A’s drop series opener to Mariners

While the Oakland Athletics were facing off against the Seattle Mariners at the Coliseum in front of 5,624 fans, many of which showed up for the road team, the Oakland Ballers were 15 minutes up the freeway playing their first ever home game. The B’s nearly outdrew the A’s, selling out 4,200 seats at the freshly renovated Raimondi Park to a new legion of fans who’re hoping to establish a more permanent legacy for the city’s baseball loyalists.

Unfortunately, both teams fell just short of a win with the B’s losing 2-3 to the Yolo High Wheelers and the A’s similarly falling 3-4 to the first-place Mariners.

The A’s let Seattle take control of the game in a three-run 3rd inning that included a whopping 4 doubles off of Rule 5 draftee Mitch Spence in his fourth major league start. The next inning, some baserunning pressure led to a Max Schuemann errant throw that cost Oakland another run. Credit to Spence, however, for buckling down and getting through 6 complete innings with 99 pitches as he continues to set new benchmarks for himself. And for a pitching staff that’s been tested the past few weeks by injuries and over-usage, the length he provided tonight was much more valuable than his final line suggests.

On the offensive end, the A’s were able to work the Mariners’ pitching staff for a healthy dose of baserunners, drawing 6 walks and securing 8 hits. They also scored 3 runs, not terrible for a typically dormant offense, but that obscures the fact that they didn’t do a great job of knocking runs in. The times they did score were on an Abraham Toro bloop single, a Shea Langeliers groundout, and a 9th inning wild pitch. Hey, a run’s a run, but with 14 baserunners in a 9-inning game, you have to control your own destiny and put some good hits down in those scoring situations.

The two-out wild pitch that got Schuemann home injected some much-needed excitement into the game, but it made things look closer than they were. We didn’t hear much from Miguel Andujar tonight, who had just one hit, and that’s probably a problem when you’re relying on someone who hasn’t played a full major league season since 2018 to give your offense energy. Those 6-9 spots in the lineup are especially brutal right now with Schuemann and the occasional Kyle McCann or Daz Cameron cameo looking like passable major league batters.

Hopefully, the A’s — and the B’s! — can reverse their fortunes tomorrow, take the second games of their respective homestands, and bring life back to Oakland baseball. Let’s go Oakland!