Oakland Athletics: 2015 Season Almanac

Game 15 – Tuesday, April 21, 2015 @ 7:00 pm

Game Attendance: Away Game
Season Attendance: 173,367
Lowest Attendance: 15,025 (Game 2)
Game Time: 3:15
Season Time: 43:14

Win Record: 7-8
Win Record vs Angels: 1-1
Streak: L1
AL West Standing: 2nd
Elimination Number: 147

Winning Pitcher: Hector Santiago (2-1)
Losing Pitcher: Drew Pomeranz (1-2)
Pitchers/Pitch Count: Pomeranz/100, Alvarez/48, Abad/19, Davis/9
Total Pitches per game: 176
Total Pitches per season: 2066

Game Home Runs: 1
Season Home Runs: 13
Game Runs: 1
Season Runs: 74
Runs Rank: 3rd
Run Differential: 14
Differential Rank: 7th

Game RBI Leader: Butler (1)
Season RBI Leader: Vogt (12)
Most RBI’s in Single Game: 4 (Game 3 & 5)

Game RISP: 0 for 5
Game LOB: 8
Season RISP: 45 for 139
Season LOB: 102

Game Batting Average: .156
Lineup Batting Average: .270

Total Players Used in Game: 14
Most Players Used in Game: 19 (Game 6)

Challenged Plays: 1
Total Challenged Plays: 7
Total Overturned Plays: 3
Games Won in Extra Innings: 0
Total Games Played in Extra Innings: 2 (6,7)

Special Notes:

April 21, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman Ike Davis (17) pitches the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The word train wreck is used a lot in games like this. The offense dried up, the defense was sloppy (there were three errors for the night) and the pitching was a joke. For a team to have a 5 for 13 RISP and leave 6 men on base and still beat you by 13 points is a travesty to the greatest game ever.

The argument can be made that some things just didn’t go the right way for the A’s. There was the inning ending double play that was over turned and later resulted in a three run homer. Actually, that’s about the only argument that can be made. The rest was simply sloppy baseball.

The worst part of the whole evening was that it is not going to be a game we soon forget because Ike Davis pitched a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning. No need to read that sentence again, you had it right the first time. Ike Davis, Oakland’s first baseman, pitched an inning of relief in order to not waste the bullpen on a 13 run blowout of a game and he did exactly what we’d like to see all of our bullpen pitchers do by getting out of the inning quickly, efficiently and stress free.

Billy Butler, who is quietly hitting .375 at the moment, had his second home run of the season and provided the only scoring for the Oakland Athletics. Butler has had at least one hit in 14 of his first 15 games and walked twice in the game that he didn’t hit in. Saying he’s on pace for around 21 homers is a little stupid this early in the season but it’s true at the moment.

Craig Gentry does not share a similar statistic, though. In 25 plate appearances, Gentry has yet to snag a hit and he’s only walked twice. 40% of his at bats have resulted in strike outs including the Golden Sombrero from tonight’s “game”. In 2014, his longest stretch without a hit was in May when he had a six game drought but that was only 9 plate appearances. Saying he’s on pace to bat .000 is a little stupid this early in the season but it’s true at the moment.

This game marked something of a milestone for the Oakland Athletics in that they passed the 100 runners left on base marker. With 102 players left on base and a 45 for 139 RISP, it is clear that this team needs to work on their clutch hitting. Had they been able to bring in half of the 8 men they left on base today and tightened up their defense to be error free, the tone of this recap could be very different. Saying they’re on pace to leave 1,101 runners on base is a little stupid this early in the season but it’s true at the moment.

Relevant Links

The A’s Need Consistency
Pitching Seems to be a Work in Progress

Next: Time to get that differential back a little