Spring Game #18: Jesus Luzardo leads A’s to victory

The Oakland A’s beat the Mariners 8-4 on Saturday. With the victory, the A’s have now won nine of their last 10 Cactus League games, and 11 of their last 13. The moral of the story is that spring training is super meaningful and important.

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OK, not really. The games are still just exhibitions, meant more to warm up for the real season than to be truly competitive. But regardless of the setting, it’s nice to see a sparkling performance from the team’s top prospect, and that’s what Jesus Luzardo offered in this game. The lefty struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced, offering another dose of encouragement to a fanbase that hopes to see him rise to stardom this year.

Seattle did manage to string together a walk and a double to plate one run against Luzardo, but otherwise the 22-year-old was almost literally untouchable.

Most of the rest of the A’s pitching staff followed with more zeroes. T.J. McFarland did allow three runs, on homers by Tom Murphy (a backup catcher) and Jose Marmolejos (who?), but otherwise Jake Diekman, J.B. Wendelken, and minor league free agents Jordan Weems and Jaime Schultz took care o business the rest of the way.

On the other side of the ball, Oakland’s offense was buoyed by four long balls, all solo. Shortstop prospect Nick Allen (#5 on our CPL) hit one in the 1st, outfield prospect Greg Deichmann (#15 on our CPL) and minor league free agent Dillon Thomas each went yard in the 7th, and newly acquired catcher Austin Allen knocked one in the 8th. In between all that, Rule 5 draft pick Vimael Machin drove in a pair with a well-timed single in the 4th, Robbie Grossman added a sac fly, and minor league free agent Eric Campbell doubled in another.

The A’s are back at it tomorrow, against the Indians, and it’ll be televised on NBCSA at 1:05 p.m. Community member Right-Field-Drums will be here with your thread and recap. Want to recap a game yourself? Click here to sign up!