Well, this was “fun.”
The scoring began early. To start the first, Matt Joyce walked, Marcus Semien singled, (Yonder Alonso K’ed) Khris Davis walked, then Ryon Healy grounded out, scoring Joyce. 1-0 Oakland. Bruce Maxwell then singled, scoring Semien and Davis. 3-0 Oakland.
Manaea retired Jose Bautista to start the bottom half. Maxwell then got hit in the face with a foul ball and had to be checked. Not that I wanted him to come out of the game, but I would be curious to see who catches with Phegley freshly on the DL. Luckily, Maxwell carried on. Russell Martin struck out, but then Josh Donaldson homered. Of course. 3-1 Oakland.
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In the top of the second, it became clear that Marcus Stroman was suffering from some command issues which were only bolstered by Will Little’s atrocious strike zone. He walked Joyce and Semien, but the A’s were unable to capitalize.
Manaea sent the Jays down 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Maxwell got his second hit of the day in the third inning, but Davis, Healy, and Matt Chapman went down easy.
Manaea once again retired Kevin Pillar, Darwin Barney, and Bautista in order in the bottom half.
Jaycob Brugman singled to start the fourth inning, but he was promptly erased as he was caught stealing (Russel Martin has put a stop to over 20% of stolen base attempts this year). Joyce an Semien both singled — they were a combined 6-for-6 on the day after that), but were unable to score.
AGAIN, Manaea struck out Martin, Donaldson, and Justin Smoak in order.
The fifth inning is where things got crazy.
Stroman walked Davis again, but Healy grounded into a double-play. With Maxwell batting, Toronto manager John Gibbons came out to argue the ball three call, and was ejected. Then after calling a suspect ball four, Stroman broke. He charged umpire Will Little (drew an ejection, obviously), and then his catcher was ejected as well. To recap, the manager plus his full battery was ejected on one pitch.
Honestly? Get ‘em, Marcus.
Catcher Miguel Montero came in to replace Martin, and Chris Smith took over for Stroman.
Kendrys Morales promptly took Manaea deep to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Despite giving up a double to Kevin Pillar, Manaea escaped the innings otherwise unscathed. 3-2 Oakland.
Rosales singled in the top of the 6th inning, but A’s bats were otherwise quite.
Bautista doubled to start the bottom half. Montero and Donaldson both flew (flied?) out, but Smoak singled Bautista home. Tie game.
In the top of the seventh, Joe Smith replaced Chis Smith, and walked Alonso. That was all the action.
Troy Tulowitzki got in scoring position with a towering ground-rule double in the bottom half of the inning. Darwin Barney singled to right field, and Tulo tried to score. Joyce gunned him down at home to protect the tie.
Blue Jays broadcast: “The A’s have bad arms in the outfield which is good.”
/one inning later
/Matt Joyce throws out runner at home.
— Kyle Madson (@KyleAMadson) July 27, 2017
Righty Ryan Tepera took over the mound in the eight Chapman grounded out and Brugman singled. Jed Lowrie — who has been thrown out only once his career, conveniently by Will Little — pinch-hit for Rosales. Brugman advanced on a wild pitch, and Lowrie walked. Joyce struck out, but Semien (having himself a day/week, I might add) singled him home. 4-3 Oakland. Lowrie and Semien advanced on a wild pitch to Alonso, but he went on to strike out.
Ryan Dull took over in the bottom of the inning, making his first appearance in two months. He got an angry Bautista looking. Miguel Montero grounded out. Donaldson singled and Blake Treinen came in to retire Justin Smoak on one pitch. That out was deemed a “pop out to left field,” which doesn’t begin to do Matt Chapman justice:
Aaron Loup retired the A’s in the top of the ninth.
Then… ugh. Treinen, going for the four-out save, gave up a game-trying homer to Kendrys Morales (sound familiar?). There’s a reason why Alex is in charge around here:
“The community at Nats blog Federal Baseball were adamant that (Treinen) not face left-handed batters in key situations” – me, 6 hours ago
— Alex Hall (@AlexHallAN) July 27, 2017
Treinen got out of the inning with a slick play to eventually get Barney out at first on a replay.
Chapman, Brugman, and Lowrie went down quickly in the top of the 10th, but not without another showdown between Will Little and Lowrie.
Liam Hendriks came out of for the bottom half. He retired Bautista, walked Montero, K’ed Donaldson, then walked Smoak. He worked Kendrys Morales to a full count, then walked him too. He then worked Steve Pearce to a full count, which ended in an a walk-off grand slam.
Final: 8-4 Blue Jays
Bob Melvin has been at 999 wins since the weekend. Maybe he’ll just quit before 1,000.
