Oakland A’s Daz Cameron (28) takes a swing against the Milwaukee Brewers at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 24, 2024 (Oakland A’s X photo)

By William Espy

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s hosted the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday afternoon for the second game of the three-game series. After dropping the first game 11-3, the A’s desperately needed a stronger performance to get back on track. Unfortunately for the A’s they just couldn’t get tracked for the second game of the series dropping Saturday’s contest 9-5 in front of 12,769 fans at the Oakland Coliseum.

Joe Boyle started the game on the mound for the A’s, while Colin Rea got the nod for the Brewers, which marked the first start of his career against Oakland. Rea has played well so far in the 2024 season, as he came into the game with an 11-4 record.

Boyle had struggled so far this season, entering the night with a 3-5 record and an ERA of 6.21, but you wouldn’t be able to tell based on the opening inning, as it was three-up, three-down in just 1ten pitches. Center fielder JJ Bleday gave the A’s the lead in the bottom of the inning, with a two-out home run.

Willy Adames opened the second inning with a single to center, giving the Brewers their first hit of the game. The next batter, Jake Bauers would be walked putting runners on first and second with no outs. Rhys Hoskins would get a single, with a line drive right back up the middle that hit Boyle.

A fielder’s choice on a groundball from Garrett Mitchell would score the tying run and advance the other runners to scoring position. Blake Perkins would hit the ball to Max Schuemann at short, but the throw to first would be too late making it an RBI single, giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

The next batter, Joey Ortiz would draw a walk, once again loading the bases. Things had the potential to get out of hand very quickly for the A’s. Brice Turang would strike out, but Boyle would walk Jackson Chourio giving the Brewers a third run.

Contreras would ground out to short, allowing the A’s to stop the bleeding and get out of the inning. It quickly went from an A’s lead to a significant deficit. The A’s wouldn’t be able to get any offense going in their half of the inning, recording three straight outs.

Adames would draw the third walk of the game for the Brewers to start the top of the third. The next batter Bauers struck out, but Adames stole second base in the meantime. Hoskins and Mitchell would both strike out as well, getting the A’s out of the inning.

It took until the bottom of the fourth inning for the A’s to show more signs of life, as Brent Rooker got a leadoff double. It would be short-lived though, as that would be the only offense they’d get in the inning. In the top of the fifth, the Brewers would extend their lead with a two-run home run by Bauers that drove in Adames, making it 5-1. TJ McFarland would enter the game for the A’s to start the top of the sixth inning, ending Boyle’s night.

Rooker brought the A’s within two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run blast of his own driving in Lawrence Butler, cutting the Brewer’s lead to 5-3. McFarland had a strong inning, but he’d only get one as J.T. Ginn came in for the top of the seventh.

Zack Gelof got things going for the A’s in the bottom of the seventh with a single, which led to him stealing second. With two outs in the inning, Jared Koenig came into the game for Milwaukee ending Rea’s night. Daz Cameron pinch-hit for Butler and a two-out double drove in Gelof making it a one-run game.

They intentionally walked Rooker, bringing up Bleday. After Bleday was called for taking too long to enter the batters’ box, Mark Kotsay came out of the dugout to have some words with the home plate umpire. He’d strike out looking to end the inning and the Brewers maintained a one-run lead.

The Brewers got another run in the top of the eighth when a two-out blooper to the outfield dropped between Nevin and Andujar while Bauers was on second base, allowing him to score. After an intentional walk, Michel Otanez entered the game to face Joey Ortiz with a runner on first and second.

Ortiz would strike out to end the inning and the Brewers had a 6-4 lead. Joel Payamps took over on the mound for the bottom of the inning. He’d get through the 3-4-5 spots without any trouble, and the A’s would have one chance remaining to get back into the game.

A groundball to third allowed the Brewers to extend their lead when the throw home wasn’t in time and Brice Turang scored from third. Chourio would then go on to score on a passed ball, extending the lead to 8-4. A bloop single from Hoskins drove in Contreras making it 9-4 in favor of Milwaukee.

The A’s got a run on the board with a broken-bat single by Rooker which drove in Gelof from second base and advanced Cameron to third base. That would be all they could get going though, as they’d fall by a large margin for the second night in a row with the Brewers winning 9-5.

The Brewers and A’s conclude this series Sunday afternoon for a 1:07pm PT first pitch for the Brewers RHP Frankie Montas (6-8, ERA 4.57) for the A’s RHP Joey Estes (5-6, ERA 4.44).