Game two of the three game series between the Athletics and the Detroit Tigers took place tonight at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. Starting the game for the A’s was Osvaldo Bido, who went up against the wily veteran Charlie Morton for the Tigers. While not specifically calling Bido an “opener,” skipper Mark Kotsay did not expect him to go deep into the game.
The A’s hit Morton early. Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers both singled to open the bottom of the first. Rooker hit a long foul ball but
then struck out swinging for the first out. A Morton wild pitch moved both runners up. Then Jacob Wilson homered to left field to give the A’s an early 3-0 lead! That was Wilson’s twelfth of the year.
Bido struck out four Tigers in the first two innings, tossing thirty pitches, twenty-three for strikes. But he lost the strike zone in the third. He loaded the bases with two walks and a single, with just one out. Riley Greene wiped out the three-run lead with one swing, blasting a 471-foot home run to straight away center field, giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
The A’s tied it up in the bottom of the inning with three consecutive singles by Langeliers, Rooker and Soderstrom. The regained the lead on a ground out by Wilson scoring Rooker.
Justin Sterner replaced Bido in the top of the fourth. Bido’s final line was three full innings, four earned runs on three hits, two walks and five strikeouts. The walks and the Greene bomb did him in both on driving up his pitch count but also the four earned runs. Sterner sent the Tigers down 1-2-3.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Colt Keith homered to centerfield to tie the score back up at 5. Justn Sterner gave way to Hogan Harris to get the final out of the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Rooker doubled down the third base line. But he was stranded on third as the inning ended.
Rooker landed on second base when he legged his way to second on a misplayed pop fly to the Tigers third baseman Colt Keith. Once again, unfortunately, Rook was stranded there. At the end of seven, the score remained tied at 5-5.
Michael Kelly worked himself into and out of a jam in the top of the eighth, putting two runners on, but ultimately keeping them from scoring. In one of the most unprofessional at-bats of the season, Lawrence Butler popped up to the catch in fair territory, but chose not to run, and after Dillon Dingler misplayed the ball, it turned into an easy double play.
Elvis Alvarado replaced Michael Kelly in the top of the ninth. Hitting triple digits more than once in the inning, Alvarado sent the Tigers down with relative ease. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Shea Langeliers doubled down the third base line. Rooker, who is 2-4 on the night came to bat. After his second long foul ball of the night, Rooker was called out on strikes on what appeared to be out of the strike zone. That sent the game to extra innings.
Alvarado stayed in the game to start the tenth. Placed runner Carpenter took third on a wild pitch. Wenceel Pérez walked with two outs. One strike away from holding the Tigers scoreless, Zack McKinstry singled to score Carpenter and give Detroit the lead. That was all for Alvarado, who was replaced by Eduarniel Núñez. Núñez struck out Javier Báez swinging to end the inning.
Brent Rooker was the placed runner. Soderstrom singled to score Rooker and knot the score at 6-6. Soderstrom took second on the throw home. That brought up Jacob Wilson, who walked. Colby Thomas dropped down a two-strike sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. That brought Lawrence Butler up with an opportunity to redeem himself. Tigers manager AJ Hinch brought in a fifth infielder for extra defense. Butler walked to load the bases. Darrel Hernaiz walked to drive in the winning run, Tyler Soderstrom.
The A’s took this one 7-6 taking the series from Detroit and going for the sweep on Wednesday!
