'Really proud of him today': Estes' emotional return sparks A's win

OAKLAND -- Joey Estes looked forward to taking the mound at the Coliseum on Sunday. It was a chance to let his mind escape for a brief period from the harsh reality he’s had to cope with in recent weeks.

Estes’ brother-in-law, Vincent Gahret, was killed in a multi-vehicle accident while riding his motorcycle after being rear-ended by a drunk driver in their hometown of Palmdale, Calif., on Aug. 10. The fatal tragedy occurred while the A’s were on a road trip, leading Estes to remain with the team and pitch with a heavy heart in Gahret’s honor just a few days later at Citi Field.

Away from the club on Friday and Saturday to be with his family and attend a memorial service, Estes returned to make Sunday’s start and helped the A’s salvage a three-game series against the Brewers in a 4-3 victory. The 22-year-old rookie limited Milwaukee to two runs on two hits and one walk with five strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings.

“The young man did an outstanding job,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “For him to come in today with the mindset to go out and compete, wanting to compete and wanting to be on the mound, he’s a pretty special kid. I can’t say enough about the person and the competitor he is. Really proud of him today.”

Before stepping on the mound to begin his start, Estes drew a giant heart in the dirt around the pitcher’s mound and inscribed the name “Vinny” inside it, as he’s done in each start since Gahret's passing. Tucked under his jersey was a personalized necklace that featured a picture of Gahret on the front and their favorite bible verse on the back.

“It was good,” Estes said of his time away. “I just got some clarity back home. I was able to just be with family and clear my mind. Go back to where I needed to be. To come here and be with the team, it’s nice to go out there and have your team behind your back and supporting you. They make it easy for me to go out there and pitch."

Lowering his season ERA to 4.37, Estes turned in one of his more impressive outings from the standpoint of keeping hitters off balance. The average exit velocity on the 14 balls in play against Estes on Sunday was 84.1 mph, marking the second-lowest average exit velocity allowed in any start over his young career.

The key to so much weak contact?

“I would say just being able to put my fastball where I wanted and keeping my sweeper away from barrels,” Estes said. “I was able to change eye levels a little bit and mix it up in counts.”

The only real blemish from Estes’ outing was a two-run home run surrendered to Gary Sánchez in the second. Following that homer, Estes retired 13 of his final 14 batters faced and did not allow a hit.

Over his last eight games (seven starts), Estes has posted a 2.86 ERA (14 earned runs in 44 innings) with 32 strikeouts and eight walks. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of those outings.

“I have nothing but trust in him when he takes the ball,” said A’s second baseman Zack Gelof, who capped a four-run fourth inning for the A’s with a sacrifice fly off Brewers starter Frankie Montas. “He’s a bulldog on the mound. No matter how he’s feeling, I always feel like we’re going to get five strong innings from him. He’s just fun to watch.”

While the A’s have surged forward as one of the better teams in baseball over the past couple of months, the Brewers have established themselves among the upper echelon of MLB. They showed why for most of this three-game series between the two clubs by handing the A’s just their second series loss since mid-July by taking the first two games.

After taking those earlier lumps, however, the A’s bounced back Sunday by displaying traits that were absent the previous two days with productive plate appearances throughout that fourth while the bullpen shut it down, with Mason Miller recording the final four outs for his 21st save.

“It was a fun win,” Gelof said. “Down two in the series, to come out, get punched in the mouth with the homer, we came back to win with situational baseball and good pitching from top to bottom.”