Oakland A’s Matt Chapman hits a top of the third inning home run against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit in the first of a three game series on Tue Aug 31, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (73-59) started a six-game road trip beating the Detroit Tigers (62-71) at Comerica Park in Detroit 9-3. The A’s swept the Tigers four straight when they met in Oakland in April. The Tigers started the season 8-19. A.J.Hinch, who won a World Series title in 2017 with Houston, helped turn the Tigers’ ship around.

The Tigers, entering Tuesday night’s game, were 54-51 since the slow start. The A’s knew the Tigers would love nothing better than upsetting the A’s applecart. 

The A’s won their last two games against the Yankees over the weekend. The offense was still in the doldrums, but they were able to eke out two wins. They beat the Yanks 3-2 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.

Oakland’s skipper Bob Melvin was hoping the offense would come to life against Detroit. He got his wish as the A’s offense produce nine runs and 12 hits. Three of the hits were home runs.

The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Robbie Grossman, who was with Oakland the previous two seasons, slammed his 20th big fly of the year to give the Tigers the advantage. Grossman set a career-high with the blast. 

The A’s put three runs on the board in the top of the third. With one out, Starling Marte doubled to right field. Matt Olson followed with a double to drive in Marte with Oakland’s first run. Tiger starter, Tarik Skubal, retired Yan Gomes for the second out.

A’s third baseman Matt Chapman sent Skubal’s pitch over the fence in left field to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. It was Chappie’s 22nd homer of the year.

In the fifth, the A’s put three more on the board. Singles by Marte and Olson put men on at first and third with no out. Yan Gomes drove in Marte with Oakland’s fourth run on a sacrifice fly. Mark Canha hit an opposite-field dinger to put the A’s in the driver’s seat 6-1.

Cole Irvin ran into difficulty in the bottom of the fifth. Tigers’ catcher, Dustin Garneau, another former Athletic, led off the frame with his first homer of the season. Cole retired shortstop Zack Short for the first out. Tiger centerfielder Derek Hill homered to make it 6-3.

Cole retired Jonathan Schoop for the second out. Cole gave up a single to Grossman and walked Miguel Cabrera. Bob Melvin had seen enough. He brought in Deolis Guerra to pitch. Guerra retired Jeimer Candelario for the third out. 

The A’s added two more in the eighth. Chad Pinder started the frame with a single. Elvis Andrus’ double sent Pinder to third. Josh Harrison’s third hit of the night plated both of them. In the ninth, Matt Chapman sent Tigers’ reliever Derek Holland’s pitch over the wall in centerfield with two out. The A’s led 9-3.

The A’s bullpen of Guerra, Yusmeiro Petit, Andrew Chafin, and A.J. Puk gave up four hits and no runs to secure the win for Oakland.

Game Notes and stats: The A’s are now 73-59 for the year with the win. They picked a game on the Boston Red Sox as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Sox 8-5. The A’s are now one game behind Boston in the race for the second American League Wild Card slot. The Tigers are 62-71 for 2021.

The hitting stars for Oakland were Josh Harrison with a double, two singles, and two RBIs. Starling Marte had a double and a single. Matt Olson also had a double, single, and an RBI. Matt Chapman had two hits, both home runs. He drove in three with the two bombs. Chappie has 23 for the year. Mark Canha hit his 13th of the year and drove in two.

Cole Irvin went four and 2/3rds innings. He gave up seven hits and three runs. The Tigers hit three solo homers. Cole did not go the necessary five innings to get the win. Deolis Guerra was the winning pitcher. He went one and innings.

Derek Hill led the Tiger attack with three hits. He was three-for-five with a home run, double, and single. Former A’s players Robbie Grossman and Dustin Garneau each homered to torment their former mates. 

The A’s brought up Skye Bolt from Las Vegas to replace Mitch Moreland on the roster. Moreland is out with a sore wrist.

The second game of the series will start at 4:10 pm. The A’s will send righty, James Kaprielian, to the hill. Wily Peralta will pitch for Detroit.