Mengden has solid debut on mound, but A’s drop 7th in row
CINCINNATI — As the A’s sink slowly — make that quickly — in the West, they are reduced to looking for leadership from the youngest among them.
One such player was Daniel Mengden, called up to start Saturday against the Reds. In his first major league start, Mengden, pitching with his parents in the house, threw the game he’d been dreaming of since he was 6. The 23-year-old missed with one pitch that Jay Bruce hit for a two-run homer.
Bruce’s one swing did in the A’s as they stretched their losing streak on this trip to seven with a 2-1 loss to the Reds.
Oakland had an 0-7 trip last year but has not had a worse stretch away from home since 1994. And at 25-36, the A’s are just one game better than they were after 61 games last year en route to an American Leagueworst 94 losses.
“I thought he was great; you can’t expect any more than that,’’ A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Mengden. “When you are not scoring any runs, not getting any hits, not putting any pressure on the other side, sometimes it comes down to one pitch. And that’s what it was.
“That shouldn’t ruin your day. We just didn’t do enough offensively.’’
It’s not a new tune. The A’s are four runs shy of having the worst run production in the A.L., 233 runs in 61 games, or 3.8 per game. On this trip, that average is down to 2.14 runs per game.
None of which seemed to bother Mengden. The righthander with a faux Rollie Fingers mustache and a herky-jerky delivery that is a throwback to Oakland native Dontrelle Willis seemed completely unbothered.
“You try to stay as calm as possible,’’ Mengden said. “I’ve been preparing for this since I was 6. After the first inning, I slowly settled in, inning after inning.’’
The Bruce homer came with one out in the third and carried halfway to Kentucky, sitting on the far bank of the Ohio River. No runner after that got past second base.
“I was very impressed. He’s got four-pitch makeup,’’ catcher Stephen Vogt said of Mengden’s ability to throw fastballs, cutters, change-ups and sliders on demand. “I saw a lot of really, really good things. That windup is his own style, and he’s got some deception with it. He showed a lot of good things today. We’re excited to have him.’’
Almost as excited as Mengden was to get the call and get the chance to start with his parents, Joe and Beth, in the stands.
“It was a lot of fun, you know,’’ Mengden said. “For a major league debut, it was pretty good. It sucks that we lost. But we fought well. In the last inning we got two guys on. It was an overall good day besides that one pitch.’’
Given the success he’s had — two runs in 5.2 innings Saturday — and the 5-1 record and 1.19 ERA he had combined between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Nashville that earned Mengden the promotion, the A’s liked what they saw, even if they couldn’t quite understand it. Mengden reaches for the sky with both hands, sometimes pumps once, sometimes twice, before he lets fly. It’s funky.
“Coaches have been trying to change that for years,’’ he said, “almost every one of them.’’
The A’s may not try that. If Mengden can make it work for him, his motion might just be all right as the outlier in the starting rotation.
“This is where I want to be,’’ he said.
Mengden said he modeled n his delivery after Willis, the Encinal High product who was the 2003 National League Rookie of the Year with the Marlins.
The A’s scored first on n an RBI single by Danny Valencia. After that, the club was unable to break through again against former A’s starter Dan Straily (2012-14).
Khris Davis was back n on the bench Saturday with elbow pain, one day after returning to the lineup. Davis was hit by a pitch last Sunday on his left elbow.
Josh Reddick, who n fractured his left thumb in a slide May 19, is getting closer to returning to the lineup. Melvin said Reddick could begin light baseball work in the next few days, a little ahead of schedule,
The A’s aren’t ready n to announce their Tuesday starter against the Rangers at the Coliseum. Oakland could be ready for another big league debut in lefty Dillon Overton (6-4, with a 3.63 ERA and 1.38 WHIP with Triple-A Nashville). The only trouble is that he would be pitching on just three days rest after pitching Friday.