A’s winning streak comes to an end with loss to Orioles.
The longest streak in the majors since 2017 is over but the next one can begin
The A’s saw their 13-game winning streak end Sunday, but they don’t plan to waste any time starting another one.
“We’ve been greedy here recently. It’s about winning every game that you go out there and play,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said Sunday after the A’s lost 8-1 to the Baltimore Orioles. “At the end of the day, if you leave and you win a series, it’s a good thing. But we wanted to win bad today.”
Oakland’s winning streak was the longest in the majors since the Cleveland Indians set the AL record with 22 in a row in 2017, and came on the heels of six straight losses to start the season — the franchise’s worst opening to a season in more than 100 years. So yeah, the A’s understand that things can turn around pretty quick.
“I’ve been trying to explain this for a while now,” Melvin said, “We got off to a tough start. It was ugly for six or seven games, and went just the opposite after that.
“When you have a veteran group, they don’t get too down. They got more upset than anything else, and then went on a nice run. So (we’ll) try to start one again tomorrow.”
The A’s will look to get back to their winning ways at Tampa Bay in a fourgame series that, even for late April, could be a potential playoff preview. Both franchises have an impressive
track record of making the most out of their modest payrolls, and entered the season projected as playoff contender.
They didn’t look the part early on, but now nearly a month in, both have recovered from early stumbles and are among the hottest teams around. The Rays have won six of their past nine to move into second place in the AL East; the A’s rode their winning streak into first place in the AL West and have the second-best record in the league.
“We’re definitely a confident group and knew that if we kept playing our game and kept working to get better, things we’re going to turn around,” A’s third baseman Matt Chapman said. “We started putting together good at-bats. Once we get hot, we get rolling,
“I don’t know if we could have predicted we were going to win 13 in a row like that, but who would have thought we would have lost six in a row to start the season, It all evened itself out and we’re right where we need to be to make a run at this thing.”
Here’s a look at the team entering the series, a rematch of the 2019 AL Wild-Card game.
A’s hitters are hot, the Rays are not
The A’s did a lot of damage at the plate during their winning streak, the franchise’s longest since it won 14 in a row in 1988. Sunday’s loss saw them manage just three hits against Orioles starter John Means and three relievers. The only big blow was Ramon Laureano’s third homer of the season.
There’s no reason to think the A’s offense didn’t just have an off day in Baltimore. However, Melvin told reporters on Sunday that he will give several players a break during the series against the Rays because of the potential impact of playing on the turf at Tropicana Field, so the lineups figure to have a slightly different look this week.
Jed Lowrie has hit safely in 10 of his past 12 games to raise his batting average to .293 with a .376 weighted on base percentage. Mark Canha is getting production out of the leadoff spot, putting together a .406 OBP, .260 average and .848 OPS. His 23 runs scored leads the majors.
First baseman Matt Olson has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors and was on fire during the streak, producing a ninegame hitting streak to go along with his prodigious power. Olson hit six homers with 16 RBIs during the winning streak with just three strikeouts.
Olson said recently that he made mechanical adjustments to his swing this spring that allowed him to have a more patient approach at the plate. As a result, his swing-and-miss rate has plummeted and he’s starting hit against the heavy shifts he sees on the regular. Lowrie has been a major influence, he said.
“Right now I feel like I’m reading pitches well and able to see those outside pitches and not try to do too much with them and go the other way,” Olson said. “Part of that has been watching Jed throughout spring and during the year. His incredible ability to hit the ball where it’s pitched. Not change his swing up at all based off location. He knows what to do with each pitch and each location and he doesn’t try to do too much with whatever the pitch is. Part of that has been watching him and picking up the way he goes about it and trying to work that in my game.”
The Rays like to go match-up heavy against right- and left-handed starters. Their roster’s splits show no noteworthy numbers, though their right-handed hitters’ .268 average and .819 OPS against lefthanded pitchers is the best split.
Former Athletic Joey Wendle has been the Rays’ most consistent hitter, batting .324, while catcher and former top Padres prospect Francisco Mejia is batting .282.
This will be the first time the A’s get a firsthand look at Randy Arozarena, the breakout star of last year’s playoffs. Arozarena is batting .278 with three home runs, but has hit safely in five of the past six games and proved last fall how quickly he can turn a game or series around. Austin Meadows remains a threat at the plate, too. He has 14 walks and a .384 OBP to go with a team-leading four home runs.
Other than that, the Rays are struggling to get on base. Catcher Mike Zunino has been making the best contact (20.5% barrel rate ranks in the top three percent), but only a .184 average to show for it.
A rebuilt Rays rotation meets A’s surging starters
The Rays traded ace Blake Snell to the San Diego Padres in the offseason, leaving Tampa Bay again to get creative with its rotation. Rich Hill, Michael Wacha and Tyler Glasnow are scheduled to start against the A’s. The Rays haven’t announced who will start the series finale, but left-handeders Ryan Yarbrough and Josh Fleming could get the call. The A’s probably won’t face top prospect Luis Patino, who pitched 2 2/3 innings of no-hit ball (strikeout out three with one walk) in his season debut on Sunday against the Blue Jays.
Hill, at age 41, is not having a strong start to the season. The former Athletic has a 8.82 ERA, allowing four runs in each of his four starts. Wacha holds a 4.35 ERA, but his 95mph exit velocity against is among the worst in baseball -- meaning hitters are making hard contact off of him.
Glasnow could be the A’s toughest challenge. His 2.05 ERA over five starts is among baseball’s top 20 best ERAs, and his 46 strikeouts ranks third-most behind the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (50) and Cleveland’s Shane Bieber (47). Honeywell is a rookie who made his first big league start against Yankees and pitched in relief against the Kansas City Royals.
Other than Glasnow, the star of the Rays pitching staff is its bullpen. Diego Castillo, Andrew Kittredge and Trevor Richards are among the bullpen pillars. It might bode well for the A’s, then, that the Rays bullpen has struggled into a 5.21 ERA, the fifth-worst in MLB.
After a rough go of it during the team’s 0-6 start to the season, the A’s bullpen has chiseled its ERA down to 4.32. The staff is trending upward, but no pitcher in the American League has more games pitched than J.B Wendelken, who’s made 13 appearances, and Lou Trivino and Yusmeiro Petit, who have both made 11 appearances.
In fact, the entire A’s pitching staff is rounding into shape.
Sean Manaea, scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener, has been in a zone, putting together a 1.42 ERA over his last three starts after a five-run drubbing against the Astros in his first. Montas’ sinker, splitter and slider have looked above average, but he’s had two starts allowing one or no runs bookended by six-run and seven-run outings. He’s throwing what he wants, but he’s not always fooling hitters. Irvin hasn’t had a bad start, really, and Bassitt has been gutting through good outings while struggling with his mechanics all year.
How does Mike Fiers fit in? He could be potentially returning to the rotation this series after missing all of spring and this entire year with a back injury. Irvin was pegged as Fiers’ seat warmer in the rotation, but he’s been pitching too well to simply replace. Especially amid a win streak.