Athletics Turn Extra Inning Rule Upside Down with Olson's Defense and Power
The A’s and the Angels walked hand in hand into history Friday night, although in the end, only the A’s had a night to remember.
In the first-ever use of Major League Baseballs’ new extra-inning rule, the A’s got a walkoff grand slam from Matt Olson in the bottom of the 10th inning just moments after the first baseman had made a huge defensive play in top of the 10th.
For all the talk of bunting to get the gift runner to third, neither Angels manager Joe Maddon or A’s skipper Bob Melvin seemed to have considered it.
Maddon let Jared Walsh swing away, and Olson charged the ball and speared it, catching runner Shohei Ohtani between second and third with a surprising toss to third baseman Matt Chapman. It was at the time the biggest play of the game, taking the automatic runner out of scoring position, enabling A’s newcomer Burch Smith to pitch out of the inning.
“You know that those two have been talking about that play for a long time,” Melvin said. “You don’t think a guy like Ohtani, based on his speed, would be the guy for that, but it didn’t surprise me. You could see when he charged the ball. That was two terrific defenders making a great play.
“It was a game-saver.”
Olson said that he and fellow two-time Gold Glove winner Chapman have been talking about that kind of play for a while, even before the runner-on-second rule for extra innings was put in play.
“He’s athletic enough to get over to the bag, and I feel I have a good enough arm to get it across and maybe get the out,” Olson said. He needed a bit of Chapman’s glove work, the third baseman spearing a throw that could have gotten away and flipping the ball to shortstop Marcus Semien. Ohtani, hopelessly trapped, broke toward third and eventually was tagged out by Chapman.
“It’s a play that’s going to be open,” Olson said.”
Open if the bunt isn’t a consideration, in any event.
The A’s could easily have bunted in the bottom of the 10th, but with the relatively quick Semien at second – the last man to make an out is the runner to start the next extra inning – and the 2-3-4 men in the batting order up, Melvin never considered it.
Ramon Laureano, the first man up, had already hit a game-tying homer and a game-tying double, so he wasn’t bunting. He wound up being hit by a pitch from Angels’ closer Hansel Robles.
“There are reasons you don’t bunt with him there,” Melvin said. “You trust the middle of your order.”
Chapman fouled out, but Khris Davis walked, loading the bases, leading Maddon to go to the bullpen for the left-handed Hobby Milner. One pitch later, the ball was deep into the empty right field seats. Game time.
“I’d watched video, and I knew he liked to throw that slider to get ahead,” Olson said. “I was looking for it. I may have looked kind of chill about it, but I was pumped up.”
And what did he think of the extra-inning rule as a whole?
“It’ll probably be tougher to go 17 or 18 innings with a guy on second. At some point, somebody’s probably going to get a hit. But, yeah, it was cool. And it’s something different, something we’re not accustomed to.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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