Oakland Athletics’ Nick Allen, right, celebrates next to San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey after hitting a solo home run during the fifth at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 6, 2023 (AP News photo)
San Francisco (61-51). 112 020 000 – 6 9 2
Oakland (32-80). 120 013 10x. – 8 11 1
Time: 3:04
Attendance: 27,381
Sunday, August 6
By Lewis Rubman
OAKLAND –It was a bittersweet day for the Oakland Athletics. Before the game started, the five members of the 2023 cohort of the team’s hall of fame were inducted. The late Bob Johnson, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, was the first, followed by the late Voice of God, Roy Steele.
Next came the MVP of the 1972 World Series, Gene Tenace, who paid tribute to those teammates of his who had died recently. Dave Stewart introduced Carney Lansford. Tony LaRusa did the same for Jason Giambi. We shall not see their like again, at least not in the uniform of the Oakland A’s. The A’s Nick Allen provided the punch with two home runs which made the difference in the A’s 8-6 two game sweep over the Giants at the Oakland Coliseum.
When the game began, Luis Medina was one the mound, making his 12th start for the A’s, carrying the burden of a 3-8, 5.35 record. The good news is that it was 1-1, 2.86 in July. It was his first appearance against the visiting San Francisco Giants.
This afternoon, Medina got knocked about in 3-1/3 innings of hard labor under a broiling sun, allowing four runs, three of them earned, on five hits and an equal number of walks while striking out three. 53 of his 88 pitches qualified as strikes. He escaped with a no decision and went home with a record of 3-8. , ERA 5.47.
His opposite number for the visitors was Alex Cobb, whose off speed and breaking ball offerings gained him a 6-3, 3.05 record at game time. He throws sinkers 41.3% of the time; splitters 35.8%; curves, 16.5%; sliders, 86.3%; and the traditional four seam fastball, a mere 0.4%. Cobb wasn’t particularly impressive today.
Cobb lasted 5-1/3 innings, in which he threw 77 pitches, 51 for strikes. He allowed five runs, all earned, although one was posthumous.. The A’s touched him for seven hits, two of them for the distance. He wasn’t involved in the decision and ended the day at 6-3, 3.30.
The Giants lost no time in taking an early lead. LaMonte Wade, Jr., led off with a single to left center. Two outs later, a walk to Joc Pederson and a single by JD Davis brought in the game’s first tally.
Oakland answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame. A two out double by Zack Gelof that bounced off the center field fence to the right of the NBC Sports California sign, followed on the next pitch by Seth Brown’s triple to center, and the game was tied at 1-1.
That didn’t last long. Wade hit another single in the top of the second, this one with runners on the corners and one away, made it 2-1, Giants. That changed with Tyler Soderstrom, who had walked, on first and two men out, when the good field, no hit shortstop Nick Allen parked a fly on the steps separating the left field grandstand from the bleachers. It was Allen’s second homer of the year and raised his batting average from .181 to .186. He ended the day at .195.
San Francisco responded by sending two men across the plate in their next at bat. A leadoff walk to Pederson led to Davis’s grounder to the left side. Jordan Díaz cut in front of Allen and bobbled the ball. The error put runners on first and second, and a walk to Michael Conforto clogged the base paths with no one out.
Patrick Bailey singled to left to bring in Pederson with the tying tally, and Brandon Crawford’s grounder to short forced him out at second and allowed Davis to score the tie-breaking run that put San Francisco up, 4-3.
Medina’s afternoon’s work was over when he walked Flores with one out in the visitors’ fourth, Sam Long relieved him, retired the next two batters and stayed in the game. long enough to give up singles. to Conforto and Bailey and then strike out Crawford looking in the top of the fifth before passing the ball to Austin Pruitt.
Pruitt got Matos to pop out to short, but Wade slammed a single to right, scoring Conforto. Estrada then laid down a beautiful bunt towards third, which he beat out for a single that advanced Wade to second and brought Bailey home with the Giants’ sixth run of the game. Both runs were charged to Long.
In the home fifth, Allen closed the gap to 6-4, with his second round tripper of the game and third of the. year, a line drive into the Oakland Lading seats, a little to the left of where his earlier blast had landed. His BA moved up again, this time to .191 It didn’t help that, after Esteury Ruíz followed Allen’s homer with a single, got picked off first.
Pruitt didn’t come out to pitch after his unfortunate showing in the fifth. Kirby Snead struck out the side in his stead. Three up, three down.
After Seth Brown’s one out double to left in the sixth, Luke Jackson relieved Cobb. He got Brent Rooker to hit a grounder to Crawford, whose errant throw to first put runners on at first and third. Díaz walked, loading the bases. Soderstom also strolled to first, bringing Brown home.
Shea Langeliers lined a single to left, driving in Rooker and Díaz, and Alllen’s force out of Langeliers at second plated Soderstrom, and Oakland was leading, 7-6, when Lucas Erceg took over mound duties for the A’s in the top of the seventh. In spite of a pair of walks, he got through that half inning with Oakland still on top.
Scott Alexander faced the A’s after the seventh inning stretch. Gelof got a one out single to left off him, and Conforto dropped Brown’s fly to right after having lost it in the sun. Gelof went to third and Brown to second on what was ruled, properly, a double.
That brought Ryan Walker to the mound. Tony Kemp pinch hit for Rooker and drove in Gelof with a sacrifice fly to right as Brown moved on to third. Once more, an Oakland base runner was picked off first. This time it was Díaz. The A’s challenged the call, but it stood.
Angel Felipe had an 8-6 lead to protect when he entered the game when the Giants came to bat in the eighth. He was angelic, striking out all of the three batters he faced.
Jakob Junis kept the game in reach in the home eighth, allowing only an infield single to Allen, his third hit of the day. On that play, Crawford committed his second error; his wild throw allowed Allent to take second.
Trevor May set the visitors down in order to earn his 11th save. Jackson took the loss and now is 1-1, 1.98.
With today’s Kansas City 8-4 defeat by the Phillies, the Royals are 36-77 .319 and seem to be falling out of the race to the bottom. The A’s remain contenders with their 32-80, 2.86.
On this day in baseball infamy, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders split a double header with the Chicago Orphans, which improved the Forest City club’s record to 17-80, .175. They finished the season at 20-134, ,130.
On August 6, 1962, the New York Mets, on their way to a 20-140, .250, monument to futility, dropped a 2-1 squeaker at Chavez Ravine in Johnny Podres and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers ride into town tomorrow, the seventh. They’ll face the A’s at 6:45 in the evening. Ken Waldichuk (2-7, 6.52) is expected to start for the Athletics, facing the Rangers’ Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.14).
