Hahn quiets Rox as A's take rubber game
OAKLAND -- The A's clinched a series win over the Rockies with a 4-1 victory in Wednesday's matinee finale at the Coliseum. In three games, Oakland held the Rockies to four runs.
"We pitched well, all the starters, and that's what we have to do to beat a team like that," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "We're not going to go toe-to-toe with them when it comes to scoring runs."
A's right-hander Jesse Hahn allowed one run on four hits in six innings, and Billy Butler collected two hits and drove in a run. Billy Burns notched two hits as well, scoring twice, and Josh Reddick, batting cleanup, chipped in with an RBI single in the third against right-hander Chad Bettis, who allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
Ben Paulsen and Nick Hundley hit back-to-back two-out doubles in the fourth, providing the Rockies' lone run of the day.
"We didn't perform well offensively," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "We had some opportunities early, didn't execute. We could've got out to an early lead."
Video: COL@OAK: Clippard shuts the door on the Rockies
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Billy ball: Butler and Burns combined for four hits -- including a triple for each Billy -- and three runs. Butler recorded his first triple since 2012 in the second, scoring on Eric Sogard's sacrifice fly. Burns hit his triple in the third and came home on a Butler single. Butler finished the series 6-for-10 with four RBIs.
"When Billy got a triple, he was definitely a whole base ahead of me," Butler joked. "The only thing I thought about right after I got that triple was that it took away from my double total. More >
Video: COL@OAK: Butler extends lead with RBI single in 5th
Not getting him in: Carlos Gonzalez did his job in the second, with a leadoff double and a trip to third on Hahn's wild pitch. But with one out, Ben Paulsen bounced to drawn-in second baseman Sogard, who easily erased Gonzalez at the plate to keep the game scoreless. A potential big inning was lost.
"It a chopper -- one of those plays where you take your chances," said Gonzalez, the only Rockies player to manage two hits. "Early in the at-bat I was just making the sure the ball had to go through. It was a tough play, but Sogard made it look easy."
Video: COL@OAK: Sogard cuts down CarGo at the dish
He didn't mean it: With runners at first and third and two outs in the fifth, Bettis walked Reddick on four pitches. The walk put the force in play, but Butler burned him with an RBI single. Problem was Bettis wasn't trying to put Reddick on base. The walk was an indication of the delivery issues Bettis fought throughout his 5 2/3 innings (seven hits, three earned runs, four walks).
"That's the problem -- in the fifth inning, that's when I realized my stuff was just running off the plate, and it was never a strike out of my hand [to Reddick]," Bettis said. "Big league hitters are not going to offer." More >
Video: COL@OAK: Bettis caps 5 2/3 innings with a strikeout
Hahn holds em off: Hahn admittedly didn't have his best command in the early going but impressed in the third, when shortstop Marcus Semien's error put the leadoff man on base and Hahn proceeded to strike out each of his next two batters and induce an inning-ending groundout from power threat Nolan Arenado. Hahn faced just one over the minimum in his final two innings.
"That was probably the game right there, because early in the year, he's given up so many unearned runs," catcher Stephen Vogt said. "So to see him pitch out of that without any hesitation, it was almost like he wanted that situation. Credit him with a great inning right there." More >
Video: COL@OAK: Hahn strikes out six over six solid frames
QUOTABLE
"I was egging it on. I felt like [third-base coach Mike Gallego] over there, doing the whole wheel thing with my arm. That sparked us a little bit, got us going there."
-- Hahn, on Butler's triple
Video: COL@OAK: Butler rips his first triple of the season
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Arenado saw his hit streak end at 17 games. Troy Tulowitzki, who didn't play, has a 14-game streak that's now the longest active run in the Majors.
Video: COL@OAK: Arenado robs Semien with diving stop
UMPS WORK SHORTHANDED
Crew chief Tom Hallion departed the game in the first inning after taking a pitch to his face mask, forcing umpire Alfonso Marquez to move from first base to home plate. Second-base umpire Dan Bellino moved to first, while Ryan Blakney maintained his post at third as part of the shorthanded crew. More >
Video: COL@OAK: Home-plate ump takes foul ball to mask
WHAT'S NEXT
Rockies: Lefty Chris Rusin (3-2, 4.69 ERA), who was hurt by two defensive miscues while losing to the Giants in his last start, will face the D-backs and righty Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 5.38 ERA) on Thursday at 7:40 p.m. MT in the opener of a four-game series at Chase Field.
A's: Scott Kazmir gets the ball for the first game of a four-game series against the Mariners at the Coliseum beginning Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. PT. The left-hander is 3-2 with a 1.63 ERA and .177 opponents average in eight starts at home this season.
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