OAKLAND — Khris Davis’ pursuit of 40 homers had taken a backseat recently with teammate Matt Olson going on his mad home run rampage.
But Davis connected for his 40th in the second inning Saturday, providing the only offense the A’s required in a 1-0 victory over Texas that ran their winning streak to a season-high six games.
Before the game began, catcher Bruce Maxwell created a buzz by becoming the first player in Major League Baseball to kneel during the national anthem. Then his teammates continued to grab attention with their play on the field before a crowd of 38,034 on Star Wars Fireworks Night.
Leading off the bottom of the seocnd, Davis mashed the first pitch he saw from Miguel Gonzalez into the seats in right-center, showing the opposite-field power that’s helped him emerge as one of the American League’s premier power hitters in the past two years.
Raul the Super Sub
For the second time in less than a week, Raul Alcantara shined in an emergency spot start. When scheduled starter Sean Manaea was scratched in the afternoon with upper back tightness, Alcantara was called upon to fill in and delivered five scoreless innings. On Monday, he went 3 2/3 scoreless innings in Detroit while filling in for the injured Jharel Cotton. The A’s rotation, so wobbly for most of the second half, is now 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA over the past eight games.
Group effort
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Home runs have dominated the headlines for Oakland, but over the past three games, the pitching staff has surrendered just three runs total. Ryan Dull, Daniel Coulombe, Chris Hatcher and Blake Treinen shut the door over the final four innings. Before the game, manager Bob Melvin talked up the contribution that Hatcher and Treinen have made lately as the late-inning tandem to salt away victories.
Pinder being evaluated
A day after slamming his head into the center field wall going after a ball, Chad Pinder was held out of the lineup for observation. Though Pinder was being evaluated for concussion symptoms, Melvin also said whiplash was a concern. There was no immediate word on when Pinder might return.
