Oakland A’s take two of three against Baltimore in weekend series

The Oakland A’s (14-8) took the weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles as they won the first two games before losing Sunday afternoon.

The WWWWWWWWWWWWWAVE as Oakland A’s twitter called it came crashing down after 13 games with their first loss in over two weeks.

Game 1: Oakland 3, Baltimore 1

Oakland won 3-1 Friday evening behind a solid start from Cole Irvin and brilliant work out of their bullpen.

Oakland scored two in the top of the second inning as a pair of leadoff walks, followed by an RBI groundout from Sean Murphy, and an RBI single from Stephen Piscotty gave them the 2-0 lead.

The A’s added another run in the top of the fifth as Ramon Laureano launched a solo homer to give Oakland a 3-0 lead.

Irvin, despite a minor hiccup in the bottom of the fifth where the O’s threatened, held Baltimore scoreless.

The bottom of the sixth spelled potential disaster for Oakland as Baltimore led off with four singles to cut the deficit to 2-1. Yusmeiro Petit pitched in relief as he came into the game with one out and the bases loaded but got the next two batters to end the inning.

From there the relief core of Petit,  J.B. Wendelken, and Jake Diekman kept Baltimore off the scoreboard as Oakland secured the 3-1 victory.

Back-to-back W’s for Irvin in the young season as his 5.1 innings pitched of one-run ball made up for a low-scoring A’s offense.

Game 2: Oakland 7, Baltimore 2

With a pair of three-run innings, the Oakland A’s trounced the Orioles 7-2 Saturday night to extend their winning streak to 13 games.

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Oakland pounced quickly as a leadoff double from Mark Canha followed by a one-out single from Matt Olson gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

In the top of the second, the A’s tacked on three runs as Canha singled home two runs before Olson hit a two-out double that added another to make it 4-0 Oakland.

Chris Bassitt ran into some turbulence in the bottom of the second as Baltimore led off with a double. Despite getting the next two batters, a ground-rule double gave the Orioles their first run that made it 4-1.

Elvis Andrus singled up the middle to start the top of the fourth. Mark Canha was hit by a pitch, which gave Oakland runners on first and second with no outs. Jed Lowrie stepped in the box and ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a homerun that extended the lead to 7-1 for the A’s.

Baltimore managed another run in the top of the fifth as a one-out double made it 7-2 before  the next two batters to flew out.

Bassitt pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth before turning it over to the bullpen.  Adam Kolarek pitched a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the seventh and got one out in the bottom of the eighth before Wendelken shut down the O’s. Despite runners on first and second with two outs, Deolis Guerra pitched out of the jam in the bottom of the ninth as the A’s won their 13th straight game.

Game 3: Baltimore 8, Oakland 1

The A’s lost game three 8-1 Sunday afternoon as a five-run rally by Baltimore late proved insurmountable.

Oakland’s offense was tormented by Baltimore pitcher John Means as they only collected two hits, one a solo homer from Laureano, three walks and six strikeouts against him.

Despite a solid effort from Luzardo who pitched 6.2 innings allowed seven hits, two walks and struck out eight it was not enough.

The game was not far out of reach for the A’s offense when heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Baltimore surged ahead in their frame.

With a leadoff homer, Baltimore extended the lead to 4-1. The next batter flew out, but the next two walked. A fly out made it two outs and it seemed Oakland could limit the damage. But another walk was issued, and another to force in the fifth Baltimore run. Next, a fielder’s choice, where no one was out, forced in the sixth Baltimore run. Then a two-out single drove in two more runs to swell the lead to 8-1.

Oakland got the leadoff man on in the top of the ninth as Lowrie singled, but no further offense was provided as the A’s fell 8-1.

All good things must come to an end, this winning streak provided good moments for Oakland and put them atop the AL West standings at 14-8.

Oakland turns their attention to the Tampa Bay Rays in a four-game set starting Monday before heading home for a three-game series against Baltimore.

For coverage of these series and anything else Oakland A’s run over to White Cleat Beat!