Ellis talks contract extension with A's

Second bagger, Mark Ellis is in his third and final year of his contract with the Oakland A's. He reportedly will earn 5 million for this season. Ellis seems to be happy in Oakland and fits in perfectly with the team philosophy.
Mark Ellis' agent Jamie Murphy has had contract extension conversations with Oakland A's assistant general manager David Frost. Ellis said, "It's only been a couple of conversations, so we'll see where it goes from there. But it's nice we're talking."
A's general manager Billy Beane is arguably the best in baseball and spoke with Ellis about staying in Oakland before the season. "He was just kind of feeling me out a little to see if I wanted to stay," Ellis said.
The Oakland A's have had more success this year than expected by most. Going into the year, the A's were full of young players and expectations were for a rebuilding season. Ellis thoughts, "We have a lot of good, young players here, and we're always going to have a chance to win here. That's what makes me want to stay. Any player just wants a chance at winning, and it's always been that way since I've been here."
A's shortstop Bobby Crosby would like Ellis to stay as well, "He makes my job easier. Obviously, I'd love to have him here next to me as long as possible."
Ellis would like to see something done before the end of the year, "If I were to stay here, I'd rather it get done before the season ends. If you're happy somewhere and you have a chance to stay, might as well just get it done." His response is typical of Ellis, get the small things right and the game will take care of itself.

Hitless Dodgers win

For only the 5th time in Major League Baseball history a team held hitless for the game still gets the victory. That's what happened Saturday night between the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. Angel pitchers Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to keep the Dodgers hitless in the game. The Dodgers scored a run in the fifth inning on a pair of errors by the Angels. Dodger pitchers Chad Billingsley, Jon Broxton, and Takashi Saito combined for an Angel shutout.

Giants unleash the runs

The San Francisco Giants ripped off 11 runs Sunday afternoon to beat the Oakland A's 11 to 1. A's pitcher Joe Blanton continues to struggle he allowed eight hits and seven runs in four innings pitched. Blanton's record is now 4 wins and 11 loses with a 4.97 ERA. Blanton's explanation after the game, ''It's kind of hard not to be frustrated. It was just another standard day for me. I felt well going out but the numbers looked like crap by the end of the day. It's like it's over before you know it. That's how it's been this season for me.'' That about sums it up.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a walk.

Giants win pitching duel

San Francisco Giant pitcher Tim Lincecum threw an amazing game Saturday against the Oakland A's getting the win 1 to 0. Lincecum pitched seven shut out innings allowing only five hits and striking out 11. Lincecum picked up his ninth victory of the year against just one loss. Justin Duchscherer got the loss, allowing only one run on two hits. ''It's one of those games that you hope to win when you throw a game like that,'' Duchscherer said. "You just have to tip your hat to the other guy. I felt good coming into the game and I thought I made some good quality pitches.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Beating Giants

For the seventh time in a row, the Oakland A's bested the San Francisco Giants 4 to 1 on Friday night. Dana Eveland pitched 7 1/3 innings for the A's allowing only one run on five hits. The A's pitching continues to be amazing, leading the entire league with a 3.35 ERA.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 2 with two walks on the night.

A's Harden sharp in victory

The Oakland A's Rich Harden pitched eight innings giving up two hits and striking out 11 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. Harden's era is 2.15 on the season. Oakland A's manager Bob Geren on Harden's night, ''I can't think of a more dominating performance than that one. When he's on, he's almost un-hittable.'' The A's took 2 of 3 from the Phillies in the series.
Second Bagger Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. Ellis has been in a slump since going 3 for 5 and getting ejected on Sunday.

Phillies slow A's down

Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick pitched eight innings allowing four hits and no runs. Kyle's pitching was lights out, leading his team to a 4 to 0 victory over the A's. "It was nice when we scored in the first,'' Kendrick said. ''That kept things pretty loose. Everything was pretty smooth until the eighth. It felt like I threw more pitches then the rest of the game.''
Mark Ellis returned from illness to line up in the lead-off spot and went 0 for 4 with two strike outs.

A's beat National League Phillies

The Oakland A's Emil Brown three run home run in the seventh inning to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night. Mark Ellis was ill and did not play.

Ellis gets tossed?

The Oakland A's handed the Florida Marlins a 7 to 1 loss on Sunday. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Mark Ellis was ejected from the game after throwing his helmet and making a jester of distaste for the called third strike by the umpire. Oakland A's manager Bob Geren rushed to Ellis' defense and was also ejected from the game. "I think it was more of a miscommunication," Geren said. It was the first ejection of Ellis' career.
Mark Ellis was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored.

Marlins win 6 to 4

The Florida Marlins beat the Oakland A's 6 to 4 on Saturday night. Dan Uggla had a three run double in the ninth off of A's closer Huston Street to win the game.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 walks.

A's take on the Marlins

Second baseman Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins were in town to begin a three game interleague series with the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. It turned out to be a real dandy of a game with the A's edging out the Marlings 7 to 6 in the 11th inning. Kurt Suzuki came through in the clutch with a walk-off single. Mark Ellis was 0 for 5 with two strike outs.

National League Florida Marlins second bagger Dan Uggla is batting .297, OBP .377 and has 23 home runs.

Diamondbacks take series with A's

The Arizona Diamondbacks Justin Uptown pounded a home run in the eighth inning to take the lead and capture a 2 to 1 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday afternoon. The Diamondbacks took the series with the win and continue to lead the National League West over the Los Angeles Dodgers by 4.5 games. Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with a run scored and a walk.

Diamondbacks stirke back

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Dan Haren has been looking forward to meeting up with his old team the Oakland Athletics since being traded in the off season. On Wednesday night he throw a gem to welcome his old friends to Arizona allowing one run on four hits in seven innings pitched. He also recorded a three run double lifting the Diamondbacks over the A's 11 to 1. Second baseman Mark Ellis was hit on his left hand by a pitch in the eight inning. It does not appear to be a major injury. A's manager Geren said,"it's not a real concern at the moment." Before the injury, Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 with two strike outs.

A's rattle the Diamondbacks 15 to 1, Ellis homers twice

The Oakland A's lead by second baseman Mark Ellis' two home runs, scored 15 runs to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in interleague play Tuesday night. Ellis put on an offensive exhibition going 3 for 4 at the plate, scoring four runs, driving in four runs, and walking twice. 2006 Cy Young award winner, Brandon Webb pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks allowing seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. Justin Duchscherer pitched for the A's and was pretty stiff allowing only one run on five hits in eight innings pitched. Teammate Mark Ellis talked about Duchschere as a possible All-Star team pitcher, "I don't know who our All-Star is going to be, but he deserves it as much as anybody. It's fun playing behind him." Mark also talked about his two home run night, ''Tonight felt good. It's a nice ballpark to hit in. The ball carries real well.'' Ellis said he was expecting more of a pitching battle tonight with Webb being one of the best this year, "You kind of expected more of a pitchers' duel tonight. We were able to take advantage of some pitches." The A's are three games back of the Angels for first place in the American League West.
The second bagger continues to poor it on in the month of June. Ellis is batting .309 with 10 runs scored and 8 rbi's for the month.

A Giants sweep for the Athletics

Dana Eveland pitched the Oakland A's to 5 to 3 victory over the Giants on Sunday. The A's completed the series sweep and moved to within 3.5 games of the division leading Angels. Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with a run scored.

Make it two in a row against the Giants

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain tallied eleven strikeouts but allowed three earned runs in seven innings pitched on Saturday night against the Oakland Athletics. The A's Rich Harden would best Cains performance allowing only one hit and no runs through six innings picking up the win 4 to 0. Mark Ellis was 2 for 5 with a run scored and assisted with two double plays.

Interleague play

In the seasons second scheduled interleague play, the Oakland A's beat the San Francisco Giants 5 to 1 Friday night. Former A's pitcher Barry Zito received the loss allowing six hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings. He talked about his struggles since leaving Oakland, ''I can't sit around and pity myself and get depressed. I can't afford that luxury.'' Since leaving the A's and signing a $126 million dollar contract with the Giants his won/loss record is a dismal 13-23.
The second bagger Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a walk.

Grand slam by Matsui

Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the New York Yankees the lead and a 4 to 1 victory over the Oakland A's on Thursday night. Mark Ellis scored the games only run for Oakland. Ellis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Yankees score three in the ninth to lose 8 to 4

Justin Duchscherer throw seven innings allowing one run and one walk beating the visiting New York Yankees 8 to 4 on Wednesday night. The A's scored six runs in the third inning alone. The Yankees made the score look better than it was by tallying three meaningless runs in the top of ninth. Oakland A's second baseman Mark Ellis was 1 for 3 with a run scored an rbi and a walk.

Yankees get the best of the A's in seasons first meeting

The Oakland A's grounded into four double plays on the way to dropping the seasons first meeting with the New York Yankees 3 to 1. Yankees pitcher Chien Ming Wang allowed only one run and seven hits in 7 innings pitched. Oakland's only run came from an rbi double by the second bagger Mark Ellis. Ellis was 3 for 4 with an rbi.

Ken Griffey Jr hits 600th home run

Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th career home run on Monday night against the Florida Marlins. Baseball fans have been waiting for this historical moment since Griffey hit number 599 on May 31st. He is the sixth man to reach the 600 home run plateau and now joins the greatest long ball hitters of all time Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth. Some say Griffey would be the Home Run King if he hadn't missed the equivalent of four seasons due to various injuries. He is 38 years old and will probably have a few seasons left before retiring and becoming a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Grand freaking slam for Ellis and a walk off victory

For the second time this season, Mark Ellis homered to capture an A's victory. With two outs, in the bottom of the 12th-inning, Ellis hit the first pitch from Angels pitcher Chris Bootcheck off the left field foul pull for his third career grand slam and a 7 to 3 victory. ''Off the bat I thought I got it, then it took a hard left and I wasn't sure,'' Ellis said. ''This one I had my doubts about. We really needed that.'' The A's prevented the sweep by capturing the series finale. "It would have been tough to lose all three games,"Ellis said. "That's the best part of baseball, you always have another at-bat." Ellis finished the game 2 for 6 with a run scored and 4 rbi's.
The walk-off grand slam wasn't the only unusual happenings in the game. Oakland pitcher Rich Harden threw exactly nine pitches in the first inning striking out the side. He is the first A's pitcher to accomplish the feat since Lefty Grove in 1928.
A's pitcher Brad Ziegler pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief to record the victory. After the game he was super excited about being a part of the historic game, keeping the lineup card as a keepsake. "This is the kind of game you're never going to forget. I've never seen a walk-off granny before," he said.

Angels pitching shines again

Angels Pitcher John Garland pitched seven innings allowing five hits and two runs with eight strike outs in Saturday nights victory over the Athletics 5 to 3. The A's managed only three runs on seven hits and struck out ten times. Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 at the plate.

Los Angeles 3 Oakland 1

Los Angeles Angels Pitcher John Lackey out dueled Oakland A's Joe Blanton in Friday night's American League West showdown. Lackey allowed only one run on four hits in seven innings pitched, while Blanton gave up three runs on seven hits in seven innings. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia summed up the great pitching after the game, ''Joe Blanton pitched well and is always tough on us. John Lackey matched him pitch for pitch and we were able to get a lead and hold on. John has really found his groove since he came off the disabled list. His stuff has always been sharp since he came back.''
Oakland must string together some wins against the Angels if they hope to keep it close in their division. Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 in the game, but contributed on two double plays.

American League Standings through June 5, 2008

American League
West	W-L	GB
Los Angeles	37-24	-
Oakland	33-27	3.5
Texas	31-31	6.5
Seattle	21-39	15.5
Central	W-L	GB
Chicago	33-26	-
Minnesota	31-29	2.5
Cleveland	27-33	6.5
Detroit	24-35	9.0
Kansas City	23-37	10.5
East	W-L	GB
Boston	38-25	-
Tampa Bay	35-25	1.5
Toronto	32-30	5.5
New York	30-30	6.5
Baltimore	29-30	7.0

SWEEEEEP!

The A's swept the Tigers with a 10 to 2 win on Wednesday. The Tigers continue to struggle and the A's continue to play the game well, taking what the opposition gives them. Tiger Pitcher Nate Robertson allowed five runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Mark Ellis was 0 for 4 with a walk for the Oakland A's.

Athletics pull it out in eleven

The Oakland Athletics pulled out another one run victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, winning in eleven innings 5 to 4. Two nights in a row Oakland has used clutch hitting to get a late run for the victory. Last night, Jack Cust hit an infield single allowing Kurt Suzuki to score the winning run. The Tigers were hunted by walks allowing 10 in the game. Manager Jim Leyland after the game, ''The walks killed us. Their walks burned us. We should have scored 10 runs. We can't make the mistakes we made and win major league games.''
Mark Ellis was 1 for 5 with a walk batting lead off for the A's.

Oakland A's 3 Detriot Tigers 2

Bobby Crosby's single in the ninth inning proved to be the difference on Monday, as the A's beat the Tigers 3 to 2. ''I was looking for a fastball over the plate and he threw me a split on the first pitch,'' Crosby said. ''He made me look foolish. It was awful. Once it went to 1-1 I thought he had to throw a fastball.''
Mark Ellis, in the first inning, hit a sacrifice fly to give the A's a 1-0 lead. As Ellis does often, he knew the situation and put the ball in play which in turn put his team in position to win.
Mark Ellis was 1 for 2 with a walk and an rbi.

The Second Bagger Statistics May 2008

	Batting Avg	On Base %	Slugging %	Runs	Home Runs	Fielding Errors
Mar/April	.261	.331	.378	12	2	1
May	.213	.333	.377	10	2	1
Total	.237	.332	.378	22	4	2

Mark Ellis statistics through May.

Sunday baseball game

The Oakland A's were in Arlington to take on the Rangers, Sunday afternoon. The Rangers held the lead 7 to 4 through the sixth, then in the top of the seventh Oakland rallied for nine runs. Mark Ellis lead off with a single, then a walk by Travis Buck, Carlos Gonzalez doubled Ellis home. Seven runs later, Ellis was up once again. He battled with Ranger pitcher Tejeda through 12 straight pitches before homering to left. ''You know you're going to get some hits when you come here, and it's not because of the pitchers,'' Ellis said after the game, referring to the hitter friendly Arlington Stadium.
Josh Hamilton hit his 15 home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Mark Ellis 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a rbi.

Texas 8 Oakland 4

Josh Hamilton hit a 3 run home run to lead the Rangers over the Athletics 8 to 4 on Saturday afternoon.
Mark Ellis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.