Former Indiana Hoosier Jack Perkins Earns First Career Save With Athletics

Jack Perkins, a rookie right-handed pitcher, locked down a 3.1-inning save in the Athletics' 7-0 win on Saturday over the New York Yankees.

Athletics pitcher Jack Perkins (50) throws against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

On the big stage at Yankee Stadium, Jack Perkins came through in a key situation for the Athletics.

In his second major league appearance, the right-handed pitcher out of Indiana University entered Saturday's game with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning against the New York Yankees. He wound up going the distance, pitching 3.1 scoreless innings with one hit, two walks and three strikeouts.

First career save for Jack Perkins!! pic.twitter.com/g13eFGk9c0

— Athletics (@Athletics) June 28, 2025

The first batter he faced was Giancarlo Stanton, who has 429 career home runs but lined out to end the inning. Perkins walked a batter in the seventh, but induced an inning-ending double play against Yankees catcher Austin Wells.

In the eighth, DJ LeMahieu reached second base after a single and a wild pitch. But Perkins worked out of trouble with two strikeouts and a pop out. He faced a similar situation in the ninth after walking Aaron Judge, who advanced to second base on a defensive indifference.

But Perkins got Stanton to pop out, then struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a sweeper. Athletics third baseman Max Muncy made a nice play to end the game, fielding a broken-bat ground ball from Anthony Volpe and tagging out Judge for the final out.

Since the Athletics promoted Perkins from Triple-A, he's had two impressive outings. In his MLB debut on June 22 against Cleveland, he pitched three scoreless innings with one hit, zero walks and two strikeouts.

Add Saturday's effort, and Perkins hasn't allowed a run in his first 6.1 innings in the big leagues.

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