Boyle continues A’s stellar pitching in close loss to Nationals originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Right-handed pitcher Joe Boyle continued the Athletics’ dominance on the mound in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Washington Nationals at the Oakland Coliseum.
Despite winning, Boyle (1-2) had five strikeouts, allowing just one run and five hits in five innings.
“You know, I thought Boyle was good today,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said after the narrow loss. “Obviously, we know the pitch count is going to go up with him – he’s more of a strikeout guy. He had five today and just one walk, which is a good sign. I thought he did his job very well [and] effectively. There were many leftists [Washington’s] lineup today.
“[Boyle] gave us a chance after five [innings] only have a one-run deficit. I thought he was really good.”
The 24-year-old starter’s 86-pitch outing brought Oakland’s total runs surrendered over the last three games to just four and kept the A’s lackluster offense in the hunt. Boyle also lowered his ERA from 8.22 to 5.68.
Boyle predominantly used his heater against the Nationals, averaging 96.8 mph on 58 fastballs. Additionally, he has had success losing counts by resorting to circuit breakers.
“Yes, there was better command today,” Kotsay added. “We saw [Boyle] position the slider a little further and use it effectively. Until [when he was] behind in the count, the 2-0 ball was falling.
Against Washington, Boyle nearly replicated his April 7 performance against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park (W, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), which was much better than his terrible season debut against the Boston Red Sox. on April 1 at the Coliseum, in which he allowed seven earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings.
After three games, Boyle appears to offer Kotsay another reliable arm in the Oakland lineup. rotation beyond right-hander Paul Blackburn – who has yet to allow a run in more than 19 1/3 innings.
Still, the A’s pitching success over the weekend didn’t stop after Boyle’s day ended.
Left-handed reliever Kyle Muller shined through three innings, earning five strikeouts and allowing just two hits, one of them being a lucky RBI hit off the bat of Nationals infielder Luis Garcia Jr.’s debut on Saturday.
“This is a good role for Kyle,” Kotsay said. “He’s had some good games this season. [He’s] really making a difference now in his role of helping the bullpen.”
Muller now sports a strong 2.03 ERA after racking up 14 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings. He is excelling during a “prove it” year and looks like a shell of the pitcher who had a 1-5 record and 7.60 ERA in 2023.
The 26-year-old’s hot start is presumably due to off-season adjustments to your delivery. The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder worked with the Oakland staff to adjust his offering to be more vertically oriented.
“He worked really hard this offseason,” Kotsay emphasized. “We met at the beginning of the offseason and talked to him about maybe making some changes to the shape of the pitch, but he wanted to make a change to the arm angle and raise it.
“He did a great job and we saw good results. I take my hat off to Kyle for working this offseason and showing up.
Combined, Boyle and Muller have improved what has been a reasonable start for Oakland’s somewhat new and improved pitching staff, especially after using an MLB-record 24 starters a year ago.
Unfortunately for the home team, the A’s eight hits — which tied their third-highest total in a game during the 2024 MLB season — weren’t enough support, yielding Oakland a run after a double by designated hitter Abraham Toro scored shortstop Nick Allen in the seventh.
Left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore was simply too electric for Washinton in front of the Oakland crowd of 3,330, posting 11 strikeouts and allowing four hits in five innings.
“Gore was really nasty today, 11 strikeouts,” Kotsay said. “Really, its fastball – we call it easy cheese – but it’s easy. But this is 97 [mph]. He keeps that in righties. The breaking ball was good. We only managed one walk.
The result sent the A’s to 6-9 during the 2024 MLB season, while the Nationals improved to 6-8.
“We did a good job getting [Gore] comes out in five, but the moral of the story is the attack”, concluded Kotsay. “We need to hit better [and] we need to score more runs because the margin for error is minimal at the moment.”
Oakland wants offensive answers, but Boyle and Muller have continued to pull their weight on the mound.
The winner of Sunday’s PT matinee at 1:07 pm will claim the series. Could it be the A’s third consecutive victory in the series.
