A’s Drop Series Finale to Guardians 3-0
Time to hit the road
The A’s came up empty on Sunday afternoon in their series finale against the Cleveland Guardians, dropping the last game of the series 3-0 and finishing the home stand on a sour note.
Taking to the mound for the good guys today was left-hander JP Sears. Looking to right the ship after a rough stretch that has ballooned his ERA, he looked better this afternoon. Cleveland scored a pair of runs in the top of the second and one in the fifth, his final inning of work in this one. A much better performance and more in line with what the club expects from the third-year lefty.
-JP Sears: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 92 pitches
The offense on the other hand was stifled by Cleveland rookie Slade Cecconi. Over seven innings the club could only manage six hits, all singles. The team just had no answer for the young righty, and the Guardians’ bullpen finished off the A’s, dropping them to 32-48 and ending the home stand on a losing note.
That wasn’t fun. The A’s wrap up the home stand with a 3-4 record. Sears bounced back a bit and provided an encouraging outing, but the offense was listless and lost against a pitcher they’d never seen before. Righty pitcher Jack Perkins looked good in his MLB debut and pitched three scoreless innings and only allowed one hit. We should be seeing more of him going forward, perhaps even stealing a start or two from someone else in the rotation.
The A’s get a day off before heading to Detroit to start their road trip. Luis Severino will get the ball to start things off, while the AL Central-leading Tigers will go with ace right-hander Tarik Skubal. Tough task for the bats but anything can happen!