Alex Wood is ineffective as Dodgers give up 21 hits in loss to Athletics

Bad sushi, bad defense, bad pitching … they all conspired against the Dodgers in an unsightly 16-6 loss to the Oakland Athletics before an announced crowd of 49,394 in Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.

Left-hander Alex Wood, whose start was pushed back one day because of food poisoning, gave up seven runs and seven hits in a wobbly 32/3-inning effort that probably made him feel as queasy as he did in San Francisco over the weekend.

After a pregame ceremony in which they received the 2017 Wilson defensive team of the year award, the Dodgers made a mess of things in the fourth, a misplayed grounder and a throwing error contributing to Oakland’s game-breaking five-run rally.

Things deteriorated quickly from there. The A’s amassed 21 hits in the game, 14 of them against five Dodgers relievers, the most hits the Dodgers have given up in a game since the New York Mets racked up 21 against them in Citi Field on July 25, 2015.

The height of the evening’s lunacy came when Jed Lowrie, battling Wilmer Font as if a playoff berth was on the line, capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a three-run homer in the ninth as the game approached the four-hour mark. That gave the A’s a 16-5 lead.

A pair of former Cal State Fullerton standouts, left fielder Khris Davis, who is sporting an Oscar Gamble-like Afro, and third baseman Matt Chapman, each hit two-run homers for Oakland. Davis also doubled and singled. Marcus Semien drove in four runs and Chapman drove in three.

Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood reacts after giving up a two-run homer to Athletics’ Khris Davis, shown rounding third base, in the first inning.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times )

A’s right-hander Daniel Mengden, who has a funky hitch in his delivery, starting his windup by double-pumping his hands above his head, gave up four runs — three earned — and seven hits in five innings, striking out five and walking none for the win.

Wood yielded three runs and seven hits in 14 innings of his first two starts, striking out 10 and walking none, games in which the Dodgers supported him with zero runs.

He would have needed a boatload of runs to compete on a night his fastball, which topped out at 90 mph, seemed to lack its usual life and his knuckle-curve and changeup didn’t fool many batters.

The A’s jumped Wood for two runs in the first when Mark Canha singled and Davis lined a homer over the wall in right field.

The A’s gifted the Dodgers a run in the first after a miscommunication between center fielder Trayce Thompson and right fielder Stephen Piscotty allowed Joc Pederson’s routine fly ball to right-center to drop for a double. Pederson took third on Mengden’s wild pitch and scored on Corey Seager’s groundout.

Wood’s defense let him down in the fourth, which began with Davis’ double to left and Chapman’s RBI single to center. Piscotty flied to right for the first out, and then things got weird for the Dodgers.

Jonathan Lucroy hit a slow roller to second baseman Chase Utley, whose only play appeared to be at first. Instead, Utley tossed a back-handed a flip to second, even though Chapman had passed the defender before Utley gloved the ball. The errant toss went by shortstop Seager, and both runners were safe.

Wood struck out Thompson for the second out. All he needed to do to minimize damage was retire an American League pitcher. He couldn’t.

Mengden grounded an RBI single to center, and both runners advanced when center fielder Chris Taylor’s throw home was so high and wide it nearly reached the backstop on a fly.

Semien doubled into the left-field corner to score two more runs. Wood was replaced by right-hander J.T. Chargois, who yielded an RBI single to Matt Olson for a 7-1 lead.

Grandal got one back in the bottom of the fourth with his solo homer, but left-hander Scott Alexander allowed two hits and threw two wild pitches in a two-run sixth that pushed Oakland’s lead to 9-2.

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@MikeDiGiovanna