The Oakland A’s losing streak is up to seven games.
They made it close on Friday! But they lost again, by a 2-1 margin to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, with the tying run thrown out at the plate in the 9th inning.
*** Click here to revisit tonight’s Game Thread! ***
The A’s pitching staff did a good job keeping the Twins off the board. They got into trouble several times but worked their way out on each occasion, holding Minnesota to an 0-for-10 mark with runners in scoring position. Both runs they allowed were on solo homers.
Rookie Zach Logue made his first career MLB start, completing five innings and keeping his team in the game. He escaped rallies in each of the first three frames and then settled down, retiring eight of his final nine batters.
- Logue: 5 ip, 2 runs, 5 Ks, 2 BB, 2 HR, 5 hits, 90 pitches
The lefty cited some nerves in the first couple innings, and said that he is focused on attacking the strike zone and getting ahead of hitters. Manager Mark Kotsay was impressed by the “grit” Logue showed by getting out of jams.
The bullpen kept things in check for another three innings, with A.J. Puk, Domingo Acevedo, Kirby Snead, and Lou Trivino combining for scoreless work.
The defense chipped in too, as center fielder Cristian Pache helped Logue with an incredible running catch. He traveled 101 feet to get to this ball.
OMG PACHE DID IT AGAIN pic.twitter.com/U3MABgui2F
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 7, 2022
Unfortunately, the pair of Twins runs were enough, as Oakland’s lineup remained quiet and managed just one tally of their own, on four hits. Tonight was the eighth time in their past 15 games that they’ve been limited to one run or fewer, and the 11th time they’ve been held to two or fewer.
The A’s almost scored in the 2nd inning, but Stephen Piscotty was thrown out at the plate, and he then exited the game with calf tightness. They finally pushed across an unearned run in the 6th inning on a sac fly by Jed Lowrie, with some help from Minnesota’s defense to set up the opportunity. Otherwise they went down in order in each frame through the 8th.
On the board #DrumTogether pic.twitter.com/bcnVzNFPRz
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 7, 2022
Oakland put together one more rally in the 9th. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out, and Seth Brown made contact, but the Twins fielded his grounder and threw home to force out the runner at the plate. The next batter struck out to end it. Missed it by that much.
The A’s are going through quite a slump right now, especially the offense. They’re losing games, and the last week hasn’t been particularly fun to watch. On the bright side, help is on the way soon, both from the Suspended List and hopefully the farm system, and in the meantime the pitching has shown some encouraging signs.
A solid first start by Logue, some zeroes from the bullpen, an amazing highlight catch by Pache, and a battle down to the final out of the game. Those are some positive takeaways for tonight. The downside is that Oakland hasn’t won since last month.
Piscotty left the game after being thrown out at the plate to end the top of the second pic.twitter.com/8Fj986XUUU
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 7, 2022
Loading comments...