Lowrie gets key blow against Tigers
DETROIT >> way things are going for the A’s these days, they’re better off letting the other team to score first.
As they’ve done often this month, the A’s overcame another big early deficit for a 9-7 comeback win over the Tigers on Tuesday, overtaking the Los Angeles Angels for sole possession of third place in the American League West.
For the second night in a row, it was Jed Lowrie who delivered the big blow in the ninth inning. After hitting the go-ahead solo home run in Monday night’s win, Lowrie came through again, following up leadoff double by Matt Joyce with a single to center to put the A’s (42-38) ahead by a run.
The single came after Lowrie worked the count even after falling behind 0-2 to Shane Greene, the same pitcher he homered off of the previous night.
“Getting behind and then not trying to do too much. That’s what he does,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s very aware of what the situation calls for and he’s not trying to hit a homer there, just trying to get a hit, especially with Joyce on base.”
It was Lowrie’s 15th goahead RBI this season, capping off a 4-for-4 night, and the seventh time they’ve scored a game-winning run in the eighth inning or later this month.
“I think it just gives even more credence that we just need to continue to have those quality of at-bats,” Lowrie said. “This team has so much power, we can make a big comeback in a matter of a couple innings, and you saw that tonight.”
Dustin Fowler later added on with a single to right that drove home Lowrie, putting the A’s at 103 runs scored this season in the eighth inning or later,
most in the majors.
The late-inning comeback came after the A’s clawed their way back from a 6-0 deficit after just three innings. Mark Canha and Jonathan Lucroy got the A’s on the board in the fourth with three runs on back-toback doubles, with Lucroy’s double down the left field line the moment where the A’s really began to feel like they were in a good position mount another comeback.
“As soon as Luc hits the ball down the third base line and it’s 6-3, our guys felt good again,” Melvin said. “Whenever you’re down big early like that you know you’re gonna have to fight back and score a couple of runs to give yourself some momentum. There were a lot of big hits in the game, but that one was huge for us to know we’re only a couple of base runners away and a homer from potentially tying it.”
And that’s exactly what happened in the very next inning when Chad Pinder and Lowrie added three more runs with back-toback home runs, extending the A’s major league record for road games with a home run to 27 and shrinking the deficit to one run.
It’s the same type of resilience
the A’s have shown throughout the season, as they’ve managed to stay above .500 and climb up the standings despite currently having seven starting pitchers on the disabled list, with Daniel Mengden the latest casualty.
“Tells you guys aren’t letting stuff like that affect them,” Melvin said before Tuesday’s game. “Tells you hopefully we’re good enough that when some of these guys get back we’ll get even better. We have to sustain it here and once we get home we have a pretty tough schedule coming up. Hopefully we start getting some guys back and have a good home stand, because we’ve been playing better as of late on the road.”
Frankie Montas was responsible for the early six runs scored by the Tigers (36-44) as he turned in his shortest outing of the season, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks over just three innings of work.
The A’s bullpen continued to shine in relief of Montas, allowing just one run over six innings. Chris Hatcher and Emilio Pagan both contributed two innings of work each, with Ryan Buchter escaping a bases-loaded situation by ending the eighth with a strikeout. Blake Treinen capped it off with a perfect ninth to convert his 15th consecutive save opportunity and 19th save overall this season.
“Down multiple pitchers today we had to hang with Frankie as long as we could,” Melvin said. “Then some guys really came up big. I wasn’t gonna use (Yusmeiro) Petit or (Lou) Trivino today. You have to use other guys in games like that and swing the bats, that’s what we did.”