by Jerry Feitelberg

What’s going on with the A’s? They started off the six-game road trip with a 5-3 comeback win over the Tigers in Detroit night. The A’s are starting to look like the team that everyone hoped would compete for the top spot in the AL West. However, that did not happen  as the A’s got off to a terrible start, but the A’s have won four of the last five and seven of the last ten. In Tuesday’s game, the A’s had a quality start from Kendall Graveman and three innings of hitless relief. Evan Scribner kept the Tigers down in the 7th and 8th innings to set the stage for Tyler Clippard who closed out the win for Oakland with his eighth save of the year. The A’s played well defensively and did not make an error for the second straight game. The A’s also had a key hit in the 7th to put them ahead for good. Ben Zobrist hit a line drive over the right field fence for a grand slam. All the ingredients were in play. Hitting, pitching, bullpen, and defense. Let’s hope the Green and Gold can continue their winning ways.

The Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes singled to put men on at 1st and 2nd. Graveman retired the next two batters but walked Tyler Collins to load the bases. Cabrera scored when Graveman uncorked a wild pitch. Nick Castellanos followed with a single to drive in Cespedes and Collins.

The A’s scored five runs in the top of the 7th. Brett Lawrie led off with a single. Lawrie advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marcus Semien followed with an infield single to put runners at 1st and 3rd. The A’s caught a break on the next play. Eric Sogard hit a ground ball to Ian Kinsler. The Tiger second baseman threw home thinking that Lawrie was running on contact but Lawrie held at third at Sogard was safe at first on the fielder’s choice to load the bases. Billy Burns singled to center to drive in Lawrie with the A’s first run.  The Tigers brought in Angel Nesbitt to face Ben Zobrist. Zobrist, batting from the left side, hit a line drive that cleared the fence for a grand slam. The A’s have the lead for the first time in the game. There was no more scoring as the bullpen shut the Tigers down the final three innings to secure the win for Oakland.

Game notes.

Kendall Graveman improved his record to 3-2. He went six innings allowing eight hits and three runs. Scribner pitched two hitless innings to record his 6th hold for Oakland. Tyler Clippard earned his eighth save and he allowed no hits in his inning of work. Billy Burns had two more hits to raise his average to .330. Brett Lawrie also had two hits and the slam was the second home run of the year for Zobrist.

After the game, Ben Zobrist had this to say. “It’s big, because I feel like that’s happened to us more than it has us taking advantage of their mistakes this year,” said Zobrist. “It had to turn around. It’s been turning around gradually, and we’re fighting and battling to get back to the kind of team we know we are. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”