July 2, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielder Brent Rooker (25) circles the bases after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports The Oakland Athletics can pull off an improbable season series victory over the Baltimore Orioles when the clubs meet for the sixth and final time Sunday afternoon in Oakland, Calif.
The A’s hit five home runs, including one in a one-out McCann-McCann matchup, en route to a 19-8 victory Saturday. That gave the team with the American League’s second-worst record three wins in five meetings this season against the team with the second-best record.
When Oakland’s backup catcher Kyle McCann hit a home run off Baltimore’s backup catcher James McCann, who had been called up to pitch the eighth inning, it gave the A’s 12 home runs in five home games this week.
Oakland is 4-1 in those games, with the series opener losing 3-2 to Baltimore on Friday.
All-Star hopeful Brent Rooker hit three home runs in those five games, bringing his season total to a team-best 18. Shea Langeliers, Lawrence Butler and Max Schuemann each hit two home runs, while McCann, Miguel Andujar and Tyler Nevin each hit one.
Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (10-3, 3.45 ERA), who has allowed just 10 homers in 15 starts this season, will try to keep the A’s hitters in the park Sunday.
The 24-year-old got the Orioles’ six-game West series off to a strong start Tuesday, pitching 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory at Seattle. He has won five of his last six starts, including road games at Toronto, Tampa Bay and Houston.
Rodriguez didn’t face the A’s when they visited Baltimore in April, but he has pitched against them once before — in his second major league start of April 2023. He was tagged for five runs in 4 1/3 innings, but no home runs, in a game the Orioles managed to win 12-8.
The Orioles could have a number of things on their minds Sunday, including getting revenge, tying the season series and finishing the trip with a victory. But a possible distraction looms as Major League Baseball is set to announce its full All-Star rosters Sunday afternoon.
Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman have already been chosen by fans as the American League starters. A combination of player votes and selections from the commissioner’s office will round out the teams, with several Orioles — including Ryan O’Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, Jordan Westburg, Corbin Burnes, Craig Kimbrel and even Rodriguez — considered candidates to earn a trip to Arlington, Texas, for the July 16 game.
Of the group, Mountcastle (12th home run Saturday), Westburg (3 for 9 with two doubles) and Kimbrel (save in Friday’s win) have been the ones who have helped their cause the most in the series.
“Everybody deserves it,” Henderson said. “I hope they all get it.”
Orioles hitters will have one last chance to pad their numbers when they face A’s rookie right-hander Mitch Spence (5-4, 4.15 ERA), who recorded his second major league win by pitching three no-hit innings to complete a 3-2 victory at Baltimore on April 26. It was his only time facing the Orioles.
Like Rodriguez, Spence, 26, is coming off a strong performance Tuesday, when he held the Los Angeles Angels to one run in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-5 victory.
–Field level media
