Oakland A’s starter Sean Manaea throws against the San Diego Padres line up in the first inning would up retiring the first 16 hitters and striking out nine on Wed Jul 28, 2021’s matinee at Petco Park in San Diego (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
The A’s turned the tables on the San Diego Padres Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park in San Diego. The A’s won a laugher 10-4 behind another outstanding performance by lefty Sean Manaea. Manaea retired the first sixteen Padre hitters he faced on Wednesday.
Jurickson Profar broke up the perfect game with a walk with one out in the sixth. Eric Hosmer, pinch-hitting for pitcher Craig Stammen, singled to break up the no-hitter. Manaea retired the next two hitters to finish his work for the day. He threw 90 pitches in his six innings of work. He struck out nine and allowed just one hit.
How did the A’s win the game? The Padres sent former Cy Young award winner, lefty Blake Snell to the mound Wednesday afternoon. Snell entered the game with a 4-3 record. He was 3-0 at Petco Park.
Snell, however, could not get into a groove Wednesday afternoon. He walked A’s leadoff hitter, Mark Canha, to start the game. He retired Ramon Laureano for the first out. Canha moved to second on the play. Canha then stole third. Olson walked to put men on at first and third with one out.
Jed Lowrie drove in Canha with the A’s first run with a sacrifice fly. Snell walked Sean Murphy. It was the third walk of the inning. A’s third baseman, Matt Chapman, smoked a Snell pitch deep into left field. The ball hit off the facade of the second deck. The ball traveled 404 feet. The A’s led 4-0 midway through the first. They tallied four runs on just one hit.
Oakland made it 5-0 in the second. Elvis Andrus led off with a single. Sean Manaea laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to send Andrus to second. Mark Canha followed with a single to drive in Andrus.
The A’s were not done tormenting Blake Snell. Padres’ manager Jayce Tingler did not want to go to the bullpen. Snell had to take one for the team. In the fourth, three straight singles by Chapman, Stephen Piscotty, and Elvis Andrus put the A’s ahead 6-0. Canha Singled to drive in Piscotty with the A’s seventh run of the game.
The A’s added three more in the seventh. Matt Olson led off the frame with a double to left. With two out, Padres’ shortstop, Fernando Tatis, Jr. fielded Matt Chapman’s ground ball. His throw to first pulled first baseman Jake Cronenworth off the bag. Olson scored on the play.
Chapman went to second on the error. Padres’ pitcher Nabil Crismatt fielded Stephen Piscotty’s dribbler in front of home plate. His throw to first base went past Cronenworth and down the line into right field. Chappie scored the ninth run of the game for Oakland. Piscotty reached second safely. Elvis Andrus singled to drive in Piscotty. The A’s led 10-0 midway through the seventh.
San Diego scored their first run of the game in their half of the seventh. J.B.Wendelken was now pitching for Oakland. Padres’ third baseman, Manny Machado, singled to start the rally. Wendelken retired the next two hitters. He walked Will Myers to put two men on with two out. The next hitter, catcher Austin Nola, doubled to drive in Machado. The A’s led 10-1 after seven.
Deolis Guerra worked a scoreless eighth inning for Oakland. Bob Melvin let Guerra come out to pitch the ninth. He gave up consecutive singles to Jake Cronenworth and Will Myers. Guerra retired Austin Nola for the first out. Former A’s second baseman, Jurickson Profar, doubled to drive in Cronenworth with San Diego’s second run.
Melvin had seen enough. He summoned lefty Andrew Chafin from the bullpen to finish the game. Chafin, acquired from the Chicago Cubs on Monday, made his first appearance as an Oakland Athletic. The first hitter he faced was pinch-hitter Victor Caratini.
Caratini hit his first pitch for a single to make it 10-3. Profar went to third on the play. Chafin then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Profar to score. Chafin was able to record the last out of the game without any further damage. The A’s win 10-4.
Game Notes and stats: With the win, the A’s improve to 57-46. They remain six games behind the Houston Astros. The Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 11-4 on Wednesday. The A’s now lead the Mariners by two games in the second AL Wild Card race. The Padres are 59-45 for the year.
Sean Manaea ‘s record improved to 8-6. It was his second straight impressive performance. He beat the Mariners 4-1 last week in Seattle. Blake Snell was the losing pitcher.
The A’s made a trade with the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. They acquired outfielder Starlin Marte in exchange for pitcher lefty Jesus Luzardo. There was no question the A’s were not happy with the lack of production from the two players in right field.
Marte should help solve that problem. While it was difficult to give up on Luzardo, the A’s had to give something to get something. Luzardo was hampered by injuries early in the season. The A’s sent him to Las Vegas to get back on track. The front office must have felt that Luzardo was not going to fit into their pitching plans.
The hitting stars for Oakland were Mark Canha, Matt Chapman, and Elvis Andrus. Canha reached base four times on Wednesday. He had two hits, two walks, and two RBIs. Chappie was two-for-five with a single and a three-run blast. Elvis Andrus had three hits and two RBIs.
The time of the game was three hours and twenty-nine minutes. Thirty-five thousand three hundred fans were watching the game at Petco Park.
The A’s are on their way to Anaheim to play four against the Los Angeles Angels starting Thursday night. The A’s are 9-3 against the Angels this year. Frankie Montas will go for Oakland, and the Angels’ Alex Cobb will oppose him. The game will start at 6:38 pm.
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