Oakland Athletics defeat Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 – MLB Update
A bravura performance by the Oakland Athletics saw them breeze past the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland on Sunday, July 3.
With a very thin attendance at the field, the game became a one-sided affair after the sixth-inning scoring spree by the Athletics accompanied by seven innings of precise pitching by their starter Gio Gonzalez.
The first run of the game came in the fourth inning when Chris Young added one for the Diamondbacks. The A’s were quick to follow suit and replied affluently with Coco Crisp and Hideki Matsui adding one run each in the fourth inning. Arizona registered a
one-run lead at the end of the fourth inning.
It was a Gonzalez show at the O.co Coliseum as he went for only one run in the seven innings that he pitched. The Diamondbacks were shackled throughout the game. Gonzalez conceded five hits from the total of 119 pitches that he made and yielded seven strike-outs
at an ERA of 2.31. His arm strength alone was enough to run through Arizona’s batters, winning him his eighth game this season. Gonzalez’s first strike-out of the game brought up his 100th and his tally now stands at 106.
Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy put in a lacklustre performance and failed to bring his good form into this game. With a win-loss record of 8-2 prior to this game, such performance was not expected from a pitcher of Kennedy’s stature who had not lost a
single game on the road this season. He threw just over five innings and gave away ten hits and seven runs in the process. Kennedy’s pitching was not below par, generally speaking, barring the sixth inning which saw him being bullied by Oakland’s hitters for
five runs. Kennedy ended up losing his third game of the season.
Conor Jackson started proceedings in the sixth inning with a massive 378-feet home-run for his second this season. Chris Carter followed Jackson to add one more before David DeJesus displayed his dependability with the bat. DeJesus scored his third run in
seven days, taking his current season’s tally to 28.
Scott Sizemore was the pick of the batters for the Athletics. He connected three times, managing two RBIs and then a massive homer in the sixth inning to complete his second home-run this season and fourth of his career. Cliff Pennington then added the final
run for the A’s to complete five in this inning and enough for the Diamondbacks to replace Kennedy from the mound.
This replacement came in a bit too late as the Diamondbacks could manage only one more run, that too in the eighth inning. The relief pitchers did a good job for the visitors but the damage had already been done.
The Oakland Athletics won the three-game series 2-1.
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