchers, 34 strikeouts and 508 pitches. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Chin Music: Aftermath of the Conor Jackson trade By Joe Stiglich, Oakland Tribune, 9/1/2011 12:13pm Here’s a quick take on the Conor Jackson trade … It was no shocker to see him dealt. The emergence of Brandon Allen had pushed Jackson into a minor role. But the bigger impact is the playing time this might open up for September call-ups. There’s one less player now vying for playing time at first base/outfield. As I’ve written before, the rest of this season should be about evaluating young players who might be part of the future moving forward. Not just Allen and Jemile Weeks, but also a guy like Michael Taylor. I realize Taylor hasn’t destroyed Triple-A pitching, but I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a look yet with the big club. There’s a better opportunity to get him up here with Jackson out of the picture. Chris Carter? It’s going to be trickier to find him playing time in the majors given how impressive Allen has been at first. Carter could get DH at-bats, but if the A’s are entertaining any thoughts of re- signing Hideki Matsui (I’ve gotten no indication one way or another), they probably wouldn’t want to take the veteran out of the lineup. Bottom line, it’s still unclear whether Taylor, 25, and Carter, 24, are factors for this team in 2012, and that’s a problem. At this point, you need to give these guys extended playing time in the big leagues or assume they’re not part of the plans moving forward. –One last thought on the Jackson trade. It’s tough to see him go from a beat writer’s standpoint. He was definitely one of the team’s best quotes, a guy who would give an intelligent take on whatever question you threw at him. The Red Sox press corps is in for a pleasant surprise … A's - short sleep, long offense Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer After a 16-inning game Wednesday night, shortstop Cliff Pennington joked that he might just sleep on the couch in the clubhouse. After all, the A's didn't get out of the ballpark until 12:55 a.m., and the bus back to the stadium was at 9 a.m. "Road trip from hell," outfielder Ryan Sweeney said Thursday morning, yawning, hood pulled over his head and most of his face. The sleepy A's did manage to put up runs Thursday, downing Cleveland 7-0 to finish a downer of a 4-6 road trip. Pennington had four hits and drove in three runs, and Coco Crisp had three hits and drove in two. "We needed that one a lot," manager Bob Melvin said of the win, which snapped a five-game losing streak. The A's played 33 hours, 50 minutes over the 10 games they were away from home, and they had four rain delays that added up to 5 hours, 29 minutes. Asked Thursday morning if he was looking forward to getting this trip over with, Melvin had said, "That would be an understatement. ... But if we win today, that would salvage a bearable trip." Gio Gonzalez going against Cleveland made that a good bet. He worked seven scoreless innings and now has a scoreless innings streak of 27 2/3 against the Indians, longest by an A's pitcher against Cleveland since Bob Welch's 28 from 1988 to 1990. Overall, Gonzalez has won his past three starts after dropping five in a row. Gonzalez said he was focusing on keeping the ball down. Melvin said Gonzalez's changeup was good and helped keep hitters from just guessing 50-50 on fastball or curveball. Pennington pointed to Gonzalez's ability to get through seven innings, especially considering how thin the A's were in the bullpen. "He was awesome. That was a huge step today, finishing that seventh inning," Pennington said. Pennington hit .405 on the trip, and, Melvin said, "You add up the numbers and he had a lot of big hits." Pennington made an error in the fourth inning, his 19th of the season, second most among AL shortstops. Oakland's 107 errors are second most in the majors and the most by an A's team since the 2003 club also made 107. Oakland's swing to New York, Boston and Cleveland had its highlights - two wins at Yankee Stadium, in particular, and Brandon Allen's two spectacular homers there - but there were many more trying moments. Those included a 7-1 lead that New York obliterated in its 22-9 win, a doubleheader loss in Boston that included four rain delays, and Wednesday night's marathon, which was decided by a bad call by home-plate umpire Bruce Dreckman. Dreckman called Cord Phelps safe, ending the game in Cleveland's favor, though replays showed that catcher Kurt Suzuki had tagged him before he reached the plate. "It did look like he got him and he was out," Melvin said before Thursday's game. "But there's nothing we can do about that now." A's new reliever gets a quick call-up Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer There wasn't enough time between Wednesday's late finish and Thursday's noon start for the A's to get bullpen reinforcements from Triple-A Sacramento.