MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

It was a rough way to lose a series! The A’s continued the habit of losing the series opener, powered through to a solid win in Wednesday’s game, and lost a heartbreaker in the finale. The series came down to one pitch.

(Cardinals: 6-4)
Losing the ninth opener in 13 series is frustrating for this team. Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs started off the game with a 4-pitch walk, and eight Cardinals later it was a 4-0 deficit.

Jordan Walker’s RBI-single began the scoring when after the walk, St. Louis had back-to-back singles. Three batters later, Jose Fermin hit a 2-run double, and Springs (3-3, 4.22) had to adjust his approach.

St. Louis hitters were teeing off the changeup, Springs made adjustments, and while there was foot traffic his entire outing, he allowed no other runs.

The A’s responded with three runs of their own in the 2nd-inning, when they had four consecutive hits. With two outs Darryl Hernaiz and Jeff McNeil had singles, and Nick Kurtz had an RBI-single to get the team on the board. Langeliers followed with a 2-run double to get within 4-3.

After a Nolan Goman single in the sixth inning, JJ Whetherholt hit a 2-run home run to extend the lead to 6-3. Langeliers finished the scoring with a monster 448-foot, 108.1mph moonshot to open the 8th, and the final score was 6-4.

(Athletics: 6-2)
The A’s rebounded nicely Wednesday, by displaying the power fans have come to expect. The Athletics banged out 13 hits, including a grand slam by Kurtz, and won the middle game 6-2.

The Cardinals got on the board first with back-to-back-to-back singles to open the 4th-inning, culminating in a Nathan Church RBI and a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth, the A’s responded when Hernaiz and recently promoted Michael Stefanic had back-to-back singles for the second time in the game, and Langeliers drew a walk.

Kurtz then crushed a 2-2 count to deep-center field and gave A’s starter JT Ginn a 4-1 lead.

Ginn (2-1, 3.12) went six innings, but was busy all game, giving up nine hits and a walk. He only allowed one earned run though, and he is proving to the doubters that moving him into the rotation was a smart decision.

The teams traded runs in the seventh and it started when Whetherholt scored on an Alec Burleson RBI-single. Kurtz scored again when he led off with a double, and was driven-in by the exciting Henry Bolte on a sac-fly and led to a 5-2 score.

Bolte had a recent 12-for-12 streak at AAA Las Vegas that included multi-homer games, and the Organization HAD to promote him. He went 2-for-2 with a walk on the day and went to bed Wednesday with a career batting average of 1.000!

Zack Gelof continued to cement his roster spot when he led off the 8th-inning with a rocket-blast home run that traveled 403-feet to deep center field, and it finalized the 6-2 victory.

(Cardinals: 5-4)
Kurtz opened the game with another dramatic homer, a 442-foot bomb that was an incredible 111.8 off the bat, and it gave the Athletics a 1-0 lead.

Starter Jacob Lopez allowed just one single through 4 1/3 innings, sprinkling in three walks before giving up a solo-hr to Victor Scott II in the fifth.

The Cardinals grabbed another run on a solo-home run by Walker in the 6th-inning, and the next batter, Masyn Winn hit a dribbler back to Lopez, who threw it away. The subsequent throw to 2nd-base was also errant and it allowed Winn to advance to third base. He later scored on a Gorman single for a 3-1 lead.

Gelof homered in the seventh before the A’s loaded them again for a Langeliers RBI-single that gave the A’s the 4-3 lead they carried into the ninth inning.

After two quick outs in the ninth, Perkins hit Whetherholt on a 3-2 count…one pitch away!! Ivan Herrera hit the next pitch for an RBI-single, tying the game 4-4. Walker hit the first pitch he saw for an RBI-double and took the finale 5-4.

Next: Giants @ Athletics Today: 6:40pm Sutter Health Park, West Sacramento