Athletics manager Mark Kotsay gives way to Brad Ausmus as daughter graduates from high school

The Athletics willl attempt to recover from their latest home loss Saturday without manager Mark Kotsay.

Kotsay boarded a flight before 6 a.m. to San Diego to see the high school graduation of his daughter Grace. His role will be filled by bench coach Brad Ausmus, 53, who has five years of managerial experience with the Detroit Tigers (2014-17) and the Los Angeles Angels (2019).

“We didn’t have to talk specifically about the game,” Ausmus told reporters about his marching orders. “We’ve been talking on a daily basis, pregame and in-game. I know exactly how he likes to run the game.”

Before Kotsay departed, he had to process another defeat at the Coliseum, an 8-5 loss to the Texas Rangers Friday nght in a game the Athletics led 5-2. After getting off to a good start in a game that included home runs by Sean Murphy and Chad Pinder, the Athletics bats went silent for the final two-thirds of the game The A’s bullpen, which has exceeded expectations this season, faltered and the Rangers scored six runs in the last three innings after a strong start by left-hander Cole Irvin.

By contrast, the A’s didn’t get a single hit after Pinder followed Murphy’s solo home run (his fifth) with one of his own (also his fifth) in the third inning to cap a five-run inning. Irvin departed with one out in the seventh inning, having thrown 93 pitches. His successors — Justin Grimm, Zach Jackson and Dany Jimenez — gave up seven hits and four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Jimenez, who had given up just one earned run this season, opened the ninth in a 5-5 game and gave up three hits and three earned runs as his record fell to 1-2. Adam Kolarek came on to get the last out of the ninth for the A’s.

“In terms of the bullpen, they’ve done a great job all year,” Kotsay said. “Not our normal night from the pen.”

The A’s (19-29)  fell to 6-16 at the Coliseum before a crowd of 6-16 as opposed to 13-13 on the road. They are 10 games under .500 for the second time this season (17-27). The haven’t been more than 10 games under .500 since finishing 75-87 in 2017.

“On offense, we had one big inning and they shut us down,” Kotsay said. “We needed to add on and we didn’t.”

Ausmus had a 386-422 record in five seasons with the Tigers and Angels.

GRIMM DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT

Grimm, who gave up a double to Nathaniel Lowe in the seventh inning, was designated for assignment Saturday with the Athletics calling up right-hander Austin Pruitt from Triple-A Las Vegas. Pruitt, 32, has pitched for three major league teams — Tampa Bay (2017-19), Houston (2021) and Miami (2021). With Las Vegas, Pruitt was 1-0 with a 3.27 earned run average in 12 relief outings. Grimm has been with the A’s since training camp broke and had a 4.11 ERA in 15 appearances. He would be eligible to return to Las Vegas should he clear waivers.

NOTABLE

— Stephen Vogt was scheduled to catch today in Las Vegas in a rehab start and then will be evaluated for a potential return to the roster.

— The A’s are 5-10 against American League West teams and are in a stretch where they play 17 of 20 games within the division.

— The home runs by Murphy and Pinder gave the A’s nine home runs in their last five games after homering seven times in their previous 22.

LINEUP

Ramon Laureano RF

Chad Pinder LF

Sean Murphy DH

Christian Bethancourt C

Elvis Andrus SS

Seth Brown 1B

Sheldon Neuse 2B

Kevin Smith 3B

Christian Pache CF

Zach Logue P