With 20 wins at the halfway point of the season, the A’s still think they can play better
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Exhilarating wins at home are typically met moments later with deafening silence. That’s just a new reality: there are no fans to revel in victory long after the team has departed the dugouts for the showers. All the Oakland A’s successes — and failures — are less shared experience. Wins, more than ever, feel more like a simple means to an end.
Once “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang faded out following Mark Canha’s 10th inning walk-off sac fly that handed the A’s a 5-4 win Sunday afternoon over the Los Angeles Angels, this team could marinate on what they’ve accomplished half-way through this strange 2020 season.
They also might’ve had to drink a little extra water. They’d played an extra inning game in undesirable air that registered at a 168 air quality index at first pitch.
But, with that, they’ve gone 5-0 in extra inning games.
They’ve won 20 games and lost just nine — that’s the best record in the American League and second only to the Los Angeles Dodgers (22-8) for best in baseball.
A 4.5 game cushion lies between them, in first place in the American League West, and the Houston Astros, who lost Sunday to the San Diego Padres. It’s been two weeks since Oakland swept the Astros at the Coliseum, the A’s dominant closer crowned his team the new “Kings of the AL West.”
And, another thing: That’s it. The A’s are done with the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s barely took the series, 6-4.
Half-way through this season, it’s clear this A’s team has the means to get to the ends they desire. What’s scarier: They know they can kick themselves into another gear.
“Honestly, we haven’t been playing the best that we are able to play,” Frankie Montas, Sunday’s starter, said after the win.
After this 3-1 home stand, the A’s will embark on their longest road trip of the season: a three-series jaunt to play the Texas Rangers, Astros and Seattle Mariners. What have they proven, and what can they prove on this daunting trip?
Frankie Montas and a rotation looking to congeal
On paper, the A’s have one of the best rotations in the game. But — because of the time it took to ramp up some arms and a few injuries — that hasn’t come to fruition in practice.
Montas took the mound Sunday looking to bounce back from his worst career start in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. It was a start in which he allowed nine earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. He was out of sync after missing his turn in the rotation with some upper-back stiffness.
He at least fared better Sunday. He had better command of his splitter and slider, striking out five Angels. But his fastball command was iffy. He walked three batters and struggled to navigate traffic through 4 2/3 tough innings.
“Just, still trying to fight for that arm slot with the fastball,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But better.”
Montas has already flashed some of his brilliance. Before those back issues, he whittled his ERA down to a 1.57 with back-to-back seven-inning starts against the Astros and Mariners. The goods are there, but he has less time than ever to get back into groove.
Sean Manaea and Mike Fiers are also struggling to pitch deep into games. Manaea hasn’t been able to throw a fastball above 90 mph with any regularity, which won’t play unless his secondary pitches are perfect. They haven’t been, though his changeup has looked better of late. Fiers said he still didn’t have full feel for his stuff following his fifth start, a 5 1/3 inning, three-run start against the Angels. Chris Bassitt and Jesús Luzardo have found their stride.
Success has been found in spots, but can it all sync?
Can the bullpen keep this up?
Liam Henriks isn’t necessarily better than he was last year. But, guaranteed the closer role he earned to start this season off, he’s been utterly dominant. His nine saves leads the league, and he’s allowed just two earned runs with 21 strikeouts in 12 appearances.
He wasn’t supposed to go Sunday in extras, but he insisted he could take on the 10th inning. He’s become an expert at extinguishing the new ghost-runner threat. He retired the side with 11 pitches.
The bullpen’s adjusted unscathed to all the new obstacles. That new three-batter minimum rule? Unnoticeable.
We could run down the list of relievers to explain their strengths, but one stat from this home stand tells the story of their consistency. The A’s bullpen gave up one earned run over 18.2 relief innings. They’re scoreless over their last 17.
Offensive struggles against tough pitching
For an inning, it looked like the A’s had finally cracked Angels starter Dylan Bundy. The right-hander had faced the A’s twice this season already and held them to just one run over 13 2/3 innings.
They got a little help courtesy of an error by Angels rookie right fielder Jo Adell on Marcus Semien’s line drive in the first inning. For a few minutes, the A’s were one step ahead. The same devastating slider that crippled the A’s in previous starts, Bundy hung to Matt Chapman, who knocked it into left-center for an RBI double. Mark Canha’s single scored Chapman.
Two unearned runs was the most they’d ever taken from Bundy.
But, he mowed through the A’s for four more innings and two outs into the sixth, with his pitch count ramping into the 90s with a comfortable 4-2 lead.
Robbie Grossman caught Bundy on his 97th pitch, doubling into right field. Then Stephen Piscotty tacked on his 21st RBI of the month with a single up the middle. Against reliever Mike Mayers, Sean Murphy eked a seeing eye single over second base to tie things up.
Bundy was an out away from owning the A’s this year, Oakland waiting until his final out to have a final say. Still, Bundy holds a 1.43 ERA against them.
This A’s offense’s strength has been late-inning heroics. But tough pitching has been the A’s kryptonite. There’s no stat for this, but their experience with Bundy tells the story. The A’s saw Bundy three times and only managed two earned runs against him.
Bundy switched up his approach to keep things fresh. But the A’s, unable to pick up his slider, went into each game against him hoping he’d leave a little something over the plate.
He gifted Chapman a hanger. The A’s have found their spots — they don’t leave many mistakes unpunished. But, is that approach against the tough pitchers they’ll face down the stretch and into the postseason (maybe) sustainable?