Fansided

MLB All-Star Game: Jeter, top storylines from the first half

By Jeff Weisinger

Jun 20, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) takes the field against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 20, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) takes the field against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 13, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Jed Lowrie (8) heads towards home plate to score a run off a RBI single hit by Oakland Athletics center fielder Craig Gentry (3) (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 13, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Jed Lowrie (8) heads towards home plate to score a run off a RBI single hit by Oakland Athletics center fielder Craig Gentry (3) (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports /

Return of the Bay

Oakland, San Francisco jump to hot starts to the season

If someone were to tell you that Oakland would have the best team in baseball going into the All-Star break, you would completely believe that person, right?

What if the same person told you that the San Francisco Giants, winners of two of the last five World Series (2010, 2012), were also one of the hottest teams in the league to start the season?  Completely believable, right?

Well, whatever they are drinking in the Bay Area, it’s worked so far.  At least, for Oakland.

Oakland has the best record in baseball entering the break (59-36) and enters the All-Star break in first place in the AL West for the second year in a row.  The A’s have carried that bit of bragging rights throughout the entire season so far and have the look of a team on a mission to play more than five games in October.  The two-time defending American league West champions came firing out of the gate in April, starting their 2014 campaign with an 18-9 record.

They were also the first team to 30, 40 and then 50 wins in the Majors.

Oakland enter the All-Star break winning seven of their last 10 games thanks to the best pitching staff in the American League.

Jul 11, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum (55) pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 11, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum (55) pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports /

Oakland’s pitching staff has the best team ERA in the American League (3.09, second overall in the Majors) and has held hitters to the second lowest batting average (.231) in the Majors as well.

But wait, there’s more!  Oakland entered the season losing both starters A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker to Tommy John surgery during Spring Training, forcing the A’s to find two starters to take their place.  While they found two placeholders in the rotation, Billy Beane pulled the trigger on July 4th to acquire two legitimate starters in the Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, officially filling the holes left by Griffin and Parker.

But the A’s aren’t just pitching great, they are hitting just as well.  Oakland is hitting .251/.328/.400 going into the break with 98 combined home runs (sixth in the Majors) and have scored a total of 466 runs (second best in the Majors.)  Oakland has a new set of bash-brothers in Brandon Moss, Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes who have crushed a combined 55 home runs for the A’s with Moss leading the way among the three of them with 21 homers so far this year.

On the other side of the Bay, the San Francisco Giants opened the season with the same firepower as their cross-bridge rivals, but a skid in June where the Giants went 10-16 set them back to just a 52-43 record, second in the NL West and just a game behind rival L.A. for the lead in the division.

However, winning three of their last five going into the break will definitely help keep the Giants alive as they look to return to the postseason for the first time since their 2012 title run.

The season has been highlighted by injuries and some inconsistency throughout the first half of the season, as the Giants went without second baseman Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt for a good chunk of the first half.  However with a starting rotation now back to full health, something that was a staple in the Giants title runs throughout the decade so far, San Francisco could be the favorite to represent the NL in the Fall Classic.

Tim Lincecum has been huge for the Giants going into the break.  “The Freak” has pitched six quality starts in the last seven outings, recording 1.86 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings during the stretch.  Toss in his second career no-hitter against the Padres on June 25th, and he looks like (at least as of late) he’s pitching as the two-time Cy Young award winner of old? With all of that said, how about that possibility of a Bay Bridge World Series… again?  This fall would mark the 25th anniversary of the infamous 1989 Bay Bridge World Series that the A’s won and was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. Baseball can be a funny sport sometimes, one that is chock-full of stats, facts, and so on.  With both teams over 50 wins entering the break and considered as two of the top teams in the west, it wouldn’t be surprising if we had a rematch of the ’89 Series this October. Let’s just hope there’s no earthquake this time around.

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