A’s Come Up Short in 4-3 Loss to Angels

Should have taken this one

Another day, another loss. The Athletics fell for the sixth time in six days, beginning their home stand with a close 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on a beautiful Monday night in Sacramento.

Rookie JT Ginn got the assignment for tonight’s contest. Making his fourth start of the season and first since getting activated off the IL, Ginn got tagged in his first inning of work, allowing a solo home run to the second batter of the game Nolan Schanuel. That was the young first baseman’s third home run of the year so it wasn’t an encouraging start to the game for Ginn.

The offense would pick their starter up early. Facing third-year righty Jose Soriano the Athletics got right to work. Lawrence Butler led off the frame with a double followed by a walk and HBP to load the bases for Brent Rooker. A groundball double play wasn’t the ideal outcome but it did the job of tying this game up. Catcher Shea Langeliers then came up to bat with a runner in scoring position and two outs and hit a chopper than he beat out for an RBI infield hit to give Ginn a lead to work with:

The Athletics got their rookie starter off the hook but he’d find himself right back on it just a couple innings later. Back-to-back hits to open the top of the third were soon followed by a RBI single to knot this game up before Angels outfielder and home run leader Taylor Ward yanked a hanging slider from Ginn over the left field wall to give the Angels the lead. Ginn would finish the frame and then have a 1-2-3 fourth but that would be all the club would ask of him tonight as manager Mark Kotsay went to the bullpen early.

• JT Ginn: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 79 pitches

A mixed bag from Ginn in his first start back from injury. While he racked up an impressive seven strikeouts in just four frames he also made plenty of mistakes with his pitches and it ended up hurting him. He now has a 5.60 ERA through four starts and one would imagine he’d get another chance at this stage. If so that lines up for this weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies. Not an easy matchup.

The offense meanwhile had their chances against Soriano. The A’s loaded the bases in the bottom of the third but two strikeouts killed that rally, then went down in order in the fourth. Not looking good against one of the Angels’ up-and-coming young pitchers.

The A’s would break through for the final time against Soriano in the fifth. A two-out rally sparked by Tyler Soderstrom’s 10th double of the season saw Brent Rooker cut into the Los Angeles lead by collecting his 23rd RBI:

That trimmed the lead but would actually end up being the second-to-last hit of the night for the A’s. They managed to work a few walks here and there in the final few frames against the Los Angeles bullpen but just couldn’t break through against a group that has rated as one of the worst in the league this year. Jacob Wilson tried to keep the hope alive with a ninth inning single but the A’s would go down swinging as Soderstrom struck out with the tying run on first to end the game.

That’s as tough of a loss as this team will swallow all season. The club fought hard for this win and came up just short against a team they know they’re better than. The team collected seven hits and worked five walks but the bats only had three runs to show for it. Ginn wasn’t great in his first start back but the bullpen did their job by not allowing LA to add on any insurance. The Athletics now fall to four games under .500 at 22-26, have lost six straight games and are now in a statistical tie with these Angels for last in the AL West.

Our boys in the Green & Gold will try to snap that streak tomorrow evening, same time same place. The A’s will turn to right-handed rookie Gunnar Hoglund to play stopper. He’ll bring a 3.78 ERA into his contest against Angels starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who is just 1-5 and has an ugly 5.18 ERA in his first season in LA.