MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

The Athletics continued to show heart and it has the team winning back-to-back series for the first time in months, and the team took 2-of-3 from the Minnesota Twins.

As with everything the team does, the series win came with the usual series-opening loss, giving the Athletics an abysmal 5-16 record at home, in the first game of a series. The team took the final two games when the bats woke up, and the starters kept them close enough to win.

(Twins: 9-6)
When Jeffrey Springs is on the mound, it scares A’s fans because he allows the long-ball, A LOT! Springs (L 3-12, 6.08) has lost twelve decisions in a row, and Ryan Kreidler’s fourth inning solo home run was the 30th home run given up by the lefty, good for second-most in the majors.

The Twins banged out sixteen hits, with every starter getting at least one hit, and while the A’s had twelve hits of their own, like the side-mirror “Things Are Closer Than They Appear.”  Half of those hits came after being down 9-1 in the eighth, and five-of the-six Athletics’ runs were recorded in the final two innings.

The top of the Athletics order was a combined 10-for-17 (.588), with three doubles in the opener, yet played catch up the entire game.

(Athletics: 4-2)
Athletics starter Gage Jump outdueled Twins righty Taj Bradley Tuesday evening by striking out nine Minnesota batters in 6 1/3 innings, and allowing just three hits, and two runs.

Bradley struck out eleven A’s hitters, including all three batters in the fifth inning on just nine pitches, for the elusive “immaculate inning”. Jump (W 6-8, 4.69) was spotted a lead when after a two out double by Alika Williams, Carlos Cortes hit a home run onto the rt-field grass for a 2-0 lead.

Continuing the run production with two outs, Lawrence Butler singled in the bottom half of the sixth inning, and Tommy White followed with an RBI-double.

Donovan Walton continued the rally with an RBI-single to give Jump a 4-0 lead, but having Jump out for the seventh inning was a bit ambitious by Interim Pitching Coach Dan Hubbs, and a Kaelin Culpepper RBI-double, in the 6th-inning, ended Jump’s start.

The A’s bullpen does what it does and reliever Hogan Harris allowed an RBI-groundout to finish the scoring, but in a decision I fully support, Elvis Alvarado was in the closer role and he had his 4th-save of the season.

Lawrence Butler continued his hot streak, leading the A’s bats with a 2-for-4 day.

(Athletics: 7-4)
Athletics starter JT Ginn overcame three solo-homers in the first two innings, the team overcame a perplexing lineup by Manager Mark Kotsay, and the A’s came back to win the game, and the series.

Brooks Lee’s solo-shot just five pitches into the game started the scoring for Minnesota, and home runs by Trevor Larnach and Kaelin Culpepper in the second shook A’s starter JT Ginn, and put the Athletics in a 3-0 hole.

The A’s fought back for two runs in the fourth inning when Michael Stefanic hit an RBI-double, and back-up catcher Brian Serven added an RBI-groundout.

Manager Mark Kotsay had an odd way of trying to win a series, when he emptied his bench for the finale. In a not-so-serious lineup: Kotsay started Stefanic (2b), Serven (C), Darryl Hernaiz (at 3b instead of SS), and Alika Williams (SS instead of 2b).

Crazy way to win but it worked!

After Ginn (W 9-8, 3.71) gave up a Royce Lewis sac-fly to go down 4-2 in the sixth, the Athletics dropped four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

After back-to-back singles by Jonah Heim and Tommy White, Jeff McNeil had a pinch-hit RBI-double, and Williams hit a 2-run triple for the first A’s lead 5-4.

The Athletics added an RBI-single by Hernaiz, which had every bench-guy driving in runs, and made the “bench-emptying”, a brilliant strategy.
Butler added a solo-bomb in the seventh inning for the final score, and Alvarado returned as the closer, notching his second save in two days.

Next: Orioles 8/28 640pst @ Sutter Health Park West Sacramento Ca