Athletics Seventh-Inning Eruption Sinks Arizona, 5-2
Jeff McNeil needed exactly one at-bat to break a tied game open, singling to center to score two runs in the seventh and swing Arizona's win probability from 56% to 25% in a single swing. The Athletics piled on from there, getting a fifth run on a Ginkel wild pitch to put this one away at 5-2.
Oakland built its lead the old-fashioned way — one home run at a time. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer got things started in the second, going deep to left center 416 feet to put the Athletics up 1-0. Jacob Wilson added another in the fifth, a 399-foot shot to left center that made it 2-0. For five innings, that two-run cushion looked comfortable enough. Then Arizona answered. Ketel Marte launched a 402-foot home run to left in the sixth — a two-run shot that also scored Barrosa — and just like that it was a brand-new ballgame at 2-2. The momentum, at least on paper, had shifted to the home side.
The seventh inning is where this game was decided, and it wasn't subtle. With Arizona holding a 56% win probability, McNeil stepped in and singled to center, scoring both Butler and Langeliers and moving Tommy White to third. That one hit swung the win probability to 25% for Arizona — a 32-point collapse on a single pitch. White then scored on a Ginkel wild pitch to push the lead to 5-2, with McNeil stealing third in the chaos. The Athletics sent nine men to the plate in that inning and walked away with three runs on what looked like a bullpen meltdown Arizona will want to forget quickly.
On the mound, Jeffrey Springs gave the Athletics five innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs with 2 strikeouts — serviceable, if unspectacular. The real story appears to be what came after: Luis Medina threw 2.0 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball with 2 strikeouts, and Hogan Harris closed it out with a 1.0-inning, 3-strikeout performance that allowed just one hit. For Arizona, Mitch Bratt lasted only 4.2 innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 earned runs before handing it to a bullpen that couldn't hold the line. Tommy White went 4-for-5 and scored a run, and Kuroda-Grauer finished 2-for-3 with the homer and an RBI — the kind of supporting cast performance that makes a 5-2 win look easier than it probably was. Arizona's Marte did everything he could with a 402-foot two-run shot, but one big swing wasn't enough when the Athletics' seventh-inning barrage made it irrelevant.