Left to right congratulations all around by Oakland A’s Darell Hernaiz (2), Seth Brown (15), Zack Gelof (20), Lawrence Butler (4) defeat the Washington Nationals for their third consecutive series win a first in three years. Game played at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Apr 14, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After trailing by the score of 6-1 going into the sixth inning a loss was beginning to look eminent for the Oakland A’s (7-9). The A’s never hung their heads and came away with an amazing six run inning winning the game 7-6 against the Washington Nationals (6-9). The A’s had 11 hits in the game with JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler with three hits apiece. Mason Miller closed out this game with a 1,2,3 inning striking out two players. He has been something special this season.

Game recap: Neither team scored in the first two innings of the game but it was the Nationals who got up on the board first in the third inning and it did not end there. Washington scored not only two runs in the third but went on to score in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings taking a 6-1 lead.

In the third inning the National’s Jacob Young and CJ Abrams both scored giving Washington a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning Young doubled driving Riley Adams home extending their lead to 3-0.

The Nationals would continue to add to their lead when Lane Thomas hit a solo home run for a 4-0 advantage. Oakland finally got on the board in the 5th inning when Shea Langeliers singled Lawrence Butler home but they had a whole lot of work to do.

It was looking grim for Oakland when in the sixth inning the Nationals hit a couple of singles that brought Trey Lipscomb and Joey Meneses both home and the A’s were looking at a rather daunting 6-1 National lead.

Oakland has shown a lot of fight this season and they refused to back down in this game. They had an amazing sixth inning not only tying the game but taking a 7-6 lead in an unlikely comeback. Abraham Toro, JJ Bleday, Tyler Nevin, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers and Ryan Noda all crossed home plate to take the lead. A collection of singles, a wild pitch and a walk accounted for the six runs. It was a sixth inning that will not soon be forgotten.

The A’s had the bases loaded in the seventh inning with a great opportunity for some insurance runs but came away empty. Relief Pitcher Lucas Erceg breezed through the eighth inning and the A’s were three outs away from a third series win in a row.

Oakland went into the ninth inning with Mason Miller on the mound looking to close out this game facing Lane Thomas at the plate. Thomas struck out. Joey Gallo was next up at the plate and experienced the wrath of Miller striking out. Luis Garcia Jr. struck out for the third out and the A’s had one amazing win 7-6. This guy is something special and it was “Miller Time” indeed.

Game notes: Sunday afternoon the A’s took on the Nationals in game three of their series. The A’s took game one 2-1 in ten innings but dropped game two to Washington 3-1. Oakland got their third series win in a row. Alex Wood got the start for the A’s but struggled. He went 4.1 innings allowing 7 hits, and 4 runs with 4 strikeouts.

Monday the Oakland A’s will be back at work beginning a series against the St. Louis Cardinals. This will be a three game series with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 PM. Both teams have the same 7-9 record. Ross Stripling will take the mound for Oakland and Sonny Gray will start for the Cardinals.