The Athletics found a power burst they hadn’t seen in nearly a quarter-century, and it came in the middle of a tight 7-6 road win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
Down 2-0 after Seattle scored twice against starter Kade Morris in the second inning, the A’s flipped the game in a hurry. The top of the third opened with a home run, then a strikeout, then another home run, followed by a walk and two more blasts. In a six-batter stretch, Max Muncy, Alika Williams, Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof all went deep off Logan Gilbert, giving Oakland four homers in one inning.
According to MLB.com's Martín Gallegos, it was the first time the A's had homered four times in one inning since April 27, 2002, against the Chicago White Sox. Scott Hatteberg, Terrence Long, Carlos Peña and Frank Menechino went deep against Mark Buehrle and Mike Porzio that day, also in the third inning.
Seattle answered immediately with three runs in the bottom of the frame, chasing Morris and tying the game at 5-5. The rookie right-hander, making just his second career MLB start, allowed five hits, five earned runs and a walk over 2 2/3 innings.
Cal Raleigh kept the pressure on, homering again against the Athletics and making it his fourth home run in five matchups with them this season.
From there, though, Oakland’s bullpen steadied the night. Brady Basso and Geoff Hartlieb worked together for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, helping keep the Mariners from taking control.
The A’s offense wasn’t finished, either. Gelof, who had already homered for the third straight game, nearly added another in the fifth but settled for an RBI triple that put Oakland back in front. Lawrence Butler followed with an RBI single to score Gelof and make it 7-5, while also stretching his hitting streak to 13 games.
Gilbert, who had been strong against the A’s in two previous starts this year and entered the night with a 2.81 ERA in 16 career starts against them, had a rough one. He gave up eight hits, seven earned runs and two walks in 4 2/3 innings, striking out 10 but also matching a career high with four homers allowed.
Elvis Alvarado gave up the insurance run in the eighth, but Hogan Harris closed it out for his 15th save of the season.
The Athletics have won the first two games of the four-game set and will turn to Jeffrey Springs on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PT as they look to take the series.
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Among the players under the most scrutiny are Jeffrey Springs and Carlos Cortes, two pieces the A's need to stabilize quickly. Springs has not been able to consistently work deep enough into games, and Cortes has faded after a strong start, which has started to change how the lineup is being arranged around him. For a team trying to build any momentum at all, getting both of them back on track would go a long way toward making the next few months feel a little less precarious. [Read more 🡒]
As Pulled Off A Sloppy Win Mariners Fans Wont Like
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Zack Gelof gave the As the start they wanted with a solo home run in the first inning, setting the tone before Oakland kept building the lead and eventually reached 55 wins on the season. The pitching line was a little messy, with 18 strikeouts mixed in with eight walks, but the Mariners never fully took control of the game and the As found enough insurance late to close it out. [Read more 🡒]