Gray can’t prevent A’s from having winless trip
BALTIMORE — With Sonny Gray back on the mound, the A’s hoped their garbage dump of a road trip might end on an up note.
[...] bad defense — Oakland’s first in six games — led to three unearned runs, all of them coming on Steve Clevenger’s homer off Cy Young candidate Gray in the fourth inning of a 4-2 loss to Baltimore.
If there was any consolation for the A’s, it’s that the unearned runs meant Gray remained the league ERA leader.
Working for the first time in 10 days after getting scratched with back spasms, he gave up only one earned run, thanks to an error by second baseman Eric Sogard.
Gray and catcher Stephen Vogt both thought the inside fastball to Clevenger was a good pitch; as for the rest of the night, Gray said, he thought his stuff was “average, not as good as it’s been in the past.”
The Orioles also scored in the sixth when J.J. Hardy singled and scored on a two-out double by Caleb Joseph.
When Gray then walked Manny Machado, acting manager Mike Aldrete went to the bullpen for Drew Pomeranz, who struck out Gerardo Parra. .
Melvin and Fuld were ejected in the sixth by home plate umpire Brian Knight when Fuld was ruled out on an interference call for getting in the way of the throw while running to first base on a two-out bunt attempt.
Semien’s 31 errors are the most by an American League shortstop since Jose Valentin make 36 with the White Sox in 2000.