Reddick HRs Thrice As A's Shred Jays 14-6

Or just "SHREDDICK!" for short. Josh Reddick went all power hitter on the Blue Jays, launching HRs in 3 consecutive at bats against 3 different pitchers, but by his first trip to the plate his teammates had already set the tone.

It took exactly 4 batters for the A's to jump out to a 4-0 lead on Esmil Rogers. Coco Crisp singled, Eric Sogard walked on 4 pitches, then Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes went back-to-back. Lowrie's was to RF, majestic and leaving no doubt off the bat, while Cespedes' was to LF, a laser shot that barely got high enough to clear the wall.

The A's added 2 more in the 2nd off of Rogers to take a 6-0 lead, at which point Toronto got back into the game ever so briefly. Jarrod Parker's only bad inning was the bottom of the 2nd, and it really wasn't too bad on his end. Following a one out walk by Colby Rasmus, Brett Lawrie hit a soft fly ball to CF that Crisp charged and was sure he could catch. Coco made a dive but played the ball off to the side, which became problematic when he missed the ball. By the time Cespedes could retrieve it, Rasmus was home and Lawrie stood at 2B with an RBI double. Lawrie was plated by Emilio Bonafacio's bouncer up the middle, and Jose Reyes drove in the inning's 3rd run with a 2B into the RF corner -- really the only ball hit hard in the inning.

So the A's took only a 6-3 lead to the 3rd and that's when the Josh Reddick show began with a convincing blast into the RF seats off of Rogers. In the 5th, off of RHP Neil Wagner, Reddick hit possibly his most impressive HR, taking a pretty good fastball down and away and depositing it over the LF wall. In the 6th, with 2 runners on, LHP Juan Perez fell behind 2-0 and I actually turned to my mom and said, "Do you know what it means to 'sit dead red'?" Just as I finished my explanation, Perez threw a 2-0 fastball center cut and Reddick gave it a "swung on, gone" rip. The trio of taters jumps Reddick's season HR total from 5 to 8.

All in all, the A's scored in 6 of the 9 innings, settling for a single run only once. Parker went the first 6 IP, allowing just the 3 ER and picking up his 8th win. Jed Lowrie turned in a 4 for 4 day with two singles, a double, and a 3-run HR. Even with the Canadian exchange rate, the A's still win this game with a few runs to spare.

Now we just have to do it again tomorrow against Mark Buehrle, who blanked the A's at the Coliseum last week. Sonny Gray will make his first major league start, hoping that his teammates saved a few runs for him. And his team will take the field with at least a share of 1st place.