Oakland adds to lead on Seattle, gains on Astros
So many things are going right for Oakland the past two months, it’s tough to know where to start some nights, but on Monday at the Coliseum, it was an easy call.
The biggest news: The A’s held off their nearest postseason rival — and gained half a game on the top spot in the division, too. A 7-6 victory over the Mariners, fueled by Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie, put Oakland 2½ games ahead of Seattle for the second wild-card spot, and moved the A’s two games behind the Astros for the division lead.
“It feels like playoff baseball,” A’s closer Blake Treinen said. “It has for a long time.”
Said A’s manager Bob Melvin: “Boy, I’ll tell you a little closer than we wanted to, but a win’s a
win at the end of the day.”
The Mariners entered the game on a roll after sweeping four games at Houston. Oakland is 37-12 from June 16 on, tied with Boston for baseball’s best record. The A’s are 71-48 overall, their best record through 119 games since 2004 (73-46), and they are on pace to win 96 games. Over the past three years, they averaged 71 wins.
His last outing, Sean Manaea didn’t make it out of the third, but against the Mariners, he pitched into the eighth, working 7 2⁄3 innings before leaving with a man at first. Melvin noted that his velocity, 92 mph in the first, was down to 87-88 that final inning.
Emilio Pagan allowed singles by Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura, the second of which drove in a run, then Nelson Cruz blooped an 0-2 pitch off Lou Trivino to score another.
In the ninth, Jeurys Familia walked all three men he faced, so Treinen entered the game. A wild pitch sent in one run, and Haniger’s single two more. Treinen allowed two hits in the inning but struck out three in recording his 31st save.
“As talented as we are, we’re not all perfect every night,” Treinen said. “I think we’re going to be better than this 90 percent of the time. You take a W any way you can get it . ... Tonight’s a testament to how good (the Mariners) are.”
Seattle’s first run off Manaea came in the fourth when, with two outs and a man at second, Manaea intentionally walked Cruz, a .389 lifetime hitter against the A’s lefty. The next batter, Kyle Seager, smacked an 0-2 pitch to center to send in Haniger.
Chapman got going in the first inning Monday, ripping the first of his three doubles to left, and Lowrie followed with a base hit to send in Oakland’s first run.
In the third, the two did more damage. Marcus Semien led off the inning with a four-pitch walk against Marco Gonzales, Chapman’s double put him at third and Lowrie doubled in both of them. Lowrie scored on Matt Olson’s two-out single. In the sixth, Chapman smacked a two-run double, Lowrie doubled him home. The two drove in six runs and scored four, with Lowrie providing two doubles.
Chapman has reached base in a career-high 27 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors, and he’s batting .359 in that stretch. Asked if Chapman is starting to merit MVP consideration, Melvin said, “He’s going to end up being one of those guys, one of those top-flight guys you talk about every year in that conversation.” The game drew 10,400, disappointing for a team with playoff hopes. After the game, Chapman made a plea for more fans to come for the rest of the series.