Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Austin Pruitt throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter in the sixth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Sat Jun 24, 2023 (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

A’s Drop Game Two Against Blue Jays 7-3 To Even Series

By Barbara Mason

Saturday the A’s (20-59) were looking to take game two of their series against the Toronto Blue Jays (42-36). Shintaro Fujinami was the starter but he didn’t last even one inning allowing four hits and two runs in less than an inning of work. Hogan Harris took over on the mound. As the Blue Jays turned up the offense and came away with a four run 7-3 win at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Toronto took a 5-2 lead going into the sixth inning. From the start of this game, the A’s were behind the eight ball. Oakland got a run in the second inning off a solo home run from Seth Brown. The A’s got a second run in the third inning when Ryan Noda doubled Tony Kemp home for the two runs.

In the sixth inning Oakland scored another run but still trailed 5-3. Tyler Wade singled Jace Pederson home and the A’s were back in the game provided they could keep Toronto off the scoreboard.

The Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a far different mindset hitting a 437 feet long ball with Brandon Belt on base taking a 7-3 lead. That would be the final. The A’s had runners on second and third when the game ended.

What came out of this game was the lack of experience from a lot of these younger players. Mistakes that can only be cleaned up with experience, years of experience. The work on the mound from starter Fujinami was just awful and it set the tone for this game. Fujinami pitched just two thirds of innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs and was lifted.

Post game notes: Friday night Shea Langeliers hit the game winning homer. The game was tied at four when Langeliers knocked the ball out of the park in the ninth inning giving the A’s a 5-4 lead which they were able to hold onto. That game broke an eight game losing streak for Oakland.

The A’s had played some very competitive games in their last series against the Guardians. The first two games were one run losses, one game going into extra innings. The series before this one against the Phillies also was a tough one for Oakland . They lost two games in that series by a single run with one game going 12 innings. Four painfully close games with the A’s coming up short.

Now that this series with Toronto is even, the A’s will try to take game three and win the series Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 10:37 AM. Luis Medina (1-6) will be on the mound for Oakland looking to improve his win/loss record as well as his ERA which stands at 7.01. The Blue Jays will be going with Yusei Kikuchi (6-2 ERA 3.97).