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The A’s sweep the Bucs!
By Charlie O. Mallonee June 27, 2010 |
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The Oakland A’s lack power, so it was ironic that it was Kurt Suzuki’s power that led the green and gold to a victory over the Pirates on Sunday. The 3-2 win also gave the A’s a sweep of the series. Suzuki came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with two out to face Pittsburg reliever Evan Meek. With the count at 1-2, Suzuki hit a pop fly into foul territory on the first base side. The ball hit off the heel of catcher Jason Jaramillo’s mitt keeping Suzuki alive at the plate. After taking a pitch for a ball, Suzuki hit a 97-mph Meek fastball over the left field wall for his 10th home run of the season. The home run gave the A’s the lead and ultimately the victory over the Pirates. A’s starter Gio Gonzalez by his own admission did not have his best stuff on the mound on Sunday. Gonzalez – who went six plus innings – was very complimentary of his defense and the job they did versus the Bucs. Catcher Kurt Suzuki said that Gonzalez made a terrific adjustment by going the sinker and keeping the ball down in the zone. That adjustment allowed Gonzalez to record 14 ground ball outs. Gonzalez left in the top of the seventh with no outs after giving up a lead-off home run to Lastings Milledge. Gonzalez gave up one run (earned) on four hits while walking four and striking out two hitters. Gonzalez did not figure into the decision. The win went to Craig Breslow (3-1) who pitched the top of the eighth inning for the A’s. Andrew Bailey came in for the ninth to record his 14th save of the year. The game ended on a hit by Jose Tabata. The problem with Tabata’s hit was that it hit Pedro Alvarez who was headed to second. A runner hit by a batted ball ending the game is just another reason why the Pirates are 25-50 so far this season. The victory gave the A’s an 8-10 record in Interleague play. The series sweep gave the A’s a 3-3 record for the homestand. The win also continued the A’s success in day games. The A’s are now 18-10 in day games versus 19-30 in night games. The A’s will have Monday off in order to travel to Baltimore. They will open a three game series with Orioles on Tuesday. This Date in A’s History On June 27, 1987 Mark McGwire tied a pair of Oakland records when he hit three home runs and scored five runs in the A’s 13-3 victory over Cleveland … in 1996 the A’s hit a franchise record eight home runs in a 18-2 victory at California … in 2002 Miguel Tejada played in his 348th consecutive game breaking the previous record set by Alfredo Griffin. Tejada’s consecutive game streak hit 594 games before he left the A’s to sign as free agent with Baltimore. |
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