WOW: Late Errors Allow A’s To Extend Winning Streak To 11
Apr 21, 2021, 5:48 PM | Updated: 5:53 pm
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
With their backs against the wall in the 10th inning, Oakland benefitted from some sloppy Minnesota defense to keep their winning streak alive
After allowing a two-run home run to Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton in the top of the 10th-inning, it appeared that the Oakland Athletics winning streak would end at 10 games.
Although the A’s would load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the tenth, Mark Canha’s ground-ball to Twins second baseman Travis Blankenhorn would end the game and—
Hold on….
I’m being told that Blankenhorn would not make the play, allowing Matt Chapman to score and cut the deficit to 12-11 with two outs.
Ramon Laureano’s seven-pitch final at bat would end in a grounder to third, one that Luis Arraez would throw across the diamond to end Oakland’s—
You’re kidding.
Arraez’s throw would go far past Twins fire baseman Willians Astudillo’s glove and into the foul territory in right field to allow both of Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus to score, giving the A’s a 13-12 win–their 11th-straight win–in nail-biting fashion.
Old friend Josh Donaldson’s solo-shot in the first inning would be the first of 25 runs and 31 hits between the two teams.
The A’s would answer back with another home run from Matt Olson, a solo home run in the bottom of the second that would be followed by an Elvis Andrus RBI single and run-scoring wild pitch later in the inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Minnesota slugger Nelson Cruz’s fifth home run of the season put the Twins back out in front 4-3 for about 20 minutes before Matt Olson hot another home run to put the A’s out in front 5-4.
From that point on, the runs started flying in from every direction.
Seth Brown drilled his third homer of the season, while Cruz followed with another blast of his own to keep things close at 7-5.
J.B.Wendelken relived Frankie Montas (4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 4 K) in the fifth-inning and allowed the Twins to tie things up at 7-7 after a run-scoring wild pitch and error by Jed Lowrie.
Minnesota tacked three runs on in the sixth-inning to take a 10-7 lead, but the A’s bats would not go quietly.
Jed Lowrie laced a two-run double in the right field gap to cut the Twins lead to 10-9 heading into the final three innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, Laureano was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, giving Oakland a baserunner with no outs. Olson’s one-out single moved Laureano to third and gave Matt Chapman and RBI opportunity, one that he would not squander. Chapman’s sacrifice-fly tied the game at 10-10 and sent the game into extras.
Buxton’s home-run off of Lou Trivino seemed to be the end for Oakland, but the Twins defense would give the A’s yet another win in what has been the longest winning-streak in the MLB this season.
With the win, the A’s improve to 12-7 on the season after starting with a 1-7 record over their first eight games.
The A’s will enjoy a well-deserved off-day on Thursday while they travel to Baltimore, where they will open up a three-game set with the Orioles.
You can get all of your A’s vs O’s action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, starting with pregame coverage at 3:00pm PST on Friday prior to a 4:05pm PST first pitch from Baltimore.
