Elvis Andrus jumps for joy as Oakland A’s teammate Seth Brown celebrates Andrus’ walk off single in the bottom of the ninth giving the A’s the one run win over the Kansas City Royals at the Oakland Ring Central Coliseum Fri Jun 11, 2021 (AP News photo)

Kansas City 3 – 9 – 1

Oakland 4 – 8 – 1

By Lewis Rubman

Friday, June 11, 2021

OAKLAND–Following Thursday night’s ill-starred loss to the Kansas City Royals (30-32), the Oakland A’s (38-27), still hanging on to a one game lead over Houston in the AL West, sent southpaw Cole Irwin (4-7, 3.70) to the mound to try to help them even their four game series with the Kansas City Royals that will last through Sunday. The A’s picked up the win in the second of this four game series with a 4-3 walk off single in the ninth by Elvis Adrus to even the series at 1-1 on Friday night.

Irwin’s history against Kansas City goes back to his first big league first game, which took place on May 12, 2019, at Kaufman Stadium, where he held the Royals to five hits over seven innings, allowing only one run. He was pitching for the Phillies, so, in a strange sort of way, his career follows the route of his team, from Philadelphia through Kansas City to Oakland. Perhaps it’s best we not think about where he’ll go next.

Irwin’s waxed hot and cold this season. He went 2-3, 3.67 in April and 1-4, 4.46 in May. In his only June appearance before tonight, Irwin performed the feat of holding the Rockies to one run on five hits over seven innings in the pitchers’ house of horrors that is Coors Stadium.The A’s took that contest, 6-3.

KC countered with Brady Singer (3-5, 4.88), their first round pick in the 2018 draft, who made a swift climb to the majors last year, when he went 4-5, 4.05 for the 26-34 Royals. Three of his 12 starts this season were frankly bad, in which he lasted no longer than 3-1/3 innings. In what was arguably his best outing, on April 24 at Detroit he went seven frames, allowing three hits and one run. Six days earlier, he had shut out Toronto at home on two hits over six innings.

Irwin set the first ten Royals he faced down in order but ran into trouble with one out in the top of the fourth. Back to back singles by Carlos Santana and Salvador Pérez brought up clean up and number five hitters Andrew Benintendi and Jorge Soler, both of whom had figured prominently in last night´s fatidic seventh inning Royals rally. Irwin rose to the ocassion and disposed of them with a strike out and a fly to right center.

Singer worked his way out of trouble in the first inning and had to face a runner on second with two out in the following frame, but he sailed through the third. He couldn’t manage that in the home fourth. With one down, Mitch Moreland and Matt Chapman hit back to back doubles to right and left field, respectively.

Then Seth Brown unloaded on a 94 mph sinker that landed in the right field stands, 405 feet from home, from which it had left at the speed of velocity of 105 mph. It was Brown’s ninth home run and 22nd and 23rd RBI of the year, and it put the A’s ahead, 3-1.

It looked as if the seventh inning curse was about to claim its second consecutive victim in the Oakland rotation when Salvador Pérez lifted Irvin’s second pitch of the inning down the left field line for his 15th home run of the year and Benintendi and Soler followed with singles. That was enough for BoMel, who replaced his starter, who now had given up six hits in six innings, striking out four without issuing a base on balls. He had thrown 62 pitches, 46 for strikes.

Yusmeiro Petit inherited the two runners, one of whom, Benintendi, advanced to third on Hunter Dozier’s fly out to right. Petit almost got out of the inning with no further damage, but Elvis Andrus flubbed an attempted backhanded pickup of Michael Taylor’s grounder, allowing Benintendi to narrow the gap to 3-2.

The run, unearned was charged to Irvin. Petit again seemed to have pulled a Houdini when Hanser Alberto hit a grounder right at Andrus … whose soft toss to Lowrie arrived too late to force Taylor out at second. That fielder’s choice loaded the bases. Whit Merrifield´s broken bat soft liner to second finally put an end to the threat.

Jake Brentz relieved Singer to start the bottom of seventth. Singer had pitched well, if not as well as the ill-served Irvin. KC’s starter allowed three runs, all earned, in his six innings of mound duty, during which he threw 104 pitches, 66 for strikes. He yielded five hits and a walk against seven strike outs. Brentz retired the side in order.

Jake Diekman replaced Petit on the hill to protect Oakland’s slim lead in the eighth. He couldn’t. After Carlos Santana grounded out to Lowrie at second, Pérez lofted his second straight four bagger, this time taking an 86 mph slider deep over the left center field fence to knot the score at three apiece.

After walking Benintendi, Diekman struck out Soler and handed the ball over to Lou Trivino to face Dozier, who blooped a single to right center. Benintendi tried to score from first, but was called out by home plate umpire Lance Barksdale, whose decision was upheld on review. The put out went Canha to Olson to García.

Kemp greeted Scott Barlow, the Royals´new pitcher in the bottom of the eighth with a line single off second baseman Merrifield’s gove into right, but he quickly was erased on a 4-6-3 double play from the bat of Olson. Barlow whiffed Lowrie to preserve the tie.

Trivino returned to the hill to open the ninth and gave up a sharp single to center on his first pitch to Gutiérrez and threw three straight balls to Taylor. When Taylor swung at and missed Trivino’s next offering, Jarrod Dyson, running for Gutiérrez took off for second. Umpire Shane Livensparger ruled him out on García’s throw to Andrus, but his call was overruled on review. With no one out and a fast runner in scoring position, Trivino proceeded to strike out Taylor and Hanser Alberto before getting Merrifield to fly out to right.

With Barlow back on the mound, Moreland opened the bottom of the ninth by grounding out to first on his first pitch. Then Chapman, whose bat had come alive earlier in the evening, hit his third straight safety, a double to left, his second of the game. Barlow conceeded a walk to Brown, preferring to face Andrus. Andrus came through. He lined a single to right, and Chapman dashed home with the winning run.

The win went to Trivino, who had given up two hits but no runs in 1-1/3 innings, during which 14 of his 20 pitches were strikes. His ERA dropped to 2.40 and he now stands at 3-2 in addition to his nine saves. The loss went to Barlow, who also worked 1-1/3 innings, but he gave up three hits, and that third won did him in. His won-lost record now is 2-2.

Over the weekend, the A’s will complete their four game battle royal with Kansas City. On Saturday, James Kaprielian (2-1, 3.08) will face the visitors’ Jackson Kowar (0-1, 54.00) in a duel of righties, and on Sunday, it will be the right handed Chris Bassitt (6-2, 3.44) who opposes KC’s southpaw Kris Bubic (1-1, 3.32). Both games are scheduled for 1:07.

Starting on Monday the 14th, the A’s will offer Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines at the Coliseum, free of charge, with no appointments or insurance necessary. The A’s press release says, “Individuals are eligible to return to the vaccination clinic for their second dose at a future game and will once again receive a voucher for two tickets to an A’s game.”

This seems to imply that everyone who gets vaccinated at the ballpark will get a voucher, and Dave Kaval’s statement, “We encourage baseball fans to head to the Coliseum to receive a vaccine and then join us for a great day of A’s baseball,” strengthens that implication If you want a vaccination and don’t already have a ticket for the game, you can enter the vaccination clinic, which will be in the Eastside Club, through the BART Ramp.

People 12 years and older are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine as a first or second dose, although those under. 18 receiving the Pfizer vaccine must have consent from a parent or guardian.) Any one under 18 will need a parent or guardians’s consent to get the Pfizer shot.