A’s Fall to Braves 9-2

Not a good evening in Sacramento

The Braves got payback on the Athletics tonight, smacking down the A’s 9-2 to even up the series and set up the rubber match for the finale tomorrow. Tough evening for the Green & Gold all around.

Braves strike early, often

Right-hander Mitch Spencer got the ball for the A’s tonight. Making his 7th start of the season, Spence was shaky from the very first batter of the game, allowing a leadoff home run to Ronald Acuna Jr. to get this game going. Things got worse for Spence before they got better. The next two Braves collected hits before Atlanta’s catcher Drake Baldwin launched a three-run homer to center field that made this a 4-0 game before Spence even got one out.

The Braves didn’t let up on the former Rule 5 pick in the next inning. Two more runs came in on an Austin Rlley homer, and in the fourth inning Acuna Jr. hit the Braves’ third homer of the night and his second of the game. It was 7-0 and this game was quickly getting out of hand.

A’s bats go missing

The Atlanta starting pitcher on the other hand was carving up the A’s lineup like butter. Right-hander Bryce Elder came into tonight with a high 5.92 ERA through 14 starts this year so the Athletics must have felt confidence coming into tonight, especially after yesterday’s offensive outburst. Instead they had trouble all night against the right-hander, collecting just two hits and a walk through the first four frames.

They managed to push one across against Elder in the fifth to break up the shutout attempt. Second baseman Zack Gelof started off the rally with his first hit of the season, a base hit to center that former A’s shortstop Nick Allen couldn’t make a play on. Center field rookie Denzel Clarke followed that base hit with one of his own, a double that put two runners in scoring position. All-Star snub Lawrence Butler brought Gelof in from third with an RBI groundout but that was all the A’s could muster there. At least the A’s were on the board.

Spence finally pulled, Braves keep adding on

Considering the fact that he gave up six runs in the first two innings, the 27-year-old starter didn’t seem long for this game. On the contrary, Spence would stick around for four more innings, allowing that second homer to Acuna in the fourth, and then an additional home run to Marcel Ozuna to lead off the sixth that wiped away the lone run the A’s had scored the half-inning prior. Spence wound up sticking around to finish the frame, ending the day after six rough innings.

• Mitch Spence: 6 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 5 HR, 79 pitches

Easily the worst start of his season and probably career. Spence just did not have anything working in his repertoire tonight and the Braves punished him for it. It doesn’t help pitching in a minor league ballpark, and it was a hot day in Sacramento with the ball flying every which way, but it was a tough way for Spence to end what was ultimately a successful first half that saw him force his way back into the starting rotation and solidify his spot. He’ll now get the next 10-12 days to recover, decompress, and prepare for the marathon that is the second half of a baseball season.

The first reliever out of Mark Kotsay’s bullpen was lefty Hogan Harris and he allowed Atlanta’s ninth run of the night when former Athletic Jurickson Profar drove in former Athletic Matt Olson with an RBI double in the seventh. Righty Elvis Alvarado handled the ninth and had a scoreless appearance in mop up duty.

A’s get one final run

Still facing Elder into the bottom of the sixth, the A’s kept pestering the Braves and refused to go quietly. The A’s collected three straight two-out hits to score their second run, with the big hit coming from Gio Urshela to bring in Tyler Soderstrom:

That was all the A’s would muster. The bats would manage just two more hits the rest of the night, a single from All-Star Brent Rooker and a single from Denzel Clarke.

A tough all-around loss for the club. Spence was horrible from the jump and put his team in a massive early hole, but the offense didn’t show up today against an opposing starting pitcher who has struggled all year and especially recently. Bright spots? Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke had two hits apiece (the only A’s players with multiple hits tonight), the defense didn’t make any errors, and no one got hurt. That’s about it. Time to flush this one, and quick.

The A’s will wrap up the Braves matchup tomorrow night and go for the series win against their NL East rivals. Left-hander JP Sears will get the ball for the 19th and final time of the first half, hoping to end his roller coaster of a half on a high note. Atlanta will counter with ace righty Spencer Strider, who hasn’t quite returned to his peak form since returning from major elbow surgery. Could be a pitching duel, could be a slugfest. Gotta tune in to find out!