A’s Win First Game In Sacramento, Beat Padres 10-4

Finally got a win under our belts at Sutter Health

Finally! The Athletics got the win tonight, earning their first victory in Sacramento by beating the San Diego Padres 10-4 and tying this series up one game apiece with the rubber match set for tomorrow afternoon.

Like we’ve seen from the first four home games, the away team got out to yet another massive early lead. Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs came out of the gates wobbly, allowing three runs in the first inning, all with two outs. His defense didn’t help him out as Gio Urshela made a throwing error that kept the Friars’ rally going but more importantly nearly hurt Tyler Soderstrom. Thankfully after getting checked out by trainers the A’s hottest hitter remained in the game. Springs finally ended the inning but only after throwing 33 pitches, with new long man Jason Alexander even warming up at one point.

Now it was the A’s turn. Facing right-hander Dylan Cease, who placed fourth in NL Cy Young voting last year, the A’s bats were wide awake from the jump. The club scored six (!) runs in the first inning off of Cease, with the big hits coming from JJ Bleday and Urshela, who both hit two-run doubles and with Urshela making up for the error in the top half of the inning. Everyone got an at-bat in the frame as the team bat around against Cease on the way to taking a commanding lead:

A great all-around effort from everyone, and even better is the fact that Jacob Wilson collected a base hit during that rally, extending his MLB-leading hitting streak to 12 games. He would collect two more hits later in the evening, including the hit that really busted this game wide open in the third inning:

That hit capped a three-run rally in the third that made this a 9-4 game in the Athletics’ favor and it felt like tonight would finally be the night the team won at home for the first time this season. The young shortstop cannot be stopped as he’s now hitting .400 through the first 12 games of the season.

Even with his bad start essentially moot thanks to his teammates’ incredible hitting, Springs still couldn’t get the engine running. San Diego rallied right back in the top of the second and loaded the bases with no outs. It seemed like the Athletics’ outburst might actually get wiped away. Finally locking in, Springs got a massive strikeout of Manny Machado before inducing a sac fly from Xander Bogaerts and another strikeout to end the frame. Considering where he was three batters earlier, to allow only one run is nearly a best-case scenario.

From there on the 32-year old left-hander shut down the Padres. Over the next four innings San Diego would only muster two singles, neither of whom advanced past first base. What started out with the long man getting ready in the first inning turned into six innings of quality pitching from Springs as he finished his day in line for his second win of the season.

• Jeffrey Springs: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, 103 pitches

All things considered the team should be happy with the way Springs battled tonight. He was able to work through not having his best stuff early but once he got going tonight the lefty was in his groove. It’s also encouraging to see Springs make it past the 100 pitch threshold after throwing 33 pitches in the first inning and nearly being knocked out of this game. His ERA now stands at 4.20 through three starts.

While Springs was doing his thing on the mound, the Athletics’ offense kept up the pressure against Cease. They ended up chasing him after just four innings of work, facing the San Diego pen for the rest of the evening. The A’s did manage to tag the bullpen for a run in the bottom of the seventh when Bleday swatted his first long ball of the season:

That would wrap up the scoring from both teams tonight and give the A’s a nice round and even number. Veteran reliever Jose Leclerc relieved Springs and pitched a scoreless frame, as did his teammates Justin Sterner and Tyler Ferguson, who is actually from Sacramento and finished this game off with three strikeouts. Very cool for him.

Of note is that first baseman Tyler Soderstrom was removed late from this game with what the team called right calf tightness. You have to imagine it’s more precautionary than anything but there’s a small chance he gets a rest day tomorrow with the Thursday off day coming up.

Now that’s what a well-rounded win looks like. The team fell behind early when their starting pitcher didn’t immediately have it but picked him up before he finally found his footing. The bats finally broke out at home, with JJ Bleday in particular having a solid day at the plate going 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBI’s and three runs scored. That’s the type of production the team was hoping from Bleday and if they can get him going the lineup gets a lot deeper. And not to be forgotten, the phenomenal Jacob Wilson continues his torrid start to the season and should be considered an early front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year. Too early to start talking about that?

Tonight’s win pushed the team to 5-7 and the club now has a chance to win their first home series of the season and first in Sacramento. Tomorrow afternoon’s matchup will see the Athletics send out righty Osvaldo Bido take on fellow right-hander Randy Vasquez, both of whom have had solid starts to the season. Rubber match!