Cardinals Snap Blackburn's Streak, A's Get Win
The Oakland A's salvaged the final game of their series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon, 6-3, behind a strong start from Paul Blackburn, a shutdown bullpen, and some key hits.
The first big hit came off the bat of Esteury Ruiz, who was getting his first start since being called up from Triple-A on Monday. After Max Schuemann walked to lead off the third, Ruiz took a Steven Matz changeup and swatted it out to left-center at 109.8 miles per hour. It's the hardest-hit ball of Ruiz's young career.
When asked postgame whether he feels he's an everyday player, Ruiz said through interpreter Ramón Hernández, "I just love to play baseball. Who doesn't love to play every day? I'm ready to do whatever they want me to do."
A decision will be made in the coming days on who will be the odd-man out on the roster with Brent Rooker's return from the IL expected to happen on Friday.
Starter Paul Blackburn (2-0) entered the game having not allowed a run in 19.1 innings pitched through his first three starts, and while he teetered in the first three innings, he kept that streak intact until the fourth. The 22.1 inning scoreless streak places him right behind reliever Ryan Cook (2012) for the longest opening scoreless streak for a player on the Opening Day roster. Cook finished with 23 scoreless frames, as did starter Harry Krause (1910) for the franchise record. Blackburn fell just two outs shy of both the Oakland record and the franchise record.
In that fourth inning, Lars Nootbar and Nolan Arenado singled as the first two batters, putting runners at the corners for DH Willson Contreras, who smacked a double to left. With runners at second and third, Iván Herrera barreled one up for a 107.5 mph single that scored two, putting St. Louis up 3-2.
Blackburn would finish with 5.2 IP, allowing six hits, three runs, five walks, and striking out seven.
The A's starter said after the game that it was one of those days where he felt that he didn't really have anything, including command. A combination of that lack of command with his pitches and the game plan led to an increased usage in his sinker this afternoon. "It was one of those things where I felt like it was kind of the only pitch where I could kind of get around the zone." He also mentioned that the Cardinals have a bunch of "big, right-handed bats" so it was important to show that he'd go inside on those guys.
The A's took the lead in the fifth inning and never looked back. Tyler Nevin (3-for-4, run, RBI) started the inning with a single, which was followed by a Zack Gelof single. Shea Langeliers produced the second hardest-hit ball of the afternoon (behind Ruiz's homer) with a ground-rule double to left-center that tied the game at three.
Abraham Toro grounded out to score Gelof, and Darrel Hernaiz flew out to left, scoring Langeliers, giving the A's a 5-3 lead.
In the sixth, Ruiz grounded into a force play at second, then proceeded to steal the base and score on a Tyler Nevin single.
Austin Adam and Lucas Erceg worked quickly in the seventh and eighth, setting up Mason Miller for his fourth save of the season.
Despite losing the first two games of the series against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay had a pep in his step in the home team's clubhouse before the game. He was asked about his jovial pregame mood after the win, and if having Blackburn starting along with a rested Miller in the 'pen played a role in that.
"Anytime you have a guy like Paul on the mound, you feel like you've got a great chance to go out and and get a great start. Then the bullpen with Adams, Erceg, and Miller pretty fresh, yeah, I felt like if we had a lead after six that we were going to be able to lock this thing down. When you have pieces like that, that are that are pitching well on the back end, there comes a little bit of confidence."