Athletics drop 8th straight, fall to Twins 10-3

Seriously?

When it rains it pours. The Athletics continued their losing ways on Tuesday night in their second game against the Twins, falling to Minnesota by a final of 10-3 in front of a season-low crowd that drops the A’s to 23-39 with no signs of the free fall stopping anytime soon.

The A’s tried shaking things up today in the pitching department. Instead of going the traditional route the A’s went with an opener for Game Two against the Twins. The lucky reliever who got that honor was righty Grant Holman, and he did exactly what an opener is supposed to do: get the first three outs of the game.

The A’s were quick to take a quick lead against their AL Central foes. It only took two batters for the home team to take the lead as Lawrence Butler led off the game with a double and Brent Rooker followed him with an RBI single for the early lead:

Manager Mark Kotsay wanted to push his luck and sent his rookie opener out for a second inning. Predictably, Holman ran into problems with a hit and walk allowed. It worked out for him as bulk pitcher Jacob Lopez worked some magic to keep Minnesota off the board... for now.

The A’s added on a second run in the bottom of the third off Lopez when Tyler Soderstrom hit his first career triple...

... followed by a sac fly off the bat of Shea Langeliers. 2-0 A’s.

Lopez seemed to like the opener strategy in his first taste of it tonight. After Holman’s outing Lopez was on fire, striking out eight of the first 14 batters he faced as he looked much more comfortable and in control during the early portion of his outing.

Things would slowly begin to unravel for him though. First Willi Castro hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth to chip into the A’s lead, and the meltdown commenced in the sixth. Two homers, including a leadoff blast from Trevor Larnach and Castro’s second of the night began the inning in huge fashion for the Twins and tied this game up. They continued to get to Lopez from there, tagging him for two more walks and two more singles that ultimately brought in two more runs for Minnesota. Lopez finished the inning but it was a sour end to the left-hander’s day after what looked to be shaping up as an impressive performance.

The A’s tried clawing back after losing their lead. Langeliers led off the bottom half of the frame with a double and a pair of groundouts brought him around to score but that would be it for the A’s offense tonight. They had no other answer for either Pablo Lopez or the rest of the Twins bullpen. Minnesota added on four more runs in the seventh, two off of former starter Osvaldo Bido and two off of Tyler Ferguson that all but sealed this game.

What else is there to say? Even when using the opener strategy correctly the A’s can’t seem to get out of their way. Lopez stayed in way longer than he should have and it was obvious he was running out of steam. This is Kotsay’s job to see and if he can’t handle the pitching management then a change needs to be made. This club is too talented to be where they are now.

That’s now eight straight losses and the team seemingly has no idea what to do to win a game. It’s hard to watch as a fan when an early lead seems all but certain to not last. Let’s hope tomorrow night is different. The Twins will throw rookie Zebby Matthews out there for the third game of this series while the Athletics have yet to announce a starter. Stay tuned for an update on that front.