The Athletics ended their weekend series against the Angels with a tough loss, dropping the final game of the series 11-5 in 10 innings.
The starter for the A’s this afternoon was left-hander Jeffrey Springs. It wasn’t a quality start to this one as Los Angeles jumped on Springs in the first with three runs off a 3-run blast from young outfielder Jo Adell, who is finally breaking out for the Angels. The A’s did get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the frame when Brent Rooker doubled and came
around to score on an RBI hit from Tyler Soderstrom:
It was a nice start to the comeback but they’d have more work to do. They did just that a couple of innings later as Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers hit back-to-back home runs:
The Shea Bomb:
That got Springs off the hook for his rough start to this contest. At least for a while. Los Angeles would retake the lead in the top of the fifth off a two-run single. Another hit followed and that was it for Springs, who was unable to finish the frame or give five full innings.
- Jeffrey Springs: 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 100 pitches
Not a great outing from the lefty veteran this afternoon. That’s the seventh time he’s allowed four or more runs this season, and he’s allowed nine runs over his past two starts. He did manage to eclipse his career-high in innings pitched and is in uncharted territory the rest of the way in that department. Tyler Ferguson came in for Springs, finished the frame and came back out for one more inning in the sixth.
The A’s were faced with another deficit that they’d need to overcome. And they did just that again in the sixth. Lawrence Butler led off the frame with his 17th long ball of the year:
That cut into the Halos’ lead and the A’s weren’t done there. Third baseman Brett Harris collected his first double of the year with a two-out knock and came around to score and tie this game up off a Luis Urias RBI single:
Springs was now officially off the hook for a loss. It was a battle of the bullpens from there, with each team’s relief options posting zeros and getting this game to extras. Los Angeles of course got the ghost runner at second base to start the 10th inning but they didn’t need it. Right-hander Michael Kelly got the call for the 10th but looked unprepared for today’s appearance. He walked the first batter he faced then allowed the Angels to retake the lead on an RBI single from Adell. A sacrifice bunt put two more runners in scoring position before he was able to induce a ground ball. Shortstop Darell Hernaiz came home with the throw but was late and another run scored for the Angels. Rookie righty Ben Bowden then came in and allowed a two-run triple and then a two-run homer. When the inning was finally over the Angels had scored six times and all but sealed the game’s final score. The A’s went quietly in the bottom of the 10th to secure the loss, the team’s 70th of the season
Well the club showed great resiliency with multiple comebacks in today’s contest. The implosion at the end was just far too much to overcome though. On the plus side the offense showed up and had some really big hits. Just gotta flush this one and get ready for the next game. It was still a fun weekend with Player’s Weekend going on and the team still won the series 2 games to one loss. We’ll travel to Los Angeles early next month to wrap up the season series with our division rival.
The team has a day off tomorrow before hitting the road for a road trip. First stop: a trip to the Midwest where the club will travel to Minnesota for a three-game series with the Twins. They’ve waived the white flag on their season already but are still technically in the playoff hunt. Lefty Jacob Lopez will get the ball for Tuesday’s series opener while the Twins will counter with staff ace Joe Ryan. Should be another good one!
