Pinder’s Leadoff Blast Proves Enough As Oakland Blanks Giants
Apr 28, 2022, 10:33 AM | Updated: Nov 11, 2022, 12:04 pm
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Six pitches into Wednesday’s Bay Bridge Series matchup, the game was in the bag for the Oakland Athletics.
Following Chad Pinder’s leadoff home run off of San Francisco Giants lefty (and Elk Grove native) Sam Long, the A’s pitching staff completely shutdown their Bay Area counterpart as Oakland was able to leave Oracle Park with a 1-0 win.
Pinder, in his first game back since returning from the COVID-19 injured list, drilled a 2-2 changeup into the left-field bleachers to give Oakland a 1-0 lead before fans could even settle into their seats.
Paul Blackburn looked dominant once again on Wednesday as the 28-year-old hurled five shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four Giants batters.
Blackburn improved to 3-0 (second-most wins in the league) on the season and lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.35 (sixth-lowest in the league).
“He’s mixing in that breaking ball really well and keeping hitters off-balance,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said postgame.
“He’s throwing more changeups than he has in the past. He’s not walking guys to add to the trouble. Overall, he’s just done a great job of commanding the baseball and giving us a chance to win every time he takes the hill.”
The A’s bullpen combined to toss four shutout innings ass Domingo Acevedo, Sam Moll, Zach Jackson, Kirby Snead, and Dany Jiménez didn’t allow a single San Francisco base hit for the remainder of the game.
Nearly 20 games into the 2022 season, the Oakland A’s (10-9) continue to show that they will not roll over and let another offseason full of selling moves deter those that are still here from competing on a nightly basis.
Next up for the A’s
Oakland will begin a three-game set at the Coliseum against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday afternoon.
Be sure to get all of your Oakland Athletics coverage right here at Sports 1140 KHTK, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:45pm PST on Friday following The Nick Cattles Show.
