Game #54: A's Lose Historically; Allow 20 Hits and 5 Home Runs

No one really wants to relive this game, do we? Especially after the horrific loss in Cleveland yesterday morning; we were hoping for a nice return home, a place where believe it or not, the A's have played well so far this year.

Tonight may have been worse than yesterday; it certainly was no better.

Go look up the footage of Khris Davis slamming his bat down on the ground as hard as he can after an at-bat, which sums up this game perfectly; admirable because he's literally the last person in the field, the stands or at home to show any kind of passion for this god-forsaken team. Also, he was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. I hope he wasn't hurt from the blow.

*** Click here to revisit tonight's Game Thread! ***

Despite my early prediction, the A's only struck out 7 times in Strasburg's 7 innings, so there's that. They also racked up four hits against him. That's not tonight's story. Tonight's story centers around the Harper-less Nationals and their twenty hits and five home runs against Triggs, Montas and Neal.

The Nationals scored in every inning except the first, fifth and ninth, and scored four runs in two of them. The A's meanwhile, didn't bother taking advantage of early wildness by Stephen Strasburg; his first 6 pitches were balls and his 7th likely was too. But the A's swung early and often, helping the Nationals with easy double plays and quick outs.

Matt Joyce uncorked a two-run home run for the A's first hit in the third; believe it or not, tying the game, as they evened up the Nationals' early two home runs, solo shots by Michael Taylor (haha, not ours) and Daniel Murphy. That was the last time the crowd cheered until the very end of the game, where the best player on the season, Yonder Alonso, hit his15th home run, followed by singles by Healy and Vogt. And there wasn't much else to cheer about: Alonso, Vogt and Rajai Davis each had one other hit on the night, but never at the same time. Strasburg cruised through his seven and watched the support runs roll in.

Home run. Home run. Double. Single. Single. Single. Home run. Home run. Single. Home run.

Twenty hits, thirteen runs; five of them home runs, and despite the tiniest spark of offense in the ninth inning, the A's lose yet another game.

However, unlike yesterday, they didn't make a single error in the game, but I'm not sure we're praising anything tonight.

Hope everyone has a terrific summer weekend. If you feel so inclined, the A's play at 1:05 tomorrow, starting Daniel Mengden.