OAKLAND – A game that began with a protest, then had another protest midway through, ended in a 10-inning 2-1 loss for the A’s against the Astros on Tuesday in an odd night of baseball at the Coliseum.
First, some members of the Oakland Unified School District Honor Band, playing the national anthem, joined the national discussion about the anthem by taking a knee during its rendition.
Then A’s manager Bob Melvin told the umpires his team was playing the game under protest after what he thought was an improper ruling by the umpiring crew after an oddball play at second base in the third inning.
First baseman Yonder Alonso appeared to have tagged both Teoscar Hernandez and Jake Marisnick after fielding a bunt near first base. The original ruling was that Hernandez was out, but when the A’s challenged the call, Hernandez was safe and Marisnick was out.
Melvin said the decision in the end to leave Hernandez on first was the opposite of a call that went against the A’s a couple of years ago, and he was just trying to get it right. An inning later, however, Melvin told the umpires he was rescinding his protest.
The crowd of 12,139 would have been within its right to protest the A’s offense, which after scoring nine runs on almost a dozen hits during a seven-game road trip, has soured. The A’s got three hits Tuesday after getting three hits Monday, squandering terrific starting pitching from Jharel Cotton – six one-run innings – on Monday and from Sean Manaea – six scoreless innings – on Tuesday.
“Tonight was huge,” Manaea said after his second start back following a stint on the shelf because of an injury. “One of my goals is to finish off the season strong. Going into the offseason I’m really looking forward to being strong coming into next season.”
Manaea actually left the game with a 1-0 lead. Oakland scratched together back-to-back singles in the sixth inning, eventually loading the bases before Stephen Vogt’s grounder got a run in. But a Tony Kemp grounder that ricocheted off the glove of reliever John Axford in the seventh gave the Astros a run and, eventually, forced extra innings.
Reliever Sean Doolittle saw Kemp greet him with a double. A bunt moved Kemp to third and, with the infield drawn in to convert any grounder into an out at the plate, the A’s got the grounder. But it was hit hard, and second baseman Joey Wendle never had a chance to make the play as the Astros took the lead for good on the George Springer single.
For Doolittle, seeing Cotton on Monday and Manaea on Tuesday pitch so well only to get nothing to show for it, was consummate frustration.
“That’s definitely one of the silver linings,” Doolittle said of the rookie starters. “Obviously it stings not having anything to show for it, but man, it’s awesome to see these young guys come up and really take advantage of this opportunity. It’s been really good to see.”
The A’s, now 66-85 with 11 games remaining in the season, managed for the moment to stay out of last place, but only because the Angels also lost. Over the course of the final week and a half of the season, avoiding a second straight last-place finish in the American League West will be high on the A’s wish list.
Notes:
- Stephen Vogt was named winner of the A’s Dave Stewart Community Service Award, recognition that goes annually to a player who’s done significant charitable work locally and nationally. Vogt, who together with his wife Alyssa devotes lots of time to Dublin’s School of Imagination to help special needs children, is the first player to win it twice, and will get the award before Wednesday’s game from Stewart, now the Arizona Diamondbacks’ GM.
- Henderson Alvarez underwent should surgery Tuesday with Dr. James Andrews at the helm. The surgery was described as a bicep tenodesis procedure as well as an excision of a bony exostosis in the shoulder. There is no timetable for his return, but it’s not likely to be quick.
- Danny Valencia was ejected by ump Marty Foster after striking out to end the bottom of the ninth. Valencia thought he’d walked on a 3-1 pitch from Chris Devenski, but Foster thought otherwise.
- Khris Davis was in the original starting lineup for the A’s but was scratched after battling what manager Bob Melvin called “a stomach bug” for most of the day.
- With two weeks left in the season, Melvin says Ryon Healy deserves Rookie of the Year consideration despite spending a little less than half a season in the big leagues. His numbers are impressive: .412/.348/.534 with 11 homers and 30 RBI. And while he’s only 60 games heading into Tuesday, one of his prime competitors, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had only played in 41 with a slash line of .327/.393/.698 with 16 homers and 30 RBI. “I know he hasn’t been here a full season, but Healy’s been up longer, and if you’re going to consider (Sanchez) they you’d have to consider Healy.”
- Wednesday’s game will be on MLB Network at 12:35 p.m.
- Sonny Gray threw 48 pitches pregame and came out of it well enough that the A’s will have him face some live hitters Saturday or Sunday. “He threw all his pitches; it was pretty intense,” Melvin said. “There was a high energy level.” That would set Gray up for one start of two or three innings, probably early in the final series of the season against the Mariners in Seattle. He hasn’t pitched since Aug. 6 thanks to a right forearm strain.
