The A’s can’t stop mashing dingers

April 14th, 2019

ARLINGTON -- rightfully gets most of the attention when it comes to A’s home run hitters, given he leads the Major Leagues with 10, but Oakland’s whole lineup has shown a strong proclivity for the long ball all season -- especially on the current road trip.

The A’s tied a club record with six consecutive multi-homer games when Davis and both went deep in an 8-6 victory over the Rangers on Friday. During those six games, the A’s have hit 19 homers. Their 34 total homers this season are second most in the Majors behind Seattle, with 37.

Five Oakland players have multiple homers in eight games on the road trip, including Davis with five and catcher Josh Phegley with three.

“That’s been pretty much offensively our strength for the last year-plus, the fact that we can hit some home runs and we can hit them throughout the lineup,” A's manager Bob Melvin said. “When Phegley’s doing what he’s doing right now and Laureano [is] hitting in the eight hole, you have two guys the last few games in the eight and nine spots that have been really significant. That comes into play when you’re down in games, you don’t have to rely on one part of the lineup to carry the load. That we can spread it around a little bit ends up being the strength of our team.”

The A’s have been so reliant on the home run this season that the majority of their runs -- 56.4 percent -- have come via dingers.