Pinder slam takes out Blue Jays
He drives in four with one swing after Lowrie draws clutch walk
TORONTO >> With one swing of the bat, Chad Pinder sucked the life right out of Rogers Centre.
After the A’s failed to capitalize with the bases loaded just a couple of innings earlier, Pinder made sure not to let that happen twice by blasting a 1-1 fastball from Tyler Clippard for a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays.
It was Pinder’s fourth home run of the season and the first grand slam of his big league career.
“Going into that at-bat they had been beating me up with the fastball,” Pinder said. “I was just looking for something up to be able to drive and stay short.”
The lead up to Pinder’s blast — the climax of a five-run uprising — began with Matt Chapman and Khris Davis both reaching base to lead off the eighth. After Stephen Piscotty singled home Chapman to cut the deficit to 4-1, Jonathan Lucroy was due up with two outs and two on, but manager Bob Melvin decided to make a change.
Jed Lowrie, who originally was given the day off to get a break from the wear and tear of the turf field in Toronto, was summoned to pinch hit for Lucroy and drew a walk. While Pinder’s slam was the jackpot, Lowrie’s walk may have been just as important.
“Let’s not forget Jed,” Melvin said. “He comes off the bench after sitting there for eight innings and puts together an at-bat like that off one of their best relievers. That set it up. Certainly the Pinder at-bat had the dramatics.”
The A’s (24-22) continue to score runs late in games. They are 8-2 in one-run games this season, the best in the majors.
“This group in particular has a knack for not giving up in the late innings,” Pinder said. “Especially when you’re facing such good arms late. It’s a testament to what our guys are doing here and as a whole. It’s fun to be a part of.”
The eighth-inning offensive explosion by the A’s bailed out Sean Manaea after the left-hander turned in an uncharacteristic outing.
When a pitcher keeps giving away free bases, it’s only a matter of time before those free passes come back to hurt them. That’s what happened to Manaea.
After years of struggling with his pitch command, Manaea seemed to have turned control into a strong suit. But the lefthander reverted back to his old ways a bit, issuing a season-high three walks and also hitting a batter with a pitch.
Manaea got by without allowing a run after issuing the first two walks, but it was the hit-by-pitch to Dwight Smith Jr that sparked a big fifth inning for the Blue Jays (2224). Gio Urshela mashed a two-run homer off Manaea immediately after the hit by pitch, sparking what turned out to be four runs scored by Toronto in the fifth.
“I thought he got squeezed a little bit on one side early, but he battled through it,” Melvin said. “Leaves with four runs, which for him looks like a bad outing. But whenever you can keep it within a grand slam away, you give your team a chance.”
Manaea allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over five innings. It was just the second time in 10 starts this season Manaea has failed to go more than five.
Limiting his repertoire to mostly two pitches, fastball and changeup, after not feeling reliable command on his slider, Manaea was thankful his offense was able to pick him up. Picking each other up has been a common theme throughout this 10-game East Coast road trip. The A’s are 6-3 on the trip and have a chance to finish it with a four-game sweep of the Blue Jays today.
“It was unbelievable. This whole series the bullpen stepped up and the offense has been amazing,” Manaea said. “This team is starting to put things together and it’s really fun to watch.”
Needing a lift from the bullpen, Emilio Pagan was sharp in his first game back. Recalled from the minors Friday, Pagan took over in the sixth and provided two scoreless innings of one-hit ball to create a bridge to Lou Trivino in the eighth and Blake Treinen in the ninth. Pagan had allowed at least one run in six straight outings before getting sent down last month.
“It was good to see him go two innings like that,” Melvin said. “He was throwing a little harder it looked like. Had a sharper breaking ball and was getting ahead in the count.”
Treinen turned in a scoreless ninth to record 10th save of the season.