The Athletics continued their terrible start to spring training, losing 10-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers. This afternoon, the Brewers took an early lead and never looked back on their way to the blowout victory. The A’s offense, full of regulars for the game’s first six innings, was once again asleep as the team only got five singles over nine innings. Good thing spring stats and records don’t matter!
Taking the mound for the first time this spring, Mason Barnett started strongly as he pitched a clean first inning. However, his second inning did not go as smoothly. Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins singled and then first baseman Tyler Black crushed Barnett’s hanging curveball over the right field fence. Barnett’s 29-pitch outing concluded after finishing that second inning, his lone blemish being Black’s home run.
While Barnett’s performance was not that bad, it came a day after fellow young pitcher J.T. Ginn looked electric in his spotless two-inning outing against multiple San Francisco Giants starting position players.
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Black was not done being a thorn in the A’s side. An inning later, he came up with the bases loaded, two outs and A’s minor leaguer Blake Beers on the mound. Beers had just come into the game in relief of Justin Sterner, who left with two outs and two men on base. Sterner would have likely been given the chance to finish the inning had he not just completed a 14 pitch battle with Brice Turang that resulted in a walk.
Unfortunately for A’s fans, Beers pitching ability is not as awesome as his last name. Black lined a single to center that somehow cleared the bases. Black added an RBI double in the fifth inning. He finished his day 3-for-3, driving in six of the Brewers ten runs.
While the Brewers totaled hits and runs galore, the A’s had trouble getting anything going offensively. Twice, the A’s got two men on base with less than two outs, only for nothing to come from it. In the bottom of the third, facing a 5-0 deficit, Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker came up with two of their teammates on base. A home run or rally extending hit from either or both of them would have put the A’s right back in this game, alas Kurtz lined out and Rooker popped out. Through four games, the A’s have yet to hit a home run, which is quite surprising considering the amount of sluggers on this team and the fact that the ball tends to fly further in the Cactus League.
The A’s have a much-needed off day tomorrow as they try to right the ship and shake off these rough early spring training performances. Hope the A’s return on Thursday ready to defeat the Texas Rangers and kickstart a winning streak.
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Notes:
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A’s top prospect shortstop Leo De Vries drew a walk at the plate in addition to making two nice back-to-back defensive plays in the sixth inning. Following a leadoff triple, De Vries caught a line drive and then threw a grounder home to prevent the runner from scoring.
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Hogan Harris, one of the team’s closer candidates, worked a scoreless inning in his spring training debut. He worked around two walks, aided by left fielder Tyler Soderstrom throwing out a Brewer at second base.
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Left-handed reliever Matt Krook left with an injury after recording the first out of the eighth inning. Hope he is okay as the A’s need left-handed relief depth behind Harris.
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