A’s test deep reaches of Oracle Park
As A’s hitters arced drive after drive at the depths of Oracle Park in the fifth inning Sunday, the shouts from their dugout seemed to grow louder, building along with the inning’s absurdity.
By its end, the A’s had sent 13 hitters to the plate, hit three home runs and a triple, and scored nine times. After two dramatic late wins, the A’s completed a sweep of the Giants by putting a 153 blowout out of reach much earlier for their 13th win in 15 games.
“Today was a day where it seemed like everybody was going up and having really good atbats,” said Chad Pinder, whose tworun homer started the fifthinning deluge. “You’re not always going to get hits, but today it seemed like everything was seeming to fall for us. It’s been a fun two weeks, there’s no doubt about that.”
The A’s swept the Giants in three games for the first time since 2011 and first time in San Francisco since 2008. They’re 162 when homering in a game
this season and 166 overall, their best start after 22 games since 1990. Their .727 winning percentage is the best in the majors.
“Just playing good,” manager Bob Melvin said. “For a while, it was just doing enough in certain games, winning close games, getting big hits. The pitching was kind of ruling the day. It seems that the bats have kind of woken up some, too — specifically today.”
Oakland has scored at least seven runs in six of seven games and hit nine homers in this series. Sunday’s game was tied 22 in the fifth when the Giants brought in lefthanded reliever Wandy Peralta to face Tony Kemp with a runner on first and one out. The A’s countered by pinchhitting Pinder, who launched Peralta’s first pitch an estimated 422 feet into the leftfield bleachers.
“I was just trying to get up there and be aggressive, get a pitch elevated and get a good swing off,” Pinder said. “Luckily, I got the pitch I was looking for.”
“That was the biggest blow of the game,” Melvin said, “and (we) kind of added on after that.”
Mark Canha added a tworun triple to the centerfield wall before Peralta ceded to Dereck Rodriguez, who left a twoout fastball over the plate that Stephen Piscotty hit an estimated 454 feet to left.
“Not even in BP have I seen a ball go up there” at Oracle Park, Melvin said of Piscotty’s blast. “I think he made the comment, too, that’s about as far as he’s ever hit a ball.”
Marcus Semien homered two batters later, driving in Sean Murphy, who scored twice on home runs in the inning. The fifth ended when Chapman flied out to the warning track in left.
“It’s just a grind of an atbat every time,” righthander Mike Fiers said of the A’s hitters, some of whom he faced a few years ago with Houston and Detroit. “Everyone has their own approach but is tough to get out . ... It puts so much pressure on you. They capitalize on mistakes.”
Fiers completed six innings Sunday and held the Giants to two runs, coming off a rough outing against the Angels. Melvin said Fiers’ curveball looked better Sunday and he kept his “tenacity” after the A’s fifthinning outburst. Fiers lowered his ERA from 6.86 to 5.96 through five starts.
“I’m still kind of getting everything going,” Fiers said. “I wouldn’t say I’m myself yet 100%. Today was definitely a step in the right direction.”
After Fiers exited, James Kaprielian made his longanticipated majorleague debut, three years after the A’s acquired him from the Yankees in the Sonny Gray trade. Kaprielian’s first hitter, fellow UCLA alum Brandon Crawford, greeted him with a home run. But
Kaprielian retired his final six hitters in two innings.
“I was definitely a little nervous,” said Kaprielian, a 2015 firstround pick. “I feel like I belong here. But I did feel a little numb, and there were times I was going through my mechanics and I was wondering where my arm’s going. … But it was fun.”
The A’s did most of their damage in the series against the Giants’ bullpen, scoring 22 of 30 runs against relievers. Melvin said that could have “a little to do with maybe early in games the tenacity isn’t there, you come out and there’s nobody in the stands. … We haven’t been the fastest starters here early in the season. But it’s good to see us score a bunch of runs today and everybody contribute.”