Hey Siri, stop hitting home runs against my team.
Every team has that one role player that turns into Barry Bonds against them. For the Oakland Athletics, that’s Jose Siri.
Despite carrying a meager .214/.271/.412 career batting line, the Tampa Bays Rays centerfielder somehow becomes a .282/.356/.667 hitter when facing the green and gold. That includes a two-homer game earlier in the season, the latter of which tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, sent it into extra innings, and gave the Rays the opportunity to steal the win.
Tonight, he took the A’s soul once again. Amidst an eerily symmetrical pitching duel between Joey Estes and Shane Baz, each of whom threw exactly 7 2⁄3 innings of shutout baseball, the Oakland rookie blinked right at the very end. With one out left to complete the inning, 9-hole hitter Siri, who we should mention was in the middle an eight-game hitless streak, stepped up to the plate as a theoretically easy out. But Estes had to play with fire right at the very end, throwing not one but two fastballs right down the middle of the plate. The first, Siri took. The second, he sent all the way to deep center field, scoring the Rays’ first and only run and solidifying his status as the most unlikely A’s killer.
Michel Otañez closed the game out without a scratch, but Oakland’s offense wasn’t able to answer back. Only mustering a few singles and walks throughout the night, the lineup never gave the team a shot to win tonight.
The A’s haven’t lost a series since early August against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ll hope to keep that streak going tomorrow with Mitch Spence facing off against Ryan Pepiot.