Athletics recall Jacob Lopez from Las Vegas

The unearned run was kind of sneaky. Third baseman Tommy White dropped an easy foul popup from Romy Gonzalez with none out and one on. Gonzalez went on to fly out to right, seemingly erasing the error from the scoring, but Caleb Durbin tagged up from first on the play and made it to second, which is something that obviously wouldn’t have happened if the foul pop had been caught. Durbin later scored from second on a Nick Sogard single, so the run was unearned. Lopez’s eight strikeouts were a new season high. He did that eight times in 21 outings last year, but he’d topped out at six in 13 starts and three relief appearances this season. His ERA still stands at 5.79, but this makes three decent showings in a row. He’ll face the Reds next.

Lopez had a bit of a funny game here. The Twins sent up a lineup of nine right-handed hitters to face-off with the lefty, which is never an easy task. His five scoreless innings were great as were his 14 swings-and-misses, just one off his season-high that he set last time out. On the flip side, he barely threw one-third of his pitches in the strike zone and relied on some poor swing decisions to get in and out of at-bats. Otherwise, he walked four and hit another batter in what could politely be described as an erratic night for his slider. Still, it’s easy to see the flashes that have made him effective in the past and it’s not hard to see him putting together a solid stretch run this season. He’s scheduled to face the Red Sox at home next time out.

Lopez wasn’t terrible, but not good enough to qualify for a win. The left-hander gave up runs on a fielder’s choice in the third and a double from Harry Ford in the fourth. He was able to strike out six against two walks in what was one of his better starts of the year, which is more insult than compliment. Lopez still has a 6.64 ERA on the season and will try and build on effort over the weekend against the Twins.

The A’s will set their rotation to start the second half as Jump on Friday, J.T. Ginn on Saturday, and Jacob Lopez on Sunday in their three-game set against the Nationals. Jump, 3-4 with a 3.51 ERA, struggled a bit towards the beginning of July but bounced back against the White Sox. He’s definitely a viable mixed-league starter when he’s not pitching at home.

The Athletics’ surprising $6 million investment in Civale over the winter worked out well initially — he started off 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA through nine starts — but it always figured to end badly. He loses his spot now after allowing 31 earned runs over 28 innings while going 0-6 in his last seven starts. He’ll become a free agent after clearing waivers and should quickly land a minor league deal, if he wants one. Jacob Lopez is probably the favorite to replace Civale in the rotation next week.

Civale was bumped from the rotation to both help acquiesce Jacob Lopez’s return and also because of his own struggles lately. Coming in after Lopez retired the first five batters of the game on 12 pitches, Civale had a few easy innings before being hit hard in a four-run fifth. He hasn’t been effective in over a month, doesn’t miss many bats, and should not be considered a serious option in even the deepest of leagues. Pay attention to Lopez’s workload though, as he went from 63 pitches in his first start off the injured list to again, just 12 in this one.

Lopez gets the boot after allowing seven runs over just two innings of work against the Yankees on Sunday. He’s forged an ugly 6.75 ERA, and the A’s will hope the 28-year-old can work things out in the Pacific Coast League. A replacement should be announced shortly.

Lopez struck out three, walked one, and allowed six hits. Luis Medina served as an opener since Lopez entered the start with an ERA over 6. The plan worked as it was the first time this season he pitched multiple innings and allowed fewer than two runs. Consider him an avoid for fantasy purposes with his next appearance at home against the Yankees.

Lopez held the Angels scoreless over two innings, then gave up a leadoff homer to Mike Trout in the third. He couldn’t make it out of the fourth, giving up three runs on a bases-loaded walk and a base hit with two outs. He’d depart at 83 pitches with two strikeouts. The 28-year-old left-hander ends the day with a 6.14 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, and a 32/30 K/BB ratio across 44 innings. He lines up for a start against the Padres in San Diego on Sunday.

Lopez have up homers to Victor Scott II in the fifth and Jordan Walker in the sixth before departing. He walked three and struck out just two, with only four of the 42 swings against him producing whiffs. His ERA sits at 5.80, and even worse is his 30/27 K/BB in 40 1/3 innings. The A’s probably aren’t going to turn to Gage Jump just yet, but it’d seem to be time to try someone else in Lopez’s spot.