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OAKLAND — The Athletics departed on a three-city, 11-game road trip Thursday basking in the glow of a home run and five RBIs from Stephen Piscotty, a gritty start from left-hander Brett Anderson and yet another throwing miracle from Ramon Laureano in a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox.
The win concluded a 6-2 homestand before a crowd of 15,095 at the Coliseum, taking three of four from both the Los Angeles Angels and the defending World Series champions.
Three observations on how the Athletics bounced back after coughing up a 3-0 lead Wednesday night in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox:
Piscotty power
The Athletics trailed 3-0 in the third inning when Piscotty hit a 2-0 pitch from starter and loser Eduardo Rodriguez (0-2) over the fence in straightaway center.
Josh Phegley had opened with a double, advanced to third on a fly out and Marcus Semien was on first with a walk.
“In that situation you just want to get something in the air, drive in that run no matter what,” Piscotty said. “Home run is the best-case scenario there. I was just trying to get the ball elevated.”
Said Athletics manager Bob Melvin: “That home run was huge — all of a sudden we’re back in the game.”
In the next inning, Piscotty came to the plate with a 4-3 lead after Robbie Grossman’s RBI double and two runners aboard. He lofted a deep but playable fly to right center between two reliable defenders — center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and right fielder Mookie Betts.
Neither caught it. It bounced on the warning track and into the stands for a ground rule double, two more runs and a 6-3 lead.
“I’m a little surprised it got down but I’m very grateful,” Piscotty said.
Throw in a single in the first and a ground ball single in the sixth and Piscotty had his first four-hit game since 2016 to go along with an eighth-inning walk.
“I’m starting to see the ball a little bit better, the rhythm was good,” Piscotty said. “Got a couple of lucky breaks, but that’s baseball.”
Anderson guts it out
Coming in with a 34 1/3 inning scoreless streak at the Coliseum, Anderson forced in two runs with bases loaded walks to Xander Bogaerts and Brock Holt. He also gave up a solo home run to J.D. Martinez in the third inning.
By the time he left, Anderson (2-0) had seen more traffic on the bases than Highway 880 at commute time. He gave up eight hits and walked four, one intentionally. There were no 1-2-3 innings. When Melvin lifted him in favor of Lou Trivino with one out in the sixth, he’d thrown 101 pitches.
“They’re the world champs for a reason,” Anderson said. “They grind out some at-bats, put balls in play. My command wasn’t great all day, but I made some pitches when I had to with a bunch of traffic.”
By righting himself and pitching into the sixth, Anderson helped ease the strain on a bullpen that was resting Ryan Buchter, Fernando Rodney and J.B. Wendelken.
“The way the game started out, the first inning looked like it could get away from us,” Melvin said. “Brett got some outs when we needed to and ended up giving us some length.”
Trivino finished the sixth inning, Joakim Soria worked the seventh and Liam Hendricks finished it off in the eighth and ninth.
Laureano does it again
The Athletics center fielder completed the most impactful 4-for-24 series in memory with three stunning outfield assists. He got Bogaerts at the plate in Monday night’s 7-0 when, then at third base on Tuesday night to help preserve a 1-0 victory.
It's only fitting that Ramón carved them up all series on the eve of WrestleMania weekend ⭐️#RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/DO6LU47dbY
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) April 4, 2019
His final victim was Betts, who opened the ninth inning with a walk and then got a good jump on a bloop single to center by Andrew Benintendi. Laureano rushed in and threw a strike from shallow center to Matt Chapman at third for the first out of the inning.
“I pretty much figured I’d have second and third with none out,” Hendricks said. “And then he comes out and makes a play on the run that an outfielder shouldn’t be able to make. It’s something special, not only the speed and quickness in how he releases it, but the accuracy that comes along with it.”
Laureano’s reward was being given a night off from the media, which is just as well since he’s running out of ways to describe how he could possibly have 12 outfield assists in his last 58 games — the most in major league baseball.
“Rarely do you see three plays like that in a series, because sometimes they stop running on you,” Melvin said. “But they continue to be aggressive, and every time he made a play it was different than the one before. All big plays during the course of the game. It’s similar to coming up with superlatives for (Khris Davis). It’s tough to keep coming up with adjectives for Ramon’s throwing but it’s one of a kind.”
NOTES
— Chapman, who had a sore left wrist after being hit by a pitch Wednesday night, didn’t start but entered the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. With one out, Chapman made a sprawling stop on a grounder by pinch-hitter Rafael Devers and forced a runner at second.
“Laureano can still throw, and Chapman can still pick ’em up,” Melvin said.
Melvin said he was trying to keep Chapman from having to swing a bat, but believes he’ll be ready to go Friday against Houston.
— Laureano isn’t the only outfielder who can throw. Grossman fielded a would-be double off the bat of Steve Pearce leading off the third inning and then threw him out at second base.
— With pretty much the entire series played under the threat of rain, the Thursday attendance of 15,095 was the largest of the four games against Boston.
— The Athletics are now seven games in to a stretch of 18 straight days with a game until their next scheduled day off on April 15.
— First baseman Matt Olson has fielded grounders for three straight days but doesn’t know when he’ll be able to grip a bat following surgery to remove the hamate bone in his right hand. He said it could be anywhere from four to eight weeks.
After playing 162 games last season, Olson will stay behind during the road trip.
“I’m bored, honestly,” Olson said. “I am used to playing every day, maybe an occasional day off or two, but this is the longest stretch I’m going to have.
