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A’s fall to Giants, 6-2
By George Devine, Sr. June 11, 2010 |
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The A’s and Giants began the second leg of their interleague series for the year. After sweeping their crossbay rivals in Oakland, the Athletics lost the first game of this weekend at San Francisco by a score of 6-2. The winner was RHP Tim Lincecum (8 ip, 7 h, 2 er, 1 w, 7 k, 2 wp), who came into the game 5-2 with an ERA of 3.20; the loss went to southpaw Gio Gonzalez (5.1 ip, 6 h, 4 er, 4 w, 4k, 2 hr), whose record had been 6-3 with a 3.58 ERA. Brian Wilson picked up his 16th save. Oakland scored in the first when Mark Ellis grounded out to the mound, allowing Ryan Sweeney to take base on a fielder’s choice; he advanced on two wild pitches and came home when Kevin Kouzmanoff singled to left. Lincecum was looking shaky, but not for long. The A’s would not score again until the eighth inning when Cliff Pennington tripled to right center and came home when Lincecum was too slow in setting up a potential 1-3 putout on the next play, allowing Jack Cust an RBI single. In the third, San Francisco scored its first two runs when Juan Uribe walked and Pat Burrell hit his first home run as a Giant, just inside the left field foul pole. Another pair came in the sixth when Uribe singled to center and Bengie Molina homered just over the Chevron car display on the left field fence. In the following inning, the last two San Francisco tallies occurred: Andres Torres walked, reached third when Freddy Sanchez doubled to right and arrived at the plate on a passed ball; Sanchez then scored when Buster Posey tripled to right center. Landon Powell was behind the plate tonight as Kurt Suzuki was on bereavement leave. Had Powell become unavailable, the Athletics would have relied on Jake Fox as a backup catcher. The two teams meet again at 6:05 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 12, with RHP Ben Sheets (2-5, 4.93 ERA) facing lefty, and former Athletic, Barry Zito (6-2, 3.15). The A’s have agreed to terms with 17 players from the 2010 First-Year Player Draft held earlier this week, including third baseman Tony Thompson (6th round, Kansas) and first baseman A.J. Kirby-Jones (9th round, Tennessee Tech).\ Thompson hit .338 with six home runs and 38 RBI in 40 games with the Jayhawks this year after winning the first Triple Crown in Big 12 history as a sophomore in 2009, when he batted .389 with 21 home runs and 82 RBI in 61 games. Kirby-Jones was a second team Louisville Slugger All-America selection after hitting .388 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI in 56 games. He also had 58 walks for a .531 on-base percentage and his .859 slugging percentage ranks second in the NCAA. The other 15 players include shortstop Wade Kirkland (11th round, Florida Southern), right-handed pitcher Matt Thomson (12th, San Diego), right-handed pitcher Drew Tyson (17th, Reinhardt), right-handed pitcher Jose Macias (18th, Franklin Pierce), right-handed pitcher Zachary Thornton (23rd, Oregon), catcher Ryan Lipkin (24th, USF), outfielder John Whitaker (25th, Kennesaw State), left-handed pitcher Jacob Brown (26th, Georgia Southern), right-handed pitcher James Frankoff (27th, UNC-Wilmington), outfielder Zachary Hurley (29th, Ohio State), left-handed pitcher Jeff Urlaub (30th, Grand Canyon), right-handed pitcher Aaron Larsen (34th, Bethany), right-handed pitcher Andrew Bailey (35th, Concord University), catcher Daniel Petitti (37th, North Georgia College and State University) and second baseman Michael Fabiaschi (38th, James Madison). The A’s, Major League Baseball and PEOPLE Magazine announce the three A’s finalists for the 2010 “PEOPLE All-Stars Among Us” campaign, which recognizes individuals who are serving their community in extraordinary ways. The three A’s local finalists this year include Sejal Hathi of Fremont, Lisa Klein of Oakland and Jan Schilling of El Cerrito. Hathi, at the age of 15, established Girls Helping Girls, a nonprofit organization that works to empower girls to excel in their communities. Girls Helping Girls’mission is to eradicate poverty, increase access to education, improve healthcare, and promote peace. In addition, Hathi speaks to leaders of Fortune 500 companies about mentoring young girls and is working towards publishing her second book. Klein established Loved Twice in 2007, a nonprofit that collects gently-used baby clothes and distributes them to hospitals, shelters and pre-natal clinics throughout the Oakland area. Over the past three years, Loved Twice has distributed 20,000 pounds of clothes to over 3,000 newborns in Oakland . Schilling, who spent two years in the Peace Corps in the 1960’s, began a scholarship program in 1996. The program awards $5,000 to a low-income female student at Kennedy High School in Richmond, to be used to further the education of young women who might not otherwise have the opportunity. Fans are encouraged to vote through the fan section of oaklandathletics.com, now through June 20, for their favorite “All-Stars” who go above and beyond to serve their communities. A total of 30 “All-Stars, one representing each MLB Club, will attend the 2010 All-Star Week in Anaheim. Each finalist will be honored during the pre-game ceremony of the All-Star Game July 13 on FOX beginning at 5:00 p.m PT. In addition, one of the “All-Star Among Us” winners will be featured in PEOPLE during the week of the All-Star Game. |
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