OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s bullpen, a bright spot in their resurgence to the top of the American League West, hit a rough patch Wednesday night in a 9-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before a crowd of 2,893 at the Coliseum.
Lou Trivino, who came in in relief of Chris Bassitt in the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead, had only given up three hits with runners on base all season. But he gave up three hits with runners on base in the inning and got only one hitter out, and Toronto scored five times to break it open and improve to 15-14.
The A’s, who had won three straight, fell to 19-13.
Bassitt came away with nothing for his best outing of the season in a duel with Toronto’s Robby Ray. The A’s scored three times off Ray on solo home runs by Ramon Laureano (No. 7) and Matt Chapman (No. 5) and an RBI single by Sean Murphy in the sixth.
Trivino’s nightmare inning started as they often do for relievers — with a five-pitch walk to No. 9 hitter Reece McGuire. Marcus Semien followed with a ground single to left, with Bo Bichette grounding out and avoiding a double play for the first out of the inning to put runners at first and third.
A wild pitch by Trivino brought home pinch runner Jonathan Davis to tie the score 3-3, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was intentionally walked, and Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk followed with run-scoring singles for a 5-3 Toronto lead.
That was it for Trivino (1-1), who left in favor of Adam Kolarek, but it wasn’t over for Toronto. Cavan Biggio brought home another run with a squeeze bunt, and Lourdues Gurriel’s ground ball brought in the fifth run of the inning for a 7-3 Blue Jays lead.
Trivino was charged with five earned runs in one-third of an inning, throwing nine strikes in 19 pitches. In the ninth, reliever Jordan Weems walked the first two batters he faced and ended up giving up a two-run double to Guerrero as Toronto tacked on two insurance runs.
Bassitt was done after seven innings, the first time he’s gone beyond six in his seven starts. After giving up the two runs in the first inning, Bassitt breeze through the next sixth, throwing 68 pitches and not surrendering a run. He finished with no walks and seven strikeouts. Bassitt threw 90 pitches in all, 63 of them strikes.
Murphy, who had briefly given the A’s a 3-2 lead with his run-scoring single, doubled home Matt Olson in the eighth to bring the A’s within 7-4.
It wasn’t exactly a mighty blow that put the A’s ahead, but Murphy’s well-placed dunker to center gave Bassitt a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Laureano opened the inning with a double to left center and advanced to third on Matt Olson’s ground ball out before Murphy, who as the designated hitter after catching the last three games, drove in the lead run.
Ray, who gave up six hits and three earned runs with no walks and nine strikeouts, finished the inning before giving way to Jordan Romano (3-1) in the seventh.
Chapman tied it against Ray in the fourth inning, hitting what looked to be a double up the alley on a line to right center, except that it kept going and cleared the fence on a line to make the score 2-2.
The A’s cut Toronto’s lead in half in the bottom of the first inning on Laureano’s solo home run to right center against Ray on a first-pitch fastball. Laureano’s seventh home run is one more than he hit in last season’s COVID-shortened 54-game season.
The Blue Jays reached Bassitt for four singles an two runs in a 22-pitch top of the first inning.
Bichette got things started with a one-out ground single off the glove of Elvis Andrus, with Guerrero Jr. grounding a single up the middle. Hernandez singled to right center, with right fielder Stephen Piscotty shielding his eyes from the sun (he may or may not have had a chance with a good break on the ball). The ball fell in, scoring Bichette, an Grichuk hitting a single to center to drive in the second run.
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