OAKLAND — The only person in the A’s clubhouse who didn’t seem to feel bad for Chris Smith on Tuesday night was Chris Smith.
The right-hander, making just his second start in a big league career that began in 2008, got robbed of his first victory in nine years when his bullpen couldn’t hold a ninth-inning lead in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay. But after talking to him, it was clear that his smile couldn’t have been bigger, his humor any more genuine and good-natured, if he had actually pocketed the ‘W’.
“It’s like ‘Whoo! what’s going on here?