*Photo from Yahoo! News*
The Oakland Athletics offense really exploded against the Detroit Tigers. Matt Olson homered, Jed Lowrie extended his RBI streak to 6 games, and the Athletics topped the Tigers with a 8-4 victory Thursday night. Matt Chapman also drove in two runs for the A's.
Stephen Piscotty got the A's on the board with a solo homer in the 3rd inning to make it 1-0. In the 4th, a Willi Castro double for the Tigers and a sac fly for Oakland made it 2-1 A's. In the 5th, Olson hit a solo homer to extend the lead to 3-1. In the 6th, after Niko Goodrum homered for the Tigers, Elvis Andrus scored on a bases loaded walk, Chapman hit a two run double, and Ramon Laureano scored on a bases loaded walk to make it 7-1 Oakland. After a Lowrie RBI single made it 8-1, the Tigers got two in the 9th to make it 8-4.
A's manager Bob Melvin said of Lowrie's hot streak to start the year that "I don’t know what to say anymore. He’s having a great year. He’s getting big hits and driving in runs. He’s just the Jed of old. He’s as productive as he’s ever been. You have to give him a lot of credit for some hard work. It's as much a mental thing as physical when you haven’t had many at-bats in two years. We saw right away in Spring Training that he can still do this, but it’s not easy."
Sean Manaea got the victory for Oakland, tossing 5 innings. Manaea allowed two runs on 5 hits, not walking anyone, and recording 7 strikeouts. Yusmeiro Petit, JB Wendelken, and Sergio Romo each threw an inning of relief work after Manaea departed, with Romo giving up the two runs scored by Detroit in the 9th inning.
A's outfielder Mark Canha said of the offensive production that "It’s early and fact of the matter is the first couple series we’re playing a couple of teams that are probably going to be a couple of the best teams in baseball. Those are some really good pitching staffs we’re facing early in the year when you’re trying to kind of get your bearings. I think our lineup’s really good and we’re capable of doing that and now we get the ball rolling and I think good things can happen."
Tarik Skubal took the loss for the Tigers in this one, being hit for two runs on two hits and 4 walks in 4 innings pitched, striking out 5 hitters. Every other relief pitcher for the Tigers also gave up a run, with Joe Jimenez giving up 3, and Alex Lange, Buck Farmer, and Tyler Alexander giving up one run each.
Skubal said of his performance that "It’s not good for me, it’s not good for anybody and it’s not good for our bullpen. I'm putting guys in tough spots, and being a starting pitcher, you have to understand that and you have to set the tone. I'll take responsibility for that, and not going deeper into games and putting guys in tough spots."
Detroit and Oakland face off again tonight, with first pitch being at 9:40 PM Eastern Time. Jose Urena gets the start for the Tigers, while Frankie Montas goes for Oakland.
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