Oakland

A’s closing the gap with win over Tribe

Published

12 years ago

August 17, 2013

Oakland, CA – Eric Sogard doubled in a run and the A’s regained the lead bottom of the seventh frame. No better way than to start the series and stay ahead four and a half games over the Cleveland Indians in the Wild Card race.

Oakland’s 3-2 victory over the Tribe also cut the Texas Rangers lead to a half a game ahead in the American League West. The Rangers remain atop the division. But no worries, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played.

A.J Griffin scattered four hits over five innings, surrendering one run, walked five and struck out three. Not his best work but the bullpen came in and backed him for the win. Griffin has allowed 11 free passes over his past two starts.

“I had a tough time getting in a groove there,” said A.J. “I was missing with my location just a little bit, referring to the walks. I just tried to battle through it and give us a chance to win. I feel like I did a good job of keeping us in the game and the bullpen did a great job coming in.”

“Seeing him throw 104 pitches after five innings is a little against the grain for him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The ball was up in the zone at times which you don’t normally see from him, either. He battles himself but still ended up getting the big out for us to end the fifth with the bases loaded.”

Cleveland finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding 13 along the way. Oakland’s defense was excellent in backing good pitching. The Tribe scored one run unearned in the third when Carlos Santana singled to right fielder Josh Reddick who over thew third base for the error.

Nick Swisher delivered a one run single off Sean Doolittle in the seventh to tie the game 2-2. But once again with the bases loaded Cleveland failed to rally a comeback. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a flyout to left field to end the inning.

“We’ll, always grind,” said Indians manager Terry Francona. “They just have a talented bullpen. Normally, if you get to the starter, when you get that many pitches in the fifth, you feel pretty good about yourself. But they have some depth in that bullpen.”

Oakland got a great start when Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer to left field. His fifth home run in the last 16 games and 20th of the year. Cespedes hit five home runs earlier in batting practice. So, it was fitting to get those two runs early in the first.

Sogard’s play came up big in the seventh when he doubled on a line drive to Drew Stubbs and scored Stephen Vogt. Trying to advance an extra base, Eric was out at third on Stubbs throw from right field. Sogard’s batting .315 with 12 RBIs in 22 games since the All-Star break.

“Vogt got a good at-bat there,” Sogard said. “To get that single and get the inning going, that gave us a chance to score on them. I put one down the line and eased his wheels, he can run for catcher.”

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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May 30, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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May 25, 2025

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

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By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.