Game #123: Double Trouble: A’s Catch Astros For 1st Place With 7-1 Win!

We have ourselves a 39 game season. With a flurry of 8 doubles, the A’s ambushed Dallas Keuchel and the Astros 7-1, and going into Sunday’s series finale both teams sit with identical records of 74-49. Not bad for an A’s team that sat 10 games out as recently as July 11th.

Following hits from Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie earlier in the inning, Khris Davis got the scoring, and doubling, started in the 1st with a 2-run double, the only scoring in the game until the bottom of the 6th. That’s when Davis, Matt Olson, and Stephen Piscotty greeted Keuchel with back-to-back-to-back doubles to start the inning, and doubling the A’s lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, Josh Phegley’s RBI — yep, you guessed it — double knocked Keuchel out and extended Oakland’s lead to 5-0.

As for the scoring, it was capped in the bottom of the 8th off of reliever Brad Peacock on a two-run hit by Phegley. I’ll let you guess what kind of hit it was.

The other main story today was the brilliant pitching of Trevor Cahill. Through 7 IP, only an infield single by Yuli Gurriel in the 2nd, and a leadoff walk to Alex Bregman in the 7th, marred a near-perfect effort. Bregman’s walk was followed by a 6-3 DP off the bat of Carlos Correa, as Cahill faced just one over the minimum in notching his 5th win and lowering his ERA to 3.12.

The Astros’ lone run came courtesy of a solo HR in the 9th by Tony Kemp off of Yusmeiro Petit, a mere blip in an electric afternoon enjoyed by 32, 204 at the rocking Coliseum.

If you’re going to advance, you have to beat the best and you have to beat your nemeses. How fitting that tomorrow’s winner will lead the AL West and the A’s will be up against Justin Verlander. Sean Manaea will start for the A’s, with a rested Blake Treinen at the ready along with a rested Lou Trivino, Fernando Rodney, Ryan Buchter, and hopefully behind a large and loud crowd.

The Oakland A’s are tied for 1st place in the AL West. As Ken Korach would say, “Do you believe it?”

Relive the game threads here and here.