The A’s left Cleveland with another loss, another rain delay and another maddening sequence that ended with Mark Kotsay getting tossed over a call that didn’t go his way. But buried inside the 1-0 defeat was something Oakland can actually build on: Jack Perkins looked like a pitcher turning a corner.
Perkins was tagged with the lone run in Sunday’s game at Progressive Field, though the play that decided it was the kind of judgment call that left Kotsay arguing in the dugout and heading for the clubhouse. The right-hander still came away with a strong outing, and over his two starts on the road trip he gave up just one earned run in 12 2/3 innings.
“It's been a real year that's tested my maturity from that mental standpoint, and I feel like I've just done a great job of continuing to learn, grow, evolve and make the adjustments that need be made,” Perkins said. “I think we're kind of seeing that these last two starts.”
The key sequence came in the fourth inning. José Ramírez doubled, moved to third on a flyout, and then Jo Adell rolled a slow bouncer toward the right side of the plate.
Perkins charged, Ramírez broke for home, and with no play at the plate, Perkins threw to first. The throw hit Adell in the back, and Ramírez scored.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Perkins, “because I felt like I made a great pitch, and it's unfortunate that the one run that scored was on a ball that went three feet in front of the plate.”
The issue for Oakland was that Adell appeared to run inside the baseline, with his left foot on the infield grass just before reaching first. Kotsay believed that should have been runner’s interference, which would have put Adell out and sent Ramírez back to third. But because it was a judgment call, it wasn’t reviewable, and Kotsay was ejected after arguing.
“Tough, tough play,” Kotsay said. “Anytime there's a judgment call, you're gonna have a disagreement, and, unfortunately, we didn't end up on the right side of that call.”
That wasn’t the end of the frustration for Oakland. In the seventh, Lawrence Butler stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but replay overturned the steal and killed the inning.
In the eighth, the A’s put runners on second and third with one out and still came up empty. Zack Gelof also had two fly balls that, with a different wind, might have changed the feel of the afternoon.
Perkins, though, gave the A’s something to take with them after a rough trip against the Rays and Guardians. Across his last two starts, he allowed one earned run, one unearned run, nine hits and one walk while striking out 12. He had entered the season’s stretch run with a 6.53 ERA in his first 34 appearances, but his recent work is making him look more and more like a real rotation option.
This time, his six-pitch mix kept a Cleveland lineup that had been swinging well off balance, especially with the changeup.
“There’s definitely a different demeanor about him,” Kotsay said. “He has the stuff, the capabilities to pitch here at the big league level and have success. I think he's opened up that mindset, the mentality now that he's gonna attack, throw strikes and his stuff's good enough.”
For Perkins, the lesson is simple: don’t let one mistake turn into three.
“Giving up a hit or a double or whatever, like, you can still manage the situation,” he said. “You can give your team a chance to win.”
The A’s didn’t do that in Cleveland, and they haven’t won much all year. They now return home for a six-game season-ending homestand that starts Tuesday against the Angels, and they need to win at least two of those games to avoid 100 losses.
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Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson are expected to hold down first base and shortstop if they stay healthy, which leaves second and third as the real open spots. Gelofs resurgence matters because it gives Oakland a player with upside back in the discussion, and it could make for an awkward decision if the As decide his best path is on the left side of the infield, especially given the limited amount of big-league experience he has there. [Read more 🡒]