On Saturday, the Oakland Athletics faced the Seattle Mariners. The A’s got off to a good start, but they couldn’t keep it up and fell 2-1 to the Mariners. The Mariners’ player that guided his team to victory was Abraham Toro. Check out the best new sportsbooks for betting on Baseball.
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The A’s had a lead point when the team scored earlier than the Mariners. It was pinch-hitter Justin Upton who hit a home run in the eighth inning to tie the score. In the next inning, Toro singled home Marcus Wilson, which ended the game with a 2-1 victory.
It wasn’t easy for Toro to achieve the home run as he was fighting through pain and a lack of mobility in his left shoulder. This condition caused him to have several uncomfortable at-bats. On top of that, there were also anger, harsh comments, and discontent on Twitter regarding his presence.
However, Toro took good revenge and silenced his detractors with his late-inning heroics at T-Mobile Park.
Despite the loaded bases, five Athletics players on the infield, and two in the outfield, Toro managed to rip an uncatchable line drive into the right-center gap off Lou Trivino. His move allowed his teammate, pinch-runner Wilson, to trot home with the game-winning run.
“I was trying not to focus on it and just get a ball in the air,” Toro said, regarding the five-man infield. “The pressure is all on the pitcher, not the hitter in those situations.”
Manager Scott Servais toward Mariners’ victory
When the Mariners were down 1-0 approaching the eighth inning, some might have thought that they wouldn’t make it. However, manager Scott Servais was confident that the team was going to win the game – and they did.
“Credit to our guys for hanging in there,” he said. “Because it’s easy to say it is not our day and we’ll move on until tomorrow. Our guys didn’t do that today.”
To catch up with the deficit, Servais chose Upton to pinch-hit against hard-throwing lefty A.J. Puk. It was said to be a good call because Upton managed to rip a 97-mph fastball from Puk and scored his first homer of the season, which tied the score at 1-1.
When Upton was asked about his homer, he said, “I’m definitely not used to it.” He continued by saying that he got a pinch-hit at-bat and started to find new ways to figure it out.
“You’ve just got to change your mindset a little bit in the box,” Upton explained. “You have to be ready to hit. Sometimes the best pitch you will get is that first one.”
With this victory, the Mariners were able to register their ninth win in their past 12 games while improving to 38-42. They also managed to avoid another frustrating loss.
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Despite having Paul Blackburn, who might be selected to play in his first All-Star Game, the A’s failed to avoid a gut-wrenching loss. Blackburn allowed four hits and had five strikeouts with an ERA of 2.90 this season.
Moreover, the A’s will have to play without Jed Lowrie for the time being after an MRI result showed that there was fluid in his left shoulder, as the A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. Lowrie was put on the 10-day injured list on Thursday with a sprained shoulder.
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