The Athletics had their chance on Wednesday, and they let it slip away in extra innings.
That’s the frustrating part of this one: the pitching was good enough to keep them in it, but the offense never delivered when the game tightened. The A’s now haven’t put together back-to-back wins since June 26, when they beat the Giants and Angels, and this latest loss leaves them with a chance to either salvage the series or drop it outright.
Jacob Lopez gave the club another solid outing, even if the finish wasn’t clean. Since the All-Star break, he has been one of the most reliable arms in the rotation outside of JT Ginn, and the numbers back that up.
Lopez is 1-1 with a 1.84 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in that stretch. On Wednesday, though, he went 5.1 innings and allowed seven hits and a home run, a line that hints at how much traffic he was dealing with.
With that many runners on base, the warning signs are there. If Lopez keeps navigating that kind of pressure, the A’s are in a strong spot.
If not, the margin gets thin fast.
The bigger issue was the lineup leaving too many chances on the table. Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom and Tommy White all came up empty in spots that mattered.
Wilson struck out looking in the bottom of the ninth with one out and the winning run at third. White went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and left six runners on base.
Soderstrom also went 0-for-5 and stranded four. White can be given a little more leeway because he is still so early in his career, but for Wilson and Soderstrom, those high-leverage misses stand out.
There was at least one bright spot in Lawrence Butler, who has quietly started to turn things around. His season has been dragged down by a batting average that has hovered below .200, but since the All-Star break he has hit .276 with a .906 OPS, eight hits and five RBIs. In this loss, Butler put the A’s ahead with a solo home run in the fifth, then nearly ended it in the bottom of the ninth with a double that was centimeters away from walking it off.
Butler has flashed like this before during a rough season. The difference now is that it feels like the production may be starting to stick.
In Other News...
A Familiar A's Name Is Back And Fans Will Feel It
The Athletics have added a familiar name to the organization, signing Max McGwire to a minor league contract and sending him to the Arizona Complex League Athletics. A right-handed pitcher and first baseman out of Saint Louis University, McGwire arrives with the kind of developmental profile that often draws a club in at this level, especially when there is still room to explore what he can become at the plate.
The timing gives the move a little extra weight, coming on the 29th anniversary of Mark McGwires trade from Oakland to the Cardinals. For As fans, that kind of connection is hard to miss, and it adds another layer to a signing that is about more than just filling out a roster. The organization will now see whether Max can carve out his own path while working in the same system that helped make his last name part of franchise history. [Read more 🡒]
A's Deadline Approach Just Sent A Frustrating Message To Fans
With the Athletics well out of playoff contention and sitting fourth in the AL West, the deadline conversation in Oakland has shifted from buying to what kind of selling, if any, makes sense. General manager David Forst made it clear the club is looking at the bigger picture, signaling that the front office wants to keep building around its young talent instead of treating the roster like a short-term asset dump.
That stance matters because the As have several players they view as part of the next core, and those names are exactly the sort of pieces that usually draw interest when a team is buried in the standings. For fans hoping for a more aggressive reset, the message is frustratingly familiar: the organization is talking about patience and continuity, even as the deadline offers a chance to reshape the roster in a more dramatic way. [Read more 🡒]
As Bullpen Just Got A Lefty Twist Fans Need To Watch
The Athletics added another left-handed arm to the mix this week, bringing in Connor Thomas while also clearing a spot on the 40-man roster by moving Mark Leiter Jr. to the 60-day injured list. It is the kind of late-July bullpen shuffle that can look minor on the surface but often says plenty about where a team thinks it needs help, especially with the trade deadline looming and left-handed relief still very much on the radar.
Thomas has spent most of this season in Triple-A Gwinnett, where he has turned in a solid 1.98 ERA over 27.1 innings, but his major league track record has been far less encouraging. Oakland is still sorting through its bullpen options and could have more moving parts ahead, with other left-handers potentially factoring into the deadline picture as the club tries to settle on the right mix for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]