Game #119: Led by Chapman’s ‘triple-double,’ A’s beat Mariners 7-6

Well, that was fun.

All that matters in the immediate here is that the A’s gained a game on the Mariners and half a game on the Astros tonight, putting the just 2.5 games ahed of Seattle for the second wild card spot, and just two games out of the division lead. Priorities.

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After going only three innings in his last start, Sean Manaea was stellar on the mound Monday. He went 7.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts (and the second run came when an inherited runner scored off Emilio Pagan). He did that all on only 89 pitches, 61 of which were strikes.

He should probably buy Matt Chapman a drink for this potentially run-saving gem:

Pagan relieved Manaea to try for the last out of the 8th inning, but allowed multiple singles an thus, the aforementioned run. Lou Trivino had to get the final out of the inning, but allowed another run to score.

PItching to start the ninth was Jeurys Familia... or at least someone bearing an uncanny resemblance, minus the ability to throw strikes (just a minor detail, right?). Familia allowed three straight walks, and failed to record an out. Unfortunately, this meant that the already-overworked Blake Treinen had to come in to get the save, which is not what you want in the first game of a crucial stretch.

Treinen allowed one run to score on a wild pitch, and then a Mitch Haniger single scored another two. He allowed one more single before eventually getting his third strikeout of the inning, completing his 31st save of the year. This insane stat is still intact:

On the batting side, Matt Chapman went 3-for-5 with doubles, and scored every time he got on base. Lowrie, of course, added two doubles of his own. Together, they tallied 6 RBI. Chapman did all that despite this ridiculous slide into second:

Things got shaky at the end there, but all’s well that ends well, right?

FINAL SCORE: A’s 7, Mariners 6.

We might as well go ahead and dub this one the Matt Chapman Game, as he continued his stellar performance on the post-game broadcast, begging fans to come watch.

Attendance was reported to be 10,400.

Also of note – early in the A’s doubling binge, Dallas Braden said the following on the broadcast:

“Two-out knocks get you to heaven. St. Peter, get your clipboard”

And I’ll leave you with that.