The Athletics put forth arguably their best pitching performance yet this spring, shutting out the Los Angeles Angels 3-0. This afternoon marked the first time the team kept its opponent off the scoreboard in this year’s Cactus League.
A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs put together his best performance and now seems ready for the season to start. He threw 84 pitches over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, only allowing three hits while striking out four. Springs found himself in trouble early as the Angels loaded
the bases with two outs in the first inning on two hits and a walk. He escaped that jam by getting Angels’ catcher Logan O’Hoppe to fly out to left. Following that early scare, it was mostly smooth sailing for Springs until he was removed for reliever Nick Anderson after allowing Mike Trout’s fourth double of the spring with two outs in the fifth inning.
Returning to the first inning, buoyed by the Angels leaving the bases loaded, the A’s offense struck first against Los Angeles pitcher George Klassen. Following Nick Kurtz getting hit by a pitch and a Shea Langeliers single, Tyler Soderstrom grounded into a double play, which nearly killed the rally. Fortunately, Brent Rooker hit a two-out RBI single to score Kurtz who had moved to third base on the previous play. Rooker stole second base and then scored on Jacob Wilson’s single to right field.
Klassen and the three Angels relievers did a good job of subduing what was a red-hot A’s offense. The A’s finished the game with only four hits. Their only other run came courtesy of Max Muncy’s fourth Cactus League home run, a solo shot to right field in the fourth inning.
Out of all of the team’s candidates to play third base, Muncy seems to have the most offensive upside and has been getting the most playing time at the position, which suggests he will likely start there Opening Day in Toronto. Muncy has the offensive ability to further strengthen an already stellar lineup, although he will hopefully not make too many crippling defensive errors if given the chance to play third base daily.
With the team up 3-0, it was down to the A’s relievers to protect their team’s slim lead. Right-handers Nick Anderson, Mark Leiter Jr., Michael Kelly and A.J. Causey did their job and more, combining to keep the Angels from inching closer.
Anderson, who curiously was not reassigned alongside fellow non-roster invitees Wander Suero and Nick Hernandez, got the last out of the fifth inning and then worked around allowing a leadoff double the next inning. Free-agent acquisition Leiter Jr. will likely pitch in many high-stress, late-game moments this season for the A’s. This afternoon, he worked his way out of a first-and-third, one-out situation in the seventh inning, striking out Mike Trout for the second out and then getting the next Angels hitter to ground out to end the inning.
Kelly also worked out of trouble the next inning and then Causey, who has a shot to make his MLB debut this year, slammed the door in the ninth, collecting his first save in an A’s uniform.
All spring, the A’s have been winning games by simply outscoring their opponents, so today it was nice to see the team win thanks to strong pitching and defense. Speaking of defense, Zack Gelof caught every ball hit his way in right field. If anyone was at the game, how does he look in the outfield and is it a realistic possibility to see him out there in the regular season? Share in the comment section below.
Here’s how the box score looked today:
The Athletics will try to make it two wins in a row tomorrow as they travel to Glendale, Arizona to play the Chicago White Sox. Luis Morales will start for the A’s, looking to build on his solid performance in his last outing and cement his spot as one of the A’s five starting pitchers in their season-opening rotation. At the moment, the White Sox have yet to list their scheduled starter for that Cactus League matchup between two teams looking to take a step forward this season.
