Lowrie doubles down at plate to spark comeback
For months, Jed Lowrie has been mentioned as a likely candidate to be traded by the A’s. The second baseman has remained in Oakland, and on Friday night, he was the central figure in the A’s 5-4 win over Baltimore at the Coliseum.
The Orioles led 4-3 in the eighth. Matt Joyce opened the inning with a double to right-center off reliever Brad Brach. After Marcus Semien singled, Lowrie unloaded his second double of the night, a ground-rule smash to the wall in right-center. It tied the game and moved Semien to third.
Lowrie, 33, has been in the big leagues since 2008. The Stanford alum said the trade talk has gotten his attention.
“I was happy when the (trade) deadline was over, whether I got traded or not, just so that distraction kind of dissipated,” Lowrie said.
After Khris Davis popped to shallow left, the A’s got a break. Chad Pinder lifted a foul pop beyond first base that first baseman Chris Davis dropped for an error.
Given a reprieve, Pinder flied to mediumdeep right. Joey Rickard made an excellent throw, but Semien slid into the plate just in time
to give the A’s the 5-4 edge.
Lowrie, by the way, also hit two doubles in the A’s 7-2 loss to Baltimore on Thursday night. He leads the majors with 37 doubles, and was asked what it would mean to him to finish the season as the doubles leader.
“That’s my game,” Lowrie said. “It’s not like I’m gunning to be the leader. I just want to go out and continue to do the same thing that I’ve been doing all year: keep my good approach, maintain my work in the weight room and in the cage, and see where it shakes out in the end.”
Lowrie doubled leading off the fourth, an inning in which the A’s scored three times, with two coming on a homer by Matt Olson off Ubaldo Jimenez. The first baseman discussed Lowrie’s success as a hitter.
“He’s pretty complete as far as (hitting from) both sides of the plate, being able to hit for power, battle with two strikes,” Olson said. “It’s fun to watch.”
The A’s didn’t have much fun against Jimenez early in the game. He seemingly had found the Fountain of 2010. In that season, the right-hander went 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA for Colorado and started the AllStar Game for the National League.
His career has tumbled since then; he entered Friday with a 5-7 record and 6.31 ERA in 2017.
Jimenez sent the A’s trudging back to the dugout time after time in the early going. After Joyce flied to left to open the bottom of the first, the next 10 outs recorded by Jimenez were via strikeout.
With one out in the sixth, Pinder’s hot shot caromed off Jimenez’s right leg. Pinder got an infield single. Jimenez didn’t appear to be in tremendous pain, but he did leave the game.
His line: 51⁄3 innings, six hits, three runs (all earned), one walk and 11 strikeouts. His ERA fell to 6.25.
The A’s finished the night with 12 Ks. That’s the 58th time this season they have had double-digit strikeouts — and that’s one shy of the Oakland record set in 2012.