A’s win 4-2 over Mariners with key outings by Trivino, Blackburn

SEATTLE — Lou Trivino is not currently the Oakland Athletics’ closer, a title he held for most of last season. That doesn’t prevent him from pitching in pivotal moments for their bullpen.

Wednesday’s series finale in Seattle presented a prime example. Trivino was the first reliever summoned by the A’s, entering in a critical spot. Paul Blackburn left with two men on base and one out in the sixth. Trivino emerged to protect a three-run lead.

Closing is amplified but often means starting the ninth. Leverage situations can arrive earlier. The role Trivino has occupied lately holds its own difficulty. In eight of his past 11 outings, Trivino has entered with at least one runner on base, asked to defuse a dangerous inning.

His doing so Wednesday continued a promising trend. Trivino used seven pitches to record two outs and get the A’s out of the sixth without damage. They held off a late Seattle push for a 4-2 win, securing a series win. Trivino has inherited 14 runners this month and stranded all but one.

“I think it’s a great weapon for us to have” in the bullpen, manager Mark Kotsay said. “You come in and get big outs in any situation that you’re picking up a starter or picking up a reliever, that’s just as valuable as closing a game, in my opinion. We talk about the leverage outs in a game. Those are leverage outs.”

Trivino entered to face Julio Rodríguez, the promising Seattle rookie. It mirrored Monday, when Kotsay called on Trivino in the sixth to face Rodríguez with the bases loaded and two outs. Rodríguez struck out on a Trivino curveball in that at-bat.

On Wednesday, Trivino got to 2-2 and threw a 96 mph sinker in on Rodríguez’s hands. Rodríguez could not hold up or make contact.

“I wanted to go in off the plate with the same count because I’m assuming he’s sitting on something offspeed,” Trivino said. “If I could throw every pitch like that, I think I’d be all right.”

Eugenio Suárez's flyout followed. Those were the only two hitters Trivino faced, but his outing loomed large after Seattle closed to 3-2. Dany Jiménez, who has taken up the closer role, secured Oakland's series win with his 10th save. Trivino's 6.55 ERA reflects an ugly May 3 outing against the Rays; in 10 games since then, he has allowed two runs and four hits with 11 strikeouts, flashing better form.

“He's putting together good at-bats, guys are chasing stuff off him,” Blackburn said. “I think the more that happens, the more confidence he's going to get.”

On Blackburn: Trivino helped Blackburn emerge unblemished from a start in which his control waffled. In his first eight starts, Blackburn walked seven batters and hit none. In 5 1/3 innings Wednesday, the right-hander issued five walks and hit a batter.

Blackburn navigated that traffic. He erased two of the walks on double-play grounders. Only one Seattle runner reached scoring position in his first five innings. Rodríguez walked in the fourth, stole second and took third on a flyout. Blackburn got J.P. Crawford to pop out to end the inning.

Crawford's second-inning single was the Mariners' only hit against Blackburn. His ERA after nine starts is 1.70, fifth among qualified major-league starters.

“Five walks is obviously unacceptable, but on the flip side of that, one hit. My stuff was playing well,” said Blackburn. “Even though I walked five guys, I was able to still create soft contact and keep them from advancing runners.”

Long ball: In lefty Robbie Ray's first nine starts this season, left-handed hitters were 3-for-31 against him with no home runs. Seth Brown, the A's left-handed-hitting first baseman, entered 1-for14 with no extra-base hits against lefties.

Naturally, Brown struck extra-base hits in his first two at-bats against Ray, the reigning AL Cy Young winner. Brown ripped a first-pitch fastball for a double in the second, then turned on a 95 mph first-pitch fastball for a homer in the fourth.

“Seth and I talked about being aggressive against Robbie,” Kotsay said. “I felt Robbie was going to challenge him with fastballs and Seth put two good swings on two good heaters.”

“Attack fastball early, be aggressive to fastballs early, is all I was thinking about,” Brown said.

Ray struck out 10 but allowed another home run in the sixth. After Christian Bethancourt's single, Elvis Andrus jumped on a first-pitch slider. His 348-foot drive left his bat at a 41-degree launch angle. It had an expected .080 batting average but carried over the left-field wall.

Andrus' was just the eighth homer this season by a right-handed hitter with a launch angle of 41 degrees or more and the second of Andrus' 82 career homers with a launch angle that high, per Statcast.

Laureano sits: Ramón Laureano was in the A's original lineup but scratched an hour before first pitch. It marked his fourth straight game out of the lineup since a pitch struck his right hand in Anaheim.

Kotsay said Laureano tried hitting in the cage and with the “intensity of the swings ... just didn't feel confident going out and being in the lineup.”