FanPost

Spring Game #12: A Potential Japan Preview

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The Oakland A's relied on the long ball and some quickly pitched innings to earn their 6th spring win and hit a .500 preseason record as they bested the Mariners 7-4.

For the second game in a row, Bob Melvin worked two of his starters to each pitch a third of a semi-tandem game. Brett Anderson and Chris Bassitt both had great outings, keeping the Mariners down and powering through their innings. Bob also kept most of his position players in for the majority of the game, only subbing out starters in the very late innings to give some at bats to a smattering of minor leaguers.

Let's break the game down into some categories to recap.

The Pitching:

Brett Anderson performed as he usually does, pitching fast with a whole lot of ground ball outs over 3.1 innings. Brett worked efficiently, and the pitch clock visible on the Mariner's broadcast rarely reached the single digits while he was on the mound. The only shakiness was a one-run homer given up in the 3rd.

Chris Bassitt pitched from the 5th through to the end of the 7th making excellent use of his big hooking curveball as the finisher for his 4 strikeouts. While he gave up 3 hits, Bassitt also saved his arm some work, having a 6 pitch 5th and mowing quickly through the first two batters of the 7th. Bassitt did a great job to give more sterling evidence for his claim of the 5th rotation spot for the start of the season.

Triggs had great movement on his pitches and good command of the strike zone. He earned a save with two strikeouts after giving up a pair of close hits.

The Big Hitters:

Chad Pinder showed some muscle with a deep fly out in the first, and a deeper homer in the 4th. He also walked in the 3rd.

Mark Canha went deep in the third, and worked walks in the 4th, 7th and 9th.

The Guys on the Cusp:

Sean Murphy entered the game in the 7th and threw a bullet to second in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play. Props to Barreto on holding onto that throw, after flipping over the runner to get the tag.

Speaking of Franklin Barreto, he worked himself deep into a few counts ending up with 2 hard swinging strikeouts, a ground out and a hard hit down the second base line. While it was nice to see him work the count, it didn't amount to much productivity.

The Ray Fosse Food References:

Wade LeBlanc = LeBlanc wines

Tyler Danish = Craving pastries.

It's a spring radio game, Fosse getting 2 food call outs in during his limited innings shows good potential for the rest of the season.

The Minor Leaguers:

Jameson Hannah was called up from the minor league camp and looked a little out of his depth. He watched a whole lot of pitches go by, ending up with a pair of strikeouts and 8 runners left on base due to his force outs.

Sheldon Neuse hit an RBI triple in the 2nd and an automatic double over the right field wall.

Greg Deichmann had 2 ABs with a strikeout and a walk.

The Guys Named Ryan/Ryon

There was a wide spectrum of results for the folks named Ry_n:

Ryan Buchter gave up a 3 run homer to in berm in his 2/3 of an inning of work. Not great.

Ryon Healy entered the game for the Mariners in the 6th, had a strikeout in the 8th, and lost a literal footrace in the 8th to allow a base hit. Not great at all.

Ryan Dull had a quick inning with a hit and two strikeouts. That's OK.

I think Dull is the only safe one here.

For Seattle:

Wade LeBlanc started and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up a pair of walks, 5 hits, and 5 earned runs. It was a very middle of the rotation kind of spring start.

Tyler Danish had a strong 8th inning, striking out the side, He was less great in the 9th with a couple hits and a wild pitch to advance runners, followed by a walk.

Homers for Domingo Santana and Braden Bishop to score the M's only runs. The Mariners hit pretty well and had some good opportunities, but ended up with 13 runners left on base, compared to the 4 that made it across the plate.

The Mariners' Spring Training jerseys are not good. The baby blue makes me think of the Seattle Pilots, or 1970's road uniforms, more than it does the M's. Embrace the teal, Seattle. Let it guide you. Let it bring you home.

Overall:

Tonight was a good game for a lineup mostly made of bench bats and platoon hitters. The A's look to another evening game tomorrow, as they travel to Scottsdale to take on the Giants.