A's lose, have no answer for Ohtani
When Starling Marte and Mark Canha departed in free agency and corner infielders Matt Chapman and Matt Olson were traded this spring, Oakland A's fans knew the team's offense was in trouble.
Could they have guessed it would be this bad?
An A's team that entered Sunday's series finale against the Angels batting a major league-worst .201 managed to regress as it mustered just five hits in a 4-1 loss at the Coliseum.
Oakland's (15-22) abysmal offensive capabilities were on display throughout a four-game series as three of the six runs the A's scored against the Angels came on one swing, a stunning, walk-off threerun homer from rookie Luis Barrera in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader that carried the club to its only win of the weekend.
A day after becoming the third Japanese-born player to reach 100 homers in the major leagues, Shohei Ohtani belted No. 101. His eighth homer this season was a 425-foot drive deep into the rightfield stands off a first-inning sinker from A's righthander Frankie Montas. Mike Trout, who singled ahead of Ohtani, scored.
Patrick Sandoval pitched into the sixth inning and got back on track after a pair of rocky outings to help the Angels (24-13) move 11 games above .500 for the first time since July 28, 2015.
Sandoval (2-1) allowed one run and four hits, lowering
his ERA to 1.91. The left-hander overcame a season-high four walks and pitched out of jams in the first three innings when the A's stranded four runners in scoring position.
When Ohtani was intentionally walked in the third two batters after Taylor Ward's leadoff triple, the crowd at the Coliseum — many of them wearing Ohtani jerseys and other Angels gear — booed loudly.
The A's lone run of the day came in the third inning when catcher Sean Murphy, one of four members of Sunday's starting
lineup with an average under .200, hit an RBI groundout that scored Jed Lowrie.
Montas (2-4) was sharp after the first. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts in six innings and allowed four hits and two runs but remains winless since April 18.
ROUGH DAY BEHIND THE DISH >>
Plate umpire Marty Foster left the game after getting hit in the facemask a second time. Foster was hit in the sixth inning by a foul ball from Kevin Smith and collapsed to the ground before being helped to his feet by A's assistant athletic trainer Brian Schulman.
Foster remained in the game, but in the top of the seventh Oakland reliever Zach Jackson threw a low pitch that bounced up and hit Foster again. Second base umpire Scott Barry
replaced Foster behind the plate.
NOTABLE >> The A's were credited with three sacrifice bunts, an example of first-year Oakland manager Mark Kotsay's smallball philosophy. It's the first time the A's have done that in one game since 2013.
• Second baseman Tony Kemp stayed in the game after getting hit in the ribs by a pitch from Sandoval leading off the first. … 3B Sheldon Neuse was rested for the first time this season. Neuse had started the previous 33 games.
• LHP Kyle Logue (1-1, 1.35) faces the Twins for the second time in two weeks in the opener of a three-game series Monday. Logue has allowed two earned runs in 12 innings since being recalled from the minors on May 6.