By Morris Phillips

Unfortunately, the Camden Yard crowd’s reaction to seeing former Orioles’ All-Star Jim Johnson paled in comparison to the reaction Baltimore hitters had on Johnson’s pitches.

The A’s demoted closer relieved starter Sonny Gray in the sixth inning on Saturday night, and his second pitch of the night was deposited beyond the right field wall by David Lough. Trailing 4-1 at the time of Gray’s departure, the A’s fell behind 6-1 on Lough’s homer and went on to lose to the Orioles, 6-3.

So much looked different about the A’s on Saturday than has been their recent, lofty standard, it’s hard to figure out where to start. Gray had been undefeated on the road in five starts in 2014, and perfect at night, and almost perfect when allowed five days’ rest. But the A’s presumptive ace had trouble with his curve ball, walked too many batters (4) and came up on the short end for only the second time all season.

“You’re so used to him putting up zeros all the time,” manager Bob Melvin said of Gray. “He just got knicked up on a couple of pitches.”

When Lough connected to put the Orioles up 6-1, it marked the first time the A’s had trailed by as many as five runs since May 6. The A’s ridiculously stellar team statistics have them averaging well above five runs a game and allowing well less than three. Both numbers are major league bests and explain how the A’s run differential is nearly twice that of the Giants, who rank second in the category.

What do all the numbers mean? The A’s have won big and lost small with a whole bunch of close, hotly contested games in between. Being down five runs at one point on Saturday measures as about as near as the A’s have had to an uncompetitive ballgame in the last month.

Individually on Saturday, Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss fared the worst. The A’s 3-4 hitters went 0 for 7 with six strikeouts. The pair was baffled by Kevin Gausman, who was promoted from AAA Norfolk and picked up his first major league win as a starter.

Gausman went seven innings allowing four hits and a run. The 23-year old LSU product displayed some serious gas, fooling the A’s with his varied, late moving fastballs. Only Coco Crisp managed to square one up, hitting a solo shot that tied the game, 1-1, in the third.

The 30-year old Johnson established himself as a premier closer with the Orioles with 50-save seasons in 2012 and 2013. But even as Baltimore secured a playoff berth last season, Johnson was held accountable for his nine blown saves more so than heralded for the 50 he converted. When his arbitration number for 2014 hit $10 million, the Orioles decided they were better off without him and Johnson was dealt to the A’s for Jemile Weeks.

Whether Orioles’ fans missed Johnson wasn’t crystal clear based on the mixture of boos and cheers he received upon entering the game Saturday. What’s clear from the A’s perspective is Johnson hasn’t been worth the money in 2014.

After a shaky start to the season that led to Melvin taking Johnson out of the closers’ role, the big right hander hasn’t fared much better in different roles.   Saturday marked the 10^th time in 23 appearances that Johnson has allowed multiple hits.

The A’s look to capture the rubber game of the three-game set on Sunday when Scott Kazmir faces Baltimore’s Ubaldo Jimenez at 10:35am.