Oakland A’s starter Joey Estes delivers against the San Diego Padres line up in the bottom of the first inning at Petco Park in San Diego on Mon Jun 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (26-42) scored the first run of this game to take an early 1-0 lead. This is when the San Diego Padres (35-35) took over the game. They scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings for a 3-1 lead. San Diego had a productive seventh inning scoring three runs.

Michael Otanez made his major league debut in the seventh facing a difficult situation (the bases were loaded) and it was welcome to the MLB for Otanez. He did allow one hit in the 6-1 loss.

Game recap: The A’s got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when Tyler Soderstrom hit a solo home run for the early 1-0 lead. Oakland threatened to extend their lead. Both Shea Langeliers and Max Schuemann singled and with runners on second and third the A’s had a great opportunity to get some insurance runs.

Abraham Toro came to the plate with two outs but he was unable to bring runners home.

San Diego erased the Oakland lead scoring runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Cronenwoth homered in the third inning. Ha-Seong Kim singled Jackson Merrill home for their second run in the fourth inning. The Padres had their third run in the fifth inning, a homer off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. leading 3-1.

Through seven innings both teams had eight hits apiece. The A’s were hitting Monday night but missing some key opportunities. The Padres Dylan Cease went six innings allowing eight hits, one earned run and eight strikeouts. The A’s Joey Estes threw for five innings also allowing eight hits, three runs. two walks with three strikeouts. Sean Newcomb relieved Estes in the sixth inning.

The Padres loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out threatening to extend their lead. Michael Otanez made his major league debut relieving Newcomb. It was then that the lights went out completely in right field and this was not at all what Otanez envisioned his MLB debut to look like.

It looked like the stadium was getting ready for a concert as Otanez paced the mound. It was not long before the lights came back on in Petco Park and play commenced. He walked the Padres fourth run of the evening home for a 4-1 score.

Otanez had come in facing a really tough situation looking for his first out. Merrill singled Cronenworth home and the Padres had gone ahead 5-1 with the bases still loaded. Another run came in for San Diego when Kim sacrificed Tyler Wade home and it was a 6-1 ball game. It had been a most productive seventh inning for the Padres.

The Padres Robert Suarez closed out this game for the 6-1 San Diego win. He clocked three strikeouts to finish off Oakland.

Game notes: Monday evening the A’s were in San Diego and opened a three game series with the Padres only to lose in a five run contest. The A’s just completed a disappointing series with the Blue Jays losing the third game of the series in extra innings on Sunday afternoon 6-4.

A’s starter Joey Estes took the mound for Oakland and gave up eight hits on three earned runs including a home run by the Padres Fernando Tatis who extended his hit streak to 16 games.. Manny Machado was back in the line up at designated hitter for the Padres Monday night and is healthy again. It was a terrific Monday night crowd with 38,000 plus coming out for the NorCal vs SoCal matchup.

Game two of this three game series will start Tuesday night with first pitch at 6:40 PM. JP Sears will take the mound for Oakland with a 4-5 win/loss record and a 3.93 ERA. Randy Vasquez will start for the Padres with 1-3 win/loss record and a 5.40 ERA.