“A good job of small ball by our guys,” Bochy said. “The situation called for it. We haven’t been bunting much as a team, but certain guys work on it all the time because there are situations when you need it. Zeke is not quite locked in right now. So [the bunt] is going to be part of his game, too. When you aren’t swinging the bat, there are other ways to contribute. He did a lot by getting a bunt down.
Though he homered in his first at-bat as Jung’s replacement on Sunday, Duran has been in a month-long skid. He entered Monday with just four hits in his last 32 at-bats and batting .161 since the All-Star break. He struck out twice and grounded to third in his first three at-bats Monday. After Mitch Garver led off the seventh with a single, his third hit of the night, Bochy turned to Ornelas, rather than the more experienced Josh Smith to pinch run. Robbie Grossman followed with a walk to move Ornelas into scoring position, bringing up Duran and the bunt sign. On a 2-1 count, he got a bunt down, forcing pitcher Dany Jimenez to throw to first.
With the go-ahead run at third, the A’s brought the infield in. Ornelas got a good jump on the ball and scored ahead of the throw despite the infield being in on Jankowski’s chopper. Another run scored on Leody Taveras’ line drive sacrifice fly. The Rangers scored their final three runs of the night on a fielding error, Jankowski’s chopper and a sac fly.The bunt proved to be critical.
“I thank God that I’m in this position, but the last month has been hard. It’s just really continuous adjustments. I’m trying to do the right thing in every situation possible.”On Twitter: