Butler, Rooker lead A’s to series win over Phillies

How about them apples?

What do you know. The Oakland Athletics came out on top of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon, beating the best team in baseball 18-3 and taking the series to head into the All-Star break on a high note. What a day.

Bats wake up, jump on the rookie

Philadelphia went with the ol’ opener followed by a bulk pitcher trick today. After going down 1-2-3 in the first against starter (reliever) Orion Kerkering, bulk pitcher and rookie right-hander Michael Mercado came on and took over for what was just his fourth career outing. The A’s gave him a couple innings of grace before getting things started in the fourth. It was former All-Star (and snubbed this year) Brent Rooker who got the scoring started for the good guys today, blasting his team-leading 20th home run of the season to give the A’s the lead:

If his omission from the All-Star game is frustrating for us, imagine how he must be feeling after putting together an even performance than last year. Oh well.

Just one inning later we got our second 2-run blast of the game, this time off the bat of young outfielder Lawrence Butler:

That was Butler’s seventh home run of the season and there was more to come from him today.

And just like the record skipped, it was Brent Rooker again just the next inning, belting another 2-run home run to extend the lead:

I said it once and I’ll say it again: How is this guy not an All-Star?! That blast was Rooker’s 21st of the year and he’s easily on pace to surpass the 40-homer mark.

Not to be forgotten, lefty slugger Seth Brown decided to get in on the action, belting his sixth of the year but first since returning from Triple-A:

That solo home run pushed the lead to 7-1 but facing these Phillies you got to keep up the pressure. That’s just what they did as they scored three more times in the seventh, thanks to another Butler bomb…

…. and another Rooker RBI, this one a much less fancy sac fly. But hey, a run is a run.

Today really was a glitch in the Matrix. Seth Brown came up again in the eighth and swatted his second home run of the day…

… followed by ANOTHER BUTLER 2-RUN HOME RUN, HIS THIRD OF THE DAY!!!

Wowza. What a breakout performance from Butler who has been feeling himself since returning from Vegas. Was today an aberration or has Butler figured out how to hit major league pitching? The second half promises to be a fun one for the young outfielder, and we’re all lucky we get to watch his growth in real time.

And just to top things off, Seth Brown collected another RBI hit of his own in the ninth and then Zack Gelof got in on the long ball action with a GRAND SLAM:

The first slam of his career, and hopefully not the last in the A’s uniform. That home run was his 12th of the season and sends Gelof into the break on a high note. He needs it more than anyone after the rough first half he had. But hey, he went off in the second half last season. Maybe more of that to come this year?

Estes bounces back

Rookie right-hander Joey Estes got the start today looking to bounce back after his worst career start his last time out. He got plenty of run support but he probably didn’t need it as he brought his A-game today. In six frames the rookie only allowed a pair of runs, one of which came in the first inning from a Trea Turner solo blast. It wasn’t until he was running out of gas in the sixth that Philly tagged him again for another run but by that time this game was already getting out of hand for the Phillies. Estes did his job.

-Joey Estes: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 91 pitches

A quality outing to say the least. Not that he needed to be on his best game with the way the offense was hitting today. His last time out saw him get shelled but Mark Kotsay attributed that to Estes feeling sick and under the weather. That’s looking like it was the truth rather than spin after today’s outing. Has Estes unlocked something? He’ll be an interesting arm to keep an eye on in the second half, especially with other, more established arms soon to be returning from the injured list.

Bullpen finishes things off

After Estes came veteran TJ McFarland for a scoreless seventh, followed by rookie right-handed Tyler Ferguson, who also had a scoreless outing. With a massive lead the team had no need to bring in stud closer Mason Miller, instead turning to lefty Kyle Muller to finish off the first half.

Wow. What a win. A great way to end a tough first half, to say the least. The bats really brought it and then some today, with three separate players having multi-home run days. Lawrence Butler deserves some extra praise though as he not only had his first career multi-homer day, but he blast three (!) long balls, impressive no matter where you are or who you’re facing. And right-hander Joey Estes bounced back in a big way after his worst career start last time out. That wraps up on a high note what has been an up-and-down first half for the rookie. There’s been bumps, but there’s also been flashes of what Estes can be if he reaches his potential. Today was exciting all around.

And that’s a wrap on the first half of the season folks! The team enters the break with a terrible 37-61 record, last in the AL West and second-to-last in the entire American League, but hey at least we beat the Phillies.

The team gets the next few days to rest and recover, both physically and mentally. They’ll get back at it before you know it. Second half kicks off Friday night at the Coliseum when the A’s welcome the division rival Angels to town. See you all then!