A's keep Murphy behind the plate for Game 2
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Over the final month of the regular season, A’s pitcher Sean Manaea formed an exclusive battery with Jonah Heim and found major success. But given Sean Murphy’s recent tear at the plate, manager Bob Melvin decided to stray from the Manaea-Heim pairing.
It was Murphy behind the plate in the A’s starting lineup for Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Astros on Tuesday. The rookie catcher -- who has homered in each of Oakland’s last two playoff games -- was even moved up a couple of spots to seventh in the order.
“It was a good way to get Jonah in there on a consistent basis during the course of the season. But Sean has thrown to Murph quite a bit,” Melvin said. “It’s really hard to take Murph out of the lineup right now, the way he’s swinging the bat. That’s why he’s in there again today.”
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Oct. 5 | HOU 10, OAK 5 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Oct. 6 | HOU 5, OAK 2 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 7 | OAK 9, HOU 7 | Watch |
| Gm 4 | Oct. 8 | HOU 11, OAK 6 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: In five starts throwing to Heim during the regular season, Manaea did his best work, posting a 2.83 ERA with 23 strikeouts and three walks over 28 2/3 innings. The numbers for the left-hander were not quite as good with Murphy behind the plate -- a 5.84 ERA across 12 1/3 innings -- though most of those outings in which the two were paired came earlier in the season, when Manaea said he was going through some mechanical issues on the mound.
The results were solid the last time Manaea and Murphy worked together, as the left-hander tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts and no walks in a win over the D-backs on Aug. 20 at the Coliseum.
When Manaea takes the mound vs. Houston at Dodger Stadium for Game 2, it’ll be his first start since Sept. 23, which came in the same ballpark against the Dodgers. While the worry of rust could come into play with 12 days of rest, Melvin said he expects the layoff to add some velocity to Manaea’s fastball, which averaged 90.1 mph during the regular season.
“I know he’s been looking forward to this,” Melvin said. “It’s just something you have to deal with this time of year. We wanted to get him up in the rotation this series because he didn’t pitch last series. But when he’s got some extra rest, he seems to throw a little bit harder and that seems to work for him.”