Oakland
Athletics vs. Baltimore Orioles 
Game 1: Jeff Samardzija vs. Bud Norris, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
O’S OUTLAST A’S IN 13, GRAB ALCS OPENER
Joseph Walks it Off; O’s Pen Tosses 9 2/3 Shutout Innings
BALTIMORE, Oct. 11 (AP) – Caleb Joseph’s bases loaded single in the bottom of the 13th inning off Jesse Chavez gave the Baltimore Orioles a 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the opening game of the American League Championship Series at Camden Yards. The Baltimore bullpen—the best relief unit in the major leagues during the regular season—fired 9 2/3 innings of shutout baseball after Orioles starter Bud Norris was pulled in the fourth inning. Miguel Gonzalez, the sixth relief pitcher for the Orioles, got the win. The Oakland pen was effective as well, allowing just one run over 5 2/3 frames.
The game featured a brawl and an ejection. In the bottom of the seventh, Jonathan Schoop objected to being hit for the second time in the contest by A’s starter Jeff Samardzija and charged the mound. He was tackled by catcher Derek Norris, and tossed from the game.
Oakland took the lead in the top of the very first inning when, with one out, Sam Fuld reached on third baseman Kelly Johnson’s throwing error and then scored when Josh Donaldson drilled Norris’ 2-0 fastball into the left field seats, putting the A’s on top 2-0.
The Orioles countered with a run off Samardzija in the bottom of the opening frame. Nick Markakis led off with the first of his three hits, a double to right-center, advanced to third on a wild pitch and, one out later, scored on an Adam Jones sacrifice fly.
In the fourth, the A’s added to their lead. Josh Reddick singled to center with one out and Jed Lowrie followed with a double to right, advancing Reddick to third. Orioles manager Buck Showalter summoned lefty Brian Matusz to face Stephen Vogt, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Reddick with the third Oakland run. Matusz walked Norris intentionally and then retired Eric Sogard on a ground ball to end the inning.
The intentional walk proved to be the only baserunner Matusz would allow. He ended up working a season-high 2-2/3 innings, allowed no runs on no hits and fanned four, keeping Baltimore in the game through the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nelson Cruz drilled a long home run to left off Samardzija with two outs and the bases empty, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Matusz started a remarkable run by the Orioles bullpen. Brad Brach came on for Baltimore in the top of the seventh and retired the A’s in order, the first installment of a pair of perfect frames he would toss.
The Orioles finally drew even in the bottom of the seventh. Samardzija set down J.J. Hardy and Johnson with ease to open the inning, but then walked Nick Hundley, who was replaced by pinch runner David Lough. Then he plunked Schoop, which set off the brouhaha mentioned earlier. Samardzija wasn’t ejected, but A’s manager Bob Melvin pulled him anyway, with runners on first and second and two outs, and Markakis due up. Portsider Fernando Abad was brought into the game, but Markakis foiled the strategy with a base hit to right, scoring Lough easily and chasing Ryan Flaherty, who had run for Schoop following the ejection, to third. But Abad retired Alejandro de Aza on a fly to left to end the inning with the score now tied at three.
The Orioles stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the eighth without scoring and Zach Britton replaced Brach and easily set down the A’s in order in the top of the ninth. At that point, Matusz, Brach and Britton had combined to retire 16 consecutive batters.
After the Orioles failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, the A’s had their best chance to regain the lead in the top of the 10th. Tommy Hunter started the inning on the mound, and hit pinch hitter Nate Freiman with the first pitch he threw. Norris followed with a bloop single to left, putting runners on first and second. Sogard then dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third with one out for lead-off man Coco Crisp. Showalter called on Andrew Miller to replace Hinter and brought the infield in, and when Crisp grounded to the right side, first baseman Steve Pearce fired to the plate and cut down Freiman for the second out. Miller then struck out pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo to end the threat with the score still tied.
The Orioles failed to score in the bottom of the tenth and Miller pitched around a lead-off walk to Donaldson in the top of the 11th by striking out the side.
The Orioles threatened with two outs in the bottom of the 11th, thanks in large part to an A’s miscue. With two outs and Drew Pomeranz on the mound, Flaherty reached when Callaspo, who stayed in the game to play first base, booted his ground ball. Markakis then lined his third hit of the game, a base hit to right, advancing Flaherty to third. But Joseph, who had come on to do the catching in the eighth inning after Hundley had been removed for a pinch runner, flied to center to end the inning.
Gonzalez came on in the 12th and set Oakland down in order. Chavez took the mound for the A’s in the bottom of the inning and yielded a lead-off single to Jones, but then retired the next three hitters in order. Gonzalez retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the 13th, but yielded an infield hit to Donaldson before fanning Brandon Moss to end the frame. It was the sixth time that Moss had come to the plate in the game and the sixth time he’d struck out, exceeding the regular season strikeout high of five set by numerous batters.
In the bottom of the 13th, Johnson struck out to open the inning, but Delmon Young reached on an infield single. Chavez then walked Flaherty, putting runners on first and second and issued a free pass to Markakis, loading the sacks. That brought Joseph to the plate, with the infield and outfield playing in. The Orioles catcher lined an 0-1 breaking ball to center, well over the head of Crisp for the game-winning hit, setting off a wild celebration on the field and in the stands.
Joseph was the hero of the moment but it was the Orioles bullpen that earned MVP honors for game one. Collectively, the six hurlers who pitched in relief tossed 9-2/3 innings, no runs on two hits and two walks (one intentional), while striking out 12.
Game 2 will be tomorrow. Sonny Gray will get the start for Oakland. Baltimore will decide between Wei-Yin Chen and Kevin Gausman.
10/11/2014, Oak14-Bal14, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2014 Athletics 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 Orioles 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
13 R H E LOB DP
2014 Athletics 0 3 6 2 7 0
2014 Orioles 1 4 11 1 15 0
Athletics AB R H BI AVG Orioles AB R H BI AVG
Crisp cf 6 0 0 0 .000 Markakis rf 5 1 3 1 .600
Fuld lf 4 1 0 0 .000 De Aza lf 4 0 0 0 .000
Callaspo ph 2 0 0 0 .000 Joseph,C c 3 0 1 1 .333
Donaldson 3b 5 1 2 2 .400 Jones,A cf 5 0 3 1 .600
Moss 1b 6 0 0 0 .000 Cruz,N dh 6 1 1 1 .167
Reddick rf 3 1 1 0 .333 Pearce 1b 6 0 1 0 .167
Gomes,J ph 2 0 0 0 .000 Hardy,J ss 5 0 0 0 .000
Lowrie ss 5 0 1 0 .200 Johnson,Ke 3b 6 0 1 0 .167
Vogt dh 1 0 1 1 1.000 Hundley c 2 0 0 0 .000
Freiman ph 2 0 0 0 .000 Lough pr 0 1 0 0 .000
Norris,De c 4 0 1 0 .250 Young,D ph 3 1 1 0 .333
Sogard 2b 4 0 0 0 .000 Schoop 2b 1 0 0 0 .000
44 3 6 3 Flaherty pr 2 0 0 0 .000
48 4 11 4
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Samardzija 6.2 5 3 3 1 8 89 61 4.05
Abad BS 1 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 11 6 0.00
Otero 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 11 6 0.00
O'Flaherty 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 14 8 0.00
Gregerson 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 14 11 0.00
Pomeranz 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 15 12 0.00
Chavez,J L 0-1 1.1 3 1 1 2 1 40 23 6.75
12.1 11 4 4 5 12 194 127
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Norris,B 3.1 4 3 2 0 4 55 40 5.40
Matusz 2.2 0 0 0 1 4 34 21 0.00
Brach 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 17 12 0.00
Britton,Z 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 12 8 0.00
Hunter,Tom 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.00
Miller,A 1.2 0 0 0 1 4 26 16 0.00
Gonzalez,MAn W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 26 17 0.00
13.0 6 3 2 2 16 173 116
Oak: Freiman batted for Vogt in the 7th
Gomes,J batted for Reddick in the 9th
Fuld moved to rf in the 9th
Gomes,J moved to lf in the 9th
Callaspo batted for Fuld in the 10th
Callaspo moved to 1b in the 10th
Moss moved to rf in the 10th
Bal: Lough ran for Hundley in the 7th
Flaherty ran for Schoop in the 7th
Joseph,C inserted at c in the 8th
Lough moved to lf in the 8th
Flaherty moved to 2b in the 8th
Young,D batted for Lough in the 9th
Young,D moved to lf in the 10th
E-Sogard, Callaspo, Johnson,Ke. 2B-Lowrie(1), Markakis(1), Johnson,Ke(1).
HR-Donaldson(1), Cruz,N(1). RBI-Donaldson 2(2), Vogt(1), Markakis(1),
Jones,A(1), Cruz,N(1), Joseph,C(1). K-Crisp, Fuld 2, Donaldson, Moss 6,
Reddick, Lowrie, Norris,De, Freiman, Gomes,J, Callaspo, Markakis 2, De Aza 2,
Pearce 3, Hardy,J 2, Johnson,Ke 2, Flaherty. BB-Donaldson, Norris,De,
Markakis 2, Hardy,J, Hundley, Flaherty. SH-Sogard. SF-Vogt, Jones,A.
HBP-Freiman, Schoop 2. HB-Samardzija 2, Hunter,Tom. WP-Samardzija.
GWRBI: Joseph,C
Jonathan Schoop was ejected from this game
Temperature: 60, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 16 MPH.
Attendance: 45,391
Game Time: 4:15
Game 2: Sonny Gray vs. Wei-Yin Chen, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
A’S EVEN SERIES
Donaldson Homers for 2nd Straight Game
BALTIMORE, Oct. 12 (AP) – Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the second consecutive day and the Oakland Athletics held on for a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, squaring the American League Championship Series at a game apiece. Neither team scored after the third inning, and after both clubs went deep into their bullpens in the 13-inning series opener, both starting pitchers—Sonny Gray for the A’s, Wei-Yin Chen for the Orioles—pitched seven innings.
In the top of the first, Sam Fuld drew a one-out walk from Chen and Donaldson followed by launching a drive into the seats just inside the left field foul pole for a 2-0 Oakland lead. The Orioles got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Nick Markakis drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on Alejandro de-Aza’s base hit. Adam Jones’ fly to center was the first out of the inning, but Markakis tagged and advanced to third. Gray appeared poised to escape damage when Nelson Cruz struck out, but Steve Pearce grounded a single to right, scoring Markakis, with de Aza advancing to third. J.J. Hardy then rolled into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
Nate Freiman restored the two-run A’s advantage with a monster home run to left-center leading off the second. The ball landed in the Orioles bullpen, at least 450 feet from home plate.
In the bottom of the third, Baltimore got the run back. Markakis led off with a single and advanced to second when Jed Lowrie booted de Aza’s potential double play grounder, leaving runners on first and second. Jones fanned, but Cruz doubled off the out-of-town scoreboard in right, scoring Markakis and advancing de Aza to third. With the corners pinched in, Pearce grounded to first baseman Freiman, who gunned de Aza down at the plate for the second out. Hardy then fanned to end the inning.
That was the end of the scoring. Only one Oakland baserunner managed to advance past second base after the second inning. That happened in the top of the seventh, when Lowrie led off with a double. But Chen retired Josh Reddick on a shallow fly to center and Eric Sogard on a grounder to short. Coco Crisp singled to left, with Lowrie advancing to third and Fuld ended the inning with a fly ball to center.
After scoring their second run, the Orioles never moved a runner past first base. The Orioles had only two baserunners from the fourth inning on, and both were erased by double play grounders.
After an off-day for travel, the series moves to Oakland for the next three games. Chris Tillman is expected to start Game 3 for the Orioles against Jon Lester for the A’s.
10/12/2014, Oak14-Bal14, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Athletics 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 1 5 3
2014 Orioles 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 4 1
Athletics AB R H BI AVG Orioles AB R H BI AVG
Crisp cf 4 0 1 0 .100 Markakis rf 2 2 1 0 .571
Fuld lf 3 1 0 0 .000 De Aza lf 3 0 1 0 .143
Donaldson 3b 4 1 2 2 .444 Young,D ph 1 0 0 0 .250
Gomes,J dh 3 0 0 0 .000 Jones,A cf 4 0 0 0 .333
Vogt ph 1 0 0 0 .500 Cruz,N dh 4 0 1 1 .200
Norris,De c 4 0 1 0 .250 Pearce 1b 4 0 1 1 .200
Freiman 1b 3 1 1 1 .200 Hardy,J ss 4 0 0 0 .000
Moss ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Johnson,Ke 3b 2 0 0 0 .125
Lowrie ss 4 0 2 0 .333 Hundley c 3 0 1 0 .200
Reddick rf 3 0 0 0 .167 Schoop 2b 3 0 0 0 .000
Sogard 2b 3 0 0 0 .000 30 2 5 2
33 3 7 3
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gray W 1-0 7.0 5 2 1 2 5 95 61 1.29
Abad 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00
Cook H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 8 4 0.00
Doolittle S 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 11 8 0.00
9.0 5 2 1 2 8 116 73
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Chen,W L 0-1 7.0 6 3 3 2 3 110 73 3.86
Hunter,Tom 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 10 8 0.00
O'Day 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 14 9 0.00
9.0 7 3 3 2 5 134 90
Oak: Vogt batted for Gomes,J in the 8th
Moss batted for Freiman in the 9th
Moss moved to 1b in the 9th
Bal: Young,D batted for De Aza in the 8th
Young,D moved to lf in the 9th
E-Lowrie. 2B-Lowrie(2), Cruz,N(1). HR-Donaldson(2), Freiman(1).
RBI-Donaldson 2(4), Freiman(1), Cruz,N(2), Pearce(1). K-Donaldson, Gomes,J,
Lowrie 2, Vogt, Jones,A 2, Cruz,N 2, Hardy,J 3, Johnson,Ke. BB-Fuld, Reddick,
Markakis, Johnson,Ke. HBP-Markakis. HB-Abad.
GWRBI: Donaldson
Temperature: 73, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 10 MPH.
Attendance: 45,488
Game Time: 2:40
Game 3: Chris Tillman vs. Jon Lester, Oakland Coliseum
UNLIKELY BATS GIVE BIRDS ALCS LEAD
Baltimore Bullpen Works Around Uncharacteristic Wildness
OAKLAND, Oct. 14 (AP) – Ryan Flaherty and Jonathan Schoop both homered, scored all four of their teams runs, and combined for five hits as the Baltimore Orioles slipped past the Oakland Athletics 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. The Orioles now lead the series two games to one. Baltimore starter Chris Tillman and a trio of relievers held the A’s to just four hits, continuing a trend in the series—the A’s are batting just .157 as a team through the first three games—but the bullpen had to pitch around an unusual bout of wildness.
Continuing another ALCS trend, Oakland drew first blood. The A’s have scored first in each of the first three games and have scored in the first inning of each game as well. Five of Oakland’s eight runs in the series to date have come in the opening frame. In this instance, Sam Fuld drew a one-out walk from Tillman in the bottom of the first inning and, after Josh Donaldson flied to left, Brandon Moss doubled to left-center, scoring Fuld from first to give the A’s a 1-0 lead.
Flaherty led off the top of the third with a home run off Oakland starter Jon Lester, knotting the score at one run apiece. In the fourth, Lester pitched around Nelson Cruz’s lead-off double and the score remained tied into the fifth.
But Lester walked Flaherty to open the top of the fifth inning and Schoop followed with a single up the middle, with Flaherty racing to third. Nick Markakis then lined a base hit to left, scoring Flaherty and leaving runners on first and second with none out. Lester had not been sharp—he’d allowed seven hits and a walk in four-plus innings—and A’s manager Bob Melvin had been alert to that fact, so when the first three batters reached in the top of the fifth with the heart of the order—a string of right-handed batters—due up, he had Jesse Chavez warming up and ready to bring into the game. After the Markakis single, Melvin wasted no time summoning Chavez. But the right-handed swingman walked the first batter—Steve Pearce—that he faced, loading the bases. Adam Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Schoop, to put Baltimore on top 3-1. But Cruz then grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Tillman held the A’s to a single hit—the Moss double—until the sixth when, with one out, Fuld rolled a single into center. After Donaldson fanned, Moss grounded a base hit into right, advancing Fuld to third. Orioles manager Buck Showalter called on Andrew Miller to deal with Josh Reddick, but Reddick slapped another single through the box, scoring Fuld to cut the lead to 3-2. Jed Lowrie rolled into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
Eric O’Flaherty entered the game for the A’s in the top of the seventh and fanned Flaherty, but Schoop drilled his first home run of the series into the seats just inside the left field line for an Orioles insurance run.
Baltimore took the 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but Miller walked pinch hitter Nate Freiman to open the inning. Derek Norris flied out, however, and Miller induced pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Darren O’Day came on in the bottom of the eighth for the Orioles and retired Coco Crisp and Fuld without difficulty, but then walked Donaldson. He followed that up by issuing another free pass, this one to Moss. With lefty-swinging Reddick due next, Showalter summoned Zach Britton from the bullpen, asking him to complete a four-out save. Melvin countered with pinch hitter Jonny Gomes. Britton struggled to gain his command and walked Gomes on five pitches, filling the bases. It was the third consecutive walk issued by Orioles pitchers. But Britton recovered and induced a fielder’s choice grounder from Lowrie to escape damage.
After the Orioles failed to score in the top of the ninth, despite Flaherty’s third hit of the game, a two-out single, Britton returned to the hill in the bottom half and used his trademark sinker to induce three consecutive ground balls to end the contest, earning his fourth save of the postseason in the process.
Despite the wildness, Orioles relievers have thrown a combined 15 innings in the ALCS thus far, allowing no runs on four hits (all singles), while striking out 15 batters.
10/14/2014, Bal14-Oak14, The Coliseum
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Orioles 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 4 10 1 5 1
2014 Athletics 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 0 7 3
Orioles AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG
Markakis rf 4 0 1 1 .455 Crisp cf 4 0 0 0 .071
Pearce 1b 3 0 1 0 .231 Fuld lf 3 2 1 0 .100
Jones,A cf 3 0 0 1 .250 Donaldson 3b 3 0 0 0 .333
Cruz,N lf 4 0 1 0 .214 Moss 1b 3 0 2 1 .200
Lough lf 0 0 0 0 .000 Reddick rf 3 0 1 1 .222
Young,D dh 4 0 2 0 .375 Gomes,J ph 0 0 0 0 .000
Hardy,J ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Lowrie ss 4 0 0 0 .231
Hundley c 3 0 0 0 .125 Vogt dh 2 0 0 0 .250
De Aza ph 1 0 0 0 .125 Freiman ph 1 0 0 0 .167
Joseph,C c 0 0 0 0 .333 Norris,De c 4 0 0 0 .167
Flaherty 3b 3 2 2 1 .400 Sogard 2b 2 0 0 0 .000
Schoop 2b 4 2 3 1 .375 Callaspo ph 2 0 0 0 .000
33 4 10 4 31 2 4 2
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Tillman W 1-0 5.2 3 2 2 1 3 88 52 3.18
Miller,A H 1 1.1 1 0 0 1 0 10 6 0.00
O'Day H 1 0.2 0 0 0 2 1 20 8 0.00
Britton,Z S 1 1.1 0 0 0 1 0 17 9 0.00
9.0 4 2 2 5 4 135 75
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Lester L 0-1 4.0 7 3 3 1 4 80 47 6.75
Chavez,J 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 19 13 2.70
O'Flaherty 0.2 1 1 1 0 1 15 9 5.40
Otero 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 15 10 0.00
Gregerson 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 16 14 0.00
9.0 10 4 4 2 8 145 93
Bal: Lough inserted at lf in the 8th
De Aza batted for Hundley in the 9th
Joseph,C inserted at c in the 9th
Oak: Freiman batted for Vogt in the 7th
Callaspo batted for Sogard in the 7th
Callaspo moved to 2b in the 8th
Gomes,J batted for Reddick in the 8th
Fuld moved to rf in the 9th
Gomes,J moved to lf in the 9th
E-Flaherty. 2B-Pearce(1), Cruz,N(2), Moss(1). HR-Flaherty(1), Schoop(1).
RBI-Markakis(2), Jones,A(2), Flaherty(1), Schoop(1), Moss(1), Reddick(1).
K-Markakis, Pearce, Jones,A, Young,D, Hardy,J, Hundley 2, Flaherty, Crisp,
Donaldson 2, Vogt. BB-Pearce, Flaherty, Fuld, Donaldson, Moss, Freiman,
Gomes,J. SF-Jones,A.
GWRBI: Markakis
Temperature: 59, Sky: cloudy, Wind: out to right at 12 MPH.
Attendance: 35,203
Game Time: 3:05
Game 4: Kevin Gausman vs. Jeff Samardzija, Oakland Coliseum
BEHND SHARK, A’S DRAW EVEN
Norris has 4 Hits
OAKLAND, Oct. 15 (AP) – Jeff Samardzija pitched into the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics cruised to a 5-1 ALCS-evening victory over the Baltimore Orioles at the Oakland Coliseum. The series is now squared at two games apiece. Samardzija scattered six hits—all of them singles—through the first seven frames and departed after Alejandro de Aza broke the shutout with a two-out solo home run in the top of the eighth. The A’s helped Samardzija by turning three double plays in the early going.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when the A’s took a lead they would never surrender off Orioles starter Kevin Gausman. First baseman Steve Pearce booted Stepehn Vogt’s roller for a lead-off error and Norris followed with a base hit, putting runners on first and second. Eric Sogard’s slow roller to short produced the first out, but advanced the baserunners to second and third. Coco Crisp then doubled both runners home for a 2-0 Oakland advantage.
In the fourth, the A’s solidified their lead and knocked Gausman out of the game. Brandon Moss drew a lead-off walk and, after Jed Lowrie flied out, Josh Reddick singled Moss to third. Gausman then uncorked a wild pitch, plating Moss with the third run of the game and advancing Reddick to second. Vogt’s base hit drove home Reddick to make it 4-0 and, after
Derek Norris singled Vogt to second, Gausman was replaced by Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez walked Crisp to fill the bases, then issued another free pass, this one to Sam Fuld, to force in the fifth Oakland run. Josh Donaldson struck out to end the inning, but the damage had been done.
Baltimore put the first two batters—Kelly Johnson and Caleb Joseph—on base in the top of the fifth, via base hit and walk respectively, but both runners were stranded, part of a stretch of 10 consecutive hitters retired by Samardzija. The streak came to an end with de Aza’s solo home run with two outs in the eighth. Ryan Cook came on to get the third out of the inning and Sean Doolittle retired the Orioles in order in the ninth to preserve the win.
10/15/2014, Bal14-Oak14, The Coliseum
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 2 5 0
2014 Athletics 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 x 5 7 1 9 3
Orioles AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG
Markakis rf 4 0 1 0 .400 Crisp cf 4 0 1 2 .111
De Aza lf 4 1 1 1 .167 Fuld lf 4 0 0 1 .071
Jones,A cf 4 0 0 0 .188 Donaldson 3b 4 0 0 0 .250
Cruz,N dh 4 0 0 0 .167 Moss 1b 3 1 0 0 .154
Pearce 1b 4 0 2 0 .294 Soto,G c 0 0 0 0 .000
Hardy,J ss 4 0 1 0 .059 Lowrie ss 3 0 0 0 .188
Johnson,Ke 3b 3 0 1 0 .182 Reddick rf 3 1 1 0 .250
Joseph,C c 2 0 1 0 .400 Vogt dh 3 2 1 1 .286
Schoop 2b 3 0 0 0 .273 Gomes,J ph 1 0 0 0 .000
32 1 7 1 Norris,De c 4 1 3 0 .313
Callaspo pr 0 0 0 0 .000
Sogard 2b 4 0 1 0 .077
33 5 7 4
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gausman L 0-1 3.1 5 5 4 1 3 68 44 10.80
Gonzalez,MAn 3.1 1 0 0 4 2 56 29 0.00
Matusz 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 0.00
Webb,R 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 15 11 0.00
8.0 7 5 4 5 8 142 87
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Samardzija W 1-0 7.2 7 1 1 1 3 97 68 2.51
Cook 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.00
Doolittle 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 8 0.00
9.0 7 1 1 1 5 112 78
Oak: Gomes,J batted for Vogt in the 7th
Callaspo ran for Norris,De in the 8th
Soto,G inserted at c in the 9th
Callaspo moved to 1b in the 9th
E-Pearce, Gonzalez,MAn, Sogard. 2B-Crisp(1). HR-De Aza(1). RBI-De Aza(1),
Crisp 2(2), Fuld(1), Vogt(2). K-De Aza, Pearce, Hardy,J 2, Schoop, Crisp,
Fuld, Donaldson 2, Moss, Vogt, Sogard, Gomes,J. BB-Joseph,C, Crisp, Fuld,
Moss, Lowrie, Reddick. WP-Gausman 2.
GWRBI: Crisp
Temperature: 75, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 10 MPH.
Attendance: 35,146
Game Time: 2:44
Game 5: Bud Norris vs. Scott Kazmir, Oakland Coliseum
A’S COMEBACK WIN PRODUCES 3-2 ALCS ADVANTAGE
O’s Held Hitless After 1st Inning
OAKLAND, Oct. 16 (AP) – The Oakland Athletics rallied from a 3-0 first inning deficit and went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series at the Oakland Coliseum. The Orioles tagged A’s starter Scott Kazmir for three runs on four hits in the opening frame but did nothing afterward. Oakland scored a pair of unearned runs off Baltimore starter Bud Norris in the third and then finally dented the Orioles relief corps in the sixth, scoring two runs charged to Ryan Webb.
The Orioles surged in front with a two-out uprising in the opening frame. After Nick Markakis and Steve Pearce were retired, Adam Jones lined a base hit to left-center and came around to score the contest’s first run on Nelson Cruz’s double into the left field corner. Delmon Young followed with a home run into the seats in left and the Orioles suddenly led 3-0. J.J. Hardy reached on an infield single before Kazmir was finally able to end the inning by retiring Caleb Joseph on a fielder’s choice grounder. Little did anyone suspect that the Orioles wouldn’t manage another hit for the remainder of the game.
After stranding five baserunners in the first two innings, the A’s broke through against Norris in the third, but they needed some help to do. Steve Pearce dropped Josh Donaldson’s lead-off pop fly for an error, allowing Donaldson to reach first base. Norris fanned Brandon Moss and Jed Lowrie, but the need to record a fourth out allowed Josh Reddick to launch his first home run of the ALCS. The ball landed in the seats down the right field line and the A’s had cut the deficit to a single run.
After the first inning, Kazmir turned his performance around on a dime. He walked Jonathan Schoop with one out in the second inning but immediately induced Markakis to ground into an inning-ending double play. That began a string of 10 consecutive batters retired. Only one other Baltimore batter reached base for the rest of the game; that was Jones, who drew a one-out walk from Kazmir in the sixth but was erased by Cruz’s double play grounder.
Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Reliever Webb issued a one-out walk to Derek Norris, uncorked a wild pitch which advanced Norris to second, then walked Eric Sogard. Brad Brach replaced Webb and retired Coco Crisp on a long fly to left, with Norris advancing to third. Then, Brach walked Sam Fuld—the third free pass of the inning--to load the bases. That brought Donaldson to the plate and he delivered, lining a base hit to right, scoring two runs and putting the A’s on top 4-3. Brian Matusz came on and retired Moss on a ground ball to end the inning, but the Orioles now trailed for the first time.
Three Oakland relievers—Dan Otero, Fernando Abad and Sean Doolittle—each tossed a perfect inning of relief, combining to strike out six of the nine batters they faced, with Doolittle earning his second save in as many games.
The ALCS now returns to Baltimore where the Orioles will have to win Game 6 if they hope to prevail in the series.
10/16/2014, Bal14-Oak14, The Coliseum
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Orioles 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 1 1
2014 Athletics 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 x 4 7 0 9 2
Orioles AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG
Markakis rf 4 0 0 0 .316 Crisp cf 5 0 1 0 .130
Pearce 1b 4 0 0 0 .238 Fuld lf 3 0 0 0 .059
Jones,A cf 3 1 1 0 .211 Donaldson 3b 3 1 1 2 .263
Cruz,N lf 4 1 1 1 .182 Moss 1b 4 0 0 0 .118
Young,D dh 3 1 1 2 .364 Lowrie ss 4 0 1 0 .200
Hardy,J ss 3 0 1 0 .100 Reddick rf 4 1 1 2 .250
Joseph,C c 3 0 0 0 .250 Vogt dh 3 0 2 0 .400
Flaherty 3b 2 0 0 0 .286 Gomes,J ph 1 0 0 0 .000
De Aza ph 1 0 0 0 .154 Norris,De c 2 1 1 0 .333
Johnson,Ke 3b 0 0 0 0 .182 Sogard 2b 3 1 0 0 .063
Schoop 2b 2 0 0 0 .231 32 4 7 4
29 3 4 3
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Norris,B 5.0 6 2 0 1 6 98 63 2.16
Webb,R H 1, L 0-1 0.1 0 2 2 2 1 12 4 13.50
Brach BS 1 0.1 1 0 0 1 0 11 6 0.00
Matusz 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.00
Miller,A 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 8 0.00
Hunter,Tom 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 9 5 0.00
8.0 7 4 2 5 9 145 88
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Kazmir W 1-0 6.0 4 3 3 2 3 73 43 4.50
Otero H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 15 12 0.00
Abad H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 9 7 0.00
Doolittle S 2 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 10 0.00
9.0 4 3 3 2 8 109 72
Bal: De Aza batted for Flaherty in the 8th
Johnson,Ke inserted at 3b in the 8th
Oak: Gomes,J batted for Vogt in the 7th
E-Pearce. 2B-Cruz,N(3). HR-Young,D(1), Reddick(1). RBI-Cruz,N(3),
Young,D 2(2), Donaldson 2(6), Reddick 2(3). K-Pearce 4, Jones,A, Young,D,
Joseph,C, Schoop, Crisp, Moss 2, Lowrie, Reddick, Vogt, Norris,De, Sogard,
Gomes,J. BB-Jones,A, Schoop, Fuld, Donaldson, Norris,De 2, Sogard.
PB-Joseph,C. WP-Webb,R.
GWRBI: Donaldson
Temperature: 64, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 11 MPH.
Attendance: 35,080
Game Time: 2:32
Game 6: Sonny Gray vs. Wei-Yin Chen, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
REDDICK’S 8TH INNING HR PUNCHES A’S TICKET TO WORLD SERIES
Doolittle Earns Save, Wins Series MVP
BALTIMORE, Oct. 18 (AP) – Josh Reddick’s solo home run in the eighth inning off Andrew Miller snapped a four-all tie and the Oakland Athletics went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4, clinching the American League Championship Series in six games. The A’s now move on to the World Series to face the Washington Nationals beginning November 21 at Nationals Park. Derek Norris banged out three hits and finished with nine safeties in the series for Oakland.
It was a game that played against type. In a series dominated by pitching—and, consequently, few baserunners, the teams combined for 23 hits and eight walks (plus two hit batssmen). But they also grounded into four double plays and stranded 19 men on base. Twice the Orioles grounded into double plays with the bases loaded.
Also unlike the previous series games, the Orioles scored first. Alejandro de Aza’s solo home run with one out in the opening frame off Oakland starter Sonny Gray gave Baltimore a 1-0 lead.
But the A’s appeared to seize firm control of the contest in the second. Jonny Gomes drew a lead-off walk from Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen and Norris singled him to second. Nate Freiman and Jed Lowrie were retired without advancing the runners, but Chen hit Reddick on the foot with an errant breaking ball to load the bases and Eric Sogard’s base hit to right scored two runs. Coco Crisp followed with a double, scoring Reddick to make it 3-1 before Sam Fuld grounded out to finally end the inning.
Oakland picked up another run in the third and knocked Chen out of the game in the process. The first two batters were retired without incident but Norris and Freiman hit back-to-back doubles, giving the A’s a 4-1 lead. Miguel Gonzalez replaced Chen, and struck out Lowrie to end the inning, but the Orioles now trailed by three.
They got a run back in the bottom of the third, and knocked Gray out of the game, but it could have been more. Adam Jones and Nelson Cruz started the inning with consecutive singles and Steve Pearce walked, filling the bases. J.J. Hardy drove in his first run of the series with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Jones to make it 4-2. Caleb Joseph followed by lining a base hit to left, which loaded the bases again. With Ryan Flaherty due up, A’s manager Bob Melvin brought lefty Drew Pomeranz into the game. With the season on the line, Baltimore skipper Buck Showalter called on Delmon Young to pinch hit for Flaherty, but Young rolled into a 4-6-3 double play to snuff out the rally.
Undeterred, the Orioles knotted the game in the bottom of the fifth against Jesse Chavez. Jones singled for the second straight plate appearance and Cruz followed with a long home run into the bullpen area in center field, tying the score. After Pearce popped out, Hardy and Joseph hit back-to-back singles and Kelly Johnson walked, loading the bases yet again. But Chavez induced Jonathan Schoop to ground into a double play and the score remained tied.
The A’s put runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the seventh but Miller came on after pinch hitter Stephen Vogt was announced and fanned him to end the inning. Showalter was trying to milk extra milage out of Miller and, after retiring the A’s in order in the seventh, the southpaw came out for the eighth to face Reddick. But the Oakland right fielder was laying in the weeds and deposited a first-pitch fastball onto the flag court above the out-of-town scoreboard in right to give the A’s a 5-4 lead.
Luke Gregerson retired pinch hitter David Lough to open the bottom of the eighth but then yielded a base hit to Johnson. After fanning Schoop, he gave way to Sean Doolittle who struck out Nick Markakis for the third out.
Zach Britton kept Oakland off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth and Doolitle came back out and retired de Aza, Jones and Cruz in order to close out the game and the series. Doolitle saved three of the four A’s wins in the ALCS and struck out eight without allowing a run in 4-1/3 perfect innings, an effort that earned him ALCS Most Valuable Player honors.
10/18/2014, Oak14-Bal14, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Athletics 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 11 0 10 2
2014 Orioles 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 12 0 9 2
Athletics AB R H BI AVG Orioles AB R H BI AVG
Crisp cf 4 0 2 1 .185 Markakis rf 5 0 1 0 .292
Fuld lf 5 0 1 0 .091 De Aza lf 5 1 1 1 .167
Donaldson 3b 5 0 2 0 .292 Jones,A cf 5 2 2 0 .250
Gomes,J dh 2 1 0 0 .000 Cruz,N dh 5 1 3 2 .259
Vogt ph 2 0 0 0 .333 Pearce 1b 2 0 0 0 .217
Norris,De c 4 2 3 0 .409 Hardy,J ss 3 0 2 1 .174
Callaspo pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Joseph,C c 3 0 2 0 .364
Freiman 1b 4 0 1 1 .200 Lough ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Soto,G c 0 0 0 0 .000 Hundley c 0 0 0 0 .125
Lowrie ss 4 0 0 0 .167 Flaherty 3b 1 0 0 0 .250
Reddick rf 3 2 1 1 .263 Young,D ph 1 0 0 0 .333
Sogard 2b 3 0 1 2 .105 Johnson,Ke 3b 1 0 1 0 .250
36 5 11 5 Schoop 2b 3 0 0 0 .188
35 4 12 4
Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gray 2.1 6 2 2 2 2 62 39 2.89
Pomeranz 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 16 10 0.00
Chavez,J BS 1 1.0 4 2 2 1 0 24 13 6.23
O'Flaherty 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 12 8 3.86
Cook W 1-0 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 13 9 0.00
Gregerson H 1 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 11 7 0.00
Doolittle S 3 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 13 9 0.00
9.0 12 4 4 3 7 151 95
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Chen,W 2.2 6 4 4 1 1 48 30 6.52
Gonzalez,MAn 1.2 1 0 0 3 2 41 21 0.00
Brach 1.1 2 0 0 0 0 20 15 0.00
Miller,A L 0-1 1.2 1 1 1 0 2 21 13 1.59
O'Day 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 14 6 0.00
Britton,Z 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 0.00
9.0 11 5 5 5 6 152 90
Oak: Vogt batted for Gomes,J in the 6th
Callaspo ran for Norris,De in the 9th
Callaspo moved to 1b in the 9th
Soto,G inserted at c in the 9th
Bal: Young,D batted for Flaherty in the 3rd
Johnson,Ke inserted at 3b in the 4th
Lough batted for Joseph,C in the 8th
Hundley inserted at c in the 9th
2B-Crisp(2), Norris,De(1), Freiman(1). HR-Reddick(2), De Aza(2), Cruz,N(2).
RBI-Crisp(3), Freiman(2), Reddick(4), Sogard 2(2), De Aza(2), Cruz,N 2(5),
Hardy,J(1). K-Crisp, Donaldson, Gomes,J, Norris,De, Lowrie, Vogt, Markakis 2,
De Aza 2, Jones,A, Joseph,C, Schoop. BB-Crisp, Gomes,J, Norris,De, Freiman,
Sogard, Pearce 2, Johnson,Ke. SF-Hardy,J. HBP-Reddick, Schoop. HB-Gray,
Chen,W.
GWRBI: Reddick
Temperature: 71, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none.
Attendance: 45,780
Game Time: 3:42