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A's get no Holiday from losing in St. Louis
By Morris Phillips June 19, 2010 |
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Another tough road environment. Another close game. Another frustrating loss. These days, that’s the face of Oakland A’s baseball. While the A’s continue to compete at a high level, it’s as if there doing so with one hand tied behind their collective backs. Whether it’s a lack of offense, a defensive lapse, a weak link in the bullpen or lately, a poor performance from a starting pitcher, the A’s seem to have it all going now… going wrong. On Saturday, the A’s and Ben Sheets carried a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning, only to see the Cardinals’ big guns strike swiftly and decisively. Sheets opened the door by walking leadoff hitter Yadier Molina, and after a sacrifice bunt, Skip Schumaker delivered a RBI single and Matt Holiday followed with a run-scoring double to give the Cardinals the lead. Two innings later, Holiday, who picked the arrival of his ex-teammates to break his slump, struck again. His two-run shot to left gave the Cardinals a 4-1 lead. Meanwhile, the A’s offense was on snooze following Rajai Davis’ manufactured run leading off the game. After Molina’s wild throw allowed the base-stealing Davis to continue home three batters in, St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright took over. The big right-hander limited the A’s to five hits in eight innings of work, and none of those eight frames featured more than one A’s hit. The closest Wainwright came to getting in trouble was in allowing a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Jack Cust in the eighth. But Wainwright retired Davis and got Daric Barton to hit a line drive to shortstop Brendan Ryan, who doubled up Cust, drifting off second base. After failing to score off Wainwright in innings two through eight, the A’s got it going in the ninth with a walk and two singles off closer Ryan Franklin. But veteran manager Tony LaRussa, who employed his pitcher hitting eighth strategy, made a second unorthodox move in removing his closer at that point. Jason Motte, a right hander with a fastball hitting 98-100 mph, came on to strike out Kevin Kouzmanoff and retire Mark Ellis. And after allowing a run-scoring single to Gabe Gross, Motte struck out pinch-hitter Adam Rosales to end it. The A’s dropped their fourth straight and seventh in their last eight games. With a 5-13 record in June the A’s are dropping fast in the AL West, now trailing Texas by a season-high seven games. Also, the push Billy Beane was looking for by bringing in Conor Jackson hasn’t translated on the field. Jackson, a player who immediately threatened playing time at four positions, has performed well, but the A’s offense hasn’t perked up. The A’s have dropped three one-run decisions on this road trip after winning 10 of their first 12 games this year decided by a run. Wainwright improved to 7-0 in starts he's made this year at home. Ben Sheets took the loss, the 17th time he's lost to the Cardinals in his career. The A’s will attempt to break their dry spell on Sunday when Trevor Cahill faces St. Louis’ Jeff Suppan. |
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