Following a loss back on June 15, the Oakland Athletics were basically who most thought they were coming into the season. Through 70 games, manager Bob Melvin’s squad sat two games below .500 and a seemingly insurmountable 11.5 games out in the A.L. West. After Friday night’s dramatic, extra-inning victory against the Astros, however, the Amazing A’s are 39-13 over their last 52 games and but a single game out of the top spot in the division.
Second-year slugger Matt Olson played the hero for the A’s this time, as he stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning with the score knotted up at 3-3 and proceeded to launch his first career walk-off home run, and the first by any player off Houston lefty Tony Sipp this year, over the right-field wall. Olson has now hit safely in five straight games, four of which the A’s have won, going 8-for-22 with a homer and three doubles.
Posting. Olson. #Walkoff pic.twitter.com/XxIBdaqhtL
— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2018
Saturday on the Hill
Jacob deGrom will continue his pursuit of the N.L. Cy Young Award in Philadelphia. Despite an MLB-leading 1.81 ERA over 24 starts, deGrom comes into the weekend with an absurd 7-7 record thanks in large part to the Mets lackluster offense. The Mets have managed to supply their ace with eight runs in each of his last two outings, however, resulting in a victory in each of them for deGrom. He will duel with Jake Arrieta on Saturday afternoon.
So far, Rays newly-acquired righty Tyler Glasnow has been better than the veteran he was traded for back on July 31, and it’s not even really been close. Glasnow has pitched 3.0, 4.0, then 5.0 innings respectively as his new club is stretching him out after the Pirates worked him exclusively out of the bullpen before the trade. In those 12.0 innings with Tampa, Glasnow has posted a 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 20-to-3 K/BB ratio. He’ll look to maintain form against the incredibly potent Red Sox lineup in Boston on Saturday evening.
Quick Hits
Not many hitters around the league have a record of success against deGrom, but that has not been the case for Justin Bour . Bour is no longer in a starting role since he joined the Phillies last weekend. However, it seems quite likely that Manager Gabe Kapler will get him in the lineup opposite a hurler against which he is 8-for-21 with two homers and a double.
DJ. LeMahieu and the Rockies will face Braves righty Mike Foltynewicz. The Atlanta right-hander can be a tough customer on the mound, but LeMahieu has gone an impressive 11-for-15 against Foltynewicz in his career.
Wil Myers is just recently back in the Padres lineup after another, albeit short, stint on the DL and Zack Godley has been pitching really well as of late, but this matchup has historically gone the way of the hitter. Against Godley, Myers is 7-for-15 with a homer, double, and a triple.
Streaking
Matt Chapman – 14 games – 19-for-58, 1.030 OPS, 3 HR, 8 2B
Justin Turner – 11 games – 19-for-44, 1.161 OPS, 1 HR, 6 2B
Mookie Betts – 11 games – 18-for-42, 1.372 OPS, 2 HR, 7 2B, 2 3B
You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.
Player News
Andrés Giménez was removed from Wednesday’s game against the Angels with right quad tightness.
It sounds like a precautionary measure. There should be an update on his status prior to Thursday’s series finale out in Los Angeles.
Kyren Paris hit a two-run homer in Wednesday’s win for the Angels over the Blue Jays.
That’s the first homer for Paris since April 9 when he went deep twice against Tampa Bay and caused everyone to lose all sense of rational thought. The 23-year-old did also single and walk to improve his on-base percentage to .311,, while the homer bumps his slugging mark to .378. There is long-term upside in Paris with flashes that suggest he can be a fantasy option. Fantasy managers should still absolutely looking elsewhere for options up the middle.
Jorge Soler hit a three-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Trent Grisham went 1-for-1 with a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday.
While the Yankees won this game on a walk-off in the 10th inning, Grisham’s game-tying home run in the eighth was the biggest moment. He came on as a pinch-hitter for Jorbit Vibas against the usually stout Jason Adam and smashed a two-strike changeup into the right field seats. This clutch shot will only continue to push Grisham’s playing time in the right direction after he just started eight of the last 10 games, hit either first or second in each, and already has 10 homers in 31 games played this season.
Jeff Hoffman blew a save and picked up a loss Wednesday against the Angels.
Devin Williams struck out three batters with one walk and hit another in a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win against the Padres on Wednesday.
The Yankees entrusted Williams with the all important 10th inning and the inherited ghost runner on second base after their dramatic comeback. While he loaded the bases and had some tense moments, he left the inning unscathed and opened the door for them to win it right after. It should be noted that Luke Weaver came on for what were the most important outs of this game at the time, after Ian Hamilton walked two to begin the eighth inning and Weaver allowed both of those inherited runners to score. He was called upon as the fireman though and will likely get the next save opportunity. Still, this was a massive step in the right direction for Williams.