One poor play costs A’s against Royals
Oakland’s offense not able to overcome a last-place opponent
OAKLAND » A game between the American League’s two worst teams turned into a pitchers duel, as Cole Irvin of the A’s and Kansas City Royals’ Brad Keller took turns mowing down hitters on a picturesque day at the Coliseum.
Irwin, though, wound up as the hard-luck loser, in part due to a questionable decision by one of his outfielders.
With one out in the seventh, Royals outfielder Michael A. Taylor lined to left field. Seth Brown broke in and dove to try and make a spectacular catch, but instead came up empty, allowing the ball to roll to the wall and Taylor to get to third base.
Ryan O’Hearn doubled to right in the ensuing atbat, scoring Taylor for the game’s winning run in what became a 2-0 A’s loss to the Royals on Saturday before an announced crowd of 10,936.
Irwin (2-4) allowed three hits and one run in 6 innings in what was arguably his strongest outing of the season but remains winless since he came off the injured list late last month.
Keller (2-8), meanwhile, faced the minimum amount of hitters through five innings and didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in
ROYALS 2, A’S 0
Royals at A’s Sunday, 1:07 p.m.
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the sixth when Jonah Bride doubled to left for what was just Oakland’s second baserunner at that point.
The A’s then loaded the bases in the sixth as both Tony Kemp and Brown walked, but Ramón Laureano flew out to right field.
The A’s have now scored two runs or less in 12 of their last 17 games, as Saturday marked the seventh time they’ve been shut out this season.
Keller, who had been winless in his last seven starts before Saturday, had six strikeouts and allowed just one hit and three walks in seven innings.
Irvin came into Saturday with an 0-2 record and a 3.72 ERA in five starts since his return from the 15-day injured list on May 22. Prior to dealing with left shoulder tendinitis, Irvin was 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in five starts.
The last time the A’s were no-hit was July 13, 1991, when they lost 2-0 to the Baltimore Orioles at the Coliseum. In that game. Bob Milacki threw six innings, followed by one inning each from Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson.
The streak of 30 years, 11 months, and five days prior to Saturday remains the longest for any MLB team of not being no-hit.
The A’s, who lost 5-1 to Kansas City on Friday, have now lost nine straight series at the Coliseum since they took three of four from the Baltimore Orioles from April 18-21. Oakland is now 7-25 at home and 22-45 overall.
The Royals, in last place in the American League Central, improved to 23-41.