Athletics Offensive Troubles Reach Critical Mass in 5-1 Extra-Inning Loss in Opener
The Oakland offensive trouble have reached critical mass.
For seven innings, the A’s left runners all over the Coliseum in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, got just one run from it and would up taking a 5-1 loss with closer Liam Hendriks pitching in both the seventh and eighth innings.
The A’s, who had been perfect in extra innings at 6-0 before this one, put the leadoff man on base six times in seven innings. They had men at first and third with no one out twice and got a leadoff triple. Save for a sacrifice fly from Khris Davis, the A’s did nothing. They were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
For the ninth time in 10 games they’ve had six or fewer hits, including Saturday’s Game 1, in which they were officially eliminated from finishing with the No. 1 seed in the American League playoffs.
A’s manager Bob Melvin is trying not to make this too much of a thing, but the A’s have just two games left, Saturday’s night cap and Sunday’s regular season finale against the Mariners, before the postseason starts. He’d like to see more than this.
The A’s hit into four double plays in the first seven innings, one reason they couldn’t get a run home. But the main reason they can’t get runs home is they’ve mostly stopping hitting. Their team batting average in .223, which would tie the 1908 Philadelphia A’s for the worst team batting average over a season in the history of a franchise that dates back to 1901.
Melvin needs to see more than this if his team is going to be competitive in the postseason.
On Sept. 14 in the second game of a doubleheader the A’s had 11 hits to get the team batting average to .230. That was the season peak. In the 10 games since, they have not reached double digits in hits and the cumulative average has been .188.
“I thought our at-bats early in the game were really good. It was the situational at-bats that cost us today,” Melvin said. “I mean the ones where you don’t need to hit to get a run in. That’s really what did it today.
“But early on, there was a lot of energy, some good at-bats, some deep count at-bats. And we made them work. It was just a situation where the idea is to put a ball in the air or put it in play and maybe get a run.”
For all of that, the A’s had a 1-0 lead entering the sixth inning, thanks to Davis’ fourth-inning sacrifice fly. Minor, who’d thrown a seven-inning complete game shutout against the Mariners in that 11-hit game for the offense on Sept. 14, reeled off five more scoreless innings against Seattle before Brandon Bishop doubled to open the sixth and J.P. Crawford followed with a game-tying single.
That was the end of the day for Minor, who reasonable could have expected better results than a no-decision this time around. He’s made four starts for the A’s since being acquired from Texas, and he’s been very good against Seattle but has allowed 10 runs in his other two starts against the Astros (four runs) and the Giants (six).
He’s certainly not going to start in the wild card round, which consists of three games, but he might get a chance when the series get to seven games in seven days, should the A’s get that far.
“My confidence level is pretty high right now, going into the postseason,” Minor said. “I’m just kind of here; whatever they need me to do. I know the other guys have done a lot better than me, so I’m assuming that those guys are going to get most of the work. If they need me for anything, I’ll be there.”
Closer Liam Hendriks pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. Melvin left him out there to pitch the eighth with an automatic runner on second base. And nothing went right. A Bishop bunt got the first out, but Crawford singled home a run on a 3-1 pitch, and after he stole second, Ty France’s hit brought him home.
Lou Trivino replaced Hendriks at that point and allowed a two-run homer.
It was the 24th game of the season for Hendriks. The A’s had been 23-0 in games Hendriks pitched before this one.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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