First the A’s avoided a no-hitter, then they avoided a weekend sweep.
Danny Valencia raced around from first on Khris Davis’ double in the ninth, scoring when Brock Holt couldn’t field the ball cleanly in left, and the A’s pulled out a 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox Sunday.
Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez held Oakland hitless into the eighth inning, as the A’s couldn’t seem to take advantage of a stellar pitching effort from Kendall Graveman. Marcus Semien finally ended Rodriguez’s no-hit bid with an infield single with two outs in the eighth, a play on which he was called out before an instant replay reversal.
In the ninth, Valencia led off with a walk against Sox closer Craig Kimbrel. Then Davis yanked a ball that skipped off the wall in left. Holt couldn’t pluck the ball out of the air off a bounce, and A’s third base coach Ron Washington waved Valencia around third. His slide into the plate easily beat the relay throw, and the A’s salvaged a game in this series after being routed in the first two games by a combined score of 27-4.
The A’s still own the longest streak of not being no-hit in the major leagues. The last no-no thrown against them came July 13, 1991, when the Baltimore Orioles quartet of Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson pulled off the feat.
Starting pitching report:
When Graveman got through a scoreless top of the first, it was a victory of sorts for the A’s, who had already faced a deficit before their first time at bat in the first two games of the series. Though his outing got overshadowed by Rodriguez’s no-hit bid, Graveman was excellent in holding down a Boston team that had beaten the A’s by scores of 16-2 and 11-2 to begin the series. He held the Sox to six hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking two. Graveman worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth, a rally in which the Sox benefited from an overturned ‘out’ call at second on a force play. Graveman also struck out David Ortiz twice in “Big Papi’s" final game at the Coliseum. Ortiz went 0-for-2 with two walks.
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Bullpen report:
Ryan Dull stranded a runner at third to keep it a scoreless game in the seventh. Ryan Madson (5-4) turned in a scoreless top of the ninth to earn the victory when the A’s walked it off.
At the plate:
The few balls that the A’s did square up against Rodriguez found the gloves of Sox defenders, lending a feel that a no-no might just be in the cards. It wasn’t to be. In the eighth, Semien hit a hard comebacker up the middle that Rodriguez deflected with his right foot. The pitcher couldn’t immediately locate the ball, and his late throw made it a bang-bang play at first. First base umpire Laz Diaz originally ruled Semien out, but the A’s challenged the call, and replays clearly showed that Semien’s foot touched the bag before Hanley Ramirez caught the ball.
In the field:
Valencia made a nice play at first to snag Sandy Leon’s liner to end the top of the sixth. The teams combined for three errors total.
Attendance:
The announced turnout was 25,139 on the A’s 18th annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day. They raised $112,245 through the event.
Up next:
The Angels arrive Monday for a three-game series. They have yet to announce their starters, but the A’s will throw Raul Alcantara (0-0, 0.00) in Monday’s 1:05 p.m. holiday game, Ross Detwiler (1-3, 4.66) in Tuesday’s 7:05 p.m. game and Jharel Cotton (0-0, 0.00) in Wednesday’s 12:35 p.m. matchup. Alcantara and Cotton will both be making their major league debuts.
