Rockies Sweep Two Game Series Over A’s
Germán Márquez leads Rockies over A’s 5-1
Colorado Rockies catcher Tony Wolters (14) tags out Oakland Athletics’ Matt Olson, right, during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 29, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
2020.07.29 – German Márquez struck out eight over six impressive innings and the Colorado Rockies wrapped up a two game series sweep by beating the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Wednesday.
Charlie Blackmon delivered an insurance run with an RBI double in the eighth, then reached on an error in the ninth that led to a pair of runs.
The Rockies went 4-1 on their trip after beating the A’s 8-3 on Tuesday night. They now go home to Coors Field.
“It’s very important to start winning from the beginning with what happened,” Márquez said. “We have to keep playing like this. It’s a good feeling.”
Garrett Hampson hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fourth to help back Márquez (1-1), who on Friday against the Rangers carried a no-hit bid into the sixth before Texas rallied.
The Rockies continue to get reliable relief pitching to back strong performances by the starters.
“At critical times we’re making pitches. We were stressed a couple of times today and we got out of it again with Carlos (Estévez) and Jairo (Díaz). We got out of some jams in Texas,” manager Bud Black said. “Overall, I think the guys have done a really good job executing the game plan. I think our baseball ops department along with our pitching coaches had a real good strategy with the Rangers and with the A’s. This is a good team, the A’s are a good team with a good lineup. I thought we pitched them well.”
2020.07.29 (Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies) See video
2020.07.29 (Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies) See video
Estévez relieved Márquez and escaped the seventh unscathed with the tying run on second after he hit Stephen Piscotty, who then stole second.
In the eighth, Oakland put two runners on against Díaz before Mark Canha was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But Robbie Grossman struck out, putting Oakland at 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position during these two games.
“With runners in scoring position we didn’t do a very good job today, and that was pretty much the tale of the game,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Unfortunately they came up with the big hits and we didn’t.”
Matt Chapman homered in the bottom of the first for the A’s. Colorado came right back when Tony Wolters hit a tying single in the top of the second against Frankie Montas (0-1), Oakland’s winless opening day starter who needed 28 pitches to get out of the second.
A’s prospect Vimael Machin made his defensive debut at second base after a stint as designated hitter in his first big league appearance Sunday against the Angels.
DAVIS SITS
A’s slugger Khris Davis, who led the majors with 48 home runs in 2018, got a break from his regular designated hitter duties after beginning the season 0 for 15 with seven strikeouts. Ramón Laureano was DH.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Scott Oberg, nursing a strained back that landed him on the injured list to start the season, threw a bullpen Monday and Black said: “He threw great, felt really well. He came out of that in a good spot very confident.” There’s still no timetable for Oberg’s return.
Athletics: Melvin said LHP Jesús Luzardo, who tested positive for the coronavirus during intake testing despite no symptoms, could make his first major league start as soon as this weekend’s wraparound series in Seattle. The A’s were waiting to see whether Luzardo was needed in relief Wednesday, and he went 3 2/3 innings. Luzardo struck out five and allowed three runs on four hits. “He will be in the rotation soon,” Melvin said. Luzardo said, “I think I’m ready in terms of arm strength and how I feel.”
UP NEXT
The A’s haven’t named their starter for Friday’s series opener in Seattle after a day off Thursday. RHP Jon Gray (0-0, 1.93 ERA) starts for Colorado in the club’s home opener Friday night against the Padres.
RELATED: See below 2020.07.28 (Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies)
Read more at: Oakland Athletics Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the Oakland Athletics, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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Rockies rolling behind Arenado, Senzatela to beat A’s 8-3
Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, left, scores against Oakland Athletics catcher Austin Allen in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
2020.07.28 – Nolan Arenado made up for an uncharacteristic fielding error with a single and sacrifice fly to a rare road win, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Oakland Athletics 8-3 Tuesday night.
Sam Hilliard homered for the first time this season, Antonio Senzatela pitched out of an early jam, Charlie Blackmon had two hits, and David Dahl drove in a pair of runs to help the Rockies to their third straight win following an opening day loss to Texas.
“We’ve got a good pitching staff always and this year we’ve been doing good,” Senzatela said. “We were just working for that in the offseason, even through the quarantine. I think we deserve this.”
Hilliard was hitless going into the day before doubling off A’s starter Daniel Mengden in the second and then homering in the fourth. Hilliard, who homered in his major league debut last August, laced a 2-2 pitch into the right-field stands after Raimel Tapia singled.
2020.07.28 (Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies) See video
2020.07.28 (Oakland Athletics vs. Colorado Rockies) See video
“Sam’s blast, the breaking ball in the seats was a great swing,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “I like the double the other way. We saw Sam do that a number of times last year, take pitches away from him, hit them to left field. The home run gave us a big lift.”
Senzatela worked himself into an early jam but got Oakland slugger Khris Davis to pop out with the bases loaded in the first on the way to his first win on the road since July 5, 2019. The right-hander had dropped five straight away from home since then.
Senzatela (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) and six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three.
“I threw too many pitches in the first inning but I just put on myself, ‘I need to make it through five to give the team a chance to win,’ and I did it,” Senzatela said.
Tyler Kinley, Daniel Bard and Carlos Estévez combined to two-hit the A’s over the final four innings.
Ramon Laureano had two hits and Mark Canha added a sacrifice fly for the A’s, who were attempting to go 4-1 for the first time since 2010.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin had been hopeful of resting his taxed bullpen but didn’t get the chance after Mengden (0-1) lasted four innings and gave up three runs on five hits.
“Strike one can be a problem for him sometimes,” Melvin said. “He tries to be a little too fine at times. It’s getting the pitch count down and trying to get the other team to put the ball in play earlier in the count.”
The Rockies tacked on a pair in the fifth with four consecutive one-out hits and a sacrifice fly off A’s reliever Jordan Weems in his major league debut. They scored three more in the eighth.
MILESTONE, BUT NO HITS
Davis moved into second place in games played by A’s designated hitters but continued to struggle at the plate. He struck out twice, popped up and hit into a double play in four at-bats, dropping the Oakland slugger to 0 for 15 this season.
“I’ve said all along that leashes can be a little bit shorter when you struggle in 60 games,” Melvin said. “It’s like being in August right now. Some of the guys who have track records deserve a little bit of a longer leash. He’s been really good for us over the years.”
The game marked the 356th for Davis as the A’s DH, moving him past Mitchell Page on the franchise list. Davis will have to wait until next season to break Dave Kingman’s mark of 428.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: Mengden pitched in a game for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery in February. He was moved into the rotation as left-hander A.J. Puk deals with a strained throwing shoulder that landed him on the injured list to start the season and required cortisone and platelet-rich plasma injections. … T.J. McFarland, Jake Diekman and Yusmeiro Petit, all of whom pitched three times in Oakland’s first four games, were rested.
UP NEXT
The two-game series ends Wednesday afternoon when Oakland’s Frankie Montas (0-0, 2.25 ERA) makes his second start of the season against Colorado’s Germán Márquez (0-1, 1.59) in a matchup of right-handers. Marquez’s loss on opening day was his first in 16 interleague starts.
RELATED: See 2020.07.26 (Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels)
Read more at: Oakland Athletics Media Services / More AP MLB: www.apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the Oakland Athletics, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
EMI Sports Central – EMI Sports Bay Area: Join the conversation on sports news for SF Bay Area teams: Follow @EMIsports on Twitter, “Like” us on Facebook and sign up for our FREE email newsletters.