The Oakland Athletics got back in the win column Wednesday night behind a strong outing from Josh Outman and the speed of rookie second baseman Jemile Weeks. The A’s were staring down the barrel of a Luke Hochevar no-hitter heading into the sixth inning, but thankfully scrapped some hits together and got the win.
Hochevar had held the Royals to two walks before the sixth inning. In the sixth however, the A’s bats came alive. Landon Powell led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a successful Jemile Weeks drag bunt to put men on first and second. David DeJesus bunted into a fielder’s choice as Powell was thrown out at third. Fortunately, Weeks was able to steal third to get a runner 90 feet from home. Cliff Pennington followed that up with a single and the A’s were up 1-0. The A’s added a key second run in the seventh on a Daric Barton RBI single.
Josh Outman pitched a fantastic game and with a little help from the bullpen he improved to 2-1. Outman lasted seven innings giving up four hits and two walks. Brian Fuentes came on in the eighth and struggled a bit as he gave up a double and an RBI single. However, after Fuentes got out of the eighth and Andrew Bailey shut down the Royals in the ninth for his second save.
The A’s look to grab the rubber match on Thursday afternoon at 12:35pm pacific. The game will not be available on CSN California but can be seen on MLB.TV. Gio Gonzalez will face Jeff Francis in the series finale.