A’s offense explodes late in 9-4 win

Say goodbye to the five-game losing streak and 11-game road skid

Down 4-3 heading into the eighth inning, the A’s could’ve folded.

They’re currently in the midst of two tough losing streaks and were facing one of the leagues best relievers in Ryan Thompson of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Instead, the A’s took their one-run lead back and then some scoring three key runs to take a 6-4 lead. They hadn’t scored that many in an inning in a week.

Then in the ninth, the A’s found the offensive firepower they’ve been looking for for weeks with three more dramatic insurance runs. They’d go on to win 9-4 to end their five-game losing streak and 11-game road losing skid. It’s an encouraging effort for an A’s team that’s look deflated at times lately on the offensive front.

The Dbacks wasted no time getting started tonight against JP Sears. Ketel Marte lead off the bottom of the first with a double to right, and he was soon driven in on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. RBI single. Gurriel Jr. would move up second on the throw home then score two batters later on a Randal Grichuk RBI ground-rule double.

The A’s, meanwhile, looked like they had very little brewing early. Six of their first 11 plate appearances resulted in strikeouts, but they took advantage of a lead-off Zack Gelof walk in the third with a pair of RBI singles from Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers.

Rooker squeezed his perfectly in the 5-6 hole while Langeliers’ was a duck fart to right but the A’s would take anything right now.

Then in the fourth, the A’s manufactured another run to take a 3-2 lead.

Armando Alvarez and Gelof hit singles to set up runners at the corners for Max Schuemann who sent a sacrifice fly to center. Despite swinging and missing 18 times through the first three innings against Dbacks starter Slade Cecconi including seven total strikeouts, the A’s also forced 88 pitches through four innings against the young righty to end his day early.

Sears settled in beautifully after a rough first inning following some rougher previous starts. He retired eight in a row and 12/13 batters overall ranging from the first inning to the fifth, but things came too good to be true soon after. Gurriel Jr. lead-off the sixth with a no-doubt solo bomb to tie the score again, this time at three.

Sears’ day would be done after that inning resulting in a quality start. Sears worked six innings allowing five hits and three earned while striking out six. It’s a much needed sight for A’s fans and Sears who continues to be the workhorse of the injured staff.

Sears gave way to Scott Alexander who walked the lead-off man and eventually allowed him to score on a Marte RBI single. The Dbacks now lead 4-3 going into the eighth and hopes for the A’s continued to weaken, but Tyler Soderstrom stepped up with a backside solo-home run to tie things up a third time, 4-4. He entered the at-bat 0-3 with three strikeouts.

Alvarez reignited the rally right after drawing a walk. Gelof stepped up next and got the A’s one-run lead right back smoking an RBI triple to the right-center gap. Schuemann put the icing on the rally next chopping a ball perfectly over Geraldo Perdomo’s head at short to give the A’s a 6-4 lead.

The A’s scored three runs against Thompson who entered Friday allowing just five through 32 innings of work overall. Gelof was also ³⁄₄ tonight while Alvarez was ²⁄4 at the bottom of the A’s order.

T.J. McFarland worked around a high-stress first and second two-out jam with a strikeout looking of Corbin Carroll in the eighth to keep the lead at two. The A’s would answer that scare with three emphatic insurance runs in the ninth in the form of three big flies to slam the door.

The first two came in back-to-back fashion via Rooker and Langeliers. The third was a blast off the bat off Daz Cameron.

A struggling offense heading into tonight, the A’s responded with 14 hits and four home runs. Besides Alvarez and Gelof as aforementioned, Rooker, Langeliers and Cameron all had multi-hit performances as well.

In the bottom of the ninth, Mason Miller put the finishing touches to a 9-4 win with a pair of strikeouts as the A’s now have some life injected into them. They’ll look to continue the momentum especially on the offensive side tomorrow at 1:10 PM PDT when both teams line it up again. Hogan Harris starts for the A’s against the Dbacks ace, Zac Gallen.