Game #152: A’s Bats and Anderson’s flawless pitching lead to Victory, 10-0

The A’s offense exploded tonight for ten runs on ten hits and Brett Anderson threw 6 2/3rds innings of scoreless baseball, pacing Oakland to a 10-0 shutout win against the Angels. The dominant victory put the A’s back in the win column and reduced their playoff clinching magic number to six.

*GameThread Here #1*
**GameThread #2**

Brett Anderson: Ground Ball Machine
Anderson came into tonight’s came fresh off a disappointing performance last outing against the O’s in Baltimore. After that game on September 13th, Anderson tweeted:

Did he ever contribute more his next time out! Anderson final line was 6 2/3rds innings no runs allowed on three hits, walking none and striking out three. When Anderson is pitching well, he induces ground ball after ground ball. Tonight was exhibit A of Brett being on his game. Of the 20 outs he recorded, 13 of them were groundball outs.
Anderson also mixed in a few timely K’s...Here is Anderson freezing Trout on a called third strike to end the sixth inning:

A’s Offense Erupts in the 4th Inning
Nick Martini began the fireworks for the Green and Gold in the bottom of the 4th inning, leading off with a opposite field single. Matt Chapman singled Martini to second, then Jed Lowrie drove both runners in with a classic Jed(i) double:

Khris Davis then came up and “krushed” a infield single, moving Lowrie to third in the process. After a Olson walk to load the bases, Stephen “AL Comeback Player of the Year” Piscotty stroked his 40th double of the season to plate Lowrie and Davis and make it 4-0 A’s with still nobody out. Ramon Laureano, batting in the 7th slot tonight, singled home Olson to increase the score to 5-0 and after a Semien strikeout, Jonathan Lucroy hit a SAC Fly RBI to score Piscotty and give the A’s 6 runs in the inning (all earned off of Angels starter, Felix Pena.

Piscotty Adds Three More in the 5th Inning:

Both Teams Emptied Their Benches in the 7th Inning
I realize this title is a little deceiving for those hoping to read about a bench clearing brawl
(I have to keep you reading somehow!)
Instead, emptying the benches tonight meant that both managers looked for ways to replace all of their starters in the 7th inning. Some guy named Michael Hermosillo wearing #59, replaced Mike Trout in centerfield for the Angels. He was joined on the field by guys named Sherman Johnson and Francisco Arcia. Don’t worry, Scoscia kept some integrity in the game by leaving Taylor Ward, Jabari Blash and Joe Hudson in the line-up. Sheesh, September baseball....

BoMel and the A’s followed suit, getting AB’s for Franklin Barreto, Matt Joyce and fan favorite, Beau Taylor in the bottom half of the 7th. The A’s loaded the bases in the inning and managed to score an additional run (Laureano SAC Fly) to give the A’s double digits on the evening.

A’s Bullpen Wraps Up the Victory
Ryan Dull replaced Anderson in the 7th inning to record the final out of the frame and the first two outs of the 8th inning. Frankie Montas relieved Dull in order to get some game action and recorded the third out of the 8th. Aaron Brooks entered the game in the 9th inning for the A’s and allowed a two out single but nothing more to preserve the shutout and the 10-0 victory.

Playoff Picture: A’s Have 10 More Regular Season Games
The Astros finally lost a game! The Mariners downed Houston, 9-0. The Astros loss reduced their lead over the A’s to 4 games in the AL West. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 9-1 in New York to keep the A’s 2.5 games behind for the top Wild Card (and homefield) postion. The Rays won again (5 straight) to stay 5 games behind the A’s in the Wild Card Race.

The Astros are off tomorrow and host the Angels beginning on Friday. The Yankees and Red Sox matchup tomorrow evening (4:05pm pst) and the Rays are in Toronto, Thursday thru Sunday.

*Also note the A’s game is exlusively on Facebook Watch tomorrow at 12:35pm

The A’s can trim a 0.5 game off idle Houston’s lead tomorrow with a win. Wouldn’t it sum of this season perfectly if the A’s somehow came back in the final 10 games of the season to overtake the ‘Stros?!

Let’s Go Oak-land!!!!!