[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series on the road at Florida

Halfway through our 12-game road trip we were 4-2 and were looking to build on it heading into the prolonged Interleague period of the schedule. We’d have the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies before going home to face the Washington Nationals and the World Series Champion New York Mets. And the Dodgers were lurking near the end of the month, sandwiched between two sets with the last-placed Mariners.

Prior to the series 4th-place Florida are 21-35 however they’ve been playing better baseball of late with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games but then again the Marlins’ team ERA of 5.35 is solidly in the bottom-half of all of baseball. Outside of 28-year old closer Dario Rojas there wasn’t anyone else worth mentioning among the Marlins’ pitching staff. Rojas has electric stuff and is 2-1 with 10 saves in 15 innings of work with 20 strikeouts. On the hitting end two promising 26-year olds, catcher Bill Timpson and first baseman Belen Fern, were doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the Marlins as was 35-year old shortstop and 2012 American League Rookie of the Year Ryan Call.

With the National League lineups in effect and Mumbles Yamasita fully recovered from his bruised hip Francisco Quinenes would be bumped out of the lineup at the start of the series.

1. Yamasita CF
2. Galdames SS
3. Byers RF
4. Revelez LF
5. Guevaro 3B
6. Arce 1B
7. McInally C
8. Page 2B


Sunday, June 6, 2021
Game 57 at Florida Marlins
5-4 Win; 25,952 in attendance
W: Frank (1-1) L: Torres (0-1) H: Rogers (5) H: von Schoening (3) SV: Mathis (19)

Recap: Rowley Dickson started and despite allowing only four hits through six innings he allowed 3 runs and the score was tied at 3-3 going into the top of the 8th inning. Edgard Galdames led off the 8th working a 10-pitch at-bat against Florida reliever Gil Torres into a walk and took second after Travis Byers singled. Galdames & Byers took third and second on a strange double steal that could have potentially taken the bat out of the hands of Teddy Revelez but the Marlins pitched to the 249-pound left fielder anyway and he rapped a single that scored both baserunners. The bottom of the 8th was nearly an instant replay as Terry Rogers walked the leadoff man and gave up a single to 20-year old shortstop John Boles to put baserunners on first and second base with no outs. 24-year old Brazilian first baseman Inigo Broa singled home a runner to knock Rogers out of the game but Fairfax von Schoening came in and got out of the jam with two big strikeouts. 36-year old Florida left fielder John Sherrod hit his fourth home run of the year off of Dickson in the 4th inning.


Monday, June 7, 2021
Game 58 at Florida Marlins
4-1 Loss; 25,045 in attendance
W: Guetieriez (5-6) L: Glaus (0-1) SV: Rojas (11)

Recap: The Marlins got all the run support they would need in the 1st inning as they jumped out to a 2-run lead when third baseman Ryan Call sent a Gib Glaus fastball 422-feet to straightaway center field. Florida starter Carlos Guetieriez threw eight strong, 4-hit innings and allowed just one earned run before handing the ball to junkball closer Dario Rojas who picked up his 11th save of the season. Player of the Game Call would add another 2-run shot off of Glaus in the 6th inning for his team-leading 14th home run of the year and ended the game 3-for-4 with the 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. Jonathan Leverett wasn’t lights out in his one inning of relief but didn’t allow a run despite giving up two hits. Mumbles Yamasita swiped his 20th base of the year and Edgard Galdames was 2-for-3 for Oakland.


Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Game 59 at Florida Marlins
8-7 Win (11 innings); 24,416 in attendance
W: Mathis (3-0) L: Rojas (2-2) H: Frank (3) SV: von Schoening (3) BS: MacCaul (2) BS: Mathis (2)

Recap: This wild game was a snooze-fest through the first 6 innings as the Marlins fell asleep at the wheel and found themselves behind 3-0 going into the bottom of the 6th. But the fish rallied for four runs highlighted by 26-year old first baseman Belen Fern’s 2-run double off of our starter Nori Nakamura, who would be denied in his attempt to get to 10 wins. In the next inning with two men on base Travis Byers crushed the first pitch he saw from Florida starter Jhon Hernandez 448 feet to left-center field to put Oakland back on top 6-4 and chase Hernandez from the game. The action was just getting hot when in the top of the 8th inning Mumbles Yamasita tripled into the right field corner and then successfully completed one of the rarest plays in baseball – the stealing of home plate. Manager Jeff Hance is certainly being much more aggressive on the basepaths than usual during this Interleague series. In the bottom of the 8th inning Florida made it 7-6 after Pennsylvania Dutch Country’s Bill “Chatty” Timpson, a Lancaster native, sent a 2-run shot over 430 feet to left field. In the bottom of the 9th inning Athletics closer Bill “Crunchy” Mathis allowed a single and a double to the first two batters he faced before striking out the next two, leaving men on second and third with two outs. Ryan Call hit a line drive single over the second baseman which scored the runner from third but Byers in right field gunned down the runner attempting to score from second base sending the game into extra innings. It was only the second blown save for Mathis this year. In the top of the 11th inning Byers hit his 2nd home run of the game and 8th of the year, a dying quail barely over the left field fence, off of Florida closer Dario Rojas to give us the victory.


Current Oakland Record: 39-20

Things were looking good as another series victory kept us 6½ games ahead of the Angels in the American League Western Division. We had no game scheduled, just a full day to rest on Wednesday before finishing off our road trip in Philadelphia against the 41-18 second place Phillies starting on Thursday evening.


Did You Know?

Oakland pitchers are a combined 1-for-20 at the plate this season with 5 strikeouts.

Jonathan Leverett got the hit in his only at-bat this season, an RBI single with the bases loaded against the Dodgers' Jed Curson in a 4-2 victory back on May 22. It was the first hit for Leverett in his 4-year Major League career but it came in only his second ever at-bat.