OAKLAND, Calif. _ It's only April, and until recently he didn't play every day, but there's a case to be made for saying Adam Rosales is the A's Most Valuable Player.
Saturday was the A's fifth consecutive win, this one 4-3 over the Mariners, and it's safe to say that Rosales has been the driving force behind the surge that has pushed Oakland two games over .500 for the first time in 12 months.
Midgame Tuesday the A's were mired in a four-game losing streak. They trailed the Rangers 2-0. They'd had just one hit and two base runners in the first five-plus innings that night and hadn't scored in 15 innings overall.
Then Rosales stepped up and jacked out a two-run homer. More than just tying the game, that blast flipped a switch. That homer was the first of nine bombs in the next 4 { games, including Saturday's game-tying leadoff homer in the first inning by Rosales. Two batters later Ryon Healy delivered a two-run shot to secure the lead for Oakland and the A's didn't trail again.
"You look at it, and he put a spark of fire in all of our rear ends," Healy said. "That homer (against the Rangers) was definitely a big swing for us."
Rosales has had to step in with Marcus Semien having suffered a fractured wrist. There were questions asked as to why the A's didn't go to the minor leagues for the man they see as their shortstop of the future, Franklin Barreto, but for now, having Rosales as the shortstop of the present is working out nicely.
Beginning with that homer, Rosales owns a five-game hitting streak with five RBIs, a double and two homers while going 6-for-16. Rosales sprints wherever he goes, and now he has the A's setting a torrid pace collectively. Oakland batters have followed his lead, going 43-for-144 (.299) with 11 doubles to add to those nine homers.
And, oh yeah, five wins. All those wins do is get Oakland to 10-8, good for second place in the early stages of the American League West race. And the A's clubhouse, not a happening place the last couple of years, feels the energy.
"You see the smile he has on his face?" Saturday's winning pitcher Jharel Cotton said of Rosales. "That says it all, man. He's really had an impact for us, a lot of energy. Beginning with that homer, he's stepped up."
The offense from Rosales and Healy came in support of a solid effort from Cotton. The right-hander was stung almost immediately by a Robinson Cano first-inning homer and was having trouble commanding his pitches. But with the A's up 3-2 in the third and two men on, he found himself.
Cotton allowed just two of the final 12 men he faced to reach base, and "I think you could see the sixth was my best inning," he said.
The bullpen allowed one eighth inning run, but Ryan Madson shut that rally off with an inning-ending grounder while the Mariners had the tying run on third base. Madson, last year's closer, then struck out the side in the ninth, dodging a single and stolen base to record his first save.
"That one felt good," Madson said. "You try not to think about having to get four outs while you're out there. But to strand that run for Liam (Hendriks), that was nice."
