OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland A’s 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday cemented a series loss in three games all decided by one run. Nine of the A’s last 12 games have been decided by one run and in the 31 one-run games this year, the A’s have lost 16 of them.
The pitching staff is working around the slimmest margin for error, but keeping the team in striking distance as the A’s bats continue to fall flat. The Indians retired the A’s final 13 batters.
Chris Bassitt danced nicely on that slim margin of error, but the mistakes look magnified. Two players with Bay Area ties did all the damage.
Bradley Zimmer, who played college ball at University of San Francisco, hit the very first pitch of the game for a home run to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead. His broken-bat RBI single gave the Indians their second run on Bassitt.
Vallejo native Daniel Johnson, who entered the game batting .111 in seven games with the Indians, hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning, the first of his career.
But Bassitt, an Ohio native, emerged with a strong start, dealing seven innings with eight strikeouts on six hits with those three runs allowed — at one point, he retired 10 straight batters. The A’s starter peppered in a handful more curveballs than he has in his previous starts.
Johnson added runs and also took away an A’s run when he robbed Sean Murphy of a potential RBI in the second inning that could have scored Matt Chapman from second. That second inning saw the A’s first run, unearned for Indians starter Zach Plesac on second baseman Ernie Clement’s throwing error on a tailor made double play ball by Chapman. The error scored Jed Lowrie from third.
Seth Brown’s 11th home run tied the game up 2-2 in the fifth. It could have been a go-ahead home run if not for Ramón Laureano’s aggressive attempt to turn an easy double into a triple in the at-bat prior that resulted in him being called out at third base. A play confirmed on replay review.
The A’s looked to be clear for another one-run loss, but Yusmeiro Petit couldn’t navigate an action-packed ninth inning and allowed a run.
