Anderson provides much-needed relief
Lefty gives team a lift as A’s reduce magic number to six games
OAKLAND >> It wasn’t quite full-on panic mode in the A’s clubhouse, but the mood was a little more tight. Entering Wednesday night losers of three in a row for the first time in nearly two months, they needed a game like this.
With the Tampa Bay Rays already winning earlier in the day, the A’s (91-61) were in danger of seeing their lead for the second AL wild-card shrink even further. But an offensive explosion that featured a five-RBI day from Stephen Piscotty and a quality start by Brett Anderson helped the A’s snap a three-game losing streak in a 10-0 win over the Angels. They shrunk their magic number to six while staying 2 1/2 games back of the New York Yankees for the top AL wild-card spot with 10 remaining.
“It had been a while since we had lost three straight. We went on a run playing .700-ball for an extended period of time. You know you’re gonna have times where you lose a few games in a row,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “After losing three in a row, you see how a team responds, and they came out and played a great game all around.”
Anderson’s outing was a huge sigh of relief for Melvin, who has
had to navigate through bumpy waters with a rotation that has struggled to pitch deep into games over the past few weeks. The lefthander held the Angels (7577) scoreless as he allowed just three hits over 6 2/3 innings, becoming the first A’s starter to go past the sixth since Anderson himself tossed seven shutout innings in a win over the Texas Rangers Aug. 21.
It was a much-improved performance by Anderson, now 4-5 with a 3.96 ERA over 15 starts, in what was his second start back from the disabled list. He struggled in his previous start at Baltimore last week, hit around in a loss to the Orioles as he lasted just 3 1/3 innings that night.
Anderson kept it simple Wednesday night, pitching to contact for early outs. He induced ground balls in 12 of his 20 outs recorded, handing the ball to Melvin with two outs and a runner on in the seventh at just 82 pitches.
“Especially after my last outing, to pitch into the seventh, we have capable guys down there obviously, but as long as you’re giving your team a chance to win you want to pitch as long as you can,” Anderson said. “Today I was fairly efficient and getting early contact and early outs.”
Only a handful of Anderson’s pitches were breaking balls. He jokingly compared himself to former A’s pitcher and current team color commentator Dallas
Braden for the steady dose of changeups he threw on the night, which he said along with his fastball was key to getting back on track.
“Typically when you see him in a groove, you’ll see him get a lot of ground balls early,” Melvin said. “I think he only threw two breaking balls the whole game. When he was warming up it looked like he had a good one, but he didn’t really need it. Kept the ball down and kept everybody in play at a quick pace.”
In what continues to be a career year for Piscotty, he appears to be getting only stronger as the season winds down. His 2-for-3 day included a three-run homer off Parker Bridwell, his 25th of the season, and a two-run double off Angels starter Felix Peña as the Pleasanton native matched his careerhigh in RBIs for the second time this month.
“He’s been huge. We talked about him after the first month of the season when he got acclimated, and the next thing you know he’s as productive and as clutch a guy as we’ve had all year,” Melvin said. “He had a stretch where it seemed like every home run he hit was a go-ahead or tying home run, and he’s kept up the pace. You look at the numbers and he’s probably having his best season overall at this point.”
He’s hitting .267 with a career-high 25 home runs and just four away from his career-high in RBIs for a season with 81.
• Sean Manaea underwent successful arthroscopic surgery. The procedure performed on the left-hander was subacromial decompression, acromioplasty and posterior labral repair. He’s expected to miss the 2019 season.