Springs Shuts Down Seattle as ATH Rolls 6-2
Jeffrey Springs threw 7.0 innings of two-hit, zero-run ball, and the Athletics built a four-run lead before Seattle even knew what hit them. Max Muncy and Lawrence Butler each went deep as Oakland walked out of Seattle with a comfortable 6-2 win.
The story of the night was Springs, and it wasn't particularly close. The left-hander held Seattle to 2 hits over 7.0 innings, walked 2, and struck out 6 without allowing a single earned run. That kind of performance makes everything else easier, and the Athletics made sure to give him plenty of cushion early. Muncy got it started in the second with a 428-foot shot to left center — a legitimate no-doubter — to put ATH up 1-0. The lead grew in the third when Bolte doubled to right and Williams scored, and that's when the game's decisive moment arrived: Seattle's win probability dropped from 49% to 38% on that one swing, a 12-point shift that effectively signaled the Mariners were already in trouble.
The fourth inning finished the job. Muncy singled to center to score Gelof, then Walton doubled to right to score Muncy, and just like that it was 4-0 before the game reached the halfway point. George Kirby lasted 6.2 innings for Seattle, allowing 7 hits and 3 earned runs against 1 walk and 5 strikeouts — serviceable numbers that simply couldn't overcome the deficit his offense left him with. Butler put the exclamation point on the night in the eighth, launching a 379-foot two-run homer to left center that scored Gelof and pushed the lead to 6-0. At that point, the game was a formality.
Seattle's late-inning activity amounted to cosmetic damage. A Canzone single in the eighth scored one, and a pair of wild pitches in the ninth let Raleigh score to make it 6-2 — but the Mariners never threatened to actually get back in it. Cal Raleigh went 3-for-4 and looks like the one bright spot in an otherwise flat offensive showing for Seattle, but three hits from your catcher don't win games when the rest of the lineup can't touch a pitcher throwing like Springs was. Geoff Hartlieb came on for the ninth and allowed 2 hits and 1 earned run, but the outcome was never in doubt. The Athletics were the better team from the second inning on, and the final score reflects it accurately.