Athletics' chances at victory evaporate yet again as Tigers' bats explode late
On "A's Cast," Chris Townsend and Steve Sax discuss the Athletics' 13-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday at Sutter Health Park.
Athletics' chances at victory evaporate yet again as Tigers' bats explode late originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
It's a game like this that makes the Detroit Tigers think, "Are we still in this?"
Yeah.
Do we still have a chance only being four back in the wild card?
And that makes it so tough for their front office.
What to do with not only Skubal, but you think of Mize.
Do you stay in it or do you sell?
For the Athletics, a very tough loss in game one of the three-game set against the Detroit Tigers.
Chris Townsend alongside Steve Saxe.
It was a brutal game, but when you think about the baseball world looking about what's going on here with the Tigers- Yeah they definitely have a tough decision.
Yeah.
They, they, they do, Townie.
You're, they're right there on the cusp, four-and-a-half out, of the playoff, run before the game, and then they had this game tonight.
So, I mean, they got a lot of questions that, have to be answered.
Casey Mize was scratched before this game.
No telling what that means.
Tarik Skubal, of course, the biggest question mark in MLB as far as where he might go.
But this was a good game today up until the eighth inning.
Before that, it was, nip and tuck the whole way, and, I thought the A's played pretty good until that inning.
Yeah.
We'll get into the eighth inning for the Athletics.
It's been a struggle all year long.
Yeah.
But for front offices, you look at their run differential, something Billy Beane preached to us for years.
The run divent- the run differential says they should be better than their record.
They got s- off to such a horrific start.
It was brutal.
Yeah.
They played much better baseball.
Can you believe in that?
Can you believe in that enough to keep your guys and say, "You know what?
We're gonna stay in this and go for it"?
Yeah.
I, I mean, since 1st of June, this team has been the fifth-best team in Major League Baseball in their record.
I mean, they had, got off to a horrid start, you know, in March and in, and all through April and May.
They were terrible.
They were one of the worst teams in baseball.
Turned that around, completely.
Now they've got questions to, to be asked, right, to, to be answered.
No telling what this is gonna, what this is gonna bring.
But I think there's gonna be some action.
I think Skubal's definitely gonna be gone.
They're not gonna make the same mistake that the Angels made with Shohei Ohtani.
Casey Mize, not sure about that.
Maybe it's a blockbuster.
Who knows?
Well, they just got a big, big boost from the young kid Max Clark- Oh, he did one of the top prospects in baseball.
Yeah.
Boy, he looks like the real deal.
He does.
He looked great in center field on the defensive side.
He got three hits tonight, in his debut.
Looked like very, he was very comfortable, looked like he's been here for a long time, and I liked him.
I mean, I think, he had a great showing today and- looks like a really good athlete all around.
He's got the swagger.
Did you have the chains and the diamonds- Oh, yeah when you made your debut at Wrigley Field?
No, no.
Hey, if I, if I wore a wristband I thought I was pushing the, the envelope a little bit.
I played on a team that was, you know, you didn't do that stuff.
Go out and hit, get a hit, and then you, maybe you could put a, a, you know, a wristband on or something.
But chains, headbands, you name it.
Looked like he had a Mr. T starter kit going out there.
I don't know.
He's got swagger.
He's got swag.
There's no doubt.
He definitely And you know what?
That shorter power, we just drafted Burris out of Georgia Tech.
Yeah.
You know, you see McGonagal- Kenny McGonagal, that guy, yeah who just signed a huge contract with them playing tonight.
A shorter, powerful guys.
Yeah.
It's in vogue in baseball.
Hey, it's, it's working, man.
You see it going to, look at Pete Crow-Armstrong over- Yeah with the Cubs.
He's another one of those guys who's kind of flashy, you know, got some swag, you know, not a real big dude, but, you know, got a lot of sock in his game, and I admire that.
You mentioned that eighth inning.
I hate to go over it, but it is the Toyota Turning Point.
And the eighth inning has been such a struggle for the Athletics this year.
We're gonna give you some numbers y- you're not gonna love.
And, and when you're, you're giving up seven runs in the eighth inning, I mean, you're still in this game, it's a close game, and then it's just absolutely blown, blown out.
Yeah.
It, it's, and it's tough to come back from this.
L- Luis Morales unfortunately took a lot of, the pain today, if you will.
Gave it up.
He gave up some little bloop hits like this.
He gave up some hits that were, you know, very powerful as well.
So he ran the gamut tonight.
He was just out there trying to throw strikes, and, you know, it was just one of those games.
As you see here, the defense didn't help him out either.
No.
And there, there's an out he should've been had right there.
That would've helped out tremendously, but he made some good pitches tonight, but they were leaning out over the plate as you, as you see, Torkelson right here enable to bomb this one out.
I'm excuse me, that was Dingler.
Yeah, I just wonder for Luis Morales going forward, we'd like to still see him get some starts.
Yeah.
Yep, I'd like to see- Come in with a clean inning.
I'd like to see him move the batter's feet once in a while.
Yeah.
You know, make that guy, buzz him a little bit.
Get him off so they can't lean over on that plate, just like Dingler did there and hit that home run.
They looked like to me like they were looking middle away.
And, you know, they were able to handle the slider in that manner.
But I think moving him back a little bit would be a good part of, maybe his setup.
78 runs give- given up in the eighth inning this year, the second most in Major League Baseball.
Only the Nats have given up more.
And the bullpen just continues to be the struggle.
Yeah.
It, it, and it's been that way unfortunately, Townie, all year.
It was that way last year until about June, where the bullpen really turned it around.
But it hasn't been the case this year.
It's been, been pretty much a struggle.
And in this ballpark, you know, the bottom line is you wanted Springs to give you an outing to keep you in the game.
He did that.
Yes.
Yeah, he did.
For four innings he was out there.
Yeah.
And, you know- Better than what we've been seeing.
Yeah.
Didn't like the five walks, as you can see, at the season high right here in only four innings.
But I thought Jeffrey pitched much better.
I thought he be- be- better command, of his changeup.
He was throwing that for strikes.
But I think when his fastball was missing, he was up high a lot in the zone.
But, his, changeup was much better tonight, and that's an encouraging thing.
Yeah.
Speaking of the hotshot young kids for the Detroit Tigers, we talked about Max Clark.
McGonagal would end up getting Jeffrey Springs here tonight.
And that's now 28 home runs he has given up on the season, the most in Major League Baseball.
Yeah.
And unfortunately, when, when he can't get all of his off-speed stuff over, he's gotta come in there with the fastball when he's behind on the count, and that's where the elevated home runs come in.
He, when he's ahead on the count, he's a much different pitcher.
But when he's 1-0, 2-0, then the problems start to set in.
He's gotta come in there and, you know, he just doesn't have that much firepower on his fastball to hammer it.
We talked about in the pregame, he got out to such a good start this season.
He did.
He was dominant to start the season.
He, Townie, to start the season, if you remember, he was, he was 0-1, 0-2 on a lot of guys, 1-2.
And, he, he was having them eat out of his hand with the array of pitches that he wanted to throw, not what he had to throw.
And, I thought the start of the season, he was 3-0.
I thought, "Hey, man.
Get another month and a half of this, he's gonna be on the All-Star team," and then it just went south.
Yeah.
How do you get the feeling back?
Yeah.
How do you get those good vibes back?
You, you know, I think of what's a really important thing is his bullpens, in between his starts, and starting to get the feel back that way.
Make sure your secondary stuff is over 'cause sometimes he throws his secondary stuff on the first pitch 'cause they're looking fastball.
And when he can throw that for a strike and he's 0-1, even on a get-me-over curveball, it's a great thing for him.
Now he's got them where he wants them, but he hasn't been able to throw it for a strike that much
