A's win despite Khris Davis' utterly dreadful day at the plate

The Oakland Athletics topped the New York Yankees for the third straight day on Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 5-2 victory at The Coliseum. They owe none of that victory to outfielder Khris Davis.

To say Davis had a miserable game at the plate would be the understatement of the day. It was, in fact, a dreadful performance. One that Davis most certainly hopes to forget in short order, but one that simply cannot be ignored based on the results and circumstances.

[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]

If we simply told you Khris Davis struck out four times during the game, you’d probably shrug. The “Golden Sombrero,” as it’s known in baseball circles, is hardly a rarity anymore with strikeouts more prominent in the game.

Davis really did strike out four times on Saturday, but it’s his other at-bat that sticks out like a sore thumb. We’re talking about the third inning at-bat where Davis hit a high pop up near home plate and simply decided not to run, resulting in an awkward and embarrassing outcome when the baseball fell to the ground in fair territory.

Yeah, Yankees third baseman Chase Headley misplayed it. That too was not pretty. But it paled in comparison to Davis’ screw up. Had Davis bothered to run, he would have reached base. Perhaps even as far as second with a little extra hustle. Instead, he was thrown out as he sulked around home plate.

There’s no excuse for that at all. A better effort is expected and was rightfully demanded by A’s fans.

There would be no home runs or notable production from Davis on this day. He had his chances, but ended up leaving six total runners on base. Meanwhile, Ryon Healy helped make up for it with a pair of home runs.

Let’s be clear here. Davis isn’t the first player to get caught not hustling. He won’t be the last. But it’s one of those moments that changes minds quickly and tends to follow players around for a long time.

Case in point, Davis was the hero for Oakland on Thursday, delivering a walk-off hit in extra innings to beat the Yankees. No one was thinking of that on Saturday when the boos started raining down. Nor were they thinking about the 42 home runs Davis hit last season. Now it’s all up to Davis to make sure his blunder becomes old news instead of a running theme.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @Townie813