Matt Chapman will be able to hold bragging rights over his close friend James Kaprielian until at least next year.
The former A’s third baseman returned to the Oakland Coliseum this week for the first time since he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays this past offseason. He got a warm welcome from the Oakland crowd and tipped his cap before Monday night’s game in the series opener.
On Wednesday, Chapman helped stop his former club from securing its first sweep of the season, when he blasted a solo shot of Kaprielian into the left-field bleachers. The dinger tied up the game in the seventh inning before the Blue Jays eventually edged out a 2-1 victory.
Chapman’s dinger hurt Kaprielian for a few different reasons. First of all, a loss is never good. Second of all, it pushed Kaprlielian’s franchise-record streak to 24 straight starts where he hasn’t topped six innings. Finally – and perhaps worst of all – Chapman now has some trash-talking ammo for his fellow ultra-competitive friend.
This past winter, when Chapman got married, Kaprielian served as the officiant and the DJ. Chapman got the last laugh on Wednesday.
Earlier in the game, Chapman laughed and shook his head at the A’s dugout after they ordered a pickoff move.
Chapman is batting .225/.299/.421 with 13 homers and 40 RBIs this season while bringing his usual stellar brand of defense. Chapman also hit a two-run shot against Adrian Martinez in Tuesday night’s game.
The A’s have had something of a revolving door at third base this season without Chappy. Kevin Smith showed some promise defensively but was sent down to Triple-A in June after slashing .180/.215/.302 to begin the season. Since then, players like Sheldon Neuse, Matt Davidson, Jonah Bride and Vimael Machin have been shuttling in and out of the hot corner.
It’s a small sample size, but the A’s are 3-3 and playing better defense in the month of July after an abysmal June.
There could be another trade on the horizon for Oakland, though. Like Chapman – and Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea – A’s right-hander Frankie Montas could find himself traded by the end of the month.
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