Aaron Civale was roughed up by the Pirates on Wednesday, surrendering six runs in three-plus innings.
For some reason, the A’s chose to bring Civale back out for the fourth, only to pull him following a leadoff walk to Brandon Lowe. Civale, who was activated from the injured list before the game, has given up 18 runs over 12 innings in his last three starts, talking his ERA from 2.70 to 4.91. Perhaps he’ll go back to being serviceable, but there just isn’t any reason to expect more than that. He’ll face the Giants next week.