A’s Blow Late Lead, Fall To Royals 4-3

The Athletics’ blew another late lead on Tuesday night in Kansas City, allowing three runs in the bottom of the ninth to let an easy win slip right through their fingers. This one hurt.

Facing Kansas City left-hander Daniel Lynch IV tonight, the A’s got to work right away against the reliever-turned-starter. Zack Gelof drew a one-out walk to spark the first-inning rally and was immediately followed by a Jeff McNeil single and another walk to Jonah Heim. That loaded the bases and brought up rookie infielder Tommy White. A productive out would have been fine but the A’s ideally needed a hit, and White delivered with a base knock to left field to drive home one:

McNeil got a bit greedy behind Gelof trying to score and was gunned down at the plate. That took the air out of the rally and the A’s would ultimately only come away with one. Felt like they left some meat on the bone there.

That one run was enough for the Athletics’ pitching early. Righty Jack Perkins was initially slated to start but a late change saw left-hander Brady Basso get the ball for the first couple frames. He had a clean 1-2-3 bottom of the first then allowed one harmless single in the second. Pressing his luck, Mark Kotsay sent Basso back out for the third and Basso allowed another hit but also got one more out before getting pulled for Perkins.

Perkins was just as effective as Basso. He finished the third inning and would end up pitching through the sixth inning. He’d only allow two base runners in his work tonight, looking sharper as the game went on. He ended his night on a massive high, striking out the side in the sixth including an inning-ending punchout of Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.

• Jack Perkins: 3 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 53 pitches

A much better performance from him tonight. The opener strategy worked to perfection and that’s got to be the strategy next time his turn comes up. Fingers crossed he can use tonight’s quality outing and build on it over the final few weeks of the season. He’s “lined up” to pitch next in Houston against the Astros.

Back to the offense, things went quite for a few innings after that quick first inning run, with just one drawn walk between the second and fifth frames. It wasn’t until the top of the sixth did the A’s finally get those much-needed insurance runs. Henry Bolte smacked a leadoff single for the A’s third hit of the night, Gelof drew his second walk, and then it was McNeil coming through again with an RBI hit to make it 2-0 A’s:

The A’s would add on another run in the frame thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Max Muncy. That made it 3-0 A’s and with the way the pitching was rolling it felt like the A’s could finally enjoy the final frames of a win.

One of the newest members of the bullpen Drew Rom replaced Perkins for the seventh. The left-hander only faced three batters with two of them collecting doubles to make it 3-1. No cruising for the A’s tonight after all. Kotsay immediately came and got him, asking Luis Medina to put out the fire. Medina did just that, coming through by getting two groundball outs to escape the jam. Still a two-run lead and six outs to go.

Medina stayed in for a quick bottom of the eighth and got two outs but also put two on with free passes. That brought out Hogan Harris for an extended save chance. First he ended the Royals’ threat by getting the final out of the eighth, then it was time for the ninth.

Things did not go as planned. The Royals were able to load the bases with one out thanks to a catcher’s interference, a single and a walk. Then a two-run RBI single tied this game and then Bobby Witt Jr. walked it off for the Royals. A’s lose.

A disgusting end to this game. The A’s were three outs away from their 50th win and instead allowed three runs. Unacceptable and tough to think about. Need to flush this one as fast as possible.

It hasn’t been announced yet but tomorrow’s game lines up for a Gage Jump start. If the 23-year-old makes his scheduled appearance it’ll be his 16th of the year. He’s coming off a decent outing against the Rangers when he pitched into the sixth and allowed three runs, but only collected one punchout compared to four walks. He’ll try to clean things up tomorrow against a weaker KC lineup.

The Royals, like the Athletics, haven’t announced their starting pitcher yet but if they stick with the regular rotation it’ll be veteran right-hander Seth Lugo making his 26th start. He’s been serviceable as a back-end type of pitcher for the past couple of years but at 36 he’s beginning to slow down. The righty will bring a 4.58 ERA into tomorrow night’s contest.