OAKLAND, Calif. _ Even on days the A's don't plan on utilizing the "bullpenning" strategy, it seems to be working out that way lately.
On a day where Trevor Cahill struggled to throw strikes and turned in his shortest outing of the season, the A's offense and bullpen bailed out the right-hander to complete a sweep of the Texas Rangers in Sunday's 7-3 victory.
Cahill was in danger of letting things get out of hand from the beginning as he began his day walking the first three batters of the game. Though a run would score on Nomar Mazara's sacrifice fly, Cahill managed to limit the damage to just one run.
But it was clear Cahill was not on his game.
After a scoreless second, Cahill again struggled to find the strike zone as he walked the first two batters of the third. After Adrian Beltre's RBI single to right made it 3-0 Rangers, A's manager Bob Melvin ended the outing and went to right-hander Shawn Kelley.
Kelley began the sequence of eight relievers who came on in relief to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard from the third inning on, concluding with All-Star closer Blake Treinen turning in a perfect ninth.
The A's offense was quiet for the first three innings of the day, but as they've shown all year, they can produce an avalanche in the span of an inning. That's what happened in the fourth.
Five runs crossed the plate in the inning, capped off by Ramon Laureano's double off the high wall in right-center to put the A's ahead 5-3.
Stephen Piscotty later homered in the seventh off Matt Moore, a solo shot to increase the A's lead to four runs. It was Piscotty's 23rd home run of the season, surpassing his previous career-high of 22, which was set in 2016 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
