The Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals started this weekend with a three-game series at Nationals Park. The A’s lost 8-2 to the Nationals in their series opener on Friday. Oakland fell to 33-83, while Washington improved to 51-66.
The A’s starting lineup consisted of Esteury Ruiz, JJ Bleday, Zack Gelof, Seth Brown, Jordan Diaz, Tyler Soderstrom, Shea Langaliers, Lawrence Butler, Nick Allen, and Paul Blackburn. Blackburn (2-3, 4.52 ERA) took the loss after pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up eight hits, four earned runs, four walks, and three strikeouts.
The A’s quickly got on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. Jordan Diaz singled on a line drive to Stone Garett. JJ Bleday and Zack Gelof scored for a 2-0 lead.
The Nationals cut the A’s lead in half and tied the score in the bottom of the second inning. Ildemaro Vargas singled on a ground ball to Lawrence Butler. Keibert Ruiz scored to cut the A’s lead to 2-1 as Dominic Smith went to third base. Stone Garrett singled on a ground ball to Butler. Smith scored to tie the game 2-2 as Vargas went to second base.
The Nationals took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jake Alu was out on a sacrifice fly to JJ Bleday. Ildemaro Vargas scored for a 3-2 lead with two outs.
The Nationals extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Keibert Ruiz homered on a fly ball to right center field for a 4-2 lead.
The Nationals expanded their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ildemaro Vargas homered on a fly ball to left center field. Lane Thomas and Keibert Ruiz scored for a commanding 7-2 lead.
The Nationals added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jake Alu homered on a fly ball to right center field for an 8-2 lead.
Notes The A’s recalled Lawrence Butler from Triple-A Las Vegas, placing Tony Kemp on the paternity leave list on Friday.
On Thursday, Zack Gelof became the fastest to reach six home runs in A’s history.
Up Next The A’s and Nationals will continue their series on Saturday at 4:05 pm Pacific.
Photo credit: San Francisco Giants starter Alex Wood wipes his face between pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
By: Mary Anne
The San Francisco Giants took on the Washington Nationals on Friday at Nationals Park. The Giants lost 5-3 to the Nationals in their series opener. San Francisco fell to 54-44 and lost three games in a row, while Washington improved to 39-58 and ended a two-game losing skid.
The Giants’ starting lineup featured LaMonte Wade Jr., Joc Pederson, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Patrick Bailey, Blake Sabol, Brett Wisely, Casey Schmitt, and Alex Wood. Wood (4-4, 4.99 ERA) took the loss after pitching for four innings and giving up five hits, five earned runs, two walks, one strikeout, and two home runs.
The Giants got on the board first. J.D. Davis homered on a fly ball to right field for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The Nationals quickly responded with a game-tying run and a go-ahead run in the bottom of the first inning. Lane Thomas homered on a fly ball to center field for a 1-1 tie. Keibert Ruiz doubled on a line drive to Blake Sabol. Jeimer Candelario scored for a 2-1 lead. Joey Meneses went to third base.
The Nationals added a run in the bottom of the second inning. CJ Abrams homered on a fly ball to center field for a 3-1 lead.
The Giants tied the game in the top of the third inning. Joc Pederson homered on a fly ball to right field. LaMonte Wade Jr. scored for a 3-3 tie.
The Nationals regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Michael Chavis doubled on a line drive to Blake Sabol. Stone Garrett scored for a 4-3 lead.
The Nationals extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Joey Meneses doubled on a sharp line drive to Blake Sabol. CJ Abrams scored for a 5-3 lead.
Notes The Giants were saddened to hear about the loss of Tony Bennett, who passed away at 96 on July 21st. Bennett recorded his signature song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1962. The legendary crooner sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at San Francisco City Hall in 2012 in front of over 100,000 fans in a ceremony commemorating the Giants’ 2012 World Series win.
Giants outfielder Austin Slater reached 500 MLB games played on July 20th.
Up Next The Giants and Nationals will continue their series on Saturday at 4:05 pm Pacific.
Chris Herrmann celebrates scoring a run Photo: @Athletics
By Charlie O. Mallonee
The Oakland Athletics have become the St. Louis Cardinals’ worst nightmare. Back in June, the A’s swept their two-game series in St. Louis. On Saturday night, the A’s never trailed in game one of the two-game series in Oakland.
The Athletics jumped on the Cardinals early on Saturday night when they scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning off the Cards starting pitcher Dakota Hudson. The A’s sent eight batters to the plate collecting two hits, two walks, and one hit batsman. It became very apparent that it was going to be a short evening for Hudson.
The A’s scored two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Oakland sent seven hitters to bat in the inning taking advantage of a double, sacrifice fly, two walks and one passed ball.
The Cardinals closed the gap to 5-2 by the end of 6 1/2 innings, but Chad Pinder hit a two-out three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make an 8-2 score. The Cardinals’ Lane Thomas hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth inning which made the final score 8-3 in favor of the A’s.
Oakland is now 63-48 on the season — 8.5 games back of Houston in the AL West and 1/2 game out of the second Wild Card slot behind Tampa Bay. St. Louis falls to 58-51 and into second place in NL Central — 1/2 game behind the Cubs. The Cardinals now are in the number one Wild Card slot in the National League.
Focus on the A’s
Graphic: @Athletics
Mike Fiers pitched 5.2 innings and allowed just one run en route to his 10th win of the season. Fiers now owns the second-longest active winning streak in the American League with eight wins. His last loss was May 1st. Fiers struck out four, walked just one while giving up six hits. He made 94 pitches. In his postgame comments, manager Bob Melvin said he wanted to keep Fiers pitch count down tonight.
Stephen Piscotty went 2-for-3 plus a hit-by-pitch in his first game back from the injury list.
Khris Davis extended his hitting streak to five games. He is batting .320 (7-for-20) over those five games. Davis scored a run in the fifth inning of the game.
Matt Chapman put a three-walk game into the scorebook for the second time this season. He did it versus the Rangers back on April 23rd. Chapman scored a run in the first inning of the contest.
Chad Pinder was brought to pinch-hit for Grossman in the bottom of the seventh inning with two out and two runners on base. Pinder hit an 0-2 pitch from Tyler Webb over the left-field fence for a three-run home — his 10th of the year. Skipper Bob mentioned after the game that this team really uses everyone on the 25-man roster. Everyone is ready to contribute at all times.
“Mr. I can play anywhere coach” — Mark Canha had a 2-for-5 night with the bat and drove in two runs. So far this season, Canha has played all three outfield positions and first base for the A’s.
Athletics roster changes
Stephen Piscotty has rejoined the team. He was placed on the 10-day IL back on June 30 with a knee sprain. Piscotty went to Las Vegas for a rehab assignment where he played three games in the outfield and two at designated hitter.
The A’s claimed catcher Dustin Garneau off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. Garneau is a right-handed hitter while Chris Herrmann is a lefty (Josh Phegley is on the IL due to a deeply bruised thumb). Garneau is familiar with some of the Oakland pitchers as he played 19 games with the A’s in 2017 plus seeing them in head to head competition.
Infielder Franklin Barreto has been optioned back to Triple-A Las Vegas. He was hitting just .106 at the time he was sent down. Manager Bob Melvin commented that Barreto had nothing left to prove at Triple-A which means it could be the end of the road for the infielder and the Athletics organization.
Cardinals watch
Cardinals starting pitcher Dakota Hudson walked a season-high five batters in just 3.2 innings of work on the mound. His record drops to 10-6 for the season after being charged with the loss.
Paul DeJong had a 2-for-4 game with an RBI. He now has a career monthly best 43 RBI in August. He is second for the Cards in total bases with 185.
Lane Thomas hit his second home run of the season in the top of the ninth inning. Both of his home runs have come when he has been a pinch-hitter.
Up next
A’s fans will get their first look at RHP Tanner Roark on Sunday. Roark came to the A’s at the trade deadline from the Cincinnati Reds for minor league outfielder Jameson Hannah. Roark was 6-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 21 starts for the Reds.
The Cardinals will counter with RHP Adam Wainwright, who is 7-7 with a 4.47 ERA so far in 2019. Wainwright started against Oakland back on June 26 in St. Louis. He lost that game 2-0. Wainwright worked 6.2 innings giving up two runs (both earned) off seven hits. He walked one, struck out nine, but he gave up two home runs. Wainwright will be a free agent at the end of the season.
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