MINNEAPOLIS _ For about a three-week period, the A's starting rotation was making the bullpen a mere afterthought after racking up strong performance after strong performance. But there's a reason the A's have spent the past month beefing up their relief corps _ for games like this.
Friday night's 7-1 victory over the Twins was the blueprint A's general manager David Forst had in mind for the club after wheeling and dealing to shorten games as much as possible by assembling a monstrous back end of the bullpen. Rely on the starter to go five, in this case it was Sean Manaea, and turn it over the multiple potential closers at manager Bob Melvin's disposal.
Manaea was only at 67 pitches after allowing a leadoff single to Eddie Rosario in the sixth, but having allowed base runners in all but one of his previous five innings of work, it was enough for Melvin to pull the plug. Exit Manaea, enter Lou Trivino, Fernando Rodney and Jeurys Familia.
The trio pitched the sixth, seventh and eight innings, without going to the actual closer in Blake Treinen, who was warming up in the ninth and sat down after Stephen Piscotty's solo home run put the A's ahead by a commanding five runs. Instead, it was Shawn Kelley, the other guy the A's traded for earlier this month, who closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
Trivino, Rodney, Familia, and Kelley combined for four hitless innings with seven strikeouts and just two walks in relief of Manaea.
Melvin knows this sequence can't go on in every game, especially with the A's currently eight games into a string of 20 games in a row. Keeping those hard-throwing arms fresh will be the biggest challenge over this stretch.
"Just trying to keep the guys we pitch in plus games available. We've been kind of spoiled here recently with some deep starts and then last couple of games not so much compared to what we were seeing," Melvin said. "The guys have been pitching so well they deserve a little more rope and last two games have gotten a little away from us early in the game with the runs scored. It's just trying to keep a fresh bullpen to finish out a game."
That extended rope to Edwin Jackson and Trevor Cahill the two games prior proved costly as both were hit around hard the third time through the lineup, shortening the rope for Manaea come Friday.
Matt Chapman provided plenty of breathing room in the eighth when he sent a 3-2 fastball from Oliver Drake well beyond the wall in right field for a three-run homer, his 18th of the season, increasing the A's lead to four runs.
Mark Canha got the start in center field and contributed after entering the night batting .125 in the month of August. His double in the fifth led to the A's second run of the game as he scored from second base one batter later on Jonathan Lucroy's single to right off Twins starter Jake Odorizzi.
The double was just Canha's second of the month, but Melvin said it could only take one swing for the man responsible for 14 home runs and "Bat Flippin' Season" to get it going again.
"At times he's maybe trying a little too hard. Maybe going out of the zone a little more," Melvin said. "For a guy like him, one good game can get him back on track. He's always one swing away of doing damage with the home run."
Canha has seen a decrease in playing time with the emergence of rookie Ramon Laureano, who also homered in the ninth with a solo shot to center off Addison Reed for his third of the season. With Laureano also providing excellent defense, it becomes a bit of a challenged for Melvin to decide which of the right-handed hitters to play on certain days. Canha is expected back in the lineup Saturday.
"Defense comes into play. This time of year, it's who's swinging better," Melvin said. "We debate as a staff and talk to the front office to get the best lineup on a particular day. It's not just numbers sometimes, there's more that plays into it."
