Oakland Game # 18 A: Double Head Sweep! Winning series of 10 games! Luzardo raises the lights!

Aren’t you having fun?!?!

If not, I don’t know what else a baseball team could offer.

Oakland A’s won the 10th game in a row on Tuesday, and in this process they passed with a double blow from the defending champion AL Central Minnesota Twins. The final score at the Coliseum was 1-0 in seven innings and, combined with their 7-0 win in the afternoon, marks the first time the A’s have thrown closings in both innings of a double. from Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter in 1974.

And to top it off, Oakland moved into a tie for first place in the AL West, just two weeks after easily avoiding the worst start in franchise history.

*** Click here to review the game’s theme tonight! ***

After piling up on the scoreboard in today’s first game, A managed one run in the evening’s business. Fortunately, that was all they needed, but the most encouraging thing was the way they succeeded – agitation, smart approach and hitting the clutch.

At the head of the 4th half, Matt Olson gave a perfect example of how to overcome a defensive change. The pitcher offered him 1-2 low and distant offers and, rather than trying to pull her into a pile of eight defenders, he reached out and turned it upside down. With the left side of the field wide open, he easily passed for a shot, and then Olson pushed it further, breaking for second base and challenging the player on the left.

Olson came in safely with a restless double. He got there, despite the poor contact on a not very big field, because he took everything his opponent gave him and aggressively forced him to play additional games. The next bully flew to medium RF, and Olson scored and moved to third, as if it were Rickey Henderson or something.

Two beats later, Seth Brown drilled a 107.4 mph line in the middle for one, bringing Olson home. Just call it Oly Run.

This was already Brown’s second hit of the night, as he also doubled the wall in his previous bat. Now he goes from 500 to 29 plate appearances and hits the ball as hard as anyone on the team, and if he had gotten under this RBI single just a little longer, he would have gone three runs. We might find our new left.

Luzardo threw out the lights

After being emptied of Sean Manaea In the opening game, Minnesota was looking for any runs he could get in the second half of the ticket. However, they came across Jesus Luzardo just at the wrong time.

The young left-hander started slowly this year, with an ERA of 8.31 through three appearances and has not yet really come out of quality. But tonight he was invincible, allowing only three hard-hitting balls and only one in the air.

• Luzardo: 5⅓ ip, 0 races, 6 Ks, 1 BB, 2 hits, 65 pitches, 86.0 mph EV

The twins didn’t even reach second base until the 6th half and that was just because of a past ball. At one point, he pulled back 11 straight beats and nearly a quarter of his pitches led to a swing-and-miss (15-of-65, or 23%).

Another important statistic about Luzardo, who returned to wearing signature glasses after three games with contact lenses. I can’t argue math.

Maybe Southpaw could have worked even harder in the game, but in the fifth half he was interrupted because he he turned off the lights. Or at least the lights went out while he looked great.

Minnesota won just one outing in the 5th, their first baserunner in the first half, and then both teams returned to the shelters. The problem was out of the field on the left, literally, as it had gone out in the LF light bench.

A few minutes passed without anyone being sure how long it would take. I saw it grow an hour and a half before, Mike Fiers’ night in 2019.

But then! A light bulb wakes up!

Come on, buddy, you can do it!

Success! A little less than 25 minutes later, we returned to action, and Luzardo hit the next batter and then caused a popout to end the half. It seems that this was enough light to qualify.

I think we all know what really happened here, though.

Although, let’s be honest, the seven-inning games probably helped A today. If your opponent doesn’t score for 14 frames, then it’s good that you didn’t have to give them another four chances to try, especially against your bullpen. We only have to think about Sunday for an example of a team that managed to finally get to 8 and 9.

Bullpen closure

Luzardo finally came out in 6th place with a single out and a runner on second base. The bullpen needed five exits to seal it.

I’ve seen it in the last two games Lou Trivino launches the final half, but tonight the situation dictated that he made more sense before. The twins had two straight straight beats, Mitch Garver and Josh Donaldson, and Trivino came in and hit them both. Runner stuck in the empty position, and there are only three outs left.

That’s gone Jake Diekman for the 7th, which was actually the 9th in this abbreviated contest. A batter hit the base (HBP), then a shot. Another batter came to the base (inappropriate error by SS Elvis Andrus), then another attack. That brought up the issue Willians Astudillo, who swung to a 1-2 pace and launched a strong lead, 371 feet to the left field. Back, back, back …

… and stuck to the wall, by Mark Canha, to end the game. Saint. Toledo.

It wasn’t exactly Joe Rudi’s capture from last year’s playoffs, but it was enough to seal that victory and get us out of our place.

It just doesn’t get much better than that. Win, not just every day, but now several times a day and do it in all the most interesting ways possible. Dingers and timely kicks on the set, noise on the base tracks, including four steals in the opening game, highlight roll defense and dominant pitching from both their rotation and bullpen. Tuesday was amazing until the final exit.

Defense from the bench

Speaking of defense with obvious roles, Canha was not the only one who made a beautiful catch. It was a 373-meter road to the CF by Garver, followed by Ramon Laureano, and also a pair of grabs by two players on the bench better known for bats.

In the second half, Brown dived from RF.

And in the 5th, 2B Vimael Cars he chose for his own sliding jewel.

The two catches were in almost the same location on the ground.

What else can you say? Make incredible efforts from every place on their list right now. Not just in terms of being in a hot series, which they are, but things like throwing bases and eliminating every defensive game. Hustle can win games, just like he did today, and he never collapses if you don’t want to.

A are now 11-7 overall and are tied with the Mariners in first place. One day they will lose again, but so far they have won 10 in a row and show no signs of slowing down. Ride the wave!