The A’s were on the cusp of dropping their fifth straight and getting swept out of San Francisco. Instead they used a huge late rally to come back and stun the Giants, beating them 9-6 in regulation.
Springs bounces back
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs got the ball this afternoon, looking to put a series of bad outings behind him. June is almost over but he had one last chance to put up a quality start.
He did just that this afternoon in the series finale against a weaker Giants lineup. While he allowed
a single to the first batter he faced (old friend and SF leadoff man Matt Chapman, he proceeded to retire nine of his next 10 batters faced, allowing only a walk to, again, Chapman.
It wasn’t until two outs in the fourth that SF finally tagged Springs. The big hit was a solo blast coming off the bat of high-priced shortstop Willy Adames, giving the Giants the first lead of the ballgame. He then retired the final batter of the frame and had a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth to qualify. At only 76 pitches manager Mark Kotsay decided to roll the dice and sent him back out there for a sixth inning of work. After an out to start the frame Springs issued his second walk of the day then his third hit, and that was the one that ultimately chased him from this contest.
- Jeffrey Springs: 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 87 pitches
A great outing from Springs, who kept the Giants in check all afternoon except for one mistake. He would have ended up with a better final line, had he been pulled after the fifth inning but Kotsay gambled and it didn’t work this time.
Kotsay went with another lefty for the first arm out of the ‘pen in Matt Krook, and things spiraled from there.A walk loaded the bases and Giants outfielder Jung-hoo Lee swatted a three-run triple that really busted this game open. That was all Kotsay needed to see from Krook today and he then went with a righty in Justin Sterner. Again, his bullpen decision did not work as Sterner allowed a two-run home run to the first batter he faced in rookie Victor Bericoto, a two-run blast that turns this into a 6-2 game.
A’s bats mostly silent against Roupp
Meanwhile the Giants’ starting pitcher this afternoon was righty Landon Roupp. He was coming off a strong outing when he fired six innings against the Marlins last time out.
The A’s couldn’t manage much over the first four innings, outside of a couple singles and a walk that all went for nothing.
They finally broke through in the fifth though. Jeff McNeil started things with a one-out single, and the freshly recalled Alika Williams smacked a double to bring him home and get the A’s on the board. A single then put runners at the corners for Nick Kurtz and he provided a productive out to temporarily give the A’s a 2-1 lead:
A lead that would not last long at all. After the Giants’ 5-run spot in the bottom of the fifth the A’s were quickly back down, and looking up at a big deficit. A sweep at the hands of the lowly Giants was beginning to seem like a real possibility.
Comeback season
The A’s prevented a shutdown inning after that outburst. Reliever Ryan Walker replaced Roupp to start the sixth and he immediately ran into trouble. Back-to-back singles plus a walk loaded the bases for the squad but with two down they’d need a big hit. Who better to have at the plate than your likely AL starting catcher, Shea Langeliers?
That cut the Giants’ lead to 6-4 but the A’s weren’t done there. They added on another run in the very next inning thanks to a Lawrence Butler double and a McNeil RBI single to cut it to a one-run deficit. That took us to the ninth, down a run and down to our final three outs.
The A’s were determined to finish this afternoon’s comeback. A single started the inning nicely but then back-to-back strikeouts from Kurtz and Langeliers had the squad on the brink of a sweep in SF. Luckily Tyler Soderstrom (thanks to some ABS luck) managed to work a walk. That brought up Jonah Heim and the backup catcher came in the clutch big time for the Athletics:
Tie game! And they weren’t done there either! Up next was Butler and he came through again, this time with an RBI single to give the A’s their first lead since the fifth. Still not done, Max Muncy singled after Butler’s hit and steal to bring in two more for the Athletics. The inning which started out with the A’s down one ended with the Green & Gold up three.
Righty Mason Barnett finished things off with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, securing the A’s 39th win and Barnett’s second career save.
Great win in San Francisco. The A’s needed to salvage one and they did, albiet thanks to some late-inning magic. Springs delivered the bounce back performance we’ve been waiting for, and while the bullpen didn’t do great, they did manage to not let this game get any more out of hand than they did. That gave the offence a chance at a comeback, one they managed to accomplish today.
The A’s now depart the Bay Area but won’t be going far. A quick hour-long plane ride south to Anaheim then a three-game series against the Angels, beginning tomorrow night. It’ll be righties J.T. Ginn and Walbert Urena going up against one another, likely the first of many coming for the two young starters.
