Garcia flashes prodigious power in career night

No. 3 prospect Waldichuk runs into trouble as Rangers come back, walk it off

September 14th, 2022

ARLINGTON -- hasn’t seen much success against left-handers at the big league level, but you wouldn't know it by the performance he put together in Tuesday's 8-7 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Playing in just his 20th Major league game, it's a pretty small sample size, but the slugger entered the day 3-for-17 against left-handers with one walk and seven strikeouts.

In a bid to work on those splits, Garcia stepped up in the first inning against Rangers lefty Cole Ragans and launched a three-run, 430-foot homer off the second-deck facade in left field wall to put the A’s ahead early. 

The homer marked Garcia’s first of the month -- a month that'd seen him hit .167/.286/.222 through seven games -- and his third since being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 26.

Garcia finished the game 2-for-4 with the homer, a double and a career-high four RBIs. It was a good night at the plate for the 24-year-old rookie, who'd only notched three hits and one RBI this month.

"Since he’s been back, we’ve felt he’s made some adjustments," said manager Mark Kotsay. "The inconsistent playing time obviously leads to some swing manipulation at times, but I thought his at-bats today were great. He really stayed through the baseball, he was short to it, and the results were there."

It’s obvious Garcia has the power. It was evident when he signed with the Yankees as MLB’s top-rated international prospect back in 2014, when he hit an estimated 502-foot homer in Triple-A earlier this season, and when he crushed the team’s longest home run of the season with a 467-foot blast against the Nationals last month.

But sometimes power can only go so far. Garcia helped provide starter  -- Oakland’s No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- with run support before he stepped foot on the mound and the rest of the lineup followed.

By the fifth inning, Waldichuk’s first Major League win was within reach as the A’s were leading 7-2. The 24-year-old southpaw was pitching with confidence after a shaky first inning that saw the Rangers score two runs off three doubles. He struck out five between the second and fourth innings, allowing just two hits and one walk in that span.

Then, it all fell apart.

"The boys, they were all mashing," Waldichuk said. "Seven runs should be more than enough."

But it wasn't, and after giving up two doubles and a homer in a three-run fifth inning, Waldichuk’s night was over.

Rangers first baseman and Santa Clara native Mark Mathias led the come-from-behind win with a game-tying homer in the seventh against Austin Pruitt, following that up with a walk-off solo shot against Joel Payamps in the ninth.

"Execution is the most important thing for me right now. I have to be able to do that," said Waldichuk, who took the no-decision in the loss and posted a final line of five innings, eight hits, five earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts. 

"You tip your cap sometimes to the other team had that fight, and Texas showed that tonight," Kotsay said. "They got back in this game and, you know, had two big home runs from their two-hole hitter."