OAKLAND, Calif. _ For as good as the Oakland A's offense and bullpen might be, the success of this current brutal stretch of 18 straight days with a game hinges on strong outings from a starting rotation that might be considered their only weakness.
Mike Fiers and Marco Estrada kicked it off strong with scoreless six innings apiece. Brett Anderson kept the line moving.
Anderson matched the recent outings from his fellow rotation mates with six shutout innings of his own in Saturday's 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels in front of 16,051 fans at the Oakland Coliseum. It's the first time the A's have received three consecutive scoreless outings of six innings or more by starters since Kirk Saarloos, Barry Zito and Joe Blanton in 2005.
The left-hander has battled injuries throughout his 10-year big league career. When healthy, he induces grounders and turns in performances like the one on Saturday night. Anderson allowed just three hits and two walks with four strikeouts over his six innings of work before turning it over to the A's bullpen, which had something to prove after a rare implosion the night before.
The bridge to closer Blake Treinen was a little different than usual. With Lou Trivino getting a day of rest after having pitched in each of the team's first four games, A's manager Bob Melvin turned to right-hander J.B. Wendelken in the seventh.
Returning from Tommy John surgery which caused him to miss the entire 2017 season, Wendelken's 2018 began in Double-A and ended with him pitching some big innings out of the bullpen during the A's playoff run. He begins 2019 as a mid-inning option who could provide multiple innings, but his role could elevate with more outings like this.
Wendelken worked such a quick 1-2-3 seventh that he went back out for the eighth. Melvin had to go to Treinen with one out in the eighth after Wendelken allowed two runs, one earned, which snapped his streak of 17 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings going back to last season. But the A's avoided coughing up another late lead as Treinen shut the door by recording the final five outs for his first save of the season.
Khris Davis and Matt Chapman are the first names usually brought up when discussing the A's explosive offense, but Mark Canha provided a reminder of the impact he also brings at the plate.
Canha added to a two-run lead by blasting a two-run homer into the left-field seats off Felix Pena in the fourth. As he often did on the 17 home runs he mashed in 2018, Canha admired the ball for a couple of seconds after making contact before flipping his bat and rounding the bases for his first homer of the new year.
The emotion Canha shows in his home runs provides a spark for the A's, and Melvin believes the outfielder can provide more of that with consistent playing time.
"We know when he gets consistent at-bats, he tends to be pretty good," Melvin said.
