*Photo from Yahoo!*
The ball was in Ketel Marte's glove. It looked like an out. Until the ball fell out and it wasn't an out. That play ended up costing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Mark Canha hit a two run triple on that play, Jed Lowrie hit an RBI single, and the Oakland Athletics shut out the Diamondbacks 4-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
Canha said "I was getting ready to spike my helmet on the ground. I felt like that ball should have gone out. I just saw the ball on the ground and just ran. Tried to act like I saw him drop it and make it seem like the ball was not caught. It was a crazy play. I had no idea when it went to replay what they were going to do. Just glad it worked out."
D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo said "I actually saw it go into his glove and I saw him carry the ball into the wall. I put my head down, and I was starting to fill in some of my little notes and information on my scorecard. And then I glanced up and saw that the ball was rolling down on the ground. At that point, I figured out what happened, that the ball was jarred loose by the wall, which can’t happen. But Marte never really secured the ball."
Canha's two run triple on that play started the scoring for the A's, which made it a 2-0 lead. Later that inning, Canha came around to score on Lowrie's RBI single, which increased Oakland's lead to 3-0 after two innings. It stayed that way until the 7th, when Canha scored again on a sac fly to center field by Matt Olson, which made it a 4-0 score.
Sean Manaea put on a show for the Athletics, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks, recording 3 strikeouts over 6 shutout innings, a boon to the Oakland pitching staff. Yusmeiro Petit, Lou Trivino, and Jake Diekman also pitched for the A's, each throwing shutout innings in relief of Manaea.
Canha said of Oakland's strong pitching that "The pitchers have been running the show. They’re the ones carrying us right now, and we’re doing just enough on the offensive side to get a few wins. It’s a good recipe when the pitching has been as good as it is. You’re giving yourself a good chance every night."
With the loss, Arizona's rough season continues, as they have now lost 19 straight games on the road, and their 7th straight loss overall. Their 19 straight road losses is the highest number in baseball since 1985. Arizona is now 20-43, dead last in the NL West, and it's only early June.
The situation got even worse for the D-Backs when starter Matt Peacock had to leave after 1 2/3 innings in. Lowrie's RBI single in the second inning didn't leave the infield, because Peacock tried to catch it with his right hand, which is his throwing hand. He didn't catch it, and the ball deflected off his hand and he was unable to throw after that.
The A's face the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, with Frankie Montas getting the start. Arizona has a day off before facing the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night, with Merrill Kelly getting the start.
Comments
Post a Comment