A’s overcome ‘tough’ 24 hours with emotional walk-off win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The last 24 hours have rocked the Athletics.
Starling Marte’s three-run walk-off home run in extra innings on Friday night at the Coliseum was a reason to celebrate that was much-needed in Oakland’s clubhouse.
“I think we just had to be professional, flush the news as best as we could, and just get our job done” starter Chris Bassitt said following the 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers.
On Thursday, A’s beloved broadcast Ray Fosse announced he would be stepping away from his gameday duties after a long battle with cancer to concentrate on recovery.
Bassitt tweeted out a heartfelt message about Fosse on Thursday.
A little more than four hours before first pitch on Friday, the A’s announced outfielder Ramón Laureano had been suspended for 80 games by MLB after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
“Obviously Ray, that news really sucked, I know for a lot of the guys around here,” Bassitt said. “And then obviously the news with Ramón — terrible. So yeah it’s been a crappy 24 hours for us to say the least so that’s impressive we were able to flush it.”
Bassitt struck out eight in seven innings, giving up five hits and one earned run, while not issuing a walk.
“It’s been tough, but again I think us going out there and hitting home business with all this crap is a testament to our team,” Bassitt said.
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Marte was acquired two days before the MLB trade deadline last week, and instantly made his presence known. The 32-year-old outfielder and the others who were brought on have meshed quickly and easily with the A’s. That’s a major testament to the clubhouse.
“Our team chemistry is off the charts,” Bassitt said. “Obviously news in the clubhouse that sucks because it’s like, truly a brother we’re losing, but again it’s just the chemistry we have with the team, how long we’ve been together as a team, shows in cases like this. When crap gets hard, when crap sucks, you kind of have to step up. So again, I think it’s just what we have here, it’s obviously special.”