Davis slugs his 42nd home run in defeat
The A’s won’t be playing in the postseason come October. They haven’t even truly been in a playoff race the past two seasons, which is probably why the remarkable numbers Khris Davis has put up over that span have been kept in relative obscurity.
Davis tied his careerhigh for home runs in a season he set last year by blasting his 42nd on Tuesday. The two-run homer to right-center, where most of his mammoth shots go, came off a 1-0 pitch from James Paxton to put the A’s on top 3-2 in the sixth inning of an eventual 6-3 loss.
Davis has crushed 84 home runs over the past two seasons, tied with Giancarlo Stanton for most in that time. But while Stanton has turned into a mainstream star, Davis remains unknown to the casual baseball fan around the country, something A’s manager Bob Melvin believes the slugger probably prefers.
“I don’t think he really cares. He’s not a guy that’s starved for attention and wants the spotlight. He likes to just go about his business and he does it very well,” Melvin said. “But maybe based on the fact our record hasn’t been great the last two years, maybe if we’re in a playoff race right now there’s a little more attention on him.”
It was the 20th time Davis has hit a home run to give the A’s a lead this season, tying Jose Canseco’s 1991 mark for the club record for most go-ahead homers in a season. Davis also now has 26 home runs at home this year, just one behind Jason Giambi, who hit 27 in Oakland in 2001.
While surpassing his total from last season would be a nice accomplishment, Davis doesn’t care too much about that either. He’s more concerned with maintaining consistency at the plate and serving as a good example for the younger power hitters on the team like Matt Chapman and Ryon Healy. Davis has now hit three home runs in the past four games.
“I feel like I’m starting to be one of the older guys, so the main thing is just to have fun and play relaxed,” Davis said. “Play the game the right way. That’s what I try to focus on.”
Melvin said Davis is already one of the more popular players in the clubhouse. For a young powerhitting team, Davis could not be a more perfect example to admire.
“They really like him. Certainly his body of work is something to watch and learn from. Hitting the ball to all fields,” Melvin said. “What he’s done, another real impactful homer today. We had a chance to potentially squeak out with a win because of that homer. One of the best pure power hitters in the league to any field. A lot can be learned from how he goes about his business.”
Daniel Mengden was unable to make the lead given to him by the slugger hold up. After seeing his streak of consecutive scoreless innings snapped at 19 in the fourth, Mengden got into more trouble in the seventh.
Mengden allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base and was pulled for Ryan Dull with no outs.
Only a few pitches later, Dull surrendered a threerun homer to former A’s third baseman Danny Valencia that put the Mariners ahead for good as they ended up scoring a total of four runs in the seventh — two of those charged to Mengden.It was Mengden’s first start in which he allowed over two earned runs since June 3 and still a performance Melvin was pleased with overall.
“He threw good again. When he gave up a hit and a walk it was time to go get him but he pitched similar to the way he pitched last time out,” Melvin said. “He’s really come on strong here at the end.”
• Just before the loss to the Mariners, Melvin confirmed that Jharel Cotton, Matt Olson and Boog Powell have all played their last game of the season. There is an outside chance for the return of Chad Pinder, who is going through concussion protocol, but Melvin is not expecting to see the utilityman play again this season.
Cotton impressed in his final start Sunday with five innings of one-hit ball, but was pulled from the game after experiencing tightness in his elbow. While MRI results showed on structural damage, Melvin did not want to risk anything getting worse for the right-hander.
“He’s healthy, but we want to make sure he stays healthy. Doesn’t seem like it’s worth the risk of going out there this late in the season, throwing 100 pitches, and potentially getting a little sore again,” Melvin said.