OAKLAND — As the sun began to set on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum, a smattering of the 21,060 fans in attendance climbed to the very top of the stadium’s third deck and looked towards the San Francisco Bay. The sky radiated shades of orange and yellow, of purple and blue. At one point, in the opposite direction, a rainbow blossomed. There was no singular element of the sky that stood out. Rather, each hue and shade and texture worked in harmony to inspire awe.
As was the case with the A’s down on the dirt and grass against the Dodgers.
Joey Estes continued his recent stretch of excellence with six innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts. Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers and Seth Brown all homered. Miguel Andujar collected three hits, Abraham Toro flashed the leather and Austin Adams bested Shohei Ohtani in the biggest at-bat of the evening. Like the sky above, Oakland, fresh off going 15-9 in July, orchestrated a collective performance that produced a 6-5 win over Los Angeles.
For all the A’s excellent play, it was the Dodgers who struck the first blow. Teoscar Hernández gave Los Angeles an early lead in the first inning, turning Estes’ elevated fastball into a no-doubt, two-run homer, a swing of the bat that electrified the stadium’s contingent of Dodgers fans who were happy to enjoy a 2-0 lead.
Three innings later, the green and gold brigade had their chance to dance. Langeliers sliced the deficit with a booming 431-foot home run that banged off the facade of left field’s second deck. Two batters later, Brown tied the game up at two apiece with his own solo shot, a towering 402-foot blast that landed in the right-field bleachers and invigorated the Friday night crowd.
After tying the game in the fourth, they took the lead in the fifth. Lawrence Butler, fresh off a month in which he had 10 homers and a 1.210 OPS, drew a leadoff walk. Andujar tripled with an awkward-looking swing, sending the ball into the right-field corner and easily scoring Butler to give the A’s a one-run lead — a lead they’d never relinquish. Oakland’s fun was just getting started.
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JJ Bleday’s RBI hustle double expanded the lead to 4-2 and drove Gavin Stone from the ballgame. Dodgers’ manager replaced Stone with Joe Kelly. It proved to be the wrong move. Brent Rooker, still in Oakland after the trade deadline, built on his white-hot July by sending Kelly’s middle-middle changeup over the center-field wall. Rooker’s two-run shot — and 27th home run of the season — doubled Oakland’s lead to 6-2.
The highlights weren’t just reserved for the offense. In the top of the sixth inning, third baseman Toro, chased down Ohtani’s fly ball to shallow left field and made an over-the-shoulder catch, denying Los Angeles’ $700 million dollar man a hit.
For as well as the A’s played through six innings, the Dodgers, generally, and Ohtani, specifically, had an opportunity to swing the game’s calculus.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, that same $700 million dollar man stepped to the plate with the bases loaded against Adams. Manager Mark Kotsay had southpaw Scott Alexander warming in the bullpen, giving the A’s the left-on-left matchup if they wanted it. Kotsay stuck with Adams. The stage was set.
Adams, who allowed two lone runs in July, began the plate appearance with three backdoor sliders — two landing for strikes. After Ohtani fouled off an inside fastball, Adams tossed another backdoor slider, this one being high in the zone. It was a pitch that Ohtani could’ve very well sent into the left-field bleachers. Instead, he rolled over for an inning-ending groundout.
Ohtani, who had a pair of deep fly outs in his first two at-bats of the evening, would eventually make his mark on the game, ripping a stunning 116.3 mph, three-run shot over the right-field fences off Tyler Ferguson in the ninth inning and slicing Oakland’s lead to one. Despite the dramatics, Ferguson closed the door on the Dodgers and secured the win.
