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Ask any fan, who leads the A’s clubhouse? They might offer up Matt Chapman’s name. Ask any A’s player and they might agree, but insist that another name be added to the list: Marcus Semien, the longest tenured Athletic. The type of leader who, despite a dismal stretch of iffy at bats this season, relishes the opportunity to end a game with one swing.
That’s just who he is. And that’s exactly what Semien did late Friday night, four and a half hours and 13 innings deep into Game 1 of the A’s series against the visiting Houston Astros. With the game tied, bases loaded and two outs, Semien drove Cy Sneed’s cutter left up into the gap in center-left field. The walk-off secured the A’s 3-2 win, extending their win streak to seven games.
“Marcus has set the tone and built a culture here,” A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt said. “Obviously Chapman and (Matt) Olson have caught on to the work ethic that Semien brings every single day. It’s not a matter of when he walks up to the plate, but when he does you know you’re getting the best effort from him every single night. Doesn’t matter what at bat, what inning. Don’t matter. Any time he walks up to the plate with the game on the line, I’m extremely confident.”
Semien’s walk-off moment alleviated 13 innings-worth of offensive futility. The Zack Greinke experience left the A’s scoreless through the six innings he tore through; the 36-year-old held the A’s to five hits, and extinguished easily scoring threats that included back-to-back strikeouts of Chapman and Olson and a pop out to Mark Canha that left null Ramón Laureano’s leadoff triple in the sixth inning. Greinke even fluctuated between his wind-up and stretch to keep the A’s offense more spooked.
“I think that was a good move by him to do that,” Semien said.
The Astros’ bullpen — saddled with numerous injuries — glided through the late innings into extras. Enoli Paredes, who had one of the best fastballs the team had seen, struck out five in two innings. Robbie Grossman’s home run off Josh James tied the game at 1-1, but the A’s were batting 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position heading into that 13th in a stalemate
And J.B. Wendelken had succumbed to the heart of the Astros’ order when Alex Bregman doubled home Garrett Stubbs from third. Finally, a team had a lead. But, in keeping with Semien’s modus operandi, even an A’s offense at its coldest relishes the opportunity to battle back.
With Cy Sneed on the mound, Astros manager Dusty Baker called for Grossman’s intentional walk to get to Austin Allen, the career .203 hitter who hit his first big league home run on Thursday. Allen, down to the game’s last strike, hit the game-tying RBI single, scoring Chapman from third base.
Sneed walked Kemp to load the bases, and Semien knew exactly what he was looking for at the plate. He’d have to get to Sneed’s cutter — he’d been getting hitters to chase up. With the shift in full effect, Semien slapped the first pitch cutter the other way.
“Even though he didn’t come through a couple times, every time he goes up there he still has an attitude about him,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You know, sometimes when you’re not swinging good, you don’t look forward to those at bats in those events. But he does every time.”
Semien had been searching for that kind of timing in a season in which he entered Friday’s game batting .179 with no home runs, 18 strikeouts and two walks. He’d staved off straying from familiar mechanics in search of some success.
“It’s tough, because you start to think that you need to tinker with everything, and ‘Is it my swing?’ ‘What is it?’” he said. “I think half the time it’s, they’re attacking me differently. Because they knew last year I put up some good numbers.”
The eye test tells us pitchers have been stifling Semien down in the zone. He’s been on the tough end of some tough calls — he’s been punched out watching a few pitches on the border at the knees. His Statast zones tell us something similar; he’s seeing more pitches down and in and whiffing them, too.
“I’m just trying to take the low pitches, sometimes they call them. Then you just find yourself 0-for-3,” Semien said. “That’s what I’m going through right now. But, today is a good day to build off of. Two line drives straight away. That’s what I’m going to keep working on.”
Chris Bassitt delivers
Chris Bassitt allowed just one run in seven innings Friday. It came on Kyle Tucker’s RBI double, scoring Martin Maldonado on a walk.
Bassitt was most upset about the walk.
Over those seven innings against a tough Astros lineup, Bassitt allowed just three runs in with three strikeouts and three walks.
“Another terrific game. 7 innings against that lineup,” Melvin said. “To go 7 like that in a close game where every pitch means something — he’s off to a great start.”
He’s allowed just two runs and 11 hits in his three outings — accounting for a 1.11 ERA. With left-handed prospect A.J. Puk still on the mend from a shoulder injury and likely to join the bullpen upon his return, and it’s unclear if or when he might join the rotation as he ramps up within the parameters of an already shortened season. The A’s should feel comfortable having — and keeping — Bassitt as a key starter.
