Wilson hits two homers as A’s hammer Knack

DODGERS

The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz is safe at second with a double as the throw gets past Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts during the third inning. photos by Jayne Kamin-Oncea / ap

Dodgers starting pitcher Landon Knack gave up five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Athletics.

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By Doug Padilla

Correspondent

LOS ANGELES — Jacob Wilson is slight of build, making him agile enough to run with the big dogs.

The Athletics’ rookie shortstop from Thousand Oaks had yet another game to savor in his early major league career with four hits and two home runs to power an 11-1 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night in the opening game of a three-game series.

Not only did Wilson make the home of the World Series champions his own Tuesday, he raised his batting average .363. The mark is second best in the major leagues behind a giant in his own right, the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge (.413).

Wilson’s exploits are becoming commonplace now. Tuesday’s game was his second four-hit contest in his past five games. He has at least three hits six times already this season as he grows into a massive attraction for a team playing in a tiny minor league ballpark this season in Sacramento.

As the son of former major leaguer Jack Wilson, who had his own exploits as an All-Star and a Silver Slugger in 2004 when he had 201 hits with 12 triples for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had dad as his coach at both Thousand Oaks High School and Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Both of Jacob Wilson’s home runs came off Dodgers starter Landon Knack (2-1), who struggled through 4 2/3 innings when he allowed five runs on seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Wilson did help the Dodgers create a run in the third inning with a fielding error on a Mookie Betts ground ball. But he still owned the frame with his first two-run homer of the night in the top of the third. He added a second two-run home run off Knack in the fifth.

Otherwise the Dodgers’ offense was tamed by A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs (5-3), who gave up one run on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

After going 6-4 on a mammoth 10-game, three-city road trip through Atlanta, Miami and Arizona, the Dodgers looked unsettled in their return. Not helping the mood was the decision before the game to place right-hander Roki Sasaki on the injured list with a shoulder impingement.

Sasaki joins Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow on the shelf with an even bigger rotation scramble set for the days ahead.

After a road trip when he went 19-for-40 with four home runs and 16 RBIs, Freddie Freeman went 0-for-3 with a walk. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts went a combined 0-for-6 with a walk and an RBI at the top of the order.

Instead, it was the A’s who looked right at home in the unfamiliar setting. They improved to 14-7 in road games, while they have gone 8-13 in their spartan conditions near the state capital.