WEST SACRAMENTO -- Throughout their run as one of the best teams in baseball over the past few weeks, sporting the second-best record in MLB since April 15 entering Tuesday at 14-6 -- the Athletics have thrived off a dominant bullpen.
Leaning so heavily on those relief arms does come with a side effect. Fatigue eventually starts to kick in, especially during a stretch such as the A’s current run of 16 consecutive games without an off-day.
On Tuesday night, game No. 15 of that grueling period, the A’s bullpen finally showed signs of running out of gas in a 5-3 loss to the Mariners at Sutter Health Park.
Manager Mark Kotsay had already decided he was staying away from Mason Miller after the All-Star closer had thrown 55 pitches over a stressful two outings over the previous three days. He also planned to stay away from setup man Tyler Ferguson, who pitched each of the past three days, until the right-hander walked into the manager’s office pregame and emphasized that he was good enough to pitch if needed.
Sure enough, the A’s held a one-run lead entering the top of the ninth after Miguel Andujar’s go-ahead RBI single the inning prior, and Kotsay summoned Ferguson for the save opportunity.
Rarely do you ever see a reliever pitch four days in a row. Prior to Ferguson, the last pitcher to do so for the A’s was Dan Otero in 2015. The key difference, though, was that Otero had only thrown 13 pitches through those first three consecutive days. Ferguson, meanwhile, was at 43 pitches.
It was a valiant effort by Ferguson, who began the ninth with a strikeout of J.P. Crawford on a 96.5 mph fastball, and pitched throughout the appearance with his fastball velocity registering slightly above his season average at 95.3 mph. But a walk, single and hit-by-pitch to the next three batters loaded the bases for a pinch-hitting Cal Raleigh, who roped a go-ahead double to right field that ended up the deciding blow.
“Really tough,” Kotsay said of the decision to utilize Ferguson a fourth straight day. “The kid comes into the office and tells me he’s good to go. You trust the player. Obviously, he’s pitched quite a bit. … Really, the at-bat that changed the inning was the Arozarena [hit-by-pitch]. Outside of that, this kid has given me everything he’s got. … He answered the bell. It just didn’t go well tonight.”
Ferguson indeed has given the A’s all he’s got and then some, by performing as one of the better relievers in baseball. Entering Tuesday, he had not allowed an earned run in 16 of his 17 appearances, and his 0.52 ERA ranked fourth lowest among Major League relievers.
"Next high-leverage situation we have, I want Ferg right back out there on the mound taking the ball and doing what he does,” said A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker, who notched three hits and reached base four times. “We’ve got all the faith in the world in him and the rest of the guys down there, too.”
Suffice to say, the bullpen could desperately use that upcoming day off on Thursday before welcoming the Yankees for three games over the weekend. Coming into the night, the 74 innings pitched by A’s relievers since April 15 were second most in the American League behind only the White Sox (89 2/3 innings).
Still, even on fumes, the bullpen still shined for the most part on Tuesday in relief of starter Jeffrey Springs, who limited Seattle to two runs in five innings. Justin Sterner, an offseason waiver claim who continues to be a revelation, worked another 1 2/3 scoreless innings to push his season-opening scoreless streak to 18 1/3 innings.
"We weren’t pushing him [another] inning,” Kotsay said of Sterner. “That’s just not something he’s done before. We’re also trying to look to pitch him [Wednesday]. All these guys have pitched a lot. It’s no excuse. We’ve still got to get the job done. It just didn’t work out tonight.”
Had the A’s won, they would have moved into a tie for first place with Seattle in the AL West, marking the first time they’ve been at least tied for the division lead on May 6 or later in a season since June 20, 2021. Still, the fact that this young A’s squad is hanging with the division -- it's now 3-3 against the Mariners this season -- remains an encouraging sign.
"It shows that we’re a good team,” Rooker said. “We’ve stood toe-to-toe with [Seattle] for six games now. We like our team a lot, and playing that team close does nothing but build our confidence."