Oakland A's blow lead in eighth, lose to Texas Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rookie A.J. Griffin should have been basking in his first major league victory Friday night.

Instead, a now-familiar vibe permeated the A's postgame atmosphere.

A silent clubhouse. A frustrated manager. A reliever expressing his regret for not getting the job done.

The A's entered the bottom of the eighth with a two-run lead but walked off the field shortly after with a 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Reliever Grant Balfour, so reliable of late in the setup role, allowed one hit and three walks in the eighth, setting in motion a four-ran Texas rally that wiped out the A's 2-0 lead and Griffin's gem of a starting effort.

"When you don't throw strikes and you walk guys, you leave yourself in a bad situation," Balfour said. "I couldn't get the job done."

The A's have held leads each of the past two nights but have two losses to show for it in this four-game series against the American League West leaders. Each of their last seven losses has been by one run, which is the longest such streak in Oakland history.

Though Friday's defeat does not fall into this category, the A's also have four losses when leading after eight innings.

"It means we're playing a lot of one-run games," said A's manager Bob Melvin, clearly tired of rehashing such defeats. "And they're close. We're either battling back or losing it at the end, one or the other."

Griffin, who was recalled Sunday and pitched

well against the Giants, threw six shutout innings Friday against the American League's highest-scoring offense in a notoriously tough park on pitchers.

Balfour (1-2), who had not allowed an earned run in his past 10 games, allowed a single and walk with one out in the eighth. After retiring Adrian Beltre on a flyout, Balfour walked Michael Young on four pitches and then walked Nelson Cruz to force in a run and make it 2-1.

Melvin brought in rookie reliever Ryan Cook, who allowed Craig Gentry's bases-clearing triple to left-center that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. Chris Carter, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Sacramento, homered for the A's in the ninth for the final margin.

On Gentry's triple, left fielder Yoenis Cespedes had a poor read on the play. He started in a couple steps, then broke back late as the liner sailed over his head. Judging by where the ball landed, it appeared Cespedes could have caught it.

He had a different take after the game.

"I didn't do it the right way," Cespedes said through interpreter Ariel Prieto. "But even if I read the ball well, I had no chance to catch it."

Melvin said it appeared Cespedes broke in, but the manager added that he hadn't seen a replay on video.

Cespedes began this season in center field but was switched to left June 1.

"Maybe if I played left field all the time in my life before, maybe that's not going to happen," he said.

Melvin wanted to let Balfour try to work his way out of the jam.

"I hate to bring in Cook in a game like that," Melvin said. "I really don't want to abuse him and pitch him one-plus (innings), but I had to at that point."

Griffin, who replaced the injured Brandon McCarthy in the rotation, has thrown 11 scoreless innings since allowing Buster Posey's first-inning homer Sunday. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second as part of Friday's effort.

"I didn't foresee this," he said. "I'm just trying to take it in and stay here as long as possible. It was a bittersweet game, for sure."

Carter, a former top prospect with the A's, was recalled earlier in the day as starter Tyson Ross was optioned out. Melvin said Carter will play first base against left-handers with Brandon Moss starting against righties.

Carter homered to left field off Tanner Scheppers, an encouraging start for a player who has hit .167 in 39 major league games spread over the past two seasons.

He was hitting .279 with 12 homers and 53 RBI for Sacramento.

Ross' ping-pong journey to and from Sacramento continues, as he was demoted one day after going four-plus innings against Texas and being charged with five runs.

He is 2-8 with a 6.35 ERA in 12 starts with the A's, spread over three stints with Oakland.

Melvin said Ross has shown improvement with his slider but that he still needs another off-speed pitch. He also said Ross' rhythm in his delivery gets thrown off on occasion, which makes it easier for runners to steal on him. Texas stole three bases off him Thursday.

Ross' next turn in the rotation comes Tuesday, the same day Bartolo Colon is eligible to come off the disabled list. Melvin said Colon is likely to start Tuesday if his bullpen session Saturday goes well.

Reliever Brian Fuentes declined to comment about recent trade rumors involving him or whether he requested a trade.

Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_20974536/bring-up-chris-carter-from-triple-sacramento?source=rss

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