Manaea latest A’s starter to struggle

BOSTON — Things went from bad to worse in a hurry for the A’s on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. Their fourth consecutive loss was another doozy, brought on by a repeat poor performance by an Oakland starter.

Sean Manaea was knocked around for eight runs and 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings in a 13-5 drubbing. On Monday night, Sonny Gray was tagged for seven runs over 3 2/3 frames in a 14-7 loss to Boston.

Manaea was on the mound for merely minutes before Red Sox leadoff man Mookie Betts connected for a home run. Hanley Ramirez also took the left-handed rookie deep in the inning, firing a first-pitch, two-run scorcher to left-center field for a quick three-run lead that would expand to eight by the time Manaea departed.

“I was just leaving the ball out over the middle, and they were taking advantage of it,” Manaea said. “I felt like I was maybe getting inside, but looking back on it, I was pretty much throwing right down the middle. It’s frustrating, because I know I’m a lot better than this.”

The A’s, who have dropped eight of nine and 13 of 17, have seen their starters yield 76 earned runs in their last 83 innings for a dismal 8.24 ERA over that 17-game stretch, and they’ll look to lefty Erik Surkamp — he …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com