Chapman’s bat, glove shine in loss
TORONTO — Oakland’s only standout performers Monday at Rogers Centre were a 36-year-old pitcher with negligible experience starting in the majors and a 23-year-old rookie third baseman.
Chris Smith turned in another solid outing, dodging a lot of trouble to do so, and Matt Chapman homered for the third game in a row and put on a defensive showcase. But no one else did much, and the A’s lost 4-2 to Blue Jays in a battle of last-place teams. The clubs entered Monday with identical records, 44-54, but Toronto held Oakland to two hits — none in the final four innings.
Chapman had one of them, a solo shot in the fifth off Francisco Liriano, and he said he is
becoming more comfortable after coming off the disabled list three weeks ago. “It’s good to feel like I’m in control of my at-bats,” he said.
He starred afield, too. While manning the shortstop spot on the shift, Chapman made a leaping grab of a flare to his right hit by Justin Smoak, ending the fifth inning. “It had some of that spin away, and I just kept running after it and after it, I wasn’t sure I was going to get there,” he said. “It was kind of a leap of faith on that one.”
“If my bad pitches make him look good, fine,” Smith said. “So be it . ... He’s Captain America. Well rounded. Good looking. He can do everything.”
In the eighth, Chapman dove to his left for a rocket by Troy Tulowitzki to start an inningending double play. “There aren’t many guys who can make that play in the big leagues right now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Off the bat, you’re thinking, ‘There’s a hit and two runs.’ ”
Smith, making his third big-league start while Jharel Cotton is on the DL with a blister issue, didn’t appear to be fooling many Toronto hitters early on when the top of the Blue Jays’ order kept blasting drives to left. One went out, Russell Martin’s homer that cleared Toronto’s bullpen, and two Khris Davis hauled in, the first on the warning track and the second running toward the corner.
“That’s not how you want to draw it up,” Smith said. “You talk about how, ‘Aw, I don’t care if they hit it 398 feet if it’s an out,’ but when you’re out there and they do it, you’re like, ‘Oh, God!’ I was like, ‘Holy crap, I need a mental break.’ The line itself looks good, but being out there, red lights are going off in your head . ... That team hits good pitches, hits bad pitches. They’re hitting pitches before I even throw ’em.
“The defense was incredible. KD’s playing bumper cars with the walls out there. It was nerve racking.”
In the fourth, the Blue Jays really made things difficult for Smith, loading the bases with one out. Ezequiel Carrera drove in former A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson with a base hit to center and with two outs, Ryan Goins added another soft single to center to score another run. Then Smith got Jose Bautista to hit a tapper in front of the mound. Smith bare-handed the ball and fired to first, where Yonder Alonso made a nice scoop to end the inning.
Minimal damage, considering the number of baserunners, and Smith got even fancier with his work in pressure situations in the sixth. With runners at the corners and one out, Kevin Pillar tried a safety-squeeze bunt and Smith bounced off the mound, picked up the ball and shoveled home in one motion to get Steve Pearce trying to race in from third. “He’s fundamentally sound,” Melvin said of Smith. “He’s in position after he delivers the baseball to be a fielder. He made a great play.”