Cotton enters record books as Oakland beat Texas
In the A’s Coliseum finale of 2016, the offense appeared for the first time on the homestand and against a pitcher who usually gives Oakland fits.
Better still for the A’s long-term outlook, Jharel L. Cotton continued a wildly successful start to his career, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings as Oakland beat Texas 7-1 to end an eight-game home losing streak.
Cotton is the first A’s pitcher since ERA became a stat in 1913 to pitch five or more innings and allow no more than one earned run in his first four outings.
“I wish I could give up no runs,” Cotton said. “I feel like in all my starts, I give up a home run.”
Cotton, whose ERA is 1.44, threw 70 pitches and didn’t have a single three-ball count against the top team in the division, and the Rangers didn’t rest half their regulars as they did the previous day. Adrian Beltre had two of Texas’ hits off him, including a solo homer.
“I feel like today was a Sunday day game, they wanted to get away, so they were swinging at every pitch,” Cotton said. “And I was on the mound like, ‘Thank you, keep swinging.’”
Future looks good
At this point, Cotton is a near-lock for a spot in next year’s rotation, and on Wednesday, the A’s will get a look at Sonny Gray for the first time in nearly two months. Gray, on the disabled list since early August with elbow and forearm inflammation, will start at Anaheim and go one or possibly two innings, with Ross Detwiler, the originally scheduled starter, coming into the game afterward.
Held scoreless their previous 19 innings, the A’s put up seven runs in the second inning against Colby Lewis, a onetime Oakland farmhand. He entered the day 12-5 lifetime against the A’s with a 2.87 ERA, including 9-3 with a 2.80 ERA at the Coliseum.
Yonder Alonso started the second with a single to right, and Marcus Semien and Bruce Maxwell followed with bloops, with Maxwell’s sending in Alonso. Brett Eibner sent in Semien with a groundout, and Matt Olson walked and Joey Wendle singled to load the bases. That brought up Stephen Vogt, who drove in all three runners with a double to right, then Ryon Healy homered to left, his 12th of the season.
“We were in a little bit of a drought the last couple of days, but the bats showed up today — and so did Jharel Cotton,” Healy said.
Cotton and Healy weren’t the only A’s rookies with notable days: Matt Olson, making his first appearance in right field, recorded his first big-league hit, a single in the third. “I told him, ‘Stop walking and swing the bat!’” Healy said.
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12 Responses to “Cotton enters record books as Oakland beat Texas”
That's why we need to treat everyone who lives here for a while the same as we treat the original Tortolians because that dude and his brother grew up here.
Big up sharp boy.