Red hot Oakland A’s secure 7-6 victory with late inning heroics

The late innings continue to be the Oakland A’s time to shine, as Mark Canha made sure another victory would be in the books.

Just as Major League Baseball thought the Oakland A’s could not provide any more late inning excitement, Mark Canha did just that on Saturday evening. Powered by the longball again, the A’s were able to sneak out a 7-6 win over their Bay Area rival.

In an exciting game, surprisingly, most of the excitement did not come with lefty Sean Manaea on the mound. With Manaea struggling in his recent outings, the five inning two run start was refreshing to see.

Marcus Semien began the night with a two-run home run in the third inning which gave the A’s a very temporary lead.

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Mike Yastrzemski responded with a three run triple in the fourth inning which continued his hot streak to start the season.

After a Matt Olson solo home run in the sixth inning, Giants starter Kevin Gausman exited with a solid performance under his belt.

Darin Ruf broke open the game in the seventh inning with a three run home run that appeared to be the dagger for San Francisco.

However, the “Late Inning A’s” refused to go down without a fight. Sean Murphy hit a deep fly to center field for a solo homerun that would not have gone out in the old Giants ballpark, but renovations favored the young catcher.

With the lead closed to 6-4, Tony Kemp and Matt Olson were able to scrap their way on base, which brought Mark Canha to the plate with two down.

With the memory of a Stephen Piscotty grand slam fresh in his mind, Trevor Gott gave up the go ahead three run home run to Mark Canha on Saturday night. The 411 foot shot gave the A’s a 7-6 lead the Liam Hendriks would hold on to in the bottom of the ninth.

Other than a rare off day from Burch Smith, the A’s pitching staff again did their best to keep themselves in the game long enough for a flurry of homeruns to power Oakland to a late inning victory.

Even without Ramon Laureano and with Frankie Montas delayed until the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland did not miss a beat and continues to be the hottest team in baseball.

The Oakland A’s will look to complete a three game sweep of their crosstown rivals on Sunday with Mike Fiers on the mound. The A’s are red hot and have a 15-2 record when they hit a home run in the 2020 season.