The Athletics finally broke through, and ended their losing streak in the process. Oakland bounced back from an extra-innings loss on Monday to defeat the Seattle Mariners, 12-6, on Tuesday behind a late offensive explosion.
The first six innings of Tuesday's game at T-Mobile Park were much of the same as of late for the A's. They fell behind 4-2 and only managed three hits. But in the top of the seventh, the A's pulled even, and then they continued to pile on.
Tony Kemp cut the deficit to 4-3 with a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning. Paul Sewald then came on in relief for the Mariners, and the A's proceeded to break the game open with some clutch two-out at-bats.
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Mark Canha immediately tied the game with an RBI single. Chad Pinder and Jed Lowrie then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and chase Sewald from the game. Daniel Zamora replaced him, but didn't fare any better, as Matt Olson greeted him with a single to right that scored both Canha and Pinder. That was followed by a Sean Murphy double that drove in Lowrie and Olson, and suddenly, the A's had an 8-4 lead.
Kemp hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and the A's tacked on two more runs in the ninth for their best offensive output since Apr. 21. Tuesday also marked Oakland's first game with double-digit runs over that same span.
"We had not been swinging the bats great, and we were a little bit stagnant early on in the game, and with [Chris Bassitt] giving up some runs, which you don't normally see, we had to pick it up a little bit later," A's manager Bob Melvin told reporters in a video conference after the win.
"And these guys, like they typically do, they responded. We were able to scratch a couple across and then have a big seventh inning, and that put us in a good position to win the game. So it was good for us to have a game like this that we're definitely capable of."
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A large portion of the A's offensive explosion was the product of the bottom of the order. Stephen Piscotty, Elvis Andrus and Kemp combined for five runs, seven hits and six RBI, as there was no weak spot in the lineup Tuesday night.
"That's what makes a good lineup," Melvin added, "that you don't have to just expect to score all your runs at the top and middle of the order, that you can do it at the bottom of the order. And that's exactly what happened today. And when we're going good, that's the dynamic we have and that's the confidence we have is that we can score in an inning no matter where we are, and certainly showed up today."
With all the talent on the A's roster, it was only a matter of time until they picked up the hitting. They finally broke through Tuesday night, and don't be shocked if they keep rolling from here.