Winless Oakland A’s off to their worst start in 25 seasons
The Oakland A’s are still searching for their first win of the 2021 season. They didn’t come much closer to one in Saturday’s 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday. They’re now 0-3 to start a season for the first time since the 1996 season and have scored a total of seven runs through the first three games and allowed 26.
The trouble stems primarily from a stale offense. Despite a small surge on Friday that produced five runs on the back of some manufactured runs and a Chad Pinder home run, the A’s took a step back at the plate against Lance McCullers Jr. and an already thin Astros bullpen.
The A’s finished the game with 11 strikeouts and just three hits. Matt Olson had two of those hits. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The Astros, who used most of their bullpen in the first two games, rode reliever Ryne Stanek through two no-hit innings; he struck out the side in the sixth and tossed a threepitch seventh inning that included hitting Stephen Piscotty on the elbow.
That’s not the offensive production this A’s team is capable of, but indicative of the slow starts they’ve made a habit of
over their last four seasons now. This may be the A’s first 0-3 start in 25 years, but they’ve gone 1-2 in eight of their last 10 seasons
They scored one run on Mitch Moreland’s RBI single in the first inning, scoring Mark Canha from second base. It was all the A’s
could do to capitalize on McCullers’ shaky start in which the off-speed specialist threw primarily fastballs that couldn’t find the strike zone. McCullers went up 3-0 to the first four hitters, allowing two walks to start the game to Canha and Olson.
Once McCullers found his slider and changeup, the A’s could only run up his pitch count with little to show for the effort other than a fifth
inning departure.
They came close to a rally in the eighth inning with Canha drawing a walk, Olson singling and Matt Chapman drawing a walk, too. But pinch hitter Jed Lowrie against left-hander Brooks Raley struck out on a foul tip and Pinder hit a long fly out to the warning track.
Granted, the A’s were without some key bats. Ramón Laureano — who is 3-for-7 with a triple in two games — sat out Saturday with a jammed wrist hurt sliding head first into first base on Friday night. They were also without catcher Sean Murphy for a second straight game after he suffered a right wrist contusion after getting hit by a pitch in the season opener.
Cole Irvin, 27, tossed 4 1/3 innings with all five runs earned, striking out two with a walk.