Oakland comes up short in 3-2 loss to Phillies

Hogan Harris turned in another solid performance, but the Oakland Athletics came up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

For the second time in three days, Kyle Schwarber staked the Phillies to an early lead as he jumped on a 2-1 fastball from Harris and drove it out to center for a leadoff home run. Harris worked around a two-out walk to J.T. Realmuto, but got Bryson Stott to fly out to avoid anymore damage.

Oakland came into the game just 5-for-48 with runners in scoring position during their four-game losing streak. They got another opportunity in the second when Tony Kemp doubled off the glove of Josh Harrison with two outs. However, Shea Langeliers grounded out to third to leave him stranded.

Harris allowed another single to Schwarber in the third, but struck out Trea Turner and Alec Bohm to end the inning. The A’s got another runner into scoring position against Zack Wheeler in the home half of the inning as JJ Bleday singled with one out. Ramon Laureano struck out for the second out, but Bleday swiped second to move into scoring position. Wheeler then walked Kemp to put runners at first and second, but Langeliers struck out to end the threat.

Harris retired seven straight hitters before Cristian Pache doubled with two outs in the fifth. Schwarber then flipped an outside curveball down the line in right for a single. Pache scored on the play to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 2-0.

Oakland wasn’t able to score early, but there were successful at driving up Wheeler’s pitch count. Ryan Noda singled with one out in the fifth and moved to second on a two-out walk by Brent Rooker. Seth Brown put up a good fight at the plate, but went down swinging on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to strand the runners.

The Phillies sent Wheeler back out for the sixth despite begin at 99 pitches. He got Bleday to pop up on the first pitch of the inning, but Laureano followed with a single to right. However, the A’s again came away empty handed as Kemp bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Shintaro Fujinami would take over for Harris in the seventh. Harris turned in another impressive performance, but was just unable to solve Schwarber. He allowed four hits a walk and two runs over six innings. He struck out seven while throwing 96 pitches.

Fujinami struck out two in a perfect seventh and then Oakland’s offense finally struck against Phillies reliever Matt Strahm. With one out in the inning, Mark Kotsay sent Aledmys Diaz to the plate to pinch hit for Tyler Wade. Diaz rewarded him by jumping on a first pitch foul ball for a solo home run to left to make it 2-1.

The Phillies got that run back in the eighth against Fujinami. Pache began the inning with another double. Fujinami struck out Schwarber, but Turner brought Pache home with a single to left to extend the lead to 3-1. Fuji then walked Bohm and Kotsay went back to his bullpen for Lucas Erceg. Realmuto popped out in foul territory on a nice running grab by Noda. Turner tagged and moved to third on the play, but Stott flew out to Brown in left to end the inning.

The Phillies turned to lefty Jose Alvarado who struck out Rooker to start the eighth. Esteury Ruiz then pinch hit for Brown and shot a double down the line in left. Carlos Perez came on to pinch hit for Bleday and delivered a single to left that scored Ruiz to cut the deficit back to one run at 3-2.

Austin Pruitt kept the score at 3-2 with a scoreless ninth, but Yunior Marte struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.

Oakland drops its fifth straight and falls to 19-55 on the season. They will enjoy an off day Monday before heading out on a six-game road trip that will start Tuesday in Cleveland.