Nick Gordon homers and gets 4 hits to lead Marlins past A's 12-3
Nick Gordon homers and gets 4 hits to lead Marlins past A’s 12-3
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Nick Gordon had four hits, including his first home run in three weeks, and the Miami Marlins beat the Athletics 12-3 to end Oakland’s six-game winning streak Sunday.
Josh Bell had a pair of RBI singles and Jonah Bride drove in two runs as the Marlins won for the third time in 12 games and avoided a series sweep.
Miami got 14 hits and had eight players with at least one RBI, a stark difference from a day earlier when the Marlins’ bats were mostly muffled in a 20-4 loss to the A’s.
“Super big,” Gordon said. “After last night, to bounce back like that and put it on them pretty good shows signs of a good team.”
Brent Rooker, who homered twice in one inning during the blowout victory Saturday, had two hits and scored twice for Oakland.
The game attracted a crowd of 12,212, the largest at the Coliseum since opening day.
Gordon was in a 1-for-21 funk before his two-run homer off starter Joe Boyle. That capped a four-run inning that began when Boyle walked the bases loaded on 14 pitches.
Boyle (2-5) sustained a lower back injury and was removed after the first.
“He couldn’t throw strikes and that may be attributed to the back,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’ll be in an MRI tube tomorrow and we’ll make a determination on how to move forward.”
Gordon also singled in the third, doubled and scored in the sixth, and singled and scored in the ninth.
“Up and down the order it was good,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Obviously, Gordon had a really nice day. Good to see him get going. We need him to get going, especially against the right-handers. That’s why he’s here, to hit the righties.”
Burch Smith (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning in relief of starter Sixto Sánchez, who went four innings. Sánchez allowed three hits and two runs.
After Gordon’s home run got the Marlins going, Miami continued to tack on.
Bell singled home a run in the second inning to make it 5-0, then Bride and Christian Bethancourt hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth.
The A’s scored twice in the fourth on Darell Hernaiz’s RBI single and a throwing error by Bell at first base.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: Bell fell to the ground after being hit in the right foot by a pitch from A’s reliever Michael Kelly in the seventh. An athletic trainer came out and checked on Bell, who was helped to his feet and stayed in the game.
Athletics: OF Esteury Ruiz was held out of the lineup with a wrist injury he sustained Saturday while making a diving catch. Kotsay said Ruiz will undergo an MRI on Monday.
UP NEXT
Marlins: RHP Roddery Muñoz (1-0, 2.45 ERA) faces the Dodgers on Monday. Muñoz has 14 strikeouts, tied for the second-most in franchise history by a pitcher in his first two starts in one season.
Athletics: LHP Alex Wood (1-2, 6.32 ERA) pitches against the Texas Rangers in the opener of a four-game series Monday. Wood is winless in six career starts at the Coliseum.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Michael Wagaman, The Associated Press