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It was if they were waiting for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to sound last call before winning. Either way, the Oakland A’s won their second 15-inning game this week, using a Coco Crisp sacrifice fly to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 at the Coliseum. The win moved the A’s to 58-48, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the first AL Wild Card.

The game went on for so long that many had long since forgot about the solid debut of super prospect Dan Straily, who went six innings allowing only one run on five hits and striking out five. The A’s used single runs in the second through fifth innings to give Straily a 4-1 lead. That score would remain the same through the seventh and eighth thanks to a fantastic appearance by Grant Balfour, who struck out three in two perfect innings.

But Ryan Cook could not hold the lead in the ninth. After two quick strikeouts, Cook allowed singles to David Cooper and Rajai Davis. Against Jeff Mathis, Cook jumped to an 0-2 count before throwing a tailing fastball that Mathis hit just over the jagged wall in left center field to tie the score at four. Cook did finish the ninth without allowing any more runs, but the damage had been done. 

From the 10th inning on, both teams had opportunities to score. In the bottom of the 10th, Oakland loaded the bases with one out, but Josh Reddick struck out looking on an inside curveball and Brandon Moss grounded out to end the threat.

Toronto’s best chance to score was in the 12th. After a one out single by Omar Vizquel, Colby Rasmus hit an opposite-field double into the left field corner. Moss appeared to have a little trouble with it, but threw a bullet that Brandon Inge relayed to home plate gunning down Vizquel at the plate. 

In the top of the 15th, the Blue Jays put runners on first and second with two outs. Yan Gomes hit a ball that looked like an infield single at worst, but Eric Sogard made a great ranging play to snare the ball and then force out Edwin Encarnacion at third, setting the stage for Crisp’s heroics.

Each team will have to bounce back quickly as Saturday afternoon’s game has a 1:05 p.m. local start. The A’s will send A.J. Griffin to the mound to face Toronto’s Ricky Romero. 

Notes: Brandon Inge extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single in the second inning. Yoenis Cespedes left the game after the top of the eighth inning with a sprained right wrist. Newly acquired reliever Pat Neshek made his Oakland debut, going 1.1 scoreless innings and striking out three. 

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At the last checkpoint, the Oakland A’s were 39-42 at the midway point of the season. On pace for 78 wins, they have gone a blistering 16-3 since to move to 55-45 and are on the verge of taking the lead in the American League wild-card standings. For the month of July, they are 18-3 and show no signs of slowing down.

What is all the more remarkable about this turnaround is that is has happened without many of the cogs people expected the A’s to need to have any kind of chance to contend for anything in 2012. For starters, Jemile Weeks, expected to be the catalyst for the Oakland offense, continues to languish around .220 for the year. The A’s shortstops have combined for splits of .184/.244/.276 as of July 28th. That is by far the worst in baseball. Catchers have not been much better, performing at splits of .198/.250/.269 in 2012. 

Meanwhile, the A’s have the No. 1 pitching staff in the American League despite having three rookies in the rotation. The team ace Brandon McCarthy has missed chunks of the season with a balky shoulder and rotation stalwarts Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden have yet to make one pitch at the major league level. 

So what have the A’s done well? First off, they are getting great production from Yoenis Cespedes. Backed by a hot July, Cespedes currently has splits of .302/.361/.541 for an OPS of .902. Considering “The Cuban Missile” has missed about 30 games to injury, the production he has had is all the more remarkable.

Even more of a surprise has been the amazing play of Josh Reddick. Billy Beane looks like a genius for acquiring the right fielder for Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney. All Reddick has done is lead the team with 22 home runs, drive in 50 runs and compile his own slugging percentage of .537 with an OPS of .885 in 2012. By far the A’s most consistent hitter during the year, Reddick has helped the A’s balance out their lineup over the course of the season. 

Of course, Oakland’s success could not happen without great pitching. The trio of Jarrod Parker, Tom Milone and A.J. Griffin has done more than just complement veterans Bartolo Colon and the surprising Travis Blackley. They have become the lead story in a rotation that continues to surprise.

Parker, while having some struggles in July, still sits at 7-4 with a 3.38 ERA on the season. Milone has been lights out in Oakland, going 9-7 overall, while Griffin has truly been a pleasant surprise. In six starts, Griffin has gone six innings in each, winning his last three decisions while posting an ERA of 2.25 on the year. Instead of being a warm body until other starters got healthy, Griffin appears to be firmly planted in the rotation. 

Knowing how quickly the situation can change, it is important to note that the A’s still have a tenuous schedule to navigate. The 10 games with Los Angeles and six with Texas will likely determine if Oakland has a position in the 2012 playoffs. But there are also six games with Tampa Bay, three more with the Yankees, three with another division/wild-card hopeful, the Detroit Tigers, as well as six with the always pesky Seattle Mariners.

Either way, to be on pace for 89 wins with this team, there is no doubt that Bob Melvin deserves more than just a little consideration for AL Manager of the Year. Whether he will merit it will depend on his team in the next few weeks.

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Yoenis Cespedes drove in three runs, Chris Carter hit his eighth home run in just his 18th game and Bartolo Colon threw 5.2 shutout innings as the Oakland A’s rolled to a 6-1 win over Baltimore at Camden Yards. The win moved Oakland to a major league best 18-3 in July as they can move into first place in the Wild Card standings with a loss by the Los Angeles Angels tonight.

Colon was not exactly dominant, but he made enough quality pitches to keep Baltimore from scoring. He scattered seven hits with one walk in his 5.2 innings while striking out five hitters. Jordan Norberto and Evan Scribner pitched the final 3.1 innings with the only run coming on a Nick Markakis home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Oakland scored first when after a Jemile Weeks’ single, Cespedes mashed a 3-2 slider from Orioles‘ starter Tommy Hunter to make it 2-0 in the fourth inning. The A’s would make it 3-0 in the fifth when Eric Sogard singled home Kurt Suzuki, who doubled to the opposite field to start the rally. 

In the sixth inning, after Cespedes reached on a fielder’s choice, Carter crushed an inside fastball about nine rows up in the left field seats to give the A’s a 5-0 lead. Cespedes would end the scoring by hitting a triple to deep right field scoring Weeks and making it 6-0. 

At the 100-game mark, the A’s move 10 games over .500 for the first time at 55-45. They will look for the sweep Sunday afternoon as Travis Blackley will face Baltimore’s Wei-Yin Chen. First pitch is set for 10:35 a.m. 

Note: According to a tweet by CBSSports.com Insider Jon Heyman, the A’s have reached an agreement to acquire Milwaukee Brewers catcher George Kottaras. Kottaras has splits of .209/.409/.364 and bats left handed, giving manager Bob Melvin potentially more lineup flexibility as the season reaches the home stretch. It’s currently unknown what/who the Brewers will receive in exchange for Kottaras. 

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The Oakland Athletics are in the heart of the playoff hunt, but are they legitimate contenders?

That question’s answer would easily be yes if they could work out a trade for Hanley Ramirez.

Just yesterday, I explained why Oakland shouldn’t trade for Chase Headley, but acquiring Ramirez would be a completely different story.

The A’s lack production from both positions on the left side of the field. They rank last in the AL in terms of WAR from shortstop, according to FanGraphs. They are fourth-worst from third base. Luckily for the A’s, Hanley can play either position.

Ramirez had been the starting shortstop for the Marlins since coming up in 2006. Only until this season when they signed Jose Reyes did Hanley start playing third base on a regular basis. He’s having an off-year, but would still be a major upgrade over Cliff Pennington or Brandon Inge.

Pennington is hitting .197/.259/.282 with 17 extra-base hits in 82 games and Inge is hitting .210/.272/.386 with nine home runs in 56 games with Oakland this season. On the other hand, Hanley is hitting .246/.322/.430 with 14 home runs, 47 RBI and 49 runs this year—a pretty big upgrade.

The A’s would be a great fit for Ramirez, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Going off of that, Oakland has shown interest in Hanley, but their level of interest is still to be determined and nothing is close to happening yet, tweeted FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the A’s could even be the favorites.

The Oakland #Athletics have now become the most aggressive team, Marlins exec says, pursuing #Marlins infielder Hanley Ramirez

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 25, 2012

It’s a stretch that the A’s could make a run for the AL West title with their current lineup, but they’d definitely be contenders if they were to acquire Ramirez.

By adding Ramirez to the No. 3 spot in the Oakland lineup, with Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes surrounding him, the A’s would have a very solid heart of the order. Hanley also brings more speed to the team to add to Jemile Weeks and Coco Crisp.

Ramirez gives the A’s plenty of flexibility, mainly because of his ability to play either shortstop or third base. Since neither position has played well this year, it could be a difficult decision as to whom to immediately replace. My first instinct says shortstop, just because Pennington lacks power and usually hits ninth.

The Marlins aren’t even asking for a lot in return for Ramirez, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is looking to acquire young players who have decent potential, wrote Jackson.

Oakland has several good prospects that they’ve acquired through recent trades who may be of interest to Miami, including Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole or Derek Norris. Michael Choice would be too much to give up, in my opinion, but Oakland could decide to trade Sonny Gray or Yordy Cabrera. Of course, this is all just speculation, but the A’s clearly have the pieces.

With the trade deadline nearing and the A’s still in the race, it makes sense to make a blockbuster move like this. Hanley Ramirez would not only make the A’s contenders for this season, but for the next few as well. 

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The Oakland Athletics are not considered to be a big draw in baseball these days. They rank 12th out of 14 teams in American League attendance and the top decks of The Coliseum (or whatever it is called this week) remain tarped off.

Their park is probably the ugliest one in baseball not located in Tampa Bay, and the team does not have the cool quality of the division-leading neighbors across the bay, the San Francisco Giants.

But A’s fans who do show for games up are getting a great show. Oakland has won 12 of 14 games this July. With a payroll low for even Billy Beane’s standards, they have a winning record, are in the wild-card hunt and are holding their own against the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees.

Last night’s 3-2 win over the Yankees, capped with a game-ending single by Brandon Moss, showed why a game in Oakland can be the best show in baseball.

If the point of going to a baseball game is to see your team win, then the A’s have a winning record at home. If simply witnessing an exciting game is the goal, then Oakland is the place to be.

The Athletics have played 48 games at home this year. As of this writing, the fans have gone home happy with a win 27 times. Of those wins, 10 have ended on walk-off hits.

So going to an A’s game means having a 20.8 percent chance of seeing the winning run crossing the plate to end the game and the public address system blasting Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration.”

And the anonymity of the current Oakland team makes it almost impossible to predict who will end the game with the big hit.

Kila Ka’aihue could end it in the 14th inning one day, and Derek Norris could launch a walk-off shot another day. Coveted slugger Yoennis Cespedes has hit a walk-off homer. So has career .100 hitter Brandon Hicks, whose first career homer was the least likely walk-off shot you will ever see.

And the stadium is usually empty enough that a fan’s chances of catching a walk-off shot is greatly increased.

So imagine a great day at the park in the East Bay. When the ninth inning rolls around, an A’s fan can think “I don’t know who this player is, but who knows? He could end it with a swing of the bat.”

There is more than a one-in-five chance the game will end that way.

That is well worth the price of admission.

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Don’t look now, but there are two teams in the playoff hunt in the Bay Area. Tom Milone worked around 10 hits over six innings and was backed by four early runs as the A’s cruised to a 9-3 victory Saturday evening against the Minnesota Twins. The win ensures another series win, and Oakland will attempt to sweep Sunday afternoon. 

It was a power surge for the A’s offense as Chris Carter, Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss and Seth Smith all went deep to pace the offense. Josh Reddick added three hits and scored two runs as the A’s had 12 hits total. That was more than enough for Milone, who worked out of multiple jams to hold the Twins to two runs despite 10 hits and a walk in six innings. 

Oakland still can’t seem to figure out Josh Willingham, who hit his fifth home run in as many games against his former team. However, tonight’s blast game, with the score 8-2, did not cause any real damage.

The A’s put the game away early as a two-out rally was started with back-to-back opposite field hits by Reddick and Cespedes whose double opened the scoring. After Moss was hit on an 0-2 pitch, Carter crushed a fastball into the left center field bullpen to make it 4-0. 

Cespedes added his 10th home run on an opposite field bomb in the third inning to make it 6-0. Home runs by Smith in the fifth and Moss in the sixth put the game well out of reach. Smith just missed his second home run in the ninth, instead plating Kurt Suzuki with a triple to close the scoring. 

Jordan Norberto, Evan Scribner and Jerry Blevins combined to allow a single run in the final three innings as the A’s continue to make noise and appear to be making a move to seriously compete for a wild-card spot in the American League.

With the win, the A’s moved to 45-43 on the year and will look to sweep the Twins Sunday afternoon at Target Field. First pitch is set for 11:10 a.m. as Jarrod Parker will look to bounce back against Minnesota starter Brian Duensing. 

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After Oakland GM Billy Beane scooped Brandon Inge up when the Detroit Tigers released him at the end of April, I wrote a piece titled, “Brandon Inge’s Heroics a Flash in the Pan: Oakland Athletics Need a 3rd Baseman.”

At the time, Inge had 10 hits, 17 RBI, and four home runs in 39 at-bats, including remarkable stretch of four straight games with four RBI. Inge, incredibly, became only the second player in 80 years to have four RBI in four games over a five-game stretch.

The other player to do this? Lou Gehrig.

There he was, in Oakland, seemingly rejuvenated by a change of scenery, and Billy Beane’s moneyball approach seemed to have worked yet again, with a majority of Inge’s $5.5 million salary being picked up by the Tigers.

In my article, I mentioned Inge’s career slash line of: .234/.304/.387 and the fact that in his last season with the Tigers, he batted a mere .197 over 269 at-bats.

Since Inge’s big splash in Oakland and the mania that ensued, he has managed to return to his old self, batting .218 with a .294 OBP. During his time with the A’s, Inge has grounded into seven double plays and struck out 47 times in 165 at-bats. Somehow, his WAR (wins above replacement) managed to stay positive, at 0.4.

A change of scenery can do players good, but in Inge’s case, his history as a poor batter has caught up with him. It’s likely that Inge will simply be another glove in a rotating cast of third basemen for the Athletics.

For what it’s worth, Billy Beane got a deal on a veteran for the clubhouse.

(H/t Baseball-Reference.com for stats)

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You’ve heard of a pitcher intentionally walking a pitcher for strategy purposes—so how about a team asking its pitcher to intentionally balk to end a long extra inning game?

Todd Steverson, who is a hitting instructor inside the Oakland A’s organization, has been suspended by Minor League Baseball for intentionally asking his pitcher to balk. This advanced two runners into scoring position to end the longest game in the California League this season. 

This was with the Stockton Ports and, as a result, Steverson has been banned from the Stockton dugout for the next year. The Ports are a High-A affiliate of the A’s.

League President Charlie Blaney was clearly displeased toward Steverson’s decision.

“While Stockton interim manager Todd Steverson’s intent was to protect his players from injury in the 17th and 18th innings of the Stockton vs. Modesto game on June 23, 2012, he made an error in judgment by instructing his pitcher to advance three base runners via intentional balk for the purpose of expediting the end of the game,” Blaney said in a statement.”

Steverson was the interim manager on June 23 while everyday skipper Webster Garrison was on vacation. Minor League managers need a break every so often, right?

The game lasted over five hours against the Modesto Nuts and went 18 innings. Modesto scored in the 18th inning, thanks to a Helder Velazquez single that ended the marathon. Velazquez went 3-for-7 on the night.

Josh Whitaker was the pitcher who was told to commit the balks. As a matter of fact, he had three separate balks—two in the 17th and the final one in the 18th that set up the final score.

The Ports are 4-8 in the second half of the Cal League.

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Ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Tom Milone appeared to have an easy first out on a Nelson Cruz grounder to third. Instead, it became the start of a five-run fifth inning as Brandon Inge could not make a play on the ball.

The Rangers would ultimately score two runs on Ian Kinsler’s single, and then the big moment was Josh Hamilton’s 23rd home run, making the score 6-2. Texas would go on to win 7-2, now one game away from a four-game sweep in the series. 

The A’s continued to see promise from Chris Carter, who went 2-for-4, including his second home run in as many games. Inge knocked in the team’s only other run with a single in the fourth, scoring Carter to make it 2-1. But the A’s did not play their best, committing three errors overall and going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Milone took the loss to drop his record to 8-6 on the year. Of the six runs he allowed, only one was earned, a solo home run to Adrian Beltre in the second inning. Brian Fuentes continued to struggle, allowing the final run of the game in seventh inning while again throwing more balls (16) than strikes (15).

Good

Chris Carter. Despite an error at first, it appears as though Carter may be earning a chance to play much more in 2012. As he finally translates that power to the big-league level, it will be interesting to see how he adjusts for the duration of his stint in Oakland. To see him go opposite field for a home run was definitely encouraging.

Bad

Brandon Inge. The good thing is he came through with a good at-bat in a run producing situation. The bad thing is his error basically started the A’s implosion in the fifth inning. That is now five errors for Inge on the season, which for him has been all of 49 games. A little too frequent in that department.

Ugly

Brian Fuentes. It is to the point where the dreaded tag of “gas can” applies to Brian Fuentes. He has no business pitching for the A’s at this point, and only the albatross of his contract keeps him on the big league level. He has no control, not much velocity and a propensity for home runs. Other than that, he’s doing fantastic.

Sunday, the A’s will try to avoid a sweep as Travis Blackley will face of with Texas phenom Yu Darvish. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.  

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Ryan Cook has been almost lights out for the A’s this season. Tonight was not one of those nights. The San Francisco Giants overcame a 3-1 deficit with four in the ninth to beat Oakland 5-4 and take the opener of the Bay Bridge series in Oakland. Cook took the loss, while Giants reliever Clay Hensley got credit for the win. Former A’s reliever Santiago Casilla allowed Josh Reddick’s 16th home run in the ninth, but picked up his 20th save.

A’s starter Jarrod Parker went six-plus innings, allowing only a single run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Struggling Giants starter Tim Lincecum actually resembled his former dominant self after the first inning, going six innings and allowing three runs on only three hits. Lincecum struck out eight. But he did walk four batters, as his control remained elusive.

After Parker went 1-2-3 in the first, the A’s immediately struck against Lincecum. Coco Crisp led off with an infield single. He then promptly stole second and third base and scored on Jemile Weeks’ single to center field. Josh Reddick then snapped his 0-for-19 slump with a bloop single that landed just in front of Nate Schierholtz. A walk to Yoenis Cespedes loaded the bases.

Then Seth Smith hit a grounder to Giants first baseman Brandon Belt. 

Belt, instead of tagging first base for the force out, stepped over the bag and threw home, where Weeks slid home to beat the tag of backup catcher Hector Sanchez. Brandon Inge followed with a bases-loaded walk to force home the third run of the inning. To Lincecum’s credit, he stopped the bleeding, striking out Brandon Moss, Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington in order to keep the score 3-0. 

The Giants scored their run in the top of the third when, after a leadoff single by Sanchez, Parker threw a wild pitch to advance him to second. Gregor Blanco then singled to right field for the RBI, making it 3-1.

But Parker would allow nothing else, and the bullpen effort of Jerry Blevins and Grant Balfour was splendid. Cook just could not shut the door. Belt’s two run double and RBI singles by Sanchez and Blanco put the victory in the Giants’ win column.

Good: Jarrod Parker. He definitely deserved to win. Unfortunately for him, it was one of those deals where the closer just didn’t have it. But Parker was solid. He threw six-plus innings and did enough to exit with a 3-1 lead. He kept the Giants guessing with his fastball and changeup and continues to impress at home.

Bad: A’s 7-8-9 hitters. You can’t completely scapegoat the bottom of the lineup, but they do deserve some criticism. It’s is not really the overall performance (1-for-10 with five strikeouts), but the lack of production in the first inning, when the A’s could have ended the game right away. With the bases loaded and no outs, Moss could not put the ball in play. Needing only a sacrifice fly, Suzuki could not put the ball in play. And the last chance to produce, Pennington, struck out meekly. The A’s gave the Giants an opening and they took it.

Ugly: Ryan Cook. It was bound to happen. Most closers have a bad appearance or two in the course of a season. Cook’s was definitely tonight. His control was off from the beginning and walks—a season-long issue—were his undoing tonight. In total, he was charged with four earned runs. That is double the two he had allowed entering the game. This was a disheartening loss for the A’s, who appeared well on their way to getting the opener against their Bay Area arch rivals. 

Looking to bounce back from this tough loss, the A’s will send Tyson Ross against Madison Bumgarner on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

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