By Morris Phillips

The level of disappointment in the A’s post-game clubhouse was obvious.  Despite all the new faces, the missing, injured pieces, this is a team that wants to win now.  And that wasn’t result on Saturday as the A’s toiled for more than 3 ½ hours only to lose 5-4 to the Mariners in 11 innings.

“It’s no fun losing a close game,” manager Bob Melvin admitted.  “Both teams fought real hard, both teams had opportunities.  They had one more, big hit than we did.”

The A’s have split six consecutive home games to start the season, with all three wins impressive routs—but each followed by a loss.  With King Felix Hernandez on the mound for Seattle on Sunday, the prospects of finishing the week with more losses than wins simply won’t sit well.

On Saturday, a couple of pitches didn’t end up where the A’s needed them, and a couple of advantageous situations weren’t fully realized and the Mariners escaped with a win.  It couldn’t be discounted that the A’s grew used to winning games like this in 2014 on their way to all too abrupt playoff appearance.

Sonny Gray was sharp, pitching into the eighth inning with the lead, only to depart and see reliever Dan Otero miss location on a pitch to Nelson Cruz, who deposited it over the left field fence for a Mariners 4-2 lead.  The A’s would answer right back and send the game into extras, but among other things, Gray’s seemingly big opening week lost some steam.

In a pair of starts, Gray threw 15 plus innings, allowing just one earned run, but with Cruz’s pyrotechnics, the A’s youthful ace has just one win to show for all his efforts.  Not surprisingly, Gray battled despite some physical issues not to mention the presence of Seattle lineup that was beefed up in the off-season.

“There’s so many things that didn’t go our way and we still had a chance,” Gray said.