The Athletics and Los Angeles Angels matched up in the first game of this four-game series between these two longtime division rivals.
Few would have thought that this game featuring two teams with struggling pitching staffs would turn out to be a pitching duel, yet that is what happened. Both starting pitchers performed well, especially the A’s starter J.T. Ginn, who took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. Unfortunately for the A’s, it was the Angels, particularly their shortstop Zach Neto, who got
the last laugh, winning this series-opener 2-1 courtesy of Neto’s walk-off blast.
A’s leadoff hitter, right fielder Carlos Cortes, opened the game by working a walk against Angels’ starting pitcher Walbert Ureña. His team left him stranded, as the right-hander proceeded to retire the following three hitters and complete a scoreless first inning. Ginn matched Ureña’s opening frame, working a scoreless bottom of the first. .
A’s Waste First Scoring Chance
In the top of the third, the A’s strung together a two-out rally. Cortes walked for the second time in two at-bats and then catcher Shea Langeliers hit an infield single, the A’s first hit of the game. Alas, first baseman Nick Kurtz popped out to end the inning as the Athletics left two runners on base.
A’s Leave them Loaded
In the fourth inning, the A’s once again generated a two-out rally. Center fielder Henry Bolte hit an infield single and then second baseman Jeff McNeil reached on Neto’s fielding error. Ureña hit A’s third baseman Zack Gelof to load the bases. The Angels starter escaped the jam unscathed by getting A’s shortstop Darell Hernaiz to groundout to third.
Angels Defense Saves a Run
With two outs in the fifth, Kurtz extended his on-base streak to 41 consecutive games with a double down the right field line. Angels’ right fielder Jo Adell made a sliding catch to rob A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker of an RBI single and keep the game scoreless.
Pitching Duel
While the A’s offense struggled to get going, Ginn retired the Angels in order through four innings, totaling five strikeouts and four groundouts on just 39 pitches. The Angels got their first baserunner in the fifth via a walk, but Ginn stranded him at second.
Meanwhile, Ureña completed six scoreless innings, continuing his success since joining the Angels’ rotation. He allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four. Right-handed reliever Sam Bachman entered out of the Angels bullpen in the seventh. He continued to keep the visitors off the board over the next two innings, only allowing Cortes’ one-out single in the seventh. Through eight innings, the Athletics managed five hits and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine men on base.
Ginn sailed through eight hitless innings, striking out a career-high 10 batters. However, his offense had yet to give him any run support in this pitching-dominated affair.
Crazy Ninth!
In the top of the ninth, the A’s bats woke up. Gelof singled with one out against Angels right-handed reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. He stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Pinch-hitter Lawrence Butler singled to center, scoring Gelof to finally break the deadlock and give the A’s the lead. That was arguably Butler’s biggest hit of the season to date.
Zeferjahn proceeded to walk Cortes and Langeliers to load the bases with one out for Kurtz. Fellow right-handed reliever Chase Silseth replaced Zeferjahn and did his job by getting Kurtz to hit into an inning-ending double play. That was a crucial opportunity to add insurance, but for a change, Kurtz failed to come through.
Adam Frazier led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, breaking up Ginn’s no-hit attempt.
For some reason, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay did not pull his starter from the game despite the fact that Ginn had thrown over 100 pitches and just suffered the deflating blow of losing his no-hitter attempt. That decision predictably backfired as Neto hit a two-run walk-off home run, delivering a 2-1 victory for the hosts that snapped their six-game losing streak.
In a span of a few pitches, the A’s went from thinking they were about to celebrate their pitcher’s no-hitter to sadly walking off of the field losers of a third straight game. This dramatic defeat that put the team’s record under .500 is the kind that can result in a season-derailing tailspin. As a result, it is imperative that the Athletics reset and bounce back tomorrow or else this losing streak could stretch much further like what happened in May of last year.
Tomorrow will be the lefty vs. lefty matchup this series as Jacob Lopez will take on Reid Detmers. Lopez (3-2, 5.80 ERA) has struggled this season for the A’s, although he is coming off back-t0-back quality starts. In his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, the southpaw allowed two runs on four hits over five innings. He will be opposed by Detmers, who is 1-4 with a 4.20 ERA through nine starts this year. Lopez will likely not pitch as well as Ginn did tonight, but the A’s simply need him to keep them in the game and give them a shot to win.
