OAKLAND, Calif. – A’s left-hander Ken Waldichuk had a fairly solid outing Wednesday in his first career start at the Coliseum – with the exception of two loud at-bats by the Atlanta Braves.
Waldichuk allowed a two-run homer to Vaughn Grissom in the fifth inning and a solo homer to Dansby Swanson in the sixth, as the A’s couldn’t slow down the Braves in a 7-3 loss before an announced crowd of 5,332 at the Coliseum.
The A’s managed just three hits, including two after the first inning, as they were swept by the defending World Series champion Braves and outscored 17-12 in the two-game series.
Stephen Vogt and Ramón Laureano both had RBIs in the first inning when they drew three walks and made Braves starter Spencer Strider throw 36 pitches. Strider, though, settled down and had nine strikeouts on 103 pitches over six innings, as he improved to 10-4 on the season.
The Braves blew the game open with four runs in the top of the seventh. One of those runs was charged to Fremont native Tyler Cyr, who replaced Waldichuk after the Swanson homer.
Kirby Snead replaced Cyr with one out and one on in the seventh and gave up singles to Michael Harris II and Marcell Ozuna before Robbie Grossman ripped a two-RBI double to right field to give the Braves a 6-2 lead.
In all, the A’s bullpen allowed seven hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Waldichuk allowed three hits and struck out two in 5⅓ innings as he took his first career MLB loss. In his big league debut on Sept. 1 in Washington, Waldichuk allowed five hits and had six strikeouts over 4⅔ innings.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before Wednesday’s game that it was going to be important for Waldichuk to command his fastball early.
“He’s a strikeout pitcher with some Velo, so he’s going to run a high pitch count. You’ll see some foul balls, letting at-bats kind of continue,” Kotsay said. “That’s probably an area of focus, just getting some early soft contact, mixing his change-up in, which he used toward the end of his last outing.”
Seth Brown hit a 433-foot home run to center field in the seventh inning, his fourth homer in the last three games.
BOLT’S REHAB
Outfielder Skye Bolt, on the injured list since Aug. 26 with a right knee patella subluxation, begins his rehab assignment Wednesday night with Triple-A Las Vegas. Kotsay said Bolt is slated to play seven innings Wednesday and again on Thursday if he feels OK.
Bolt was originally hurt on Aug. 25 when he was hit by a pitch from New York Yankees reliever Greg Weissert, who was making his MLB debut.
KEMP OUT
The A’s rested Tony Kemp on Wednesday with a minor lower-body injury. Kotsay said Kemp felt tightness in his groin after Tuesday’s game and is considered day-to-day for now. Kemp went 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk in the A’s 10-9 loss to the Braves on Tuesday.
