The Oakland A's beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 on Friday night, walking off in the bottom of the 10th on a Lawrence Butler single to left field that scored Max Schuemann from second base.
Schuemann had entered the game as a pinch runner to start the 10th and scored the winning run in his first major league appearance.
Lawrence Butler was the hero of the night. He was responsible for both of the A's runs, plating Schuemann with a single in th e10th and giving the A's a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning with a solo home run off Nats' starter Jake Irvin.
Law called game 😤 pic.twitter.com/BTzLPOVNzH
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) April 13, 2024
The A's recorded just three total hits last night, with the other coming on a Seth Brown single in the 7th. It was all they'd need however, as starter Paul Blackburn put up another outstanding performance.
Blackburn pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, getting relieved by Austin Adams in the 7th. Blackburn allowed 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4, and was able to keep his scoreless innings streak alive, running it to 19.1 innings to start the year.
It's the longest such scoreless streak to start a season since the A's moved to Oakland. The last time an Athletics pitcher went this far into the season without allowing a run was back in 1953, when Alex Kellner threw 21 scoreless innings to open the year for the Philadelphia Athletics.
The longest such streak in franchise history is 23 innings, set by Philadelphia A's pitcher Harry Krouse back in 1910. Blackburn is a long way from the longest scoreless streak by any MLB pitcher, set by Dodgers' starter Orel Hershiser who reached 59 consecutive scoreless innings back in 1988.
Regardless, what Blackburn has been able to do thus far has been incredible. He'll get the chance to extend his streak next week when he'll match up against the St. Louis Cardinals.
As for the Athletics, they'll return on Saturday in an afternoon affair against the Nationals. First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 pm PDT, with Athletics' starter Joe Boyle set to take on Nats' lefty Mackenzie Gore.