Tribe unable to solve veteran Jackson, again
A’s 7, Indians 2
OAKLAND, Calif. — When Oliver Perez and Edwin Jackson were in the minors earlier this season, they would talk whenever their teams played each other.
The two veteran pitchers told each other to keep fighting and that they’d meet again in the big leagues sometime this season. Well, they both made it back, but unfortunately for the Indians, Jackson returned just in time to pitch Oakland to a 7-2 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Jackson, 34 and pitching in his 16th season, worked 6 innings to improve to 10-1 in his career against the Indians. The Indians took a 2-0 lead on homers by Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez in the fourth inning, but that was the extent of their offense.
“He still after all these years maintains his Indians starter Adam Plutko is pulled from the game by manager Terry Francona after giving up three runs in the sixth inning.
velocity,” said manager Terry Francona of Jackson. “Like Friday night, there were a lot of balls off-speed in and out of the zone and we’re chasing them. We’re not earning enough fastballs right now and, until we do, they’re going to keep throwing balls out of the
zone and make us go get them.”
Adam Plutko (4-2, 4.66 ERA) went from good to bad for the Indians. He opened the game with 12 straight outs. He didn’t give up his first hit until Khris Davis doubled to start the fifth.
Plutko entered the sixth with a 2-0 lead, but the game turned in a hurry. Franklin Barreto doubled over Michael Brantley’s head in left field, and No. 9 hitter Josh Phegley turned Plutko’s 1-and-2 pitch into a two-run homer.
In the Phegley at-bat,
he hit a foul pop behind the plate. Catcher Yan Gomes went back to catch it, but it hit a TV camera before he could get a glove on it.
“A couple bounces didn’t go our way,” Plutko said. “If the camera guy is 3 feet over to the left or right, or any direction, maybe we get an out there instead of a home run.”
Dustin Fowler followed Phegley with a single and Mark Canha doubled him home for the lead with a drive off the left-field scoreboard. The A’s finished off the Indians with four runs in the eighth as Fowler (off Dan Otero) and Matt Olson (off Josh Tomlin) homered. The inning included a throwing error by Gomes and two wild pitches.
“I felt good throughout, especially with fastball command,” Plutko said. “Then I started creeping up in the zone. It might have been on the outer corner, but it just started creeping up. The pitch to Canha that he hit for the double, that’s exactly what it was.”
Plutko allowed three runs on five hits in 5 innings. He struck out three and walked one.
The homers by Lindor (No. 20) and Ramirez (No. 24) were the Indians’ only hits until the ninth inning.