The Oakland Athletics (15-15) beat the Seattle Mariners (17-12) 3:2 thanks to a late comeback. The M’s wasted an outstanding performance of their starting pitcher James Paxton.
The story of the game was for a long time Paxton and his dominant imagination. He served 16 strikeouts (5H, BB) over seven shutout innings, making him the fourth pitcher in franchise history to achieve at least 16 Ks in one game.
The last to do so for the Mariners was Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson, who managed 19 strikeouts in 1997.
But all this was not enough. As soon as Paxton left Mound and the bullpen took over, the guests from California turned up the heat. Jed Lowrie then equalized the score in the eighth inning with a 2-run Homun. In the ninth inning it was Mark Canha who provided the ultimate leadership of the A’s with his solo shot.
“It didn’t look good for us at first, but that’s why they keep playing,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin about his team’s performance: “Paxton obviously had great stuff and had us under control. One day I stopped counting the strikeouts.” But Melvin reiterated: “But that’s why you play 27 outs.”
The success was also made possible by a proper presentation of A’s left-handed Brett Anderson. In his first start for Oakland since 2013 – he was active for four other teams in the meantime – Anderson made 6 1/3 innings and only gave two runs on five hits before the bulls took over.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.