A’s Kaprielian, bullpen can’t hold lead in loss against Tigers
Three-game win streak snapped on night where Astros lose
Whatever good feelings arose from bringing back Khris Davis, the A’s had other things on their mind Wednesday night following an 8-6 road loss to the Detroit Tigers.
The A’s had a 6-3 lead after the top of the fourth inning, but starter James Kaprielian couldn’t get through the fifth and the A’s bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.
Starling Marte had a home run for the A’s, his 10th of the season, while Miguel Cabrera (15), Akil Baddoo (14) and Harold Castro (2) homered for the Tigers.
Reliever Joe Jimenez improved to 5-1 for the Tigers with the win, with A.J. Puk
(0-2) taking the loss which ended a three-game winning streak. Gregory Soto closed out the Athletics in the ninth for his 17th save.
The inability to hold the lead hurt the A’s, who fell to 73-60 and failed in an opportunity to pick up a game on the Houston Astros in the A.L. West. Houston, which lost to Seattle 1-0, keeps its five-game lead in the division. Detroit improved to 63-71 in the A.L. Central.
Davis, who was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas, did not play. Trailing by a run in the ninth, A’s manager Bob Melvin turned to Yan Gomes to pinch hit to open the inning rather than Davis against the left-handed Soto.
Detroit went ahead in the bottom of the seventh after the A’s turned to left-handers Puk and Jake Diekman. The Tigers got three straight baserunners against Puk, with Derek Hill getting an infield single, Baddoo drawing a walk and Jonathan Schoop hitting a runscoring single. Diekman was next, and after Robbie Grossman advanced Baddoo to third base on fly to right, Cabrera’s RBI single put the Tigers up 7-6. They added another run in the eighth on Baddoo’s run-scoring single against Daulton Jefferies.
With a three-run lead going into the bottom of the fifth, James Kaprielian became the second pitcher in two nights to fail to get through the fifth with a lead in order to qualify for a win. When Akil Baddo hit a line shot homer to left to open the inning, the A’s went to Petit. Petit retried the side on nine pitches and the A’s led 6-4. On Tuesday night, Cole Irvin was lifted after 4 2/3 innings with a lead.
Castro closed the gap to 6-5 in the sixth with a solo home run with two outs against Petit.
Jose Urena took over for starter Wily Peralta in the fourth and gave up five hits and three runs, with the big blows a two-run double by Olson and a run-scoring double from Jed Lowrie.
Josh Phillips opened the inning with his second single, with Marte hitting another single for his second hit of the game. Olson was next, and his double to center brought home both runners. Olson advanced to third on Matt Chapman’s fly to center, with Lowrie hitting yet another double to center to put the Athletics up 6-3.
Kapriielian took a two-run lead into the fourth inning but it evaporated quickly, as he walked leadoff batter Grossman and then gave up a no-doubt home run to Cabrera, No. 502 of his career. By the time the inning was over — it included another walk and an error — Kaprielian had thrown 34 pitches and 75 overall.
After scoring an unearned run in the first with the help of Peralta’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt, the Athletics added two runs in the fourth for a 3-1 lead. Marte led off with a home run to center field against Peralta, and after Olson walked, Lowrie lofted an apparent pop foul out toward third baseman Jeimer Candelario.
Candelario, however, lost the ball in the lights and it dropped to the ground, giving Lowrie another swing. Lowrie responded by driving a double to center field that brought home Olson.
Olson was credited for an RBI in the first when his liner to left went for a sacrifice fly. It brought home Josh Harrison, who singled to open the game and went all the way to third on Peralta’s errant pickoff attempt.
Castro’s first-inning RBI single drove in the first run off Kaprielian. It brought home Candelario, who opened the inning with a double.
MESA COMPLEX CLOSED >> The A’s announced they were closing their Mesa, Arizona, training complex through Sunday after a number of positive COVID-19 tests in the organization. “We are following Major League Baseball’s recommendations for testing and protocols to ensure the health and safety of our players and staff,” the club said in a statement.