MESA, Ariz. - Something flipped a switch inside Sean Manaea in the third inning Saturday, and the A's left-hander pitched with the aggressiveness he's shown most of spring training.
It was a different story before that, as Manaea issued five walks, two of them forcing in runs, against the Cincinnati Reds. His final Cactus League outing ended after just three innings, his pitch count at more than 70, and he was charged with five earned runs.
"I was trying to nibble at the corners too much," Manaea said. "The third inning I finally just said, ‘Throw it right down the middle and let them hit it.'"
The plan was to get Manaea close to 90 pitches, so he went to the bullpen and threw 10 more after he was pulled from the game. He entered the day with a 2.81 ERA in his first five outings, walking just one in each of those games.
He downplayed his struggles Saturday in Oakland's 11-6 split-squad defeat at Hohokam Stadium, and manager Bob Melvin wasn't expressing major concern either.
"He was just out of sync," Melvin said. "Typically you don't see him walk guys like that, let alone multiple guys in a row. It was just a tough day for him. We wanted to try to get him close to 90 pitches. But when you're throwing that many pitches in three innings, I just couldn't risk sending him back out there."
Sports
Manaea was stressing the positives of his camp afterward. As he preps for one final tune-up start at AT&T Park against the Giants in the Bay Bridge Series, he particularly likes the way his slider has rounded into form.
"Just being able to have that confidence to throw it for a strike and get weak ground balls and swings and misses, it's huge," he said.
CAMP BATTLE: The A's lost their other split-squad matchup by an identical 11-6 score to the Dodgers in Glendale. Jesse Hahn took the hill and struggled for the second consecutive outing, allowing two homers - including a grand slam by Andrew Toles - and surrendering seven runs (five earned) over 3 1/3 innings. Competing for one of two open rotation spots, Hahn hasn't shown his best in the Cactus League stretch run. He gave up seven runs against Colorado in his previous start.
ODDS AND ENDS: Third baseman Trevor Plouffe had two more hits against the Reds to raise his average to .425 but left the game after tweaking an abductor muscle in his lower body. "He felt like he's OK. We just didn't wanna risk that," Melvin said. … Rajai Davis connected for his first spring home run and scored three runs. … Sean Doolittle gave up two runs in his inning of work but struck out three. He sported his new eyeglasses for the first time in a major league game. … Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer off former Athletic Rich Hill in the game at Glendale.
