No late-inning magic as A’s win streak over in loss to Rockies.
DENVER >> The A’s high-powered road offense at a ballpark notorious for the long ball should be a match made in heaven, right? Baseball can be a funny game.
Coming off a four-game series in which they scored 41 runs, the A’s were finally cooled off in Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field of all places.
It was a frustrating night A’s hitters would like to forget.
Three times they had the bases loaded, and all three times they were unable to cash in. Even against a poor Colorado bullpen that ranked last in the National League with a 5.26 ERA entering the night, the A’s finished the night 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position as they left 13 runners on base despite racking up nine hits.
The way things were playing out late, things were still setting up for one of the wacky comebacks the A’s have been putting together lately. After back-to-back doubles by Matt Chapman and Jed Lowrie in the seventh put the A’s on the scoreboard with their first run, the A’s were in prime position in the eighth. It’s their favorite inning, with their 77 runs scored in the eighth this year the most in baseball.
But this time Chapman could
not come through, striking out looking against Scott Oberg to end the threat.
“We felt like our best at-bats came later in the game, we were just one big at-bat short tonight,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “They made some big pitches when they had to. It felt kind of the same like someone was gonna come up with a big hit when we had to.”
Though the A’s six-game win streak was snapped, there was no feeling of dejection in the locker room postgame, quite the opposite. The fact they had so many runners on base late leaves them with a positive feeling for the rest of the series. For these A’s, it’s on to the next game.
“That gives us some momentum. I think everybody knows we were in that ballgame,” Chapman said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get those big hits. It almost would have been crazy if we did again. But I don’t think we’ll dwell on this one too much.”
Sean Manaea did his best to keep the A’s in the game. His only real mistake came in the fifth, when he surrendered a solo home run to Nolan Arenado to put the Rockies ahead 3-0. He was pulled for a pinch hitter in the sixth.
After the two were teammates in high school, Chapman and Arenado shared the same big league field for the first time Friday night.
Before Chapman and Arenado were dropping jaws at major league stadiums around the country, the two were teammates at El Toro High in Lake Forest. Chapman, two years younger than Arenado, spent most of his time as the elder’s backup until Arenado graduated following the 2009 season. Both were shortstops at the time, with Matt sitting back, observing, waiting
The top two wild-card teams face each other in a one-game playoff. The winner advances to the divisional round against the division champion with the best record.
for his chance.
The two shared a moment in the first inning when Chapman reached third base and struck up a conversation with Arenado for a short time before the inning ended.
“It was fun to play against him,” Chapman said. “Unfortunately, he got the better of us tonight, but still two more games.”
Chapman might not have the resume of the five-time Gold Glove winner, but the defensive rankings say he’s better this year. Chapman is ahead of Arenado, and every other player in baseball for that matter, in defensive runs saved with 23.
Arenado has no idea what all these new analytical defensive stats mean, but he’s watched Chapman put in work at third whenever he can this season. The eye test tells him all he needs to know.
“I don’t know how that stuff works. I know he’s saving a bunch of runs and having a great year. I don’t think I have any, so I don’t know how that works anymore,” Arenado said.
“I feel like I’ve saved some runs. I just know I’m playing a good third base and he’s playing a really good third base. I think he’s beating me by a lot in those things.”
Though the numbers might say Chapman is better, the young A’s star scoffed at the notion that he might be a better overall defender than Arenado, whom he looked up to since their days in the same Little League down in Southern California.
“I definitely credit a lot of things that I do to what he does,” Chapman said. “I kind of followed his lead. Tried to throw the ball as hard as him and catch it like him. I gotta give credit where credit is due.”
All those days backing up Arenado as a sophomore, Chapman used the five-time Gold Glover as a model for his style, which he later molded into his own as he went on to college at Cal State Fullerton.
“He’s a little bit bigger guy; I might be a little lighter on my feet,” Chapman said.