Wild pitch puts end to late-game hopes
SEATTLE — The A’s absorbed one gut-punch Wednesday when they scored eight times in the fourth but went on to lose via a bullpen meltdown in Anaheim.
Saturday was the latest iteration. Oakland led much of the way at Safeco Field, but the Mariners chipped away until they tied it in the eighth, going on to win 7-6 in the ninth on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Blake Treinen. The A’s have lost five games in a row and to fall a season-high 19 games below .500 at 58-77.
“I just didn’t get my glove down in time. That was it,” catcher Bruce Maxwell said. “(Treinen) executed. … I missed the ball. We lost the game. That’s how it works sometimes.”
Two errors by rookie first baseman Matt Olson, who is generally a strong fielder, helped Seattle’s cause, leading to two unearned runs. In the ninth, Olson couldn’t handle a grounder by leadoff man Jean Segura, and ex-A’s first baseman Yonder Alonso moved Segura to third with a single. After intentionally walking Robinson Cano, Treinen struck out Nelson Cruz and then got Kyle Seager to pop up to shallow left. But Treinen’s second pitch to Mitch Haniger was
in the dirt and Maxwell didn’t block it. He couldn’t find it initially, and by the time he did, it was too late.
“It’s a tough way to lose a game. We tried every trick in the book we had,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s one of those tweeners. He wasn’t sure to drop the glove or whether it’s going to be in the dirt or if it’s going to travel a little further and just mishandled it.”
Oakland lost despite hitting three homers. The Mariners hit four, including back-to-back shots by Segura and Alonso in the fifth.
In the eighth, Seattle catcher Mike Zunino hit a game-tying solo shot off reliever Chris Hatcher, who had allowed Cliff Pennington’s grand slam at Anaheim on Wednesday. Zunino has homered in consecutive games against Oakland.
Maxwell went deep with two outs in the second, Khris Davis thumped his league-leading 37th homer in the third, and in the fourth, Matt Joyce hit a three-run shot to center, his career-high 21st.
The only Oakland run that didn’t come via a homer was courtesy of a Ryon Healy sacrifice fly in the fourth. The A’s didn’t score again.
“The bullpen really did a good job. We used a lot of guys to get through that game,” Melvin said. “But it would behoove us to add on another run or two as well. You can’t say, ‘Here you go, bullpen. Shut them down.’ ”
With 27 games to play, the A’s 190 homers this season are ninth most in franchise history.
A’s starter Jharel Cotton, facing a club that gave him major trouble last month, was faring relatively well through four innings, allowing only a twoout, two-run homer by Cano in the third, but he exited after the consecutive homers in the fifth and a bloop by Cano. In 12 career at-bats against Cotton, Cano has seven hits, including three homers. His blast in the third came after a two-out walk to Alonso.
Cotton had worked at least six innings in each of his previous four starts, and he was on a bit of an upswing, giving up just three earned runs over his previous two outings. It was the third time this season Cotton had allowed three homers in a game, and he’s given up a team-high 24 in all.
“I wasn’t down enough today. I kept missing up, to Segura and Yonder. I didn’t command well today. They took advantage of that,” Cotton said. “You want to go out and throw zeroes for your team and give them a chance to win. I didn’t do that, and caused the bullpen to come in early and get me out of a jam.”
The Mariners were handed a run in the third when, with Zunino at first and no threat to run — he has zero steals — Simon Castro threw over and Olson missed the throw. The error on Olson put Zunino at second, and he scored on Segura’s two-out double to left, an unearned run.
Oakland’s major-league leading error total climbed to 106 and the team’s unearnedruns total to 78.