Athletics drop ninth straight, swept by Twins

Gave them a run for their money in game two though

The Athletics lost both sides of the doubleheader tonight, falling in the evening 8-7 in a high-scoring affair that secured Oakland’s ninth straight loss.

It was a wild one early here in game two of the doubleheader. With righty rookie Joey Estes on the mound for his 7th start with the A’s, the Twins scored quickly, collecting five runs in the first two innings. It was not the best of starts from Estes.

It was a good thing for him then that the offense decided to show up for game two. First, Shea Langeliers had a 2-run home run robbed in the second on what was terrific play by Minnesota’s center fielder:

Owch. That would have been huge. No matter as Seth Brown got the A’s on the board a batter later with a 2-run double that got us on the board:

And again, just another batter later the Athletics would bring in Brownie thanks to an RBI double from Zack Gelof:

That would be it for the inning, but not the game. The top of the third saw JJ Bleday lead off with his 10th homer of the year:

Then it was Tyler Soderstrom’s turn to get in on the action, hitting his fifth home run of the year to tie this game all up:

That blast didn’t just tie this game. 85 also put Soderstrom in some special company:

Thought the A’s had climbed back after falling in an early hole, they couldn’t secure a much-needed shutdown inning. Back-to-back doubles in the bottom half of the third gave the Twins the lead again and chased Joey Estes from this game.

-Joey Estes: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 65 pitches

Estes wasn’t fooling anyone with his stuff today. Minnesota was all over him from the vet-go today and it put the A’s in an early hole. He’ll need to have a short-term memory and shake this one off before his next start, which is currently lined up to be these same Twins at the Coliseum.

Relievers TJ McFarland and Lucas Erceg were next on the mound tonight and both had scoreless appearances, but Scott Alexander allowed a run in the sixth to push the lead to 7-5 Twins, and we were getting to the late innings.

Oakland wouldn’t be intimidated by the Twins tonight. Oakland scored two more times in the seventh to tie this game up again, courtesy of RBI singles from Soderstrom and Langeliers:

It would be up to the bullpens to determine who would walk away with a win tonight. Unfortunately Oakland’s ‘pen blinked first as Dany Jiménez served up a home run in the bottom of the eighth that gave Minnesota the lead yet again tonight. It was one they wouldn’t relinquish this time as the A’s could only manage a single in the ninth before the door closed. Another loss for the club, their ninth straight.

Bad vibes going on right now but on the positive side of things the club gets a day off tomorrow before returning to the Coliseum on Tuesday evening. They’ll be hosting the Kansas City Royals and lefty Hogan Harris is set to kick off the three-game set. See you all then!