Homers sink A’s in 6-1 loss to the Phillies

JP Sears allowed three home runs and the Oakland Athletics’ offense sputtered in a 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum.

Things got off to a rocky start for Sears as Kyle Schwarber jumped on the first pitch of the game and drove it out to right to give the Phillies an early lead. Sears retired the next three hitters in order to end the first with no further damage. However, J.T. Realmuto stung him again with a leadoff homer to left center to start the second to extend the Phillies’ lead to 2-0.

Sears settled in from there and retired the next six hitters in a row before the A’s struck back in the third against Taijuan Walker. Aledmys Diaz and Shea Langeliers began the inning with back-to-back singles. Tony Kemp attempted a sacrifice bunt, but failed as Walker fielded and threw to third in time to get Diaz. Esteury Ruiz followed with a single to center that scored Langeliers to make it 2-1. Cristian Pache’s throw home was cut off and Kemp was thrown out trying to advance to third.

Ruiz moved into scoring position with his 34th stolen base of the season, but Ryan Noda lined out to center to end the inning.

The Phillies answered right back in the fourth against Sears who retired seven straight before Bryce Harper singled to left with one out. Sears struck out Realmuto for the second out, but Alec Bohm took him deep to left to push the lead to 4-1.

Jace Peterson led off the fifth with a double to right, but was left stranded as Diaz, Langeliers and Kemp went down in order.

Sears retired the side in order in the sixth and Oakland threatened again in the home half of the inning. Ruiz led off with a double. After a pop out by Noda, Ruiz tried to steal third and was initially called out, but the A’s challenged and the call was overturned. However, with a runner at third, Walker struck out Brent Rooker and Seth Brown to leave him stranded.

Sears retired 10 straight hitters after hitting Josh Harrison with a pitch in the fourth. His outing was a mixed bag as he tossed a career high seven innings and didn’t walk a batter. Still, three of the four hits he allowed left the ballpark, bringing his season total to 17.

Chad Smith took over in the eighth and walked Pache to begin the inning. He came back and struck out Schwarber and then got Trea Turner to line to Jonah Bride at third who then threw across the diamond in time to double off Pache.

The A’s tried to get something going against Walker in the eighth. Kemp led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a ground out by Ruiz. However, it wasn’t to be as Walker struck out Noda and Rooker looking to end the inning.

Smith returned for the ninth and quickly found himself in a bind as Castellanos and Harper hit back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners to start the inning. Smith then struck out Realmuto for the first out and got ahead of Bohm 1-2 before throwing wide of first on an errant pickoff attempt. Castellanos scored and Harper moved all the way to third on the play. Bohm extended the lead to 6-1 as he dumped a single to right that scored Harper. A wild pitch moved Bohm to second, but Ruiz robbed Josh Harrison of a hit with a diving catch in center for the second out. Smith struck out Edmundo Sosa to finally bring the inning to an end.

For the second straight game, Oakland had plenty of chances, but was unable to come up with a big hit. They finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

The A’s drop their third-straight game and fall to 19-53 on the season. The series will continue Saturday with James Kaprielian scheduled to get the start for Oakland.