Elephant Rumblings: Series win in Sacramento continues to elude A’s

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

Well, the A’s lost both series in their latest home stand, and yesterday’s shutout loss was a complete disaster riddled with abysmal defense. Shortstop Jacob Wilson committed his first error of the season and failed to extend his 16-game hitting streak.

That leaves the A’s with a 6-10 record, trailing all rivals in the AL West, and still in search of their first series win in Sacramento. But there are silver linings to be found.

Yes, the A’s are 2-7 at Sutter Health Park so far—but that is literally against the three NL division leaders; that’s tough competition, even though we’d all like to see the A’s do better. Furthermore, both of the A’s losses to the Padres were by one run, as was one of the losses against the Mets. So both series were well fought overall and could have gone the other way. The A’s actually outscored the Padres 15-11 through last week’s series.

Lastly, the pitching is much improved overall compared to the A’s debut series in Sacramento, which the Cubs swept. Joey Estes has been replaced at the bottom of the rotation by J.T. Ginn, who made an impressive season debut with the A’s on Sunday.

Luis Severino was also impressive against his former team yesterday and kept the A’s in the game before the parade of defensive follies ensued in the contest’s latter half.

So yes—it is disappointing to see the A’s trailing their division, but the schedule will ease up, and with some proper defensive adjustments, the A’s might be able to find a groove. Apparently, Seth Brown in center field is not said proper adjustment.

Have a terrific week, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s smacked in series finale by Mets 8-0
• In Baseball, The Glass Can Always Be Half Full
• A’s roster moves: Ginn recalled, Perdomo DFA’d
• Ginn, Athletics take down the Mets 3-1
• Severino (1 ER, 6 K’s) brings his A-game vs. former club
• Kurtz swats 7th homer, forms dynamic tandem with No. 2 prospect at Triple-A
• A’s vs. Mets interrupted when medical cart breaks down on the field in Sacramento ($)
• Major League Baseball in minor-league parks … it’s looking a little different ($)

MLB News & Interest:

• Astros fan says he ripped ball from Mike Trout’s glove to protect child: ‘It was coming at my son’s face’ ($)
• Mike Trout knows the baseball world is rooting for his comeback: ‘I’ve got a lot of support’ ($)
• Justin Steele To Undergo Season-Ending Elbow Surgery
• Braves Expected To Activate Spencer Strider On Wednesday
• Details On Lance Lynn/David Robertson Offseason Asking Prices
• Yankees Place Marcus Stroman On 15-Day IL, Select Allan Winans
• Blue Jays Notes: Burnes, Bregman, Scherzer, Varsho, Swanson, Burr
• Mariners Not Currently Listening To Offers On Luis Castillo
• Tommy Helms Passes Away
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Which number is luckier: 7 or 13?

Carting off an injured cart.

A Lansing Slam.