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The A’s took a second stab at a series win this afternoon at Chase Field in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Starting today for the Kelly-Green and Gold was Gage Jump. He went up against righty Merrill Kelly for the D-backs.
The A’s scored first in the top of the third. With one out, Jonah Heim doubled. Jacob Wilson singled, moving Heim to third, and with Wilson on the move with a 3-2 count, Tyler Soderstrom grounded out, scoring Heim. The D-backs showed their power-stroke in the bottom of the inning. Corbin Carroll led off the inning with a solo shot to left field and after a ground out, Nolan Arenado homered to deep left.
After fouling a ball off his own knee, Jeff McNeil ripped a homer down the right field line to tie the score back up, 2-2.
But nothing lasts forever, and a two-out rally that looks like batting practice, gave Arizona a 7-2 lead. A passed ball by Jonah Heim kept the inning alive and then homers by Gabriel Moreno, James McCann and then Ryan Waldschmidt drove the lead to 9-2. The last two were off reliever Yunior Tur. In .2 innings, Tur gave up eight earned runs on five hits and three walks. He exited the game with a 14-2 deficit.
The A’s got one back in the top of the seventh thanks to hits by McNeil, and Heim wrapped around a Lawrence Butler walk. Headed to the bottom of the seventh, the A’s were behind, 14-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, with Hayden Juenger on the mound, Ildemaro Vargas singled, Ryan Waldschmidt singled and Tyler Locklear singled to score Vargas and end the outing for Juenger. That brought in Carlos Cortes to get the final out. He did, but the D-backs extended their lead to 15-3. Unfortunately, this was Cortes fifth relief appearance this year, a true statement on the state of the team in 2026.
Ildemaro Vargas came in to pitch for the D-backs, so ending the game, both teams used a position player. The A’s scored two runs to bring the final score to 15-5. The pitching staff gave up fifteen runs on seventeen hits and eight walks.
