Parker’s streak ends as A’s shelled by Angels

OAKLAND COLISEUM — Jarrod Parker struggled and the offense was stagnant as the Angels trounced the Athletics 12-1, breaking the A’s five-game winning streak.

Parker allowed eight hits and eight runs – seven of them earned – while walking two and striking out three on 78 pitches. It was his first loss since May 22 in Texas; he had been 9-0 in 19 starts since then.

Despite the loss, the Texas Rangers fell to Tampa Bay, so Oakland’s magic number to clinch the West dropped to seven.

Parker began the game with a four-pitch walk to J.B. Shuck and never seemed to have control on the mound. After two ground-outs, Josh Hamilton dropped a bloop single into centerfield to bring in Shuck.

Mark Trumbo then doubled before rookie Kole Calhoun singled home Hamilton to make it 2-0 Anaheim before the A’s even got a chance to bat.

The Angels added a run in the third inning — albeit an unearned run — after a lead-off single to Howie Kendrick. After an error that allowed the inning to continue, and an RBI groundout off the bat of Trumbo, Parker settled in to have a 1-2-3 fourth inning, but the wheels fell off in the fifth.

Shuck, Kendrick, and Mike Trout lead off fifth with back-to-back-to-back singles, making it 4-0 Angels. Parker struck out Hamilton, but walked Trumbo to load the bases before allowing a two-run single to Calhoun, who finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Since being recalled from AAA on July 28th, Trumbo has driven in 29 runs, the most by any rookie in the majors.

That was it for Parker (L, 11-7, 3,81 ERA), as Bob Melvin brought in Jerry Blevins to relieve his starter after just 4-1/3 innings.

Blevins gave up singles to Hank Conger and Andrew Romine, bringing in two more of Parker’s base runners and making it 8-0 Anaheim.

After being scratched from his start in Texas due to illness, Parker was feeling OK, Melvin said:

“He was healthy, we just haven’t seen him have an off night in quite some time. He was little bit off with command, as you saw for the first couple hitters of the game. … he gave up a couple bloop hits … but he’s been awfully good for a long period of time, and just not his best stuff tonight.”

Monday also marked the first time in the last eight games that an Oakland starter has allowed more than two runs. But Parker wasn’t too concerned with his unbeaten streak ending on Monday night:

“It was a good run. It’s one of those things where all good things come to an end. I guess if you’re gonna do it, you might as well just give it up and get it over with.”

With Pedro Figueroa pitching, Trout added some unneeded insurance in the top of the eighth when he launched his 24th home run of the season, a two-run shot to deep center field.

The 22-year-old Trout continues to impress, sitting on a .331 batting average, 183 hits, 24 home runs, 33 stolen bases, and 106 runs for the year.

Two batters later, Trumbo crushed his own two-run homer to right-center, giving Anaheim a dozen runs.

The A’s lone run came with one out in the bottom of the sixth on a Derek Norris single that scored Josh Donaldson to make it 8-1.

But that’s all that the Green and Gold were able to scratch across against C.J. Wilson, who was brilliant on his way to his 17th win of the season. Wilson (W, 17-6, 3.36 ERA) allowed just one run and four hits while striking out six and walking three in seven innings of work.

Like Parker, Wilson hasn’t lost a game in awhile — since July 5th against Boston — and is 9-0 in 13 starts since.

Though the loss was tough, Oakland can take some solace in the Rangers’ loss to Tampa Bay. Melvin is confident that his team will recover from Monday night’s game and continue to play well:

“A loss is a loss. We just got beat up. We didn’t pitch very well, we didn’t swing the bats well, and they did both, so we just got beat. I don’t think you take any more from it than that. You just try to move on.”

The A’s will try to move on with Sonny Gray taking the mound to face Garrett Richards Tuesday night at O.Co.

Notes

The 12 runs allowed are a season-high for Oakland and are the most allowed by the A’s since September 18th, 2012 at Detroit (also 12). … Parker’s nine-game winning streak was the third longest in the majors this year, and the longest by an A’s pitcher since Dan Haren won ten straight in 2007. … Yoenis Cespedes (2-for-3) is hitting .389 in September. … Donaldson had his career-high hitting streak snapped at 11 games (0-for-2 with a walk).