For the longest time, going to Fernando Abad was nothing but A-Good for the A’s.
Not so much lately, though.
Abad, asked to keep a 3-2 game close, instead gave up a two-run homer and a solo shot in the eighth inning. That put the A’s in a 6-2 hole and meant that the two runs Oakland scored in the ninth were just window dressing.
The numbers on Abad this year are grim. He has a 7.36 ERA, his WHIP is 1.636 and he’s allowed four homers in 11 innings. For his first season in Oakland last year, his ERA was 1.