Manaea's Continuing Struggles Take Sheen off Chapman's Two-Homer, Six-RBI Night

Athletics left-hander Sean Manaea, who was 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA down the stretch for Oakland last September, had his struggles continue Monday. He couldn't made it through three innings and the A's, who have only lost five games, have lost three of the four games he's started. That took away from the two-homer, six-RBI evening Matt Chapman turned in.

The ride of the A’s Kelly Gold uniforms ended Monday night in Anaheim as the A’s, who’d won six straight games wearing their Friday night home uniforms, couldn’t get them to translate into a win in Anaheim.

Despite a pair of home runs and a bases-loaded triple from Matt Chapman that led to the third baseman driving in six runs, the Oakland offense shut down in the second half of the game. That left it to Mike Trout’s second homer of the game in the bottom of the eighth off Yusmeiro Petit to bring a streak of nine consecutive Oakland wins to an end in a 10-9 Angels’ victory.

The previously lucky uniforms certainly didn’t do much for Oakland starting pitcher Sean Manaea. The left-hander gave up three runs in the first, then after the A’s staked him to a 5-3 lead after the top of the third, Manaea couldn’t make it through the bottom of the inning.

He would up wind up allowing four runs in 3.2 innings. What is particularly troubling for Oakland is that Manaea said Monday’s start was the best he’d felt physically yet this season.

“Honestly, that was the best I’ve felt this whole season as far as overall health and how pitches worked,” Manaea said. “At the end of the day, I struggled pretty hard, and I feel I’ve got to take what I can get right now.”

For the A’s having a 12-5 record that stands as the best in the Major Leagues, Manaea hasn’t been able to contribute nearly as much as expected. He didn’t take the loss Monday; that went to Petit, the victim of Trout’s final homer. But Manaea has two of the A’s five losses, a 9.00 ERA and the knowledge that three of the five losses this year have come in games he’s started.

It’s a far cry from last September when the lefty came back from missing most of the season following surgery to go 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in five starts.

Manager Bob Melvin, who had to have his bullpen eat the final 5.1 innings after Manaea left, said he “actually thought he was better tonight as far as stuff goes.”

Manaea’s velocity was decent, but his location wasn’t. The pitch Anthony Rendon hit for a first-inning homer wasn’t placed well, and Manaea had trouble finding the strike zone all night.

“You know, the results weren’t good, and some of the balls were hit hard,” Melvin said. “He just has to fight through this right now and come out the other side, have a good outing, and we’ll be fine.”

Manaea’s off night took some of the glitz off one of Matt Chapman’s best pro games. He produced the A’s first run with a homer leading off a three-run second inning, he homered again with a man aboard in the third inning, then came up with the bases loaded in the fourth and tripled home three runs.

From that point on, the offense went south, getting just two singles the rest of the way, giving the Angels time to rally.

Chapman admitted that having a two-homer, six-RBI night end in a loss is a little dispiriting.

“Definitely,” he said. “It’s nice to have a good game, but at the end of the day, you want to win. That’s why we’re here. We’re in first placed right now and we know how valuable every single win is, especially with the short season.

“We’re not going to dwell on it. We’re just going to flush it and get to tomorrow. And I’m just going to build off what I’ve been doing lately and keep trying to help the team win.”

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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