LAUREANO HELPS A’S BEAT ANGELS
The Oakland A’s move to 13-2 when homering in a game. Their three home runs nudging them to a 8-4, sweep-preventing win over the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday.
Ramón Laureano finds a way to contribute — Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly’s eight-game suspension for throwing at Astros hitters was reduced to five games upon appeal. This could be good news for Ramón Laureano, who played Wednesday as the A’s were yet to hear word back about his appeal on a six-game suspension for charging the Astros’ dugout.
If his suspension is lessened, he may be out for the upcoming series against the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. He has large shoes to fill, but the A’s can fill them.
But, Wednesday he reminded us of how much responsibility comes with being Ramón Laureano.
Laureano has a knack for the web gem defensive plays made at Angel Stadium. He gave us a different variety, casually robbing Brian Goodwin of a potential game-tying home run in the seventh inning.
The A’s outfielder has been playing farther back in center to improve his route running, and he made up a whole lot of ground robbing another two hits from the Angels. That included a bloop single and an extra-base hit at the wall.
His defensive abilities made up for an otherwise cold series at the plate in which he collected one hit with six strikeouts. Then Laureano punched a two-out single to tack on some key insurance runs in the eighth inning.
Chris Bassitt vs. Mike Trout — Bassitt struck out twice baseball superstar Mike Trout when the Los Angeles Angels came to Oakland at the season’s onset. And it took a little guts; the first Trout whiffed at Bassitt’s rainbow curveball. The second, flailing at a changeup.
“I don’t usually throw changeups and curveballs to Trout, but it worked out today,” Bassitt said after that July start. “Throwing it, you’re thinking this could go 600 feet, but when
he swings and misses it’s pretty awesome.”
Things in the Bassitt vs. Trout micro battle went a little differently Wednesday.
Bassitt was living down in the zone — a good sign for a starting pitcher against a brutal Angels lineup that will punish mistakes up (as they did Tuesday in rapid succession). But fastballs down in the zone are Trout’s chum.
Trout homered a 94 mph fastball down in the zone in the first inning, tying the game. He also punished a 94 mph sacrifice fly in the following at bat — not a home run, but it produced a run nonetheless.
Bassitt, at least, pushed back in the final at bat with a strikeout check swinging at another 94 mph offering on the paint.
Trying to protect the 1.08 ERA he’d curated over three starts, Bassitt engaged in a tiring push and pull with an Angels lineup that’s, scarily, finding its stride. Anthony Rendon — oddly slashing .184/.412/.449 with an eye-popping 146 wRC+ — hit a home run, too.
The A’s right-hander left with two outs in the fifth inning having allowed four earned runs, five hits with four strikeouts.
Matt Olson, Robbie Grossman and Stephen Piscotty go yard — Angels starter Griffin Canning doesn’t throw too hard, so the A’s found a few ways to take advantage of the low-90s fastballs and hanging breaking balls the right-hander was leaving up in the zone.
Matt Olson went first, launching his sixth home run of the season 111 mph off a hanging slider. It went 454 feet, which somehow fell short of the A’s home run distance record this season. Sean Murphy hit one 455 feet in Oakland.
Robbie Grossman hit a 3-1 fastball up into the seats for a two-run knock. And Stephen Piscotty’s home run off a hanging curveball 108 mph into left field.