The disastrous start to the 2021 season for the Oakland Athletics (1-7) is nothing but a bad memory.
Thanks to a 3-1 win over the Orioles in Baltimore yesterday, a 12th straight, Bob Melvin’s squad holds the American’s best record, by virtue of a 13-7 (.650) record.
The start of the season for the A’s looked like nightmares as many experts predicted a close fight between them and the Astros for first place in the West. Since then, the team has been on cloud nine and everything is working wonderfully.
Yesterday, southpaw Cole Irvin kept the Orioles batting off balance for much of the night, while Ramon Laureano hit a long solo ball for the 12th straight win.
Matt Olson and Stephen Piscotty both had a good night at bat, hitting the ball to safety twice.
Irvin still needed some support from Yusmeiro Petit on a tougher sixth round as he allowed three Orioles to hit the trails.
Regarding Irvin, he replaced Mike Fiers in the rotation since the start of the season. Moreover, the latter should be able to resume service over the next few days.
In this regard, Bob Melvin will have to make a difficult decision.
We didn’t know much about him when he arrived at training camp, Melvin said. He fought for this position and he won it in the end. Plus, he continues to give us reasons not to take him out of the rotation.
The road victory was their fifth in six outings. Only the Red Sox (6-1) are doing better than them abroad in the American this season.
With Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Mitch Moreland at the heart of the roster, the A’s have the hitting strength they need to be successful throughout this 2021 season.
In addition, Oakland takes advantage of the average performance of the Astros (9-10) to widen the gap between the two teams. For the moment, the threat comes from the surprising Mariners (12-8), who deliver a hot fight to the band of Bob Melvin.
- A legendary performance from Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom.
