The Biggest Joke of April Fools' Day Was the Oakland A's' Errors

Making just the eighth start of his MLB career, Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco threw the first no-hitter in the major leagues this season as the Astros rolled to a 10-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. The 30-year-old, who didn’t play in the majors until he was 28, struck out seven and walked two while keeping the Blue Jays out of the hits column.

Equally as impressive as Blanco’s feat was what the Oakland Athletics were able to accomplish on Monday while plating the exact same number of runs as the hitless Blue Jays. Though the A’s weren’t no-hit with the combination of Boston pitchers Tanner Houck and Chase Anderson, Oakland managed to collect more errors (five) than hits (four) in the 9-0 loss to the Red Sox. Amazingly, all of Oakland’s errors came in the first three innings and made the A’s the first team in seven years to commit at least five errors in the first three innings of a game. The A’s have committed at least one error in every game this year and are the first team in 29 years with at least 13 fielding miscues in the first five games of the season.

Fan-Backed Oakland A’s “SELL” Shirt Headed to Cooperstown

The shirt was a major player during a reverse boycott earlier this month

Now boasting a league-worst -27 run differential, the A’s (1-4) are surrendering nearly eight runs per game on average while scoring just more than two. Projected to be the worst team in the majors this season, the Athletics have certainly lived up to expectations thus far. Fans are reacting accordingly, as Oakland’s announced attendance of 6,618 for Monday night’s game was likely a much lower figure.

“I wish I had an answer for the defense right now,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said following Monday’s loss. “They’re going to have to get better. That’s just all there is to it. These first five games, if you told me we were going to play as bad defensively as this, I would have said you’re dead wrong. We’ll see how they respond tomorrow. We couldn’t get out of our way the first three innings.”

When the two teams face off again tonight, things may not be much better for the A’s — Oakland will be sending Alex Wood, who is 0-1 with a 16.20 ERA this season, to the mound. He’ll be opposed by Boston’s Opening Day starter Brayan Bello (1-0, 3.60 ERA). The over/under is eight runs. Go over.