Adell’s struggles continue in setback
The rookie’s error leads to two unearned runs, and he goes hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts.
OAKLAND 5, ANGELS 4 (10)
If Jo Adell needs some consolation during his rocky rookie season, he can always look at fellow Angels outfielder Mike Trout’s career as a reminder that even the consensus best player in baseball struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, when Trout hit .220 in 40 games as a 19-year-old in 2011.
Adell, the highly touted prospect who was a first-round pick in 2017, had another rough day at the office Sunday, going hitless in five at-bats with three strikeouts and committing a two-base error that led to a pair of unearned runs in a 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Adell, 21, who was called up Aug. 4 to replace struggling veteran Justin Upton, is batting .196 (10 for 51) with one double, no RBIs, 22 strikeouts and three walks in 14 games. He struck out with two on to end the fifth inning and flied out with two on to end the ninth Sunday.
Adell has looked neither comfortable nor confident in right field, where he made a rare four-base error Aug. 9 when a Nick Solak f ly ball to the warning track popped out of his glove and over the wall at Texas. Adell missed a catchable fly ball in the first inning Sunday.
“If you’re going to survive in the major leagues, you have to be able to put things like this behind you,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I think he’s a pretty tough kid, and he’ll have our support.”
Sunday’s game at Oakland Coliseum was played under what Maddon described as “hazy, yellowish, smoky” skies caused by the fires burning in Northern California, but Maddon wasn’t sure whether the conditions contributed to Adell’s miscue.
Marcus Semien led off the first with a shallow fly toward the line that Adell appeared to have a bead on. The outfielder hesitated at the last second, and the ball dropped untouched.
Angels starter Dylan Bundy retired the next two batters before Matt Chapman hit a run-scoring double and Mark Canha hit an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Bundy struck out Robbie Grossman but needed 25 pitches to complete an inning that would have required 11 pitches without the error.
“I think it kind of faded more on him than he thought because I thought he was in good shape,” Maddon said of the Adell error. “It’s kind of like, he’s settling in and then, ‘Oops,’ I got a little bit more [to go]. I haven’t spoken to him about it yet, but that’s what I thought I saw from the dugout.”
The Angels rallied when Shohei Ohtani homered in the third inning and Brian Goodwin had an RBI single in the fifth.
Oakland rallied with two out and no one on to tie the score at 4-4 in the sixth inning. Grossman doubled, Stephen Piscotty hit an RBI single and Tony Kemp reached on an infield single.
With Maddon ejected earlier in the inning for arguing a non-call on a checked swing, bench coach Mike Gallego summoned Mike Mayers to face No. 9 hitter Sean Murphy, who hit a grounder through the middle for an RBI single.
The Angels failed to advance the automatic runner from second in the 10th.
The A’s won in the bottom of the 10th when pinch-runner Franklin Barreto took third on a Chapman single and scored on Canha’s sacrifice fly to center.