A’s top Tigers for second win of season

A nice day on both sides of the ball

The A’s got back into the win column Saturday morning, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-0 on the opposing turf to secure their second win of the season.

The club didn’t wait around to get the scoring started against Tigers starter Kenta Maeda. Second baseman Zack Gelof walked and advanced to second on a groundout to put himself in scoring position, but the extra base didn’t matter as last year’s All-Star Brent Rooker blasted his second 2-run home run in as many days, giving Oakland the quick lead:

Right-hander Paul Blackburn, given a lead before even stepping foot on the mound, continued his strong start to the season. The Athletics’ 2022 All-Star shut down Detroit over six shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out four Tigers hitters. Combined with his seven shutout innings in his previous start against the Cleveland Guardians, he’s now fired off 13 scoreless frames to start the season, the fourth-longest streak to open a year in A’s history:

His final line:

-Paul Blackburn: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 85 pitches

He probably could have kept it going considering his pitch count but there’s no reason to push him this early in the year. Blackburn has easily been the best pitcher so far for the club and is looking, at least early on, like he’s rediscovered his form from his previous All-Star season. That would be huge for this pitching staff and club.

With as well as Blackburn was pitching, he still only had a two-run lead, which can disappear in the blink of an eye. The bats couldnt must up much for the next four innings, collecting just a single and a pair of walks (Langeliers was caught stealing, too). It wasn’t until the sixth inning did they finally get an insurance run. It started, again, with a Gelof walk and advance to second. With two outs, Seth Brown gave the Athletics a bit more breathing room with an RBI single to right field to bring Gelof home and make it 3-0. They scored their fourth and final run in the eighth after, you guessed it, another Gelof walk and he came around to score a couple batters later on an RBI single from Rooker, his second hit and third RBI of the day:

That wound up being more than enough for the win today. New guy Austin Adams relieved Blackburn and had a perfect seventh with a pair of K’s, and then closer Mason Miller came on in the eighth for a 2-inning save. He allowed the game-tying run to make it to the on-deck circle in his first inning but wiggles out of in, but the ninth inning was clean and perfect as he locked down the win for the Green & Gold.

A good day all around. The pitching was stellar, both the starting and bullpen. The club had a couple timely 2-out hits in addition to getting the big blast from Rooker. If he’s about to get going, that would be a huge boost to the lineup. And we can’t forget Zack Gelof drawing three walks and scoring each time.

The club will go for their first series win tomorrow morning in the finale against these Tigers. Rookie Joe Boyle will be hoping for better results in his second start of the season, and he’ll be opposed by veteran righty Jack Flaherty. Let’s secure the series!