It was just one of those days for Tony Kemp and the Athletics on Sunday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum.
On the same day that legendary A's pitcher Dave Stewart had his number retired, Kemp himself had a historic day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, a triple, a home run, and four runs in the A's 10-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
"To go out there and get the win, especially for Stew today and what an inspirational role model to look up to ... kind of understood what it took to be an Oakland A, I feel like we showed it today," Kemp said to reporters postgame.
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Kemp became the first lead off hitter in A's history to compile such a stat line and just needed a double to complete the cycle. He noted that this type of win is indicative of what it means to play for the organization.
"I look at guys like Stephen Vogt, Chad Pinder, those guys who have been around the block a couple times, they work their tales off each day," Kemp said. "I feel like today was one of those days where I feel like we left a lot of frustrations out on what's been going on throughout the year.
"Everyone's efforts been high, just got to keep going."
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A's manager Mark Kotsay was impressed by how Kemp approached the second half of the season, specifically not putting too much pressure on himself, and applauded the day he had at the plate.
"I think he let that go in the second half and just figured out, 'I just need to be Tony,' " Kotsay said. "And he has taken off and you see that success continuing and he turned his year around in that manner.
"I was really happy for him today and just the performance overall."
For the A's, Cole Irvin pitched well in his seven innings of work. He gave up four hits, two earned runs, two walks, and struck out five on Sunday.
"We definitely saw a different Cole today in terms of commanding the baseball, throwing the exact location where he wanted it," Kotsay said of Irvin's outing. "To go through that lineup that's really kind of been very successful the last three days against left-handed pitching, to just give up two runs in seven innings is the start we needed."
The offense was clicking on all cylinders for the A's on Sunday. Along with Kemp's three RBIs, Vimael Machin also had three RBIs as part of a 3-for-5 day, Ramón Laureano -- in place of Chad Pinder -- knocked in two more, while Sean Murphy and Seth Brown had an RBI each.
Of note, Pinder was ejected early in the game after arguing with the umpire about whether a ball he hit was fair or foul. Had it been fair, the A's would have gotten an early lead.
In total, the A's mustered 14 hits to the White Sox's four. Kemp said that the team fed off the crowd and the fact that former A's legends were in attendance made it more important for Oakland to pull out the victory for Stewart.
"I feel like we just went out there and wanted to get a win for him," Kemp concluded.
For Chicago, starter Johnny Cueto gave up eight hits, five earned runs, walked one, and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings. Jimmy Lambert gave up another run in relief of Cueto and the usually-steady Kendall Graveman allowed two A's hitters to score.
Seeing the offense explode, specifically the six-run fifth inning, was something Kotsay liked and explained how the team can use that attitude moving forward as the season comes to a close.
"To go out and show this club that's beaten us the last three days that we aren't going to lay down and that's the fight in them, again, came out today. They stepped up, the offense stepped up built a momentum inning with six runs, and carried us today," Kotsay concluded.
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With the win, the A's snapped a five-game losing streak and will look to start a new win streak when Ken Waldichuk takes the mound for the A's on Tuesday when Oakland travels to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers at 5:05 pm P.T. Lefty Cole Ragans will pitch for the Rangers.