The imminent fall after a nine-game win streak climb is ever brutal.
Troubling starts in back-to-back losses from Sean Manaea and Mike Fiers against the Los Angeles Angels in Anahiem amplified the crash. Behind Mike Fiers’ rough start and a 13 strikeout night for the A’s offense, Oakland fell 6-0 against the Angels Tuesday in Anaheim.
To be fair, the A’s have played games in 11-straight days. They have a 14-game stretch on deck after Thursday’s off-day.
“I think we’re a little tired,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We could use the off day.”
If the nine-game winning streak taught us anything about these A’s: they’ve got the goods to be one of the best teams in baseball, up in that Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees echelon of the league. That three parts of the rotation, right now, can slice and dice any lineup. That getting to this bullpen shouldn’t be opposing teams’ aim. That the bats can unleash a crippling offense nearly at will.
If this two-game losing streak taught us anything about these A’s, it’s that they may never score multiple runs against Angels right-handed starter Dylan Bundy. Khris Davis, who seemed to always take him deep during Bundy’s time with the Baltimore Orioles, couldn’t find any momentum against an old foe. Bundy shut the A’s out in seven innings Tuesday, collecting 10 strikeouts and allowing four hits. An improvement from the 6.2 innings of one-run ball he tossed against the A’s in the opening series.
What made Tuesday’s start more challenging? Bundy went softer, and the A’s stared at his tight curveballs, slider and changeups that fell right into the zone.
“Your’e going soft, soft, then throw a fastball, it plays better than the velocity looks. He just had us off balance,” Melvin said.
And, another thing: Concerns may still linger in the middle of their rotation. Fiers struggled through the Angels’ gauntlet — Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon — in a 3.2 inning start Tuesday, and he gave up more home runs (three) than he could collect strikeouts (two) with seven hits. Though it is mostly to be expected, his fastball cracked 90mph just once — an issue only if he isn’t able to locate it in two-strike counts — and he couldn’t get a feel for his curveball.
“He mixed his pitches really well early on,” Melvin said.
“Well, it definitely wasn’t smooth in the first,” Fiers said. He’d given up a hit and two walks, after all. “I was definitely erratic, then in the fourth they just got me. They just put a bunch of hits together.”
Rendon took the first crack in that fourth, homering into left field on a sinker that didn’t sink. Then Ohtani walked and Albert Pujols singled, setting up Jason Castro for the three-run long ball. Brian Goodwin followed that up with a home run and a bat-flip for good measure.
Fiers had begun to get a feel for his curveball by then, but the daunting Angels lineup had already caught up. Forget about the murderer’s row of Trout, Ohtani and Rendon. Up and down the lineup, the Angels were on his fastball.
“Whenever a team can eliminate a pitch it just, makes it easier on them,” Fiers said.
Daniel Mengden, in relief, allowed a David Fletcher home run. But that was the only run he’d allow in 3.1 innings — his breaking stuff looked crisp. Lou Trivino got another crack at the Angels, too. He pitched a hitless inning.
A sliver lining might be that, during this down time, key bullpen arms got an extended rest heading into an off day. The A’s will get the Angels once more Wednesday afternoon before an inter-league road trip against the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.
