OAKLAND–The A’s had everything covered on Sunday. Sean Manaea took care of the pitching mound. Blake Treinen provided Manaea’s much-needed assistance. Marcus Semien made the defense sing, and the Oakland gloves golden. Bill from Pittsburg held down Section 216–and a whole bunch of other sections for that matter–with his foul ball dramatics. And Matt Chapman provided the late inning pop, with the game-winning home run in the eighth.
With that type of synergy, it’s hard to believe the Royals had a chance, or that the game was still up for grabs in the eighth inning.
The A’s 3-2 win gave them best type of series victory: three out of four over Kansas City, when they nearly settled for a 2-2 split. And if A’s baseball is about youth being served, then Chapman served ’em with his blast off reliever Jason Adam. But we digress, enough of Chapman, this story starts with Semien, and ends with Treinen.
“Chapman made a great swing, but that swing doesn’t get us the win if Marcus doesn’t make that play,” Treinen recounted.
“That’s about as good a play I’ve seen him make since he’s been here,” manager Bob Melvin said of Semien’s bang-bang diving snag of a hard hit ground ball of the bat of Salvador Perez that he then turned into an out at the plate with a snap throw across the diamond that nipped Whit Merrifield as he attempted to give the Royals the lead.
“To dive like that, get up and have to throw it off balance on the money like that, no legs underneath him…”
OAKLAND–The A’s avoided the no-no. They did not avoid the oh-no.
On a quiet night–emphasis on quiet–at the Coliseum, the A’s were shutout 6-0 (the third time the A’s have been shut out in their last eight games), limited to one hit, committed four errors, and did so in front of the smallest crowd of the season to date.
That’s the oh-no.
The momentum from sweeping the Blue Jays four straight in Toronto? Completely disappeared. The A’s have opened their home stand following the once in a decade achievement in Canada by losing four of six. And apparently, losing their offense in the process as well. The A’s have scored four runs or fewer in each of their last 14 home games, tying an Oakland A’s record for such unwatchable things.
Unwatchable? The announced crowd of 6,705 was the smallest in Oakland since 2003.
“We’re struggling,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re never as bad as it seems when it’s your worst, and you’re never at your best when things are going great. We’ve got to find a middle ground somewhere.”
Occupying the middle ground on Wednesday–and making sure the A’s weren’t welcome there–was Nathan Eovaldi, the oft-injured, flamethrower who started for the Rays in his first start in nearly two years after a second, Tommy John procedure, and a follow-up procedure on his elbow.
Simply, Eovaldi was so good it’s like where do we start. Well, with his first pitch, clocked at 98 mph. From there, Eovaldi dealt, retiring 18 batters and walking Matt Chapman on four pitches. He started 13 of the 19 batters he faced with a strike, but only struck out four. Quick outs, unhittable pitches, and then Eovaldi was gone after six. What other decision could Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash make?
“Every time he gets on the mound the velocity is there,” Cash said. “It’s kind of “wow factor” velocity, but you learn that’s him.”
“He did not look really crisp with the pitches (thrown in the first inning) and the command, and he did a nice job of taking a deep breath and getting back in the zone. And then he just went on cruise control after that.”
“I would have liked to stay out there until I gave up a hit, but I understand the situation as well,” Eovaldi said of his inevitable, early departure.
Reliever Wilmer Font, the former Athletic making his Tampa Bay debut, would allow a hit to Jed Lowrie in the seventh, breaking up the potential no-hitter. But Font rolled through the seventh and eighth, then Vidal Nuno pitched a flawless ninth in a non-save situation.
Instead of hits, the smattering of A’s fans were treated to errors, two from Chad Pinder, playing shortstop while Marcus Semien was off at the hospital awaiting the birth of his child.
While the errors elicited groans from the crowd, they did not contribute to the Rays’ four runs off Sean Manaea, who again was off his game. Manaea’s biggest mistake was a 3-1, fastball that Rob Refsnyder transformed into a three-run homer in the third.
Manaea’s win-loss record fell to 5-6, after he started the season 4-1 in April.
“I’m trying to figure out some things,” Manaea said. “It’s just not working right now.”
Khris Davis, the A’s leading home run hitter with 13, is expected to return to the lineup Thursday afternoon for the series finale with Ray’s. Davis missed nine games with a groin strain.
OAKLAND–After losing 13 out of 14, and falling out of first place in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks arrived at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday either desperate, panicked or totally focused.
Or completely relaxed.
If the D’Backs’ collective mindset was the latter, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt–hitting just .200 and enveloped in the worst slide of his eight-year big league career–personified it the best. Goldschmidt simply suited up and went back to work, re-energized after a rare Thursday off.
And the A’s Sean Manaea was made to pay, roughed up by Arizona as the Diamondbacks built a 6-1, fourth inning lead on their way to a 7-1 win. Goldschmidt got help from the A’s Chad Pinder, who made an ill-advised dive at Goldy’s base hit, only to see it turn into a two-run triple in the fourth.
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks for us and it’s good to come out and get that early lead there and be able to tack on a few,” Goldschmidt said.
The Diamondbacks won easily for the first time since April 26. The A’s lost for the third time in four games at home–after a four-game road sweep in Toronto supposedly built momentum.
Patrick Corbin limited the A’s to a run on four hits in seven innings, with Mark Canha’s solo shot in the third Oakland’s only dent in the scoreboard. The A’s were limited to just two extra-base hits while collectively striking out 10 times. With Corbin dealing, it made for a quiet night at the Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Arizona put it together at the plate, after seeing their team batting average drop to .213, the major league’s worst.
“Guys came after the off day ready to go and we put some good swings on some good, hittable pitches,” shortstop Nick Ahmed said.
“You know at some point in time that’s going to end because they’re too good to go through long stretches like that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said after looking at the recent numbers of the slumping D’Backs.
Manaea is 1-3 with an ERA over seven in May, after he posted a no-hitter and won the American League Pitcher of the month in April. On Friday, too many pitches over the plate were Manaea’s downfall.
“Just falling behind guys and just not really trusting my stuff right now,” Manaea said.
The A’s resume play with Arizona on Saturday with Clay Buchholz facing Oakland’s Daniel Mengden at 1:05 pm PST.
Chad Pinder’s first career Grand Slam Photo: @OaklandAthletics
by Charlie O. Mallonee
The Oakland Athletics won their third game in a row over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday by beating the home team 5-4. The A’s won for just the third time this season when trailing after the seventh inning. They did improve to 8-2 in one-run games and now own the best winning percentage in one-run games (.800) in the Major Leagues.
The A’s trailed the Jays 4-0 as they came to the plate in the top of the eighth inning. John Axford replaced Seunghwan Oh on the mound for Toronto. Matt Chapman led off the inning with a walk – never a good thing for a relief pitcher. Khris Davis singled to right moving Chapman up to third. Matt Olson went down on strikes for the first out of the inning. Stephen Piscotty then singled to right driving Chapman home and allowing Davis to advance to third. Piscottly was able to advance to second on a throwing error.
That brought a pitching change as Axford was sent to the showers and Tyler Clippard was sent to the hill to stop the A’s rally.
The first hitter Clippard faced was Dustin Fowler and he hit a fly ball for an out. Jed Lowrie then pinch hit for Jonathan Lucroy and drew a base-on-balls to load the bases. Chad Pinder then stepped into the batter’s box and hit a 1-1 pitch over the right-center field wall for a grand slam home run to give the Athletics a 5-4 lead.
That would be the end of the scoring in the contest and the Athletics would win 5-4.
The win means the A’s have won the series and they will be going for the sweep on Sunday. Oakland is now 6-3 on this road trip facing the best of the East and is 13-13 on the road this season.
In the batter’s box
Athletics
Chad Pinder hit his first career grand slam home run that proved to be the game-winning hit versus the Blue Jays on Saturday. This was his fourth home run of the season. Pinder is now hitting .271 with three home runs and nine RBI since coming off the 10-day Disabled List on April 17,
Stephen Piscotty drove in the first run of the day for Oakland and went 2-for-4 in the game making it his eighth multi-hit game of the season. Piscotty is batting .311 in day games and .215 in night contests.
Khris Davis went 2-for-4 in the game and hit his ninth double. 12 of Davis’ last 22 hits have gone for extra bases.
Shortstop Marcus Semien posted his 15th multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with a double on Saturday.
Blue Jays
Justin Smoak tries to lead the Jays past the A’s Photo: @BlueJays
Gio Urshela hit his first home run as a Blue Jay – a two-run shot in the fifth inning. It was also his first career home run to the opposite field.
Yangervis Solarte doubled twice and posted an RBI. This was his third multi-extra base hit game this season. He leads the Jays with 27 RBI.
Justin Smoak went 2-for-3 off Sean Manaea. He is now hitting .333 (19-for-57) versus lefties. Smoak picked up two walks in the game and is now tied for fifth in the American League in walks with 26.
Kevin Pillar recorded his 20th RBI with a Sacrifice Fly in the fifth inning in his 46th game of the season. He did not record his 20th RBI in 2017 until game 80.
On the hill
Oakland
Starter Sean Manaea allowed four runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts in his 5.0-innings of work on Saturday. It matched his shortest outing of the year. Manaea has given up four runs in each of his of last four starts.
Emilio Pagan worked 2.0-innings of relief and earned his first win of the season.
Blake Treinen closed out the game for Oakland and earned his 10th save of the season for A’s.
Toronto
Tyler Clippard had a very, very bad day. He was charged with his first blown save of the year and picked up his first loss of the season as well.
The Jays used five pitchers who gave up five runs on 10 hits while allowing four walks and striking out 10.
Note: The roof at the Rogers Centre was closed.
Up Next
The final game of the series will get underway at 10:07 AM PDT with RHP Daniel Mengden (3-4, 3.75) on the mound for Oakland facing the Blue Jays RHP Joe Biagini (0-2, 7.98).
OAKLAND — The Houston Astros downed the A’s 4-2 in the second game of the three-game series. The A’s had their ace, Sean Manaea, going for his fifth win of the season. That did not happen as the very talented Astros team sent Manaea to the showers in the sixth inning, and he had no choice but to absorb his fourth loss of the year.
Lance McCullers, who dominated the A’s when the Astros won 11-0 on April 29th. McCullers went just five innings, and the A’s could have made it closer, but they couldn’t get it done, and the Astros’ bullpen did its job as the A’s could not get anything done in the last four innings of the game.
The A’s put a run on the board in the bottom of the first without the benefit of a hit. Lance McCullers walked the A’s leadoff hitter Marcus Semien. Semien advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Jed Lowrie hit a fly ball to deep right-field for the second out. Semien tagged up and went to third. With Khris Davis at bat, McCullers uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning and Semien slid in safely for the score. Davis doubled on the next pitch, but the A’s could do no more.
The Astros tied the game in the top of the second. With one out, Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman slammed his third home run of the year over the wall in the right field wall. Manaea retired the next two hitters to end the inning.
The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Semien singled to start the rally. McCullers, who was having problems with his control, walked Matt Joyce and Jed Lowrie to load the bases with no out. Khris Davis lined out to deep right field. Astros’ right fielder George Springer made a nice running catch as the ball almost went over his head. Semien scored, and Joyce tagged and advanced to third. Matt Olson hit into a double play to end the inning. The A’s lead 2-1 after three.
Houston put two on the board in the top of the fifth. With two out, Manaea hit just grazed Brian McCann uniform with an inside pitch. The next hitter, Jake Marisnick, hitting a buck 51, doubled to put men on at second and third. Manaea now had to face the red-hot hitter George Springer. Springer doubled to drive in McCann and Marisnick. Springer now has eight hits in his last nine at-bats. The Astros lead 3-2 halfway through the fifth inning. The A’s Bruce Maxwell committed a blunder on the base paths that may have cost the team a chance to tie the game. Maxwell doubled to start the inning. Marcus Semien followed with a ground ball that squeezed into shallow left field. Maxwell hesitated as he didn’t know if the ball would be fielded and when it wasn’t, he took off for third. Maxwell, who is not a speed demon, was cut down when left fielder Marwyn Gonzalez hustled in to field the ball and threw Maxwell out as he was sliding into the base. Houston leads 3-2 after five innings.
The Astros tacked on another run in the sixth inning. With one out, Yuli Guriel doubled. Manaea retired Bregman for the second out. He now had to face the ever-dangerous Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez came through for Houston as he singled to left to drive in Guriel with the Astros’ fourth run of the night. A’s manager Bob Melvin trudged out to the mound and took the ball from Manaea and brought in rookie reliever Lou Trivino. Trivino gave up a hit but was able to get the third out without any further damage.
The Astros’ relievers’ Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, and Ken Giles shit down the A’s offense to secure the win for Houston. The Astros beat the A’s 4-2.
Game Notes and Stats: There was a very emotional moment in the second inning when Stephen Piscotty came to bat. Piscotty, who lost his mother Gretchen to ALS on Sunday, decided to play in the last two games of the homestand and then go on bereavement leave when the A’s go on the 10-game road trip. Piscotty received an extremely warm, heartfelt reception from the fans. He was very touched by the show of support and tapped his heart before going to bat. He singled, and every one of the 9,764 fans in the stadium knew that that was for his mother.
With the win, the Astros moved back into a virtual tie for first place with the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s drop to 18-18. McCullers improves to 5-1 while Manaea is now 4-4. Ken Giles recorded his fourth save of the year.
Up Next: The final game of the three-game set will be played Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. Game time will be at 12:35 pm PT.
Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea (55) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Oakland Coliseum. Courtesy of Kiel Maddox-USA TODAY Sports
By Morris Phillips
OAKLAND–A whole lot transpired at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night, and Sean Manaea admittedly wasn’t tuned in to all of it. But he did have a handle on the important stuff.
Like? Like handling 27 Red Sox’ batters (excepting two walks) one at a time.
Manaea not only threw a no-hitter, he stopped baseball’s hottest team dead in its tracks. So call it the rarest of no-hitters.
How rare? Rare.
Only seven major league teams since 1900 have won 17 of 19 games to start a season. Before the Red Sox this season, the ’87 Brewers were the last to do it. The Red Sox hadn’t been no-hit since 1993–25 seasons ago–the second longest streak ever for one franchise avoiding being no-hit. And the A’s hadn’t produced a no-no since Dallas Braden’s Mother’s Day masterpiece in 2010. That’s a total of just seven no-hitters in the 50-year history of the Oakland A’s.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Manaea said. “I can’t imagine throwing a no-hitter in the big leagues, especially against a team like the Red Sox.”
Manaea’s battery mate, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, envisioned the no-hitter as it was happening. Superstitious manager Bob Melvin started doing weird baseball stuff in the sixth inning. Didn’t make eye contact with Manaea in the dugout between innings, made sure his conversations with pitching coach Scott Emerson regarding Manaea’s pitch count were done privately. And in the ninth inning, Melvin hoped that he wouldn’t distract his pitcher by being forced to get a reliever up in the bullpen.
Meanwhile, Manaea didn’t have any extraneous thoughts going on. When Boston’s Sandy Leon lazy, but well-placed pop up in the fifth glanced off Marcus Semien’s glove for an error, Manaea assumed it was ruled a base hit. It wasn’t until he retired six more batters, before the start of the eighth inning, that he realized otherwise.
“I just thought it was a hit,” he said. “So from them until the eighth or ninth, I thought it was just a one-hitter. I didn’t think it was a no-hitter. And then I looked up in the eighth and ninth, and I saw that there were still zeros. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s weird.’”
What wasn’t weird was Manaea’s methodical approach to mowing down Red Sox hitters. In Lucroy, the A’s have one of baseball’s most analytical catchers, addicted to watching opposing hitters on video, taking notes and developing game plans. Manaea, in his third year in Oakland, has admitted to coasting in regards to preparation in his first, two big league seasons. That’s no longer the case as the Midwesterner has developed a mental approach and philosophy to his pitching assignments that incorporates all of the resources available to him.
“Talking to people, talking to pitchers, talking to coaches, you have to put your foot on the gas pedal the whole time,” Manaea explained to the MLB Network on Friday afternoon, when interviewed on Ballpark Cam. “If you shy away from things or if you get scared, or if you’re not sure what’s going on on the mound, teams are going to exploit that.”
Throughout, whatever pitch Lucroy summoned, Manaea delivered. Mookie Betts, the hottest of hot Red Sox hitters, and the owner of two, laser shot home runs over the Green Monster against Manaea walked to start the game. But his remaining three at-bats were drama-less outs.
The Red Sox were without the injured Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts, their normal double play combination, and struggling catcher Christian Vazquez (hitting .208) got a day off, replaced by Leon. But the Red Sox were hardly destitute; they came in leading MLB in runs scored with 123 in 19 games.
But Manaea handled them, adroitly moving the ball around the strike zone, and deploying his vastly improved slider and changeup as out pitches. The Red Sox had struck out in just 16 percent of their official at-bats coming in. Against Manaea, they struck out 10 times–eight of those in the first five innings.
“I’ve caught a lot of great pitchers, but that was the best-pitched and most prepared-pitched game I’ve ever seen. We were giving them different looks,” Lucroy said. “That’s one of the best offenses in the league and Sean no-hit them. Watching their swings, they weren’t very comfortable.”
Felix Hernandez made his 47th career start against the A’s on Sunday. From his perspective, this may have been the most frustrating.
Hernandez allowed just five hits, no walks and during one stretch, retired 13 batters in a row. He worked into the seventh inning for the first time this season, baffled the A’s with a couple of changeups, and picked off Marcus Semien, caught breaking from a base in the first inning.
Or did he?
First base umpire Carlos Torres thought not, seeing King Felix react to yelling from his dugout with a quick turn, and slightly disjointed throw to first that had Semien hung up in a rundown. Torres immediately declared a balk, but that was changed once the umpires huddled and reversed his call. A video replay showing Hernandez’s feet close up reinforced the changed call. Call it baseball’s version of a do-over as Semien was allowed to return to first as if nothing happened at all.
“I stepped off the rubber,” Hernandez said. “I don’t know what happened there. It was a weird play.”
“They’re trying to get it right, so it kind of worked out either way for us, based on the fact that Marcus was picked off,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin. “So if they’re saying that they got the call wrong, then they can’t call Marcus out. So I understand where they were going with it.”
Hernandez–vindicated, but bewildered by the sequence–started the next batter, Jed Lowrie, with three, consecutive balls. With 11 hits, including three homers already on the road trip, Lowrie was an obvious candidate to be swinging 3-0. Hernandez misread the situation, and saw his grooved fastball deposited into the right field bleachers.
“I didn’t know he was going to swing because he’s so patient, but he did swing and it cost us the game right there,” Hernandez admitted.
If Lowrie made King Felix pay, then A’s starter Sean Manaea was sent to collect, by fiercely protecting the early two-run lead, and turning it into a 2-1 victory, good enough to allow the A’s to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Manaea allowed just two hits in seven innings, and one run on Taylor Motter’s solo shot in the fifth. But in the pressure of a one-run ballgame, Manaea held up, retiring the final seven batters he faced after failing with Motter.
The outing marked the third time in four starts this season Manaea has pitched into the seventh inning. Saying this could be Manaea’s finest season yet would be an understatement. The 26-year old allowed the Mariners two hits on Sunday with Kyle Seager’s fourth inning single joining Motter’s blast. Manaea walked two, doubling his walk total (four allowed) on the year.
Last season Manaea walked 55 in 158 innings. This season, he’s on pace to surpass 200 innings pitched for the first time while dramatically lowering his walk total. His struggles early in ballgames have subsided as well. And Manaea’s ERA? Low and getting lower, with it currently standing at 1.63.
“Where I am now, solo home runs aren’t going to kill you,” Manaea said. “That’s just kind of the mindset.”
“He saves the bullpen,” said Melvin of Manaea. “He’s pitched great and won games for us. He’s had a heck of an April, for sure.”
On Sunday, the bullpen saved the bullpen as well, quite an upgrade on two meltdowns earlier in the roadtrip. Ryan Buchter got the first two outs of the eighth, and Blake Treinen followed with the final four outs of the ballgame. Neither reliever allowed a hit.
The A’s open a six-game home stand Monday at 7:05pm with Daniel Mengden facing Reynaldo Lopez of the White Sox.
All eyes were on the big lefty as the A’s had given him extra rest to see if he could get back to his previous form after having been knocked around by Baltimore and not having a stellar outing versus Houston. The concern really was over how his arm was holding up over the long season.
It looked like the Athletics were in for a long afternoon when Manaea gave up two runs (both earned) on three hits in the top of the first inning. No team wants to be down two runs before they have a chance to come to bat. It appeared Manaea was in for a short day.
The A’s and Manaea got a real shot in the arm in the home-half of the first when “Chi” Chad Pinder hit a 2-0 pitch from Texas starter Cole Hamels over the center field fence for his 11th home run of the year. With his team down by just a run, Manaea went back out with renewed confidence.
Manaea would go on to work four additional innings of scoreless baseball for the A’s. He did get into a major jam in the top of the fifth inning when Texas loaded up the bases but he managed to get “Porterhouse” Mike Napoli to strikeout to end the inning without the Rangers scoring a run.
Manaea worked 5.0-innings allowing two runs (both earned) on seven hits. He walked just one and struck out two Rangers. Manaea threw 102 pitches (60 strikes).
Manaea earned the win and improved his record to 9-8 for 2017.
The Oakland Relievers did their job putting up some “Goose Eggs”
This reporter is a disciple of Matt Silver and FiveThirtyEight.com. They have recently proposed that the concept of the save is outdated with the way relievers are being used in baseball. They have come with the concept of “Goose Eggs” to measure how relievers do for a team in a game.
On Saturday, four A’s relievers were asked to handle the final four innings of the game. They gave up one run (earned) on two hits. The relievers walked two Texas hitters and struck out five. It was a very good outing for the relief corps.
Each reliever worked one inning. Ryan Dull put up all zeros and struck out three. Santiago Casilla allowed a run off two hits; however he was hit on a “comebacker”. Not trying to make excuses for Casilla but that may have affected his performance. Daniel Coulombe posted zeros except for one walk. Liam “Slydah” Hendriks worked the ninth inning allowing no runs or hits. He did walk one and strike one batter out.
A’s manager Bob Melvin was pleased with his pitching and his offense on Saturday
Pinder not only hit a home run off Cole Hamels in the bottom of the first inning but he added insult to injury by taking Hamels yard in bottom of the third with a booming shot over the left-center field fence for his 12th round-tripper of the season. It was also the second multi-home run game of the season (and career) for Pinder. He did it versus the Indians in Cleveland back in May.
Pinder went 2-for-4 on the day scoring three runs, posting three Rbi and adding one walk. He upped his Rbi total to 31.
The young infielder also got the start on Saturday in right field. The A’s are flush with young infield talent. Pinder can really help his cause if he can add playing strong outfield to his resume.
Jed Lowrie hit his 39th and 40th doubles of the season in the game. He is now tied for the league lead in that category. Lowrie went 2-for-3 with three Rbi and a run scored. It is no wonder the A’s have been so reluctant to part ways with the very productive veteran.
Marcus Semien had a 2-for-4 game scoring two runs. One of his hits was a double.
Matt Chapman continues to be productive. He went 2-for-4 at the plate on Saturday with a run scored.
Oakland scored eight runs on 11 hits. They recorded four doubles and two home runs. They drew eight base-on-balls while striking out just four times. The A’s left six men on base and were 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
A’s hitters were not kind to Cole Hamels
Hamels came into the game on Saturday with a record of 9-1. He lasted only 4.1-innings which was his shortest start of the year. It was just third time this season that Hamels allowed multiple home runs to be hit against him. He gave up six runs (all earned) off nine hits (two home runs). He walked three A’s and struck out two. Hamels was charged with the loss so his record drops to 9-2.
Same two teams on Sunday
The Athletics go for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PDT at the Oakland Coliseum. Former Oakland Athletic RHP A.J. Griffin (6-4, 5.10) will start for the Rangers. Griffin lost his last start against the White Sox last Sunday. The A’s will send RHP Jharel Cotton (6-10, 5.63) to the mound in the series finale. Cotton beat the Astros in his last start a week ago on Sunday in Houston.
The Baltimore Orioles sent 11 men to the plate and Sean Manaea to the showers in the top the first inning on Saturday night in Oakland. Manaea was no mystery to the O’s hitters who roughed him up for six runs (all earned) on six hits in 1/3 inning of work.
RHP Michael Brady – who was just recalled from Nashville by the Athletics – took over for Manaea with one out in first inning. He gave up one run when he gave up a two RBI-double to the Orioles shortstop Tim Beckham (one run was charged to Manaea). After 1/2 inning of play, Baltimore led Oakland 7-0.
The A’s made some noise of their own in the bottom of the first. Newcomer Boog Powell picked up a leadoff walk. Chad Pinder struck out and Jed Lowrie grounded out. That brought Khris Davis to the plate to face RHP Dylan Bundy. Davis hit the first pitch from Bundy over center field wall for a two-run home run – his 32nd of the season. After one inning of play, the Baltimore led Oakland 7-2.
The Athletics held the Orioles scoreless in the top of the second inning. Rookie Matt Olson led off the bottom of the second for the A’s. He took the 1-0 pitch from Bundy over the right field wall on a line drive for his sixth home of the year to make a 7-3 game. The crowd of 29,742 fans started coming to life because it looked like the Athletics might make a game of it after all.
The Orioles began to dash the hopes of the Oakland fans in the top of the fourth inning. Joey Rickard led off and was hit by a pitch. Tim Beckham hit a double that moved Rickard to third. With two out and runners at second and third, the veteran Adam Jones singled to left-center field and drove the runners home to give Baltimore a 9-3 lead over the Athletics.
The A’s made some noise in the home half of the eighth inning with Orioles third pitcher of the game Miguel Castro on the mound. Ryon Healy led off with a single to right. With one out, Matt Chapman doubled to left moving Healy up to third base. Catcher Bruce Maxwell hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought Healy home from third and moved Chapman up to third. Marcus Semien singled to right to drive Chapman in from third to make it a 9-5 game in favor of the Orioles. At that point, A’s fans felt like their team still had a chance to comeback in the game.
The Athletics went with their only left-handed reliever – Daniel Coulombe – to face the O’s in the ninth. The Orioles were not kind to Coulombe as they scored three runs on five hits (including three doubles). When the top half of the inning was over, Baltimore held a commanding 12-5 lead which would ultimately be the final score of the game.
The Orioles scored 12 runs on 20 hits. The committed one error and left nine runners on base. The A’s put up five runs on 10 hits. They played error free baseball and also left nine men on base.
Time of the game was 3 hours and 20 minutes.
In the batters box
Veteran Adam Jones went 3-for-5 at the plate*
Oakland
Khris Davis had a 2-for-4 game that included a home run (32) and two RBI (83)
Matt Olson showed his power with home run number six and RBI number 12
Matt Chapman went 2-for-3 with two doubles (12), one run and one RBI
DH Ryon Healy was 2-for-5 and scored a run
The A’s were just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position
Baltimore
The A’s saw way too much of Beckham on Saturday*
Tim Beckham continues to hit at another level since joining the Orioles. He went 4-for-5 in this game with three doubles (12), scored three runs and posted three RBI (45). Beckham extended his hitting streak to 12 games. There have to be some general managers asking how did we overlook him at the trade deadline?
The veteran Adam Jones had a 3-for-5 night at the plate and recorded three RBI. He also scored a run.
First baseman Chris Davis who has been struggling going just 1-for-14 on the current road trip had 2-for-4 night that included two RBI.
The O’s scored 12 runs without the benefit of hitting one home run in the contest. They did hit eight doubles in the game. Many of those extra-base hits banged off the walls.
As a team, Baltimore was 9-for-18 with runners in scoring position
On the hill
Oakland
It was a nightmare for starter Sean Manaea who takes the loss and falls to 8-7 on the season. He gave up six runs (all earned) on six hits in 0.1 innings of work. His ERA now stands at 4.59
Michael Brady worked hard coming into a very difficult long relief situation early in the game. He worked 5.1 innings giving up three runs (earned) on seven hits. Brady struck out five Orioles and walked none
Liam Hendriks worked a scoreless 1.1 innings
Josh Smith did not allow a run in his one inning of work
Daniel Coulombe allowed three runs (earned) on five hits in one inning of relief
Baltimore
Dylan Bundy struck out 10 A’s hitters on his way to the win
Dylan Bundy got the win and improves to 12-8 on the season. It was an odd win by the numbers. He pitched 6.0 innings giving up three runs (earned) on seven hits including two home runs which accounted for all three runs. Bundy walked three and struck out 10 (the second time his has struck out that many in his career)
Darren O’Day worked a perfect seventh inning
Miguel Castro lasted just 0.2 innings giving up two runs on three hits to the A’s in the eighth inning.
Mychal Givens (a converted infielder) closed the game giving up no runs or hits in his 1.1 innings on the hill
Up next
The Orioles and Athletics will conclude their four-game series on Sunday at the Coliseum beginning at 1:05 pm PDT. Baltimore will start RHP Jeremy Hellickson (1-1, 2.08) while Oakland will send RHP Kendall Graveman (2-3, 4.97) to the mound for the home team.
The Oakland Athletics have the worst road record (15-31) in the major leagues. It is one of the main reasons they are mired in last place in the American League West and are about to dismantle their team to begin a major rebuilding process.
On Saturday night after jumping out to a 5-0 lead over the New York Mets, the A’s allowed the Metropolitans to claw their way back into the game. The Mets tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lucas Duda hit a single off Daniel Coulombe that drove Travis d’Arnaud home from second base.
In the bottom of the ninth with two out and the bases empty, Wilmer Flores hit the 1-0 pitch from A’s reliever Simon Castro into the first row of seats in left field to give the Mets a 6-5 win. It was the ninth home run of the season for Flores and the second consecutive win for the Mets (45-50) over the Athletics (43-54).
In the batter’s box
Oakland
Matt Joyce put the A’s on the board in the first inning when he hit the 0-1 pitch from Zack Wheeler over the center field fence for his 13th home run of the year. Joyce now has 39 RBI for the season.
Matt Chapman showed off his power hitting by putting a Wheeler pitch into the second deck in left field for his third home run of the year. Chapman also had a sacrifice fly in the game to give him two RBI. He has seven RBI since joining the A’s.
Catcher Bruce Maxwell hit an RBI-double.
The A’s scored five runs on 10 hits and left nine runners on base. They were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
NYM
Flores — who is one of the Mets that does not appear to be on the trading block — went 2-for-5 including that game winning walk-off home run. Flores also hit his 13th double of the year in the game and scored two runs.
Jose Reyes hit his sixth triple of the season and also scored a run while going 2-for-4 for New York.
Jay Bruce hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning. It was his 25th home run and it raised his RBI total to 65. Bruce is one the Mets who is expected to be with another team by the July 31 trade deadline.
Travis d’Arnaud made it safely to base four times in the game. He went 3-for-3 with a walk. d’Arnaud scored a run and added an RBI.
The Mets scored six runs on 14 hits. They left eight men on base and were 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
On the hill
Athletics
Starter Sean Manaea pitched well through the first five innings but ran into some real problems in the sixth inning when he gave up four earned-runs. Manaea worked 5.2-innings giving up four runs (all earned) on 10 hits. He struck out two and walked one while allowing one home run. Manaea did not figure in the final decision.
The A’s relief corps was roughed up in the game. Hendriks gave up two runs, Coulombe was charged with a blown save and Simon Castro took the loss for giving up the game winning home run to Flores.
Newcomer Blake Treinen was credited with a hold.
Mets
Starter Zack Wheeler gave up five runs (all earned) on seven hits in 5.0-innings of work. He struck out six and walked four batters while giving up two home runs. He did not figure into the final decision.
The trio of Mets relievers — Smoker, Edgin and Robles — did not give up a run to the A’s in the final four innings of the game.
Hansel Robles (6-1) was the pitcher of record when Flores hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth and he was credited with the win.
Up next
The A’s and Mets will meet on Sunday for the third and final game of the series. Oakland will send RHP Daniel Gossett (1-5, 5.79 ERA) to the mound to face RHP Rafael Montero (1-6, 5.40 ERA) who will start for the Mets. Game time is 10:10 a.m. PDT.
Sports Radio Service 