The A’s took the second game of their four-game series against the Texas Rangers tonight, winning a close 2-1 matchup over our division rivals that puts us back into a tie with one another for the division lead. Exciting stuff happening right now with this group!
Springs dominant again
It was Jeffrey Springs on the mound starting for the A’s tonight. The lefty has been the team’s best pitcher in the early going but gave up a quick run to start tonight’s contest. It wasn’t the best start to an outing
but fortunately it wouldn’t be a sign of things to come in this one.
In fact, after that first inning Springs was downright dominant. Once he was settled in it was a cake walk for him this evening in Sacramento. Over the next five innings the left-hander only allowed one more hit and walk apiece, keeping the Rangers in check for the majority of the game and giving his offense plenty of time to get this game tied up.
And of course, it doesn’t hurt having some stellar defense backing you up:
Bats wake up in the third
Going up against Texas left-hander MacKenzie Gore tonight, the Athletics’ offense couldn’t do much in the first couple frames except a walk that was promptly wiped out on a double play. Gore came into tonight on a roll and he sure seemed like he was continuing his hot start in the early going.
Then the third inning came around. After the first two batters of the frame went down it seemed like it’d be a quick inning but Denzel Clarke had other ideas, sparking a two-out rally with his first double of the season. Two walks to Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz loaded the bases for Jacob Wilson, and the young shortstop came through with the biggest hit of the night, a two-run single to take the lead for the A’s:
Springs now had a lead to work with. With a chance to go 3-0 to start his season the lefty stayed on cruise control during the middle innings. He did get plenty of help from his defense tonight though, especially in the fourth when Clarke made a mind-boggling play at the center field wall:
Gosh, if he can have games like this every day he’d be one of the team’s best players. The glove is no-doubt Gold Glove worthy but it’s the bat. He only went 1-for-3 tonight with two punchouts but that double in the third was absolutely key to the rally.
Springs would get sent out to start the seventh and only faced one batter. He ended his night on a high though by punching out that Ranger batter before Mark Kotsay came to retrieve him and end his evening after 90 pitches:
That’s four straight quality starts to begin Springs’ season and he now has a 1.46 ERA. It’s extremely early but that’s up there with the league leaders right now. The home crowd noticed the stellar performance tonight from the left-hander, giving him a standing ovation as he departed:
Up to the bullpen to hold on
Now it was up to the bullpen to hold onto the one-run lead. In an ideal world the A’s offense would be able to manage an insurance run or two. The team worked eight walks on the evening but just wasn’t able to string together another rally to provide the ‘pen with some breathing room. If the A’s were going to win and go into a tie for the division lead, they’d need the relief unit to be perfect for 2 2/3 innings.
First up was Justin Sterner and of course the first batter he faced took the second pitch he saw and whacked it for a double, putting the tying run in scoring position mere moments after Springs’ departure. Thankfully Sterner buckled down and struck out Andrew McCutchen and induced a groundout from Danny Jansen to escape the threat and end the frame.
Hogan Harris had the eighth and got the first two outs before issuing two free passes in the middle of the lineup. Kotsay had seen enough and turned to Elvis Alvarado to get the A’s out of this late-game jam. It only took him one pitch to get a lineout from Jake Burger to Tyler Soderstrom in left, escaping the eighth with the lead still intact.
Offseason pickup Mark Leiter Jr. got the call for the ninth inning tonight. It was a stress-free outing for all of us watching as he punched out the first two batters of the final frame before getting Joc Pederson to fly out to Lawrence Butler in right field to end the game.
What a win. A bit stressful at the end but it all worked out. That snapped a seven-game losing streak the A’s had had against the Rangers dating back to last season. Springs was dominant yet again tonight and looks like he’s on his way to a big season. The offense didn’t do much, but they came through at the right time and did just enough. And even though it got a little hairy at the end four pitchers out of the bullpen combined for 2 2/3 shutout innings. Good win all around and the team is now in a tie for first place in the AL West.
We do it all again tomorrow for the third game of the series. For the Athletics, it’ll be right-hander J.T. Ginn getting the ball for what’ll be his second start of the season. The 26-year-old impressed in his first start of the season last time out, going four innings against the New York Mets on the road and only allowing a hit and a walk. Though he didn’t last long enough to qualify for the win he deserved the W and manager Mark Kotsay may let it ride with his young starter a bit longer tomorrow evening.
Meanwhile Texas will turn to a former top prospect in right-hander Kumar Rocker. He’ll be making his third start of the season against the A’s and he’s looked good in his first two outings. He’s gone five full frames in both of his first two outings of the year and could be turning a corner for the Rangers as he’s beginning his third season in the big leagues. Last season the A’s got to him in his lone start against the Athletics, getting touched up for five earned runs in less than two innings of work. We’d love a repeat of that performance tomorrow in Game 3!
