DOWN TO THE WIRE
Bassitt pitches a gem as A’s even up series with White Sox
OA LANb>> History wasn’t on the A’s side Wednesday. But with their season on the line, they caught an early break, built a nice cushion and then hung on tightly at the end.
The A’s held off the Chicago White Sox 5-3 in Game 2 of the best-of-three American League wild-card round, forcing a winner-take-all matchup today at the Coliseum.
The victory, Oakland’s first in the postseason since Game 3 of the 2013 ALDS against Detroit, snapped a six-game playoff skid and a five-game losing streak in
elimination games.
“We knew the numbers,” said pitcher Chris Bassitt, who was superb on the mound Wednesday. “I feel like the monkey is off our back and now its play baseball from here on out.”
“We won,” manager Bob Melvin said. “That’s all that matters. It wasn’t comfortable. We just gave up a few runs at the end.”
Melvin put the ordeal
mound in the eighth. Anderson’s leadoff single brought an end to Bassitt’s day. Anderson scored when Grandal homered, marking just the second run charged to Bassitt in 34 innings this month.
“I’m proud of him and happy we’ve been playing together since we got drafted,” said Semien, who came to Oakland with Bassitt from the White Sox organization in the 2014 trade. “Just to be on that stage with him and see him do well was amazing.”
Bassitt became the A’s first winning postseason pitcher since Jarrod Parker in 2013. Bassitt lowered his ERA to 2.18 this season.
“He’s been lights out for us all year,” outfielder Mark Canha said. “He’s the same guy every day and he’s the same guy today that he is in the regular season. Joking around in the dugout and light-hearted competitor.”
Given Chicago’s success against left-handed starters — 15- 0 this season, including in Game 1 on Tuesday — Bassitt’s performance could make the A’s decision about which pitcher to start in Game 3 easier. But Bassitt, a right-hander, threw caution to that thinking.
“They’re good against either side,” he said. “They gave me trouble all game long. Obviously, I threw a good game, but it was a dang headache for seven innings.”
Canha helped relieve pain a bit. The left fielder channeled his inner Joe Rudi,
making a leaping catch at the wall to rob Moncada of extrabase hits and, presumably, an RBI or two in the third inning. It didn’t quite have the acrobatic leap Rudi had in the 1972 World Series, but Canha turned the ball with a .590 expected batting average into a Canha corn.
Melvin, a Bay Area native, recognized the play instantly as Rudi-esque.
“That was exactly what I thought when he caught that ball,” he said. “Just a different wall. This one is padded.”
There’s no louder cheer from the A’s peanut gallery than when Khris Davis does something that harkens back to the Khris Davis of 2018.
Davis, along with this righty-heavy A’s lineup, is familiar with Chicago leftie Dallas Keuchel. How he pushes hitters off with his cutter, and works the other side of the plate with his sinker and changeup. The cat and mouse game he plays with hitters as he chases them around the box.
Davis just missed a cutter middle-middle in the first inning. He ate up a sinker in his next at-bat, pummeling it into the right-field bleachers for the A’s fifth run. He blew a kiss to his cheering family in the suites as he rounded second base, and his teammates offering up his signature salute greeted him rounding third.
“The guys really rally for him,” Melvin said.
Any sliver of the power Davis demonstrated in 2018 could be the spark that ignites a deeper run for an A’s offense that is hit-and-miss.
Davis’ cold start this year had him designated to a platoon role, but the progress he made behind the scenes is paying dividends. His teammates notice the old Davis is back after 2019 oblique injury iknocked him off track.
“For the last month, I know he hasn’t played much,” Bassitt said. “I promise you, guys in the clubhouse are like, ‘Man, the explosion off your bat is back,’ and he’s starting to believe it.”
More redemption came before Davis. Matt Olson, who could barely keep his head above the .200 average mark, put the A’s first runs on the board in the first inning. He cashed in a bases-loaded gift via Tommy La Stella and Ramón Laureano hits and a Tim Anderson throwing error on Canha’s grounder.
Marcus Semien hit a tworun home run in the second inning to extend the A’s lead to 4-0. He pointed to his wife, Tarah, and sons, Joshua and Isaiah, cheering in the suites as he rounded the bases.
When Semien struggles, he likes to find his family in the stands to balance him. He knew where he could look after this one.
“I knew where they were in center field,” he said. “It was perfect time to acknowledge them.”