A’s Josh Reddick homer-happy with ‘Careless Whisper’
On what was already an eventful day - player moves, some changes in overall thinking - the A’s then staged a nutty affair with Toronto that included manager Bob Melvin and first baseman Yonder Alonso getting ejected, Danny Valencia making his A’s debut at first base, a slew of Oakland homers and, last but not least, Josh Reddick’s return to “Careless Whisper” as his walkup music.
Reddick reached base four times, scored four runs and hit one of the A’s three homers in Oakland’s 8-7 comeback win over Toronto, and Khris Davis and Stephen Vogt hit back-to-back shots in the fifth.
With the game tied 7-7 in the seventh, Reddick walked and, after a base hit by Davis, he scored on a single to center by Vogt.
[...] I’m not the guy who’s going to look back in the dugout and do the headset movement.
The A’s took exception to home-plate umpire Mark Wegner’s strike zone much of the evening; right before Alonso and Melvin were thrown out in the fourth inning, usually stoic Marcus Semien was upset with a strike call that looked nowhere near the zone.
Valencia, who was told earlier in the day that his playing time will dip with the addition of new third baseman Ryon Healy, played first for the A’s for the first time after Alonso was ejected, and Valencia also had a base hit.
A 24-year-old who started the season at Double-A Midland, Healy was hitting .326 with 14 homers and 64 RBIs combined between Midland and Triple-A Nashville.
Healy, who can play third and first, said he is looking forward to working with infield coach Ron Washington - they’ve already had their first session.
Rookie starter Daniel Mengden had a rough night, allowing six hits, three walks and seven runs, six earned, in 3 1/3 innings.
Melvin said that outfielder Billy Burns, who has struggled much of the season and hit just .173 over his past 31 games, was sent down when Healy was called up because Burns needs to get regular at-bats to get out of his funk.
A guy like Billy needs to play every day,” Melvin said, adding of the second-year player, “He’s gone through a little bit of a tougher time than he did last year than he did this year, which is fairly typical.
To make room for Healy on the 25-man roster, Oakland designated Triple-A Nashville starter Nick Tepesch for assignment.
Tepesch, acquired on waivers from the Dodgers last month, was 1-1 with a 5.51 ERA. …
Blue Jays
Blue Jays