McCann homers in 9th to take series from Orioles

The go-ahead shot allowed flamethrower Lucas Erceg to earn his first career save.

It was a big day for a myriad of Oakland players today.

In spite of a rough outing from staff ace Paul Blackburn, who allowed 6 runs in 4 innings, the Athletics fought back from an early deficit to steal the game and series from one of the best teams in the league, the Baltimore Orioles.

Scoring runs has been a tough ask for the A’s recently as they haven’t been able to score more than three since their 6-3 win against the Cardinals twelve days ago. Oakland’s lineup broke that streak early in the game with 4 quick runs in their first 3 innings. It started with a bang in the 2nd inning when Seth Brown, who’d struggled to a 60 wRC+ so far, muscled a low changeup over the center field to take a 1-0 lead.

The offense stayed hot in the 3rd with a rally started by a walk and a single from leadoff man Lawrence Butler and Baltimore returnee Tyler Nevin, respectively. JJ Bleday then stepped up to plate, worked a 3-2 count on Orioles starter Albert Suarez, and smoked a fastball into right field, good for a double and an RBI. The red-hot Brent Rooker followed that up with a bloop single into center that cleared the bases, giving the A’s a quick 4-2 lead.

The Orioles grabbing the lead back with a trio of homers off Blackburn in the bottom of the 3rd and 4th innings, courtesy of Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, and Ramon Urias. Their AL-leading offense put itself on full display taking a 6-4 lead on the underdog A’s.

Mark Kotsay saw enough and gave Kyle Muller a chance in the 5th to get the team’s pitching back on track. He did just that, as he’s done numerous times this season, keeping the O’s quiet for 2 ¹⁄₃ innings, allowing just a pair of baserunners and striking out a couple as well. Whenever the a spot in the rotation opens, Muller will be ready and deserving.

The A’s then began clawing back in the top of the 7th with a former-player showdown between Nevin, who grew up in the Orioles’ farm system as a top third-base prospect, and former A’s reliever Danny Coulombe. Nevin came out on top as he swung at a two-strike knuckle curve from Coulombe and sent it just over the left field fence, taking sweet revenge over his former team for giving up on him and getting the A’s down to a one-run deficit.

Austin Adams and T.J. McFarland who were picked up for cash in the final days of the preseason continued their surprisingly strong starts. They combined for 3 strikeouts as they held Baltimore scoreless in the 7th and 8th, holding the score at 6-7.

Heading into the 9th inning, the Orioles had de facto closer Craig Kimbrel lined up, despite him looking a mess during Friday’s game, throwing more balls than strikes, and blowing his second save of the season. He didn’t look any better today as he immediately walked rookie Darell Hernaiz with 4 uncompetitive pitches.

Another rookie, catcher Kyle McCann, stepped up to the plate, worked a 3-2 count out of Kimbrel. In just his 3rd start and 16th plate appearance of his career, he looked like a veteran hitter. Knowing how much his opponent was struggling with his command, McCann fouled off 3 more pitches as he waited for an inevitable mistake. On the 9th pitch of the at-bat, Kimbrel did just that, throwing a 95 mph fastball right down the middle that McCann was fully ready for. He put a big swing on it, pulled it high and deep to right field, and, with swagger, tossed his bat as he started his well-earned trip around the bases. With that two-run shot, the A’s not only delivered Kimbrel his second blown save in the series, they took a 7-6 lead with just 3 outs left in the ballgame.

A fun note: Kimbrel is only one save away from tying Kenley Jansen as the active saves leader. The A’s have stopped him from doing that twice now.

Though of course A’s fans — and really the whole baseball world — wanted to see the Mason Miller show, he’d pitched back-to-back games just a couple of days ago and Mark Kotsay went to Lucas Erceg instead. The setup man’s been overlooked this season as the bridge to Miller but in any other bullpen, he might the main event. Averaging a Miller-esque (but not really) 99 mph on his four-seamer, the converted third-baseman carried a 1.69 ERA into the game with 12 Ks in 10 ²⁄₃ innings. He continued that dominance in the 9th tonight, mowing down Jorge Mateo, Gunnar Henderson, and Rutschman to seal the win for Oakland and earn his first career save.

The Oakland A’s have now taken two from the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Orioles, arguably the three AL favorites going into the season. They’re still only 12-17 overall, thanks in no small part to Steven Vogt’s Cleveland Guardians, but the fact they continue to go toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the league a hugely positive sign. We may look up in July and wonder if we really should be sellers.