A’s offense avoids another no-no, but NY Yankees’ big inning sends Oakland to 10-4 loss
Oakland has lost 12 of 14 following a season-best, seven-game winning streak. At 21-62, the A's are on pace to finish 41-121, the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders went 20-134.
OAKLAND — Tony Kemp ended the threat of the A’s being no-hit for the second straight game when he singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning. But less than 24 hours after the Yankees’ Domingo Germán pitched the 24th perfect game in MLB history, the A’s imperfections cost them a chance at winning the series against New York.
The Yankees scored eight times in the sixth inning — including the second homer of the series by former A’s All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson — to hand the A’s a 10-4 loss before an announced crowd of 14,718 on Thursday afternoon at the Coliseum.
The A’s finished with eight hits and executed all the fundamentals early: stolen bases, sacrifice flies, and hitting with runners in scoring position. Even center fielder Esteury Ruiz losing his glove over the outfield wall after making a leaping grab to momentarily rob Isaish Kiner-Falefa of a second-inning home run appeared to signal this might be the A’s day as they looked to beat the Yankees for the second time in three days.
But everything unraveled after Oakland took a 3-2 lead into the sixth and saw every New York batter reach base at least once in the rally to turn the game into a blowout.
“That inning got away from us,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “We talk a lot about controlling those innings and getting the outs that we need to secure.”
Oakland has lost 12 of 14 following a season-best, seven-game winning streak. At 21-62, the A’s are on pace to finish 41-121, the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders went 20-134.
The A’s have allowed ten or more runs in a game 21 times this season, and the three times back-to-back. The Yankees have now done it to the A’s twice, winning 11-0 in Germán’s gem on Wednesday night.
“They have a good lineup,” Kotsay said about the Yankees offense. “They took advantage of some bad pitches today. You make mistakes to a good hitting team and you’re going to pay the price.”
A’s starter Hogan Harris (2-2) and reliever Lucas Ercag absorbed the brunt of the Yankees’ offensive burst. After Harris yielded his second homer of the game — a two-run homer to Donaldson — and allowed three of the first four batters he faced in the sixth to reach base, Kotsay turned to Ercag, the hard-throwing rookie who had yet to allow an inherited runner to score in the majors. He walked one, hit two, and allowed three hits before giving way to Ken Waldichuk.
Harris was charged with five runs — four earned — nine hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Ruiz did not add to his MLB-leading stolen base total of 40, but he was involved in a play that likely will be replayed on highlight shows and social media. With the A’s leading 1-0 in the top of the second, the rookie made a leaping effort on Kiner-Faleta hit a deep drive, reaching over the wall and snagging the ball in the pocket of his glove. But the entire glove fell off over the wall with the ball inside it for a game-tying home run.
After failing to reach base the previous night, the A’s offense got going early. After Kemp led off the game with a hit, he stole second, took third on an error and scored on JJ Bleday’s sacrifice fly. They added two more runs in the third on a Seth Brown single and a Carlos Perez sacrifice fly. Brent Rooker pinch-hit in the eighth inning and broke a career-long 0-19 hitless streak with a single to center to drive in the A’s final run.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.