Vogt supplies lineup, 3-run homer
ST. LOUIS — First, Stephen Vogt delivered the lineup card to the umpires. Then he connected for a three-run home run that helped the A’s beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Sunday.
Khris Davis also homered, his 34th, in support of rookie Andrew Triggs’ first win. Triggs (1-1) allowed three runs on four hits, walked none and struck out eight in six innings.
The A’s have won four of their past five games, and before each of the wins, Vogt has brought out the lineup card.
“Whatever works,” said Vogt, who went to the pregame meeting at the plate in his catcher’s gear. “You’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Triggs, who was called up from Triple-A Nashville for the eighth time earlier this month, said about 15 family members and friends made the trip from his hometown of Nashville to watch the game, which opened with the temperature at 92 degrees.
“Once you get through those first couple of innings with that heat, you’re maxed out in sweat, so there’s not much more you can do,” Triggs said. “A win’s a win, but it’s sweeter because I had a pretty big crew here.”
“He’s getting rewarded with a beer shower,” manager Bob Melvin said. “To pitch as well as he has and work himself into the rotation, it’s very rewarding to get him a win.”
Jaime Garcia gave up the three-run homer to Vogt in the third and Davis’ two-run shot in the first. Both came with two outs.
The A’s led 5-1 after Vogt’s homer — his 11th of the season and first off a left-hander — but the Cardinals closed to 5-4 in the seventh behind Matt Carpenter, who doubled twice, homered and scored his team’s first three runs. His homer in the third extended the Cardinals’ streak to 17 games with a homer, matching their season best.
Oakland went up 7-4 in the eighth when reliever Jonathan Broxton was charged with two runs while getting only one out. Vogt drove in his fourth run of the game on an infield grounder that pitcher Zach Duke muffed.
Ryon Healy doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
St. Louis brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth against Ryan Madson, but Randal Grichuk lined out to third and Greg Garcia flied to center for the final out. It was Madson’s 27th save in 33 chances.
Oakland finished interleague play 7-13. The Cardinals finished 1-8 at home and 8-12 overall in interleague games.