Davis helps A’s bounce back
Sparks first-inning rally to help brush off frustrating Tuesday loss
HOUSTON >> If the A’s came to the clubhouse on Wednesday feeling a hangover effect from the previous night’s brutal loss, it certainly didn’t show.
The A’s brushed off the chaos that ensued at home plate the night before in a big way, jumping on Lance McCullers Jr. early in Wednesday’s 8-3 victory over the Astros.
“It shows you the grit these guys have. That’s a demoralizing loss, to be able to come back as far as we did last night and get beat in the fashion that we did,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “This is a tough venue to play in, and to be able to jump on their starting pitching right away showed me a lot from these guys to just move past what happened yesterday.”
It only took the first four batters of the game for the A’s to get two runs on the board courtesy
of a booming two-run double off the wall in left-center by Khris Davis. The extra-base hit extended Davis career-high hitting streak to 13 games, which is also currently the longest active streak in the majors.
Though the home runs have been few and far between lately for one of the most prolific sluggers of the past three seasons, just one in his last 23 games, Davis is going through his best stretch of the season as he’s hitting .370 during the streak.
“He’s not just a power hitter,” A’s outfielder Chad Pinder said. “He’s a great hitter and I don’t think people give him enough credit for that. He’s showing that right now.”
Davis also tripled off the wall in left-center in the sixth to drive home another run, finishing the night 2 for 5 with a double, triple, and three RBIs.
“It’s something he works on. If you watch him take batting practice, he hits the ball the other way, tries to hit it on the ground the other way, tries to take advantage of the shifts,” Melvin said. “He’s still on pace for the power number that he’s usually on, but he’s knocking in some big runs without the homers, which is kind of adding another dimension to his game.”
McCullers has traditionally been tough on the A’s. He entered the night 4-1 with a 3.46 ERA in seven games against Oakland, but the A’s blitzed him this time around.
After a three-run first, the A’s added three more
in the fourth as Matt Chapman was hit by a pitch and Mark Canha walked to set up a three-run homer to left by Pinder, his ninth of the season, to give Chris Bassitt a nice six-run cushion.
The A’s chased McCullers out of the game after just four innings, and the right-handers six earned runs allowed were the most he’s ever given up in a home start at Minute Maid Park.
“That was really important to score first,” Davis said. “Not always coming back from behind and just winning a ballgame when we’re ahead. We can do that, too.”
Bassitt was sharp through the first three innings as he kept the Astros (62-33) hitless, but ran into some trouble in the fourth when three sraight singles to lead off the inning resulted in two runs. He managed to limit the damage to just the two runs, and though he also surrendered a solo home run to Tyler White in the fifth, it was another solid start for Bassitt as he allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with a strikeout over five innings of work.
The right-hander improved to 2-3 on the season, with his ERA now at 3.38 through six starts.
“Here’s a guy that wasn’t even expected to be here,” Melvin said of Bassitt. “And after yesterday’s game, to go out there and give us five innings and have a lead when he left, that’s a successful outing.”
The impressive run continues for the A’s, who have now won 18 of their last 23 games and have not lost back-to-back games since a four-game losing streak at the Coliseum June 12-15.
• Stephen Piscotty, who entered the night having homered in four consecutive games, was hit by a pitch from McCullers in the fifth and was later removed from the game with what was diagnosed as a left wrist contusion.
X-rays revealed nothing was broken in Piscotty’s wrist, and the situation will likely be day-to-day. Melvin said Pinder will be in the lineup again Thursday, likely filling in for Piscotty in right field.