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OAKLAND — Stephen Piscotty has a history of tormenting the Padres. He did it earlier this month in San Diego, and he did it again back at home.
Continuing the trend of late-inning comebacks the A’s have been putting together lately, it was Piscotty who played hero this time around with a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning that sealed a 4-2 victory over the Padres Wednesday afternoon, completing a two-game sweep and making it 14 A’s wins in their last 17 games.
After Khris Davis doubled off the wall in left field to give the A’s runners on second and third with no outs, the Padres (37-51) decided to walk Matt Olson to load the bases to set up the force out at any base. But Piscotty, the owner of a career .309 average in 20 games against the Padres entering the day who had already picked up two doubles earlier in the game, was the perfect man for the situation.
“I have no idea why, but I seem to hit well against them,” Piscotty said, who also hit a game-tying home run off Padres closer Brad Hand earlier this month. “It’s just one of those things that’s baseball coincidence probably, but I’ve had some good games against them.”
It was no surprise when Piscotty roped a 1-0 fastball from Craig Stammen into right field to bring home two runs and break a 2-2 tie, matching the Oakland single-game record for doubles with his third of the game.
Coming off a June in which he batted .303 with four home runs and 14 RBIs, Piscotty continued his improvement at the plate as he finished 3 for 4 with three doubles and three RBIs.
“He’s been swinging the bat really well, not just for a short period but an extended period now,” A’s manager Bob Melvins said. “With Stammen, you really gotta try to stay inside the ball with his sinker and not try to pull, and that’s exactly what he did.”
Now a season-high nine games over .500, the A’s (48-39) continue to get it done late in games. Piscotty’s two RBIs in the eighth pushed it to 61 runs scored by the A’s in the eighth inning this season, the most in baseball. Eight of the A’s last 18 wins have also come with the game-winning run scored in the eighth inning or later.
“It kind of feels like the same game. We get down, and there’s an even better feeling,” Melvin said. “Not that that’s ideal and that’s where you want to go with it, but we’ve been pretty resilient, and it doesn’t seem to bother us when we get down in a game.”
Sean Manaea continues to inch closer to the form he found himself in when he dominated through the month of April, which included a no-hitter against the Red Sox, to earn AL Player of the Month honors.
Save for a two-run homer surrendered to Christian Villanueva in the second, Manaea efficiently shut the Padres down, allowing just the two runs on four hits and two walks with one strikeout over seven innings of work.
“He gives up a quick one, and then seems to come back and get back in the game,” Melvin said. “That’s him maturing as a pitcher. You gotta put that away and say that’s all they’re going to get, and that’s what he did.”
Coming off a month of June in which he went 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in five starts, Manaea continues to regain the confidence he seemed to have lost in May when he went through one of the roughest patches of his career.
“I think I’m getting there,” Manaea said. “I try not to make a big deal out of it or get too high, but I definitely think I’m making strides.”
Though Manaea was only at 84 pitches after seven, Melvin’s trust in the A’s bullpen made the decision to pull Manaea an easy one.
Ryan Buchter, Lou Trivino, and Blake Treinen finished off the Padres by combining for two scoreless innings, with Treinen converting his 19th consecutive save opportunity and 22nd save overall this season with a clean ninth.
Playing in his second game off the disabled list, Matt Chapman appeared to have his “I’m back” moment with a sensational defensive play at third in the sixth inning as he snagged a screaming grounder off the bat of Hunter Renfroe to to turn what would have been extra bases and perhaps a run into an inning-ending double play to keep the A’s deficit at two runs.
You look at the box score and it says 0-for, but for us he drove in like three runs,” Melvin said. “There’s two plays there that are going to lead to some runs, and one of them turns into two outs, let alone one. It’s acrobatic, it’s everything. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to get him back as quickly as we could. He didn’t get too many at-bats and might be rusty as far as the at-bats go, but the defense is off the charts.”
