Montas' masterpiece ruined
A's starter allows two hits across eight innings, bullpen crumbles late
OAKLAND >> A's starting pitcher Frankie Montas came within four outs of his first career no-hitter Thursday.
It'll go down, though, as just another awful A's loss in a disastrous 2022 season.
After Montas allowed just two walks in seven sterling innings and battled to get through eight, the A's bullpen crumbled in the ninth inning in what became an embarrassing 2-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners at the Coliseum.
With closer Dany Jiménez out with a shoulder injury, A's reliever
Zach Jackson got the ball in the ninth and allowed two walks, as the Mariners had runners on first and second base and one out.
Jackson struck out Eugenio Suárez for the second out, and was replaced by A.J. Puk, who walked Kevin Padlo to load the bases.
Puk then threw two wild pitches that enabled two Seattle runs to score.
“The two-seam got away from me, and then I yank another twoseam, and that's the two runs,” Puk said. “(Frankie) had an incredible game today, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth. I really wanted to go out there and get that win for him.”
“He came in and couldn't find the zone,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “It's uncharacteristic so far this year. He's been throwing strikes. Unfortunately today, he couldn't find the fastball.”
The loss shouldn't be pinned solely on the bullpen, as the A's managed just three hits and struck out 12 times after the first inning.
The last strikeout ended the game, as an irate Seth Brown was ejected by home plate umpire Nic Lentz after a borderline third strike call on a slider by Seattle closer Paul Sewald. The punchout officially turned what could