Moreland's 1,000th hit kick-starts A's offense

OAKLAND -- Mitch Moreland wasted no time getting his important milestone out of the way in his first at-bat. In celebration of the accomplishment, an offensive explosion ensued from the A’s in Monday’s 8-5 win over the Angels at the Coliseum.

Moreland got things started for the A’s by collecting his 1,000th career hit in the second inning, a one-out single to left off right-hander Dylan Bundy. He rounded the bases just two pitches later on Sean Murphy’s two-run homer. At the conclusion of the inning, a message came across the Coliseum scoreboard congratulating the designated hitter on the achievement. Wandering through the dugout at the time, Moreland was cheered by his teammates.

“Those milestones are fun to be a part of,” A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea said. “To be able to do something for so long at this level is an unbelievable accomplishment and takes a lot of hard work. I’m glad to be a little part of this for him.”

Known as one of baseball’s all-around “good guys,” Moreland has been a beloved figure in every clubhouse he’s been a part of, and it’s no different in Oakland. Going through his 12th big league season, a career that features plenty of clutch hits, a Gold Glove Award, an All-Star Game appearance and a World Series title with Boston, Moreland took some time to reflect on what has been a long journey.

“It took a while to get there,” Moreland said. “I really hadn’t read a whole lot into it. I just try to go out and have fun. Enjoy it as much as I can and see how much longer I can do it. It’s cool to have, for sure.”

Moreland’s contribution in the two-run second was really just the appetizer. Soon after, the A’s erupted in the third, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the frame. Moreland was right in the middle of it, smacking a two-run single to right and later scoring on a single to right by Elvis Andrus.

In contrast to the previous few days when stars Matt Olson and Matt Chapman shined as the primary contributors at the plate, Monday’s offensive performance was the type of balanced attack the A’s believe their lineup is capable of on a consistent basis. Six hitters recorded at least one RBI and two of the batters who went hitless -- Mark Canha and Jed Lowrie -- each drew two walks.

“We’ve been able to string some hits together and create some opportunities for a crooked inning here and there,” Moreland said. “But tonight, Murph led the way for us with the big homer. The next inning, we put up five. When we’re able to score runs like that early, with our starters and pitching staff, we’re going to win a lot of games. Tonight was proof of that.”

The early run support was plenty for Manaea, who, on a night that saw his impressive scoreless streak snapped at 16 1/3 innings, maneuvered around a hot Angels lineup without his best stuff. Despite allowing nine hits, the left-hander allowed just one run with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Allowing one run or fewer in nine of his 14 starts this season, Manaea’s ERA dropped to 2.99 following Monday’s solid outing.

“I did not think he would get past five innings at one point,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “After throwing 111 pitches each of his last two outings, I didn’t want him to get to that point. He gave up some hits, but found a way to pitch around it and get outs like we’ve seen him do quite a bit. A little different how he pitched tonight, but still effective.”

A feel-good night for Moreland and the A’s, who improved to a season-high 14 games over .500 (41-27) with the victory, was clouded a bit with the early departure of Chad Pinder, who was struck in the head by a pitch from Junior Guerra in the seventh and appeared to be in serious pain as he dropped to the ground. Though he was able to walk to the dugout under his own power, the outfielder was replaced by Skye Bolt to finish out the game.

Though Pinder did not have to go through concussion protocol, Melvin said there was some concern given the outfielder's issues with concussions in previous seasons. The A’s will monitor Pinder throughout the night and see how he feels on Tuesday before making a decision on his status.

“If you saw the replay, his helmet was coming off and it hit him behind his ear,” Melvin said. “He’s not in concussion protocol right now. Pretty scary, especially because he’s had a few concussion issues in the past.”