Despite Taking his First Loss, Athletics' Luzardo Takes a Step Toward Success

While bothered by the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., Sunday, Oakland Athletics rookie Jesús Luzardo turned in what he said was the best game of his career. He fell behind 3-2 early, but didn't allow a run in his final 5.1 innings of A's loss to the Rangers.

This one won’t go down as the night Jesús Luzardo became the talk of baseball.

That day will come, the Oakland A’s believe, and when it does it will be because of games like this. He lost, but he made strides forward.

And he did it with a heavy heart. Earlier in the day he’d seen the video coming out of Kenosha, Wis. of the shooting Sunday of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in front of his children.

“I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to Jacob Blake and his family and his close ones,” Luzardo said before starting the formal postgame video interview. “I feel like that shows that we really need change.”

Luzardo knows something about that. He’s a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., where in 2018 a former student instigated a deadly mass shooting with 17 dead and 17 wounded.

As 22, Luzardo is still learning his craft, and giving up tie-breaking homer in the second inning to Isiah Kiner-Falefa Monday in the A’s introduction to the new Globe Life Field will have to go down on the ledger as part of the learning process.

What came after that, however, served notice that a bright future is coming for Luzardo. He followed the homer with 5.1 scoreless innings, giving the A’s a chance to win. That Oakland didn’t win had a lot to do with Lance Lynn, who shut down the A’s after a second-inning Stephen Piscotty homer.

Luzardo said that despite taking his first career loss, this game was special

“To be honest with you, I felt like this was probably the best game of my career,” Luzardo said of shutting down the Rangers for the final 5.1 innings he was on the mound.

“Usually when things get like that, they start to snowball. But I was able to kind of take a step back and not let it snowball.”

Oakland manager Bob Melvin saw much of what Luzardo did, saying he sees the lefty just “getting better and better.”

“He’s got a pretty good slider, and it looked they were laying off it early,” Melvin said. “He stayed with it and got some punchouts with it.”

Marcus Semien, who reached base four times in the game, including a single that set up the A's bases-loaded last effort in the ninth, appreciated that Luzardo kept it close, this giving the offense a chance.

""He's a young guy who knows how to pitch," Semien said. "He knows how to mix up his offspeed stuff and not allow the other team to sit on his 98-mph fastball. He's pitching, not just throwing. He's gonna be good."

Luzardo might have had a no-decision had the A’s offense done more, but Lynn, now 4-0, saw to it they didn’t, keeping the A’s under control through six innings. The often-maligned Texas bullpen was able to keep Oakland off the scoreboard.

Oakland did load the bases in the ninth inning with one out, and it seemed that the A’s, who have had a habit of dominating the ninth inning might do it again. But on this night, neither Matt Olson or Matt Chapman were able to get that much-needed ninth-inning hit against closer Rafael Montero.

“There were a few borderline pitches,” Melvin said. “We made him work, we had the bases loaded. (Olson) was trying to get a good pitch to drive, he’s our tallest hitter. I think there were a few tough pitches that were called.”

For the A’s, Monday was the halfway point of the season. The loss left them at 20-10, tied with the Twins for the best record in the American League. Only the Dodgers, at 22-8, have a better record.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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