The Athletics jumped on Royals' starter Brady Singer early and often, battering the young righty for 6 runs on 7 hits in the first 3 innings, taking home a 6-3 victory in the process.
Athletics starter Paul Blackburn gave up 3 runs of his own in the top of the second, allowing back to back singles from Austin Nola and Michael Massey before giving up a 3-run homer to infielder Nick Pratto.
Oakland countered with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Miguel Andujar stayed hot, leading off the inning with a sharply hit grounder up the middle.
Lawrence Butler and Shea Langeliers loaded the bases with back to back singles of their own and Singer proceeded to walk Abraham Toro, scoring Andujar.
Sunday Funday 😄 pic.twitter.com/JktAejkxCD
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) March 10, 2024
Darell Hernaiz singled in Butler, and Esteury Ruiz's sacrifice brought Langeliers in to tie the game. The A's extended the lead in the bottom of the third on a 3-run homer from Toro.
After that, both offenses decided to pack it in for the day. Neither seriously threatened to score for the remainder of the afternoon.
It's fair to think the Athletics were expecting more from Blackburn today. The young righty allowed 7 hits in his 4 innings of work.
He only allowed a single walk but struck out just 2 batters on the day. The A's will need him to be better if they want to have any semblance of success in 2024.
On the bright side, lefty Sean Newcomb looked great in his first outing of the spring. He relieved Blackburn after the 4th and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits while striking out 4.
Vinny Nittoli and Gerson Moreno pitched in with a scoreless inning each, and Billy Sullivan and Easton Lucas combined to close out the afternoon with a scoreless 9th.
The Athletics are back at it again tomorrow afternoon in a matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Joe Boyle is set to take the hill for the A's. He'll face off against D-Backs righty Ryne Nelson. First pitch at 1:05 pm PST.