Historically challenged A’s offense shows life in 9th, but it’s another L

Thanks to a rally in the ninth inning, the A’s put up a crooked number: 3. All it did was prolong the agony in a 5-3 loss to the lowly Miami Marlins.

Too often, it has been one or zero runs. For eight innings, the A’s seemed destined to score fewer than two runs once again. They’ve done it 40 times, most by an A’s team since 1979, the only year in the team’s West Coast history they lost 100 games.

“We waited too long offensively tonight,” said manager Mark Kotsay, who tried to be optimistic while pointing into the clubhouse from his postgame news conference and added, “That club in there, they fight. It showed (in the ninth) tonight with the tying run on deck. They didn’t shut it down, and they haven’t done it all year.”

Nevertheless, the numbers tell the true story. The A’s are hitting .216, and not only are they going to set the team record for lowest batting average, they could very well post the lowest average in American League history - that mark belongs to the 1910 Chicago White Sox, who played in the dead ball era and batted a cool .211.

After collecting four hits in eight innings, the A’s finally started making loud contact in the ninth. Sean Murphy doubled, and Chad Pinder singled him to third. Stephen Vogt’s single drove in Oakland’s first run, and Shea Langelier’s double made it 5-2. Jonah Bride’s sacrifice fly culminated the rally.

“You don’t like moral victories, but it’s something to build on for tomorrow,” Murphy said.

Before the ninth, the only inning the A’s mounted a threat was the sixth when Cal Stevenson hit a one-out single and Murphy moved him to third with a two-out double. After a walk to Seth Brown, Marlins starter Pablo Lopez struck out Pinder.

The numbers suggest there’s generally little to no hope for an A’s comeback especially down five runs. In games the opponent scores first, the A’s are 12-61, a .164 winning percentage. When trailing after seven innings, the A’s are 1-63.

The loss put the A’s on pace for a 58-104 record. The ’79ers are monitoring them with bated breath.

After Logue: A’s starter Zach Logue was rolling along in the sixth inning of a 1-0 game, collecting seven strikeouts and mostly having his way with Miami batters except for Brian Anderson, who smoked a fourth-inning homer.

But with one out and a runner aboard and Anderson coming up again in the sixth, Kotsay pulled his starter. Right away, the game turned.

“I know Anderson had obviously put a good swing on the ball the at-bat before, and I have full trust in the bullpen to come in and get the job done,” Logue said. “A little surprised but not upset or anything.”

Domingo Acevedo entered, and the Marlins started pounding out big hits. The 1-0 deficit quickly became 5-0, making Kotsay’s decision a talker among the 4,028 fans in attendance who might be accustomed to losing but perhaps would have liked to see the young lefty go further.

After all, Logue had thrown only 66 pitches, just 19 of which were balls. Two starts earlier, Logue threw 107 pitches.

“I went to the bullpen there and felt strong about getting out of there and keeping it a one-run game,” Kotsay said. “With the matchup with Anderson, our bullpen, especially Acevedo, has done a phenomenal job. He’s come in that situation and gotten big outs.”

Luke Williams’ double to open the sixth was just the third hit Logue surrendered. In two-thirds of an inning, Acevedo gave up just as many hits, and one was Jerar Encarnacion’s two-run double.

Big play: In the middle of the pivotal sixth inning, Jesus Aguilar bounced a high chopper to third baseman Vimael Machin, who may or may not have had a chance to throw out Williams at the plate. However, the ball popped out of Machin’s glove, and it was ruled a single.

Had Machin registered an out, the inning could have ended much sooner. Instead, it dragged on, and the Marlins put up a 4-spot.

“A very difficult play,” Kotsay said. “I think he got a little rushed and didn’t look the ball into the glove, unfortunately, and that led to a bigger inning.”

In the end, it really didn’t matter because the A’s weren’t overcoming any deficits on this night.