Oakland A’s Shea Langeliers receives congratulations from his teammates in the A’s dugout after slugging a two run homer in the top of the first inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tue Sep 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

After being soundly beaten Monday by the Chicago Cubs (77-74) , the Oakland A’s (66-86) took care of business in game two tying up the series 4-3 on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. Mason Miller got his 26th save of the season. Miller gave up a home run to Ian Happ but went on to strike out Seiya Suzuki for the win. Shea Langeliers had two home runs in the game and Lawrence Butler was back in the line up after a day off on Monday. Butler hit a home run in Tuesday’s win.

Game recap: Oakland got the start that they were looking for in the first inning. Brent Rooker singled followed by a Shea Langeliers home run and the A’s had a 2-0 lead. This was Langeliers 27th home run of the season.

Oakland took the 2-0 lead into the third inning extending that lead to 3-0 when Lawrence Butler hit the A’s second home run of the game and his 22nd long ball of the year. He had the day off yesterday and the rest was obviously a really good thing.

With one out, JJ Bleday singled driving Brent Rooker over to third base and Oakland had runners at the corners. Bleday stole second base but Jacob Wilson struck out for the third out and Oakland left the two runners stranded.

The Cubs got up on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when Ian Happ hit a solo home run. Happ got the Chicago party started. Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger both singled. Michael Busch came to the plate and hit another single driving Bellinger home and Chicago was a run away from tying up this game 3-2. Nico Hoerner flied out and Mitch Spence had gotten the A’s out of the inning.

Oakland’s starter Mitch Spence went three up, three out in the bottom of the fourth inning. He had allowed seven hits two runs and three strikeouts so far through four. He was holding his own as Oakland was hanging onto the slim 3-2 lead.

Oakland got the fifth inning started on a high note with Shea Langeliers second home run of the game. This was number 28 for him extending Oakland’s lead 4-2 for a little insurance. Oakland pitcher Mitch Spence would finish the game going five innings giving up seven hits and the two runs with six strikeouts.

The A’s would take the 4-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs for Chicago and two runners on base it would be up TJ McFarland to get out of the inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong would strike out for the third out and the A’s were three outs away from winning game two.

Oakland went into the ninth inning looking for more insurance runs. Tyler Nevin lined out, Seth Brown popped out and Max Schuemann struck out. It came down to the bottom of the ninth and it was “Miller Time” looking to tie up this series.

Mason Miller struck out Miguel Amaya and would next take on Ian Happ who got exactly the pitch he was looking for and knocked his second home run out of the park making it a one run game 4-3. Miller took care of Seiya Suzuki striking him out for the third out and this series was tied. Miller had his 26th save of the season.

Game notes: Monday, the A’s took a beating at the hands of the Cubs 9-2. Before the A’s could even blink, the Cubs had a 6-0 lead. An A’s two run home run off the bat of Brent Rooker were the only runs that Oakland delivered.

Tuesday they took on Chicago in game two looking for a little redemption. In Monday’s game Rooker scored runs in the third inning but the A’s ran cold in every other frame. A’s pitching gave up 18 hits to the Cubs in game one and were looking to flip the script in today’s game.

A’s starting pitcher Mitch Spence went five innings allowing seven hits, two earned runs, striking out six hitters. Cubs starting pitcher Jordan Wicks pitched five innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, two walks and four strike outs.

Game three at Wrigley will feature LHP Brady Basso (1-0, 1.23) on the mound for Oakland and the Cubs probable starter will be Justin Steele. He comes in with a 5-5 win/loss record and a 3.09 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 11:20 AM PT.