The crowd attendance continues to decrease, and so are the Athletics and their performance. Oakland was only able to muster just five hits against Cardinals’ starter Lance Lynn (W, 1-0), and would fall 3-2 to St. Louis.
Now, the A’s did manage to score in the second inning on a single by Kyle McCann, and the catcher also homered in the fifth inning. But, there was not enough production from everyone else to help starter JP Sears get a win.
Speaking of the young pitcher, he was solid. Sears went five innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run despite striking out just two batters.
In the end, he was outdueled by Lynn. The veteran went seven strong innings, allowing just two runs, and struck out just one batter. Jojo Romero held things down in the eighth inning, and closer Ryan Helsley (S, 7) ended any hope of a comeback by the Athletics in the ninth.
Despite recording just four hits, the Cardinals made the most of it by scoring three runs. RBIs by Brendan Donovan, Jordan Walker, and Masyn Winn got the job done.
Props to Mason Spence of Oakland, however. The pitcher worked three innings of long relief, striking out five batters and allowing just one hit in his appearance.
Now, about the attendance. It continues to decrease at the Coliseum, with only 3,296 at the game tonight. The team has not had more than 10,000 fans since Opening Day. It continues to get sad for A’s, who will be moving to a smaller ballpark in Sacramento starting in 2025. They may not even fill up that ballpark next year with people.
Up Next
The A’s will send Paul Blackburn (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound for the series finale. He will be opposed by Steven Matz (1-0, 1.80 ERA).
Oakland’s streak of winning consecutive series came to an end at three with the loss tonight.
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