The A’s got exactly what they wanted from Jack Perkins on Friday night in Sacramento. They just didn’t get enough behind him.
Perkins was sharp from the jump in the series opener against the Red Sox, and Tyler Soderstrom gave Oakland an early jolt with a solo homer in the second at-bat of the game off left-hander Jake Bennett. It was Soderstrom’s 17th of the season, and it also pushed his team-leading hitting streak to 10 games. He’s now gone deep four times in his last 15 games.
That 1-0 cushion held up for most of the night because Perkins was dealing. The right-hander, making his second start of the second half, walked the first batter he faced, then settled in and rolled through the first five innings with just two walks, one hit by pitch, and a double play that erased one of the free passes. Boston didn’t record its first hit until a leadoff double in the sixth, and even then Perkins nearly escaped the inning cleanly before a walk forced the A’s to go to the bullpen.
Perkins left with the lead intact, but he was charged with two runners on base. His final line: 5 2/3 innings, one hit, two earned runs, two walks, four strikeouts, 69 pitches.
Jose Suarez couldn’t hold it. After inheriting the jam, the lefty walked another batter to load the bases, then watched Ceddanne Rafaela turn a hanging slider into a grand slam. Just like that, Boston had a 4-1 lead.
Oakland answered right away. In the bottom of the sixth, Jonah Heim launched his 10th homer of the year to trim the deficit to 4-2. But that was as close as the A’s would get.
The bats went quiet after that. Oakland was set down in order in both the seventh and eighth, then finally got the tying run aboard in the ninth against Aroldis Chapman. The rally died there, though, with rookies Henry Bolte and Alika Williams striking out to end it.
It was another frustrating loss for the A’s, who fell to 44-62. Perkins gave them the kind of outing they were hoping to see from a young starter, and six hits simply wasn’t enough offense to back it up. Soderstrom and Heim did their part near the top of the order, but the 5-9 hitters combined to go 2-for-16 with two singles, and the lineup felt the absence of Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers.
The series continues Saturday night with another left-on-left matchup. Gage Jump will start for the A’s in his third outing of the second half.
His first was solid, but he was tagged for six runs against the Diamondbacks last time out. Boston will counter with Jake Bennett, who has been rolling with a 1.64 ERA over his last seven starts.
Runs figure to be hard to come by again.
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