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 The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Butler isn't known for his speed, but he was
fast enough to jumpstart the A's and spark them to a 4-1 victory
against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon at the O.co
Coliseum.
"That was impressive," said speedy A's center fielder Billy Burns,
who had a triple, a double and scored two runs. "Anytime a guy like
that just starts trucking around the bases, it gets you excited . So
it was fun to see.
"When he tagged up, that's just a classic speedster right there.
That whole at-bat and scoring I was pumped up. I gave him a big
high-five when he scored."
Of course Butler needed help from Rockies left fielder Rafael Ynoa
on both the triple and the run. Butler hit a deep line drive and
Ynoa crashed into the left field wall while trying to catch it. Ynoa
stayed on the ground and Butler kept running as the ball caromed
away. Butler scored easily on Eric Sogard's shallow sacrifice fly
when Ynoa's throw barely got back to the infield.
"I was a little out of breath," Butler said of his triple. "The only
way I'm getting a triple -- I'm glad he's all right -- is if he goes
down. Burnsie had a triple. He was definitely a whole base ahead of
me. The only thing I thought about when I got that triple was it
took away from my doubles total."
Butler went 2-for-3 with his first triple since Aug. 9, 2012, drove
in a run, scored once and walked.
Butler and Burns gave right-hander Jesse Hahn all the support he
needed. Hahn pitched six strong innings. Hahn (6-6) gave up one run
and four hits and posted his fourth win in his past five decisions.
He struck out six and walked two.
Right-hander Tyler Clippard got the final four outs for his 14th
save.
Oakland (36-45) reached the halfway point in its season nine games
below .500.
Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis (4-3) gave up three runs and seven
hits in 5 2/3 innings as his two-game winning streak ended. He
struck out four and walked none but threw 111 pitches.
"Chad hung in there," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "It was a
start I feel like he could have won. We didn't perform well
offensively. We had some opportunities early and we didn't execute.
Could have got out to an early lead."
Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado went 0-for-4, snapping his
17-game hitting streak, which had been the longest active streak in
the major leagues.
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Colorado (34-44) lost for the fourth time in its past five games and
fell to 1-8 in interleague games. They dropped two of three to the
A's, losing the series, and are 2-4 on their nine-game road trip.
"Just a tough road trip, especially here in Oakland," said Rockies
right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who had two hits. "We didn't score a
lot of runs this series. We know that the offense needs to get
going."
The A's made it 2-0 in the third when Burns hit a leadoff triple
into the right field corner and scored on right fielder Josh
Reddick's two-out single.
Colorado answered with a run in the fourth when first baseman Ben
Paulsen and catcher Nick Hundley had back-to-back doubles with two
outs.
But the A's scored a run in fifth to make it 3-1. Burns hit a
one-out double and Butler drove him in with a bases-load single to
right with two outs.
Home plate umpire Tom Hallion took a hard foul ball off his mask
with two outs in the top of the first inning and couldn't continue.
First base umpire Alfonso Marquez took over behind the plate and the
rest of the game was played with three umpires.
NOTES: A's RHP Sonny Gray, who missed his scheduled start Tuesday,
has been diagnosed with severe bacterial gastroenteritis. He was
released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon. He is being treated
with antibiotics and fluids. "I spoke to Sonny this morning," said
A's team physician Dr. Allan Pont. "He's getting much better. He's
had no fever. He's actually rounding into shape." A's manager Bob
Melvin said he doesn't know whether Gray will make his next
scheduled start on Sunday against Seattle. ... Rockies SS Troy
Tulowitzki was out of lineup, getting a scheduled day off. "It's a
quick turnaround, a routine day off," Rockies manager Walt Weiss
said. ... A's RHP Chris Bassitt, who filled in for Gray on Tuesday,
will start again Sunday if Gray isn't ready. ... Weiss said he will
go with a closer-by-committee while closer John Axford is on the
family medical emergency list. RHP LaTroy Hawkins, who got a save
Tuesday, is one option. RHPs Scott Oberg and Tommy Kahnle are two
others.
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