Treinen roots for old team
Dodgers reliever Blake Trei
nen said he was happy to see the A’s win the AL West title this week, even if it was “a little bittersweet” coming so soon after his departure from Oakland.
“A lot of those guys are having great years and the success they’ve had is exactly what they’ve worked for the last three years,” Treinen said before Tuesday’s game at Dodger Stadium. “Seeing it come to fruition for them to win a division, couldn’t be happier for them.”
On Wednesday, Treinen took the loss as he allowed Ramón
Laureano’s twoout, tworun homer in the ninth inning of the A’s 64 win.
Traded from Washington to Oakland at midseason in 2017, Treinen became an AllStar in 2018, compiling one of the best seasons ever by an A’s closer. As part of 97win A’s teams in 2018 and 2019, Treinen said he recognized a mentality that was “kind of like Oakland versus the world.”
“When you think about Oakland, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s an old stadium, people go there for careers to be resurrected,’ ” Treinen said. “Well, now they’ve got this youth movement and they’ve got a happy blend of these talented veterans. It’s all of them together versus the world and that’s what makes them so good on top of their talent.”
Treinen in 2018 finished 92 with an 0.78 ERA, 38 saves and 100 strikeouts in 801⁄3 innings, placing sixth in AL Cy Young voting. His ERA rose to 4.91 in 2019 as he lost the closer role, and Oakland didn’t resign him after the season. Treinen signed a oneyear, $10 million contract with the Dodgers, and going into Wednesday, he was 32 with a 3.57 ERA in 24 games.
“He looks like Blake to me,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.
“High velocity, great movement. It’s really difficult to hit him hard. … He is extremely talented. We saw that two years ago. He had about as good a year as I’ve ever seen a reliever have for us. When we parted ways, we wished him the best.”
Entering Wednesday, the A’s had the majors’ lowest bullpen ERA at 2.42. The Dodgers ranked second at 2.82. After the A’s clinched the AL West on Monday, the Dodgers, owners of the majors’ best record, secured their eighth consecutive NL West title with Tuesday’s win over Oakland.
“Maybe we see them in the World Series,” Treinen said. “That’s a replay of what, ’88? That’d be kind of cool. Last time this team won a World Series, to do it again against the A’s would be kind of cool.”
Briefly: Chris Bassitt will start Friday’s opener against Seattle, with the rest of the rotation for the series undecided. The A’s likely will use their 29th roster spot on a starting pitcher for one of the games in Saturday’s doubleheader, Melvin said . ... Utilityman Chad Pinder (hamstring) is still daytoday. Melvin said Pinder is “optimistic to try to play” against Seattle, “but I couldn’t guarantee that at this point.”