A's Force a Game 7 as Tables Turn
October 30th, 2016
One week ago, the Oakland Athletics looked cooked. Down three games to none with only 2 runs scored in 3 games, the magic looked like it had finally run out on the A's as the Nationals were poised for the series sweep. But boy have the fortunes turned.
The change of fate happened one game, and one inning at a time. In game 4, Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt powered the A's offense with 2 solo homeruns and Kendall Gravemen gave the A's 6 innings of 1-run baseball on their way to an upset win over stud Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals
In game 5 Oakland's bats finally came alive, scoring 6 runs off of Nationals rookie SP Lucas Giolito. The offense spread over 5 players who each drove in 1 run: Andrew Lambo, Stephen Vogt, Yonder Alonso, Gordan Beckham and Eric Sogard. Potential Cy Young Award winner Sonny Gray pitched an excellent game in his final start of the season, allowing 8 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings and earning a 6-3 win, his 2nd of the postseason.
Game 6 saw a fantastic performance from the A's bullpen. After Clayton Blackburn left the game after 5 innings of 2-run ball, the A's bullpen shut down the Nationals offense and allowed just 3 baserunners in 4 innings. Jed Lowrie provided the offensive spark, blasting 2 homeruns to give the A's a 3-2 victory.
Do the A's have any magic left in the tank? We'll see tomorrow as Kendall Graveman will face off against Stephen Strasburg for the 3rd time this series. Strasburg got the win in game 1 and Graveman got the win in game 2, making this the ultimate game 7 rubber match.