MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Byrnes

Coming into the weekend series against the last place Baltimore Orioles having won the previous two series versus the Astros and Twins, the Athletics were looking to extend the “series winning streak” to three. However, the Orioles took advantage of inconsistent bats and poor pitching to sweep the Athletics in West Sacramento.

(Orioles: 4-3)
Athletics reliever Brady Basso (0-1, 4.82) gave up back-to-back RBI-singles with two outs in the 10th-inning, and the A’s lost their 30th series opener of the season (14-30).

Jacob Lopez continued his transformation into a solid starter for the Athletics, allowing just three hits in five innings of work, and only one earned run. In August, Lopez had an outstanding 2.48 era and 35 strikeouts in just five starts to save a struggling season.

After spotting Baltimore to a 2-0 lead, A’s catcher Jonah Heim launched a splitter 102.2 off the bat for a solo-home run to cut the lead in half (2-1) and Lawrence Butler tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI-single in the eighth inning.

After Baltimore’s Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand had RBI-singles to take a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th-inning, the A’s tried to make it interesting. Zack Gelof had an RBI-single to close the score to 4-3 but Butler grounded out to end the game.

(Orioles: 5-3)
Athletics starter Jack Perkins has a problem dealing with the first batter of an inning and it cost him runs and the game. Perkins (3-10, 6.42) started with a deep fly by Jackson Holliday to open the game.

He issued a walk to Encarnacion-Strand to open the second, a four-pitch walk to Coby Mayo to open the third inning, who scored, and another walk starting the count-down (3-0) to Gunnar Henderson in the fourth. Perkins was finished when he gave up a solo-home run to Colton Cowser in the fifth and left down 2-0.

Leody Tavaras RBI-double off A’s reliever Jose Suarez put the Athletics in a 4-0 hole in the sixth, but they answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.

The A’s loaded the bases with a Jonah Heim walk, and back-to-back singles by Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof, and Butler drew an RBI-walk. Donovan Walton was hit by Orioles starter Shane Baz, which made it a 4-2 game.

The A’s loaded the bases again in the eighth, scoring when Heim hit into a double play but failed to score again. They managed to get ten hits in the game but the only extra base hit was a late-inning double that didn’t factor in the 5-3 loss.

(Orioles: 8-5)
The Athletics offense spotted starter Jeffrey Springs a 5-1, fourth inning lead, but he leads baseball in “home runs allowed” with (33), and he continued to show why. Springs (3-13, 6.37) had the A’s down 1-0 just three batters in, when he surrendered a solo-shot to Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson.

The A’s bats responded with five runs over the first three innings, for the four-run lead. Henry Bolte opened the A’s first with a first-pitch single and he scored along with Gelof, who walked, when Butler hit a two-run double.
Jeff McNeil’s RBI-double in the second inning extended the Athletics lead to 3-1, and Brian Serven’s two-run home run off Orioles Starter Chris Bassett gave Springs a 5-1 cushion to start the fourth inning.

A Coby Mayo three-run bomb later and the A’s were nursing a slim 5-4 lead after four innings and Kotsay tempted fate and sent Springs out for another inning.

Springs got two quick outs in the fifth inning before putting two on base for Gunnar Henderson, who homered in the first inning. With uncanny accuracy, Springs put another breaking ball waist-high, center of the strike zone, and Henderson put it 413 onto the right-field berms, for his second home run of the day, and a 7-5 lead.

Henderson finished his 4-for-4 day with an RBI-triple, for the final 8-5 score, and an Orioles sweep of the Athletics.

Next: @ Rangers 8/31 505pm pst Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas.