Fulmer shuts down Oakland’s offense
Yoenis Céspedes came back to haunt the A’s on Friday night, in a manner of speaking.
Céspedes himself remains on the disabled list for the Mets, trying to recover from a strained hamstring. But pitcher Michael Fulmer, the prized prospect the Tigers acquired for Céspedes not quite two years ago, barged into the Coliseum and stymied the A’s.
Fulmer struck out nine batters in eight innings as Detroit coasted to a 7-2 victory. The A’s, seeking a fresh start upon returning home after a 2-7 trip, instead offered an all-too-familiar blend of sloppy defense and meek offense.
Oakland has dropped nine of its past 11 games to fall to 12-17.
“It’s definitely a tough stretch,” said first baseman Yonder Alonso, who had both RBIs for the A’s on Friday. “But we have a bunch of guys who believe, a bunch of veterans. We have to grind it out and play better.”
Fulmer earned American League Rookie of the Year honors last season. He’s only 24, with a sturdy frame (6foot-3, 210 pounds), lively right arm (95 mph fastball) and nice mix of pitches (including an effective changeup).
His emergence counts as no surprise: The Mets selected Fulmer in the first round of the 2011 draft, as a high school pitcher from Edmond, Okla. He was the bait New York dangled to obtain Céspedes at the trade deadline in July 2015.
Fulmer showed why Friday night, especially in the sixth inning. That’s when the A’s trimmed their deficit to 5-1 and had runners at first and second with no outs.
Then, in order, Fulmer struck out Stephen Vogt (97 mph fastball), retired Trevor Plouffe on a pop up and struck out Bruce Maxwell (96 mph fastball). Pure, howling heat — and so much for any A’s comeback.
“He threw everything for strikes,” Alonso said. “It felt like we were grinding through at-bats the whole night.”
Fulmer matched up against Andrew Triggs, a full-fledged revelation this season for the A’s. Triggs, a 28-year-old with one career win before 2017, entered the game with a 4-1 record and 1.84 ERA.
He was, improbably, Oakland’s best starting pitcher in April. But now it’s May.
Triggs found himself in trouble in the third, when shortstop Adam Rosales booted Jose Iglesias’ routine, leadoff grounder. It was another example of the A’s defensive shortcomings; they have nine errors in their past nine games, after Plouffe committed one later Friday night.
The Tigers had runners at second and third with two outs when Triggs induced another routine grounder, this time from Victor Martinez. One problem: The A’s employed a shift against Martinez, expecting him to pull the ball to the right side.
His sharp grounder skipped through the vacant spot at shortstop, and Detroit moved ahead 2-0.
Manager Bob Melvin praised Rosales’ defense and work ethic, while acknowledging the error on Iglesias’ grounder proved damaging.
“This year, we’ve had quite a few errors that have cost us,” Melvin said.
The Tigers padded their lead in the sixth, when Jim Adduci lined a bases-loaded triple down the right-field line. That pushed Detroit ahead 5-0 and ended Triggs’ night.
Fulmer, meantime, impressively navigated his way through the A’s lineup. He evaded trouble in the third, when the A’s loaded the bases with one out; Fulmer then struck out Matt Joyce and retired Jed Lowrie on a groundout.
In the fifth, after Oakland put two runners on base, Fulmer again whiffed Joyce, who went 0-for-5 and struck out three times Friday night, dragging his batting average to .185.
The A’s signed Joyce as a free agent in November, splurging by their frugal standards on a two-year, $11 million contract. Granted, it’s early May — but this does not look like a shrewd investment at the moment.
Rajai Davis, whom the A’s signed to a one-year, $6 million contract in the offseason, collected three singles, including his 1,000th career hit.