Dana Eveland threw seven exceptional innings as the A's beat the Mariners 2-0 in the opener of a three-game series Friday night in Oakland.
Eveland struck out seven and walked none on a very economical 83 pitches. His curveball had terrific bite and he used it both to set hitters up in the strike zone and as a strikeout pitch out of the zone. He got Ichiro to strike out on it twice.
Joey Devine threw a dominant eighth, and Brad Ziegler closed it out for his 10th save in 11 chances.
The offensive highlight was undoubtedly Travis Buck's fourth-inning solo homer to right field. He turned on Felix Hernandez' 96 mph heater and it was a thing of beauty. We've missed you, Travis, and man-crushes all over the country have resumed in full force.
The A's added an insurance run later in the fourth when Ryan Sweeney doubled and Kurt Suzuki followed with a run-scoring single.
It looked like the game was going to end in under two hours until the Mariners made it interesting in the ninth. But Ziegler ended a bases-loaded rally to seal the win.
Game two of the series is tomorrow, and Kirk Saarloos will get a spot start.
To top it all off, this game was broadcast in HD.
