By Morris Phillips
In a typical big-league dugout, where guys are either locked in or tuned out, it’s hard to get anyone’s rapt attention. But there Danny Valencia was, surrounded by Oakland teammates, recounting his swing on what became the second longest home run of his career, a 450-foot bomb that bounded off the center field hitter’s background, just below the suites level.
Valencia, facing the Tigers’ Matt Boyd, swung almost comically at ball up and outside, nowhere near the strike zone, a tomahawk with conviction that left his bat traveling 105 mph. With Josh Phegley behind him and three other teammates in front of him, Valencia demonstrated where his hands where and how he started his swing, surprising everyone with how high his hands where. Phegley, wide-eyed, marveled at the positioning of Valencia’s hands near his head.
Call it the beginning of a revolution, a call for unbridled aggression, or something else entirely, as Valencia’s homer gave the A’s a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s game they would go on to win 12-3 over Detroit, establishing a season high in runs scored and hits with 17.
The A’s got home runs from Valencia and Billy Butler—also a bomb—to establish a 3-1 lead. But Victor Martinez’ two-run shot in the sixth got the Tigers even, before the A’s broke it open with five runs in their half of the sixth, and four more in the seventh. Throughout, the warm air and the inexperience in the pitchers both teams used, inspired a hit fest, as 11 extra-base hits by both teams were sprayed over the eight plus innings of action.
“Hopefully, this is going to be a huge momentum carrier for us,” starting pitcher Jesse Hahn said. “We’re pretty excited about it right now, and I think this is going to be the win that’s going to kind of take off our season for us.”
The A’s had been anything but an offensive, highlight factory coming in, having scored just one run in three of their seven losses in the previous eight games. Along with the frustration in the dugout, that meant a lot of fans at the Coliseum sitting on their hands.
Seven A’s produced multi-hit games, including Valencia and Phegley with three each. Phegley proved his knee injury that landed him on the disabled list is thing of the past by spelling Stephen Vogt, catching the entire, lengthy game, and coming off with three knocks as well. Billy Butler, starting at first base in a rare start, didn’t waste time. “Country Breakfast” saw just seven pitches in three at-bats, but he homered to give the A’s a 1-0 lead in the second, and then with the game tied in the sixth, knocked in a pair of runs with a base hit.
Khris Davis hit a three-run shot in the seventh to increase the A’s lead to 11-3. Davis’ homer was his American League-best 11th in the month of May.
The A’s (21-29) remain in a last place-tie with the Astros in the AL West, but Houston and Oakland wins on Saturday allowed both teams to shave their deficit behind the division-leading Mariners to eight games.
On Sunday, Rich Hill gets the call as the A’s close their three game-set with the Tigers. Detroit’s Mike Pelfrey will make his 10th start, but is still looking for his first win. Pelfrey is 0-4 with a 5.55 ERA and hasn’t enjoyed a quality start in any of his last seven starts.
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