Rooker rediscovering early season form

OAKLAND -- Brent Rooker was on cloud nine before Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the White Sox even began after finding out he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. Once the game got underway, he added a little extra icing on the cake.

Coming off the bench in an 8-7 loss at the Coliseum, Rooker celebrated the achievement by crushing his 14th homer of the year, clobbering a cutter from Bryan Shaw and sending it well over the wall in right-center for a two-run blast in the eighth inning.

Following a scorching April that largely established his All-Star case, Rooker has been searching to regain that form in the subsequent months. Sunday’s homer broke a power drought of 14 games for his first since June 11. It was also a no-doubter, tagged 111.2 mph off the bat and traveling a projected 441 feet, per Statcast, which registers as the second-longest home run of his career.

“I needed that homer, whether I was an All-Star or not,” Rooker said. “I needed it for a lot of reasons. That was good. I feel like that was the best swing I’ve taken in a while. Hopefully, I can keep that momentum rolling.”

Rooker entered the day hitting .169 with two home runs and 10 RBIs over his previous 38 games after batting .319 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs through his first 33 games.

While the numbers have been down, A’s manager Mark Kotsay noted after Thursday’s loss to the Yankees that he was encouraged by a pinch-hit RBI single by Rooker in that game, snapping what had been a career-high 0-for-19 hitless stretch. For Kotsay, it was a signal that a turnaround was near.

“We felt good that he was making progress,” Kotsay said. “The result was today. The at-bat off Shaw was really a great at-bat. A ball that was driven to the middle of the field -- that’s what we saw from middle-to-late April all the way to the middle of May from him.”

Navigating the ups and downs of what is essentially his first full Major League season, the 28-year-old Rooker has found himself often trying to counter the adjustments made by opposing pitchers. In that constant battle, driving a ball to the opposite field like he did Sunday presents a sign that perhaps he has found the upper hand again.

“It’s a tough league up here,” Rooker said. “The pitchers are good. They make adjustments. I’m just trying to learn and continue to improve. There are going to be high points and low points. The goal of it is to try to stay on the middle ground as much as possible from a mental standpoint. From an emotional standpoint, never get too frustrated or high when you’re going well. For me, it’s been a learning situation where I’ve constantly tried to adapt and adjust to try to be as good of a player as I can be.”

The A’s pulled within one in a two-run ninth that featured RBI hits from JJ Bleday and Seth Brown. Though they fell short, that late rally, combined with taking two of three from Chicago and going 3-3 on the homestand, lends some momentum for these rebuilding A’s as they embark on a six-game road trip through Detroit and Boston before heading into the All-Star break.

“We started off [the season] very poor, and we’ve made adjustments as a group and as individuals,” said A’s starter Paul Blackburn, who took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five innings. “We took a series from [the White Sox], and that’s a good team over there. They have their struggles right now, but that’s a very good team that can do a lot of damage late in the year. It’s something for us to be proud of, really. Something to roll into this road trip and, hopefully, take a couple of series.”