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A’s Win On Jaso’s Walk-Off Double

Published

11 years ago

May 11, 2014

Oakland, CA – No better way than to tie the series than with a rally in the ninth inning. The A’s did just that when they headed into the bottom of the ninth down by two runs. Closer Rafael Soriano gave up his first run all year and had his career-high scoreless innings streak snapped at 25.0 innings in the ninth.

Oakland rallied a pair of runs in the ninth to tie the game and then scored the walk-off winning run for the 4-3 victory over the Nationals. Jed Lowrie doubled on a line drive to center field scoring in John Jaso making it a 3-2 game. Josh Donaldson followed with a RBI single to tie the game brining the sellout crowd to their feet.

“Bad day,” Soriano said. “That’s all I can say. Very bad, bad day, and I can’t be perfect every time, and it happened tonight.”

“Going into the ninth with a two-run lead and a guy that hasn’t given up a run and it doesn’t happen for you, it’s disappointing,” Washington manager Matt Williams said.

Sean Doolittle struck out the first batter in the tenth and forced the next two batters to ground out to end the inning. Williams replaced Soriano with Drew Storen who gave up a single to Alberto Callaspo to lead off the frame. Jaso hit the winning run when he doubled off the right field wall scoring in Nick Punto who pinched-run for Callaspo.

“The last few years, this has been a walk-off kind of team,”said Jaso. “I opened my stance, because I knew the last guy I faced would be throwing harder. I didn’t want to cut myself off. I wanted to hit the fastball.”

“When you get down to those situations, it just becomes a grind,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You know you have to give your best at-bat. Adrenaline takes over, and it’s all about competing.”

The Nationals opened up the third by scoring three runs in the inning with one out. Sonny Gray who had not allowed a single hit until Danny Espinosa took him deep to right field for the 1-0 lead. Kevin Frandsen knocked in two runs on a line drive to center field and Gray lost his command.

He yielded four hits before Anthony Rendon lined out to right-fielder Josh Reddick. Gray then threw a wild pitch while Jayson Werth was at-bat, advancing Frandsen to third. Pitching coach Curt Young trotted out to talk with Gray who calmed down and force Wilson Ramos to ground out to him for the final out to end the inning.

“Me and [Ramos] were on the same page,” said Roark. “So when you get that rhythm and that tempo going and you don’t have to shake anything off, that’s perfect.”

Oakland responded with a solo home run from Jaso making it a 3-1 game bottom of the third. Tanner Roark made his first career start tossing more than 7.0 innings with one or fewer runs allowed in two of his last three starts. The A’s had two hits off Roark through 7 2/3 innings.

He retired 13 straight after Jaso’s home run, surrendering two hits, walking none, and striking out five. The Nationals are now 0-2 on their six-game road trip against the A’s and Arizona Diamondbacks. And to make matters worse the team got news that first baseman Adam LaRoche will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad.

“It looked like we were pretty much a dead team: three up, three down,” Jaso said. “It’s strange how a starting pitcher can get on a roll and every single ball is getting caught because we did hit the ball pretty well. He [Roark] just threw strikes and let the defense work.”

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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

13 hours 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

3 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

3 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.