BALTIMORE – Well, the A’s did not lose another heartbreaker at Camden Yards.
The embarrassment that took place Sunday afternoon unfolded in gradual and tortuous fashion, with no surprise ending required.
How many different shades of ugly can a game turn? The A’s did their best to find out in an 18-2 blowout at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, a game that featured a nine-run inning and 26 hits total for the Orioles. The hits were the most ever allowed by an Oakland team, and the most in A’s franchise history since giving up 29 on April 23, 1955.
The A’s set several season-highs they would have rather avoided, including most runs allowed in a game, most hits allowed, most runs allowed in an inning and most hits allowed in an inning (10). With that came a season high-tying sixth consecutive loss on a road trip that mercifully comes to an end Monday night.
The Orioles jumped on whatever pitcher A’s manager Bob Melvin turned to, including rookie starter Kendall Graveman (6-9), who lasted just 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, including two of Baltimore’s four homers. Dan Otero relieved him and was charged with eight runs in his 1 1/3-inning stint.
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Though the Orioles’ bats were the primary story, the A’s compounded things with shoddy defense that simply wasn’t reflected in the box score. They weren’t credited with a single error, but that didn’t take into account multiple fly balls that fell between defenders who either didn’t communicate or failed to take charge by calling off a teammate.
The A’s lost the first two of this four-game series on walk-off homers Friday and Saturday. They found out that the polar opposite kind of defeat is no more appealing.
Starting pitching report:
Graveman was gone before things turned really ugly in the Orioles’ nine-run fifth. But the narrative was set in motion with him on the mound. He gave up eight hits over his 3 1/3 innings, and the rookie has now gone seven consecutive starts without a victory. A four-run second was a killer, in that Graveman nearly worked out of a no-out jam with men on the corners. But Orioles No. 9 hitter Caleb Joseph doubled home two runs with two outs, and Manny Machado and Gerardo Parra followed with run-scoring hits that put Oakland in a 5-1 hole early.
Graveman also allowed homers to Parra in the first and Adam Jones in the third, as the long ball has hurt the A’s badly in this series. They entered Sunday having allowed the third-fewest homers in the American League, but the Orioles have hit 10 in the first three games of this series, including five off the A’s starters.
Bullpen report:
Otero found the going extremely rough in his first outing since being recalled from the minors, allowing eight runs in 1 1/3 innings. But Edward Mujica gave up two homers, and it wasn’t like anyone coming out of the ‘pen had a real memorable day. It got so bad that A’s first baseman Ike Davis took the mound for the second time this season. He delivered a scoreless eighth – he’s unscored upon in two innings this year – and had a strikeout, with a double allowed and a walk to Jason Garcia, an Orioles pitcher.
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At the plate:
The A’s got a home run from Brett Lawrie and an RBI double from Sam Fuld. Of course, the highlights were plentiful for Baltimore. Parra was 5-for-6 with three RBI, Joseph drove in four runs and Jones homered twice, leading the hit parade.
In the field:
Fly balls were an adventure with the A’s in the field. Granted, it appeared a challenging day to track balls in the air judging from the Orioles’ problems too. But in the fifth, Marcus Semien and Coco Crisp collided and let a pop-up drop between them. Another fly fell between Billy Burns and Sam Fuld in right-center and yet another ball dropped and got by Burns and Crisp in left-center. Those issues need to be straightened out. Attendance
The orange-clad crowd of 28,228 had to enjoy this one.
Up next:
It’s the rare Monday series finale, as Sonny Gray (12-4, 2.06) returns to the A’s rotation after a bout with back spasms and matches up against Chris Tillman (8-7, 4.66). First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.
