Lopez (7-6) allowed two hits and one walk while striking out 14 over eight shutout innings to earn the win Sunday over the Athletics.
Lopez retired the first 17 batters he faced before Lawrence Butler's sixth-inning single. This was Lopez's first scoreless outing of the season as well as his longest start, and the 14 strikeouts were a season high. He'd given up 14 runs over 13 innings across his first three starts in June. Even with this gem, Lopez has a 5.11 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 101:19 K:BB through 88 innings across 16 starts this year. Considering he's posted a career-worst 1.6 HR/9, it's likely a fair amount of his struggles have come from bad luck with the long ball, as the rest of his underlying numbers are in line with his usual level of performance. Lopez is lined up to make his next start at Seattle.
Lopez didn't factor into the decision Tuesday against Tampa Bay, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk across four innings. He struck out three.
Four of the five runs attributed to Lopez came via the long ball, with Randy Arozarena launching a three-run homer in the first inning and Brandon Lowe notching a solo home run in the fifth, marking Lopez's seventh consecutive start allowing a round-tripper. The 28-year-old has allowed five or more runs in four of his last six appearances, owning an 8.94 ERA during that stretch and ballooning his ERA to a career-worst 5.63 overall. He's lined up for a road start against the Athletics on Sunday.
