The win streak went bi-coastal and into historic waters with the Oakland A’s 12th straight win on Friday night.
The A’s 3-1 win over the host Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards marks the third-longest streak in Oakland A’s history. The 1988 A’s won 14 straight and, of course, the 2002 A’s broke the American League record with 20 straight. The Houston Astros are the last Major League Baseball team to win more than 11 straight, a streak during a hot June 2018 stretch.
During this streak, the A’s have outscored their opponent 76-33. A Teflon effort from the pitching staff has been crucial in keeping the streak alive and, for the most part, relatively easy.
Cole Irvin, the newest addition to the rotation tossed five scoreless innings, folding in an impeccable change-up with his sinker for six strikeouts, but ran into trouble in the sixth inning. Trey Mancini, Maikel Franco and DJ Stewart singled to load the bases. Irvin bore down to get Ryan Mountcastle striking out swinging at a change-up. But Pedro Severino cracked a 2-2 single to put a run on the board for the Orioles.
In relief, Yusmeiro Petit used just three pitches to clean up the mess, retiring Freddy Galvis and Ramon Urias to preserve the lead heading into the seventh inning. Petit’s deception helped him key in on a scoreless two-strikeout seventh inning.
Irvin lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing that one run on eight hits with six strikeouts and a walk. He threw his change-up 25 times and got 10 swings and misses on it. He had an early lead to protect, too.
Mitch Moreland and Sean Murphy drew back-to-back walks and advanced to second and third on a passed ball off Orioles starter Jorge Lopez in the second inning. A Seth Brown RBI groundout and Stephen Piscotty RBI single give the A’s a 2-0 lead.
Ramón Laureano’s monstrous home run, his second of the year, was the game’s exclamation point. He launched a hanging curveball from Lopez 428 feet with a 106-mph exit velocity.
