OAKLAND, Calif. _ The A's entered the season holding their bullpen _ featuring four former or current big league closers _ in high regard as one of very few bright spots on the team. That bright spot failed them in Saturday's 10-6 loss to the Houston Astros.
Santiago Casilla and Sean Doolittle were the main culprits in a bullpen meltdown that featured a combined eight earned runs given up by five relievers over four innings. Casilla allowed two runs in the seventh and eighth to blow what was a 5-3 lead that he inherited from Liam Hendriks, and Doolittle proceeded to allow a two-run home run to George Springer that put the Astros ahead 8-5 to complete the disastrous performance.
The A's jumped to a 5-0 lead after an offensive outburst that featured fifth-inning solo home runs by Trevor Plouffe and Khris Davis, but it all soon began to fall apart.
It's not often that a pitcher gets pulled in the middle on a no-hitter, but Sean Manaea's high pitch count and the inability to throw strikes forced manager Bob Melvin to pull the plug.
Manaea had been cruising through five innings as he racked up six strikeouts, but he began the sixth by walking the first three batters to load the bases.
A line drive by Carlos Correa bounced off the glove of shortstop Adam Rosales and into the outfield where the ball rolled under the glove of Jaff Decker, driving in two runs.
Despite not allowing a hit, Manaea's five walks ballooned his pitch count to 98 and left Melvin with no choice but to remove him.
The two errors made on Correa's liner made it 15 errors in 13 games for the A's and extended their streak of games in which they committed an error to nine.
Inheriting a dangerous situation in which Houston had already scored twice and was threatening for more with two on and no outs, Ryan Dull was the lone reliever to not allow a run in the game. He loaded the bases but was able to pitch his way out by getting Marwin Gonzalez to ground into a double play to end the inning and preserve the 5-2 lead.
Decker found himself right in the middle of a three-run rally in the second inning, hitting a double to drive in Stephen Vogt and extend the A's lead to 2-0.
Manaea came into the season projected to have a breakout season, but his first three starts have been filled with inconsistency. What started as a promising no-hit bid Saturday turned into his shortest outing of the season.
