Oakland A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn pitching in the bottom of the seventh inning kept the St Louis Cardinals off balance at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Wed Aug 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

What a difference a day makes. The A’s beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 Wednesday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The A’s snapped a five-game losing streak and a nine-game road losing streak. The A’s offense came alive, and Oakland’s starter Paul Blackburn pitched extremely well.

Blackburn, one of the few A’s starters to go seven innings, allowed six hits in no runs, winning his third game of the year. Blackburn, an All-Star pitcher in 2022, showed the form that got him that honor.

A’s rookie shortstop, Zack Gelof, paced the offense with four hits, including two doubles. The young man from Delaware continues to impress. A’s fans can only imagine an infield consisting of Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Zack Gelof, and Matt Olson. The fans would be filling the Coliseum to see these guys play. 

The A’s pounced on the Cardinals’ starter Matthew Liberatore in the first inning. In Tuesday’s game, the Cardinals scored four runs in the first. The A’s turned the tables on St. Louis on Wednesday. With one out, Gelof doubled. Zack then stole third.

In his second game since coming off the IL, A’s DH Carlos Perez singled to give the A’s an earl 1-0 lead. Aledmys Diaz singled, sending Perez to third. Third baseman Jordan Diaz doubled to deep right-centerfield to drive in Perez and Aledmys Diaz. Jonah Bride walked, and Shea Langeliers followed with a single to drive in Jordan Diaz with the A’s fourth run.

The A’s added a run in the fourth, a run in the fifth, and a run in the sixth to go ahead 7-0. In the fourth, Nick Allen singled. Esteury Ruiz doubled, but Allen was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Not to worry, Zack Gelof singled to drive in Ruiz with the A’s fifth run.

Cardinal’s right fielder Jordan Walker misplayed Brent Rooker’s fly ball in the fifth. The ball bounced off Walker’s glove. Walker was charged with a three-base error. With one out, Seth Brown’s sacrifice fly brought in Rooker with Oakland’s sixth run of the night.

The A’s added another run in the sixth. Esteury Ruiz helped manufacture a run. Cardinals’ Casey Lawrence walked Ruiz. Ruiz, second in baseball in steals, did not wait long to steal the base. Gelof followed with his second double of the night to make it 7-0 A’s

Oakland added one more run in the ninth. Tyler Soderstrom entered the game as the DH, replacing Carlos Perez. Soderstrom thanked A’s manager Mark Ktsay for the honor. Soderstrom hit a monster shot that traveled 454 feet. For Soderstrom, it was his second big-league dinger. The A’s won the game 8-0.

 Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 34-87. The Cardinals are 54-67. 

The line score for Oakland was eight runs, 14 hits, and no errors. Paul Blackburn was the winning pitcher. Blackburn went seven innings allowing six hits and no runs. He struck out eight and walked one.

The line for St. Louis was no runs, nine hits, and one error. Matthew Liberatore was the losing pitcher. Liberatore’s line was four and 1/3rd innings, ten hits, and six runs, five of which were earned. 

The hitting star for Oakland was Zack Gelof. Gelof had two doubles, two singles, and two runs batted in. 

The A’s are off on Thursday. The A’s will play three games against the Baltimore Orioles starting Friday night. The O’s are first in the very powerful American League East Division. The A’s have yet to announce their starters for the Series. Kyle Gibson (11-7 ERA 4.89) will pitch on Friday for Baltimore, former A’s starter Cole Irvin will go on Saturday, and Kyle Bradish will pitch on Sunday.