When Sonny Gray took the mound for the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday morning in Minnesota, he was sporting a black eye and a bandage across his nose. Gray had gotten hit in the face by a ball, but his appearance was somewhat indicative of his whole season. Gray pitched pretty well, but ended up on the losing end of a 4-0 decision.
Gray struggled most of the day, but he gave up only one run. It seemed that Gray was being squeezed by home plate umpire Fielden Culbreth. Gray painted the corners, but rarely got called strikes. Gray had his curve ball working again and he was throwing 95 mph.
The Twins were taking all the close pitches and Culbreth refused to call strike three. Gray kept the ball down and he was pitching on the black. He did not throw a wild pitch. Gray ended up with four walks and five strikeouts.
Unfortunately for Gray, the Oakland Athletics could do nothing with Ervin Santana. Once again, a veteran pitcher who has struggled mightily this year was able to completely stymie the Oakland bats. The A’s hitters never gave Culbreth a chance to “squeeze” Santana.
Santana would throw a strike right down the middle which A’s hitters would take. Then the hitters would swing at a slider that was a foot outside. Usually the A’s would end up hitting a pop up on the infield or strike out on a pitch in the dirt. Santana came into the game with a well deserved 2-7 record. 100 pitches later, Santana had a complete game shutout. He faced one batter over the minimum.
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I wish I could say that Santana was brilliant, but the reality is that the A’s were just taking terrible at bats. They say that hitting is contagious, and it seems that slumping is contagious as well. There could be a couple factors at work. One factor could be the A’s advanced scouts. Maybe the hitters are getting lousy scouting reports, so they have no idea on what to expect. Or maybe the hitting coach needs to be replaced.
The A’s are ranked ninth in the American League when it comes to batting average, but they are second to last in slugging, and dead last in on base percentage. It is easier to fire a coach than it is to fire a team. Darren Bush had a lot of success managing in the A’s minor league system. In the majors, however, the A’s seem somewhat clueless when they come up to the plate against pitchers who throw soft stuff.
Maybe A’s hitters just have to learn to lay off pitches out of the strike zone. Strike zone discipline leading to high on base percentages used to be a hallmark of the A’s.
Next: A's Get Shutout By The Listless Twins
A’s hitters would also grind out every at bat and make a pitcher work. If you need an illustration of how the A’s used to approach the game just watch what the Twins did to Sonny Gray on Wednesday. On the other hand, if you want to see a no-hitter, or even a perfect game, just keep following the A’s hitters. It’s bound to happen one of these days.