Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 reacts after giving up a solo home run to Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien #2 on the first pitch in the first inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND — The day after a gut-punch loss the Athletics had every reason to think they would win, the Texas Rangers removed any sense of drama before the game was three innings old.
The defending World Series champions pummeled the A’s 15-8, chasing starter Ross Stripling with a 10-run second inning that made the matinee suitable for sun worshippers among the crowd of 3,965 and little else.
Including Monday night’s 4-2 loss when Corey Seager hit a three-run homer off Lucas Erceg in the eighth, the A’s have lost three straight since reaching .500 and are 17-20. The Rangers, winners of eight of their last 11 and in first place in the American League West, improved to 21-16.
Former A’s infielder Marcus Semien led the Texas hit parade, hitting the first pitch he saw as the leadoff batter for his sixth home run, followed by a run-scoring single, a two-run double and another infield single that plated a run in a four-run fourth inning. Semien, a fan favorite from St. Mary’s High and Cal who played with the A’s from 2015 through 2020, finished 4-for-5 with five RBIs.
Kyle McCann homered for the A’s in the seventh inning, his third of the season. Seth Brown, who came into the game in an 0-for-14 slump, hit a three-run home run against Yerry Rodriguez in the bottom of the eighth, his third.
Brown is hoping the drive to left center for his first homer since April 28 is evidence his swing is coming back.
“Something like that gives you confidence, can relax you a little bit,” Brown said. “You don’t have to press so hard. That’s one thing I’m guilty of is pressing. Having one of those swings is a way to let you know you’re on the right path.”
Jose Urena (1-2) was the winning pitcher for Texas, pitching five innings and giving up four hits and one earned run with two walks and two strikeouts. The Rangers led by as much as 15-2 before the A’s started chipping away in the bottom of the sixth.
It was over well before then.
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 is taken out after giving up 10 runs to the Texas Rangers in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
By the time the A’s batted in the bottom of the second, they trailed 11-0 as the Rangers scored 10 times in the second (six unearned). Stripling (1-6), whom the A’s needed innings from with two games on Wednesday, was charged with all 11 runs in 1 2/3 innings (five earned due to a fielding error on first baseman J.D. Davis) on 10 hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Stripling, who lives on the corners, was victimized in part by a tight strike zone from home plate umpire Erich Bacchus which A’s manager Mark Kotsay called “one of the tightest we’ve seen this year . . . there wasn’t really a bottom of the zone for Strip to pitch to.”
Stripling didn’t disagree.
“I remember in real time thinking some of them were close, particularly where I was hammering the outside part of the plate and he called all of them balls,” Stripling said. “I looked at ’em on the MLB app and they were all kind of fringey. But he was consistent and called them balls.”
Texas pitchers walked 10 batters and the A’s nine. When the A’s scored twice against reliever Jonathan Hernandez in the sixth, they took advantage of five walks and a hit batter.
Oakland Athletics first base coach Bobby Crosby #8 checks on shortstop Darell Hernaiz #2 after an injury while running to first base in the second inning of their MLB game against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Hernaiz injured
Darell Hernaiz, who assumed the starting job at shortstop when Nick Allen was optioned to Triple-A, left the game with an ankle injury in the second inning after falling awkwardly while reaching base on a throwing error which brought across the first Oakland run. The A’s scored a second run in the inning on a run-scoring infield single with the bases loaded by Brent Rooker.
Kotsay believes it’s an ankle sprain, but Hernaiz was getting an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.
Pitching shuffle
The Athletics promoted right-handed reliever Tyler Ferguson from Triple-A Las Vegas, sent reliever Dany Jimenez to straighten out mechanical issues with the Aviators and will call up Osvaldo Bido to start Wednesday’s second game as the 27th roster player.
Teams are allowed to call up an extra player for doubleheaders.
Ferguson (1-1 with a 2.40 earned run average in Triple-A, made his big league debut against Texas, giving up no runs in the eighth and ninth innings of mop-up work.
Bido, who was 2-5 with a 5.86 earned run average with Pittsburgh last season, is 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA in Las Vegas. The year-old right-hander has given up 26 hits in 31 1/3 innings with 13 walks an 39 strikeouts.
“His last two starts have been really good,” Kotsay said. “He’s another guy our front office identified this offseason and someone that could provide depth as a starter or even as a bullpen guy.”
The hope is Jimenez can work out issues with his mechanics — he’s walked 13 batters in 14 2/3 innings — and return at a later date.
Hogan Harris, a left-hander who was called up Monday when Joe Boyle was injured to provide bulk innings work, did just that against Texas. Harris threw 94 pitches in 5 1/3 innings of relief, giving up eight hits and four earned runs with one walk and five strikeouts.
J.P. Sears (2-2, 3.89) will start the first game of the doubleheader against Michael Lorenzen (2-1, 3.52).
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Tyler Ferguson #65 makes his MLB debut in the eighth inning of their game against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Erceg and the change-up
In giving up a three-run home run to Seager in a 3-2 loss Monday night, set-up man Erceg conceded to reporters that throwing him sixth consecutive change-ups — the sixth left the park — wasn’t the greatest idea in retrospect.
“The only way we learn is if we fail,” Kotsay said. “For Lucas to recognize that immediately after the game, that shows growth.”
The last five times the A’s held a lead with the intent of using Erceg in the eighth and Mason Miller in the ninth resulted in wins.
“They’re one of the better bullpens on the back end,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “Seager got a pitch he could handle. It’s better not to be behind when those two are coming into the game.”
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy watches in the second inning of their MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics center fielder JJ Bleday #33 watches a solo home run by Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien #2 go over the wall in the first inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 gave up the home run on the first pitch of the game. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 throws against the Texas Rangers in the first inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group
Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien #2 is congratulated by Nathaniel Lowe #30 after hitting a solo home run on the first pitch of the game by Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 in the first inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher José Ureña #54 throws against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien #2 hits a two-run double RBI off Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers’ Jonah Heim #28 is congratulated by Nathaniel Lowe #30 after scoring on a two-run double RBI by Marcus Semien #2 in the second inning of their MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien #2 is safe at second base as Oakland Athletics shortstop Darell Hernaiz #2 tries to grab a high throw in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 reacts after giving up another run to the Texas Rangers in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers’ Jonah Heim #28 hits a two-run RBI single off Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Ross Stripling #36 in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers’ Adolis García #53 is congratulated after scoring on a two-run RBI single by Jonah Heim #28 in the second inning of their MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Hogan Harris #63 throws against the Texas Rangers in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics shortstop Max Schuemann #12 gets the out at first base in the third inning of their MLB game against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Brent Rooker #25 hits an RBI infield single off Texas Rangers starting pitcher José Ureña #54 scoring a run in the second inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Max Schuemann #12 is congratulated by JJ Bleday #33 after scoring on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning of their MLB game against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Kyle McCann #52 scores after hitting a solo home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yerry Rodríguez #57 in the sixth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics fans display signs encouraging ownership to sell the team in the first inning of their MLB game against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown #15 rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yerry Rodríguez #57 in the eighth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown #15 hits a three-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yerry Rodríguez #57 in the eighth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown #15 reacts after hitting a three-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yerry Rodríguez #57 in the eighth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland Athletics’ Seth Brown #15 is congratulated by J.D. Davis #5 after hitting a three-run home run off Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yerry Rodríguez #57 in the eighth inning of their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers relief pitcher Cole Winn #60 and catcher Andrew Knizner #12 celebrate their 15-8 MLB win against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Texas Rangers celebrate their 15-8 MLB win against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
