A’s take Bay Bridge Series, stay red-hot at All-Star break.
Oakland heads to All-Star break red hot and eyeing even bigger second half
SAN FRANCISCO >> The A’s head into the All-Star break looking forward to more than a mini-vacation. They have a reason to play the rest of the season.
“Absolutely,” second baseman Jed Lowrie said. “We have our eyes on the prize and I think we have the talent to be a playoff contender.”
The A’s beat the Giants 6-2 on Sunday, their 21st victory in their past 27 games, best mark in the majors over that stretch. They have the fifth-best record in the American League and trail the slumping Seattle Mariners by just three games in the race for the second wild card playoff spot.
A year after staggering into the All-Star break with a 39-50 record, the A’s are 55-42. Oakland is above .500 at this point for the first time since 2014, when it made its most recent trip to the postseason.
“Starting to get that feeling, that playoff kind of vibe,” said left-hander Sean Manaea (9-6), who went six innings before giving way to the bullpen.
Stephen Piscotty, who hit his fifth home run in nine games, said he has mixed feelings about taking a break right now. “We’re playing really confident baseball, making a charge here,” he said. “We’re right there, so we’re excited to keep it rolling.”
With two wins in three games vs. the Giants, the A’s are 8-0-1 in their past nine series since being swept in three home games by the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in mid-June. The Bay Bridge series resumes with three more games in Oakland, beginning Friday.
Their current stretch of success included a 3-1 series win over the Astros in Houston last week, which left manager Bob Melvin with a sense that his team know it belongs.
“The thing I was most impressed with from the Houston series was when they walked off the field the last game, the look in their eye was, `We expected to do this,’ “Melvin said. “They’ve been tough on us, but these guys just expect to win every night. For younger guys to have that demeanor is impressive.”
Lowrie, who will be joined by A’s closer Blake Treinen at the All-Star Game in Washington D.C. on Tuesday night, said he’s
not surprised by the team’s performance.
“If I looked at our lineup at the beginning of the year, I thought it would be a very potent lineup.
The back end of the bullpen has been absolutely fantastic, next to automatic,” he said. “We have been very good because of those two aspects.”
Oakland ranks among the AL leaders in extrabase hits, runs, home runs and slugging percentage, and the relief staff’s work has allowed the A’s to stay in games and post 13 comefrom-behind wins during their current hot streak.
The A’s, now 31-21 on the road, play only 29 games away from home the rest of
the season, compared to vs. 36 in Oakland. They have 10 more games against the Mariners, seven of them at home.
Down 1-0 against the Giants, the A’s scored four times against Andrew Suarez in the fourth inning, with Mark Canha, Piscotty, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman delivering consecutive
singles before Jonathan Lucroy made it 4-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Piscotty added to the lead with a solo home run in the sixth inning, his 12th on the season and his 11th on the road.
Melvin said Piscotty has been able to focus again on baseball after the May 6 death of his mother, Gretchen, following a battle with ALS.
“I think he’s just getting back to the player that he is. Doesn’t have the distractions. It just looks like he’s got a lot of energy right now,” Melvin said. “You understand what he was going through for a long period of time. Now he’s just playing baseball, and he’s got a nice little angel sitting there with him, too.”
Manaea, the A’s most dependable starter, won his 11th straight start in a day game before relievers Ryan Buchter, Lou Trevino and Treinen pitched three hitless innings to close out the game. Buchter and Treinen each struck out three batters.
“The bullpen’s been amazing,” Manaea said.
• Melvin said outfielder Matt Joyce, on the disabled list with lower back strain since July 5, had an epidural and is making progress. “(Saturday) was the first day he started to feel pretty good,” Melvin said. “He’s not doing any baseball activity yet, but hopefully we’re turning the corner on how he feels.”