A's fall in 11, settle for split of odd twin bill

September 7th, 2019

OAKLAND -- Entering the night in the middle of a tight playoff race that featured three teams vying for two American League Wild Card spots with very little separation, the A’s were presented with a golden opportunity to do some damage in the standings.

After finishing off the final three innings of a suspended game against the Tigers from May 19 for a win on Friday afternoon, the A’s were unable to sweep a quasi-doubleheader, as they opened a three-game series with Detroit later in the night with a 5-4 loss in 11 innings at the Coliseum.

The A’s still hold a half-game lead for the second American League Wild Card spot, but the loss pushed them to a full game back of Tampa Bay.

Lou Trivino was charged with the A's bullpen's Majors-leading 28th blown save after he and Jake Diekman struggled to make a two-run lead hold up by allowing a pair of runs in the eighth inning. It was a spot that would have normally seen Yusmeiro Petit on the mound, but the right-hander is away from the club due to the death of his father.

“You do the best you can with what you have on a particular day,” manager Bob Melvin said. “In Lou’s case, it’s a ground ball to the right side that wasn’t even hit hard. He made a good pitch, but sometimes you get a little unlucky. We were down a couple of guys today, and you just use the guys that are available.”

Trivino surrendered a game-tying two-run single to Dawel Lugo after Diekman had recorded two outs but left the game after hitting Jeimer Candelario to load the bases.

Lugo’s single, which came on a 1-1 fastball inside, was not hit particularly hard, but it still managed to get past a diving Jurickson Profar and trickled into right field.

“It was very unfortunate,” Trivino said. “I hit a spot and tried to go two-seam in, and I got in on him. It just went to a spot where the second baseman wasn’t.”

Everything was going right for the A’s prior to the unraveling. Josh Phegley’s two-run double highlighted a four-run second inning, which seemed like plenty with the way Homer Bailey was dealing on the mound.

Bailey held the Tigers scoreless through the first six frames, not allowing a runner past first base until he gave up a two-run blast to Christin Stewart in the seventh. After allowing a single with one out two batters later, Bailey was pulled and walked off to a standing ovation from the crowd of 16,080.

“Good fastball. The split maybe wasn’t as good early but got better as it went along,” Melvin said of Bailey, who held the Tigers to five hits and two runs. “He competed hard. He was out there in the seventh inning for us on a day we needed him to be out there. He pitched well and left with a lead.”

While the bullpen woes continued -- Paul Blackburn eventually allowed the deciding run on an RBI single by Willi Castro in the 11th -- the real story of the night was the lack of offense.

After Phegley’s RBI double, the A’s were held to just two hits over the final nine innings. Both of those were singles off the bat of Profar.

“We just didn’t have the type of at-bats that we normally do,” Melvin said. “We score four in the second and it looks like we’re going to have a big offensive day. It just bogged down a little bit, which doesn’t happen often with us.”

The loss snapped a 16-game winning streak against the Tigers, the second-longest streak in A’s history against any one team.

Laureano returns

Sidelined since July 28 with a stress reaction in his right shin, Ramon Laureano made his return from the injured list and received a standing ovation as he stepped into the box for his first at-bat of the night. The center fielder finished 0-for-4. He was also hit by a pitch, marking the 79th time an A’s batter has been plunked this year, which leads the Majors.

“We don’t like it, but I’m not sure what we can do about it at this point,” Melvin said. “Our guys have been pretty good about holding their frustrations in and understanding that we have to win games. But it’s just really frustrating.”