Game #26: A's Lose 9-1 in 2017 Home Run Derby

When you don't score runs and your pitching staff throws batting practice, you're gonna have a bad time.

Sonny Gray's outing by no means indicated that he is back in peak 2015 form, but it wasn't awful. Indeed, he gave up three homers (one of them astonishingly deep), but I'd give him a couple starts to settle back in. He missed most of Spring Training, so it's unsurprising that he made a few mistakes; hitters are essentially a month ahead. His fastball was hitting 92-94 with a 95 somewhere in there. He ended up going 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on five hits (3 HRs) and 2 walks.

Eh, 2015 Sonny may still grace us with his presence (even Nico thinks so).

Here's Miguel Sano's deep home run, because impressive hits are just that:

Miguel Sano continues to crush with a MONSTER BLAST to center #Twins

pic.twitter.com/qV3Ml8n780

— Around The Bases POD (@AroundBasesPOD) May 3, 2017

This one hurts a little extra because instead of re-signing our very own hit-machine Trevor Plouffe, the Twins got that.

More importantly, Cesar Valdez should probably not be on the roster. He relieved Sonny in the 7th, and gave up 3 more homers. Maybe Brian Dozier was just feeling it tonight (he was responsible for 1/3 of the dinger fest), but I'd like to see Valdez's roster spot taken by, I don't know, Bruce Maxwell?!

Of course, even if Sonny had been lights-out, it wouldn't have mattered. A's hitters did manage to get five hits (4 singles, 1 solo HR), but failed to advance a runner past 2nd base on a non-homer hit. A's hitters have mustered 5 runs on 19 hits in the past 27 innings, and have dropped 7 of their last 8 games.

Yonder Alonso

Alonso didn't hit his fifth homer until Aug. 2 last year.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) May 3, 2017

This is good. Despite his teammate's struggles, Alonzo is well on his way to a career year, power-wise. He only hit 7 total last year, so we can at least get excited about this. This has been everywhere, but if you've somehow missed it, I highly suggest reading Yonder's piece for the Player's Tribune.

Ryon Healy

Although he got off to a promising start, Healy has gone 4-for-21 in his last 5 games. This includes a number of frustrating strikeouts and popouts in key situations. Granted, Dallas Keuchel and Ervin Santana (now the owner of a 0.66 ERA) started two of those games. I'd give this some time as well.

Frankie Montas

Montas' outing still wasn't totally clean, but following some truly awful outings, he might just be turning things around. He hit 101mph and with a little more practice, might reach his potential.

Things to Look Forward To:

• Kendall Graveman is taking the mound tomorrow against a pitcher who isn't having a suspiciously good unbelievable year.
• Sonny Gray is back, and that's a good thing for sun-related puns.
• Doing this all again tomorrow (but to pass the time I'd check out the Warriors, I hear they're pretty good).