OAKLAND — The normally reliable Sean Manaea had a rough day, Athletics pitchers gave up four home runs and their offense was nonexistent until the game was out of hand Thursday in an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers at the mostly vacant Coliseum.
Now 4-8 since their seven-game winning streak concluded, the Athletics fell to 48-35 in the American League West before a crowd of 5,182. In taking two of three, it was the first time Texas has won a series in Oakland since 2016.
Manaea gave up two of the Rangers’ four home runs. White-hot Joey Gallo had his 20th home run for the Rangers, Nate Lowe had his 11th and 12th, and John Hicks his first as Texas improved to 32-49.
In surrendering four runs in five innings, it was the first time Manaea (6-5) gave up more than two runs since May 18 against Houston. Left-handed hitters were batting only .143 against him coming in, but both Lowe and Gallo reached him for first-pitch home runs.
“I felt good overall, it felt good coming out of my hand,” Manaea said in a postgame video conference. “Got a couple of broken-bat hits, couple of bloops, but a couple of hard-hit balls. Just got beat today.”
Gallo, who came into the game 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts against Manaea, got things started with a two-out RBI single in the first inning. Lowe connected on the first pitch of the fourth inning to make it 2-0, with Gallo’s two-run shot in the fifth making it 4-0.
It was the fifth straight game with a home run for Gallo, who has seven homers during that span. He also had two singles of over 100 mph exit velocity as well as a walk.
“You hope to catch him when he’s not swinging the bat well and we did not,” Melvin said. “We tried everything with him.”
7 #JoeyJacks in 5 games! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/02ptzcQiAh
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 1, 2021
Mitch Moreland, who had two of the A’s five hits with a double and a single, was a teammate of Gallo’s earlier in his career.
“He was younger when he was with me,” Moreland said. I always heard about these runs he’s going on, but never really seen it. He seems like he’s getting his pitch and not missing it.”
In all, Manaea gave up nine hits and four earned runs with a walk and six strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches, 65 of them strikes.
“Sean was off his game some,” Melvin said. “He battled as long as he could, didn’t have his best command.”
Domingo Acevedo replaced Manaea to open the sixth, and was promptly greeted by Hicks’ solo home run. Lowe’s second home run came against Deolis Guerra.
John King (6-5), who replaced Texas starter Dane Dunning in the fifth inning, was the winning pitcher for the Rangers.
The Athletics trailed 8-0 before scoring three times in the eighth inning that included a Rangers error and a pinch run-scoring double by Chad Pinder.
“We haven’t played our best here for a couple weeks, 10 days or so,” Melvin said. “Give them credit, they’re swinging the bats well.”
Canha’s absence felt
Since Mark Canha went on the injured list with a left hip strain on June 25, the A’s leadoff spot has gone 2-for-21 and scored two runs.
And it doesn’t sound as if Canha is coming back any time soon. When asked if Canha may return before the All-Star break July 12-15, Melvin said “I think that’s a stretch right now.”
That means at least nine more games without Canha atop the lineup, including three games at home against Boston and a three-game set in Houston, which is ahead of the A’s in the American League West.
“You’ve got to play with guys injured the entire season,” Melvin said. “It’s rare when you have a full complement of players. No excuses. A lot of teams have to deal with injuries.”
Leadoff hitter Tony Kemp didn’t reach base against Texas until being hit by a pitch trailing by eight runs in the eighth inning. He came around to score when King threw a ball away at second base on a comebacker.
Kemp also doubled with two out in the ninth.
Going into Wednesday’s game, Canha was 10th in the major leagues with 55 runs scored.
“That’s tough,” Moreland said of Canha’s absence. “He’s on base two, three, four, times a game it seems like. If he doesnt get a hit it’s a walk or a hit by pitch. He creates a little havoc for us on the base paths and gives us that much more opportunity to score runs.”
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