The Oakland Athletics have been adding to their pitching staff with post-deadline deals, and one of them paid off a bit on Wednesday night. Mike Fiers pitched in to the sixth inning and struck out eight batters in his team debut, as the A's earned a series split with the Los Angeles Dodgers by earning a 3-2 victory. Fiers allowed just one run on four hits and did not walk a batter in his first start since getting acquired from the Detroit Tigers last Monday.
Fiers did not allow a baserunner until Yasmani Grandal's home run in the fifth inning, which was his 20th of the season. Fiers kept his new team in the game until they took the lead in the eighth inning on Khris Davis's fielder's choice, which was the game-winning run. The 33-year-old pitcher was back in comfortable territory for a couple reasons. First, he did no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers as a member of the Houston Astros on August 21st, 2015, and he was throwing to Jonathan Lucroy, who was his battery mate with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2011 to 2015.
Fiers was acquired for cash or a player to be named later, as he was the 13th starting pitcher that the A's sent to the mound this season.
Marcus Semien scored the winning run on Davis's fielder's choice, as Dodgers reliever J.T. Chargois suffered his third loss out of the bullpen. Clayton Kershaw did get the start for the Dodgers and allowed two runs over six innings, as he is now winless in four starts against the Athletics, despite holding a 1.38 ERA against them. He is 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA since the All-Star break, but got the no-decision on this night.
The win for the A's moves them withing five games of the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West, while the Dodgers fell a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the top spot in the NL West. The A's move on to visit the Los Angeles Angels this weekend, while the Dodgers enter a crucial series with the Colorado Rockies.
Fiers did not allow a baserunner until Yasmani Grandal's home run in the fifth inning, which was his 20th of the season. Fiers kept his new team in the game until they took the lead in the eighth inning on Khris Davis's fielder's choice, which was the game-winning run. The 33-year-old pitcher was back in comfortable territory for a couple reasons. First, he did no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers as a member of the Houston Astros on August 21st, 2015, and he was throwing to Jonathan Lucroy, who was his battery mate with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2011 to 2015.
Fiers was acquired for cash or a player to be named later, as he was the 13th starting pitcher that the A's sent to the mound this season.
Marcus Semien scored the winning run on Davis's fielder's choice, as Dodgers reliever J.T. Chargois suffered his third loss out of the bullpen. Clayton Kershaw did get the start for the Dodgers and allowed two runs over six innings, as he is now winless in four starts against the Athletics, despite holding a 1.38 ERA against them. He is 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA since the All-Star break, but got the no-decision on this night.
The win for the A's moves them withing five games of the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West, while the Dodgers fell a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the top spot in the NL West. The A's move on to visit the Los Angeles Angels this weekend, while the Dodgers enter a crucial series with the Colorado Rockies.
