Olson’s walk-off in 14th wins it after nearly six hours
Olson stars in 14th as Trivino earns first big league win
OAKLAND >> It felt like it was never going to end. But when it did, Wednesday’s marathon of a game proved to be totally worth it for the A’s.
After nine innings of baseball that lasted over four hours weren’t enough, the A’s and White Sox engaged in what turned out to be the third-longest game in Oakland history at the Coliseum at five hours and 48 minutes. Matt Olson sent the small portion that was left of an announced 13,321 fans home happy as he crushed an 0-1 curveball from James Shields, the 555th pitch of the game, off the wall in left field for a 1211 victory in the 14th inning and a three-game sweep.
“This felt like two games,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “To come back the way we did continually. You’re down and used your entire bullpen. Basically one inning away from using a position player after fighting that hard over the course of a game. Certain games mean a little more than others. This was one of them.”
It was Olson’s first career walk-off hit and the climax of a rally against the White Sox that started with two outs in the 14th. A single by Marcus Semien was followed up by back-toback walks from Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis to load the bases before Olson’s late heroics.
The A’s (9-10) manufactured that winning run in a way that is unconventional compared to the typical “hero ball” teams usually fall into during extrainning games, with each hitter trying to end it all on one swing. Instead, the A’s kept a good approach of taking pitches and getting on base.
“You just need to find
a way to push one across. It was like a heavyweight fight,” Olson said, with remnants of the whipped cream pie he took to the face still smeared over his left ear. “We just kept trading blows the whole game and finally at the end we were able to get that run.”
Feeling he was slumping a bit at the plate over the past few days, Olson arrived to the ballpark a little earlier than normal Wednesday to get some work in with hitting coach Darren Bush.
Looks like the extra work paid off.
It was Olson’s fourth hit of the game, finishing off a day in which he went 4 for 6 and reached base six times as he also walked twice earlier. Overcoming an early 6-1 deficit, the offensive outburst that featured 12 runs and 16 hits came as no surprise to Olson.
“I think our lineup has the capability of putting up five or six runs in one inning,” Olson said. “I feel like we’re never too far out of a game, as you saw today.”
While Olson got the Gatorade bath and pie in the face at the end, rookie reliever Lou Trivino also played a huge role.
After making his major league debut the previous night, Trivino kept the White Sox (4-11) quiet as he provided three sharp innings out of the bullpen, allowing two hits and no walks with four strikeouts to keep the game tied long enough for Olson’s walk-off single.
Trivino earned his first big league win, capping off what has been a euphoric past couple of days for him after getting called up to the big leagues early Tuesday morning.
“It was another crazy day. It was awesome. I was just thankful to keep our team in it,” Trivino said. “Obviously we have talented hitters. We knew we were gonna get that last run, it was just a matter of when. My mindset was just trying to keep us in it, and it worked out.”
The last guy Melvin wanted to put in that type of high-leverage situation, Trivino ended up thriving as he displayed better command of his pitches than what the manager had seen during his debut.
“No room for error. He just got here yesterday and I was talking about how I wouldn’t put him in a position like that,” Melvin said. “I had no choice. It was great.”
Pitching in front of an announced crowd of over 46,000 fans during Tuesday’s free admission game, Trivino credited that game for allowing him to settle his nerves for what became another experience on the mound in which his adrenaline had reached its maximum level.
“I kind of figured out how to calm myself down a little more and stay within myself and be able to execute,” Trivino said. “I’m very happy with that.”
Lowrie appeared to be the hero of the day in the eighth inning. Continuing his run as one of the best hitters in baseball to start the season, Lowrie launched a two-run homer off Luis Avilan, his sixth homer of the season, to put the A’s ahead 11-10. But closer Blake Treinen was unable to make it hold up.
Though it was a blown save for Treinen, he settled in and followed up the ninth with two shutout innings.
Lowrie finished 2 for 7 on the day with three RBIs. He leads MLB in both hits (28) and RBIs (21).