The Oakland A’s second baseman Zack Gelof (20) gets the putout on the Arizona Diamondbacks Corbin Carroll (7) and relays the ball to first for the double play in the bottom of the eighth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sun Jun 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s hung in this game going into the bottom of the seventh inning. This is when the Arizona Diamondbacks broke this game wide open scoring four runs and shutting down the Oakland offense. The final was 5-1 in favor of Arizona as they won this series.

Game recap: Through the first three innings of this game neither team was able to score but going into the fourth inning Arizona’s Christian Walker singled Ketel Marte home from third and the Diamondbacks had scored the first run of the game and taken the lead 1-0. Arizona had a great opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning when they had the bases loaded but came away with only the one run in the inning.

Oakland answered back in the fifth inning tying up this game 1-1. A solo home run from Zach Gelof knotted this game. Through five innings, each team had 3 hits apiece and the A’s were already having a more productive offensive effort.

The A’s had a couple of singles in the sixth inning but left those runners stranded. The Diamondbacks had a couple of runners on base in the sixth inning as well but Medina got out of the inning holding steady through six innings. This game went into the seventh inning remaining tied at 1.

The Diamondbacks again loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. Oakland starting pitcher Luis Medina had been relieved by T.J. McFarland after going six innings allowing four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.

It was a quick appearance for McFarland who allowed one hit and three earned runs before being relieved by Austin Adams after less than an inning. Adams stopped the bleeding but the damage had been done in the inning. Arizona scored three runs taking a 4-1 lead. Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte all scored giving the Diamondbacks a nice lead late in the game.

In the eighth inning when Oakland desperately needed hits Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker both struck out and Tyler Soderstrom flied out. Sean Newcomb took the mound trying to keep Oakland in this game.

Newcomb walked Eugenio Suarez who moved onto second base on a wild pitch. Geraldo Perdomo came to the plate, doubled, Suarez scored and Arizona had a 5-1 lead breaking this game wide open going into the final inning of this game. The Diamondbacks were three outs away from winning this series.

It was a quick one two three inning for Oakland. Kyle McCann struck out swinging, Tyler Nevin grounded out and Zach Gelof also struck out. It was a quick and quiet inning for the A’s losing the game 5-1.

Post game notes: Sunday afternoon the A’s met the Diamondbacks in the rubber match of their three game series the A’s dropped a 5-1 decision losing two out of three to the Diamondback. Friday night the A’s offense went crazy hitting three home runs in the ninth inning. They finished the game with four home runs and 14 hits.

Then along came Saturday night and Oakland’s bats went ice cold losing 3-0 only managing two hits in the entire game. In Sunday’s game, A’s starting pitcher Luis Medina went six innings, allowing four hits and a run. It was McFarland the A’s reliever who ran into trouble giving up three runs in the seventh inning in the four run loss for Oakland.

After another disappointing series, the A’s will now head back to Oakland for a series with the Anaheim Angels. The last time these two teams met back on June 24-26 the Angels swept Oakland. This three game series is set to get underway Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 PM. RHP Mitch Spence will take the mound for the A’s with a 4-4, 4.35 ERA. Starting pitcher for the Angels RHP Jorge Soriano (4-5, ERA 3.48).