Athletics' bats catch fire with six-run third inning en route to win over Angels
"A's Cast" analysts Chris Townsend and Shooty Babitt discuss the Athletics' win against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday at Angel Stadium.
Athletics' bats catch fire with six-run third inning en route to win over Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
The Athletics needed to come out tonight and take care of business, and that's exactly what they did.
They put up two touchdowns.
Most runs they've scored this season, 14 to six, a win over the Halos.
Makes you feel a little bit better after last night's just gut-wrenching loss.
It was a good one, 14 to six.
Chris Townsend alongside the Super Scout, Shooty Babbitt.
We were sitting here last night, it was so tough.
Feel a little bit better tonight.
Do you feel better tonight, Shooty?
Absolutely.
You know, in the pregame you came on and you said, "Man, how do they bounce back- Yep and respond to last night's game?"
Well, Tony, exactly the way that they did.
They came out with a chip on their shoulder.
They played with a purpose.
And I think one thing that was exposed in this game that we don't talk a whole lot about is the diversity of this offense.
You know, we talk so much about this team being capable of slugging, but the way that they ran the bases, how they scored from second base on base hits, with two outs.
I mean, when you look at Bolton, when you look at Gelof, how they're aggressively making great decisions on the bases, this is a dangerous offense.
And when you've got a team that's stacked one through nine like they are right now, man, they can put up some numbers like they did tonight.
You think about the last two seasons, and May is when it really went bad.
This team is showing you it is different.
They're resilient.
Look at the start of the year where they struggled against Toronto and against Atlanta, and then all of a sudden they got it going again in New York, taking down the Yankees and the Mets.
You know, there's one thing about this team: they got a chin, right?
Last night they took it on the chin.
They stepped up tonight, they got off the mat, fought back.
This club under Mark Katse is resilient.
I think you cannot minimize the value of depth and competition.
Every guy that struggled or got another opportunity have taken advantage of 'em, and you and I were talking about some of the guys that are in the lineup performing right now, for guys that are sitting out that are not playing as much, there's gonna be some decisions they have to make, and they're gonna be tough ones.
Because when you look what Zack Gelof has been able to do through the struggles, through the injuries- Yeah through the downtime- Good call watching other guys go up that he, came up in the minor leagues with, and up here balling in the big leagues, and all he's You sit back and watch his boys get down, and say, "Man oh man, what am I gonna do?"
No, no, no, no, no.
He never made excuses, didn't hold his head down.
He kept his shoulders up and his chin up, and he went to work, and he came back like a madman.
And it, it He even has the appearance of a, a, a more mature guy, if you The way he's going about it, you know, the game face that he possesses right now, this man is on a mission right now.
And also, when you got a losing streak and you have a loss like you had last night, you need your star player to step up and have a big game.
Nick Kurtz did exactly that, and here he is with Jenny in Dallas.
A three-hit night for Nick Kurtz, driving in five runs.
When you get to the plate it feels contagious on a night like tonight.
What was it like to bounce back after the tough loss yesterday?
Yeah, I think that's, that's the biggest thing.
You know, you have a game like yesterday, one that we, we feel like as hitters let, let JT down, so, to come out here and swing it like we did tonight was, was really good.
Well, this team continues to so- show patience and power at the plate.
What I took away from tonight was the onslaught from the offensive perspective, especially with two outs, Kurtzy.
What goes into those approaches when we see you guys start banging the baseball all around the yard, especially with two outs?
Yeah, I don't know if the approach really changes.
I just think that, tonight just worked, it worked that way, that there was two outs and we decided, "Now, now's the time to get it done."
so I think, you know, we had a good plan coming in and, we executed it.
Good to see the offense come alive tonight and even up the series.
We'll see you tomorrow for game three.
Thanks so much.
All right.
Thank you, guys.
I hope everybody was just paying attention to that, 'cause Mark Katse has talked about for a young guy, he's a silent leader.
We knew he's a strong personality, but he's not a real talkative guy.
What he just said there, words matter.
He just said, "Last night we the hitters let JT Ginn down."
So that's what they were feeling, 'cause obviously if they would've got it done in the top of the ninth inning, he would've lost the no-hitter but still would've won the game.
The A's would've won the game.
So for him to say that right there shows you a lot about who he is.
And I think it's a reflection of the culture.
when they interviewed JT Ginn after one of the most devastating losses probably in his entire career, un- undoubtedly, he could've said, "Yeah, I went out and did the best I could, you know.
Unfortunately, I came up," or, "We came up on the short end of the stick."
No, no, no, no, no.
"You know, I made a couple bad pitches, you know.
I didn't get my sinker down and, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I let u- my team down for the most part."
And for him to come out in a moment like that when the rest of us still drying up tears- because we're crying about what- Crying such a bad event- It was horrible you know, he's standing up like a true man.
And, for Kurtz, the first thing to come out is acknowledge that the offense let him down last night.
I mean, it just goes to show you what a tight-knit group you have here, and these kids are still maturing.
I mean, some of them- Yeah can't even grow mustaches and beards yet, and they're speaking like mature men.
So, something to really be proud of and a lot to look forward to.
The big man stepped up.
Let's get to the River Rock Daily Jackpot, and that on-base streak just continues.
I mean, Nick Kurtz tonight, he was absolutely fantastic.
When you need the big man to step up, he did, and you look at what he did tonight, three for five, five RBIs, scored two runs.
He's now been on base 42 straight games, and in this streak he's hitting 301, eight home runs, 34 RBIs, 19 extra base hits, 40 walks, 28 runs scored, a 987 OPS.
Oh, and give him five stolen bases.
Yeah.
What he is doing right now, unbelievable.
You know, and it's never been a situation where it appeared that, oh, this is his last at bat and this streak may come to an end.
I mean, this thing is accomplished before we even get into the fifth inning most of the time.
It just goes to show you, you know, the value of having a guy that is so dangerous, no matter where you put him in the lineup, theoretically he's been hitting a lot in the first place where he hit tonight.
I mean, he came up in situations where you needed your best guy up, and man oh man, ball just found holes like he would want it to, and Nick Kurtz is right in the middle of everything.
You know, when we s- first showed the graphic of Mark McGwire in a single season, 48 straight games, I'm thinking there's no way he's gonna get to thatAnd now we're really look- he's got a chance to do that.
You're talking about Mark McGwire.
Big Mac was one of the most feared guys in the history of baseball.
You didn't wanna pitch to him, 'cause you know you pitch to him, he had a chance to leave the yard.
He has a legitimate chance at this thing, and as you said, every night it's, he's getting to this in the first or second at bat.
It's not like we're going to the last at bat, will he extend the streak?
He does it really early, because pitchers should be afraid.
You should be circling him.
You don't want, you don't want Nick Kurtz to be the guy that beats you, and because of that, this on-base streak is just gonna keep going.
He's got a real shot at Big Mac.
And you gotta give a lot of credit to the guys that are hitting in front of him and behind him in this lineup as well, because they have been presenting a challenge for the opposing pitchers and the managers.
How do we go about attacking this guy?
Well, the one thing you don't wanna do is give him a free pass in situations where now you're putting your team in another tough situation.
But man oh man, just the patience, the ability not to chase in situations when you sometimes want your guy to go ahead and cheat a little bit because you're our, one of our most potent hitters, and he refuses to do that.
So he's making it tough.
Early in the game they tried to cram him a little bit, and I don't know what they saw that scared 'em, but man, they start getting afraid and pitching him away, and I thought they'd just pitch right into his strength.
And that 86 mile an hour- whatever that was they tossed up there, they need to have that pitcher's head checked, because he was just looking for disaster.
I, I, I, I can't remember- what the pitch was.
It was 86 right down the middle.
Who in the heck thinks they're gonna get Nick Kurtz out with an 86 mile an hour cookie- right down the middle?
Well, let's get to the Toyota Turning Point, because when you have struggled, you need to have a big inning, and to do it early, where the Athletics would put up a six-spot in the third inning, where it was just hit after hit after hit.
It just, everybody get that line moving and you, a- and it gave you that cushion, that little bit of sense of breathing room that this team needed.
Dallas talked about in the pregame when I asked him what was gonna be the key to the A's offense having success, you know, if the starting pitcher, a guy that really understands how to move the ball around a little bit.
He said, "These guys are gonna have to be patient.
You know, let the ball get a little deeper, you know, sit on the change-up and the off-speed stuff and, you know, let him beat you with the gas."
I mean, he had it up to 95 mile an hour, but it wasn't a dominating pitch, and you got to give the hitters a whole lot of credit.
It had to be a lot of communication between them and Bush, because it's obvious that they had a plan, and approach was on point tonight.
Look at this.
With two outs, the best batting average in baseball, 263. Who would've thought that?
We never talk about batting average with the A's.
263 with two outs.
Yeah, well, we got into a time in baseball with people who talked about how the batting average wasn't that important.
try telling your agent and the hitter when he goes to arbitration, start talking about, "Well, I had a bunch of quality at-bats," even though I only hit a buck 90.
They don't wanna hear about that.
Your expected batting average, by the way, it means nothing.
I don't care what these sabermetricians say.
I wanna know what you're hitting, but it just And a lot of those, you know, with runners on.
The, they've hit with two outs with runners on, and you love having those two out rallies.
There's nothing worse than that guy that comes up with, two outs and nobody on base, and he always finds a way to get a hit.
But when the game is on the line, you know, you want guys with strong guts and fortitude that are salivating for that opportunity, and to have that type of identity and characteristic as a hitter or as a team, man, it lets me know that guys are capable of fouling pitches off, extending at-bats, not giving in.
There was a time early on when guys were striking out a lot, and they've made adjustments.
You see guys, strong right-handed hitters, filling balls to right field.
You know, Rooker know- understanding the situation, shorten up the swing a little- Yeah just making sure that he drops one in.
Man, that's, professional hitting, 101 right there.
Let's highlight Zach Gelof a little more.
I mean, how much we love this kid.
We talked about the A's being resilient.
He's showing he's resilient.
Got healthy, fixed the shoulder, had the surgery.
And it wasn't that long ago he led all baseball in strikeouts.
Now all of a sudden he's driving the baseball, asking him to play third base, asking him to play center field.
Zach Gelof has gotten his mojo back.
I think that's the biggest point that you make there.
For him to be able to have this success offensively, at the same time, moving around in about four different positions.
And a lot of time, when a guy's trying to get his feet underneath him, especially at the Major League level where the game is so fast, him now playing down at the hot corner that he's been cooling off a little bit, a lot of times you take those struggles out on, or take 'em up to the plate, and it affects you offensively.
I mean, he's been able to make the adjustments on both sides and not skip a beat.
Understanding that he's getting an opportunity where the guy, we had Muncy in there and he was just trending in the right- Yeah direction at the time that he got hurt, man.
So to be able to have someone step in and take it to a whole 'nother level, that's pretty impressive.
Well, you think about it.
You get hurt, and you want to avoid surgery all you can, and he rehabbed and he tried, and then finally he realized, "I gotta get the surgery, fix the shoulder."
And there's something about, for the first time in a couple years, where he feels strong, he feels healthy.
He doesn't have to worry about that shoulder, and now you just see that swing.
His ability to drive the baseball, especially to right center, that's what we first saw in 2023 when he came up, that power to right center, and you saw it tonight.
You know, what I do know about him is that he loves the game, because any time something is taken away from you, you find out how much you really love it.
And the way that he went about it to get it back, the way that he has his arms around it now that he's not gonna let, ever let it go, it tells you how much, what this kid is made of.
And, you know, you've been around him a lot.
Yeah.
I mean, if you're gonna pull for someone, this is one of those guys that you do, because you understand the type of joy that he is, the type of teammate he is, and what he's made of on the inside.
And he brings athleticism.
Every single day.
Man, that's the thing.
When you think about his ability to steal bags, you can put him in center.
I mean, we thought he was the second baseman of the future, but the fact that he can play second, he can play center, he can play third, and his ability to run, I mean, he, he, there's a lot to offer there.
If he gets going, wow, would he adds.
Well, it's a lot of danger if you're a one-trick pony now, if you're a guy that can't move around and play another position, because the opportunity are boundless.
When you're a person that have four or five glove and skipper's not afraid to put you anywhere because you're gonna get exposed, I mean, your value only escalates, and I think you're gonna see a whole lot more of this.
I think that's why most teams in those early rounds in these draft, they take those shortstops- Yes because they are the best athletes on the field, and the versatility is, is boundless.
Yeah, and what he's bringing to this club right now is huge, and at some point, Muncy comes back, and then you start saying, "Well, you gotta keep this bat in the lineup."
It's gonna be a tough call, but those are the calls that you wanna have.
You wanna have too much talent, and that's a good thing for Mark Kotsay.
Oh, ain't nothing wrong with having those type of problems.
Too many good players.
Well, yesterday it was a tough one for Mark Kotsay.
After the game, you could just sense it.
You could see it in his face, on all the guys' faces.
Tonight, a little bit better.
Athletics with the win, 14 to 6 over the Halos.
We'll hear from the skipper next
