A's beat Cubs thanks to three home runs

Back on track, baby. The A's beat the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, knocking off the playoff contenders and taking the win from a Cubs team that was desperate for wins at the end.

Chicago's starting pitcher tonight was Jordan Wicks, a former first-round draft pick from the 2021 draft. Wicks made his MLB debut last year and made seven starts, which looked decent for a rookie in his first major league appearance. A top-10 prospect in the Cubs organization last year, things haven't been so easy here in year two for the young left-hander. In his 10th start of the year for Chicago, Wicks gave up the early lead to the good guys when starting catcher Shea Langeliers hit a 2-run home run in the first inning to take the early lead:

That was his 27th hit of the season and he's slowly approaching the 30 home run mark. Can he reach that mark with only 10 games left after tonight's game? Was he even done adding for tonight?!

Now it was Oakland's turn to defend, and the Athletics' starting pitcher tonight was rookie right-hander Mitch Spence. He's had his ups and downs here in his first season as a major league pitcher, but he's been in good form down the stretch of late. Spence had a rough start to this game, throwing 30 pitches in the very first quarter as Chicago got two runners on base to bring the decisive run to the plate. Spence broke but didn't collapse, striking out Cubs rookie Isaac Paredes, who escaped unharmed.

Just a few frames later, the A's extended their small lead thanks to a hit by Lawrence Butler:

After spending last night on the bench, Butler returned to the lineup and picked up right where he left off, remaining one of the best hitters in all of baseball over the past two months. That was home run No. 22 for the young outfielder, and hitting 25 home runs by the end of the year is absolutely within reach, especially if he can keep up that torrid pace for two more weeks. With that hit, he also extended his on-base streak to 24 straight games, trailing only teammate Brent Rooker, who has a league-leading 27-game on-base streak after another hit tonight.

Back to Spence, Chicago again conceded two hits in the second inning, but again Spence held the line and conditioned a groundball double play to once again escape unscathed. The first batter of the third inning finally hit Spence when Chicago left fielder Ian Happ took the third pitch he saw and sent it over the right-center field wall. Things started to crumble from there for the young right-hander, as three more singles brought in another Cubs run. A visit to the mound finally helped Spence get out of the third inning, but by now he had already faced 67 pitches, so a quick fourth would have been helpful. How about a five-pitch inning? And how about following the fourth inning with a fifth, in which Spence struck out everyone in his final inning, throwing out the heart of Chicago's batting order and putting a nice finish to his 22nd start of his rookie season.

-Mitch Spence: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 92 throws

Considering how the first few innings went, the team should be pleased that the 26-year-old right-hander went five full innings. His ERA for the season is now 4.30, and he is just 21 innings away from his career high. With only a few weeks left, it's probably safe to assume that the club won't shut him down, but will hopefully allow him to surpass that total and finish his rookie season on a perfect note.

Back to the game. What was once a 3-0 lead was now only a one-point lead, so some security would be nice. Enter Shea 'Bangeliers' for the second time tonight!!!

Put that on 28 home runs for the sophomore backstop, and 30 home runs seems like a given at this point. He's only behind Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh in terms of number of home runs by catchers in the MLB (Raleigh is at 30). Forget the 30-home run benchmark. Can Langeliers overtake Raleigh and hit the most home runs by a catcher in 2024?

Chicago eventually pulled its starter Wicks from the game after he also pitched five complete innings. When the Cubs finally got to the bullpen, the team didn't have much luck against its relievers, managing just two hits and no walks in four innings against three relievers.

Just as the Athletics managed to break into the Cubs' bullpen, Chicago managed to break into Oakland's. After Spence left, it was veteran left-hander Scott Alexander who was first out to keep the Cubs off the scoreboard. He allowed one hit during his inning but also struck out two batters, ending a scoreless game and lowering his season ERA to an impressive 2.36 after 40 games. Right-handed rookie Tyler Ferguson followed Alexander in the seventh inning and posted the exact same tally, an inning with a single allowed as well as two strikeouts. Fellow rookie Michel Otañez started the eighth inning but did not finish after allowing a walk and a hit, but TJ McFarland managed to finish the inning with no runs allowed. Now it was a close call, and you know what that means.

Enter 2024 All-Star Mason Miller, Oakland's fiery closer who strikes fear into his opponents. His appearance didn't go as smoothly as hoped, as the Cubs' Ian Happ hit his second home run of the game to make it 4-3. There was a bit of extra excitement, though, when Miller finished off the Cubs by throwing out Seiya Suzuki with a 103.6 (!) MPH fastball, putting the finishing touches on a narrow victory for the Green & Gold.

Phew! Finally, a little extra (and unnecessary) excitement. Miller makes his 26th save of the season and is now the A's rookie with the most saves, a mark he'll soon break. Mitch Spence finally gets a win after missing out on the last few times. Butler continues to be great, and Langeliers shows why the club signed him a few years ago. The mood is right right now.

A win is a win and the club is back in that category, having snapped a 3-game losing streak and having a chance to win the series in the finale tomorrow morning. The Athletics will be relying on left-handed rookie Brady Basso, while the Cubs welcome back their own left-hander, co-ace Justin Steele. They'll have their hands full tomorrow morning, but they can do it! Let's go, A's! Win the series!