Oakland 5, LA Dodgers 4
When: 10:05 PM ET, Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Where: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, California
Temperature:
65°
Umpires:
Home -
Todd Tichenor, 1B -
Tim Timmons, 2B -
Tim Welke, 3B -
Chris Segal
Attendance:
35067
By The Sports Xchange
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland A's had lost their season-high seventh straight game Monday night at Baltimore, capping an 0-7 road trip.
Their reward? A red-eye, cross-country flight home and a game Tuesday night against the well-rested, Los Angeles Dodgers and left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the National League's reigning MVP and Cy Young Award winner.
On paper, the A's odds of winning seemed somewhere between slim and none, but they overcame a three-run deficit and beat the Dodgers 5-4 on designated hitter Butler's walkoff double in the 10th inning at the O.co Coliseum.
"It was definitely stacked against us today, but that's why you show up and you play the game," Butler said. "It doesn't matter how it looks on paper, you've still got to go out there and play. That's the game of baseball. There's no guaranteed wins in this game. Even though you're going up against a guy like Kershaw you still have to come and compete."
A's first baseman Mark Canha led off the 10th inning with a double down the left-field line off right-hander Yimi Garcia, his career-high fourth hit of the game. Butler ended the game with his double to right.
Canha went 4-for-5 with two doubles, drove in two runs and scored three times. Third baseman Danny Valencia went 2-for-5 and scored a run for the A's, and left-hander Fernando Abad (2-2) got the win, blanking the Dodgers for two-thirds of an inning.
"Probably one of my better games this year," Canha said. "It was awesome. What I'll remember probably most is how much fun we were having in the dugout and everybody supporting each other and how good of a team win it was after such a tough road trip we had."
Oakland ended the Dodgers' three-game winning streak. Their lead in the National League West over San Francisco fell to two games.
Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis went 1-for-1 with a three-run homer, walked a career-high tying four times and scored twice. His blast in the top of the eighth inning gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead, but the A's answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame.
"A big home run for AJ and then to give it right back is a little tough to swallow," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
Kershaw gave up one run and five hits over seven innings but got a no-decision. He struck out seven, walked two and threw 116 pitches, leaving the game with a 4-1 lead. In his previous six starts, Kershaw went 5-0 with a 0.75 ERA. He had pitched at least eight scoreless innings in five of those starts.
"It was a struggle," Kershaw said. "I don't how many pitches I threw, but it was too many for seven innings. The A's did a good job. I didn't have a great feel. When you don't have your best stuff, you'll definitely take an outing like this."
Oakland left-hander Felix Doubront allowed one unearned run and one hit over six innings in his first start since being traded to the A's for cash on July 31 by Toronto, which had designated him for assignment two days earlier. He struck out eight and walked six in a no-decision, likely earning another start.
The Dodgers snapped a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning on Ellis third home run of the season. After right fielder Yasiel Puig and pinch hitter Andre Ethier hit back-to-back two-out singles, Ellis sent reliever Fernando Rodriguez' first-pitch fastball over the left-center field wall.
Puig left the game for a pinch runner because of right hamstring tightness and undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
The A's answered immediately with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Valencia grounded a leadoff single to center off reliever Pedro Baez and moved to third on catcher Josh Phegley's double to left-center field. Canha followed with a two-run double to right-center.
"Whenever something like that happens, it's brutal," Canha said of the Dodgers' three-run eighth. "It feels like a punch to the gut. But you have no choice but to go up there and battle and that's what we did."
A's shortstop Marcus Semien lined an RBI single to left with two outs off reliever J.P. Howell, making it 4-4.
The A's struck first, scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning off Kershaw.
Canha lined a leadoff single to left and moved to second when Kershaw walked Butler. Right fielder Josh Reddick advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, and Canha scored on Semien's ground out to second base
The Dodgers pulled even with a run in the fifth.
NOTES: Dodgers RHP Mat Latos was moved out of the starting rotation Tuesday and to the bullpen, where he'll stay throughout the team's eight-game road trip, manager Don Mattingly said. Latos had been scheduled to pitch Wednesday against the A's, but LHP Alex Wood will now start that game. The Dodgers have two off-days during their road trip, and the move allowed RHP Zack Greinke and LHP Clayton Kershaw to stay on their regular schedule. ... Oakland LF Coco Crisp (sore right hip/left ankle) was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. ... A's 3B/2B Brett Lawrie (sore back) was out of the lineup for the second straight game. ... New Dodgers third base coach Ron Roenicke made his debut Tuesday, replacing Lorenzo Bundy, who remained on the coaching staff.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
LA Dodgers
|
7 |
1 |
10 |
.194 |
25 |
9 |
4 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
Oakland
|
12 |
0 |
16 |
.308 |
19 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |