Tag: Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays Daulton Varsho (25) slides in safely as Oakland A’s third baseman Abraham Toro (31) waits for the throw in the top of the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Jun 9, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 Barbara, Sunday’s game at the Oakland Coliseum the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Oakland A’s 6-4 to take two out of three from the A’s another tough series for the A’s.

#2 The Blue Jays struck first in the top of the second inning when Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a base hit to center that scored two runs making it 2-0.

#3 In the sixth the A’s Brent Rooker hit his 13th home run of the season to get the A’s on the scoreboard. Abraham Toro’s two RBI base hit in the seventh made it a 3-2 A’s lead. The Jays would come back and tie the game 3-3 in the 8th forcing extra innings.

#4 Kiner-Falefa put the game out of reach with three run double as the Jays took a 6-3 lead in the top of the 10th and would hang on to win it 6-4.

#5 The A’s head to San Diego for a three game series against the Padres at Petco Park on Monday at 6:40pm PT. Starting pitcher for Oakland RHP Joey Estes (2-1, ERA 4.67) for San Diego RHP Dylan Cease (5-5, ERA 3.51).

Join Barbara Mason for the Oakland A’s podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Oakland A’s first baseman Tyler Soderstrom (21) sits frustrated after Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (16) interfered with a pop up in front of the Toronto Blue Jays dugout hit by teammate Davis Schneider in the top of the tenth at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Jun 9, 2024 (AP News photo)

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Toronto Blue Jays 6 (32-33)

Oakland Athletics 4 (26-41)

Win: Yimi Garcia (3-0)

Loss: Austin Adams (0-2)

Save: Genesis Cabrera (1)

Time: 2:32

Attendance: 11,276

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The A’s lost a tough one late, as after coming back to take a 3-2 lead, the A’s were unable to hold it, and the Toronto Blue Jays ended up scoring three runs in the top of the 10th inning to win it 6-4 and take the series

After getting shut out by Kevin Gausman Saturday, the A’s looked to bounce back and take the series against the Blue Jays with a win in the rubber match Sunday on a beautiful day gif baseball at the Coliseum. Doing the honors for the A’s on the mound today would be Mitch Spence.

Spence would be opposed by Bowden Francis, a reliever turned starter. Spence got two starts at the beginning of the season, but he was relegated back to the bullpen, and then went down due to injury. Today, Blue Jays Manager John Schneider gave Bowden a shot to come beck into rotation in what would be the latter’s third start of the season.

Spencer Horwitz singled to lead off the game for Toronto, and Vladimir Guerrero singled with one out. The Blue Jays had runners at first and second with one out, but Spence was able to get Bo Bichette to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Francis pitched a scoreless inning for Toronto in the bottom of the first. Spence was able to escape trouble without any damage in the top of the first, but he would not be as lucky in the top of the second.

Justin Turner lined a double to left field to start the second, and George lined a base-hit to left to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Springer stole second base, and Daulton Varsho struck out swinging. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then chopped a base-hit up the middle and into center field for a base-hit to score a pair and give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Daz Cameron lined a base-hit up the middle up lead off the bottom of the second, and Tyler Soderstrom grounded a single to right with one out, as the A’s had a real opportunity. However, nothing would come to pass, as Aledmys Diaz flew out to center, and Max Schuemann popped out to first to end the inning.

Kiner-Falefa was caught stealing at second to end the top of the second, but when Kevin Kiermaier lined out to center for the second out right beforehand, Spence went into a zone.

As for Francis, he was done after the A’s wasted a leadoff double by Miguel Andujar in the bottom of the fourth. Even though he only threw 49 pitches in four shutout innings, John Schneider did not want to stretch Francis out there too long.

Zach Pop was the new pitcher in the bottom of the fifth, and he struck out the side on 11 pitches. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Brent Rooker hit a long home run off to left-center off Nate Pearson to put the A’s on the board.

Spence, meanwhile, would not allow another base-runner the rest of the day, and he retired the final 16 men he faced. However, he did get some help in his final inning in the top of the seventh. With one out, Turner lined a shot off the end of the bat the other way, and first-baseman Tyler Soderstrom dove to his right to catch it. George Springer then hit a soft ground ball to third that Abraham Toro charged and made a bare-handed pickup and throw on to end the inning.

Spence had a great outing, as he gave up two runs and five hits over a career-high seven innings.

“Great outing by Mitch,” said Manager Mark Kotsay. “We’ve talked a lot about him incorporating a sinker into his repertoire, and he did a nice job Sunday of doing that effectively. He battled [and] gave us seven innings. We could [not] have asked for a better start.”

“I kinda figured out [my sinker] today,” said Spence. “It hasn’t really been sinking, [but] today it was actually sinking, so it opens the inner half against righties. That pitch got me a lot of quick outs today. The problem’s kinda been is I get in the bullpen, it’s been really good, I get a good feel for it, but in the game, the intensity goes up, and there’s a little bit of a disconnect there. Today, I kinda figured that out. The biggest thing is I naturally cut everything, and I have to turn the sinker over.”

Trevor Richards came in for Toronto in the bottom of the seventh, and he immediately walked Soderstrom to start the inning. Diaz then lined a base-hit to left to put runners at first and second with no one out. Schuemann laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over to second.

That brought Abraham Toro to the plate. With the count 0-2, Toro reached out with a two-strike protect swing and poked a changeup off the end of the bat and into left-center for a base-hit that knocked in a pair to give the A’s their first lead of the game.

The A’s led 3-2 going to the eighth, and they were six outs away from the series win. However, the Blue Jays would strike right back against left-hander Scott Alexander, who Kotsay went to for the top of the eighth.

Varsho lined a base-hit to right to start the inning, and Kiner-Falefa laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Varsho to second. Davis Schneider pinch-hit for Kiermier, and while Schneider was at the plate, Varsho stole third. That proved to be a huge play, as Schneider knocked in Varsho with a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.

“The stolen base end[ed] up being a huge play and really determining the game,” said Kotsay. “Those are the small things that we talk about. [We’re] trying to learn from [them], to get better, and not allow those small details to have an impact on our game and our success.”

Chad Green, who finished the seventh for Trevor Richards, was back out for Toronto in the bottom of eighth, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning to send the game to the ninth still tied at 3-3.

Kotsay went to his closer, Mason Miller in the top of the ninth, something he could do comfortably in a tied game, because he was the home manager. Miller pitches a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, and Yimi Garcia pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for the Blue Jays to send this one into extra innings.

It was now the 10th, and that meant that Bo Bichette, who was the final out of the top of the ninth, would be at second to start the top of the 10th. Kotsay went to Austin Adams, who walked Turner to start the inning. Ernie Clement came in to pinch-run for Turner, and Spinger lined out to left field for the first out. Adams hit Varsho to load the bases, and Kiner-Falefa made Adams pay by clearing the bases with a double to left-center that put Toronto back ahead 8-5.

“I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on Mason and wear him down with two innings,” said Kotsay. “[I] felt good about Adams. Obviously, we have felt good about Adams all year…..The 10th inning is always a crapshoot, especially with that runner starting at second base. Unfortunately, we gave up a couple of runs there.”

Davis Schneider was now at the plate, and as the Blue Jays looked to add on, he hit a high pop up towards the Blue Jays’ dugout in the first base side. Soderstrom chased it down in the humongous foul territory at the Coliseum, and just as he was about to get to it, Yusei Kikuchi, a starting pitcher for the Blue Jays, came out of the dugout at the very last second and prevented Soderstrom from catching it, which was clearly interference.

“[I] was just kinda in shock,” said Soderstrom. [I was] just trying to make a play on the ball. Last second, I tried to make a move to my left, and there was Kikuchi.”

“Obviously, I was embarrassed out there,” Kikuchi said through his translator. “I kind of realized last minute that the dugout in Oakland has no fence, and I realized that a little too late there…..After [that], I just wanted to create a little hole and hide inside it.

First Base Umpire and Crew Chief Chris Guccione very slowly called it a no-catch, but the rest of his crew quickly gathered with him, and they correctly called Schneider out on the interference. Hey, you come to the park, and you may see something you’ve never seen before.

Genesis Cabrera gave up an unearned run in a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to end the game. Yes, you read that right: a run scored in a 1-2-3 inning, because of the automatic runner at second base, which in this case, was Max Schuemann.

Anyway, Yimi Garcia got the win; Austin Adams took the loss; and Genesis Cabrera picked up his first save of the season. The A’s fall to a new season-high 15 games under .500 at 26-41, and they will now hope for better fortunes on the road.

First, the A’s will head to San Diego for three against the Padres, and then they will head to Minneapolis for four against the Minnesota Twins. Oakland will open their three-game series against the Padres Monday night at Petco Park. Joey Estes (2-1, 4.67 ERA) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Dylan Cease (5-5, 3.51 ERA) of the Padres. First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

A’s. First pitch will be at 1:07 p.m.

Oakland A’s JJ Bleday (33) looks as a wild pitch gets by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (44) in the bottom of the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Jun 8, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Titus:

#1 Titus, big night last night for JJ Bleday who got the walk off home run in the last of the ninth for his ninth home run of the season for an A’s 2-1 win.

#2 Bleday’s home run was his first career walk off home run. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said last night after the game that he and the coaching staff has been pushing him on his physicality and to push himself harder.

#3 The A’s last night had five hits and pulled it off for the win. For the most part the A’s are getting the pitching and as Kotsay has been emphasizing the club needs to really start swinging the bats.

#4 Last night the two big fan clubs the Last Dive Bar and the Oakland 68s showed up for the reverse boycott. Their push is to get owner John Fisher to sell the club they had remote broadcast coverage with Damon Amendolara and Damon Bruce who hosted the reverse boycott show. While it was a gesture for those fans who would like to see Fisher sell the club Fisher is pushing on with moving the club out of Oakland.

#5 Titus, taking a look at today’s starting pitchers for the Toronto Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (4-4, ERA 4.60) and for Oakland Luis Medina (0-0, ERA 0.00). The Blue Jays are in dead last in the AL East 30-33 and have lost six of their last ten games. The A’s are fourth in the AL West and are ten games back and have lost six of their last ten games.

Titus Wilkinson is a podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Splish Splash Oakland A’s slugger JJ Bleday gets the Gatorade can treatment after belting a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Oakland Coliseum on Fri Jun 7, 2024 (Oakland A’s X photo)

Toronto (30-33). 000 000 100. 1. 5. 0

Athletics (26-39). 000 001 001. 2 5. 0

Time: 2:07

Attendance: 16,046

Friday, June 7, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The A’s, like Hogan Harris, their starting pitcher in Friday night’s 2-1 stunning walk off triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays, have had their ups and downs this season. After laboriously climbing the to the pinnacle of mediocrity at 17-17 on May 4, the green and gold steadily dropped in the standings and had lost six of their previous eight games. With Friday night’s win, they’ve risen to 26-39.

Harris, the third round choice of the then Oakland Athletics in the 2018, reached the big leagues last year, when he went 3-6, 7.14 for the. A’s in six starts and eight relief appearances. He has been up and down between Oakland and Las Vegas this season.

When he was recalled from the Aviators on May 30, it was the third time in ’24 that he was with the big club. He was an unimpressive, even by PCL standards 1-2, 7.67 while in AAA. This evening, he wasn’t just up in the majors; he was up to major league standards and then some.

When Austin Adams relieved him to start the top of the seventh, Harris had yielded exactly three hits and two walks while logging three strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches, XX(55) for strikes. Although the A’s were leading 1-0 at Harris’s departure, he had to settle for a no decision that left his w0n-lost record unchanged but lowered his ERA to 2.21.

The Blue Jays, who had just salvaged a split in their four game series at Baltimore and going 11-7 in their last 18 encounters, still were only 30-32 at game time. Unlike Harris, who is notorious for not getting through a lot of innings, Chris Bassitt, Toronto’s starting pitcher Friday evening, frequently piles up the IPs, of which he compiled an even 200 last year, when he went 16-8 in 33 starts racked up 186 strikeouts.

The veteran of seven big league seasons was an uncharacteristic 6-6, 4.13 when he toed the mound in the bottom of the first. He pitched a beautiful eight frames, holding the Athletics to one run, which was earned, on four hits and two walks. He did, however, unleash a wild pitch. 71 of his 102 offerings either were called strikes or made contact with an Athletic’s bat. Like Harris, he wasn’t involved in the decision. His ERA dropped considerably, to 3.80.

Neither team came close to scoring over the initial 5-1/2 frames. Then Max Schuemann led off the A’s sixth with a single to left, only their third hit, and advanced to third on Abraham Toro’s single to center. After Miguel Andújar took a called third strike, Schuemann scored on a wild pitch to JJ Bleday. Toro took third, where he was stranded.

Austin Adams, who relieved Harris, couldn’t hold onto his lead. The Blue Jays overcame The Curse of the Leadoff Double. Vladimir Guerrero’s fly to deep right field landed just inside the foul line, and Bo Bichette followed with a game tying single to right. A passed ball and hit batter made for a threat, but Adams wiggled out of it.

Scott Alexander hurled a 1,2,3 eighth, and Mason Miller set down the heart of the Toronto order, Guerrero, Bichette, and George Springer down on two strikeouts and a grounder to third in the ninth.

Chad Green, who relieved Bassitt for the ninth, worked pretty quickly, too. His first pitch to Bleday, leading off, was an 86 mph slider. It went over the right field fence and landed 369 feet from home plate to give the A’s a walk off triumph.

It was Mason Miller’s first big league win. Bleday, interviewed on the field after his blast, was asked how he felt, having given the Oakland fans something to cheer about. His answer was drowned out by chants of “SELL THE TEAM.”

Credit for the win, his first as a major leaguer went to Miller. Green, 1-1, 2.25, took the loss.

Saturday, righty Luis Medina will make his first start of the season for the A’s. Fellow right hander Kevin Gausman (4-4, 4.60 will be his opposite number for Toronto. First pitch 1:05pm PT at the Oakland Coliseum.

Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo pitches to the Oakland A’s in the top of the first inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu Jun 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Seattle Mariners 3 (36-28)

Oakland Athletics 0 (25-39)

Win: Bryan Woo (3-0)

Loss: JP Sears (4-5)

Save: Ryne Stanek (4)

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 6,571

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The A’s ran into a buzz saw in Bryan Woo, who shut down the A’s, and the Mariners shutout the A’s 3-0 on a hazy Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum to take the series.

The A’s were looking to win just their second series since they took two of three from the Miami Marlins from May 3-5. They were also looking to win consecutive games for the first time since that same series against the Marlins.

Left-hander JP Sears made the start for Oakland. Sears was coming off a start in Atlanta where he gave up four runs over seven innings against a powerful Braves team at Truist Park, one of the most live ballparks in Baseball.

Sears was back at the Coliseum for his team-leading 13th start of the season to go up against a Mariners team, who despite their record, has struggled offensively all season. Sears promptly got off to a nice start with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.

The Mariners went with right-hander Bryan Woo, who has pitched quite well since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on May 10. Woo has gone 2-0 with a minuscule 1.30 ERA in his first five starts of the season.

The A’s put Woo in trouble right away in the bottom of the first. Abraham Toro hooked a double down the right field line to start the inning, but he never got to third, as Woo was able to settle down to retire the side.

Sears walked Cal Raleigh with one out in the top of the second, but he induced a double play off the bat of Mitch Haniger to end the inning. Seth Brown reached second to lead off the bottom of the second when Mariners’ left-fielder Victor Robles tried to make a leaping catch on a routine fly ball to left field but ended up dropping the ball. Fortunately for Robles, Woo retired the side, and Brown never got past third.

The A’s had wasted opportunities in the first two innings, and they would need Sears to keep cruising, but Sears immediately got himself in trouble in the top of the third. Sears walked Mitch Garver, and then he hit Robles right afterwards to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Ryan Bliss then reached on a bunt single, the Mariners’ first hit of the game, to load the bases.

Sears struck J.P. Crawford out swinging for the first out, but Dylan Moore knocked in Garver with a sacrifice fly to left. The Mariners had a 1-0 lead, and Woo followed that up with his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon in the bottom of the third.

Sears hit Raleigh with a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth, and Raleigh followed that up by stealing second base. Sears struck Haniger out for the second out, but Garver hit a single to left to score Raleigh and make it 2-0.

As for Woo, he pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth. Both pitchers pitched scoreless innings in the fifth.

Sears went back out for the top of the sixth, but with activity in the A’s bullpen, he would most likely have to pitch a 1-2-3 inning to go a full six innings. Sears did indeed pitch that 1-2-3 inning to end a very strong day for him, in which he gave up just two runs and three hits over his six innings, while striking out eight.

Woo pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth, and he was in complete control. That made it a bit surprising that his day would be done afterwards.

Woo had yet to go more than six innings this year, and he had his highest pitch count of the year with 85 pitches, but with how he was pitching Wednesday, it could have been assumed that Mariners Manager Scott Servais would have given him one more inning.

Still, it was quite an impressive outing. Woo allowed just two hits and three base-runners over his six shutout innings, and the A’s simply could not catch up to his fastball.

“We just couldn’t hit the heater,” said Manager Mark Kotsay. “I don’t know what it is about his fastball that gives us trouble…..We just could not hit the fastball.”

Dany Jimenez was the new pitcher for Oakland in the top of the seventh, and he worked through a pair of walks for a scoreless inning. Austin Voth came in for Seattle, and he pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

Jimenez was back out for the top of the eighth, He struck Julio Rodriguez out swinging to start the inning. Jimenez then walked Ty France, but he bounced back to strike Raleigh out swinging for the second out.

Then, Kotsay brought in the left-hander, T.J. McFarland, to face the right-handed-hitting Mitch Haniger. It seemed like a weird move from afar, but Haniger has struggled against left-handers this season. The move paid off, and Haniger grounded out weakly to third to end the inning.

Mike Baumann pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for Seattle, and when McFarland went back out for the top of the ninth, Mitch Garver led off the inning with a home run to left-center to extend the Mariners’ lead to 3-0.

It was quite an afternoon for Garver, who reached base all four times he came to the plate, going 2-for-2 with a single, the home run and a pair of walks. He also scored two of the Mariners’ three runs.

Ryne Stanek then came out and pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his fourth save.

Bryan Woo got the win; JP Sears suffered a very hard-luck loss; and Ryan Stanek picked up the save.

“We have definitely pitched [well], and offensively, we haven’t taken advantage of that,” said Kotsay. “It’s been a tough stretch. Generally, [if] you have good pitching, you win games. We’ve had good starting pitching, I think, for the last 10 or so outings, and we haven’t really capitalized on it.”

The A’s fall to 25-39, and they will hope for better luck when they welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for three at the Coliseum starting Friday night. The Jays will be going with RHP Chris Bassitt (6-6, ERA 4.13) the A’s will counter with Left-hander Hogan Harris (0-0, ERA 3.14) who will be on the hill, first pitch will be at 6:40 p.m.

Schools over Stadiums filed for a petition to get enough signatures on the ballot in four districts in Nevada to stop use of public funds for the A’s Tropicana ballpark in Las Vegas. (image from the Schools over Stadiums twitter account)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, Dawn Etcheverry, a music teacher and President of NSEA and Schools Over Stadiums in Nevada is moving on a petition referendum to stop the use of public funding tax dollars that would be used to build a ballpark at the Tropicana hotel and casino that was approved by the Nevada State Legislation in June in a special session.

#2 Etcheverry said the petition is pursuing every path possible to stop the use of public funding to pay for the Tropicana Park for a future Las Vegas A’s relocation. Etcheverry said that the Nevada voters were shutout in the process and didn’t have a say in the use of public funds for paying for the ballpark to the tune of $380 million.

#3 The organization Schools over Stadiums goal is to make sure public funding goes to public schools and not the Tropicana Park and once enough signatures are on the petitions from four the Nevada districts including Clark County which Las Vegas and Tropicana hotel are a part of the measure to stop using public money will be put on the ballot.

#4 If Nevadans vote to stop the use of public funds to build the Tropicana ball park succeeds the funding for the ballpark ceases and the A’s will have to seek private funding if they want to continue pursuing Las Vegas. They possibly could go back to the City of Oakland and negotiate terms about building at Howard Terminal.

#5 If everything goes as planned Schools over Stadiums will have the vote in November 2024, one year and two months from now. The MLB owners are voting on the A’s relocation in December. If the owners vote yes to relocate the A’s, the Schools over Stadiums measure could hold up shovels in the ground at the Tropicana until the voters have their say in Nov 2024.

Jerry Feitelberg does the Oakland A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Athletics’ Lawrence Butler (22) is congratulated by Nick Allen (2) after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning at Oakland Coliseum on Sun Sep 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

Toronto (76-62 ).     000 030 000 3.  –   6.  8. 0

Oakland (42-96).      o00  011 100  2. –   5.   8  0.  10 innings 

Time: 3:00    

Attendance: 9,062

Monday, September 4, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND —Almost in spite of themselves the A’s yesterday finished up a sweep of their three game series against the Angels, who were, until Shohei Ohtani tore his  ulnar collateral ligament last week, serious contenders for a berth in the post season play offs.

This afternoon, as they opened another three game series, it was against a more imposing  squad, the Toronto Blue Jays, who entered the day in a virtual tie with Houston for third place in the American League wild card standings. 

Oakland, even though they had won eight of their last 13 games, already had been mathematically eliminated from any chance of reaching  ,500. A win today   them from the race to the bottom, but they fell short and dropped a 10 inning thriller to Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5.

The A’s entrusted the starting role to rookie Luis Medina, fresh off the 15 day injured list.his 2-7, 5.92 record.  The Dominican right hander came to the A’s along with Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, and infielder Cooper Bowman in the deal that sent Frankie Montás and Lou Trivino to the Bronx and came to work today with a big league record of 3-8, 5.44 and a WHIP of  1.53, all of it earned this season. He turned in four innings of splendid work before falling apart in the fifth.

He pitched a total of 4-2/3 frames and yielded three runs, all earned, on three hits and an equal number of walks, not to mention a hit batter. He threw 70 pitches, 41 for strikes.  He ended up with a no decision and a 3-8 5.46 record. The Jays’ starter, right handed José Berríos lost the last game he’d pitched, surrendering five runs, all earned, over six frames against the Nationals.

He brought a season record of 9-10, 3.70 and a lifetime mark of 81-64, 4.17 to the Coliseum when he faced the Athletics this warm and sunny Labor Day, an afternoon that invited home runs. He, like Medina, got a no decision for his efforts.. He threw 84 pitches, 57 for strikes over six innings in and allowed two runs, both of them earned, on four hits, two of which left the park, and a walk and returned to the hotel. with a record of 9-10, 3.68.

The teams traded goose eggs  over four innings, until Medina, who had held Toronto to a one hit, one walk, and one hit batter until then, lost his control and walked  the first two Jays he faced, Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho. Ernie Clement’s single to center loaded the bases, and it looked as if Medina might pull a Houdini when Kevin Kiermaier hit into an Allen to Noda 6-3 double play.

Kirk scored on the play, but now there were two down with only a runner on first. But it was not to be. George Springer  doubled to right to drive  Varsho in with Toronto’s second run and then, with Sean Newcomb on the mound after Springer’s two bagger, came home on Cavin Biggio’s single to left.

The visitors’ three run lead shrank to two with Lawrence Butler’s two out solo round tripper in the home fifth. The 417 foot blast into center field was the rookie’s third home run and seventh run batted in and came on an 81.7 mph slurve and left Butler’s bat at 107.6mph.

The A’s would have tied it up in the bottom of the sixth if Gelof, who had singled to center and stole second hadn’t been picked off before the next pitch was thrown. Noda was at bat, and slammed a 402 foot home run into the nearly empty right field seats. The first baseman’s 14th dinger of the season closed the gap to 3-2.

Yimi García took over for Berríos after the select gathering of 9,062 had finished singing “Take Me Out to the ball Game.” After  García retired Brown, Jordan Díaz took the ball out of the park and tied the game at three all. His four bagger took a hanging curve into center field,  397 feet from the plate. It was his 10th homer of ’23 and his 24th RBI.

Lucas Erceg pitched the top of the eighth, gave up a walk and a single but escaped unscathed.Jay Jackson succeeded García in the home half of that inning. Allen greeted him with a single,  went to second on Kemp’s sacrifice bunt and to third on Geloff’s grounder that almost got past diving third baseman Biggio’s glove. That scenario brought Génesis Cabrera to the mound. He got Noda a ground out to first, and we moved into the ninth inning with the score still tied at 3-3.

With the help of a beautiful diving catch by Kemp of Varsho’s dying quail to left, Erceg retired the side in order to give Oakland a chance to win in regulation.  Rooker, who had struck out in all of his three previous plate appearances, led off with a line single to center. Aledmys Díaz, batting for Brown, went down swinging. 

Jordan Romano replaced Cabrera on the mound to face Jordan Díaz. Ruiz stole second on Romano’s first pitch and stole third while Díaz was swinging at strike three. Langeliers fouled out to first, and we went into extra innings. Francisco Pérez relieved  Erceg in the top of the tenth.

Pinch hitter Santiago Espinal whacked on a double to left on his first pitch, driving in zombie runner Ernie Clement. Springer grounded out to third. Biggio hit a solid single to center that brought in Espinal with the second Blue Jay tally of the tenth. That was it for Pérez; Spencer Patton moved from the pen to the mound and walked Guerrero. 

Horowitz sent an opposite field liner between Kemp in left and Butler in center. It looked like, and originally was called as, an RBI double, but Oakland challenged that ruling, and a reply showed that the ball had gotten lodged under the fence. Biggio had to return to third. Pattongave Merryfield an intentional walk and then retired Kirk and Varsho.

Butler was the A’s first batter in their desperate bid to stay alive in the tenth. He stunned the crowd and the Blue Jays with his second home run of the day, a 403 foot rocket into the right center field seats, bringing in zombie runner Langeliers and cutting Toronto’s lead t 6-5.

It stayed there after Tyler Soderstrom struck out pinch hitting for Allen, Kemp walked, and Gelof hit into a 6-4-3 game ending twin killing. Romano was the winning pitcher and now has a 5-5, 2.54 record. The loss went to Pérez, now is 1-2, 6.75.

Oakland’s defeat 42-96 brought their won-lost percentage down to .304, way better the  Cleveland Spiders, who on this day in 1899 lost both ends of a double header in Cincinnati, dropping their record to 19-105, .153, which still was better than their still standing season  record of all time major league losers, 20-134, .130.

The A’s no longer seem a threat to erase the memory of the loveable New York Mets of 1962, who were defeated a, 5-1, at Forbes Field by Harvey Haddix and the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 4, falling to 35-106, .248. They would rise to 40-120, .250 by the season’s end, when they established the modern era record for futility.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Jays will send ex-Athletic righty Chris Bassitt (13-7, 3.81) against southpaw Ken Waldichuk (2-7, .5.92) for a 6:40 start at the Coliseum