A’s earn first win, beat Braves 5-2 behind Civale and Langeliers

The answer came fast

Atlanta grabbed the first punch again.

Drake Baldwin homered off Civale in the first inning to put the Braves ahead 1-0. For a moment, it looked like another night when the A’s would have to play from behind.

Then the second inning changed everything.

Brent Rooker started the rally with a single. After Tyler Soderstrom grounded into a double play, Max Muncy walked and moved to second on a balk. Ibáñez followed with an RBI single to tie it.

Soon after, Lawrence Butler and Denzel Clarke worked walks to load the bases. Wilson then lined a ground-rule double down the left-field line, scoring Ibáñez and Butler for a 3-1 lead.

That swing gave the A’s room. It also gave them something they had not protected much in the opening week, a real early edge.

Pitching held it together

The pitching made sure it lasted.

Civale allowed two runs on four hits in 5.0 innings. He walked one, struck out three and limited the damage after Baldwin’s first-inning homer. The Braves got one run back in the fifth on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s sacrifice fly, but Civale kept Atlanta from putting together a bigger inning.

The bullpen did the rest.

Hogan Harris worked a scoreless sixth, though he had to pitch around two walks. Justin Sterner handled the seventh and stranded two runners after a Max Muncy throwing error put traffic on the bases. That inning may have been the biggest of the night outside the second. Sterner struck out Acuña and Matt Olson to keep the lead at 5-2.

After that, Scott Barlow gave the A’s a clean eighth. Mark Leiter Jr. closed it in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Numbers that mattered

Ibáñez gave the lineup needed depth. He went 2-for-4 and drove in runs in both the second and fourth innings. Wilson’s two-run double was the biggest hit of the game, and Clarke reached twice out of the ninth spot.

Then Langeliers supplied the extra thump. His fifth-inning homer came off Joel Payamps and continued a huge opening stretch at the plate.

The A’s struck out 11 times, and Nick Kurtz went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Still, they went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and did enough damage early to avoid another late scramble.

For the Braves, Baldwin homered and scored once. Mauricio Dubón had two hits, but Atlanta went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

A needed finish

The A’s built a lead, got enough starting pitching and turned the game over to the bullpen. This time, they held it there.

After the way the season started, that mattered almost as much as the result itself.

Up next

The Athletics wrap up their series in Atlanta on Wednesday at 9:20 a.m. PT. The A’s are expected to send Luis Medina to the mound against the Braves’ Chris Sale.

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