Josh Willingham hit a walk-off, three-run homer off A’s closer Brian Fuentes to rally the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory Tuesday and send his former team to its seventh straight defeat. Three A’s pitchers combined on a shutout until the ninth, when Jamey Carroll singled and Denard Span walked ahead of Willingham, who blasted a 1-0 sinker from Fuentes (2-1) into the Twins’ bullpen in left-center. Willingham signed with the Twins in the offseason after he hit .246 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs for the A’s last season. Read More

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s comments last week about the A’s and their future contained nothing new, but that didn’t stop local media from exploding over it, on TV and radio and in newspapers. Everyone had an opinion. Unfortunately, virtually all of those opinions ignored the facts. On KCBS radio, I heard somebody saying this issue had to be resolved because Major League Baseball was hemorrhaging money. Really. I guess he hadn’t heard that MLB profits are at an all-time high. Read More

OAKLAND — A struggling A’s offense followed up Tuesday’s one-hit performance by mustering only three base knocks in an extra-inning loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. The Angels topped the A’s 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum after Alberto Callaspo delivered a two-out double in the top of the 11th that brought a pair of tiebreaking runs across the plate. “What did we have? One hit last night, three hits today — and one of them leaves the ballpark for the only run,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve just got to swing the bats better.” Read More

Right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder, the A’s announced Sunday. The move is retroactive to May 18, the day after his last start. The A’s replaced McCarthy on the roster by recalling right-hander Jim Miller. McCarthy, who went on the DL for the seventh time in his career, has a 3-3 record with a 2.95 ERA in nine starts this season. Read More