Athletics' catcher Shea Langeliers earns infamous Golden Sombrero
The Oakland Athletics lost a tough matchup against the Detroit Tigers this afternoon
The Oakland Athletics dropped another game this afternoon, this time losing 5-4 to the Detroit Tigers. The A's have fallen to a 1-7 record to start the season.
Athletics' catcher Shea Langeliers struck out 4 times in 4 plate appearances, earning the dreaded Golden Sombrero. Langeliers' batting line dropped to .190/.250/.333 after today's performance.
The A's actually got to Tigers' starter Tarik Skubal, getting 4 runs on 4 hits off the young lefty. Skubal is a dark horse candidate for the AL Cy Young award this year, so to see the A's have a little life against him is encouraging.
That said, Skubal did notch 9 strikeouts in 6.1 innings and the Tigers bullpen provided 2.2 scoreless innings to finish off the A's.
Starter JP Sears had his second poor outing in a row, this time throwing 5.2 innings and allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk while getting just one strikeout. Sears lowered his ERA to 8.68 with the performance.
The A's did homer twice off Skubal. Brent Rooker hit his first of the year in the top of the 6th, and Abraham Toro hit one in the top of the 7th to bring the game to within a run.
The A's would tie the game in the 6th but Lucas Erceg allowed a double off the bat of Gio Urshela in the 8th that scored Spencer Torkelson and put the Tigers ahead for good.
Former Athletics' outfielder Mark Canha ruffled some feathers this afternoon when he homered in the 6th and seemingly glared into the A's dugout for a few seconds before starting his trip around the bases.
Canha told reporters after the game that he was looking above the dugout trying to get the fans going but it was a bit of a suspicious move. There wouldn't seem to be any bad blood between Canha and any of the guys currently in the dugout though so it's likely a non-story.
The A's will get back after it again tomorrow at 10:10 am PDT. Paul Blackburn will take the bump for the A's. He'll face off against Tigers' righty Kenta Maeda.