Athletics defeat Cubs 5-3 in Chicago

Come from behind victory gives the A’s series win

The Oakland Athletics wrapped up their road trip with the rubber match of the three-game series against the Chicago Cubs today at Wrigley Field. The Cubs wore their traditional home pinstripe uniforms while the A’s donned their road grays.

Twenty-six-year-old rookie lefthander Brady Basso made his third start of the season against fellow southpaw Justin Steele for the Cubs. It was Basso’s second consecutive start in the Windy City, but first ever against the Cubs. Steele came off the Injured List (IL) for today’s start after suffering from left elbow tendinitis.

Both pitchers cruised through the first two innings, giving up baserunners, but no real threats. With two outs in the top of the third, the A’s loaded the bases, and Craig Counsil pulled Justin Steele after 57 pitches. Ethan Roberts replaced Steele and retired Daz Cameron to end the threat.

In the top of the fourth, with two outs Tyler Soderstrom got the scoring started with a line drive into the bleachers in centerfield. It was Soderstrom’s eighth of the year, and his first since June 28^th. It gave the A’s and Basso a 1-0 lead.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Brent Rooker walked and stole second, his eleventh of the year. But Shea Langeliers struck out to end the inning. Basso got into trouble in the bottom of the inning. Nico Hoerner led off with a line drive single to left fielder Tyler Nevin. He moved to third on a Pete Crow-Armstrong single. Crow-Armstrong stole second and Basso walked Miguel Amaya to load the bases. Dansby Swanson singled on a play that Nick Allen should have made, allowing Hoerner to score. Seiya Suzuki singled to shallow left field to score Crow-Armstrong. Cody Bellinger hit a sac-fly to score Amaya and bring the Cubs lead to 3-1. Grant Holman relieved Basso and got Isaac Paredes to ground out Gelof to Soderstrom.

Soderstrom and Nevin greeted new Cubs pitcher Drew Smyly with consecutive base hits in the seventh. Nick Allen sacrificed Soderstrom to third and Lawrence Butler grounded out to drive him home. Brent Rooker hit a squib grounder to third, but it may as well have been a line drive, because it scored Nevin from third. Shea Langeliers singled into the gap in left center field, moving Rooker to third. The inning ended when Langeliers took off for second and when Rooker broke for home he got caught in a pickle between third and home. He was ultimately tagged out by first baseman Michael Busch to end the inning.

Seth Brown led off the eighth with a base hit to centerfield. Zack Gelof doubled into the corner in left field scoring Brown from first and allowing Gelof to reach third on the throw home. With the infield in, Tyler Soderstrom hit into a fielder’s choice, but Gelof scored on a high throw by Hoerner giving the A’s a 5-3 lead.

Michel Otañez relieved Tyler Ferguson in the bottom of the inning. Otañez struck out the first two Cubs he faced and then got Isaac Paredes to ground out to short to end the inning.

Mason Miller entered the game to shut the Cubs down in the bottom of the ninth. He struck Michael Busch on three consecutive pitches for the first out. Nico Hoerner worked a walk, but Pete Crow-Armstrong grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. Miller’s 26th save of the season puts him atop the rookie saves list of the A’s.

Oakland took this one 5-3 for the first-ever series win for the A’s in Chicago! The A’s start their final homestand in Oakland on Friday versus the Yankees.