Game #125: Laureano shows off power as A’s blank Rangers 9-0

So. Many. Good. Things.

TLDR; the A’s cruised to a 9-0 victory over the red-hot Rangers, and once again share first place in the AL West.

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Ramón Laureano

Can we keep him forever? After hitting the first and second home runs of his young career, Ramón Laureano now has 8 RBIs in his 11 games with the team.

Somehow, it feels like he’s having an impact on every game in which he plays – but funnily enough, Monday’s homers were his also his first extra base hits in the big leagues. Between the timely hitting, outfield assists, and speedy pinch-running, everything is coming up Ramón.

Also, this:

But more on that later.

Mike Fiers

David Forst and Billy Beane are looking like straight-up geniuses right now. After today’s 1-hit dazzler, Mike Fiers is now 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in his time with Oakland. He threw 100 pitches Monday night – with his fastball sitting around 90 miles per hour – and he struck out a season-high 8 while walking and hitting 1 (however, it’s worth nothing that 46 of those pitches came in the first two innings and 54 over the last five). Also, there’s this fun fact:

Gotta love the irony.

Khris Davis

No. 2 is now No. 2 in the league in home runs. David crushed his 37th homer Monday night, and is now tied with the Indians’ José Ramírez, and trails only the Red Sox’s J.D. Martinez. But perhaps better than the hit itself were KD’s acts that that preceded it. Before the game, he let a young fan sign his jersey as part of a Make a Wish event, and then played the game with Anthony Slocumb’s signature on display.

Maybe it was the signature, or maybe he just had a hearty breakfast, but Davis absolutely crushed his home run. It went 438 feet, stopping only because it hit directly off an outfield suite.

Davis now has tallied 99 RBIs, second-most in the majors behind Martinez.

Stephen Piscotty

Somehow, Stephen Piscotty hit the ball even farther than Davis. His seventh-inning home run travelled 441 feet.

This was after he notched his 100th career double earlier in the game.

Bullpen

With Fiers going 7 innings and exiting with a huge lead, there was finally no need to use any of the high-leverage relievers. Ryan Buchter pitched a scoreless 8th, giving up zero runs on 2 hits. He threw 15 pitches, and his fastball topped out at 93.9 miles per hour.

Shawn Kelley pitched a clean 9th inning on 10 pitches, and that was that.

Bartolo Colon

Man, this was tough to watch. Colon got lit up for 7 runs in 5 innings (including the aforementioned 4 home runs). In the end, we want the A’s to win at all costs, but we owe it to Bartolo Colon – who brought us so much joy – to take a moment to reflect on the passion that he brings to the mound. This is a 45-year-old man in his 21st year of play, on his second consecutive one-year deal, who still wants to go out and pitch for his spot in a rotation. He hustles, he laughs, and he plays simply because he loves the game, and that’s an amazing thing.

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Thanks to a Robinson Cano three-run homer in Seattle to finish off the Astros tonight, the A’s are again tied for first in the AL West!