Oakland A’s Lawrence Butler (4) beats the throw on a slide at second base under the glove of the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Leo Jimenez (49) in the top of the fourth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto (Canadian Press via AP photo)
By Barbara Mason
JP Sears had a banner day on the mound Sunday in game three of Oakland’s series with Toronto. He was on a tear going through the Toronto Blue Jays (54-64) lineup like a knife through butter. He went seven innings only allowing three hits and three earned runs.
Oakland A’s (50-69) bats were on fire outhitting Toronto 12 hits to five as the A’s took two out of three from the Jays 8-4. The A’s had a perfect blend of long balls and base on hits winning this series. Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday, Zach Gelof and Brent Rooker were also instrumental in the win. Mason Miller capped off the win with another brilliant inning on the mound, three up and three down to once again close the door in relief.
Game recap: Whatever the A’s had in their Cheerios this morning they came out on fire scoring six runs in the first inning. They show-cased a blend of home runs and base hits. The first run of the inning came in thanks to a Blue Jays throwing error which allowed Lawrence Butler to score for the early one run lead and the A’s were just getting started.
Bleday hit a two run home run with Rooker on base followed by a Gelof two run homer with Seth Brown aboard and Oakland had a 5-0 lead. They finished off the inning with a Butler single and Daz Cameron scored taking a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the first inning.
Oakland extended their lead in the fourth inning with a Bleday single that brought Butler home for a 7-0 lead. The Blue Jays finally got on the board in the fourth with a solo home run from Daulton Varsho. That was all Toronto was able to muster so far in the game trailing 7-1.
The A’s tacked another run on in the sixth inning taking a 8-1 lead into the seventh inning. Rooker who was having a great day doubled to left and Max Schuemann scored from second base.
Going into the eighth inning, the Blue Jays were running out of time to make any kind of move, in fact, they were pretty close to finished after six innings. Through seven innings, the A’s had 12 hits while the Blue Jays were quiet with only three.
Sears was having a banner day going into the eighth innings with only 97 pitches in some amazing efficiency. He left the game in the beginning of the eighth inning after walking both Spencer Horwitz and Davis Schneider.
He had an amazing game going seven innings only allowing three hits, three runs, three walks and four strikeouts. Michel Otanez relieved him in the inning. Toronto made a huge move in the eighth inning with only one out.
Luis De Los Santos doubled Spencer Horwitz home and George Springer singled both Davis Schneider and Luis De Los Santos home. Toronto scored three runs to cut Oakland’s lead in half.
A monster threat came to the plate in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. This guy is capable of changing a game with one swing of the bat but he grounded into a double play to end the threat. The A’s were now three outs away from winning this series.
Mason Miller closed out this game in the manner that has become customary for him. It was a three up, three down ninth inning. Oakland really took it to Bassitt in this game who is typically a great starter. He allowed eight hits, seven runs, two walks and five strikeouts and only lasted four innings.
Game notes: Saturday, the A’s tied up their series with the Blue Jays after dropping game one on Friday. Game two featured a tense pitchers duel with the A’s finishing on top 1-0 thanks to the pitching of Osvaldo Bido and the closing brilliance of Mason Miller.
There was not much offensive effort from either team and it was the home run from Brent Rooker in the sixth inning that decided this game. In game three today, Oakland will be looking for their bats to get hot. JP Sears was the winning pitcher on Sunday improving his record to 10-8.
The Blue Jays started Chris Bassitt got lit up, Bassitt went four innings, allowed eight hits and seven earned runs. The stadium welcomed over 35,000 fans on hand for this game despite neither team having any chance for a playoff run.
Oakland will now travel to New York for a three game series with the Mets. The Mets are in third place in the National League East a half game behind the second place Atlanta Braves. Another familiar name will take the mound for the Mets in Paul Blackburn.
Blackburn was recently traded to New York in an effort to bolster the Mets rotation. His 3.86 ERA is solid as is his 5-2 win/loss record. The A’s will go with Ross Stripling with a 2-11, 5.72 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for Tuesday at 4:10 PM.
Sports Radio Service 