Quiet bats ‘ran out of outs’ in loss vs. Rays

In the midst of the A’s impressive 13-game winning streak that ended over the weekend, strong pitching performances were backed by a slugging offense that scored in bunches. Entering Tuesday with the second-most homers in the American League at 29, it’s clear that the long ball is their specialty.

Frankie Montas was the latest starter to turn in a quality outing for the A’s, but the offense finds itself in a mini-slump that continued in a 4-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, Oakland’s second loss in the last three games. Through the first five games of their current seven-game road trip, the A’s are hitting .188 (30-for-160) and have scored just 16 runs.

Still, Tuesday’s game was shaping up to be the type of contest the A’s typically win. Prior to the defeat, the A’s were 5-0 in one-run games, including Monday’s 2-1 victory in the series opener.

“Neither team is probably hitting up to their capabilities at this point,” manager Bob Melvin said. “These are probably going to be hard-fought games. One pitch either way can go a long way. They just got the biggest hit of the game with the home run, and we came up a hit short.”

Sean Murphy provided a jolt in the ninth with a leadoff homer against Rays reliever Diego Castillo that cut the deficit to one run. The majestic blast cleared the bleachers in left-center and traveled a projected 454 feet, according to Statcast -- the longest home run by an A’s player since Murphy’s 464-foot homer last season against the Rangers on Sept. 11.

A positive trend at the plate is starting to form for Murphy. After starting out the year 0-for-14 through his first five games, Murphy has now homered in two straight games and has eight RBIs over his last 12 games.

“I think it’s just the at-bats,” Melvin said. “He’s finally getting a bunch of at-bats under his belt and getting on a bit of a roll. We know what he’s capable of doing. He just got a little bit of a late start in Spring Training.”

But despite collecting eight hits, including Murphy’s late push at a comeback, the A’s struggled to find that clutch hit for most of the night, going 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Montas bounced back from a rough outing his last time out, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five over six innings. He’s now gone six innings with three runs allowed or fewer in three of his last four starts.

Montas could make a strong case that of the three runs he surrendered on Tuesday, none were actually his fault. The first run came on a grounder that was misplayed by Vimael Machín at third base for an error. The next two runs scored on a go-ahead two-run homer by Brett Phillips with two outs in the sixth. That home run came one pitch after a 1-2 sinker from Montas that was ruled a ball by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild, despite appearing to land well within the strike zone.

“I feel like I made a really good pitch and didn’t get the call, so I got a little frustrated,” Montas said. “They’re good hitters. If you make a mistake, you’re going to pay the price. I paid the price.”

More often than not, the A’s expect these types of outings from Montas and the rest of their pitching staff to translate to wins over the course of a 162-game season. It may not have transpired that way on Tuesday, but the A’s have already seen the kind of successful stretches they can ride when the bats get going again.

“We were in that game right to the end. We don’t feel like we’re out of any game,” A’s designated hitter Mitch Moreland said. “That was the case today. We just ran out of outs.”