Cole Irvin’s solid outing not enough in A’s loss to Los Angeles Angels – The Mercury News
The A’s received another stellar performance from their pitching staff against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. This time, though, their offense came up with nothing in support.
Cole Irvin, an Orange County native, allowed one earned run in 6 1/3 innings but was outdueled by Jaime Barria, who struck out four over 6 2/3 innings to lead the host Angels past the A’s 1-0.
After outscoring Los Angeles 6-0 over the first two games of the series, the A’s went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base as they had their three-game win streak snapped. Oakland is now 4-5 on its road trip which ends Sunday with the finale of the four-game series at Angel Stadium.
Irvin’s only blemish came in the third inning when he allowed an RBI double to Shohei Ohtani that scored Matt Thaiss from second base.
“For a hometown start, I’m pretty happy with it,” said Irvin, who is from nearby Yorba Linda and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.
“I had a fan section in so many different areas that I couldn’t count. I was a little nervous after I came in from my bullpen. I definitely had some jelly legs in the first inning, but I got through it.”
“He was great,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Irvin. “You get into the seventh only giving up five hits and one run, that’s usually enough to win a game. I know this was a neat place for him based on his history to pitch here. You take that any time he goes out there.”
The A’s loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, but Angels relief pitcher Steve Cishek got Mark Canha to line out to left field.
“We hit a few balls hard today, but certainly not enough offense,” Melvin said. “You’d think we’d muster a little bit more today.”
Newly acquired veterans Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison were not in the A’s clubhouse as of late Saturday morning but made it to the stadium in time for the first pitch and were available off the bench.
The A’s acquired Harrison, Gomes and cash from the Washington Nationals on Friday for minor league pitchers Seth Shuman and Richard Guasch and catcher Drew Millas. All three farmhands were playing at High-A Lansing.
KAPRIELIAN ON IL: The A’s on Saturday placed starter James Kaprielian on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder impingement and optioned Aramis Garcia to Triple-A Las Vegas, creating the room necessary to add Gomes and Harrison to the team’s 26-man roster.
Right-handed reliever Domingo Acevedo and utility player Jacob Wilson were designated for assignment to clear spots for Gomes and Harrison on the A’s 40-man roster.
With Kaprielian out, Daulton Jefferies will start Sunday. The A’s will still need to make another roster move Sunday to clear a spot on the 26-man roster for Jefferies.
Kaprielian’s last start came Tuesday in San Diego when he was charged with six earned runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 7-4 loss to the Padres. It was his second-shortest of the season.
Melvin said Kaprielian’s injury was an inflammation of the AC joint, adding that the team does not “feel like it’s anything significant. (We’re) trying to be cautious with him.”
Kaprielian has been everything the A’s were hoping he would be this season with a 5-4 record and 3.24 ERA in 72 1/3 innings.
Kaprielian missed the 2017 and 2018 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery and had pitched a combined 71.2 innings the last two seasons, all in the minors in 2019 except for the 3 2/3 innings he threw for Oakland last year.
“This is a guy that we want to keep healthy,” Melvin said, “and when little things pop up like this, the thing to do is to give him a little bit of a break based on his workload this year and what it’s been in the past couple years.”
Jefferies, who will turn 26 on Monday, is 3-1 with a 5.19 ERA this season for Las Vegas. He allowed 10 hits and four earned runs in five innings in his last start on Monday against Salt Lake.
