A’s drop game two to Brewers, lose first series in weeks

After going nearly three weeks without losing a series, the Oakland A’s finally lost a pair to the Milwaukee Brewers, leaving the streak at

Thr A’s stuck first in this one with a big shot off the lefty bat of JJ Bleday pulled to the right field bleachers.

Unfortunately, rookie starter Joe Boyle, after shutting out the Rays for six innings earlier this week, took a step backwards today and couldn’t defend Oakland’s lead. While the righty struck out a whopping eight Brewers with his filthy arsenal, he also reverted to some of his long-standing command issues, walking four Brewers en route to giving up five earned runs in as many innings. His biggest mistake was a heater left down the middle that Willy Adames sent out for a two-run homer.

Oakland’s offense finally woke back up from their nap, getting a Lawrence Butler leadoff single in the bottom of the 6th inning followed by a Brent Rooker two-run shot to shrink the lead to two. The home run was Rook’s 30th of the season, officially giving him back-to-back 30-homer seasons.

The next inning, the struggling Zack Gelof got a single off Rea and turned it into a double with a steal of second. After the next out, the Brewers went to former A’s southpaw Jared Koenig out of the bullpen, who’s had a stellar season so far. Nevertheless, he wasn’t able to showcase that to his former team as he immediately gave up a double to the pinch-hitting Daz Cameron, making it a 5-4 game.

The one-run lead didn’t last long under JT Ginn’s watch. After pitching a 1-2-3 7th, the recent call-up gave up an RBI double to Garrett Mitchell in the top of the 8th. The Brewers then ripped the game open in the 9th and gave the A’s a nightmare inning.

Starting with a leadoff double from Brice Turang off the typically shutdown Michel Otañez, a couple of reviews in a row went against the A’s. First, Mark Kotsay challenged the play at first base with Jackson Chourio running down the line. The umpires upheld their safe call, putting runners at first and third. Next up, a William Contreras groundball led to another bang-bang play at home plate, with Shea Langeliers getting the tag on Turang. The home umpire ruled it safe but, with Oakland out of challenges, decided to review the critical play on their own. Nevertheless, the call was upheld. A walk, a costly passed ball, and a Rhys Hoskins RBI single later, and the A’s were all of the sudden in a deep 9-4 hole with just 3 outs left to stage a comeback.

Not meant to be tonight. Oakland got an extra run in the bottom of the ninth to make it a reasonable 9-5 score but that was it. JJ Bleday grounded out to end the contest and put a pin in this one.

Welp. Not the outcome you want. The A’s were bound to lose a series eventually but it’s encouraging that it took this long after the All-Star break. We’ll be hoping to see more winning or tied series moving forward.

Oakland wraps but it’s series with the Brewers tomorrow afternoon in a wrap up of the home stand. It’ll be right-handed rookie Joey Estes facing off against longtime Athletic Frankie Montas in the series finale. Should be a good one!