The 1st inning was downright weird. The 2nd inning was oddly opposite to the 1st. Then the 3rd inning decided the game and the A’s were on the right side of a 7-spot. And then both teams struck out for a couple hours and everyone went home.
How’s that for a recap? Oh, you want some details? Fine, I will elaborate.
In the top of the 1st Jose Soriano, who had thoroughly dominated the A’s on the same mound 3 months prior, couldn’t find the strike zone with a compass, google maps, or Laz Diaz’ seeing eye dog. 14 of his first 16 pitches were balls as he loaded the bases with 0 outs before coaxing a run scoring DP from Tyler Soderstrom. Jacob Wilson followed with an RBI single and the A’s settled for 2 runs.
Staked to an early lead, in his second big league start Mason Barnett couldn’t wait to give it back. The inning began with a HBP (Zach Neto), then a walk (Mike Trout), then a Yoan Moncada single to load the bases, then another walk (Taylor Ward), another walk despite 2 strikes called balls (Jo Adell), then an RBI single (Luis Rengifo). Still nobody out and the 2-0 lead had turned into a 3-2 deficit. Oswald Peraza’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2 before Barnett escaped further carnage with a DP.
Naturally, these same two pitchers struck out the side in the 2nd, Barnett sprinkling in a walk and Soriano simply fanning the side in order.
Then came the 3rd and there was much rejoicing. By the A’s anyway. Soriano’s 2nd inning stagecoach turned back into a 3rd inning pumpkin as he resumed a complete inability to command the strike zone, alternating balls with hittable strikes.
Shea Langeliers, who bludgeoned the ball all night mostly to no avail, started the rally with a sharp single to left. One out later Tyler Soderstrom singled, then Wilson walked to load the bases and this time the A’s avoided the dreaded DP in favor of a flurry of success.
In perhaps the key at bat of the game, Lawrence Butler chopped one to 1B that forced Peraza charge it and make a “do or die” swipe at the ball on a short hop. Peraza chose “die” as the ball ticked off his glove for an infield hit that cut the deficit to 4-3.
Zack Gelof has struck out in exactly half his plate appearances this season but as fate would have it this time the coin came up tails and Gelof put bat on ball with a broken bat soft liner that snaked its way into CF to tie the game at 4-4. Then Soranio uncorked a wild pitch to give the A’s a 5-4 lead. That at bat, and Soriano’s night, ended with JJ Bleday sneaking a 3-run HR above the short wall in LF just inside the foul pole.
Reliever Ryan Zeferjahn picked up right where Soriano left off, giving up a single to Darell Hernaiz, then walking Nick Kurtz and Langeliers, and topping it off by hitting Brent Rooker with a pitch to cap a 7-run inning, 9-4 A’s.
Whiff City Except For One Swing
From the bottom of the 3rd on it was pretty much a whiff-a-thon. Barnett struck out 8 in his 5 innings and the bullpen added another 8 in the last 4 frames. It took 102 pitches but Barnett completed the necessary 5 IP to notch his first big league win. Justin Sterner (2 IP, 4 K), Elvis Alvarado (1 IP, 1 K), and Michael Kelly (1 IP, 3 K) finished up.
Meanwhile, Jose Ureña took over for the duo that had combined, in 3 innings, for 7 walks, a run scoring HBP, and a run scoring wild pitch, and restored order for the Angels: 5 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 BB, 6 K. Not bad for a guy who is pitching for his 5th team…this season. With Andrew Chafin’s 2 9th inning Ks the A’s struck out 13 times, but the 9th also featured Butler’s “swung on, gone” left-on-left HR off of Chafin to make it 10-4, over and out.
And so the A’s, losers of their first 7 this year against the Angels, made it 3 of their last 4 and pulled to within 2 games of 4th place. JT Ginn takes the mound this evening at 6:38 PDT against LHP Yusei Kikuchi. Yusei Kikuchi, I say Ki-KUH-chee, let’s call the whole thing off.