Minnesota Twins Win Series Opener in Sacramento

On a warm, breezy night in West Sacramento, it was the same story it has been for the A's over the last few weeks. The green and gold once again could not capitalize in pivotal moments, with runners in scoring position and leaving the bases loaded. The hitters seemed lifeless at the plate, and could not make productive outs to get runs on the board for Luis Severino.

Severino (1-5) took the loss on Monday night, allowing eight runs on nine hits and one walk over 5.2 innings. Just a few days ago, he celebrated 1,000 career strikeouts but tonight only tallied one as he was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins lineup. While none of them hit the long ball (shocking, right?) the entire starting lineup collected a hit, with four batters having multi-hit games.

The Twins simply just overwhelmed the A's and as the deficit grew larger, the A's chances of mounting a comeback were slim. This has been a pattern for the A's in later innings: not being able to keep the game close enough to start any kind of rally. Manager Mark Kotsay mentioned in his postgame comments the team was "hurt by costly mistakes" and these mistakes are continuing to pile on as their losing streak continues.

The A's have lost seven games in a row now, and 18 of their last 19.

The A's will hope that Game 2 looks a little bit different from the jump on both sides of the ball.
First pitch is set for Tuesday night at Sutter Health Park at 7:05 PDT. A starting pitcher has not been announced for the A's just yet, so there could be a new face taking the ball for the A's on Tuesday.