A’s walk off Tigers with eighth straight win
The A’s have won in all sorts of ways during their winning streak. Sunday’s 3-2 thriller over the Detroit Tigers for Oakland’s eighth straight victory was no different.
The A’s offense had been like a river ever since its win streak began on April 9. It flowed with power, bursting through opponents and drowning them with 28 unanswered runs in a seven-game stretch.
On Sunday, though, the river hit a dam and the A’s stagnated, scoring just a single run on two hits in the first seven innings of play against the Detroit Tigers.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth inning that Oakland appeared to get back into its flow. Catcher Sean Murphy led the inning off with a solo home run to center field, tying the game at two.
The offense began to rage again after Murphy’s score. The A’s put runners on the corners in the eighth inning and while neither scored, it seemed to set the table for more offensive production in the bottom of the ninth when first baseman Matt Olson hit a one-out double to center, Murphy walked and designated hitter Mitch Moreland hit a ball hard enough to force fielding error by the Detroit third baseman which allowed Olson to score. The win extended the A’s win streak to eight games, improving them to 9-7 on the season.
Outside of the bottom of the ninth, the A’s offense struggled to make much noise on Sunday, something that hasn’t been a problem during their win streak. Against Detroit lefty starter Matthew Boyd, the A’s generated just two hits and run before the bottom of the eighth inning when they tied the game on Murphy’s homer.
After Boyd exited, the A’s advanced runners to the corner with one out only for right fielder Mark Canha and center fielder Ramon Laureano to strikeout. The lack of go-ahead production in that scenario led Laureano to spike his helmet into the dirt out of frustration.
The A’s were in a position to run away with the game early with righty starter Chris Bassitt on the mound. In six innings of work, he struck out eight batters, walked two and allowed five hits. From inning two through five, the A’s Opening Day starter retired 14 of 15 batters and picked up six of his eight punchouts.
Even though he surrendered two runs in the top of the sixth, Bassitt’s performance on Sunday was easily his cleanest of the season, a return to the form that he felt he was so far from after he surrendered five walks in five innings against the Diamondbacks on Monday. For the majority of his time on the mound against the Tigers, Bassitt appeared calm and in control.
The A’s relievers who came into the game on Sunday also performed well. Lefty Jake Diekman contributed a scoreless top of the seventh, righty JB Wendelken did the same in the eighth and right-handed closer Lou Trivino was able to strand the go-ahead run at third base in the top of the ninth.
It is uncertain when the A’s will play their next game. Monday’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins was postponed Sunday morning after multiple members of the Twins organization tested positive for COVID-19.
A’s manager Bob Melvin said a double-header on Tuesday is a possibility if the Twins are cleared to return to play.