It was a very entertaining pitching battle, until the Braves did what the Braves do in the 4th inning. 7 runs including a 3 run homer by Sean Murphy, then on the very next pitch, Marcell Ozuna blasted one out of the park to the amazement of the over 36,000 fans at Wrigley Field.

Yes, even the Cubs fans themselves were surprised, yet frustrated at the same time for obvious reasons. In the 7th inning, Austin Riley smacked a solo shot of his own for the 8th and final run of the ballgame.

All of the attention though was on Max Fried, who through all 6 innings of his first game back from his strained forearm, never allowed a run. The Braves fans in attendance were very pleased to see him return. What a show he gave them, including 8 strikeouts. Recently acquired Brad Hand from the Rockies, and Joe Jimenez followed suit with no runs allowed in the 7th and 8th innings respectively. As Collin McHugh closed out the game for the shutout in the Windy City on a beautiful afternoon. That Braves bullpen sure is terrifying. Their offense isn’t half bad either.

The post Braves’ Max Fried Amazes in Shutout, Offense Dominates in 8-0 Victory Over the Cubs appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Yet it is now time to mock the first five rounds of the 2023 MLB Draft for the Athletics.

No.6 Jacob Wilson, SS, Grand Canyon

He set program records for career hits with 224 and RBI 155 and set a single season record for batting average in 2023 when he hit .411. Even better though is his eye at the plate in 620 at-bats between 2022 and 2023 he struck out only 31 times.

In 2023, he also won the 2023 WAC Defensive Player of the Year.

No.39 Jake Gelof, 3B, Virginia

A familiar name for the Athletics. His older brother was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2022 MLB Draft by Oakland. Gelof in 2023 hit 23 home runs, drove in 90, walked 48 times, had a batting average of .321 and an OBP of .427.

No.41 Hunter Owen, SP, Vanderbilt

Strong is one word to describe Owen, who is 6’6″ and 261 pounds. His fastball sits between 92-94 miles-per-hour yet has reached 97 miles-per-hour. He throws a curveball and a slider and moved from a relief pitcher to a starter.

He made 12 starts in 2023, went 4-0, with 76 strikeouts to 17 walks, and his ERA was 3.52.

No.72 Tanner Witt, SP, Texas

Though he struggled with injuries in 2023. In 2020 he was highly touted out of high school. Witt has added 20 pounds to his 6’5″ frame and his fastball sits between 92-95 miles-per-hour. During the 2021 season he spent his season in the bullpen for the Texas Longhorns. He went 5-0 with an ERA of 3.16 in 57 innnings of works, he also saved five games, and struck out 73 while walking 25.

No.103 Steven Milam, SS/2B, Centenniel (NM)

Currently, undersized at 5’8″ 165 pounds, Milam has drawn comparisons to another Louisiana State University commit, Alex Bregman.

Though he is not likely going to develop power, he does have the ability to become a prototype no.2 hitter who sprays the ball to all fields. Depending on the team he will likely get moved from shortstop to second base.

No.139 Jake Cunningham, OF, Charlotte

According to his scouting report, Cunningham possesses some of the best all-around tools in the college class. Between 2022 and 2023 he did hit 27 home runs and drove in 93. He also, can steal bases and has a strong arm in center field.

The post 2023 MLB Mock Draft: The Oakland Athletics First Five Rounds appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Was it surprising for A’s fans? No. Maybe the perfection part, yet being no-hit? No. In fact there are likely more to come with their current lineup. Only good thing was that at least it was a blow out, Yankees scored 11 runs. German finished with nine strike outs and lowered his ERA to 4.54 on the season. It was also fitting that Estuery Ruiz grounded out to third basemen Josh Donaldson a former Athletic for the final out of the game.

Still if Major League Baseball had a competent commissioner, a perfect game tonight does not likely happen. The current roster for the Athletics is the worst in baseball and it is not surprising the team is 40 games under .500. It is made up of one talented prospect Ruiz, Shea Langeliers who was acquired in the trade that sent Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves has struggled and has failed to impress offensively, and the remainder are either utility infielders or Triple-A talented outfielders.

With the exception of Carlos Perez who has done surprising well in his limited action as backup catcher. Similar to the season Christian Bethancourt had in 2022.

Pitching the Athletics have three starting pitchers with eras that are well above six, opening day starter also acquired in the Olson deal struggled mightily and continues to in Triple-A, Paul Blackburn has pitched well since returning from the injured list, Sears before tonight had a decent 4.10 era, and Hogan Harris has been up and down as the team’s long reliever. Luis Medina has not been good as a starter or as a reliever and his era is 6.84.

Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami is one of the highet paid players on the Athletics roster. He failed as a starter and is now in the bullpen yet he continues to struggle though his era is actually at its lowest of the season at 10.04.

Sam Moll and Sam Long have done well as the lefty relievers in the bullpen, Richard Lovelady was as well before ending up on the injured list. Austin Pruitt has done reasonably well, Trevor May has been solid since returning with a 2.70 era and four saves since May 23. Their most impressive pitcher has been Lucas Erceg who has a 2.25 ERA and has struck out 25 in 20 innings of work in 16 appearances since being purchased from the Milwaukee Brewers.

So with the pitching struggles and less than stellar talent offensively, expect a few more no hitters to get thrown against the Athletics.

The post It Was Only A Matter Of Time For The Oakland Athletics appeared first on INSCMagazine.

I remember watching afternoon games on TV listening to Greg Papa and Ray Fosse when I lived in the Bay Area. Even though during those years especially in the mid 1990s, not being good. Got to see Geronimo Berroa and Matt Stairs beging to make a name for themselves. Both hitting over 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs. Obviously, there were some anger inducing trades as well with Jose Canseco getting sent to the Texas Rangers and Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals.

A’s fans all know about the home run chase involving McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The two were the reason fans came back to baseball after the strike in 1994.

During this time the A’s drafted well with Jason Giambi winning an MVP though he also deserved one in 2001. Miguel Tejada was one of the best offensive short stops in MLB right up there with Alex Rodriguez and ahead of Derek Jeter. Eric Chavez in recent memory is the only A’s player to get a long contract extension, did he deserve it? Yes. He was one of the best offensive third basemen in MLB and defensively right up there with Scott Rolen at the time. Unfortunately injuries derailed his career.

When it came to pitching the Athletics had the big three of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, and Mark Mulder. All three had seasons with 20 or more wins, one won a Cy Young and the other two came in second in voting.

By 2004 Mulder and Hudson got traded and Zito after the 2006 season wound up signing with the San Francisco Giants.

Oakland did not find much success until 2012 and the signing of Yoenis Cespedes happened. He was fun to watch, fans showed up. Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick, and Josh Donaldson became a household name for A’s fans along with Brandon Inge who seemingly came up with big hit after big hit with runners in scoring position. The question of who was going to start at first base was finally over as well.

Still the winning didn’t last long and by 2015 the roster turned over once again.

When it came to the draft, the A’s did not perform as well as previously. Sonny Gray was really the only pitcher of late that performed well, and he got traded to the New York Yankees. Position players there have been a few more such as Matt Chapman who was tremendous defensively won a platinum glove, Matt Olson was good for the most part, Marcus Semien was kept too long and was not that great defensively at short stop, and Sean Murphy not a good hitter and arguably has the worst at-bat in A’s franchise history.

Starting Pitcher Chris Bassitt being traded in 2022 to the New York Mets also hurt.

Then there is this season where it was clear Fisher and team president Dave Kaval hardly put an effort to put out a competitive team this year. As of the game tonight the A’s sit at 19-50 for the season and that is with a seven game winning streak.

Quite possibly one of the most important dates in the team’s history in Oakland was the reverse boycott. Which drew 27,759 fans, with many shouting sell the team. There was a moment in the top of the fifth inning when the crowd went silent and then in unison the crowd go loud. At one point A’s pitcher Hogan Harris was not able to hear his pitch com device, and you can see the grin on the face of catcher Shea Langeliers.

Last night, that one grin from Langeliers proved what A’s fans have known all along. Fisher is the problem, if there was an owner that actually cared about the direction of the franchise, we would absolutely show up. Yet there is too much outside noise that places blame on the fans when that is the furthest thing from the truth.

Still what is horrible is that MLB did not say anything about it on social media, MLB Network, or on MLB.com. A clear sign that Athletics fans are not being listened to.

For me, I have not had many chances of late to get to the coliseum. 2015 was the last time I went, the A’s faced the Colorado Rockies. Yet I wish I was able to go to the Reverse Boycott yet could not. Still as a teenager after moving to the pacific northwest I would follow how the A’s were doing by reading the sports section in the morning. Also, I would watch on TV when taking on the Seattle Mariners and on occasion go see them play at Safeco. When I went to college on the east coast, spent a number of late nights watching those late west coast games and even took a trip to New Yankee Stadium to see a game as well.

Now that I’m in Texas, I have gone to games in Arlington and Houston.

Another memory that stands out for me is that of catcher Stephen Vogt. It took him a while to get his first Major League hit his chant will always remain engrained in A’s fans heads which is “I believe in Stephen Vogt, I believe in Stephen Vogt.” Of course his first hit was a home run and how did he finish his career? With a home run.

While the A’s have not had much postseason success of late. Pat Neshek returning to the mound was one of the best moments of late for all of MLB. Unfortunately it was under tragic circumstances, yet I will never forget the raw emotions he let out.

For those who are unaware of the situation or are on the outside looking it. Simply put A’s fans are simply tired of cheering for fan favorites only to have them leave far too soon. Will also leave you with examples of what the Coliseum was like last night. The reactions of Eric Byrnes, Dallas Braden, Stephen Piscotty, and Billie Joe Armstrong were incredible.

One last thing for now. Mark Kotsay’s comment on the @Oakland68s Right Field Drums returning was pretty cool. #Athletics https://t.co/KFHZDfVIiM pic.twitter.com/iRPDCTin9X

— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) June 14, 2023

The Coli is POPPIN’! #HandlingTOWNBiz pic.twitter.com/XyBJdB9apx

— Dallas Braden (@DALLASBRADEN209) June 14, 2023

#OAKtogether
pic.twitter.com/IWPXr7Dusq

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) June 14, 2023

As planned A’s fans were standing and silent during the first batter of the fifth inning

They then broke into “sell the team” chants so loud that the pitcher thought his earpiece was broken pic.twitter.com/NI2sRLmPjV

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 14, 2023

The post Opinion: The Oakland Athletics Belong In Oakland appeared first on INSCMagazine.

So when spring training ended and the opening day roster was announced it was shocking that Rooker made the opening day roster over Cristian Pache. On social media many voiced their displeasure with the decision.

Pache seemingly earned a spot. His defense is outstanding, makes spectacular plays defensively, and hit well in the spring with a .302 batting average and eight rbi. Also, he was a key name in the Matt Olson trade to the Atlanta Braves.

The one impressive part to Rooker’s spring was that his on-base percentage was tremendous at .471, other than the great eye at the plate he did not hit for power, no home runs and was not driving in runs with three in 39 at-bats.

What made Pache expendable was the power potential of Rooker thoughand with Esteury Ruiz was locked in on the center field spot, so he became the odd man out.

In 2022 Rooker started the season in Triple-A for the San Diego Padres organization before getting traded to the Royals in August. He hit a combined 28 home runs, drove in 87 in 81 games, along with 27 doubles, a batting average of .289 and a OBP of .395.

While with the Minnesota Twins Triple-A team in 2021 he hit 20 home runs in 62 games. Pache rose through the minor league system of the Braves, yet the most home runs he hit were 11 in 2021, also in the same season he hit 15 doubles which was also a career-high for him.

Surprisingly for once a decision by the A’s has worked out well. Rooker has excelled in 2023 and currently leads the American League in home runs with 11, OBP at .428, slugging percentage .673, OPS 1.100, and he has driven in 29 which ranks seventh. Also, he has hit seven doubles.

Rooker continued his incredible start to the season with a walk-off three-run home run to beat the Texas Rangers 9-7 in 10 innings late Friday night. Major League Baseball even shared the clip on Twitter right after it happened. Not bad for someone that barely made the opening day roster.

The post 2023 Oakland Athletics: Outfielder Brent Rooker Continues As Lone Bright Spot appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Mitch Keller took the hill on a warm day in Pittsburgh in hopes to get the Bucs back on track. He surrendered a two out hit to Pirates killer Kris Bryant which was his 1000th career hit in the top of the first. After striking out Ryan McMahon to end the inning the Bucs came up to bat trying to get their ice cold bats going. Ke’Bryan Hayes led the bottom of the first off with a sharp single to center and went nowhere after that. Bryan Reynolds made a loud out with a deep line drive to center, A strike em out throw em out double play ended in the inning with Andrew McCutchen at-bat.

In the second inning Keller did it all first by striking out two and then taking care of a soft dribbler back to the mound. The Bucs ace was dealing early in this game. During the bottom of the second inning it was more of the same for the Pirates with two two loud outs from Carlos Santana and Connor Joe. Even though the offense has been struggling it seemed their confidence was not lacking and eventually turn it around.  

As for Keller he kept on  dealing. After a fly out to left and another strike out, he found himself in danger after a Charlie Blackmon double yet  Jurickson Profar hit a weak line drive up the middle that shortstop Chris Owings handled with ease.

The Pirates set the stage in the bottom of the third with Jack Suwinski drawing a walk after a nice battle at the plate and Owings singling to left. That brought up backstop Austin Hedges who attempted to lay a sacrifice bunt down which resulted in a force out of Suwinski third. That brought up Hayes again who grounded into a double play. 

After retiring Bryant on a comebacker, Keller got a lineout to center by McMahon, and a line out of former Buccos backstop Elias Diaz. Still the Bucks kept hitting the ball hard that  shortstop Ezequiel Tovar made plays on and the inning ended via strikeout on an automatic strike call on Santana for not beign ready in the box.  

Rockies first basemen Mike Moustakas led the fifth off with a line drive up the middle for a single yet was quickly eliminated when Tovar grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing which eliminated any potential threat. Santana redeemed himself by robbing Harold Castro of at least a single on a hard hit ball that he laid out for. The Pirates started the bottom half of the inning with Joe grounding out to third before second baseman Rodolfo Castro walked and Suwinski singled bringing up Owings who prior to the start of that inning recorded one of the Bucs’ only two hits. The count went full yet he struck out and the inning ended on a caught stealing.  

Brenton Doyle did not waste time to start the top of the sixth as he swung at the first pitch and flew out to Joe in right. Blackmon followed it up with a flyout to left, which left Keller with two outs on three pitches. He proceeded to then walk Profar which brought up Bryant for his third at-bat of the evening and he sent a sharp line drive to right to put runners on first and second and McMahon coming up to hit with the best opportunity for the Rockies. 

Keller had gotten himself  in trouble yet was able to get himself out inducing McMahon to ground out to Santana.

Hedges opened the bottom half of the sixth lacing a double to the wall in deep center to start off the bottom of the sixth and bringing the top of the lineup up. Hayes singled on a ball that shortstop Tovar laid out for yet lost it on the transition to throw the baseball. The trouble was quickly erased as Reynolds hit into a double play. McCutchen drew a four pitch walk bringing up Santana again who hit into a fielder’s choice to end another prime opportuntity to put runs on the board. 

For the top of the seventh Keller kept dealing with Diaz grounding out, Moustakas and Tozar struck out.

Joe singled to right to start of the bottom half of the seventh inning and the Bucs were able to put runs on the board as Castro hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot which ended the scoreless game.

Colorado’s starter Kyle Freeland who was still in the game bounced right back with a strike out of Suwinski and a groundout from Owings. Doyle then robbed Hedges of what was likely his second double of the night with a diving catch to end the inning. 

Continuning his brilliant performance, Keller made quick work of the first two hitters of the top of the eighth. Getting a ground out from Castro and a deep fly out of Doyle. Blackmon got caught look to end the inning. Daniel Bard relieved Freeland in the eighth.

Freeland’s final line  was seven innings pitched, two runs both earned, seven hits and four strikeouts. As for Bard he walked Hayes. Reynolds got the Bucs fans excited with a flyout to the deepest part of the park. McCutchen was up next put up a nice battle before finally striking out.

Hayes then got aught stealing for a second time in the game and resulted in the ending of the bottom half of the inning.

The stage was set for the young Buccos ace, Keller as he returned to the mound in the ninth looking for a complete game shutout. He started off strong by striking out Profar on three pitches. Bryant came up already with two hits yet this time flew out to right field. With one out remaining the Bucs’ home crowd came to life. McMahon was the last man between the Pirates and a win, and he ended up hitting a weak grounder up the middle to Castro who took care of it easily.

With Keller’s dominant performance he picked up the first complete game for the Pirates in 2023 and it was also the first of his career. He ended up giving up only four hits and striking out eight and his performance is definitely worthy of more than a gameball.

The post Bucs Roundup 5/8 appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Lately the Pirates have been red hot and look like a team to watch out for later in the season. This series had a ton of highs and maybe just one low. The Buccos faithful got to see their team sign its first $100 million dollar player in franchise history, and a 33-year-old journeyman make his MLB debut. 

Coming into this series the Pirates were on a league-leading seven-game winning streak and had announced the eighth-year contract extension given to outfielder Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning and Buccos faithful thought a win was in the bag. Yet after a few shaky innings by Pittsburgh relievers and a blown save opportunity, trailed 8-7 going into the ninth. Former Pirate Shelby Miller came in and slammed the door getting Connor Joe looking to end the game. 

Fast forward to the middle game of this series and Buccos’ starter Roansy Contreras had his best stuff working. He held the Dodgers hitless through five innings and exited the game after the sixth and only surrendered two hits.

Contreras though was outshined by the story of the night which ended up being 33-year-old Drew Maggi who spent 13 seasons in the minor leagues and played over 1,100 career games before getting his opportunity to make his MLB debut. Well, Wednesday night he finally got to say he was a big leaguer and pinch hit for Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the eighth. With the crowd behind him, and what seemed like the entire city of Pittsburgh simultaneously he fought back his emotions and stepped into the batter’s box at PNC Park.

While Maggi’s first at-bat ended in his first career strikeout the ovation, the crowd chanting his name, and the overall atmosphere will always be a day he remembers.

In the rubber match of this series, the Pirates drew a tough matchup against Julio Urias who had the lowest ERA in the NL last season. The Dodgers pulled an equally tough task going against Buc’s ace Mitch Keller who to this point had strung together four straight quality starts. The Buccos seemed unphased going up against the normally dominant Urias as they tagged him for three runs in the first and another three in the sixth.

Joe and Rodolfo Castro went back to back against Urias which chased him from the game after 5.2 innings and six earned runs. That was enough for the Pirates bullpen to shut it down. David Bednar got brought in even though it was a non-save situation to get some work in after not pitching since April 23rd which was an appearance against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Looking ahead the Pirates head to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals and then to Tampa to take on the Rays before heading home for a series starting on Cinco De Mayo against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The post Bucco’s Series Roundup 4/27 appeared first on INSCMagazine.

With the season less than a month old there have been several big stories that have drawn the ire of fans. One was the recent announcement of a binding agreement between the Oakland Athletics and the city of Las Vegas to purchase land to build a ballpark, Max Scherzer being suspended 10 games for using a foreign substance, Juan Soto struggling with the San Diego Padres, new rule changes, and attendance issues with a number of teams including the San Francisco Giants setting a record for lowest attendance since Oracle Park opened in 2000.

So Maggi has become a blessing in disguise for baseball. He has spent 13 seasons in the minor leagues and played 1,155 games, before getting an at-bat tonight. He came out swinging too, as he fouled off a pitch, though with the new rules got called for not being in the box, and struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt.

Also, Maggi when it is all said and done, gets to tell the story how in his first major league at-bat he pinch hit for Pirates legend, Andrew McCutchen. The reaction at PNC Park was amazing, as he received a standing ovation. Fans were also chanting his name “Maggi, Maggi, Maggi” throughout the at-bat.

Reactions on social media showed how great and inspiring the moment was.

WE ARE ALL CRYING.

This legit feels like a scene in a movie. That’s how beautiful it is. pic.twitter.com/YqWI8xugLW

— Emily Giangreco (@EmilyGiangreco) April 27, 2023

Why Baseball is AWESOME! Congratulations! https://t.co/J7msyOjocR

— Will MacNeil (@RFWill149) April 27, 2023

Thirteen years in the minor leagues, one “Moonlight” Graham-esque call-up to MLB in which he never got a plate appearance … and tonight, Drew Maggi finally stood in the batter’s box in a major-league game. Awesome. https://t.co/x5xdEEDTWr

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) April 27, 2023

According to Pirates intrepid PR man @PKurish, Drew Maggi will be on Good Morning, America tomorrow.

— Dan Zangrilli (@DanZangrilli) April 27, 2023

The post Opinion: For Major League Baseball The Drew Maggi Story Is A Welcome Distraction appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Reynolds was greeted with a warm welcome from the crowd as soon as his walkup music started.

Youngster Roansy Contreras was on the bump for this middle game opposing Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin who made his 2023 debut.

The first two innings went by quickly with both team going hitless and only drawing one walk each, and stranding that runner at first. Dodgers second baseman Miguel Vargas kept the Buccos hitless after Connor Joe hit a rocket towards second that had two bases written all over it. In the top of the third Joe returned the favor with a sliding catch to rob Dodgers designated hitter David Peralta of a hit.

Pirates catcher Jason Delay broke up Gonsolin’s no hit bid and recorded the first hit for either team in the third with a single to center and setting the table for the top of the Buccos’ lineup. Leadoff man Ke’Bryan Hayes followed up with a walk only to be erased on a ball hit by Reynolds which ended up being a 4-6-3 double play.

With Contreras dealing for Pittsburgh the offense was looking to get some run support and that started during the fourth doing just that. Carlos Santana singled to center and advanced to second on a walk from Jack Suwinski which ended up chasing Gonsolin with Joe coming to bat.

Phil Bickford came in and worked quickly striking out Joe for the second out. Santana and Suwinski stole third and second respectively before the inning ended with a weak pop-up by the Pirates shortstop Rodolfo Castro.

Roansy got himself into a bit of jam in the top of the fifth walking  Vargas who later stole second yet worked out of it by keeping the Dodgers at bay. Buccos speedy outfield Ji Hwan Bae then led the bottom of the fifth off with a single to center and stole second base to temporarily give the Pirates the most steals in all of baseball. Delay then executed a sacrifice bunt perfectly and got Bae to third. Hayes followed up by walking which brought up the Buc’s big money man, Reynolds who laced a ball into leftfield to drive in the Pirates first run of the evening and advancing Hayes to third. Former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen then came up to the plate with runners on the corners a blooped a single into right field driving home another run for Pittsburgh, which forced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to pull Bickford. Justin Bruhl came in and quickly escaped trouble by getting Carlos Santana to ground in to a fielders choice and then getting Suwinksi to fly out to left field to end the inning.

Dodgers backstop Austin Wynns ended Contreras’ no hit bid in the top of the sixth with a bloop single to right center which was followed by a Mookie Betts strike out and single from first baseman Freddie Freeman. This set the stage for the biggest at bat of the night for the Dodgers with runners on first and second and center fielder Jason Heyward up to bat. Roansy quickly fell behind 3-0. Yet was bound and determined to work himself out of the jam he got himself in and fought his way back to a full count.

A deep fly foul ball gave the Dodgers fans a little hope before Heyward ultimately hit a sacrifice fly to right field advancing Wynns to third. With runners on the corners and two outs rookie slugger James Outman stepped to the plate and put a charge in one right to center fielder Suwinski to end the inning and get the Bucs out of trouble.

The Pirates got the sticks back to work in the bottom of the sixth, after a Joe strikeout, Castro doubled, and Bae singled to put runners on the corners with Delay coming to bat.

Delay hit a comebacker to the pitcher that bounced off of Bruhl’s glove and scooted away for an infield single. The inning ended with a double play induced by new Dodgers pitcher Yency Almonte.

The Pirates had the Dodgers in the same spot for the second night in-a-row going into the seventh. Contreras turned the game over to his bullpen after six scoreless innings and Robert Stephenson came in and didn’t blink an eye.

Vargas hit a weak comebacker to Stephenson to start the inning, followed by a strike out by Michael Busch and last night’s hero Chris Taylor up to bat, who lined a single to left field setting the table for Peralta who popped out to Reynolds to end the inning.

The Pirates continued to add on in the bottom of the seventh inning after Reynolds reached base on a hit by pitch, a Santana walk, and single by Suwinski loaded the bases for fan favorite who grounded into a fielder’s choice as Reynolds got thrown at out home for the second out. Castro lined a ball into left plating two for Pittsburgh and blowing this game wide open. Bae drove in the Pirates sixth run with a ground ball to third and a hustle play by Tucupita Marcano to score from second on an infield hit after Dodgers catcher Austin Wynns was called for blocking the plate.

After two more stolen bases by Castro and Bae, Buccos backstop JDelay laced a double down the left field line emptying the bases.

After the Pirates put a crooked number up in the bottom of the seventh scoring five, the Buccos were able to give setup man Colin Holderman the night off. Dauri Moreta came in for the eighth and put away leadoff batter Wynns on a ground ball to the shortstop Castro. Mookie Betts then came to the plate and rolled a ball over to Hayes who made it look easy ranging to his left fielding and throwing out the former MVP. Freeman got the goose egg off the board with a solo home run to deep right center and putting the Dodgers on the board.

Moreta got back into his groove and struck out Heyward easily sending the Buccos to the bottom of the eighth with a big lead.

The eighth inning ended up being a special inning not for Reynolds who led the inning off with a high pop to right field. No history was witnessed with Drew Maggi making his MLB debut after 13 seasons in the minors and 1,155 minor league games. When the career minor leaguer got announced he came out to a standing ovation, and a roar from the crowd who chanted “Maggi, Maggi, Maggi” for his entire at bat.

Maggi came out hacking looking for that first big league hit yet hitting a ball foul, then instantly being called for a delay for not being ready in the box. Unfortunately for him he is still searching for that illusive first career hit after striking out on a pitch in the dirt.

Moreta came back out of the dugout in the ninth in hopes to shut down the Dodgers and send the Buccos faithful home happy. With a quick strike out of  Outman he was in firm control. An extended at bat from Vargas ended in yet another punch out, and with the rookie Busch up to bat as the Dodgers last hope and like his teammates before him he struck out, this time to end the game.

Like that the Buccos are back in the win column and remain a game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. In the rubber match of this series Buc’s ace Mitch Keller toes the rubber against southpaw Julio Urias who looks to cool down the Pirates hot bats.

The post 4/26 Buccos Roundup appeared first on INSCMagazine.

Late last night when many fans of the Athletics were asleep the organization made an announcement about their future plans for building a stadium. Here is what it said. “The A’s have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a future ballpark in Las Vegas. We realize that this is a difficult day for our Oakland fans and community.

For more than 20 years, the A’s have focused on a new home for the Club, and have invested unprecedented time and resources for the past six years to build a ballpark in Oakland. Even with the support from fans, leaders of the city, county, and state level, and throughout the broader community, the process to build a new ballpark in Oakland has made little forward progress for some time. We made a strong and sincere effort to stay here.

We recognize that this is very hard to hear. We are disappointed that we have been unable to achieve our shared vision of a waterfront ballpark. As we shift our focus to Vegas, we will continue to share details about next steps.”

The mayor of Oakland Sheng Thao responded by saying “it has become clear, that were are not able to reach acceptable terms, and that the A’s have not been engaged in good partners in these efforts. At every opportunity the A’s have made increasing demands on Oakland, and at every opportunity we have risen to the challenge and overcome the hurdles placed before us. Instead of working with us, they have announced a land deal in another city. And I want to be very clear, this announcement happened mid-negotiatons, and it shows they had no interest in reaching a deal with Oakland at all. Oakland is not interested, in being used as leverage in the A’s negotations with Las Vegas and it is disrespectful to our residences and our fans to string this city along this way. We will not continue discussions under these circumstances and will instead work for a development deal that actually creates opportunties for Oaklanders and includes partners that are committed to the success of our city, our communities, or residences, and our businesses.”

For many A’s fans it was a matter of time before the announcement of Las Vegas was going to happen. Even with the announcement of Howard Terminal many showed little hope that it was going to ever happen and of course they were right. I was in the minority and hoped that it was going to happen. Anyone associated with baseball knows where the Athletics belong, which is in Oakland.

Las Vegas does not deserve any of the history of the Athletics organization. Reportedly team president Dave Kaval has said “the Las Vegas A’s has a nice ring to it.” No, it absolutely does not.

As for the simple solution, it is easy. Fisher needs to sell the team and then bid to become the owner of an expansion team in Las Vegas.

We all know that Fisher never wanted to keep the A’s in Oakland. That was a given, apparently there is more information that is going to come out in the coming days about what happened in the negotiations between the Athletics organization and city of Oakland. For most fans it is likely going to become vomit inducing or most likely even more angry.

Yet what really makes it worse is that Major League Baseball (MLB) does not care about the fans of Oakland. I have seen so much blame for what is happening due to fans not coming out to the Oakland Coliseum and every year this argument gets refuted.

A’s fans were unwilling to support an owner who continously cried poor, took hand outs from MLB when revenue sharing was in place, and when the franchise would develop, sign, or acquire fan favorites, it did not take long to find said player traded for prospects who never panned out.

See the Josh Donaldson trade to the Toronto Blue Jays for a perfect example. Still A’s fans got to hear the excitement about the likes of Franklin Barreto and then find to come out their ability to play defense was suspect. So, they were hardly ever given an opportunity.

This year though it is worse, the A’s team right now is hardly competitive with few bright spots in the lineup. Esteury Ruiz is one of them and recently called up Mason Miller is the other. Even with that being said a small group of loyal fans continued to attend games, and there was even talks about on June 13th of a reverse boycott which was to show that A’s fans have no problems with attending games in Oakland and sending a message to Fisher and MLb  the only reason they chose to stay away is because of Fisher.

As for me the only hope that I have now is that there is someone or a group of investors willing to make an offer to Fisher to buy the A’s that he cannot refuse. The Athletics also  deserve much of the blame for leaving cause they never seemed like they wanted to stay yet the city of Oakland is not innocent and it is quite despicable that the two sides could not come to an agreement.

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