8 NOT TOO MANY
Never-say-die A’s erase huge, late deficit in what seems season of destiny
ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> There’s something special going on with these A’s.
The season of what feels like destiny continued for the A’s as they overcame what was once a late eight-run deficit for a 13-10 win over the Rangers in 10 innings Tuesday. It was the first time the A’s have won a game when trailing by eight runs or more after six innings since Aug. 30, 1939, in a game at St. Louis.
Khris Davis was the one who capped it all off with a threerun homer to left in the 10th to put the A’s (59-43) ahead. It was his fourth homer in the last three games, 25th of the season, and fifth straight game with a home run against the Rangers. Stephen Piscotty delivered a big blow in the ninth with a gametying solo shot to center field on the first pitch he saw from Keone Kela to hand the lights-out closer his first blown save this season. But this comeback was a few innings in the making.
It all started with a threerun rally in the seventh inning. It seemed insignificant with the A’s still down five runs at the time, but that was when the A’s started believing.
“We built some momentum there,” Piscotty said. “Guys were taking some good at-bats and hits were starting to fall and we got some walks. We were in a good spot from there.”
Things really got weird in the eighth.
Piscotty grounded out to lead it off. Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Jonathan Lucroy all walked to load the bases. What looked to be a inning-ending double play ball by Marcus Semien was botched by usually sure-handed shortstop Elvis Andrus to bring in a run, and Nick Martini was then hit by a pitch to cut the deficit to three runs.
By this time, the Rangers (42-
60) were on red alert. They brought in Kela to stop the leakage, but he was greeted by a single to center by Jed Lowrie that scored two more runs. Of course four runs were scored in the eighth, the A’s favorite inning this year. Their 76 runs in the eighth inning this season lead the majors.
The A’s didn’t do much well. Their fielding was bad, with two errors that led to four unearned runs. Situational hitting wasn’t much better, they went 5 for 14 with runners in scoring positon, leaving eight runners on base. Yet they still found a way.
“Nothing they do surprises me anymore,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You’ve seen our late-inning at-bats. To be down that kind of a margin and come back, this is just a tenacious group that believes they’re gonna win every game.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Rangers were 471-0 when leading by eight runs or more in the seventh inning or later.
The A’s are 25-7 since June 16, the best record in baseball over that time, and 16 of those have been comeback wins. The A’s have scored the winning run in the eighth inning or later in 11 of those victories. It’s almost laughable seeing the many ways
the A’s have found a way to come back. This one took the cake for Piscotty.
“I think this trumps all of them. That was a blast. It’s almost comical,” Piscotty said.
The sports cliche of “team effort” is a tired one, but there’s no other way to describe most of these wins for the A’s lately. Everybody contributes.
Tuesday night it was guys like Nick Martini, who went 2 for 2 with a pair of RBIs, including a double in that seventh inning that got the team going. It was Jeurys Familia, who Melvin said “begged” to go out for a second inning of work, knowing Lou Trivino, Emilio Pagan and Yusmeiro Petit were all unavailable in the bullpen due to recent workload, and turned in two scoreless innings.
With Mark Canha and Jed Lowrie homering earlier in the game, the A’s have now homered four times in three consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.
The Mariners losing to the Giants Tuesday night also puts the A’s just 1 ½ games back of Seattle for the second AL wild-card spot.
• Kendall Graveman might be having the roughest 2018 of any pitcher in baseball. Melvin confirmed that Graveman, 27, the A’s opening-day starter, will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the 2018 season. The surgery will take place some time this week.