WEST SACRAMENTO – The good vibes that the Athletics carried into this homestand after taking two of three against the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend have quickly dissipated.
One night after blowing a four-run lead in the eighth inning of Monday’s series-opening loss to the Rays, the A’s were hammered by Tampa Bay’s offense in a 12-4 loss on Tuesday night at Sutter Health Park.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s defeat:
1. The streaks live!
Two impressive individual streaks nearly came to an end in Tuesday’s game.
First was shortstop Jacob Wilson’s remarkable errorless streak, which technically did come to an end briefly in the eighth inning. Wilson fielded a ball hit by Yandy Díaz up the middle and tossed a wide throw to Donovan Walton while trying to get the runner at second base. The play was originally scored a fielder’s choice with an error on the throw, which snapped the streak at 112 games.
Following the game, however, official scorer Mark Honbo announced that, after reviewing the play, Wilson’s error was overturned to a fielder’s choice. The streak was back on, now extended to 113 games, which remains the ongoing Major League record for consecutive errorless games by a shortstop. Wilson surpassed the previous mark of 110 by Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick (2002) on Sunday.
“Tough play,” said manager Mark Kotsay. “Jacob didn’t feel he had a chance to get the runner at first and went for the out at second. … I think the official scorer got it right now with the fielder’s choice. You wouldn’t want to see a play that was marginal by any measure dictate a streak like this.”
After going hitless in his first three at-bats, Zack Gelof lined a single to right field in the ninth, extending his home hitting streak to 23 games. That remains the second longest by an A's player in the Expansion Era (since 1961), trailing only Carney Lansford (30 games, July 20 to Sept. 19, 1984).
2. Pitching evaluations
Before the game, Kotsay discussed how this final stretch of the regular season will present an opportunity for several inexperienced pitchers to perform and, in a sense, audition for potential roles on the big league club in 2027.
“We’re going to find that out,” Kotsay said. “From the collection of starters to bullpen guys, from a standpoint of just pure service time, outside of [Jose] Suárez, a lot of them are a year or less of service time. This is an opportunity to really go out and prove themselves for next season. We’re going to give them every opportunity to do that.”
Mason Barnett is one of those pitchers getting a look in the rotation, and Tuesday’s start did not go as he would have hoped. He allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and three walks in four innings.
Turns out, Barnett was pitching with some hip discomfort as a result of “yanking” a fastball in the first inning that he said led to him rotating his body awkwardly on the mound. Barnett pitched through the issue, but the Rays clearly took advantage, hitting three home runs off him before he was pulled at just 67 pitches.
“He wanted to go out and give us as much as he possibly could with the bullpen taxed as of late,” Kotsay said. “He wasn’t at full strength, but he left some balls up in the zone. If he’s healthy and can pitch, we’ll continue to work on the execution portion of his pitches.”
Barnett’s next turn in the rotation is unclear. Jeffrey Springs, rehabbing from a right hip injury, threw a bullpen before Tuesday’s game and could potentially reclaim that spot later in the week.
3. Butler’s offense trending up
Lawrence Butler provided the only real damage all night against Rays starter Nick Martinez by crushing a two-run homer off the right-hander in the fourth.
Butler hasn’t exactly been scorching over the past couple of months, but his .251 batting average (39-for-155) with five homers over his last 52 games is much better than the .163 average he posted in his first 60 games.
“The positives tonight came from Lawrence Butler’s at-bats,” Kotsay said. “He took some good quality at-bats.”