Errors Costly as A's Fall to Baltimore Orioles 6-1 in Sunday Finale

The combination of two Chris Carter errors and Wei-Yin Chen's pitching proved too much for the Oakland A's as they dropped the series finale to Baltimore, 6-1. Travis Blackley took the loss, giving up five runs on six hits and four walks in five innings pitched. The key sequence occurred in Baltimore's four-run third inning as an error and walk led to Adam Jones's RBI double and Matt Wieters followed with a three run home run. 

For the A's, their bats were held mostly in check by Chen, who set a record for Taiwanese-born pitchers by striking out 12 Oakland hitters in 5.2 innings. The A's only run came when the scorching Yoenis Cespedes smoked an RBI single to center field to score Jemile Weeks in the sixth inning. The A's actually had a chance to rally as they loaded the bases with two outs. But reliever Darren O'Day induced a pop out to third base by Derek Norris to end the threat. 

Oakland reliever Jim Miller was solid in mop up duty, going three strong innings. His only mistake was a solo home run allowed to Baltimore second baseman Omar Quintanilla to push the score to 6-1.

Even with the loss, the A's completed their road trip with a 4-2 record while their overall record falls to 55-46 as they head to Oakland to start a key 10 game home stand. First up will be the Tampa Bay Rays and David Price, who leads the majors with 14 wins in 2012. He will be opposed Monday night by solid A's rookie A.J. Griffin, who has won his last three decisions. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Coliseum.

Note: The trade for Milwaukee catcher George Kottaras was finalized Sunday morning as the A's sent relief pitcher Faustino de los Santos to the Brewers in exchange for the left handed catcher. Kottaras is expected to join the A's in time for Monday night's game.