Oakland's struggles against Seattle continue into '24 in series-opening loss

SEATTLE -- Entering the first matchup of the season between the A’s and Mariners, manager Mark Kotsay did not put too much stock into his club’s massive struggles against its division rivals of the Pacific Northwest in 2023, which saw Oakland lose 12 of 13 games and get outscored 68-25.

“It’s a new season,” Kotsay said. “New year, new team. We’ve got some new guys and are obviously hoping for some better results.”

The A’s are undoubtedly a better team this time around. They came into Friday’s series opener sitting in third place in the American League West with a record of 18-21 after not reaching their 18th win last year until June 12. The solid start has garnered them some buzz as one of MLB’s early surprise teams thanks in large part to the emergence of flamethrowing rookie closer Mason Miller and a potent offense whose 51 home runs through 39 games were tied for third-most in the Majors.

However, the first encounter between these two teams in 2024 looked an awful lot like 2023. In Friday’s 8-1 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, starter Paul Blackburn was chased after four-plus innings, while an offense coming off a 20-run performance in a doubleheader on Wednesday was held to just one extra-base hit and mostly silenced until Lawrence Butler’s two-out single in the ninth plated a run.

Blackburn cruised through a scoreless first three innings on 44 pitches, with his only hit surrendered an infield single. A pair of walks to begin the fourth, however, set the tone for a five-run frame for the Mariners capped by Dylan Moore’s two-run homer on a hanging slider.

Though Blackburn finished the fourth, trouble arose again in the fifth. He was pulled after loading the bases with no outs and ended up tagged for a season-high seven runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

“For Paulie, the changeup wasn’t as effective today,” Kotsay said. “He didn’t get very many swing and misses on the [slider]. Those outings happen. Tough one for him today. I’m sure he’ll be anxious to just get back out there.”

Following a brilliant start in which he did not allow a run through his first 22 1/3 innings, setting an Oakland record for the longest season-opening scoreless streak by a starting pitcher, Blackburn has appeared much more hittable as of late. Since that scoreless stretch, he has allowed 21 earned runs in his last 26 2/3 innings, with at least six runs in two of his past three outings.

Blackburn pointed to a lack of feel for his breaking stuff, which he said has been virtually nonexistent for him since the start of the season, including that early run of success. Of his 22 combined sliders and curveballs thrown on Friday, he produced just four swing-and-misses.

“My breaking stuff just hasn’t really been there all year,” Blackburn said. “I’ve been trying to figure it out and work through some things. I’m trying to get some consistency, movement-wise, on either one of my breaking balls. It hasn’t really come yet. Julio [Rodríguez] to end the fourth, I think that might have been the first slider that I’ve had chase all year.

“It’s one of those things where, if I’m not locating spin and not spinning it consistently, [hitters] are eliminating it and it makes the game a lot harder.”

The A’s lineup did not offer much support. Even after Seattle starter Bryan Woo departed in the fifth due to injury, Oakland continued to be baffled by the Mariners bullpen and accumulated just four hits through eight innings.

Perhaps a ninth-inning rally, which saw the A’s send seven batters to the plate against reliever Austin Voth and end the game with the bases loaded, can serve as some form of momentum heading into Saturday night’s matchup, which will see A’s No. 11 prospect Joey Estes come up from Triple-A Las Vegas and take the mound for his season debut.

“It’s always a positive to put some at-bats together in a game like that,” Kotsay said. “Seattle can pitch, and they’ve got enough thump in their lineup. … We pretty much got shut down offensively for eight of those innings. Woo came out throwing really well. Their bullpen came in and really shut it down.”