Thomas leads A"s to win
By Josh Suchon and Oakland Tribune |
PUBLISHED: July 23, 2006 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 30, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.
DETROIT – Frank Thomas" last double was June 4, he estimated he"s lost six doubles the last couple weeks, and it"s almost like he"s given up trying for doubles lately. When he"s on first base, it"s a given he won"t advance more than one base at a time, unless it"s a home run.
So with the A"s already down five runs in the second inning Saturday, Thomas could be forgiven for not wanting to risk injury by not tagging up on a medium-deep fly ball to left field.
Instead, Thomas dug into third base like a sprinter, took off for home, scored the A"s first run, and seemed to light a fire under the A"s.
They tied the score later that inning on Mark Kotsay"s three-run homer, Thomas tagged up again in the fifth inning to score the go-ahead run, and Milton Bradley"s home run in the sixth provided the cushion in the A"s 9-5 win over the Tigers before 38,923 at Comerica Park.
A"s: 9
Tigers: 5
at Tigers 10 a.m.
FSNBA
KYCY (1550-AM) KVON (1440-AM)
"He gave us a lift," Kotsay said. "We can joke with him and he"s light hearted about his speed. He laid it out there. He tagged up on two balls where he was forced to test his leg out. It"s a testament to his determination."
It hasn"t been noticeable, but Thomas has actually felt much better the last 3-4 days. The smile on his face was huge as his teammates congratulated him after scoring both runs.
"They haven"t seen me run," Thomas said. "I"m a big man, but I can really run. It went form ankle to quad to hip flexor. When you"re banged up like that, you can"t do what you"re capable of doing. It has been a frustrating time.
"It"s still a comeback year for me. Getting these legs back under me is important. It did feel good to run like I know I"m capable of running."
The happiest person was Mark Ellis, since he hit both sacrifice flies.
"He brings so much to our team, but speed is not one of them," Ellis said. "I hit it and thought, `I hope that"s deep enough." He was able to make it home. I guess they were both just deep enough. I was very happy to see him score."
A"s starter Joe Blanton allowed five consecutive hits to begin the game, including a three-run double by No.5 hitter Carlos Guillen. When he came into the dugout, down 5-0, teammate Dan Haren told him, "if you throw five more shutout, we"ll win this game."
"That was pretty cool, then we put up that five spot and I knew we had a new game on our hands," Blanton said. "It was like a 0-0 game. That"s how I tried to treat it."
Meanwhile, Tigers starter Zach Miner looked up at the scoreboard after the A"s five-run second and said, "I wanted to kick myself in the head."
Blanton allowed four hits over the next four scoreless innings, getting help on a great play by Ellis up the middle, a nice catch at the left-field wall by Jay Payton, and another outfield assist for Mark Kotsay, when Placido Polanco tried tagging up and going to second.
Jason Kendall was on base four times, including a leadoff walk in the sixth. A batter later, Bradley hit a 3-2 fastball from reliever Wilfredo Ledezma (1-1) for a two-run homer for an 8-5 lead.
"Milton is a great ballplayer," Thomas said. "He"s been injured. When you"re injured, you can"t play. He can handle the three hole. He"s the perfect guy for the role because of his switch-hitting ability and power from both sides of the plate. He"s definitely been a spark for us."
The A"s bullpen pitched four scoreless innings to make Blanton (10-8) a winner.
"It"s probably deflating for them, but we needed this game just as much," Thomas said. "We"re in a very heated pennant race. We couldn"t stop the fight just because we were down 5-0. We were ready to make it a dog fight."
Added Ellis, "it"s a really big win. It"s already been a great road trip. For us to win today"s game was huge, especially to battle back from five runs down. It was pretty impressive."
Josh Suchon