Cubs topple A’s; trainer admits spying on Oakland players
Cubs lefty mows down A’s in his first game in Oakland since 2014
OAKLAND — Like a ghost from the A’s recent glorious past, Jon Lester came back to haunt the team Friday night in its 7-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs at the Coliseum.
After being greeted mostly warmly by the overwhelmingly blue-clad crowd of 25,182, Lester — making his first appearance at the Coliseum since 2014, when he arrived in Oakland via a trade that sent popular slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox — proceeded to mow down the A’s batters with ruthless efficiency for the next five innings. The left-hander yielded only an infield single to Khris Davis before the A’s, trailing 7-0, finally broke through in the sixth.
“Cutters in, fastballs in, (pitches) down and in,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said when asked what Lester did so effectively. “He paints — always on the corners.”
Right fielder Brett Eibner, making his first appearance for the A’s after being acquired from Kansas City for Billy Burns last week, led off the sixth with a home run to left. Shortstop Marcus Semien added an RBI single before the inning was over, cutting Chicago’s lead to 7-2.
That was all the A’s could muster, though, as they lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Lester (12-4) finished with eight strikeouts, no walks and six hits allowed in seven innings.
Dillon Overton (1-3) took the loss for Oakland. The left-hander surrendered seven runs and nine hits in just three innings, yielding first-inning home runs to Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler. “For a rookie, I might have given up the most homers in my first four or five starts,” said a somber Overton, who has allowed nine home runs in five starts for the A’s this season. “I’m still adjusting to this league — there’s still a learning curve. I just have to take (my lumps) and go from there.”
After Overton was pulled following the third inning, A’s relievers Andrew Triggs, Daniel Coulombe and Marc Rzepczynski combined to allow just three Cubs baserunners from the fourth inning on, but by then, the damage had already been done.
“Our bullpen did an amazing job,” Overton said. “They kept us in the game.”
The A’s acquired Lester in the heat of the 2014 pennant race, hoping a rotation featuring him, Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, and Jeff Samardzija would finally put Oakland back in the World Series for the first time since 1990.
Oakland’s season went south after that trade, however, and many fans point to the Lester deal as the start of the A’s woes. Fans also remember that he and the bullpen couldn’t hold a fourrun lead in the season-ending wild-card loss at Kansas City.
Lester, meanwhile, joined the Cubs as a free agent after that season. He was part of the Cubs’ run to the National League Championship Series last season and has returned to the form that made him a consistent winner with the Red Sox.
Called up from TripleA n Nashville to replace injured pitcher Jesse Hahn, Triggs had perhaps his best major league appearance to date. The right-hander only pitched two innings, but he breezed through the heart of the Cubs’ order in one of them, striking out Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo before getting cleanup hitter Ben Zobrist to fly out.
Infielder Jed Lowrie’s n second stint on the disabled list this season may go on a bit longer than the 15 days he’s slated for, Melvin said. Lowrie has been hampered by a sizable bunion on his left foot and is facing possible season-ending surgery.
“We’ve been taping it a variety of different ways to try and alleviate some of the discomfort, but that just hasn’t happened,” Melvin said. “He’s doing some research, getting some second opinions and looking at the potential for not having surgery, but surgery is definitely one of the options.”
Hahn, meanwhile, is n hopeful that his stay on the D.L. will be a short one. The right-hander was placed on the 15-day D.L. with shoulder fatigue.
“I don’t feel pain or anything,” Hahn said. “Hopefully when 15 days is up, I’ll come back and be fine.”
Melvin decided to take a cautious approach with Hahn after noticing a sizable drop in his velocity in his most recent start.