OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s typically lockdown bullpen is making a habit of having meltdowns.
It happened for the second straight game Sunday when the A’s suffered their second straight extra-innings loss to the Seattle Mariners, falling 8-7 in 10 innings.
Closer Tyler Clippard, who’s filling in for the injured Sean Doolittle, gave up a tiebreaking solo homer to Nelson Cruz with two outs in the top of the 10th inning Sunday. In the seventh inning, left-hander Eric O’Flaherty gave up a three-run blast to pinch hitter Rickie Weeks.
During the A’s 5-4, 11-inning loss to Seattle on Saturday, the usually reliable Dan Otero gave up a three-run homer to Cruz in the eighth inning. Left-handed reliever Fernando Abad took the loss, giving up a run in the 11th.
“We have good guys down there,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of his bullpen. “When you don’t have your closer, everybody is in a different slot. We gave up some runs, but we’re better than that.”
The A’s hope Doolittle can return by late May. For now, he continues to play long toss — he’s up to 105 feet — trying to strengthen his strained left rotator cuff.
The A’s are also without hard-throwing right-hander Ryan Cook, a former American League All-Star. His mechanics and results were so bad during spring training that the A’s sent him to Triple-A Nashville.