Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
Willie MacIver picked an opportune time for his first big league hit, a game winning eighth inning RBI single to help the Sacramento Athletics break their 11 game losing streak, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 at Sutter Health Park Sunday afternoon.
Sacramento’s Jacob Wilson follows the flight of his lead off home run during the Athletics 5-4 win over the Phillies Sunday afternoon.
MacIver, playing in his first Major League game, stroked a one out Matt Strahm pitch in to right field to drive in Lawrence Butler with the winning run, snapping Philadelphia’s nine game winning streak.
AL Rookie of the Year front runner Jacob Wilson got Sacramento off to a quick start with a lead off home run. Five batters later Logan Davidson’s double, also his first major league hit, drove in two to give the Athletics a 3-0 lead. Philadelphia would tie the game with single runs in the second, third and fifth, with two of the runs driven in by Trea Turner.
Philadelphia’s Jesús Luzardo delivers a pitch during the Athletics 5-4 win over the Phillies Sunday afternoon. Luzardo pitched seven innings, striking out ten batters.
The game would remain tied until the eighth with Sacramento starter Gunnar Hoglund settling down without allowing any more runs in his five inning effort. Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo was even better, as the former Athletic also allowed three runs on nine hits, but managing to strike out 10 batters in seven innings.
The Phillies finally broke through to take the lead in the eighth on a solo home run by Turner, his fifth, but the A’s rallied in the bottom of the frame against Philadelphia’s Strahm.
Athletics catcher Willie MacGiver and closer Mason Miller celebrate after MacGiver threw out Philadlphia’s Johan Rojas for the game’s final out in Sacramento’s 5-4 win over the Phillies Sunday.
A Butler triple would drive in Davidson to tie the game, setting the stage for MacIver’s tie-breaking heroics. Sacramento’s Mason Miller came on to shut the door in the ninth and record his 12th save with MacIver ending the game by throwing out Phillies pinch runner Johan Rojas attempting to steal second base for the final out to stop the Athletics long skid.
“That’s what we wanted to come up here and do,” said Davidson, who was playing just his second career game. “Make an impact. We weren’t here [for the long losing streak], but it’s one of those things where you could definitely feel it. We finally turned the tide and got a win.”
Following the game, Sacramento departed for a six game trip trip taking them to Houston and Toronto. JP Sears (4-4, 4.00) is scheduled to start Tuesday night against the Astros Hunter Brown (6-3, 2.04) in the opener.
