A’s have one of their worst pitching performances in months in West Sacramento
The Athletics had one of their worst pitching performances in months on their home field and dropped their second straight game to the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
A’s hurlers yielded 17 hits and allowed 9 runs in the 9-3 defeat. They hadn’t allowed that many hits at Sutter Health Park since the Houston Astros had 20 on June 18 and the Chicago Cubs had 21 in the 18-3 loss in the A’s first ever game in West Sacramento.
The A’s starting pitching staff has dealt with injuries recently, which led to Mason Barnett making his Major League debut after posting a 6.13 ERA in 25 appearances at Triple-A this year. It wasn’t a surprise to see Barnett lifted after four-plus innings when he allowed a leadoff homer to Wyatt Langford in the fifth. Barnett allowed five runs on eight hits with a strikeout and no walks. He threw 66 pitches.
“For a debut, you go into not knowing how it’s going to go,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “No walks, he attacked the strike zone and got beat, with pitches kind of in the middle of the plate and up.”
The A’s tapped Barnett because of injuries to the starting rotation — he was promoted on Tuesday after Jacob Lopez landed on the injured list with forearm tightness.
Barnett’s most notable trait from the minors might have been his durability. He led the Pacific Coast League in games started with 23. His fastball sat in the mid-90s, which would help explain his high strikeout rates (9.38 per nine innings), but he allowed 81 runs in 119 innings.
“Obviously not what I wanted,” Barnett said of his outing. “We didn’t win, and I think that’s the most important thing. I just got to move forward here and make the adjustments I need to make.”
The A’s were without star rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz, who left Friday’s game with a right oblique injury. Tyler Soderstrom started at first base in his place after playing there when Kurtz left Friday’s contest. Soderstrom had a hitless night but his replacement in left field, Carlos Cortes, had two doubles and one of the best defensive plays of the night.
Both teams’ left fielders robbed extra bases in back-to-back innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Langford of the Rangers caught a ball that appeared close to clearing the fence hit by Darrell Hernaiz. Leading off the sixth, Cortes robbed a home run off the bat of Kyle Higashioka.
Texas went with right hander Merrill Kelly, who was acquired in a trade July 31 from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 36-year-old came in with a 3.10 ERA in five starts since joining the Rangers. He allowed three runs on six hits through 6 1/3 innings, and retired 10 straight hitters from the end of the third through the sixth inning.
All 10 Rangers who had plate appearances registered a hit, while Adolis Garcia and Higashioka each had three.
The A’s first run came in the third inning on a solo homer from Lawrence Butler, who took a first-pitch changeup 448 feet off the video board in right center. It was his 18th of the season. Brent Rooker two batters later also went deep on the first pitch from Kelly, hitting a 405-foot home run to left to cut the lead to 4-2.
Dylan Moore added a two-run home run off the bench in the top of the ninth for the Rangers. It was the first since signing with the team on Wednesday following his release from the Seattle Mariners.
The A’s have an off day next Thursday, Sept. 4, which would presumably be Barnett’s next turn in the rotation, though there’s a chance it gets skipped.
The A’s will try to fend off a sweep against Rangers ace Jacob deGrom (10-6, 2.79 ERA) on Sunday, with temperatures expected to hit triple digits around the 1:05 p.m. first pitch. The A’s will counter with J.T. Ginn, who was on the hill when the A’s beat reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on Monday to start their sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
