The Athletics needed one clean night before their off day. Finally, they got it.
J.T. Ginn set the tone, the bullpen finished it and the A’s avoided a sweep by the defending champion Dodgers with a 7-1 win Wednesday at Sutter Health Park. The win moved the Athletics to 41-46, still five games under .500 but only three games out of first in a packed AL West.
Ginn gives them length
Ginn did not have a spotless line, but he kept the Dodgers from landing the big swing.
The first inning tested him right away. Andy Pages doubled, Freddie Freeman walked and Kyle Tucker later walked to load the bases, but Ginn got Tommy Edman to ground out and escape.
Then Jonah Heim gave him a lead in the second. Heim launched his eighth homer of the season to center field, putting the A’s ahead 1-0.
Freeman answered with a solo homer in the third, but Ginn settled from there. He allowed one run on three hits over six innings, walking five and striking out four.
Kuroda-Grauer keeps climbing
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer kept giving the A’s reasons to move him up.
Two games after making his major league debut from the No. 9 spot, Kuroda-Grauer hit fifth and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run. He was one of five Athletics players with two hits.
His biggest swing came in the fourth. Heim walked, and Kuroda-Grauer followed with a double to right that put two runners in scoring position.
Then Lawrence Butler drove in Heim with a groundout, and Henry Bolte singled home Kuroda-Grauer. As a result, the A’s moved back in front 3-1.
Langeliers gets No. 20
The Athletics added on in the fifth and finally created breathing room.
Shea Langeliers opened the inning with his 20th homer of the season, a 433-foot shot to left-center. Nick Kurtz followed with a single, and Colby Thomas doubled him home.
Then Heim stayed hot. He singled to left, scoring Thomas and pushing the lead to 6-1.
Heim went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs, two runs and a walk. Langeliers also had two hits, including his 20th homer.
Bullpen finishes it
Luis Medina took over in the seventh and kept the Dodgers quiet.
Medina struck out three over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Then Hogan Harris entered with two runners on in the eighth and struck out Edman to end the threat.
Harris handled the ninth, too. He struck out Alex Freeland, allowed a single to Miguel Rojas, then struck out Chuckie Robinson and Shohei Ohtani to finish the win.
Together, Ginn, Medina and Harris combined for 11 strikeouts. The Dodgers went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.
Numbers that mattered
The Athletics finished with seven runs on 12 hits. The Dodgers had one run on five hits.
Kuroda-Grauer, Langeliers, Kurtz, Heim and Bolte each had two hits. Thomas added an RBI double, while Alika Williams hit his second homer of the season in the eighth.
For Los Angeles, Freeman had the only run with his third-inning homer. The Dodgers used Jack Dreyer for the first inning before Charlie Barnes covered the final seven innings and took the loss.
In the end, the A’s did more than avoid the sweep. They got a strong start, clean relief and production up and down the order against baseball’s top team.
Up next
The Athletics are off Thursday before opening a three-game home series against Miami on Friday at Sutter Health Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PDT.
Jack Perkins gets the ball for the A’s. The right-hander enters at 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
The Marlins have not listed a probable starter.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
