Matt Chapman homers twice, A’s take two from Diamondbacks at home
Oakland Athletics vs Arizona Diamondbacks: Matt Chapman homers twice, Matt Olson once in win
Matt Chapman hasn’t hit an upper deck home run since the minor leagues, as far as he can recall.
He will surely remember Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, then. Chapman’s two home runs traveled a collective 862 feet, both balls landing in the Coliseum’s second left-field deck.
“I kind of surprised myself there a little bit,” Chapman said. “It felt god to be able to drive a few balls today. It felt like I wasn’t trying too hard to do that. It just kind of happened.”
Chapman’s first home run gave the A’s their first run against Diamondbacks left-hander Alex Young. He nearly knocked the skin off the ball, hitting the upper fastball 110 mph and 434 feet in the upper deck seats. A solo blast.
His second put a close game away and nearly matched in power and scale: an eighth-inning, two-run blast at 111 mph that landed 428 feet around the same spot.
Chapman was a little late to the tape-measure home run party Stephen Piscotty and Chad Pinder had started in a powerful inning at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park in San Francisco.
“I keep saying this now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I don’t know if it’s the ball. Or the players are stronger. I don’t know. But two balls that go way up in the upper deck doesn’t happen.”
Chapman’s two-homer game has him at eight total on the season, tied for 10th-most in the league. Matt Olson couldn’t let his teammate catch up, so he hit his ninth home run on the yea — a two-run home run in the fourth inning — for good measure.
Chapman and Olson — mostly connected by first name and their brilliant infield defensive chemistry — have homered in the same game 16 times in their young careers. It happened once this year when both homered in the series sweeper against the Houston Astros on Aug. 9.
And, no, there’s no Matt Home Run Race just yet.
“We’re at the point where we have to take good at bats, but it seems like every time I hit one, Olson hits one. We always joke about it that we don’t hit them on the same days. But when we do, it’s a lot of fun.”
For as big as the home runs soared, they came courtesy of a small, more mental adjustment Chapman made. He’s been more conscientious to lay off bad pitches, and not expanding the zone when he feels untouchable after a minor hot streak.
He also wanted to get ready in his swing a little earlier so that he can give himself more time to make a move toward the baseball or lay off a pitch.
“At times he’ll be under the ball a bit, which means he’s late getting his foot down, getting his swing started” Melvin said.
“That was my main focus all night, was just being on time,” Chapman said. “It’s funny, when you focus on a little adjustment like that, good things happen. I felt a lot more comfortable. I felt like I could get the ball out in front more and be able to do some work with my hands and catch the ball out in front.”
Khris Davis returns to the lineup, will play Friday
With a left-hander on the mound, Khris Davis returned to the lineup for the first time since August 16 and had himself a two-hit night. He promptly singled in his first at bat, a knock that left his bat at 106 mph. He waited back on a changeup and drove a double into the left-center gap for his second hit.
He was a few feet shy of a quintessentially Davis home run in his fourth at bat, but his opposite field drive fell into the outfielder’s glove.
“Hopefully we’re getting somewhere with him,” Melvin said. “Because as we’ve seen in the past, this guy can be as impactful as anybody on our team.”
Davis will be in the lineup Friday against Los Angeles Angels left-handed starter Andrew Heaney — who the A’s will have now seen for a second time this season.
Sean Manaea’s progression
Sean Manaea built off his five-inning, three-run start against the San Francisco Giants Sunday with a 5 1/3-inning, one-run outing Thursday. Manaea lowered his team-worst 7.65 ERA to 6.39.
“We’ve talked about his velocity, and his velocity wasn’t great today,” Melvin said. “But you keep the ball down and have late movement on it, your’e gonna be successful. That’s what good pitchers do, find a way to use what they have in a particular night and get outs.”
As Melvin alluded to, the trick to Manaea’s success moving forward will be an ability to adapt his approach to accommodate his lower-velocity fastball that has consistently peaked at 91-92 mph and averaged 89 mph. He’ll need to locate his slider and generate whiffs with his changeup like he did Thursday.
What’s next?
With the win, the A’s remain 2.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros and move to 18-8, the best record in baseball.
They’ll play the Angels in Oakland next.