A’s end skid with chippy win over Rangers
OAKLAND >> Homer Bailey allowed nine earned runs to a strong Houston Astros team in his previous start for the A’s. Two games after that start, the A’s began a relatively treacherous three-game homerless streak.
But Saturday night, Bailey went 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts, allowing three runs, and the A’s hit four home runs in a 5-4 win over the Texas Rangers, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Ramon Laureano went deep. Rangers starter Adrian Sampson hit Canha with a pitch in the at-bat following his home run, and Laureano took a long look at his home run in the sixth, prompting Sampson to get upset and the umpires to issue warnings.
The Rangers rallied back, though, putting up four runs in the seventh inning, cutting the A’s lead to one run.
Things got heated in the eighth inning when Laureano was hit by a pitch, prompting the benches to clear and pitcher Rafael Montero’s ejection.
A’S ADD RELIEVER >> In theory, a bullpen featuring Blake Treinen, Lou Trivino and Liam Hendriks (the current iteration) is one of the best in baseball.
Add Jake Diekman — which the Oakland A’s did Saturday morning in a trade with the Kansas City Royals — and that bullpen transforms into a behemoth.
Right now, this untouchable bullpen is just a barely tangible concept. Off his injury, Treinen is still struggling with his command and Trivino is just finding his footing as the stable late-inning force he was not long ago.
The A’s bullpen’s vulnerabilities have been exposed of late — particularly when Hendriks was used for a five-out save amid a three-appearance sequence in Minnesota that culminated in his first blown save. A more forceful playoff push would require another arm capable of missing bats, a quality the A’s found in Diekman.
“Watching left-handers around the league and talking to some of our guys too, it’s certainly not a comfortable at-bat, so this makes us a lot better,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s a guy we’ve been targeting for a bit and finally got done and glad to have him.”
The A’s went after Diekman in free agency this offseason, but the lefthander went to the Royals on a one-year, $2.7 million contract with a mutual option for 2020.
The 32-year-old lefthander has a 4.75 ERA in 41-2/3 innings this season, but his 63 strikeouts and 95 mph average fastball velocity — which ranks seventh among all left-handed relievers, per Statcast — are the numbers to tuck away. Plus, he has a 95 mph sinker, 90 mph changeup and 85 mph slider. He is the powerful left-handed arm this bullpen needs.
“I think it complements the guys in our pen right now,” general manager David Forst said. “Obviously Lou and Blake from the right side, Liam closes, and up to 100 (mph). When you talk about seventh, eighth inning and giving Bob some options to mix and match — I think when you can bring in velocity from both sides — it gives him some really good choices.”
The A’s have struggled mightily against lefthanded hitters this season, allowing a .734 OPS. Against lefties, Diekman has a .213 opponents average, .211 against righthanders.
Wei-chung Wang and Ryan Buchter were the team’s left-handed options.