By Morris Phillips
Scotty the ballboy sold out. So did speedy Billy Burns. Sonny Gray battled, and the fans filled the seats.
But in the end, it didn’t add up to much for the A’s. Asdrubal Cabrera’s double in the ninth inning knocked in a pair of runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays edged past the A’s, 5-4.
Manager Bob Melvin been down this road a bunch in 2015. Reliever Drew Pomeranz allowed Cabrera’s game-winning double marking the A’s 19th blown save, and eventually their team-record 29th one-run loss.
“That’s been a little bit of theme for us this year is that we have played seven or eight good innings and we end up losing some games late,” Melvin admitted.
The A’s fell to 53-70, the worst record in the American League, while the Rays boosted their standing in a wide-open AL playoff chase, despite being just one game over .500 and in fourth place in the AL East.
“We play in a lot of tight ballgames,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We always talk about that’s the way our club’s built. We pitch well and we defend really well. These guys, at this point, are used to it.”
Gray was looking to build on his Cy Young award resume on Saturday in search of a 13th win to go with his AL-leading 2.04 ERA. But balls were flying out the Coliseum Saturday night and Gray was the victim of three Tampa Bay home runs, all with the bases empty. But while allowing the homers, Gray was battling, compiling 16 ground ball outs.
Marcus Semien came up with a nice diving stop and throw in the first, and Burns a diving catch in centerfield in the sixth, to back Gray’s uneven, but ultimately, effective pitching. Scotty the ballboy proved his intensity was at the right level by diving for a foul ball in front of the A’s bullpen. Burns and Scotty saw both of their efforts recognized on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
When the A’s rallied with a pair of homers of their own in a six-pitch span, Gray was in line for a win if a 4-2 A’s lead could be protected.
But that’s where Cabrera took over. His solo shot off Gray in the seventh drew Tampa Bay within a run, and his double in the ninth won it. Tampa Bay had dropped all 49 games this year they trailed after eight innings until Cabrera struck Saturday night.
On the night that the A’s preferred closer, Sean Doolittle, was activated from the disabled list, the A’s turned to switch-pitching Pat Venditte in search of his first career save. But Venditte walked Daniel Nava and allowed a double to Logan Forsythe and was replaced by Pomeranz. Melvin said afterwards that the plan was to get Doolittle at least one appearance before he’s thrust back into his familiar closers’ role.
The A’s seemed to get an unlikely boost from home plate umpire Paul Nauert’s ejection of James Loney, who threw his helmet in disgust when he looked at strike three to end the top of the sixth. The A’s responded with their pair of home runs of starter Erasmo Ramirez to take the lead less than 10 pitches after the ejection.
Kendall Graveman takes the mound for the A’s on Sunday in the series finale. The Rays have Jake Odorizzi on the mound as they look for the sweep.
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