Athletics give up 22 combined runs in split squad affair, lose both matchups

The Oakland Athletics dropped both halves of their split squad double header this afternoon, giving up a combined 22 runs on 27 hits. The A's lost to the Brewers by a score of 11-4, and dropped a closer matchup with the Rockies by a score of 11-9.

During the earlier matchup against the Brewers, Joe Boyle got into a bit of trouble by allowing 4 walks in 4 innings, but he did strike out 5 and only allowed 2 runs.

The Brewers broke the game open in the 5th inning after the A's called on Trevor Gott to replace Boyle. Gott wound up allowing 5 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks without recording an out.

It's been a bit of a rough spring for the newly acquired reliever, who has now allowed 8 runs in 3 innings across 4 appearances. He has just one scoreless outing thus far which isn't a great sign for someone who the A's expect to work in higher leverage spots this season. Gott will hopefully be able to turn it around at as we inch closer to opening day.

The offense never quite got going in this one. JJ Bleday and Seth Brown both had two hits on the day and Tyler Soderstrom finally notched his second extra base hit of the spring, this time a 2-run double in the bottom of the 4th that tied the game at 2-2.

Ultimately, the Brewers were just good enough to earn the victory. Jake Junis threw 4.2 innings, striking out 4 while allowing 3 earned runs. The Crew got 2 homers on the day, one each from Jake Bauers and Oliver Dunn and were able to leave Hohokam Stadium with the win.

In the later matchup against the Rockies, the offense showed up but the pitching staff forgot to. Starter Kyle Muller struggled right off the bat, allowing 3 runs in the 1st inning, including a 2-run homer from Kris Bryant.

In total, Muller allowed 9 hits in 3 innings, giving up 6 runs, 5 of them earned, with 4 strikeouts and a walk. It's an afternoon he'll look to forget as his quest to earn a spot in the rotation takes a bit of a hit.

For Muller's sake, Joe Boyle didn't have a strong outing either so the needle probably hasn't moved much in any direction after today's disaster.

A's prospect Jack O'Loughlin got beat up on the day as well. He gave up 5 runs on 5 hits in 2.2 innings despite grabbing 4 strikeouts. He gave up 2 home runs on the day, the first one coming from 2023 All-Star Elias Diaz and the second from first base prospect Michael Toglia.

On the bright side, Hoy Park had another 3 hits on the day, bringing his spring batting average up to .429 with a 1.076 OPS. The A's also got multi-hit days from Shea Langeliers and Darell Hernaiz, and were able to plate 9 runs on 14 hits.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough to leave with a win. Most of the damage came off reliever Justin Lawrence in the 8th, when the A's scored 6 runs to bring the game within reach. It wasn't meant to be, as the Rockies were able to clean up Lawrence's mess well enough to get out of the day with a victory.

The Athletics are back at it again tomorrow afternoon with a 1:05 pm PST matchup against the White Sox. Lefty Alex Wood is set to face off against Chicago's Nick Nastrini.