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Samardzija Not Enough In A’s Loss

Published

10 years ago

September 18, 2014

Oakland, CA – After tossing eight scoreless innings, Jeff Samardzija sat in the dugout stunned. He watched his hard work erased by one disastrous inning. Closer Sean Doolittle allowed five runs in the ninth and the Rangers crushed the A’s 6-1 in what appeared to be a complete nightmare.

< p>It’s a tight race in the American League Wild Card. Oakland’s loss tied them with the Kansas City Royals for the top Wild Card spot and allowed the Anaheim Angels to clinch the division. The Seattle Mariners trail two games behind both the A’s and the Royals.

“To waste an effort like that from Shark [Samardzija] and have the bases loaded and nobody out the next inning… but you have to just keep grinding through it,” said Bob Melvin.

Texas tied the game in the ninth and took flight as their offense dominated. Doolittle surrendered a single to Elvis Andrus and a RBI double to Rougned Odor. An intentionally walk put Adrian Beltre on first. But it was J.P Arencibia’s three-run homer that stunned the crowd. The Rangers extended their lead 4-1.

“When I got down 0-2, I thought, “Let’s go, you got to get this run in,’” Arencibia said.

“I missed my spot a little bit and he made me pay for it,” said Doolittle. “I just don’t think it was my night.

After the bases were loaded Leonys Martin was hit by pitch and one run was walked in. Andrus single on a ground ball to second and Jake Smolinski scored. An unbelievable night on the mound was completely erased in one inning. Melvin even tried to challenge a call that was upheld on review. The damage had already been done.

“You got to take the positives out of it,” said Samardzija. “You got to look at where we’re at as a team. If you take a step back and you look at it as a whole, we’re still right where we need to be.”

Samardzija did everything he could to set the tone. He struck out ten batters for the third time this season and the eighth in his career. Samardzija has thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings which is a career high. He has allowed one run or fewer in 10 of his 31 starts.

The A’s got their opportunity in the fifth. Nate Freiman leadoff the inning by flying out to center field. Geovany Soto followed with a double and advanced to third on Nick Punto’s infield bunt. Sam Fuld found a hole with two outs and scored in Soto with a RBI single.

At the time a 1-0 lead was enough run support to back Samardzija’s stellar night. He walked none and stranded runners through out eight innings pitched. Oakland’s lost five of their last seven games and 14 of their last 19. Tomorrow they look ahead to avoid a sweep.

“I mean it hurts for a lot of different reasons,” Doolittle said. “You look at the job Samardzija did all night long, he was out there getting it done and our defense was air tight. That’s all you can ask for. Coming into that ninth inning, I just didn’t get it done.”

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

2 days ago

December 26, 2024

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.