The Athletics showed fight in their 10-9 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday at the Oakland Coliseum.
With a heatwave hitting California over the last few days, the ball jumped off the bat as the A's hit three home runs. Oakland used the long ball to get back into the game after being down both 6-1 and 9-4 at various points in the game on Tuesday night.
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Despite the loss, manager Mark Kotsay applauded his team's effort and battle to push the Braves, one of the best teams in MLB, and for not rolling over when down five runs on two occasions.
"There's a lot of positives to take away from that, for sure," Kotsay told reporters postgame. "They continue to show their grind, their grit tonight against this team, as you talk about being down 6-1 and being down 9-4 and making runs back into it.
"Unfortunately, we fell short by one run tonight. The Atlanta bullpen, the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning guys, are pretty exceptional, and they showed their stuff."
Chad Pinder, who came into the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and hit a three-home run to tie the game 9-9, shared the same sentiments as Kotsay.
"I mean, it shows fight," Pinder told reporters. "There's a lot of fight in the young guys that we have the ability to stay in a game like that against one of the best teams in baseball, it should give confidence to a lot of guys in this room, and it's just a good battle.
"It was a fun baseball game to be a part of; we came out on the wrong side of it, but a lot of people stepped up tonight."
Oakland Athletics
Despite not being in the playoff hunt, the A's are having fun playing baseball while not rolling over for teams, regardless of their record. Additionally, they at least will make the opposition earn every victory until the end of the season.
The A's have a young team with players battling to be part of the future. As a result, the team expects to establish a culture heading into the 2023 season of playing baseball until the final out, despite what the score suggests.
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Oakland will attempt to salvage a split of the two-game series on Wednesday when they send Ken Waldichuk (0-0, 1.93 ERA) to the mound for his first home appearance.
Meanwhile, the Braves will counter with a young pitcher of their own in Spencer Strider (9-4, 2.67 ERA) in Atlanta's attempt at a two-game sweep.