The Athletics’ slide kept rolling Thursday afternoon in Detroit, where a 4-1 loss to the Tigers pushed their losing streak to six and dropped them to 41-52, the third-worst record in the American League.
Oakland tried to mix things up on the mound with an opener-bulk plan, starting left-hander Jose Suarez before turning the game over to Jack Perkins. Suarez handled the first inning cleanly, striking out the first batter he faced after a 1-2-3 frame to open the game, and he also set down the first hitter of the second.
Perkins then took over and looked steady for a while. The right-hander, who has had a rough stretch since moving from the bullpen into the rotation, worked through the early innings without allowing a hit or walk aside from one mistake that Jake Rogers turned into a solo homer. For a bit, it looked like the strategy might stabilize things.
Oakland answered in the fifth with a run built on small-ball execution against Framber Valdez, now pitching for Detroit after an offseason move. Jacob Wilson started the inning with a single, Lawrence Butler was hit by a curveball, and Colby Thomas moved Wilson to third with a productive flyout. Henry Bolte then brought Wilson home on an RBI groundout to tie the game 1-1.
That tie didn’t last. Perkins opened the next stretch with a walk, then gave up a two-run homer that put Detroit ahead 3-1. Another walk followed, and Mark Kotsay went to the bullpen after just three innings and 67 pitches.
Jack Perkins: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 67 pitches
Luis Medina came on and got through the rest of the fifth with two quick outs, then worked an uneventful sixth. The A’s offense, though, never found enough to catch up.
They had a chance in the sixth when Shea Langeliers and Jonah Heim opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but with two outs Wilson struck out, an unusual result for the contact-minded shortstop.
Oakland’s best final push came in the ninth against Kenley Jansen. Langeliers walked, Wilson singled, and the tying run came to the plate with one out. But Lawrence Butler lined out, and pinch-hitter Tyler Soderstrom lined out to the first baseman to end the threat and close out the sweep.
The A’s finished with one run on five hits and one walk, while striking out 11 times. They’ve now lost 10 of 11 and 14 of 17, a stretch that has only made a seller’s deadline feel more likely.
Oakland heads to Chicago for three games against the White Sox to close the first half. The A’s have not yet announced their starter for Friday’s opener, though Aaron Civale is currently lined up to take the ball. Chicago will go with right-hander Sean Burke, who has a 3.56 ERA in 14 starts and 18 games.
In Other News...
Shea Langeliers Just Reached Rare Air In A's History
Shea Langeliers has become one of the more important success stories to come out of the Matt Olson trade, the kind of player Oakland hoped it was getting when it brought him over from Atlanta. Since arriving, he has settled in as the Athletics starting catcher and kept taking steps forward, turning promise into production while becoming a fixture in the middle of the lineup.
Now he has added a rare place in franchise history to the rsum. Langeliers is one of only nine As players since 1968 to put together at least four straight 20-homer seasons, and he is the only one to do it as a full-time catcher. For a club that has spent years searching for stability and impact at that position, his rise gives Oakland something it has not had in a long time, even if the bigger question around the roster still hangs in the background. [Read more 🡒]
As Embarrassing White Sox Loss Put An Even Uglier Spotlight On This Slide
The Athletics trip through Chicago turned into another rough night at Rate Field, where the White Sox rolled past them and kept Oaklands recent slide in full view. The As offense never found much traction, and the game quickly took on the look of one of those losses that can linger because it offers so little to build on.
Oakland did get a solo home run from Tyler Soderstrom, but it was a small consolation in a game that only deepened the clubs frustration. The defeat pushed the Athletics losing streak to seven, and with the White Sox putting together one of their most complete showings of the season, the As were left trying to move on from a result that only sharpened the questions around where this stretch is headed. [Read more 🡒]
A's Suddenly Face A Brutal White Sox Test During This Skid
The Athletics have spent the last week trying to stop a slide that has now reached seven straight losses, and the timing has made things even uglier. Sweeps by the Marlins and Tigers already put the club on the back foot, and the White Sox have only deepened the frustration with a lopsided result in the series opener. The bigger issue has been on the mound, where the pitching staff has been forced to lean heavily on the bullpen while young ace Gage Jump and the rest of the rotation have struggled to give the team the kind of innings it needs.
That leaves the final two games of the set in a tricky spot, with limited bullpen options and a lineup that needs more help to keep pace. Oakland has been waiting for more from its offense, but the pressure has only grown with Zack Gelof on the injured list and Nick Kurtz trending toward one, which makes the margin for error even thinner. The A's still have a chance to salvage something from the series, but they will need better length from the starters and a few more timely swings to avoid letting this skid get any worse. [Read more 🡒]