Oakland Athletics’ Matt Chapman (26) and Matt Olson (28) make a celebratory reaction after Olson hit a grand slam off Minnesota Twins pitcher Jorge Alcala (66) in the fourth inning of game one of their MLB doubleheader at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (photo from Bay Area News Group)

Minnesota. 0 – 6 – 2

Oakland 7 – 5 – 0

First game doubleheader

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–After an unexpected day off yesterday, due to Covid19 problems in the Minnesota organization, the Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins got around to the business of playing pandemic- inflected baseball with a pair of games scheduled to go seven innings each, beginning at 3:30 this afternoon.

34 year old right hander Matt Shoemaker brought a 1-0, 4.32 record with him to the mound for the Twinkies, while Sean Manaea, four years Shoemaker’s junior and throwing with his left hand, put his 1-1, 4.32 record on the line for the Athletics.

Eight of the nine batters Oakland’s southpaw would have to face in the visitors’ starting lineup were either right handed or, in one case, switch hitters. The home team brought an eight game winning streak with them to the Coliseum, while the Twins were 2-6 over their last eight contests.

Before the game, Stephen Piscotty was reinstated from the paternity list (congratulations) and was back patrolling right field at game time. Ka’ai Tom was designated for assignment. He’d gone one for 16 and scored one run in the nine games he’d played for the A’s.

Mike Moreland put the A’s ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the second with a line drive over the yellow line across the right field scorebord just to the right of the 382 foot marker. Sean Murphy, who had forrced Chapman out at second, was on base at the time. It was Moreland’s first round tripper and sixth and seventh RBI for the green and gold.

Moreland extended the lead in his next at bat, leading off the home fourth.. This time he went really deep, 405 feet to right center on a 92 mph slider that Shoemaker threw him on an 0-2 count. An out, a single, and a walk later, Shoemaker was out of the game.

He’d lasted a mere 3-1/3, in which he’d given up three runs (all earned) and still was on the hook for two more possible tallies. He hadn’t struck anyone out but had walked four batters and allowed four hits. Of his 67 pitches, 39 were strikes.

Shoemaker’s replacement, Jorge Alcalá, manmaged to get Laureano on a called third strike, but he walked Jed Lowrie to load the bases, and then surrendered a massive grand slam into the right field second deck by Olson. It was his fourth home run of the year and raused his RBI total to an even dozen, tying him with Lowrie for the team lead.

The two runs for which Shoemaker was on the hook now were on his record. He also remained on the hook for the loss, which left him at 1-1, 6.28. After Alacalá got his second strike out (Chapman) to end the inning, he was gone, and Luke Farrell made his first appearance as a Twin to open the fifth. Lewis Thorpe mopped up for Minnesota in the sixth.

Moreland and Olson’s power led the offense for Oakland, which also included four stolen bases, one each by Canha and Piscotty, and two by Andrus.

Manea was the winning pitcher, improving his record to 2-1, 3.04. He was credited with a complete game, the second of his big league career. His other CG was his 2018 no hitter against the Red Sox. In his seven inning stint today, Manaea gave up six hits and a walk. He struck out seven.

The teams will be at it again in a half an hour.