OAKLAND, CALIF. — Somewhere among Oakland Coliseum's vastness and empty seats, the Orioles misplaced their bats the first three nights there this week, almost seeming too eager to escape Oakland and its void-of-charm stadium for their upcoming interleague series across the bay in San Francisco.
But before leaving, the Orioles left some parting shots, suddenly emerging from their Oakland funk with a 9-6 win over the Athletics on Thursday afternoon in a game that seemed to make things right again offensively, at least for one day, as they avoided a four-game sweep.
The Orioles (64-50) scored just three runs in their first three games of the series, and tripled that output in their series finale in Oakland in front of an announced crowd of 16,610 at the Coliseum.
Thursday's game was more reminiscent of the Orioles' series finale in Chicago on Sunday — when the offense jumped out to an early lead and never looked back — than their first three games in Oakland, where their offense seemed to sleepwalk through a trio of quickly played games.
"They were a little ornery today," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "You could tell. There's a quiet confidence. You guys see it in the locker room. That's why they're so easy to trust. This is who we are and how we have to do it. …
"They're not going to panic. We're trying to grind like heck to have a chance to roll the dice in August and September and they've done a lot of great things to get us to this point to have the chance we have ahead of us."
The win pulled the Orioles within a half-game of the idle Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the American League East.
Slumping slugger Mark Trumbo hit a grand slam off A's left-hander Daniel Coulombe to break the game open with two outs in the fifth inning — just his second homer in his past 17 games.
Trumbo had five RBIs on the afternoon, equaling the season high he set on April 15 when he hit a club-record two homers in one inning in Arlington, Texas.
Trumbo, whose first-half power surge was one of the reasons the Orioles held onto first place for so long, entered the afternoon hitting just .158 (15-for-95) since the All-Star break.
"He's had a good season," Showalter said of Trumbo. "Just because he hasn't been perfect the last week or so, there are a lot of people who would like to trade places with him right now statistically. We're lucky to have him or we wouldn't be where we are."
Still, Trumbo conceded he hasn't been pleased with his at-bats recently.
"You know, there's been a sprinkling of hard contact, but overall the at-bats haven't been great," Trumbo said. "And it's something I try not to look too far into. The effort is still there. I made a little bit of an adjustment today and I think it worked out well."
Pedro Alvarez, who has been one of the club's hottest hitters since the beginning of June, drove in three runs with two coming on a one-out double in the fourth that gave the Orioles a 3-0 lead, matching their run output from the first three games in Oakland.
"It's huge obviously," Alvarez said of getting an early lead. "… We've been hitting some balls right at people. I think we just kept with the approach and we found some holes that inning. It just goes to show you that you just have to keep going. But it was huge obviously. We hadn't really gotten anything going the past couple of days and to get something going, it brought some life back to the team and just some really good positive energy."
Adam Jones also homered, leading off the seventh with his 23rd of the season as part of his fifth multihit effort in his past seven games.
Right-hander Chris Tillman did his part, recording the seventh straight quality start by an Orioles pitcher, holding Oakland to two runs over seven innings.
Before his team attempted to avoid a sweep in Oakland — where the Orioles have lost eight of their past 10 series — Showalter acknowledged some of the inherent challenges of playing at Oakland Coliseum this week against an A's team long out of the postseason race.
"You've got a lot of guys here with Oakland trying to make their mark and impress with the opportunity they're getting with some of the injuries and so their energy level — you've always got to match that," Showalter said. "That's a challenge. … I wouldn't say [it's the] energy. It's just that engagement and that pitch-to-pitch grind.
"You have to be a self-starter here. There's not a whole lot … It's different. That's one of the main challenges you face. You're going to have something different in San Francisco with the Giants tomorrow."
Playing inside the cavernous Coliseum is like playing inside an empty-seat filled bubble. Players say there's no other venue like it in the majors, partially because it seems almost half-abandoned most games. They rave about the playing surface, but nothing else. The facilities are more reminiscent of an outdated minor league park as players walk through wet carpeted hallways from the clubhouse to the dugout with an indiscernible smell wafting through the air.
The Orioles chased former farmhand Andrew Triggs — a reliever making his second major league start — from the game after scoring three runs in the first four innings (66 pitches).
But it was the fifth when the Orioles broke the game open as Coulombe loaded the bases with two outs. Jones hit a one-out single and then Coulombe walked Manny Machado and Chris Davis with two outs before falling behind Trumbo, 3-0.
Two pitches later, Trumbo turned on a 91-mph fastball, sending it over the 388-foot mark in left-center field, bringing a noticeable group of Orioles fans seated behind the visiting dugout to their feet.
"Yeah, eventually we're going to need a few to fall in," Trumbo said. "I think overall, we've just got to keep going. It wasn't the best showing for us in the four-game set, but we did get a win here and we're going up against a tough team next, too."
Before heading to San Francisco, where the Orioles have been staying for their week in the Bay Area, Showalter took one subtle parting shot of his own at the Coliseum when asked about not having to switch hotels for the next series.
"Oh, this is a getaway day in our mind," he deadpanned. "Trust me. We're getting away."
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