Athletics drop series finale 6-4 to Toronto

Spence tosses seven solid innings

After splitting the first two games of the series this weekend, the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays faced off this afternoon in the rubber match of the series. Getting the start today for Mark Kotsay’s A’s was 26-year-old righty Mitch Spence going up against Blue Jays starter 28-year-old right hander Bowden Frances.

The Jays got on the board first against Spence. In the top of the second inning, Justin Turner doubled off the left field wall. George Springer followed that with a base hit and a stolen base. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled up the middle to drive both runners home, giving the Jays a 2-0 lead. Shea Langeliers then nailed Kiner-Falefa trying to steal second, to end the inning.

Daz Cameron got things started for the A’s in the bottom of the second with a base hit up the middle. Tyler Soderstrom followed with a base hit. Cameron showed his speed tagging up on a shallow fly out to centerfield and beating the throw easily. But Max Schuemann fouled out to Vlad Guerrero, Jr to end the threat.

Miguel Andujar led off the bottom of fourth inning with a double to left field. Unfortunately, he never left second with three outs stranding him there. Zack Pop pitched the fifth for the Jays, striking out all three A’s batters he faced. Nate Pearson replaced Pop in the bottom of the sixth. After a JJ Bleday ground out, Brent Rooker ripped his 13^th homer of the year to deep left field. Miguel Andujar singled softly to right field. But Shea Langeliers was called out on strikes to end the inning. But Rook put the A’s on the board, 2-1.

Trevor Richards entered to pitch the seventh. He walked Tyler Soderstrom on five pitches, and then Aledmys Diaz singled, moving Soderstrom to second. Schuemann dropped a beautiful sac bunt to move both runners over. Abraham Toro put the A’s ahead with a two-run bloop single to center. Chad Green entered the game to face Brent Rooker with two down in the inning. Rook grounded out to third to end the inning, but not before the A’s jumped to a 3-2 lead.

Spence was replaced in the top of the eighth inning by lefty Scott Alexander. Spence exited with a pitching line of five hits, two earned runs, no walks and three strike outs. Dalton Varsho singled and moved to second on a sac bunt. He stole third with an incredible jump on Alexander and scored on a Davis Schneider sacrifice fly. That tied things up at 3 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Despite it not being a save situation, Mason Miller came in to pitch the ninth. Once again, he showed his dominance with an easy 1-2-3 inning. Yimi García came in to pitch the ninth for the Jays. Soderstrom drove Schneider to the warning track for the first out. That was the loudest out and the A’s went down quickly after that.

As the final out of the previous inning, Bo Bichette was the placed runner on second base in the top of the tenth. Austin Adams entered to pitch the inning and walked Justin Turner on four straight pitches. After a pop out, Adams plunked Varsho to load the bases with just one out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled in the left field gap to clear the bases and give the Jays a 6-3 lead. In an odd play, Tyler Soderstrom was leveled going for a foul ball by a member of the Jays staff ‘attempting’ to get out of the way near the Jays dugout. After a quick umpire conversation, the batter was called out. Adams continued his implosion by reloading the bases with two outs. But he struck out Guerrero swinging to end the top half of the inning.

JJ Bleday grounded out to score placed runner Schuemann in the bottom half of the tenth, bringing the score to 6-4. A weak groundout by Brent Rooker ended the game.

---

Athletics fans at the stadium and watching on tv were treated to Alumni Sunday appearances by A’s stars Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Ramon Hernandez. Fans in house were able to join a pre-game autograph session with the three; while tv viewers listened in as Dallas Braden interviewed the two hurlers in-game.