The A's were down late 0-5, but they didn't give up the fight even at a spring training game. The comeback was completed and we can add another thing to our celebrations : Victory!
The game :
It didn't look like it was going to be our day. Marco Estrada wasn't impressive as his ERA stays at 9. The first inning was good, but the next 2 innings became problematic for our starter. He walked 2 batters on 4 pitches and let the opposition hit a lot of balls in the air. Meanwhile Chris Paddack threw an immaculate inning during his dominant outing in which he struck out 7 A's hitters in 4 innings. All of that led to a 3-0 Padres lead after 3 innings. Reliever Joakim Soria had a good inning of work, but San Diego would increase its lead from 3 to 5 after a bad inning by Paul Blackburn in which he allowed 2 hits, a 4 pitch walk and a hit by pitch. He would then throw 2 shutout innings thanks to a pair of strikeouts and some help from the defense. It was still 5-0 after that performance.
***Click here to revisit today's Game Thread! ***
That is exactly when the comeback started. Josh Phegley hit a 2 run HR to right field in the bottom of the 7th driving in Fowler showing some signs of good form. Atferwards Sean Murphy took over at catcher. Throwing to him was Ryan Dull, who showed some promise in his clean outing. By the 8th inning most of our starting lineup was consisted of prospects. Kevin Merrell drew a walk, Chad Pinder was replaced by Jeremy Eierman after his double, Austin Beck got a single and Greg Deichmann won the game for us thanks to a 2 run bomb! Ryan Buchter got the save, the other Ryan got a win and the comeback was complete! It wasn't exactly a thriller like the amazing 13-10 victory against Texas and it is only Spring Training, but hey, it is still better to win than to lose!
Notes :
Marco Estrada might not have been great and in the opinion of many A's fans he shouldn't be at the top of our rotation. Today's game didn't make the doubters gain confidence in him. He struggled against a weak Padres lineup. It turns out that the long ball isn't his only problem. But hey, it is only his second outing and even with the whole trip to Japan there is still time for him to turn it all around.
Paul Blackburn is still a very valuable depth piece, but this outing wasn't his best. Khris Davis went 0 for 2, but should be worry about that? I don't think so. The most important thing is that he is healthy!
Josh Phegley had a good game and looks to be on form, which is even more important important with the Herrmann injury.
Ryan Dull is still here and he can be a really dangerous reliever. Consistency is something he needs to work on as he walked Austin Allen on 4 pitches after striking out the first 2 batters using only 6 pitches.
Chad Pinder is having a strong Spring Training and who knows, maybe this is the year in which we will see his breakout. Franklin Barreto is also showing some life with his bat.
Ryan Buchter and Joakim Soria are going to be important relievers for the Oakland A's. It is nice to see a change of reporting. Last year I got to cover a lost game due to Buchter's another bad outing. This time I am talking about his save! That is a good change!
Ramon Laureano is a great defender!
Our prospects are exciting!!
That will be it for me, it is time to say goodnight as I'm going to bed or shall I say Dobranoc!