DENVER -- Until Friday afternoon, Jacob Wilson had never played baseball in the snow.
¡°Never,¡± said the A's 23-year-old rookie shortstop. ¡°I grew up in California. Now I¡¯m in Arizona. It¡¯s been warm all around me for my entire life.¡±
Wilson acquitted himself with aplomb in his first ¡°snow game,¡± belting his second home run of the young season and delivering a go-ahead two-run single in the 11th inning to help lift the A¡¯s to a much-needed 6-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.
As snow flurries swirled around the ballpark throughout the Rockies¡¯ home opener -- the third ¡°Opening Day¡± the A¡¯s have participated in over the first eight days of the season -- it was a far cry from the sunny, 70-degree weather of their temporary home in West Sacramento. It was the coldest Opening Day contest the A's had been involved with since April 5, 1994, in Milwaukee, which had a low of 31 degrees.
Nevertheless, Wilson -- who extended his season-opening hit streak to eight games, the longest such streak by an A¡¯s player since Billy Butler¡¯s 12-game streak to open the 2015 campaign -- led a gritty A¡¯s performance in difficult conditions to snap a four-game losing streak.
"The club showed a lot of grit, a lot of heart today,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°These conditions aren¡¯t necessarily conducive for baseball weather, but both teams had to deal with it. It feels good to get a ¡®W¡¯ today, especially after giving back the lead there in the eighth inning.¡±
Thanks to a Tyler Soderstrom RBI single in the first inning, Wilson¡¯s homer over the left-center-field wall in the fourth and Miguel Andujar¡¯s run-scoring double in the sixth, the A¡¯s held a 3-2 lead heading into the eighth.
Starter Osvaldo Bido turned in another solid outing, yielding two runs on six hits while walking two and striking out five over five innings -- over his first two starts of the season, the right-hander owns a 2.70 ERA.
"He controlled the baseball today,¡± Kotsay said of Bido. ¡°His first start, he was a little erratic, got himself into some trouble and pitched out of it. Today, I thought he was just smooth with the ball coming out of his hand. Obviously, it¡¯s a cold day, and for him to be able to just maintain the ability to throw strikes was most important, and he did a nice job getting us five innings.¡±
Relievers Justin Sterner and Tyler Ferguson each pitched a scoreless frame to get the ball to Jos¨¦ Leclerc. But in the eighth, Leclerc relinquished the lead when Jordan Beck lined an RBI single to left to tie the game.
Undeterred, the A's preserved the deadlock through 10 innings. In the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded, reliever Noah Murdock struck out Beck to give the offense a chance in the 11th. That¡¯s when, with two outs, Wilson came through in a huge spot.
Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli unleashed a 96 mph fastball amid increasing snow flurries, a pitch that ran in toward Wilson¡¯s hands. But the rookie with tremendous contact skills -- he still hasn¡¯t struck out yet this season -- fought it off and into right field to regain the lead for the A¡¯s.
"The kid, I talked about him continually this offseason and into Spring Training, that he¡¯s got one of the better bat-to-ball skills,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°He¡¯s on display right now. He can turn on a pitch like on the breaking ball he drove out to left, and then hitting the ball the other way in getting the base hit to put us ahead there in the 11th. He¡¯s fun to watch.¡±
Whether it¡¯s 70 degrees in West Sacramento or in the mid-30s in Denver, Wilson said nothing changes when he¡¯s at the plate -- except maybe his attire, which on this day included a ski mask.
"I was just trying to stick with my approach,¡± Wilson said. ¡°I¡¯ve always had the same approach going back to college [Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, known to be a little warm during much of the year], just kind of being able to hit everything, kind of everywhere.¡±
And in any weather.
"That was definitely a cold one,¡± Wilson said. ¡°I¡¯ll remember that one.¡±
Closer Mason Miller worked around a walk to pick up his second save of the season. And the A¡¯s, after being swept by the Cubs in their first home series at Sutter Health Park, got back in the win column.
¡°This was huge,¡± Wilson said. ¡°Obviously, winning an extra-inning game on the road is hard enough as it is. But being able to bounce back and not hang our heads -- we went out there and got it done.¡±