Close loss in final game at home all too familiar
With a loss to the Giants on Sunday, the A’s established quite a bit of not-so-hot.
At 65-91, Oakland clinched the worst record in the American League. The team finished with the secondworst home record in Oakland history. And after falling 5-4, the A’s have 33 one-run losses, setting an Oakland record.
“Same old story with the way the game ended,” right fielder Josh Reddick said. “Look at the one-run loss record — if we win half of those games, we’d be right there in contention for the division.”
The A’s, 18-33 in one-run games overall, went 34-47 at the Coliseum; the 1979 club went 31-50.
Manager Bob Melvin had particularly wanted a strong showing against the Giants in the final home series, and he called the weekend “disappointing. … Our fans tried to pick us up and carry us through. It would have been nice to win the series here, definitely, to end the season for them. Because they came out really enthusiastic for us.”
Gray done: The A’s will announce Monday that Sonny Gray won’t pitch again this year and, somewhat fittingly, the team won’t have a single member of its regular rotation healthy for the final week.
Gray left his start Friday with left hip tightness. Melvin called a final Gray start “a long shot,’ and Gray said he isn’t expecting he’ll get another start.
The A’s could go with four starters in the final five games, with Aaron Brooks starting Wednesday at Anaheim on short rest (with Barry Zito available in the bullpen), followed by Sean Nolin, Felix Doubront, Chris Bassitt and then Brooks in the season finale at Seattle.
With Gray missing his final start, four of the A’s five regular starters are ending the season injured: Gray, Kendall Graveman (oblique), Jesse Hahn (forearm) and Jesse Chavez (rib fracture) — and Bassitt has just returned after missing a month with a shoulder strain. Oakland also has starters Jarrod Parker (elbow) and A.J. Griffin (shoulder) on the disabled list. Scott Kazmir was traded in July, and Drew Pomeranz, who was in the rotation to start the season, is now in the bullpen.
A’s starters are 5-13 in September with an 8.29 ERA. Nolin allowed five runs, three earned, in 21⁄3 innings Sunday. Big day for Big Three: The A’s held a pregame ceremony for Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, and the former Oakland All-Star starters received magnums of wine and threw out first pitches.
“It was cool. It was fun,” Mulder said. “I think I threw a strike! And I think Hudson’s was a little high.” Briefly: Third baseman Danny Valencia left after the fourth inning; he was hit in the left elbow by a pitch from Chris Heston and stayed in the game to run before Max Muncy replaced him in the field. X-rays were negative and he’s considered day-today.… Double-A Midland third baseman Renato Nuñez is likely to take Class A Stockton third baseman Matt Chapman’s spot in the Arizona Fall League; Chapman is still dealing with a wrist strain that kept him out much of the second half. … It was rookie dress-up day; highlights included shaggy-bearded catcher Bryan Anderson as Jesus and ambidextrous reliever Pat Venditte in a “Reno 911”-style cop outfit complete with short-shorts. … Ryan Dull is doing just fine after two rough outings in which the rookie allowed six runs, including two homers by Giants outfielder Jarrett Parker. “That’s never a good feeling, but you have to go back out there and get back on track, keep your focus,” said Dull, who did not allow a run in his first eight appearances.