Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Dugout scolding sparks A’s to keep series alive
AL DIVISION SERIES ATHLETICS 9, ASTROS 7
LOS ANGELES — Ramon Laureano sensed his teammates’ energy dragging. They were down three runs with time running out to save their season.
So the Oakland outfielder lit into them in the dugout during the sixth inning, getting so loud he was heard easily in mostly empty Dodger Stadium.
And just in case Laureano’s words did not get the message across, he ripped a double as the A’s got a pair of sacrifice flies in the eighth to rally past the Houston Astros 9-7 on Wednesday and avoid elimination in their American League division series.
“We live another day,” Oakland Manager Bob Melvin said.
Chad Pinder tied the score with a three-run home run in the seventh before Sean Murphy hit the go-ahead sac fly in the eighth.
“Ramon got everything fired up, saying this wasn’t it, we’re not going to let it be our last game, we’ve gone through too much this season,” Pinder said. “It was awesome.”
Houston leads the bestof-five series 2-1. Game 4 is today.
“There’s never a doubt in this team,” Oakland starter Jesus Luzardo said. “We can go ahead and win three in a row.”
The Astros wasted leads of 2-1 and 7-4, and the Athletics bounced back after giving up advantages of 1-0 and 4-2.
Houston’s bullpen had stifled Oakland in the first two games with seven shutout innings of one-hit relief, but Pinder ended that dominance.
Houston led 7- 4 when Marcus Semien and Tommy La Stella had back-to-back singles off Josh James starting the seventh. Pinder hit a first-pitch slider to the opposite field for Oakland’s fifth home run.
La Stella, Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Semien also homered for the A’s, whose entire infield went deep.
“They beat us with the home run ball,” Houston Manager Dusty Baker said. “Tough to take, but we have to come back tomorrow.”
Loser Brooks Raley walked Robbie Grossman leading off the eighth, and Laureano doubled. Murphy’s sacrifice fly put Oakland ahead and Semien walked. La Stella was hit on his right forearm, loading the bases and forcing him from the game. Pinder, who went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI, followed with another sacrifice fly.
Winner Liam Hendriks pitched three innings of onehit, scoreless relief.
“Once our backs are against the wall, suddenly everything changes,” Hendriks said. “Everybody has that bit of extra drive.”
Carlos Correa singled leading off the bottom of the eighth, and Kyle Tucker reached on catcher’s interference by Murphy, a call the A’s challenged unsuccessfully.
Yuli Gurriel popped out, Aedmys Diaz advanced the runners with a groundout, and pinch-hitter Josh Reddick struck out, smashing his bat on the ground and breaking it over a knee.
“I’m an emotional guy, and I like to see it out of hitters, too,” Hendriks said.
Hendriks threw 37 pitches. He vowed to be ready to pitch again today.
“I wasn’t coming out of the game,” he said. “They were going to have to wrench the ball out of my hand.”
RAYS 8, YANKEES 4
SAN DIEGO — The Tampa Bay Rays are unanimous in their praise of Randy Arozarena, who is living up to his nickname, “The Cuban Rocket.”
Arozarena homered for the third consecutive game, and Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Perez also went deep for the Rays, who beat New York to move within one victory of reaching the AL Championship Series for the first time in 12 years.
“He’s the best player on the planet,” Kiermaier said. “He’s incredible. He’s very unique in so many ways. Everyone loves him. He’s the man. What he’s doing is incredible.”
New York slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run off Shane McClanahan to center field in the eighth inning to become the first player with a home run in each of his team’s first five games of a single postseason. Stanton has six home runs and 13 RBI in those five games. McClanahan made his major-league debut in Game 1 on Monday night.
Arozarena, a 25-year-old rookie from Havana, is having a breakout postseason. He homered off Gerrit Cole in the first inning of Game 1, a 9-3 Yankees win, and off rookie Deivi Garcia in the first inning of Game 2, a 7-5 Rays victory.
Arozarena hit a shot deep to left leading off the fifth Wednesday night to chase Masahiro Tanaka and give the Rays a 5-1 lead.
Game 4 is tonight at Petco Park, which has yielded 16 home runs in three games