SEATTLE -- If the A’s are going to get back to the postseason, they’re cognizant that they’ll need to win games over clubs that they’re favored against. That would include the Mariners, winners of six of their first 10 matchups this season entering Friday’s series opener at T-Mobile Park.
Oakland chipped away at a deficit that bled into the seventh inning, plated a pair of runs off Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi, then rode its bullpen to a 5-2 win, their 13th over their past 17 games to advance to a season-high nine games above .500, at 49-40.
It’s been a slower start than the A’s might have hoped for, but dating back exactly one month, their 19 wins trail only the Yankees’ 20. Oakland is now a half-game back of the Indians for the second American League Wild Card spot, and one game back of the Rays for the top spot. And the A’s are 6 1/2 back of the Astros in second place in the AL West.
Here are a few takeaways from their win on Friday:
Anderson (really, the starters as a whole) has been sharp
Brett Anderson’s outing was his 18th of the season, which surpassed his 2018 total and marked his most since 31 for the Dodgers in ‘15. Anderson overcame a few early-inning hiccups on Friday, which largely manifested by leaving a few sinkers up, to finish 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball.
He gave up just five hits, including one that Tom Murphy uncorked for a 397-foot homer in the fifth that gave Seattle a 2-1 lead. Anderson still ranks eighth in the American League with 0.88 homers per nine innings, notable given the spike in homers across the Majors. He’s also pitched particularly well against Seattle, with a 2.36 ERA in 21 career starts against the Mariners.
Anderson, who’s battled forearm, shoulder, back and finger injuries since his last full season, literally knocked on the wooden exterior of his locker on Friday when discussing his health this season.
“I've always been confident in my ability to get people out when I'm healthy,” Anderson said. “Luckily, aside from a few nicks and nacks here and there, I've been able to go out there and give us a chance to win for the most part. It's always nice to be healthy. I feel confident in myself whenever I am healthy.”
The A’s lost Frankie Montas to an 80-game suspension, is without Sean Manaea, who is recovering from surgery on his pitching shoulder, and has seen injuries to top prospects Jesus Luzardo and Jharel Cotton -- both of whom projected to contribute this season. Still, Oakland’s starters are a big reason why the club has climbed back into the postseason race.
Entering Friday, since May 1, that group ranks sixth in ERA (3.64) and fourth in opponent OPS (.670), while giving up 36 homers, the second-fewest. Anderson’s win marked the unit’s 25th in that stretch, which trails only the Dodgers, Twins and Nationals, who each have 26 from their starters.
“I think other than the first three weeks of the season, our starters have been a strength for us,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We've even had guys go down and we lose Frankie Montas and [Chris] Bassitt comes up and pitches well. [Daniel] Mengden comes up and pitches well. The starters have been really good for us this year. The numbers will show that too, when it looked like that might be our Achilles’ heel, at least to start."
Hendriks is dominating as closer
Hours after being announced as Charlie Morton’s replacement on the AL All-Star roster, Liam Hendriks picked up his fourth save in a 1-2-3 ninth inning that concluded with a called third strike to Daniel Vogelbach, widely considered one of the game’s more disciplined hitters.
Melvin acknowledged pregame that the A’s plan to ride Hendriks as its closer until he essentially gives them a reason not to. He’d been a fill-in while Blake Treinen recovered from a right shoulder strain, but Hendriks is on a remarkable run, having given up just six hits while striking out 14 in seven games since assuming the ninth-inning role. He’s scoreless in 16 of his past 17 outings.
The root of Hendriks’ success was the epitome of his performance on Friday: a fortified pitch repertoire.
Hendriks has turned almost exclusively to a four-seam fastball, created more velocity, and complemented his slider with a curveball that’s allowed just one hit, per Statcast. On Friday, he got J.P. Crawford to roll over on a slider, punched out Domingo Santana swinging on top of another slider, then struck out Vogelbach on a 96.5 mph four-seamer on the inside black.
“He doesn't get the chases on the slider if he's not throwing it for a strike now. That's exactly what happened,” Melvin said. “He threw one for a strike, and then he got a chased one [against Santana]. He's doing a lot of things differently now, and the results would suggest that he's doing the right stuff.”
The offense chipped away
On a night when they weren’t manufacturing much at the plate early, sans a third-inning homer by Franklin Barreto, the A’s creeped their way back. Matt Olson led off the seventh with a ground-rule double, tied the game on a Khris Davis single during the following at-bat, then Davis pushed the A’s ahead for good when Ramón Laureano laced a sacrifice fly to left. The A’s also plated a pair of insurance runs in the ninth via a two-run double by Robbie Grossman.
The A’s mustered just five hits, but that was good enough after Anderson and Oakland’s bullpen limited Seattle’s traffic to just five baserunners.