The Oakland A’s have authored a lot of late-inning comebacks this summer, but on Friday they took care of business early.
The A’s scored eight runs in the first three innings, then withstood a late charge by the Texas Rangers to hang on for a 10-6 win, in a game that featured five total homers, 20 hits, and a dozen walks between the two clubs.
*** Game Thread #1 | Game Thread #2 ***
The A’s lineup got to work right from the start of the 1st inning. Their first three batters of the game walked to load the bases, and then the cleanup hitter, Matt Olson, launched a grand slam deep into the seats in right field. They had four runs before they’d even recorded an out.
Oakland added more in the 2nd, on a solo homer by Sean Murphy (his third in five games), an RBI single by Olson, and a sac fly by Mark Canha. Tommy La Stella singled in another in the 3rd, Robbie Grossman homered in the 6th, and La Stella brought home a final insurance run in the 9th just by making any kind of contact with the bases loaded.
Staked to an enormous early lead, A’s starter Mike Fiers chewed through six innings with only one run allowed. However, he stayed out for the 7th and the Rangers finally got to him, putting up a three-run rally that all got charged to him.
Texas picked up a couple more against Oakland’s pen and brought it back from 9-1 to as close as 9-6, but they couldn’t make the final push and the A’s held on.
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