BALTIMORE — Oakland A’s manager Mark Kotsay has already seen these impressive performances from left-handed starter Cole Irvin.
Irvin, who won a combined 19 games in 2021 and 2022 with Oakland, was at his best again Saturday. He allowed just four hits over seven scoreless innings to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-0 win over the A’s to even the three-game series.
“His location was great today,” Kotsay said of Irvin, who, with pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky, was traded to the Orioles in Jan. 2023 for infielder Darell Hernaiz. “The front door two-seamer was locking the righties up a lot. He was jamming guys with his cutter.
“He had a good mix. Pitched great. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap.”
Meanwhile, A’s starter JP Sears gave up home runs to Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle on successive pitches in the fifth inning. Gunnar Henderson also went deep for the AL East-leading Orioles, who emphatically bounced back from a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Oakland in the series opener Friday night.
Baltimore has now gone 100 straight regular-season series of at least two games without being swept. That’s the fourth-longest streak in major league history, and 24 short of matching the record held by the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals.
Irvin (2-1) retired the first nine batters he faced, did not allow a runner past first base, and yielded only four singles — none in the same inning. The lefty struck out five and walked none in his longest outing since 2022 when he pitched for the A’s.
Mike Baumann worked the eighth, and Dillon Tate got three outs to complete the five-hitter. It was Baltimore’s second shutout of the season, the first coming in Irvin’s previous start, in Kansas City on April 21.
Like the A’s, Baltimore went down in order through the first three innings. But the Orioles had far more success the second time around against Sears (1-2), who gave up seven runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings, his first loss since March 30.
“He was in the zone, he was throwing strikes,” Kotsay said of Sears. “He only had one walk to go along with eight strikeouts. The ability to end an inning kind of escaped him today.”
Sears completely agreed.
“I made a lot of good pitches. Obviously, just kind of struggled getting that third out in a couple innings,” the left-hander said. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
Baltimore rattled off five hits in a three-run fourth, including an RBI double by Anthony Santander and run-scoring singles by Jordan Westburg and James McCann.
One inning later, Rutschman hit a solo shot and Mountcastle followed with a drive over the left-field wall for a 5-0 lead.
Henderson hit his ninth homer in the seventh with a runner on.
Oakland, on the other hand, was held without a home run for the first time in 12 games.
Related Articles
Miller, Oakland A’s take down another A.L. East power, rally past Orioles in 10 innings
Nevin, Allen homer, Miller converts 4-out save as Oakland A’s beat New York, split four-game series at Yankee Stadium
A’s lose to Yankees as balk to Judge bites Boyle; Gelof likely to hit IL
A’s lose to Yankees; Kotsay not happy with umpire’s wide strike zone
Zack Gelof’s ninth-inning home run lifts A’s over Yankees, 2-0
TRAINER’S ROOM
A’s infielder J.D. Davis (adductor strain) is moving closer to coming off the IL. Davis was slated to join Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday for on-field activities, and “there’s a good chance he will DH” for the Aviators on today, Kotsay said.
UP NEXT
Paul Blackburn (2-1, 2.03 ERA) starts for Oakland in the series finale today against Albert Suárez (1-0, 0.00), who beat the Angels on Monday for his first MLB win since June 2016.