Elephant Rumblings: A’s drop series via walk-offs, Erceg to IL

MLB news roundup

“Hey Siri, please don’t homer off our closer.”

Unfortunately, that command was not received yesterday, as Rays center fielder Jose Siri went long against Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth, sealing the young closer’s first blown save of the season as the Rays went on to notch a second consecutive walk-off win to take the series in Tampa Bay. What could easily have been a sweep this week turned into a frustrating series loss, and the A’s will have to attempt to right the ship against the formidable Atlanta Braves as their road trip continues.

More bad news came yesterday as A’s manager Mark Kotsay disclosed that setup man Lucas Erceg is headed to the IL with forearm tightness pending further workup.

The news on Erceg came on the heels of another injury setback, as the A’s placed lefty reliever Kyle Muller on the IL due to shoulder tendinitis. On a more positive note, Hogan Harris was called up from Triple-A as a reinforcement and made an impressive start for the A’s yesterday with seven Ks and just one earned run in 5⅔ innings.

JP Sears will lead the A’s against the Braves and former Athletics stars Matt Olson and Sean Murphy. Sears is coming off an excellent outing against the Astros last Saturday, but the A’s bats will be challenged by Braves starter Reynaldo López, who has posted a superb 1.75 ERA through nine starts this season.

Have a wonderful weekend, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Rays walk-off A’s, 6-5
• Athletics place Kyle Muller on injured list, recall Hogan Harris
• Athletics Outright Brandon Bielak
• Watch young lucky fan at A’s-Rays grab two foul balls in same inning

MLB News & Interest:

• Inclusion of Negro Leagues statistics in MLB records only enhances baseball’s history ($)
• Former Met Jorge López clarifies ill-fated interview comments, calls himself ‘the worst teammate’ ($)
• Joey Wendle Elects Free Agency
• Grab some bench, umps? How MLB’s Automated Ball-strike System works ($)
• The long climb back for Fernando Tatis, Jr., once the next ‘face of baseball’ ($)
• Astros Notes: Alvarez, Abreu, Rotation
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

Mason on pace for K rate record.

DOTF with some deep statistical analysis.