OAKLAND — Mason Miller said before Saturday’s A’s game against the Los Angeles Angels that he’d love to have a teammate with him at the MLB All-Star Game next year.
The way the Athletics have been swinging the bats on both sides of this year’s All-Star break, there may be multiple hitters joining Miller in 2025. His pick to represent the A’s in a future Home Run Derby, Brent Rooker, got Oakland going with a towering three-run shot to left in the first inning, and the A’s routed the Angels 8-2 in front of 14,574 fans at the Oakland Coliseum.
The A’s have now scored 39 runs in their last three games and won back-to-back series, including taking two of three from the MLB-leading Philadelphia Phillies before the break. They can sweep the Angels with another victory on Sunday.
“You come back after the break, you just don’t know what you’re going to see and how long it’s going to take the team to continue the progress that we made or the confidence that we had going into the break from that Phillies series,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “So it’s nice to see that we’ve come out and swung the bats well, kept the momentum going and continued to play good baseball.”
Rooker’s 445-foot three-run shot in the first plated Miguel Andujar and JJ Bleday, who singled and doubled to get on base, respectively. And after the Angels responded with a run in the third, the A’s tripled the deficit in the fourth.
Max Schuemann walked with the bases loaded, scoring Rooker, then Lawrence Butler doubled home Kyle McCann, Brett Harris and Schuemann to make it 7-1.
“The old adage is hitting is contagious, and it’s cliche and it’s cheesy or whatever it is, but it’s true,” Rooker said. “Everybody one through nine is feeding off each other’s energy and then going up there and keeping the line moving.”
The Angels chased A’s starter Mitch Spence from the contest in the sixth inning, as Spence couldn’t escape a jam. Spence left runners on second and third for left-handed reliever Scott Alexander, who retired Kevin Pillar and Jo Adell to end the threat in the sixth.
“Our bullpen, they come in and they do their jobs,” Spence said. “They come in and they get outs. It gives us a lot of confidence to come out of the game, because whoever’s coming out of the bullpen is going to shut it down and keep the game where it is.”
Spence’s own Houdini act stranded runners on third base in three of his five completed innings, and he finished with two runs allowed in 5 1/3 innings pitched to pick up the win.
“(The key was) realizing that I’m making good pitches,” Spence said. “Just because there were runners on doesn’t mean that I have to do anything differently. There were a couple of innings where I walked a guy or gave up a couple weak-contact hits, but I just continued to do what I was doing.”
The Athletics added on with Andujar’s single in the seventh, which scored Schuemann for the second time.
On a day where the A’s gave out bobbleheads of legendary slugger Jose Canseco, Oakland put on an offensive display that did the former Bash Brother proud.
So how long can Oakland keep this up?
“Hopefully, as long as possible,” Kotsay said.
Wilson focused on hamstring recovery with MRI looming
Jacob Wilson has had a difficult start to his major-league career.
After singling in his major-league debut on Friday, Wilson strained his left hamstring rounding third base on Butler’s triple in the third inning. He was out of the lineup on Saturday and will undergo an MRI on Sunday.
For now, it’s a waiting game for the A’s No. 1 prospect, and he’s committed to doing whatever he can to get back on the field.
“It’s doing good,” Wilson said of his hamstring. “Obviously, it’s not the greatest situation to have your MLB debut and tweak that. But I’m hoping for the best, hope it’s a quick turnaround. I’m trying to get into the training room, getting all the treatment that I need to get, and hopefully, I can get back out there soon.”
Wilson said he has not had a hamstring injury before, so this recovery plan is a new experience for him.
“It’s the normal hamstring stuff,” Wilson said. “Getting it stretched out, making sure that we can keep a maintenance plan in order to keep it healthy for the future. Whatever I can do to get back out there, that’s really what my mind’s set on right now.”
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