The visiting Athletics and the Washington Nationals will play the decisive game of their series on Thursday after splitting two very different games.
The A’s pounded out 24 hits in a 16-7 win on Tuesday, but the Nationals bounced back in a pitching-dominated game on Wednesday, earning a 2-1 walk-off win.
Washington snapped a six-game losing streak. The A’s have lost three of four after winning seven of eight.
The A’s will send left-hander Jacob Lopez (4-6, 3.99 ERA) to face left-hander Mitchell Parker (7-11, 5.35) in the finale.
Lopez, a 27-year-old rookie, has tossed 9 1/3 scoreless innings over his past two starts. After lasting only 4 1/3 innings against the Houston Astros on July 26, he pitched five innings and permitted five hits en route to a win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
“I thought it was a pretty good outing,” Lopez said. “Same thing as Houston, the offense got us an early lead, so the goal was just to keep that lead and give us as much as I could.”
Lopez has never faced the Nationals, and Parker has not opposed the Athletics.
After a pair of solid outings to finish July, Parker is looking to bounce back from his worst start of the season. The 25-year-old surrendered eight runs on 12 hits over four-plus innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Parker, who sported a 1.39 ERA through his first five starts this year, has often been undone by one big inning. Against the Brewers, it was a five-run third.
“Got to figure out how he can keep his composure,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “He’s got to keep making pitches and keep positive. He’s got to keep his mind on what he’s got to do that inning, then just go from there.”
The Nationals got just enough in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday, when CJ Abrams singled home Robert Hassell III with one out for the win.
Riley Adams hit a solo home run leading off the sixth inning to end a perfect-game bid by A’s starter Jeffrey Springs. Thirteen of Adams’ 25 hits this season have gone for extra bases (six doubles, seven home runs).
Jose A. Ferrer pitched a scoreless ninth and earned the win after being appointed the club’s new closer. Cairo made the announcement in the wake of a recent trade that sent Kyle Finnegan to the Detroit Tigers and a series of losses.
“That’s my closer right there,” Cairo said. “Now you get to see it. That was my closer right there.”
Hassell doubled leading off the ninth before scoring the winning run. He is 5-for-12 with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs in five games since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 1.
The Nationals welcomed back starter Cade Cavalli, who made his first major league appearance since his debut in August 2022. Returning from a lengthy rehab following Tommy John surgery, the right-hander allowed three hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out six.
Tyler Soderstrom homered for the A’s run, his 20th of the season, against left-handed reliever Konnor Pilkington.
“The slugging against lefties has been down this year for Tyler, so it was good to see him drive a ball out to right field,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “I thought his at-bats were good. Overall, to have that type of production, where you’ve got four guys with 20 homers says a lot about the slug in the lineup.”
–Field Level Media
