|
 The A's amassed five hits, including designated hitter Billy
Butler's three-run homer, and took a 4-0 lead against the San Diego
Padres
The outburst was a surprise considering right-hander Jesse Chavez
was pitching for Oakland, and he came into the game with a 2.64 ERA
but a 2-6 record, thanks in large part to getting an average of 1.94
runs of support in his first 10 starts.
This time, the hits and runs kept coming for Chavez, and the A's
rolled to a 16-2 victory. They pounded out a season-high 20 hits and
set a new high for runs, surpassing the 12 they scored against the
Seattle Mariners on April 10.
"It was awesome, especially for Chavez," said A's center fielder
Billy Burns, who went 3-for-5 and scored three runs. "He pitches so
well every time, and we just haven't put up the runs for him. It was
really nice to pay him back a little bit."
Chavez (3-6) pitched another gem. He gave up one run over seven
innings and struck out a career-high 11, doing most of his damage
with his changeup and low-90s fastball. Chavez, who allowed only
three hits, spent much of the night watching A's hitters circle the
bases.
"We've been so close this whole time," Chavez said. "Now it's all
finally coming together. That's the fun thing. As a pitcher, you
just want to come in, sit down and watch them do their thing."
Left fielder Ben Zobrist had a single, a double and a triple, drove
in three runs and scored three times for the A's, who won their
season-high-matching fourth consecutive game. Every A's starter had
at least one hit, and every starter except Burns had at least one
RBI.
The Padres lost their fourth straight game overall and their third
straight to the A's. They are 0-3 since firing manager Bud Black and
0-2 under interim manager Pat Murphy.
San Diego right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne (3-5) allowed six runs on
eight hits over six innings, striking out two and walking one.
"Despy knows how to pitch and has been good as of late," Murphy
said. "In the opening inning, he give up a four-spot, and it really
came down to a couple pitches, maybe two pitches. You give up a
four-spot and now you're looking to get back on track. He did and
gave us some innings, and that was helpful, but we couldn't figure
out their guy. Their guy was tremendous. Tremendous. He had the
bottom of the zone. He was very good tonight, and we didn't have
very good at-bats.
"Let's face it, we're trying to get back in the game, and we pressed
a little bit. This team has been through a lot in the last week. Not
making excuses for them. I've been here a short time, but there's
things to really believe in."
San Diego shortstop Alexi Amarista hit a leadoff home run in the
sixth inning, his second of the season, and third baseman Will
Middlebrooks crushed a leadoff homer in the eighth, his ninth.
Center fielder Will Venable went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
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The A's scored four runs in the first inning, one in the third, four
in the seventh and seven in the eighth. Padres reliever Cory Mazzoni
gave up eight hits and seven runs while recording two outs in the
eighth. Amarista got the final out, retiring Burns on a fly ball.
"Bud Black was always telling me that the opportunity would come,
but the opportunity didn't come," Amarista said of his major league
pitching debut. "Now with the new manager, it came, so I'm really
happy about it."
Burns stayed red hot, leading off the game with a first-pitch double
down the right field line. He moved to third on shortstop Marcus
Semien's single and scored on Zobrist's sharp single to right with
one out.
Despaigne struck out catcher Stephen Vogt for the second out, but
Butler hammered a 1-1 pitch high and deep into the left field seats
for a three-run shot, making it 4-0. The home run was the designated
hitter's fifth of the season and first since May 16 against the
Chicago White Sox.
"It felt good," Butler said. "Put the barrel on something and got a
good result for the guys. Two-out RBIs are hard to come by. Those
pick teams up. You can see what it did for us the rest of the day.
We just started feeding off each other. Hit some balls hard, found
some holes. We had 20 hits. That doesn't happen too many times, and
it was a real good win for us at home."
Oakland extended its lead to 5-0 in the third. With one out, Zobrist
tripled down the right field line, then scored on Vogt's sacrifice
fly.
"It's good for us," Zobrist said of the lopsided win. "We know that
it's in us to have games like this when we score a lot of runs and
play good defense and pitch well. Doing all the things we need to be
doing."
NOTES: Padres CF/1B Wil Myers will undergo surgery to trim a bone
spur in his left wrist. He is expected to be sidelined for eight
weeks before he can resume baseball activities, interim manager Pat
Murphy said. ... Athletics 1B Ike Davis (strained left quadriceps)
played his fifth rehab game Wednesday for Triple-A Nashville.
Earlier in the week, A's manager Bob Melvin said Davis would likely
be activated Wednesday or Thursday. "We'll see how he's doing
tomorrow," Melvin said. ... Athletics RHP Edward Mujica (broken
right thumb, right thumb laceration) will make his second rehab
appearance Thursday for Class A Stockton. ... Padres C Derek Norris
played his first game at Oakland since being traded by the A's to
San Diego during the offseason. He entered the game with 26
extra-base hits, the most by a catcher in the major leagues. He went
0-for-4.
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