Oakland 16, Toronto 0
When: 7:07 PM ET, Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Jerry Layne, 1B -
Victor Carapazza, 2B -
Larry Vanover, 3B -
Dan Bellino
Attendance:
23948
By SportsDirect Inc.
Athletics 16, Blue Jays 0: A.J. Griffin threw six masterful innings and Oakland victimized Ricky Romero for eight runs in the second inning en route to an easy victory over host Toronto.
Oakland jumped all over the struggling left-hander, forcing him out after just 1 1/3 innings en route to their highest-scoring game of the season. Romero (8-7) hurt his own cause, issuing six walks - including five in the second inning - to see his ERA balloon to 5.75.
The one-sided loss wasn't the only bit of bad news for the Blue Jays, who lost catcher J.P. Arencibia to a fractured hand. Arencibia was replaced by Jeff Mathis in the bottom of the second inning after getting hit by a foul tip in the top of the frame, and is expected to miss approximately six weeks.
Griffin (3-0) was the recipient of the Oakland outburst, racking up a career-high nine strikeouts while limiting Toronto to three hits and two walks.
After Yoenis Cespedes doubled to deep center field to open the scoring in the first inning, the Athletics capitalized on Romero's wildness to take control in the second. Derek Norris and Jemile Weeks drew walks and Crisp converted, lashing a single to left field that plated Norris.
Jonny Gomes made it 3-0 with a single up the middle, and Josh Reddick kept the hit barrage going with an RBI line-drive double to right field that came within a few feet of being a home run. After Cespedes was walked intentionally to load the bases, Romero walked Chris Carter and was yanked by manager John Farrell, ending the shortest outing of his major-league career.
Reliever Chad Beck didn't fare much better, serving up a two-run double to Brandon Inge and an opposite-field RBI single to Norris. Brandon Hicks capped the onslaught with an RBI groundout as the Athletics equaled a season high for runs in an inning.
Crisp added a solo homer into the right-field bullpen in the third, then launched another solo shot to nearly the exact same location in the fifth inning for his first multi-homer effort since last Aug. 24. Carter tacked on a run with a solo homer to left in the sixth, and Oakland added two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth off Mathis, who pitched for the second time this season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Romero's previous shortest outing was a 2 1/3-inning stint in a 14-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox back on July 9, 2010. ... Oakland scored eight times in the second inning of a 12-1 win over Texas on June 4. ... Blue Jays SS Omar Vizquel was a late addition to the starting lineup after Yunel Escobar's lower back stiffened up during batting practice. Vizquel made his sixth start of the season at shortstop. ... The game marked the largest shutout loss in Toronto franchise history.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Oakland
|
14 |
3 |
29 |
.341 |
13 |
7 |
15 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
| Toronto
|
5 |
0 |
7 |
.156 |
15 |
13 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
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