A’s Late Comeback Not Enough in 8-6 Loss to Tigers

The Athletics took on the Detroit Tigers, looking to even the series and force a rubber game tomorrow afternoon. The A’s succumbed to their fourth straight defeat, 8-6, in another game where they had a chance to win with better pitching.

Detroit jumped in front immediately against A’s pitcher Jack Perkins. The first batter of the game, Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle, hit his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Three singles brought home the visitors’ second run of the first inning.

The A’s attempted to rally in the bottom of the first. Facing Tigers’ starter Framber Valdez, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom and third baseman Tommy White hit back-to-back two-out singles, only for Valdez to retire Lawrence Butler and complete a scoreless first inning.

A’s shortstop Alika Williams led off the bottom of the second with a single and then moved to second after Henry Bolte walked. Valdez escaped a jam for the second consecutive inning, getting a nice assist from his middle infield duo, which turned a nifty double play.

In the third, Jacob Wilson and White hit singles, giving Butler an RBI chance with two on and two out. This time, Butler came through, lining an RBI single to bring home Wilson and cut the Tigers lead in half. Valdez rebounded by striking out Williams to preserve his team’s lead and strand two runners on base.

Meanwhile, Perkins settled down, throwing three straight scoreless innings to keep his team within striking distance.

Seeking to start a game-tying rally, Bolte led off the bottom of the fourth with a ground-rule double to right. The Athletics tied the game with some hustle. First, Jonathan Ornelas beat out a bunt single, and then Wilson beat out the double-play relay throw for an RBI force out, with Bolte scoring to tie the game at two.

The next inning, the Tigers immediately retook the lead, courtesy of second baseman Gleyber Torres’ sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot to right-center against Perkins. After all the work his offense did to tie the game, it was frustrating how quickly Perkins allowed more runs, erasing his team’s momentum in the process.

The home run troubles continued for Perkins in the sixth inning. In his second MLB game, Tigers’ center fielder Max Clark hit his first-career home run, a two-run shot to put the visitors up 6-2.

The A’s starter allowed six runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings.The good of his outing (nine strikeouts) was offset by the bad (three home runs allowed). If Perkins can put it all together and limit the home runs, he can become a good starter. However, his development is clearly still a work in progress.

Valdez continued his dominance over the A’s. The left-hander allowed two runs over seven innings, most importantly throwing three scoreless innings after his team regained the lead. He struck out six and used his trademark sinker to generate ten groundouts.

Detroit scored its seventh run in the seventh inning, as first baseman Spencer Torkelson hit an RBI single against A’s reliever Scott Blewett. White should have made that play at third base to end the inning. They made it 8-2 in the eighth, scoring a second run off Blewett for their fourth consecutive inning with a run.

In the bottom of the eighth, facing Detroit reliever Kyle Finnegan, Bolte collected his third hit of the evening, a three-run home run to center field. His fourth long ball of the season cut the Tigers lead to 8-5. White also got three hits today, an encouraging sign, although the A’s would like to see his power emerge at some point.

Following that big swing, the hosts put two more runners on base, but new reliever Jacob Waguespack prevented the A’s from drawing any closer. Wilson’s aggressive approach hurt his team again, as he struck out chasing a pitch below the strike zone for the second out of that inning.

The Tigers brought in closer Kenley Jansen for the save opportunity, looking to win the game and the series. Soderstrom, who hit a leadoff double, scored the A’s sixth run on Jeff McNeil’s two-out RBI bunt single. That was as close as the A’s got.

The Green and Gold finished the game with 15 hits, yet went 5-for-19 with RISP, once again wasting countless opportunities to score runs in a hitter-friendly ballpark. Additionally, the A’s grounded into two more double plays, increasing the total to an MLB-leading 86 twin-killers this season.

The late comeback was not enough as the stretch of unanswered runs the A’s pitching staff allowed proved too much to overcome. The Athletics still have not won a series since their successful week playing at their Triple-A affiliate’s ballpark and will now try to avoid a sweep tomorrow afternoon.

The series and homestand finale’s pitching matchup will match A’s rookie left-hander Gage Jump against Tigers’ right-hander Keider Montero. Hope the A’s can avoid the sweep and at least enjoy a happier flight east, but with the way they have been playing, a Sunday victory is far from guaranteed.