Oakland Athletics’ Lawrence Butler (22) is congratulated by Nick Allen (2) after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning at Oakland Coliseum on Sun Sep 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

Toronto (76-62 ).     000 030 000 3.  –   6.  8. 0

Oakland (42-96).      o00  011 100  2. –   5.   8  0.  10 innings 

Time: 3:00    

Attendance: 9,062

Monday, September 4, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND —Almost in spite of themselves the A’s yesterday finished up a sweep of their three game series against the Angels, who were, until Shohei Ohtani tore his  ulnar collateral ligament last week, serious contenders for a berth in the post season play offs.

This afternoon, as they opened another three game series, it was against a more imposing  squad, the Toronto Blue Jays, who entered the day in a virtual tie with Houston for third place in the American League wild card standings. 

Oakland, even though they had won eight of their last 13 games, already had been mathematically eliminated from any chance of reaching  ,500. A win today   them from the race to the bottom, but they fell short and dropped a 10 inning thriller to Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5.

The A’s entrusted the starting role to rookie Luis Medina, fresh off the 15 day injured list.his 2-7, 5.92 record.  The Dominican right hander came to the A’s along with Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, and infielder Cooper Bowman in the deal that sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx and came to work today with a big league record of 3-8, 5.44 and a WHIP of  1.53, all of it earned this season. He turned in four innings of splendid work before falling apart in the fifth.

He pitched a total of 4-2/3 frames and yielded three runs, all earned, on three hits and an equal number of walks, not to mention a hit batter. He threw 70 pitches, 41 for strikes.  He ended up with a no decision and a 3-8 5.46 record. The Jays’ starter, right handed José Berríos lost the last game he’d pitched, surrendering five runs, all earned, over six frames against the Nationals.

He brought a season record of 9-10, 3.70 and a lifetime mark of 81-64, 4.17 to the Coliseum when he faced the Athletics this warm and sunny Labor Day, an afternoon that invited home runs. He, like Medina, got a no decision for his efforts.. He threw 84 pitches, 57 for strikes over six innings in and allowed two runs, both of them earned, on four hits, two of which left the park, and a walk and returned to the hotel. with a record of 9-10, 3.68.

The teams traded goose eggs  over four innings, until Medina, who had held Toronto to a one hit, one walk, and one hit batter until then, lost his control and walked  the first two Jays he faced, Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho. Ernie Clement’s single to center loaded the bases, and it looked as if Medina might pull a Houdini when Kevin Kiermaier hit into an Allen to Noda 6-3 double play.

Kirk scored on the play, but now there were two down with only a runner on first. But it was not to be. George Springer  doubled to right to drive  Varsho in with Toronto’s second run and then, with Sean Newcomb on the mound after Springer’s two bagger, came home on Cavin Biggio’s single to left.

The visitors’ three run lead shrank to two with Lawrence Butler’s two out solo round tripper in the home fifth. The 417 foot blast into center field was the rookie’s third home run and seventh run batted in and came on an 81.7 mph slurve and left Butler’s bat at 107.6mph.

The A’s would have tied it up in the bottom of the sixth if Gelof, who had singled to center and stole second hadn’t been picked off before the next pitch was thrown. Noda was at bat, and slammed a 402 foot home run into the nearly empty right field seats. The first baseman’s 14th dinger of the season closed the gap to 3-2.

Yimi García took over for Berríos after the select gathering of 9,062 had finished singing “Take Me Out to the ball Game.” After  García retired Brown, Jordan Díaz took the ball out of the park and tied the game at three all. His four bagger took a hanging curve into center field,  397 feet from the plate. It was his 10th homer of ’23 and his 24th RBI.

Lucas Erceg pitched the top of the eighth, gave up a walk and a single but escaped unscathed.Jay Jackson succeeded García in the home half of that inning. Allen greeted him with a single,  went to second on Kemp’s sacrifice bunt and to third on Geloff’s grounder that almost got past diving third baseman Biggio’s glove. That scenario brought Génesis Cabrera to the mound. He got Noda a ground out to first, and we moved into the ninth inning with the score still tied at 3-3.

With the help of a beautiful diving catch by Kemp of Varsho’s dying quail to left, Erceg retired the side in order to give Oakland a chance to win in regulation.  Rooker, who had struck out in all of his three previous plate appearances, led off with a line single to center. Aledmys Díaz, batting for Brown, went down swinging. 

Jordan Romano replaced Cabrera on the mound to face Jordan Díaz. Ruiz stole second on Romano’s first pitch and stole third while Díaz was swinging at strike three. Langeliers fouled out to first, and we went into extra innings. Francisco Pérez relieved  Erceg in the top of the tenth.

Pinch hitter Santiago Espinal whacked on a double to left on his first pitch, driving in zombie runner Ernie Clement. Springer grounded out to third. Biggio hit a solid single to center that brought in Espinal with the second Blue Jay tally of the tenth. That was it for Pérez; Spencer Patton moved from the pen to the mound and walked Guerrero. 

Horowitz sent an opposite field liner between Kemp in left and Butler in center. It looked like, and originally was called as, an RBI double, but Oakland challenged that ruling, and a reply showed that the ball had gotten lodged under the fence. Biggio had to return to third. Pattongave Merryfield an intentional walk and then retired Kirk and Varsho.

Butler was the A’s first batter in their desperate bid to stay alive in the tenth. He stunned the crowd and the Blue Jays with his second home run of the day, a 403 foot rocket into the right center field seats, bringing in zombie runner Langeliers and cutting Toronto’s lead t 6-5.

It stayed there after Tyler Soderstrom struck out pinch hitting for Allen, Kemp walked, and Gelof hit into a 6-4-3 game ending twin killing. Romano was the winning pitcher and now has a 5-5, 2.54 record. The loss went to Pérez, now is 1-2, 6.75.

Oakland’s defeat 42-96 brought their won-lost percentage down to .304, way better the  Cleveland Spiders, who on this day in 1899 lost both ends of a double header in Cincinnati, dropping their record to 19-105, .153, which still was better than their still standing season  record of all time major league losers, 20-134, .130.

The A’s no longer seem a threat to erase the memory of the loveable New York Mets of 1962, who were defeated a, 5-1, at Forbes Field by Harvey Haddix and the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 4, falling to 35-106, .248. They would rise to 40-120, .250 by the season’s end, when they established the modern era record for futility.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Jays will send ex-Athletic righty Chris Bassitt (13-7, 3.81) against southpaw Ken Waldichuk (2-7, .5.92) for a 6:40 start at the Coliseum