ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Frazier singled leading off the ninth inning for the first hit against Athletics starter J.T. Ginn, and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Los Angeles Angels a 2-1 victory Monday night.
Neto drove a 2-0 sinker 413 feet to center field, stunning Ginn and the A’s while snapping a six-game losing streak for the Angels. It was their third walk-off win this season.
Ginn (2-2) struck out 10 and issued one walk on 105 pitches. He also hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.
The right-hander was perfect through 4 1/3 innings and came within three outs of the first major league no-hitter since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.
Lawrence Butler had a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth that drove in Zack Gelof for the first run of the game, but the Angels rallied to win despite getting outhit 7-2.
Walbert Ureña tossed six scoreless innings for the Angels, allowing four hits and striking out four. Ryan Zeferjahn gave up the first run of the game and walked the bases loaded, but Chase Silseth (1-0) worked out of the jam by getting slugger Nick Kurtz to ground into a game-ending double play.
Kurtz's fifth-inning double extended his on-base streak to 41 games, tying Eddie Joost (1949) for the sixth-longest in A's history. Kurtz is also tied with Kyle Schwarber last year for the longest in the big leagues across the past four seasons.
Why J.T. Ginn wasn't pulled after losing no-hitter in Athletics' walk-off loss
Why J.T. Ginn wasn't pulled after losing no-hitter in Athletics' walk-off loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn was lights-out for eight innings on Monday night at Angel Stadium.
Yet despite entering the ninth without having allowed a hit against the Los Angeles Angels, the Athletics’ 26-year-old starter walked off the mound as the game’s losing pitcher two batters later.
After Adam Frazier led off the inning with a single to center field, manager Mark Kotsay left Ginn in to face Zach Neto in a 1-0 game. Ginn fell behind 2-0, then delivered a 94-mph challenge sinker at the knees for his 105th pitch of the night; Neto smashed it over the center-field wall to hand the A’s a crushing 2-1 loss.
After the game, Kotsay explained the decision.
“J.T. dominated all night, and for him to walk off the mound with a loss there, you know, it hurts, obviously,” Kotsay told reporters postgame. “He pitched probably the best game he’s pitched in his big league career, and to have an opportunity to get a no-hitter, and then two hitters and two hits later you walk off with a loss. It’s tough.
“I have full confidence in him in that inning, going out there at 100 pitches and trying to get it done. It just didn’t work out.”
Kotsay certainly will face criticism for not bringing in a reliever after Ginn allowed his first hit, especially in a one-run contest with the young righty already past his career-high pitch count.
In fact, the A’s manager didn’t have anyone warming up in the visiting bullpen until after Frazier’s single. Kotsay said the plan was to bring in Hogan Harris to face Mike Trout, who was on deck for Neto’s walk-off homer.
“Anytime you have a situation where you’ve got a guy going out to start an inning in the ninth inning with a no-hitter, you know, it’s a decision that I made to not have Harris ready on Neto,” Kotsay explained. “Hindsight is always 20/20. Easily could have went the other direction.”
Despite the final outcome, Ginn’s outing still has to be one to celebrate. The former second-round 2020 MLB Draft pick by the New York Mets out of Mississippi State has bounced between the Athletics’ bullpen, starting rotation and Triple-A Las Vegas during the last three seasons.
But since his move to the rotation on April 10 of this year, Ginn has pitched as well as anyone on the team. After Monday’s outing, he now has a 2.64 ERA in eight outings and 44 1/3 innings during that span.
Ginn also appears to have a healthy mindset about the situation, painful as it might be.
“It’s obviously a tough game,” Ginn told reporters in the clubhouse. “Just keep your head up and keep moving forward. It’s just the nature of the game that we play. I attacked the zone, and I’ll live with that.”
It understandably will remain hard to swallow tonight, though, and not just for Ginn.
“J.T. did such a phenomenal job all night keeping guys off balance. His stuff was nasty, just kind of rolling,” catcher Shea Langeliers said. “It’s kind of it’s gut-wrenching stuff in the ninth for it to end that way. I mean, definitely, definitely sucks right now, but you know, at the end of the day, it’s kind of — baseball will humble you, in all sorts of ways, but that’s why this season is 162 games. It’s going to be hard to flush this one, but we’ve got to move on tomorrow.”
If there’s any more solace for Ginn, it’s hard to imagine baseball could humble him any more than it did on Monday night.
