Kazmir, A's beat Red Sox 4-2

Kazmir, A's beat Red Sox 4-2
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette
June 19, 2014


OAKLAND–Thursday night, the Oakland A’s defended their title as the team with the best record in the majors as they beat the defending champion Boston Red Sox by a 4-2 score in the first of four games at the O.co Coliseum between the two.

Stephen Vogt and Yoenis Cespedes were the offensive stars for the A’s. Vogt was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Cespedes’ third inning home run gave the A’s a 3-0 lead through the first four innings.

Scott Kazmir (9-2, 2.07 ERA) was excellent once again, going seven strong innings–the only runs allowed coming off a two-run Dustin Pedroia home run in the sixth inning. That made the game 3-2, but the A’s tacked on a run in the seventh on a John Jaso RBI single that scored Eric Sogard from second base. Coco Crisp was thrown out trying to advance to third.

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Athletics overcome delay, beat Yankees 5-1 behind Kazmir

Athletics overcome delay, beat Yankees 5-1 behind Kazmir
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette
June 14, 2014

OAKLAND–Saturday night, a 38-minute game delay caused by the lights in left field at O.co Coliseum going out couldn’t keep the home team from beating the New York Yankees 5-1 while not at their full strength.

Scott Kazmir (8-2, 2.05 ERA) allowed just one run in six innings, the fifth time in his last seven starts he’s allowed one run or fewer as he out-dueled Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda, who the A’s (perhaps with help from the shoddy stadium) knocked out before the end of the fifth inning.

The delay came as the bottom of the fifth inning was set to begin. The A’s had a 2-1 lead at the time, and would tag Kuroda for two more as he couldn’t complete the fifth inning, going 4 2/3 IP with 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, and 3 K.

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Bullpen woes cost A’s two out of three against Indians

Bullpen woes cost A’s two out of three against Indians
Mark E. Ortega
Martinez News-Gazette
April 3, 2014


OAKLAND–The Oakland Athletics opened the 2014 regular season with some fantastic pitching from their starting rotation, but bullpen woes caused the A’s to be losers in two out of three games at home against the Cleveland Indians.

Starters Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir combined for 13 1/3 scoreless frames in the first two games.

Newly appointed ace, Gray, pitched six shutout innings without his best stuff, getting out of a number of jams that included getting a couple of force outs at home plate. He left the game knotted in a 0-0 tie, and offensively the A’s were unable to take advantage of a number of opportunities. Josh Donaldson hit a 400-foot single to deep center field that Daric Barton failed to score off of from second. New closer Jim Johnson came into the game in the top of the ninth and gave up two runs, leaving to a chorus of boos in his A’s debut.

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