Manaea masterful once again for Oakland
A’S 6, RANGERS 2
This was supposed to be a thin rotation, and it is. But a week into the A’s season, someone has emerged as a possible leader, a big, tall lefty who has had two dominant starts and seems healthy and confident enough to keep it going.
Until further notice, the A’s can rely on Sean Manaea, which is a big deal for a team trying to figure itself out and move on from three straight last-place finishes.
Manaea surrendered one run and three hits in eight fabulous innings, and the A’s played their best overall game of the season in a 6-2 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night.
“It’s a world of difference between last year and this year,” said Manaea, speaking of his soaring confidence.
It was Manaea’s second straight start in which he pitched into the late innings. On Friday, he gave up one run (a Mike Trout homer) over 72⁄3 innings in a 2-1 loss to the Angels. Overall, he has struck out 11 and walked one, posting a 1.15 ERA.
It’s a refreshing development for a team that added no starters in the offseason and lost two to
injuries before the season, three if top prospect A.J. Puk is included. When Manaea pitches like this, he takes pressure off the bullpen, gives the offense a chance and keeps the defense on its toes.
Except for one inning, Manaea was spectacularly efficient. He threw nine pitches in both the third and fourth innings, putting him at 41. He needed 25 pitches and a tremendous running catch by right fielder Chad Pinder to get out of the fifth and responded with an eight-pitch sixth, 11pitch seventh and nine-pitch eighth.
Rebounding from a long inning wasn’t all that common in 2017 when composure was an issue. Nowadays, he’s relying on his fastball command that allows for an effective changeup. He also relies on a strong mental approach.
“Just not caving in, not mentally freaking out or panicking,” said Manaea, all things he has done in the past. “It does help that last year there were a couple of times where I had some really tough stretches, and sitting back and thinking about those situations really helped me have confidence to put my foot down and limit the damage.” How is that done, exactly? “Just having that attitude that I’m going to get the guy out,” Manaea said.
Manager Bob Melvin determined 94 pitches were enough and summoned Yusmeiro Petit for the ninth, and Petit gave up a homer to Shin-soo Choo.
Unlike in Manaea’s previous start, the A’s provided run support. Bruce Maxwell doubled home a run in the second and Matt Chapman singled to open a four-run fourth. A hit batsman and walk loaded the bases, and the A’s benefited when Boog Powell’s grounder to first was misplayed.
Joey Gallo’s throw home was high and wide, eliminating the opportunity for a force out. Catcher Robinson Chirinos tried to tag Chapman, but the ball popped from his mitt. Marcus Semien followed with a sacrifice fly, and Jed Lowrie knocked a two-run single.
Matt Olson added an RBI single in the seventh.
“We needed that all the way around, a game where we had a little breathing room,” Melvin said.
The shame of it was, not many folks saw it in person. The announced crowd was a mere 7,908, the second time in the series the A’s failed to draw 8,000. Monday’s count was 7,416, Tuesday’s 9,157.
The series ends with a Thursday matinee. John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey