SAN FRANCISCO — In deciding to keep — not trade — Brent Rooker, the A’s communicated a very clear point: they believe they can win in the not-so-distant future. A long road remains, to be sure. They will, in all likelihood, finish this season with a losing record. They could possibly lose 100 games for a third consecutive season. By retaining Rooker, though, the front office is expressing faith in the team’s foundation, that they can, in time, bring a winner to Sacramento.
“If you look around the diamond right now and look at some of the pitching, we’re not as healthy on the pitching side as we’d like to be,” said general manager David Forst following the trade deadline, “but you can see the players who are going to be here when we compete again for a playoff spot.”
A win following Tuesday’s trade deadline — a 5-2 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park — does not validate the front office’s decision to keep Rooker. Time could reveal that the A’s would’ve been better off cashing in their chips. But for a night, Rooker and company rewarded the front office’s faith.
Rooker blasted a two-run shot halfway up the left-field bleachers — one of Oakland’s four home runs on the night — while JP Sears turned in seven shutout innings as Oakland bested San Francisco, improving to 15-8 in July. With a win tomorrow, the A’s could secure their fifth straight series victory.
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Daz Cameron got the A’s on the scoreboard by sneaking a solo shot over the left-field fence in the second inning, giving the green and gold a lead that they’d never relinquish. Lawrence Butler doubled the advantage with a 106.5-mph, 402-foot solo shot of his own that landed in Oakland’s bullpen. Rooker hit a towering, awe-inspiring two-run in the fifth inning, JJ Bleday’s eighth-inning solo shot to the right-field arcade served as the dagger.
Sears’ brilliant outing, one where he recorded a season-high nine strikeouts, represented a rebound after he allowed eight runs (seven earned) over six innings in his last start against the Astros.
