Sean Murphy provided the offense and James Kaprielian provided the pitching Friday night in Seattle as the A’s beat the Mariners 3-1.
Murphy had three hits, including his ninth homer, and was directly responsible for two of Oakland’s three runs. Kaprielian delivered six innings of three-hit ball for his first win since Sept. 18.
“I’m starting to find some queues and what I need to do to continue to be consistent on the mound,” Kaprielian said. “I think it’s showing and I’m going to continue work on it. That’s the process of a baseball season, you continue to evolve and continue to work on your craft.”
The A’s broke a four-game losing streak and started July with a victory after going 5-21 in June.
Murphy broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a single to bring home Tony Kemp. Kemp’s RBI single in the sixth gave Oakland a 2-0 lead.
The Mariners cut the lead to 2-1 in their half of the sixth and had runners on first and second, but Kaprielian struck out Abraham Toro on his 86th pitch of the night to end the inning.
“I’m an intense competitor and I think everyone in this club knows that,” Kaprielian said. “For me, it’s a great opportunity that I was able to go out there in the sixth and work through that. My job as a starting pitcher, even when my back is against the wall, is to continue to compete and I’m always going to do that for this team.”
“I thought he threw the ball better last start and tonight was a great performance by him,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He battled and got through the sixth, big strikeout in that inning. It’s really encouraging to see Kap from the body language and intensity from pitch one. He looked like Kap of old.”
Murphy’s two-out homer in the seventh, a solo shot to right, restored the two-run. Murphy is batting .297 over his last 20 games.
The 3-1 lead held when reliever Zach Jackson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the Seattle seventh, getting Jacob Winker to fly out to Ramón Laureano.
Lou Trivino earned the save for Oakland in the absence of closer Dany Jiménez, who is on the 15-day injured list with a strained shoulder. Trivino has picked up saves in his last three appearances.
Neuse’s bat gets noisy in return to majors
Sheldon Neuse is batting .342 in 11 games and carries a seven-game hit streak since being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on June 21.
Source: www.mercurynews.com