The Oakland Athletics returned to their early-season trends and on a day when the pitching of starter Ken Waldichuk was great, the men trying to hit the ball couldn't string enough successful plays together to score more than one run.
The A's ended up losing 7-1 to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, falling to a .302 winning percentage and a season-long 42-97 record, and getting one game closer to reaching 100 losses on a year to forget in the Bay.
Waldichuk didn't earn the loss because did all he could and then some to prevent it from happening on Tuesday. He pitched six full innings, only allowed four hits while striking out three batters, and earned no runs as he blanked the Jays through 18 batsmen.
Brought the Kenergy tonight 😤 pic.twitter.com/BaKARspgqk
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 6, 2023
Things changed for the absolute bad the minute Waldichuk hit the bullpen.
Zach Neal entered the game in relief of Waldi first, removed one batter, and allowed three runs (all earned) on no hits. Just imagine.
Sam Long followed him, and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits. If you're wondering what's the freaking deal, well, then let me tell you that Neal & Long combined for six bases on balls, each gifting three of them to the Jays.
Spencer Patton was the closer for the A's, and thank God he allowed a hit while striking one and ate no more runs. Sheesh.
The A’s are on the board 🙌 pic.twitter.com/3yDhjzetgL
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) September 6, 2023
Seth Brown was the only man the Athletics' hitters could bring home, thanks to a single hit by Jordan Diaz when all hope was already lost and a strong 6-0 flashing on the digital scoreboard.
No stolen bases by Esteury Ruiz. No home runs hit by Zack Gelof. Nothing to comment on hanging-by-a-thread-before-getting-labeled-a-bust Tyler Soderstrom. No Brent Rooker on the day. On and on it goes...
Meanwhile, Davis Schneider (this Davis Schneider) kept up his nonsensical 1.310 OPS with a hit and a walk on Tuesday. Kudos to the D for what he did.