La Stella sets the table in close loss to SD

Tommy La Stella’s first week with the A’s was anything but ordinary.

Upon his arrival from the Angels a few days before the Trade Deadline, La Stella got to Minute Maid Park last Saturday just in time to play the second game of a doubleheader. Then, he had to sit around in a Houston hotel for four days as the A’s self-isolated due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Now that they're playing again, the A’s are starting to find out the type of offensive impact they acquired in La Stella, who collected two more hits in Sunday’s 5-3 loss at the Coliseum.

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“I was joking with him the other day that his first day here we lose a doubleheader and get locked in a hotel for a while. Then we have a bad game [on Friday],” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “But that’s exactly what we expect out of him. He drives in runs and can hit anywhere in the lineup. We all know what he can offer us. It was a big pickup, and the longer we go along, you’ll see how important he is.”

Young superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. delivered a late blow in the seventh inning. His two-run blast off Yusmeiro Petit ended up deciding the game as the Padres extended their lead to 5-2 at the time.

But La Stella demonstrated the qualities that the club was hoping he would bring in order to boost the offense down the stretch. His presence in the lineup could grow in importance as the A’s prepare for the possible absence of Matt Chapman, who left Sunday’s game early with a right hip strain, while they look to hold their 3 1/2-game lead in the American League West and fend off second-place Houston. The Astros are set to visit Oakland on Monday for the first of five games that will be played between the two clubs over the next four days.

Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, La Stella set the table in the first with a double off Padres starter Garrett Richard before eventually scoring a go-ahead run on a single by Matt Olson. A nearly identical rally was sparked in the third by La Stella, who led off that inning with a single before scoring a game-tying run from second on a double down the right-field line by Olson.

La Stella nearly had a chance to play hero in the ninth. But with two outs and Robbie Grossman on second base after his leadoff double, La Stella was left on deck as Tony Kemp flied out to end the game.

“We put him in the lineup where we can try to get him up as many times as we can,” Melvin said. “We were hoping to try to get Tony on base there and get him up in the ninth. This is what we got him for. Get hits, get on base, score a bunch of runs and do damage at the top.”

La Stella has been in the middle of most A’s rallies the past two days. Following a two-hit game in Saturday’s 8-4 win over San Diego, the second baseman is 4-for-8 with two doubles, a walk, an RBI and three runs scored over his last two games. Perhaps even more impressive in his first 16 plate appearances with the A’s, though, has been his ability to put the bat on the ball -- he’s struck out only once.

The lack of strikeouts shouldn’t come as a surprise -- La Stella’s 6.2 percent strikeout rate entering the day ranked the lowest among all Major League hitters. But his constant penchant for putting the ball in play is a welcomed sight for a strikeout-heavy offense like Oakland’s, which has struck out the fifth-most times among AL clubs.

“Playing four years in Chicago, I was mostly coming off the bench late in games facing guys who threw hard,” La Stella said. “The probabilities of hard contact begin to plummet when you expand the strike zone. So for me, it was paramount to make sure I wasn’t expanding the zone, especially early in the count. I’d say pinch-hitting was something that helped me hone in on the strike zone.”

Sunday’s loss snapped what had been a superb streak at home for both the A’s and starter Mike Fiers. Having lost two of three to the Padres, this series marked the first time the A’s lost a series of at least three games at home since June 14-16, 2019, against the Mariners. Oakland had gone 14-0-2 in 16 series over that stretch.

Fiers took the loss after allowing three runs over five innings. The loss was his first pitching in Oakland since April 20, 2019 against the Blue Jays. The right-hander entered the day 9-0 with a 2.99 ERA over his last 16 starts at the Coliseum, with his home winning streak tied for ninth-longest in Oakland history.