MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

“THE INNING”… 
The results of the series against the New York Yankees this weekend, is irrelevant. The fact that the Athletics managed to win just one game during the entire homestand doesn’t matter. If you want to know the status of the Athletics as an Organization, you need just look at “The Inning.”

The Athletics have habits though and it begins with losing the opening game of the series.

(Yankees: 8-2)
The Athletics (6-13) record in series-openers is the result of low-energy, and bad pitching from the starting rotation. Starter Luis Severino balked after a Nick Kurtz-throwing error put Ben Rice aboard, and Aaron Judge’s RBI-single put the Yankees up 1-0.

Cody Bellinger singled and Paul Goldschmidt homered to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead before the A’s even stepped to the plate.

Severino (L 2-6, 4.16) took himself out in the 2nd-inning, and was put on the 15-day IL after the game. The A’s were forced to use seven relievers from the already gassed bullpen, and New York finished the game scoring single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th innings on the way to a 8-2 loss.

Scoring for the Athletics was a solo-home run by Kurtz in the first inning, and an RBI-single by Zack Gelof in the ninth for another uninspiring day at the plate.

(Athletics: 6-4)
The Athletics homered in the 1st-inning for the second game in a row when, following a Kurtz single, Shea Langeliers hit a two-run bomb over 109mph off-the-bat, 426 feet. The team would go on to hit two more home runs, a solo-shot by Tyler Soderstrom in the 6th-inning, and Kurtz’ a two-run homer in the seventh.

Starter JT Ginn has become the ace of the rotation, with 3/5 of the Athletics starters no longer in West Sacramento. Ginn (W 3-3, 2.87) scattered four hits over six innings, allowing just one unearned run, taking the only victory for the A’s on the homestand.

Hogan Harris had a busy but scoreless seventh, and Justin Sterner had a 1-2-3 8th-inning before handing the mound over to Jack Perkins.

Meanwhile, the A’s managed an insurance run on a Gelof RBI-single to make it a 6-1 lead going into the final inning.

What may have been a foreshadowing of “The Inning”, Perkins gave up a single, and two walks, to load the bases in the ninth. He had a May ERA north of 9.00, and Manager Mark Kotsay saw the writing on the wall, so despite there being two outs, Kotsay went with Scott Barlow.
Barlow proceeded to walk Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger to make the game 6-4 before finally retiring the final out.

(Yankees: 13-8)
We could talk about Rooker having a home run, and a double; or Kurtz having a single, a double, and reaching base four times. We could talk about back-up catcher Jonah Heim homering in superstar Langelier’s absence, driving in three runs.

None of it matters, because I present to you “The Inning”…

With starter Jacob Lopez on the mound, the pinstripes lineup went: Single, (stolen base), Walk, Walk, and they had a mound visit by Heim to try to settle the A’s starter down. It didn’t work, and the Yankees went Single, Double, Single, Single before Kotsay had seen enough of Lopez.

Lopez (L 4-3,6.75) lasted just two innings, bringing the rotation’s total-innings-pitched to an anemic nine innings for the entire series.

Reliever Mike Kelly was an odd choice to stop the bleeding because there were still no-outs and bases were loaded. New York pressed unpause: Walk, Single, (double steal), Single, (stolen base), Double, Walk…all before recording an out! A 2-run Triple, and two singles later the score was 13-3 before the inning mercifully ended.

(13 runs, 11 hits, 4 walks, 4 steals)
Multiple Yankees reached twice in the inning: Volpe had two singles, Austin Wells walked twice, Ben Rice doubled and tripled, Bellinger singled twice, and the list goes on.

The rest of the bullpen retired 18-of-19 to stop the bleeding, and the Athletics scored five more runs, but too little too late.

Next: @ Cubs 6/2 5:05pm Wrigley Field Chicago, Illinois