The Athletics, fueled by starter JP Sears and rookie Jordan Diaz, showed resilience with a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the AL West-leading Texas Rangers on Friday night at Globe Life Field.
Sears bounced back after a rocky start and the A's (4-16) offense chipped away at the four-run deficit, scoring five unanswered runs with Diaz, one of the organization's top prospects, hitting the go-ahead pinch-hit solo home run in the top of the ninth inning.
"Very happy, very calm," Diaz told NBC Sports California's Glen Kuiper and Dallas Braden on "A's Postgame Live" about his heroic late-inning home run shortly after the win.
"I am very happy to be here in the Major Leagues. I always try to take advantage of the opportunities that the manager gives me, and doing my best, giving him my best to be able to contribute to the win.
Oakland ended their seven-game losing streak in a contest that many fans would have understood if they have lost, considering the team's announce on Wednesday that they had signed a binding purchase agreement for a potential MLB ballpark site in Las Vegas.
Furthermore, it seemed that another A's starting pitcher would struggle to go deep in the ballgame; however, Sears got his start back on the rails, going six strong innings while allowing five hits and striking out 11 Texas batters.
"I was pretty upset with myself, you know, not the way I wanted to start [the game]," Sears told reporters postgame. "Thought I made a lot of good pitches, though, in the first inning. Some unfortunate breaks with some singles and the walk there and obviously the homer.
"I just tried to stay in the zone and try to just keep doing my thing and trying to just fill it up and yeah, I definitely got better as I went. I felt better as I went. And [Shea Langeliers] called a great game ... I just was, like, trying to stay with it and knew that the guys would scratch off some runs later in the game, so I kind of felt better as I went."
The A's now will attempt to turn Friday's victory into a winning streak when manager Mark Kotsay hands the ball to Shintaro Fujinami (0-3, 11.37 ERA) for the second game of the series on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Rangers will counter with Andrew Heaney (1-1, 4.97 ERA).
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Oakland Athletics
While the discussion over Oakland's future will dominate headlines, the team showed that it will not let the outside noise infiltrate the clubhouse.