Wild night will take place at Yankee Stadium
Fiers shelled as part of bullpen game against Angels
ANAHEIM >> It was going to take a miraculous turn of events to change what was almost a given, but it’s now set in stone — the A’s road to the ALDS will have to go through New York.
The Yankees knocked off the Boston Red Sox 11-6 on Friday night, securing their position as the top American League wildcard team. The wild-card game will be played Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Before the A’s took on the Angels Friday, manager Bob Melvin said he along with pitching coach Scott Emerson and GM David Forst were still holding daily conversations in order to determine which pitcher will start the game. Now that they know the game will be played in New York, it should give the team a better indication as to who the starter will be.
“We’re not there yet,” Melvin said. “We’ll know more after these three days and I will not have anything for you until we end the season. There are a lot of different avenues we can go and that has not been decided yet.”
Lou Trivino opened against the
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani steals third as Matt Chapman takes the throw in the second inning. Angels on Friday with regular starter Mike Fiers following him in the second. It seemed like an interesting plan, but it backfired as Fiers was shelled in an 8-5 loss. For complete game details, go to mercurynews. com.
The right-hander never seemed to find his groove, getting crushed as he allowed a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot to Mike Trout, lasting just 3 1/3 innings and charged for six runs. It was Fiers’ shortest outing since arriving to the A’s via trade from the Detroit Tigers in August.
Fiers’ poorest outing as a member of the A’s could not have come at a worse time.
In what was his final outing of the regular season, Fiers may have ended his chances at starting the wild-card game. It was already an uphill battle for Fiers as he entered the night with the ninth-highest hardhit percentage in the majors. With his propensity to allow fly balls, pitching in a hitterfriendly park such as Yankee Stadium, which features a short porch out in right field, could be a disaster given the amount of power hitters in the Yankees lineup.
Was it a trial run for potentially starting next Wednesday in New York? Melvin played down the idea, saying the move to start Trivino was more about easing him back in after dealing with a neck injury the past few days.
But this could have been more of an experiment to see how the rookie could perform in the situation. Trivino handled it well, tossing a scoreless 1-2-3 first. Fiers? Not so much.
“We’re not ruling anything out,” Melvin said when asked if Fiers could follow an opener in the wild-card game. “I’m not saying that’s the route we’re going, but we want to make sure to look at every potential avenue.”
The A’s didn’t pick up their first hit of the night until the sixth inning, when Jed Lowrie led off with a single off Taylor Cole. He came on in relief of Jaime Barria, who was pulled with a no-hitter going in the sixth because of six walks.
All five A’s runs came in the eighth as they tried to chip away at an eight-run deficit.
It was a bizarre way to score five runs, with the A’s picking up just three hits in the inning and scoring one
of their runs on an error by Angels third baseman Taylor Ward that extended the inning for Marcus Semien’s two-run double.
• Cory Gearrin (triceps) was still unavailable for the A’s Friday, and Melvin was unsure if the right-hander would be able to pitch any of the final two games of the regular season.
• Melvin chose not to delve into details of where he stands as far as a new contract when asked a follow up about a report from Jon Heyman earlier in the day that said the A’s will look to give the manager a new contract before the start of the next season. Melvin is currently under contract for one more year.
“I’m not gonna comment on that. I love where I am. We got a lot more important stuff going on than my contract situation,” Melvin said. “If that comes up at the year, then it does. But we’re focusing on the wildcard game and getting ready for it.”