Oakland Athletics Doomed By Big Flys
By Steven Luke
Jul 3, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Austin Jackson (16) shakes hands with left fielder Dustin Ackley (13) and left fielder Seth Smith (7) after the win against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum. The Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics 9-5. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
96. 9. 62. Final. 5
The long ball doomed the Oakland Athletics tonight as they dropped game two of a four game series to the Seattle Mariners. Neither the A’s Jesse Chavez nor J.A. Happ for the M’s looked impressive, but Happ came out with the win thanks in large part to four home runs from Logan Morrison, Seth Smith, Nelson Cruz and Brad Miller.
Highlights
The lone highlight for the A’s came in the second inning when the bottom half of the order got going and did big damage to the tune of three runs. Brett Lawrie and Josh Reddick got the rally started with back-to-back singles to put two on for Mark Canha. Canha would put the first run of the night for either team on the board with an RBI single. The A’s would not stop there as Marcus Semien would knock in a run with a groundout. Billy Burns would cap the inning off with the first and only extra base hit on the night for the A’s, an RBI double. The same part of the order would make the game interesting in the ninth when Canha knocked in two more runs with Eric Sogard and Reddick on base.
For the Mariners, it was all about the long ball as Morrison got the Mariners on the board in the fourth with the first home run of the night, a two run shot to cut the A’s lead to one. The lead would hold till the sixth when former A’s magic would strike again as Smith hit the second two-run home run of the night, which gave the M’s the lead. The top of the eighth is where the Mariners put the game out of reach with two two-run homers by Cruz and Miller that sandwiched an unearned run on an error at first by Stephen Vogt.
The Good
The second inning and the ninth inning was the only thing good about the A’s this evening. Three different players drove in runs in the second to take the early lead, and they added two more in the ninth to show signs of life. Burns, Lawrie, Reddick and Canha supplied the offense recording two hits each that accounted for three runs scored and four RBI. Canha did the bulk of the work by knocking in three runs and scoring one.
The Bad
The starting pitching, the defense, and the bullpen. While Chavez’ final line doesn’t look terrible, 6.1 innings, 9 hits and four runs, and Smith’s home run was on a good inside pitch, he didn’t look sharp all night. The defense added to the league-leading error total tallying up two more, one by Semien and one by Vogt. Out of the bullpen, Evan Scribner was the latest pitcher to blow up on the mound giving up two long balls in one inning to Cruz and Miller.
Notable
- The Mariners improve to 6-2 on the season against the A’s with the win.
- The A’s were one win out of fourth place in the A.L. West before the game and will now have to win the next two games against the Mariners if they are going to pass them this weekend.
Up Next
The Athletics turn to rookie Kendall Graveman (5-4, 3.47 ERA) to slow down the Mariners’ suddenly hot bats while the A’s offense will try to figure out Felix Hernandez (10-4, 3.05 ERA). It will be a day game, 1:05 p.m. start time, for Fourth of July Oakland Athletics baseball.