One more game played, one more game lost. It's the Oakland A's world as the Athletics dropped the second one at St. Louis losing 6-2 on the road against the Cardinals on Tuesday.
But hey, there's always a bright side to everything, isn't there?
LAWRENCE BUTLER'S FIRST MLB HOMER WAS A NO-DOUBTER 👀 pic.twitter.com/PCxMJx3bWw
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 16, 2023
The A's youngsters keep producing and doing what not many newcomers to Major League Baseball can do and accomplish the minute they hit The Show. On Tuesday, it was time for an outfielder and recent call-up Lawrence Butler to blast his first homer.
Butler's home run against the Cardinals was all the rookie needed to put together his fourth consecutive game logging a hit, and also earning his first couple of RBIs in the majors as the dinger was a two-run blast.
"It was a surreal feeling."
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 16, 2023
Lawrence Butler reacts to his first MLB homer, and says he traded a couple signed baseballs to the kid who caught the ball pic.twitter.com/wK0dGsu1ph
I guess you can be a bit more excited than Butler was after the game having hit his first fence-clearer, but hey, it's not that the A's make those things easy with the steady losing, do they?
At least the A's never had a chance on Tuesday, as they started the game with no runs on their box after an inning of play but surrendered four to the Cardinals through the first outs of the matchup.
St. Louis would then go on to take a 5-0 lead by the end of the fourth frame only cut down to a three-run advantage by Butler's home run in the seventh inning.
Another run scored by the hosts one inning later would bring things to a close early, with the ninth inning only lasting half of its official distance as the A's couldn't come any closer to tie their foes on the scoreboard.
Tony Kemp returned from his paternity leave, led the way slotted to hit in first place, but couldn't connect on any of the four plate appearances he logged. Gelof, surprisingly, couldn't log a hit and stroke out once.
Esteury Ruiz stole his 47th base of the season, clearly leading the American League over second-place Bobby Witt (34) and only trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. (55) in the whole MLB landscape.
The A's (33-87) stay in Missouri to face the Cardinals one final time this season on Wednesday before returning home to host the second-best team in the majors, the Baltimore Orioles who are entering Wednesday boasting a flashy 74-46 record.