Mariners 11, A’s 1: Andrew Triggs, A’s see streaks come to end in homestand finale.
They’re not who the baseball world thought they were. At least through three weeks. It’s a long road to Game 162 — 88 percent of the schedule remains — but the vibe is good on an A’s team that was projected to finish last and still owns a winning record.
Sunday’s 11-1 pounding by the Seattle Mariners, which halted the A’s win streak at five and wiped out Andrew Triggs’ ERA of 0.00, didn’t ruin the sense of accomplishment to date and the positive outlook going forward.
The second-place A’s are 10-9 and two games out of first place. Not that it matters in April, but it beats most of the alternatives.
“I think we have a chance to do something very special this year. The group in here believes that,” catcher Stephen Vogt said. “Whether everybody was talking or writing about us being in fourth or fifth place, we want to prove everybody wrong.”
The A’s finished a 5-4 homestand that began with three losses, featured a five-game win streak and ended with a stinker. Next they hit the road against the Angels, Astros and Twins, starting Tuesday in Anaheim.
Making matters promising, the pitchers projected to be 1 and 2 in the rotation are close to returning from the disabled list, Kendall Graveman during the Angels series and Sonny Gray during the Twins series.
“A lot to be happy about,” Vogt said. “We’re playing good baseball right now. Today’s not going to get us down. This is one game. We’re happy with where we are going into the road trip. You’re above .500 and you had a great homestand and you’re missing those two pitchers. I think that’s something to be pleased about.”
Great homestand? For a team that finished in the cellar the past two seasons, perhaps any winning homestand could be classified as such. The five straight wins seemed great, but any hope for a sixth was dashed by two mighty swings.
Taylor Motter hit a grand slam off Triggs in the third inning, and Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer off Raul Alcantara in the seventh.
Triggs entered 3-0 without yielding an earned run in 172⁄3 innings, the longest such run by an Oakland starter to open a season. The streak ended in the first inning when Robinson Cano hit a grounder through a drawn-in infield to score Jarrod Dyson.
Triggs plunked Dyson to open the game, the first sign his command wasn’t what it was his first three starts. His cutter wasn’t nearly as effective, either.
Two innings later Triggs gave up two hits and issued consecutive walks to force home a run, and Motter followed with his grand slam.
“It was great we took the series,” said Triggs, referring to the A’s winning three of four from Seattle. “I wish I could’ve given a better effort today.”
The A’s played without cleanup hitter Khris Davis, who got his first rest of the season, and leadoff hitter Rajai Davis, who missed his third straight game with a hamstring issue. Their only run came on Matt Joyce’s sacrifice fly that scored Ryon Healy, who had two of Oakland’s five hits.
“I’m OK with where we are right now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re playing better than early on. It’s a little early to assess who you are, but the guys are grinding every day. I think you need a little bit more to figure out overall who you are as a team, but we’ve been good recently. The new guys are bonding together. It’s a good feel.”