The 1980 Oakland A's - Rebuild #1 Continues

[motnahp]

John Mayberry hit a 2-run homer (28) in the top of the 9th to give Toronto a 2-1 win over the A's in the first game of a doubleheader. Rick Lysander pitched 7 shutout innings of 3-hit ball, but got no decision. Dave Hamilton (1-5) surrendered the homer and took the loss. Mike Barlow (3-1) picked up a relief win, while Mike Willis pitched a perfect 9th for his 23rd save.

TUE JUL 22 (1)

TOR_____2___7___0
OAK_____1___5___0

[motnahp]

Tony Armas' solo homer (17) in the bottom of the 6th provided the only offense as the A's earned a doubleheader split with the Blue Jays, 1-0. Starter Mike Norris (9-7) struggled with control problems all day. He walked 8 and struck out only one. Bob Lacey entered the game in the 7th inning with runners on the corners and no outs. He struck out Al Woods, then got the dangerous John Mayberry to ground into a double play. Lacey pitched perfect ball in the 8th and 9th innings also to earn his 8th save. Toronto's Dave Stieb (9-11) went the distance and was the tough-luck loser.

TUE JUL 22 (2)

TOR_____0___6___0
OAK_____1___5___0

[motnahp]

Dave Mckay's 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th won the game for the A's in dramatic fashion, 5-4 over the Blue Jays in one of the most exciting games of the year.

Oakland led 3-1 behind a tiring Brian Kingman. A 3-run homer by Mckay in the 4th had provided the offense. In the top of the 8th, Lloyd Moseby's solo homer (5) made the score 3-2. Two batters later, Ernie Whitt smashed a 2-run pinch-hit homer off Kingman to give the Jays a 4-3 lead. Dave Beard replaced Kingman.

Toronto still led 4-3 and turned the ball over to closer Mike Willis. Mitchell Page led off with a single, then was caught stealing. Jeff Newman drew a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Mike Davis. Mike Heath batted for Dave Revering and popped out. With two outs, Mckay took the first pitch over the left field fence for his 2nd homer of the game and 3rd of the season. The part-time infielder drove in all 5 runs. Dave Beard (2-1) collected the win. Willis took the loss and fell to 0-2.

WED JUL 23

TOR_____4___14___2
OAK_____5____7___1

Season record: 59-37, tied for 1st place in AL West with Kansas City. The Royals are .002 percentage points ahead of the A's.

Oakland takes a day off on Thursday. Players will be watching the Royals play the White Sox. After the off-day, the team flies into Detroit for single games Friday and Saturday, followed by another doubleheader on Sunday. It will be the team's 4th doubleheader in the month of July.

Update: Chicago's Lamarr Hoyt, who entered the game with a record of 3-12, pitched brilliantly against the Royals. The White Sox topped KC 5-1, putting the A's ahead of the Royals by a half-game. WOW! The Royals play a 3-game series at home against the Yankees this weekend.

[motnahp]

The A's overcame a 3-0 deficit, scoring 3 in the 7th and 4 more in the 9th to beat the Tigers. 7-3. Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy drew bases-loaded walks in the 9th. Tony Armas drove in the final two runs with a single. On the day, Armas was 3-5. Starter Steve McCatty went 8 innings and improved to 11-4. Bob Lacey pitched a perfect 9th. Jack Morris fell to 6-10 for the Tigers.

Before the game, the A's acquired 1B Orlando Gonzalez from the Phillies. He hit .316 with 1 homer and 9 RBI in 38 at-bats for Philadelphia. He has been assigned to AAA.

FRI JUL 25

OAK_____7___9___0
DET_____3___9___0

[motnahp]

The A's scored twice in the top of the 11th, on RBI doubles from Wayne Gross and Dave McKay, to beat the Tigers 3-1. Dave Hamilton (2-5) pitched a scoreless 10th and picked up the win. Jeff Jones survived a scare in the 11th, but held the Tigers off the board for his 2nd save. Dave Revering was 4-4 for the A's. Milt Wilcox (8-10) pitched into the 11th inning and took the loss.

SAT JUL 26

OAK_____3___12___0 (11)
DET_____1___10___0

[motnahp]

Tom Brookens' double with one out in the bottom of the 9th scored Alan Trammell with the winning run, as Detroit took the first game of a doubleheader with the A's, 3-2. Dave Rozema went the distance and improved to 10-11. Bob Lacey (6-3) was tagged with the loss.

SUN JUL 27 (1)

OAK_____2___9___2
DET_____3___7___0

Before the game, the A's called up 1B Orlando Gonzalez from AAA and sent down IF Mickey Klutts. Klutts was batting .225 with no homers and 5 RBI.

[motnahp]

I guess the following situation is about as close as PS comes to having a manager ejected. Normally, after I manage the A's game, I click on "Sim Through (today's date)". After managing the first game of a doubleheader, I "forgot" about the second game and clicked on "Sim Through.....". The first thing that happened was I hear "Oakland beats Detroit 2 to 1". At least the AI manager won the game for me. I'll just ass-u-me that manager motnahp was ejected from the second game while delivering the lineup to home plate.

Reviewing the Game Log: Mike Norris (10-7) went the distance and the A's scored both of their runs in the top of the 5th. Mike Edwards had an RBI double and Mitchell Page drove in the other with a sac fly. Dan Schatzeder (8-9) took the loss.

SUN JUL 27 (2)

OAK_____2___6___0
DET_____1___7___0

Season record: 62-38, 1st place in AL West, 1 ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

The A's traveled north to Toronto and pounded the Blue Jays 8-3. Mitchell Page led the way, going 3-3 with a pair of doubles and 2 RBI. Dwayne Murphy went 2-5 with 2 RBI and Dave Revering was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Starting pitcher Brian Kingman left the game with one out in the 5th inning. He had allowed only 3 hits and no runs, but suffered a calf injury and was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game. Toronto starter Jim Clancy (10-11) was touched up for 7 earned runs in only 3 1/3 innings. Dave Beard (3-1) pitched the final 4 2/3 innings for Oakland, allowing 3 runs on homers by Roy Howell (4) and Otto Velez (10).

MON JUL 28

OAK_____8___12___0
TOR_____3____7___0

[motnahp]

Toronto pounded out 17 hits and thumped the A's, 7-3. John Mayberry hit home run # 32 for the Jays. Jesse Jefferson (7-8) went the distance for the win. Oakland starter Rick Lysander (2-1) was roughed up for 5 earned runs on 12 hits in 5 innings. Craig Minetto, just up from AAA, allowed a Roy Howell triple and Mayberry's homer on his first two pitches.

TUE JUL 29

OAK_____3___11___0
TOR_____7___17___0

[motnahp]

Five Toronto pitchers combined to limit the A's to 4 hits, as the Blue Jays topped the A's 4-1. John Mayberry was 2-5, including his 33rd homer, and drove in 3 runs. Otto Velez also homered (11), and Ernie Whitt was 3-4. Tom Buskey (2-3) was the winner in relief, while Mike Willis pitched a perfect 9th to earn his 25th save. Oakland starter Steve McCatty pitched into the 8th inning, but was charged with all 4 runs on 12 hits. His record drops to 11-5.

The A's are off on Thursday. They finished the month of July with a sparkling record of 21-9.

WED JUL 30

OAK_____1___4___0
TOR_____4__12___1

Season record: 63-40, 1st place in AL West, 1 1/2 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

Standings at the end of July:

[motnahp]

Rick Langford was masterful, blanking the Indians on a 4-hitter for his 6th shutout of the season. He walked no one and struck out 7, improving to 12-6 on the season. Tony Armas provided the game's only run with his 18th homer in the top of the 5th inning off Cleveland starter Rick Waits (7-9).

FRI AUG 1

OAK_____1___4___1
CLE_____0___4___0

[motnahp]

Saturday's game against the Indians was rained out. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday.

Kansas City has lost 6 in a row. The Oakland lead is now 3 1/2 games in the AL West. Of course, no one is watching the scoreboard.[;)]

[motnahp]

Mike Hargrove doubled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th, as the Indians took the opener of the doubleheader 3-2. Wayne Garland (9-10) went 8 innings and earned the win. Victor Cruz pitched the 9th and picked up his 22nd save. Matt Keough (10-5) took the loss.

SUN AUG 3 (1)

OAK_____2___7___1
CLE_____3___6___0

[motnahp]

Jeff Newman's 2-run homer (3) in the top of the 6th was the difference as the A's took the nightcap of the doubleheader 3-2. Mike Norris (11-7) went 7 innings and got scoreless relief from Jeff Jones (1 IP) and Dave Beard (1 IP, SV 2). Dan Spillner (6-8) took the loss.

The A's return home on Monday to open a 3-game series with the Minnesota Twins.

SUN AUG 3 (2)

OAK_____3___8___0
CLE_____2___8___1

Season record: 65-41, 1st place in AL West, 3 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

Ken Landreaux drove home the go-ahead run with a double in the top of the 8th and the Twins edged the A's, 3-2. Fernando Arroyo (3-8) went 8 innings for the win. Doug Corbett pitched a perfect 9th for his 31st save. Mike Cubbage hit a 2-run homer (14) for Minnesota. Tony Armas hit his 19th for the A's. Steve McCatty (11-6) went 7 innings and took the loss.

MON AUG 4

MIN_____3___8___0
OAK_____2___7___0

[motnahp]

The A's beat Minnesota 5-3 to even the series at a game apiece. Craig Minetto started for Oakland, but had control problems. The lefty allowed only 1 run on 3 hits over 4 1/3 innings, but walked 5 Twins. Rick Lysander came out of the bullpen and collected the win. He improved to 3-1. Bob Lacey pitched the 9th and earned his 9th save. Rickey Henderson was 2-4 with an RBI, Mike Edwards 1-4 with 2 RBI, and Jim Essian 2-3 with 2 runs scored. Roger Erickson started and dropped to 10-13 for Minnesota.

TUE AUG 5

MIN_____3___6___0
OAK_____5___9___1

[motnahp]

Gary Ward's pinch-hit double gave the Twins an exciting 5-4 win over the A's in 10 innings. Oakland led 2-0 in the top of the 9th, before Ken Landreaux cleared the wall with a grand slam off Rick Langford (12-7) to give the Twins a 4-2 lead. Oakland scored twice in their half of the 9th off Doug Corbett, then had the bases loaded and one out. Mitchell Page drove one deep to center. Landreaux, playing shallow, ran quickly back, caught the ball and fired a strike to nail Mike Davis at the plate. John Verhoeven was the beneficiary of this suspect and highly unusual gift of a win. He improves to 2-3.

WED AUG 6

MIN_____5___11___0 (10)
OAK_____4___9____0

Season record: 66-43, 1st place in AL West 3 games ahead of 2nd place Kansas City

[motnahp]

Apparently still smarting from their tough loss two days ago, the A's looked lethargic at the plate and lost to Floyd Bannister (11-11) and the Mariners 5-1. Byron McLaughlin came on with the bases loaded in the 9th and struck out pinch hitter Mitchell Page for his 1st save. Matt Keough (10-6) took the loss. Jim Anderson continued to pound Oakland pitching, going 2-4 with a double and a 3-run homer (8). In an April series in Seattle, Anderson was 8 for 12 with 12 RBIs in a 3-game series against the A's.

FRI AUG 8

SEA_____5___8___0
OAK_____1___9___0

[motnahp]

Tony Armas' 2-run homer (20) in the bottom of the 5th gave the A's a 5-4 lead. They would go on to add one more and defeat the Mariners 6-4. Armas was 2-4 with 3 RBI, Mitchell Page was 3-4 with 3 runs scored, and Wayne Gross went 2-4 with 2 RBI. Mike Norris (12-7) went 7 innings and collected the win. Dave Beard (1 IP) and Bob Lacey (1 IP SV 10) provided scoreless relief. Former Oakland hurler Glenn Abbott (8-15) took the loss.

SAT AUG 9

SEA_____4___10___0
OAK_____6___13___0