Oakland Athletics’ Offensive Explosion Sinks Rangers
By Casey Witt
2. 126. 8. 96. Final
The 94 degree weather in Arlington was no match for the Oakland Athletics’ offense on Wednesday night, and neither were the Texas Rangers. Having outscored their opponents by a total of 62-34 in their last 10 games, Brett Lawrie continued this trend by launching a first-pitch hanging curveball off starter Wandy Rodriguez for a grand slam in the first. Josh Phegley went yard in the second and Kendall Graveman buried the Rangers with seven plus innings of two run baseball. Graveman also struck out four in front of 34,216 spectators at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Highlights
Billy Burns extended his hitting streak to 14 games by scorching an 0-1 fastball down the left field line off Rodriguez in the top of the first. Two batters later, Stephen Vogt stepped into the box and joined the hitting parade with an RBI double, scoring the speedy Burns easily from second base. After a ground out from Ben Zobrist that allowed Vogt to take third base, Rodriguez would walk Phegley and Billy Butler on eight consecutive pitches — with Lawrie anxiously waiting on-deck. Before the 36-year old veteran could settle in, Lawrie AKA “The Big Cheese” brought out the “boomstick” and feasted upon a curveball right over the middle of the plate. This “grand salami dinner” would ultimately fuel Graveman to go the distance and leave the Athletics hungry for more — despite a 5-0 advantage through the first.
After batting around in the previous inning, Burns led off with another double off Rodriguez. A sacrifice fly from Mark Canha would move Burns to third. Vogt stepped up to the plate and found a hole in right field while simultaneously recording his 53rd RBI of the season. He is called the “Everything Bagel” for a reason. With two away, Phegley capped off the inning with a long ball of his own, which was his fifth of the season and fourth in seven games.
That would be plenty for Graveman, who mixed his pitches effectively tonight. Most importantly, his off speed pitches tied up the opposition and induced 10 ground ball outs. Since returning from Triple-A Nashville, Graveman has complied a 2.31 ERA in seven starts. He’s exuding with confidence and the statistics prove it. In his last four outings, Graveman has only surrendered five runs in 29 innings while striking out a total of 23 batters in that span.
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The Good
- Each Athletic (except for Butler and Sam Fuld) recorded a minimum of one-hit in tonight’s ballgame. The team as a whole had 14 hits in 41 plate appearances along with five walks and eight runs batted in.
The Bad
- Aside from the two earned runs that Graveman gave up in the fifth, there honestly wasn’t much to complain about. The offense came to life yet again, the defense made the routine plays they needed to, and, along with solid performances from Edward Mujica and Fernando Abad, the majority of the A’s bullpen got to rest after a taxing ball game last night.
The Notable
- Burns, who extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games on Tuesday, hasn’t skipped a beat offensively. He recorded his 14th consecutive hit off of Rodriguez, whom he has never faced in the major leagues.
- In Joey Gallo‘s first three games, he has posted a .416 batting average (5-12) with two home run and five runs batted in. However, he has cooled down tremendously in the last week — going a combined 3 for his last 25 with only one long ball to show for it.
- Heading into Wednesday, the A’s have won 7 of their last 9, and, in five of those victories, they’ve scored six runs or more.
Up Next
Sonny Gray (8-3, 1.95 ERA) will take on Colby Lewis (7-3, 4.08 ERA) concluding this three-game series in Arlington at 11:05 AM PT. Interestingly enough, Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland — Texas’ 3-4-5 hitters — have a combined average of .106 (5-47) with one home run and two runs batted in against Gray in their careers.