Luis Perez shines as Toronto Blue Jays defeat Oakland Athletics 1-0 - MLB Update
Toronto Blue Jays’ starting pitcher, Luis Perez had a notable day with the ball as he gave up just one hit in his six inning pitches and struck-out four batters with an ERA of 3.26 in the Jays’ 1-0 victory against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum,
Oakland, on August 21.
First six innings of the game went score-less as the batters were limited by accurate throws of the pitchers. Aaron Hill drove a single-run shot to deep centre-field and Jose Bautista walked but at left-field Eric Thames flied out and Edwin Encarnacion struck-out
without providing even a single run to Jays.
During fourth inning, Athletics’ batters looked powerless as at right-field, Jemile Weeks lined out, Hideki Matsui struck-out and at third base, Coco Crisp grounded out. During sixth inning, J.P. Arencibia hit a double-run shot to deep centre-field while
at right-field, John McDonald fouled out and at short-stop Hill grounded out without contributing any run.
Athletics’ batters missed some runs at the bottom of sixth inning when Cliff Pennington and Scott Sizemore both walked but Weeks got out to second base. Crisp hit a grounder into double play, short-stop to third base and third to second base while Pennington
got out to second base without adding the first run for his team.
At last, Jays scored their first run to get off the mark during seventh inning and took a 1-0 lead. Bautista hit a decisive homer (406 feet) towards left-field to give the Jays a solid start. The remaining two innings also passed without runs as the batters
displayed their sloppy shots.
Perez gave up just two walks on his 80 pitches. Speaking to reporters, Perez said, “I felt great. I wasn't feeling tired. I was happy he had the confidence in me to pitch and finish the inning with the bases loaded. Mentally I stayed strong. Each inning
I pitched better and better.”
Athletics’ manager, Bob Melvin said, “When you have well-pitched games like that it looks like the offense is down and dragging a little bit. But both pitchers were terrific. One pitch ended up deciding the game.”
Jays’ reliever, Casey Janssen also threw three score-less innings and struck-out five batters with an ERA of 2.20. He permitted only one walk on his 49 pitches. After that thrilling victory, Jays were able to tie the four-game series 2-2 played at O.co Coliseum.
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