Davis’ return can’t come soon enough for A’s
OAKLAND » The A’s continued their downward spiral on offense, with rock bottom arriving Wednesday night in the form of a 6-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at the Coliseum.
Pitcher Sean Manaea continued to struggle, falling to 5-6 after giving up four runs — including a three-run home run to Rob Refsnyder — in five innings.
Truth be told, the A’s would have needed the second coming of Sandy Koufax just to remain even, as Jed Lowrie’s seventh-inning single the only thing standing between the Rays and a combined no-hitter.
Nathan Eovaldi, making his first start in 657 days after a Tommy John surgery (his second) and a second procedure to clean out his right elbow, held the A’s hitless through six innings before departing after giving up no hits, one walk and four strikes in 70 pitches.
Wilmer Font, acquired from the A’s by the Rays last Friday, served up the Lowrie single in two innings, with Vidal Nuno finishing up with a scoreless ninth.
“We’re struggling. It gets contagious and we’re going through a bad spell right now,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re never as bad as it seems when it’s your worst an you’re never at your best when things are going great. We’ve got to find a middle ground somewhere.”
The A’s are hoping that middle ground arrives in the form of designated hitter Khris Davis, who comes off the disabled list today and goes back into the lineup.
Davis strained a hamstring on May 20 against Toronto during a 9-2 win that finished off a glorious
eastern swing in which the Athletics hit 19 home runs while winning seven of 10 games against the New York Yankees, Boston and the Blue Jays.
Since Davis left the lineup, the Athletics are hitting .155 (45-for-291) during a 3-6 homestand that has seen their record fall to .500 at 28-28.
“We’ll get K.D. back tomorrow,” Melvin said. “Hopefully that’s a nice boost for us. Get a couple good games under our belt and we’ll figure this thing out.”
The A’s were without shortstop Marcus Semien, who left the team on paternity
leave as his son Joshua was born Wednesday morning. In his place was Chad Pinder, a shortstop as a minor leaguer and a utility player this season.
Pinder made two of the Athletics’ four errors — none of which led to a run — and was 0-for-2 at the plate.
“Marcus is our guy, he’s in there every night, plays nine innings every night,” Pinder said. “My job is to hold down the fort while he’s gone, and tonight I just wasn’t there . . . that’s a hundred percent on me and I’ve got to be better than that. That was terrible.”
Pinder believes Davis’ return “is going to be a huge boost for us. You see what he’s done for us over the past three years. Any time you get guy that caliber back in your lineup, it’s a sigh of relief. I know we’re all looking forward to having him back.”
Manaea was searching for answers after giving up a home run in his sixth consecutive start — this one to a hitter in Refsnyder who had all of three home runs in 390 Major League plate appearances coming in.
After going 4-1 in April including a no-hitter, Manaea is 1-4 in May with a 7.11 earned run average. Shaving his head after his last start to change his luck wasn’t the answer.
“Another bad game,” Manaea said. “Trying to figure out some things and it’s not really working right now. Just got to keep doing what I’m doing and I’ll figure something out.”
After being free and easy in April, Manaea conceded he was over-thinking things in May.
“Just thinking too much, trying to perfect every little thing on the mound,” Manaea said. “When things are going good I’m not thinking about anything. I’m just thinking a lot.”
Melvin said he’s unconcerned about Manaea’s velocity, which was down during April even during his no-hitter.
“He’s shown he can pitch with the arsenal he has at the velocity he’s throwing right now,” Melvin said.
• Third baseman Matt Chapman, who also made an error, is 3-for-33 on the homestand.