*Photo from the Press Democrat*
Cristian Pache said it best: he's going to play his all no matter how many fans are in attendance. Pache homered, Sean Murphy homered and had 3 RBI's, and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Baltimore Orioles with a 6-4 win on Thursday afternoon in Oakland.
Facing low attendance after an offseason of selling players, a whole lot of them, the Athletics have come out determined, with this series win moving them to an 8-6 record so far in the season, good for second place in the AL West to start the year off. The A's have used 16 rookies already this season, a major league high.
Oakland prospect Nick Allen summarized their start to the season, saying that "This team expects a lot. We’re not here to just play baseball games, we’re here to win baseball games. Everyone has that mindset. We’re all hungry. Right now, I like where it’s going."
The A's got the scoring started in the 3rd inning, with Pache putting them ahead 1-0 on a solo home run, this one to left field. Tony Kemp then came around to score on an RBI single from Sheldon Neuse, making it 2-0 A's. In the top of the 5th inning, the Orioles got on the board, cutting the deficit to 2-1 on an RBI double from Austin Hays.
In the bottom of the 5th, Murphy increased the Athletics lead, making it 4-1 on a two run home run, this one going to left field. In the 7th, the Orioles got those two runs back, making it 4-3 on RBI singles from Hays and Roughned Odor. In the bottom of the 7th, an RBI single from Neuse and an RBI double from Murphy made it a 6-3 Oakland lead. The O's got one run in the 8th to make it a 6-4 game.
Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said of Murphy's offensive game that "The success he had in Spring Training has built his confidence. The last thing was his bat. We’re gonna continue to see growth. It’s good to see the trend is on the way up."
It was Paul Blackburn who got the win for the A's, allowing one run on 3 hits, walking no one and striking out 4 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Justin Grimm and Zach Jackson allowed the other runs Baltimore scored, with shutout appearances coming from Sam Moll, Domingo Acevedo, and Dany Jimenez, with Jimenez getting the save.
Tyler Wells started and got the loss for the Orioles, allowing two runs on 5 hits, striking out one hitter while lasting just 2 1/3 innings, falling to 0-2 on the season. Keegan Akin and Dillon Tate allowed a combined 3 runs, with scoreless appearances from Joey Krehbiel and Travis Lakins.
There was a point of controversy for the Orioles in this one. In the 4th inning, Trey Mancini reached base on an error. While collecting himself, he made a slight hop-step towards second base, and he was called out on a tag by umpire Rob Drake, with Drake saying there was intent for Mancini to go to second base. It resulted in Mancini and manager Brandon Hyde getting ejected.
Mancini said after the game that "Never for one second did I think about going to second base. I just turned around to my left and walked back to the bag. If it had even crossed my mind to go to second base, I would have made sure that I got back to the bag quickly. I was very surprised and couldn't believe it. And I want to apologize for the language I used and the way that I conveyed my message to Rob, but I still don't agree with the call."
Up next, the A's welcome the Texas Rangers to town on Friday night for a weekend series, with Adam Oller getting the start for Oakland. The Orioles head to Southern California for a weekend series with the Los Angeles Angels, where Bruce Zimmerman gets the series opening start.
Comments
Post a Comment