By Morris Phillips
OAKLAND–In 1964, the Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick hit machine gave us a “House Is Not A Home.” Now 58 years later, the 2022 A’s seemed to be smothered by the song’s theme with little possibility for an escape.
On Sunday, with A’s fans outnumbered by Red Sox fans 3 to 1 according to the highly scientific measurements on Twitter, Oakland’s hometown team fell quietly to Boston, 5-2 to conclude a 1-9 “home” stand.
The woeful A’s are now 7-23 at the Coliseum, and in reach of a worst-ever record in 45-plus seasons at the Coliseum, with the forgettable 1979 season (31-50 at the Coliseum) the only competition. Offense continues to be the missing element as the A’s scored just four runs in the series with Boston. For the season, they’ve managed just 80 runs at home, which is less than 2.5 on average.
Quite simply, that just won’t do. The A’s are representative 13-13 on the road. So how much do the home performances, have to do with the empty seats, the lack of support, and love?
“We have played well on the road, but this home stand was tough in every way,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “A lot of guys in there are grinding. It’s definitely not for a lack of effort. It’s almost that we’re trying too hard right now. We know the importance of playing well at home. Hopefully when we get back here off this road trip we can change things.”
One of the grinders is Frankie Montas. In his 13th start of the season–and nine removed from his last win–he battled. After a rough first inning in which he allowed three hits and a run to the first three batters, he retired 14 of 15 Red Sox and had the A’s squarely in a competitive game, down 2-1 after five. But no offense came to his rescue, and then the dam broke.
Montas walked leadoff man Rafael Devers, then Kevin Smith botched a throw on a potential double play ball, and two batters later, Franchy Cordero left the yard, leaving Montas in a hole, despite allowing just one earned run. Furthering frustration Cordero’s blast came immediately after a conversation between manager and pitcher that was aimed at holding the fort.
“He just asked me if I wanted it and I said yes,” Montas said. “I just made a mistake. They’re really good hitters and when you make a mistake . . ”
The A’s managed to have seven guys in the lineup produce a hit, but none had more than one, and three extra-base hits had little impact outside Ramon Laureano’s RBI double in the first. By the time Tony Kemp knocked in Christian Bethancourt in the ninth, it was literally time for the fans to depart and the A’s to head to the airport. Too little, too late.
Boston’s rough season got a little less rough with them creeping back to .500 with the three-game sweep. But the reality is they’re fallible and no big league team should get swept by them at home. Or have manager Alex Cora get to say something veiled that basically says the same thing.
“We’ve been playing good baseball the last three weeks, just grinding and using everybody,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve still got holes, but on a daily basis we feel very good about ourselves.”
The good news? Nineteen of the A’s next 25 are on the road, and the reminders left by empty seats and distraught fans won’t follow them onto the various, road diamonds. Hopefully, that’s the tonic they need.
On Tuesday in Atlanta, the A’s open a two-game set against the World Champions with Cole Irvin slated to go against Kyle Wright in the opener. After that, the A’s travel to Cleveland and Boston.
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