A's waste strong outing by Chris Bassitt in 2-1 loss to Rockies

OAKLAND - Sonny Gray was too sick to pitch Tuesday night and required a last-minute replacement. But the real problem arose for the A’s when their bats fell ill as well.

Colorado’s Jorge De La Rosa allowed just four hits over seven innings and the Colorado Rockies edged past the Oakland A’s and Gray’s sub Chris Bassitt 2-1 before 19,206 at the Coliseum. Bassitt was an emergency call-up from Triple-A Nashville after Gray spent the night in an East Bay hospital with flu-like symptoms, and the A’s ace still hadn’t been released as of Tuesday afternoon.

“It hit him pretty hard,” manager Bob Melvin of Gray said before the game. “He’s actually been dealing with it for the last couple of days, but last night, it actually got worse. I talked to him this morning and he still sounded pretty weak.”

Bassitt, who was also pitching on three days rest, gave the A’s everything they could have expected. The right-hander worked out of a first-and-second, one-out jam in the fourth, retiring Carlos Gonzalez on a lazy fly to left, then striking out Wilin Rosario with a 97-mph fastball.

The Rockies finally broke through against Bassitt in the fifth, however. Ben Paulsen and Michael McKenry opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Bassitt then recorded two outs. But after he got ahead ahead 1-2, Charlie Blackmon flipped a single over second base to bring home the first run.

Bassitt was done after five innings and 84 pitches, having allowed five hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Alas, the A’s gave him no offensive support, reflective of a club that is 4-13, second-worst in baseball, when they go up against a left-handed starter.

The Rockies added a second run in the top of the seventh when Fernandez Rodriguez, who impressively struck out Tulowitzki, Arenado and Gonzalez in the sixth, gave up singles to Rosario and Barnes and then uncorked a two-out wild pitch that allowed Rosario to score.

De La Rosa walked four and struck out four over his seven scoreless frames. The A’s finally got on the board against his successor, right-hander Tommy Kahnle, in the bottom of the eighth, when Zobrist doubled to right and Billy Butler singled him home. But Kahnle struck out Phegley to end the inning.