Latest news with #AssociatedPressWESTSACRAMENTO
Fox Sports
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Athletics place All-Star SS Jacob Wilson on the 10-day IL with a fractured left forearm
Associated Press WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Athletics placed All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a fractured left forearm. The 23-year-old Wilson was hit on his left hand by a pitch in the first inning of a 10-1 victory over Atlanta on July 8. The rookie is batting .105 (4 for 38) in his last 10 games. Wilson, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft, hasn't played since he went 1 for 3 in a 15-3 win at Houston on Friday. The IL stint was made retroactive to Saturday. The A's also recalled infielder Darell Hernaiz from Triple-A Las Vegas before their game against Seattle. Hernaiz, 23, hit .305 with four homers and 50 RBIs in 96 games with Las Vegas this season. Wilson, the son of former big league infielder Jack Wilson, and A's teammate Nick Kurtz are two of the top contenders for AL Rookie of the Year. Jacob Wilson is batting .312 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs in 94 games. ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 3
Fox Sports
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Jeff Bittiger, former major league pitcher and longtime Athletics scout, dies at 63
Associated Press WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jeff Bittiger, a pitcher who played four seasons in the major leagues and spent the last 22 years as a scout in the Athletics organization, died Saturday morning, the A's announced. He was 63. The team did not disclose a cause of death. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Bittiger made his major league debut for Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 1986. The 5-foot-10 right-hander went 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 33 appearances for the Phillies, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. He pitched his last major league game in 1989 for Chicago, and the A's said he continued to play independent ball until age 40. As an area scout for the A's, Bittiger signed right-hander Andrew Bailey, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2009, and he was part of the team's professional scouting staff for the past decade. 'Jeff spent his whole life around the game: playing, coaching, and scouting. He was as good a person as he was a scout, and he was a hell of a scout,' Billy Beane, a senior adviser to Athletics owner John Fisher who previously served as the club's general manager, said in a statement. 'He knew pitchers inside and out and you could tell how much he loved baseball just by being around him.' ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 2
Fox Sports
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Soderstrom, Kurtz and Wynns homer as the A's beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3
Associated Press WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Soderstrom, Nick Kurtz and Austin Wynns each hit a two-run homer, helping the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Sunday. Jeffrey Springs (8-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball in the win. He struck out five and walked none. The A's won for the third time in four games. They are 41-57 at the All-Star break in their first year in Sacramento. Davis Schneider and Addison Barger homered for AL East-leading Toronto, who finished with four hits and three errors. The Blue Jays (55-41) dropped to 13-4 in their last 17 games. The A's jumped in front in the second. With Gio Urshela aboard after a leadoff single, Wynns hit a one-out drive to left off Jose Berrios for his sixth homer. Kurtz hit a leadoff double in the third and scored on Soderstrom's 18th homer, a 410-foot drive to center on a 1-2 sinker. Soderstrom hit a total of 12 homers in his first two years in the majors. The Blue Jays got one back when Schneider hit a solo shot in the fifth. But Kurtz went deep in the bottom half after All-Star Jacob Wilson reached on a throwing error on reliever Tommy Nance. Wilson and Kurtz are two of the leading contenders for AL Rookie of the Year at the break. Wilson is hitting .332 with nine homers and 42 RBIs, and Kurtz is batting .257 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs. Berríos (5-4) permitted four runs and five hits in three innings. He went 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA in his previous four starts. recommended Item 1 of 3
Fox Sports
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer hopes performance against the A's is just the beginning
Associated Press WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Max Scherzer, for one night at least, offered a throwback performance. He stifled Athletics hitters for five innings on Friday night before finally running into some trouble in the sixth, but even then he limited the damage before exiting in a 7-6 Toronto victory. Scherzer (1-0) finished with eight strikeouts while allowing five hits. 'He was dominating areas up and down and out,' Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. 'He is who he is for a reason.' Scherzer claimed his first victory since July 25 last year when he pitched for Texas and the Rangers defeated the Chicago White Sox 2-1. Injuries didn't help. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened last season on the injured list after undergoing back surgery. Then shortly after recording that victory against the White Sox, he spent more than a month on the IL because of shoulder fatigue. Scherzer signed a $15.5 million, one-year contract with the Blue Jays in the offseason, but again experienced health issues. He went on this 60-day IL because of an injured thumb. 'My body's good,' Scherzer said. 'As long as my thumb is healthy, I can be myself. I can pitch like this. It's all about my thumb.' This was his fourth start since rejoining the rotation, and Scherzer made the most of it. He struck out five consecutive batters at one point and shut out the A's over five innings, allowing just singles to Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom. The A's began to get to Scherzer in the sixth, with Kurtz hitting a two-run home run and Soderstrom getting a solo shot. Those homers cut the Blue Jays' lead to 7-3, but Scherzer induced a flyout to Miguel Andujar to end the threat. 'It's my first time at 90 pitches, lengthening my arm out for the first time to the sixth inning this year," Scherzer said. 'Get acclimated to that pitch count and hopefully get rolling. I'm happy about this, especially when we win. When I get my chance after the (All-Star) break, keep this going.' Schneider said he thought the break came at a good time for the 40-year-old Scherzer. 'Hopefully, he can build off of this and get him out there pretty regularly,' Schneider said. 'I think reshuffling the rotation if we can to give him a little more rest would be great. I'll take him on the mound any day of the week.' __ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 3
Fox Sports
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Max Scherzer wins for first time in nearly a year as Blue Jays hold on to beat the A's 7-6
Associated Press WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Max Scherzer struck out eight batters and allowed five hits over six innings to win for the first time in nearly a year, and the Toronto Blue Jays scored six unearned runs in the fifth inning to beat the Athletics 7-6 on Friday night The AL East-leading Blue Jays have won 13 of 15 games. Scherzer (1-0) became the first Toronto pitcher 40 years and older to win since R.A. Dickey on May 4, 2015, and fifth in team history. It also was the first victory for the three-time Cy Young Award winner since he and the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on July 25 of last year. Toronto first baseball Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled with one out in the fifth for his 1,000th career hit. A's starter Luis Severino (2-11) showed flashes of why he was signed to a $67 million, three-year contract in December, striking out eight batters. But Severino, 1-7 with a 7.34 ERA over his past eight starts, also allowed seven hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Blue Jays left fielder Joey Loperfido, who has gone 5 for 14 with five RBIs, was scratched because of an illness. Sacramento native Nathan Lukes moved from center field to left and Myles Straw started in center. Key moment The Blue Jays led 1-0 entering the fifth when George Springer reached on a one-out error by second baseman Zack Gelof. He later took home on a double steal when catcher Shea Langeliers dropped the throw from shortstop Max Muncy. That was the first of six runs in the inning that gave Toronto a 7-0 lead. Key stat Scherzer struck out five consecutive batters during one stretch. Up next Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (6-6, 4.13 ERA) goes against Athletics LHP Jacob Lopez (2-5, 4.26) in the second of the teams' three-game series. __ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 3
