By: Eric He

OAKLAND — It was a day of realization for the A’s.

Realization that their second best pitcher is gone, and others will likely follow before the trade deadline. Realization that despite a 30-22 record since May 23, it was probably too little, too late to make a playoff push.

That realization started early on Thursday with news that Scott Kazmir had been dealt to the Astros — a divisional opponent, no less — for two minor leaguers. It ended in the form a 5-2 defeat to the Blue Jays at the O.co Coliseum on Thursday afternoon as the A’s drop two out of three in the series and fall back to nine games under .500.

Russell Martin had three RBI for the Blue Jays against a scrambled A’s pitching staff.

Kazmir was scheduled to be the starting pitcher on Thursday afternoon, but with the trade, Bob Melvin had to turn to Plan B — a bullpen game.

Drew Pomeranz started the game pitched into the second inning and gave way to Dan Otero, but not before allowing the Blue Jays to jump in front. After a leadoff single by Danny Valencia in the second inning, Martin drilled a 3-2 fastball over the right center field wall to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said the plan is for Pomeranz to stay in the rotation, but he will need to gradually warm up to the pitch count. Pomeranz threw 44 pitches today.

“It’s going to be a progression to get him there,” said Melvin.”He hasn’t thrown over 20 pitches, and had an extended time off. 45 pitches was what were looking for today. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Added Pomeranz, who was told he would be starting at 10am this morning: “Finding out today, there’s not really much you can do.”

The A’s responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Marcus Semien led off with a double, and Billy Burns singled him in with a base hit to right that was bobbled by Jose Bautista. Later in the inning, Josh Reddick evened the score with a fielder’s choice ground ball RBI.

Toronto retook the lead in the top of the fourth with back-to-back two out doubles by Martin and Chris Colabello, both landing just fair down the right field line. To add insult to injury on a depressing day for A’s fans, Josh Donaldson doubled the Blue Jays lead to 4-2 with a homer off Otero to right center.

Otero lasted three innings and allowed two runs and was relieved by Arnold Leon, just called up from Triple A Nashville to take Kazmir’s spot on the roster. A sacrifice fly by Martin in the fifth added another insurance run to push the lead to 5-2.

The Blue Jays also had to make an emergency switch at pitcher, with scheduled starter Drew Hutchinson scratched with flu-like symptoms and R.A. Dickey moving up a day to pitch in his place.

And Dickey — he of a 3-10 record and ERA over 4.50 — was masterful, going 8.1 innings on 104 pitches, allowing just the two runs while striking out six.

After the third inning, the A’s managed to get just one runner in scoring position — a one-out double by Billy Burns that was wasted in the eighth.

Kazmir traded 

Hours before the game, the A’s announced they had traded Kazmir to the Houston Astros for RHP Daniel Mengden and C Jacob Nottingham. Kazmir, the A’s No. 2 man in the rotation behind Sonny Gray, was 5-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 18 starts.

Both Mengden and Nottingham are in the Astros’ Single A organization in Quad Cities, clearly making this a move toward the future. They aren’t even ranked in the Top 15 of the prospects with the Astros, but as with all Billy Beane trades, patience is a virtue.

“Obviously everybody’s sorry to see [Kazmir] go on a personal level today,” said Melvin. “But it’s our job to go out there and just focus on one particular day. If you get too far out and worry about what potentially could happen and wait for the other shoe to drop, then you’re not focused on what we’re doing today.”

Josh Reddick, now one of the longest-tenured A’s, touted Kazmir’s positive presence in the clubhouse.

“It’s never easy to deal with,” Reddick said. “Losing a good teammate and a great guy like that. Especially a guy who’s been one of our better pitchers for the year.

“No matter who gets dealt, we still have to go out here and win ball games with the personnel that we have. It may get tougher. We’ve got to get the job done no matter who’s out there.”

The A’s may not be done shipping out players. Ben Zobrist and Tyler Clippard are also primed to be on the trade block — Kazmir’s exit may just be the tip of the iceberg in what might be a painful exodus in Oakland.

More Quotables

“It shouldn’t be hard to play a baseball game. Granted, everybody talked to [Kazmir]. We’re sorry to see him go. He was a big personality in the clubhouse and certainly performance-wise was key for us, but once you get on the field that’s what you have to focus on.”

– Bob Melvin

“Look, there’s nothing we can do about this. We’re going to go out there with the same expectations, try to win today’s game and not think too far out.”

– Melvin on his message to his players

“He’s guided a lot of us that he’s gotten close to, especially as pitchers. You pick up things here and there. I actually use his same changeup grip that’s modified now. You pick up a lot of things from a guy like that who has been around.”

– Drew Pomeranz on Kazmir

What’s on Tap

The A’s will look to regenerate some momentum in the Bay Bridge series against the Giants over the weekend, beginning Friday night at AT&T Park.