Near no-hitter:
Parker, well-supported, holds mighty Rangers hitless until 8th inning
The A’s Jarrod Parker takes bid into eighth inning of 12-1 win.
“An 8-0 lead was fun to pitch with. Once we got the runs, I
just wanted to get the guys back up there as quick as I could.”
Jarrod Parker, A’s rookie pitcher
Jarrod Parker was so superb Monday, he overshadowed a rare flood of runs from Oakland’s offense.
The team, shut out three times in the previous four games, racked up eight runs in the second inning and went on to a 12-1 victory over the big, bad, two-time AL champion Rangers.
Parker, though, took center stage: The rookie right-hander had a no-hitter going for seven innings, before allowing a leadoff single to Michael Young in the eighth. Parker said he was a little disappointed he left a slider over the plate to Young.
“Obviously, that late in the game, I’m competitive, I didn’t want to give up any hits. I want to finish it,” he said of the nohit bid.
He needed just two more pitches to get out of the eighth, with a popup and a double
play.
Manager Bob Melvin was relieved by the four-pitch inning — and maybe a little relieved about the hit. Parker entered the inning with 107 pitches, and the A’s are being careful with him — he missed the 2010 season after Tommy John surgery.
“Tell me about it,” Melvin said of the potentially tough decision he was looking at had Parker still had a no-no going after eight. “At eight, if he comes in at 120, what do I have to do? He’s pretty important to us.”
Parker got a standing ovation as he left the field after the eighth inning, and that was it for his evening because he’d thrown 111 pitches. He walked three and struck out six, while inducing two double plays.
He used mostly fastballs and changeups; Melvin called his changeup the best he has had this season, and catcher Kurt Suzuki said Parker’s fastball location was the real key.
Parker, obtained in the Trevor Cahill deal with Arizona, had a personal high in innings. He has allowed no more than two runs in all but one of his nine career starts.
Brandon Inge, initially such a force for the A’s after he was signed April 30, had been quiet since coming off the disabled list a week before, going 2-for-18 in five games.
He drilled a three-run shot to left in the second to get the A’s going, and the team sent 12 men to the plate in the inning. Inge and Scott Smith had two hits apiece in the inning; Smith had two singles and scored a run, and Inge added an RBI single.
“An 8-0 lead was fun to pitch with,” Parker said. “Once we got the runs, I just wanted to get the guys back up there as quick as I could. … It’s fun, it’s a win. That’s what we need right now.”
Every member of Oakland’s starting lineup contributed at least one hit and scored at least one run. Smith finished with four hits.
This seemed like bizarro world, coming as it did against the high-powered Rangers. The last-place A’s are on pace to score their fewest runs ever in Oakland in a non-strike season, and Texas left fielder Josh Hamilton is turning in monster week after monster week.
First-place Texas has the most multi-run innings (74) in the league, and Oakland had the fewest (38) entering the day.
The A’s had three multirun innings Monday — Kila Ka’aihue knocked a two-run homer in the fifth, and Yoenis Céspedes had a two-run double in the eighth. He came out after the eighth as a precaution; he said he felt a little twinge in his left knee during batting practice but he expects to play Tuesday.
Hamilton walked and was thrown out on a steal attempt in the first inning, and Parker struck him out swinging twice with changeups.