The Athletics will arrive at the ballpark Saturday night boasting consecutive victories for the first time since early May.
Then they’ll look for their first three-game winning streak since April 30-May 2 when they face the Baltimore Orioles at West Sacramento, Calif.
After losing 20 of 21 games, the Athletics blasted the Minnesota Twins 14-3 on Thursday before notching a 5-4 win on Friday in the first of three games against the Orioles.
Star closer Mason Miller recorded a five-out save on Friday. He entered with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth and struck out the next two batters before working around a walk in the ninth.
Miller didn’t need to be reminded that the Athletics were 22-20 before their lengthy struggles.
“We had a tough stretch there, and we know we’re better than we showed out there,” Miller said. “It’s just getting back to where we were the first six weeks.”
The top three hitters in the Athletics’ order — Lawrence Butler, Jacob Wilson and Brent Rooker — were 7-for-12 with four RBIs and three runs on Friday. Wilson had three hits, and Butler and Rooker each had two.
“We’re stringing hits together all the time,” said Rooker, who drove in the decisive run with a fifth-inning single. “Me and ‘Law’ need to get hot because Wilson is hot all the time. We like the way our offense is going right now.”
Jackson Holliday had three hits, including a homer, but Baltimore’s season-best six-game winning streak ended.
Dylan Carlson also homered for the Orioles, and it was memorable since he grew up in Elk Grove, about 15 miles south of West Sacramento.
“It was exciting to come through for the team in that situation,” Carlson said. “For me growing up in this area and coming to games here as a kid, it was pretty cool.”
Carlson said he played in Sutter Health Park — the minor league park that is the A’s temporary home — a few times while in high school.
“At the time, it was the coolest stadium I ever played in,” Carlson said. “Being in the big leagues now and coming back, it’s a little different experience. It’s definitely not something I had on my radar.”
Baltimore’s Charlie Morton (2-7, 6.20 ERA) will match up with the Athletics’ Luis Severino (1-5, 4.54) in a battle of veteran right-handers.
Morton, 41, endured a miserable start but won his past two outings. He gave up two runs and four hits over six innings while beating the St. Louis Cardinals on May 26 and then allowed one unearned run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 3-2 win against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Morton is 2-1 with a 2.58 ERA in eight career starts against the A’s.
Severino is 0-2 over his last eight starts since notching his lone win on April 19 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He was roughed up by the Minnesota Twins on Monday when he took the loss and allowed eight runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings in the 10-4 game.
Severino, 31, is 7-3 with a 5.17 ERA in 14 career appearances (12 starts) against the Orioles.
The Orioles learned Friday that first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (right hamstring strain) will miss about seven to 11 more weeks. He was injured against the Chicago White on May 30.
The Athletics placed catcher Shea Langeliers (left oblique strain) on the 10-day injured list. Manager Mark Kotsay guessed he will miss at least a few weeks.
Langeliers was injured while fouling off a pitch against the Twins on Thursday.
Oakland rookie center field Denzel Clarke left Friday’s game after five innings due to a left shoulder contusion. He made a long running catch in which he slammed into the wall in the fourth.
–Field Level Media
