Why Melvin went to bullpen in eighth in crushing loss to Jays

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The Athletics lost 11-10 in walk-off fashion Friday night at Rogers Centre as former Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien hit a ninth-inning three-run home run for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sean Manaea dazzled on the mound for the A’s tossing seven innings of two-run ball with nine strikeouts. The A’s decided to bring in Lou Trivino from the bullpen in the eighth with the team up six runs.

 The strong lead ultimately was why A’s manager Bob Melvin said he wanted to bring Trivino in.

“Yeah, with a six-run lead,” Melvin said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. He wasn’t the only one who gave up runs.”

Melvin added he thought Manaea’s seven innings was enough work for him after a really tough August.

Last month, Manaea was posting a 9.90 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings and a 1.91 WHIP. 

Trivino walked three batters on Friday night to leave the bases loaded. When he was replaced by Yusmeiro Petit, Petit walked in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

Manaea said he would have been able to stay in through the eighth.

“Yeah, I definitely felt like I could go out there, but at the end of the day, it’s BoMel’s decision so I completely respect that,” Manaea said. 

Manaea received an extra day of rest with Frankie Montas having some visa issues, forcing the A’s to switch up the rotation. He said that helped with his velocity and why he was able to establish his fastball. 

“I feel like when I can control it and throw it, I think my fastball’s really good so I think that’s always key to be able to throw it kind of where I want,” Manaea said.

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A’s outfielder Mark Canha said the A’s clubhouse was quiet after a tough loss like that, but the team needs to keep pushing and be resilient, but he was honest about the loss, especially after he hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning.

“It sucked,” Canha said. “We feel like we’re going to win that game, kind of an emotional game back and forth and it just didn’t work out in the end. It happens. Sometimes you got in stretches like this where you just get in a little funk where it becomes tough to win ballgames and it’s kind of what we’re dealing with right now.”

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