A statement from the Blue Jays regarding the exceptional performance delivered by our star player during the…
JJ Bleday launched the first pitch of the ninth inning from Chad Green over the right-field wall, securing a 2-1 victory for the Oakland Athletics against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Mason Miller (1-0) earned the win, striking out two in a flawless ninth inning in a brisk game lasting 2 hours and 7 minutes.
Following an offseason focused on building strength, Bleday hit his first career walk-off home run. He is the only A’s player to have appeared in all 65 games, with eight of his nine home runs coming at the Coliseum. “I love talking about JJ. The maturity he’s shown from last season to this season and the work he put in this offseason in the weight room have really paid off,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Not just in terms of home runs but also his physical presence. We really encouraged JJ to push himself harder this offseason than he had before.”
Chris Bassitt’s wild pitch against his former team allowed Oakland’s Max Schuemann to score the first run of the game in the sixth inning. Bo Bichette tied it with an RBI single in the seventh.
The 35-year-old Bassitt, who played for the A’s from 2015 to 2021, recorded the second-lowest ERA ever at the Oakland Coliseum at 2.36 in what is likely his final start there, surpassing Catfish Hunter’s 2.39 and just behind Paul Lindblad’s 2.29 from 1968 to 1978.
Additionally, Bassitt has a 2.31 ERA in five outings against his former Oakland team.
The A’s had much to celebrate with an announced crowd of 16,046 attending both the first fireworks show and reverse boycott of the season. Fans chanted “Sell the team! Sell the team!” during planned moments.
Lefty Hogan Harris, who has given up just five earned runs in 20 1/3 innings this season, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits.
“I’m never going to complain about no runs,” Harris said. “I felt like I went out there just competing.”
The A’s had lost three of their last four and six of their last eight games, having been shut out by Seattle 2-0 on Thursday.
