Even in a hitter’s paradise an offense can run dry. The Oakland A’s were able to set up a few scoring opportunities, but couldn’t cash in while attempting to get the series sweep.
They lost to the Colorado Rockies, 3-1, on Sunday at Coors Field in Denver to complete a 4-2 road trip. The A’s remain in first place, a game up on the Houston Astros in the American League West. It was a road trip triumph, considering the context of their minor scuffle with the bats at home last week against the Angels and Mariners.
“Everybody did a lot better,” Elvis Andrus said. “We had a lot of great at-bats. Mark (Canha), Tony (Kemp), Oly (Matt Olson) are on fire so, just trying to get on base for them so they can come through.
“All around it was a great road trip. We won all the series, that’s what we’re looking for, to continue to win series and maintain first place.”
Canha, Kemp and Olson, the trio mentioned are hoisting hot bats, all fizzled a bit on getaway day against tough Colorado pitcher German Marquez. Canha went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts after getting six hits over the first two games.
Olson is a frontrunner to represent the A’s at the All-Star game with a .941 OPS that ranks third in the American League — behind Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1.098) and Boston’s J.D. Martinez (.958) — but he went 1-for-4 on Sunday.
Kemp was involved in the A’s only run of the day, doubling to lead off the sixth inning and scoring on Sean Murphy’s double off Marquez’s hanging breaking ball. Kemp has responded to more consistent playing time by hitting in eight straight games, batting .384 over that stretch.
Against Marquez, though, even the A’s hottest hitters couldn’t get the big hit.
They had some opportunities. An Andrus single and Mitch Moreland reaching on an error put runners on the corners in the seventh inning. But Rockies reliever Mychal Givens recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
A Chad Pinder double play ended a scoring threat in the eighth inning with runners on the corners.
“(His) breaking ball is one of the best breaking balls in the league,” Andrus said. “It’s really tough to see the curveball and the slider and he always combines those two pitches really well to keep you off balance. He’s been doing it for a long time, and today he is always going to be a tough at-bat.”
James Kaprielian’s solid start in a tough environment
A’s pitchers this series have struggled to stay winded and keep their breaking pitches down in unfamiliar and thin-aired Coors. Without his best stuff, Kaprielian gutted through five innings while allowing just two runs with six strikeouts and three walks.
“Only gave up two runs. It’s different pitching here, and giving us what he gave us was all we could expect today,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You give up two runs and score five, you looked like you pitched a good game. You give up two runs when you only score a run, you take a loss. In this place, I’ll take it.”
Kaprielian didn’t want to use the conditions as an excuse — teammates warned that his stuff wouldn’t break like it would in lower altitudes — but he noted that the conditions impacted his pitches.
“All my stuff felt different today, to be honest” Kaprielian said. “I hate to use it as an excuse, because at the end of the day it’s about me making adjustments on the mound making the next pitch and I didn’t do a good job of that.”
Kaprielian didn’t throw any of his two-seamers because they were “cutting about two feet to the left,” so that effectively eliminated that pitch. So his start was about surviving and coping without his best stuff.
Things could have gotten out of hand for him in the fourth inning. The Rockies loaded the bases with no outs, and Kaprielian allowed only a sacrifice fly, escaping the inning on a strikeout and fly out.
“I thought he did well, he’s had some experience with that,” Melvin said. “In his first game, you get through a few tough instances like that so you feel more confident when you get in those situations again. He did that well today.”
Fueled by some anger and frustration, he said, Kaprielian pitched a clean fifth and final inning. Even without his two-seamer and a good feel for his stuff, Kaprielian hoped he could be more efficient with his pitches. He threw 90 by the end of his outing.
“For me, being able to get ahead in the count, throwing first two of three for strikes, not walking guys, in the past that’s (what) I’ve been good at,” he said. “And past couple games I haven’t done a great job of that, and it’s been out of character. It’s something I take pride in and being able to pitch deep into games.”
Up next: The A’s will head home for a two-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, anther NL West opponent. Then the Kansas City Royals come to Oakland for a four-game series.
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A’s can’t capitalize on scoring opportunities for sweep, but leave Colorado with series win - Vacaville Reporter
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