Grand slam latest blow for Cotton
Jharel Cotton’s disappointing season became a little more disappointing Monday night.
Just when it appeared the A’s right-hander might get through six innings in pretty fair shape, he allowed a two-out grand slam on a 3-2 pitch to fellow rookie Cam Gallagher.
Kansas City rode Gallagher’s first majorleague homer, his second big-league hit, to a 6-2 victory in the opener of a three-game series at the Coliseum.
The A’s acquired Cotton a year ago in the Josh Reddick-Rich Hill trade with the Dodgers. Cotton looked to be a keeper during a September call-up in which he went 2-0 in five starts and allowed 20 hits in 291⁄3 innings.
No such success in 2017. After giving up six runs on eight hits in six innings Monday night, Cotton is 5-10 with a 5.92 ERA.
After the game, Cotton was asked if he thought a break from the rotation might do him good.
“I want to go out there every five days and pitch for my team,” Cotton said. “I’ll get out
of this funk just by pitching. That’s all I can do.”
He and the A’s were trailing 2-1 in the sixth when the Royals loaded the bases with one out. Cotton got Alex Gordon on a pop-out to second. Cotton fell behind Gallagher 3-0, threw two strikes, then watched Gallagher’s drive sail over the left-field wall.
“He got a pitch to hit and he took advantage of it,” Cotton said.
A’s manager Bob Melvin said Cotton’s struggles stem from a lack of fastball command.
“He’s got a good changeup, good curveball,” Melvin said. “All those pitches are complementary pitches if you have command of your fastball. One thing he’s struggling with at times right now is throwing his fastball where he wants to.”
Cotton walked three hitters Monday, including Gallagher in the second inning. Compounding the problem was that ball four was a wild pitch that allowed Alcides Escobar to score to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead. The Royals were ahead to stay.
Gallagher, a catcher who made his big-league debut Aug. 6, had all of seven big-league at-bats and one hit before he received that base on balls. He added a double in the ninth.
Since his most recent win, a five-inning stint in the A’s 3-0 victory over the White Sox on June 23, Cotton has gone winless in five starts and has spent time on the disabled list because of a blister on his right thumb.
Cotton said he has no blister problems now.
He allowed a run in the first, and the A’s tied it in the bottom of the inning as Marcus Semien launched a Jakob Junis pitch high off the wall in left-center for a triple with one out. Semien scored on Ryon Healy’s groundout.
Junis, a rookie right-hander who is in his seventh stint with the Royals this season, gave up two runs on four hits in six innings to improve to 5-2.
Through five innings, the only Oakland hitter to reach base was Semien, who led off the fourth with an infield single.
Lorenzo Cain gave Junis a boost in the third. Boog Powell jolted a drive to deep rightcenter. Cain raced a long way and made an excellent catch just before slamming into the part of the wall that displays an Xfinity ad.
On a chilly mid-August night, the Royals-A’s matchup apparently didn’t rate particularly high on Bay Area fans’ to-do lists. The announced crowd of 9,848 was the second smallest at the Coliseum this season. The A’s drew 9,736 for their 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay on July 17.