Laureano, A’s pelt Angels, 8-4

Manager Bob Melvin waited until the very last seconds before Wednesday’s first pitch in Anaheim before officially submitting the lineup. The A’s hadn’t heard back from Major League Baseball regarding Ramón Laureano’s suspension appeal – he wasn’t sure if their prized outfielder could play that day.

But, no word came. So, Laureano played.

He didn’t just play, the A’s might not have won without him.

Laureano made a handful of game-saving defensive plays and knocked in two late-game insurance runs in Oakland’s 8-4, sweep-preventing win against the Los Angeles Angels.

“He won us the game defensively,” A’s starter Chris Bassitt said. “He definitely saved us.”

Laureano has a knack for the web gem outfield plays, and so many seem to happen at Angel Stadium. See: The

300-some-foot assist he made from outfield to first back in 2018. The ballpark’s low outfield walls provided a defensive gem of a different variety, when Laureano casually robbed Brian Goodwin of a potential game-tying home run in the seventh inning.

“It’s never an easy play,” Laureano said. “I just got good timing on it.”

The catch nearly mimicked the home run robbery of Cincinnati Reds’ Tucker Barnhart to preserve Mike Fiers’ no-hitter last May. Higher wall at the Oakland Coliseum, same level of optical ease despite the play’s difficulty.

“I don’t want to say we get used to it, but he’s done it enough where, at times, you expect it,” Melvin said.

The A’s outfielder has been playing farther back in center to improve his route running. He covered 74 feet on the home run robbery and made up a lot of ground robbing another two hits from the Angels. That included a bloop single and an extrabase hit at the wall.

His defensive prowess made up for an otherwise cold series at the plate in which he collected one hit with six strikeouts (three on Wednesday).

That is, until Laureano punched a two-out single to tack on some key insurance runs in the eighth inning.

“I mean, I didn’t really know what I was doing all day,” Laureano said. “So I was just trying to hit the ball.”

Somewhere between Laureano’s third strike out and his late-game heroics, word landed that 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 Laureano, who appealed and could hear back from the league tomorrow if the suspension time was shortened, too.

“Since you’re telling me that, I won’t take the bait,” Melvin said when asked if Kelly’s lessened punishment made him hopeful for Laureano. “But, yeah, I would like it to be reduced.”

If his suspension is lessened, he could be out starting Friday for the series against the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The A’s have depth to fill in nicely for Laureano on all fronts. But, Wednesday, he reminded us of how much responsibility comes with being Ramón Laureano.