Bassitt shines as A’s beat Tigers

DETROIT — Chris Bassitt has had to deal with his ups and downs this season, but this was about as good a feeling as he’ll probably have this season.

Pitching about an hour away from his hometown, Bassitt gave the A’s exactly what they needed with six shutout innings in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over the Tigers.

A large group of Bassitt’s friends and family made the trek to Comerica Park from near Toldeo, Ohio, Bassitt’s hometown, and were making noise from the time Bassitt’s name was announced during the starting lineups. Perched about 20 rows behind home plate the “C-Bass!” chants only got louder as each inning went along.

Bassitt gave them plenty to cheer about. Aside from a third inning in which he walked three batters to load the bases, still managing to escape without allowing a run, Bassitt uti-

lized a nice variation in velocity to keep the Tigers (36-45) in check.

Featuring a 94-mph sinking fastball mixed with a 70-mph looping curveball, Bassitt was able to rack up five strikeouts through his six scoreless innings before handing it over to the A’s lights-out bullpen. Sensing it was probably his last inning at 102 pitches, the group of Bassitt supporters exploded with elation after the righthander retired Grayson Greiner on a groundout to end the sixth. Bassitt’s walk back to the dugout was particularly slower than usual, as if he was soaking it all in, before he was greeted by A’s manger Bob Melvin with a handshake and high-fives all around for his teammates.

Bassitt had arrived to the ballpark less than three hours before game time as he was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Nashville to take the spot of the injured Daniel Mengden on the roster. It’s something Bassitt has grown used to this year, now recalled from the minors for the fifth time this season.