Anaheim

Manaea Hurt in A's 8-5 Loss to Angels

BOX SCORE

ANAHEIM – The A's endured one of those nights Wednesday when the scoreboard couldn't convey the extent of their blues.

The tone of an 8-5 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels was set early, when starting pitcher Sean Manaea left after two innings with what was announced as tightness in his throwing shoulder.

From there, things gradually unraveled as the A's lost their third in a row and took on what looks to be another injury to a key player. The seriousness of Manaea's injury wasn't immediately known, but his early exit added to the recent run of medical misfortune, as center fielder Rajai Davis, shortstop Marcus Semien and starter Kendall Graveman have all hit the disabled list over the past 12 days.

Graveman will be activated Thursday and start against the Angels, but Manaea's condition will loom large as the 25-year-old lefty is considered a foundation piece for the A's, now and for the future.

The A's trailed 4-3 in the seventh when the Angels pulled away with four runs off Ryan Dull. Matt Joyce's two-run homer in the eighth pulled them closer but they lost for the second night in a row at Angel Stadium and will have to win Thursday night to avoid a sweep. Wednesday's loss dropped them back below .500 at 10-11.

Starting pitching report:
It was obvious early that something was bothering Manaea. His fastball, which usually sits in the low 90's and gets into the mid-90's, was hovering in the 88-89 range. The A's led 2-0 before the Angels struck for three runs in the second. Danny Espinosa and Martin Maldonado each delivered RBI doubles that landed just past the diving reach of right fielder Matt Joyce and center fielder Jaff Decker, respectively. Another run scored on Cameron Maybin's single.

Bullpen report:
Frankie Montas gave up a run over 2 1/3 innings after being called into early duty when Manaea got hurt. Dull, trying to keep it a 4-3 game, did not have his command in the seventh. He threw a wild pitch, hit Danny Espinosa with a 1-2 pitch and then allowed Maybin's two-run single that keyed Los Angeles' four-run seventh.

At the plate:
It was a big night for Yonder Alonso, who had a two-run single in the first and then homered in the sixth to pull Oakland within 4-3. Alonso already has four homers, putting more than halfway to his 2016 total of seven in the season's first month. The A's struck out 13 times, giving them 24 strikeouts over the first two games of this series.

In the field:
It took until the seventh inning for the A's to be charged with an error that snapped their streak of six consecutive errorless games. Stephen Vogt couldn't hold on to Dull's glove flip on Martin Maldonado's squeeze bunt. But even before then, this wasn't a sharp defensive effort. Joyce got caught off guard in the fourth when Maybin tagged up and made it to second on a fly to right. Joyce's gesturing afterward seemed to suggest nobody was letting him now the runner was tagging. An inning later, Decker seemed stunned as the lumbering Albert Pujols went first to third on Andrelton Simmons' single.

Attendance:
The announced crowd was 30,248.

Up next:
Kendall Graveman (2-0, 2.00) is set to come off the D.L. on Thursday and make his first start since April 14, when he was lost to a strained right shoulder. He'll be opposed by Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 4.76), who took the Opening Night loss against the A's at the Coliseum when he allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings. First pitch is 7:05 p.m.

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