OAKLAND -- With an important series against the Yankees on the horizon, the A’s could certainly use their upcoming off-day to cleanse themselves of their recent struggles.
A grueling stretch of 15 games in 15 days for the A’s was capped by another quiet offensive performance in Tuesday afternoon’s 5-1 loss to the Mariners at the Coliseum. Swept by Seattle over two games, Oakland finished the 15-game stretch with a 6-9 record and has now dropped eight of its past 10 contests.
“We’re putting too much pressure on every facet that we have right now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It was a tough stretch we went through. We did not look good today. We’ve lost some close games here recently. But we have to flip the switch and start playing like we do.
“We usually are on the other side of these games. This is the wrong time to go into a team slump. We’ll figure it out.”
Now 4-8 against the M’s this year, Tuesday’s loss dropped the A’s to 2 games back of the second American League Wild Card spot. Seattle gained ground, now sitting just one game behind Oakland.
At this point, the A’s are probably glad to see any team other than the Mariners in front of them, even if it is a club like the surging Yankees, who arrive at the Coliseum on Thursday for the start of a four-game series. Dating back to July, Oakland has dropped five straight games to Seattle. Over that period, the A’s bats have had trouble getting to the Mariners' starters. That continued on Tuesday as right-hander Chris Flexen limited them to one run on six hits through 6 2/3 innings.
With two outs in the seventh, Flexen handed the ball to right-hander Drew Steckenrider, who finished it off by holding the A’s to just two hits over 2 1/3 scoreless frames.
“We did not have competitive at-bats after [the first],” Melvin said. “Granted, [Flexen] pitched well -- only walked one guy. But we have to have better at-bats. Our late-game at-bats just aren't there right now, and that’s kind of our calling card.”
The A’s did get to Flexen early, with Mitch Moreland’s RBI single in the first providing a one-run lead. However, Cole Irvin was tagged for three runs on seven hits and two walks, and he departed after throwing just 66 pitches across three innings.
Though Irvin was pulled partially due to his lack of command -- he walked two batters and did not record a strikeout for the first time since 2020 -- Melvin said the left-hander was also dealing with a hip issue that developed in the third inning after he landed awkwardly on a pitch thrown to Kyle Seager. Neither Melvin nor Irvin consider the injury to be serious, with Irvin saying he “should be able” to make his next start.
More concerning for Irvin was his continued lack of success against Seattle. In three starts against the Mariners this year, he’s allowed 11 runs in 11 2/3 innings while lasting 4 2/3 innings or fewer in each outing.
“They’re finding something that works for them,” Irvin said. “It’s just trying to find what that is. If I’m not tipping pitches and they’re just having good approaches, I’m not doing a good enough job of keeping them off-balance. I know in certain counts I’ve given them some cookies to hit. I just haven’t pitched them well this year yet.”
Reeling into Wednesday’s off-day, things won’t get any easier with a visit from the Yankees, who finished Tuesday on a Major League-best 11-game win streak.
From the offensive woes that saw Oakland enter the day batting .199 over the last eight games, to a starting staff that has struggled to go deep into outings -- A’s starters have completed six innings just twice over the last 12 games -- perhaps Wednesday can provide a much-needed reset button.
“We’ve got a hot ballclub coming in,” Irvin said. “It’s a good test for us. We’re gonna need to fight in the postseason, so why not fight now? We’re eager to get into the series against the Yankees, for sure.”