A's erase 3-0 deficit with 13-run first inning that lasted 48 minutes on their way to victory.
(This story was originally published in 1996)
OAKLAND — It was the first inning that just wouldn’t die. For 48 minutes on Friday evening, the A’s seemed to have the bases perpetually loaded. They almost doubled the total of runs needed to earn Coliseum ticket holders free pie.
Thirteen runs. Three Angels pitchers, including wonder boy Ryan Hancock, managed to turn a major-league baseball game into a beer league softball score. They were collectively like a race car driver punching his head trying to put out the invisible flames.
No, really, it was uglier than that. And it stayed ugly all night as the A’s beat the Angels 16-8.
“I’ve never seen 18 hitters in one inning,” said A’s designated hitter Matt Stairs, who hit a grand slam in the inning. “It was getting to the point where, Holy Lord, hitting is contagious.”
Added A’s manager Art Howe, “That was a great inning. It’s something you obviously don’t see every day.”
Thankfully, no. Even hardened A’s fans must have been getting bored watching their heroes trot from base to base for three-quarters of an hour.
The discordant tone was set early. The Angels got three runs off A’s starter John Wasdin in the top of the first. Then, Jose Herrera led off the bottom of the inning with a ground ball to shortstop. Gary DiSarcina tried to backhand the ball and missed it completely. In a joke of a decision, the official scorer gave Herrera a hit. But that proved to be a moot point.
Hancock entered the game having allowed only three earned runs in 22 innings in the big leagues. In his last start, last Sunday, he outdueled Wasdin to lead the Angels to a 1-0 win.
But the 24-year-old out of Monta Vista High School-Cupertino couldn’t do anything right on Friday. He walked in a run. He surrendered the grand slam to Stairs. He left in favor of Brad Pennington with two outs in the first, six runs already in and two on.
Pennington didn’t do Hancock or the Angels any favors, walking all three batters he faced. That brought Jim Abbott to the mound. The former phenom allowed hits to the first four batters he faced, including two doubles.
Didn’t matter. Abbott was going to finish the inning no matter how long it took. Finally, No. 9 hitter Mike Bordick batted for the second time and lifted a fly ball to left. When it settled into the glove of Garret Anderson, the scoreboard clock read 7:14. So much for starting early to accommodate a postgame fireworks show.
The totals on the carnage: 13 runs, nine hits, five walks, a hit batsman and a home run. Oh, and enough confidence for Wasdin that he could give up seven runs himself in the first three innings and not have to worry about getting pulled. He improved to 6-2 with a seven-inning stint. Ten hits? Six earned runs? No problem on this night.
“That was a first for me,” Howe said. “He was probably one hitter away from me getting somebody up.”
“The same pitchers played each other last week,” Stairs said. “That’s tough on the pitchers. Everybody’s seen what they can do.”
As you can imagine, the A’s outburst set the statistic gatherers scurrying. Here are some of the numbers:
