A's five home runs not enough in loss to Angels

ANAHEIM — A’s manager Bob Melvin had been waiting for the A’s offense to perform up to its potential. That potential was exceeded, but it still wasn’t enough.

The A’s came up short in a 13-9 loss to the Angels on Friday night in a game that felt more like a home run derby with a total of seven homers throughout the evening.

Defensive wizard Matt Chapman had already made a couple of spectacular plays on the night to protect what was an A’s lead for most of the night, but it was an error he made in the seventh inning that led to a crushing late blow.

With the Angels having already tied the game with two runs in the inning, Chapman made a short-hop throw to first on a Zack Cozart grounder that Matt Olson was unable to handle. Chapman was charged with the error to keep the inning alive, and after an intentional walk to Mike Trout, Blake Treinen surrendered a three-run homer to Justin Upton to give the Angels their first lead of the night at 12-9.

“It was a really good game, and the way it finished was definitely tough to swallow,” Chapman said. “Especially making a costly error.”

Usually a routine play, Chapman said he rushed the throw despite having plenty of time to make the play.

“I didn’t set my feet and kind of yanked the throw,” Chapman said. “I know Olson tried as hard as he could to keep his foot on the base. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. Gotta learn from it and shake it off.”

Upton’s blast capped what was an overall meltdown for A’s pitchers, beginning with starter Daniel Gossett.

Gossett ran into “Ohtani Mania” in the second inning. Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani did it again, blasting a solo homer off Gossett to make it three straight games in which Ohtani has homered.

Later in the fourth inning, Gossett crumbled, allowing hits to the first four batters of the inning and three runs to score to cut the lead to 6-4. Gossett would not make it out of the inning as he was pulled for Yusmeiro Petit, and another run crossed the plate as Gossett was responsible for a four-run inning that shrunk Oakland’s lead to 6-5.

“I was throwing pitches that were too bad and pitches that were too good. Too many hittable pitches and stuff that was completely out of the zone. Nothing competitive. Quality of pitches just wasn’t there.”

Gossett was sent down to the minors after the game, opening up a spot on the 25-man roster that will likely be filled by outfielder Trayce Thompson on Saturday.

It was the first real bad night for the A’s new and improved bullpen this season. Petit, Liam Hendriks, Emilio Pagan, Ryan Buchter, Blake Treinen and Santiago Casilla combined to allow eight runs in 4 2/3 innings. Though only three of those runs were earned, the inability to preserve multiple leads just added to the frustration for Melvin.

“We swung the bats early and couldn’t hold it,” Melvin said. “Score a couple of more runs and can’t hold it again. It’s frustrating for everybody.”

The fire alarm went off at the A’s team hotel, and apparently an alarm was also set off in the A’s bat rack.

Forced to evacuate their team hotel Friday morning due to a small chemical fire, the A’s offense caught fire in a major way by blasting five home runs on Friday night.

Jed Lowrie set it off with a solo homer to right field off Parker Bridwell in the first inning. Matt Joyce and Marcus Semien then went back-to-back in the second as part of a huge five-run inning in which the A’s managed to chase Bridwell.

Chapman continued his early strong year at the plate with a two-run shot to center field. It was his third home run of the season, pushing the A’s lead to 8-5. Chapman’s batting average stands at .412 as he’s in the midst of a career-best eight-game hit streak.

Chapman has also put together five straight multihit games, which hasn’t been done by an A’s player since Ryon Healy in September 2016.

“I definitely feel good at the plate. Seems like I’m getting some good luck on my side too,” Chapman said. “Just trying to keep that rolling. I think our bats came alive tonight, and everyone started playing their part. I think we have a lot of stuff to build on from this game.”

Though Chapman said it was hard not to pin the loss on himself, his night on defense still featured some highlights.

Clinging to an 8-7 lead in the fifth, Chapman turned a fantastic double play on a ground ball by Martin Maldonado with bases load. He back-handed the ball, stepped on third and fired a dart over to Olson to end the inning with the lead still intact.

Olson also contributed on offense with a home run in the seventh.

“Up and down the lineup, we swung the bat pretty well,” Melvin said. “You just can’t give up that many runs.”

PETIT RETURNS TO ANAHEIM

It was Petit’s first game back at Angel Stadium, the park in which which he enjoyed his finest season in the big leagues last year while pitching for the Angels.

In 60 appearances for the Angels, Petit posted a 2.76 ERA with 101 strikeouts and just 18 walks over 91 1/3 innings. It was a season that catapulted him into earning the first multiyear deal of his career this past offseason when he signed a two-year contract with the A’s.

Petit credited Angels manager Mike Scioscia for the confidence he showed in him.

“I enjoyed playing for him. He’s been there 18 years for a reason,” Petit said. “He knows his way of doing things, and he gave me the opportunity to demonstrate the Yusmeiro Petit that nobody expected to see. He told me, ‘I have confidence in you to get the job done.’ And I never let him down.”

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