OAKLAND -- Most of the issues Frankie Montas has run into this season have been self-inflicted due to the high rate at which he’s given up homers. On Saturday, however, the damage done against him was out of his control.
A quick glance at Montas’ final line would signal he was deserving of a win. He conquered his long ball issues by not allowing a home run for just the third time in 11 starts this year. He struck out seven batters and did not allow an earned run in his 5 2/3 innings pitched against the Angels. Yet by the end of it, Montas took the loss in the A’s 4-0 defeat at the Coliseum.
Montas was cruising early on. With the help of a couple of stellar defensive plays by Elvis Andrus and Mark Canha in the second and third innings, the right-hander was efficient in getting through the fourth on just 51 pitches. Then came the circumstances beyond his control.
With runners at the corners and one out in the fifth, Matt Olson aggressively charged down the first-base line on a bunt by David Fletcher with intentions of getting the lead runner at home. It was perfectly executed by the Gold Glove first baseman, but the toss to home plate was mishandled by catcher Aramis Garcia, allowing Jose Rojas to score the first run of the game.
That error by Garcia turned out to be costly, as the Angels soon piled on three more runs in the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon. The latter two runs may have been partially the result of Montas’ residual frustration left over from the error.
“I just got caught up in the moment,” Montas said. “As a pitcher, you need to keep your head straight. I got a little mad, and I shouldn’t get mad at my teammates for that. They’re out there trying to make plays for me. They did a [heck] of a job for me today.”
Coming off a season-high 11-strikeout effort in his previous start, Montas again displayed some of his best stuff of the year. His dominant splitter comprised 21% of his pitches thrown and generated seven whiffs, the most on any of his four different pitches.
So even as he was charged with the loss for a third consecutive outing, the signs are evident that Montas is heading in the right direction. He’s now 5-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 11 starts.
“To be honest, this is the best I’ve felt in general,” Montas said. “I felt like I was able to go out there and throw all my pitches for strikes, especially my splitter. It was just one inning that I got caught up in the moment and that messed up my whole game.”
Montas and the bullpen kept the A’s within reach by not allowing a run after the rough inning, but an A’s offense that showed a strong ability to piece together clutch hits over the previous two days was shut down by Angels starter Alex Cobb. The right-hander held Oakland scoreless over seven innings, with Mitch Moreland and Tony Kemp the lone batters to record hits on Saturday, combining for three singles.
Any time the A’s even showed a hint of a possible momentum shift, Cobb quickly neutralized it, inducing a double play in innings three through five.
“He just kept us off balance,” manager Bob Melvin said of Cobb. “He’s got a really good split that he throws in any count. He’s got a good sinker. He’s got a high ground ball rate. Throws just enough curveballs early in counts for strikes and just had us off balance the entire game.”
Of course, the A’s lineup did have one notable absence in Ramón Laureano, who missed his second straight game as he deals with right groin tightness. Melvin said he was hopeful the center fielder could return for Sunday’s series finale against the Angels.
“If Ramón is not the biggest spark plug on our team, I don’t know who is,” Kemp said. “When he’s not in the lineup, you can tell there’s a presence missing. Hopefully, we can get him back in the lineup soon.”