Oakland A’s find right formula to beat Colorado Rockies, end skid
OAKLAND – The Oakland A’s turned to the long ball to help end their season-long eight-game losing streak on Tuesday.
J.D. Davis, Seth Brown, and Abraham Toro all homered, with Toro’s shot over the right field wall in the bottom of the eighth inning proving to be the difference in the A’s 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies before an announced crowd of 4,005 at the Coliseum.
A’s closer Mason Miller was electric as he touched 102.8 mph in the ninth inning with his fastball, striking out all three batters he faced to earn his ninth save of the season.
Toro’s solo home run was his fifth of the season, as he turned on an 89-mph slider from Rockies reliever Tyler Kinley.
Before Tuesday, the A’s were tied for fourth in the majors in home runs in May with 23.
Toro pumped his fist as he rounded first base as the A’s earned their first win since they beat Seattle 8-1 on May 11. Oakland went 1-9 on their recently completed road trip.
For six innings, the A’s were mostly stymied by Rockies starter and former Stanford standout Cal Quantrill.
The A’s got a badly needed homer from Davis in the third inning but managed just two other hits against Quantrill, who allowed three hits and two earned runs – and eight strikeouts — in six innings.
Against Quantrill, the A’s could only manage a Brent Rooker double in the fourth inning and a JJ Bleday triple in the sixth. Bleday then scored on a wild pitch from Quantrill.
That’s why the A’s, down 4-2, had to like seeing Justin Lawrence enter the game in the seventh inning. And after Zack Gelof walked, Brown smoked a 95-mph sinker from Lawrence 414 feet over the center field wall to tie the game 4-4.
The homer was Brown’s fifth of the season and his second in the last three games.
Davis hit his third home run of the season, and his first in 26 games since he hit two on March 29 against Cleveland.
The A’s would love to see him and Davis, two players who combined for 32 home runs last season, get hot as they try to pull out of an offensive malaise that has lasted most of May.
During this stretch before Tuesday, which saw them lose 13 of 15 games, the A’s scored three runs or fewer 10 times. Before Tuesday, Oakland, in the majors, had the third-lowest batting average (.220), were tied for third in fewest runs (180), had the fourth lowest on-base percentage (.295), and were tied for fourth in fewest stolen bases (21).
Strikeouts have been an absolute killer for the A’s. Before Tuesday, they had 151 in their last 15 games.
The home runs helped the A’s overcome so-so outings from starting pitcher Aaron Brooks, who allowed three earned runs over six innings. and veteran Scott Alexander allowed a solo home run in his two-thirds of an inning in relief.