The Athletics are far out of the postseason race, but the young club has won five of its past six games entering Wednesday night’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Athletics recorded a 6-1 win over the Mariners on Tuesday to even the three-game series at one win apiece.
Now the A’s will shoot to end July with a winning record. The team is 12-11 entering its final game of the month and brimming with confidence after a recent four-game road sweep of the Houston Astros.
On Tuesday, the A’s Brent Rooker hit a three-run blast and Shea Langeliers also went deep.
“We’ve been doing a lot of good things and showing the potential we have as a group and as a team,” Rooker said afterward. “We’re going to look to continue that for the next 52 games.”
The Athletics did receive a blow Tuesday when All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (fractured left forearm) was placed on the 10-day injured list. Wilson was just 4-for-38 in nine games since being hit by a pitch on July 8 against the Atlanta Braves.
“I don’t want to put a timeline on anything,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told reporters, adding that Wilson is expected to play again this season.
Seattle’s Randy Arozarena stole second base in the fifth inning Tuesday to achieve his fifth straight 20-homer, 20-steal season. He is just the 10th player in baseball history to put together at least five straight such seasons.
Arozarena lifted second base out of the ground to take it as a memento before being told to put it back in place. The base later was authenticated and given to him when the grounds crew swapped out the bases.
Arozarena scored Seattle’s lone run Tuesday, as the team went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners have scored three or fewer runs in eight of the past 10 games.
“We were able to get some runners on,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said afterward. “We hit some balls hard, but we came up short. You can’t control some of that.”
Wilson said the Mariners will place first baseman/outfielder Luke Raley (back) on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday. He’ll be replaced on the roster by first baseman Tyler Locklear, who is batting .316 with 19 homers and 82 RBIs in 98 games for Triple-A Tacoma.
Mariners All-Star right-hander Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA) will get the ball Wednesday and will look to continue his mastery of the Athletics. Woo is 6-0 with a 1.66 ERA in eight career starts against them. This season, he is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA, and that includes a shaky outing on May 7 in West Sacramento in which he gave up five runs and eight hits over six innings in a no-decision. Seattle won 6-5.
Woo, 25, is winless in his last three regular-season outings. He received a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels last Friday when he gave up two runs and four hits over six innings. Seattle lost 3-2 in 10 innings.
Tyler Soderstrom (4-for-13), Lawrence Butler (2-for-15) and Rooker (1-for-17, eight strikeouts) each have homered off Woo.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (9-7, 4.13 ERA) will be on the mound for the Athletics on Wednesday. Springs, 32, has won three of his past four starts, and his name has surfaced in trade deadline chatter as a possible acquisition for a contending team. He beat the Astros on Friday, when he allowed two runs and four hits over six innings.
Springs is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts against Seattle this season. He beat the Mariners on March 28 by striking out a season-best nine and allowing three hits in six shutout innings.
He is 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 12 career appearances (four starts) against Seattle. Julio Rodriguez is 3-for-9 with a homer off Springs.
–Field Level Media
