Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker also contributed RBIs for the A’s, who sit at the bottom of the AL West with the fourth-fewest wins (36) in baseball. The Phillies, owning the league's best record (61), were fresh off a dominant home sweep of the NL West-leading Dodgers, outscoring them 19-5. But Philadelphia, leading the NL East, stumbled in the series opener against the last-place A's.
"It just didn’t happen tonight," said Kyle Schwarber. "That one big hit avoided us."
Ranger Suárez (10-4), one of a franchise-record seven Phillies All-Stars, continued his recent struggles, giving up four runs on six hits over six innings. After posting a 1.83 ERA through his first 16 starts, Suárez has a staggering 8.62 ERA in his last three outings. The A's did all their damage against Suárez with two outs. Three consecutive RBI singles by Andujar, Rooker, and Langeliers in the third inning gave Oakland a 3-1 lead. Philadelphia cut the deficit with an Edmundo Sosa RBI single in the bottom of the frame, but Langeliers' RBI single in the fifth pushed Oakland’s lead back to two runs.
Butler's two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth off right-hander José Ruiz sealed the game at 6-2.
Adding to the frustration, Phillies shortstop Trea Turner was ejected in the eighth inning by home-plate umpire David Rackley for arguing a called third strike.
