BY J.A. SCHWARTZ With Houston enjoying a 9.5 game lead over the A’s and rolling to a third straight division title as they arrive in Oakland for a four game weekend series, the Astros pitching philosophy has become the cornerstone of their sustained success in the AL West. But what …

BY RICK PORCARO The Giants post season hopes were dealt another blow Wednesday afternoon as they fell 4-1 to Washington, completing a three-game series sweep for the Nationals. Washington didn’t waste any time jumping on Giants starter Shaun Anderson (3-4, 5.33), manufacturing a run in the first on a Juan …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ Most of the attention around the trade deadline is rightfully focused on the teams that are in contention for a playoff berth, and whose roster machinations in search of the perfect combination of talent and opportunity drives the news cycles in late July. It was wonderful theatre …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Mike Fiers pitched 5 2/3 solid innings to earn his 10th win of the season as the A’s scored a 8-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday night at Oakland Coliseum for their fifth win in six games. Oakland took advantage of the early wildness of Cardinals starter …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER 42 years after debuting as a punk band in Wales named The Toilets, Mike Peters and The Alarm’s spiritual journey touched down at The Regency in San Francisco Friday night, returning to the city where they played their first US show as openers for U2 in 1983 …

BY MASON BISSADA Kim Petras Wednesday night concert at the Mezzanine in San Francisco, the fitting final U.S. stop on her Broken tour, was a euphoric, rave-like wonder. Petras, who first came onto the pop-scene with her hit “I Don’t Want It at All,” sold out the SoMa venue/night-club and …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Matt Chapman’s two run eighth inning home run came at a perfect time to break out of a 1-27 slump, giving the A’s a 5-3 come from behind win over the Milwaukee Brewers in a battle of playoff contenders at the Oakland Coliseum Thursday afternoon. The win keeps Oakland …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ With the A’s standing at 61-47, holding the second Wild Card position in the American League, just 1/2 game ahead of Tampa and 7 1/2 games behind the West leading Astros in the division race, Oakland GM Billy Beane has made multiple efforts to strengthen his team’s …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Home runs by Javier Báez, Kris Bryant and Albert Almora Jr. set the tone for an off day for Tyler Beede and the Giants Wednesday afternoon as the Chicago Cubs salvaged the final game of their three game series with a 4-1 win at Oracle Park. Cubs scheduled starter Jon Lester was a …

BY DEBRA J. MORRIS We’re celebrating farmers’ markets this month ! The mission of the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) is to empower California farmers to be enormously successful, and with our network of local farmers’ markets we can accomplish this with the help of the local community, the …