Walton making the most of A's opportunity with latest career-best game

CLEVELAND -- The Athletics are rounding third and heading home. One game at Progressive Field is all that remains on their road schedule for the season.

Donovan Walton hit a two-run homer and tied career highs with three hits and four RBIs, but the American League Central-leading Guardians rocked Jacob Lopez for 10 runs, handing the A’s a 12-6 loss on Saturday night.

Walton matched his season high with six total bases in three plate appearances -- all against Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee in the first five innings -- and had a stolen base. It was the fifth three-hit performance in his breakout age-32 season.

“We’re an organization that targets players that haven’t had an opportunity elsewhere and we give it to them,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “[Injured All-Star slugger] Brent Rooker is a prime example of a player who took advantage of it.

“We played against Donovan earlier in the year. And when he became available, we thought he could add something to our group.”

Second baseman Walton, who was claimed off waivers from the Angels on July 12, also made a nifty running catch of Jo Adell’s foul pop fly in the third inning that left him hanging in the protective netting on the first-base side.

The athletic grab itself was as impressive as the distance Walton covered to get to the ball, which traveled a Statcast-projected 189 feet from home plate. It was his 50th game of the season at second, where he has made one error in 308 innings.

Coming into this year, Walton had appeared in 72 total Major League games since making his debut in 2019 with the Mariners. A fifth-round Draft pick by Seattle in 2016, he also spent time with the Giants and Phillies.

“If you work hard and go about it the right way, you never know what might happen,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to wait for your opportunity. I’ve had a crazy road to this point with injuries and being in a number of places, so I’m very grateful to be here.”

The Athletics, in turn, are grateful that the Angels ran into a numbers quandary with Walton, who was batting .319 in 32 games with Los Angeles before being designated for assignment on July 8. Los Angeles had to clear a roster spot in order to activate Mike Trout.

Since Walton was out of options, the Angels had to expose him to waivers before assigning him to the Minors. The 5-foot-9, 190-pounder didn’t make it out of the AL West before being signed.

“Everyone in this clubhouse greeted me with open arms,” said Walton, who is hitting .269 with eight homers and 29 RBIs in 85 games. “This is a great group of guys and staff here. I couldn’t have asked for a better spot.”

Walton’s previous four-RBI game occurred on June 5, 2022, with the Giants at the Marlins. The totality of what he did against Cleveland, though, made this the biggest offensive game of his career.

He drove in Lawrence Butler in both the first and third inning with singles, then sent Bibee’s 81.5 mph sweeper into the right-field stands a Statcast-projected 387 feet in the fifth. When the Guardians went to left-handed reliever Tim Herrin in the seventh, the left-handed-hitting Walton exited for a pinch hitter.

“We talked about game-planning for Bibee in the cages this afternoon,” Walton said. “We came up with a really good one and kept sticking to that. It was a team effort.”