SEATTLE _ The hope for the Oakland A's entering the 2018 season was that their offense could be good enough to overcome pitching deficiencies. That offense might be really good, but A's pitchers continue to struggle mightily.
No. 1 starter Kendall Graveman was bad again. Yet to go past five innings in a start this season, Graveman continued that bad trend in Saturday's 10-8 loss to the Mariners.
After pitching his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, Graveman was bit by the home run bug again in the second. Jean Segura launched a 2-2 sinker from Graveman over the wall in left field to give the Mariners an early 3-0 advantage.
While Graveman's downfalls in recent starts came from his inability to keep his sinkerball low to hitters, the pitch to Segura seemed to be placed in a good spot as it was down and inside, but Segura still managed to crush it out.
The A's strung together a nice two-out rally with three straight hits in the third against Marco Gonzalez to drive in three runs and tie the game, but Graveman immediately allowed the Mariners to go back on top the following half-inning. Graveman surrendered three straight hits to lead it off, with the third hit being a single by Mitch Haniger that drove in two runs.
Graveman failed to go deep in a game again, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts over four innings of work. He is now 0-3 with a 9.87 ERA, and his six home runs allowed are the most by a starting pitcher in all of baseball so far this season.
But it wasn't all on Graveman. The bullpen also struggled for the second consecutive night.
After blowing a 3-2 lead the night before by allowing five runs in the seventh, Danny Coulombe and Emilio Pagan combined to allow five runs on Saturday, including three home runs.
Any time the A's would build some momentum on offense, like in the seventh when Mark Canha crushed a solo shot to left that was followed up by a two-run homer to center by Khris Davis two batters later to bring the A's within two runs, that good feeling would get immediately zapped by the bullpen.
After the two A's homers, Pagan surrendered a monstrous solo homer to Daniel Vogelbach that went over the restaurant at Safeco Field that hangs well beyond the wall in right field.
Despite featuring an offense that is in the top 10 in MLB in runs scored with 71, the 84 runs given up by A's pitching is the second-most in all of baseball.
Davis' home run in the seventh was his fifth of the season and fourth in the past three games.
