Oakland A’s: Mark Canha Led an Offensive Explosion
The Oakland Athletics offense and relief pitching has been horrendous this season. On Sunday against the Tamp Bay Rays, it looked like the A’s would lose due to poor pitching and hitting once again.
I was actually at this game, and things were going great. The Oakland A’s were up 1-0 going into the seventh inning, and then I saw Sean Doolittle warming up in the bullpen. A good amount of fans at the Coliseum also seemed to notice, and the crowd waited for his entrance with excited anticipation.
Unfortunately, his first appearance with the A’s since his injury didn’t go very well. He allowed a run that tied that game, and the next relief pitcher also gave up a run.
During the seventh inning stretch, the crowd seemed to accept that this would be another dull loss for the A’s. Oakland was down 2-1, and many fans probably assumed that would be the final score.
Take a look at the final score of this game, and you can guess how much fun we had in the home crowd during the last few innings. The Oakland A’s won 8-2, and they exploded with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The A’s simply kept on getting hits with runners in scoring position. Fans were also treated with exhilarating triples from both Mark Canha and Billy Burns. Canha’s triple brought all three base runners home, and it was a great time.
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Canha finished the game with four RBIs, and Eric Sogard also had a clutch two RBI single in the seventh inning. This was the type of offensive performance that fans have been waiting for all season. Hopefully it will carry through to a strong finish this year and a better 2016.
There were also a few interesting changes in the fielding lineup for the Athletics. Fans have come to expect seeing Brett Lawrie at third base with Eric Sogard at second, but the infield had a different appearance in Sunday’s win.
Lawrie played second base, Sogard was at shortstop, Danny Valencia took the hot corner, and Mark Canha was at first base. Throughout the whole game, this defensive lineup played great. They seemed to mesh really well from each of their positions. Perhaps the A’s are experimenting with this new lineup to create a more productive team for next season. Hopefully they keep using it because the Oakland A’s didn’t play like they were in last in the division on Sunday.