A's ride six-game win streak into series with Rockies (Jul 27, 2018)
DENVER -- A road trip that has been memorably dramatic and a bit unbelieveble for the Oakland Athletics will conclude with a series against the Colorado Rockies that begins Friday.
The A's (61-43) have won a season-high-tying six straight games, finishing off a four-game sweep at Texas with a second straight one-run victory Thursday night to move 18 games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 9, 2014.
Oakland has won 27 of its past 34 games, coming from behind in 17 of those victories and scoring the winning run in the eighth inning or later in 12 of them. The A's were behind 5-1 after six innings Wednesday and 10-2 after six Tuesday but came back to win 6-5 and 13-10 in 10 innings.
"It's the last out that you have to get," A's manager Bob Melvin said, "and you're having a tough time getting it on us right now."
The A's are one game behind Seattle in the race for the second American League wild-card spot and trail AL West-leading Houston by six games.
The A's and Rockies last played in Oakland in 2015 with the A's winning two of three games. The clubs last met at Coors Field in 2012 when the A's swept a three-game series.
The Rockies were fortunate two weeks ago when Seattle came to Coors Field for three games, and Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz did not play in the expansive Coors Field outfield. Cruz had sustained a calf strain playing the outfield, and the Mariners didn't want to run that risk.
But rampaging A's designated hitter Khris Davis, who has hit six homers in his past five games and has 27 homers and 78 RBIs this season, will play left field against the Rockies.
Never mind left field is more spacious than right field at Coors, and Davis has a suspect arm. The A's are willing to potentially sacrifice defense to add the slugging prowess of Davis to their lineup. Davis was 4-for-15 with one homer and four RBIs in five games (three starts) at Coors Field while playing for Milwaukee.
A's left-hander Sean Manaea (9-6, 3.38 ERA) will face the Rockies for the first time on Friday. The A's are 13-8 in starts by Manaea, who is 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA in his past nine starts -- seven of which the A's have won. During that stretch, Manaea has limited opposing hitters to a .214 average and a .618 OPS.
Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (8-6, 3.28) will be trying to rebound from a slight lull. He's 8-3 2.77 in his past 16 starts and 2-0, 2.55 in his past seven. But Freeland has not made it to the sixth inning in his past three starts, no-decisions for Freeland that all resulted in Rockies wins and outings in which his ERA was a combined 3.52.
He has never faced the A's.
The A's winning streak has improved their road record to 35-21. The Rockies have won eight of their past 10 games and 16 of their past 21 to move two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lead the National League West, and one game behind Atlanta in the race for the second NL wild-card spot.
The series with the A's will complete a five-game homestand for the Rockies, who are 24-24 at home after winning nine of their past 11 games there and just split a two-game series with the world champion Houston Astros.
The teams were tied at 2-2 after nine innings Tuesday when center fielder Charlie Blackmon let a leadoff single get by him for a two-base error to start the 10th when the Astros exploded for six runs to win 8-2. But with one out in the ninth Wednesday, Blackmon hit the first walk-off homer of his career to give the Rockies a 3-2 win.
"That's the beauty of baseball," Blackmon said. "You can stink, which is OK, as long as you don't stink the next time and the next time. That's what makes baseball great. It's a long season, and we have a chance."
