The starting pitching was excellent. The hitting was timely. Everything came together for the Athletics on Wednesday afternoon, and Seth Brown couldn’t be more excited.
With their 4-2 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Oakland took the series and leapfrogged Seattle in the AL West standings -- the performance of a team that’s really starting to “gel,” Brown said.
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“It’s going to take everybody, and I think everybody’s embracing that right now,” Brown told NBC Sports California’s Chris Townsend and Dave Stewart during “A’s Postgame Live” after the win. “Putting together good ABs and quality at-bats, and I think when we’re doing all that, good things are going to happen for us and we’re going to put a lot of runs on the board.
“It’s starting to gel for us a little bit, and it was definitely nice -- especially against these [Mariners] -- having a gel like that.”
Going up against reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray was a tall order for the A’s, and especially Brown, who is only hitting .176 off of lefties this season. But he made quick work of Ray with a double in the second inning, followed by a solo home run in the fourth that put Oakland up 1-0.
Elvis Andrus also homered on Wednesday with a two-run shot in the sixth, and Luis Barrera added some insurance with an RBI single in the ninth that scored Brown.
“It’s kind of that same story, just fighting to get the next guy up over and over again,” Brown said of Oakland’s latest offensive effort.
Across his last seven games, Brown is slashing .364/.391/.818 -- just one of several A’s players who are seeing the ball well lately. Andrus is hitting .311 since May 11, and Barrera has bolstered his average up to .333 on the season after collecting nine hits in his last seven games.
Oakland Athletics
A’s manager Mark Kotsay said he spoke with Brown before the game about attacking early against Ray, which clearly paid off. Brown’s double and homer off Ray both came on the first pitch of the at-bat before the Mariners ace struck him out in the sixth.
“You saw the third at-bat where [Ray’s] slider became a weapon, but fortunately for us, the game plan against Robbie with Seth was to be aggressive early and he got it.”
Oakland’s performance at the plate on Wednesday complemented starting pitcher Paul Blackburn’s fifth win of the season, which saw him toss 5 1/3 innings of one-hit ball, and a gritty showing by the A’s bullpen.
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It will take plenty more outings like Wednesday’s for the A’s (19-27) to climb out of their fourth-place hole in the division standings.
But if the team continues to gel as Brown has seen, he believes the future is bright.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Brown said.