TORONTO — Coming off back-to-back strong starts, Chris Bassitt paid for not having his best stuff Saturday against the Blue Jays’ dangerous offense.
The A’s right-hander surrendered a three-run homer to Josh Donaldson and one of Troy Tulowitzki’s two solo shots as Oakland lost 9-3 and saw its six-game winning streak snapped. Bassitt, who had yet to be rewarded with a win despite pitching very well in two of his three starts, gave up a career-high nine hits and tied a career high with six runs allowed.
“Going against them, you want your ‘A’ stuff, and that was far, far from it,” Bassitt said. “I had nothing today.”
[RECAP: Instant Replay: Blue Jays batter Bassitt, hand A's first road loss]
Though Bassitt said he was feeling fine physically, he didn’t have the usual life on his fastball.
“I’m trying to rear back and throw, and I’m throwing 90 instead of 95, 96,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, just on to the next one I guess.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin concurred with Bassitt’s assessment to an extent.
[Rewind: Donaldson reacts to hit by pitch, 'does piss me off']
“Maybe not his best fastball today, as far as velocity,” Melvin said. “He left a couple cutters over the plate. Not his best day, but probably not as bad as it looks numbers-wise too.”
Saturday marked just the sixth time in 18 games that an A’s starter has allowed more than two runs in an outing.
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Mark Canha isn’t getting much playing time, but he’s making an impact despite what his .182 batting average would suggest. Making just his fifth start of the season, and drawing a rare start in right field, he homered in the first inning off J.A. Happ and made an excellent leaping catch against the right field wall on Edwin Encarnacion’s deep drive in the second.
Canha delivered a game-winning single against the Yankees earlier this week and also homered in that series. Oddly, he has just four hits on the year and three of them are homers.
