by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s hitter Jake Smolinski is congratulated by A’s third base coach Ron Washington after hitting a home run in the fourth inning off Minnesota Pitcher Pat Dean at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, behind the strong pitching of starter Seam Manea, beat the Twins 5-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. Manaea pitched extremely well. He went six innings and allowed just five hits and one run. After the game A’s manager Bob Melvin said  it was “probably his best start, so far this year.” He also said that Manaea looked “more comfortable on the mound.” At one point in the game, Manaea retired eight hitters in a row. He ran into a jam in the sixth when he loaded the bases with no out, but did not lose his composure and was able to escape with just one being scored. Very impressive outing for the young lefty. His record is now 2-3 for the year. Pat Dean took the loss for the Twins.

The A’s scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler led off with a double. Dean retired the next two hitters but walked Jake Smolinski to put men on at first and second. Dean uncorked a wild pitch and Butler and Smolinski moved up a base. Billy Burns beat out an infield hit to drive in Butler with the run. Smolinski tried to score all the way from second but was thrown out at home. The A’s added a run in the third. Singles by Jed Lowrie and Danny Valencia put men on at first and second with one out. Dean struck out Khris Davis for the second out of the inning. Billy Butler singled to drive in Lowrie. Second hit of the game for Butler.

The A’s scored their third run of the contest in the fourth. Jake Smolinski, filling in for the injured Josh Reddick, blasted a home run that went way up the steps in the walkway in left field. For Smolinski, it was his first homer of the year. For the fourth inning in a row, the A’s scored another run to take a 4-0 lead. Jed Lowrie singled to get things going for Oakland. The red-hot Danny Valencia doubled to send Lowrie to third. Khris Davis flew out to right to drive in Butler with the run.

The Twins scored a run in the top of the sixth. Manaea had retired eight batters in a row, but the streak was broken when he walked Brian Dozier. Trevor Plouffe singled, and Manaea walked Byung Ho Park to load the bases with no out. Eduardo Escobar flew out to center to drive in Dozier with the Twins first run. Manaea struck out Max Kepler and Juan Centeno to end the threat. The A’s, in their half of the sixth, scored a solo run again to take a 5-1 lead. Neither the A’s nor the Twins scored the rest of the way. The A’s win 5-1.

Game Notes – The A’s have now won five in a row and their record for the season is 25-29. The A’s are just four games under the .500 mark and have series with Houston, Milwaukee and Cincinnati coming up.

Manaea struck out a career-high eight batters and saw his ERA drop from 7.03 to 6.16. Hitting stars for the Green and Gold were Billy Butler, Jake Smolinski, and Dann Valencia. Butler was 2-for-3 and is hitting .297 with nine RBI over his last fifteen games. Smolinski hit his first dinger since being recalled from Nashville on May 20th. Valencia was 3-for-4 and owns a five-game hitting streak.

The Twins are having an abysmal season. Last year, they finished with a record of 83-79 and high hopes for 2016. However, they are hapless. Opponents have swept series from them nine times this year. Their record for the season is 15-37. They are an astounding twenty-two games under .500 and the season appears to be lost.

The A’s play the Houston Astros for three games this weekend in Houston. Jesse Hahn(2-2,4.15) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Doug Fister(4-3,3.86). Rich Hill will pitch Saturday and Kendall Graveman will start on Sunday. Houston will counter with Collin McHugh and Lance McCullers.

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