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- A’s went 5-19 in July, the franchise’s worst July since 1938.
- Jeffrey Springs lasted four innings, issued five walks and took his 11th loss.
- Two relievers combined to surrender 11 runs in the final two frames.
The Athletics and their veteran starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs both entered Friday’s game on historically bad streaks.
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In the series-opening 13-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Sutter Health Park, neither the team nor Springs were able to change course.
With the loss, the A’s fell to 45-65, 10 1/2 games out of a playoff spot, and capped off the franchise’s worst month of July since 1938. The club went 5-19 for the month, the worst mark in MLB this season and the third-worst July in the team’s 125-year history.
“We’ve got to improve. That’s the fact,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said postgame. “It’s never fun going through a month like this. We’ve got to turn the page and start fresh in August and stack as many wins together as we can.”
Hip still bothering Springs
Springs lasted just four innings after issuing a season-high five walks, throwing 86 pitches — only 51% of them strikes — and gave up his 28th home run of the season, the most of any pitcher in the league.
Springs also earned his MLB-worst 11th loss of the season as his early exit set the stage for a late-inning bullpen collapse.
“Trying to grind through some things and, yeah, the command suffered a little bit because of it,” Springs said postgame. “I wasn’t able to finish pitches, at times, like I wanted.”
Both Springs and Kotsay said that the right hip discomfort that impacted his start against the Minnesota Twins last week was still present Friday, though Springs “it is what it is.”
Springs hasn’t earned a win since April 14, when he was 3-0 with a 1.46 earned run age. Now, he has surrendered the most earned runs in the league with a 6.17 ERA in 22 starts.
Though Springs’ outing was particularly rough Friday, Kotsay said his ability to escape the fourth inning, which saw the Tigers load the bases with one out, after only surrendering one run, was a positive takeaway.
“It shows some grit and wanting to take the ball,” Kotsay said.
Bullpen gives up 11 in final 2 innings
Since he came out of the game early, Springs forced the A’s to use three relievers in bulk roles, who combined to surrender 11 runs in the final two frames as the game got out of hand.
Brady Basso only gave up one baserunner in the fifth and sixth innings before getting into trouble early in the seventh surrendering three straight hits. All three later scored and were charged to Basso.
Luis Morales relieved Basso and allowed a big rally in the eighth that saw the Tigers bat around and culminated in a Dillon Dingler grand slam. Morales then allowed four hits including another home run in the ninth as the score turned lopsided.
The outing continued a rough season for Morales, who has appeared in just five games this season, surrendering at least five earned runs in four of them and two in the other.
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“We’re gonna have to go back to the drawing board with Morales,” Kotsay said. “Even though you throw it 97, it’s got to be executed. It can’t be in the middle of a plate.”
The A’s lone run came on an RBI double from catcher Jonah Heim in the first inning, which plated Jacob Wilson, who had walked the at-bat prior.
Heim, Wilson and Bolte reached base two times each including one hit apiece — the only three hits for the Athletics.
Jack Perkins (6.45 ERA) will take the mound for the A’s at 6:40 p.m. Saturday as they hope to even the three-game home series.
A’s send Colby Thomas down
Before the game, the A’s sent outfielder Colby Thomas down to Triple-A and called up infielder Jonathan Ornelas, the club announced on social media. The A’s also designated their No. 20 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, who has never appeared in an MLB game, for assignment, but will likely hope to keep him in their minor league system should he clear waivers.
Thomas, 25, has spent about 50 games with the Major League club over each of the last two seasons but has struggled mightily at the plate since the start of June.
In 121 plate appearances this season, Thomas holds a .569 OPS, which decreases to .488 over the last two calendar months. He also notably won an Electric Play of the Week award for a viral home run robbery in late June.
“Colby’s a young player. He’s still got a ton ahead of him,” Kotsay said before the game. “He’s going to go play every day in Vegas, and have an opportunity to get back here.”
Ornelas, 26, has appeared in 32 MLB games for the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves over the last three seasons, but has broken out in Triple-A this season.
He has a .883 OPS and 29 extra-base hits in 81 Triple-A games this season, and has especially shown out since signing with the A’s organization last week, holding an OPS over 1.300. He spent most of the season with the New York Yankees organization but was released in mid-July.
Kotsay said Ornelas has positional versatility, noting that he has played around the infield and corner outfield this season, on top of his strong hitting numbers.
“We’re hopeful that this is a player that, like we’ve identified in the past with certain guys, that lands here and sticks,” Kotsay said.
Ornelas popped out to Dingler in his only at-bat Friday, but made an athletic play on a hard-hit line drive to shortstop to help slow the eighth-inning Tigers rally.
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