Tuesday night's game at the Coliseum carried the strange vibe of a late-summer tilt with little on the line. Another small crowd 13,298 came to see the A's tackle their division rivals, the Angels , and the acoustics of a mostly empty ballpark allowed some fans' heckling to resonate throughout the place.
The A's added to the atmosphere by playing listlessly until Matt Holliday's ringing, two-run homer in the ninth inning. That trimmed Oakland's deficit to two runs and offered faint hope, but Angels reliever Brian Fuentes retired the final two batters to secure his team's 5-3 victory. Oakland absorbed its fifth defeat in seven games, falling six games below .500 9-15 for the first time. More distressing for the A's, their offense continues to languish in the netherworld, dead-last in the American League in batting average, runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Given the parade of established hitters brought aboard in the offseason - from Holliday and Jason Giambi to Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra currently injured - this wasn't exactly what the A's expected one month into the season.
"I'm surprised we all haven't found our strides yet," said Holliday, who was still sore after the game thanks to a second-inning fastball in his left ribcage. "We've all gotten off to slow starts. Hopefully, we can get it rolling before it's too late."
Or, as manager Bob Geren said, "We need to get it going offensively."
Tuesday night's game offered a prime chance, against undistinguished Angels starter Shane Loux. But the A's submitted quietly - no runners reached third base between the second and ninth innings and 12 consecutive hitters went down before Giambi walked and Holliday went deep.
Oakland's defense, a strong point so far this season, contributed to the malaise. The A's made two errors and couldn't convert at least two other make-able plays behind starter Dallas Braden.
One of those errors directly hindered Braden, who sought to chew up innings and give his weary bullpen a much-needed rest. The quest went astray when third baseman Bobby Crosby booted Juan Rivera's routine, two-out grounder in the second, turning a simple inning into an elongated mess.
Braden had retired the first two hitters and would have completed a tidy, 1-2-3 inning with some help from Crosby. But the next batter, Erick Aybar, reached on a soft infield single ... and Chone Figgins rifled an RBI single to center ... and Gary Matthews Jr. knocked home another run with another soft infield hit shortstop Orlando Cabrera had trouble removing the ball from his glove.
So, in addition to falling behind 2-0, Braden also threw an abundance of pitches he easily could have avoided.
"At this level, you're expected to pitch around those kinds of mistakes," he said.
The A's threatened to boost Braden in the bottom of the second. Travis Buck's double to left-center scored Holliday and put runners at second and third with one out. But any visions of a big inning vanished after Crosby walked to load the bases, because Gregorio Petit promptly bounced into a deflating, inning-ending double play.
"You definitely would like to at least tie the game in that situation," Geren said. " ... We're pressing a bit. Everybody wants to contribute so badly, but we've got to concentrate on the little things."
