O a M G - Oakland Athletics

streak of 13 consecutive stolen bases without a caught stealing from May 17 to Aug. 4…at the time, it
was the longest streak by an Athletic since Rickey Henderson had 15 consecutive steals from July 22
to Aug. 19, 1998…went 11-for-92 (.120) over a 25-game stretch from May 11 to June 9…that included
a career long 0-for-27 streak from May 22 to June 1…snapped the hitless streak with a second-inning
bunt single June 2 at Boston…then hit .414 (41-for-99) over a 31-game stretch from June 10 to July 19,
which was the second best mark in the majors over that span (Hamilton, TEX .434)…scored a careerhigh
three runs June 15 at Chicago (NL)…batted .338 in June, which was the best month of his career…
his previous best was a .313 mark in Sept., 2009…was batting .271 in 88 games through July 19 and
then hit .220 over his final 68 contests, somewhat hampered by an injured left shoulder that required
surgery following the season…had his second career two-steal game, Aug. 4 against Kansas City…also
stole two bases Sept. 27 at Los Angeles…his home run Sept. 3 against Los Angeles was his first since
April 27 at Tampa Bay, a 105-game homerless streak…it was the third longest homerless streak by an
Athletic over the last 14 years…committed an error in back-to-back games Sept. 20 and 21, the fifth time
he made an error in consecutive games.
CAREER
2009—Began the season at Triple-A Sacramento but was promoted to Oakland July 31 following the
Orlando Cabrera trade…started 60 of the A’s final 61 games at shortstop…was hitting .264 with three
home runs, 40 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 99 games with Sacramento when the A’s called and went on
to bat .279 with four home runs, 21 RBI and seven stolen bases in 60 games with Oakland…the switch
hitter batted .307 against right-handed pitching and .200 against left-handers…also had a .340 batting
average when leading off an inning, .333 during day games and .317 on the road…did not commit an
error in his first 32 games at shortstop, giving him a 35-game errorless streak dating back to 2008…that
equaled the fifth longest errorless streak by a shortstop in Oakland history and was the longest since Rafael
Bournigal had a 41-game streak from Sept. 21, 1997 to Sept. 18, 1998…then made eight errors over
his final 28 games and finished with a .971 fielding percentage…the A’s won all four games in which he
homered…made a team-leading 55 starts hitting ninth with his other five starts batting eighth…his .295
batting average in the nine spot was second best in the American League (min. 150 PA)…hit .309 with
three of his four home runs against a pitcher the first time he saw him in a game and .217 after that…had
a career-high tying seven-game hitting streak from Aug. 2 to 8 (9 for 25, .360) and hit .320 over his first
14 games…then hit .161 over his next 19 games from Aug. 15 to Sept. 4…finished the season by batting
.333 with seven doubles, three triples and two home runs over his final 27 games…hit his first Major
League home run Aug. 5 against Texas, a solo shot in the fourth inning off Vicente Padilla…tripled three
times over a 10-game span from Sept. 15 to 24…committed an error in four straight games from Sept. 23
to 26…batted .313 with a .394 on-base percentage and a .510 slugging percentage in 27 games in September…stole
27 bases at Sacramento, which ranked second on the River Cats and fifth in the A’s farm
system…was successful in 27 of 31 (87.1%) stolen base attempts…hit .323 against left-handed pitching
and .242 with all three of his home runs against right-handers…batted .232 over his first 22 games, .308
over his next 55 contests from May 6 to July 4 and .198 over his final 22 games…appeared in 77 games
at shortstop, 16 at second base, three at third base and one in left field…committed 19 errors, including
15 at shortstop for a .959 fielding percentage…hit .429 in the first inning…saw most of his action with
50 games batting ninth…stole a season-high three bases May 17 against Round Rock and added two
May 19 against the Express…had three multi-steal games for the season…collected a season-high four
hits June 27 at Las Vegas to start a season-best 10-game hitting streak…hit .436 (17 for 39) with six
doubles and 11 RBI during the streak…had a grand slam and a season-high five RBI July 4 at Reno.
2008—Began the season at Double-A Midland but finished it in Oakland where he started each of the A’s
final 19 games…was selected by the A’s Aug. 12 and went 6 for 35 (.171) with two walks and two RBI
over his first 17 games…then started at shortstop Sept. 8 at Detroit and hit .281 with seven RBI and 11
walks (.397 on-base percentage) over his final 19 games, all starts…four of those starts came at shortstop
and 15 came at second base…batted .242 with no home runs and nine RBI in 36 games overall in his
Major League debut…the switch-hitter batted .289 against left-handed pitchers and .213 against righthanders…hit
.293 during the day…made a total of 29 starts with the A’s, including 15 at second base,
eight at third base and six at shortstop…did not commit an error in 16 games total at second base (77
chances), but had one error as a third baseman for a .950 fielding percentage and four errors at shortstop
for a .867 percentage…made his debut Aug. 12 against Tampa Bay with a start at third base…doubled
in the eighth inning off Javier Vazquez Aug. 17 against Chicago for his first Major League hit…had a
two-run single Aug. 22 at Seattle for his first RBI…compiled a career best seven-game hitting streak
180 > 2011 Oakland athletics Media Guide