Milone Bounces Back From Rough Start, Lowrie Leads Oakland Offense in 6-2 Win
April 2, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) is congratulated by shortstop Jed Lowrie (8) for hitting a solo home run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It looked like it was going to be another long night for the Oakland A’s when Tommy Milone gave up two solo home runs in the first inning, but he recovered to strike out four and only allow only two hits over the next six innings, and the Oakland offense broke out of their two-game funk at the plate as Oakland beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 Wednesday night to get their first win of 2013.
Milone calmed down after the first to strike out four Mariners, and only three Seattle players reached base throughout the rest of his outing as he threw 102 pitches, with 19 coming in the first. The A’s needed it too, as a loss would’ve put them at the bottom of the AL West standings at 0-3, and while that’s not a death sentence for the season by any means, it’s not exactly where they would’ve envisioned being after solidifying the roster that won the division in 2012.
It was obvious the A’s would need to get the bats going after Milone’s rough opening inning, and first basemen Nate Freiman — starting in his first Major League game — brought home Josh Donaldson from third on a ground ball up the middle with two outs in the second to make it 2-1 in favor of Seattle. Freiman’s parents and brother were in attendance at the Coliseum to witness his professional debut, and he put on a good show for them, going 2-for-3 and making a nice sliding catch in foul territory in the fifth inning to add to the highlight reel.
Oakland added another run in the third when Seattle’s Joe Saunders loaded the bases, walking consecutive batters following a lead off double by Coco Crisp. Yoenis Cespedes was able to score Crisp on a sacrifice fly to deep center field before Josh Donaldson and Derek Norris were retired to end the inning.
It wouldn’t take long for the A’s to break the 2-2 tie, however, as they hit up Saunders for two more runs in the fourth. Jed Lowrie recorded his second double of the night to bring home Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp with two outs.
Lowrie endeared himself to the fans Wednesday night by providing the spark to ignite the offense, going 3-for-3 with three RBI, the icing on the cake being a solo home run to lead off the seventh. Chris Young followed that up in the next at-bat with a home run of his own, and the A’s would go on to win by a final score of 6-2 after Sean Doolittle and Chris Resop made quick work of the Mariners in the eighth and ninth innings.
After recording only six hits and one run in the first two games of the series, Bob Melvin’s lineup changes proved to be the difference tonight, and the A’s have a chance to even the series tomorrow when they return to action at 12:35 PST. A.J. Griffin will get the call against Seattle’s Brandon Maurer, and we’ll have the recap ready and waiting for you when it’s all said and done.