Elephant Rumblings: A’s drop hard-fought series in Tampa, Atlanta

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

The A’s are back from another frustrating road trip. This most recent one, comprised of three-game series against the Rays and Braves, was certainly not as disastrous as the preceding 1-9 Road Trip From Hell in Mid-May, but frustrating nonetheless because the A’s could easily have won both series with a bit more timely hitting and consistent defense.

As Nico noted over the weekend, the A’s are hitting poorly with runners in scoring position and striking out too much, problems that were all too manifest in Tampa Bay as the A’s failed to keep up with the Rays with ghost runners in extras on two consecutive days.

On Saturday, the A’s blew a five run lead against Braves ace Chris Sale in large part due to bungling defensive miscues that dragged out the bottom of the fifth, in which the Braves scored six times. At that point I fully expected that A’s to suffer a well-deserved loss, but to their credit they fought back for the win, which wound up preventing a Braves sweep.

So there are silver linings to appreciate as usual, and Saturday’s comeback is the first that comes to mind—without it, the whole road trip looks a lot more like last month’s 1-9 misadventure. We also saw strong starts from recent callups Hogan Harris and Luis Medina, and last year’s emerging star Zack Gelof is showing some signs of life at the plate again.

The A’s have an opportunity to gain some ground in the AL West race this week, as they host the division leading Seattle Mariners at the Coliseum for a three-game series that begins tomorrow. Let’s go, Oakland!

A’s Coverage:

• A’s fall in series finale to Braves
• There Is An ‘A’ In “Almost Scoring”
• A’s Designate Aaron Brooks For Assignment
• ‘He looked comfortable’: Medina in command in strong 2024 debut
• How A’s owner John Fisher might pay for his stadium on the Las Vegas Strip ($)
• Andujar + Rooker = A lot more offense for the A’s

MLB News & Interest:

• Aaron Judge’s bashing of the Giants just continues his dominance ($)
• Mets’ Darryl Strawberry gets nostalgic at jersey retirement: ‘I wish I never left’ ($)
• Jays GM Ross Atkins: Trading Guerrero, Bichette “Doesn’t Make Any Sense For Us”
• White Sox Place Andrew Benintendi On 10-Day Injured List
• Gerrit Cole Scheduled To Begin Rehab Assignment On Tuesday
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

I remember this moment well and fondly.

That time Charlie Morton’s teammate Mark Kotsay hit for cycle.

Midland’s Winkler gets PotD honors.

Big knock for Nevin down in Triple-A.

Ballers off to a great start.