Severino was locked in a true pitcher’s duel
Determined to even up the Rivalry Series against former cross-bay neighbors, the San Francisco Giants, the Athletics face off against them at Oracle Park. Luis Severino took the mound today for the A’s against Landen Roupp from the Giants.
Both teams were relatively quiet until the bottom half of the seventh when two base hits and a walk for the Giants loaded the bases with one out. But then Luis Severino struck out both Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos swinging to end the inning and extinguish the jam.
Lawrence Butler doubled to open the fourth inning. He moved to third on an infield hit by Luis Urías. But Nick Kurtz struck out looking to strand the runners. The game remined scoreless through six and both managers started the seventh with relievers taking over. Randy Rodríguez replaced Landen Roupp and tossed a 1-2-3 inning for the Giants. Justin Sterner replaced Luis Severino tossed six shutout innings, giving up just one walk and four hits. Sterner tossed a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the Giants half of the seventh.
With the score still knotted at zero in the bottom of the ninth, Tyler Ferguson relieved Sterner, hoping to send this one into extra innings. Ferguson struck out two of the three batters he faced, sending the game to the tenth. Max Schuemann was the placed runner, replacing Luis Urías. JJ Bleday struck out, and Kurtz grounded out, moving Schuemann to third. Jacob Wilson walked on four pitches. That brought up Brett Rooker with two down. Unfortunately, he struck out to end the inning. Mason Miller entered the game to pitch the tenth. Willie Adames was the placed runner on second. Lamont Wade Jr walked, and Patrick Bailey sacrificed both runners up one base. Miller sent Tyler Fitzgerald back to the bench with a 103.1 fastball for the second out. Kotsay sent Yaz to first with an intentional walk, loading the bases for yesterday’s A’s killer Wilmer Flores. Miller threw seven pitches to Flores between 102 and 104 mph, but too many missed the strike zone, and he walked in the winning run. That ended the game with a 1-0 victory for the homestanding Giants.