Talk about a good walk spoiled. Brian Fuentes gave up a two out, three-run home run to former Oakland slugger Josh Willingham and the A’s lost their seventh straight game, 3-2 in Minnesota. Fuentes took the loss, giving up all three runs on two hits and a walk.
The blown save negated a solid start by Jarrod Parker, who went six shutout innings and was staked to a 1-0 lead when Colin Cowgill singled in the first run of the game in the seventh inning. Coco Crisp, who has been mired in an awful hitting slump, went 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice and his eighth inning RBI single appeared to be insurance as the A’s lead 2-0. But the win and ultimately the game both slipped away.
Fuentes began the ninth by allowing a single to Jamey Carroll and walking Denard Span. After Ben Revere’s attempted sacrifice was bunted back to Fuentes, Joe Mauer hit into a fielder’s choice putting the runners on first and third. Willingham then hit a 1-0 pitch to left center to end the game.
Good: Coco Crisp. He reached or produced in all four plate appearances. Considering he was hitting .156 entering the game, that is remarkable. In all seriousness, it is a great start to hopefully turning his season around at the plate.
Bad: Twelve men left on base. Too many chances to score runs and too many left on base. It came back to bite the A’s again.
Ugly: Brian Fuentes. The merry-go-round at closer continues as Fuentes can not get the job done. The A’s can only hope this is a blip and not what appears to be a real issue finishing games.
Now 22-28, the A’s look to salvage the final game of this series as Tyson Ross faces Francisco Liriano. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. Manny Ramirez was expected to make his season debut for the A’s, but it appears as though that will be pushed back a couple of games.
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