OAKLAND — A’s manager Bob Melvin had hoped Arizona’s struggles at the plate would continue for a few more days, but as Sean Manaea found out, that slump might be over.
Manaea was pummeled by the Diamondbacks for his worst outing of the season, allowing a season-high six runs on eight hits with two walks and just two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings in Friday’s 7-1 loss.
The changeup, Manaea’s go-to pitch, was ineffective most of the night as it was often left out over the heart of the plate. It was that same changeup that was responsible for the knockout blow in the fourth when Paul Goldschmidt tagged it into left field past a diving Chad Pinder for a triple that drove in two runs. Melvin emerged from the A’s (26-25) dugout shortly after the hit, pulling Manaea from the game with two outs in the fourth for what was the left-hander’s shortest outing of the season.
“I think there were a few more balls over the plate than we normally see out of him and they took advantage of it,” Melvin said of Manaea. “For a team that wasn’t really swinging well, they swung the bat pretty well off him tonight.”
Manaea fell to 5-5 on the year, and his ERA jumped to 3.34. After an outstanding April that saw him throw a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox and earn American League Pitcher of the Month honors, his ERA for the month of May is now over 6.00.
“I was leaving the ball up and not throwing off-speed pitches for strikes,” Manaea said. “Just falling behind guys.
“I felt good. Things just got away from me, and I couldn’t figure out how to get it back.”
The Diamondbacks had entered Friday night going through a remarkable slump.
After establishing themselves as one of the best teams in baseball to begin the season by going 20-8 in April with an offense that was averaging nearly five runs per game, the Diamondbacks (26-24) came into Oakland on a seven-game losing streak and losers of 13 of their past 14 games.
Arizona’s 48 runs scored in May entering Friday night were by far the least of any team in the majors to that point, but the Diamondbacks broke out of that offensive slump against the A’s by racking up 12 hits on the night.
Patrick Corbin silenced the A’s bats with an impressive start for the Diamondbacks, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings. Mark Canha made the only real dent in his line, leading off third inning with a solo home run over the wall in left field for his seventh of the season.
“He was throwing strike one and then expanding with his slider,” Melvin said. “The approach today was to try and stay off the slider when he gets ahead. For a while we were doing well, then he started reading some takes and throwing strikes. That silder was tough to lay off.”
The A’s have now scored two runs or less in eight of their past 10 games at the Coliseum.
It was the fourth game in a row without slugger Khris Davis in the lineup as he is currently on the 10-day disabled list with a right groin strain. Though Melvin feels the club has plenty of offensive firepower to withstand the injury to their leading home run hitter, the absence may be causing hitters to do a little too much at the plate right now.
“There’s probably a little bit of the KD effect,” Melvin said. “He’s kind of that sledgehammer in the lineup that everybody rallies around. I don’t want to say guys are putting more pressure on themselves, but when you lose a big bat like that, your offense is gonna suffer a little bit.”
— Santiago Casilla departed the game with what was diagnosed as a right shoulder strain. After recording the first two outs of the eighth inning, Casilla appeared to feel something discomfort on the mound following a 2-1 pitch to Nick Ahmed with two outs. After getting checked on by a team trainer, he walked off the mound shaking his right shoulder. Casilla had entered the night as one of Melvin’s more effective relievers, posting a 3.43 ERA in 15 appearances this season.
Melvin said Casilla dealt with the same injury in spring training and will likely require a stint on the disabled list.
