Font ResizeOAKLAND -- The A's staged their major league-leading 13th walk-off victory Friday night, but for once, they probably wish their latest dramatic script had gone a little differently.
Dan Straily's major league coming-out party turned into Oakland's second 15-inning midnight marathon this week, a 5-4 victory over Toronto salvaged when Coco Crisp delivered a bottom of the 15th sacrifice fly after Jemile Weeks opened the inning with a triple.
A couple of hours earlier, the A's appeared to have locked down a victory for Straily in his major league debut. Cook came on to pitch in the ninth inning and promptly struck out the first two hitters with the three-run lead. But David Cooper lined a single to left and Rajai Davis blooped a single over second base, bringing Jeff Mathis to the plate as the tying run.
Mathis, who had been 0 for 3 to that point, worked Cook to a 3-2 count, then lined a shot to left-center that just cleared the high wall 388 feet from home plate.
"I was in shock," manager Bob Melvin said. "Cookie looked like he had his real good stuff and he gets two strikes right away on Mathis. To Mathis' credit, he worked the count deep and got a fastball he could handle. But I thought that ball was going to hit off the wall and the next thing you know it goes out."
Fortunately, after Cook's blown save, the A's got once again got standout relief pitching, most notably Travis Blackley's three shutout innings starting in the
Blackley (4-3), Oakland's seventh pitcher, was aided by sterling defensive plays from Brandon Inge and Eric Sogard leading up to the game-winning rally in the 4 hour, 47 minute game.
Weeks, who won Monday night's 15-inning game against Tampa Bay with a sacrifice fly, started the rally this time in the 15th when he lined a triple into the right field corner against Toronto's sixth pitcher, Aaron Loup (0-2).
That set up Crisp, who said he was just looking to get something into the air against Loup. Of Oakland's 13 walkoffs, Crisp now has three game-winning hits, tops on the team.
"I'm moving up the leader board, eh?" he said with a smile.
Of course, it should have ended long before that.
The Blue Jays' ninth-inning rally was a shocking blow to an A's team that had been cruising all night, mostly because it denied Straily a win after pitching so well in his first game. The 23-year-old right-hander, promoted to Oakland Friday after leading all of professional baseball in strikeouts while in the minors, showed he's more than just a whiff artist with six strong innings to launch his big-league career.
Straily gave up just five hits and a run, walked one and struck out five in a 102-pitch outing that included 70 strikes. His big-league career started appropriately, as he fanned Toronto leadoff man Brett Lawrie on a called 3-2 strike to lead off the game.
It didn't bother him that his first major league win sailed over the wall in the ninth.
"It happens, that's baseball," Straily said. "The team kept fighting and pulled out a win, that's the most important thing."
Straily, who started the season at Double-A Midland, was called up by the A's after going 5-2 with a 1.36 ERA in eight starts at Sacramento. Overall, Straily had made 22 starts, striking out 175 batters in just 138 1/3 innings. He had also limited opposing batters to a .197 batting average at his combined two stops.
Oakland gave its latest young prodigy plenty of early support with single runs in four consecutive innings starting in the second on a Brandon Inge RBI single after Yoenis Cespedes beat out an infield single to start the inning and advanced to second after Chris Carter walked.
The A's made it 2-0 leading off the third on Johnny Gomes' 11th homer of the season against Toronto starter Brett Cecil (2-5), and Carter belted his ninth homer in just 24 games, a long blast to left to lead off the fourth. Josh Reddick drove in Oakland's fourth run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly.
Melvin said after the game that the outfielder is day to day but probably would not play on Saturday.
Norris was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento just four days ago, and players sent to the minors can't be recalled for 10 days unless it's to replace a major leaguer going on the D.L.
Hence, when Smith came up lame with a strained left hamstring during Thursday night's win over Toronto, it was Norris' ticket back to Oakland and the A's didn't have to get overly creative to fill the catching void.
Norris, to be sure, was thankful.
"I know what it feels like to be sent down, and I never want to feel that again, even if it was only four days," Norris said before the game.
Now the A's have to get a bit creative without Smith, who had played 54 games in the outfield and 30 more as the A's designated hitter before the injury.
Smith hadn't exactly been tearing it up recently, hitting just .177 over his past 30 games. But he does have 11 home runs and 39 RBIs for Oakland and was also among their team leaders in walks with 40.
Smith doesn't think he'll require the full 15 days to get back to 100 percent, but wasn't sure when he would be able to get back to baseball activity.
"It's pretty much the same as last night, no better and no worse," said Smith. "I've been walking gingerly. I don't know what it'll feel like (Saturday) or the next day."
"We may discuss it," said Beane. "It may be easier to consider in September than now, but we're only 20-something days from roster expansion and I'm sure that subject will come up."
Brandon McCarthy, on the D.L. with a shoulder problem, already has made one rehab start, will make another this weekend, and based on his results, could be returning to the A's soon.
Then there's left-hander Brett Anderson, who will throw approximately 75 pitches for the RiverCats Saturday. Projected for a mid-August return, Beane said Anderson is "still a ways away."
"He's probably more of a matchup guy that we feel like later in the game has the ability to get some righties out, whether it's the sixth or seventh inning," the manager said. "We now have some added depth from the right side."
MORE online
Go to mercurynews.com/sports for a complete report on the A's latest marathon extra-inning game.
Saturday's game
Toronto (Ricky Romero 8-8) at A's (A.J. Griffin 3-0), 1:05 p.m. CSNCA
Inside
The A's trade catcher Kurt Suzuki to the Nationals.
Page 7
Mr. Suzuki goes
to Washington
The A's traded catcher Kurt Suzuki to the Washington Nationals in exchange for catching prospect David Freitas. Suzuki was hitting .218 with one home run and 18 RBIs.
