If you were anywhere near the Coliseum Saturday night, chances are good you spent the post-game of the A’s 2-1 win over Kansas City watching the fireworks show.

If you were Oakland first baseman Brandon Moss, you were one of the few that did not.

Instead Moss and his almost 5-year-old son Jayden marched up the steps behind the A’s clubhouse to the batting cages. While everybody was settling into and evening of the pyrotechnic art, father was throwing a little batting practice to son.

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If you want an unsung hero for Friday’s 2-1 Oakland win over Kansas City, look for the man who made out the lineup.

Manager Bob Melvin did something Friday he hadn’t done all season. He had Adam Rosales, who generally starts only against left-handed pitching, start “because I liked the right-handed matchup there’’ against K.C.’s James Shields.

And it was Rosales who hit the tie-breaking solo homer off Shields in the eighth inning that gave the A’s the win in the first of a three-game set.

Rosales did have some stat cred against Shields. He’d only faced him five times, but he’d had two hits, both of them doubles. Eric Sogard, who had only three at-bats and no hits against Shields, normally starts against right-handers, but Melvin went with the numbers, including the fact that Sogard was hitting .178 in his last 20 games.

It won’t necessarily happen again, but Melvin is perfectly comfortable going against the lefty-righty book if circumstances suggest it.

“It’s not something I’ll be doing,’’ he said when asked if he would play Rosales at short against right-handers with regularity. “But in this instance, with Rosey’s two doubles off Shields, that made a difference.’’

Make that two doubles and a homer.

–One reason the A’s were able to track down the Rangers in 2012 was the performance of a previously unheralded bullpen.

It’s not as unheralded this time around, but the performances from the likes of Sean Doolittle and Grant Balfour have been every bit as good as they were last year. Or better.

Doolittle improved to 3-0 with one scoreless inning, the eighth, Friday against K.C., and Balfour closed out his seventh save by getting the Royals in order, cutting through the 3-4-5 spot in Kansas City’s batting order.

Doolittle, a lefty, has a 1.00 ERA. Balfour, the right-handed closer, is down to 1.65. And when you throw in right-hander Ryan Cook’s 1.93, Oakland has eighth- and ninth-inning performance worth of note.

“In that situation in the eighth or ninth, that game is yours,’’ Doolittle said. “you’ve got to go out there feeling invincible. I’m just trying to keep it simple and not giving the hitter room to get comfortable.’’

Melvin admits his job is made easier knowing he can count on his club dominating the game if it’s close in the eighth or later.

“That’s one of the strengths of the club, when it’s late in the game and we’re in position (to win),’’ he said. “Doolittle is throwing lights-out. It’s tough for anybody to put a good swing against him.

“Today it all fell together, getting the homers late, then getting Doolittle and Balfour out there in that spot.’’

–For four seasons and a portion of a fifth, Hideki Okajima pitched in the big leagues, and he loved every minute of it.

But the Red Sox let him pitch most of the 2011 season in Triple-A Pawtucket, then the Yankees let him go in the spring of 2012, after which he pitched for Soft Bank in Japan.

Now he’s back in the Major Leagues, called up Friday when the A’s released right-handed reliever Chris Resop, who’d struggled the last three weeks.

“I was hoping to make it back to the Major Leagues,’’ Okajima said through interpreter Jason Eda. “I’m very excited to get back here. I was surprised when they told me I was coming up, but to come back from Japan (in 2012) to the United States is a good feeling.’’

Okajima’s catcher for much of his time at Triple-A was Luke Montz, and Montz gave the move a solid thumb’s up.

“Just before I got called up, he pitched in back-to-back games for the first time,’’ Montz said. “He saved them both. He got to where he was throwing his changeup, and they hitters, they just were not seeing that pitch. He was fun to catch.’’

The move made sense for a couple of reasons. One, Okajima’s changeup and curve had been dominant pitches for him at Triple-A after he’d ironed out some kinks. Two, his contract said that if he wasn’t called up by June 1, he’d have the right to declare free agency, so if there was ever a time to give him a try, it was now.

“He’s been throwing really well,’’ Melvin said. “We’ve been having to be careful with (lefties) Doolittle and (Jerry) Blevins, but we’d been using them a lot. Adding a third left-hander makes a lot of sense, all things considered.’’

A’s pitcher Brett Anderson is still feeling soreness in his sprained right ankle and won’t be activated from the disabled list when he becomes eligible Thursday.

There was hope that he could start Friday’s game against the Kansas City Royals, but after testing the ankle Tuesday, Anderson reported still feeling soreness and will remain out of action for “the foreseeable future,” manager Bob Melvin said..

Anderson threw a bullpen session Tuesday and joined pitchers for fielding practice. He felt fine while throwing off the mound, but the drills on the field is what led to the soreness.

“We’re not at the point where we’re comfortable putting him out on a big league mound again and going through what we had to the last couple of times,” Melvin said.

Jarrod Parker will make what amounts to a regularly-scheduled start on Friday when the A’s open a three-game series with the Royals.

Chris Young (strained left quad) could rejoin the team for that series. He was back in Oakland on Wednesday to be evaluated and will play the outfield Thursday for Triple-A Sacramento. If all goes well, he’ll be activated Friday.

It’s an early morning back at the Coliseum following Tuesday’s 6-5 loss in 10 innings to the Texas Rangers. The clubhouse hasn’t opened yet, but there’s a bit of news with the lineup posted outside. As expected, Coco Crisp has been activated and will play this afternoon.

This was the first day he was eligible to come off the disabled list from his hamstring injury and the indications over the past couple of days made it seem like he would be back. The A’s went 5-9 during Crisp’s stint on the DL and overall are 6-11 when he’s out of the lineup. That makes them 14-10 when he plays.

Here’s the full A’s lineup for today’s series finale with the Rangers: CF Coco Crisp, C John Jaso, SS Jed Lowrie, DH Yoenis Cespedes, RF Brandon Moss, 3B Josh Donaldson, LF Seth Smith, 1B Daric Barton, 2B Eric Sogard, P Dan Straily.

First things first, I’ll get to the latest news. Michael Taylor has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. It hasn’t been made official, but bank on Coco Crisp being activated tomorrow and in the lineup for the series finale against the Texas Rangers. Taylor had just one hit in 23 at-bats during this stint in Oakland. He was 0 for 1 tonight, although he did draw two walks.

Onto the game, it was one that had to be frustrating for the A’s. It looked like a loss early, then looked like a win, then a loss, then possibly a win… You get the point.

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– Jimmy Durkin, filling in for the next two days for John Hickey

Yoenis Cespedes put a scare into A’s fans on Monday when he trotted off the field before the top of the fifth inning and left the game, prompting fears he was injured.

It was later announced he left with a stomach illness and the Cuban slugger is back in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers.

Cespedes feels better today, but, through a translator, said, “my stomach was all upside down yesterday.”

“It was upside down a couple times — in that bathroom,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said, motioning to the dugout bathroom. “You’ve got to make sure that Purell dispenser has plenty of refills.” Read the rest of this entry »

It was the kind of game that left A’s right fielder Brandon Moss scratching his head.

He struck out four times. He saw 14 pitches.

“You can’t do much worse than that,’’ he said. “I guess I could have struck out on 12 pitches. Overall, it wasn’t a very good day.’’

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The A’s have some decisions to make in the next week, and not all of them are clear cut.

Between now and Friday, outfielders Chris Young and Coco Crisp and starting pitcher Brett Anderson are likely to come off the disabled list.

It seems a no-brainer that Dan Straily will be the odd man out in the rotation. He has made three starts with Anderson out, and is due to make another against Texas Wednesday, two days before Anderson (sprained right ankle) is first eligible to come off the disabled list.

Young and possibly Crisp could come off the disabled list on Wednesday, and while it’s certain that Michael Taylor, who has an .063 average and hasn’t driven in a run, will be sent down, choosing between the other two candidates, Luke Montz and Daric Barton, will be a matter of just what kind of flexibility A’s manager Bob Melvin wants.

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I mentioned in this space last night that A’s manager Bob Melvin earlier this season had been hyping the idea of addition video replay for baseball, specifically “boundary calls,’’ fair or foul down the lines.

It’s safe to say he’s backing off that in the wake of Wednesday’ video denial by the umpiring crew of a game-tying Adam Rosales home run that was clear to anyone with video access hit off the railing above the left field wall.

The umpires said the video was inconclusive, ruled Rosales had only a double and instead of a 4-4 tie, the A’s wound up with a 4-3 loss.

Asked about expanding replay Thursday morning, Melvin was preaching a different sermon.

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Earlier this year, A’s manager Bob Melvin was talking about the need for more instant replay in games, including “boundary calls,’’ fair or foul down the lines, to be included in elements that could be reviewed.

You have to wonder what the point of expanding replay is is when reviews go awry as often as they seem to when all umpires are asked to review are home run calls.

The A’s lost what seemed to be a self-evident game-tying ninth-inning homer when the umpiring crew in Progressive Field watched video and somehow didn’t see what everybody in the ballpark – including the Indians – took as gospel, that Adam Rosales ball carried over the left field wall.

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