Harrison defense key to beat K.C.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It is unclear when Matt Chapman will return to the A’s lineup. The third baseman missed his third straight game Wednesday with a sore and swollen foot from a foul ball. His absence leaves a Gold Gloveshaped void on the infield. Josh Harrison has drawn the task of filling it.
In the fourth inning, Edward Olivares’ grounder left his bat at 100 mph. Harrison speared it with a backhand stab, but momentum turned his back fully to home plate. Harrison set his feet and fired a throw to second, where Tony Kemp arrived for a doubleplay turn.
Olivares is ranked by Statcast in the top 5% of the fastest players in the majors. Harrison’s throw one-hopped Kemp, who scooped it from the dirt and whipped a relay to first. It beat Olivares by a step. Harrison clapped his chest, a potential derailment averted.
A four-run lead had dwindled to one and a Kansas City
runner stood on third, but the double play ended the inning and proved as sharp a pivot as Kemp’s turn. Harrison delivered a two-run single an inning later. The A’s added runs late in a 12-10 win fueled by a 18-hit barrage.
“More than anything, guys are talking, trying to build off of each other and knowing that when we’ve got runners on, the pitcher’s in trouble,” Harrison said of the offense. “I think every run is important throughout the season. But given where we are now, there’s no sugarcoating. We’ve got to get going.”
The win was needed. The A’s can hardly afford to lose series now. The three teams ahead of them in the wild-card race and the division-leading Astros all won Wednesday. The A’s snapped their threegame skid and can try for a series win in Kansas City on Thursday.
Seven A’s had multiple hits. Kemp, Elvis Andrus and Harrison strung singles in the seventh, with Harrison’s driving in Kemp. Starling Marte’s single scored Andrus and Harrison sprinted home when Olivares bobbled the ball in center. Khris Davis’ pinch-hit single plated Marte for a 12-5 lead.
A’s leads in the past few weeks have appeared tenuous. Lou Trivino, who had worked a scoreless sixth, returned for the seventh. The erstwhile closer is a key to this bullpen; his outing was among the positives for Oakland. Trivino allowed a run on three hits but totaled five of six outs by strikeout.
Jake Diekman’s outing was rougher. He entered with a six-run lead in the eighth and could not get three outs. A two-run single by Andrew Benintendi, his fifth hit, chased Diekman. Andrew Chafin recorded the final four outs in dramatic fashion, securing the last with a basesloaded comebacker.
“Our offense probably right now is as good as it’s been all year,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re just having a tough time holding the other teams down. I’d like to think at some point in time it’s going to even out, we’re going to get it all together. But I think more than anything, it was just good to get a win tonight.”
Oakland again led early, 5-1 by the fourth. K.C. starter Carlos Hernández faced 24 batters and retired half of them. Nine struck hits. Leadoff walks hurt. Mark Canha drew one in the second and scored with Kemp on Andrus’ single. Matt Olson walked to open the third; a Canha single plated him.
Olson, compiling a career season, marked a milestone in the fourth inning. In a 2-2 count, Olson drove a 97-mph fastball from Hernández to left field for a 367-foot, two-run homer into the visitors’ bullpen. The homer was his 35th, one short of tying his career high, and gave him 101 RBIs.
The last A’s first baseman with a 100-RBI season was Jason Giambi in 2001. Giambi finished second in AL MVP voting that year. Olson is unlikely to match that but could come close. Entering Wednesday, Olson ranked in the top 10 among AL hitters in home runs, RBIs, runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The only other AL hitter top-10 in all those categories is Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
A’s left-hander Sean Manaea allowed only an RBI single by Benintendi in his first three innings but faltered in the fourth. Manaea fell behind 2-0 to his first three hitters. Each singled to load the bases with no outs. One run scored on an Adalberto Mondesi grounder and Manaea issued a walk to reload the bases. Hanser Alberto sent a two-run single up the middle.
Only Harrison’s sterling double play extended Manaea’s night. He returned for the fifth up 8-4. Salvador Perez drove a two-out homer and Manaea’s next two hitters singled. The nine hits marked the most he has allowed in a start since July 1. The Royals put 19 of his pitches in play, 11 at 95-plus mph off the bat. Manaea recorded just three strikeouts, but he induced a groundout by Mondesi on his 101st and final pitch.