Tatis Jr. opens game with titanic home run
MESA, Ariz. — Sergio Romo wasn’t supposed to start the game. He was among the A’s relievers slated to appear in Friday’s exhibition against the Padres at HoHoKam Stadium.
But Romo got the call, and Fernando Tatis Jr. cleared the wall in Oakland’s 54 win.
Tatis, the Padres’ 22yearold shortstop who last month signed a 14year, $340 million extension, worked the count to 32 before Romo delivered a slider that Tatis crushed.
Tatis, the game’s first batter, and everyone in the park knew on contact that the ball was gone. Tatis dropped his bat behind him after completing his followthrough, stepped from the batter’s box, clapped his hands and began his 28second journey around the bases.
The beautiful swing was quite a sight for those in attendance, and a video of it, taken by The Chronicle, reached 200,000 views on Twitter within 90 minutes.
Romo, 38, was a Giants rookie in 2008, and the first batter who homered off him was ... Tatis’ dad. On July 10, 2008, Fernando Tatis Sr., then a Met, hit a tworun, seventhinning shot.
Romo, who won three World Series rings with the Giants before moving to the Dodgers, Rays and Twins, signed a oneyear deal with the A’s last month.
Daulton Jefferies was Friday’s scheduled starter, but the A’s announced two hours before the game that Romo would pitch the first inning. With the threat of rain, the A’s wanted to assure that Romo and other relievers including Yusmeiro Petit got their work.
Starting isn’t new to Romo, who worked as an opener five times for the 2018 Rays. Friday, he had two aboard and one out before escaping further damage by retiring his final two batters.
A’s manager Bob Melvin on Tatis Jr.: “The thing that really stands out is it looks like he’s playing in the park. He’s always got a smile on his face, he’s laughing, he’s enjoying himself. In a game that sometimes can be pretty stoic, he’s probably against the grain.”
Jefferies pitched the fifth, sixth and seventh and surrendered a threerun homer to Abrams, who pinch hit for Tatis in the fifth — all four Padres RBIs came from the leadoff spot.
If anything happens to a starter, Jefferies could crack the rotation, but he said, “I don’t really think about being on the cusp of the rotation. That’s kind of all talk. I’ll do everything I can to push their hand and stay consistent.”
Jefferies calls his breaking ball a slurve (slider and curve characteristics) and is amazed at how Romo has succeeded mostly with one pitch. “Sergio’s been pitching for 12 years, and he’s been throwing a slider, and everyone knows he’s throwing a slider, and he’s still here 12 years later. That’s pretty impressive.”
The winning hit was Buddy Reed’s tworun single in the seventh. Frank Schwindel homered in the sixth.
For Jed Lowrie to make the roster after undergoing knee surgery in October, he’ll need to show capable leg strength. He moved around nicely at second base and made a couple of encouraging plays.
The A’s said all 162 regularseason games will be broadcast on 960 AM and 103.7 FM with Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo at the microphones and Ray Fosse also making appearances. Games also are heard on the team’s audio streaming station (A’s Cast on i Heart Radio), reached at athletics.com/ As Cast.
Sixty games will be broadcast in Spanish on 1010 AM and 990 AM with the call from Amaury PiGonzález and Manolo HernándezDouen.
Lefthander A.J. Puk, recovering from shoulder surgery, will pitch in a simulated game Saturday while Mike Fiers (sore back) could play catch. Melvin appears confident the righthander will be ready for the season but noted there’s “some concern.” Sunday, closer Trevor Rosenthal (groin strain) will throw a simulated game while Frankie Montas makes his first Cactus League appearance.