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Rangers Spoil A’s Kickoff To Final Homestand

Published

11 years ago

September 17, 2014

Oakland, CA – The final homestead of the season didn’t get off to a great start. The A’s fell apart, Scott Kazmir lasted only four innings and the defense collapsed. They still remain one-game ahead in the American League Wild Card despite falling 6-3 to the Rangers in game one of the series.

“It’s disappointing more than frustrating ,” said Bob Melvin. “We just didn’t look like we were ready to play tonight for whatever reason defensively. Got beat all the way around unfortunately. I thought we’d come ready to play tonight.”

Jake Smolinski was activated off the disable list on Tuesday and blasted a two-run homer to center field. It was his first Major League home run. He sparked the Rangers offense in the fourth when they took a 3-0 lead. Texas has now won four straight games.

It’s their second longest winning streak of the season. Oakland on the other hand, just came off from winning the best of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. They won back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks yet the Rangers looked better. The A’s flatlined in the fourth giving Texas many opportunities.

“It’s hard to say, sometimes you just come out and things happen,” Brandon Moss said. “There’s never a rhyme or reason why you make errors defensively. Sometimes you just have those games where your defense or offense isn’t there. I don’t have an explanation for it.”

Lowrie’s two errors were costly, Ryan Rua was safe at first on a late throw by the shortstop to kickoff the fourth. Rua reached base and Adrian Beltre scores on his second error in the fifth. That fueled another three-run scoring inning. Kazmir tossed 4 1/3 frames, surrendered nine hits on six runs and threw two wild pitches to cap off a frustrating night.

“It’s tough,” said Kazmir. “I feel like that was a game that just doesn’t happen. Just doesn’t happen in September when you’re in a pennant race. You just don’t play like. To be honest I’ve never seen anything like that before at a Major League level.”

He put two on in the corners and struck out Leonys Martin to end the threat in the second. Kazmir held Texas scoreless despite throwing two wild pitches and a throwing error on catcher Derek Norris. But the A’s rallied back when Adam Dunn hit a double and Nick Tepesch issued a free pass to both Moss and Lowrie.

The bases were loaded in the fourth with one out. Josh Reddick’s sacrifice fly put Oakland on the board. Norris hit a RBI single and an error by the shortstop Elvis Andrus advanced both runners to second and third. The A’s trimmed the lead by one run and Moss added on another run with his solo shot in the sixth.

“You have to put it away the next day and come out with enthusiasm and expectations to win,” Melvin said.

The Rangers were too far ahead with three-runs scored in both the fourth and the fifth for the victory. Tepesch went six innings earning his first win since Aug 6th. He allowed three runs on five hits. The runs support backed a good day of pitching for Texas.

“Another great pitching performance.” Rangers manager Tim Bogar said. “It all revolves around the starting pitcher and they have been good for four days in a row.”

Kazmir was chased off the mound after Robinson Chirinos sacrifice fly extended Texas lead 5-2. The bullpen came in and gave up their last run on Rougned Odor’s RBI single. After that Oakland’s bullpen pitched four scoreless innings. Thanks to the Kansas City Royals losing tonight the A’s still remain one game ahead in the American League Wild Card.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke