A’s struggle on mound, at plate in rout at the hands of Hays Larks

Tuesday's game between the Hays Larks and the Dodge City A's at Cavalier Field was one of the summer's most forgettable performances from the home team. Hays took the game in a rout 11-2 by scoring seven in the first two innings.
    A's starter Blake Thomas gave up five runs to the Larks in the top of the first inning and the A's could not get anything going offensively in the game that was basically decided in the first two frames.
    "Blake didn't pitch very well and we didn't do much behind him to help him out," said A's head coach Phil Stephenson.
    Though Thomas did hold the Larks scoreless for the next three innings, the damage had been done early. Hays starter Casey Hauptman helped his already stingy 3.00 Jayhawk League ERA by only allowing one run in his eight innings on the mound.
    "You've got to give [Hauptman] credit," Stephenson said of the University of Nebraska product. "He pitched a whale of a game."
     Though statistically the A's bats seemed to wake up as the game wore on, when the home team did manage to get base runners, the rallies were quickly ended, either by the Larks' pitching and defense or by a lack of hitting with men on base.
    In the bottom of the third inning, the A's had catcher Jeremy Mayo and second baseman Max Taylor aboard with no outs with their first legitimate opportunity to get back in the game. Three quick fly-ball outs squandered the chance and base runners came few and far between after that.
    The A's managed only eight hits on the night and only two in the first five innings, when Hauptman was at his best.
    They were able to score in the sixth inning, when center fielder Cameron Monger scored from third on an Oscar Sigala double-play ball, and in the eighth, when second baseman Tyler Robbins drove Monger in on a single to center field.
    Monger, Robbins and Sigala were the closest things to bright spots offensively for the A's, as they each recorded two hits on the night.
    Pitcher Jermaine Barksdale did make his first appearance since shoulder problems forced him to leave in the third inning of his June 28 start. The left-hander struck out the side in the top of the ninth and now adds another arm to the A's depleted bullpen.
    "There's a saying in baseball: You're going to win 25% of your games automatically, you're going to lose 25% automatically. In the other 50% you have a chance to make things happen to get the win," Stephenson said. "This was one of the 25% that we just never had a chance in."
    The A's play the Larks again at 7 p.m. today at Cavalier Field. Eric Holmes will take the mound for the A's.