A’s Drop Series Opener to Mariners 3-1

Close but no cigar

The Athletics dropped their first game of the home stand on Monday evening, losing to the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in West Sacramento and starting things off on the wrong foot.

Sears shaky yet again

Lefty JP Sears got the ball for tonight’s start, his 22nd appearance of the year. He’s had a rough go of things recently but he was coming off a strong appearance last time out and he wanted to build on that success tonight against a division rival.

Sears started this one strong getting a quick 1-2-3 first inning out of the way. The first pitch of the second inning however ended up on the other side of the fence after recently-acquired first baseman Josh Naylor swatted his first home run in a Mariners uniform. Things got hairier in the inning when a single and two walks loaded the bases but Sears induced a much-needed groundball that his defense was able to convert into a double play to end the threat.

Sears had another 1-2-3 third (with some help from right fielder Carlos Cortes) before Seattle struck again in the fourth. An error from Nick Kurtz aided Seattle for a run there, and then they got their third run of the night one inning later when stud catcher Cal Raleigh brought home a run with an RBI double. That base hit chased Sears from the game after just 96 pitches and without completing five full frames.

• JP Sears: 4 ²⁄_{3 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 96 pitches}

_{Not a great outing from Sears but things could have gone worse. He’s now sporting a 4.95 ERA that he’ll take into his next start, currently lined up to be against the Arizona Diamondbacks (if he’s not traded at the deadline).}

_{Castillo dominates offense}

_{While Sears was getting knocked around the A’s offense was mostly silent against Mariners co-ace Luis Castillo. Through the first five innings the A’s were only able to muster three hits, one of which was a two-out triple that went to waste in the fifth. The right-hander ultimately held the A’s to just five hits tonight, though the Athletics were able to push one run across in the sixth off an RBI groundout from All-Star Brent Rooker.}

_{After seven innings and 89 pitchers Seattle finally dipped into their bullpen. Down to their last six outs the A’s hitters finally got a rally going in the eighth, but again couldn’t get the big hit to push some runs across and get this game tied. The A’s got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth but another double play ended the rally before Max Schuemann struck out to end the game.}

Tough night for the bats. One triple and six singles isn’t usually enough to win a game at the major league level. No one got on base multiple times so it was a group loss for the guys tonight. Sears was unspectacular in what could be his final start for the A’s but it was enough to avoid the loss. At least the bullpen showed up tonight, throwing 4 ²⁄₃ innings of shutout baseball to give the team a chance to come back. Just wasn’t in the cards tonight though and the A’s now sit at 46-63 with just a couple days left to go before the deadline.

_{The Athletics will try to get back in the win column tomorrow evening, same time, same place, same opponent. Seattle will go with rookie starter Logan Evans, who has gotten off to a solid start in his career with a 3.64 ERA through 11 starts. It’ll be the first of likely many times that the A’s will go up against the young right-hander over the next few years so get used to seeing him on the opposing mound. The A’s will counter Evans with right-handed veteran Luis Severino, who could be making his final start with the A’s if he’s shipped out at the deadline. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster first season for Sevy with the club but he’s coming off a strong start last time out. Let’s see if he’s able to provide a quality performance at a ballpark he’s made no secret he dislikes.}