By Morris Phillips

Thirteen strikeouts, 12 baserunners stranded, a five-run deficit, four damaging errors, and one depressing injury added up to a very sobering night at the ballpark for the Oakland A’s.

In a 7-2 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field, the A’s looked like a team pressing with a bunch of statistical numbers to back the claim.

Of their four errors, three came on errant throws, ten of their 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position came up empty and then there were the 13 strikeouts.  Six walks were issued by Seattle pitching, but that just illustrated how much difficulty the Oakland hitters had in simply putting the ball in play.

Not coincidentally, the A’s have dropped four straight, seen a once promising road trip grow dark, and they’ve fallen into the cellar in the AL West.  They lead the majors in errors with 32, and no baseball statistic is more closely aligned to losing than committing errors.

“It’s the consistency of it,” manager Bob Melvin said.  “We play a really good game when we’ll make some great plays and then we’ll play another game where we make four errors and you’re not going to win any game making four errors.”

The underlying subtext to Oakland’s poor play is the manner in which the club is run where talented players are given an opportunity but often limited by a short leash if they falter.  While the philosophy has undeniably produced success, in times when the club is struggling as whole, individual players who don’t have a foothold in the big leagues often end up pressing, desperate not to be moved or demoted by GM Billy Beane.

Saturday—with the backdrop of the trade for Edward Mujica to boost a struggling A’s bullpen—it seemed if 25 guys were fighting to avoid a demotion to AAA as opposed to fighting to win a ballgame.

In addition, starting pitcher Jarrod Parker–whose impending promotion was thought to give the current group of starters extra motivation to get it done now or be replaced by Parker—was lost indefinitely when he suffered a broken bone in his surgically repaired elbow during a rehab start in Nashville.

Also, former starter A.J. Griffin is having issues as well.  Griffin couldn’t finish three innings of a simulated game when shoulder soreness cropped up.  He will be re-evaluated after a couple of days of inactivity, but it would appear he also won’t be a boost for the Oakland rotation in the near future.

Saturday, the A’s fell behind in the first inning when starter Jesse Hahn created a situation by allowing a wild pitch and a pair of hits, plating the first Mariners’ run.  But then Marcus Semien booted an inning-ending ground ball, recovered, but then threw wildly to the plate in an attempt to cut down Nelson Cruz.  That allowed both remaining baserunners to advance, and earned Semien the unwanted two errors on the same play.

The Mariners added a run in the second, two more in the fifth and one in the sixth and Hahn’s evening was done.  The right hander acquired by trade from San Diego allowed eight hits and three walks, and contributed to his misfortune with a throwing error of his own.  The A’s have dropped all but one of the six games Hahn has started this season.

On Sunday, the A’s attempt to avoid the sweep by having some success against Felix Hernandez, who is 5-0 despite the Mariners being four games under .500 at 13-17.  Hernandez will be opposed by Oakland’s Jesse Chavez.