The 1979 Oakland A's - (54-108)

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Amos Otis drove in U.L. Washington with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, as the Royals got by the A's, 6-5. Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0) pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. The Oakland bullpen failed again, allowing 3 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Hal McRae was 3-4 with a homer (7) and 3 RBI. For the A's, Derek Bryant was 3-5. Mitchell Page hit his 7th homer and Tony Armas belted his 17th. Jim Todd (2-3) took the loss.

WED JUNE 27

OAK_____5___11___1
KC______6___14___0

[motnahp]

Make it 7 losses in a row for the A's, as Kansas City won 9-7 to complete a 3-game sweep. The Royals jumped all over A's starting pitcher Mike Norris (4-9), roughing him up for 9 hits and 5 runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Kansas City led 8-0. Oakland stormed back in the 5th, scoring 7 times. After KC added an insurance run in the bottom of the 5th, the A's never threatened again. Lary Gura survive the 5th-inning outburst and went the distance, to improve his record to 10-6.

Before the game, the A's recalled IF Mickey Klutts from AAA and optioned P Alan Wirth.

THUR JUNE 28

OAK_____7___12___0
KC______9___17___0

Season record: 24-55, 7th place in AL West, 11 GB 6th place Seattle

[motnahp]

The A's opened a series at Texas with their 8th loss in a row, a 10-1 blowout. Oscar Gamble's grand slam in the 8th off Bob Lacey put the final nail in the coffin. Bump Wills was 3-4 with 2 RBI. The lone Oakland run came on rookie Derek Bryant's solo homer, his 5th of the season. Danny Darwin (8-2) went 7 1/3 innings for the win. Steve McCatty (4-10) gave up 6 runs in 7 innings and took the loss.

FRI JUNE 29

OAK_____1___6___0
TEX_____10__14___0

[motnahp]

Texas handed the A's their 9th straight loss, 6-4. Richie Zisk homered (9) and was 2-5. Bump Wills went 3-5. Doyle Alexander started, went 8 1/3 innings, and improved to 7-7. Jim Kern got the final two outs for his 17th save. Matt Keough (2-9) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs. Former Ranger Dave Chalk was 3-3 with an RBI.

SAT JUNE 30

OAK_____4___9___0
TEX_____6___13__1

Season record: 24-57, 7th place in AL West, 11 GB 6th place Seattle

[motnahp]

Rick Langford provided much-needed pitching help, as the A's snapped their 9-game losing streak by blanking the Rangers 4-0. Langford (6-8) allowed 8 hits, struck out 4, and didn't walk a batter. All of the Oakland runs came via the long ball. Tony Armas (18) and Wayne Gross (6) went back-to-back in the 2nd. Dave Revering (5) went deep in the 6th. For Texas, Fergie Jenkins (4-11) took the loss. Al Oliver was 4-4.

SUN JULY 1

OAK_____4___7___0
TEX_____0___8___1

[motnahp]

The A's opened up a 4-game series in Anaheim against the Angels with Craig Minetto on the mound, opposed by Nolan Ryan. Luckily, games aren't won or lost on paper. Oakland beat the Angels 5-1, knocking Ryan (10-7) around for 8 hits in 8 innings. The fireballer also walked 5 and struck out 10. Minetto (2-2) survived a shaky start. The lefty allowed 6 hits in the first two innings, but escaped without a run scoring. He ended up going 5 1/3 innings and allowing 9 hits, with the only damage coming on a 6th inning solo homer by Dan Ford (4). Brian Kingman held the Angels to two hits in 3 2/3 innings of relief to earn his first save. Wayne Gross was 2-4 with 2 RBI for the A's.

MON JULY 2

OAK_____5___10___0
CAL_____1___11___0

[motnahp]

The Angels pounded the A's today, 8-1. The A's still have not won 3 in a row this season. Jim Barr (9-5) went the distance for California. He was helped by backup catcher Tom Donahue, who tripled and had 3 RBI, and Carney Lansford, who hit a 3-run homer, his 9th. Oakland starter Mike Norris held California off the board through the first 4 innings, but the Angels erupted for 4 in the 5th and 4 more in the 6th. Norris went 5+ innings, allowed 10 hits and 6 runs. He was relieved by Dave Heaverlo, who promptly allowed 2 of his own runs to score and gave up Lansford's homer.

TUE JULY 3

OAK_____1___8___0
CAL_____8__11___0

[motnahp]

Tony Armas blasted two home runs (19 & 20) and drove in 3. Wayne Gross was 2-3 with 4 RBI, as the A's held on to beat the Angels, 8-7. Oakland led 7-3 after 7 innings, before California scored 2 in the 8th to cut the gap to 7-5. Armas' solo homer in the top of the 9th made it 8-5 and would prove critical, as Brian Downing hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th. Steve McCatty went 7 1/3 innings and allowed 5 runs. He improves to 5-10. Dave Hamilton gave up the 2 runs in the 9th, but earned his 4th save. Don Aase (6-9) took the loss. Rick Miller (3), Bobby Grich (17) and Don Baylor (12) also homered for the Angels.

The A's sold OF Miguel Dilone to the Chicago Cubs. Dilone was batting .263 with 0 homers and 5 RBI. His speed (15 stolen bases) will be missed. The A's recalled OF Joe Wallis from AAA. Wallis was hitting .306 with 8 HRs and 46 RBI at Tacoma.

WED JULY 4

OAK_____8___12___0
CAL_____7____9___1

[motnahp]

The California Angels earned a split of the 4-game series with a 7-1 thumping of the A's. Frank Tanana (9-3) went 9 innings and got home run support from Carney Lansford (10), Dan Ford (5), and Brian Downing (7). Oakland starter Matt Keough (2-10) lasted only 2 1/3 innings and was charged with 7 earned runs. Brian Kingman turned in his second straight good relief outing, allowing 2 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Keough is headed to the bullpen and Kingman is primed to return to the rotation.

After a 3-7 road trip, the A's return to the Coliseum for a 9-game homestand before the All-Star Break. The Yankees, Orioles, and Red Sox will come calling.

THUR JULY 5

OAK_____1___10___0
CAL_____7___13___0

Season record: 27-59, 7th place in AL West, 9 GB 6th place Seattle.

[motnahp]

Luis Tiant (7-3) shut down the A's in a complete game effort, 5-2. Willie Randolph was 3-5 with 3 runs scored. Jim Spencer, also 3-5, drove in a pair. Oakland's Jeff Newman was 3-3, including his 6th home run. Starter Rick Langford (6-9) allowed 4 runs in 6 innings.

When does Raider camp open? Isn't it football season yet?

FRI JULY 6

NYY_____5___12___0
OAK_____2___8____0

In all the excitement of the latest losing streak, the All-Star team selections were made on June 29th. The lone Oakland representative is lefty reliever Dave Hamilton. At the time of his selection, Hamilton was 2-4, with a 3.19 ERA and 3 saves. Congratulations, Dave.

[motnahp]

Tony Armas drove in all 4 runs with a 3-run homer and a groundout, as the A's topped the Yankees 4-1. Craig Minetto (3-2) was excellent on the mound, going 7 innings and allowing only 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5. Bob Lacey and Jim Todd pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings, respectively, with Todd earning his 4th save. Ed Figueroa (7-7) took the loss.

SAT JULY 7

NYY_____1___7___0
OAK_____4___3___0

[motnahp]

Mitchell Page belted a 2-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 10th to give the A's an exciting 4-2 win over the Yankees. Page's blast, his 8th of the season, came off Tommy John (6-7) and made a winner of Dave Hamilton (3-4), who pitched 3 innings of hitless relief. New York took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 6th on solo homers by Jim Spencer (14) and Bobby Murcer (5). Spencer's blast, off Oakland starter Mike Norris, traveled an estimated 465 feet. The Yankee lead held at 2-1 until the bottom of the 7th, when A's shortstop Rob Picciolo smacked his 4th homer of the season to tie the score at 2-2.

SUN JULY 8

NYY_____2___8___0
OAK_____4___9___1

Season record: 29-60, 7th place in AL West, 8 GB behind 6th place Seattle

[motnahp]

Eddie Murray's 3-run homer with 2 out in the top of the 9th put the Orioles in the lead, spoiling the A's attempt at 3 straight wins. Oakland starter Brian Kingman was superb into the 8th inning. The A's lead was 3-1. After a 1-out single, Kingman was replaced with Matt Keough. Two hits and a walk later, the score was 3-2 and the bases were loaded. Manager motnahp gritted his teeth, popped three Tums, and called on Dave Heaverlo. The hairless one struck out Rich Dauer and then faced Doug Decinces. The Oriole 3B lined one down the left field line.....no.....it was speared by Wayne Gross and the inning was over. Oakland was ahead 3-2. Then came the 9th inning.....

Heaverlo retired Rick Dempsey and pinch hitter John Lowenstein on fly balls. The A's were one out away from their first 3-game winning streak! Bumbry walked. Roenicke also drew a walk. Manager motnahp went to the mound and called on.......Rick Langford. Rick had pitched 6 innings 3 days ago and was "A Little Tired" (53%). Manager motnahp figured that 53% of Langford was better than 100% of Jim Todd. The dangerous Eddie Murray deposited Langford's second pitch over the right field fence and Baltimore was ahead 5-3.

Dwayne Murphy provided a brief glimpse of hope in the bottom of the 9th. Apparently miffed at batting 9th in the order, Murphy hit his second solo homer of the game off Steve Stone (8-9). The A's could do no more damage, though, and fell 5-4. What a heartbreaker.

MON JULY 9

BAL_____5___10___1
OAK_____4___11___0

[motnahp]

Steve McCatty went the distance in his best performance of the season, as the A's knocked off the Orioles 3-1. Jim Palmer (3-1), who has missed most of the season with a hand injury, also went the distance and took his first loss of the season. Dave Revering homered for the A's, his 6th of the season. Lee May (11) homered for Baltimore.

TUE JULY 10

BAL_____1___6___1
OAK_____3__10___0

[motnahp]

Dwayne Murphy tripled, homered (8) and drove in five runs to pace the A's past the Orioles, 7-4. Before the game, Oakland optioned OF Mike Heath to AAA and recalled P Mike Morgan. Morgan started and was tapped for 11 hits and 4 runs as Baltimore jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Matt Keough relieved Morgan in the 5th and shut the Orioles down the rest of the way. Dave Revering (7) also homered for the A's. Dennis Martinez (11-7) was the losing pitcher.

WED JULY 11

BAL_____4___15___0
OAK_____7___9___0

Season record: 31-61, 7th place in AL West, 7 1/2 GB 6th place Seattle

[motnahp]

It took 93 games, but the Oakland A's have their first 3-game winning streak of the season after dumping Boston 5-1. Rick Langford went all the way to improve to 7-10. The A's middle defense turned 3 double plays behind Langford. Lead-off man Mitchell Page went 2-4 with 2 RBI and a stolen base. He seems to have found a home in the #1 spot. Dennis Eckersley (10-8) took the loss for the Red Sox.

FRI JULY 13

BOS_____1___10___1
OAK_____5___13___0

[motnahp]

Mike Torrez tossed a 6-hit shutout and the Red Sox snapped the brief winning streak of the A's, 4-0. Torrez (10-8) walked 5 and struck out 7. Jim Dwyer hit his 1st home run of the season for Boston. Craig Minetto (3-3) allowed 3 runs in the 1st inning and took the loss.

SAT JULY 14

BOS_____4___10___0
OAK_____0____6___0

[motnahp]

Bob Stanley (8-8) fired a complete game 7-hitter and the Red Sox took the series, beating the A's 7-3. Boston played long ball, getting homers from Fred Lynn (23), Jim Rice (18), and Butch Hobson (15). Carlton Fisk was 3-4 with 2 RBI. Mike Norris started for the A's and was roughed up for 6 runs in only 4 2/3 innings. He falls to 4-11.

Before the game, the A's activated IF Mario Guerrero. Mario had missed the last month with a shoulder injury. To make room for Guerrero, P Mike Morgan was returned to AAA. Going back to the farm with Morgan was OF Joe Wallis. OF Rickey Henderson was recalled.

SUN JULY 15

BOS_____7___11___0
OAK_____3____7___0

Standings at the All-Star Break:

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Leading hitters:

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Leading pitchers (ERA):