Craig Gentry Exits Early in Athletics 11-2 Victory

Sep 9, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder

(3) is helped off the field by a trainer after suffering an apparent injury following a collision at first base during the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Just a day after headlines ran “White Sox Deliver Flowers to Bury A’s”, proclaiming the end of the Athletics’ season, the A’s offense carried the team to an 11-2 victory. The onslaught was lead by Josh Donaldson who went 5 for 6 with 4 RBI. Minus Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick who entered the game as substitutions, every A’s player collected at least one hit. The A’s totaled 18 hits on the evening.

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The big news coming from the game was the injury sustained by Craig Gentry in the fifth inning following a collision at first base. Gentry, bunting to move the runners over, hustled down the line and leaped towards the bag at first, into second baseman Carlos Sanchez. Gentry’s face collided with Sanchez’s shoulder, causing the A’s outfielder to fall to the ground in pain. Craig Gentry exited the game with some help from the trainers, and looked a little woozy going into the dugout. After the game Susan Slusser reported on Gentry’s status.

None of this sounds good to the ears of A’s fans. It is sounding as though Gentry sustained a concussion on the play, as John Hickey tweeted out.

Never mind the spelling error from Hickey, you get the gist. There is no certainty that Gentry will be back this season. Using John Jaso and Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants as reference points, concussions can be difficult to recover from in short time frames. We can only hope for the best for our beloved Kitten Face.

As for the game itself, Donaldson’s five hits in the game were a career high. The career night come on the heels of achieving the Golden Sombrero (four strikeouts) in Monday night’s loss and riding a 3 for 29 streak over the course of the past week.

The biggest flaw the A’s have had at the plate recently has been getting hits with runners in scoring position (RISP). On Tuesday, the team went 9 for 22 (.409), but still left a total of eleven runners on base.

Jon Lester (14-10) was superb on the mound Tuesday night, going eight innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out eight. Both of the runs Lester allowed came in the seventh inning, with the Athletics holding a 5-0 lead. A Dayan Viciedo home run (20) put the White Sox on the board, and a Sanchez double to right scored former Athletic Michael Taylor. Sanchez was thrown out at third, trying to stretch his base hit into a triple, to end the inning.

The A’s needed an offensive outburst like the one they received on Tuesday night. Ideally the good vibes will carry over to the next game. Wednesday night the A’s send Jeff Samardzija (4-5, 3.70) to the bump to take on Chris Bassitt (0-1, 7.36).

Predictions for Wednesday’s game: Jose Abreu takes Samardzija deep. Altough Abreu is just 1 for 8 in the series, he has 33 bombs on the season. In his time with the A’s, the Shark has allowed 11 jacks in 12 starts.

The A’s offense will work the count against Basitt, who has allowed five walks in 7 1/3 innings, leading to a quick outing from the young righty. I don’t see Bassitt lasting through the sixth. He’ll give up four runs in that time.

The A’s will collect the win, giving them back-to-back victories for the first time since August 22-23 against the Angels.